# Internet in Spain



## nicvan (Apr 9, 2013)

Hi All

We are busy pulling things together so that we can get to a position where we can make 'the move'.

Part of our preparations is for my hubby to grow an existing online business and then to manage it from Spain. Without going into details on the business it would mean that he would need fairly decent internet access in order to work. The company is UK based and would stay as such so income would be in £ and then we would just draw what we need from an International account. (not sure of tax implications, etc - we still need to look into that side of things).

Guess my question is this - does internet connection differ greatly between city and more rural locations? I'm happy to live in town, ideally near other expats, but hubby prefers the countryside and some space, so I'm trying to find out about the internet before we go any further down that track...

Thanks
N


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

nicvan said:


> Hi All
> 
> We are busy pulling things together so that we can get to a position where we can make 'the move'.
> 
> ...


internet can vary from street to street......

I have movistar adsl - contracted for 10mb & usually get about 8+mb & sometimes it drops to around 6mb

a km away they're lucky to get 3mb, & the other side of town & up the hill they break out the cava if they get 1mb................


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## nicvan (Apr 9, 2013)

:¬) That sounds like fun. So, no way of telling until we find a house and investigate with the current owners/renters what their experience is I guess.

What about cost of internet - is it very expensive?

Thanks


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

nicvan said:


> :¬) That sounds like fun. So, no way of telling until we find a house and investigate with the current owners/renters what their experience is I guess.
> 
> What about cost of internet - is it very expensive?
> 
> Thanks


are you coming from the UK?

if so - yes, it's VERY expensive by comparison, at least

the only way to be absolutely certain what internet speeds you can get in any property is to actually take your laptop/iPad/whatever, 'plug in' to the internet & do a speed test

don't believe anything anyone tells you - especially if it's a deal breaker........


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## nicvan (Apr 9, 2013)

Yep we're coming from the UK. Thanks for the info, I'm figuring that the built up areas will usually be a bit more reliable than out in the country?

We will definitely check and double check before signing anything.

Thanks for the heads up
N


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## dunmovin (Dec 19, 2008)

The problem of living internet while in the coutryside is that you are at the mercy of Moviestar They control all the landlines and you may not get one,which basically leaves you two alternatives. A dongle,which can be very slow, or a satelite system.

Moviestar can find a host of different excuses for not supplying a landline (in our case they said the telephone pole was on the wrong side of the road). We tried a dongle, but quickly hit the download limit and the speed dropped to 56kbps. We changed to a sat system and have had no problems, but it is expensive to install.


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## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

Hi

I live in the campo but get Wimax - I get a paid for 3Mb - I could pay for five or 10Mb. Currently pay around 40€ a month. 

There are no telephones anywhere near so a telephone / ADSL is not an option 

Davexf


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## nicvan (Apr 9, 2013)

davexf said:


> Hi
> 
> I live in the campo but get Wimax - I get a paid for 3Mb - I could pay for five or 10Mb. Currently pay around 40€ a month.
> 
> ...


You dont mention wireless... not an option I gather? If hubby is working from home it sounds as if he might need to get the company to sort out satellite system once we get to that point.

Thanks all
N


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## Zape (May 21, 2013)

Hi,

Adsl in Spain is really expensive and depend on where you are living, it is possible that you only have one option called Movistar. It´s the most powerful company in Spain and the dominate all the national territory. I recommend to you checking online their signal´s map that they have online. It is the best solution.
If you know something of spanish... If not I can help you, giving to me the address,

Sorry for my english..

Greetings


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## nicvan (Apr 9, 2013)

Zape said:


> Hi,
> 
> Adsl in Spain is really expensive and depend on where you are living, it is possible that you only have one option called Movistar. It´s the most powerful company in Spain and the dominate all the national territory. I recommend to you checking online their signal´s map that they have online. It is the best solution.
> If you know something of spanish... If not I can help you, giving to me the address,
> ...


Hi Zape
Thanks for the info, I have managed to have a look on the Movistar website (using the translator) so now have an idea of prices which is a help.

We don't have an address yet, but are probably looking around the Malaga, area - perhaps Coin or maybe a little further north (up the coast) - still need to do a bit more research on that.

thanks for your help
N


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## Zape (May 21, 2013)

You also should check Ono (high speed, more than Movistar) but it is not in every places, and Jazztel. 

check adslinspain in google and I suppose they will be able to help you


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## nicvan (Apr 9, 2013)

brilliant - many thanks will do that.


