NTL or Smart?

christophicus · 25-07-2005 1:38pm #1

I am getting broadband soon and was wondering what people think is the best service.At the moment im looking at the €35 NTL package which provides a 2Mb/s line and the smart service which is also €35 and a 2 Mb/s line.

Drapper · 25-07-2005 1:48pm

Ntl

christophicus · 25-07-2005 1:51pm

Drapper wrote:

Ntl

Why NTL are they better in someway?I have had previous expeariance with them using their digital servine and their custermer service left alot to be desired.

Drapper · 25-07-2005 1:53pm

christophicus wrote:

Why NTL are they better in someway?I have had previous expeariance with them using their digital servine and their custermer service left alot to be desired.

read the numerous threads, they are the best of a bad bunch !

bk · 25-07-2005 1:54pm

NTL

A few differences between NTL's and Smarts package.

- NTL offers first 3 months free at 3m.
- You get the analogue TV service free for 12 months (worth €19 per month)
- NTL is 200k upload compared to 128k from Smart
- With NTL you can upgrade to 3m or downgrade to 1m at any time, depending on your needs.

geecee · 25-07-2005 2:05pm

Hi BK
Where do NTL have the offer of the 12 months free analogue tv when you sign up for BB?

Do you have a link?

I signed up for NTL this morning and the only offer i saw was the 3 free months BB?

Mad thing is they will install in on Thursday... talking about quick turnaround!

Now all i have to do is try to cancel my uTV....

zuma · 25-07-2005 2:20pm

If I had 2 actual connections into my house and wouldnt be forced to actually order and make sure the chosen connection is setup on time and such...then I would pick Smart!

No CAP and the stability of DSL over cable(people cable is unstable D15 and it will get worse) are the major plus sides.

Realistically NTL without a doubt as Smart is almost impossible to get for many,many,many reasons of which eircom is a prime culprit!!!

Marcopolo85 · 25-07-2005 10:49pm

zuma wrote:

No CAP and the stability of DSL over cable(people cable is unstable D15 and it will get worse) are the major plus sides.

NTL spot on in Waterford..... (I'm on a 1 Meg):D

zuma · 26-07-2005 4:45am

And waterford has had NTL for a month or two???

Hardly a great stress test of their infrastructure.

Drapper · 26-07-2005 9:29am

zuma wrote:

If I had 2 actual connections into my house and wouldnt be forced to actually order and make sure the chosen connection is setup on time and such...then I would pick Smart!

No CAP and the stability of DSL over cable(people cable is unstable D15 and it will get worse) are the major plus sides.

Realistically NTL without a doubt as Smart is almost impossible to get for many,many,many reasons of which eircom is a prime culprit!!!

PArts of D15 have been rewired by NTL over the past 2 weeks and mine has been sorted out! it only took them 7 months from my inital complaint !

any way i've been on all DSL, Wireless and Cable and I agree DSL is the most stable of them all ! (but out here in the middle of the bog in D15 we cant get it, because we are sooooooo far from the exchange ! ehhh 1.5 miles !!)

bk · 26-07-2005 11:20am

geecee wrote:

Hi BK
Where do NTL have the offer of the 12 months free analogue tv when you sign up for BB?

It isn't advertised on their website, I was told about it when I called up asking about BB and how much it would cost. That was about 3 months ago, I assume they still have the offer.

BTW we actually decided to get 3 NTL Digital subscriptions on top of it, so we pay for digital but not for anaolgue.

bk · 26-07-2005 11:27am

Drapper wrote:

PArts of D15 have been rewired by NTL over the past 2 weeks and mine has been sorted out! it only took them 7 months from my inital complaint !

any way i've been on all DSL, Wireless and Cable and I agree DSL is the most stable of them all ! (but out here in the middle of the bog in D15 we cant get it, because we are sooooooo far from the exchange ! ehhh 1.5 miles !!)

Not in my experience, I've had both DSL and NTL and NTL is much more stable then DSL in my experience, while having higher sppeds and lower latency.

Of course I don't live in D15, so I can certainly understand your frustration. However from a technical point of view, cable is superior and has greater capability, that is why the majority of BB users in the US are on cable rather then DSL.

paulm17781 · 26-07-2005 11:34am

bk wrote:

Not in my experience, I've had both DSL and NTL and NTL is much more stable then DSL in my experience, while having higher sppeds and lower latency.

I think as a technology DSL is more stable, but this is not my experience in Ireland either.

Cable good, DSL bad!

Gadgie · 26-07-2005 12:11pm

I believe the ntl 12 months free basic TV offer ended on July 15th, and it was only open to new subscribers ("brand new customers only!") in a house that had previously been connected.

