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Joined: Sep 2008
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We want to put internet (maybe tv) in the house - and I hear BTL is unreliable and expensive, who does everyone else use? I need the best internet possible in the house. Fast and reliable - is that even an option in Belize. Does it make a difference if you're on one of the islands? Can you get DSL/broadband or is satellite the only option on the islands?

From what I am gathering satellite is not as fast as broadband. What does everyone else experience?

When emailing people in Belize I find periodically their emails don't get to me or vice versa and I have trouble getting through on telephone lines. Is this normal or are some telecommunication companies better than others? Funnily enough it's the lawyer's emails that go awol more than the others....

I find BTL's website ridiculous to attempt to search through and have yet to receive an email back from them....

Any advice would be much appreciated!

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The location of the house may dictate your choice.

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We'll be on Caye Caulker. We have electricity, so we're not off the grid so to speak...we're weighing overall monthly costs with speed/dependability.


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Sounds to me like satellite (Starband maybe) would be your best choice. More expensive for the initial setup but the monthly cost is about only 1/3


I'm happier than a pig in s__t...a foot on the sand...and a Belikin in my hand!
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Satellite will be OK for anything bar the most demanding downloads, when BTL would fail anyway. It can be used for VoIP though it suffers from a lot of latency; BTL of course suffers from being blocked.

If state-of-the-art telecommunications are important to you you've chosen the wrong country!

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Satellite can give you good speed but the hangup is amount you are allowed to download in a 24 hr period. They all have limits. We have the lowest Hughesnet and are allowed 200 Mb in a 24 hr period. Fine for email but nothing else. Communications in Belize for the most part is definitely third world or worse.

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We just want the best service at the best price. I'm hoping that those who have been there longer would have tried various options and of those options, are as happy as they can be with the known telecommunication limits. I wonder if people could please post who they are using, why they chose who they chose, and what they pay. For internet, phone, TV, either individually or as package?

We'll have VolP so we can call home and do business calls when we are down there. But has anyone used BTL's Webtalk? Sounds straightforward enough, long distance won't kill us and it seems to be the same rate as Skype anyway....are there any limitations that are not obviously noted on their website?

Latency during phone calls would be an issue since it then sounds obvious we're not 'in the office'. Is there any way around that or is it a given with satellite? Are some satellite companies better than others for this?

If we have to go satellite who would be the best choice? (Which means, I assume, we are locked into using Skype or Webtalk)

If we were able to get or wanted cable/DSL/broadband, whatever it's called (forgive me but this a new language), who should we consider? It's our first choice so that we can consider MajicJack, Vonage, etc.

Priorities are.... clear, reliable phone lines (as cheap as possible - taking into consideration VolP, etc.,), and we do some streaming on the internet, YouTube, gaming, that sort of thing, iTunes, download programs, but mostly we just email a lot and use a lot of long distance. So....internet and phone is #1 issue, TV is secondary.

Thanks everyone!

Last edited by Verbatim; 02/18/10 03:17 PM.
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We're in the third world so it isn't bad. I have BTL 256k Down which I think got upgreded to 500k Down free a while back and its fine. Rarely drops out. I use it to d/l music, stream radio stations with no problem. I regularly use it for U Tube where sometimes you need it to be a minute ahead on the d/l or it will stall but otherwise I think the service is great. We used to only have dialup and that was awful. My Mother lives in Ireland and doesn't have Broadband so we're not doing badly.

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TV is dirt cheap from the Cable providers and can be done separately too. Bz$40 for all the Premium Channels such as HBO Sho Movie Channel Sports European and US

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Wouldn't mind faster, but I can live with 500k down I think, Phil. Who do you use?

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