Home Broadband Access

[carrickharp]

I am thinking of getting Broadband access in the house I rent in Dublin, we have no phone line. I have been in touch with a company called Clearwire who are quoting €40 a month for plug in Broadband that can be used in any room, anyone know of Clearwire?.

I know that NTL do it as well but don’t want to give them feckers any more money. Any recommendations for home Broadband out there?

[anto1208]

im getting irish braodband ( 2mb breeze ) its about 4 times faster than eircom and it has no upload or down load limits ,but its 50 euro a month

eircoms is at about 1/2mb a sec while breeze downloads at 2 mb a sec .
plus eircom only allow you to down load 4 mb a month and since a standard DVD is about 6 or 7 mb eircoms is useless .

but they have to install a small areal so you would need your landlords permission ,

they also do ripwave which is there wireless service its abourt the same as what eircom offer but only about 25 euro a month ( eircom will cost about 60 euro a month)

[monutdfc]

I've UTV Internet which includes free off-peak landline calls to the UK and Ireland. It's 1MB I think, fast enough for me. Not sure what it costs, about €25 per month I think after the free trial.
€100 in Dixons for a wireless router to use it in any room in the house.

[Dodge]

Have NTL. Very good. Think its 30 a month for the 1mb connection (not sure tbh but it'll be on their website...)

[town73]

Article on page 17 of today's Irish Examiner about broadband costs. Quite comprehensive. NTL is the cheapest at €225 a year. Seems the best on offer.

[dahamsta]

I finally dumped UTV and moved to BT, who haven't billed me since I joined; typical BT. Clearwire isn't officially launched yet, so you'd be a trial user, but by all accounts they have an innovative product that's technically superior to it's competitors in Ireland, i.e. Irish Broadband's Ripwave product. But then two baked bean cans and a length of string is better than Ripwave.

Seriously though, your best options on the DSL front at the moment, assuming it's available in your area, are probably Smart or BT, although there's a risk of losing your number with Smart unless you're prepared to wait. On the wireless front, there's tons of options but Clearwire seems to be something worth trying.

Satellite is always a no-no if it can possibly be avoided; and you've already stated your (valid) objections to NTL (although if you are in their cachement area, they probably have the best connections available, both in terms of speed and value).

adam

[Peadar]

Seriously though, your best options on the DSL front at the moment, assuming it's available in your area, are probably Smart or BT, although there's a risk of losing your number with Smart unless you're prepared to wait.

He doesn't have a phone.

Clearwire (http://www.clearwire.ie/) looks good.

[Dodge]

A Patsfan has been with BT for nearly two years and hasbn't been billed once...

[monutdfc]

Shouldn't Pats fans all be recommending Smart Telecom?

[Dodge]

Yes, yes we should. But seeing as this guiy doesn't have a phone line...

Of course if you want it through your phoneline Smart is definitely the way to go (and tell them Apts sent you for an extra discount!)

[carrickharp]

Article on page 17 of today's Irish Examiner about broadband costs. Quite comprehensive. NTL is the cheapest at €225 a year. Seems the best on offer.
Just rang NTL and they told me it wasen't available in my area (SCR Dublin 8) :eek:

[town73]

Just rang NTL and they told me it wasen't available in my area (SCR Dublin 8) :eek:

Here's the article from today's Examiner:

Compare providers as they net with highspeed offers

By David Clerkin

NOT yet bitten by the broadband bug? Then it’s time to get the calculator out. Because despite concerns that Ireland lags other countries for highspeed internet access, the country’s broadband providers have been slow to make life simpler for potential customers.
Some operators, especially the niche players, have made genuine attempts to shake things up and, despite charges that look complex, it’s worth keeping an eye out for the more attractive deals. The main things to watch out for are the monthly bill, any upfront connection fees, time limits and hidden charges.

Irish Broadband:
The big plus is its wireless technology, so there’s no need for a landline if users only use a mobile for calls. The deal became more attractive with a recent move to shelve upfront charges of €99 or €150. Monthly bills of €36 (or €25 for a 0.5MB package) mean surfing for €432 a year (or €300 for the lower speed deal).

