UPC or Magnet Broadband

SeanSD

I am currently with Eircom for my Broadband.
Its the 7Mb connection but I want to up that to about 20Mb as we have a number of Xbox (3) all running at the same time so we need a lot more speed.

I have searched for feedback on both UPC and Magnet Broadband but all I'm getting is information from about a year ago.

Out of the two providers who would you recommend!!!

Your feedback is most Welcome.

Ranicand

UPC and Magnet and the two fastest find out if you can get either first.

Magnet have a new 50 meg pack however some time next year UPC will be getting 100 meg.

From next month UPC top pack will be 30 meg.

If I was you I would give the two of them a ring and see are you in an area that can receive broadband from them.

RoadKillTs

Don't think you can get both at the same location. Not usually anyways.
I'm with Magnet. They are very good. Broadband is fast and reliable.
The TV service is ok bit slow changing channels. Apart from that its grand.

SeanSD

Contacted Magnet and it appears there contention is better then UPC.

A friend of mine has it (12Mb) and he said it very very fast. Even though UPC will be offering a higher speed he said the contention will make it faster to go with Magnet.

Ranicand

RoadKillTs wrote: »

Don't think you can get both at the same location. Not usually anyways.
I'm with Magnet. They are very good. Broadband is fast and reliable.
The TV service is ok bit slow changing channels. Apart from that its grand.

I am with UPC happy too.

Eircom is the nightmare I would not recommend it to anybody.

Ranicand

SeanSD wrote: »

Contacted Magnet and it appears there contention is better then UPC.

A friend of mine has it (12Mb) and he said it very very fast. Even though UPC will be offering a higher speed he said the contention will make it faster to go with Magnet.

Find out if you can get it first.

campo

SeanSD wrote: »

Contacted Magnet and it appears there contention is better then UPC.

A friend of mine has it (12Mb) and he said it very very fast. Even though UPC will be offering a higher speed he said the contention will make it faster to go with Magnet.

Not sure how there contention is better as UPC dont have a contention ratio

SeanSD

Ranicand wrote: »

I am with UPC happy too.

Eircom is the nightmare I would not recommend it to anybody.

Tell me about it!!!
I am sick and tired of the broadband getting dropped 3 to 4 times in the evening or slowing to a crawl when your trying to play COD6

I am on a 7Mb connection with Eircom but sometimes it feels like Dial-up

IrishTonyO

campo wrote: »

Not sure how there contention is better as UPC dont have a contention ratio

UPC's contention ratio is 17:1

campo

Where did you get that info as it is Fibre Optic cable I was led to believe there is no contention ratio how it was explained to me was imagine you were on a dual carraigway but there was a traffic jam what they would do is just open another lane that is why they dont have contention ratio

IrishTonyO

campo wrote: »

Where did you get that info as it is Fibre Optic cable I was led to believe there is no contention ratio how it was explained to me was imagine you were on a dual carraigway but there was a traffic jam what they would do is just open another lane that is why they dont have contention ratio

If you ring UPC and ask them they will tell you that the contention ratio for them is 17:1, also on the broadband comparison sites state it. But I got it from the horses mouth UPC themselves. This is the reason people get warning letters if they exceed c.205Gb up and down a month as it affects other users nearby.

twig

SeanSD wrote: »

Tell me about it!!!
I am sick and tired of the broadband getting dropped 3 to 4 times in the evening or slowing to a crawl when your trying to play COD6

I totally agree I'm on 3mb on PS3 and it cuts out loads. I think i might avail of the 30mbs off upc in January.

DingDong

Not a bad analogy campo. Its not really a contention ratio like you said it works off utilisation. When a node nears its capacity its resegmented. This can be as easy as some small work in the head end. Or say Installing a new node can take a bit longer. Its a better way of doing things if you think about it. Say you have a contention ratio of 17:1 and you have ten hogs going 24/7 you would be rightly screwed. Your internet supplier is providing when they said they would so in theory they wouldnt have to do anything. By working off utilisation upc will always maintain a useable connection..

campo wrote: »

Where did you get that info as it is Fibre Optic cable I was led to believe there is no contention ratio how it was explained to me was imagine you were on a dual carraigway but there was a traffic jam what they would do is just open another lane that is why they dont have contention ratio

SeanSD

After further discussions with a friend of mine I have settled on Magnet for my Broadband.

His take on it is as follows,
If I have a 1:1 ratio on magnet at 24mb and 17:1 at 30mb with NTL then the magnet would be faster due to the fact that you are 1:1

He has Magent 12mb in work and he said it speeds along. He also has 20 Mb NTL at home and although it is fast you can get slowdowns at different times in the day. He said its not uncommon for him to be doing a bit of work on the web and decided to leave it until he is back in work due to there being a faster Internet connection there.

Sounds strange I know but I am just going on the advice of someone that has both.

