NTL Broadband Dublin wide by Christmas

koneko

ciaranfo wrote:

Ran up today and I'm told it's definitly gonna be Dublin-Wide by the end of January. Apparently they are working toward that end now....

NTL doesn't know it's arse from it's elbow then. I rang and they said no plans for upgrading any areas by any certain time. Could be a year from now, could be a month from now, they don't know. "They don't tie themselves down to a certain time limit"

gline

it probably works on the basis of whoever u get on the other end of the phone they will tell u different things. Maybe there are some unhonest staff or honest staff, lie about dates, or tell the truth that they dont know when it will be installed

machalla

Every time I've called them before what I've been told is that the people on the phones do not know when an area will be upgraded. Several times I've been told "you will know sooner than we will" as its a case of getting the letter in the door to tell you that it is available.

I'd definitely agree that NTL most certainly cannot tell its posterior from any other appendage as a rule. That may not be the fault of the people on the phones as they seem to know nothing and be told nothing either.

I think it is a case of when the letter comes in the door then you can get it. Believe nothing else till that happens.

Still we can hope. Bye bye Eircom then.

I noticed Eircom are starting to offer free reconnection fees for anyone who has disconnected their phoneline from them (as in the phone no longer makes or recieves any phonecalls). Perhaps those muppets might get a kick up the arse if NTL eats the broadband market in the urban areas. It might even make them consider doing something for people outside of the cities for a change. Of course pigs will probably be doing loop the loops when that happens.

koneko

Someone I know got NTL and was told that "within 6 months we'll have all of Dublin done". Different information again (from an engineer that time, who was installing at the time), but encouraging nonetheless.

Scruff

machalla wrote:

I noticed Eircom are starting to offer free reconnection fees for anyone who has disconnected their phoneline from them (as in the phone no longer makes or recieves any phonecalls).

really? well thats a good development if its true. our phone line was disonnected before we moved in. have no immediate intention of reconnecting it as i'm hoping to get bb off irish bb or now possibly ntl (given it takes ibb so long to actually get the installation done) but its still good to know that competition is having a positive effect so if i at some stage need to have a land line it wont cost to get it reconnected.

machalla

Yep,

Check the image on the top right hand corner of the eircom website. It only applies if you have had a phoneline in there previously it seems.

I only noticed it due to my daily trek to eircoms site to check on the status of my phoneline. With luck if NTL does appear with BB in my area Eircom will lose another €24 (or so) of month of line rental from me.

I wonder what the situation will be with other NTL franchise areas around the country if they do manage to get Dublin wired up for BB? How long before they do them as well?

oceanclub

machalla wrote:

I remember seeing the D8 NTL post but that only seems to cover Christchurch and environs.

I live directly across the road from Christchurch, but when I checked
on NTL's page this morning, I don't seem eligible for broadband yet.

P.

gline

The webpage may not be updated regularly. Its hard to tell who to listen to when dealing with NTL, the webpage, the technicians, the support staff, the post???? who knows????

spongebob

machalla wrote:

I noticed Eircom are starting to offer free reconnection fees for anyone who has disconnected their phoneline from them (as in the phone no longer makes or recieves any phonecalls). .

Free disconnection too. The charge is normally €25 for either.

The offer will last until mid/late January

M

gline

Muck wrote:

Free disconnection too. The charge is normally €25 for either.

The offer will last until mid/late January

M

Now thats a service you would want to avail of - a disconnection
Thats what i call value for money

machalla

Whats the rationale behind the free disconnections, Muck?

Given that its Eircon you would think they would probably be trying to charge 10 times that for disconnection just to strongarm people into not disconnecting.

Oops I think my cynicism towards that shower might be starting to show...

gline

I emailed ntl and asked them is it available in my building (rathmines\ranalagh area). They are supposed to be ringing me to confirm according to the reply email. I'll let u all know what they say

spongebob

machalla wrote:

Whats the rationale behind the free disconnections, Muck?

Given that its Eircon you would think they would probably be trying to charge 10 times that for disconnection just to strongarm people into not disconnecting.

Oops I think my cynicism towards that shower might be starting to show...