NTL:
For always-on internet access without worrying about 20-hour ceilings, cable TV operator NTL is hard to beat. Its basic 1MB package leaves rivals in the shade with no connection charge and a €25 monthly bill.
Even better, it’s one of the few remaining operators with a three-month free trial. That makes a year’s surfing with NTL just e225 (three months free and nine months at €25).
For those with no desire to have a landline phone and incur whopping €25 monthly charges for line rental, NTL’s technology means the landline can go. But the catch? It’s only available in Dublin, Waterford and Galway.

Smart Telecom:
Smart’s rollout programme has disappointed, leaving many eager customers signed up but not yet connected.
But the deal itself is a steal. Smart offers a 2MB package as standard (twice as fast as most) for €35 per month - including free phone line rental for the first 100,000 customers. A year with Smart sets you back €420 - but the absence of further line rental charges, worth around €300 per year, is a huge plus.

Eircom:
It may be the original, but is it the best? It cut its monthly bill from €40 to €30 but at the expense of a two-month free trial that was worth €80, leaving the effect on customers’ pockets largely neutral. Free connection has been replaced with an upfront charge, so 12 months online comes to a total bill of €400. Like the other landline-based providers (excluding Smart), customers must also pay hefty line rental charges for the phone.

BT Ireland:
BT has taken the fight to Eircom with a special €15 monthly charge for new customers. But this offer only lasts for four months before the price is jacked up to €30. Customers could also do without a €50 upfront connection charge and the decision to drop a three-month free trial. Sign up today and pay €350 over the next 12 months. Not bad, but BT offers better deals if customers sign up for its phone package too. First-time connections can get broadband and line rental for a dirt-cheap €25 per month, but this goes up to €40 after four months - €420 in total and a good match for Smart’s ground-breaking move.

Imagine:
A new and impressive package offering free connection and a €20 monthly charge. Although there’s a hidden upfront hit of €45 for equipment that rivals offer for free (which can be rented instead for an extra €3 per month), the deal is one of the cheapest in the market with a 12-month bill of €285.

UTV:
The Belfast operator has become more aggressive on price, with a new €18 monthly deal that expires after 6 months, rising to €32 at that stage. A connection fee of €30 means a total 12-month hit of €306 - around €100 lower than Eircom. And there are further discounts for customers that take their phone service, UTVtalk, which includes a free call deal.

Twenty-hour offers:
Eircom offers limited access for €20 per month, with no connection charge, but is undercut by a €10 deal from Imagine. UTV is also in this market with a €18 monthly charge that goes up to €24 after 6 months, but also levies €30 upfront for connection.

[dahamsta]

He doesn't have a phone.My mistake, missed that.

EDIT: Please, please don't go for Imagine or Eircom's time-limited offer. It's a scam that's very, very bad for competition.

adam

[Aberdonian Stu]

I concur with dahamsta on this one. One to watch out for if you're getting DSL is Eircom Phonewatch. If you have phonewatch and plan to get a DSL connection it can be very problematic. Would advise Irish broadband or another wireless provider to anyone with phonewatch as it can really cause hassle.

[dahamsta]

Good point on PhoneWatch, that's a complaint IrelandOffline sees regularly.

I'd avoid Irish Broadband like the plague tbh. The mods on the BB forum on Boards have partially banned (http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=291076) new IBB threads because complaints were popping up so often, and there's even a sticky where one member is collating complaints (http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=283969) on behalf of IrelandOffline. Best avoided tbh.

I trust you've all filled in the latest IrelandOffline survey (http://www.irelandoffline.org/surveys/survey.php?sid=28)? :)

adam

[Dodge]

Should also say that although I've never had a problem with ntl, their helpline is a freephone number while eircom's is a 1550 number

[Gerrit]

NTL should be best priced AFAIK, most people I know use it.

Wee off-topic but I'm getting broadband as well, still doubting between which provider to pick here in the North. BT and NTL have their own lines/cables so I guess they're better priced than pipex.co.uk, Tiscali, Blueyonder, Wanadoo UK, etc ??

[paul_oshea]

what happens if you live slightly outside a town and you are past the 4km from the exchange, as is the case at home home. and my parents end up paying two land lines that rental and tax alone costs 110 euro. fooken ridiuclous so it is. to think that for 40 euro they could have the same line and broadband only for they live a few 100 yards too far.

