# MEO vs Vodafone



## betelnutz

Hi all,

Just wondering what provider people think is the best from their own experience.

MEO vs Vodafone

I need internet,TV and mobile phone.

Are mobile phones included in the packages or do you have to buy those separately?

What provider has the best internet ?

Thanks for input


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## betelnutz

Forgot to mention in the Cascais area


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## MrBife

betelnutz said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Just wondering what provider people think is the best from their own experience.
> 
> MEO vs Vodafone
> 
> I need internet,TV and mobile phone.
> 
> Are mobile phones included in the packages or do you have to buy those separately?
> 
> What provider has the best internet ?
> 
> Thanks for input



You should also add NOS to the mix since they are the third principal operator and have their own range of products and services.

Simple answer is really that they are all much the same and you should 1) Choose the operator that gives you the best signal in your chosen location and then 2) Search online for their 'deal' packages and find one that fits your needs.

No one ever gives you a free phone, you pay for it somewhere within the package so you may want to consider buying your own to keep your choice of provider flexible. (Providers lock the phone to their service so you can't swap easily)

4G Internet in Portugal is pretty much world class, ahead of UK and most other countries. There are however always a few geographical dead-spots which is why its best to test coverage before you finally decide. Some locations have Fibre Optic cable already, more are planned. Distance from the exchange changes the internet speed for the older copper wire connections which is why it's impossible to give better advice without the specific local info.

Be aware that they all tie you in to a two year contract


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## betelnutz

MrBife said:


> You should also add NOS to the mix since they are the third principal operator and have their own range of products and services.
> 
> Simple answer is really that they are all much the same and you should 1) Choose the operator that gives you the best signal in your chosen location and then 2) Search online for their 'deal' packages and find one that fits your needs.
> 
> No one ever gives you a free phone, you pay for it somewhere within the package so you may want to consider buying your own to keep your choice of provider flexible. (Providers lock the phone to their service so you can't swap easily)
> 
> 4G Internet in Portugal is pretty much world class, ahead of UK and most other countries. There are however always a few geographical dead-spots which is why its best to test coverage before you finally decide. Some locations have Fibre Optic cable already, more are planned. Distance from the exchange changes the internet speed for the older copper wire connections which is why it's impossible to give better advice without the specific local info.
> 
> Be aware that they all tie you in to a two year contract


Thanks for all the details.

I also discovered NOS after making my post. So we will be looking at all 3 operators.

How can you tell what operator gives u the best signal if you are not already signed up. Do their websites have a testing script?

Regarding the phone, do you think its better to buy the phone from a third party and take it in? are they cheaper that way? If the phone is bought from a 3rd party 
I assume it will be unlocked and can be used on any provider world wide is that correct? We already have one phone that is from Hong Kong and unlocked globally I assume 
I can use that on any of the providers we chose as well.

As for internet we would like to have a land line in the house as the speeds are much quicker than wifi or 3g/4g. Do the operators allow for more than one account and fixed 
Line in a house here. In Hong Kong we had 2 separate fixed lines in our house.

I am aware of the 2 year contract seems like most countries operators have some sort of lock in with contracts now days.

Thanks again for the response.


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## Naaling

betelnutz said:


> Thanks for all the details.
> 
> I also discovered NOS after making my post. So we will be looking at all 3 operators.
> 
> How can you tell what operator gives u the best signal if you are not already signed up. Do their websites have a testing script?
> 
> Regarding the phone, do you think its better to buy the phone from a third party and take it in? are they cheaper that way? If the phone is bought from a 3rd party
> I assume it will be unlocked and can be used on any provider world wide is that correct? We already have one phone that is from Hong Kong and unlocked globally I assume
> I can use that on any of the providers we chose as well.
> 
> As for internet we would like to have a land line in the house as the speeds are much quicker than wifi or 3g/4g. Do the operators allow for more than one account and fixed
> Line in a house here. In Hong Kong we had 2 separate fixed lines in our house.
> 
> I am aware of the 2 year contract seems like most countries operators have some sort of lock in with contracts now days.
> 
> Thanks again for the response.


Your phone from HK should be fine. We use phones from Thailand without any problems.


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## betelnutz

Naaling said:


> Your phone from HK should be fine. We use phones from Thailand without any problems.


ok great


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## Jormedawson

Ok so basically you have to be aware that MEO and Vodafone is Fiberoptic. NOS isnt. it is Fiberoptic to your door but then after that the wires that are used and the box isnt so you dont get as much speed as the other two. For example my girlfriend easily gets 80-90mbps downloads and i get max 40-50 on a good day. I am on NOS and she is on MEO. your provider will tell you if you can get Fibre or not. I wasn't able to so i went with NOS. NOS will ALWAYS tell you they are fiberoptic. but dont believe them! 