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## soldierboy001 (Aug 23, 2012)

nicvan said:


> You dont mention wireless... not an option I gather? If hubby is working from home it sounds as if he might need to get the company to sort out satellite system once we get to that point.
> 
> Thanks all
> N


WiMax is wireless that is the correct name for internet via an airial on your roof that most people call WiFi which is the name for wireless around the house from your modem.
In your case although it is more expensive I believe you want satellite which costs by the amount you require and gives you a UK IP address.
This will give you a constant speed as apposed to the inconsistent speeds you get on both landline and WiMax sourced broadband. The only time you will loose the speed on satbroadband is when it rains really heavy which in Spain is not much.


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## nicvan (Apr 9, 2013)

soldierboy001 said:


> WiMax is wireless that is the correct name for internet via an airial on your roof that most people call WiFi which is the name for wireless around the house from your modem.
> In your case although it is more expensive I believe you want satellite which costs by the amount you require and gives you a UK IP address.
> This will give you a constant speed as apposed to the inconsistent speeds you get on both landline and WiMax sourced broadband. The only time you will loose the speed on satbroadband is when it rains really heavy which in Spain is not much.


Thank you Soldierboy for confirming my suspicions... any idea of costs for satellite installation? Or who does them so that I can investigate before we go any further.

Many thanks


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## soldierboy001 (Aug 23, 2012)

nicvan said:


> Thank you Soldierboy for confirming my suspicions... any idea of costs for satellite installation? Or who does them so that I can investigate before we go any further.
> 
> Many thanks


Twoway is the main company, you will find others by putting satellite broadband into your search engine but they are only other companies using the same system and although they may seem cheaper when you get down to the nitty gritty they all charge the same. 
Iresearched it myself because of unreliability issues with the usual systems but for me could not justify the cost but for business use that would be different.
Hope this helps.


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## BGD (May 2, 2012)

VERY rough rule of thumb: it'll be 40€ or maybe 50€ per month; you'll need to be in a built up area to get any sort of decent speed, and it'll be a lot slower than you've been used to in the UK.

If the local exchange isn't yet digital, or you're more than maybe 5kms from it, it'll be glacially slow. And that's regardless of the brand name of the call-carrying provider, or sharp talking salesman, as all of them use the same Telefonica lines and infrastructure, because Telefonica still controls Engineering under the Law which de-monopolised the call-carrying part of the Spanish system.

Spain has a long way to go from a landline telecoms point of view. That's why there are more mobiles per head of population in Spain than in any other European country.

And now it's basically bust as a country Telefonica are under no great pressure to spend billions in rapidly upgrading their landline system for the now-reducing number of residential customers, a fair proportion of which across the country are cancelling their landlines to try to save money now they are out of work.


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## dunmovin (Dec 19, 2008)

soldierboy001 said:


> Twoway is the main company, you will find others by putting satellite broadband into your search engine but they are only other companies using the same system and although they may seem cheaper when you get down to the nitty gritty they all charge the same.
> Iresearched it myself because of unreliability issues with the usual systems but for me could not justify the cost but for business use that would be different.
> Hope this helps.


Tooway (might be a different company) is now called EuropaSat. They mailed us at the begining of May about the name change, but say there will be no changes

europasat.com


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## Dunpleecin (Dec 20, 2012)

Given that you'll probably want mobiles too, it might be worth seeing the deals when you get it all with the same provider. Orange, for example, knock a tenner a month off your ADSL if you're a mobile customer. Others may do the same so I would look at all your comms requirements as a whole as you could save yourself a fair bit.


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## soldierboy001 (Aug 23, 2012)

dunmovin said:


> Tooway (might be a different company) is now called EuropaSat. They mailed us at the begining of May about the name change, but say there will be no changes
> 
> europasat.com


Twoway and Tooway are different companies, Twoway is still trading and is/was the provider.


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## Nikkinoo (May 19, 2013)

Has anyone tried to transfer their orange mobile contract from English to Spanish? Was it easy or could u even do it!?? Thanks nikki


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## soldierboy001 (Aug 23, 2012)

Nikkinoo said:


> Has anyone tried to transfer their orange mobile contract from English to Spanish? Was it easy or could u even do it!?? Thanks nikki


Contracts are not interchangeable between countries as they have different set-ups, that is one of the reasons why it is so expensive to roam it would be great if we could have a European wide system but each company has to pay for it's own operating system in each country.


