Internet & Telephone

jbraddon

Hi

Not sure if this is the right place to post so please send me in the right direction if not.

My mother has been staying with me in England over the last few weeks and has been telling me what she pays for Internet access and phone calls, to which I was totally shocked.

She's back off to County Galway soon and I thought I'd have a look to see if I can get her a better deal over the net but to be honest I'm struggling a little.

I realise there will be differences between prices in Eire and England due to the amount of demand etc, she gets a free bus pass there and a better quality of life but to be paying 10-12 cents (she thinks) per minute during the day on internet dial-up and 20'ish cents per minute to phone me in the UK really digs a hole in her pension, that a free bus journey doesn't make up for.

1.Can anyone recommend an ISP that offers a good or free daytime rate for a flat fee or low rate? I have seen various offers for 30euros a month for 150 hours but she probably only needs 10-30 hours max per month but it has to be daytime because that's when she can see better. Broadband would be perfect but from what I can see the prices in Ireland are extortionate.

2.I have found phone a couple of firms that offer calls to the UK at 6c per minute by dialling a pre-fix but the rates within Ireland aren't so good and other firms that offer better rates within Ireland but can't compete with 6c per minute to the UK. Are there any companies that you recommend that can offer better rates than these?

Any advice you can offer would be much appreciated by me and also make my mums life that much easier.

Many Thanks
John

jbraddon

Sorry, as a reply to my own question....

I did wonder, if there were no better ISP's for her would it be possible to use one of the lo-cost to the UK phone providers to give cheaper calls to an ISP in England at 6c per minute rather than what she is paying using eircom? Just a thought.

Thanks
John

Gadgie

This probably should be in Net/Comms but I'll answer it here.

UTVip do a deal where you get 30 hours a month anytime dial-up access for 10 euro per month (I think that's correct - their site seems to be down at the moment so I can't check). This would suit your mother fine as you can use these hours during the day.

jbraddon

Thank you for your quick response. I did see them earlier but thought they were Northern Ireland only their website seems to be back on-line so i will take a better look now.
Thanks
John

tuxy

why didnt you check the sticky Partly Unmetered 56k/ISDN options and Broadband Options

Gadgie

Hi John, the link you should be looking for is this.

Funnily enough I still can't access the UTV site, and I'm on UTV dial-up - go figure.

seamus

Thread moved.
This thread may also be of use to you:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=63719

sceptre

She can relax a little about the price she's paying to get at the Internet during the day - there's no way she's paying 10 or 12 cents per minute. She's paying about half of that. Until she gets one of the single price per certain usage packages, see if she can't stay off the net during the day. It's "only" 1.26 cents per minute at night with Eircom. The UTVip XL package (30 hours a month for €9.99)would probably make the most sense for her judging by what you've said. She'll have to switch her calls from Eircom to UTV though (which shouldn't be a problem as she'll be saving money when she rings you as well.

If she's in county Galway (as opposed to the city) she can't get broadband anyway.

The UTVIP.ie page isn't working for me either but the .com version is.

(edit for URI fixing)

jbraddon

Thanks for all the replies, it was the .com site that I was able to access not .ie, is there a difference between the 2? I want to email the URL to her so when she gets home she can get her neighbour to help set it up does it matter which?

The 9.99 package sounds perfect, would just like to confirm something. Swiftcall looks like a resonable way to make international calls from Eircom, UTVip uses CPS, presumably you could still use swifcall to make cheaper international calls?

Is there POP3 email or is it just webmail, I couldn't tell from their site.

Ripwave

Originally posted by jbraddon
Swiftcall looks like a resonable way to make international calls from Eircom, UTVip uses CPS, presumably you could still use swifcall to make cheaper international calls?

Swiftcall isn't particularly cheap - in fact it can even work out dearer than eircom, if you can avail of some of eircoms "options" discounts.

