TV Cable

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Internet Speeds In Cuenca – Update

It’s been 7 weeks since I installed TV Cable and ETAPA services in my new rental house.

TV Cable

I opted for the 6 mb service ($49 per month) with TV Cable.  The service has been outstanding and the most down time experienced has been about a total of 2 hours for the 7 weeks.  Below is a speedtest. net graph of some recent download tests as compared to the global average.

As you can see about 50% of the time I have met or exceeded the global average.  I’m very impressed.

The upload speeds are not as good but are not as important as the download speeds.


ETAPA

I have been very disappointed with the ETAPA service in the new rental. I opted for the 1 mb service ($24 per month) with ETAPA.  When the service is working I meet or exceed these speeds.  Unfortunately, everyday the service goes down for 30 minutes or more each day.  I have to travel to the ETAPA office and make sure I speak to a supervisor and clearly explain the situation.

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Internet And Course Update

It’s been two weeks in the new house and I wanted to update potential Internet subscribers in Cuenca about the stability of the two services.  Why do I have two services?  I teach computer courses and host the Ipad Users Group and people don’t want to hear excuses that the service is down or slow.

TV Cable Internet: Meets or exceeds the contracted 6 mbs download speed and 1.4 up all the time. Only one down time in the two weeks and that only lasted 30 minutes. The Ping (the distance it takes to travel from one host to another) is often under 50 ms.

ETAPA – Missed two installation appointments. They showed up on time for the third scheduled appointment and installed the second service upstairs. This service has been perfect with no down time.  The contracted speed is 1 mb down and the actual speed is 3mb down and 0.6 mb up with a delayed ping of >200.

YMWV – (Your mileage will vary) with ETAPA depending on the neighborhood and if you also have a house phone.

Cost Of Services:

TV Cable – $56

ETAPA – $24

Prices include 12% IVA

Upcoming Courses: 

  1. Blog Course : August 15, 2012
  2. Digital Photo Course: August 22, 2012

Details at The Computer Courses Page

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Television In Cuenca

Recently there was a discussion on “Ecuador Expat Group” on Facebook about watching “The NCAA Basketball Final Four” Some interesting posts were raised. I thought I would share my experience with DirecTV and encourage other people to share their experience with TV Cable, the other TV provider in Cuenca.

DirecTV Installation, Setup and Cost:

  • The installation crew showed up as promised and on time.  The installation went flawless and took 20 minutes.
  • I opted for the HD Recorder and the basic packages
  • Cost for Installation was $84
  • Cost per month is $43 – taken out of my credit card on the first of each month

DirecTV Pros:

  • Extremely reliable
  • Pristine picture
  • Easy to use remote
  • English Track on select programs

DirecTV Cons:

  • No Network (ABC, CBS,NBC) programming. Fox is available
  • Limited English channels
  • Limited selection of movies
  • No PBS programs

To be fair my wife and I are not avid TV watchers.  I will probably cancel the DirecTV contract at the end of April. The initial contract was for 6 months.  I find myself using Apple TV for NBC and CBS News and tech video podcasts.

I’ll look forward to posting comments from others who subscribe to DirecTV and TV Cable.