places in the world with fast internet, low cost of living, and interesting cult

[akratic]

I have been living in Ecuador for about a month now, and the quality of the internet available here is a major problem. My girlfriend runs a business teaching English over Skype, and about 33% of her video chat lessons are interrupted or ruined by the poor internet service available here. This is not sustainable for her business, so we'll probably be moving, but we're just not sure where.
Rather than continue to swim upstream by doing insane things like signing up for the top tier plans from all internet providers in our town... we'd like to move somewhere where fast internet is the norm. The level of internet available in the US would be more than sufficient for our purposes: we just basically need guaranteed Skype video chats.
Based on actual user results from speedtest.net, here is a list of the countries with the best internet. (You can also break those countries down by city on http://netindex.com !) I bolded the countries that are currently top expat retirement destinations (reasonable proxy for cheap + interesting).
1 Hong Kong 46.06 Mbps

2 Singapore 40.50 Mbps

3 Andorra 38.05 Mbps

4 Lithuania 36.93 Mbps

5 South Korea 35.61 Mbps

6 Taiwan 35.34 Mbps

7 Japan 33.30 Mbps

8 Luxembourg 32.19 Mbps

9 Switzerland 31.13 Mbps

10 Macau 30.67 Mbps

11 Netherlands 30.01 Mbps

12 Sweden 28.00 Mbps

13 Romania 28.00 Mbps

14 Latvia 27.92 Mbps

15 Iceland 27.40 Mbps

16 Bulgaria 25.78 Mbps

17 Denmark 25.27 Mbps

18 Republic of Moldova 23.74 Mbps

19 Portugal 23.21 Mbps

20 Belgium 21.82 Mbps

21 Norway 20.75 Mbps

22 Aland Islands 20.47 Mbps

23 Finland 20.12 Mbps

24 United Kingdom 19.25 Mbps

25 Germany 18.66 Mbps

26 Russia 18.20 Mbps

27 Ukraine 17.54 Mbps

28 Malta 17.42 Mbps

29 Estonia 17.31 Mbps

30 Hungary 17.24 Mbps

31 Czech Republic 17.06 Mbps

32 Canada 16.18 Mbps

33 France 15.99 Mbps

34 United States 15.92 Mbps

35 Slovakia 14.81 Mbps

36 United Arab Emirates 14.26 Mbps

37 Liechtenstein 14.23 Mbps

38 Spain 13.81 Mbps

39 Austria 13.78 Mbps

40 Mongolia 12.80 Mbps

41 Australia 12.62 Mbps

42 Georgia 12.58 Mbps

43 Kazakstan 12.45 Mbps

44 Monaco 12.43 Mbps

45 Israel 12.04 Mbps

46 Faroe Islands 11.99 Mbps

47 Isle of Man 11.92 Mbps

48 Poland 11.76 Mbps

49 Slovenia 11.67 Mbps

50 New Zealand 11.56 Mbps

51 Jersey 11.41 Mbps

52 Thailand 11.17 Mbps

53 Ireland 11.12 Mbps

54 Uruguay 10.17 Mbps

55 Aruba 10.05 Mbps

56 Vietnam 10.04 Mbps

57 Chile 9.51 Mbps

58 Kyrgyzstan 9.49 Mbps

59 Guernsey 9.36 Mbps

60 Macedonia 9.27 Mbps

61 China 8.96 Mbps

62 Turkey 7.60 Mbps

63 Trinidad and Tobago 7.56 Mbps

64 Cyprus 7.55 Mbps

65 Kuwait 7.54 Mbps

66 Tajikistan 7.49 Mbps

67 Rwanda 7.43 Mbps

68 Mexico 7.40 Mbps

69 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 7.33 Mbps

70 Papua New Guinea 7.29 Mbps

71 Greece 7.11 Mbps

72 Gibraltar 7.08 Mbps

73 Brazil 7.04 Mbps

74 Qatar 7.01 Mbps

75 San Marino 6.96 Mbps

76 Madagascar 6.92 Mbps

77 Namibia 6.71 Mbps

78 Saudi Arabia 6.70 Mbps

