NTL Broadband Dublin wide by Christmas

Adey2002

I just called NTL (again) in the hope I would be told that my area has been enabled, but alas not. I asked when my area would be enabled and they said they could not give me an exact date, but she did say...

"We will have the whole of Dublin covered this side of Christmas"

WOOHOO!!

Adey2002

Just an update, I asked some one else who lives in a different area to call NTL and see if he got the same reply and he was told the whole of Dublin within 2-3 months...

optiplexgx270

cool

machalla

I know a friend of mine who got NTL out to install the wiring and so on for his house (Dublin 8) and he was told that NTL BB wouldn't be coming into the area for at least 2 years or more by the engineer doing the installation. This is about 2 weeks ago.

Or are they just peddling a new company line?

It would be fantastic if its true though!

NTL Online checker
http://www.ntl.com/locales/ie/en/sales/

Adey2002

machalla wrote:

I know a friend of mine who got NTL out to install the wiring and so on for his house (Dublin 8) and he was told that NTL BB wouldn't be coming into the area for at least 2 years or more by the engineer doing the installation. This is about 2 weeks ago.

Or are they just peddling a new company line?

It would be fantastic if its true though!

Strange, SteM posted yesterday saying NTL had landed in Dublin 8. see....
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=198606

paulyx

Don't know where that came from lads but unfortunately its untrue

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news........

fatherdougalmag

It's arrived out in Saggart/Citywest. Installation next Friday. Bye bye Esat/BT. Bye bye Sky.

Adey2002

paulyx wrote:

Don't know where that came from lads but unfortunately its untrue

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news........

It came from 2 different people in the NTL call Centre using the dedicated NTL Broadband phone number from the NTL site...

What part of NTL do you work in paulyx, any insider info on the true timescale if what the Call Centre is saying is untrue?

jonny68

Im not sure about the Broadband thing but having previously worked for NTL, its a grand place to work and that but their customer service ranks as the worst their is in the country,it wasnt uncommon for people to be left waiting for hours at a time on the dog and bone,when i might have been in conversation with people taxi drivers,etc,etc and mentioned i worked for them a lot of the time i was lambasted (or rather NTL were) i used to have customers roaring down the phone at me complaining that they were on hold for hours,wasnt anything to do with me as i didnt work in customer service but i could understand their frustration,i dont know if their customer service has improved since i was employed there a few years back but i should hope it has... :rolleyes:

Blaster99

Or maybe the IBB CS Manager has moved to NTL?

Adey2002

Blaster99 wrote:

Or maybe the IBB CS Manager has moved to NTL?

nah, if he had then the whole of ireland would be covered in 2-3 weeks, just as soon as their "new" mast is up

machalla

I remember seeing the D8 NTL post but that only seems to cover Christchurch and environs. We are up near Inchicore village and that part of Dublin 8 is apparently on a very long finger (if the install guy was to be believed).

Every time I have talked to NTL (quite a few times) they have told me, they don't know when an area will be upgraded due to commercial reasons. I will know sooner than them it seems as it all depends on you getting a letter in the door inviting you to get broadband. Thats what they all told me every time I called. I haven't called in a month though, so maybe somethings changed.

Ho well.

OfflerCrocGod

So in 1 month and 10 days the whole of Dublin will be upgraded....meaning they will rewire all the old estates that need new cabling and they will upgrade all the equipment to two way. Adey2002 I've got a spire to sell you if you are interested.....

WezzyB

Maybe they've gone down the route of most other ISPs and are going to be reselling eircom's RADSL service!?!;-)

dub45

Adey2002 wrote:

Strange, SteM posted yesterday saying NTL had landed in Dublin 8. see....
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=198606

Unfortunately Dublin 8 and most postal districts cover such large areas that trying to gauge the likely progress of NTL BB by postal district is probably a futile exercise.

vishal

is it out in clondalkin?

OfflerCrocGod

WezzyB wrote:

Maybe they've gone down the route of most other ISPs and are going to be reselling eircom's RADSL service!?!;-)

Of course not, there is a huge difference in speed for one thing.

neokenzo

Adey2002 wrote:

Just an update, I asked some one else who lives in a different area to call NTL and see if he got the same reply and he was told the whole of Dublin within 2-3 months...

