# Satelite Broadband



## Soapchick

Hi I know this has been done to death just wanted to find out if anyone is aware of any great deals going at the moment? The best I have so far is with Europasat Portugal using Tooway, unlimited usage, 22mb download, equipment and instalation for 239€ incl IVA the €86.90 per month comes with a UK IP address too.
If anyone knows anything better (I need unlimited really) please can you let me know?
thanks a lot - Oh by the way, I live in the Beiras, near Oliveira do Hospital, north east of Coimbra.

We have just been told that we definitely cannot have a mainline and we only get 3G


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## In 2 bikes

We are still waiting for MEO broadband, which has been promised to be fibre optic. But I was put on to VYPR vpn which apart from costing 120 dollars a year allows you to use their network as a private network in a sort of proxy manner. 

In other words, I would sign on to MEO internet and then log in to VYPR . I could then watch, on my 'smart' TV unlimited amounts of UK (catch up) telly or for that matter any country's TV.

But like I say, we are still waiting for our internet. Fibre was promised as a business half a mile up the road has it and MEO stated we can be piggy backed on to it.

I do have a feeling though that I will be doing an almighty Homer Simpson ' Doh !!! '


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## travelling-man

2 Bikes

MEO messed us around with the promise of F/O for several months but then suddenly decided to install 600 metres of F/O cable and it's well worth having...... my advice would be to pester them until they get fed up with you and install it just so you'll leave them alone.


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## In 2 bikes

travelling-man said:


> 2 Bikes
> 
> MEO messed us around with the promise of F/O for several months


here its comes...........................Doh !!!


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## travelling-man

In 2 bikes said:


> here its comes...........................Doh !!!


LOL!

Ah but we got it in the end!


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## Soapchick

The problem I have is not the actual installation, they can do that with 600m of cable and 2 posts its our horrible Dutch neighbors who wont let us have access to their land, even though we have offered to go subterranean under their field it would still require 2 posts on their land and there is no way on this earth they are going to give in. So apart from paying 15€ a month for my banda larga dongle thingy which I am curently doing, satelite seems to be the best option. once its done its done and I dont have to rely on anyone else. We are already totally stand alone so it suits us fine. The banda larga is restricted to 15gb per month which is useless for me really as I run a business on the internet, use a lot of images and design and run websites too! its also only 3G which is better in fact that UK broadband but the signal does drop out every now and then and is bad at peak times of the day. I was just hoping someone had heard of a brilliant deal, better than the one I have found which is expensive to start off with but then seems reasonable considering its TV (all UK TV), broadband and phone.


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## travelling-man

Can you not go around the neighbour instead of crossing their land?


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## Soapchick

Hi, no chance, its too far and very rocky, we would not be able to get the digger there and it would cost a bloody fortune. The only other option is down our caminho which is almost a kilometer, very steep and very rocky and PT have already said they wont do it. If our neigbors would play ball we would only need 4 posts and PT are fine with that, I thought that by offering to go under their field they would be happy but they are a******les!


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## travelling-man

Very bloody minded of them not to let you dig a trench.


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## Soapchick

I know! its a real problem, they have never been very nice people Im afraid. I hope the satellite thing is the way to go


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## canoeman

There are a few other options to Europsat which Google search will bring up but you might not get a UK IP address, think Bentley Walker is cheaper than Europsat Satellite Broadband by Tooway | Bentley Walker check your line of sight first

Have you made enquiries with NOS used to be Optimus/Kanguru/WoW to see if they offer 3/4G in your area, new Huawei routers better than Alcatel and although a wireless service are not restricted to Dongles 15GB pm before throttling, home telephone available worth checking


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## Soapchick

canoeman said:


> There are a few other options to Europsat which Google search will bring up but you might not get a UK IP address, think Bentley Walker is cheaper than Europsat Satellite Broadband by Tooway | Bentley Walker check your line of sight first
> 
> Have you made enquiries with NOS used to be Optimus/Kanguru/WoW to see if they offer 3/4G in your area, new Huawei routers better than Alcatel and although a wireless service are not restricted to Dongles 15GB pm before throttling, home telephone available worth checking


