Screw NTL? Or crawl back to them?

BeatFreak

Right I'm in a bit of a bind and once again I'm in need of your advice. Due to a dispute between myself and NTL my internet connection (600k cable) was cut. It's a long and boring story which I won't go into but I'm need a internet connection so I'm weighing up my options.

My options are, return to NTL with my tail between my legs and pay what I owe (~€200, I know ouch) and ask them to reconnect me. Bear in mind that I have to pay for basic cable TV if I subscribe to NTL and seeing as I don't have a TV nor any interest in watching TV this seems like total a waste of money. Which means I'm effectively paying ~€50 per month.

As for my other options, this is where you guys come in. I've been happy enough with NTL up untill now so I haven't been paying attention to any of the other ISP offering BB in my area. Is there any other service in south west Dublin (Templeogue) worth looking into? Money isn't really a problem and I'm a very demanding user so good gaming pings, download speeds and no caps are required.

Will I get the opportunity to say "Shove yer poxy internet and none existent customer service right up yer h*le ye shower of c*nts" which at this stage would be VERY satisfying. Or is there any other service worth looking at in my area?

Cheers for the advice in advance, and sorry for being lazy but being without a internet connection its hard to get good advice quick.

BeatFreak

Someone is bound have an oppinion on this one right? As the clash once said "will I stay or will I go"?

dlofnep

It's either kiss ass or prepare for caps.

bk

If you are a gamer and money is an obstacle, then I'd stay with them.

What where your pings with NTL like?

You best alternative is probably Esat/IOL BB 24:1 16GB Cap Eur80 install charge and EUR47 per month (EUR40 if you also take their phone service at minimum EUR25 per month).

However NTL would be still cheaper then this, even with the EUR200 bill over 12 months:

NTL: 20 X 12 = 240 + 200 = 440
Esat: 47 X 12 = 564 + 80 (install) = 644

And NTL has a cap almost double Esat and better pings (or so I'm told, I've got Netsource).

GerardKeating

Originally posted by Beat Freak
Bear in mind that I have to pay for basic cable TV if I subscribe to NTL and seeing as I don't have a TV nor any interest in watching TV this seems like total a waste of money. Which means I'm effectively paying ~?50 per month.

NTL broadband gives you.

600KB/sec
20:1 contention
30 GB a month download cap (1GB a day)

The price is about EUR55 a month (including the Basic TV sub)

I doubt if you will find a better priced BB package.

lotas

or for an extra 10er a month you get their 1mb service, and their cap is pretty much non exsistant. i have been over the cap nearly every day for 2 months. sometimes just slightly over, about 1.1gb, others over 3-4gb over! and thats a day! other times, probably once a week i probably only use it for about 800mb, but still a lot. DUMeter tells me i downloaded about 42Gb in feburary and thats was only for about 2 weeks. Id go with them. even if it does mean eating crow. Ohhh, and ping times are a lot faster! depends on what your pinging though.

I know its not really an issue with relativly few people on NTL broadband but the idea of contention is different and less favourable with cable broadband.
With Cable the contention is with all the people in your locality (assuming they have broadband) as you all share the came line.

With xDSL conention is at the exchange which can be upgraded as more people get xDSL.

BKtje

cable has superior ping times to eircoms/iol/s RADSL. More packelt loss can be a problem but seeing as you had it before you either diodnt get any or just didnt notice.
Tail between legs time im afraid.

MickFarr

I also had a dispute with NTL, cancelled my BB and told them were to go but then when I went looking for an alternative package I realized I had made a big mistake. I rang them back, ask them to reconnect me and all is fine now.

Its a great package if you are a heavy internet user. I upgraded to the 1MB option for an extra 10 euros a month. I am constantly over the cap, some days my upload/download is over 6GB. Who cares !!

Mutant_Fruit

You may or may not be in range for Irish Broadband. If you;re a gamer, then only go with them if you can get the "VL" equipment. That gives typical pings of 6ms to boards.ie. In game pings are under 50ms, unless server is crap.

But if you get the standard gear, kiss those pings goodbye. Typcally they can go up as high as 250ms to boards, but as low as 30ms. More often than not, they're 250ms.