zoff

Can anyone recommend a good mobile phone carrier in the Porches area. More specifically between Porches and Senhora da Rocha. When I visit in the summer I'm using t-mobile (US) which uses local carriers and internet is very slow. Last summer I tried a NOS mobile modem and I thought it was broken until I took it in to a NOS store in Lagoa and there the speed was actually very good. So it seems the internet speed is very much location/carrier based.

Score76

Zoff, you should be able to force your US T-Mobile handset onto Meo if you manually select the network in the handsets setting. Meo have a 4G cell mast in Porches so should give you a good signal. Internet speed suffers in summer when thousands of extra handsets roam into the area.

zoff

Thanks. I guess there is no way around summer congestion. One of the MEO towers is just across a field from my house and the service is still very slow in August.

Score76

As far as I know Vodafone is less affected than Meo or NOS since fewer tourists roam onto its network. You could try getting one of their sims either from the Voda kiosk at Faro airport when you arrive or else the Voda shop in Albufeira. They do a PAYG sim that's 30€ for 30 days.

Or maybe find a neighbour with WiFi you can chip in for whilst you're here.

zoff

Thanks. I'm moving full time in April. PAYG is a good idea to try the carrier without commitment. I'll eventually also get home service, I think the only option in the area is DSL but I'm not sure.