We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

Wifi router for use in Spain

Hi, I wonder if any of you knowledgeable people can help. My Dad has a place in Spain where you can get a good phone signal (can't remember which provider, may be Vodafone). The apartment has no phone line. I am looking to get WiFi into the apartment in an easy but effective way. Is it a 4g pay as you go wifi router that I need? Any type particularly good? If so, can I buy in the UK and will it work out there with a plug adapter, or is it better to purchase in Spain? Will I need to buy a prepaid sim card to insert and if so does that have to be in Spain or can I buy card in the UK and take out there?

Are there any other straightforward alternatives to this? I see some devices that don't use sims - how to they work? Do they just link in with your phones existing data package? Sorry for so many questions but not many stores around these days where you can speak to someone. Is there anything I have missed? Thank you so much for any recommendations.

Comments

  • tacpot12
    tacpot12 Posts: 9,017 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I have used a cheap Wi-Fi modem usb dongle for this. This one:https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/385431640632?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=vzoquemttxu&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=UROj3I0eS-O&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

    It takes a standard SIM card, but I expect you will get the cheapest data rate if you buy a SIM card in Spain. 

    I used a standard usb power adapter and a usb extension cable (available on eBay if you don’t have one) to allow me to put the dongle a bit higher up than the level of the power socket. So a European/Spanish USB power adapter would be ideal for use in Spain. Your Dad might even have a spare one of these. 
    The comments I post are my personal opinion. While I try to check everything is correct before posting, I can and do make mistakes, so always try to check official information sources before relying on my posts.
  • missile
    missile Posts: 11,759 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 26 March 2023 at 10:09AM
    As tacpot said. You can buy all you need at Media Markt or Cortes Ingles. They both have stores in most large towns or you could do mail order for delivery to your dad's address :-)
    "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." ~ Mahatma Gandhi
    Ride hard or stay home :iloveyou:
  • Moss5
    Moss5 Posts: 371 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts
    The last time I did this, I used my mobile phone with a Spanish sim card.
    I got the sim card at the local newsagent and also paid for a top-ups at the same location.
    A passport was required to get the Spanish simcard.
    I then made my phone into a shared internet 'Hotspot' and linked the phone by USB to my laptop. (These days it would be a WiFi hotspot).
    If you have a 5G phone, you would never need a contract to instal Fibre/ADSL.
    https://www.masmovil.es/tarifas-moviles
  • Thanks for everyone's comments. I'm looking for a solution that would cater for several people staying in the apartment hence my thought about PAYG router?
  • tacpot12
    tacpot12 Posts: 9,017 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    A router-based solution would certainly work, but the dongle is a router, just a very low powered one. It supports multiple users. By low power, I mean it has a slow processor. It will certainly cope with a couple of users, but for more users, you would need a router that can either have a SIM card installed, or can have the USB dongle plugged into a USB port on it. One that takes a SIM card internally would be better as using the USB dongle only offloads part of the processing to the router, the processor on the dongle would still be a bit of a bottleneck. 

    But the biggest issue you will have with four users sharing a 4G connection is the mobile data signal/speed. If you have a good connection to a fast base station with few other high speed users, you could find the performance is better than an ADSL connection! Or it could be insufficient, especially if everyone is streaming videos.  
    The comments I post are my personal opinion. While I try to check everything is correct before posting, I can and do make mistakes, so always try to check official information sources before relying on my posts.
  • Many thanks. Would I need to buy the router in Spain or could I buy in the UK? And is there a particularly good type?
  • missile
    missile Posts: 11,759 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    "I'm looking for a solution that would cater for several people staying in the apartment". Would this be for when you and your family visit for holidays?

    The simplest and possibly cheapest option might be for each person to use their mobile phone as a hot spot.

    Many UK providers allow you to use your UK data allowance overseas and that costs nothing. Others have very reasonable data charges.
    "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." ~ Mahatma Gandhi
    Ride hard or stay home :iloveyou:
  • Bonhomie
    Bonhomie Posts: 365 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    Hi, I wonder if any of you knowledgeable people can help. My Dad has a place in Spain where you can get a good phone signal (can't remember which provider, may be Vodafone). The apartment has no phone line. I am looking to get WiFi into the apartment in an easy but effective way. Is it a 4g pay as you go wifi router that I need? Any type particularly good? If so, can I buy in the UK and will it work out there with a plug adapter, or is it better to purchase in Spain? Will I need to buy a prepaid sim card to insert and if so does that have to be in Spain or can I buy card in the UK and take out there?

    Are there any other straightforward alternatives to this? I see some devices that don't use sims - how to they work? Do they just link in with your phones existing data package? Sorry for so many questions but not many stores around these days where you can speak to someone. Is there anything I have missed? Thank you so much for any recommendations.
    First issue will be the fact that you can only buy limited data volume via SIM in Spain. Perhaps 120 GB - 150GB max. Second will be finding a router that not only can work with the frequencies utilised by the networks concerned but can aggregate them if necessary(Carrier Aggregation). Vodafone packs may be even smaller than offered by some of the other networks.


  • greyteam1959
    greyteam1959 Posts: 4,661 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Why not look a wireless internet ?
    It may be available in your area of Spain.

Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 348.3K Banking & Borrowing
  • 252.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 452.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 240.8K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 617.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 175.6K Life & Family
  • 254K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.