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## Nikkinoo (May 19, 2013)

So I will have to get a new contract In Spain or not a option at first??? Pay off my contract here?? Thanks for your speedy response !


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## soldierboy001 (Aug 23, 2012)

Nikkinoo said:


> So I will have to get a new contract In Spain or not a option at first??? Pay off my contract here?? Thanks for your speedy response !


Yes and when you go make sure you have your passport or NIE number with you or you won't get a contract, all phones in Spain have to be traceable to protect against fraud.


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## nicvan (Apr 9, 2013)

Nikkinoo said:


> Has anyone tried to transfer their orange mobile contract from English to Spanish? Was it easy or could u even do it!?? Thanks nikki


Now there's a thought - we are currently on Orange in the UK so depending on the response to this question it might be worth looking at...


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## Nikkinoo (May 19, 2013)

nicvan said:


> Now there's a thought - we are currently on Orange in the UK so depending on the response to this question it might be worth looking at...


Sorry had a reply on another thread and apparently you can't which is a pain as I have 9 months left on my contract


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## nicvan (Apr 9, 2013)

Nikkinoo said:


> Sorry had a reply on another thread and apparently you can't which is a pain as I have 9 months left on my contract


Oh dear - that could be a problem for us too - depending on when we manage to get things sorted... oh well, that's a problem for the future. Good luck with getting yours sorted though.

Where are you headed?
N


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## Nikkinoo (May 19, 2013)

nicvan said:


> Oh dear - that could be a problem for us too - depending on when we manage to get things sorted... oh well, that's a problem for the future. Good luck with getting yours sorted though.
> 
> Where are you headed?
> N


We are off to Benidorm/alicante as that's where my husbands family live and u?? When are you thinking of going??


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## nicvan (Apr 9, 2013)

Nikkinoo said:


> We are off to Benidorm/alicante as that's where my husbands family live and u?? When are you thinking of going??


Not a final decision yet, but probably headed towards Malaga and the coast around that area - perhaps a bit inland, but not too far. Hubby is happy with a farm house in the country somewhere - but Id prefer town where I'm more likely to meet up with other expats, and the children also need to be taken into consideration (9 yrs and 7 yr old twins).


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## Nikkinoo (May 19, 2013)

nicvan said:


> Not a final decision yet, but probably headed towards Malaga and the coast around that area - perhaps a bit inland, but not too far. Hubby is happy with a farm house in the country somewhere - but Id prefer town where I'm more likely to meet up with other expats, and the children also need to be taken into consideration (9 yrs and 7 yr old twins).


Yeah I have 3 one is 9,4 and 18 months!! It's all so much to take in but will be so worth it!! Good luck to you and your family


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## nicvan (Apr 9, 2013)

Nikkinoo said:


> Yeah I have 3 one is 9,4 and 18 months!! It's all so much to take in but will be so worth it!! Good luck to you and your family


And to you - when do you move out? Our plans are still being formed and it will all come down to Hubbys work and how soon he can get it all sorted.


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## Nikkinoo (May 19, 2013)

nicvan said:


> And to you - when do you move out? Our plans are still being formed and it will all come down to Hubbys work and how soon he can get it all sorted.


Oh I see... We are aiming to be there by August but we are going on a recon mission in June to settle a few worries before we make the leap!


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## nicvan (Apr 9, 2013)

Nikkinoo said:


> Oh I see... We are aiming to be there by August but we are going on a recon mission in June to settle a few worries before we make the leap!


Good luck - hope all goes smoothly - let me know how it all works out for you.
thanks for all the info
Nicole


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## Nikkinoo (May 19, 2013)

nicvan said:


> Good luck - hope all goes smoothly - let me know how it all works out for you.
> thanks for all the info
> Nicole


Thanks Hun and you !! Will keep in touch inbox me ur email


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## LojaChica (Jan 5, 2012)

Does anyone know................

I am currently in Australia with an "unlocked" smart phone and a wireless modem that I own as in bought and paid for

Would I be able to use these with a new Spanish provider?

I know the phone will work but not sure about the modem

Any thoughts appreciated


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## whitenoiz (Sep 18, 2012)

*Lojachica*...
If you sign up with Telefonica / Movistar when you arrive over here a Modem is provided as part of the deal... I think most service providers do the same...


