Options to increase my Broadband Speed from 7MB

iPhone.

Hi,

I just want to find out what options I may have for increasing my broadband speed from my current 7MB max upload speed.

I am on the Dunmore co. Galway Exchange

Thanks.

Sponge Bob

None I would think, Dunmore is not in any form of Next Generation upgrade programme.

iPhone.

Any harm asking if the information you are drawing on is freely available?

GarIT

Go onto bonkers.ie and check yourself, I can't for you because you need your phone number.

iPhone.

Will do. Thanks for the info.

lockup35

I'm in the same situation looking for 7Mb broadband on a standard exchange. Is there a reason Eircom et al charge €60+ for 7Mb phone/broadband when NGB is much cheaper?

Sponge Bob

Because they will not upgrade the vast majority of exchanges is why. Of the 950 odd exchanges with Basic ADSL they only plan on upgrading at most 400 and have done at most 300 to date.

Zimmerframe

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Because they will not upgrade the vast majority of exchanges is why. Of the 950 odd exchanges with Basic ADSL they only plan on upgrading at most 400 and have done at most 300 to date.

That's bad enough, but charging much more to the people who are stuck with the slow version sucks totally.

eircom: Mark

iPhone. wrote: »

Hi,

I just want to find out what options I may have for increasing my broadband speed from my current 7MB max upload speed.

I am on the Dunmore co. Galway Exchange

Thanks.

Hi iPhone.,

If you like, PM me the account number/phone number and I'll look at your options for you. I would need to check your specific line to allow as much accuracy as possible. Things like distance from the exchange will effect the speed. Send on the info and I'll be happy to check for you.

Cheers

James

iPhone.

Thanks James, got a reply via pm to my query as I had already submitted my details. It basically says 7MB is the best I can get and no plans for any upgrade in the near future.

In relation to this I got a call out of the blue today from eircom sales to try to offer me a better value option which basically amounted to dropping down to 60 euro a month versus my current 67 euro per month for 7MB broadband and anytime calls. Not a huge saving considering it would require signing up for a minimum 12 months but it did prompt me to do some more research.

I went through all the options for broadband available to me from eircom with the agent, told him I would be happy to lose the call package altogether and just go with a broadband only package to bring down the cost, but eircom will only offer me a broadband only package without line rental included!! This meant I would pay 40 euro for broadband and then 25 euro on top for line rental, which is basically what i am paying now but also getting anytime calls for it too, bizarre as I just want broadband.

Vodafone are offering a broadband only deal of up to 8MB for 40 euro which includes line rental, the only negative being its 40GB cap versus eircom 50GB. How can their be such a huge gap between what vodafone can offer on a broadband only package and Eircom?

I also asked the agent how come I can't see the 7MB standard broadband bundle with eircom talktime talker which I am currently on, on the website anymore. He said they had reduced the number of packages on offer to three from a previous ten. This prompted me to ask , what would happen then if I phoned today as a new customer wishing to avail of broadband and phone, my exchange is not NGB enabled, he said he didn't know for sure because as I pointed out none of the three packages would work for me without NGB.

so why have Eircom removed the package I am currently on from the website and can someone give me a more definitive answer as to what would happen if I now wished to avail of the services as a new customer on my line, only NGB packages advertised?

Also I told the rep on the phone that I never had any problem with Eircom and always enjoyed a good service and would rather stay with them if possible, from their side, they have my details going back years and can see i am a loyal customer who more importantly pays every bill on time. (sounds similar to a convo I had recently with ESB) I said it doesnt make sense to me to possibly let a customer like me go to a rival provider and then probably phone me in two weeks time offering me a deal to come back, which I most likely wouldn't be able to do as I would probably be tied into a new 12 month contract with the rival instead of offering me a service or a deal now!! You have a customer with a perfect track record here Eircom, almost begging you to provide him with a competitive deal and you are sitting on your hands, why?

I also asked if their was a business retention agent I could talk to who could possibly cobble together some sort of a package which was outside of the constraints of the three current new packages the sales agents are pushing and the answer was no. Again why?

Is there some top secret package going to be released to replace the one I am currently on or are current customers on the standard 7MB package just now an anomaly to be ignored?

Really frustrated and would really appreciate an informed and more positive response from one of the Eircom reps on here please.