Yes, unfortunately we do not have 4G and are not likely to do so for about another year
Thanks so much for the info though, I will have a look at Bentley Walker. :fingerscrossed:


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## Soapchick

Just had a quick look and it is more expensive for the initial bit, and you have to instal yourself. Europasat offer free installation with their deal. the contract is also for 24 months and, although steep, I think the fact thats its unlimited usage with a UK IP address is the winner, will keep looking for a couple more days though, so if anyone else has found anything better I would love to hear from you X


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## canoeman

Don't think Europsat offer free Portuguese installation unless you rent and why rent? seems to me as if their just moving goalposts all the time


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## Ronnie_Yook

Hello Soapchick 

you might not appreciate it just now, but I think your 'dear neighbours' might have done you a favour!

Yes, I think we are like you, in a very rural mountainous area of Central Portugal, though we are very fortunate to have good Portuguese neighbours. We paid for the installation, 6 wooden posts etc to provide us with PT telecoms. The only difficulty we had was when we had the PT telecoms land-line, and it was shot to pieces by seasonal caçadors (hunters), which meant we had no telephone, and no internet.

The internet, at that time was 2Mbs download speed (at best) so no Skype etc. As the last in the line user, PT were not interested in repairing our line, which forced us to go Satellite about 19 months ago.

I am using the sat now to post this on-line to the expatforum, and it was one of the best things we did here. We have 20Mbps download, UK ISP, YouTube, Skype, which also gives 400 min free per month calls to landlines. It might even make toast!

We don't have the telephone line being shot, and downtime problems as previous. Iif we had an underground cable system on 'neighbours land' to which we would not have any control, ie. Dug up by tractor etc. Then IMHO, and being 100% independent, the sat system is the way to go.

You will also note that ie. Sky users in Portugal have lost channels, but most TV is now accessible on-line.

Our experience of any after-sales service with PT, or TMN (now MEO) was abysmal.

Hope this helps, Good luck on your decision.


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## Ronnie_Yook

I meant to say earlier... Welcome to the forum!


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## Ronnie_Yook

Soapchick...I meant to say earlier... Welcome to the forum!


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## In 2 bikes

travelling-man said:


> 2 Bikes
> 
> MEO messed us around with the promise of F/O for several months but then suddenly decided to install 600 metres of F/O cable and it's well worth having...... my advice would be to pester them until they get fed up with you and install it just so you'll leave them alone.


Well, here's my wee update. Meo finally rang back today after days of 'pestering' and emailing and they have stated they are coming on Thursday to fit 'satellite ' broadband and not fibre optic as they had made a mistake offering it in the first place. 24 Meg / free national land line calls / 85 channels ( all probably showing 'the preco certo' ), for 48 euros a month. :fingerscrossed:


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## canoeman

Cancel immediately Meo cannot supply "satellite" broadband the only service they can offer via satellite/dish is Meo TV, the broadband would be via a Wireless Router or dongle if you allow them to install you will have endless problems trying to cancel contact, a friend has just gone through this entire rigmarole and is not a happy bunny as he is still trying to get refunded the 45€ he had to pay to have dish installed as although warned he thought he was getting the service you describe


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## The Hog

In 2 bikes said:


> Well, here's my wee update. Meo finally rang back today after days of 'pestering' and emailing and they have stated they are coming on Thursday to fit 'satellite ' broadband and not fibre optic as they had made a mistake offering it in the first place. 24 Meg / free national land line calls / 85 channels ( all probably showing 'the preco certo' ), for 48 euros a month. :fingerscrossed:


Canoeman is right. You CANNOT get satelite broadband with MEO. 
A friend of mine was assured that they could and had the devils own job trying to cancel it after the dish was installed. 
Satellite broadband uses an entirely different system. It has a different dish and a very specialised LNB. It simply cannot be done with a satelite TV dish.
I'm afraid the MEO reps are not very scrupulous and will tell you anything to get a sale.
Personally I use Tooway through Bentley-Walker.


