Hello... I am a Canadian who is moving to Santiago in Marh 2011

Hello Rob....

I'm chilean, currently living in Italy and moving back home at the end of february. I think i'm able to communicate in English so if you want I would love to meet you and introduce you to other people there.
Regarding your questions, well... there is a huge offer of internet points in Santiago, they are called 'centro de llamados o ciber cafes'and you might find them neraly everywhere.
Internet and cell phone network is also widely available... the only problems is that (as far as i remember) providers might require you to sign a 1 year contract.
That's all for now...
Ciao

@Rob,

Congratulations! "Good choice!" as would say the regular salesman. Currently I'm finishing working for an Australian company with offices through North and South America, and one think I sadly noticed is that my counterparts from "developed" countries still think we are running in underwear and playing with arches and arrows (literal translation, not sure it works in english as well).

Please let me tell you that here in Chile there is a lot places where Cibercafes (or commercial Internet access points) and free Internet WiFi access points are readily available throughout the city of Santiago. Almost everywhere. And if you think you can work only with your laptop and an Internet connection, then you're ready to go.

Also you can buy a "Huawei" Postpago (referring popularly to the broadband mobile network manufacturer and pronounced here hardly as "hooah-way", a as in cat, in two syllabes), You can then connect that broadband modem to your laptop and you're again ready to go, this time from almost everywhere there is mobile coverage, which in Chile pretty good.

Problems do exist, and the frit one could be the cost of living, having currently the price of gas in US$6 per gallon you can imagine the rest of things.

Anyway, you will enjoy being here, that's for sure, low criminal rate and pretty much educated people, will make you see virtually no policeman patrolling the city.

Brest of luck and you might want to publish your experiences right here...

Hi Rob
I am from Argentina but I have been living here for more than three years.

You can find many wi-fi cafes as Starbucks, besides there are another cyber where you can surf on the internet.

Anyway, I would like to take a beer or a cup of coffe wherever you want.

I was studying English four months in Toronto and everyone had an excellent behaviour with me so that I feel happy to help you.

My mail is [email protected]

Regards.

Mario

Hey dude,
I am Chilean but I lived in Canada for almost five years. If you need anything I can help you out. Cell phone conection is pretty reliable... if your getting a phone here i would recomend you entel, you can get a plan and go month by month if you have your own phone, other than that prepay. Entel is a bit more expensive but its the best network here.
In terms of Internet they are generally reliable just that its slower.. My internet has never failed me but I have friends that get disconected for a few seconds every now and then when we are chatting. Ill find out if its because of the internet plan or because of the company for you.
cheers!

Hi Pal:

I wish you a safe and pleasant stay while in Chile. If you can work from anywhere, maybe, you might consider living in some suburbs that offer great quality of living (Arrayan, Farellones or even the nearby Vina del Mar)

Chilean telecommunications are stay of the art with mostly full digital fiber optic networks. Nonetheless, I have experienced issues regarding speed (it's fairly difficult to get decent bandwidth at reasonable prices) and I believe they load the lines excessively with too many users and modems provided by carriers are also a problem (cheap and weak signal) but if you get a decent after market modem or router, things immediately improve. I have used DSL and Cable based connections while there. On the other hand, Wi-Fi is fairly good and available in many places for free. 

With mobile phones things have changed. Ten years ago, the service was pretty inexpensive and extremely reliable. Now, with too many people using cell phones, the infrastructure is probably taking a toll and dropped calls are frequent, some companies have some problematic service areas and it is not as reliable as it used to be. Still, we are talking of a network that equals performance and reliability of any network in America but the case is that they used to be exceptional. As per companies, Entel has good coverage as well as Telefonica and it fairly depends where you are. Once you now where you live, you may try pre-paid services to find the carrier that is right for you.

Get a Google Phone with a USA phone number and it will offer you a great option to call Canada for free while in Chile.   

Any other issues, please don't hesitate to ask.

HELLO ROB WELCOME TO CHILE!
I AM CHILEAN VERY PLEASED TO SPEAK IN ENGLISH WITH NATIVES. LIVED 10YRS IN PARIS AND ONE IN USA. I AM STABLISHED IN HUECHURABA, ONE OF THE NEW NEIGBOURHOODS NORTH OF SANTIAGO BUT ALSO WORK IN CENTRAL PROVIDENCIA ON TUESDAYS.
CELL PHONE 098795801
MAIL [email protected]

Hey Rob,

I've been here for almost five months and I've been using one of those modem things for the internet that you plug into the USB port on your computer. The box says it's a "Huawei" but all I know is that it lets me connect to the internet. And I can connect anywhere which is nice.

I got mine at Entel and I have had no problems with it at all. The modems were not too expensive and the plans are reasonable. The best part is I didn't have to sign a contract. I just go month to month. So that's what I would recommend for you.

Anyway, good luck with everything! I'm sure you'll love it here!

Hi Everybody, I've been working in Santiago for the last several weeks and will be sticking around for another couple months (March and April).

If any fellow expats (or chilean's who don't mind my non-existent spanish) want to hangout drop me a line!

I'm looking to play tourist on the weekends and it'd be cool to have some friends to go with.

Rob-rc - I haven't been in town that long, but note that there is a difference between Santiago's downtown and their business district (las condes (?)), with the former being the entertainment district.

I'm from Vancouver also, and was confused thinking the downtown was the business district.

@slavingexpat, not really sure if Santiago IS the "entertainment" district (AKA comuna in Chile), in fact so many ppl don't go that far to have fun, they rather stay in their own comunas. You might be confused thinking that Bellavista is the place to go but for me Las Condes y Providencia have many more entertaining places.

Regards...

Thanks for the clarification ferthelet. As you can see I'm still getting used to Santiago (the whole city)!

In Vancouver, "Downtown" and surroundings covered much of the business / shopping / entertainment district, so thought I'd clarify for rob-rc in case he was wondering.

I'm living and working in Las Condes, and find the area quite deserted on the weekends (during the day). It does pickup considerably into evening though.

what about Vitacura, it seemed fun last time i went

hi rob, r u in Chile?

Hi kduery > can you please introduce yourself? Just to inform you that this is an old thread.

Thank you.

hola rob mira soy chilena ,,pero no vivo en la capital soy del sur de Chile 8 región ,,
Mira te digo algo ten cuidado solamente observa muy bn  y no confíes mucho y pregunta a policías ..si estas en apuros de saber alguna dirección ha y en cuanto a tu pc lo podrás ocupar libremente siempre y cuando tu hotel en santiago tenga wifi
y es confiable,,,,,no te asustes jajjaj haaa pero el teléfono no te servirá tendrás que guardarlo  tendrás que comprante otro para conversar con gente de Chile y viene con dinero para llamar si comparas un celular solo debes pagarlo y nada mas., ., y eso cuídate pásalo bien cuidate pasalo bn