Broadband

www.surfcoralbay.com is your best bet.

There is no local cable company in the islands.

Don't think the local phone company offers DSL there.

Satellite is an option, but why deal with low QoS and latency issues when there's wireless broadband?

Best,

LR

PS I think surfcoralbay is $79/month.

E

Loyal Reader,
Thanks for the info! I had looked at there web site and almost choked at the monthy rates.....lol.......I know things are a little more pricey on STJ, but wow $350 for 512K ouch.

sjm6801,

No problem! Yes, it's pricey for service providers, too! Remember that we're just a speck in the middle of the ocean. 🙂 There's mountainous terrain, redundancy, etc. needed- especially in the land of frequent power outages!

surfcoralbay offers guaranteed speeds, though- unlike other providers- so at least you know what you're getting!

Kind regards,

LR

What do you mean there's no cable company in the Islands? Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but how about Innovative? Here's a quote from their website: "In April 2001, Innovative Telephone Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary headquartered in St. Croix, USVI, became the first telecom in the U.S. to provide residential and business customers with local, long distance and wireless telephone services, cable television and high-speed Internet access including DSL." Are they not still in business? Here's their website: http://www.vipowernet.net/

They offer DSL through their phone lines, not through their cable system.

Thanks, East Ender.

Yes, East Ender is right.

Innovative is the Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (ILEC)- the only phone company on the islands. So yes, there is a "cable company" here- but it's not what you would expect, coming from the States. Stateside companies have things like cable modems (unheard of here), ubiquitous coverage areas, and customer service 😉

Best,

LR

I am happy you are interested in broadband internet service.

If you are interested in our service we would be happy to help you.

Yes, rates are higher here than in the states ($79/month for basic residential) -- and as the other reader stated - we have a number of obstacles to overcome to deliver good service -- also, we answer the phone, install top-notch equipment and are a locally run business. We have provided service for a year here -- and have had 1% downtime.

We do not require any phone line and can install (usually) within a week of ordering service. We also live in Coral Bay and are a community based business.

Thanks.

how about on STX??

Ackley Communications provides broadband on St. Croix.

$99 residential, $199 install.
Must have line of sight to one of the Ackley Towers there- most of the island is covered. Towers are on Mt. Welcome, Little Princesse, and Frederiksted.

www.surfvi.com/bigsurf or 774-5780 for more info.

Best,

LR

Choice Communications offers WDSL (land based line of sight satellite service) on STX that is much faster than dialup and has been fairly reliable for us so far. I stopped by their office last month,filled out an application, and paid the first's month fee ($49) in advance. They came out 2 days later and installed an 8 inch square dish and a router and were done within an hour (with no installation charge). So far there have been a couple of times that I could not establish a connection or it was running very slow, but the vast majority of the time it has been great. We are just barely in the service area (north shore near Cane Bay) and the installer said that it was the weakest signal he had ever installed, which probably contributes to our occasional problems. (When I initially called their office they said that I was not in their service area). It does not use the phone line, which is a good thing since my phone has woked only about half the time over the same same time frame. There is also no contract - it is on a month to month basis. If you are considering moving here, you may want to sign up with Earthlink while still in the states. They have a local access number here and only charge 9.95 for the first 6 months, which allow you to have internet service immediately when you move here until you can find something better.