# Working online in Spain - options & reliability



## ninjabinger (Dec 13, 2012)

I'm an online worker thinking of heading to Spain for a while. I was wondering if anyone could share their experiences of online work in the country in terms of:
- reliability of household internet connections; is it just the speed that is a problem sometimes, or does the loss of any connection for hours/days/weeks at a time occur?
- possibility of using roaming internet connections via iPad and/or phone, so that you wouldn't be dependent on a physical connection (how dependable is this in Spain, and what sort of options/contracts/prices have you used?).
- moving into a new rented property; it seems to be rare for apartments to have an internet connection up and running when you start renting. Is it common to find ones like this, and if not, how long might you have to wait to get one set up?

Any help appreciated


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## DunWorkin (Sep 2, 2010)

When we first came to live in Spain in 2004 we also had an online business (continuing what we had been doing in UK).

We moved into a new house and were assured that a telephone connection was there and that broadband internet would not be a problem.

When we finally moved in we found that although the house was wired for a telephone to the main box at the edge of our small urbanisation the box was not connected to any telephone lines.

We immediately applied to Telefonica for a telephone and internet connection but they told us they would not be installing any new lines until at least half the properties were occupied 

We ended up waiting 18 months before we got a telephone. During that time we were spending about €700 a month on mobile connections (bear in mind this was 2004 and technology was not as it is today and we were uploading and downloading large amounts of data).

My advice would be, before you move into anywhere, test out the internet connection, speak to neighbours to see what their experiences are and also make sure you have a WiFi location nearby for emergencies.

I hope it all works out for you.


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## RichTUK (Oct 15, 2012)

ninjabinger said:


> I'm an online worker thinking of heading to Spain for a while. I was wondering if anyone could share their experiences of online work in the country in terms of:
> - reliability of household internet connections; is it just the speed that is a problem sometimes, or does the loss of any connection for hours/days/weeks at a time occur?
> - possibility of using roaming internet connections via iPad and/or phone, so that you wouldn't be dependent on a physical connection (how dependable is this in Spain, and what sort of options/contracts/prices have you used?).
> - moving into a new rented property; it seems to be rare for apartments to have an internet connection up and running when you start renting. Is it common to find ones like this, and if not, how long might you have to wait to get one set up?
> ...


The Internet connection is normally always up the the person renting apart from holiday lets really, we have had or Internet set up with ONO since October 2012. We have never had any drop outs or connection issues. We are on the 12Mb/s package and our speed has never been bellow 11.5Mb/s and I do speed tests a couple of times a day. 

You really have to look at the area, I'm in Alicante, the connection is great and with Ono you can also connect to the WiFi in the street (in Alicante City at least, but you need to set it up separately with Ono). We have friends in Murcia on the 50Mb/s connection and they always get over at least 30, however I put that down to their router to wireless G card connection and Dynamic Rate Scaling so with wired connections of a more stable router and wireless N card the stable 50Mb/s shouldn't be an issue. 

Overall I'd say connections in Spain (East coast anyway cos that's all I know) are pretty spot on with the speeds they offer you. The set up times from people I know that have got the net recently have just been two or three days for the engineer to come out, and 30 mins to set up TV, Net and Phone and then one its in it works straight away. No hanging around for connection to be turned on etc.


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## JosephNagle (Jan 17, 2013)

Hey I have been living and working in Spain now for four months and have lived all over Barcelona in that time. 

If you are coming to Barcelona you will not have any troubles finding a good internet connection. I have never had the internet completely drop out on me before but even if it did Barcelona has plenty of cafes that offer wifi and if you know where to go you can get the city provided free wifi, its not the best but if your in a jam and really need to get something out it can get the job done. 

Any way good luck on the move to Spain, if you ever need some help or anything shoot me an email (SNIP)always like to help new expats out!


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## skip o (Aug 1, 2011)

Joseph, can you tell me more about the city provided internet in Barcelona? I don't know anything about that.


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## ninjabinger (Dec 13, 2012)

Thanks for the useful replies. I'm thinking of Malaga or Barcelona at the moment but maybe traveling about too, so this info is great. I guess no one has been using a Spanish "roaming" internet connection for times when there is a no public wifi coverage available...

(I'm not sure if I'm using the right terminology ("roaming") here... referring to (iii) below when: (i) = the most basic internet connection through a cable, (ii) = you can have wifi within 50m or so of your own or some company's (McD's, coffee shop) wireless system, and (iii) = you can get internet access anywhere there is a mobile phone signal... maybe i should be asking this or reading up on a technology forum...)


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## ezza (Apr 13, 2009)

I use Vodafone ADSL, it works out about 33€ a month including line rental, that's for 6 Mbit download. It includes free local & national calls, they also give you a 3G dongle for roaming which is free for the first 3 days each month and 2€ a day after that. The dongle can also be plugged into the router so if the line goes down you can still connect. They do allow VOIP calls through ADSL but not through 3G.


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## JosephNagle (Jan 17, 2013)

*Public Wifi*

In terms of the free public wifi, there are easy enough to spot around town as the ht spots are marked by a blue sign with a big white W on them. They are concentrated around the tourist sites obviously but, all you need to do is connect to them and sign on by accepting the terms and conditions. 