Personally i didnt care about the speed and i only saw these results after it was installed. It makes no real difference to me, i stream easily and download quickly. so i think after a certain point the speed is negligible. 

All companies will mach prices. NOS was 52 a month. I went in, told them Vodafone where doing a 26 a month offer and if they could match it and they said yes. So i pay 26 a month with free tv box and free unlimited landline calls. 

My advice with the landline & internet is just to see the prices and service on the internet and walk in and haggle. they wont ever go below a price that isnt matched. IE NOS matched Vodafone but wont go under it. so dont walkk in expecting to pay below what is offered elsewhere. 

SO. Mobile phone internet. By far the best is NOS. 17euros a month for 500minutes and 4g data. I can t find better anywhere. its pay as you go so you can top up when you like. 4G is fast too. in the centre of Lisbon my 4G was faster than my girlfriends wifi at home!! 

If you want i can share results just so it doesnt sound like im making it up!! Any help then just ask. iv just been through all this. I speak portuguese fluently so can help with any little niggles if you like.


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## MrBife

betelnutz said:


> How can you tell what operator gives u the best signal if you are not already signed up. Do their websites have a testing script?


You use a phone that is roaming, ie, it has a SIM card from a provider outside Portugal in it. If you switch it on whilst at the location you want to test then it will login to the strongest provider for that area and show the name on screen.


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## JohnBoy

A couple of points from above posts. We are MEO and the fibre optic only comes to the outside of our house and a copper pair from there. Clearly, it depends on the engineer on the day. Ours insisted that he was only able and obliged to bring fibre to the door and not beyond, no matter how strongly I argued otherwise. He said that they guarantee the speed so what does it matter. Needless to say, once he had completed his installation and run a speed test which showed lower than guaranteed, he had a box full of reasons for that. It's fast enough for me for now and unfortunately, thanks to our location, the only choice we have as neither NOS nor Vodafone are here yet.

The other point relates to the length of contract. Very recent legislation has removed the minimum two year tie in. All companies are now obliged to offer 6 month and one year terms but do not expect the same price that you would get over the two year deals. The legislators forgot to include a clause banning the ripping off of customers asking for shorter terms!


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## Jormedawson

JohnBoy said:


> A couple of points from above posts. We are MEO and the fibre optic only comes to the outside of our house and a copper pair from there. Clearly, it depends on the engineer on the day. Ours insisted that he was only able and obliged to bring fibre to the door and not beyond, no matter how strongly I argued otherwise. He said that they guarantee the speed so what does it matter. Needless to say, once he had completed his installation and run a speed test which showed lower than guaranteed, he had a box full of reasons for that. It's fast enough for me for now and unfortunately, thanks to our location, the only choice we have as neither NOS nor Vodafone are here yet.
> 
> The other point relates to the length of contract. Very recent legislation has removed the minimum two year tie in. All companies are now obliged to offer 6 month and one year terms but do not expect the same price that you would get over the two year deals. The legislators forgot to include a clause banning the ripping off of customers asking for shorter terms!


Weird you don't have NOS there cos don't they rent the cables/access from MEO & Vodafone? I would for sure be ringing them back up and trying to get a discount due to low guaranteed speed.

Just one thing, how come its copper from the door? Recently when NOS & MEO installed at mine & later on my gf's, they installed new cables. 

One other point is the service & equipment you receive. The MEO equipment looks like its from the 80's and the gf has 3 boxes i think! The NOS one is much nicer. The visuals are nicer too. But the gf does have a better service than mine whereby she has auto record for all movies shown in last 2 weeks i think whereas NOS you have to pay for it! Channels seem similar.


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## JohnBoy

Jormedawson said:


> Weird you don't have NOS there cos don't they rent the cables/access from MEO & Vodafone? I would for sure be ringing them back up and trying to get a discount due to low guaranteed speed.
> 
> Just one thing, how come its copper from the door? Recently when NOS & MEO installed at mine & later on my gf's, they installed new cables.
> 
> One other point is the service & equipment you receive. The MEO equipment looks like its from the 80's and the gf has 3 boxes i think! The NOS one is much nicer. The visuals are nicer too. But the gf does have a better service than mine whereby she has auto record for all movies shown in last 2 weeks i think whereas NOS you have to pay for it! Channels seem similar.


I think MEO is the primary provider that the others rent from. Having said that I have seen Vodafone installing their own cables in other parts of the city. They are certainly at the bottom of the street but don't seem inclined to come any closer to us. 

As far as our own house is concerned, I think the engineer was a lazy so and so and could not be bothered to pull the fibre through from the front door to the termination point in our living room.

I totally agree with you about the MEO box. It is slow and utterly unreliable, missing some recordings and recording other programmes that we didn't program in. We've had it swapped out once and heading for another if there isn't soon some improvement.


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