79 New Caledonia 6.67 Mbps

80 Armenia 6.57 Mbps

81 Guam 6.50 Mbps

82 Serbia 6.25 Mbps

83 Italy 5.97 Mbps

84 Bermuda 5.93 Mbps

85 Ghana 5.38 Mbps

86 Maldives 5.36 Mbps

87 Ethiopia 5.35 Mbps

88 Croatia 5.34 Mbps

89 Belarus 5.30 Mbps

90 Jamaica 5.14 Mbps

91 Greenland 5.08 Mbps

92 Kenya 4.88 Mbps

93 Puerto Rico 4.86 Mbps

94 Mali 4.86 Mbps

95 Montenegro 4.85 Mbps

96 Albania 4.77 Mbps

97 Libya 4.77 Mbps

98 Oman 4.75 Mbps

99 Malaysia 4.64 Mbps

100 Cape Verde 4.59 Mbps

101 Barbados 4.50 Mbps

102 Reunion 4.49 Mbps

103 Zimbabwe 4.44 Mbps

104 Bosnia and Herzegovina 4.43 Mbps

105 Cayman Islands 4.43 Mbps

106 Laos 4.32 Mbps

107 Virgin Islands, U.S. 4.27 Mbps

108 Mauritania 4.26 Mbps

109 Northern Mariana Islands 4.20 Mbps

110 Argentina 4.14 Mbps

111 Morocco 4.08 Mbps

112 Colombia 4.07 Mbps

113 Bahamas 4.04 Mbps

114 Ecuador 4.01 Mbps

115 Brunei Darussalam 3.94 Mbps

116 Panama 3.89 Mbps

117 Philippines 3.86 Mbps

118 South Africa 3.86 Mbps

119 Azerbaijan 3.75 Mbps

120 Fiji 3.67 Mbps

121 Uganda 3.65 Mbps

122 Grenada 3.65 Mbps

123 Cambodia 3.64 Mbps

124 Guadeloupe 3.61 Mbps

125 Paraguay 3.48 Mbps

126 Bahrain 3.47 Mbps

127 Angola 3.33 Mbps

128 Martinique 3.33 Mbps

129 Sri Lanka 3.31 Mbps

130 Saint Lucia 3.31 Mbps

131 Honduras 3.22 Mbps

132 Dominican Republic 3.14 Mbps

133 Iraq 3.04 Mbps

134 Dominica 3.00 Mbps

135 Tunisia 2.97 Mbps

136 Saint Kitts and Nevis 2.97 Mbps

137 El Salvador 2.95 Mbps

138 Peru 2.93 Mbps

139 Guatemala 2.87 Mbps

140 Jordan 2.85 Mbps

141 Tanzania 2.83 Mbps

142 India 2.74 Mbps

143 Swaziland 2.68 Mbps

144 Afghanistan 2.67 Mbps

145 Costa Rica 2.67 Mbps

146 Virgin Islands, British 2.59 Mbps

147 Lesotho 2.58 Mbps

148 Belize 2.54 Mbps

149 Mozambique 2.48 Mbps

150 Indonesia 2.45 Mbps

151 Lebanon 2.44 Mbps

152 Turks and Caicos Islands 2.42 Mbps

153 Nigeria 2.37 Mbps

154 St. Vincent and Grenadines 2.32 Mbps

155 Myanmar 2.27 Mbps

156 Anguilla 2.27 Mbps

157 Zambia 2.25 Mbps

158 Bhutan 2.25 Mbps

159 Nicaragua 2.17 Mbps

160 Antigua and Barbuda 2.16 Mbps

161 Cote D'Ivoire 2.14 Mbps

162 Palestinian Territory 2.11 Mbps

163 Seychelles 2.02 Mbps

164 Malawi 1.95 Mbps

165 Nepal 1.93 Mbps

166 Iran, Islamic Republic of 1.93 Mbps

167 Venezuela 1.89 Mbps

168 Haiti 1.88 Mbps

169 Pakistan 1.83 Mbps

170 Suriname 1.82 Mbps

171 Sudan 1.79 Mbps

172 Mauritius 1.53 Mbps

173 Bangladesh 1.45 Mbps

174 Egypt 1.35 Mbps

175 Syrian Arab Republic 1.25 Mbps

176 Senegal 1.20 Mbps

177 Botswana 1.17 Mbps

178 Bolivia 1.17 Mbps

179 Algeria 1.12 Mbps

180 Uzbekistan 0.86 Mbps

181 Benin 0.69 Mbps

182 Congo, The Democratic Republic of the 0.60 Mbps
The raw source data for all this stuff is available here -- http://netindex.com/source-data/ -- and normally I'd be crunching that data, but a 1.5GB download is prohibitively large at the moment.
I guess my real question is which countries near the top of this list are interesting and cheap.
PS: I'm aware that the optimal "fast internet + cheap" answer is probably Kansas City, but it's just not interesting enough