Very prescient questions Machalla.

The disconnection charge is new, disconnections were FREE until the summer when the charge was first introduced. If the word gets out that there is a disconnect charge then people will not bother getting a phone for short periods of 6 months , 25 x 2 and 6 x 24 rental pays for a lot of mobile calls.
Eircom realise now that if the rental sector gets into the habit never having a landline they are screwed . Anecdotally I heard they surveyed UCD students last year and were frightened at the number of them who would not 'bother' with a landline because it is too expensive . Their short termist greed is creating a generation of non customers for their product.

They normally have offers like ISDN connects and upgrades and now POTS connects in October November every year. They have a free ISDN upgrade scheme going on at present .

The free disconnect /reconnect could get you another three month trial of BB as long as you get a new number on the line and get it tested by the end of November ......

M

cuppa

I rang Ntl they told me they would have internet cable Dublin wide by january
That was two years ago

APM

cuppa wrote:

I rang Ntl they told me they would have internet cable Dublin wide by january
That was two years ago

of course they didn't say which january did they??

voakesy

biggest load of crap ive ever heard, it aint gonna happen.
there telling you what there told to say unless that new magic wand broadband service and you can get it at the shake of a wand. NOW THATS QUALITY!
SHA ZAMM

ando

have to agree. They've been saying this on and off since 1999 but nothing came of it except a 'relaunch' of the tallaght area ?

Woden

my bb contract with eircom is up in about a two months and while i would dearly like to believe that ntl will be available in my area then (dublin 7 near smithfield) i doubt it will.

while i have been happy with eircom's service (quality wise and based on the fact that i pay 40 of the 55 a month) i would like a speed increase and not to have to worry that i might suddenly be charge for going over the cap. suppose i'll just have to reexamine my options in the new year.

could someone tell me perhaps if i just continue the eircom service over after the 12 month contract am i obliged to stick with them for another 12 months or can i cancel with no charges after say 14 months?

cheers

data

Third_Echelon

i got a flyer in my last NTL bill saying that BB was now available in my area.. Temple Bar/Christchurch area...

I just got in eircom trial, so i think ill use the 2 months and then get the 1.5 mb ntl in...

OfflerCrocGod

Thanks temp, there isn't any chance that you could tell me about the chances of a certain area getting BB, Clonsilla/Hartstown area to be precise?

SkepticOne

temp-nic wrote:

What the demand for BB is in the areas already up and running. If they think its worth while then the €100m investment comes into play so the older parts get the upgrades needed.

Lets hope they think its worthwhile so. In a press release a while back, NTL gave the impression that they would be spending 100m upgrading the network. What areas have no chance of being upgraded?

A lot of people would like to hang on for NTL, but what your're saying is that many areas will never be upgraded regardless of the 100m which may or may not be spent depending on whether NTL consider it worthwhile.

I think the best thing is that the government get a move on with plans for digital terrestrial TV. The sort of network that NTL operate in the majority of areas would not stand a chance in other countries. I think it is time that this situation was brought about in Ireland as quickly as possible.

spongebob

SkepticOne wrote:

Lets hope they think its worthwhile so. In a press release a while back, NTL gave the impression that they would be spending 100m upgrading the network. What areas have no chance of being upgraded?

Think of it as an ageist policy The older the house (and cable) the less the chance.

A lot of people would like to hang on for NTL, but what your're saying is that many areas will never be upgraded regardless of the 100m which may or may not be spent depending on whether NTL consider it worthwhile.

A M8 in Merrion Square even has NTL MMDS . Cable is a bit new fangled in Merrion Square.

I think the best thing is that the government get a move on with plans for digital terrestrial TV.

That will be a dead duck until after the election because of deflectors in rural constituencies in the northern half of the state.

RTE have a test DTT system in Dublin (3 Rock or Donnybrook IIRC) , it may be freeview compliant . Freeview is brand of the UK standard.

If the UK turns off Analogue as they threaten in about 5 years then it could all change very quickly...as long as the perfidious Brits can be blamed and not FF .

