We first need to find a person with a 4G phone then get them to sit on the terrace at the shop and see what sort of signal strength we can get and if possible do a speed test.

Has anyone looked at the possibilities of Tooway (from Bentley Walker) provides satellite internet (with UK IP address) and various data packages up to 50Gb and download speeds of 20Mb ?
There's a thread on the main Spain forum called 'ADSL outside of town' where it's mentioned.

Just had a look on their site. Its £30 for 10GB - not enough for me. And the theres the 'old chestnut' of mounting a dish

Somewhere on this thread I calculated the GB's needed, back of envelope stuff.... and that doesnt give a big daily usage. So I only look at TRUE unlimited packages with NO fair use policy.

Its a shame that I would be paying for the time I'm not here, but Im doing a sort of study of our usage, and for us, and OUR usage the Optimus is the best deal Ive seen so far (if it works).

But with the communities looking at internet (as you mentioned); with new 4G coming out (one reason for me starting the thread) and also lots of cowboys out there, new products and ideas coming.... we are in a time of change.

I am happy to wait a few months till the dust settles and we find out the final situation. Safe in the knowledge that the TMN dongle gives me what I need at 1Eur / hour... and so far no shut down due to 'fair use'..

As we are here a few months a year, the numbers work out OK for me to move to a 30 Eur monthly contract. Knowing we have 'always on' faster internet etc.... If I knew my neighbours better it would be a deal to do something together and split the cost. But am cautious about neighbours and money...

Jon

Just used your link to have a look at the Optimus site and put it through google translate. Very interesting bit on their hotspot page. Their Kanguru 4G hotspot at €69 or discounted to €29 with a contract appears to operate across 3G, 3.5G or 4G so could be doubly useful in CE where signal can be variable with the weather.

So what is the latest thought on this please? John, how is your new box working?

Downstairs in our block our neighbour has an internet receiver on the wall with very good connection to the ES mast by the Bridge. Perfect Line of Sight from Block 15.

He was watching live Footy from that (pity MU kept on losing when he watched - not Moyes' fault after all). Not sure what contract he has.

I have a Portuguese Vodafon dongle with PAYG to the Portuguese mast. Tried Filmon on my laptop to see how it went. Pretty much with no loss of signal. The Portuguese dongle is not MB limited, but connection time.

Jonathan

Moyes has no contract now. He's gone

I have a TMN 3G dongle - (like Jon) - it's 1euro per hour. How much is the Vodafon? How much can you download in an hour? Jon did some fag packet calculations some time ago but there's nothing like practical experience.

I have a www.europasim.com for touring in the motorhome which is 3euros a day unlimited anywhere in Europe. Pay as you go and only charged on days used. It does have fair usage but goes to a slow connection when you have reached the limit.

I bought this for my TMN dongle

http://www.amazon.co.uk/MaxiMag-ante...9dbi+%28New%29

It made a significant increase in the download speed... but minimal for the upload.

I'm hoping that someone with a 4G phone will see if we are getting the Optimus signal on site... also in a few months time the 'sharks' will have gone and we know the best way to legally get TV.... though John's box sounds interesting.

Jon

Hi This is interesting...I like the concept. But there are data limits see below cut'n'paste: and http://www.europasim.com/epages/6335...%20SIM-Card%22 500MB will use up quite quickly.

Do you use it for TV, please, and are you happy with the speed? Have you ever reached a limit whilst watching TV and been (effectively) cut off, please?

I use this site for a speed test. http://testmy.net/ if you have a sec, please can you let us know the speeds you can get.

Thanks for the update

Jon

PS so far with pretty reasonable use, including streaming TV, the TMN didnt slow me down or hit any limits.

How can I reduce my data consumption in order to don't reach the daily MB threshold?
Basically you should avoid video streaming and deactivate the operating system automatic update.
Besides that, you can also set the threshold on most connection softwares (here an example).
You will also receive automatically an SMS when you are close to reach the daily limit and another one when you reach it.

I have the netgear aircard 4g mobile hotspot with the europa sim and an extra antenna claiming to improve signal by up to 5 times. I will take it out and try it in a few locations around Ayamonte and report back. Do you know where there should be a 4g signal to do a test?

Thanks Olivia thats really kind of you.

We are all hoping that you can pick up the Optimus 4G signal or 'see it' somehow on your PC/Phone. If it seems a strong signal then their package would be very interesting (for me)... you travel a lot and it probably may not apply to you...

I wouldnt ask you to go to CE - but hopefully if you can pick it up in Ayamonte - it will be there in CE as well.... I get a good Portuguese 3G signal so living in hope! (As ever!)

But as your eurosim is so interesting as well, it would be good to know its speeds for those with the same requirement as you.

Thanks

Jon

We have 2 threads - here is what I posted re Slingbox

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...46&postcount=5

Jon

More on the slingbox on the other thread

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...38&postcount=8

Just had a man call round from a company called priinet. They are offering set up receiver on my roof . The signal comes from Ayamonte. There flier offers various packages. Email [email protected] for details.the flier the guy gave me looks interesting.