Utility and Internet Costs at Lake Chapala, Mexico
April 4, 2007
This article will help you add up what your local bills would run, “more or less”.
Gas
Remember the old expression “Now Your Cooking with Gas”? Well that’s just what we do here everyday. We also heat water, dry our clothes and on rare occasion take the chill off of our homes on the few cold nights here. Some folks who don’t use solar also heat their pools with gas.
When I say gas I mean propane gas, not natural gas. Pictured is a typical propane tank.
Most couples find that their gas costs approx $25 USD per month on average.
Electricity
Electricity is only available from one source: the Centro Federal Electrico (CFE), a government monopoly. You must pay on time whether or not you received your bill. The bill covers two months.
There are a number of different tiers in the pricing of electricity. The goal is to conserve because the more you use the more you pay PER KILOWATT HOUR.
We use approx. $38 USD per month. We have two TVs on most of the time, two computers, and numerous electric appliances.
Telephone
Local telephone service for 100 calls per month is approx $18 USD.
Telephone service is provided by Tel-Mex (a near monopoly). Many folks make do with cell phones. I rarely use my house phone.
My local cell phone service is by Movie Star and I get free long distance within Mexico with my Movie Star service so I use it for pretty much all calls within Mexico including local calls. My monthly bill for my cell runs me between $23-40 USD per month (I use it a lot for business).
Water
My water is included as part of my homeowners dues, but if I lived in the city instead of in my neighborhood I would pay approx $150 USD per year for water.
Homeowner Dues
Dues vary from neighborhood to neighborhood depending upon the efficiency of the neighborhood association, the services provided and the size of the neighborhood (from $25 to $200 USD).
In Chapala Haciendas, where I live, our dues are $50 USD per month. I receive all the water I want (no meters), street lights, twice weekly trash pickup, once weekly garden debris pickup, street repair, and extra police security patrols. We also have a bi-lingual secretary and an office open M-F, 9am-3pm.
Satellite TV
We have 3 main satellite TV firms (Star Choice, Sky and Dish) which are like in the USA or Canada as far as packages and prices go.
Internet
Dial-up is everywhere in the area. Highspeed is almost everywhere. Four firms provide the High Speed service.
I utilize three of the four between my office and home.
At home I have DirectWay which is a direct satellite link for my highspeed and I’m also in the process of reinstalling “Mexico Wireless”.
In my office I use Tel Mex’s Infinitum (DSL) which is the most reliable if you are in an area served.
Another wireless provider called Laguna Net also provides good wireless service from Ajijic to the west end of the Lake.
My Tel Mex DSL is highspeed and runs about $23/month. My satellite runs a whopping $83/month which includes the rental of the expensive direct uplink equipment to the satellite each month. I hope to be able to drop this when my Mexico Wireless connection is up and running well.
5 Responses to “Utility and Internet Costs at Lake Chapala, Mexico”
Hi Sid,
Many thanks for your great information. My husband and I are coming to Chapala in March ‘09 for 3 1/2 months as an “exploritory” visit, with the idea of staying permanently if we like it there. By far our biggest concern is the availability of good, high speed internet to operate our international business. Currently here in Washington State with Comcast, we are getting approx. 36mbps. Your post is a year old, so we are hoping internet service has improved even more. What can be had currently, and what would the cost be?
You are a peach if you can answer this for us.
Gracias!
Linda and Bert Klein
Sid,
I forgot to mention that we currently use Vonage here in the states and plan on using it in Chapala as well. We find it an excellent alternative to mainstream phone service!
Linda K.
Hi Linda and Bert, Thanks for your comments. I use Tel Mex High speed at home and Telecable (Megacable) at my Chapala Office. So, I sort of have a dual system which is good since I too use my Internet connections for business.
I pay about 600 pesos or at today’s exchange rate just over $46 USD for 3 meg from Megacable.
I have a package with Tel Mex at my home where I get 1000 minutes of long distance in Mexico and local telephone service and 1 meg of high speed internet for about the same cost $46.
Tel Mex claims 99% uptime. Megacable is said to have 90 % but improving.
Now here’s a quote from my local computer/internet guru Benno from a post he made on another web board.
“Lagunanet will give you the best best bang for the buck. The upfront cost is only worth it if you are planning on using their service for at least 3 years.
Telmex would be next in line beacause their service is pretty reliable, and there are probably no big upfront payments to make. The downside of Telmex is that they have to have to have an available “slot” for you to hook up to, and their internet won’t reach you until about 3-4 business days after you pay for the hook up.
Telecable is very fast, but their customer service is appalling. The modems they use to get you your internet also have a tendency to overheat and crash causing you to loose your internet until it cools down.
If you depend on the internet for your business I would suggest that you subscribe to any 2 of these ISPs and get yourself a dual WAN router for reliability. http://cgi.ebay.com/Edimax-BR-6524K-Dual-W…p3286.m20.l1116”
This young man knows his stuff. I hope this helps. Siempre tu amigo, Sid
Sid:
I am daily looking at your website and THANK YOU FOR ALL THE HELPFUL INFORMATION. Joe and I will be down 4/7-13/10 for a pre-move exploration.
Pretty sure we have decided to come down (after we sell our home) for an indefinite stay.
My question is: Cell Phones Here in DFW we use Sprint without International service. Can we purchase cell phones in Lake Chapala with the Movie Star service?
Also…did you ever find anyone who has the Laredo to Chapala driving directions in a word doc?
Gracias amigo.
Jan
Hi Jan, Glad you’re finding being a ChapalaCLub.com member helpful.
Yes, you can purchase Movie Star and other carrier cell phones here.
Two basic types. On type are the ones where you open an account, choose a phone, choose a plan, and pay a monthly bill according to your plan. These plans cost you less per minute, but if use is not frequent can cost more on a monthly basis.
The Second type. You purchase the phone (About $40 USD and then you buy specific amounts of credit. You can usually buy time in $8 USD increments. You buy a card which once you scratch off the black coating reveals a code number which is then encoded into your cell phone (the clerk will do it for you) and your talking.
Most of the international plans from US carriers are extremely expensive so unless you’ll be doing a lot of cell phone calls to the USA or around the world it’s probably best for occasional use to just use your Mexican cell phone if you need the portability of a cell.
Voice over internet telephones are the best international call solution. (Vonage, Skype, Magic Jack etc.)
Hope this helps. Good question. Siempre tu amigo, Sid
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