Since November 2009, Telcel 3G internet access has been available at El Dorado Ranch (and other areas) in San Felipe. For the first year, it was the best solution for internet access in areas without landline phones. But it can no longer be recommended.
What it should do
During 2010 it was possible to get reasonably fast internet through Telcel 3G Amigo. During the day and evening, download speeds were typically in the range 500-1500 kb/s, with upload speeds around 250-350 kb/s, At off peak times, download speeds up to 2500 kb/s were not unusual, with the upload being a very consistent 350 kb/s.
The service wasn't totally reliable, several days of complete outage, and periods of slowness. But, 90-95% of the time, it was usable.
What it's like now
Late in 2010, and continuing into 2011, the speeds and reliability of the Telcel 3G started declining. By February 2011, it had become so slow at peak times, with frequent disconnects that it had become almost unusable.
By April, typical download speeds had fallen below the speed of the old Telnor system, at many times of the day - sometimes almost as bad as dial-up. Also there appears to have been a change by Telcel to the maximum upload speed setting and it's now rare to get an upload speed much above 100 kb/s.
At offpeak times (for example, 1am on a Sunday morning!) it's still possible to get download speeds above 2000 kb/s, so the problems with download speeds appears to be a lack of peak capacity rather than any uplink problem (or, a very poor uplink that is easily overloaded). Even at those times though the upload speed is still only a third of what is was, so there has clearly been a change to the settings by Telcel.
In addition, something has changed in the Telcel tower settings that makes it harder for a wireless modem to reconnect after a disconnect. The same modems that worked fine reconnecting during 2010 now have trouble reconnecting at times until they are rebooted. Probably a software "upgrade" at the tower that causes compatability problems.
The result
The result is I really can't recommend Telcel 3G any longer. Maybe Telcel will add more capacity in time, maybe not. There is a finite capacity of each tower, and the uplinks from those towers, so it's possible the only solution may be to build more towers, which will take time, if they even consider it.
The problem will be partly self correcting - those who try Telcel 3G now will not become regular customers, and existing customers will give up, which will create more capacity.
Tell us
Has your experience of Telcel 3G been the same? Does yours work better? Add a comment below...
Comments
Richard
Friday, April 1 2011, 22:03
Your assesment is totally correct. I asked Telcel *264 about the problem. They said that Telcel is building a new network- to be completed by the end of the year.
My suggestion is call *264 daily and complain. They speak English.
Richard
Vivian
Saturday, April 2 2011, 07:58
Rob, thanks for posting this article. I am an online professor who previously used the Telcel 3G. For the past six months or more, I have found it completely unusable due to the slow speeds. I like Richard's idea of calling *264 daily. I have done that, and I have also written to Carlos Slim (he didn't answer). ;) This Internet problem MUST be addressed, if San Felipe is ever going to advance and become a place where people can live and work. I hope we can do something collectively to improve the Internet situation in San Felipe. Let’s keep the complaints flowing to Telnor. Thanks for highlighting this extremely important issue.
Vaga
Saturday, April 2 2011, 13:24
Is the same as Hughes Net we have in the South Campos?
Rob
Saturday, April 2 2011, 13:35
Vaga: No, the Telcel 3G is mobile phone based internet, from local cellphone towers.
Hughes Net is a satellite system, using a dish antenna to connect to a satellite in orbit.
Hughes Net is another option for internet, but most reviews I've read of satellite internet say it's really a last resort, only use if nothing else is available (which may well be the case in some south campos).
Bill
Saturday, April 2 2011, 15:52
I called *264 earlier this week to ask if they had changed the parameters of their 3G service. The gentleman I spoke to claimed they had not. He claimed that they were still working on the system in our area after the two-day outage the previous week. He claimed that the service would return to its old self, if I would be patient.
This last week I did twice measure an upload speed of about 250 (sorry, I didn't record details as to time and test). This hasn't happened in over a month.
Today, Saturday 2 Apr at 15:45, just prior to hitting Send, here, I just got a reading of 1350/200 Kbps from Speakeasy's test against their Los Angeles server. This reading occurred while my wife was on a Vonage phone call, so, presumably would have been higher otherwise. This makes me think they haven't actually put a 100 Kbps cap on, at least.
John Adams
Saturday, May 14 2011, 14:47
I'm also a victim of Telcel's 3G system and continue to experience the problems mentioned here. Vivian, you need to be careful about the statement you made: "...if San Felipe is ever going to advance and become a place where people can live and work." If you are not a Mexican citizen then such a statement carries an implication that you are a social activist with an agenda to become politically involved in Mexico's affairs, and that can get you deported - seriously - as the Mexican Constitution forbids "any kind" of political activity by non-citizens. Be careful.
Bill
Thursday, July 14 2011, 13:49
I just did a mid-day, mid-week speed test. 1.59/0.31 Mbps down and up. (Speakeasy vs LA server)
While one can't always get results this good, it's not uncommon. I don't think Telcel has limited upload bandwidth to something like 100Kbps to make VoIP unworkable.
Vonage mostly works for us, but sometimes there are episodes of no voice getting through, one direction or the other.
Tried watching a 4-minute You Tube video in the middle of the day yesterday and it worked without any problem.
If only these results were consistent. Perhaps the numbers I'm seeing are only because demand is down in the summer.
GuaymasJim
Tuesday, December 13 2011, 11:03
I use Telcel 3G when traveling to and from Guaymas, Sonora and Nogales, AZ. I use an external 29" antenna coupled to a Wilson Booster and a CradlePoint CTR35 WiFi "N" router in my van. With this setup, my son uses his iPad, my wife her laptop by connection to the WiFi router just like in our home. There is only one moderately weak area on the trip where the signal degrades for a few minutes. We use Vonage, Youtube, Skype, MS IM.
At one point the router was broadcasting so strongly, that another vehicle followed closely for quite a while and my son saw them connect to our router. We encrypted it and never had that problem again.