Moving to Tramore - Confused about Negative Broadband Reviews

SimonClarke

Hi all. The Mrs and I are relocating to Tramore (Gallweys Hill, near the strand) soon and I am concerned about which service to use for my Broadband needs.

I have been researching a little on and off for the past few days and I'm growing more concerned by the number of negative reviews and attitude I have come across towards the main providers in the area.

I work long hours from home and am currently with UPC and have had no hassles with them for the past 5 years. There are 2 PCs (one with and one without wireless receivers) and a laptop (wireless) in the house. While I am not sure how this works as I have never had a home phone, there is a phone line in the new place but we would prefer not to have to pay for a phone package if it's possible to get internet through the line.

I guess what I'm looking for with this thread is to hear from people, in the same general vicinity, regarding their ISP's and who or what might be best for the area and my needs as i'm a little nervous about signing a contract with the wrong provider, knowing early cancellation fees can be a bit of a downer should the service be useless.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I look forward to hearing from some of you soon.

Simon

looksee

I have been with eircom for the past er...well since broadband was available. I know people give out about them, but I have never had any problems.

Psychedelic

I'm with Vodafone, have a fixed 8MB line with which works out at about €43 per month (if no phone calls are made). Looks like Vodafone now offer broadband-only packages now too: http://www.vodafone.ie/df/homebroadband/broadbandonly/

Mugser

SimonClarke

ESAT is BT??

Thanks for the replies so far guys

Mugser

SimonClarke wrote: »

ESAT is BT??

Thanks for the replies so far guys

That section of the spectrum now used by Sky.

SweetCaliber

I'll Be Honest, I've been with eircom since they offered broadband (bye bye dialup) and have only had one or two problems, nothing major, mainly work needed on the line that's all.

The speeds, not world famous but Tramore has no fiber optic so unfortunately it's only through normal lines or satellite but I can't complain about speed, then again I don't download much haha.

scout353

Have been using UTV Internet for the past 7 years and had no problems with them. Living on outskirts of Tramore so getting just under 3MB speeds download.

Only had about two or three outages in that time.

As for not using phone line - there is no alternative in Tramore AFAIK apart from Satellite or mobile broadband which is very poor!

Sully

Sky are offering broadband in Tramore and look to be giving great offers with TV & Broadband packages. UPC do not offer broadband in Tramore as there is no fiber line here. You can only get the standard DSL connection or a wireless broadband connection of which there are a number of suppliers - UTV, Eircom, Vodafone (wireless, IIRC), and others.

Any research I have done I found UTV to be the cheapest but their customer care is awful. Sales is good, of course, but Tech Support is terrible.

SimonClarke

I've been eyeing up the new offer of broadband from sky and as I was going to utilize them for the TV anyways I think they are my safest bet for now.

Now if I could only find a low-cost phone number for them! I hear their 0818 number can cost a pretty penny if they leave you waiting long enough :rolleyes:

Thanks for the replies guys.

Sully

SimonClarke wrote: »

I've been eyeing up the new offer of broadband from sky and as I was going to utilize them for the TV anyways I think they are my safest bet for now.

Now if I could only find a low-cost phone number for them! I hear their 0818 number can cost a pretty penny if they leave you waiting long enough :rolleyes:

Thanks for the replies guys.

Yeah, its a fair wait I find.

SayNoTo1890 says;

SKY TV Customer Service
0818719852 Call Instead – 0044844241152200 or 00441506831609 (this is a UK number, so use on Skype or if you have UK minutes bundles)
Or Try to Call Instead – 1800812040

JMcL

To add my 2c, I've had Vodafone and BT before that since broadband was available, and I've never had any huge issues (biggest one turned out to be water in a box on the pole). On a 7Mb package and usually get pretty much that. My line would support up to about 13Mb apparently last I checked. I'm probably about the same distance from the exchange as Gallweys Hill would be (allowing for the crow to be a little bit drunk), so you should be grand.

rasper

Very close to galweys hill myself and with Vodafone with no issues , generally 6-7mb constant , how much are sky offering

SimonClarke

Ok that wasn't so bad.. The 1800 number was no longer allowing access to the sky team so I went with the 0818 number in the end.. 23 minutes on the phone and a lot of arsing around on their part but cost of call came in at around E3.50 so I'm happy enough with that.

The only issue is that they couldn't hook me up with broadband then and there as they are ill-prepared to handle those who dont have an active phone line so they have just put a "registered interest" notice on the account when they do get around to testing and activating the line but they said it could take a month or 2! :insert miffed smiley here:

I hope some of the dongle providers still do a month-by-month deal because I need the internets for my work and I'm not signing anything long term with anyone..

doylepad

If you're not sorted yet then Meteor do a SIM only one month contract on mobile broadband. €20 for 20GB - often discounted in the shop to €10. Tech support is terrible. But infrastructure is pretty good so you might have cover. Get one on trial - if it works keep it - if not don't even bother asking for help.:)

And make sure you don't go over the limit or it is €20 per GB. They will SMS you in advance but only to the data account - not to your mobile.

SimonClarke

I don't get it.. what's the difference between their PAYG 30 day pass (7.5Gb for €19.99) and their 30 day Bill Pay Contract (20Gb for €20.32)

Isn't it technically the same thing? Why such a huge difference in data allowance?

doylepad

30 day bill pay is SIM only - you have to provide your own Dongle or Hotshot or pay the full price for one.
30 day bill pay is not capped - so you may exceed it if you don't see the usage notifications and they will screw you for €20 per GB
You are probably in it for a minimum of two months - if you give a months notice it will take a month to take effect
Because it is auto renew you don't have to top-up - therefore more likely to both pay on time and stay with them

But - provided you manage it properly - yes it is a much better deal.

SimonClarke

Just to follow up in case anyone has similar questions in the future, I went with the meteor Dongle and all appears to be working fine so far (have it about 2 or 3 weeks now).

It will most certainly do until either Sky get up off their ass and come to my house to test my line, or I get up off my ass and ring eircom to get the information Sky needs so they can just activate the line :-)

rasper

Let me know how ya get on with sky , no real interest in tv however but may get it anyway