The government could incentivise the upgrade / installation of high quality cable in older residential areas (many have detached houses ) ....possibly with a tax break linked to pre 1963 housing as pre 1963 housing comes in for differential treatment anyway and would have the oldest and crummiest cable irrespective of social class . Business districts should go straight to FTTH .

M

Blaster99

Sounds like the main problem is whether a node has fiber connectivity to the head-end, the rest sounds relatively straight-forward to sort out so long as the cable is reasonably good.

Are these fibre nodes the rule or exception in the network, or what is the major issue standing in the way of a major NTL roll-out?

If one can get NTL's digital TV offering, does that indicate that the cable is of a reasonable quality and can probably carry BB?

SkepticOne

Muck wrote:

Think of it as an ageist policy The older the house (and cable) the less the chance.

A M8 in Merrion Square even has NTL MMDS . Cable is a bit new fangled in Merrion Square.

That will be a dead duck until after the election because of deflectors in rural constituencies in the northern half of the state.

Well it looks like things are moving on in other parts of the country http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=201612

This will light a fire under Chorus. Something similar is needed for NTL too, I think. Far better than tax incentives.

machalla

Cheers for offering to try and help, Temp.

Maybe if some of the management types in NTL got the flood of pms (or emails!) that you are getting they might be a bit more convinced about going with a blanket BB strategy.

I wonder is there anyway of putting this across to them?

wanwarlock

just called ntl today and asked if my house was bb enabled, unfortunately it isn't, but the guy said some areas of D8 are enabled and it will be a month or so for my house to be enabled. but the thing is i don't have ntl tv package.... hmmmmmm

ShamBoballa

wanwarlock wrote:

just called ntl today and asked if my house was bb enabled, unfortunately it isn't, but the guy said some areas of D8 are enabled and it will be a month or so for my house to be enabled. but the thing is i don't have ntl tv package.... hmmmmmm

Wanwarlock, what part of SCR you in??? Im in Portobello and we dont know when NTL bband is coming our way. Thinking of Getting IIB Breeze

wanwarlock

am in dufferin avenue (the street in front of the mosque). can't u get eircon/esatbt? i can't get them apparently it's only the line to my house, the area is bb enabled which really p*sses me off.

have u called ntl and asked if u were enabled? their number is 1800 923005

i'm planning to get breeze as well, just called them as well to get the forms.

ShamBoballa

Same prob with our gaff. Old wires into the house i think. I dont use the phone anyway so I dont want to pay line rental.
Just called 1800 923005 any the girl had no idea when bband is coming.

Some joke. If they came back to me and said they would have our area enabled within 4-5 months, I would actually hold off getting IBB and wait for NTL.

They are shooting themselves in the foot with this non-dissemination of info to their tech support workers.

wanwarlock

ShamBoballa wrote:

Same prob with our gaff. Old wires into the house i think. I dont use the phone anyway so I dont want to pay line rental.
Just called 1800 923005 any the girl had no idea when bband is coming.

Some joke. If they came back to me and said they would have our area enabled within 4-5 months, I would actually hold off getting IBB and wait for NTL.

They are shooting themselves in the foot with this non-dissemination of info to their tech support workers.

probably because it was a girl (no offence to the opposite sex!! heheh), my guy sounded really confident about the 'a month or so' statement he gave me...

Scruff

i just rang for the hell of it incase it was avaliable in my area but no surprise that it isnt. He said that for D8 and D22 its going to be sometime in the new year but he couldnt say when. oh well.......

ShamBoballa

Ah tits,
will get onto IIB today so

wanwarlock

ohh... forgot to mention, the ntl guy i rang also said that if the area is enabled, they would send out a letter like in the 1st post in this thread. so u guys just have to wait for the letter then.

dub45

I think it is a reasonable assumption at this stage that the people answering the phones do not have a clue as to when bb will arrive in any area (through no fault of their own)

They probably have a pain in their butts being asked the question and occasionally some staff member will give date with no basis whatsoever which starts a thread like this.

It seems we all have to wait on that magic letter.

