Hi,
we're on our way to Madrid, and as my boyfriend can't live without his 24 hour access to Internet we want to get an ADSL connection. Does anyone know how long the process takes? And do you have any tips on the best provider?
cheers, Tora

Hi!

ADSL takes from 5 minutes (if you are extremely lucky and your telephone line accept microfilters) to 4 months (if you have to install a filter in your line's main conexion and the installer have problems). Usually you would be able to have ADSL conexion in some hours if you can install microfilters and 1-2 weeks if an installer must go to your home.

The best choice from my point of view is Telefonica. The reason is that they own the lines and the most of the local nodes, so if you go with other company and there are problems both Telefonica and the other company will wash their hands.

Other choices, in order of preference, are:
Wanadoo - Eresmas ( www.wanadoo.es )
Ya.com ( www.ya.com )

And there are some others less known.

Fernando

I hate to dispute with Fernando, but my experience with Telefonica was horrible. Maybe because we were living in Hoyo de Manzanares and Colmenar Viejo, but they charged us OUTRAGEOUS amounts for the connection, and their service stank to the high heavens. However, this was for a 56KBPS modem connection, and not an ADSL connection.

Now we have Jazztel ADSL, which I use professionally to manage my website (kudos to MadridMan for inspiring me with his fantastic site!), and it is really good, I highly recommend them.

It took us about 2 months to get ours installed, you might have a different experience depending on where you live. It costs us about 80€ per month and is worth every centimo.

In any case, check around for the best deal, it could save you HUNDREDS of Euros per month!

¡Buena Suerte y Buena Surfing!
Martin de Madrid

Fernando, I heard that, even with the microfilters, it takes about two weeks until Telefónica activates the line so that it can be use with ADSL. Is that true?.

Perhaps Antonio. I have heard it too, but also a close friend of mine activated it in hours (it was a Wanadoo Speedpack and not Telefónica).

Things can get complicated while installing an ADSL... in theory in a week or so you should have it, but if anything goes slightly wrong then the process may last two months...

Fernando

Hi all, thanks for the info - great feed back! I'll let you know how I get along!
cheers, Tora

**** Telefonica. They suck. I tried to get the ADSL line to be installed for two months now and they kept on giving us crap instructions, it never worked, and at this point I have canceled it, even though we never got on line.
Telefonica are a bunch of incompetent bastards, and I cannot recommend them...

Telephonica does suck! Unfortunately one of the reasons I think they suck is that there aren't many viable alternatives to them. It took us about three months to get an ADSL line installed at home (Chamartin area) and then another month or so of poor instructions and unnecessary purchases when we wanted to connect our new computer to the line.

Sorry I can't be of much help, but I thought I'd comiserate.

a voice for the underdog --

Sandra and other posters are correct in that Telefonica can indeed be frustrating to work with... particularly since they have not market competition.

However, as a satisfied Telefonica ADSL user, I have to admit that we are pleased with our ADSL service. We got our ADSL kit within days of ordering it. After an a brief "session on the phone" between my husband (who has decent computer knowledge)and Telefonica, we were up in running in less than 2 hours.

We live in a tiny Segovian pueblo and thought that it would be forever before we would get service. However it turns out that there is a node right near where we live.

So, the best that I can suggest is that working with Telefonica is purely a hit or miss process. Good luck!

I'm still waiting to get ADSL at home. I signed up with ya.com on 8 Jan and after many frusting calls and a few days without telephone service I've now been told that I'll get the kit on 8 Feb We'll see how well I am able to set it up alone and what kind of service ya.com provides. Their offices are in the same building where I work, so if I have a ton of trouble I may have to go upstairs and throw a fit