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The fiber optic circus


Tingting

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Well, it finally happened. I received probably half a dozen SMS messages on my phone to tell me that fiber optic was now available, but when I got to the calendar to make an appointment, nothing was available (so why bother sending a message?). Anyway, yesterday came the knock on the door as a very courteous TELMEX installer asked me if we wanted the fiber optic installed as they were doing it for two of our neighbors. Of course, we did! Even though we have satellite, why not as a backup, right? Whoo boy, was that a big mistake. Installation was...hmmm...interesting, but I won't go into all of the details because most are small things. Let's just say that they were here a lot longer than they expected to be. For the longest time, the signal wasn't there. Finally, it was, but we couldn't connect. Then, we could connect, but not our range extender. One of two computers had problems but we figured it was a problem with that particular one since the other one was working. The guys leave. About this same time, I get an SMS from TELMEX apologizing and saying that they were unable to provide the fiber optic to us (??????). So, if we try to connect using it (because it's there), the speed is...ready?...3.11 download and .93 upload. Wow, what amazing speed. I'm blinded by the rushing wind!  I just did another one and got 9.06 and 3.35 -- still less than the old modem. Then, I tested using our range extender and the satellite... for 135.13 download and  and 7.61 upload. Oh, and after the guys left, we lost phone service and it still isn't back. So..TELMEX???

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We had fiber optics installed in our home yesterday (Brisas  de  Chapala). We have a 2 level home with 3 places in use for wifi.  Before yesterday our top speed was 9.4 mbps. After installation of fiber and setting up TP link deco mesh units,  we are getting, on average, 48 mbps in each location.   

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3 hours ago, Tingting said:

Well, it finally happened. I received probably half a dozen SMS messages on my phone to tell me that fiber optic was now available, but when I got to the calendar to make an appointment, nothing was available (so why bother sending a message?). Anyway, yesterday came the knock on the door as a very courteous TELMEX installer asked me if we wanted the fiber optic installed as they were doing it for two of our neighbors. Of course, we did! Even though we have satellite, why not as a backup, right? Whoo boy, was that a big mistake. Installation was...hmmm...interesting, but I won't go into all of the details because most are small things. Let's just say that they were here a lot longer than they expected to be. For the longest time, the signal wasn't there. Finally, it was, but we couldn't connect. Then, we could connect, but not our range extender. One of two computers had problems but we figured it was a problem with that particular one since the other one was working. The guys leave. About this same time, I get an SMS from TELMEX apologizing and saying that they were unable to provide the fiber optic to us (??????). So, if we try to connect using it (because it's there), the speed is...ready?...3.11 download and .93 upload. Wow, what amazing speed. I'm blinded by the rushing wind!  I just did another one and got 9.06 and 3.35 -- still less than the old modem. Then, I tested using our range extender and the satellite... for 135.13 download and  and 7.61 upload. Oh, and after the guys left, we lost phone service and it still isn't back. So..TELMEX???

You need to use cordless phones. Base unit must be plugged into the modem then any extension phones that are plugged into electrical outlets will work.  You no longer have landline service as it would have been disconnected by the technician.  

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3 minutes ago, ibarra said:

You need to use cordless phones. Base unit must be plugged into the modem then any extension phones that are plugged into electrical outlets will work.  You no longer have landline service as it would have been disconnected by the technician.  

If there is a phone outlet near the modem the installation people can connect you to the house's wiring so all the phones still work. Was done in my house at no charge.  No need to buy cordless phones. 

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Thanks all for the suggestions, but right now we don't have a fiber optics line as evidenced by the non-existent speed and conflicts.The installation was poorly done because the reps had been here a while and wanted to go to their next job. Meanwhile, we are far worse off than we were before they got here. Thank goodness it was free because I'd hate to think we paid for this crap. Hubby is going to try the above suggestions, along with a few others, but this is pushing me more to cancel TE,LMEX permanently. Starlink is fantastic and we have cell phones, so why bother?  

ETA:  we do have cordless phones. BTW, has TELMEX opened back up for customer service?

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THE UPDATE:  First, a big THANK YOU! to Ibarra. The installers left without connecting our phone line to the modem (or much else if I'm honest) and so we tried the direct connect. It worked. Whoo hoo, we have telephones again. There are still a few problems to be ironed out, but the main one is gone. I'm still of the opinion that I'd rather stick with Starlink (waaaaaay faster) and cells but we'll keep it for now as a backup. So, once again Chapala.com came through with help - thank you all! 

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The last I checked, it was about 30, so someone must have toggled something or whatever they do. It's really strange because we got the SMS that said they couldn't provide fiber optics yet it was there (barely). Today, it came in at a respectable speed, yet no SMS. For now, we'll keep it as a backup, but Starlink has my loyalty.

