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Ilox Update


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I think it is time to start a new thread, if that is what is is called, as this one is getting very long.

We have had Ilox now for approximately a month a half.  We live in Villa Nova and are very happy with the service.  We are getting between 45-100 Mbps consistently.  Have not tried it yet with my VPN but will eventually.

There was an outage the latter part of this week and we were without service for about 4 hours in early evening.  I emailed Ilox (don't bother phoning as if Ilox is down and you don't have a Telmex line then you are out of luck.  I used the noc@blablabla address and believe it or not I had a response from them in less than half an hour saying that they were having problems in Ajijic and that our service would be reconnected asap.  In 2-4 hours later we had service back.  They are new and I expect a few breaking-in problems.  However, we have to give them a chance.  They are new here and Telmex has been here for years, with IMO, lousy customer support and service.

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We moved here in February of 2017. We left Ethernet speeds of 140 Mbps in the US for at best 2 Mbps here. Frustration mounted. I use a VPN for all sensitive internet interactions so that slowed it down a bit more. Often, I played Solitaire on my phone while waiting for things to download and, especially, for things to upload at 0.2 Mbps.

 

I read about ILOX on the Chapala Web Board sometime in early 2018 or late 2017. We are very much early adopters. We researched the company on line to find that it was the highest rated telecommunications company in the country. Now, my husband and I understand Mexico. Mexico does not have a mind set at all for customer service. Not one bit! We know and accept this as the way it is. My mantra is, “Soy jubilada. Tengo mucho tiempo. No tengo prisa.” We take a breath and then we wait. It is worth it to be able to live here.

 

So, we never got anywhere with ILOX on what they needed for us to do for the infrastructure in our small colonos. We had voted to proceed with above ground conduit along the perimeter walls as being expeditious and far cheaper. But, again, we never could get anyone to give us the information. If we had had this information when we first tried to get it, then the conduits would have been installed months sooner. But we finally got smart and lucky. We saw ILOX running the cable in our area and we had a bilingual friend talk to them. Soon we were all friends and we had a reliable contact.

In February 2019 my husband and his Mexican friends did our installation which included conduit into the homes. Our original estimate of about $4000 USD was based on Home Depot (MX) prices. But our friend, Vicente, found great prices in Guadalajara. My husband donated his time, the workers were paid, and our total was about $2200 USD. In some areas the conduit on the walls is painted, in other places it is covered with cement. It went through two carports as well. As they finished the work, the guys from ILOX installation told us we would get the cable (not the modems) the next week. Well, of course it was about three weeks later that we got the cable in mid-February.

The modems came in April. We were the first in our colonos and I had impressive speeds on April 4th. Now, the speeds that they promote are speeds delivered to the modem. They are NOT Wi-Fi speeds, but Ethernet speeds. My Ethernet in the US was 140 Mbps and Wi-Fi was about 80 Mbps. That is the norm. But it seems that many on the Web Board do not understand this.

 

I also know that every internet company provides cheap modem/routers, even north of the border. I had already brought back an ASUS router that I used with the ancient Telmex modem. And with both Telmex and ILOX, these modems do not allow setting to bridge mode. But it worked with Telmex and it works with ILOX. But for the first few days of ILOX only, our casita downstairs had fine Wi-Fi. And, just like with Telmex, the Wi-Fi did not reach the farthest point in the house – my toilet. So that is not a good place to check email. It is a bit better with ASUS.

The best place to put a modem/router is where you are going to use it! This also is not well understood by people down here. We have an office/den/TV room and that is where all the hardware is. I ran Ethernet to my PC and to the Fire TV. Speeds are generally 80’s to 90’s Mbps. When I put the VPN on the router it slowed it down to the 30’s so I went back to using the VPN on the devices instead where it can be turned on or off. We use Express VPN which is required to watch Amazon Prime videos and it also works to get US Netflix which we do not have. VPN speeds on my PC are generally 30-45 Mbps and are similar on the Fire TV. I use fast.com for the speed tests as suggested by Tom Kessler on the Web Board. I use a Cat 7 Ethernet cable but a Cat 5 (at Steren and Walmart) probably would have worked fine. Both the ILOX and the ASUS Wi-Fi work fine in the casita. I happened to have a 100-foot Ethernet cable, so my husband ran it to the casita. Now our friends down there can take advantage of Ethernet speeds on their laptops. My husband’s ancient computer on Wi-Fi (no VPN) gets speeds of about 45 Mbps. And that is about average for iPhones and my very old iPad. I keep the VPN turned on when using the iPad and videos play just fine.