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## In 2 bikes

OOoopps.......... I'm not sure where to go with this now, guys. 

In anticipation of an installation we acquired, weeks ago, a 'pay-as-you-go' dongle / router from MEO and although very expensive ( 1 euro per hour ) it has worked very well. It doesn't buffer when watching youtube and has handled all the other routine stuff and is the size of a packet of 10 **** and can be taken anywhere as it charges like a mobile phone or can be left plugged in.

My big concern is; given that the MEO dongle router we have works well, do you think I would be able to use VYPR, which would is a sort of proxy server, on the new 'installed' dongle which would allow me to watch TV from the UK and the USA? Is it likely to be a different type of dongle / router. It seems things like BBC Iplayer and more importantly Netflix won't run directly from a straight google search / request as my IP address can be seen as being in Portugal.

I have to say we approached Vodafone and NOS for internet and on supplying our post code it was revealed that we are "hill people" and it's unlikely that we would get any sort of high-end service.


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## canoeman

Meo is just rebranded TMN, it's still all PT, the dongle you describe has unpublished data useage exceed and your speed will be throttled, if your option is wireless, I'd still check out the Nos offer see if you can get a good signal their offering a TV, internet, phone + SIM package that's slightly cheaper than anyone else's and the wireless router is not subject to data use.
This is where I have so little regard for Meo/PT whatever you want to call it, why buy a PAYG dongle if Meo are supposed to be installing TV & Internet?

Any good VPN will run on any type of router its the speed and capacity of the "wireless" connection that determines problem with buffering


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## In 2 bikes

canoeman said:


> , why buy a PAYG dongle if Meo are supposed to be installing TV & Internet?


Thanks CM for the update. To answer the above, we knew we would have to wait around for an installation so we paid 38 euros for a wifi dongle to use in the meantime. It saved having to drive to town and enduring cakes and coffee whilst locking onto the cafe's open wifi for our emails


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## canoeman

Think I'd have opted for cakes and coffees but seriously I'd check out with the engineers (not the guy that installs dish as that's all he does) what they say you'll get, generally far more honest and knowledgeable than Meo salespeople, if you have doubts which personally I think you will then don't allow them to install far easier than trying to get out of a Meo contract.

The dongle you've bought should be 4G (there are better versions on the market) if it is then whatever speed your currently getting will be the best possible for your area and extremely unlikely to be close to any promised speed from Meo salespeople.
PT/Meo will only accept there own speedtest system results :: Portugal Telecom :: Teste de Velocidade Banda Larga when your trying to argue service supplied or not

Although I don't like PT/Meo if like TM the infrastructure is there then they can deliver promised service & speeds if it isn't it's a continuous nightmare


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## In 2 bikes

Thanks CM. I ran the speed testing program you mentioned and whilst considering it is our original dongle that I have tested the result were / are pretty poo, ( sorry that should be poor ! ). But I have to say we watched a film last night from Netflix, via VYPR the virtual private network program I have on my laptop which links to a server in the USA and the there was no buffering or perceived problems.

The only issue was I had to HDMI cable link my laptop to the TV so my lap top screen was a slave to the TV screen. I think there must be a way to link the lap top by wifi but I'll have to explore that.

The engineers arrive today at 2pm and Mrs In 2 Bikes has thrown a spanner in the works because she read what you have mentioned and is now whittering on about NOS and others again, where as I'm just about to surrender to it all and sign up because I'm fed up of the chasing about... Doh !!!!

If Mrs In 2 starts divorce proceedings, ( :fingerscrossed: ), I'll call you as a witness and I'll clear off to an area where Fibre Optic is freely available


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## canoeman

I'd again seriously query what the engineers are installing and what they say you are likely to get or not, if you allow installation to go ahead then you must for your sake monitor service received and if it's not what you where told/promised/guaranteed cancel very quickly you have a limited window in which to do it. PT/Meo are really the absolute pits when it comes to cancelling a contract because they are not delivering and this is not just me saying it, Portuguese have exactly same problems.

