Introduction and questions

CarCar · #1 (**permalink**) 9th August 2008, 08:49 PM

Hi Everybody

We (hubby, I and 3 kids) have just started playing with the idea of moving to Spain - much encouraged by my parents who are moving to Altea the 1st October. I am not a complete stranger to Spanish life as I lived there with my parents in the past (years ago) but the situation is slightly different this time so any advice would be appreciated.

1.I'm Norwegian and hubby is South African and we have been living in the UK for just over 2 years (he has EEA family permit). Would love to speak to anybody who has recently done the move with a non EU spouse?

2.We work for an international internet company, operating out of the BVI (one part of it is a support forum for South African business owners). Because of our type of work we need to be 'connected' and have fast and constant ADSL. We work from home and all correspondence with clients is done via internet/telecom.

Any advice on fast and reliable internet connection for business purposes will be greatly appreciated. No connection means no income for us.

3. Anybody have experience with Sierra Bernia school in Alfaz del Pi?

4. We are also looking at Marbella - anybody able to give me their feelings about why Marbella or Alfaz/Albir? i.e biggest pro's and con's.

Sorry for the long intro and questioning but with 3 young children I would like to have an outline plan by the time we go over to have a look.

I'll continue reading the rest of the posts now -hubby is currently absorbed with his Spanish lessons!

Much appreciated

jojo · #2 (**permalink**) 9th August 2008, 11:08 PM

I think its safe to say that most large towns in spain have good ADSL facilities. We live in a village just outside of a town and, although we have ADSL, its not as fast as we would like - my OH needs it for his work and is not happy with the quality we get here - it drops off at vital moments lol!

I think the tip with ADSL is to avoid, remote areas, fincas and villages - unless it can be proven that your internet connection will be steady!

As for Marbella, I've no doubt that will have ADSL, its very expensive, but very trendy - lots of farraris and facelifts, I'm not keen on it there, but thats just me, I'm more of a quiet country person. It has a nice beach, but that can be a bit windy. Its about an hours comfortable drive to Malaga airport, but theyre building a new motorway which will cut that time down I'm sure.

Thats about all I can help you with really, apart from Spain is a great place to live and bring up children!!

Good luck

Jo

CarCar · #3 (**permalink**) 10th August 2008, 09:57 AM

Thanks JoJo. Hmmm don't own a Farrari and not sure about a face lift anytime soon. I'm afraid we're not in that league.

Hubby will be coming over in October/November to test the internet speed and get more information. We're thinking of doing the move in June so we'll have some time to prepare and collect info.

Thanks again

rjnpenang · #4 (**permalink**) 10th August 2008, 10:46 AM

Hi, We are in Mijas Costa which is near Marbella, use Ya.com, our internet speed is usually around the 3mb but can go down to less than 2mb at peak times. Just tested, (Sunday morning). 2287mb download & 411mb upload. Regards Rob

SunnySpain · #5 (**permalink**) 10th August 2008, 11:18 AM

Hi there,

If you need 3MB ADSL, you may need to live in a city, although some towns have a connection of 3MB. You will need to check this by entering the post code of where you are intended to live into the website for telefonica

We found a lovely house in a village, only to find out later the ADSL connection was just 1MB, which is no use to us at all

Hope thats helps, regards, Dave

Stravinsky · #6 (**permalink**) 10th August 2008, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunnySpain

We found a lovely house in a village, only to find out later the ADSL connection was just 1MB, which is no use to us at all

Hope thats helps, regards, Dave

Well thats not unusual, and its not as bad as you think.

We're only 6 kms from the coast and the only option we could get when we came here was Rural ADSL which is 512k. Its not unusual only to be able to get this, even in populated areas, but its what you are used to I guess. I dont find the 512 connection too slow at all.

rjnpenang · #7 (**permalink**) 10th August 2008, 11:58 AM

The annoying thing about it is Ya.com sell and charge it as a 20mb service!. Rob

Stravinsky · #8 (**permalink**) 10th August 2008, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjnpenang

The annoying thing about it is Ya.com sell and charge it as a 20mb service!. Rob

well I think I mentioned on here ya.com tried to sell me 3 mb connections .... but I cant get one here so I guess they would have signed me up and I would have ended up with 500 k again

CarCar · #9 (**permalink**) 10th August 2008, 01:30 PM

Thanks everyone for your input. It looks as if we are really going to have to test 'place for place' when it comes to internet. I believe that satellite is also an option although expensive. We will just have to make sure that we have back up systems in place before we move.

I'm quite keen on Alfaz as I believe that the Norwegian community is very big there. Not that I want to associate with Norwegians all the time but it does make it a little easier to settle.

Went for a walk with hubby and baby in the drizzle earlier on.......the (or rather this) UK summer has been so disappointing. Can't wait to sit in the sun with the sweat poring of me.