Infini · 26-07-2005 12:55pm

unless your in dublin 15 go for NTL. The network there is known to be bad due to age and overload but Ive had it for nearly a year in Dublin 7 and I never had any problems with it that could'nt be fixed.

christophicus · 26-07-2005 1:30pm

When you get smart I presume you have to use their telephone service on that line ?

Marcopolo85 · 26-07-2005 1:33pm

zuma wrote:

And waterford has had NTL for a month or two???

Hardly a great stress test of their infrastructure.

Point taken.

But at least it worked - first time. And consistently clocks one meg......all the time.

christophicus · 26-07-2005 1:39pm

Im actually in the waterford area myself,Im in Ardkeen.

Is there a download cap on the Ntl broadband?
and looking at funds at the moment I have realised that i can only afford the 1Mb NTL or the 2Mb Smart ,I presume the 2Mb smart would preform better then the 1Mb NTL?

bk · 26-07-2005 3:31pm

christophicus wrote:

Im actually in the waterford area myself,Im in Ardkeen.

Is there a download cap on the Ntl broadband?
and looking at funds at the moment I have realised that i can only afford the 1Mb NTL or the 2Mb Smart ,I presume the 2Mb smart would preform better then the 1Mb NTL?

Em, the 2mb Smart and 2mb NTL are the same price €35 per month. You get free line rental with Smart and free TV with NTL. Don't forget that NTL gives you the 3mb free for the first 3 months.

christophicus · 26-07-2005 6:42pm

Yoou dont get that free tv thing anymore that offer is over.It works out cheaper with samrt so I can afford the 2Mbone because with smart you dont have to pay line rentalwhere as with NTL i would still have to pay for an eircom line so i would have to pay for the line aswell as the broadband but with smart i would only have to pay for the broadband.

christophicus · 27-07-2005 1:20pm

Ok I have another question.We have two telephone lines in the house,ie two seperate numbers,they both enter the house through one terminal and i was wondering if it is possible to keep one line on eircom and then have the other line with smart for the broadband /phone service?

paulm17781 · 27-07-2005 1:26pm

Yes

GarfieldConnoll · 27-07-2005 1:27pm

christophicus wrote:

Ok I have another question.We have two telephone lines in the house,ie two seperate numbers,they both enter the house through one terminal and i was wondering if it is possible to keep one line on eircom and then have the other line with smart for the broadband /phone service?

It depends on how eircom delivered the second line to the house. If the second line was provided on a spare path, then yes, Smart could unbundle the second line, provide a new number and broadband on that line.
To know for sure, we'd have to submit an order for the second line. If it was a spare path, the order would be accepted and proceeded. If it wasn't a spare path, the order would be rejected and neither line would be affected.

Garfield.

christophicus · 27-07-2005 1:30pm

Ok its actually the original line that we want smart on and then the newer one to keep the eircom,does this make a difference?

GarfieldConnoll · 27-07-2005 1:33pm

christophicus wrote:

Ok its actually the original line that we want smart on and then the newer one to keep the eircom,does this make a difference?

Shouldn't.

Garfield.

christophicus · 27-07-2005 1:35pm

Ok and there shouldnt be any major delay or anything should there because we have never had broadband before?

GarfieldConnoll · 27-07-2005 1:40pm

christophicus wrote:

Ok and there shouldnt be any major delay or anything should there because we have never had broadband before?

If the order's clean (no errors), then from when we submit the order to eircom should take 10-12 working days, though it can come in faster than that.

Garfield.

christophicus · 27-07-2005 1:43pm

But from what i have heard the order is quite frequently not "clean".would i be correct in saying this?

christophicus · 27-07-2005 1:52pm

Is there no way that i can check if they are too seperate lines myself?

Blaster99 · 27-07-2005 2:01pm

Go to Eircom's ADSL availability checker. If you get a pass there you will get a pass from Smart also.

Or just order the line and see how it goes. If you don't have a connection within 10 or 12 days or whatever your limit is, then cancel and move on. There's not much point in worrying about this, is there?

JNive · 27-07-2005 2:11pm

both scenarios look identical on your end, it is dependant on how the line is provisioned in the exchange since it requires a separate physical connection i believe, since you dont have any broadband service existing, i dont imagine anything should go wrong, just put the order through to smart, along with the direct debit, since the direct debit mandate is required first to regard it as the 'order' . then you should know within the 2 weeks whether or not eircom have accepted the order and unbundled to eircom, or if they have rejected it. It should cost you anything nor affect any service in this period

NTL or Smart?

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