Cuba - internet / mobile service

[essayer]

Anyone been very recently to Cuba and if so how did you get on with Internet access / mobile service?

I'm assuming that cellphone service / SMS is available in Havana and Varadero but data/3G not, and that both our hotels will have internet 'cafes' on a very slow line and possibly wifi in lobby areas etc .. but not to expect anything fast or reliable ?

[Puggit]

That was my experience 6 years ago, yes.

Even the internet provided in our hotel was slower than dialup...

[Wolff]

I was there earlier this year and didn't see Wifi anywhere. Cell service wasn't a problem, but its expensive to make calls, and only some texts were eventually sent (mum & dad got sporadic ones, not all of them!).

Internet is pretty expensive, and yes, dialup is about the best speed to expect! But hey, you'll be on holiday - turn off the phone and ignore the internet and enjoy the peace!!!

[yellowtr]

Just got back a couple of weeks ago from Cuba with Mrs Yellowtr. Internet access is available at most hotels and should cots around 6CUC an hour with a "scratch card" which you can reuse if you don't use the 60 minutes. Speeds are okay, I would say comparable to broadband about 6 years ago probably. I noticed if you tried to open to many tabs at once it would struggle. Wi-Fi never saw it anywhere. You will need to show your passport to use the internet!

3G not a chance! SMS/Phone no problem via Cubacel but coverage can dip in some areas outside of Havana.

[essayer]

Amazingly, in a country where practically everyone is obsessed with getting that one last CUC from the visiting tourist, I managed to get unrestricted wifi in both hotels I stayed in - free of charge.

Granted it never went above 3KB/s and >1sec ping everywhere, but it worked reliably. Cubans can't access it though; hotel 1 was done on a allocated username/password, hotel 2 just added everyone's MAC addresses to an approved list on their Netgear router ..

Mobile was good signal across Havana/Varadero and even down to the south, I received all the text messages sent to me but a few replies went walkies..