To Smart or not to Smart...?

mjmorrisroe

Hey -

Does anyone have any experience with Smart Telecom? I'm currently being bent over by Eircom so changing ISP. Smart seem the cheapest apart from NTL, who'll never get their finger out!! I need to know if Smart's service actually works. Any feedback/suggestions/recommendations appreciated.

Thank you.

pizzahead77

Smart's service is great! I haven't had any problems with it since I ditched the dodgy Aolynx router they provide. If you are using it a lot (esp. multiple downloads it crashes) But there seem to be some workarounds if you have a second router or use Windows XP as the PPPOE connection.

Currently you need to change your phone number as eircom are dragging their heals on implementing a proper LLU process.

You can also get 2MB/256KB for €40 per month.

Maskhadov

The extremely low levels of availability is the only real problem with SMART. You get a good service for what you pay for.

Blaster99

Probably not all that much lower than NTL, mind.

replytohere2004

same as pizzahead, dumped the AOLink modem and haven't been down once since.

128 upload isn't the best, would much perfer if it was 2mb up and down like IBB.

Anyone know when Smarts next increase (either way) will be?

darkmaster2

Its pretty reliable, fast, and cheap. Recommended!
Just don`t use the modem supplied and you`ll be grand.

Pings aren`t great though :rolleyes:

digitaldr

What are the pings actually like?

Pyr0

Just a quick post on some pings,these results are like this all the time, in game pings more or less the same a touch higher but not by much

Quake4 server
Pinging games4.iol.ie [193.120.123.133] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 193.120.123.133: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=57
Reply from 193.120.123.133: bytes=32 time=7ms TTL=57
Reply from 193.120.123.133: bytes=32 time=7ms TTL=57
Reply from 193.120.123.133: bytes=32 time=7ms TTL=57

Ping statistics for 193.120.123.133:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 7ms, Maximum = 8ms, Average = 7ms

TiG Server
Pinging 82.195.136.136 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 82.195.136.136: bytes=32 time=18ms TTL=117
Reply from 82.195.136.136: bytes=32 time=17ms TTL=117
Reply from 82.195.136.136: bytes=32 time=18ms TTL=117
Reply from 82.195.136.136: bytes=32 time=23ms TTL=117

Ping statistics for 82.195.136.136:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 17ms, Maximum = 23ms, Average = 19ms

Jolt
Pinging www.jolt.co.uk [82.133.85.65] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 82.133.85.65: bytes=32 time=18ms TTL=56
Reply from 82.133.85.65: bytes=32 time=17ms TTL=56
Reply from 82.133.85.65: bytes=32 time=17ms TTL=56
Reply from 82.133.85.65: bytes=32 time=17ms TTL=56

Ping statistics for 82.133.85.65:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 17ms, Maximum = 18ms, Average = 17ms

Can't argue with that tbh

Edit: Forgot to mention that interleaving is off.

digitaldr

One more question - a mate of mine got his first smart bill recently - there was a mysterious €20 charge (can't remember what it was called) on top of the broadband and call charges. He was going to query it today. Anyone had a similar experience?

Gonzo

pity eircom dont allow interleaving to be turned off at a request.. shame coz thats what our pings should be like.

crol

turning interleaving off will cause problems if your copper isn't sufficiently error free:

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/184

edanto

digitaldr wrote:

One more question - a mate of mine got his first smart bill recently - there was a mysterious €20 charge (can't remember what it was called) on top of the broadband and call charges. He was going to query it today. Anyone had a similar experience?

With my first bill, they had taken off e20 to make up for taking so long to deliver broadband. Maybe someone in Smart meant to do the same for your mate and made a balls of it?

That was back in June though - service has been great since. Never down and always fast with pings like the above.

darkmaster2

Here are some of my pings. Churchfield exchange, cork city

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>ping games4.iol.ie

Pinging games4.iol.ie [193.120.123.133] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 193.120.123.133: bytes=32 time=42ms TTL=57
Reply from 193.120.123.133: bytes=32 time=41ms TTL=57
Reply from 193.120.123.133: bytes=32 time=41ms TTL=57
Reply from 193.120.123.133: bytes=32 time=41ms TTL=57

Ping statistics for 193.120.123.133:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 41ms, Maximum = 42ms, Average = 41ms

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>ping jolt.co.uk

Pinging jolt.co.uk [82.133.85.65] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 82.133.85.65: bytes=32 time=52ms TTL=56
Reply from 82.133.85.65: bytes=32 time=54ms TTL=56
Reply from 82.133.85.65: bytes=32 time=54ms TTL=56
Reply from 82.133.85.65: bytes=32 time=53ms TTL=56

Ping statistics for 82.133.85.65:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 52ms, Maximum = 54ms, Average = 53ms

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>ping 82.195.136.136

Pinging 82.195.136.136 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 82.195.136.136: bytes=32 time=52ms TTL=117
Reply from 82.195.136.136: bytes=32 time=53ms TTL=117
Reply from 82.195.136.136: bytes=32 time=52ms TTL=117
Reply from 82.195.136.136: bytes=32 time=52ms TTL=117

Ping statistics for 82.195.136.136:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 52ms, Maximum = 53ms, Average = 52ms

