Movistar/O2
 

Movistar and O2 are sister companies owned by Telefonica. We have been customers of Movistar for about 4 years since the day that they brought full fibre 1Gb Internet to us in the campo.

We have a landline and two mobiles plus gigabit Internet under their Fusion package. We have been very satisfied with it. However the free mobile calls are limited and the price has increased over time.

O2 now offer the same package, without the obligatory (free) basic TV package to approx €25/mth less. I changed over yesterday and all the changes were made within 5 minutes. No change of router or phone numbers - totally painless.

For anyone currently using Movistar it is definitely worth looking at.

Re: Movistar/O2
 

Very lucky you!!! I investigated this option a while ago - same as you on overpriced Movistar (and paying for things in the package I don't use: landline, 2nd mobile, TV but they can't be removed from the contract) and so I contacted O2 - looked very simple to switch, O2 even said you will keep the same router BUT then O2 decided I did not have coverage!

Re: Movistar/O2
 

A while back there were restrictions on the ex-monopoly company competing in areas where there wasn't much competition and the O2 brand had to either offer a higher price or not offer service, with the aim of avoiding these areas having fibre from just Movistar and O2 (also Movistar).

These restrictions were lifted last summer, so you could try looking into it again.

Re: Movistar/O2
 

Yes, that sounds a good idea I will, thanks a lot.

Re: Movistar/O2
 

I only have fibre from Movistar but I feel that I am paying too much compared to how much we were paying at our previous place.

Movistar Conecta 600 Mb at around 42 Euros/mth, does that sound about right or is it a bit high? If switching to O2 would require no physical/equipment change then that doesn't seem like a risky option.

Re: Movistar/O2
 

We have the same but its contracted via Dragonet who are the only suppliers locally. Its €42 but made up of two amounts, one for the fibre and one to dragonet..
I managed to speak to Moviestar direct (in English) and they said we were not in a coverage area. I even quoted the install agreement number (that the moviestar engineer left us when they installed the fibre) and they still didn't want to know.

Spain is years behind the rest of the world, but hey at least you dont have to take a landline, which we did and others still do in the UK....

Re: Movistar/O2
 

According to the USwitch global index, Spain ranks 4th in the world for median download speed.

Global Broadband Index (uswitch.com)

We are very happy with our provider, a small local company which started out providing cable TV and diversified. We have been with them for more than 10 years now and the speed has increased x10 whilst the cost has gone up by only €1 per month in all that time. We are paying €19.90 per month for 300 mbps upload/download which is more than adequate for our needs, but we don't have either a fixed phone line or mobiles with them.

Re: Movistar/O2
 

Wikipedia puts it at 14th, and most of the countries which beat it are small states where dense population makes it easy to roll out fast Internet.

Re: Movistar/O2
 

I think a lot depends on one's location within a particular country. Looking at these rankings I see countries with phenomenal internet speeds but seemingly dragged down the order due to lower fibre rollout in less populated areas.

Personally I have a thing for landlines but I cannot see them surviving in this day and age. :)

That a good price and an adequate connection for most households, unless you have a handful of kids who are going to clog it up once they all start downloading and/or streaming at once but even then it should still hold. :)

300 megabits ps is 37.5 megabytes ps so still quite high.

Re: Movistar/O2
 

The basic O2 deal is 300mb plus a mobile with 10gb data unlimited calls at €30. Extra mobiles are €5 each.
Excellent customer support by phone email or WhatsApp.

Re: Movistar/O2
 

I have been with Movistar for 8 years and happy with the service but it has become expensive. I considered 02 and looked at the reviews. 90% of reviews on Trust pilot were one star (out of 5 stars) due to poor services, technical support and cancellation policy etc, including several already from this year
I think I'll give 02 a wide birth and pay Movistar price for excellent service and support.

Steve

Re: Movistar/O2
 

What are the Movistar reviews? One thing I have noticed living here is that people love to create a flood of negative opinions, often based on something they're unhappy about but which has no logical basis. Especially when it comes to insurance. I've read stuff about how someone had motorcycle insurance but then their friend who isn't covered (ineligible for some reason?) crashed it and the company refused to pay even though he begged them to cover it. So who's fault it is? The company's of course. Bad insurer. Bad review for not paying... for something it shouldn't pay for.

I wonder just how different Movistar and O2 are given their ownership correlation. Is it just on paper, are there really completely different buildings housing their employees? I mean their systems seem linked if you can move services so seamlessly, no equipment change needed even, etc.

Re: Movistar/O2
 

Adamo are a smaller provider, the Internet's reliable, I've only needed to call them a couple of times in years and both times I spoke to someone who knew what they were talking about.

Re: Movistar/O2
 

Movistar get a much lower rating on Trustpilot than O2. In fact, of the 9 major broadband suppliers in Spain, O2 is by far the best. Actually they are all pretty low rated, it’s the nature of the product which gives rise to many problems resulting in complaints.

I started the thread to point out to existing Movistar users that they could make a significant saving by changing to O2. I was not making any recommendations about service. If you are with Movistar and are happy with their service then you will be happy and better off with O2 as it is exactly the same equipment that you are using. It’s just a lower cost, no frills, Telefonica offering.

Re: Movistar/O2
 

Saw an O2 ad on the side of a bus just yesterday, pretty sure it was similar to what you mentioned with the fibre + mobile with a price-tag of 30 or so EUR. Only thing that surprised me is that it wasn't sub-30 given that I'm in the Canaries. :) Will be on the lookout for the same ad throughout the day.

This is definitely a better deal than Movistar and even if you up the options to 500mbps fibre (and 50GB mobile) the price only goes up to 38 EUR.