I have an acquaintance who signed for Meo/internet via landline i.e. the final connection from f/optic network is by copper cable and he got great TV but nowhere near promised internet speed which is what he signed for and barely better than ADSL, he cancelled 9 months later umpteen letters, emails, complaints book, calls you name it, Meo just refuse or ignore everything and say you signed a contract and has passed bill to a debt collector he's still fighting 

You need one of the Android type boxes like these it take laptop out of equation and turns TV into a Smart TV easier than linking TV to laptop by wi-fi loads on market
android tv box | eBay

Buffering it just all depends most of time I have zero problems but then yesterday I wan't to watch something and buffering an issue


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## azoreseuropa

The Europe's internet is much better than here in America. We pay 10 mbps for $52.00 usd. Its too expensive and lousy internet. For iPhone, the discount for disability will be $59.00 a month through Verizon and Spring, $50 a month through AT&T. For hearing, over 100 dollars a month for 2 years! America is INSANE! 

For Vodafone, hearing and deaf are the same: About 13 to 23 euro a month depending which iPhone versions you want through MEO for 2 years. Cheap and affordable. Incredible.


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## In 2 bikes

I hear you ........... but here we go. The MEO chaps came at 14:30 as promised, but just prior to their arrival MEO telephoned to offer the exact same package that was about to be installed but with the addition of 2 sim cards (2000 minutes and texts each card) for 59 euros a month. I told them that their engineers were about to visit and fit a system. They then said when the system was fitted, to give MEO a call and upgrade for the extra 11 euros (48 per month currently) and the sims would be delivered.

The engineers who came to fit a satellite dish / internet and also activate a landline, merely fitted a MEO TV box, like a Sky box. They didn't change the satellite dish for theirs as they showed me that the dish which is already on the chimney has a much better 'thingy'. They produced some digital readouts on my own TV screen and said their dish would not be as good. So in effect they just plugged in a TV box with an HDMI lead.

What about internet and the land line, I asked???? Arghhh yes, my colleagues will visit another day and fit that system.

So far I have 85 channels of questionable interest and the few that might spark attention are by subscription only.

Whilst they were in the house I asked them what internet speed I would expect to get from their proposed installation and they stated " 24 meg ". Canoeman, I showed them their own PT speed tester web site using my laptop and the, already, owned MEO router dongle / router that I just so happened to have on in my pocket.

The speed of data download was recorded at 4.26 meg and they looked at each other and stated it was poor because "the dongle is designed for cafe use !"

So in a nutshell I'm watching TV through my own sat dish and am still wondering when the internet / phone will come.

All the signs are as you painted them, a crystal ball is not required.................


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## canoeman

I can only say again cancel, if I'd have paid which you have for a new dish & thingy then I would have made them leave it at the least.
I thought you said that you couldn't have a landline because of poles in which case your landline will be a fixed wireless mobile and your router will be basically what you've got already, those engineers to me sound like dish installers not PT/Meo engineers.

So another great Meo deal which I also presume at the time of sales pitch they neglected to tell you you could also just have had internet + home phone?


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## In 2 bikes

The poles thing I think is someone else's thread / issue. I haven't paid anything yet. I guess it'll all be an interesting joust. I'll keep you posted.


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## travelling-man

I don't understand the charges:

We're paying €59.99 (or very close) for unlimited fibre optic internet, umpteen (mostly useless) TV channels landline with some kind of free call package but that includes free international calls to a variety of countries between the hours of 2100 - 0900 & 2 sim cards that each have 600 minutes of free calls and 600 free SMS messages per month.

If you're not getting unlimited, fast internet in your package for that price, I'd definitely take C/Ms advice and cancel. 

FWIW, the last time I checked my speed I was getting something like 50 mbps and I checked it on 3 different sites........ the slow point on my connection now is my laptop rather than the connection.


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## canoeman

In 2 bikes said:


> The poles thing I think is someone else's thread / issue. I haven't paid anything yet. I guess it'll all be an interesting joust. I'll keep you posted.


