As with everything here, things are very different from what you’re accustomed to in the states or Europe.

First, it’s been widely reported that Antigua is the first ‘digital city’ in Central America, what with fiber optic cable in the streets (one advantage of cobblestones; easy to dig up and then replace) and citywide wireless.  Well, before you get too excited about hanging in the park and surfing the net, let me tell you it’s never once worked for me and I don’t know anyone for whom it has.

So, you’re in Antigua and you need internet service.  If you only need an internet cafe, there are many options.  If you want a place to eat or drink and surf the web, about 1/3 of the establishments have WIFI.  What you will discover very quickly is that even those places who claim to have WIFI have weak or slow connections, sometimes so much so that it is unusable.  The staff, if local, likely will not understand what wireless internet is or care if it works for you.

(For the hypertension prone:  no, I am not saying that local people are idiots.  Well, not all of them.  What I am saying is that there is a prevalent attitude of not caring about customer service or satisfaction.  They vaguely understand that a box in the back provides wireless internet to all those people carrying laptops and ordering coffee, but they don’t really understand or care.  So they advertised free WIFI and the connection is so weak that it’s unusable.  So what?).

If you’re here long-term you’ll need a real solution.  For some people the best solution will be Telgua, the local cable/phone/internet provider.  They have an office right off the park and are generally well respected.   (One local said, “They’re a big company, so you know they’ll never go out of business and will provide good customer service.”)

They offer a combination package phone, internet and basic cable, and as of April 2009, they no longer require a contract.  However, they can make the process a huge pain, and it can be enough of an obstacle that you’ll want something else.

Turbonett is a company several of my friends use, including Academia Colonial, and have great speed.  He gets 1mb down and about 300kb up, and pays about $60/month.  However, this requires a two-year contract, they may require a substantial deposit, and as far as I can tell, you can’t even move that contract to another address within the country.  Your landlord may have to agree to the contract as well (don’t hold your breath).

I’m using Veridas, a wireless ISP run by a expat from New Zealand (that’s near Australia, isn’t it?).  There are no contracts and I pay $50/month for 512k down and about half that up.  Depending upon your location you may need an antenna installed and there could be some additional hardware costs (router, etc.).

I chose Veridas because I wasn’t prepared to make a long-term commitment yet and because I liked the idea of having expat/English customer support a phone call away.  It is wireless, so when the rainy season arrived and the trees started growing again and leaves sprouted everywhere, Veridas sent a group of guys to make some adjustments to the antenna.

Keep in mind that this is Guatemala and this is not going to be like the connections you’re used to in Europe or the US.  When I left AZ, I had a 3mb connection for about $50/month.  I hear now that some people are getting 6mb for this price.  If you’re working on the web and have other heavy users among your household, you can use and appreciate that kind of speed and it will take some adjusting to live on a 512mb speed.