Zurich

[Harrysp]

Guys (especially Blasterbates),

I have just secured a contract out in Zurich, not bad coinage either I think.

Now I need to move on to the more practical aspects of moving over to Zurich.

Could any of you guys provide me with information on what are parts of Zurich are ok to live in.

Do you need a Swiss bank account to be paid? if so any recommendations?

Being a geek I couldnt live with out broadband, again any recommendations?

Any other practical information would be greatly appreciated it.

ta

[BlasterBates]

Yes check www.homegate.ch that's where you find flats.

As far as recommended places people tend to live more or less all over. The main thing is whether you want to travel far to work, live by the lake, in town etc.

I would recommend UBS for the bank account I think you can open it immediately.

No idea about broadband...you're in Switzerland, so you need a snowboard.

[Sysman]

Yes check www.homegate.ch that's where you find flats.

As far as recommended places people tend to live more or less all over. The main thing is whether you want to travel far to work, live by the lake, in town etc.

I got a spot outside Zürich. Only 15-20 minutes on the train. Small town atmosphere and a bit cheaper for rent / a better apartment for the same money.

I would recommend UBS for the bank account I think you can open it immediately.

No idea about broadband...you're in Switzerland, so you need a snowboard.

UBS - no problems with them, and you can pay bills and send money abroad from one of their "Multimat " machines.

As for broadband, it depends if you want a landline or not. I started with ISDN, adding ADSL when it became available at a reasonable cost and speed.

When I moved, I dropped the landline and went Cablecom www.cablecom.ch. 3000/300 Kbits for CHF 45 per month (39 per month for the first 6 months) is the one I chose (my old ISDN line was costing CHF 42 per month all on its own).

They provide support in English.

Do yourself a favour and get a router rather than a USB cable modem. Mine turned out to have wireless plus the expected 4 ethernet ports.

The only snag with Cablecom is that they use external companies to check out the existing cable installation and they took 4 weeks to arrive (and condemned the whole building's cable installation at the same time, so another 2 weeks' delay).

Feel free to fire off more questions.