Internet stability in Belize

Christine, I've been on BTL for over a year now and have only had one outage ever, and that was when Happy's Bar & Grill burned down and took out their transformer with it (this was in Santa Elena/San Ignacio area) - a totally understandable outage.

Other than that, I think BTL's service is quite reliable.  Depending on where you'll be staying, there are some cable companies that offer internet as well, but I've heard service can be spotty sometimes, so I'd stick with BTL, the country's main internet provider.

A lot of the factors depend on where you are.

I cannot get regular dsl service through BTL because of my location. I do use BTL Cellular internet and it gets okay speed.

My main ISP is Hughsnet with a Satellite dish. This gives faster download speeds but can be effected by weather.

The BTL cellular internet is my back up. It also requires a 30 foot antenna. It is not as fast.

Power outages cause more trouble than weather on the internet.

Our local service here in Corozal through StellarLinks is fair.  Often there is spotty service if we have any weather issues going on.  I understand that BTL has more secure service but they do "block" some sites such as Skype.  Friends have HughesNet/Satellite service and it is the most secure and reliable, we have been told, but is very expensive to set up.  Good Luck!  We love it here in Belize - It's basic, laid back and beautiful!

Does anyone know how much it costs to do business with Hughnet?
1. How much for Internet?
2. How much for a land line?
3. How much for TV connection?

The Cable company offered us a deal if we would help them with installation fees. Besides helping them financially we would be helping by bringing Cable into an area that has not had it prior. 

So I figured I would put out some extra money $750US then it went up to $4000US so I had to say forget it.  Now it is BTL for land line and nothing so far for TV.  How can they get away with this type of unethical business. If they would have kept their word, they would make more money in the long run.  I just don't understand. 

Has anyone else had experiences like this?  Or perhaps you may have some advice on how to get them to do the right thing - lol -NOT.

Thank you for your input!
Regards,
LAN

....I believe I forgot to mention our internet - It cost about $150 to set up.  Monthly cost depends on the speed of bandwidth you request.  We have only 256k (we really need faster speed!) and it costs us $125 monthly.  500k I believe is $225, and so on depending on the speed.  Our internet is with Stellar Link.  Again, Good Luck!  Regina

Love2Travel4Sure, Our hughsnet cost about $62 a month, $60 a month for Direct TV.

That is monthly charges. The equipment is extra. Depends on what you get as far as costs.

I have no idea on how much a land line is.

Note: I can get Expat.com on Hughsnet but not on BTL Cellular internet.

@stanandregina
Thank you the breakdown in setup costs, and for your feedback. Plus, the tip about certain providers blocking. I've heard about it briefly but didn't know which ISP felt the need to filter who sees what. I am happy to hear that you are content in Belize. I love Belize!! I'm used to getting an internet speed of 54Mbps for $35 month. That is fast. I pray by the time I am ready to move to Belize that the ISP area will be cheaper and more user friendly. Thank you, LAN

@ericwt
Thank you for your response and the breakdown in monthly costs. Now I have setup and monthly costs for different ISP so this is a great start. Your "Note:" section I find quite interesting.  I remember reading a long thread about expats and others testing the access to the Expat.com based on their access location. Do you find BTL controlling what you can or cannot view on the frustrating side?  Is this a common type of controlling occurring in Belize? Based on your response and stanandregina's response, I think Hughsnet is going to be my ISP and TV provider. My tenants are the ones with the BTL land line. I will only need a land line for faxing.  Until things improve, I will stay away from BTL.

Many thanks to all for taking the time to provide input that is most useful to me.  All the best...........LAN

Love2Travel4Sure: That is the monthly costs but does not include the equipment (dishes, transmitters,receivers, etc).

I wish I could get the local cable but I am to remote.

I was actually impressed with the speed of the BTL Cellular internet.I knew ahead of time they blocked Skype but was real surprised when I could not get this site to load. The BTL wireless is a back up for us.

Hughsnet is not perfect but it works best for me.

I still can't get over how expensive internet is here for such dinky speeds... 256K, 512K is considered incredibly slow in the US, but I guess I have to accept that we are in a third-world country and bite my tongue.  These are the prices that were quoted here in San Pedro for various speeds:

Installation -- $200 BZD

128K -- $49  BZD/mo
256K -- $100 BZD/mo
512K -- $179 BZD/mo
1MB  -- $300 BZD/mo
2MB  -- $500 BZD/mo
4MB  -- $850 BZD/mo

Back in the US I believe we had a 6MB connection for around $60 US/mo.  Sigh...

As for sites that are blocked by BTL, I have to use a VPN to get to this site.  I have been able to use Skype (lately) without the VPN, but that could change at any moment, I guess.  Also, without the VPN, some sites display but very oddly, without formatting.  And some others (like starz.com) don't work.  It's very strange what they choose to block.  Why can't I see the TV listings for starz?  Why block that?  I don't get it.

Yes, Emily, BTL\'s pricing is the same here in San Ignacio too. And let\'s not forget the lovely $500 usd deposit they charge non-residents.

I dont what area you will be in but i was in San Ignacio for a month and the problem i saw was the Electricity going of from time to time you might need back up power.

                                          David

@CaribeGal
Thank you for providing such an efficient breakdown in prices. The prices are enough to make me faint - lol. Such high prices for intermittent service. Where is the logic? I was so close to getting cable - it's part of my post in this thread. I pray it will be in my area by the time I am ready to move over almost full-time - would you believe 1/2 to 3/4 time?

@Wealthships
I wish you were kidding when you posted the fact that non-residents have to pay a $500 deposit.  Good Heavens the list just gets longer and more expensive. I thought my money would go further in Belize. The jokes on me, isn't it?  Thank you.

@David1946
Good point about making sure to have backup power.  That probably goes for your entire home, in general.  It is something I will need to research and make sure is in place when the time is right. Thank you.

@ericwt
So I have to add the hardware onto my bill as well - oh joy. Gosh this is becoming an overpriced necessity.  I need the Internet for my work. I will try to hold out for cable - lol. Thank you.

is the $500 deposit also charged to QRP ?

Here is an excellent blog posting from today on the state of the Internet in Belize:

Belize: the most expensive internet in the world?

It's really sad -- hopefully things will change one day.  Until then, we sputter along...