Plus as you mentioned, no equipment change necessary. :)

Re: Movistar/O2
 

I see Starlink is now down to 40/month or 50 including the equipment. Sounds like a good deal for those living outside of fibre enabled areas.

Re: Movistar/O2
 

Hispasat is 35 euros a month including IVA. Free instal. Unlimited though when you exceed a threshold, speed is reduced but still streams TV. It is part of a Spanish government scheme to get fast internet to areas with no copper/fibre.

Re: Movistar/O2
 

I did the exact same in our town house, it used to be cheaper, but now its crept up to 65/month for landline/fibre/100gb mobile, then i have a 2nd mobile for 10 more.

Re: Movistar/O2
 

Apples and oranges olive, sorry - hispasat gives what, upto 20mbs? With line of sight to a tower.

Star Link is 150mbs-300mbs and it can be used anywhere in the world, pointing up to the sky.

35 or 50, for 10x the speed, im sure 99% of people will agree which is better.

But that's not the point of this thread, so back to movistar and 02 :lol:

Re: Movistar/O2
 

On the other hand Starlink barely has customer service and involves giving money to Elon Musk.

Re: Movistar/O2
 

jaja. It must be a tall tower to be up in space. The clue is in the name. HispaSAT . We get between 59 to 103 mbs . Dont know why it changes but I have had to remake the connection to the router from the dish when I moved the router.

perhaps a revisit of the maths. ?

35 and no instal for quite adequate 100 mbs or 50 for the Elon Musk offering. Apples and apples.

I only posted about Hispasat to help anyone out in the campo that might be struggling with 4G internet with all its vagaries. Hey ho

Re: Movistar/O2
 

my apologies olive, I assumed it was a line of sight system like we have here in the guadalhorce valley - we normally only get 20mb/s with ours, any big dowloads take hours.

Regards, James aka bfg69bug aka spanish_lad ;)

Re: Movistar/O2
 

:thumb:

Re: Movistar/O2
 

What should you do if you are on a "sin permanencia" plan and Movistar are currently charging you MORE than the regular price (with no promotions/discounts/etc.) on their website?

Normally I would have thought that they would automatically adjust the price... but I take it a direct intervention is needed just to get the current price applied?

Re: Movistar/O2
 

After a lot of thought I decided to take your advice and go with 02 for my Internet service. Since then I've had excellent service from 02 and saved around €40 per month for exactly the same service i was getting from Movistar. I'll recommend 02 Internet.

Steve

Re: Movistar/O2
 

Does the router from Movistar/O2 allow their other clients to use your wifi if they happen to be Movistar/O2 mobile plan subscribers?

I recall in some countries that people's routers were used by the operator to form a nationwide hotspot network that their mobile subscribers could then use. Is it the same here?

Re: Movistar/O2
 

I would say definitely not - the router has a 20-digit password protection. But I am not a technician...

Re: Movistar/O2
 

Ring them up and tell them you've noticed the price drop and could they change your tariff to that one.

Vodafone used to have an agreement with Fon but I think that ended years ago... I don't think any other operator shared or shares your WiFi with other customers.

Re: Movistar/O2
 

I'm not saying they had access to your password(s) but that people's home routers were somehow used as hotspots, so the software in them allowed the operator to make them available to all of their customers as a completely different wifi network, separate from your own (albeit using your home router!).

Re: Movistar/O2
 

A number of years ago I spent some time in the wild west (rural Galicia) no phone, barely a grounded socket in the house... bzzzt! I bought a 4G router off eBay in the UK for forty quid and had a Republica Movil (sin permenencia) contract of 60GB a month. It was a euro per GB I seem to recall! Anyway, it did the job! Today I am back in Spain investigating residency once more. I have a Lobster SIM and all across the North of Spain the download speeds are epic by my standards (Scottish Highlands), over 50 Mbps in the middle of nowhere. I wonder what results I might get today in the house if an LTE WiFi router exists. An idea for someone to try perhaps.

Re: Movistar/O2
 

I have one ( as part of O2 Fusion rural package).

it is limited to a max of 20 meg down and has a measly 700k up. Unlimited.Router isnt user DNS customable. We are not tied into a contract so next month , I am going to “ upgrade” for less money and still no contract. I want to see if it performs better and if the New provided router is dns customable. I still like the Hispasat satellite internet at 35 euros a month , free install. Huge ping. Currently 100 meg but next month being upgraded free to 200 meg. Streams tv . No contract and router gives greatwifi signal and is DNS configurable

Re: Movistar/O2
 

FREE in France and I think BT in the UK customers home based routers offer the opportunity for customers of the service to use any available WIFI signal from any other home based routers.... Not a new phenomenon....
You would have to download the app though - FREE at least, do not know about BT..

Re: Movistar/O2
 

Makes sense as I recall seeing this in another country where Orange was the home internet provider.

Re: Movistar/O2
 

Getting back on thread - I was prevented from switching from Movistar to O2 because their website told me that I did not have coverage despite having Movistar Fibre Optic installed for over 2 years!

Then a miracle - my new neighbour ordered O2 by using a house number a few houses up the road (The O2 computer did not recognise our house numbers) the O2 engineer arrived (no FO cable installed there) and advised me to use number 32 in the application and not my 24B house number and voila - I ordered via the O2 website, very efficient, within a few minutes received a friendly Whatsapp from O2 and I was switched over this morning in under 24 hours. No change of router or numbers and no engineer visit to my house needed.

Opted for the 500MB service,landline (obligatory) and one mobile for 38€ a month (inc IVA) net saving 264€ p.a.

Very happy - thanks Fred for getting me to look at this again.