 

Something to remember, people, our devices and computers impact on our perception of “speed.” Yep, Kodi was buffering even with this unfettered speed. So, I looked up how to clear the cache and it is better. My computer is from 2014 so it needs for me to sit down and work on the congestion. But it is still MUCH, MUCH faster than before. No more Solitaire! And for you other Kodi users, Kodi needs to be maintained and updated regularly. Just do a search for monthly lists of working addons and proceed accordingly.

I have learned a lot about Kodi and computers just so I can watch the English Premiere League replays. (You have to watch them right away and the online community highly recommends using a VPN.) We also still watch games and movies in SD (standard definition) as there is less buffering and our older eyes can’t tell the difference anyway.

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2 hours ago, M&C said:

When I put the VPN on the router it slowed it down to the 30’s so I went back to using the VPN on the devices instead where it can be turned on or off. We use Express VPN which is required to watch Amazon Prime videos and it also works to get US Netflix which we do not have. VPN speeds on my PC are generally 30-45 Mbps and are similar on the Fire TV.

When you do not need the encryption of a VPN, you might consider using a DNS server (ex. www.unblock-us.com) for IP address change. My testing showed higher speeds.  This was covered in previous posts.

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On 5/4/2019 at 12:00 AM, tkessler said:

 

No one was expecting 60% of Lakeside to leave town which completely screwed up their installation plans.  The house drops are but a small part of the investment. They built out Ajiic centro, then when they wanted to do the drops, no one was home.   They had to beg for new sign ups to keep their crews busy and utilize the investment they had already made.   Now they are moving to other areas based upon trying to keep their crew utilization at a decent rate. They have to run their business with some semblance of efficiency.  Why exactly are you enraged?    Instead of thrilled that decent fiber is finally coming to the area.    

Contracts are a two way street. If Ilox concludes from communications that a customer is not going to be happy no matter what, they will terminate and refund your money.  What else would you have them do?   

 

 

 

 

I like Tom Kessler, and am grateful for his efforts as part of the group responsible for enticing Ilox into the Lakeside area. I can only imagine the number of hours accrued by Tom (with no compensation) answering questions, fending off aggressive nay-sayers who know nothing of the process particulars, explaining details to many people who seem unable to lift a finger or press a single key to research and learn anything. For that I laud Tom.

But when I hear "No one was expecting 60% of Lakeside to leave town" I have to marvel, because this is a known fact - happens every year, like bird migrations. To the contrary, it seems quite predictable. This sadly reminds me of the GW Bush crowd after 9/11 saying things like "no one could have predicted anyone would fly planes into buildings", especially when the government was staging exercises to encompass that very act, that very day.

All that aside, I fault Ilox only for the almost total lack of communications with their customer base. They issue a sketchy email or two and promise more info, but it never materializes. We hear nothing from them, leaving people like Tom to do all the 'splainin for them. Perhaps they have very little end-user interaction experience as an excuse for this, but come on.... how smart do you have to be to realize people want to be informed of what affects them and their hopes of getting real internet service. C'mon Ilox, talk to us.

 

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And what about the 40% who are still here and are nowhere near getting an installation?

Last time I went to the office I was told maybe another month or two - but I was one of the first 100 prepaid signups.

I totally agree that some communication from Ilox would be very helpful.

 

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On 4/11/2019 at 7:37 AM, nothernewbie said:

I am perplexed by the statement that they are finished with Ajijic Centro. I am prepaid and have not been installed. Guess it is time to go to their office. Anyone else in the same position?

Nothernewbie, I am wondering if you have been installed yet? It's been nearly six weeks since your post and would love to know. And, if you have been installed, can you report your level of satisfaction with the service, putting aside any residual resentment over the installation angst. Thanx in advance for your time and effort.

