You can expect to find plenty of places with suitable wifi for remote workers in Bogota and all of its neighborhoods. Remote workers should certainly keep in mind that speeds are generally slow in the capital and that averages show no more than 5 Mbps down in most parts of the city. Having said that, Speedtest.com gives Bogota an average of around 35 Mbps down for fixed broadband and much lower for mobile data.
While these speeds are not anything to write home about, most remote workers in the city report reliable connections and sufficient speeds for standard internet tasks. With an improving public and private communications infrastructure, however, speeds are getting quicker in many spaces around the city.
The city’s cafes will certainly be some of the best places to find great wifi for remote workers in Bogota. These spaces offer excellent, reliable connections which are usually secure and do not require use of a VPN for added security since they are password-protected. Indeed, most cafes in the city are laptop-friendly and ready to welcome remote workers looking to work there for a few hours, as long as they make a few purchases during their stay. Importantly, remote workers can expect cafes here to offer some of the best coffee in the world, as the brewing and roasting processes are taken very seriously here.
Furthermore, you can certainly expect to find other remote workers at any of the city’s cafes on a given day.
Coworking spaces are also likely to offer the best wifi for remote workers in Bogota, particularly for those looking for faster dedicated speeds. After all, Bogota is a major coworking hub and the circuit is well-known across the region its excellent spaces and facilities. Bogota’s coworking spaces are likely to have purpose-built infrastructure that offers superfast internet to members, particularly because these are hugely popular even among local startup companies in the city. Additionally, the city’s coliving spaces are also likely offer great wifi to residents across all amenities. Of course, both coworking and coliving spaces across the city all offer excellent networking opportunities for remote workers, in addition to good wifi and amenities.
Since 2016 the city also offers free wifi around every neighborhood, in an attempt to democratize internet access and give impoverished individuals better opportunities. The “Wifi gratis para la gente” network can be found across the city’s main government building as well as major transport links and academic institutions. The city’s National Park and Independence Park also offer lots of free hotspots. Unfortunately, connections at these hotspots are not wholly reliable and may be useful to remote workers only to check a map or order an Uber, but they are unlikely to provide signals strong enough for remote work. The city’s Transmilenio and its buses are not currently equipped with wifi connectivity, but Bogota’s many huge shopping centers do provide reliable connections.
Claro is the company likely to offer the best wifi for remote workers in Bogota across residential areas. Indeed, fixed broadband speeds around the main affluent neighborhoods of the city tend to be the highest in the region and are usually provided by Claro. Of course, it is a good idea for remote workers to check with any prospective landlords wifi speeds at potential apartments before signing contacts, since contracting a long-term broadband service can be difficult for visitors to the city. Equally, post-paid mobile data plans usually require a local ID, but you can buy a prepaid SIM at most phone operator branches across the city with a valid passport. Claro, Movistar and Tigo are likely to offer the best mobile data plans at around 56000 COP (15USD) for 5GB of monthly internet.
For more information about living in Bogota as a remote worker, check out our complete Bogota guide.