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Mexico has quite a variety of inter-city bus lines, ranging from cheap, to "luxury." I've only ever ridden one, for about a 1-hour trip, and I slept most of the way, so I can't say my experience is very great in this area.
I'm curious if there are any Mexican bus lines that might offer Internet access during the trip. Free of course would be ideal, but if there are any that charge a premium fare (as many airlines do), that would be useful information as well.
After some more research, and help from a friend here in Mexico, I have found that the following bus lines (listed in alphabetical order) offer free WiFi on some of their routes:
Autobuses Americanos provided me with Internet access between Austin, TX and Laredo, TX, but once we crossed into Mexico, the Nuevo Laredo to Monterrey stretch had no Internet access.
Autovías provides free WiFi on their Autovías Doble Piso bus service.
Estrella Roja offers Internet on their México Ejecutivo routes, currently (as of 2011-11-23) only available between Mexico City and Puebla.
ETN has Internet available on (at least some of) their TuriStar Lujo service. To view Internet-capable routes, click the ETN SERVICES tab, then On Board Internet.
La Línea provides Internet on at least some of their routes. (I had Internet access between Guadalajara and Morelia.)
Parhikuni provides Internet on their Premium Class routes. Routes are available in southwestern Mexico.
Primera Plus provides free WiFi on routes between select destinations:*
Senda offers Internet with their Ave Ejecutiva service. They offer service throughout much of Mexico, and the U.S.
TAP provides Internet with their TAP Confort service. They provide service along most of the west coast states of Mexico.
Vencedor offers Internet with their Autonaves Gran Confort service.
I also found a review site that reviews various aspects of some of the top bus lines, and includes comments on the quality of Internet service available on a few.
*I cannot find a list of their Internet-enabled routes, except on an animated ad on their front page. As of 2011-11-23, routes between the listed cities were advertised to provide Internet access.
According to Mexperience.com, some buses do indeed have wifi onboard, but generally only in Executive Class buses:
ETN's buses now offer WiFi on some routes. The service is free and enables you to send/receive email, surf the net and make internet-based phone calls from the bus using a service like Skype. Service quality varies and, depending on where you are geographically, internet signals may not be available at certain points en-route as many of Mexico's highways traverse mountains and other wild terrains.
So what this likely means is the bus has a 3g signal that is hooked up to the wifi, meaning you'll be sharing all the internet with anyone else onboard. If you're the only one - lucky you!
Another blog post on the same site describes the experience and would seem to indicate that ETN has had onboard internet since 2008.
ETN stands for Enlaces Terrestres Nacionales, and they have a website. To see which routes currently offer Internet, on their opening page, hover over the 'Servicios' tab, then click 'Internet a Bordo' (or switch to English, then 'ETN Services' followed by 'On Board Internet').