 

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On 5/19/2019 at 12:16 PM, AngusMactavish said:

A friend that just moved to Ajijic Centro close to MC signed up for Ilox Wednesday and was told they would install this Monday. YMMV

Did that install take place?  I have 2 different friends who were 'told' they would be installed.... twice... but it didn't happen for weeks and with no communications. 

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19 minutes ago, RickS said:

Did that install take place?  I have 2 different friends who were 'told' they would be installed.... twice... but it didn't happen for weeks and with no communications. 

Ya buddy! Of course, they didn't show or call. My friend lives one block from Ilox and has a new appointment at 2 PM today. His email to me said, "Update: Went by Ilox (only one block away). They gave me a new appt. 2 PM on Thursday. We'll see. I could see their schedule lay out on the tube. Looked really open. So maybe they will come. :)"

EDIT: Just received this, "11:06 AM  The tech is on scene for the install. Whoohooo. :)"

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I was connected yesterday. I am a prepaid customer on the Carretera in West Ajijic. I saw them string the line past my house several months back. I emailed them one month ago and was promised a reply from another department. Nothing...so I emailed again, apologies and was told they lost my order, then had an appointment for one week ago. No show...no notification. I emailed again....another apology....trouble with the main line.

With no appointment a very efficient young man showed up yesterday and installed the cable and modem. He easily followed my suggestions and was all done in 2 hours.

Package is 75 MB and phone. My average download speed is 68 (up to 79) MBPS without VPN. When I test with fast.com it shows an enormous drop using VPN 20 to 30 MBPS. I verified with speedtest.com and got the same without VPN but with VPN it showed a drop of only 2 to 4 MBPS.

I therefore tried a timed test opening my email service. Using a server in Texas, my email program opened slightly faster with VPN connected. This makes me dubious of fast.com's accuracy with a VPN. I encountered minor buffering using VPN, KODI and Real Debrid on 2 shows (720 hd). Other shows were fine. This can be a factor of the stream provider [ e.g. seriesonline, directdl, etc] Time will tell.

I am currently happy with the ILOX service.

Thanks to Tom!!

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I don't think they intentionally block, so contacting them at noc-at-mail.ilox.mx will get help or instructions on how to bypass.

I do wish they would add/maintain office staff. I went in today just to ask a question, and had to wait during the very slow process of someone signing up. Counter lady had no interest in acknowledging me while this was going on.

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CG, isn't that (ignoring) pretty common in Mexico. I just wait patiently.... but what would it take to just give eye contact and 'mouth' an acknowledgement.  But then, I'm probably thinking about another culture.....  Never mind.

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Yes, that's why I would be much happier with two staff members, to take up the slack. Perhaps they feel it is unnecessary to have to pay two people. But customer service begins with the first contact. They have no problem answering the phone when dealing with people, which is perhaps even worse.

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On ‎5‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 6:33 PM, Tiny said:

When you do not need the encryption of a VPN, you might consider using a DNS server (ex. www.unblock-us.com) for IP address change. My testing showed higher speeds.  This was covered in previous posts.

I think you are suggesting that a DNS Proxy (like the one I use from ironsocket.com on my Telecable connection) will work with Ilox.  Can I simply plug my Netgear router into the one provided by Ilox? (The Netgear router has been set so as to work with DNS proxy.)   The DNS proxy works much better than the VPN -  at least for me.

 

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1 hour ago, ComputerGuy said:

I don't think they intentionally block, so contacting them at noc-at-mail.ilox.mx will get help or instructions on how to bypass.

You are right CG. My friend contacted them and they fixed the problem. He is one happy user.

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3 minutes ago, barcelonaman said:

Angus. What did your friend get done exactly?

Sorry, my friend is not technical at all and I told him to contact Ilox because I had no confidence in my ability to get it resolved. 

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For IPTV services with ilox you do need a public ip address, the problem is getting one, their is a shortage of public ip addressing  on IPv4 no fault of ilox. Until the switch to IPv6 is completed world wide your best bet is to email ilox NOC and request one and hope for the best?

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