[jzt83]

I haven't been, but my sister recently visited Thailand and enjoyed her visit. The major cities there are very modernized, safe and relatively cheap.

[chenda]

Some of the eastern European countries near the top may be relatively cheap, like Latvia or Romania. Especially if you move away from the tourist areas and head to the countryside.

[jennypenny]

I'm not sure how reliable those speeds are. The Cayman Islands are listed at 4.43 Mbps. When I visited last month, I didn't have any internet trouble at all. We've also looked seriously at Belize and I heard the service was fine there even though it's ranked near the bottom of the list you posted.
+1 to what Chenda said about eastern Europe

[secretwealth]

I had internet problems in Thailand. Guatemala--internet was fast and reliable in Antigua, less so in Lake Atitlan. YMMV.
Measuring mbps isn't enough--you also have to consider how far you are from the person you're talking to. This can sometimes make the connection slow.
It's a shame to hear that about Ecuador--I'd always considered that a viable international option. How's the air pollution there? That was a major issue in Guatemala.

[LiquidSapphire]

We Skype with people in Gdansk, Poland all the time and it's very reliable. Krakow might be worth a look.

[Christopherjart]

You can get a very fast connection here in Mexico city. A very fast connection will also be very expensive although it has been improving. I remember only a few years ago a 1 megabit connection was considered very fast. I think now the normal connection is about 4 perhaps 5 megs so I'm very curious where they get that 7 above.
In the suburbs, the average speed drops quite fast since there are few providers even with a large population available to use the service. When I lived in Cuautitlán (one suburb of over 100,000 people in the greater mexico city metropolis) supposedly the provider cablecom had internet service, but when I went to their office one block from the apartment they told me that they didn't offer internet to my municipality (their website didn't mention that minor detail.)
If you're out of luck you're stuck with service provided by TELMEX (one of Carlos Slim's businesses) They provide very poor customer service. I had many problems with them and would suggest looking for an alternative. I went to their offices and called support many times for an issue and they wouldn't help me.

[BeyondtheWrap]

I was also going to suggest Eastern Europe, but I see other posters have beaten me to it.
What kind of place counts as "interesting" to you?

[akratic]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
I agree the list isn't perfect, but I think it's correlated with the answer, and I think it's the best list out there.
Ultimately I think it's my girlfriend that gets to define "interesting".
I'm happy if the internet is fast, the food is good, it's easy to get a full night's sleep, and there's enough people around to do at least one social activity like crossfit, bridge, surfing, hiking, kickboxing, whatever.
I think I'm going to start lobbying for Asia, since it has the best food and internet in the world.
PS: Christopherjart, if you want to work out who's dragging Mexico's average up, check this out, a breakdown by city and ISP. Everyone here in Cuenca thinks there's only 4 internet providers, but thanks to that website I figured out that there's a fifth provider -- and it's the best one! -- but its only customers are the major banks and government offices. It's kind of a fun mystery hunt working backwards from the raw data.

[JohnnyH]

Any have a login account at speedtest.net? I wonder if you could browse an area map around you and see who has fast connections, and who the isp is.
Reliable internet is available even in some of the bottom countries on the list... I mean the average mbps of my state is in the 7mb/s range, but I have 30mb/s.
Eastern EU is great, but out in the countryside it's still DSL territory. But it is very reliable in my experience.

[Seneca]

Unless you are referring to a city state (like HK or Singapore) it really doesn't matter what that list says. It's city/area dependent.
At my house, the local wired provider advertised, and even by phone will tell you you can 10MBps down, but after hooking up we found in fact we can only get ~768k with low enough error rates it's stable. That is the only wired option.
Less than 20mi from cell phones quit working and it is a BIG dead zone. As we found in 2011, there is cell reception, and even decent data availability on parts of the Inca Trail in the middle of nowhere Peru.
20mi the other way is downtown Boise, which had early LTE rollout and you can get pretty much as big a pipe as you want to pay for.

