This age of Internet communications is wonderful. No matter where in the world, you can be in instant communication with your friends, family and associates no matter where in the world they are. It is a far cry from how things were just 15 or 20 years ago.
When I was a child my family lived for a couple of years in South Africa, my Dad’s employer sent him there to oversee operations of a factory that they had there. It was quite an adventure. However, at that time, being half the world away from family and friends, you were basically out of touch with them. You could make a phone call, but in those days it was extremely expensive. Outside of the average person’s budget to make an international phone call back in those days, even for a few minutes. Oh, my parents would call my grandparents like once a year or so on Christmas or something, but it was not something that you would do on a daily basis.
Now, though, with the Internet all kinds of communications are possible. Through the Internet I can communicate by voice, e-mail, video, just about any way you could think of. And, I can do it cheaply. I pay P999 per month for my Internet connection, that’s it. Yes, we hear a lot of complaints from other expats that the Internet is so slow here and such. But, you know what… it’s fast enough for me. Yes, at times it slows down, but I suspect that happens everywhere in the world. When I lived in the States, in the 90’s, the Internet that was available where I lived was only dial-up, and it was dirt slow. I lived out in the country, away from the City. So actually, the Internet that I have now is way faster than I ever had in the States, so I am usually pretty happy with what I have here. But, that being said, there is a problem with Internet use here in the Philippines that crops up from time to time. I got an e-mail from a friend of mine earlier today. My friend is an American who lives in Iligan, his name is Marc. Marc told me that he has been having problems with his Antivirus software, because he is no longer able to get new virus definitions from the server. Even if he just tries to go to the Antivirus company’s website, he can’t open it. Funny thing is that if he uses a Proxy Server to go to the Antivirus website, no problem. He is, however, not able to update his virus definitions through the Proxy Server. So, I wrote back and told Marc which antivirus software I am using and that the updates are working fine. He tried to use that software instead of what he had been using… couldn’t open up that site either. It seems that his ISP has blocked all of the antivirus websites! He can no longer log into any of them!
Over the years, I have also experienced this kind of problem. It’s a two way street too. In some instances, companies in the USA will block you because “you live in the Philippines” (as a matter of fact, recently Paul Keating wrote about Health Insurance for Veterans, and how the website was blocked from access in the Philippines. I have experienced this many times over the years that I have lived here. Sometimes, US companies block Philippine access, sometimes Philippine ISP’s block us from being able to go to certain websites! I mean, it’s just crazy!
I had one instance about 2 years ago where my web hosting company where all of my websites are located even blocked me from being able to access my accounts! I had to call them on the phone to work it out. They told me:
Oh, we kept seeing the accounts being accessed from the Philippines, so we thought it was a hacker attacking your sites!
I reminded them to look at my address on the accounts and they would see that I live in the Philippines! They apologized to me and quickly removed the block!
I just find these things so common when you live in a different part of the world. People are blocking you from accessing parts of the Internet. Local ISPs are blocking you from being able to go to websites! Frankly, it’s a major pain, and inconvenience.
The internet is great. But, when I am left “out in the cold” (or is it the hot?), I feel more like calling it the “outernet”!
To my friend, Marc… I hope you are able to work out your antivirus problem!
Hi Bob
I see you had the Smart Bro device hooked up on the picture for the post. Although I had good service when I stayed in the city, I had to use that Smart Bro device in the Province. It was slower but I found more interesting things to do out there and didn’t access as much anyway. It surely is something that you can be way out in the jungle of the Philippines where isn’t even run ning water and still have internet access.
Hi Dan – Yeah, one of those dongles will get you Internet almost anywhere in the country. Very convenient.
Hi Bob – I’m looking forward to using SmartBro again! While away from home, we continue to use it for our Vonage hook-up. It’s been working just fine, as far as we can tell from the other side of the world.
😉
How has that plug-in unit (forget its name) been working for you? Am thinking of adding a similar arrangement for my laptop. Has the Davao region reached saturation yet, or have they expanded accessibility?
😯
Hi Paul – I only used a picture of the dongle.. but that is not what I have or use. I use a canopy system, which I believe it just like yours. I get good fast service, just don’t like it when sites are blocked as I mentioned in the article.