Predje

What range of speeds are ntl capable of providing does anyone know?
Also does anyone know which authority or board is directly responsible for internet services?
Im looking at this story of uk dsl subscribers getting 8m/b for the price of what i pay for ****ty 512kbs from eircom and it is making me ill
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4016031.stm

wanwarlock

ntl says their speeds are 1.5mb, 700kbps & 300 if i remember correctly from my call today. also it's a cable connection

Blaster99

I think was is clear particularly after reading temp-nic's posts, is that when NTL says "Dublin wide" it doesn't mean 100% coverage, it's similar to Eircom's DSL roll-out. Best case it might mean 100% node coverage, but actual availability depends on the cable quality and distance from the node. Sounds obvious enough, but I along with I'm sure many others, assumed that Dublin-wide meant that every NTL customer could get it.

dub45

temp-nic wrote:

Bare with me folks,this is turning out to be a bit harder then I thought.

Temp.

Temp make sure that you do not get yourself into trouble on our behalf nobody would want that I am sure.

oceanclub

Speak of the devil; I got a phone call from NTL tonight,
saying my flat is eligible for broadband (am in the Christchurch
area, Dublin 8 on the edge of D2). €35 per month (don't know
if VAT is included) for 768kps, 30Gb cap a month. Tempting
compared to my current Digiweb account....

P.

optiplexgx270

Thats IS inc vat. And a 1.5Mb line for €50 inc Vat and the cap is a fair usage policy not capping of about 1GB a day

Prices/Speeds are at http://www.ntl.com/locales/ie/en/athome/internet_cable.html

oceanclub

Also has news server access and web space. Looks better and better. What's the catch? The contention ratio is high?

Also, are there any inherent differences between DSL and cable, ignoring implementation-specific details such as speed, cap, etc?

P.

optiplexgx270

17:1 contention pretty good better than dsl anyways


i wan it
i wan it
i wan it
i wan it

;(

wanwarlock

damn..... i want ntl!!! oh... just got my ibb form today. should i wait for ntl to be enabled in my area (SCR area)???

dilemma.........

machalla

How many years can you afford to wait?

If you can get IBB then get it. There is no guarantee an area will be upgraded and as Temp already mentioned if the quality of the cabling is not up to scratch you may not even be able to get it anyway.

This thing of Dublin being upgraded in the next few months is something that NTL trots out once or twice a year and then does nothing.

You are only on a twelve month contract with IBB if you get the Breeze home option. Otherwise get ripwave and try it out to see if it works. It has only a 30 day contract and if it doesn't work for you you can send it back.

Superman

machalla wrote:

How many years can you afford to wait?

Give em 8-10 years then if nothing happens i'll call shenanigans!

IDM

Friend just got one of those "You can get NTL broadband" flyers in her mailbox the other day. She's getting it installed next week. Lives between Georges st. & Stephen's Green. It seems like they're actually getting new areas up and running ...

Van-Zan

Hate to rain on your parade guys, i had ntl broadband when i was living in england, i have never encountered such incompetency from a service company in my life. From what i am hearing from friends about the irish NTL, they are not much better. Look elsewhere if you are trying to get broadband. They dont have the infrastructure in place and the company itself is in serious trouble regardless of what they claim. The services they offer do look great on paper, sadly the reality is very very different.

machalla

Look at the alternatives..

Eircom DSL in effect (yes there is UTV, Esat, Digiweb and so on but its all coming over Eircoms network).

Wireless in some limited places.

Not much of a choice.

I'd take my chances with NTL. No-one here seems to have had any major problems with the BB product.

SteM

Van-Zan wrote:

Hate to rain on your parade guys, i had ntl broadband when i was living in england, i have never encountered such incompetency from a service company in my life. From what i am hearing from friends about the irish NTL, they are not much better. Look elsewhere if you are trying to get broadband. They dont have the infrastructure in place and the company itself is in serious trouble regardless of what they claim. The services they offer do look great on paper, sadly the reality is very very different.

I think if you'll look around the boards you'll see that users here reckon it's the best home broadband provider in Ireland. NTL have a bad reputation in this country for their digital and cable services, but not for their broadband service.

roryodonnell

I think the main reason why NTL broadband is a winner (I have it) is that you very rarely need the contact the "support" dept. It works.