Ice Broadband steadily becoming even more terrible

kaiser sauze

I've been an Ice customer since last February.

I would like to echo some of the sentiments in this thread, but as of this moment I am happy with the service.

My VOIP is working fine and my speedtest is:



In the interests of fairness, I will perform another one tomorrow daytime. I expect it to be lower, but not massively.

I'll post again with a screenshot and an expansion of what I like and don't like with their service.

To end, I would like to say that I have D/L approaching 40Gb over the weekend, while I would estimate that I have U/L somewhere around 15-20Gb. This would be impossible with a service 'no better than dial-up speed'.

kaiser sauze

I did one more for the hell of it:

mrplop

Is the mast on top of your house?

I don't know what the story is with your connection because Ice's best package is 6mb down and 4mb up.
I'm happy for you - you're one of the only Ice customers getting a decent connection.
Unfortunately my connection is still sh!t and so is their tech support.

One customer with a decent connection doesn't make a good provider I'm afraid.

Do a search on Ice or Icecomms and try and find a thread called 'Ice Broadband is great' or 'I'm really happy with ice'.

Oh by the way, you WON'T find one.

mrplop

Look at my connection.
It's almost as good as yours.

MrVostro

Leaves must have fallen off the tree monster.
Still no answer from tech support though.

Hope it lasts more than a few days

auggie2k

Here's a suggestion... cancel!

MrVostro

auggie2k wrote: »

Here's a suggestion... cancel!

Ha ha ... you're so funny you should be on stage. Really ... dont let anyone ever tell you you're not funny.

If i wasnt a captive customer who cant get broadband (or dial-up without a line splitter) anywhere else i would.

pm.

this is mine, i cant really fault them tbh altho last week i was getting around 1500 dl. they are a lot better than last mile bb the company i used to be with.

daveharnett

{(-_-)}HeadShoT** wrote: »

if im able to get ice broadband what package should i go for

i would be playing the ps3 online and downloading torrents

70 euro for the Gaming Broadband is a tab over the top

Go for the cheapest package. The only difference between the different services is the price - the service is equally poor all round.

If you're on a quiet node, you might see some extra speed with a faster package late at night, but the contention is usually too high.

auggie2k

MrVostro wrote:

Ha ha ... you're so funny you should be on stage. Really ... dont let anyone ever tell you you're not funny.

If i wasnt a captive customer who cant get broadband (or dial-up without a line splitter) anywhere else i would.

Take your hand out of my throat there for a second so I can talk, your not getting the service you want at all so whats the point in having it? Dial up looks like it would be better.

kaiser sauze

mrplop wrote: »

Is the mast on top of your house?

I don't know what the story is with your connection because Ice's best package is 6mb down and 4mb up.
I'm happy for you - you're one of the only Ice customers getting a decent connection.
Unfortunately my connection is still sh!t and so is their tech support.

One customer with a decent connection doesn't make a good provider I'm afraid.

Do a search on Ice or Icecomms and try and find a thread called 'Ice Broadband is great' or 'I'm really happy with ice'.

Oh by the way, you WON'T find one.

The mast is not on top of my house.

Here are two new ones; done moments ago:





My package is the standard €37.99, 3Mb D/L:1Mb U/L.

I might start one of the threads you mention, because in my case, it would be the truth.

Unfortunately I don't have the time right now to go into more detail on my issues in the past. I'll do that soon.

Headshot

i rang ice today and they told me its available now to me

they said the survey is free but theyll need my bank details

they only do direct debit which i dont like

i dont trust companies

and im still worried if im getting bad service after a month of getting it,I wont beable to cancel it

mrplop

kaiser sauze wrote: »

The mast is not on top of my house.

Here are two new ones; done moments ago:





My package is the standard €37.99, 3Mb D/L:1Mb U/L.

I might start one of the threads you mention, because in my case, it would be the truth.

Unfortunately I don't have the time right now to go into more detail on my issues in the past. I'll do that soon.

Because you're getting download speeds like this you should start a 'I'm happy with Ice Broadband' thread.

It gives me hope that perhaps one day my service will be as good as yours.
I don't think I ever would have started this thread if I'd been treated better.
You're grand if you have a good connection - you don't have to call tech support or make complaints.

My connection was never very good which means I've got to call tech support.
Sometimes I've had to call tech support over twenty five times before even getting through just to be told that nothing can be done, on the two occasions I've made official complaints I haven't even heard anything back from them.

It's one of these things I suppose - you're lucky or you aren't - I'm not.

May your good connection last and last!

mrplop

Just out of curiosity is there anyone else out there that's been getting the same speeds as kaiser sauze?

I want to hear from the folks that are getting a decent service.

thebman

Ice are listed as the fastest provider on speedtest.net for Maynooth.

http://speedtest.net/global.php?continent=3&country=49&region=239&city=20152

BTW I don't have it, I have IBB.

mrplop

I've just spoken to a technician at Ice and I was told the speeds that kaiser sauze is getting are impossible.
He told me their highest setting is 7mb.

