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Getting BB

  • 28-02-2004 9:52pm
    #1
    chump
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,807 ✭✭✭


    I know there's probably been a rake of threads but I'm about to get BB, and I need to know which way to go.

    Eircom have been hasling the hosue since before xmas pushing their product, which I see has just introduced a new lower price, slightly lower spec model coupled with their other product which seems comparable to IOL yet with an installation cost (+ 5 euro more)...

    Now, I'm tempted to go IOL, yet have a few question, are they on the verge of releasing a new lower priced product, what's their customer service like... and of course is it comparable to eircom?

    Also, I haven't played any online games for a bit, busy and all that, but my pc is a bit weak at this stage, celeron900, 200odd megs ram, gefore 32mb GTS... at low graphics would any decent online games work... counterstrike, (quake3 does), etc...

    Basically I don't need THE most powerful broadband, but I do want the best cost-per-performance value...

    what YOU suggest?


Comments

  • #2
    Mutant_Fruit
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,943 ✭✭✭Mutant_Fruit


    Counterstrike would work grand on that setup, but its a hefty download (a few hundred megs), so you'll only be getting that installed when you got your broadband.

    I'd go with IOL in your case, but i'd wait til the new better offerings come out, they should arrive very shortly. Then make your decision.


  • #3
    Xcellor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,806 ✭✭✭Xcellor


    Having dealt with EsatBT aka IOL in the past I can say this, they have the worst customer service ever. They keep you on hold for ages then when you get through they can't help and will blame it on things that have nothing to do with the problem. When I was installing broadband and encountered problems it was me suggesting things to do while the technician just hummed and harred....

    When IOL BB is good it is very good. Never get less than 50 KBps. And their pings are around 40ms to UK game servers which is fairly good.

    However recently there have a been a few problems with pings going up to 1000ms at the worst. Maybe it was just a once (or twice off).

    Oh and if they ever say, "Send us an email and we will be sure to get back to you." Don't believe it. They have an automated reply and you WILL NEVER receive a reply about anything that might challenge the technicians... If it's something like "How do I set my email up" then grand but if it's "What are the reasons for me getting 1000ms" you won't...

    As you might have gathered I really don't like IOL. When there is a problem they blame it on Eircom. They don't communicate at all when a problem occurs. If I had a choice now between Eircom and IOL with the new Eircom offering I'd probably go with Eircom... However... perhaps IOL will release a new service bigger bandwidth lower price better contentions? Just gonna have to wait and see..

    Ciao
    Xcellor


  • #4
    tuxy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 14,983 ✭✭✭✭tuxy


    i hate eircom however i cant fault them on there dsl service ,istream has good customer support is very stable
    and most people that go with self install seem to be up and running in a week
    iv heard of people waiting months for iol


  • #5
    deecom
    Registered Users Posts: 425 ✭✭deecom


    yeah have to agree, eircom aint bad at all, once you have the service. :eek: took me a few calls to sort out getting the modem, but since then not a sausage! as tuxx said good service and stable.


  • #6
    chump
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,807 ✭✭✭chump


    The eircom lite package only allowd 1gig upload...

    Is that a factor when playing games, r is very little info actually sent ?

    and do they supply a program for checking how much upload/download mb's one has left?


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  • #7
    RobertFoster
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,212 ✭✭✭RobertFoster


    I've a couple of questions too: (re: eircom)

    how long is the contract period? 1 year?
    if I find the €40 option not good enough, could I upgrade to the €55 one later? are the different modems superior in anyway?


  • #8
    KILLER.BEE
    Registered Users Posts: 102 ✭✭KILLER.BEE


    RobertFoster its a one year contract period and if you want to break it will
    cost you 150e and for your upgrade yes you can do that for free


  • #9
    Mutant_Fruit
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,943 ✭✭✭Mutant_Fruit


    To break the upload cap, i think you'd get 70+ hours gaming. Thats assuming you upload at 4kb/sec ingame. If you upload at 6kb/sec, you still get 40 hours, but that rate of upload is unlikely.


  • #10
    Xcellor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,806 ✭✭✭Xcellor


    Im surprised just how little bandwidth gaming takes. Me and my brother would be online playing MOHAA for a couple of hours and we are three gigs away from 8 gb download limit. Plus I've downloaded quite a bit this month...

    I think online gaming depends on response time, i.e ping time and latency... more than downloading a lot of data... Well that's my two cents worth

    Xcellor


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