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THE FINAL UPDATE:  I checked the speeds just a few minutes ago and got this:

TELMEX (fiber optics)      26.14 download          8.41  upload

Starlink satellite               143.08    "                     2.03     "

Starlink/w range ex.          79.57     "                     3.39     "

While 26.14 is a definite improvement over the original circus, it's still pales in comparison to the satellite. The nice thing is that it's fast enough for most streaming, so we'll probably keep it for a bit longer as a backup. Who knows what tomorrow will bring, but it's always nice to have choices. My take on all of this is that for those of you about to have fiber optics installed, be sure to check EVERYTHING before the guys leave and that you're comfortable with the answers. I don't think they're bad people or were trying to set us up or anything like that, but they're definitely on the clock for the time that they spend at each place and you might be the one where they accidentally forget something. JMHO

 

 

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Hard to figure this. We've had Telmex fibre for 2 years now and our upload is a steady 250MB (our contracted figure). We connect our pc's directly to the modem via Cat 6 cable. If not connected and using only wireless, we get about half the speed. I think that is because Telmex modems in general have mediocre wireless performance.

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IF you want/need wifi service in your house, do yourself a favor and buy a $100 router to sit behind your fiber modem. Turn the fiber modem's wifi off and use only the router's wifi.  

In the US my cable Internet serves up 250-300mbps wired but their modem choked at 50 for wifi. I put a refurbished ASUS RT-AX3000 wifi6 router behind their modem and now my iPads and phones purr at 250.  My TVs like it too. 

P.S.  Make sure your device(s) will support that kind of wifi speed. I have a fairly new Samsung tablet that won't... but I mostly only use it with cellular when I am on the road. 

P.P.S.  It's fairly unusual to see an UPLOAD speed of 250mbps even with fiber. 

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We have a multi story home and need extender units.  We purchased 3 TP Link Deco M5 units.  You do not turn off modem, don't even understand that comment.  Instructions call for plugging in the mesh units to the modem so the signal is coming from the mesh extender units.  We sometimes use up to 3 devices at one time and our speed is consistently averaging at 42 mbps (we pay 389 per month which has a top speed of 50 mbps).  

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On 11/3/2022 at 6:50 AM, NLU said:

IF you want/need wifi service in your house, do yourself a favor and buy a $100 router to sit behind your fiber modem. Turn the fiber modem's wifi off and use only the router's wifi.  

Por favor, how to turn off and why?

Thanks

The 'why' is that you don't want the inferior wifi signal when you have a better one with the new router. OK to leave on 'tho... just don't connect to it with your devices.

To 'turn off' one must connect to the Telmex modem with a browser to access its settings. Then turn off its wifi.  If one knows 'how' to connect to their modem with a browser it is quick and simple, but it is not something that most know how to do. 

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20 hours ago, RickS said:

IF you want/need wifi service in your house, do yourself a favor and buy a $100 router to sit behind your fiber modem. Turn the fiber modem's wifi off and use only the router's wifi.  

In the US my cable Internet serves up 250-300mbps wired but their modem choked at 50 for wifi. I put a refurbished ASUS RT-AX3000 wifi6 router behind their modem and now my iPads and phones purr at 250.  My TVs like it too. 

P.S.  Make sure your device(s) will support that kine of wifi speed. I have a fairly new Samsung tablet that won't... but I mostly only use it with cellular when I am on the road. 

P.P.S.  It's fairly unusual to see an UPLOAD speed of 250mbps even with fiber. 

Yeah, my mistake. Should have been 250 down. Upload ranges between 120 and 150MB. Senior moment!

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1 hour ago, phil in mexico said:

I thought I had an appointment  for 11 am Friday I waited, nothing ⚠️

Our experience here in the Haciendas is it's catch as catch can. There's one team and they work down the line (calle), no appointments, no guarantee of when they'll show up.

I should add that this is because every house is different and while small houses like ours take poco tiempo, there were some on our street that were muy complicado.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Mainecoons said:

We are hoping to make the switch to fiber optic soon.  I would like to hire someone to help set up the new system including the modem that runs our NOB ISP.  Now we have a separate modem for it but it is an old one.  We leave both WiFis on and use them interchangeably.

 

We had 2 modems prior to fiber optics.  However,  we only had one on at a time.  Please refer to my post from Thursday.  As you will read, we purchased mesh extenders from Amazon.com.   Instructions were very simple on the website downloaded for hooking up units to new modem.   

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5 hours ago, Mainecoons said:

We are hoping to make the switch to fiber optic soon.  I would like to hire someone to help set up the new system including the modem that runs our NOB ISP.  Now we have a separate modem for it but it is an old one.  We leave both WiFi's on and use them interchangeably.

 

MC, are you suggesting that, at Lakeside, you are running a modem that is connected to a US  ISP somehow?

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