Zimmerframe

Exactly what that man said, I'm in exactly the same position, in the same neck of the woods too.
It's ridiculous that because Eircom decide NOT to upgrade an exchange that the customers stuck with slower broadband get to pay a huge premium because they haven't been upgraded to faster broadband.
According to Eircom's website, it appears non NGB customers don't exist.
I too don't want any call package, just plain broadband at the max speed my line will sustain i.e approx. 5mb.
Paying €60 plus per month for what speedtest tells me is currently 1.9 mb/s is a bit OTT.
So is there any better offer for us ????

GarIT

If you go onto bonkers.ie, go to compare phone and broadband and put in your phone number the site will test your connection straight away. It doesn't matter what eircom say they think it might be able to take.

iPhone.

GarIT wrote: »

If you go onto bonkers.ie, go to compare phone and broadband and put in your phone number the site will test your connection straight away. It doesn't matter what eircom say they think it might be able to take.

The problem is not what the line can take. My line for example at the moment is 7MB, so I would be more than happy to take the NGB offer of 8MB from Eircom at the moment (even if I only get 7MB from it) and pay the lesser charge for that compared to my current 7MB standard broadband fee. But Eircom refuse to allow me because my exchange is not NGB enabled!

As the previous poster said we now don't even exist on the products listing from Eircom, but they still know we exist enough to charge us more for less when billing time comes around.

still would like a reply to my previous post please Eircom Reps when you are next on.

GarIT

iPhone. wrote: »

The problem is not what the line can take. My line for example at the moment is 7MB, so I would be more than happy to take the NGB offer of 8MB from Eircom at the moment (even if I only get 7MB from it) and pay the lesser charge for that compared to my current 7MB standard broadband fee. But Eircom refuse to allow me because my exchange is not NGB enabled!

As the previous poster said we now don't even exist on the products listing from Eircom, but they still know we exist enough to charge us more for less when billing time comes around.

still would like a reply to my previous post please Eircom Reps when you are next on.

Yeah, I don't know how but I read something completely different to what was actually written. There have been cases before where people have been told that they could get one speed by Eircom but then end up getting a lot faster with a different company because that company has extra equipment installed in the exchange. I was on Vodafone 8mb before there was NGB.

eircom: Mark

iPhone. wrote: »

Thanks James, got a reply via pm to my query as I had already submitted my details. It basically says 7MB is the best I can get and no plans for any upgrade in the near future.

In relation to this I got a call out of the blue today from eircom sales to try to offer me a better value option which basically amounted to dropping down to 60 euro a month versus my current 67 euro per month for 7MB broadband and anytime calls. Not a huge saving considering it would require signing up for a minimum 12 months but it did prompt me to do some more research.

I went through all the options for broadband available to me from eircom with the agent, told him I would be happy to lose the call package altogether and just go with a broadband only package to bring down the cost, but eircom will only offer me a broadband only package without line rental included!! This meant I would pay 40 euro for broadband and then 25 euro on top for line rental, which is basically what i am paying now but also getting anytime calls for it too, bizarre as I just want broadband.

Vodafone are offering a broadband only deal of up to 8MB for 40 euro which includes line rental, the only negative being its 40GB cap versus eircom 50GB. How can their be such a huge gap between what vodafone can offer on a broadband only package and Eircom?

I also asked the agent how come I can't see the 7MB standard broadband bundle with eircom talktime talker which I am currently on, on the website anymore. He said they had reduced the number of packages on offer to three from a previous ten. This prompted me to ask , what would happen then if I phoned today as a new customer wishing to avail of broadband and phone, my exchange is not NGB enabled, he said he didn't know for sure because as I pointed out none of the three packages would work for me without NGB.

so why have Eircom removed the package I am currently on from the website and can someone give me a more definitive answer as to what would happen if I now wished to avail of the services as a new customer on my line, only NGB packages advertised?

Also I told the rep on the phone that I never had any problem with Eircom and always enjoyed a good service and would rather stay with them if possible, from their side, they have my details going back years and can see i am a loyal customer who more importantly pays every bill on time. (sounds similar to a convo I had recently with ESB) I said it doesnt make sense to me to possibly let a customer like me go to a rival provider and then probably phone me in two weeks time offering me a deal to come back, which I most likely wouldn't be able to do as I would probably be tied into a new 12 month contract with the rival instead of offering me a service or a deal now!! You have a customer with a perfect track record here Eircom, almost begging you to provide him with a competitive deal and you are sitting on your hands, why?

