ASTRA 2E now moving to station at 28.5 east

[laserblazer]

Get someone in the UK to point their webcam at the TV and use Skype. Simples.

[Sheila]

Jaylay,
Half an hour internet connection using Filmon, uses half mgb download. If your internet is a 3G connection you are limited to 15 mgb per month, with most suppliers. This is dependant on what contract you have with your supplier, for 3G. Mine equates to 50cents per half hour, with Vodafone. However I do get between 6-7 mb download speed. Sapo at €25 per month gives me .75-1.25 download speed with unlimited usage, however I think you need to get a faster speed to watch Bbc via. VPN connection.
However, as I can't get Cable or a decent phone line, I have moved to World Telecom, where I get 3-3.5 mb download on an Optimus 3G router with unlimited download for €25 per month. This gives me the speed to watch anything on the tablet or computer. Good luck!

Is this mobile broadband? And do you need a 3g mobile phone? World Telecom have a mobile broadband unlimited for 21.5€ according to their web site.

[DVBRO]

Sheila.
Yes, this a 3G connection, either using a USB dongle or a mini little router, which you can take anywhere, I.e. On the beach, car etc. however the battery only lasts for about four hours. If your lucky, might get 4G.
The offer from WT is for a larger router which uses 3G and is plugged into the mains.
You are correct on the price in the paper, however, does it include the dreaded.i.v.a.
Good luck

[Bruce Wallis]

Get someone in the UK to point their webcam at the TV and use Skype. Simples.

Obviously one of the more intelligent solutions.......

[laserblazer]

Get someone in the UK to point their webcam at the TV and use Skype. Simples.

Obviously one of the more intelligent solutions.......

Indeed and you can have a chat about it at the same time "Ooh that Ken Barlow looks good considering!"

[pickwick]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but 3G in Portugal is limited to 15GB (approx 45 hours of TV) at full speed. After that limit has been reached the speed will reduce to 0.25Mbps which is useless for TV!! So OK for one and a half hours a day as long as you do not use the connection for anything else!

Pick wick

PS this applies whoever the supplier is

[DVBRO]

As far as I know Pickwick, this is not so. It is possible to get unlimited download from numerous suppliers providing 3G. Would you like to elaborate on who restricts you? I know Vodafone and Tmn do. However this does not apply to Optimus etc.
If you are in an area with fibre optic, or satellite connection, this is the best way.

[pickwick]

Hi

From the Optimus website - O Cliente terá sempre a opção de, após esgotado o tráfego do pacote base, de navegar a uma velocidade reduzida de 128Kbps, sem qualquer custo adicional - basically after the download limit amount your speed will be reduced to 0.128Mbps........

I was on a TMN deal with exactly the same term. I asked in the Optimus shop and was told the same applied. I asked World Telecom re the 3G offering and was told the same. I asked Vodafone and was told the same. Optimus offer unlimited on 4G but this is then locked to your address and I suspect is also subject to the following restriction advised by World Telecom (do not know 100%). The following is from an e-mail from World Telecom to me relating to their 4G offering(Optimus supply their connection) :-

• 4G Integrated 50Mpbs package with monthly charge €35.20 + VAT = 43.30€
1) Activation process can take up to 24 hours reminding the activation is done with a new phone number.
2) 12 hours of phone calls to Europe.
3) The equipment cost is 110.00€ one time charge, the payment needs to be paid
4) You do need an Analog handset to plug into the 4G router.
5) Contract period of 24 months.

*********************
Tarifário 50/5
Mensalidade € 35.20
Velocidade de Download até 50 Mbps
Tráfego 21:00 - 09:00 25GB por mês *
09:00 - 21:00 ilimitado

As you can see even the 4G offering is limited to 25GB per month between 21:00 and 09:00.

You are correct that you can get unlimited downloads on all (or most) 3G contracts but I have not found one provider that does not reduce the speed after 15Mbps download per month. If you can get a provider to put in writing that they will then please post it on here as then the package will be of interest to others

Pickwick

[Sheila]

Thanks for all this information. No nearer deciding on the best Internet/TV solution but hopefully all will become clear sooner or later. We are in the monchique area so we probably won't have too many options.

[widge]

For those of you who have a Sky box there are many free to view channels still available. From channel 580 to 600 there are 20 fascinating channels devoted to various religions. There are numerous news channels & travel channels as well, so don't despair, open your hearts & minds & get educated for free!
I will be promoting my limited but very educational TV service to potential rental clients with immediate effect. It's legal, free & riveting.

[pointersister]

I think we should all hold fire and not panic about the tv reception. It won't be long before something reasonably priced and usable comes along. Meanwhile get the kindle loaded up with plenty of good books, put on the iPod, listen to a bit of good music and relax in the best village in the Algarve.

[andara]

Well, I duly had a telecom with a Sapo engineer, who did appear to try many things to fix my low broadband speeds. Unfortunately, all his efforts came to nought and after an hour I was left with no internet access at all, as I was prompted to enter my router username and password to open up the broadband line. I had no idea what the username was, and found out the next day that this was assigned by Sapo at the time of the original installation.

An engineer did come to the villa the next day with a new router, which was promptly installed and internet access restored.

That's the good news. The not so good news is that the engineer explained that over a period of several weeks, thieves have been stealing the copper broadband cable on a 3 kilometer stretch from the Lagoa substation through Sesmarias towards Ferragudo. That doesn't explain why I (and others in the Sesmarias area) suffered a step reduction in broadband speeds on February 11, unless the broadband is carried over more than 1 cable.

So right now and for the foreseeable future, it looks as if broadband speeds in the area will remain low until the cables are restored. The engineer couldn't say when this might happen. I'll try to get a sensible answer from Sapo.

[widge]

Thanks for the update Andara.

[sasha1]

Yes thank you Andara. Would really appreciate any update on internet speeds around Sesmarias.

[ANDY]

Channel 4 is back .On your sky remote, press 'services' - set up, 'add channels' change frequency to 12.480.
Yellow button to tick channels. You will see Channel 4 ,E4 etc. then press select to save.
Whenever you want to watch any of them press services - other channels and select channel.
Note. You must have an active sky card in your box
Also itv 2,3,4 are also available to Sky HD subscribers on Sky HD boxes.