help please Internet access

[Big Col]

Hi there all

Please can you help, we live in the campo near baza Granada, and have been looking at buying a cortilio, with more land for our removal vans, The only trouble with this fantastic house is there is no way of getting a land line to the house. What other alternatives are there?

As far I understand that if theres no way re a telephone line, then the next cheapest system would be Iberbanda,although 18months ago it had to be in line of site of the transmitter, but Ive been told that its more easier to get now as they will install very very very tall masts and that this system has improved big time over the last year.

So far cost effective service this would be the 2nd choice Does everyone agree??

But if you cant get the above 2 services then whats the situation with mobile phone Internet access , does this work well as Ive been told that with the gismo thingies from tiny you get a vodaphone Spanish phone load up 80 euro of credit via the ATM machine text a number and get the normal phone talk option converted Internet time.

so my next question please is if 60 euro will buy 4000 1GB of use,what does that mean to someone who checks and send emails, and Internet use for a average of lets say 3 hrs per day??.

is it only viable to access and receive emails? could let say a small business operate by this method, or could lets say a 80 budget a month cover the costs of accessing our removal business emails and browsing Internet msn and skype, and still be able to spend time on eBay,forum and general use.Are we saying that 1 GB may last a week 2 weeks or a whole month, i know its difficult to calculate but I'm trying to work out if this system for normal use would cost a lot more per month than a direct satellite when the spending on the initial cost of the system and monthly charges could work out in the lot run dare i say it cheaper!!!

What is the cost for the satellite system and monthly charges and how would these charges compare with the mobile phone bonopackages System.

trying hard to get my head around it all, I'm not a computer wizard and find it hard to accept and take in this technology

so be gentle with me

Thanks everyone

Big Col

[MANDERS]

Hi Col,

I live in the Campo and there is no way that I will get a landline within the next 10 years!!! I survive on the old radio link phone. Basically a box on the wall with a sim card in it and an antenna on the outside wall. I am not in line of sight but it works OK. I have internet access through Telefonica on a 24/7 basis at a cost of 20 euros a month, plus the line and maintenance charges. Covers 24 hour internet access plus local calls. The connection is dial up and fairly slow but it is enough to run my business from, providing I am patient!! I connect to international through Midastelecom which is a lot cheaper than Telefonica.

I looked into the alternative of satellite but the installation costs ran to 3,500 and the monthly charge was 60 euros. Bit beyond me at the mo!

If anyone else has more info would be glad to see it.

[Karipentti]

The grapevine is telling me you could possibly get a landline by presenting Telefonica a doctor's certificate of a heart disease. Anybody else heard about this? Or is it just another urban legend...?

[MANDERS]

it does seem that people with health issues or the elderly are given priority. Our phone was put in because the predecessors had health problems, whereas others in our valley have waited many months.

[Heston]

Hi Big Col

I live in the Campo and Telefonica gave me a Satalite phone ( free) and it cost me normal line rental each month. I also have interent via this system..ok its not Broadband but we run two Companies and it works fine. Hope this helps

[Big Col]

Hi Heston thanks for the info

Your post is amazing!!!

I never thought you could get a deal like that from telephonica,

so did you ring or go into one of their store for this deal?, is their a special name for this deal.?Im using telephonica now in our current house, and when they checked out where i may be buying, all they suggested that i should try iberbanda!

Ive been PM ed about the vodaphone 3 g conection,that sounds very interesting.

also been told from a independant company that satalite set up will cost over 3500 euros and 80-100 euros per month

Many thanks for answering the post

Big Col

[Heston]

No Col just a normal offer as they couldnt give me a landline they had to do it this way.just dial 1004 and ask for the English speaking department

Good luck!

[telboy]

Heston

What is your approx monthly cost for internet connection through this satellite system?

I understand that you had no landline possibility, but how did you manage to get a satellite system, dont you mean 'radio phone' system?

[Lavanda]

Hello Big Col!
We use the Vodafone Mobile Connect Modem. It was 14.50€ for the gadget and we pay 45.00€ each month for 1 giggabyte. We were told that 4 pages = 1 meggabyte so we get, in theory 4000 pages a month. If we use more than that we get 'fined' an extra 20.00€ a month. That's never happened. Two of us use the internet and e-mail about four hours a day and seem to use squillions of pages. Vodafone will NOT fine you or charge you extra unless you SERIOUSLY overdo it.

We have noticed that other companies like Movistar are offering the mobile connect moden now at much cheaper rates. Shop around. We, unfortunately signed a contract for a year!

Only two things: although the gadget will give you a 3G speed the reality depends on the reception in your area. We are in a 2G area and it can be slow. Early mornings are best. Afternoons weird. Don't know why. The other thing is that it took two men three days with another two men at the end of a phone to connect our laptop with Windows Vista to the gadget. It's not simple to connect yourself up unless you are a computer genius - no matter what people tell you.

Hope that helps. See you in September!