A couple of quick questions

jasonb

Hi there,

Just trying to make sure I understand Eircom's NGB product.

As far as I know, most Broadband speeds are dependent on many things ( line quality etc. ) and also contention. So, am I right in thinking contention means that the more people in the area using broadband ( from the same provider / line ) then the slower it will be. So you could have 8Mb download with eircom but only see speeds of 4Mb or less?

Now, if I understand it correctly, the NGB doesn't have contention anymore, but the other factors ( line quality etc. ) still apply? So basically, if you get NGB and you get a speen of say 7Mb, you should expect to always get 7Mb?

Is that right? Just trying to see what the difference between 'standard' broadband and 'next generation' broadband is. Do any other companies offer 'non-contention' broadband?

Thanks!

J.

kirving

Yeah thats pretty much bang on as far as I know. Not 100% though!

jor el

No, your assumptions are wrong. You're confusing congestion with contention, and they are different things. Contention is not necessarily a bad thing, it depends on how the ISP lays out their network. Congestion is a bad thing, and can depend on a lot of things (including the contention rate).

NGB is claimed to be congestion free, not contention free. The claim is somewhat spurious though, and I've seen many complaint that 8Mbps at 11AM can still become <1Mbps at 7PM. This is congestion at work.

jasonb wrote:

So, am I right in thinking contention means that the more people in the area using broadband ( from the same provider / line ) then the slower it will be. So you could have 8Mb download with eircom but only see speeds of 4Mb or less?

Contention should not effect your speed, that would be congestion. Read this article to see the difference.

jasonb

Excellent article, thanks for explaining that!

So, if you're signed up to Eircom NGB, which is supposed to be Congestion free, and your speed drops from 8Mb during the day to 1Mb at night, is that their product failing? In other words, they're marketing it as a product that won't suffer from congestion so therefore that drop won't happen ( i.e. you *always* get 8mb, no matter what time of the day - assuming of course that your line can handle 8Mb in the first place )?

J.

jor el

Yes, they're marketing it as a product that always gives you the maximum that your line can handle. If you get one speed during the day, then it drops significantly in the evenings, then you are suffering from congestion related problems, which NGB is supposed to be free from.

If this is happening to you, you may have the right to terminate your contract under the grounds that they are failing to provide what you paid for. You would need to be able to back up your claims with evidence over a period of time, and have records of unresolved complaints to eircom about the problems.

jasonb

Thanks for that, as it happens I'm not experiencing issues, but really wanted to understand exactly what Eircom are selling / promising. Thanks again...

Jason.

Nothingbetter2d

ngb means your not spliting an 8mb bandwidth with upto 47 other people

standard means you are spliting a upto 24mb bandwith with upto 47 other people