Advice about internet and telephone

alindinger

Hi!

We are three students from Austria and will study in Dublin from September 2003 until May 2004. So, we would be glad if someone could give us some advice about which provider we should choose for the telephone line (and about how to make cheap international calls) and for the internet (dsl or isdn). Thanks a lot!

Andy

tribble

For the actual phone line you currently have no choice - Eircom have a monopoly on installing the copper.
By the time you arrive it may be possible to recieve the actual bill for the line rental from another provider - but the install will be done by Eircom.

As for you're carrier (the one who bills you for the calls) you have a few options.
I am open to correction on this but most of the carriers seem quite similar in price for international calls but seeing as how you will be calling Austria alot then have a look at the companies
respective websites. Eircom Esat UTV etc.

In Ireland ISDN is very expensive (line rental is higher, 128k involves paying for 2x 64k calls).
rADSL is now available at a resonable cost. €45-65 per month.

More people will post later no doubt pointing out the horrible inaccuracies in my post

tribble

Mutant_Fruit

nah, you;re pretty close.

If you';d be into downloading or streaming video/voice, go for netsource, as they are uncapped for 55eur a month

All other adsl companies have download caps of about 3-5 gigs for same price.

blorg

Netsource would almost certainly be the best DSL choice as it is the only DSL option with a 2 month contract. All the other options are 12 month contracts, and you are only planning on being here for 9 months.

bk

Or you could try www.vartec.ie 0.08c per minute to Austria with a 15c set up fee.

I believe Esat also charge about 0.08c per minute to Austria, but you need to spend at least EUR 25 per month with them to get the service.

De Rebel

eircom analogue line monthly rental is €22.50. (inc. VAT), billed every 2 months

eircom isdn line (branded as high speed) monthly rental is €37.50 (inc. VAT) billed every 2 months

Realistically eircom are the only providers of the above.

You can only get DSL if you have an analogue line. DSL is still limited availibility. There are 4 DSL providers at present, utv, netsource, iol (esat/bt), eircom. You will need to look at the offerings and decide which is best for you, asuming that the line is capable of delivering DSL

local call charges are not too expensive, especially off peak.

for overseas calls you are better with a prepay option like century home or swiftcall who are a bit more expensive. vartev offer a post billing service with a carrier preselect option.

Third_Echelon

definitely go with netsource for your DSL broadband....

the total cost including VAT is €65 per month.. between the few of you it wont be as bad on the old pocket....

just have to pay the rental on your phone line after that...

but definitely netsource is best value for the service providing... and not having to worry about your download limit is great... 2 month contract is great and will suit you well for the length of your stay...