3G is now available in Costa Rica. It operates in the lower frequency TDMA cellular telephone band which gives it better coverage than GSM cellular telephone and offers wideband Internet to just about everywhere in Costa Rica at a very affordable price. The cost is as low as 6,000 colones (about $10) per month for a 1 mbps connection.
There are some limitations but most clients who use satellite Internet for their wireless networks will want to switch over to 3G to take advantage of the big cost savings, and many clients who use a point to point bridge will want to install it as a backup. Many will even want it as a backup to their ICE DSL or cable Internet.
The equipment required for 3G is as follows:
A Blackberry or iphone type of device is one option.
For a single user on a PC (computer), an air card that plugs into the PC is required. This is great for laptops, but there must be a strong signal reaching the air card which quite often isn’t the case when the PC is used indoors. If there is not a strong enough signal then the speed will be very slow or it may not work at all (see outdoor antenna below). 3G air cards cost around $100-$200.
A 3G router is a router that you can plug an air card into. It can be used as wireless access point inside a house or business or to connect to existing wireless networks. 3G routers cost around $100-200.
In order to boost the signal and for use as a replacement for a satellite Internet connection or a point to point link in wireless Internet networks an outdoor antenna is required. The cost for an outdoor antenna can be anywhere from $100 -700+, depending upon the strength of the signal at the location and the type of antenna mount.
The reason for the range of prices is because this is brand new and still in the process of testing.