I also asked if their was a business retention agent I could talk to who could possibly cobble together some sort of a package which was outside of the constraints of the three current new packages the sales agents are pushing and the answer was no. Again why?

Is there some top secret package going to be released to replace the one I am currently on or are current customers on the standard 7MB package just now an anomaly to be ignored?

Really frustrated and would really appreciate an informed and more positive response from one of the Eircom reps on here please.

Hi iPhone.,

The info regarding the plans for upgrades is correct at the moment. There could be future upgrades but there are no plans in the pipeline at the moment unfortunately. With regards to the call you received, this most likely coincided with the launch of the new packages. The new prices were approved by ComReg and the current range lines us up with most competitors price-wise. I understand that €7 per month is not a massive drop in cost, but as a percentage of the package price this is almost 10%, which overall is a decent reduction.

You are correct when you say paying for the line rental and broadband separately actually works out more expensive than a bundle. The reason for this is that when you have both a call package and a broadband product eircom will give a discount for having both services, even if you never plan on plugging a handset in. When you get broadband, it depends on a landline to allow the signal through. The option for broadband only is more geared towards people who have a landline with another provider.

Another small point regarding the allowance on the 7mb broadband. At the moment eircom do not charge any excess download charges on the standard broadband packages although we do reserve the right to charge as per the terms and conditions. Effectively what that means is that customers are free to exceed the download allowance without penalty. Just be aware that a very small percentage of customers who are on the standard broadband packages who continually have extremely excessive usage will be sent out a letter warning that the usage is to high and may be charged excess usage in future if the pattern continues. So until you move to Next generation broadband you will not be charged any excess download fees (certainly not without notification first)

The packages are not fully available for sale on our website at the moment, we did have some small teething problems with the online launch which are being addressed. For now the packages are advertised online with an option for a callback so once you get to the actual point of sale the agent will advise of what is available. I know this isn't ideal but it is only in the interim. The old package you have is no longer available for sale as they have been removed from the systems in here. We previously had a large range of packages with a low uptake on most of them so they have been streamlined into 3 basic phone packages with the options of add-ons that can be added/removed as you wish, and can be combined with any of our existing broadband products.

I hope you understand that the 'standard' broadband products will come back on the website, along with price points for each product but in the meantime you can look at it this way:
We have 4 'standard' broadband options (all 'up to' the stated speeds) which are:

• Home Starter (1mb)
• Home Plus (3mb)
• Home Advanced (7mb, no NGB equivalent)
• Home Turbo (24mb)

There are then 3 equivalent NGB packages:

• NGB Basic (8mb w/ 10gb monthly downloads) = Home Starter
• NGB Regular (8mb w/ unlimited downloads) = Home Plus
• NGB Ultimate (24mb w/ unlimited downloads) = Home Turbo

So the way it works for customers with the new bundles is that anyone who is on our old bundle packages can keep what they currently have, but anyone making changes can only move to one of the new packages. The website sales option will be fully functional ASAP and will allow all packages to be purchased, but we need to ensure it is working correctly before going 'live'. When it comes to the cancellations team, they can occasionally use discretion with customers package price but I can't confirm the best possible option as they are kept within that team. I do see that you have been a good and loyal customer of ours and appreciate that you are only looking for the best possible deal so I can only recommend calling our sales team directly on 1800 503 303 to allow them go through the possible options which could work out cheaper. Thanks for taking the time to read this and if I have left anything unanswered or you need further info I'll be happy to help.

Regards

James (Logged in as Mark)

Zimmerframe

eircom: Mark wrote: »

I can only recommend calling our sales team directly on 1800 503 303 to allow them go through the possible options which could work out cheaper.

No offence intended, but don't waste your time. I too have been a loyal customer for years, been talking to them and they will do nothing, other than downgrade your broadband to 3mb to save a fiver per month.

In a nutshell:

up to 7mb is much more expensive than 8mb
and removing your voice and call options makes your bill more expensive.

iPhone.

Firstly, Thanks James for taking the time to give a very comprehensive response. It at least gives me the reassurance that you at least are willing to listen to your customers.

As the previous poster Zimmerframe pointed out though, when I also have contacted customer support, I have basically been met with indifference when I have asked to speak to a retention agent or someone who wants to keep my custom. I have been told that no such person or agent exists and all I can do to bring down my bill is to drop to a lower speed broadband package.