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## soldierboy001 (Aug 23, 2012)

LojaChica said:


> Does anyone know................
> 
> I am currently in Australia with an "unlocked" smart phone and a wireless modem that I own as in bought and paid for
> 
> ...


Just searched the internet and it appears that all modems work to the same standard so all you should have to do is change the mains plug.
As for companies providing a modem a lot do provide but charge for them but allow you to use your own and they are much cheaper if you source your own.
For example a company I used previously when I said I had my own modem told me I had to use their modem and when I told him I would go elsewhere said OK you can use your own then so don't be fobed off.


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## el pescador (Mar 14, 2013)

How's fibre going in Spain?
Dont fancy having to use normal adsl


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## soldierboy001 (Aug 23, 2012)

el pescador said:


> How's fibre going in Spain?
> Dont fancy having to use normal adsl


You had better stay in England then.


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## whitenoiz (Sep 18, 2012)

Fibre? Spain? A contradiction in terms unless you live in one of the major major cities. The vast majority of Spain is stuck with and likely to remain stuck with ADSL at a max speed of 6Mbps. Some cities you may be lucky and get 10Mbps. And no point going to suppliers other than Telefonica/Movistar because they all use the same infrastructure...


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## nicvan (Apr 9, 2013)

From what you have all said, if you are going to be relying on the internet for work, then it seems that satellite is the way to go... expensive or not!


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## whitenoiz (Sep 18, 2012)

nicvan said:


> From what you have all said, if you are going to be relying on the internet for work, then it seems that satellite is the way to go... expensive or not!


Maybe maybe not.. when we first came out here in 2006 Telefonica/Movistar ADSL ran at 256kbs down 56kbs up... but in those days things like Youtube were still in their infancy and didnt have a lot of content. Faster would have been good but you soon learned to live with its shortcomings. Things changed around 2008- 2009 when our local switching centre was upgraded and 1Mbs became available and in a short period of time thereafter first 3Mbps and 6Mbps was rolled out. 

I can watch streaming live video normally without any buffering and I can download complete 90 minute feature films on youtube in about 15 minutes. Plenty fast enough for me and I would think the great majority of users. HD downloads obviously take longer but when watching a film on a 19" monitor who needs HD?

Currently we have a 6Mb contracted service that runs at around 4Mbps and costs 29Euros a month, the telephone line rental comes in at 13.50Euros. All in all it's as good as it gets... bearing in mind that we are in a rural area. I've had a few tussles with Telefonica in the past over slow speeds but it has to be said that our complaints have always been acted upon promptly and courteously. 

As for Wimax and Satellite; we cant get Wimax; we are in a valley and although we are less than 19Kms from the local transmitter, its signals go straight over the top. Satellite is available but firms such as Tooway and Qantis have that market in the stranglehold of a 'Fair Usage' policy. To access anything like the amount of traffic we generate would require that we have totally unlimited access and would cost well over 100 Euros a month for the same speed as our ADSl runs at. Plus there is the 'one off' but additional cost of the dish and the transmitter/receiver equipment... not for us I'm afraid...

The big 'gotcha' with all Internet Service Providers advertising is the 'Up to' clause; it's not until you have a system installed that you get a true idea of an ISP's capabilities... Movistar and Jazztel both heavily plug 10 or 20 or even 50Mb services, but the actual availability is something else entirely! Of course by the time you realise that the 20Mbs service you signed up to is in reality somewhat less than 6Mbs it's too late; you have a contract and the companies will always use the 'Up to' clause to get out of doing anything about it. A classic case of 'Caveat Emptor...'


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## el pescador (Mar 14, 2013)

soldierboy001 said:


> You had better stay in England then.


Any pointers as to which areas outside the main cities are more likely to have faster downloads?


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## soldierboy001 (Aug 23, 2012)

el pescador said:


> Any pointers as to which areas outside the main cities are more likely to have faster downloads?


You have more chance in the larger towns and costas but expect to loose speed in the holiday periods if you pay for 6Mbt you will probably average 3.5 and in rural areas as far as I have heard it's suck it and see.
Things are getting better but with the recession companies only buy what they can afford to send you giving little headroom in times of heavy useage.
In different areas differing companies will be better than others so you have to ask around but you will only get the anwer they want to give which is the company they use. Bad companies do get recognised though.
Not much help really is it, sorry.