Its easy and best of all its free and I have never had an issue with it


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## archieted (Jan 7, 2013)

Telefonica, offer a 20 mb connection with free national calls for 41 euros per month,this is available in most of spain


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## RichTUK (Oct 15, 2012)

ezza said:


> I use Vodafone ADSL, it works out about 33€ a month including line rental, that's for 6 Mbit download. It includes free local & national calls, they also give you a 3G dongle for roaming which is free for the first 3 days each month and 2€ a day after that. The dongle can also be plugged into the router so if the line goes down you can still connect. They do allow VOIP calls through ADSL but not through 3G.


that seems pretty pricey to be honest


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## Nonnamags (Jan 10, 2013)

I'm using vodaphone wifi as no chance of landline her in the campo in Huelva province. It's about 32 euros for 2GB per month. Mostly reliable and dead easy. Contract is first 6mths half price on a 18 mth contract. Or you can pay full whack and just stop when you like. AvailAble from any vodaphone shop or locutorio. Ideal if you find somewhere with fixed? Works well for me - always on line and doing online OU study. Hope this helps. : )


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## ninjabinger (Dec 13, 2012)

Thanks for that nonamags.

I guess that if I were to come to Spain to work online just for three or four months, then that would be too short a period to get a new normal internet connection set up for my home, and too long a period for the kinds of holiday rental apartments that have internet included in the price... 

So my only option would be an ipad-type remote connection, while (i) living in the center of a big town like Barcelona or Malaga(?) and using some kind of public city-wide wifi, or (ii) using a personal 3G roaming setup. Have never owned an ipad before and know little about them, but would buy one if it would sort this issue out... However, I guess if it were only 3 or 4 months then even an iPad contract wouldn't be appropriate [if (i) above was not available or reliable enough], and I'd have to get some kind of pay-as-you-go thing... is that feasible?


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## RichTUK (Oct 15, 2012)

ninjabinger said:


> Thanks for that nonamags.
> 
> I guess that if I were to come to Spain to work online just for three or four months, then that would be too short a period to get a new normal internet connection set up for my home, and too long a period for the kinds of holiday rental apartments that have internet included in the price...
> 
> So my only option would be an ipad-type remote connection, while (i) living in the center of a big town like Barcelona or Malaga(?) and using some kind of public city-wide wifi, or (ii) using a personal 3G roaming setup. Have never owned an ipad before and know little about them, but would buy one if it would sort this issue out... However, I guess if it were only 3 or 4 months then even an iPad contract wouldn't be appropriate [if (i) above was not available or reliable enough], and I'd have to get some kind of pay-as-you-go thing... is that feasible?


Pay as you go would cost a fortune, its so expensive for PAYG in Spain. 3 or 4 months is fine to get an internet connection set up in your apartment, we can cancel ours at any time.


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## ninjabinger (Dec 13, 2012)

OK - got it. Thanks Rich.


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## Nonnamags (Jan 10, 2013)

*iPAD + wifi*



ninjabinger said:


> Thanks for that nonamags.
> 
> I guess that if I were to come to Spain to work online just for three or four months, then that would be too short a period to get a new normal internet connection set up for my home, and too long a period for the kinds of holiday rental apartments that have internet included in the price...
> 
> So my only option would be an ipad-type remote connection, while (i) living in the center of a big town like Barcelona or Malaga(?) and using some kind of public city-wide wifi, or (ii) using a personal 3G roaming setup. Have never owned an ipad before and know little about them, but would buy one if it would sort this issue out... However, I guess if it were only 3 or 4 months then even an iPad contract wouldn't be appropriate [if (i) above was not available or reliable enough], and I'd have to get some kind of pay-as-you-go thing... is that feasible?


I use an iPad for lots of stuff, but dent support flash player, or office, ie word xcel etc. which for an online worker woud be too restrictive. You can email documents to ipad, but not originate. Why not buy a netbook? Or laptops are really lightweight and super fast now? Using public wifi is not secure, I wouldn't be happy doing business that way.

With regards onto wifi - chek out vodaphone mobile wifi in UK. Same principal as here only the currency changes. I have a contract I can stop/upgrade/downgrade etc. at any time, no minimum period. You would need however to know exactly at your monthly usage will be, as going over is expensive. Cannot comment on fixed wifi, as here in the campo, there's no chance of lines, unless you buy satellite. DO NOT BUY SATELLITE! Soooooo expensive! You can do the research in UK, then check out here. Good luck with your venture - shout if any further help needed? :clap2:focus:


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Nonnamags said:


> I use an iPad for lots of stuff, but dent support flash player, or office, ie word xcel etc. which for an online worker woud be too restrictive. You can email documents to ipad, but not originate. Why not buy a netbook? Or laptops are really lightweight and super fast now? Using public wifi is not secure, I wouldn't be happy doing business that way.
> 
> With regards onto wifi - chek out vodaphone mobile wifi in UK. Same principal as here only the currency changes. I have a contract I can stop/upgrade/downgrade etc. at any time, no minimum period. You would need however to know exactly at your monthly usage will be, as going over is expensive. Cannot comment on fixed wifi, as here in the campo, there's no chance of lines, unless you buy satellite. DO NOT BUY SATELLITE! Soooooo expensive! You can do the research in UK, then check out here. Good luck with your venture - shout if any further help needed? :clap2:focus:


When a few months ago I violently assaulted my underperforming laptop and broke the hard drive beyond repair I went out and bought a netbook. I saw tablets and liked the look of them so OH and I went to the store the next day and bought an IPad each.

She loves hers, uses it for ITunes, e-mail, downloading books, downloading newspapers, general internet use....mine is currently in the drawer, battery flat, hardly used. I just can't get on with it. Total waste of money. I'd sell it if I could find a buyer round here.


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## Nonnamags (Jan 10, 2013)

Love my iPad! My OH poo pooed it, but now I can't get him off it! Aargh!

You should get a good sale price for it though as they hold their value. If you lived closer to me I'd negotiate as OH needs his own now.....: )


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