# Wi-fi in cafes



## redbourn (May 8, 2013)

Just moved to my new apartment in Costa da Caparica and won't have my own Internet until Friday, so I'm doing this from a café.

In spite of being told that almost every café in Portugal has the Internet that's definitely not true here. This place is geared up for tourists or people that live here and don't need the service, so the cafés don't spend the money on installing and maintaining it.

I eventually got directed to maybe the only one in town by a guy that has a paid for Internet place. He couldn't let me hook up my laptop so he told me which café to go to, which was very nice of him. The café is a little higher priced because of the tourists and the food is mediocre but it will be good for a few days.

There was a very nice street market today which I imagine is only at weekends and I will get photos next weekend.

Found a nice medium sized supermarket near to my apartment, and the apartment was spotlessly clean when I arrived.


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

Do an internet search, Lisbon doesn't appear to be that short, other places apart from Cafes like McDonalds, FNAC, shopping centres, all of our local Camara's supply Wi-Fi in their main towns, does Lisbon? I would have thought so


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## redbourn (May 8, 2013)

canoeman said:


> Do an internet search, Lisbon doesn't appear to be that short, other places apart from Cafes like McDonalds, FNAC, shopping centres, all of our local Camara's supply Wi-Fi in their main towns, does Lisbon? I would have thought so


Lisbon proper has wifi everywhere so Costa da Caparica surprised me.

Anyway after shutting down my phone, taking out the battery, replacing it, and restarting the phone, I'm now able to use the internet from both my phone and from my laptop, when the phone is tethered to it. Don't know what the problem was with the phone. Anyway I have a gigabyte of data a month on my phone which will be much more than enough for emails and Google maps etc. until I get my ADSL on Friday.

Anyway, I'm very pleased with the apartment which is spotlessly clean and has quality furniture and a nice tiled floor. It's on a quite street, but close to both the beach and the town center. Has a fridge, good stove and washing machine.

Going back into Lisbon to visit the loja da cidadao to get my address changed; about 40 minutes each way.

Also found a slightly better beer in the local supermarket, called "Especial".

Thanks for all the help.

Michael

BTW I can access PT wifi on my phone in certain parts of the town but the coverage is very spotty.


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## redbourn (May 8, 2013)

Phone company stupidity.

I signed up a week ago with PT for Internet service and the technician was supposed to hook me up between 14:00 and 18:00 today.

PT is the Portuguese telephone company.

Well when nobody arrived by 18:30 I called to ask what was happening.

A lady told me that the connection had been canceled because I'd ordered ADSL and they were now offering fiber optic in my area.

I asked why nobody called and explained that fiber optic isn't yet available in my area and asked why nobody had called during the week.

She said that she'd put me onto somebody that would explain.

The next person didn't know why nobody had contacted me but explained that the company doesn't offer Internet in my area.

I pointed out that my neighbor has it, the café round the corner has it and my apartment has cable TV.

He said that he was sorry but the company doesn't offer the service.

I later went to the café and he said that of course they offer it and he's connected via PT.

In the meantime I paid 20 euros for something called a 'pen' which you plug into a USB port and it works well. I got several hours free and it's a fast connection but I'll have to check the contract price. Who sells the 'pen'? The same company PT!

Anyway I now have to go into their main office tomorrow and talk to somebody who will sort things out.

Otherwise it was a good day and people here are pleased that Portugal defeated N. Ireland 4-2 at soccer.


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

Welcome to Portugal and especially PT who *no doubt don't want to offer* you a landline + ADSL *because they want you to sign up to the new Meo service* which is TV+phone+internet the inducement being higher speeds but at a price that is not always explained clearly they push the initial offer price but are quieter about the true price after initial offer, if they can offer you Meo they can supply phone+internet but see below if you can get WOW it's better & cheaper

If Portuguese TV is of no or little interest I'd suggest looking at Optimus's WOW 4G internet via router + home phone about 25€ pm unlimited internet + offer price on Router/phone is virtually instantaneous connection


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## redbourn (May 8, 2013)

canoeman said:


> Welcome to Portugal and especially PT who *no doubt don't want to offer* you a landline + ADSL *because they want you to sign up to the new Meo service* which is TV+phone+internet the inducement being higher speeds but at a price that is not always explained clearly they push the initial offer price but are quieter about the true price after initial offer, if they can offer you Meo they can supply phone+internet but see below if you can get WOW it's better & cheaper
> 
> If Portuguese TV is of no or little interest I'd suggest looking at Optimus's WOW 4G internet via router + home phone about 25€ pm unlimited internet + offer price on Router/phone is virtually instantaneous connection


Thanks for that!

