Does anyone have info on which neighborhoods in or around Florence that have fiberoptic connections to facilitate getting broadband internet access from an apartment?

If you are just talking normal Broadband through your phone line, it's available everywhere in the centre and the 5 quartiere. Once you get outside the ringroad it becomes more hit and miss.

How about fiberoptics? My sister claims that it is much faster than DSL over traditional lines.

Fibreoptics? Wouldn't have a clue! Or even know how to find out what my phone signal etc. comes through! Doubt it's optics though - don't think they'd survive long on the ivy covered telephone pole outside my door!!

I'd be surprised if fibreoptics existed anywhere in Italy for domestic internet use.

Hello, I live around Porto Prato (quartiere santa maria novella) and I know that there are fiber optic lines running through (under)the area. Several neighbors of mine have this type of internet service. The service is called fastweb.

Telecom Italia had a project to wire major cities with optic fibers (the so called Progetto Socrate). The project turned out to be extremely expensive, so it was dropped after an year or so. Fibers already laid were useless till Telecom decided to sell the lines to fastweb, that can now offer a very fast service with a somewhat patchy coverage. Several Florence areas got fibers before the project stopped.

Anyway, almost all the city areas also can get connection through DSL that should be fast and cheap enough. I would not bet on hilly areas, as the biggest limit to DSL lines is that they cannot be more than 2 kms. long from the closest node.

If you go to http://adsl.alice.it/verifica_copertura.html you can enter a telephone number and see if DSL can be activated on that number.

Thanks for the info.