Magnet Broadband

FALC0NR15

Hi guys. I am after ordering Magnet 7.6 mb broadband. I would like to know what you guys think about Magnet. What are the download restrictions?e.g could I download 200-250GB a month? Is Magnet better than BT? I recently got rid of BT because I could only download 100GB which for me is not enough. Was switching from BT to Magnet a wise decision?
Thanks for reading.

cramp

Iam with them 2 years , no issues,they have No download limits.....
Iam on thier 10mb package , but only get 6.5mb speeds...
i will moving to NTL when its availble in my area for faster speeds!!

cramp

blobert

Do they have a 7.6mb service, the website only talks about 10mb?

lotas

could be like BT: if your exchange has been upgraded you get 10. if not, you get 7.6...

Magnet: Rory

lotas wrote: »

could be like BT: if your exchange has been upgraded you get 10. if not, you get 7.6...

Thats exactly the case. It's unlimited.

cramp

7.6mb is the guaranteed speed, but you can get faster, the max that i can get out of my line is 6.5mb,

I had eircom reps at the door last week asking me to change back to them for 60euro a month for a "guaranteed" speed of 7.3mb++ plus line rental, i informed them that my line can only take 6.5mb, but they insisted after they installed their equipment that i i would get 7.3mb++.....
But as far as iam aware Eircom has a contention ratio, while Magnet claim that they are contention free... and in fairness to Magnet after been with them for 2 years their speed has NEVER EVER dropped at any time, and iam a very very heavy user....

cramp

Magnet: Rory

cramp wrote: »

7.6mb is the guaranteed speed, but you can get faster, the max that i can get out of my line is 6.5mb,

I had eircom reps at the door last week asking me to change back to them for 60euro a month for a "guaranteed" speed of 7.3mb++ plus line rental, i informed them that my line can only take 6.5mb, but they insisted after they installed their equipment that i i would get 7.3mb++.....
But as far as iam aware Eircom has a contention ratio, while Magnet claim that they are contention free... and in fairness to Magnet after been with them for 2 years their speed has NEVER EVER dropped at any time, and iam a very very heavy user....

cramp

In the interest of honesty I think its important for me to point out that the 7.6mb service is contended (24:1) (ADSL2+ and fiber areas are uncontended)

On the issue of the eircom reps.....i have no idea how they could possibly insist you will get 7.3mb.

cramp

the stuff they came out was
1. Sutton Exchange has been upgraded late last year
2. A guarantee in writing that this will be the Lowest speed that i would get
3. magnet set up their equipment in sutton exchange, while this connection would be wired by eircom.......
Don't know much about how 3rd parties setup BB in eircoms exchange, but iam sure that most of it is sales Bulls**t....


cramp

Magnet: Rory

cramp wrote: »

the stuff they came out was
1. Sutton Exchange has been upgraded late last year
2. A guarantee in writing that this will be the Lowest speed that i would get
3. magnet set up their equipment in sutton exchange, while this connection would be wired by eircom.......
Don't know much about how 3rd parties setup BB in eircoms exchange, but iam sure that most of it is sales Bulls**t....


cramp

This is not sales BS, we (Magnet) have ADSL2+ equipment in the Sutton exchange. The Sutton Exchange is connected to our own fiber network and operates through eircom for the last mile to your house.

If your talking about eircom.....well i cant speak for them.......

bk

cramp wrote: »

I had eircom reps at the door last week asking me to change back to them for 60euro a month for a "guaranteed" speed of 7.3mb++ plus line rental,

I wouldn't believe Eircom for a second, I'd stick with Magnet.

Magnet use the newer and much better ADSL2+ technology, while Eircom use the older and inferior RADSL tech. You will definitely get better performance on Magnet then you would get from Eircom on the same line.

lotas

what do BT use? thats what i have now, but looking at either Magnet or Smart...

bk

lotas wrote: »

what do BT use? thats what i have now, but looking at either Magnet or Smart...

They use ADSL2+ in some exchanges and offer up to 24mb/s on it, but they use Eircoms RADSL in the majority of exchanges. Unless you specificaaly signed up for it, you are likely on the latter.

