Chop

I reached Dr Garcia successfully at 333 368 1915

23 hours ago, ibarra said:

An internet search using his name revealed: 333 841 0653 and this 333 368 1915

FYI  We haven't had to use 045 for at least a year, maybe longer. Just dial the 10 digits.

Great...My internet searches were revealing a different Dr Garcia.  Thanks for your help!

I am hoping someone can assist me with the phone and location of Gabriel Garcia M.D

If his number still starts with 045, could you also advise on how to dial him from a mobile phone here at Lakeside?

I see that there are tank adapters on Mercado Libre (there are also Soda Stream canisters available too).
Anyone aware of someone locally that has a C02 tank that could fill?

Thanks @AlanMexicali

This is quite the thread...leaving me a little bit confused as I try to sort out the protocol before leaving MX in a couple weeks for a quick trip up to the states.

Is the information above still current, or have changes taken place since 2017?

Does anyone know if the Pase Turistico is necessary for travel to the State of Mexico?

I am driving a rental car (2013) with Oaxaca plates from Ajijic to just west of Toluca.  

I've rented from Margaret and would recommend.  Good experience and price.

Anyone have a particular car rental place at the airport that they'd recommend?  A couple times in the states recently, I have reserved a car at an airport only to arrive and not have a vehicle available.  Curious if this happens at the GDL airport as well.

In mid January, I have a retreat just west of Toluca that I am planning to attend and I do not need a large car.  I'll be driving to the retreat center and then the car will not be used until I drive back to Chapala on the 24th.  

I've written several of the local folks (renting locally at lakeside would be my preference) that I could I find contact information, but several that have replied don't have a car during that time or haven't replied.

Thanks in Advance.

On 12/4/2021 at 12:06 PM, Chop said:

I just messaged TPs tech support and have someone coming out on Tuesday with the Mesh unit.  It is 50 pesos/month at the 100mbs service level.

Thanks again @GDouglas - looking forward to some great WiFi in my upstairs

Just a follow up here.  The mesh unit is working well.  We do lose quite a bit of speed up on the second floor unit which has the mesh receiver, but it is still good and extends to the whole second floor.

I am looking for referrals for a local engineer/architect that could possibly solve some street sound issues as well as lighting in my home in the village.

Thanks in advance.

I just messaged TPs tech support and have someone coming out on Tuesday with the Mesh unit.  It is 50 pesos/month at the 100mbs service level.

Thanks again @GDouglas - looking forward to some great WiFi in my upstairs

@GDouglas

TotalPlay has the mesh included at 200Mbs on their website.  I wonder if it used to be included at the 100Mbs plan?

16 hours ago, GDouglas said:

Why not get TotalPlay's free "mesh" repeaters or extenders?  Anything called "mesh" is better.  They are included with the 100Mbps-and-faster plans.  

Thanks for your thoughts on this @GDouglas, @RickS and @oregontochapala

I didn't know that TotalPlay would give out a mesh wifi repeater..  That is pretty great of them.  I have the 100mb plan...so will chat with them on that.  I found a viga bay (between two I beams) directly above the TotalPlay router that is getting nearly top speed.  If I can put the mesh unit nearly directly above - and it can broadcast similarly to the router, I think the signal upstairs would be quite excellent. 

Thanks folks!

On 12/1/2021 at 7:06 PM, GDouglas said:

For a better WiFi signal, I use a separate big-antenna WiFi router connected to my TotalPlay router (which can have WiFi turned on/off).

I don't use VPN's often but VPN's work fine with TotalPlay.

Can you recommend a big-antenna router?  WiFi signal is quite weak going up to the second floor in my house.  I'd rather not run a line along the wall and drill through the ceiling to put a separate router up in the second floor if I can avoid it.  Thanks!

I had TotalPlay installed about 3 weeks ago.  Great process.  

Contacted the number on the back of the flyer on a Thursday, WhatsApp'd with that person a bit to answer my questions.  Friday, main office called and set up the installation appoint. Saturday, it was installed.  Monday, gave iLox back their modem and ended service with them.

The service has been solid, it is always on, no cut-outs.  I can know have a voice call through WhatsApp, FB, Hangouts, etc, and hear things nice and clear and the signal doesn't drop 5-10 times per hour.

