Which FTTH provider?

Dcully

So after years of waiting FTTH is finally at my doorstep and now i must decide which provider to go with.

Im currently with Airwire for my 100 VDSL connection and its been great .

I went with Airwire their support and in fairness they have been pretty good with twitter announcements if there is an issue resulting in no need to wait for hours on the phone only to speak to someone who hasnt a clue.

Any issue i had over the years which were few was a widespread issue affecting a large area and was always sorted within hours.

In that respect they have been excellent but current prices for the 500MB FTTH package is steep compared to the bigger operators hence my query.

I swore id never go with eir or sky again after terrible experiences with them in the past.

Im wondering will the FTTH be more reliable in general by its very nature?

We are served via underground fiber if thats of any relevance.

I love to hear from FTTH users with experience with the larger operators.

allen175

After working for Eir for the DSL and early FTTC support I swore I would never use them for broadband again, but alas I signed up with them for FTTH at the start of 2020 and have had 0 issues with it since.

We did swap to sky after the initial 24 month contract had ended to give them a go, but their router was terrible, our house is wired for cat5 and when the switch and other devices were connected it would only output 100mb to all devices which forced me to look at getting a 3rd party router to resolve the speed issues as Sky were of absolute 0 help in fixing it.

In the 4 years of having FTTH with Eir/Sky I don't think we have had any down time at all, I found it super reliable, especially for working from home.

babelfish1990

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058350645/which-ftth-provider

I find Eir very reliable. They also have the best value bundles if you want to add your mobile and TV to the fibre bundle. Eir allow you to add 5G mobile SIMs for €9.99pm, and TV for €9.99pm on top of their basic €34.99pm fibre offering. Just remember to call them before the contract runs out in 12 months time, and ask them to renew the discounts for another 12 months. Eir don't advertise this, but you can also do multiroom TV without any additional monthly fee, if you add your own Apple TV 4K boxes (the first Apple TV box comes free with the Eir bundle), and download the Eir TV app. Other providers such as Sky, force you to take their proprietary streaming boxes for each room with an additional monthly fee. Eir also sell reconditioned TV boxes on their Eir Store site for €59.99, which is a great price - and this box is much better than Sky's box. Eir also do proper TV recording for the UK channels on their Streaming service, which Sky and the others don't.

Dcully

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122107322#Comment_122107322

Thanks for this, certainly reads good.

Are they likely to renew the discounts after 12 months?

babelfish1990

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122108248#Comment_122108248

Yes - I get the discounts renewed each year with Eir. I have had both mobile & TV add-ons for €9.99pm each for 8 years. However, you do need to call eir before your contract ends each year, and commit for another 12 months, to get the discounts renewed. You cannot do this online. It is just a simple 5 minute phone call - ask for the loyalty team. Also - like most of the main providers, Eir have a "Cost-of-living" increase that kicks in in April each year. There is some talk of these being outlawed - but all the main providers do them. If you contract now, your contract will be due for renewal in 12 months time. This is the best possible scenario - because you can call them 1 month before end of contract, and renegotiate. The cost-of-living increases don't apply to new contracts - so you should be able to re-contract without the cost-of-living increases, if they still exist.

Dcully

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122108310#Comment_122108310

Thanks again, final question, how are they with support?

Last i was with them its was no exaggeration a nightmare to get to talk to anyone.

I know you said 5 mins for loyalty team so im hoping support is similar.

Im also hoping in general FTTH is by nature more reliable than VDSL.

Thanks again.

babelfish1990

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122108346#Comment_122108346

I'll have to confess that I haven't really had to deal with support much, because I haven't had any issues with eir products. They just seem to work. I expect that FTTH is more reliable than FTTC, and doesn't depend on distance from the exchange like FTTC did. I probably dealt with support at some stage - maybe moving from the old eir Vision to the new Apple TV 4K product - but that was fine. Their support desk seems to be based in Ireland, and use local staff who are familiar with Irish requirements, unlike some of the other providers. My annual call to renegotiate the contract is my main interaction with them, and this did take a bit longer to answer during the pandemic, like contacting most utilities. It improved again after the pandemic.