Hi there, I am moving to afinca in Cordoba Province, near a town called Montoro in January and will want to use the internet to keep in touch with home. At the moment there is no landline and having read alot about telefonica, if possible I would like to keep landline free. I think I may be able to get a vodafone phone and mobile connection for a laptop, but was wondering if there were any other ecommended alternatives. Thanx

http://www.cablesur.es

http://www.iberbanda.es

I have Iberbanda and have nothing but praise, but likewise a work colleague uses Cablesur and has no end of praise for them.

Both offer satallite internet at comparable prices to Telefonica’s land line ADSL and it’s generally available in most areas. Your property needs to be in beaming range of the nearest local antenae, but the infrastructure is improving quickly. I believe both websites have links to information in English.

There is a company called Citrus Red SL that can supply a 2-way Satellite system anywhere in Spain, this is for Internet access and through it you can use the online SKYPE telephone service.

They can also supply a trac/radio phone that uses the Orange mobile phone network, so you don?t need a landline from Telefonica. The call costs and line rental on this trac phone are cheaper than a Telefonica landline!!

I have the number for the local agent, give him a call and he can brief you on costs etc.
Spain number ? 666 721 444
UK number - 0844 598 6141

heath1974 - 24 November 2007 01:58 AM

http://www.cablesur.es

http://www.iberbanda.es

I have Iberbanda and have nothing but praise, but likewise a work colleague uses Cablesur and has no end of praise for them.

Both offer satallite internet at comparable prices to Telefonica’s land line ADSL and it’s generally available in most areas. Your property needs to be in beaming range of the nearest local antenae, but the infrastructure is improving quickly. I believe both websites have links to information in English.

Heath, Iberbanda prices below - Prices are well expensive !!!!!!!!
IBnet 1 Mbps*  250,00?  79,00?

It’s all in Spanish and cannot find an English link as you mentioned..
Whats with the 250Euro bit mate ?

Thanks;
DSB.

The systems above appear to be WImax not Satellite,

These system offer local coverage, and may not be available in remote locations, for that you will need Satellite,

Wimax type systems are from about 100? to 250? to install with monthly costs from about 30? per month

Satellite systems are from about 750? to install with 2GB download per month around 30? monthly

Both types of system are good for VOIP tel use, 

There is a sticky at the top of this page wiht loads of info on options etc,

I’ve moved since I wrote that last post 😉 I’m now in a very rural location.

Iberbanda charge ?150 for installation and the following connection speeds/prices per month

1 Mbps ?39,00
2 Mbps ?58,00
4 Mbps ?98,00

CableSur charge ?99 for installation and the following connection speeds/prices per month

1 Mbps ?26
2 Mbps ?32
3 Mbps ?38
4 Mbps ?44
6 Mbps ?50

Both are exclusive of IVA (add 16%)

Both are WImax systems as mike48t confirmed, though if you’re looking for a permanent property in Granada province, coverage is pretty good in most places where land-line options aren’t available. Basically, if you arrange to get either to try to install in your location and it’s not available, then there’s no charge.

As mike48t also mentioned, if your in a really rural location, then the only option might be satellite. His estimates are about right for these, but the only downside would be the bandwidth restrictions, which aren’t the case with the WImax systems. Limited bandwidth can be restrictive and frustrating, given the initial outlay.

At the moment, I’m using a 3G dongle from Movistar (Telefonica) which uses the mobile network. At first I could only get GPRS (dialup speeds of about 56kbps only), but they’ve recently upgraded the antennas on top of the nearby Parapanda mountain, so I can now receive 3.5G connections of up to 3mbps. I usually average 1.5 to 2.5mbps at the moment, which isn’t bad really, considering I live in a valley. There is a bandwidth limit monthly though, which can be fairly restrictive at 1gb per month, though it’s better than some of the satallite packages available all things considered. Once you hit this it can limit your connection speed to 128kbps until the next monthy cycle. For some reason though at the moment, I’ve surpassed the limit, never been restricted for connection speedd and have yet to be charged any addittional fees. 😊

This costs me ?39 + IVA per month and the dongle was free because I signed up for a 12 month contract.

At the moment, compared to the UK, packages are much more expensive than the UK. For this you can blame a lack of infrastructure improvements and a Telefonica monopoly. Things are changing quickly though now and both prices and options are getting better. They’ve a lot of catching up to do, but the demand is getting much stronger, so expect more improved services and prices in the not too distant future.

Iberbanda installation is currently free of charge, only if you cancel contract before 12months you?‘ll have to pay proportional part of the 150?.

As tech details Iberbanda uses Alvarion WiMax equipment both at base-stations as CPE. The only request to have it working is direct sight between client and basestation.

The expensiver IBNet from iberbanda is business focused, more guaranteed bandwidth and Cisco routers.

Regards

At the moment, my 3G/3.5G Movistar mobile connection is working well.

At first all I could get was GPRS at 56k. Now I’m averaging 2mbps and we’re in a valley!

It appears there have been some antenna upgrades recently around rural northern and western Granada province. Most prominent of which is the main antenna atop the Parapanda mountain, plus the Sierra de Loja. Obviously with the rising demand for mobile technology, the service providers are pulling their finger out and rolling out the better infrastructure.

My current contract costs me ?49 + IVA per month for a 3mb connection with a Huawei modem (included in the 18 month contract) with a cap of 10GB per month.

Now I know that the infrastructure locally is better and the signal strengths a lot stronger, I may opt for either the Iberbanda or CableSur options once my mobile connection is up. It’s handy having the mobile connection though, because as well as using it at home with my desktop PC, I can use it out and about with my laptop, because there’s increasingly more WiFi hotspots dotted around the towns.