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>ping www.google.ie

Pinging www.l.google.com [66.249.93.99] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 66.249.93.99: bytes=32 time=160ms TTL=243
Reply from 66.249.93.99: bytes=32 time=160ms TTL=243
Reply from 66.249.93.99: bytes=32 time=158ms TTL=243
Reply from 66.249.93.99: bytes=32 time=159ms TTL=243

Ping statistics for 66.249.93.99:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 158ms, Maximum = 160ms, Average = 159ms

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>ping www.boards.ie

Pinging www.boards.ie [82.195.136.250] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 82.195.136.250: bytes=32 time=51ms TTL=53
Reply from 82.195.136.250: bytes=32 time=51ms TTL=53
Reply from 82.195.136.250: bytes=32 time=53ms TTL=53
Reply from 82.195.136.250: bytes=32 time=53ms TTL=53

Ping statistics for 82.195.136.250:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 51ms, Maximum = 53ms, Average = 52ms

digitaldr

thanks for the pings - Dakmaster2 is interleaving off? How much difference does interleaving make anyway? Apparently my exchange is going to be ready soon - wonder how long they'll take to get a modem out to me once it's ready?

darkmaster2

I have no idea if interleaving is off, How would i check that?
Pings used to be around 35ms to boards.ie when I first got smart in, so they have gone up a bit. all american servers are around 160ms.

Snaga

Pretty sure Interleaving is turned on by default, there were several posts by Garfield saying that it would be switched off if you asked for it, but your mileage may vary depending on your copper quality as mentioned already.

GarfieldConnoll

Snaga wrote:

Pretty sure Interleaving is turned on by default, there were several posts by Garfield saying that it would be switched off if you asked for it, but your mileage may vary depending on your copper quality as mentioned already.

Interleaving is on by default. We'll switch it off on a case by case basis, depending on the quality of your copper.

Garfield.

darkmaster2

Any idea why my pings are so much higher? Is it all down to interleaving Garfield? Games are a a bit dodgy with the pings i have

GarfieldConnoll

darkmaster2 wrote:

Any idea why my pings are so much higher? Is it all down to interleaving Garfield? Games are a a bit dodgy with the pings i have

Darkmaster2,

Not sure why the pings are so high. What are the pings like if you use the Aolynk in router mode? I appreciate that you have valid reasons for using it in bridge mode with the the 3Com kit, but I would be interested to know what the pings are like in 'standard' mode. I'm not saying that your current config is affecting your pings, but it would be great to be able to rule it out as a possible issue.

Garfield.

tba

is the €35 price tag covering a phone line too or is that a seperate package?

plus do you have to transfer from eircom or can you avoid them all together?

LostinBlanch

Garfield,

any news on the Blanch exchange yet?? I know that it's the wrong side of the road or something but I want to leave Eircom desperately. I'm sick and tired of those overcharging rip off b*st*rds. I do't even mind changing phone numbers. Also what's the story on the court case is Eircoms foot dragging going to be called to account anytime soon?

Shadoo

Smart are good when you a) get them to process the account and b) don't have a problem.

Moving from Eircom to Smart was painful to say the least, but I appriciate this probably has more to do with Eircom than Smart. I got away with 2 weeks of blackout in between 3 calls to Eircom + 4 calls to Smart.

Once you're up -- you're off and away... until you have a problem. Smart's support line is fairly OK compared to Eircom, with one exception... Don't expect anything at all to be done after 6pm when the folks who have access to the servers walk away.

Unfortunately I had an issue with DSL signal just disapearing from the line and called after 6pm. Nothing they could do except run me throught the usual "plug in your Aolynk modem, take out the filter, try different wire" routine. No callback either the next day and 24h after reporting the problem -- still no reason or expected resolution time.

I paid through the nose for Eircom, but when I had a problem at 8pm, they were able to log on to the servers and check&fix their end.

It's OK though -- I knew with the lower price tag I'd have to make some adjustments. So I'm not complaining -- lower price with good service when it's available and fairly decent tech support before 6pm. Don't depend your business/home office/etc on it though.

Garfield's obviously great help and it's refreshing to see a company representative come on boards like these and take requests like turning off interleaving in PMs.

darkmaster2

GarfieldConnoll wrote:

Darkmaster2,

Not sure why the pings are so high. What are the pings like if you use the Aolynk in router mode? I appreciate that you have valid reasons for using it in bridge mode with the the 3Com kit, but I would be interested to know what the pings are like in 'standard' mode. I'm not saying that your current config is affecting your pings, but it would be great to be able to rule it out as a possible issue.

Garfield.

Pings are almost the same just using the Aolynk router on its own. I can`t keep it like that for too long due to any sniff of a torrent Making it hang .

So can i get interleaving turned off then?

MOH

digitaldr wrote:

One more question - a mate of mine got his first smart bill recently - there was a mysterious €20 charge (can't remember what it was called) on top of the broadband and call charges. He was going to query it today. Anyone had a similar experience?

My first bill had a month's rental, calls, and a mysterious third figure without a proper explanation. Eventually worked out it was for the portion of the previous month after I switched to Smart - but for some reason they didn't just add it to the rental total.

digitaldr

MOH wrote:

My first bill had a month's rental, calls, and a mysterious third figure without a proper explanation. Eventually worked out it was for the portion of the previous month after I switched to Smart - but for some reason they didn't just add it to the rental total.

Turns out that's what happened to my friend too. He said the bill was a bit amateurish looking!