Bob nice post here and you are right……some isp’s do block some stuff while others do not…..Your the 1st person I have seen write about it. I just kinda fig. it out some time back. I have DSL and a pretty good hook. How ever for a long time noticed that for some reason some sited just could not get into….(I am not talking about porn sites either) I like to search a lot because that is how you learn about new things and I always thought it strange how on certains search’s I felt was blocked…Any way some time back I had the idea to buy a wife adapter, one of those you can plug in to a usp port and have wifi on your desk top or lab top…..any way…got one of those installed it and wow!, seemed to open a new world out there. I noticed all kinds of choices I could hook into and at the time did not even know what they were…hahaha..but soon fig out they were some one else’s un secure router…any way..did not talk long to discover different isp’s and bingo..some of the sites that I could not connect to..I could on wifi..any way…untill read your post here..just really thought the whole thing was strange…Now I also discovered by making a little dish type antenna reflector you could increase the strenght of your wifi signal and even come up with more you could hook to…….so any way…..interesting post here you wrote Bob……and really have not idea while some sites on one isp are blocked and on others the same site is wide open……
Hi Dan – Yes, the site blocking drives me crazy. I will say that with SmartBro, which is what I use, there are not too many issues with this, although it does pop up from time to time. I really hate it when my access to a site is blocked! Especially if it is a site that I own!
Dan you wrote……”I had the idea to buy a wife adapter, one of those….”. What is it and where can I get one, sounds good. Something I will need in the future lol.
Ha Ha,i was thinking the same thing myself lol.
I think Dan is on to something there, Chas… I just wish he would tell us where to get one!
Hi Boss – I want to find one of those wife adapters myself, and I was reading with interest when Dan wrote that, but I couldn’t find out what it was. I would love to get the patent, but the problem is that I would have no idea how to even start making one! 😆
I do have a wife adapter. It is a high end one that displays all of the connections on the unit itself that are made to or are available to the WIFI. It is made by Philips, I think of Netherlands. Perfectly user friendly and not requiring Daisy to consult her computer guru to make anything work!
Jade
Hi Jade – Long time no see, I hope you are doing well.
Now I am confused…. I think we were all joking about the “wife” adapter. It seems like you are serious though.. is there such a thing? Do you mean WiFi adapter? Now, I’m just not sure if there is something I am missing…
Bob,
Yes this is really true. It is a wireless router. I set it up for her this way so she could use her iPod for music downloads and also internet, though I don’t know if she at this time uses that feature.
I tried to Google that router but I could not find it as Philips has too many products, it may have been overtaken by newer technology…
The other subject… the trip to Wisconsin for my mothers 100th birthday was very successful. She had more than 50 cards and flowers and nearly 5o guests at St. Francis in the Park rest home. She had a day of good energy and happiness!
She was alert and talked to many friends.
My sister had brought two cakes and ordureves (sp? google can’t even get it right) for everyone.
I drove back to Florida in Mom’s ’74 Pontiac Le Mans, with no aircon and AM radio, showroom condition, 30,500 miles on the odometer, but not a problem on the return trip! 36 year old car. My first car was a ’62 in ’67; go back 36 years from ’67 and you find yourself back in 1933, imagine driving a 1933 car to Florida in 1967…
No one up there wanted it.
Jade
Hi Jade – Very interesting. I had always known a wireless router to be called a WiFi Router. I didn’t realize that they were now being called “Wife” routers… I guess you learn something new every day.
Congrats to your Mother on her 100th!
Thanks Bob;
Your article has answered some questions I had about sites I couldn’t open. You have lifted the Vail, as this was the first I’d ever heard about this. Thanks for the light bulb moment!
Hi Paul – While I hate to be the bearer of the message, I am happy that the light bulb was turned on! 😉
Maayong Buntag Bob
About a year ago I was on a blog and they were talking about ghosting your ip. It consisted of basically going though a server in the states to access a site from the RP. I just glanced though it and never tried it but it sounds like ghosting may come in handy while living in the RP
Hi Larry – I have never heard of that being called “ghosting” before, but maybe I’m not up on the lingo! What I would call that is using a Proxy Server. I use Proxies when needed, but still you cannot do everything you need through a Proxy Server. As I said about my friend in the article, there is really no way to set up a proxy for Virus Definition downloads and such. Another one is that it is usually near-impossible to do online shopping through a Proxy Server. But, for many uses, a Proxy is a good way to do it. Also, remember.. if it is your local ISP who is doing the blocking, they can easily block you from the Proxy too!
Hi Bob,
Yeah,i remember the old days well,like calling from a landline to Singapore 25+ years ago at @US$3 per minute lol.It was a real luxury back then,as salaries were a hell of a lot less than today.
Not to mention snail mail,ha ha the good old days,not.
Telco services have come on in leaps and bounds over the last 20yrs.
I can now call Asia from a UK landline for @US 15c a minute or txt for @US 10c,plus we now have the versatility of the internet.We sure have come a very long way in this modern world.
regards,Chas.
