Picking up wifi abroad

[Simon Bags]

Morning everyone. I think I may already know the answer but thought I'd put it out there just in case.

I have an apartment in Majorca. I'd love to be able to use a Firestick to catch just a few of the home Channels, BBC1, ITV, etc, not looking for much else really. There's wifi signals around but they're locked and password protected. My mobile has limited internet per month in case that makes any difference.

Unless I've overlooked something really obvious, I'm pretty much out of luck right?

Thanks, Simon.

[greygoose]

Could you get a SIM for your phone in Spain with a data allowance and use it as a hotspot for the firestick?

[Alex Z]

What do you do with the apartment when you aren’t using it?
If it’s let out then adding your own WiFi will make it much more appealing.

[Simon Bags]

Alex Z said:

What do you do with the apartment when you aren’t using it?
If it’s let out then adding your own WiFi will make it much more appealing.

We don't let it out.

[cobra kid]

Also what about regional problems? Or is it a "dodgy" stick?

[megaphone]

Any neighbours you get on with? Maybe they'll let you on their WiFi?

[NorthDave]

The easiest way to get WiFi is with an esim on your phone or a physical SIM in a 4g router. Both can use a local provider.

You will find that the UK TV services are tied down to UK only so you can't just watch when abroad. You need a VPN back to the UK or a dodgy TV stick (which is the easiest option by far!).

[GT03ROB]

Just get internet installed to the apartment.

There are a number of suppliers in Spain that let you switch it off & not pay when you are not there.

[tight fart]

ID mobile monthly sim give up to 30gb roaming data. That would only cost you around £10.

[jonsp]

NorthDave said:

You will find that the UK TV services are tied down to UK only so you can't just watch when abroad. You need a VPN back to the UK or a dodgy TV stick (which is the easiest option by far!).

How about going to AWS - they'll give him a small UK located server free for a year. Thinking you could remote desktop in to the server and watch TV that way.

Never tried this but can't see why it wouldn't work.

[TriumphStag3.0V8]

NorthDave said:

The easiest way to get WiFi is with an esim on your phone or a physical SIM in a 4g router. Both can use a local provider.

You will find that the UK TV services are tied down to UK only so you can't just watch when abroad. You need a VPN back to the UK or a dodgy TV stick (which is the easiest option by far!).

This.

Get an ESIM from someone like airalo (assuming your phone supports ESIMs) then PAYG

[Simon Bags]

GT03ROB said:

Just get internet installed to the apartment.

There are a number of suppliers in Spain that let you switch it off & not pay when you are not there.

Really? Even if it's just for say, 5 weeks at a time and then not used again for months?

[GT03ROB]

Simon Bags said:

GT03ROB said:

Just get internet installed to the apartment.

There are a number of suppliers in Spain that let you switch it off & not pay when you are not there.

Really? Even if it's just for say, 5 weeks at a time and then not used again for months?

Yip, we have an apartment in mainland Spain. Think we pay 20Euro/per month. Go onto their website & can deactivate it when you wish. It's with Olin, who I think only cover the Malaga area, but I'm sure there's others that will do same. Here's their terms

".The Stand By Service is a temporary interruption of the service and the payment of your monthly fiber fee, with a maximum of 180 days per year (between January 1 and December 31) -not necessarily consecutive.

To activate the interruption date, it will not be necessary to stipulate the reactivation date. You can decide it at the time that suits you or by marking a specific date. Just keep in mind that in order to reactivate the service, at least 10 days must have passed since the last suspension, and that while you are in “stand by” mode, you cannot request another interruption in advance.

Depending on your plan fee, you will be charged prorated for the days the service has been active".

[Simon Bags]

GT03ROB said:

Yip, we have an apartment in mainland Spain. Think we pay 20Euro/per month. Go onto their website & can deactivate it when you wish. It's with Olin, who I think only cover the Malaga area, but I'm sure there's others that will do same. Here's their terms

".The Stand By Service is a temporary interruption of the service and the payment of your monthly fiber fee, with a maximum of 180 days per year (between January 1 and December 31) -not necessarily consecutive.

To activate the interruption date, it will not be necessary to stipulate the reactivation date. You can decide it at the time that suits you or by marking a specific date. Just keep in mind that in order to reactivate the service, at least 10 days must have passed since the last suspension, and that while you are in “stand by” mode, you cannot request another interruption in advance.

Depending on your plan fee, you will be charged prorated for the days the service has been active".

Thanks for this. Funnily enough, one of our apartment reps has contacted me saying that less and less owners are using boxes as they now have wifi installed (I think we also have fibre optic?). Most now use a Company that install wifi into the apt, it's 6mb, costs £28 per month but can be "hibernated" whenever we like and charged £9 per month. It can be switched on whenever we like via an app and charged pro rata for number of days used per month.

I might investigate this more.

[eeLee]

I would do what we do in Austria and get a SIM from Movistar or someone and hotspot yourself while you're there.

Well actually I do this if my kid comes because he will burn his 40Gb roaming quota in less than a week.

[HantsRat]

You'd quickly eat up the data by streaming.

[Baldchap]

We have gigabit fibre in Spain for something like €20 per month.

Just get it installed and there's no need to piss about.

Worth noting that in most civilised countries, using someone's connection without their knowledge is a criminal offence.