TheCaveman

i have beed with NTL for 3 years

Upgraded to Magnet 50Mb in August

Both are great if they work

But, i will go with Manget, as they have unlimited downloads, and no caps

that sealed the deal for me

dub45

campo wrote: »

Where did you get that info as it is Fibre Optic cable I was led to believe there is no contention ratio how it was explained to me was imagine you were on a dual carraigway but there was a traffic jam what they would do is just open another lane that is why they dont have contention ratio

The only way you wont have a 'contention ratio' is if everyone has their own line and that is not an economic propostion. Surely the question to be asked about your analogy is if the other lane is available why close it in the first place?

The problem with UPC (and Eircom too in certain exchanges) is that they seem to only start building the extra lane when the traffic jam is already in existence!

dub45

IrishTonyO wrote: »

If you ring UPC and ask them they will tell you that the contention ratio for them is 17:1, also on the broadband comparison sites state it. But I got it from the horses mouth UPC themselves. This is the reason people get warning letters if they exceed c.205Gb up and down a month as it affects other users nearby.

It is noticeable that UPC never detail their contention ratio on their website. I have emailed them twice asking them what it is. I never got an answer to the first email and the answer I got to the second one wasnt about contention at all!!!

paulm17781

dub45 wrote: »

The only way you wont have a 'contention ratio' is if everyone has their own line and that is not an economic propostion. Surely the question to be asked about your analogy is if the other lane is available why close it in the first place?

That's what most network managers would do anyway. Things are normally locked down until they're needed.

dub45

paulm17781 wrote: »

That's what most network managers would do anyway. Things are normally locked down until they're needed.

That presupposes the availablity of the extra 'lane' in the first place and adequate monitoring. There are regular posts on here from UPC users that they are being told by UPC csrs that they have a contention issue.

baubl

TheCaveman wrote: »

i have beed with NTL for 3 years

Upgraded to Magnet 50Mb in August

Both are great if they work

But, i will go with Manget, as they have unlimited downloads, and no caps

that sealed the deal for me

what are the charges with magnet

chickenrun

I received a first warning today - been a customer of UPC for 5 years. Last week I said ok to move from 3mb to 5mb but you have to confirm for a year.

Then today the letter.

Sharp practise - so on these grounds I would go for magnet now.

Captain Chaos

chickenrun wrote: »

I received a first warning today - been a customer of UPC for 5 years. Last week I said ok to move from 3mb to 5mb but you have to confirm for a year.

Then today the letter.

Sharp practise - so on these grounds I would go for magnet now.

Magnet are the same with download caps unless you go for the more expensive packages just like UPC. I'm on the old UPC 10meg package, got free upgrade to 15mb and its unlimited. Well 250Gb per month but who's going to exceed that.

Good luck with Magnet, after a few months you will be dying to get away from them. Especially when you see the costs compared to UPC and the service you get. Magnet are only good if you are getting a FTTH installation. Their adsl service is muck from my experience with them.

chickenrun

Hey thanks for that. Good info there.

Stuck with upc for a year anyhow for me.

Cheers.

(Ps - some karma, elderly relation got letter from them today also - so I had a look thinking it was same warning, but it was his bill they are charging him 50 for tv (doesnt use it as uses sky now) and 60 for internet - doesn't use hardly ny internet so after a phone call today he will only be paying circa 30 a month)

sham69

With Magnet over 3 years.
Speeds are fantastic at all times.
It is a wee bit expensive but worth it in my eyes.
I am on the 24mb line now and wouldnt consider any other provider.
I have seen some negative comments about magnet recently so maybe its area related or something.
I was close to going with UPC a few weeks ago due to moving house but I EVENTUALLY found out that it wasnt available in my area.
Good luck whatever choice you make.

Magnet: Rory

Captain Chaos wrote: »

Magnet are the same with download caps unless you go for the more expensive packages just like UPC. I'm on the old UPC 10meg package, got free upgrade to 15mb and its unlimited. Well 250Gb per month but who's going to exceed that.

Good luck with Magnet, after a few months you will be dying to get away from them. Especially when you see the costs compared to UPC and the service you get. Magnet are only good if you are getting a FTTH installation. Their adsl service is muck from my experience with them.

We don’t have a cap on any of our broadband packs, we have a fair usage policy (which we have never invoked but we reserve the right to). In relation to our ADSL2+ service; I know you had a bad experience with our services but please note that ADSL2+ is a distance sensitive technology and unfortunately your line was impacted quite badly by this.

banquo

sham69 wrote: »

With Magnet over 3 years.
Speeds are fantastic at all times.
It is a wee bit expensive but worth it in my eyes.
I am on the 24mb line now and wouldnt consider any other provider.
I have seen some negative comments about magnet recently so maybe its area related or something.
I was close to going with UPC a few weeks ago due to moving house but I EVENTUALLY found out that it wasnt available in my area.
Good luck whatever choice you make.

Looking into getting that product myself. Mind if I ask what speeds you get?:o

Magnet: Rory

banquo wrote: »

Looking into getting that product myself. Mind if I ask what speeds you get?:o

It all depends 100% on location. Where are you living? Maybe we can tell you whats on offer?