Chorus Cable Broadband - any use ?

m_stan

Due to the problems I'm having with Eircom DSL, I called Chorus to see when they are offering cable broadband in Swords. They say before the end of the summer. I only half believe this, but wondered if anyone had any experience of this service ? Is it any use ? Does it compare well with NTL cable broadband, or is it the same thing now that they belong to the same parent company ?

bk

m_stan wrote:

Due to the problems I'm having with Eircom DSL, I called Chorus to see when they are offering cable broadband in Swords. They say before the end of the summer. I only half believe this, but wondered if anyone had any experience of this service ? Is it any use ? Does it compare well with NTL cable broadband, or is it the same thing now that they belong to the same parent company ?

My friend has the Chorus 3m service in Cork and it works very well, compares very well with my old 3m NTL service.

I wouldn't hold my breath for Chorus BB in Swords, why don't you get DSL for 6 months and if it comes out change to Chorus (very easy).

jimmycrackcorm

I had chorus cable in Swords way back in 1999 before eircom even thought of dsl. It was rock solid then.

m_stan

I've had DSL for the last 3 years and I'm having major issues with it that Eircom can't seem to fix, so I'm looking at alternatives - even future ones. I'm not going to hold my breath either - these things tend to be promised and not delivered on time if ever, but it's good to know there is even a remote possibility of an alternative becoming available.

Thanks for the feedback.

lucernarian

A friend of mine with an automatically tuning tv is having problems with chorus as some of the tv stations need to be retuned for broadband (EuroDOCSIS) and a message flashes up very frequently. The TV keeps tuning the testing channels. (He's in Swords btw)

There have been fibre cabinets in swords for years so it seems likely that broadband will be available by the end of summer.

RangeR

I got Chorus Broadband 6Mb in 6 days ago. Wow. Such a difference. Fair enough, it's only been 6 days but it is rock solid. It great to see a 550MB file download in 13 minutes ~

Pings are good too, 30-40ms to boards
40-50ms to our Luxumberg clan HL2CTF server.

VoIP is fine.

Time will tell, though, if it's a reliable connection in the long run.

Oh, I'm in Naas.

m_stan

IrishTLR wrote:

I got Chorus Broadband 6Mb in 6 days ago. Wow. Such a difference. Fair enough, it's only been 6 days but it is rock solid. It great to see a 550MB file download in 13 minutes ~

Pings are good too, 30-40ms to boards
40-50ms to our Luxumberg clan HL2CTF server.

VoIP is fine.

Time will tell, though, if it's a reliable connection in the long run.

Oh, I'm in Naas.

Sounds great. A few questions.

What modem do Chorus provide and is it wireless ?
Do they only offer this with their non digital cable tv ?
What this the cable tv package like if you have it ?
What is the download cap ?
What is the upload speed ?
Do they block any ports for p2p etc ?
Are they providing the VOIP or are you using a third party like Blueface ?
Have they been offering broadband for long in Naas or is it a new service ?

Thanks for the feedback.

bk

These answers are based on my friends experiences in Cork, other areas maybe different.

- The modem is a basic EuroDOCSIS "modem", it isn't a router, so it only has one ethernet port and one USB port, no wireless. It will work with a Broadband router (including wireless) without any problems.

- In Cork you can get it on it's own, no TV package is required, it is completely separate (unlike in NTL areas). You can of course get it with either analogue or digital TV if you like.

Obviously this only works in cabled areas, not MMDS areas (for the moment anyway).

- In Cork they give you an extra €5 off the BB if you get TV also.

- Details of the Caps on the Chorus site.

- They don't block ports.

- They don't offer VoIP yet.

m_stan wrote:

Sounds great. A few questions.

What modem do Chorus provide and is it wireless ?
Do they only offer this with their non digital cable tv ?
What this the cable tv package like if you have it ?
What is the download cap ?
What is the upload speed ?
Do they block any ports for p2p etc ?
Are they providing the VOIP or are you using a third party like Blueface ?
Have they been offering broadband for long in Naas or is it a new service ?

Thanks for the feedback.

RangeR

I agree with everything BK has stated.

Mine is 6Mb download; 512Kb upload [sweet]
40MB cap [stingy b@st@rds]
VoIP is through Blueface but I don't use it all the time. I'm gone back to testing mode after dumping BT and Clearwire.
P2P. They don't block. I've downloaded endian, ubuntu and asterisk and they flew down.

Cable TV package is mediocre in that the quality looks like it's analog tramsmitted as digital. I only have it as I want one bill and their multiroom is only €5. Beat thaqt Sky. They only have 40 or 50 channels but anything more than that on Sky were really bad. They are 40-50 quality[ish] channels, as in, channels you might actually watch. Not like the dating GOD channel on Sky...

egan007

Was just talking to Chorus about BB in swords (Ridgewood) They say that they expect to have BB by End of september.

m_stan

egan007 wrote:

Was just talking to Chorus about BB in swords (Ridgewood) They say that they expect to have BB by End of september.

sweet. I'm down near applewood so I expect the same date applies.

I'll be dropping Eircom and Sky like a hot snot when this becomes available.

Thanks all for the replies.

Hody

Strange called Chorus like a week ago, asked for Broadband rollout at Sandford Woods, very close to Applewood and was told, there are no plans for this yet...

m_stan

Hody wrote:

Strange called Chorus like a week ago, asked for Broadband rollout at Sandford Woods, very close to Applewood and was told, there are no plans for this yet...

typical. I'm constantly getting their tv package offers through the door but I aint even considering that until they have a broadband package.

ps: nice houses there in Sandford Woods

Sponge Bob

september 2006 , not there yet.

Actually Chorus offered BB in Swords in 1998-2000 and shut it down.

Hody

m_stan wrote:

typical. I'm constantly getting their tv package offers through the door but I aint even considering that until they have a broadband package.

ps: nice houses there in Sandford Woods

Thanks, but I will just be a bloody tenant, curious for the area anyways.

Those informations on rollouts are tricky, as I would consider the lads in the callcentres not to be up to date with the plans and strategies of the managements. I know a guy that works on a higher level at UPC (NTL/Chorus) I will try to interview him...