Looking to stay a month, need reliable internet

[TNEngineer]

I researched using satellite Internet on the ABC Islands years ago, before StarLink existed. Bonaire in particular had steep daily fines for private dishes that transmitted (TV downlink was OK, just not uplinks).

This is last year, but I don't know if it's been resolved yet:

Starlink to be discontinued in Caribbean Netherlands

The Dutch Authority for Digital Infrastructure has established that Starlink satellite dishes are being used in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, but the international internet provider does not hol…

saba-news.com

I know this thread is about Curacao, but it too is still related to the Netherlands so I don't know how the regulations overlap and whether they originate from the mother country or are an island thing.

 

[tursiops]

I researched using satellite Internet on the ABC Islands years ago, before StarLink existed. Bonaire in particular had steep daily fines for private dishes that transmitted (TV downlink was OK, just not uplinks).

This is last year, but I don't know if it's been resolved yet:

Starlink to be discontinued in Caribbean Netherlands

The Dutch Authority for Digital Infrastructure has established that Starlink satellite dishes are being used in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, but the international internet provider does not hol…

saba-news.com

I know this thread is about Curacao, but it too is still related to the Netherlands so I don't know how the regulations overlap and whether they originate from the mother country or are an island thing.

Curacao is not part of the Dutch Caribbean, so may not be affected by this.
In any case, Starlink Mini costs $300 for the equipment and $165 per month, best I can tell from their website.

 

[Redtwo]

Something else to consider for working remotely from an island - are power outages (even brief ones) frequent on Curacao? That's a "weakest link" sometimes overlooked when thinking of that kind of work situation. Fiberoptic connections are preferable from that standpoint but you need accomodation with a backup power system (for the routers / modems and potentially your laptop) that kicks in with only milliseconds delay or your connection could drop right in the middle of a session with a client, which could be very problematic for you. For me here in Honduras sometimes it feels like the local power company knows when I have an important meeting schedule and drops the power grid in my area a minute or two before it is supposed to start...

This is at least partly why Starlink is becoming more and more popular for permanent residents on Roatan and also gaining market share in mainland Honduras. Power outages here are usually a weekly occurrence, and at certain times of the year several times per week is not uncommon. Curaco may have better infrastructure than Honduras does, but thought I should mention it.

Power outages are not really a thing in curacao. In all the visits i have done there never experienced one. Of course it can happen like evereywhere, but it is not something frequent.

Honestly i think you will be fine if you check beforehand. And i think that private rentals are more safe in yhis field. They will normally have a private vonnection which nowadays should be good for your usage. A hotel with a shared service is more vulnerable i think.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

Thank you! I remember seeing that when I stayed at Lion's Dive before. Do they have long term rentals?

Sunscape is an all inclusive hotel. We stayed there in October 2023, not some place I would stay for an extended period of time, we ate off the property at Mambo Beach Blvd. Your better off staying at Lions Dive.
This is my trip report Trip Report - Sunscape Curacao & Goby Divers.

 

[HamTrainChickenLaser]

https://support.simplepractice.com/hc/en-us/articles/19032200477837-Optimizing-your-internet-connection-for-SimplePractice

I found this online about Simple Practice. Above is a great article for you to review. These specs are pretty modest. I would think you could find multiple options that can offer even 2-3x these requirements if not even faster.

I also see that they have a connection test within the application itself. I would recommend you run that immediately from the unit upon arrival and make sure everything is satisfactory.

• Mbps download measures how quickly information can be sent from other websites or computers to yours
  • You’ll need a download speed of 10 Mbps (megabits per second) or higher
• Mbps upload measures how quickly information can be sent from your computer to another
  • You’ll need an upload speed of 10 Mbps (megabits per second) or higher
• Latencymeasures the roundtrip time it takes for information to be sent between two computers
  • We recommend connections with a latency of 300 milliseconds or lower

These stats seem to indicate that this software is very forgiving! Even in a really lame rural area with only a single provider available to me my connection meets these specifications with room to spare.

 

[Altamira]

Thank you! I remember seeing that when I stayed at Lion's Dive before. Do they have long term rentals?

It is a resort, so you can likely stay as long as you want. We stayed for 30 days.

 

[nldunn]

Does the software vendor publish required network connection specs? If so, you may want to have those in hand and verify against potential rentals. I'm thinking specs such as download mbps, upload mbps, and latency (often called a ping test).

An app like Speedtest will measure these specs for a given connection and even shows graphically if the connection is good for browsing, gaming, streaming, and video calling. You could request the owner/manager of the property provide you with the Speedtest specs run from the actual unit you will be using. You will want them to run the test connecting to a server or site in the same geographic area as where the Simple Practice servers are located.

Thank you! I had no idea of any of this. I am just a retired teacher, now a therapist so this is all new knowledge!

 

[nldunn]

https://support.simplepractice.com/hc/en-us/articles/19032200477837-Optimizing-your-internet-connection-for-SimplePractice

I found this online about Simple Practice. Above is a great article for you to review. These specs are pretty modest. I would think you could find multiple options that can offer even 2-3x these requirements if not even faster.

I also see that they have a connection test within the application itself. I would recommend you run that immediately from the unit upon arrival and make sure everything is satisfactory.

• Mbps download measures how quickly information can be sent from other websites or computers to yours
  • You’ll need a download speed of 10 Mbps (megabits per second) or higher
• Mbps upload measures how quickly information can be sent from your computer to another
  • You’ll need an upload speed of 10 Mbps (megabits per second) or higher
• Latencymeasures the roundtrip time it takes for information to be sent between two computers
  • We recommend connections with a latency of 300 milliseconds or lower

Wow!! Thank you for doing all that work. I appreciate it greatly!

 

[nldunn]

Something else to consider for working remotely from an island - are power outages (even brief ones) frequent on Curacao? That's a "weakest link" sometimes overlooked when thinking of that kind of work situation. Fiberoptic connections are preferable from that standpoint but you need accomodation with a backup power system (for the routers / modems and potentially your laptop) that kicks in with only milliseconds delay or your connection could drop right in the middle of a session with a client, which could be very problematic for you. For me here in Honduras sometimes it feels like the local power company knows when I have an important meeting schedule and drops the power grid in my area a minute or two before it is supposed to start...

This is at least partly why Starlink is becoming more and more popular for permanent residents on Roatan and also gaining market share in mainland Honduras. Power outages here are usually a weekly occurrence, and at certain times of the year several times per week is not uncommon. Curaco may have better infrastructure than Honduras does, but thought I should mention it.

I hadn't thought about that either. Thank you! I'm going to Roatan next August with my daughter but only for a week!

 

[nldunn]

These stats seem to indicate that this software is very forgiving! Even in a really lame rural area with only a single provider available to me my connection meets these specifications with room to spare.

Thank you - that is good to know!