hi all.

I am moving to Madrid for a year in February/March '07 and it is VERY important that I find a flat w/ high-speed internet. Doing a bit of research, it looks like Telefonica has a monopoly over landlines, and that I would have to get a line from them b4 I'm able to get my internet going on.

Does anyone know if there are other phone options than Telefonica? Does anyone have personally good experience w/ an internet company in Madrid that's reasonably priced?

cheers.
tk

Hello embar31!

I feel your pain, man. I just recently got my "high speed internet" (cough! cough! ) setup about a month ago. Keep in mind that "high speed" is a relative term. Coming from the USA (as I did and as you will) you're likely spoiled with lightning-fast internet connections. Well my son, all things are not equal in the world.

Don't expect to get it installed/setup before you arrive. This process takes, probably, 2 weeks at least - or never. I know a number of people who were "promised" 2 week service and they waited months - only to never get it IF that service was not Telefonica.

Telefonica DOES own all the landlines so getting the Telefonica ADSL ("high speed") at 1mbps is the best you're likely to get. Don't pray for cable modem access as these are usually only available OUTSIDE the city in the new, modern neighborhoods or business centers. You'll see lots of ads for 20mbps but it's more of a dream than a reality and is not available in my neighborhood (near downtown) nor do I know anyone with it. If you contract with a competitor of Telefonica they (Telefonica) can "FIGHT" to NOT allow its line-paying clients to go elsewhere, contracting with a competitor for these kinds of services. Telefonica always "owns" the line and you'll always pay them for that line. But paying for services is another thing.

I use YA.com. They don't have a good reputation but better than Wannado and nearly everyone is cheaper than Telefonica - but Telefonica does have the reputation of having the best service too. Luckily, to date, I haven't needed any service. Plus, the all send you the "kit" which you have to TRY to setup yourself - they don't offer in-home installation, which seems to be something unheard of here. If you don't know anything about computers it could be challenging.

Most companies, including Telefonica, offers packages of limitless Internet PLUS free local, regional, and national phonecalls. I think I'm paying about 30 Euros per month which I find reasonable - about what I was paying for just internet in the USA.

If you read Spanish you can find LOTS of debate on this topic of "which intenet company is best in Spain" if you conduct an internet search.

The FIRST thing you'll have to do is contract for a phone line through Telefonica once you move into the flat - I don't think it can be setup beforehand. Then, next, you can contract with an internet company. This'll take time though and you'll likely be frustrated with the UNtimeliness of the whole process. It's not like calling RoadRunner in the USA on a Thursday and then having them come to your home on Tuesday to install your internet for you on your comnputer.

Best of luck, buddy! Saludos, MadridMan

The consensus that I've seen on other boards is that its best to stick with telefoncia. It can be mightily difficult to get problems sorted out for a non telefonica internet. We went with phone internet and TV package and I must say, much to the shock of our friends, that the service has been top notch. Mainly because we ordered the most expensive package . We had problems a while back and called service on Monday and booked an appointment for Friday. People were shocked we got them in so quick. Turned out to be a problem on our end (just had to unhook the DVD player), Chris has a co-worker with a non telefoncia line and has been for months trying to get her problems sorted out.

I've been with ADSL Wanadoo for 2 years and so far it is OK. I can download movies at 100 kbps.

What would you be using the internet for during that year? If it is just to surf some websites and send e-mail you won't have any problems finding a good company.

Hey all, thanks for the replies.

I prefer to support the little company over monopolies but I really don't think any customer should have to wait MONTHS for internet. The time delay appears to b all the "fighting" Telefonica does against its competitors, which is totally ridiculous. How can they keep in business?

I was looking at the Ya.com website and was thinking of going w/ them, though now I'm worried about the issues. They u say they send u a kit, what does that include? A router? Doesn't it have instructions on how to set it up? I saw on their website a service for 20euros for limitless internet.

I unfortunately cannot read spanish, yet, but I bet the debates of the best companies would b worth a read.

Estopa1, how much r u paying for Wanadoo and is it limitless? did u have troubles setting it up?

I basically want internet for lots of surfing, reading e-mail and video conferencing.