But you've no doubt actioned a Direct Debit? mine & friends experiences with PT/Meo have hardly been a interesting joust but good luck.

The question is did you sign up for Meo TV because you where told or thought you'd get excellent broadband if so as your already disappointed with channels then you've been missold, apart from that you needn't have bought the TV package, because if Meo could have delivered TV, phone + excellent broadband, by F/O or a combination of F/O/copper they would have done.
As they can't deliver Meo TV except by dish then that tells you that in your area there is not a close F/O network

Lets hope that your ADSL speed will be better than dongle and when engineers installs phone & router ask for a few extra inline filters as they fail or are stated as a reason for slow speed


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## travelling-man

FWIW, We've had the fibre optic connection for a few months now and using the official SAPO speedtest here: :: Portugal Telecom :: Teste de Velocidade Banda Larga, the speed right now shows at 73 Mbps download speed and 23.3 Mbps upload....... but of course, how accurate that is might be a different matter! LOL


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## canoeman

Try it with one of external speedtests, but it just goes to show that* if PT/Meo have the infrastructure* they can deliver


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## travelling-man

I've tried it with others and all vary a bit but not usually dramatically. 

I've gotta say, we're very happy indeed with the connection but not perhaps quite so happy with the billing which to me at least is over complicated.

The land line gives some free calls to local and international numbers but some are billed and the cellphones only start billing if you go over the 600 minutes a month...... so it's sometimes a bit of a PITA to work out which is the best phone to use.


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## In 2 bikes

Finally !!!

Meo net / landline / mobile / tv is installed and all seems to be working at a better standard than we had in the UK for the equivalent of approximately 16 quid less a month. It's no where near T.M's G.C.H.Q. standards, but it works for an agreeable price. 

It would be fair to say that there were a lot of failings-to-appear for installation dates and it did take 7 weeks of us pushing and pestering to get them to finally come around, but ironically the interim pay-as-you-go internet dongle we had off them was strangely locked in to providing a free internet service for (according to our usage download file) 203 hours. I regard it as Karma but also a significant indicator of how sloppy things can be at Meo.


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## canoeman

Glad your satisfied but exactly what did Meo install? and how are they delivering the 3 components


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## travelling-man

In 2 bikes said:


> Finally !!!
> 
> Meo net / landline / mobile / tv is installed and all seems to be working at a better standard than we had in the UK for the equivalent of approximately 16 quid less a month. It's no where near T.M's G.C.H.Q. standards, but it works for an agreeable price.
> 
> It would be fair to say that there were a lot of failings-to-appear for installation dates and it did take 7 weeks of us pushing and pestering to get them to finally come around, but ironically the interim pay-as-you-go internet dongle we had off them was strangely locked in to providing a free internet service for (according to our usage download file) 203 hours. I regard it as Karma but also a significant indicator of how sloppy things can be at Meo.


You're lucky to get it done in just 7 weeks........ I had to nag them for something like 2 years before we finally got the fibre optic option. 

Assuming the PT Telecom speed checker is right, and I have my doubts about that, we're currently getting a download speed of 76 Mbps and upload of 23 Mbps..... and although Susan's new laptop goes like a rocket on that connection, my older one is now the choke point for me........ and so the never ending cycle goes on! LOL


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## canoeman

PT speed checker not the best but it's the only one they'll recognize results for so in their interests that it might read high!

Sounds like a good excuse for a replacement with Windows 9 due out might be some bargains coming up


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## travelling-man

I do keep thinking about a replacement and the one I have now is pretty old but it's reliable and still gives me about 3 hours of battery life so am finding it hard to convince myself it needs changing........ which probably means I'm a tight fisted git but hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!


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## canoeman

Always little tweeks you can do like increasing RAM memory, can cheaply improve performance, I had same view but with computer technology moving so quickly these days, just added reluctantly an Android Tablet but really amazed at performance, no I don't use it in quite the same way as laptop but very handy and at £70ish delivered a bargain


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## travelling-man

Ja, SWMBO very kindly bought me a Samsung Tablet for Christmas and whilst I find it useful for some things, I rather feel it's like a laptop with all the convenient features removed! LOL!