Try Yaptel - the call costs are far cheaper. You do have to type in a pin number each time you want to use the service, but daytime calls to the UK cost as little as 5.5c (using the 800 number to call from Galway. Just buy a €20 credit online, and send your mother the PIN number, and see how she gets on with it. If it proves to be too awkward for her, then you can look at swiftcall, or one of the cheaper alternatives.

sceptre

Originally posted by jbraddon
Is there POP3 email or is it just webmail, I couldn't tell from their site.

I don't know the answer to that but just get her to keep her existing address anyway - if she's currently using Outlook or Outlook Express just change the outgoing server to the UTV one (smtp.utvinternet.com)

There's no difference between the info contained on the .com and .ie sites.

maxheadroom

Vartec might be worth looking into for the calls to england bit too - 6c a minute all day (no peak/off peak difference)

Ripwave

Originally posted by jbraddon
Is there POP3 email or is it just webmail, I couldn't tell from their site.

With most Irish ISPs, you can access your POP account even if you aren't dialled in on that ISPs service. And because Irish ISP accounts have traditionally been "free" (or paid for by "per minute" dial up access), you don't "close your account" and loose your e-mail address when you stop using that ISP.

So for the time being at least, people in Ireland can freely switch between ISPs, or from dialup to DSL, without loosing POP access to their old e-mail address.

(There are exceptions - but if your mother's e-mail address ends in @eircom.net or @iolfree.ie, then she should be able to keep using it even if she switches to using the 30hours for €9.99 UTVip Lite package).

jbraddon

Thanks again for the replies and my apologies for keep going on, I realise this thread is getting a little boring and you've all been most helpful. (After that always comes a but) But could she use swiftcall on utvip as swiftcall have a product called EPIN which give calls to the UK and US both of which she would use at 3cents per minute and seems to beat Vartec, there maybe some catch and it needs further investigation but I just wondered if anyone knew, it seems to me unlikely that you couldn't use swifcall on utvip, has anyone any experience of it?
Guess my simplest solution might be to give them a call!!

Ripwave

Originally posted by jbraddon
Thanks again for the replies and my apologies for keep going on, I realise this thread is getting a little boring and you've all been most helpful. (After that always comes a but) But could she use swiftcall on utvip as swiftcall have a product called EPIN which give calls to the UK and US both of which she would use at 3cents per minute and seems to beat Vartec, there maybe some catch and it needs further investigation but I just wondered if anyone knew, it seems to me unlikely that you couldn't use swifcall on utvip, has anyone any experience of it?
Guess my simplest solution might be to give them a call!!

Their website isn't particularly helpful, but I would guess that you'd have to call a Dublin number to use your e-pin, which, if your mother is in Galway, would make it more expensive than some of the alternatives.

Typically, there are two different approaches to "cheap calls". Either you make a 13xxx call that directs your call to an operator other than your default provider (this usually requires that you register your phone with the provider, and set up an account), or you make an ordinary call to connect to the provider, and enter a pin to make calls. If you use the first approach, then you don't pay for the 13xxx call, as such. If you use the second approach, then you pay your ordinary phone service provider for the call to the "cheap international calls" provider. They usually offer a Dublin (01) number and a free-fone 1800 number, though there is a surcharge for using the 800 number. Sometimes they offer a lo-call 1850 number, which will allow anyone outside Dublin to call them at local call rates.

So the EPIN system costs you 3c/min, plus the cost of connecting to them in the first place. If you use their 800 number to connect, it will cost 6.5c during the day. (as against the 5.5c I mentioned for yaptel above). If you mother was to call a Dublin number from Galway, it would cost her 11c (8c/min to call Dublin, then 3c/mon for her e-pin call).

Either way, you should be able to use it even if you select UTV as your "default provider" (aka CPS, or Carrier Pre-Select). You can over-ride any individual call by dialling 13xxx to connect to a specific operators network. (Ironically, xxx for eircom is 666, so a UTV customer can make a call on the eircom network by dialling 13666 first).

jbraddon

That's great. Thank you everyone for all your replies, you've been very helpful.
John