So today, after a long wait for ADSL, the Telefonica engineer finally shows up at our house. He pokes around for a few minutes, says he'll be back in "5 minutos" and then never returns.

According to my Spanish speaking assistant who spoke to him on the phone, engineer said,
"...it is not possible to install a line in your house because there is no line available; that is, it seems there a limit in the number of lines that can be connected in that area."

There are phone ports & cable already installed in the house which is reasonably new, so it's not like the house is a complete non-starter.

So we're really stuck and have considered everything from leaving the house to leaving Spain. We can't live in this house if there is no internet (I need it for work 24/7). And, we're wondering just how long one has to wait for a line to become available. Seems archaic, but then I live in Lanzarote.

Any advice?
Stick around for a line to become available or cut our losses and move?

Yes, in many respects Spain is well behind the times.

The exchange is clearly full and they won't invest in upgrading it or installing a new one.

Your best bet is to see if you can be served by WiMax or even satellite internet. This is far last drastic than moving house or leaving Spain

yes, seems archaic, but could well be true. for every house put on the line out from the exchange then there will be a line voltage drop. It probably means exactly that - because adding you to the line will knock everyone else out.
just because a house has a telephone socket in every room doesn't mean they have a connection to a line in the street.

We were all prepared to have Telefonica connect us up - until he arrived to say there was no cable or conduit from the house up the road to ours, therefore we couldn't have it. Seems the old "aerial bundling" of stringing across the road isn't allowed any more.
So we went with a radio system, small antenna similar to a sat dish pointing to a tower on the edge of the next village.
so no need to move, look for a way round the problem, even if it means having to use a satellite up/down, but that can come to earth in the UK.

hth

Unfortunately this could be true. In rural areas, capacity is severely limited.

Whenever we have moved in Spain, our first question has always been, how is the internet? In general, for good internet, you must live in densely populated areas.

If all else fails, try a 4G mobile internet dongle. Mobile internet has really improved in recent years

Same here, agent told us we could get 6MB internet in the property.

I am currently using a mobile wifi router but 10G/m (on Orange @ 35E/m) isn't nearly enough bandwidth for work. I'd need a minimum of 30G+

Was it satellite or a WIMAX system you are using?

Looking into it now. Wimax would be preferable due to ping times vs Satellite. I've tried contacting Wimax providers here before but no reply from any of them . Any recommendations?

have telephone and ADSL using Jetsur wimax service but don't think they are available from the Canaries

[QUOTE=londonbee;10610731]Same here, agent told us we could get 6MB internet in the property.
QUOTE]

Agents lie. We called up the internet suppliers beforehand to give them our potential address before agreeing to move, to see what services were available

Hope you find a solution. A warning, satellite internet is usually pretty slow and unreliable

I've only heard of 2oMeg on WiMax in Spain but I guess you might be able to get more in places.


When we bought our house, I asked them to leave the lines in so that we didn't get this problem. What did the old owners do - they cancelled the service!

Luckily we were able to get a line within a month of moving in but it was only 512 then (rural campo)!

We've now gone WiMax which uses a small 'squarial' and line of sight to a mast.

We were told we could have wimax but when they came to install our line of site was not good enough, we have had satelitte internet now for a year and have had no problem, its fast enough my husband sometimes works from home with no problems and we are able to watch bbc iplayer. We also use a VOIP phone system, this can be a bit slow for the first 2 minutes then it seems to pick up stream very quickly and most people do not notice any difference from a landline. We tried Dongles but the reception in our area was no good, we found the weather really affected the signal. Whilst we were waiting for satelite to become affordable and more reliable we joined the local library and used the wifi there free of charge my husband did quite a bit of work from there, working in the mornings it was practically empty.

The two non-fixed line alternatives:
- Satellite: The local satellite provider offers 1MBps for a rather expensive package (Orange mobile is better)
-WIMAX: doesn't cover here.

Third alternative is to buy a 1km signal booster and tap into the open networks here.

We live in the main town and in a relatively new development, so the fact that "internet is impossible" has just stumped me. I thought at least a slow line. But no line???? Or, maybe a year wait?

The wifi coverage in wooden huts on the remote shores of Fiji was a lot better than here! Time for a rethink of plans...

If you live in a new development then it could be that they ran out of money before the infrastructure could be finished. Spain has had five years with no money remember!

In the cities the internet is excellent. I have fibre optic 100MB internet as do my relatives in Barcelona

Get used to it. It's part of the "charm"

...another "charming" feature is when it starts raining just at the time when you have 20 minutes to send a very important document by email.

not wishing to be unkind - but did you actually PLAN this fiasco ??
the good people of BES keep telling everyone it isnt the paradise some think it is, and difficulties will be thrown at you from a great height if you actually want to do even the smallest amount of work here.

I believe you can get better wifi and internet in a hut in a Malaysian kampong. I have a spare pair of flip-flops, a tablecloth and coolie had left over from my last visit if you would like them.

oh and although they have the monsoons that is normally when it is warm, not like the Spanish cold and rain.