andkaz

Hi, I'm looking for some advice please.I have a place in Cabanas in the eastern algarve and am thinking of getting broadband installed.I am not there very much, but would like to get the installation arranged for when I'm out there, has anyone got experience of arranging this ?Also in terms of current deals can people advise any current offers, best providers and do we need to take out the phone line like in the UK.Many thanks.

macliam

Are you talking fixed - ADSL or Fibre? Do you want a telephone too? Installation by MEO was fairly quick and problem-free (within a week).
But if you're not around very much, you might find the monthly price steep - far more than in the UK. So, PAYG mobile might be your best best overall, depending on your data usage.

andkaz

Hi macliam and thanks for your response.Ideally I was looking for broadband with speeds of around 5Mbps, without a telephone line.How much is the MEO deal and how do you go about setting it up ?Thanks

mfesharne

MEO have a wide range of options on their website but you need to bear in mind that not all options are available in all areas & that MEO will tell you lies to get you to commit to a contract that they may or may not be able to actually supply.

macliam

Hmm, cost-wise, it's difficult because they seem to find a way to hide the costs before you sign up...... It also depends on the options you go for. However, here in the sticks I am paying about 30 euros a month for ADSL and Phone with evening and weekend calls only (As it's ADSL, I don't think you'll get internet without at least a basic phone service). The same thing in the UK costs me about half that amount. There's no fibre in my area yet - but it may be available to you and the prices quoted seem very good in comparison.

I suggest you call MEO, I normally get someone who speaks really good English at the call-centre (so that's one thing better than in the UK!) and they've been fast to respond, I had ADSL & phone installed within a week and a fault I reported had an engineer here the same day. However, they will try to sell you a package with TV, Mobile etc. so be sure exactly what you want and tell them.

Go to https://www.meo.pt/pacotes/mais-paco..._VANTAGENS=2.1, click on the "Quer Aderir" tab (right-hand side). This will open and give a space for your Mobile number (N.º de telemóvel) and a "Liguem-me Gratis" (call me free) button underneath ........

Let me know how you get on.

mfesharne

If it'll help, our MEO contract gives us very fast unlimited fibre optic internet, a ton of mostly useless TV channels, phone line with mostly free calls & 2 SIM cards that give us 600 free minutes & 600 free SMS messages per month per card for about €50 per month.

macliam

You're just trying to make me jealous.........

Alentejo, fora da cidade, serra, fibre broadband ..... only three of these are likely to be true (and it isn't the broadband )

mfesharne

I'm currently getting 51.16 Mbps download & 18.64 Mbps upload but the choking point is my more or less 8 year old laptop so I don't get full advantage of it.

MEO are a funny bunch. We had F/O in the village for a while but they kept refusing to install it because we're right on the edge of the village and separated by the rest of it by 2 or 3 fields....... I'd made numerous calls to them to try to get F/O and then one day, they agreed to send a techy to look at it...... he just said "It'll take 600 metres of cable but I'll be back tomorrow to do it..... and he was true to his word.

Go figure as the Yanks say!

Jonny22

Go to the shops in Tavira Plaza, They will be able to talk through the options and pinpoint your address to tell you what's available there.

Munsterfan

take a sandwich, water and a chair be prepared to wait 1-2 hours to complete your work at the Grand PLaza....they are great lads just understaffed

Jonny22

Beg to disagree Mam. Vodafone store has been remodelled, 3 counters, was there this afternoon and the very helpful lady, fluent English, saw me after about 3 minutes. All sorted, new phones, accounts changed etc. Get that in CA?

Munsterfan

And don't forget my Cabanas newbie dearest dahlink....there is ONLY ONE 3G tower (not 4G) serving both MEO AND Vodafone customers (and God knows who else).
Our Vodafone Dongle registers up to 6 to 8 during mid-day but between 6pm-11pm it's so overloaded that I can't even get to number 1 on the Ping-Speed test.....and in the SUMMER? In the SUMMER??? when everyone and their visiting uncle has a wireless Dongle ....it just virtually stops (never played so many late-night hands of Gin with mePat in 45 years)...aaaaaand, well if you've nothing much to do in the evenings and the Cabanas Sports Bar Karaoke is too boring for words ...you can always make-out with your own sweetie....)....buuuuut being the TV-watching-couch-sluts that we both are we broke down and got the basic MEO DEAL (TV + 2 mobiles + Broadband +landline (huh??? for what use is a landline these days pray tell?) for 61 euros per month on a 24 month contract (All WE wanted was the Broadband) so it is!
... BUUUUUT Boys'n Girls the 'Devil is in the Damn Detail': IE like the many, many, many 'hidden' costs that we take for granted in our homeland....like sending (or receiving) an MMS such as simply forwarding a 'contact' from your own contact list (even just to your partners MEO mobile costs you 0.64E (shocking), then you have to pay another 9.95 euros per month upgrade to get a mere 2GB of internet,

To watch what we want (what's the point in having TV if you only have gobbeldigoop channels and not the ones you want); we also paid 200 Euros for UK Set Top Box and pay 30 Euros per month to have all the cool channels that you're not supposed to have here and that we love. That's our Cabanas internet story.

Munsterfan

was in same shop 2-weeks ago 2hrs 06 minutes! from the moment I first stood in line until I was served and a quick 20 minutes to get sorted.. We been there many times over the last 4-6 months. It's not the staff fault...but now we have one nice fellas, mobile number and we text our issues and get resolutions this way pretty fast. Loule last Monday took 1hr 17 minutes just to transfer our account to a new address and we had all the paperwork in place...sigh.....'waiting' is a small thing really in the great rondure of life, just glad I'm not waking up as a bride of ISIS

Jonny22

Got to say that in 10 years never had had a problem. Must be your karma.

Rock steady 20gbs, summer and winter, TV day and night. Mind you were not in Cabanas, 10 km up in the hills.

Jonny22

Munster, got around to reading your post, took a while.. Too many sherries...?

You're clearly paying too much for what you're getting.

Shouldn't cost you anything to forward contacts etc.

Take a look at options. For example, Vodafone are offering their 'up' option for €12.90 a month for 1000 minutes of Voda minutes/sums per month + 100 minutes ex Voda + 1gb data. Gotta be a bargain.