[A face]

Just in case anyone needs to know .... this (http://www.broadband.gov.ie/bbinfo/ServiceByLocationSearchWF.aspx) might be handy for anyone getting broadband

[Gareth]

My exchange is only currently suitable for eircom Broadband and as well as that I need certain requirements that only eircom provide me at the moment. So I am paying 54 euro a month for my broadband. Once I move to a different location or more likely my exchange is improved then I will look into changing. I know my broadband is expensive but when your stuck your stuck.

I do however have a wireless router plugged into my broadband and as a result my house is a hotspot. Its so very handy.

[EnDai]

I'm just moved house, and so left my delightful NTL 3000/300K cable connection behind; very sad! :mad: I loved it! Sheer quality!

Will be using IOL/BT now until NTL become available in Bray, until such an incident occurs, I refuse to allow money to be handed to Errorcon!!

Otherwise, go for one of the wireless products stated. Be warned, several of these are plagued by exteremly high contention ratios which leave you with little bandwidth, and suffer from terrible pings.

[paul_oshea]

here mate, that has told me that we can get it for the last year and a half, but we cant, its bloody annoying and misleading, and in my eyes false advertising, along with ***** teasing. :mad: :mad:

unless you live right in the town ( i.e. its less than 4km from exchange you cant get it, though i have clocked our distance by the telephone poles as they go right along the road, and we are only 2 miles i.e. less than the stated 4km, again misleading and false advertising in my opinion.)

[paul_oshea]

endaj what are the general contention rates?

25:1 over 250k ???

50:1 over 512???

again that is misleading information, hardly no one knows about contention rates when applying for broadband and its one of the most important factors to consider when choosing between 250, 512, 1mb and different companies.

[EnDai]

For the wirelss companies, I BELIEVE its 48:1. (It varies from company to company). Which means, when all 48 users are online at the same time (which apparently is very frequent with the way they spread out their users across the masts etc), you are only guaranteed to get 1/48th of your advertised bandwidth.

So, 1/48 * 2048 K (2 Megs) = 42.66666667 K. Which is the same as you get with dialup 56K usually. Delightful eh? :(

If its only a 24:1 contention ratio, you will have about 85K, which to be honest, isn't worth the money it'd cost, it'd still make more sense to go to the local net cafe, or keep the 56k dialup!

€rrorcon and BT and NTL don't seem to have many users ever complaining about poor speeds etc. IBB etc do.

Boards.ie have a good Broadband section, thats useful, and tbh is a must read if considering it as it has feedback from users on pretty much every product by every company!

[Ruairi]

No mention of price on the clearwire site, or if tis available in cork..

want to get broadband at home but i've no landline, but i think to be honest broadband is more of a "want" than a "need".. still though..

[dahamsta]

My exchange is only currently suitable for eircom BroadbandIf Eircom can supply you with DSL via the exchange, every other DSL provider in the country bar one (Smart) can supply you. I realise you have other reasons for dealing with Eircom - I'd be curious what they are - I'm just pointing this out so people understand that if Eircom can supply it, anyone else can.


No mention of price on the clearwire site, or if tis available in cork..There's no prices because they're still trialling it. I don't think they've rolled out the equipment in Cork yet, but a phone call will find out pretty quickly.

adam

[carrickharp]

Got a reply from Clearwire on Friday and it will be early-mid September before they will be ready in my area in Dublin.

[Gareth]

If Eircom can supply you with DSL via the exchange, every other DSL provider in the country bar one (Smart) can supply you. I realise you have other reasons for dealing with Eircom - I'd be curious what they are - I'm just pointing this out so people understand that if Eircom can supply it, anyone else can.

adam

Adam, the strange thing is everyone I ring up get my number and tell me they cant provide to my house. Eircom did the same for ages too. Then they said I could get it. The rest still say I cant. I cant get NTL or any cable service. Wireless is not an option either so I am stuck with Eircom. Having said that, the only bad thing about the service is the price at the moment. Everything else is dandy.

[pete]

If Eircom can provide broadband to your house then BT, UTV & all the other eircom resellers should be possible too.

[EnDai]

If Eircom can provide broadband to your house then BT, UTV & all the other eircom resellers should be possible too.

Ditto.

[Ruairi]

DIGIWEB (http://www.digiweb.ie)

They any good at all? looks good on their site, €35 a month for 3mb DL and cheap calls + free line rental