NTL Broadband Now €20 a month and No Cap

spongebob

See Here for details.

Chorus are about to bayte that any day now...I hear.

M

JDxtra

Just a pity very few can actually get the service...

Yavvy

Hi all,

I have just signed up for NTL broadband ..Im in Kingswood in D24 so I got the €20 PM deal. They are also giving me a free external broadband modem (with a USB connection) there is the inital install of €65 but after that 20 sheckels including VAT.

Now I have heard the horror stories about NTL customer services but we have never had a problem with out TV service and it sounded like a good deal.

The install is due for the 15th of July in the afternoon and I will let you all know if its any good if you like.

I was just wondering....I signed up on impulse ...is this 20 euro the best value around or am I paying standard rate ?

spongebob

NTL are goiing head to head with IBB who will launch a service with these Natty gizmos in the near future from 3 Rock . IBB will apparently provide c.512k for c.€30 a month.

Funny how the first BB price war in Ireland is to be held in SW Dublin. NTL have decided to take the wind out of their sails in advance.

M

tall chapy

I have NTL Broadband in (600k) in D24.
It is excellent when it works. Over the last few months it has been working fine.Double click on internet explorer & INSTANTLY you are on the internet
When I got it installed a year ago I had a few teething problem.
I have read the replies on the forum & they are excellent & knowledgable.So please correct any errors I state.
1 - Originally, one must have the digital TV to get the broadband internet.That has now changed.
2 - Billing for any new digital services has always meant moving to monthly billing.
3 - This is were the problems started
4 - You had to also set up a direct debit for the billing (I felt this was to help their cash flow problems)
5 - You got a new account number.
6 - The problem with the account number is say you share a house with Joe Bloggs & the NTL Account is in Joe's name & he pays it 6 monthly in the post office & you want the broadband to be put in & Joe is not interested in computers.You cannot have separate billing.So to get the broadband in you must persuade Joe to set up a direct debit to be paid monthly.Now the easy solution is to get the bill in your name & hope Joe pays his share. Because NTL will be guaranteed their money, because of the direct debit.So if the service is crap, they still get their money.This was the main reason I hated having to pay them by direct debit.
7 - Because of a similar scenario to above we ended up agreeing with NTL to pay them monthly in the post office( long story)
8 - Another problem with the new account number is that you cannot pay it throug through internet banking, though I have not checked this recently.All digital account (all start with a 9) cannot be paid online ??
9 - Initially my problem was that I could not get a connection to the internet.
10 - My impression was that it was because of the DHCP setup. NTL do not give you a static IP address.They seemed to have only a set amount of seats at the table. IE : They assign 2000 IP addresses, but if you are customer #2001 you will not get a connection, until somebody leaves the table,(disconnects from the network). I now do not switch off my cable modem & leave it plugged in.
11 - As mentioned before, it could easilly take 30 mins to get somebody to answer the phone.If you got somebody within 10 minutes you would be in total shock !! I was not a happy chapy !!!
12 - This where it started to get tricky. If you look at NTLWORLD.IE .Account enquiries, you will see
"For all internet technical support queries use the number given below)
For all technical support call 1550 924 124*
*charged at 58p per minute",
But all cable modem technical support is FREE.
But this is hidden in the contact us details
"cable modem
For all technical support call us free on 1800 924 424"
I also believe that they had the wrong free phone number on the website originally.
13 - I then decided to check out their SLA (Service level agreement) This came about about 2 years ago. COMREG would not give them a price increase because of their poor customer service so imagine what it must of been like then !!.
14 - COMREG was in a awkward position because at this stage NTL had filed for chapter 11. The main thing they had to do was to be able to supply customer satisfaction figures.
15 - This where it gets funny. They supplied a freephone number. But there is not enough people to answer the phone so they can only get measured on the phonecalls that they want to answer.
16 - Check out their code of practice. http://www.ntl.com/locales/ie/en/index.html#
You will see that they 'AIM' to meet targets. The trouble is if they 'AIM' & miss it is a case of 'ah well'. There are no penalties incurred.
17 - A side note, if you have the Go digital & your remote goes 'kaput' even though you did not damage it, they will send you out a package for you to send them the remote along with a tick sheet for you to choose which problem it was, but wait for it !!they will debit your account €25 until they receive your remote & then credit your account when they receive it.
18 - Above is just the highlights. I am sure there was more. They seemed to of got their act together now.
19 - Installation is painless, very painless & quick.Installation is sub-contracted, but check by an NTL 'guy'.
20 - Cablemodem tech support is based in Swansea, I think. The are good & helpful.E-Mail account are easy enough to set up after speaking to them.
21 - Only glitch recently was the e-mail was down but I believe this was one of those 'server incidents/upgrades' resolved quick enough though.
22 - Hopefully, touch wood all will stay fine. The product is excellent once it is working & the price is competitive enough & hopefully more competition will force the price lower.

This my experience...best of luck.