Broadband in Smithfield Market: which provider is better?

willycat · 01-09-2014 4:06pm #1

Hi, is there someone who could make a quick update of the situation of Broadband providers in Smithflield Market? Anyone on one of these buildings who could share his current situation with his broadband provider, and which speed and MB's do they get?

Is the wired SmartTelecom original infraestructure still the same? Did Eircom, Magnet, Digiweb (which took over SmartTelecom) or anyone else spent some money on these buildings to upgrade equipment or put fibre?

I would appreciate any update about the current situation. I contacted UPC and they're still out of Smithfield Market, and they have no plans to be there in a while.

Anyone having around 10MB could please share his experience and provider name? Which one is better: Eircom, Vodafone, SKY, Magnet, Digiweb ...

I don't want to be stuck for 12/18 months with a monthly ~50€ connection to get only 5 or 6MB on my line, so any advice would help.

ED E · 01-09-2014 4:56pm

Ask your management agency, they'll know. If its a magnet only complex, there are some of them, then thats your option, that or 4G mobile broadband(low usage limits of ~30GB there, bad idea).

If its eircom wired you can get eircom, vodafone, sky, magnet, digiweb, all will be similar as its the same lines back to one of the exchanges(looks like it could be any of three). Theres no eFibre("Fibre Power" or "Fatpipe") in the area yet, though its on the planned list so you should see it by end of 2015.

willycat · 01-09-2014 5:33pm

Hey Ed,

Many many thanks for the update, it really helped me a lot. Now I know what's the current situation and status.

Is this fibre infrastructure update coming for sure by end of 2015? (if it's efibre I am assuming it's from Eircom). I will also check with the management agency.

It's a pity there's no UPC there, very bad decision made by the management. Any chance they will be getting there?

In fact, every broadband provider company I've asked told me the same: Smithfield Market is an INTERNET BLACK HOLE. It's really unbelievable to have that in Dublin city center, the "European Sillicon Valley". Providers told me that the whole area is fibre-covered except Smithfield Market. What a mess.

Thanks again!

Dord · 02-09-2014 10:23pm

I lived there a few years back in Block B. It was all wired for Smart/Digiweb only. I ended up using Three Mobile "Midband". Something like that is the best/only good solution in Smithfield Market. I do agree that it's a communications black hole.

While I was there Sky got access to the buildings to install their new (at the time) shared dish service. I had that, but it was only tv. From what I understand, even that took a lot of time for them to get access/permission to do.

bk · 03-09-2014 2:31pm

I really don't understand how Management Companies and Management Agencies can be so stupid!

Surely they would like to get the best value from the development (in terms of both rent and sale value) and that means attracting professionals. In Dublin that largely means people working at the multinational IT companies (Google, FAcebook, etc.) and you can be certain that their first priority is quality high speed broadband.

I had a similar problem to you, my apartment building in Dublin was wired by Smart Telecom (now Digiweb), "upto" 24mb/s but getting about 16mb/s and you could get no other company. Despite UPC offering 200mb/s to the houses just 15 meters away!

Now Smart wasn't a bad service and it was good value at €30 per month. However I wanted faster and more options.

UPC were amazing, over about 4 years they kept coming out to the building to see if they could figure out a way of connecting the building within budget.

Finally they did, but then it still took almost a year to happen due to the Management Company not giving permission! They put up all sorts of road blocks, including one of the Directors asking for "hello" money! UPC rightfully told him no way, that it was illegal.

Eventually UPC threatened to pull out if they didn't get the go ahead and I threatened to tell all residents and owners about what was going on and the Management Agency/Company finally gave the go ahead.

But it was mad that it took all that effort!

Really all apartment buildings should allow both Eircom and UPC (and any other company that wants to e.g. Magnet) to wire up the building by default, with no exclusivity.

I know one building in Dublin that did that and the residents can opt from UPC, Eircom (and its resellers) and Magnet, that is the way it should be everywhere.

willycat · 20-09-2014 1:01am

I just wanted to update my Broadband status here in Smithfield Market, in case it helps anyone in my same situation.

I finally purchased Eircom's Uncongested Broadband (up to 24MB). 15 days after the purchase, finally my line is working.

Some "techs" had to come a couple of times to my building to "try to fix" something (never knew what). Finally one guy phoned another day saying that he was "in front of my apartment" ready to go in. Weird! Nobody told me, so I had to leave my job and go back to my apartment (I didn't want to stay more weeks without internet). Then he fixed it, and finally it worked.

I have now a 8MB line (7-8MB, depends on the day) with 0.8Mb upload. Not bad. Also not bad latency for games.

But my broadband's performance drop dramatically every day at peak times (starting around 8 or 9pm). Eircom said they will send another tech to check things next week, as they detected weird issues during tests (after my complain). We'll see.

