Magnet Networks

jjmax

I am having an ongoing issue with this company, who on the face of things appear to be offering a very attractive Broadband/Phone/TV package, however recent experiences has left me considering going back to Esat/Eircom.
They provide this package to a number of residential estates in Dublin and a couple in Portlaoise.
If you are interested in hearing more about this I will put the whole saga up on a website and post the link.
Also, has anyone else had bad experiences with Magnet?
Let me know if you'd like me to document the recent issues with Magnet.

bk

Well I always think it is a good idea to publish your experience either here or on the Broadband boards for two reasons:

1) It will help other people thinking of getting BB from them to make an informed decision, this is particularly important with many companies asking people to sign 12 mnoth contracts.

BTW while their products look very interesting, I haven't heard anything from people who have actually used them, so I'm intrigued to hear your expereince.

2) Most of the companies actually monitor these boards and some will even quickly fix the problem when reported here. NTL is a good example of this.

jjmax

Cool,

I'll put something together and stick it up on Lycos.
Look for the link soon.
My issues with Magnet's service comes from a 2 and a half day network outage, that they claim to have resolved, however the TV service is still down and internet access is slower.
The TV service has now been down since Thursday evening - 3 days and counting.
The bigger issue here I feel is the lack of alternatives on the estate I'm in.
The site is still under development, and the site manager has said they will not sign off on granting Eircom access to the site until the building has finished.
I can't prove anything, but it seems to me that Magnet and the site developers have a very cosy relationship.
The site developers have essentially given Magnet a monoply on providing phone and internet services to the houses.
Not sure what the situation is with allowing Chorus on site, but as far as I know they're not here either.
Like I say I'll put together a detailed account soon.
I'm contact Eircom about getting on site tomorrow and I plan to get the other residents of the estate to 'petition' the site developers to grant Eircom and chorus access so we have a choice of service providers. I'll let you know how that goes too.

vinnyfitz

I guess you own your home?
If so check your contract of purchase. Does it make any reference to this "micro monopoly"?
You are right that the developers undoubtedly have a deal with Magnet.
As such they must also have some sort of service level commitments from Magnet. You are entitled to know what those commitments are. You may find it hard to oblige the developers to enforce these commitments. If so do report back here and also raise it with ComReg.

This game whereby developers invite different Telcos to tender for the privelige of supplying has just begun in the last 12 months or so - but it is happening more and more. I don't think the rules of the game have been worked out yet.

I also doubt Eircom (or Chorus) will be too bothered about trying to compete for a fraction of the customers in the estate. I presume their USO obligations are void in this scenario anyway? Can anyone confirm?

On the bright side, when the Magnet service does work is it not much better than what you had in your last place?

Sponge Bob

eircom can probably get in but Chorus are out .

If the developer has not installed Eircom telephone cabling at all (whatever about the delay connecting this cable at the entrance to the estate ) you probably have a large court case against the developer or your solicitor for not spotting it in the contract of sale if Eircom were to be permanently excluded.

Also remember that Eircom can take up to 2 years to run their bit of cable to the entrance to the estate and thats AFTER the first residents move in and request it . If the first residents only moved on to your estate this year you could be waiting till next year anyway. Comreg want to amend the USO Vinnyfitz referred to in order to make Eircom supply you with a phoneline within 1 year MAX .

Not having Chorus is no loss, they would manage a 2 day outage once a month in some of their cable areas and have done so every month since the 1980s .

jjmax

Cheers for the info lads.
You're right to say that "when" the Magnet network works it is very good. I'd even go so far as to say excellent.
The problem is it's been down three times in the past three weeks. Now one of those times was a genuine mistake of one of their on-site techs, who quiclky owned up to accidentally reseting the router.
I'm not terribly keen on Eircom, but the choice would be nice.
I won't have much luck with the developers as I am only renting in this estate.
I'll get in touch with Eircom anyway and see what they have to say.
The only other option is to move, but having just moved in it's not something I want to do. Plus, Broadband coverage is patchy at best in my area - Laois.
I had Chorus in my last place and only ever had one outage in the year, and that was due to a power failure in the area.
I had Esat Broadband too and never had a problem in the 8 months I used them.
Hopefully, Magnet will get their act together, and if they do I'll be on here to praise them.
It's been a very frustrating few days as I work from home and the downtime has seriously affected my business and sanity!
They have tried to resolve this issue, but I'm afraid that 4 days down (TV still not working) is pretty poor.

vinnyfitz

Ah I was wondering were you in Portlaoise?

Magnet are also doing jobs in Dublin but their Laois job is a bit of a flagship - connecting to the MAN and all that good stuff - allegedly. I doubt they want bad publicity about their service. So keep the pressure on.

Even though you are a tenant ask your landlord what the contract says about telecoms and service level agreements - or ask one of your owner occupier neighbours. You are not as powerless as you believe in this scenario.

Sponge - can you point me to the rule that says Eircom have 2 years to respond to a request in an estate like this? Thanks.

BTW JJMAX, in most sectors having the TV cut off (whatever about broadband) is good for productivity - and sanity - of those who telework!.

Sponge Bob

There is no rule at all Vinny . In the wild we have stories from all over in the Horror thread and elsewhere about 2 year waits for a phone line on housing estates in places like Clonee , Athy, Portlaoise etc.

About 6 months ago Comreg said they were THINKING of reducing the wait to one year guaranteed. This has not yet been implemented , having long ago disappeared off into consultation land . Once it comes out of consultation , and assuming that no appeals ensue, the wait for an Eircom line will be one year maximum . (page 10 of that link, item 4.8 )

Mind you Comreg and Eircom have been discussing this one year wait scenario since July 2003 .

The Insider

There is no way they can stop Eircom coming in. In fact in a new housing development in Dublin Magnet and Eircom are sitting side by side. However there has been a delay in getting Eircom lines up and running but it should be resolved in the next couple of months or so.

Magnet have not improved there sevice in the new housing developments in Dublin....Internet service is fine....but there TV/Phone service are causing alot of problems, hence a lot or orders are going in for Eircom Phone lines.

A word of warning in regards to the internet, even if you manage to get a Eircom line installed that does not guarentee the ability to get DSL on it. So you might be better off sticking with Magnet for the internet.

As for your TV, get sky in and tell Magnet you don't want there service any more, sky no longer need a phone line to do a install.

jjmax

Cheers for all the info people.
I am definetly considering Sky as an alternative TV provider.
The first people moved on this estate back in April.
They had ordered a line from Eircom in March and they're still waiting.
If Magnet are still having issues with their Dublin sites then it doesn't look good for Portlaoise.
Did anyone catch the recent TV3 week-long promotion of the Fairgreen estate in Portlaoise? That's a Magnet site.
Time will tell if they are serious about providing good service.

Sponge Bob

The Insider wrote:

However there has been a delay in getting Eircom lines up and running but it should be resolved in the next couple of months or so.

Eircom are more than capable of causing year long delays themselves, see this recent thread where a Boards person moved in in Jan and applied for a line back then but only got the line in June after hounding Phil Nolan . 5 months, another 6 weeks for BB thereafter.

This story was also in Dublin, I have heard of people in Kildare who waited over 2 years for their line and them on a large housing estate .

eircomtribunal

Apologies for a slightly off-topic question on this thread:
Somebody asked me for a list of all the eircom dsl enabled exchanges and the new by March 2006 to be enabled exchanges in below 1500 pop places.
Can anybody point me to that list, (the resources list in the sticky boards resources thread only lists the already enabled exchanges)?
Thanks.
P.