MadridMan, just for future reference, I'm a lady.

cheers.

embar31, all depends on the company but the smaller companies tend to be a bit worse because they don't have the person-power to effectively deal with clients. That, plus smaller companies have less "pull" with the large monopoly of Telefónica so it can take longer to get the internet connection established for your line - the line which Telefóncia owns. Telefónica STAYS in business BECAUSE they fight with their competitors, keeping clients from going elsewhere - or at least making it extremely difficult for them to go elsewhere.

The "kit" Ya.com sent me was small, seemingly simple. They send you a router, cables, and a pretty good instruction manual (in Spanish only) - although in the end I didn't follow it exactly. Ya.com doesn't charge you for the hardware IF you go with the WIRED router where you have to plug your computer directly into it. However, if you want the WIRELESS router - which is what I got - you have to pay extra. I'd say the wireless router would be a more challenging setup for those not familiar with computers but it's really nice being able to go from room to room without unplugging and replugging.

I have the limitless internet and unlimited local/regional/national phonecalls package and I like it fine. The internet speed at least seems sufficient for me, a guy who uses the internet constantly for uploading, downloading files, going from webpage to webpage, but I DO NOT download music, movies, or large files so I can't comment on that aspect of it. I'd say, compared to cable modem access, that the difference IS noticeable doesn't impair my efficiency for my work.

Video conferencing might be a bit tricky. You might have to lower your outboud video resolution because UPLOADING speeds are MUCH slower then DOWNLOADING speeds using ADSL. The speed they quote is almost always the higher/faster DOWNLOAD speed. The UPLOAD speed is usually found in the finer print. Usually, the MAXIMUM DOWNLOAD speed is 1MBPS and the MAXIMUM UPLOAD speed is about 300kbps. I use SKYPE often and it seems to work perfectly fine for that. I've used SKYPE with video cam and it seems to work pretty well for that, at least.

Saludos, MadridMan

DO NOT go with Jazztel. It took 2 months to get the service cancelled. And if you have a Telefonica landline they cannot cancel until Jazztel stops the service.
Jazztel require 10 days notice which turns into 15 days and then turns into 15 working days and on and on...

Someone close to me here in Madrid contracted with Jazztel, they sent her the "Kit" and was told it would be connected within 2-weeks. She waited 2-MONTHs and called and they at Jazztell told her there was some conflict/barricades with Telefónica. She waited another month, a total of 3-months, and finally cancelled the contract with Jazztell. Now she has Telefónica and it was all setup and connected within 2-weeks. So this isn't really Jazztel's fault, it's more the climate in which these companies work togehter - OR DON'T work together.

She didn't have any problems cancelling, fortunately, because of the problems. But normally, yes, when you cancel such contracts here in Spain you have to go to the post office and send what's called a "BurroFax" - funny name. In other words, you can't simply call by phone. They need your written request and signature and even then, well, it can't take some time. They tend to fight to keep customers at all costs.

Saludos, MadridMan

MadridMan, it's not "burro-fax" (donkey-fax), but "burofax" (one "r" only).

I have hired several ADSL lines for friends, relatives, etc. There is no doubt Telefonica offers the best service, but also the lowest speed and the highest price.

As for other companies, the main problem is they have to rent the line to Telefonica. Then, they can either offer their own service or resell Telefonica's.

You can understand that Telefonica doesn't make things easy to their competitors. However, most of the problems are not its fault.

I know a friend who hired ADSL with Jazztel. It took 5 months to get it work. 2 of them were simply because Jazztel didn't sent the request to Telefonica. It took another month for Jazztel to send the router. It took 2 other months to fix a mistake in my friend's passport number (Telefonica rejected the request as it didn't have the right number). That is, 5 months due to Jazztel.

As for the speed, it depends on a number of factors. My cousin, for instance, has nearly 17 mbps with Jazztel and my sister and I have 6 mbps.

Since switching from dial up to broadband, high speed has become very important to me. Once u go broadband...

Madridman, seeing that u have had a fine experience w/ Ya.com, they r still my top interest. My video conferencing is usually through ichat (mac feature). I will cross my fingers that I don't have to wait long. Good to know that they provide a router. That means I don't have to spend money to bring my own.