Internet service

i have had good experiences with both broadband vi for work and employer's home network, and personally with choice lite dsl (choice vi). I have this because of the problem getting regular high speed in my area, and have very little downtime at home. it's not the highest speed but has been very reliable for me. tech knows their stuff as well.

i must say i did not have great luck with innovative high speed at work which is why we switched. on the personal front, i must also say that whenever it rains i get the static in my phone line which meant dropping internet dialup connections (earthlink), so that's why i have choice dsl. i know enough to be dangerous and at the risk of offending innovative, if they cannot keep my phone line clear (despite honorable efforts!) i don't expect them to be able to get the digital subscriber line to stay live consistently either. not the workers' fault. but that's my experience.

i know some people who have great success with innovative, it has to do with the quality of the facilities. with lizards, mold, ants, heat, water and all else we have to deal with in the islands, it's no wonder that it's hard to get digital communication going. but it happens! don't mean to spook u. if you can check with the people in the area where you're going (if you know anyone), ask them what they are using.

here, no provider can really "suck"... they do the best they can with what they've got. in fact, if you apply that to your entire stay, it will help. welcome to the virgin islands! 😀

Good morning br1k,

Click on the Search link at the top of this thread. Type in "Internet" as your search term and set the search range to at least 1 year. You will find a lot of information, including from those of us who work from home.

My current setup is (1) Innovative DSL (only because it's free with my rent; it was just off for 3 days because of the rains from Ana), (2) an AT&T wireless aircard as backup, and (3) $1/day wireless at Marketplace with a line-of-sight T1 connection to the tower on St. Thomas as backup for both of those things. This level of connection redundancy is overkill for most, but I need as close as I can get to 100% uptime when I'm working. Speeds are all over the map.

Good luck to you!

For reliability you can't beat Hughesnet satellite internet.

Innovative in my opinoin was the quickest for installation. I have tried both broadband and innv. And decided to go with innv although I use broadband mostly at work. With innovative as long as they have the modems in all you have to do is go home and plug it in. With broadband you have to wait for them to install it. If you're in a good area.

Both will go down periodically much like our electric. So you might have to spend some money on something like hughsnet if its a priority that you have internet consistantly with no down time. And keep your laptop full charged for when the electric goes out. . =)

What kind of luck has anyone had with AT&T air card. Is that 3G? I have 3G on this I Phone and I can be sitting in my gallery and it will come and go with a 5 bar signal. Is the air card better?

Thanks all for the answers!

Anita, is "choice vi" also wireless? I looked at their web site and it does seem so, but they are not quite as explicit about that so I'd like to make sure.

I have used AT&T 3G network on St. Thomas with my laptop "tethered" to the phone, and speeds were about the same I get with AT&T here (which is not enough to sustain my work long term but sufficient for my leisure internet activities 🙂 )

For reliability you can't beat Hughesnet satellite internet.

... unless it's a really cloudy day. 😉 But yes, it's the only thing you can count on to be up after a hurricane... assuming you still have your dish attached to your house!

Terry, my aircard is 3G. Unfortunately, having an aircard won't improve the level of signal you get vs. what you get on your phone. I got a good tip from the guy at the AT&T store -- get a USB-based aircard, and then get a USB extension cable so you can position the aircard wherever the signal is best (and avoid holding your laptop up in the air for a better signal :D).

For anyone interested, the prices on aircards at the AT&T store on STT/STJ are no different from the deals available online, plus no waiting for the thing to be shipped. I was pleasantly surprised.

It has to be pouring rain to knock out Hughesnet. And that's usually momentary.
After hurricane Omar I started my generator and had TV and internet the next morning.

And yes......It helps if it's still attached to the house or pole.:-)
Some take them down to protect them. They are rated at 125 mph survivabilty and after Omar I had very few repairs or even re-tuning on any of my installs.

Thanks all for the answers!

Anita, is "choice vi" also wireless? I looked at their web site and it does seem so, but they are not quite as explicit about that so I'd like to make sure.

yes choice vi is wireless internet. they give you an antenna. i have used it at home and when i did a little "stay-cation" at an east end resort i took it with me and i was connected and happy all the while!

i have hughesnet and is great i have for backup innovative, hughesnet is way faster than innovative i also have a sprint card it also works good.

just got a Sprint MiFi card for home and all over, works great and is super fast. We also have Innovative Broadband at the house, but iot's been down for 2 days, not sure why, no real weather has moved through or anything. I love the MiFi card and can take it with me anywhere, will support up tpo 5 devices and it's 3g.

I have never heard of Hughesnet, what does it cost and where do you get it? What does Sprint cost?

I already had it in puerto rico i had a friend from PR put it up for me. I know that in STT and STX there are some dealers there is one in this forum that that is a hughesnet dealer. As per sprint Lockhart gardens plaza in stt or you could get in any sprint store state side bring it and by phone they will give you 340 area code number or you could keep it with a nationwide plan.

Hughesnet was originally called DirectPC. I had it 6-7 years ago on STX.

i think it was called direcway i had it in our family farm in coamo puerto rico since 1997!!!!

It went by both names. Google it, you'll see.

I also have Sprint. I was using the mobile broadband card and last week upgraded to the MiFi. It worked everywhere on the island except over by Divi. It costs 59 a month, is 3G and I have unlimited data. I know some people have said that there is a 5 Gig limit but my plan is unlimited data so I am not sure what they are talking about when they say there is a 5 Gig limit. I love it. I have used sprint for internet for the last 3 years.