[mikeBOS]

I wonder if it would be more helpful to organize it by cities instead of countries. Since I imagine a large city in some countries could have fine service while the rural areas would drive down the country-wide average.

[secretwealth]

This is a great example of an issue where anecdotal evidence is much more reliable than statistics.
I think we could just collect our own Speedtest data from various parts of the world. These would vary from ISP to ISP and plan to plan, but at least get you a sense of what you're likely to experience:
NYC: 8 mbps (Clear)

Rural New York : 3 mbps (Time Warner)

Antigua, Guatemala: 5 mbps

Lake Atitlan, Guatemala: 0.9 mbps

Bangkok: 1.5 mbps

[henrik]

Eastern EU is great, but out in the countryside it's still DSL territory.

In my corner of eastern EU, the countryside is nowadays mostly UMTS/LTE (mobile) territory, even though the government still insists on spending EU money digging cable into ground for "regional development".
Anywhere mobile connectivity is widely adopted, the choice is often between speed and mobility, which makes the Speedtest.net mean results quite useless. I have the option of 150 Mbit/s cable at home, but I choose my ~3-4 Mbit/s 3G instead -- it's fast enough, it's a little cheaper and I can take it with me anywhere I go.
Also, even though the data is interesting, I wonder if there's some selection bias involved-- aren't you more likely to go test the speed if you're having connectivity trouble?

[henrik]

@akratic For the Skype sessions, it's just as important (if not more so) to consider QoS practices enforced by the connection provider. Do they discriminate between different types of traffic? Does VoIP get higher or lower priority compared to other noise? Skype doesn't require much in terms of bandwidth, but latency can often break the conversation.

[Ego]

South Africa has fast internet and is a fascinating country.
There are several places in Asia that might work but time differences could prove difficult for your gf's skype conferences. 7:30 AM Bangkok time is 7:30PM East Coast US time right now. There is not a lot of overlap for business hours.

[Christopherjart]

@akratic ok the results make no sense! I had the hardest time getting a good internet provider that wasn't TELMEX for internet when I lived in Cuautitlán and yet it is showing as number 2 after cd juarez.
I have my connection now through Cablevision which doesn't operate in Cuautitlán. I had tried several times to get service from Axtel when I lived there, but there were NEVER any lines available with internet access for my area and they'd let me know. I was told that if I'd sign a contract for a phone line they'd give me priority for internet later but no guarantee, but since I was frugal I told them no. I wanted internet and the telephone would just be an extra for me.(in fact I only pay for internet and cell now)

They(axtel) finally had one available after I had moved back to distrito federal (mexico city proper) of course then I didn't care. I had had cablevision in D.F. before I moved to Cuautitlán and I was happy to go back to their good service.
I think my ex-roommate is using telmex for internet there.
The only thing that I can imagine is that the results aren't separating the results for Cuautitlán Izcalli from Cuautitlán (they are neighboring municipalities in the greater mexico city metropolis) but on the map they are showing Cuautitlán in the right place so I guess I'll just have to scratch my head and wonder. :-/
I pay 210 pesos a month for a 3mb connection (no usage limit). I could pay several times that for a several times faster connection, but I really don't need it unless my roommates start doing a lot of downloading and so far they have done basic webbrowsing.

[jacob]

My sister spent 6 months in China teaching English to ... middleschoolers(?). She has a BA in English Litt (not sure if that was an actual requirement or merely helpful). I think travel, room, and a stipend was paid. She also taught privately to upper class kids which was [much?] better paid. While this was local and not via skype, maybe this is an alternative solution? It was certainly enough to make a living on.

[m741]

I have family from South Africa and based on their descriptions, would not want to live there. I think the crime is pretty extreme compared to the US.

[RealPerson]

Same thought here: I would think that crime is a bigger issue than internet speed. South Africa has the highest murder rate in the world. When I was in Ecuador, safety was a HUGE issue. In the big cities, every little store has an armed guard, there is barbed wire everywhere, and crime is everywhere. At least that is what it was back when I was there.