Everytime I called them its always coming out soon. Within a couple of months. I have heard that statement since BB came out.

unkel

Adey2002 wrote:

"We will have the whole of Dublin covered this side of Christmas"

eh, HAHAHAHA :rolleyes:

"It only took us about 4 years to get our first 1000 customers. That's nearly 1 a day! Sure we can get another 10000 customers a day for the next month no problem"

NOT

Adey2002

Sorry, this is a biggie......

To answer the scheptics, it is obvious that NTL will not get their broadband rolled out to the whole of Dublin by Christmas, but at least they are trying to get the rollout done as quickley as possible. But are they??? Who knows????

Time for my late night semi-sober rant…..

It is a shame that NTL have decided to keep everyone in the dark rather than tell people at least the "target" rollout date for their area. I know many people have been told that it is because NTL don’t want their competitors concentrating on the area, but I believe this to be a false economy. Whilst us, the consumer are left in the dark about when we will finally get a decent broadband service from NTL, many of us will succumb to the “free 3 month” trial of eircom whether direct or resold through IOL and others, and once that free trial is up the majority will sign a 12 month contract. What happens to us, the consumer then when an NTL leaflet drops through your door maybe a week, two weeks/months after we have signed that 12 month contract? We’re shagged. Paying for a sub-standard product knowing full well there is a much superior one out there and in the meantime, NTL get nothing from us. Surely it would be better for NTL to give us the most accurate timescale as possible to stop this from happening. All we are hearing through press and TV adverts are eircom/iol/esat and their free trials. I’m no marketing expert, but I can’t see how saying “well we won’t advertise because our competitors will know what we’re doing” is going to get many customers in fact, I would go as far as saying if it were me at the head of NTL, the person that came up with the “keep quiet strategy” should start to look for alternative employment.

It is a real shame because you can tell how superior NTL’s service is just by looking through the messages on boards.ie, I don’t think I can count on one hand the negative posts that have been placed about NTL, in fact I remember just one recent negative post regarding charging for re-connection, which after discussion was sorted to that persons satisfaction and now, he is back enjoying NTL’s service the lucky f... fella.

So to conclude my little rant, a short message to NTL ….

What are you doing??? You have customers out here waiting (very patiently) for your service. The intelligent among us realise that you have a product far superior to anything out there. We realise that there have been many financial obstacles in your way, but all we want is a timescale. Something to let us know whether we should sign that 12 month contract with eircom/resellers or not.
Just to mention by the way, I can’t see eircom (as an example) targeting their TV adverts on Clondalkin just because you announce a target rollout date there so theres no need to worry about them getting in first. In fact theres no need to worry about that at all because without a target date eircom and resellers of eircom already have the area sewn up.

Semi-sober rant over.

As always, all opinions welcome.

Adey.

SkepticOne

I don't think the whole of Dublin is even planned for eventual upgrade ever, let alone completed by Christmas. They have been doing the odd estate here and there for the last couple of years, and these seem to be new estates with relatively new infrastructure.

However, I agree with Adey, that where they do intend upgrading, it would make sense to publish a timescale so that people could choose whether to hang on or not. They also need to stick to it.

Random

SkepticOne wrote:

I don't think the whole of Dublin is even planned for eventual upgrade ever, let alone completed by Christmas. They have been doing the odd estate here and there for the last couple of years, and these seem to be new estates with relatively new infrastructure.

However, I agree with Adey, that where they do intend upgrading, it would make sense to publish a timescale so that people could choose whether to hang on or not. They also need to stick to it.

Very true. I've been hearing this since before I went with Netsource almost 18 months ago now.

optiplexgx270

fatherdougalmag wrote:

It's arrived out in Saggart/Citywest. Installation next Friday. Bye bye Esat/BT. Bye bye Sky.

Bye Bye Sky? Very BAD idea!! i cant stress enough.

Their Broadband may be class but the Digital TV is ffffffffffffaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr from acceptable never mind bad.

Sky is what NTL is for broadband.. The best and far superior to all others.

WezzyB

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but I'd have to agree with optiplex here about ntl go digital.

It is pretty poor in general,
The picture quality is good and you don't get the screen chopped like is done on some of the widescreen feeds on the ntl analogue service.
A plus about Ntl digital is that you only see channels you get not like the sky service.
The big minus about Ntl digital is its remote, its terrible, the placement of the buttons (red,green,blue,yellow) are inconsistent with most other remotes and the same goes for the channel and volume buttons.

