Mobile Internet
Printed From: Albufeira.com
Category: Tourism / Turismo
Forum Name: Miscellaneous / Diverso
Forum Description: Uncategorized topics / Tópicos váriados
URL: https://albufeira.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9516
Printed Date: 24/February/2026 at 03:04
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.03 - https://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Mobile Internet
Posted By: happygirl709
Subject: Mobile Internet
Date Posted: 01/August/2016 at 17:18
|
I have been in Albufeira for a week and the mobile internet service I have been using has been useless. Has anyone else had the same problemsand what does anyone think gives a good reliable service here? I have been using a 15 euro, 15 day Nos sim that is put into a small hotspot device but it has never been so bad. Has anyone used a Vodafone sim and is that any good? |
Replies:
Posted By: tonisdad
Date Posted: 01/August/2016 at 17:31
|
Vodafone has always been spot on for me. |
Posted By: happygirl709
Date Posted: 01/August/2016 at 17:57
| Thanks tonis dad for replying. Have you taken it around with you in Albufeira and been able to use it in most places? Ours just seems to go round and round and when it does work a few minutes later it cuts out again. 😡 It's been a right pain this time. Thank goodness for the bars that have free wi-if |
Posted By: Biggunspaul
Date Posted: 01/August/2016 at 18:41
| . |
Posted By: happygirl709
Date Posted: 01/August/2016 at 19:06
| Thank you Biggunspaul for replying. I am afraid your picture doesn't mean much to me, I am a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to download speeds etc but what you say about it being "very fast" sounds brill. I just want something that will not be going on and off all the time and will stop my daughter moaning at me that the internets not working. Also I would like to be able to watch Filmon once in a while. Just one more thing, have you ever tried using it in the Cerro Grande/ Boa Vista Hotel area by any chance? |
Posted By: Biggunspaul
Date Posted: 01/August/2016 at 19:28
| . |
Posted By: nazza1968
Date Posted: 01/August/2016 at 19:39
|
When we were there in May I bought a 10 day unlimited NOS SIM card from Albufeira shopping for 10 euros and used this in my Mobile Wi-Fi device all week without any problems. |
Posted By: Biggunspaul
Date Posted: 01/August/2016 at 19:50
| . |
Posted By: nazza1968
Date Posted: 01/August/2016 at 21:01
|
Unlimited Data but you can make free calls on the mobile Wi-Fi by using Facebook or Whats App. I bought it from the Worten store. But you will need a SIM free mobile W-Fi device, if not Worten sell them for around 30 euros. Fantastic value @ 10 euros and we took it everywhere and it worked without any problems. Hope this helps
|
Posted By: happygirl709
Date Posted: 01/August/2016 at 21:51
| Biggunspaul. Are you on a Vodafone contract then from the UK that allows you to use the internet over in Albufeira for £3 a day? I would be using a mobile hotspot and buying a SIM from Worten that I use for a week and then throw away. I'm just wondering if you are able to use your Vodafone from the UK it is better than the mobile ones bought over here. Also nazza1968 that's what I have been buying but apparently it is no longer available and they sold me this 15 euro, 15 day one which has been hopeless |
Posted By: Biggunspaul
Date Posted: 01/August/2016 at 22:54
| . |
Posted By: happygirl709
Date Posted: 01/August/2016 at 23:59
| Yes you have been very helpful thank you and explained it very clearly. I think it is what I will look into when I get back to the UK. At least this way you are guaranteed to get a decent Wi-fi signal when over here even if you have to pay a bit more for it and then everyone in the family will be happy. |
Posted By: nazza1968
Date Posted: 02/August/2016 at 07:46
|
that might be the best way forward for you happygirl709. Either way its better than Span, went there recently and most shops wanted 35 euros for a 7GB data SIM card!! The Vodafone store wanted 20 euros for a 2GB data SIM card!