Just a few questions for you, if you wouldn't mind.

I don't understand this bit in your response - 'When you get broadband, it depends on a landline to allow the signal through. The option for broadband only is more geared towards people who have a landline with another provider.'

who else provides landlines, or is likely to in such great a capacity to eircom customers to prompt eircom to adopt this business model? Are you really saying this is why I cannot get broadband only with line rental included, at a reasonable price, because its what suits the majority of Eircoms customer base who just want broadband alone? and somehow have approached you in great numbers already having line rental from someone else?

Also and more importantly - thank you for explaining the new package setup you are currently working on - however, I am still a bit confused by it to some extent.

Could you just outline for me what specifically I can avail of? Basically what my options are and the price of them if possible.

I do appreciate your help and would also appreciate if you could maybe bring some of the issues affecting customers like me to the attention of the relevant people in Eircom in the hope that maybe somehow we can get a fair deal too instead of what currently, intended or not would be perceived by a lot of your customers in this situation as unfair opportunism.

Loyal and reliable customers like myself are surely what Eircom now, if ever should be trying their damnedest to keep a hold of surely? I am not asking for any concessions, only fair play and a fair offering in return for my prompt payment and loyalty.

eircom: Mark

iPhone wrote:

Just a few questions for you, if you wouldn't mind.

I don't understand this bit in your response - 'When you get broadband, it depends on a landline to allow the signal through. The option for broadband only is more geared towards people who have a landline with another provider.'

who else provides landlines, or is likely to in such great a capacity to eircom customers to prompt eircom to adopt this business model? Are you really saying this is why I cannot get broadband only with line rental included, at a reasonable price, because its what suits the majority of Eircoms customer base who just want broadband alone? and somehow have approached you in great numbers already having line rental from someone else?

There are a few other companies that can provide a landline, Vodafone being the main one. It's not a hugely common situation to have broadband with one provider and line rental with another but I have seen it many times. It doesn't affect the cost if the line rental is with eircom or someone else as the broadband has set prices as a standalone product. I do however understand your point that you will not have much advantage with a phone package as you won't be making calls. Unfortunately we can only go by the set package prices.

iPhone wrote:

Could you just outline for me what specifically I can avail of? Basically what my options are and the price of them if possible

No problem, here's a basic rundown on the current range and prices (All include VAT):

Basic line rental is €25.78

The three broadband packages standalone are:

• Home Starter (up to 1mb) - €25.40
• Home Plus (up to 3mb) - €30.49
• Home Advanced (up to 7mb) - €40.48

There are also the bundle deals. For these I will give the "Weekend" bundles as these are the cheapest available. The talk weekend package does include some free calls so I may as well detail that element also:
eircom Talk “Weekend”
Line rental included. Unlimited weekend local and national calls, after midnight on Friday till midnight on Sunday.

With a broadband service:

• Home Starter + Talk "Weekend" - €45
• Home Plus + Talk "Weekend" - €50
• Home Advanced + Talk "Weekend" - €60

There are other talktime packages and 'add-ons' that give more free calls but this is not something you need. If you are interested in any of them I will explain them at your request.

iPhone wrote:

I do appreciate your help and would also appreciate if you could maybe bring some of the issues affecting customers like me to the attention of the relevant people in Eircom in the hope that maybe somehow we can get a fair deal too instead of what currently, intended or not would be perceived by a lot of your customers in this situation as unfair opportunism.

Loyal and reliable customers like myself are surely what Eircom now, if ever should be trying their damnedest to keep a hold of surely? I am not asking for any concessions, only fair play and a fair offering in return for my prompt payment and loyalty.

Point taken. The problem for eircom when it comes to pricing is that every change we make has to go through the ComReg approval process and if we go outside of the rates we have had approved it can get us in some bother. If you do go ahead and cancel at some point our cancellations team will offer something but as I said, I wouldn't know what exactly they can offer. I have passed a link to this thread to my manager here so your voice will be heard.
Again, let me apologise if things have not been very clear up to this point but anything else you need don't hesitate to ask.