List of BT's LLU exchanges here:
http://www.btireland.ie/llu_exchanges.shtml

Magnet: Rory

bk wrote: »

They use ADSL2+ in some exchanges and offer up to 24mb/s on it, but they use Eircoms RADSL in the majority of exchanges. Unless you specificaaly signed up for it, you are likely on the latter.

List of BT's LLU exchanges here:
http://www.btireland.ie/llu_exchanges.shtml

Im 80% sure that their service is contended...but im not certain....anyone know for definite? I called them before on this and you wouldn't believe the rubbish the sales guy spewed out to sidestep the issue.

bk

Rorser wrote: »

Im 80% sure that their service is contended...but im not certain....anyone know for definite? I called them before on this and you wouldn't believe the rubbish the sales guy spewed out to sidestep the issue.

I didn't say it wasn't.

All residential broadband services are contended. Unless you are paying tens of thousands of euros for a dedicated leased line, then your BB service is contended.

This is true for Eircom, UPC, Smart and yes even Magnet.

Of course some companies like Smart and Magnet have far more bandwidth and manage their bandwidth far more effectively then others, but yes even they don't offer guaranteed 1:1 contention.

Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with contention. It is an important way to deliver affordable broadband to people, just as long as it is managed fairly.

Marlow

bk wrote: »

I didn't say it wasn't.

All residential broadband services are contended. Unless you are paying tens of thousands of euros for a dedicated leased line, then your BB service is contended.

This is true for Eircom, UPC, Smart and yes even Magnet.

Of course some companies like Smart and Magnet have far more bandwidth and manage their bandwidth far more effectively then others, but yes even they don't offer guaranteed 1:1 contention.

Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with contention. It is an important way to deliver affordable broadband to people, just as long as it is managed fairly.

Well, if you put it like this, then the whole internet is contended.

When talking about contention and subscriber lines, Magnet and Smart are not contended. That they not necessarily have a 1:1 backbone network to what they sell to the users is a different issue. That is also something, if the need arises, that is easily solved/scaled.

As for Eircom/BT, the contention is applied at the DSLAM and that's a huge difference.

For UPC and most wireless type service, the contention lies in the last mile, as it's a Point to Multi-Point setup.

But saying that Magnet and Smart are contended is BS, when the users never get contention and they are looking to, that that is the case. (Magnet bitstream obviously is contended due to the fact, that Eircom contention at DSLAM applies). That yer man only is getting 6.5 mbit/s is down to line quality and is rate adaption. Something that Eircom would throw on top of the contention.

/Martin

bk

Marlow wrote: »

Well, if you put it like this, then the whole internet is contended.

Yes, exactly the whole internet is contended, companies claiming they aren't contented is only marketing BS.

Marlow wrote: »

When talking about contention and subscriber lines, Magnet and Smart are not contended. That they not necessarily have a 1:1 backbone network to what they sell to the users is a different issue. That is also something, if the need arises, that is easily solved/scaled.

Not true, they are contended, they just manage their contention in such a way that the end user should never notice it. However I have seen cases where Smart has run out of backhaul bandwidth to certain exchanges, where people were only getting half the speed they paid for as a result and it took Smart months to get more backhaul to the exchange.

Even for companies like these, who manage their backhaul well, when they reach the limits of the backhaul to a particular exchange, it can take months to get more fibre to be put in place.

Marlow wrote: »

As for Eircom/BT, the contention is applied at the DSLAM and that's a huge difference.

Really the only difference between Bitstream and LLU in terms of contention is that Eircom arbitrarily apply contention at the DSLAM, this is so they can limit and control their competitors ability to compete. Otherwise BT could just run their own fibre to the exchanges (they do in many cases) and offer the same speeds but with no "contention" (going by the incorrect marketing term).

Marlow wrote: »

For UPC and most wireless type service, the contention lies in the last mile, as it's a Point to Multi-Point setup.

Yes, in cable their is contention in the last mile, unlike DSL which is point to point on the last mile. There can also be contention at other points in the network (not enough backhaul, insufficient networking gear, not enough international backhaul, etc.) just the same as any of the DSL operators.

Also it is worth noting that the contention on cable can be managed down where it won't be noticed by the end user, by moving the fibre nodes very close to the end user and reducing the number of users connected to each co-ax loop.