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## In 2 bikes

canoeman said:


> Glad your satisfied but exactly what did Meo install? and how are they delivering the 3 components


It's a long story.

Part 1 - In the end, two satellite guys came and installed the TV box under the telly. They didn't change the existing sat-dish as they said theirs wasn't as good as the one on my house. They cleared off stating another team would pop along to do the house phone and net .............sometime.

Part 2 - Sometime later, two more guys rocked up with a big ladder and tied the house to a nearby telephone pole with some wire which they left in a big loop dangling from the gable end. They said another team will be along to finish the installation and put the wire through and into the house to connect us to the net.............sometime.

Part 3 - Yawn.......sometime later two more guys appeared, sharing the same screwdriver, and spent an hour wiring the house phone up and plugging in a router.

To recap: it took 7 weeks of admin and a few visits to MEO to receive a 24 month contract at 48 euros a month for 115 TV channels, internet with no data limits ( I should think so too!), a house phone with free national, landline, calls 24/7 and free international between 2100 - 0900, plus two SIM cards carrying 2000 minutes a month and a chunk of texts. Interestingly MEO have automatically kept our MOCHE mobile numbers so we don't have that PITA to deal with.

So far so good.:fingerscrossed:


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## travelling-man

2 Bikes, is that a fibre optic or a DSL broadband connection and what kind of speed are you getting please?


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## canoeman

No that's ADSL he's getting if it was FO he wouldn't need dish or if he was *close* enough to a FO service again he wouldn't have needed dish as the final connection can be by traditional copper cable although you wouldn't get you GCHQ speeds but better than ADSL 

Providing In2bikes is happy with service all well and good but it appears that Meo/PT salespeople didn't informed him he could have had internet & phone without TV


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## In 2 bikes

travelling-man said:


> 2 Bikes, is that a fibre optic or a DSL broadband connection and what kind of speed are you getting please?


TM having used the PT website speed tester, I'm getting.....wait for it....wait for it....8 meg download. I know that's a bit like calculating the thrust required to obtain lift off on an abacus frame compared to your atom splitter but it just about allows me to keep up with the kids on my Play Station. I can definitely tell which on line players have faster connection speeds though. 

CM , you're spot on about the smoke and mirrors used by MEO but we wanted the SIM cards ( x 2 ) deal to be included which left us with only one package, as far as we could see, and that was the one that included the TV channels. Thank the Lord, I say, for virtual private networks and smart tellys. I can lock on to a 'foreign' server and watch all sorts of stuff.....mostly educational documentaries of course..


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## travelling-man

So can you pick up any of the Brit TV channels on it?

Especially things likTVs, Gold & Drama etc?


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## canoeman

On 8 In2bikes should have zero problem hooking up computer or Android box and accessing UK TV via Filmon, Camposat

Understand your preference for SIM's so yes Meo package is only one, for us of little interest or inducement to consider PT if alternatives.
Nos are offering same/similar package but although they can give us best internet service still can't deliver the full 4G reguired for TV, Internet & Phone + SIMs


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## In 2 bikes

TM I can get UK telly as CM suggests using Filmon via the web. I use VYPR virtual private network to allow me to use the web from a server in a country other than PT.

An example as to why I would do this is; Mrs In 2 likes watching Netflix who, for 6 quid a month, allow us to watch as many films / DVD titles as she likes. They also show a complete TV series, a bit like a box set. My favourite is 'Luther'.

Netflix will not work with a Portugal ISP address, so you have to use an American ISP or a UK ISP, which is where VYPR comes in. When I log onto VYPR and select a server in the UK, all my internet traffic thinks I am on a computer in the UK.

Furthermore, Netflix offers different viewing to a UK ISP compared to a USA ISP. I think it's because NETFLIX tailor their offerings to match the viewing demographic.

There are probably many other reasons people would like to disguise their ISP address, but for us, it's simply a case of being a film-buff.


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## canoeman

Also a useful security measure especially when on public free wi-fi networks which we use mainly with phones and tablet


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