BT to Smart

Gryzor

hi all

am looking to change from BT to Smart....rang smart today to enquire...was told by the guy that i'd have to cancel bt, then reapply to eircom to reconnect the line and then i could apply to smart...this can't be right???

i moved from UTV to BT earlier thisa year and i didn't have to do that....is he talkin sh1te??

byte

No that is the procedure. YOu have to be an Eircom customer before trying to join Smart.

It's to do with the fact they (Smart) use LLU for their broadband.

BT and UTV on the other hand are bitstream resellers, basically reselling Eircom's product.

Gryzor

ah sh1te!!! :mad:

i have my line, BB and calls with BT...i'd have to cancel that, and then apply to eircom to reconnect my line, and then apply to smart???

sounds like a good bit of downtime, anyone know from experience????

byte

I'm not sure how going back to Eircom would work with regards to downtime. I thought if you cancelled BT you ended up back with Eircom though perhaps not when your line rental is with BT also. Maybe ring Eircom and ask how hard it woudl be to get back with them!

Once you're with Eircom, it can take a while to get switched to Smart. I was lucky, in that I was only without broadband for 5 working days. Some have been waiting weeks, and in very extreme cases, months!

Gryzor

thanks byte.....had a quick look on the smart support forums...looks like it can turn into a bit of a nightmare..:(

dub45

Gryzor wrote:

thanks byte.....had a quick look on the smart support forums...looks like it can turn into a bit of a nightmare..:(

That of course is the whole idea on Eircom's part.:eek:

Before Smart can connect you you will need a cease number from esat confirming that your line is free of broadband - you telephony will have to formaly be brought back to Eircom and you will need an Eircom account number

(and lots of good luck and patience)

jor el

If you don't mind spending a bit of money then you could order a 2nd line from Eircom. Then when that's installed order Smart on that line. Once that's up and running cancel the old line with BT, broadband and all. You'll have no downtime at all with this method but you will have a bit of crossover between Smart and BT, so you'll be paying both. Also, the 2nd line install will cost you about €120.

The alternative is trying to cancel BT, hoping they release the line, hoping Eircom don't screw something up and reject Smarts order, hoping BT don't screw something up and not request the broadband cessation from Eircom, etc, etc. So much can, and frequently does, go bad for people changing to Smart it's ridiculous. At the very minimum I'd say you're looking at 1 month downtime, and most likely a lot more.

GregusManus

This is my understanding of the procedure:

1. You ring BT to cancel your Broadband - wait about 5 days for it to be cancelled (if BT get it right).

2. You have to make sure the BT stop billing you for BB

3. Ring Eircom and tell them you want to transfer your telphone service to them - this takes 10 days to switch over

4. Make sure the BT stop billing you for call and line charges

5. Wait a month or so for you 1st Eircom bill (I think you need to provide this to smart to switch to them)

6. Send you application into smart for telephone and BB service. Wait at least
seven weeks for the switch over (could be longer could be shorter).

7. In the mean time, make sure BT are not billing you.

8. Once your connected to Smart...keep checking the BT are not billing you

9. Report you failure/success in this forum.

All in all at least 3 months i reckon

dub45

GregusManus wrote:

This is my understanding of the procedure:

1. You ring BT to cancel your Broadband - wait about 5 days for it to be cancelled (if BT get it right).

2. You have to make sure the BT stop billing you for BB

3. Ring Eircom and tell them you want to transfer your telphone service to them - this takes 10 days to switch over

4. Make sure the BT stop billing you for call and line charges

5. Wait a month or so for you 1st Eircom bill (I think you need to provide this to smart to switch to them)

6. Send you application into smart for telephone and BB service. Wait at least
seven weeks for the switch over (could be longer could be shorter).

7. In the mean time, make sure BT are not billing you.

8. Once your connected to Smart...keep checking the BT are not billing you

9. Report you failure/success in this forum.

All in all at least 3 months i reckon

Will BT (or any of the other isps for that matter) not require a minimum of a month's notice of termination and that is presuming that you have completed your initial period with them. In addition you will need a 'cease' reference number (thats not the correct terminology I know!) from your isp to confirm that bb has been cancelled - Smart cannot act without this or your Eircom account number.

jor el

I was thinking that too but perhaps they'll cancel it quicker as long as you pay up the month anyway. The cease reference number is a simply called a broadband cancellation number, I believe. You'll need that before you can go anywhere.

As GregusManus says, 3 months would not be a bad guess

Excuse me all...

But am I missing something here??

Is this smart adsl?

I know that moving from BT to Digiweb didnt involve any contact with BT at all.
All I had to do was print and sign the DSL transfer form that Digiweb emailed me and post it to them.
Digiweb are then entitled to get BT to cancel my BB with them and this was done.
They posted me my new router/modem and gave me my new user name and password and I was up and running straight away with no down time

I did the same process in moving from Eircom to BT 2 years ago and it worked exactly the same with no contact between me and Eircom at all.

byte

byte wrote:

No that is the procedure. YOu have to be an Eircom customer before trying to join Smart.

It's to do with the fact they (Smart) use LLU for their broadband.

BT and UTV on the other hand are bitstream resellers, basically reselling Eircom's product.

Ah this is what I'm missing?? I dont understand this at all.Dont Eircom own the line and arent BT just sub letting the rental? Ergo whats the difficulty?

TimTim

Smart use LLU (they have their own equipment in the exchange) while nearly every other operator uses bitstream (resell eircom's service)

Going from bitstream to LLU can be a painful process.