Internet in Buenos Aires: Speeds, Reliability and What Remote Workers Need to Know

The internet question is the first thing every British remote worker asks, and the answer has improved dramatically since 2020. Buenos Aires now has fibre optic infrastructure across most of the central city, with speeds that rival London. The caveat is reliability: while average uptime is good, summer power cuts and occasional maintenance outages mean you need a backup plan.

Current speeds

Fibre optic (FTTH): available across most of CABA (Buenos Aires City) and growing in the suburbs. Typical plans:

In GBP equivalent: £15-35/month for broadband. Compare to BT/Virgin at £30-55. Cheaper and comparable speed.

Cable internet: still available in areas without fibre. 50-100 Mbps. Less reliable during peak hours.

ADSL: residual, avoid if possible. Slow (10-30 Mbps) and inconsistent.

Real-world performance

Download: 50-300 Mbps is typical on fibre. Enough for 4K streaming, large file transfers, and multiple devices simultaneously.

Upload: 10-50 Mbps on most fibre plans. The weaker point. Sufficient for video calls but not ideal for live streaming or uploading large files to cloud storage.

Latency: 20-50ms to US East Coast servers, 120-180ms to UK servers. Noticeable on real-time applications (gaming, live collaboration tools) but manageable for Zoom/Teams/Google Meet.

Video calls: work well on fibre. A stable 10 Mbps upload handles HD video calls without issues. The problems come during peak hours (8-10 PM) on non-fibre connections, or during summer power cuts when the connection drops entirely.

The reliability question

Normal conditions (March-November): 95-98% uptime. Rare outages, usually brief. Very workable.

Summer (December-February): 90-95% uptime. Power cuts affect internet because your router and the building's equipment go down. Outages of 30 minutes to several hours happen, especially during heatwaves when the electricity grid is stressed.

Your backup plan:

1. 4G mobile hotspot: Personal and Movistar 4G covers all of CABA with 20-50 Mbps speeds. If your fibre drops, switch to your phone's hotspot. Most remote workers keep a generous data plan as backup (20+ GB/month).

2. Starlink: available in Argentina, ~USD 50/month. The nuclear option for reliability, but overkill for most CABA residents.

3. Co-working space: WeWork, Urban Station, and others have dedicated business connections with higher SLAs. Your laptop works there when home internet does not.

4. Cafe Wi-Fi: unreliable but usable for emergency email. Not suitable for video calls.

Before signing a lease

Test the internet at the specific apartment. Not the building, not the neighbourhood, the exact unit.

How:

1. Ask the current tenant or landlord to run a speed test (fast.com or speedtest.net)

2. Visit the apartment during a viewing and test on your phone (connect to the Wi-Fi if possible)

3. Check fibre availability at the address: fibertel.com.ar and telecentro.com.ar both have coverage checkers

Red flags:

• "Internet included" without specifying the speed or provider
• Older buildings (pre-1970) that may not have fibre cabling installed
• Ground-floor apartments with poor cable routing from the street
• Buildings with no portero (maintenance of shared infrastructure is slower)

The remote worker setup

Most British remote workers in BA use:

1. Fibre connection (Fibertel 300 Mbps or Telecentro 500 Mbps) — primary

2. 4G phone hotspot (Personal with 30 GB plan) — backup for outages

3. UPS (uninterruptible power supply, ARS 30,000-60,000) — keeps router and laptop running during short power cuts

4. Noise-cancelling headphones — Buenos Aires is louder than a British suburb, even in residential neighbourhoods

Total monthly internet cost: ARS 30,000-50,000 (£20-35). With mobile backup: add ARS 10,000-15,000 (£7-10).

Worth reading next

• Buenos Aires Public Transport Guide
• Electricity, Gas and Water Guide
• Apartment Hunting Tips