Thanks again

James

Zimmerframe

eircom: Mark wrote: »

No problem, here's a basic rundown on the current range and prices (All include VAT):

Basic line rental is €25.78
Home Advanced (up to 7mb) - €40.48

Thanks James for clearing up the prices.
The bottom line though is up to 7mb broadband (in my case 4mb ish) on it's own costs €66.26 per month. With the unwanted voice bundle, the price drops to €60
Your main home broadband competitor offers the same broadband, with free off peak calls for €48
It's a shame that as happy existing Eircom customers, that we need to leave purely for cost reasons.

Jesus Shaves

Vodafone at home broadband - €38 for the same speeds

Zimmerframe

darokane wrote: »

Vodafone at home broadband - €38 for the same speeds

No it's not in fairness, that has a max speed of 3mb

Jesus Shaves

Zimmerframe wrote: »

No it's not in fairness, that has a max speed of 3mb

Apologies €40 for up to 8mb

http://www.vodafone.ie/df/homebroadband/broadbandonly/

Zimmerframe

darokane wrote: »

Apologies €40 for up to 8mb

http://www.vodafone.ie/df/homebroadband/broadbandonly/

No, it's €40 at a max of 3mb.

Jesus Shaves

Zimmerframe wrote: »

No, it's €40 at a max of 3mb.

so why does it say 8mb on the website?
apolgies again ha, your line doesn't support it!

Still a lot cheaper though

Zimmerframe

darokane wrote: »

so why does it say 8mb on the website?

because it's a bit sneaky.
It says 8mb if you are in a NGB area, but read down and it says max 3mb in a non NGB area, which is what we're talking about here.

Jesus Shaves

yeah noticed that, still a lot cheaper than eircom if the upgrade was available
Another option would be to go with upc if possible

iPhone.

Thanks for clarifying the options and various pricing James. Seeing the costs like that does bring home just how expensive my current plan with eircom is.

I would however still like to give Eircom a final chance to retain my business before committing myself to another provider. To this end I would appreciate if you could arrange for someone in the cancellation team to contact me , preferably someone who has the authority to possibly do something as the regular agents don`t seem to be briefed at all as to the fact you even have a cancellation team.

Not knocking your agents by the way. They have been very courteous to me, just speaking from experience.

Thanks again, and hopefully we can come to some arrangement. Given the way most Companies are responding by adapting positively to the current economic situation and being more accommodating to their customers, it would be nice to see Eircom show willing in this regard too.

Cheerful Spring

Not likely been on the same DSL package for the last 5 or 6 years at least- DSL is 90'S technology. Eircom is offically one of most badly run businesses in this country, so is it any wonder internet across this country is crap. If a provider comes to my area and offers me a better internet speed i be off to them straight away.

Been on a 7 meg package for years and i only get between 5 and 6 meg and i know i aint getting that amount in real terms anyways and 312kb upload (what a joke that is) barely a third of meg (in the year 2012)

I pay 32 euro plus tax a month for this (probably another six or eights euros more to the bill) For me its maddening how they go and charge for a service like this that offers very little in return in terms of quality. Rural areas deserve cable and fibre too eircom is well able to charge so what's the problem?

There's no competition to change provider for me currently. Is really any wonder though why people have left Ireland for other places, our country has too many imbeciles and greedy folks running things, all they do is mess up things for the rest of society and take no blame.

iPhone.

iPhone. wrote: »

Thanks for clarifying the options and various pricing James. Seeing the costs like that does bring home just how expensive my current plan with eircom is.

I would however still like to give Eircom a final chance to retain my business before committing myself to another provider. To this end I would appreciate if you could arrange for someone in the cancellation team to contact me , preferably someone who has the authority to possibly do something as the regular agents don`t seem to be briefed at all as to the fact you even have a cancellation team.

Not knocking your agents by the way. They have been very courteous to me, just speaking from experience.

Thanks again, and hopefully we can come to some arrangement. Given the way most Companies are responding by adapting positively to the current economic situation and being more accommodating to their customers, it would be nice to see Eircom show willing in this regard too.

BUMPITY BUMP BUMP BUMP....

also James, could you let me know if I can get home turbo on my line? Just curious as it is now showing as an option for me on bonkers.ie

Thanks

Zimmerframe

iPhone. wrote: »

BUMPITY BUMP BUMP BUMP....

could you let me know if I can get home turbo on my line? Just curious as it is now showing as an option for me on bonkers.ie

I would like to know the same.

Sponge Bob

What does Homevision indicate in their checker? http://www.homevision.ie/broadband1.aspx