Have you checked your Internet speed lately ? You may get a big surprise.
I use SAPO ADSL service and pay approx. €20 per month for a 4mb service (I think this is their minimum rate)
My speed is currently 768 kbps which is not even 25% of what I pay for. I wrote to PT/SAPO 3 weeks ago and today a very nice young lady told me in perfect English that the lines to my house would not carry a higher speed. She suggested that I contact SAPO again to re-negotiate the monthly account.
This I have done suggesting that on present service I should pay €5.00 per month until they can give me better service. I will advise what their reply is !

What she did not tell you is that you will also have to pay a fee for changing your agreement, probably €25. You will need to double check as it was a while since they did it to me and I can't remember the details.

Thanks for the info,

I use broadband a lot (I am an online business owner) and must admit it is not as good as what it was when we first had it installed 18 months ago.

Infact some days we will have to re-boot the internet to get it up to speed.

kind regards


sam
X

We were away in the summer for several weeks and I noticed a difference in the speed when we returned. Also noticed that I have to reset the box each day to get a proper connection! Sometimes twice a day! Overnight, it seems to turn off the full connection - only 3/4 lights showing instead of normal 5!

Looks like several dissatisfield clients for Mr SAPO/PT ? Today I had the usual telephone sales pitch from PT about Satellite TV - when I told him about my ADSL problems he quickly got off the line.
Good tip for telephone sale people - just say 'Wait a moment' and then leave them hanging on.

I thought I was the only one that did it this many times a day - because i do a lot of uploading (building new websites) I thought it was just them controlling how much internet use I had.

But if it is none business people too I can see that it is a national problem.

I also normally expect bad internet to be in the countryside but we are right in the town of silves.

Love to hear more stories from people and if they can - is there anyone that is with one of the other providers and the internet is really good?

kind regards


sam
X

Don't understand why it has suddenly changed, always had good connections since we took up line over two years ago. Thought perhaps my computer was getting a bit ancient, cleared old programmes etc but it made little difference. Its the resetting of the modem that puzzles me though, its like they disconnect you from the mainframe if you are off line for a couple or more hours.

I had Cabovisão for a number of years and, when it worked, it was satisfactory. However, the service eventually deteriorated to the extent that, when the connection stalled, crashed, disconnected etc.., it was impossible to reset the system yourself and phoning them direct to get it rebooted was the only option...no freephone service...11 euros a throw...3 or 4 times a month

moving on...

I've now got "Clix" 24mb wifi...works fine all over the house, never seems to deteriorate much (can slow a little with 9-10am and 5-7pm traffic) but has never (yet) needed a reset/reboot. It doesn't like lightning (nor does the dog) but is back up and running within 2 minutes...unlike the dog that keeps running...so no big deal

The nets on all the time and its used for personal (including school and Uni) and business purposes... 7 computers in the house plus all the others that come and go in the night..one of the offspring is an "Online Gamer" (wtf?) and even he grunts that its "alright"...in between visits to the fridge...I'll stop there.

So, basically, no probs.

Speak as you find and all that..."Clix" gets a thumbs up at the mo'.

Any change and I'll let you know.

Kindest Regards...Cumprimentos...etc...

Regarding needing to reset the modem, I've had this thing both in the UK and in Portugal. Typical pattern - works fine for 12-18 months, then connection starts dropping every 1-2 days and the modem has to be reset to re-connect. I think that this one is a modem problem. Whenever I buy a new modem, the problem disappears for another 12-18 months and then it's the same thing again.

As far as the speed of connection, for an ADSL line it depends on the distance from the exchange. I can't remember exact figures, but only a few km from the exchange the max speed you can get starts dropping down.

Yes it is apparently the distance you are from the transmit base and I suspect its also the condition of the lines some of which are donkeys years old. It has been really bad in N Boliqueime area this past few days and seems to be getting slower - maybe usage overload due to weather ? I have a new modem so its not that.
If enough people kick up a fuss maybe they will get their fingers out. For SAPO/PT email - [email protected]

I'm in the boat as eveyone else, with bad ADSL but then again when I used to have adsl with BT back in the uk it was the same all this changed when I went to virgin media.
so if you have the option to go broadband, you should.
me I can not yet as I've just signed up to adsl no so long ago so I have to wait the 12 months contract

Took the plunge and signed up with Optimus Kanguru yesterday after being 'loyal' PT Sapo client for years. Also tool their telephone service and on face of it looks like I have reduced monthly outgoings for telephone and internet by 50% (we use Skype for most long distance calls). Looks like internet speed in much much faster. Early days yet but I am hopeful.

Not only land lines but there are problems with other devices. I have used a dongle in my laptop for years, I like the flexibility of it. I used to be on Vodafone but the service got unreliable over a six month period.

I tried TMN on PAYG to try it out and was much faster, I therefore changed over to a fixed contract with them.

I have notice since last year the performance as dropped off considerably. I use Skype a lot but find it more and more difficult to do so.

Also as a side line, my casa connection lately is also struggling. my family in the UK find it more and more difficult to contact me due to limited connections. They are constantly informed that they cannot be connect and are shoved to my voice mail.

I have questioned my provider, but have had no proper reply.

Sorry for the slightly off topic end.

Funny how the dongle comes up - we used to have one with TMN and it went downhill so we went down the route of getting broadband installed.

Though my dad bought it from me and has said that his internet has gone down the toilet and he is in a wifi hotspot!!!

It is nice to have all the info and know that the broadband is similar with other suppliers as it would be awful to change and realise I am no better off.

kind regards


sam
X

Further to that.....

My next door neighbour has a land line with ADSL, they constantly lose their connection for days on end. All the lines from our nearest exchange (just over 4 Kms away) are above ground and are prone to breakdowns. My neighbour use their internet for business use and find the frailty infuriating.

Although I am happyish with my dongle (although I can only get 10% of the max speed), TMN are constantly trying to get me to upgrade to their TV, phone and internet, I just cannot see as mentioned in the previous paragraph, how they expect that to work.

I don't think there is enough complaining done.