Hi chasdv – This is one instance where we can talk about the “bad old days” of the $3 per minute phone calls! Usually, we reminisce about the “good old days” but not in this case!
Hi Bob, that’s what I thought last month when I made an important phone to Central Visayas from the US East Coast. I normally use Phone card–$5.00 Dollar phone card will give you 65 minutes of calls. Unknowingly, my phone had expire so what the heck , let me use the land line (Verizon), talk for 11 minutes and the bill was $66.00.
Problems of internet and website, just two weeks ago, the state of Virginia’s computer and website servicing all social and other services, including DMV services, paying taxes, crashed and unusable for 7 days. There were 39000 drivers all over the state with expired driving license. It affected 26 of 89 state agencies. State is trying to recover $240,000.00 Dollars for that failure from Northrop-Grumman who has the 10-year, $2.4 Billion computer services for the state.
Mars
Hi Mars – Wow, $66, that’s a major bill for an 11 minute call! $6 per minute! That’s the problem in the States.. there are so many “calling plans” the same call could cost $11 per minute or 11 cents per minutes, depending on what you have signed up for! Terrible!
Sounds like major headaches for the state on the computer end of things!
Terrible! Yes exactly, especially when your wife start the question like this: Do you know how much that 11 minutes call you did.to the Philippines cost? My beer money.
Don’t know how and why the phone Card could give so much better deal.
The state has a pardon thing going–no traffic tickets for expired license until everything stabilized.
Mars
Hi Mars,
Wow,some expensive call that was,i thought those days were long gone.
I don’t use phone card,i use one of those low call operators with a prefix no,and the call goes from UK via the USA for US15c a minute.
It is more expensive when calls go via Europe thro the BT landline network here,but certainly less than US$1 per minute.
regards,Chas.
Hi Mars,
Wow,some expensive call that was,i thought those days were long gone.
I don’t use phone card,i use one of those low call operators with a prefix no,and the call goes from UK via the USA for US15c a minute.
It is more expensive when calls go via Europe thro the BT landline network here,but certainly less than US$1 per minute.
regards,Chas.
Hi Mars – You might have to start selling some of the BBQ on a stick that you are famous for so that you can re-earn that beer money, and your wife won’t complain! 😆
Ha Ha Hi Bob, I may have to do that, but I’m afraid the products won’t make it out of the door and my kids friends starts showing up.
@ Chasdv: Thinking of calling Verizon just for the heck of it and ask for breakdown. My service is a bundle with my FIOS (Fiber Optics) Internet, Cable and landline service, but I know that a lot of carriers are involved for that call, that’s why I’m wondering how Phone Card does it-$5.00 Dollars for 65 minutes for the same distance.
Good Day,
Mars
Hi Mars – You have a built in customer base! Tell them the first one is free, after that it’s 99 cents a stick! 😆
Oh my bundle service also includes 4 cell phone service,
Mars
The outernet – I thought the article was going to focus on service outages, not site blocking haha.
A vpn, as opposed to a web proxy, would allow definition updates – assuming the vpn connection doesn’t get blocked. Some nations are much worse of course, for political reasons – it’s pretty open here (knock on wood).
The connections are MUCH better than they used to be, but so is the amount of data we “need”. I could definitely use a bigger pipeline at times.
Hi Gary – I agree that the Internet is much better here than it used to be. It has improved a lot in the time that I lived here, for sure. I could always use a bigger pipeline, though! 😆
Remember, though, I did also mention that a lot of US sites block people from countries like the Philippines too.
Oh yes, a lot of sites in the US block from outside US, especially those with streaming media (Europe, Canada, etc. have sites with similar policies). You may also be blocked for security reasons – like your hosting company. I actually haven’t noticed my ISP blocking me from any site, or protocols for that matter (knock on wood). Unless you consider service outage = outernet LOL.
Marcel may be on to something regarding blocked access to the anti-virus site.
Hi Gary – I have had a few instances over the years of my ISP blocking sites, but not too many, thankfully. I agree that Marcel has a good thought on the anti-virus.
A very good phone card is Noblecom you can call the Philipphines from USA for 8 cents a minute….
Bob, I would recommend to your friend to make sure that his PC is not infected with some virus already. There are viruses out there that disable your antivirus software (from multiple manufacturers) and block access to manufactures websites with sole purpose to prevent you to remove said virus.
Best remedy is to download virus scanner using clean PC and then scan infected PC in a safe mode…
Good idea, Marcel! I will pass that along!
One practical solution to the virus definitions updates would be to change the PC to a mac, and limit the need for them anyway. But don’t all go changing to Macs or the virus writers will just start attacking us too!