Also cable can potentially go to much, much higher speeds then DSL, UPC offer 120mb/s BB for €80 in the Netherlands :eek:

Marlow wrote: »

But saying that Magnet and Smart are contended is BS, when the users never get contention and they are looking to, that that is the case. (Magnet bitstream obviously is contended due to the fact, that Eircom contention at DSLAM applies). That yer man only is getting 6.5 mbit/s is down to line quality and is rate adaption. Something that Eircom would throw on top of the contention.

But it isn't guaranteed and sometimes people do experience contention on these networks, see my Smart example above. I'm only letting people know the truth of the situation, I hate marketing BS.

BTW this started because Rorser claimed that BT's LLU product has contention. I'm just replying that BT's LLU product is no more contented then Magnet (BT LLU not suffering from Eircoms arbitrary contention at the DSLAM and BT having their own fibre to most if not all of their LLU exchanges and BT managing this backhaul in much the same way that Magnet does).

So it was an unfair comment for Rorser to make.

Marlow

bk wrote: »

BTW this started because Rorser claimed that BT's LLU product has contention. I'm just replying that BT's LLU product is no more contented then Magnet (BT LLU not suffering from Eircoms arbitrary contention at the DSLAM and BT having their own fibre to most if not all of their LLU exchanges and BT managing this backhaul in much the same way that Magnet does).

Rorser is right though. BT officially quotes contention applied at DSLAM level on their LLU products.

As for Magnet or Smarts contention, yes that can happen. It can even happen to their fiber customers (it did to us) in case of a network fault. In general, it's something that will be resolved quickly. And well, beggars can't be choosers If you don't pay for carrier grade backhaul, you can't expect carrier grade quality.

/Martin

iggy

I have Magnet 8mb for the last year.
I find the broadband excellent and customer service top notch.

Would never go back to UPC

bk

Marlow wrote: »

Rorser is right though. BT officially quotes contention applied at DSLAM level on their LLU products.

No, can't find it anywhere on the BT site, please supply a link.

Perhaps you are getting mixed up with BT's Bitstream product, it would make zero sense for BT to apply contention at DSLAM level on their own LLU products.

Marlow

bk wrote: »

No, can't find it anywhere on the BT site, please supply a link.

Perhaps you are getting mixed up with BT's Bitstream product, it would make zero sense for BT to apply contention at DSLAM level on their own LLU products.

Well, either they don't list it so or they've changed that. I used to do consulting for a company with BT LLU circuit and it was contended as per invoice, 10:1 i believe.

/M

Magnet: Rory

bk wrote: »

No, can't find it anywhere on the BT site, please supply a link.

Perhaps you are getting mixed up with BT's Bitstream product, it would make zero sense for BT to apply contention at DSLAM level on their own LLU products.

Does anyone know what the contention ratio is on BT's 24mb service. I am not claiming they do have high contention.....I am just pointing out that i have not been able to get up to date information on this.

Scoti

Rorser wrote: »

Does anyone know what the contention ratio is on BT's 24mb service. I am not claiming they do have high contention.....I am just pointing out that i have not been able to get up to date information on this.

Rorser wrote: »

Does anyone know what the contention ratio is on BT's 24mb service. I am not claiming they do have high contention.....I am just pointing out that i have not been able to get up to date information on this.

That's a bit tricky.

If you were to ask for an official communique they'll say 48:1, but as far as I know is 24:1. Now, because their exchanges are almost empty congestion is none existant. Just think they barely have a few hundred customers per exchange, in some of them (new releases) probably not even a hundred, unlike some Eircom exchanges with 17000 lines

So at the moment I'd say none, as it starts growing and as long as they will managed their network well, never more than 48:1. But it could take a while.

I have seen some generalization here in regards congestion happening at DSLAM level, unfortunately it is much complicated than that. There are many levels of congestion. And I remember someone saying that BT LLU had a contention ratio of 10:1, that must have been the old LLU1 service which is no longer growing.

Marlow

Scoti wrote: »

That's a bit tricky.
I have seen some generalization here in regards congestion happening at DSLAM level, unfortunately it is much complicated than that. There are many levels of congestion.

