chorus broadband any good?

b3rni3

ok guys im new here so first off hello.

anyways i hope this is in the correct section if not feel free to move it.

im currently with eircom on their 3mb line. now the last few weeks have seen eircom go down in my area a few times. also i seem to have a few problems where the latency in game goes up slightly late at night.

i was looking on chorus's website and i saw that you can get the 10mb line in my area for roughly the same as eircoms 3mb line

what im wondering is is there anyone using this and using it for gaming. is it anygood or would i get massive lag spikes in game.

i play counter strike competively for a uk team so i cant have any problems with my internet. any information would be appreciated

thanks

DECEiFER

b3rni3 wrote: »

ok guys im new here so first off hello.

anyways i hope this is in the correct section if not feel free to move it.

im currently with eircom on their 3mb line. now the last few weeks have seen eircom go down in my area a few times. also i seem to have a few problems where the latency in game goes up slightly late at night.

i was looking on chorus's website and i saw that you can get the 10mb line in my area for roughly the same as eircoms 3mb line

what im wondering is is there anyone using this and using it for gaming. is it anygood or would i get massive lag spikes in game.

i play counter strike competively for a uk team so i cant have any problems with my internet. any information would be appreciated

thanks

Hello, and welcome to Boards! You're in the right place, alright.

UPC, like any national ISP, is hot and cold. It all depends on the area, and the cabling.

However, I will say this. For gaming, you probably won't find a better alternative in Cork. Assuming you get a good connection with UPC, and there are no problems (which is very likely - I know plenty of satisfied UPC customers and I wish I could be one, if only they were available where I live), you'll get ping times to domestic and foreign servers that Eircom cannot compete with (~15ms to any domestic server and maybe ~30ms to a British one).

b3rni3

thanks for the quick reply man

im just getting fed up of my net going down every few weeks. also i do occasionally download patches and things for other games and 3mbs is slow.

i might just switch over. ill wait for more feedback first though

thanks

DECEiFER

b3rni3 wrote: »

thanks for the quick reply man

im just getting fed up of my net going down every few weeks. also i do occasionally download patches and things for other games and 3mbs is slow.

i might just switch over. ill wait for more feedback first though

thanks

Go for it! Buy it online for the free connection, too, if you do decide to go ahead.

You might also consider getting their Phone service, as that coupled with TV and Broadband will only cost you €5 per month as opposes to Eircom's line rental of €25.47 per month. If you don't have TV with them and get the Phone and Broadband services only, the line with UPC will only cost you €11 per month. That will get Eircom out of your pocket for good.

You'll keep your existing number, and they'll handle the port for you. BUT, you must cancel the broadband with Eircom by yourself (do not cancel the line itself, though), and you will need to do this before UPC can port your phone number. Once you've done that, UPC will cancel the Eircom line for you and then port your number over.

Sponge Bob

UPC is contended on the segment . If he has a warez freak on the street it could be dire.

VERY important tip, visit the neighbours and run some pings ...around 8PM

DECEiFER

Sponge Bob wrote: »

UPC is contended on the segment . If he has a warez freak on the street it could be dire.

VERY important tip, visit the neighbours and run some pings ...around 8PM

Ah but it's the same with Eircom. A contention ratio of 48:1 on most packages will clutter up the network, especially if you live amongst pirates in your neighborhood. To avoid contention in the residential broadband market in Cork, your best bet is Smart Telecom's LLU packages (assuming your line is on one of their LLU exchanges). They offer a ratio of 1:1.

Still, I reckon going with UPC is the way. But, it's always a good idea to ask around with the neighbors and see if they'll let you run some speed tests and pings at the time Sponge Bob suggested. That's about the time my ADSL connection goes to s**t.

jenizzle

I'd like to ask the same question but I'm in Dublin.

Currently on the 3mb broadband with Eircom (costs about €56 I think) but I can get UPC 20mb for €42 through tv cable (for an extra €6 a month).

Am I crazy to move?

DECEiFER

jenizzle wrote: »

I'd like to ask the same question but I'm in Dublin.

Currently on the 3mb broadband with Eircom (costs about €56 I think) but I can get UPC 20mb for €42 through tv cable (for an extra €6 a month).

Am I crazy to move?

Probably not at all. Heed the same feedback from above. It applies nationwide.

jenizzle

I guess I'm crazy to stay with Eircom!

I do download a fair bit, is that a problem with UPC? Even though Eircom is useless, it rarely has downtime and I can d/l stuff at the moment.

DECEiFER

jenizzle wrote: »

I guess I'm crazy to stay with Eircom!

I do download a fair bit, is that a problem with UPC? Even though Eircom is useless, it rarely has downtime and I can d/l stuff at the moment.

UPC have very generous Fair Usage Policies. On their 10Mb and 20Mb packages there is no cap, but you will be penalized for going over 150GB (or is it more?).

However, that all said, UPC have been *known* to throttle P2P downloads, such as BitTorrent. This is all to do with traffic management and to insure every user gets their speed and that no one person can hog the bandwidth for themselves. I'm not sure at what times they do throttle it, but I believe it's not 24/7. UPC don't document this at all, whereas Virgin Media in the UK do have clear specifications on how much you may download during peak time before they throttle your entire connection for the duration of the peak period.


Virgin Media example:
http://www.virginmedia.com/help/traffic-management.php


You'd be wise to ask UPC Technical Support regarding UPC's policy. Don't bother with Sales, I'd imagine that they'll tell you anything to make you happy so they can earn a bit of commission off the sale.