Thank you to those who have posted their experience and process

I am looking for a recommendation on either a WiFi extender or mesh system to get great WiFi signal across a couple floors and through the walls.

Anybody have a good experience with something they can recommend?

Thanks in advance

Is TotalPlay running their own fiber optic lines or leasing from iLox or another party who has the infrastructure already built?

Has anyone come across Stressless or even a knock off in the Guadalajara area?

We have a couple of these lovely chairs in the US and are considering our options to either get them down here or buy a couple for here lakeside. 
 

While expensive, these are easily the best pieces of furniture we have owned. 

On 3/10/2021 at 8:19 PM, Go Solar said:

On the admin side, it would seem that if CFE accepted the papers as legit enough to cancel the old account, they should also accept them for your new service(s).

On the technical side, why did they just pull one meter?     If need be, for the short term, you can have an electrician hook up both services to the one still functioning meter.....which should cover all things unless you have 2 x 1 fase meters (only 120 V each) and need 240 in the house, some of the older homes are still operating that way.     But at the least, you'd be able to run all 120 V things, that way.

I am not sure why they only pulled one meter.  Pulling any makes no sense either. 
 

Ultimately, we had the old owner of the house call CFE for a new service install in his name. To do so, one doesn’t need any documentation, only a CURP.  It wasn’t quick and took 12 days from when we called. 
 

We pulled power off the other unit that we own via an extension cord.   Not ideal but it was fine to be able to keep the fridge going and other basics. 
 

Of note, for someone running into this problem or similar where you are trying to change the name on the CFE account:

Trying to do the process in person is a bit of a pain. You need to provide a pile of paperwork. Over the phone you only need your CURP number, and their is no documents to present etc....

Once we get our residency, we will get the accounts into our name, but will just do it over the phone.   The CURP has some magic powers that an escritura, predial, passports, someone can’t match.  Owning the home is not of consequence, but just having a CURP to tie to the account seems like the golden ticket with the CFE protocols. 

I do not know if this is true or not, but I was told recently that there is a service (presumably offered by a local lawyer) that takes a group of foreigners up to the Laredo consulate and assists them in getting the paperwork rolling on temporary and permanent resident visas.

Since I had no luck getting the process started while back in the states in October/November (closest consulate appeared to be closed), I am interested in knowing if the above described service is actually available, and who orchestrates it, contact info, etc...

Thanks in advance.

Anyone have a massage practitioner recommendation?

I am looking for someone in the style/anatomy knowledge of Erin Dixon.  I have went to Erin periodically over the past 7 years, but she is not currently in practice.

Thanks in advance.

Heading up to the border soon, and was curious about the various options crossing at/or near the border at Laredo. 

Looking at https://bwt.cbp.gov/ it appears that just Bridge 2 and Colombia are currently open.

Is the Colombia crossing preferred for some reason?  I have see several folks mention using this.  The ones through Nuevo Laredo (Bridge 2, for instance) seems like it would be a more direct path.  I do not know about the traffic up there however.

I have directions that include the Banjercito at the Colombia crossing.  

If Bridge 2 would be preferable, could someone tell me where the Banjercito is located near or en route to it?

Thanks in advance!

18 hours ago, bojackson said:

Off topic but anyone know how many installers iLox has?  

Chatting with an installer in January, he mentioned that they normally have two for the whole Ajijijc, -> Chapala area.  At that time however, it was only him.  The other installer had fell off a ladder and hurt his neck and back.

This is referring to the guys actually getting service brought into the house and got it going.  

18 hours ago, Out1 said:

A good router may help your buffering issue if you need or are using a VPN. I could go on forever with the testing that I have done over the last year but the short story is that I have an Asus router with StrongVPN loaded on it and this has eliminated all buffering issues. Also, and I know some of the computer geeks here are going to disagree with me but I get faster download speeds with StrongVPN vs no VPN (measured by both Speedtest.net and Fast.com) and I guess this is because the internet is going directly to the US rather than bouncing around Mexico before getting to the US. In fact the Asus router with StrongVPN has made it possible that I can stream on Telmex internet so I will be cancelling the Ilox service very soon.

Do all routers have the ability to load a VPN?  I have a Netgear N600 WNDR3700.

We use Express VPN for our phones and computers, which has been good...but our current installation is limited to those devices.