Well, the contention advised towards the customer is usually contention at DSLAM level, not further up the network. Obviously contention can also happen there, but with proper bandwidth management/monitoring and a bit foresight, that can easily be solved.

Scoti wrote: »

And I remember someone saying that BT LLU had a contention ratio of 10:1, that must have been the old LLU1 service which is no longer growing.

It was a business circuit on LLU1 alright. And yes, the sales lads in BT have even tried to move LLU1 customer of on bitstream on higher contention, for whatever reason there now is for that.

/Martin

Scoti

Marlow wrote: »

Well, the contention advised towards the customer is usually contention at DSLAM level, not further up the network. Obviously contention can also happen there, but with proper bandwidth management/monitoring and a bit foresight, that can easily be solved.

Yes, when Eircom/BT/UTV/Perlico or whoever, at the time they sale the product, advertise a contention ratio of 48:1 or 24:1... that congestion is applied at Exchange level.

While some exchanges are clearly overcongested and Eircom have plans to upgrade those exchanges the main problem is not an overloaded DSLAM but an overloaded node. That means that the link between one ASAM and the next node does not have enought bandwidth to cope with the traffic. In fact, the upgrades that Eircom will be doing within the next few months, most of them are circuit upgrades, from E1 to SMT-1 or SMT-4, for example.

Some of the problems Eircom have encountered are related to congestion in between the exchange and their BECS.

It was a business circuit on LLU1 alright. And yes, the sales lads in BT have even tried to move LLU1 customer of on bitstream on higher contention, for whatever reason there now is for that.

/Martin

As far as I know BT will start upgrading their LLU1 customer to LLU2 soon so it wont be bitstream but ADSL2+ which is better. There are 10:1 contention radio products on bitstream but they are too expensive and not worth it.:rolleyes:

FastFullBack

Whats the upload speed on Magents 10MB package?
And whats the minimum contract?

Magnet: Rory

carrolltimmy wrote: »

Whats the upload speed on Magents 10MB package?
And whats the minimum contract?

512kb

minimum contract 12 months

SteJay

For houses not fed by cable Magnet say on their website 'free landline connection', does this mean they will install a new phone line? and if so roughly how long is the waiting time does anyone know?

Marlow

SteJay wrote: »

For houses not fed by cable Magnet say on their website 'free landline connection', does this mean they will install a new phone line? and if so roughly how long is the waiting time does anyone know?

I used to have a business connection with them, and the way it works is that you order a seperate landline from eircom and they move it over to themselfs then. There will be no monthly line-rental after that.

I think, they can order the line for you, too, but it might take a fair bit longer.

/Martin

SteJay

Thanks for the info Marlow

We are having a bit of a dispute with eircom at the moment they want 150euro to reactivate our phone line after cancelling their service. So it would suit me if magnet would install/get a new phone line for us so we could get their service instead.

Does anyone know the average waiting time for a new line and broadband service to be set up?

Marlow

SteJay wrote: »

Thanks for the info Marlow

We are having a bit of a dispute with eircom at the moment they want 150euro to reactivate our phone line after cancelling their service. So it would suit me if magnet would install/get a new phone line for us so we could get their service instead.

Does anyone know the average waiting time for a new line and broadband service to be set up?

Hold eircom to their website:

Go to http://www.eircom.ie ->
click on "Products and Service" ->
click on "Phonelines" in the "Voice" box ->
click on "Find out more"

"How much does it cost"

* If your home previously had an eircom home phoneline and all line work is in place and you want to reconnect, the connection will be €25.09*
* If your home has never had an eircom phoneline but all line work is in place, the connection will be €49.99**
* If your home has never had an eircom phoneline, or all line work is not in place, the connection will be €121.93***

They can not charge you more than 25.09 EUR unless they specify exactly, why they need a technician out.

If you connect a handset to the phoneline, do you get some kind of dial or busy tone ?

/Martin

SteJay

I'll reconnect the phone as soon as I get the chance and let ya know what happens. They said they need to get a technician out to switch it back on but theyy turned if off over the phone no problem

I have the full details of the dispute on another thread here;
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055433910&goto=newpost if you wanna read it

Thanks for the website link I'll check that out too.