What's going on?

unhappy ice use

I have been a user for two years and in general I have to say the service has been good.

Service has been interrupted about four times - longest two days when the mast top equipment was replaced.

Speed has generally been good - but every so often there has been a bad weekend with very poor speeds.

I have had my IP address changed once to address contention. This was done quickly and was very effective.

So overall I have been a big advocate for ICE over two years recommending them to my friends who have generally had good experience.

However, I hate to say that I am on my seventh day without service and I cannot get any decent response from ICE. Email each day without an acknowledgement.
Voice mail all day - leaving messages.

Finally got a call back from support after contacting sales - they are still answering the phone. However, the engineer just said that I need an engineer and he cannot commit to when that will happen and I will get a call one hour in advance.

I am very frustrated.

D

kaiser sauze

mrplop wrote: »

I've just spoken to a technician at Ice and I was told the speeds that kaiser sauze is getting are impossible.
He told me their highest setting is 7mb.

What's going on?

If I notice a speed cap I'll know who to blame.

kaiser sauze

unhappy ice use wrote: »

I have been a user for two years and in general I have to say the service has been good.

Service has been interrupted about four times - longest two days when the mast top equipment was replaced.

Speed has generally been good - but every so often there has been a bad weekend with very poor speeds.

I have had my IP address changed once to address contention. This was done quickly and was very effective.

So overall I have been a big advocate for ICE over two years recommending them to my friends who have generally had good experience.

However, I hate to say that I am on my seventh day without service and I cannot get any decent response from ICE. Email each day without an acknowledgement.
Voice mail all day - leaving messages.

Finally got a call back from support after contacting sales - they are still answering the phone. However, the engineer just said that I need an engineer and he cannot commit to when that will happen and I will get a call one hour in advance.

I am very frustrated.

D

I can relate to this, however, my time frame was measured in months.

mrplop

kaiser sauze wrote: »

If I notice a speed cap I'll know who to blame.

To be quite honest with you if I'm paying for the same service and I'm getting bad internet I don't see a problem with your connection being capped, especially If you're downloading 15 to 30GB in a weekend.

That's a huge amount of bandwidth.

In fact I'll be calling Ice to talk to a technical manager on Monday to discuss this.








.

kaiser sauze

mrplop wrote: »

To be quite honest with you if I'm paying for the same service and I'm getting bad internet I don't see a problem with your connection being capped, especially If you're downloading 15 to 30GB in a weekend.

That's a huge amount of bandwidth.

In fact I'll be calling Ice to talk to a technical manager on Monday to discuss this.

It seems as though your first phonecall has already had the desired effect.





I just might have to make a phonecall on this matter, too.

mrplop

kaiser sauze wrote: »

It seems as though your first phonecall has already had the desired effect.





I just might have to make a phonecall on this matter, too.

You're paying for 3mb - that's what you've got plus a little contention.
Maybe the folks sharing your sector might get a decent crack of the whip now.

You can't exactly ring them up to complain about getting the correct speed can you?












.

kaiser sauze

mrplop wrote: »

You're paying for 3mb - that's what you've got plus a little contention.
Maybe the folks sharing your sector might get a decent crack of the whip now.

You can't exactly ring them up to complain about getting the correct speed can you?

No, but a sudden drastic drop in speed may be indicative of a problem looming on the horizon.

Either that or your phonecall led to my area being capped. Just as a reminder, there are no download limits on their packages. I don't believe I am getting what I am paying for. Neither the 3Mb or 1Mb thresholds were reached, on either mirror.

I removed the superfluous full-stop from your quote, again.

mrplop

I like my superfluous full-stop.

Maybe there's no download cap but Ice do have a fair usage policy.

Your connection is supposed to be 3mb down and 1mb upload with a contention of 36 to 1 -the speeds you're getting are well within the realms of a decent 3mb connection.

So you don't believe you're getting what you're paying for?

I believe that's what the thread was about.

Welcome to our world.

kaiser sauze wrote: »

No, but a sudden drastic drop in speed may be indicative of a problem looming on the horizon.

Either that or your phonecall led to my area being capped. Just as a reminder, there are no download limits on their packages. I don't believe I am getting what I am paying for. Neither the 3Mb or 1Mb thresholds were reached, on either mirror.

I removed the superfluous full-stop from your quote, again.

.

kaiser sauze

mrplop wrote: »

Maybe there's no download cap but Ice do have a fair usage policy.

No, they don't have a fair use policy. (weblink)

Granted, you have issues with them, however, that does not give you licence to post incorrect statements about a company. Make your points without resorting to inaccuracies.