|
Posted By: Big Col
Date Posted: 02/August/2016 at 09:02
|
I'm on a UK O2 contract and they have a similar scheme "O2 Travel". It costs £1.99 a day in Europe, £3.99 a day in Turkey and £4.99 in selected destinations outside of Europe gets you all the data, minutes and texts you need. There's no limit to the amount of data you can use but you might find that speeds vary with usage. For receiving and making calls and sending texts there's a cap of 120 minutes and 120 texts a day. It's free to receive texts. O2 Travel is free to activate and you'll only be charged for the days you actually use it. The daily charge will be triggered automatically when you make calls or send texts, or when you use data. Charges will apply from midnight to midnight UK time. ------------- Colin |
Posted By: stuart123
Date Posted: 02/August/2016 at 13:51
|
If you have a recent Vodafone Red contract, euro travel costs are now free. Take a look at this.. http://www.vodafone.co.uk/explore/costs/travelling-abroad/ |
Posted By: Biggunspaul
Date Posted: 02/August/2016 at 14:58
| . |
Posted By: bob d
Date Posted: 02/August/2016 at 15:04
|
Would it not be best to just use the free WIFi that practically every bar and restaurant in town provide. Obviously, buy a drink first. Also, you mention the Hotel Boavista, well, they have free WiFi also. ------------- we're not brazil we're norn iron |
Posted By: happygirl709
Date Posted: 02/August/2016 at 17:44
| We do use the free wifi at the bars when we go out for a drink but my teenage daughter likes to keep in contact with her friends at the most unsociable of hours and also when we go over to our apartment in the winter we like to watch Filmon and at the moment I just can't get that at all with the Nos mobile internet I am using. As I said before I was persuaded to pay 15 euros for 15 days of supposedly unlimited internet but it was a waste of time and a waste of money.We have never been to the Hotel Boavista but our apartment is close by. I was wondering perhaps if it was the area we were in which was why I was asking whether anyone else had experience of using it around that area |
Posted By: stuart123
Date Posted: 02/August/2016 at 19:42
Anyone else got experience of the NOS service - I was looking to buy one of these as its definitely the best value for money. Perhaps you got a faulty router with it?
|
happygirl709 wrote:Posted By: happygirl709
Date Posted: 02/August/2016 at 20:27
| Yes Stuart123 that is something else we have thought about. When I went to Worten to buy the 10 euro 10 day NOS SIM for my hot spot they had completely sold out and said they were not doing them any more but what they were doing was this 15 euro, 15 day NOS sim, so I bought that. I think next time I am over I am either going to buy a new hot spot for the NOS SIM card or buy a new Vodafone hotspot and sim and try that one out. I just wanted to find out what everyone else was using and which they thought was the best, thanks for your help though |
Posted By: stuart123
Date Posted: 02/August/2016 at 20:56
| I'm back in Portugal in a couple of weeks so will buy a SIM and hotspot and see how I get on, will report here on progress. |
Posted By: happygirl709
Date Posted: 02/August/2016 at 21:20
| Thank you stuart123 I will be very interested to see how you get on. - thanks everyone for your time trying to help me |
Posted By: bob d
Date Posted: 02/August/2016 at 23:16
|
If you want to watch Filmon in your apartment, best get MEO. ------------- we're not brazil we're norn iron |
Posted By: cubsur
Date Posted: 03/August/2016 at 09:56
|
Speed isn't everything. It's all very well having lots of Megabits per second, but if everyone else is trying to use it at the same time, something has to give. The nearest analogy I can make is your water taps. There is a finite amount of water coming into the house. If only one or two taps are being used, it's OK but it everyone's using one and the garden is being watered and the pool being refilled, the flow to an individual outlet will slacken off and perhaps be interrupted. I had a NOS 3G pen for internet for a while, but in the afternoons especially, when all the kids are at home texting their friends they haven't seen for an hour and Facebooking and stuff, it would frequently stop altogether. I live in a residential area, more users per square wotsit than others I guess. As Bob D says, if you want to watch TV or other streamed broadcasts or use Skype video on line in your own apartment, it's worth paying the €36 Euros or so per month for a MEO broadband connection. You also get a landline phone, so can receive and make calls probably less expensively. If you pay a bit more, you can get the 60 or so basic local non subscription TV channels, many of which broadcast in English. You do need a Portuguese bank account for the direct debit of course. Worth planning ahead. When the EU exit comes into force, you can bet your life that UK mobile companies will hike up roaming charges as they will no longer be bound by the EU rules about that. ------------- Albufeira Resident www.algarvebus.info public transport information for the Algarve |
Posted By: ClaireKildare
Date Posted: 03/August/2016 at 11:08
|
We pay €29.00 per month for similiar package with Vodafone, we have broadband, TV and landline. Great value. |
Posted By: stuart123
Date Posted: 04/August/2016 at 23:11
|
Probably not worth a contract for me at the moment, place is only occupied for 4 or 5 months of the year.
|
Posted By: happygirl709
Date Posted: 05/August/2016 at 06:10
| Yes I'm the same Stuart123 |