BT Ireland v Eircom

hideous ape

Hi all,

Just moved to West Cork for the next 6 months and need to get broadband. The only two options that are available to me and that fit the bill are:

BT Ireland 3mb Broadband + Talk: €56 (inc line rental)
Eircom 3mb Broadband Home Pro: €48.50 (not sure if line rental is inc)

BT Ireland seem to have the better deal going so I'm leaning towards them at the moment but what does everyone think?

Which is the better broadband service?

Sponge Bob

Calls are cheaper with Bt as well and calls to UK landlines are free...if thats relevant .

Otherwise the difference is price and you know that .

Delorian

There is no difference between any broadband service through a landline unless the provider has unbundled the exchange in your area. This, however, is very rare and I think Smart were the only company to do it for the residential market, and getting broadband involved changing your number and waiting an age. Therefore, effectively all landline providers rely on eircom for their service.

So what you should be looking for are the usual company traits: customer service, price, limits (usage, time, penalties for going over). If eircom can deliver broadband to your area, all landline providers can and all can offer the same speed, whether they choose to or not. It may be worth checking others such as Perlico, Imagine, UTV, etc. I know many of these guarantee to beat eircom's price.

bealtine

hideous ape wrote: »

Which is the better broadband service?

Same stuff just different packaging.

JDxtra

Is there a 12 month minimum contract though?

Sponge Bob

There is if you get a bundle ( forgot that sorry), BT can waive that in advance if you ask nicely .

There is a 6 month contract on standalone BB ...ie not in a bundle.

MeWantBroadband

Once the broadband is up, BTs actual internet product is sound, and as you know you can save money.

However their bureaucracy and process lead to a poor customer experience.

Was with them for 2 years till this week, and I found them infuriating to sign up to and more so when I was leaving, but fine in between. It is bad processes and management, I suspect.

Solair

My own experience with BT was that their customer service and billing department is simply hellish to deal with and I wouldn't ever go near them again as a result.

UTV are worth a shot too, they're pretty decent and offer good value on calls too and do a 3mbit/s package. They are a bitstream operator, i.e. they use eircom's equipment to provide their products, so you'll have no issue using them on anyline that you can get eircom broadband on. However, they do provide better value and higher speeds.

They also currently have a half price line rental offer.

Their voice products give you unlimited UK and Ireland landline calls for a fixed rate per month, it's cheaper than BT


Also, for a small fee per month, you can get the download caps removed from your account

https://ssl.u.tv/UTV_Internet/Residential/ClicksilverBroadband/option.asp?option=4&ROIUser=true

There is a cancellation fee payable if you cancel in less than 12 months, but it's not enormous e.g. about €50something euro. Also, they're prepared to refund it if you take their service at another address i.e. if moving house. In general, I found them very flexible about it.
There's certainly nothing like forcing you to pay the full year's subs.

We're now with Smart, but if you're not on an unbundled exchange, UTV are well worth a look!

hideous ape

Didn't even know about UTV so will check them out.

Cheers.