Chile Forum

I was just about to say something nice about VTR, and they screwed up my internet connection again tonight. They had been doing ok for a couple of months.

Once I figured out not to let them fix anything, and to use my own dns server (opendns.com is your friend for chile), the the connection has not been bad recently.

They did burn us badly with no telephone for about 2 weeks when we moved. They could not switch our phone number to the new area for lack of capacity. The number that we promoted all over the internet, and on our business cards. Our phone service is bundled with cable and internet. It cost us a pretty penny in contracting another phone company, standing around waiting for them to show for the repairs, and general lost business. Our conservative estimate is the screwup cost us around a million pesos in total.

We have had problems with telefonica del sur also, but nothing serious. mostly crappy equipment. They would be more inclined though to allow you to use your own dsl router as they simply provide off the shelf dlink routers.

My advice is if you run a serious live or die by the internet type biz is to contract two companies for redundant connections. We will be doing that later this year.

If you bring your own router, be aware that the guys from who ever you contract for service will not have a clue (don't let them touch it anyway), but they will also insist that you use their own equipment so they can control it from the main head quarters.

VTR has gotten really bad about this. They even put a thick plastic collar on the connection where my cable enters the modem, so you can not unscrew it from the modem. You have to cut the cable. It really serves no purpose. I told the guys to take it off so I could move my router to different rooms in the house if I need it, and they insisted that it was needed for the modem to function correctly (yea, they typically treat me like an idiot even though I could likely rebuild their network with a pocket knife and some chewing gum). I showed them my cable crimper last time and told them, "no problem, I'll do it myself".

The one that really pisses me off is locking my connection to the MAC address (i.e. hardware address on every computer). Which I run only Linux, so it is fairly easy to change, and most routers now clone them as a standard feature. It is just a ploy to burn their users by having to contact them for service. Which might make sense, if they where able to provide the service they are forcing you to contract.

I have not seen any bandwidth limits attached to packages accept the high end 10 mb type connections. They only give you something like a 1 gig a month. Which the reason for a fast connection like that is to really be able to download a local copy of everything on the internet. 1 gig is not much fun. Better to get a 1-2 mb connection and just download more.

We run everything off a 600-700 kb connection just fine. Most of our work is just sending a lot of text around and using Skype from time to time. More bandwidth is really waisted.


I see now that plug'n play cable is in Temuco and starting to expand out. I do not think they have reached my part of town yet, but it would be nice to have someone else in the market. I am going to check them out next time I am near their office, and will report back.

I just bought a Belkin wireless router at the Paris department store the other day and it cost about $70 us (34,000 pesos). It was more or less garbage. It took a bit of hacking to get it working properly. They give those routers away in the States now with a purchase of a cup of coffe at Star Bucks, along with a free t-shirt. A good basic router will run you about $100-200 US in Chile.

Basically if it is computer hardware related expect to pay at least twice the price, for half the quality (e.g. low end, outdated, or just overpriced). There really needs to be some tax break type incentives to get the cheapskates in the computer industry to import more high end hardware for the Chilean market. They tend to buy the discount stuff from Florida, and then resell it in Chile as premium equipment.

It really hurts to pay that kind of money for something they do not even sell in the States anymore. So, pick up a cheap router on your way. Good combo dsl/wireless/routers will now fit in your pocket, and if you need to buy one in Chile you will pay dearly for it. Worse case, someone on the forum will buy it from you.

I also would be inclined to tell you to bring your Mac, over say something else. First, if you are going to bring a computer it should be one with a rep for being reliable. I am not a mac user, but I have a good deal of respect for them. Second, even if you brought say a dell or what ever, I would not want to let the techs in Chile mess with my laptop anyway. Third, just get a good insurance policy on your computer from back home that covers the complete destruction or theft of it. I had an HP notebook that died in Chile with an insurance policy on it from Best Buy in the States, and I simply had a local HP service guy declare it dead. Best Buy then kicked out my insurance check for the full price. By the way, don't buy HP.

Health care is excellent in Chile. Health insurance is also good and cheap. Me and my wife from ING full coverage for everything including dental would be about $150 US a month. All the big international companies are here, but under various legal restrictions from doing the dumb things they do in the States like doctors needing approval to perform operations.

There is also a government health insurance program.

I come from the States, and to be able to even see a doctor at all is a real treat. Watch Michel More's 'Sicko', I think he is downplaying the problems with the American health care system, not exaggerating. Every time I got sick or hurt in the States, the first thing that flashed through my mind was 'would this bankrupt me and my family?'. That is, if a doctor would even see me because I did not have insurance.

When we go to the doctors office in Chile, let alone an emergency room, we get to see a real doctor in about 15 mins max. Most times at the Emergency rooms we are met at the door by a doctor, not a nurse or a secretary.

The intensive care units at the major trauma centers are more modern than a lot I have seen in the "developed" countries. Beds in an Intensive care unit at say Clinca Alemana (the best in the country), paying cash, run about the same as any expensive hotel in Santiago.

If you come from a country with some sort of socialized health insurance, you might check before you go if they pay for medical services in Chile or reimburse you after. I have heard that some do.