SMART Telecom throttling my connection. I'm off to UPC.

seeing_ie

Smart have just added an extra couple of hours to my workday today. They throttled my connection (confirmed now) so it takes that much longer to send and receive the files I'm editing. I'm at less than one third of normal speed.

I've had people contact me wondering why a project hasn't been started, while I'm still downloading the file.

Nobody available in customer service until Monday morning.

This is a service advertised as unlimited.

Looks like I'm off to UPC.

MunsterCycling

You might want to look at the T&Cs it hasn't been unlimited ever, always subject to a FUP, anyway if you are using a residential account to upload and download for work then get a business package esp. if the work involves high data volumes.

MC

FoxT

If you have cable,get UPC. Can't beat them with a big stick. Reason? They are committed. Smart are ( or soon will be ) a failed business entity. Like eircom, they are financially in the pits & are trying to survive by milking the consumer whilst delvering the minimum.
I am with UPC for about 2 years now. I get their '15Mb' service (which averages at about 10) they never fail, they have great customer service,and, in general are good citizens.

30 quid a month for the best broadband in Ireland. Go fer it.

jay93

even tough it was advertised as unlimited no provider in ireland does unlimited they all have a fair usage policy.
eg.
utv ''unlimited'' have a fair use of 70GB a month even tough you have to pay an extra 6euro for this so called unlimited..
UPC also is not unlimited usage is usually started at 120GB if you exceed this they will move you upto 250GB usage a month alot better than DSL proivders like smart to be honest!!

flamegrill

FoxT wrote: »

If you have cable,get UPC. Can't beat them with a big stick. Reason? They are committed. Smart are ( or soon will be ) a failed business entity. Like eircom, they are financially in the pits & are trying to survive by milking the consumer whilst delvering the minimum.
I am with UPC for about 2 years now. I get their '15Mb' service (which averages at about 10) they never fail, they have great customer service,and, in general are good citizens.

30 quid a month for the best broadband in Ireland. Go fer it.

I'm not a fan of some of the ISPs but what you're saying is factually incorrect. Smart were bought and integrated into Digiweb last year. So as a business entity they're quite safe.

They normally don't moan at people unless they're pushing 300+ GB per month which is 50GB more than UPC's 250GB FUP on their "unlimited" packages. So if the OP is hitting 300+ GB on smart there's no one else in the market that'll allow that sort of usage to go without penalty.

edit: From smarts forums it looks like their FUP went to 170GB earlier this year, so UPC will give you a bit of leg room, if you can actually get the data down the pipe.


Paul

seeing_ie

Lot of "factually incorrect" information there munstercycling and flamegrill, but thanks for the input guys.

Smart sold itself as nothing but Unlimited when I signed, no FUP, no cap, no nothing.

I confirmed this umpteen times when I signed with the company, and umpteen times during the 6 weeks I was waiting for them to connect me. It was supposed to be 6 days but admin f88kups dragged it out to 6 weeks.

I kept the faith with them during that 6 weeks because I wanted an alternative to Eircom to survive and, well, no FUP and no cap and an advertised 1:1 contention ratio (wonder how true that is now).

My understanding is that when Smart were bought by Digiweb or whoever, they retrospectively inserted the FUP into the contract. Shady management practices to say the least.

This is not the service I signed up for.

Smart are reneging on their initial advertising and trying to squeeze their customers by imposing an arbitrary cap and attempting to get customers to pay per GB above that cap, in my opinion.

I'm off to comparable services like UPC or Magnet and will likely bring the 5 or so relations I encouraged to join Smart with me, since I end up providing support for them anyway.

watty

There was always a FUP. They just didn't enforce a cap until shortly before they failed.

Karmafaerie

Every ISP will always have an AUP/FUP.
That's a given.

They also withold the right to change their contract, just like you withold the right to leave.

seeing_ie

watty wrote: »

There was always a FUP. They just didn't enforce a cap until shortly before they failed.

Again, all my conversations with Smart reps when I signed assured me that there was no FUP (I wouldn't have signed otherwise).
Nothing in writing of course. Maybe the phone recordings kept for quality assurance purposes can confirm.
If by failed you mean when they went into examinership in 2005, wrong.
A FUP has been enforced only since this summer according to the Smart forums.

Karmafaerie wrote: »

Every ISP will always have an AUP/FUP.
That's a given.

Fine. They shouldn't sell it as "unlimited" and try to charge extra per GB later though.

Karmafaerie wrote: »

They also withold the right to change their contract, just like you withold the right to leave.

Wonder how that logic will apply to other 12 and 18 month contracts out there.
Isn't it the case that if you sign with a telecoms provider for an agreed period and want to leave before the end of that period, the provider can pursue you for the remaining line rental or whatever?

watty

The FUP was on website. I know, I checked some years ago.
Never trust sales people unless they sign it in writing.

Many ISPs have been selling "unlimited" (that are not), even 10Gbyte and 30Gbyte caps. Comreg said they would sort this years ago. They are not enforcing it.

jor el

seeing_ie wrote: »

Isn't it the case that if you sign with a telecoms provider for an agreed period and want to leave before the end of that period, the provider can pursue you for the remaining line rental or whatever?

If an operator changes the terms of your contract, then the contract is null and void if you chose not to accept these changes. This would even apply to an 18 month contract you just took out yesterday, if they decided to impose changes to it today. You will have no liability to charges for the remainder of the contract, as the provider is the one breaking it.

Smart has always had an FUP, right back from when they started, however there was never a specific number applied to it. About 2 years ago, they decided that this number would be 170GB. To me, this would have represented a change, as now there is a specific limit, where as before there was no specific limit. I don't think Smart treated it this way, but anyone would have been free to dispute it as a change, and try to end the contract.

It's time the ISPs stopped advertising Unlimited* products, then saying *Unlimited = XX GB. This isn't even an FUP, it's a hard set limit, simple as that. Vodafone's unlimited mobile midband is the worst, where their FUP is 10GB, the same limit as their non-unlimited service.

seeing_ie

watty wrote: »

The FUP was on website. I know, I checked some years ago.
Never trust sales people unless they sign it in writing.

Many ISPs have been selling "unlimited" (that are not), even 10Gbyte and 30Gbyte caps. Comreg said they would sort this years ago. They are not enforcing it.

Was it close to startup when you saw it on the website?
I must have been talking to Smart daily waiting to get connected, thought you could take conversations at face value (particularly on a fundamental issue like this). Obviously not.
It comes back to management thinking they can increase revenue byat the expense of the customer base imo.

MunsterCycling

More like a PEBTAC error from the point of view of the customer.

seeing_ie

MunsterCycling wrote: »

More like a PEBTAC error from the point of view of the customer.

That's how it seems, I talked to head of sales at the time and was given multiple assurances, as well as a months free line rental for my patience waiting for connection.

After some research it seems Magnet is the way to go at the moment, in Dublin CC anyway.
That'll probably change though when they want to improve their balance sheet!