Happier Abroad Forum Community

Where I'm living right now, I basically cannot do any online english teaching, because Skype calls keep failing. I was relying on online teaching to support my life down here.

Speeds required for Skype: https://support.speedtest.net/entries/2 ... games-etc-

The house I'm living in has shared Wi-FI at 2Mb/s. So, whenever someone else uses the internet, the speed is too slow. I don't think anyone is using the internet right now, and I just did a speed test from speedtest.net.

Ping: 118ms
Download Speed: 2.27Mbps (It is usually half this speed)
Upload Speed: 0.08Mbps (Extremely slow!!!)...e.g. It takes ten minutes if I want to attach a photo to an email. This is usually the upload speed whenever I run a speed test.

The best internet connection I can get in this town is an advertized 4Mbps hardline connection (not wi-fi) that I can buy exclusively for my room (not shared with anyone else). Still, will that be good enough for skyping someone on the other side of the earth? I'm a little skeptical, because it seems like the local ISP is not giving enough upload speed. I'll have to share documents in Skype and if they take forever to upload, then I won't be able to maintain any students.

Any suggestions? Or will I have to postpone my happier abroad dreams for another couple years while waiting for this stone-age land to modernize? I've already requested the installation of the private 4Mbps hardline, but if that's still not good enough, then how do I get the ISP to dish out a substantial amount of upload speed?

The Internet in China is very slow...so don't bother trying to build a Skype-related business here...

I suggest somewhere in Asia where the Internet speeds are amazingly fast: namely South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Skype (source: Skype Support)

For voice calls: 0.1 Mbps download / 0.1 Mbps upload
For video calls: 0.5 Mbps download / 0.5 Mbps upload
For HD video calls: 1.5 Mbps download / 1.5 Mbps upload

What is a "HD" video call? One that's smooth, without annoying fadeouts and black-screen interruptions when using Skype?

If so then yes, ME TOO, this is definitely a REQUIREMENT.

Anyone who can provide stats or experience using Skype from anywhere in the world, your info will be greatlly appreciated.

I can learn to squat and shit in a hole, but I will ALWAYS need to communicate.

zboy1 wrote:The Internet in China is very slow...so don't bother trying to build a Skype-related business here...

I suggest somewhere in Asia where the Internet speeds are amazingly fast: namely South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

No WONDER Chinese marketing and websites are so atrocious. Makes sense now.

Here in Ensenada Mexico (in the Colonia of Valle de Ex Ejido de Chapultepec, not a wealthy neighborhood, but inside the city and municipality of Ensenada), just did the following Ookla Speedtest at 5:00pm local time on Cinqo de Mayo, a minor local holiday:

Ping rate (to U.S. I guess?): 12 ms (milliseconds)
(This is faster by far than I saw in Glendale California!!)

Download rate: 12 MBPS (megabytes per second)
(slower than the 30 MBPS I had in Glendale, but not annoying; sometimes puts a cramp in my style when I have multiple windows pen)

Upload rate:
1 MBPS
(This is slower than rudder's posted minimum rate of 1.5 MBPS for 2 way upload and download for Skype. So it COULD be the reason I had blackouts and mute periods when skyping my friend Z in Utah. But still I THINK the problem MAY have been at HIS end, not mine.

(Please note I do not watch movies on Netflix or play video games, just watch YouTube and websurf)

I don't recommend online teaching as a career its a really bad idea. I just had 3 Russian online English schools fire me. The problem is there is too many online English schools and not enough students so competition is fierce. Every time you teach a lesson the students give the teacher a grade. If the students complain about your lesson or your internet connection you don't get paid or you get fired. Chinese online English schools are even more strict than Russian schools and you have to download their software onto your computer which slows it down even more.

You don't want to work for these guys.

Tutor ABC
http://recruit.tutorabc.com/program/index.asp

Taco wrote:I don't recommend online teaching as a career its a really bad idea. I just had 3 Russian online English schools fire me. The problem is there is too many online English schools and not enough students so competition is fierce. Every time you teach a lesson the students give the teacher a grade. If the students complain about your lesson or your internet connection you don't get paid or you get fired. Chinese online English schools are even more strict than Russian schools and you have to download their software onto your computer which slows it down even more.

You don't want to work for these guys.

Tutor ABC
http://recruit.tutorabc.com/program/index.asp

Thanks. Noted.

Jester wrote:

Taco wrote:I don't recommend online teaching as a career its a really bad idea. I just had 3 Russian online English schools fire me. The problem is there is too many online English schools and not enough students so competition is fierce. Every time you teach a lesson the students give the teacher a grade. If the students complain about your lesson or your internet connection you don't get paid or you get fired. Chinese online English schools are even more strict than Russian schools and you have to download their software onto your computer which slows it down even more.

You don't want to work for these guys.

Tutor ABC
http://recruit.tutorabc.com/program/index.asp

Thanks. Noted.

I should also mention Filipino online English schools drive teacher salaries into the ground since they will teach classes for $2/hour which makes it very hard for native English teachers to make any money.

So what do you recommend doing to live abroad?

Also, Taco, are you white? Is your first language English? Are you over 40? These are all factors that shallow online schools care about.

What was the reason you just got fired from 3 online schools?

Thailand, Singapore and HK all have great internet... most of these countries have 4G too

The internet in China is fairly slow, and Thailand wasn't much better.

However, if you're in either of these countries then I have no idea why you would teach English online. Close your laptop and go out and find real life customers who want to teach English.

Well if you are in Thailand then it's probably hard to find someone willing to pay more than $5 an hour for private lessons.

zboy1 wrote:The Internet in China is very slow...so don't bother trying to build a Skype-related business here...

I suggest somewhere in Asia where the Internet speeds are amazingly fast: namely South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Chinese Internet is slow because of all the filters like LAUSD's internet access is slowed down by all the filters they run on it.

I agree if you're going to have an internet based business with video in HD, you need to be in those Asia countries or Eastern Europe like Latvia.

Taco wrote:

Jester wrote:

Taco wrote:I don't recommend online teaching as a career its a really bad idea. I just had 3 Russian online English schools fire me. The problem is there is too many online English schools and not enough students so competition is fierce. Every time you teach a lesson the students give the teacher a grade. If the students complain about your lesson or your internet connection you don't get paid or you get fired. Chinese online English schools are even more strict than Russian schools and you have to download their software onto your computer which slows it down even more.

You don't want to work for these guys.

Tutor ABC
http://recruit.tutorabc.com/program/index.asp

Thanks. Noted.

I should also mention Filipino online English schools drive teacher salaries into the ground since they will teach classes for $2/hour which makes it very hard for native English teachers to make any money.

This might be true in Asia where they don't really believe Gringos are superior at everything. However that mindset is present in Latin America and you can charge WAY more than that for personal lessons - http://braziliangringo.com/

As was listed on International Living a few months back, China and Brazil are the top two destinations for those interested in teaching English. They also want to learn English from native speakers, not even their own people. That means private online lessons work and enough income to live on can be generated fairly easily with some work.