BUT I LEFT THE BEST NEWS FOR THE FINAL. The tech that came into my house told me EFibre might be arriving soon at Smithfield Market! WOHOOO. After that, I checked with Eircom reps in Eircom Forums and they told me the same. Also I checked the availability of my line in Eircom website and apparently ... EFIBRE will be arriving at my area (Smithfield Market / Block?) this OCTOBER! So much before the end of 2014. We'll see if that's true. I'll update the issue here when it arrives.

I might be happy again, after losing UPC

willycat · 28-10-2014 12:28am

Hey, just wanted to update about my Eircom line.

It's simply crap. Nonsense. Performance is S H I T in peak times, starting around 6pm and ending around 12pm every day. It's annoying, and when you call Customer Service they basically tell you that it's your fault, or that they are going to send you a technician. Then technician never shows up. I called several times, no help. Most of the times I just end hanging up after waiting 40 minutes without anyone answering the call. Others I just got insulted ... and others just keep complaining and saying someone would call me in 24 hours (been weeks from that promise).

If you go to Eircom forums or answering Eircom account on Twitter you can see lots of people complaining about peak hours. Apparently there's some routing ( community.eircom.net/t5/Broadband/100-packetloss-to-London-and-out-of-London/td-p/82011/page/2 ) - throttle ( twitter.com/michaelcdever/status/526874277333987329 ) thing Eircom is doing and making everyone's broadband miserable and crap. And apparently this has been going on for months and would stay the same for some more.

I just wouldn't recommend this to anyone. Stay away.

McGetty · 04-11-2014 11:59am

Thanks for all your posts, willycat. I'm thinking of buying a place in Smithfield Market, found a place that ticks all the boxes except this one, which sadly is pretty crucial as I work from home a lot. Sorry to hear the line sucks so bad, has there been any further word on eFibre coming to the development like you thought previously?

Lame · 04-11-2014 6:20pm

Hey Willycat, I also live in the market apartments. If you do find an acceptable alternative could you let me know? I'm currently with Magnet, and the speeds are pathetically slow, and get worse at peak times.

It's quite shameful really that this is the state of broadband in such a new complex.

Too McGetty, the apartments are wonderful, but if you work from home you will have to seriously look into the internet situation... Even simple things like sending e-mails with attachments can be an arduous process with the internet here...

willycat · 14-11-2014 1:03am

Hi Lame, welcome to Dublin's Internet Black Hole. And you thought you were in the city center of EU's Silicon Valley, huh?

Eircom's peak times are terrible. You could be waiting 10 minutes to download a 1MB PDF file ... And they call it Uncongested Broadband

Well yes, it's uncongested when you're sleeping, but useless when you reach home after work.

So, sorry but I don't think there's any good broadband connection available in Smithfield Market. Just the crap you already have. Or another crap like mine.

At least I have a connection! And I was having 120 MB Fibre with UPC in my last apartment ...

bk · 14-11-2014 6:57pm

It just goes to show, if highspeed quality broadband is important to you, either for your job or entertainment, then you should absolutely check what is available before moving.

I also think it is crazy that the management agencies aren't fighting to get the best BB possible into these buildings. If I owned an apartment, I would want it let to the best possible tenants, and in Dublin that means IT and financil services people and I can guarantee that they won't be interested unless high quality broadband is available.

If I was a landlord I'd be mad as hell and I'd be asking very difficult questions of the management agency.

In fact, I did exactly that, I had a similar problem in my apartment building, it only having lousy Smart Telecom service. I started frequently querying the management agency and management company board with difficult questions about why they were blocking new companies from entering the building and some crazy celtic tiger BS one of the directors was trying to pull. Thanks to my persistence (it took 5 years!) and the great help and assistance of the staff at UPC, I finally got UPC 200mb/s BB into the building

The point I'm trying to make is, don't just take it.

- If you are moving, make sure to check what is available first and if you decide not to move or buy a place because of lack of BB, make sure to tell them that.
- If you are renting, bug your landlord to bug the management agency and company to improve things.
- If you are an owner or landlord then bug the management company to improve things.

Don't just do the typical Irish thing and just take it, stand up for your rights.

Tango One · 26-11-2014 2:57pm

UPC have been trying to get into Smithfield since 2011, If your really want UPC in, you need to put pressure on your management company.

UPC have ask the management company Wyse can then install services but have been advise the common areas haven't been taken under their control.

DjTaz · 29-10-2015 10:25am

Might be worth checking again , some flyers are going around now about UPC in the area.
I rang about Block A and they said it was available so i went and ordered it , waiting to see if its really available now !

Broadband in Smithfield Market: which provider is better?

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