Furfanus Postumus

Hi, I'm thinking of buying a rural house in Portugal, which has electricity but no phone line, certainly no fibre connection, so for internet my only option is satellite. Does anyone have any experience of satellite internet in Portugal? I will be near Evora. I'm a total technophobe so please keep it simple! I'm a bit of a youtube addict, and here in the UK have been known to watch a few hours every day, I no longer watch much tv. Maybe I just need to get a life?? lol.

From what I understand satellite internet sets data limits of downloads (I don't need to upload much) sometimes as low as 2 GB per month (about 1 hour of HD video, or 6 hrs of youtube) and is very slow (0.5 - 2.0 Mbps), with high latency - which interferes with online gaming (which I don't do) but does it affect video too?

Greenmill appears to offer packages with good speeds and download limits of 150 GB per month, but for about 120 Euros per month, not cheap. I think that during the night (1-6 am) download limits are waived by Greenmill. Other companies I have heard of are Bigblu, and Elon Musk's Starlink, which claims low latency (satellites closer to ground) and high speeds between 50-150 Mbps. Any advice gratefully received. Has anyone used Starlink?

ouriquejan

We have wifi from meo, which can be a complete pain and then can be super speedy. But it is better than it was when we first moved here 5 years ago. Supposed to be 4 thingy but it's mostly 3.

Evora, I can't answer, sadly, but love the place.

zoff

Your wifi is transmitted only short distance, within your house, you probably have MEO mobile broadband which is most likely 4G.

Rambling archer

Furfanus - perhaps start with this - in Portuguese but you get the gist ...
https://adslfibra.pt/internet/satelite
https://en.satexpat.com/tv/portugal/meo/

Meo being the equivalent of the national telecom service/provider is your best bet to start with and also ask if Fibre is coming to your area - depending how out in the sticks you will be

santaanita

I am having it installed on monday will report back to how it went and what it can and cannot do,the one i am having is KONNECT .PT,I am paying 49.99 fixed for two years unlimited and 100 megs speed

liveaboard

There is another option between satellite and a phone wire (fiber is only available in populated areas)
Most people use fixed position GSM service now; 3,4,or5 G
If your house has no cell phone coverage and no fixed line, consider carefully whether you want to move ahead with it.
Of course you don't need those things to live; unless you actually do one day as a fire roars over the hills at you.

Or you need an ambulance.

A house in a position like that should be sharply discounted to make up for that.

barlaventoexpert

Furfanus, you commit an error often committed by folk on this forum looking for help on this forum.

You indicate "near Evora".

However, this is not good enough to give proper advice.

Are you 2km or 30km from Evora? Near which village.

The reason is that some rural areas of Portugal have been cabled up for fibre-optics.

Secondly, is the property near a main road or several kms from one? If it's near a main road along which fibre-optic cables run it may not be impossible to run a cable to the houas.

THIRDLY, and most importantly, knowledge the topography of the area assists establishing if a 4G mobile signal is available at the property.

If the property lies in a part of the Alentejo around Evora that is reasonably flat, it is quite possible that one can receive a 4 to 5 bar 4G mobile signal which would probably be good enough to subscribe to one of the mobile packages offered by NOS or one of the other providers. Broadband Reception over these systems are not the same as over fibre-optics but then neither is satellite, which is susceptible to transmission breaks owing to climatic conditions. (Rain, heavy cloud, extreme heat.)

However, for these systems, one ABSOLUTELY needs to check, FIRST, that there is 100% 4G mobile coverage & reception from one of three local providers within the house or at least from a window in the house.The system works on a "line of sight" concept. So the house has to be line of sight of a mobile antenna. I have installed a couple of Huwaei routers from Nos.pt using sim cards for clients in the Algarve in the past. With the impending roll-out of 5G here in Portugal over the next year the services will improve. I understand that meo.pt & vodafone.pt also offer similar products. If the house is in a steep valley, it is likely satellite will be your only option.

THIS SYSTEM IS NOT WIFI!! It is internet access over the mobile phone network!

Elon's new Starlink system which I understand is now authorised in Portugal may also be an option.

https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1614821

Be very very careful with checking what is a available & works as you can end up in contractual arrangements for up to 24 months you can't get out off.

macliam

This last part is the kicker - companies will lie through their teeth to get you to sign a contract, knowing that you will then be committed to paying them for 2 years, even if the service you receive is useless.

4G Mobile is a cheap option as you can get PAYG packages and avoid this commitment - just try sims from the various companies in your smartphone and see which gives the strongest signal/fastest downloads. That way it only costs you a few euros to check.

wellinever

And of course people forget the BIG benefit of mobile in your phone is that you have it wherever you go...home, beach and still allowed back in UK if you want.
Of course your phone must be unlocked to try the available networks in Portugal.MEO, NOS, and Vodafone......all shops will sell you a one day sim to try.....just check all time so of day to find best place in the house and then set up your computer with that as the hotspot (acting as a wifi router) takes less than 5 mins to connect.. Make sure the phone is set to accept 4G (find that in settings)

borisface

I'd be very interested to know how you get on with satellite interent as I'm fed up with 800kb meo internet!

santaanita

the equipment arrived by DHL on friday impressive piece of kit,technian phoned to confirm that he will be with me at 2pm today and installation will take about 4 hours,i will let you know later how it works out.

borisface

Thanks that would be great: good luck with your erection!

Someone told me that satellite interner uploads are usually done via adsl/fibre that is the landline rather than via the satellite - do you happen to know if that's the case here?

Cheers

Chris

santaanita

Thanks that would be great: good luck with your erection!
i will need more than luck these days
dont know the answer but will ask tech guy

atlasthemonk

Im renting in central Portugal with no house internet connection. Im using a vodafone data only sim in my phone and useing it as a wifi hub to my laptop. Youtube speed is ok . works out at 1 euro /day unlimited data but with the advantage of using my laptop in my car anywhere. Also available from vodafone is a 2 week data /phone sim.

santaanita

ok all installed 3hours ran cable as i wanted it,dish has to go in direction of sat,which worked ok for me,the modem has 4 ethernet connection and of course is wi fi.
i have ran 3 speedtests with 3 didfferents apps and regesterd 86mbs 92mbs 101mbs did a little jig when it went over a 100 coudnt help it,see how it goes over next month
their are 3 packages 22euro 34euro 49 euro i got the 49euro one