Hi everybody - I was wondering if anybody here has experience telecommuting from San Pedro. I'm not currently a resident of Belize, but I'm seriously considering relocating to San Pedro within the next year. I'm hoping someone can share some insight on the options that are currently available for secure, high speed internet access (I need to be able to connect to a remote network via a VPN connection). Any info you can share will be greatly appreciated! Thanks

The entire telephone network went down last year due to a strike. The electric company was on strike. The satelite connections were down.

Don't even consider it.

WOULD LIKE YOU TO PM ME! I AM RARELY NEGATIVE BUT THIS PERSON IS INSANE TO COMMENT IN THIS MANNER...UNLESS THEY ARE A TELECOMMUTER. I KNOW A FEW IN SAN PEDRO. THE STRIKE WAS FOR A WEEK AND 7 MONTHS AGO!!!

WITH TODAYS TECHNOLOGY YOU ARE ABLE TO GET CABLE MODEM, DSL, AND WIRELESS INTERNET IN SAN PEDRO, AND TELECOMMUTE EASY WITH THE TYPE OF CONNECTION YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.

THE NEGATIVE RESPONCE ABOVE IS APARENTLY A BITTER PERSON WISHES THEY COULD TELECOMMUTE BUT HAS NOT CLUE HOW SO IS MAKING FUN OF YOU. THEY ARE JEALOUS OF YOUR DREAM, AND ENVY YOU FOR THE THOUGHT.

I WISH YOU THE BEST OF LUCK. REMEMBER, DO THE OPPOSTITE OF MOST PEOPLE TO CREATE YOUR SUCCESSES AND HAPPINESS. YOU CREATE YOUR OUTCOME AND CAN MAKE ANYTHING WORK ANYWHERE.

AND FORTUNATELY, IT IS EASY TO TELECOMMUTE HERE.
BEST WISHES. CONGRADULATIONS FOR TAKING THE FIRST STEP...DREAMING AND THEN INVESTIGATING.

:rolleyes: All that said, you may encounter more downtime that you are accustomed to. The power does fluctuate. As does the cable... But that doesn't mean it isn't possible to do what you are thinking of. Good luck

My entire business revolves around the Internet and the only time I’ve encountered a significant outage in the last 3 years was for 2 days when a satellite outage coincided with the BTL strike.

Power outages and Internet downtime are rare these days. I was down for a few hours the other week because BTL changed server IP's but other than that all has been fine for months.

If both power and back up satellites at the internet cafe's were down you could still run up to Chetumal to get access if you were in dire straits.

You’ll still need a self-employed work permit to telecommute legally.

Thanks to you all for your replies. I live in a rural mountain community right now, so the idea of unexpected downtime isn't a foreign concept to me. I'm not discouraged so far!

Good! See you there. If more people lived their dream the world would be a better place.

THE NEGATIVE RESPONCE ABOVE IS APARENTLY A BITTER PERSON WISHES THEY COULD TELECOMMUTE BUT HAS NOT CLUE HOW SO IS MAKING FUN OF YOU. THEY ARE JEALOUS OF YOUR DREAM, AND ENVY YOU FOR THE THOUGHT.

I DO telecommute in the states....I would NOT chance it there. THAT IS MY OPINION.

He/she can investigate to their heart's content. It ultimately is THEIR choice.

You'll definitely need to find out what the ISP here will allow (PPTP is the main issue, if I remember correctly), and how flexible your VPN administrator is. Your admin can tell you what questions to ask the ISP. Issues like changing server IPs make VPN admins very unhappy. :-)

Another tidbit, which probably doesn't matter for your business but I just went through it so I thought I'd share. To get a document notarized here, so that it is recognized as legitimate in the states, you have to see the Consul at the American Embassy. She and the staff were very helpful, and it was $30 for the stamp. (There is actually another option, but it involved getting a Belizian court to approve a Belizian notary, which seemed more complicated to me.) There were specific days and hours for American Citizen Services at the Embassy, so check before you take the ferry over.

whitewater, you gave a very useful piece of information for many regarding noteries. Thank you.