Back on-topic:

I just ordered the three month trial from IOL and I would love it if I could get broadband off another provider by the end of this trial, such as NTL or IBB so that I can get BB at speeds greater than 512K....

Blaster99

My assumption has always been that NTL is not publishing a roll-out plan because it doesn't have one.

SteM

Adey2002 wrote:

Strange, SteM posted yesterday saying NTL had landed in Dublin 8. see....
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=198606

Yup, have the letter here in front of me. When i got it I called NTL because I'm moving up to Thomas Street next week and NTL said it was available in my new place too.

tomk

SkepticOne wrote:

it would make sense to publish a timescale so that people could choose whether to hang on or not. They also need to stick to it.

Possibly a bit cynical here, but I'd say this is at least part of the problem. If you give people dates, they have an annoying habit of expecting you to stick to them. Without dates, NTL can muddle along, an estate here, a few streets there, but always knowing that there will be a market for their superior product. And nobody can accuse you of not sticking to a non-existent schedule, can they?

Personally, I'm determined to ignore them until they ring or write to me.

caster

Thought I saw someone mention somewhere that they are now out in Blackrock. Can anyone confirm this?

Jorinn

If ntl manage to replace ALL the cable in Ranelagh/Rathmines like they need to before this xams they deserve 100% takeup. But let's face it, as other people said, it's not going to happen.

machalla

NTL are in Blackrock as of about 3 months ago. A friend of mine was moving from the area when he got a letter in the door from NTL offering BB.

caster

Brilliant, maybe they'll work southwards from there and make it to me in Dun Loaghare... why not be optimistic!

Does anyone know what exactly NTL have to do to upgrade an area for broadband? I presume it doesn't involve actually doing anything with the physical cable running from house to house?

gline

It seems to be a trend with irish ISPs, "it will be available soon", 2 years down the line and u could be still waiting.

BigMoose

Does anyone know what exactly NTL have to do to upgrade an area for broadband?

I've been meaning to ask the same question. There were white vans with blue "something" Network Services written on them in Deans Grange over the weekend putting what look like fat fiber cables into the ground. I am hopefull they might be NTL... (dream on) Although the NTL cables between houses in our road are all strung up over ground between each house.

Emerson

Wasn't for Esat BT by any chance? Notel Networks?
I see so many roadworks on busses so mightn't be.
There's roadworks up where you turn off towards Monkstown from Blackrock too. Half the road is up. Proabably for something mundane like traffic lights. But in my heart I'm hoping it's a big fat ntl pipe!

BigMoose wrote:

I've been meaning to ask the same question. There were white vans with blue "something" Network Services written on them in Deans Grange over the weekend putting what look like fat fiber cables into the ground. I am hopefull they might be NTL... (dream on) Although the NTL cables between houses in our road are all strung up over ground between each house.

gline

Jorinn wrote:

If ntl manage to replace ALL the cable in Ranelagh/Rathmines like they need to before this xams they deserve 100% takeup. But let's face it, as other people said, it's not going to happen.

Ahhhhh if only they would, i would take them up any day, im sick of waiting 6weeks for IBB to get in contact with an install date.:(

carrotcake

caster wrote:

Does anyone know what exactly NTL have to do to upgrade an area for broadband? I presume it doesn't involve actually doing anything with the physical cable running from house to house?

it used to be the case that the cables had to be replaced, which is why only tallaght and surrounding areas had broadband for so long. then some clever fella at ntl discovered a way of delivering broadband over older cables (using a box at the end of the road, or something along those lines) and they trialled it in lucan. i presume they're using the same method now to deliver broadband to all areas upgraded since then. i just hope the guy who discovered the technique is getting well paid!

Adey2002

carrotcake wrote:

it used to be the case that the cables had to be replaced, which is why only tallaght and surrounding areas had broadband for so long. then some clever fella at ntl discovered a way of delivering broadband over older cables (using a box at the end of the road, or something along those lines) and they trialled it in lucan. i presume they're using the same method now to deliver broadband to all areas upgraded since then. i just hope the guy who discovered the technique is getting well paid!

I am due to call some one in NTL tomorrow regarding a different broadband query I have, so I will ask him what exactly is involved in the upgrade of areas, eg if roads need to be dug up or it is just the case as mentioned above that only the box needs to be upgraded. I will let you all know what I find out about it.

gline

Wow never heard that before, thats cool they found a new way to do it

OfflerCrocGod

Give that man a prize!!!

roryodonnell

fatherdougalmag wrote:

It's arrived out in Saggart/Citywest. Installation next Friday. Bye bye Esat/BT. Bye bye Sky.

