Internet in countryside around Rionegro-El Retiro?

Dear Finding Time,

Welcome to the Colombia forums of Expat.com ...

During your visit in September, presuming you are staying

in the area of the ensuing rental, consider checking out

the WiFi at the property where you are staying.  If it

seems adequate, you can theoretically go with the

Internet provider that serves the September property.

Verify that the provider is not excluded from serving

your longer-term rental.

cccmedia

I have rented (3) different fincas in or around Rio Negro the past few years.  Most rentals are going to have basic internet so it can be difficult to judge based on what you have at a rental.  I have had service around 200 mbps or less but I assume you can get a larger subscription.  It can be different in each location but I would think nicer areas like el retiro, llano grande, would have some of the better infrastructure.  Latency can be an issue with providers in Colombia and geo fencing restrictions can be an issue if you are making VPN connections to some companies.

Having said this I have made Zoom and Teams calls without issues in Colombia.  Every so often I get some latency on calls but I think if you subscribe to more than just basic service you should be able to Zoom without problems, IMO. 

@cccmedia I'm coming down in September to find a property, and will be staying at an airport motel as a base of operations for looking at houses from El Retiro to Rionegro. I expect the internet at the hotel will be fine, but I'm not sure how to verify that there is adequate internet service at houses in the surrounding hills.

@duanesquier Thanks! Are there several internet providers to choose from (if so, which do you recommend) or is there only one provider available for each location?

@FindingTime We have property (finca) in El Carmen but we have not finished our house so I don't have internet on-site.  I know our neighbor uses Claro but they have not been happy with the service.  The providers I have seen in the area or map are ETB, Movistar, Claro, and Tigo.  Movistar has the highest bandwidth but ETB has the lowest latency.  You might find a few others but it could be different in each location.  I might consider Starlink since it shows that Starlink is available in Colombia.  We are planning to visit Colombia in March and staying at a finca outside San Antonio that will have internet so I will run some bandwidth tests.https://www.speedtest.net/global-index/colombiahttps://www.starlink.com/mapCheers!