Is there available Internet? – Where can I use it?
The good news: It is possible to use internet in Cuba! In order to connect your device with an internet connection you need to go to a public park that provides internet or to one of the many hotels. The connection is mostly better in hotels, however, you are likely to be asked to order something from the hotel bar. A coffee for 2 dollar will do it.
The internet service is controlled by the state-owned telecom company ETECSA and mainly provided through government-approved Wi-Fi hotspots in parks and hotels around Cuba.
How can I use Internet in parks or hotels?
To be able to use the internet connection in parks or hotels you will have to buy an internet card. You can get such cards in official ETECSA stores for 1,50 CUC, in parks (from a private re-seller in the park) for 2-4 CUC or in hotels for 2-4,50 CUC. I can recommend buying several cards when arriving for 1,50-2 CUC because not always you will find them for that price, especially at night the prices in parks are 3-4 CUC and not rarely the cards are sold out in hotels. With each card you have access to internet for one hour only!
How do I log-in?
The log-in process may be a little bit tricky. On the internet card you will find a user-number and a password number, which you need both to log into the stated-owned internet. First you connect to the WIFI called “ETECSA” and then a window pops-up asking to put in the both numbers form the internet card. Once that is done the window shows that you are connected and indicates the time consumed.
Sometimes the log-in window does not appear right away when you connect to the ETECSA WIFI. I saw many people having troubles with that. Just try to close and open the browser again. Your browser might also restrict the internet access as the government wants access to you. In order to connect you have to allow the government to gain access to your connection. Thats a vital point to connect to the internet.
Are there any restrictions on certain websites?
Once everything works out you can enjoy quite decent internet connections in hotels. Mostly it works fine. Only sometimes it can happen that the internet doesn’t work. The restrictions on websites are very limited. I had no problems at all. All social media websites worked without restrictions. The only restriction I had was not being able to book hotels from websites like booking.com.
Namaste 