Hard for me to believe that they didn't even call on send an SMS

Michael

PS Wow says A sua área de residência está coberta pelo serviço wÖw com velocidades até 100 Mbps.


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

You're not familiar with PT then for a company whose whole existence is about communication they don't know how to interact with customers it's about making a sale but don't spell out the conditions, a friend recently signed up for Meo+internet+phone because of internet speed offered, just under 30€ pm initial 6 months then 60€pm PT managed to take 2 correct D/D friend still trying to recover 4 incorrect D/D at full price he's also twigged that the free calls are pretty useless as their op PT landline numbers only between the hours of 21:00 & 09:00 and weekends not a natural time for expats to be chatting, personally think he's crazy because he doesn't like Portuguese TV so a very expensive way of getting good internet speed

Try the WOW many places sell apart from Optimus will refund if you can't get promised speed certainly when bought from an Optimus shop or agent


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## redbourn (May 8, 2013)

canoeman said:


> You're not familiar with PT then for a company whose whole existence is about communication they don't know how to interact with customers it's about making a sale but don't spell out the conditions, a friend recently signed up for Meo+internet+phone because of internet speed offered, just under 30€ pm initial 6 months then 60€pm PT managed to take 2 correct D/D friend still trying to recover 4 incorrect D/D at full price he's also twigged that the free calls are pretty useless as their op PT landline numbers only between the hours of 21:00 & 09:00 and weekends not a natural time for expats to be chatting, personally think he's crazy because he doesn't like Portuguese TV so a very expensive way of getting good internet speed
> 
> Try the WOW many places sell apart from Optimus will refund if you can't get promised speed certainly when bought from an Optimus shop or agent


OK I signed up with Wow for the unlimited 100Mbps package 36.99 (euro) package - 49.90 for the router or an extra 5 if you want to pay the delivery man.

Router should arrive in 3 days.

No paperwork, just an address and an NIF number. 10 minutes on the phone instead of 1 hour at a PT office.

14 days to cancel and money for the equipment returned.

No holes in the wall

Features:
Dimensions: 123 x 58.5 x 14 mm
Wi-fi router with the possibility of connecting micro USB (2.0)
Wi-fi: 802.11b/g/n 2.4 GHz
Allows to connect up to 10 devices
Speeds up to 100 Mbps
Compatibility: Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8, Mac OS X10.5 - 10.

Thanks for the tip.

I will go into my bank on Monday and tell them not to honor the standing order from PT if they try to slip one by on me ;-)


Michael


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

Sorry but I would have gone to a shop far easier to sort out any problems now you can only deal direct with Optimus/WoW plus you'd have walked out with everything


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## redbourn (May 8, 2013)

canoeman said:


> Sorry but I would have gone to a shop far easier to sort out any problems now you can only deal direct with Optimus/WoW plus you'd have walked out with everything


For whatever reason I didn't think of going to a shop.

On their webpage they only give their phone number.

They were very friendly and helpful on the phone and I got a good feeling from them.

I have no idea how much data you get included with the 'pen', that I'm using right now.

The guy in the local shop said, "it depends on how you use it but it should be OK for several days", which tells me nothing. A different guy will be there today and maybe he knows.

loja > Banda larga > Placas gives no details.

Another few days and this will all be behind me. 

I have several websites that I haven't been maintaining because of this bs but maybe a break from them is good.

Thanks again ...


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## redbourn (May 8, 2013)

Just got a chip for my phone which is now hooked up to my laptop. 

Unlimited internet for a week and cheap phone calls abroad for 10 euros - it's a bit slow but will be good enough until my own setup arrives.


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