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## el pescador (Mar 14, 2013)

soldierboy001 said:


> You have more chance in the larger towns and costas but expect to loose speed in the holiday periods if you pay for 6Mbt you will probably average 3.5 and in rural areas as far as I have heard it's suck it and see.
> Things are getting better but with the recession companies only buy what they can afford to send you giving little headroom in times of heavy useage.
> In different areas differing companies will be better than others so you have to ask around but you will only get the anwer they want to give which is the company they use. Bad companies do get recognised though.
> Not much help really is it, sorry.


Ok thanks


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## sistine (Jun 3, 2013)

We had Quantis install our satellite internet today ... we have had a nightmare getting internet as we are in a valley - installation with equipment was 99 euros and we're paying around 30 euros a month, but we have the after 11pm unlimited package so any downloading done after 11pm is not included in our download limit.


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## linken1647 (May 31, 2013)

I live in Almeria Province, in Adra. I also work from home in Spain via the internet. I am self-employed in the UK and pay tax to HMRC but work for UK Companies and am paid in sterling which then gets paid into a Spanish bank account and converted to Euros. As for the internet, I work successfully using Movistar 10mb which costs me 49.00 Euros per month inc IVA. I don't have my calls through them. I pay 15.99 per month to Talk,Talk and get my calls through them. For that I get unlimited calls with no restrictions on time of day to the UK. However to call a Spanish landline, I am charged, but as I only really call the UK, then that doesn't matter. Living is a town, we have good internete connection, but have friends who live 10km from us in a village and up a "track" who can't get a Movistar line and it would cost them an absolute fortune to have satellite connection!


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## el pescador (Mar 14, 2013)

Trying to dig up a report I came across last month relating to 2 providers (one was orange) who said they will be rolling out fibre in Spain.

Just come across this relating to 4g .

Yoigo first to bring superfast mobile Internet to Spain | Reuters

Looks like July is the target.
Wonder how much te it's will be lol?
Considering 3G is pricey.


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## soldierboy001 (Aug 23, 2012)

linken1647 said:


> I live in Almeria Province, in Adra. I also work from home in Spain via the internet. I am self-employed in the UK and pay tax to HMRC but work for UK Companies and am paid in sterling which then gets paid into a Spanish bank account and converted to Euros. As for the internet, I work successfully using Movistar 10mb which costs me 49.00 Euros per month inc IVA. I don't have my calls through them. I pay 15.99 per month to Talk,Talk and get my calls through them. For that I get unlimited calls with no restrictions on time of day to the UK. However to call a Spanish landline, I am charged, but as I only really call the UK, then that doesn't matter. Living is a town, we have good internete connection, but have friends who live 10km from us in a village and up a "track" who can't get a Movistar line and it would cost them an absolute fortune to have satellite connection!


With regards your phone line with Talk Talk it may be worth you investigating Vonage a VOiP company that operates both in UK and Spain. I used the UK based Vonage for about 10 years and with it you get a UK number with the code for any town/city you want and gives you for £8.99 free calls to 15 European countries,USA,Canada,New Zealand,Australia and India. Having your own choice of code for your own town/city allows your friends to phone you as if you were down the road at home with UK phone prices and if they are on a plan that includes free phone calls will not pay to ring you. I had mine whilst I was in UK originaly but used it in several locations over here you just plug it in and away you go.Not sure if you will be able to get them to send the equipment over here best to talk with them about that but if not get it sent to an address at home and have them forward it. You use a normal landline phone with it and of course you can plug in DEcT phones to have hand sets in different rooms or on the patio.
The reason I stopped using it was because the older I get the fewer people ring me (I think they've gone some where) so it became more sensible to use Skype and save money not that it was a great deal but every Euro counts when you are a pensionister.


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## Nugget_Hound (Jun 13, 2013)

People are saying its gonna cost them a fortune to get a satellite connection , on the twoway dot es website it says installation is 29.95 euros , maybe I am missing something?

I am very interested in the satellite broadband as doesnt seem very expensive and would resolve a big problem for me.

Thanks


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## Nugget_Hound (Jun 13, 2013)

sistine said:


> We had Quantis install our satellite internet today ... we have had a nightmare getting internet as we are in a valley - installation with equipment was 99 euros and we're paying around 30 euros a month, but we have the after 11pm unlimited package so any downloading done after 11pm is not included in our download limit.


How is this working out for you and what are the costs please , if I could get this service I would be very interested it would really open up a lot of options for me !!


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