I wouldn't be soo quick to cancel Sky Digital. If its not Sky digital, then please ignore. The quality of NTL digital is poor compared to Sky Digitals.

gline

what type of problems does ntl digital have?? i was going to go for it just so i could get ntl broadband

roryodonnell

You only need the basic cable service to avail of the broadband.

NTL digital is famous for having blocky graphics, like highly compressed mpegs.
There is also problems with the program guide and incomplete tv listings. These problems were outstanding about a year ago. My friend got NTL digital after I recommended Sky. A year later he's back with Sky. MickFarr is his board name. PM him for more info.

Also, Sky has more channels (not UTV or C4).

gline

roryodonnell wrote:

You only need the basic cable service to avail of the broadband.

NTL digital is famous for having blocky graphics, like highly compressed mpegs.
There is also problems with the program guide and incomplete tv listings. These problems were outstanding about a year ago. My friend got NTL digital after I recommended Sky. A year later he's back with Sky. MickFarr is his board name. PM him for more info.

Also, Sky has more channels (not UTV or C4).

Ah so u only need the basic for ntl broadband, well thats more like it, hehehe, im not botheredd with tv at all, feck all on these days, much rather be on d netn

Jorinn

carrotcake wrote:

it used to be the case that the cables had to be replaced, which is why only tallaght and surrounding areas had broadband for so long. then some clever fella at ntl discovered a way of delivering broadband over older cables (using a box at the end of the road, or something along those lines) and they trialled it in lucan. i presume they're using the same method now to deliver broadband to all areas upgraded since then. i just hope the guy who discovered the technique is getting well paid!

Um, actually I think the cables still need to be replaced depending on how old they are. The really old cable like in areas such as Ranelagh and Rathmines AFAIK will have to be replaced still for broadband. The newer cable in other areas was always to way cable. The thing about them not having to replace cables was something to do it with how the data is sent and is split through some device which they now just put in a larger area or something and not entirely to do with the cable itself I think.

carrotcake

i'm just repeating what an ntl engineer told me, which i presume is the truth. at the time he also told me that the cable being layed in new estates wasn't "two-way cable".

if cable did need to be replaced in all the newly-upgraded areas, then people would have noticed. during the upgrades in tallaght in 2000 you couldn't miss them

Chalk

anyone got a definite answer on this?
seems like a few opinions but nothing concrete.

please let me know as i am now officially holding my breath

fatherdougalmag

Don't want to drag this into a TV discussion but the reason I'm ditching Sky Digital is purely finanancial. I'll miss it alright but part of the move to NTL is a money-saving exercise. I'll only have to pay €12 a month for NTL vs €28.50 for Sky. As long as 'they' get to see Corrie, Eastenders and Fair City and we get Cbeebies we're happy campers.

roryodonnell

Lol, "they" that feed you perhaps.

fatherdougalmag wrote:

Don't want to drag this into a TV discussion but the reason I'm ditching Sky Digital is purely finanancial. I'll miss it alright but part of the move to NTL is a money-saving exercise. I'll only have to pay €12 a month for NTL vs €28.50 for Sky. As long as 'they' get to see Corrie, Eastenders and Fair City and we get Cbeebies we're happy campers.

Jorinn

carrotcake wrote:

i'm just repeating what an ntl engineer told me, which i presume is the truth. at the time he also told me that the cable being layed in new estates wasn't "two-way cable".

if cable did need to be replaced in all the newly-upgraded areas, then people would have noticed. during the upgrades in tallaght in 2000 you couldn't miss them

If it's not two way then you have either a: no way of requesting the data or b: of downloading data, so it would be the same as 1 way satalite where you would probably need a telephone line for the upload. If the engineer was telling the truth though then those estates won't be able to get broadband from ntl.

Really would be nice to get clarifcation etc. But I think most are aware how hard it is to get through to ntl, and even then to get someone who will tell you the correct honest info.

STaN

well if a €100m investment in upgrading their existing network that was announced a few months ago wont do it, nothing well. IBB only spent about 5m.

I know that it is now available in dublin west (north and south) and their plan is to progress across the city eastward.

Random

Ran up today and I'm told it's definitly gonna be Dublin-Wide by the end of January. Apparently they are working toward that end now....