At this stage you are just beginning to sound tedious. Because someone is having a good experience with the company, you're not prepared to hear it out. I would not shout from the rooftops that ICE are a fantastic company overall, but if I was asked to objectively recommend or not recommend them, I would be more in favour of recommending them to people. It would depend on whether they are in an area of coverage first, of course.

From a slightly technical perspective, their network is very well setup. There is a decent network firewall in operation, ports are stealthed and the information registered on your IP is not too intrusive. This compares very favourably with BT, who only had three of the main service ports stealthed, and they were a dynamic IP. I thought at first that having a fixed IP was a little bit of a security risk, but considering how well the company's network is built, that is a non-issue.

Take away your business if they are that bad. I would have long ago if I was getting the bad service that you claim to be. Let them send all the threatening letters they like, but, ultimately, it is down to you to prove that their service is really as poor as you make it out to be. They will not be able to take any action against you when you show that they were not fulfilling their part of the contract.

Remember, it is enforceable in both directions.

mrplop

I subscribed to Ice because they were the only game in town so it's them or nothing.

Where are my inaccurate statements about Ice?

I'm supposed to be getting 3mb broadband.
I'm lucky if I get 1mb broadband most of the time and their technical support is terrible.
No incorrect statements there at all actually.

It's strange that there aren't any threads about how good their service is -
do a search and see if you can find one...

In fact you're practically the only person in this thread that has sung their praises so far and it sounds like your connection is going south already.
Trust me, you won't be an Ice fanboy for very long if it isn't fixed.

Yesterday you said you didn't believe you were getting what you paid for - what changed?

kaiser sauze wrote: »

No, they don't have a fair use policy. (weblink)

Granted, you have issues with them, however, that does not give you licence to post incorrect statements about a company. Make your points without resorting to inaccuracies.

At this stage you are just beginning to sound tedious. Because someone is having a good experience with the company, you're not prepared to hear it out. I would not shout from the rooftops that ICE are a fantastic company overall, but if I was asked to objectively recommend or not recommend them, I would be more in favour of recommending them to people. It would depend on whether they are in an area of coverage first, of course.

From a slightly technical perspective, their network is very well setup. There is a decent network firewall in operation, ports are stealthed and the information registered on your IP is not too intrusive. This compares very favourably with BT, who only had three of the main service ports stealthed, and they were a dynamic IP. I thought at first that having a fixed IP was a little bit of a security risk, but considering how well the company's network is built, that is a non-issue.

Take away your business if they are that bad. I would have long ago if I was getting the bad service that you claim to be. Let them send all the threatening letters they like, but, ultimately, it is down to you to prove that their service is really as poor as you make it out to be. They will not be able to take any action against you when you show that they were not fulfilling their part of the contract.

Remember, it is enforceable in both directions.

thebman

Friend got Ice in Maynooth and is getting terrible speeds with them which is weird given they are the fastest opeartor in Maynooth according to speedtest.net.

In saying that he ordered from Digiweb 4 weeks ago and still has not heard from them since and his phone calls to the company didn't do anything. He applied for Clearwire a week or two ago and they said they'd be out the next day and never turned up and he ordered from Ice and 2 days later they arrived.

Really shows you the state of the broadband problem in this country.

Xennon

mrplop wrote: »

Where are my inaccurate statements about Ice?

I'm supposed to be getting 3mb broadband.

You are supposed to be getting 3Mb broadband with a contention ratio of 36:1. So at any given time you should have a minimum of 83Kbps download and 27Kbps upload. These speeds are all you are entitled to.

Speed 3mb download 1mb upload
Download Limit Unlimited
Contention Ratio 36:1"

As I keep ranting on, this is B*LL*X. A marketing ploy to sell to people who think they are getting a service. Who regulates contention? If people sign up for a 3Mb/1Mb package, they should be entitled to get those speeds 24/7.

unhappy ice use

I finally got through to the Technical Services Manager on Friday and he got an engineer out to my home. It is a shame that I had to take a route of escalation rather than depend on normal processes. The engineer told me that they are recruiting many more engineers to cope with their growing business – so things should improve.

Both the IDU and the radio on the mast head were replaced.

On testing speed it was 300 down and 700 up. The engineer contacted base to see what could be done. It seems like contention is the culprit.

I did a number of tests over the following hours and had variation from 300 => 2600 down - up did not vary so much – probably averaging ~ 1200 – not what it should be but acceptable for what I needed.

So I am back up and running - I will monitor the performance and implied contention. While not as happy as I have been - I am happier !! I will monitor and post further

On a further note – when I joined Ice they were the only show around – I now have choice – but nothing I read in here or elsewhere gives me any reason to believe that I would get better service from another vendor – in fact – some of the fixed line operators seem to get the most virulent of commentary.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has been an Ice customer and has managed to get a consistently better service in terms of bandwidth and technical support from another vendor.

D

mrplop

Any other 'happy' customers?