A2Z experiences?

What are your experiences with A2Z (Polaris Telecom in disguise)? We hear different stories that make it doubtful that A2Z is a reliable solution:

- dropouts of more then a week

- no replies on technical questions

- low bandwidth

- ip masking

- no repairs without payments in advance

Any positive stories that can make the decision between A2Z and a dongle easier?

We didn't have any problems- we already had the equipment from the Polaris era but A2Z just transfered us , all very straightforward and no problems since then.

Been fine for us. We had A2Z install in December and although we have only been out there a few times since it's been good all the time. We had friends stay at the beginning of May and it was working great for them too.

Cheers

Jay & Lisa 

Been fine for us. Used it quite a bit since last October with no interuptions. It's not the fastest when compared to BT Infinity which I use in the UK but when compared to the Dongle we used to use at CDA it is miles better and a lot cheaper.

No brainer - got to go for A2Z. Jon Faulkner

I would broadly agree with most of the comments posted, so far. Going line by line.....

- dropouts of more then a week - Have had a couple of failures. The worst took 3 days to repair (faulty cable amplifier affecting my Jardin) but usually the outage is only for a few hours when there is one.

- no replies on technical questions - I email them and whilst they take their time to reply,  I always get a response, eventually (maybe one or two days would be normal)

- low bandwidth - 2Mbps is the quoted speed. Have run a few speed tests and it usually comes back at closer to 1.5Mbps which is more than enough for Skype and normal browsing. Not very good for BBC Iplayer over a VPN though.

- ip masking - They use standard NAT in their network so you get a private, non routable, DHCP allocated IP address. Works fine for most appilcations but, if you need a  public routable static IP address, this is not for you.

- no repairs without payments in advance - Never had to pay for a repair, yet.

Any positive stories that can make the decision between A2Z and a dongle easier? Much lower latency than a 3G wireless connection (better for voice calls), no data usage cap, ability to share across multiple devices (3G dongle is one device at a time unless you use a mifi type device) and, it is cheaper!

I took the A2Z internet offer when it first came out and have had no significant issues or problems with it.

The current offer from A2Z is very good deal, I can see no other company providing this at the cost.

If you need more than 2 meg this they will provide at additional cost of course.

Your Presidents monitor the service they provide to ensure they maintain what they are suppose to provide.

The other PW community use A2Z also again as they are making the best offer around.

Your President are always looking for better alternatives but we have to work within our present infrastructure.

We need to increase the numbers taking up the existing offer to stand any chance of maintaining the cost we have now or bettering it in future.

All in all at 4.75 per month, in my opinion this is a good price for a reasonable standard of provision that I can’t see being offered by other company in the foreseeable future. The only problem is if we don’t have enough takers then we may well loos this offer and a Dongle of other expensive alternative options will be all we have left to turn to.

Regards

Phil

It is Spain so allow a couple of days that's why I love the Spanish people and way of life so layid back!!  We enquired last week and within 3 days we got all the information we needed and have also arranged to have it installed on the date we suggested! So all good!

My personal recommendation would be to phone A2Z:

Inform them you wish to sign up to the Condado telecoms offer.

Pay for the equipment you require with a credit card over the phone as they require payment first.

Confirm an agreed installation date.

The above short cuts all the waiting for them to contact you and gets you a confirmed date for the service to start, from my experience they are very good at keeping appointments when made.

For information below is a link to the offer on A2Z Web site and phone number.

http://www.a2ztelecomunicaciones.es/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=107%3Aacuerdo-jardines-naranjos-1&catid=34%3Anoticias&Itemid=83&lang=en

Phil

 i have had it a while and no problems, however the prices change after 12 months now to:

Annual contract.
> Basic 1mb 15€ + VAT (18%) per month
> Advance 3mb 32 + VAT per month
> Premium 6mb 60€ + VAT per month. Annual contract.

 The price does not change after a year?

we currently have a community contract until december for €4.75+iva.

In December we will have another contract where the price will be set depending on the number signed up for internet, the price will be much lower than those below as these are for individual contracts not community ones.

See http://cdagr.eu/2012/06/19/community-internet-sign-up-now/

 i have 2 apartments their and went to get internet installed on other apartment for rentals and got this reply:  that was last month

Dear Sir.
> Thank you for contact us.
> Our Official offer without agreement with the Community Owners.
> 
> Basic 1mb for one month (pre-payment) 41,30€ one payment.
> Advance 3mb one month (pre-payment) 61,36€ one payment.
> Premium 6mb one month (pre-payment) 115,64€ one payment.
> 
> Annual contract.
> Basic 1mb 15€ + VAT (18%) per month
> Advance 3mb 32 + VAT per month
> Premium 6mb 60€ + VAT per month.
> 
> Should you require further assistance do not hesitate contact us.
> 
> Kind regards.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Suyapa Lizeth Guzmán Cañadas
> 
> Departamento Atención al Cliente
> Customer Services Department

 Yep, that was last month.  The community came to a new agreement for the rest of the year in June, so if you look on the A2Z website now you will see the new offer.