I don’t think I’ve ever come across blocked web sites (apart from Saudi, which was circumvented by using a satellite connection anyway). That would be frustrating for sure!
Hi Jim – Another solution that would be just as practical would be to ditch Windows and go with Linux like I do! 😆
Bob,
Have you done an article about your experience with your transition to Linux?
I would be interested to learn from your experience.
Jade
Hi Jade – I have written about it, but not on this site. Since it really is not about living in the Philippines, I didn’t really feel it was right for this site. You can find a short article about Linux that I wrote here.
There was one website in Cagayan De Oro that I could not get, someone gave me the addy for a proxy server and that worked for me although after reaching the site one time, I could not figure out how to use the proxy server again. A few months later I was able to reach that site directly.
Long Distance phone calls ? Yes, when the Bell System was the only game in town it was very costly years ago and I remember when I was very young, to call the other side of the country you had to call your local operator who had to go through other operators to establish a connection accross the country. All done manually with ” Cord Board ” switchboards. You would call your local operator and they would call you back in about 10 minutes after the connection had been established. These days we have so many other options. I recently tried the phone service offered by my cable company which I am quite sure is some kind of VOIP setup. Hated it, went back to my traditional landline phone with the 50 % ( thats right Fifty Per Cent ) tax on the bill each month. About $15 for the line and Dial Tone and about $15 of various taxes, no calls included and local calls billed at 9.1 cents per call, plus tax, unlimited talking time.
I never bothered with DSL for the internet as I am 10 miles away from the phone co central office here but when the option for Cable Broadband came along I ditched Dial Up and went for that at $40 per month but to me well worth it. I use SKYPE for outgoing calls most of which are less than 2 cents per minute for USA and UK and 17 cents per minute to Philippines.
I first got on the internet with a dedicated terminal ” WebTV ” which worked exclusively on Dial Up thru servers in Calfiornia. I had ” PC Fobia ” in those days and the WebTV system was great for those who wanted simplicity and it was also virus proof ! Advancements in the internet got to be more than the set top box could keep up with so in 2000 I finally got a PC. I have since acquired 6 more of them because of how the prices keep comming down on them and with a glut of new PC’s that were returned to stores, dealers, etc. that are being marketed as ” Refurbished ” made some of my PC’s too irrestable to pass up. Well, I guess that is one method for getting over PC Fobia, just fill up your house and surround yourself with them ! LOL .
I remember when an electronic keyboard sold for no less than $100, a Dumb Terminal ( Hal Communications DS3000 ) sold for a Grand ( in USD ) and the then famed Radio Shack TRS 80 my neighbor bought was also $1000 +. If you compare those things to what you can get today for less than $200 ( new / refurbed / guaranteed ) including free shipping is it any wonder why I don’t jump at some of these bargains ? LOL
The only problem I have with all of this stuff, it gets very addictive.
Hi Bob – It sounds like you have been through the revolution from the bottom of the hill to the top! I have too, and it’s an amazing adventure. Our world today is so connected, it is not the same world we lived in when we were younger! Amazing!
The internet and emails changed my life. I went from a staid, tenured professor to a roaming consultant almost fifteen years ago in order to live with my wife in the Philippines. I have worked for about a dozen consulting companies on various projects and have never walked through the doors of their offices, never interviewed for a job and never met any of their officers prior to arriving at the job – and most often even then. Strange and different world.
Hi Don – Without a doubt, I think that the Internet changed all of our lives. There probably are few people on the planet that are not touched by the net anymore, even in very poor places. It’s amazing!
I guess i am going to miss my Sprit quality of service then when i arrive, Yikes!!!!
I am not familiar with Sprit, but if they have good service, it is likely that you will miss them!
Careful with proxy servers. Many are set up to steal your passwords! That’s why they are open.
There are providers that maybe can be trusted but even Google had to fire someone for missues of private information the other day.
I finally broke down and got a VPN through http://strongvpn.com and even though I’m an affiliate that is not an affiliate link. 🙂
I have found it to be very useful. With the correct router, you can even get around the blocks that counties like the UAE have. They advertise it for that. What I got cost about $55 a year.
Its the cheaper version and doesn’t get around strong blocking like that in the UAE but it has opened up everything I need to access. I even watch movies from Netflix now.
Now I’m going to go check to see if StrongVPN gave me credit for the referral I made to them the other day. If they didn’t then that’s going to lower my trust and I’ll come back and let you know if they didn’t.
That’s very true, Rusty. Using a public proxy server, and passing passwords through is a dangerous habit to get into!
I didn’t get credit for the sale. 🙁 They are checking on it.
Hopefully they will give you credit.. if not.. I wouldn’t promote them anymore!