Thinking of switching from UTV to Irish Broadband

iggyman

im currently on utv 2mb package..the thing is with this i am coming right up to my limit every month and that is me trying to hold my downloads to the bare minimum..i really want to download alot more..

i know there is a utv unlimited package which i would consider if it werent for this other problem i got..when playin games online i get very high ping jumps which rises up to the range of 600+ and makes the game totaly unplayable..and i know this is because of UTV because ive heard of about 5 people on the same isp and package as me having the same problem so im going to get rid of utv during the summer no matter what..

now ive looked at many isp's and found that ntl and irish broadband are ones that im liking..but ntl isnt availble yet in my area so i have to go with IBB.. now these have a few things i like..most of all i like the symetrical upload speed which is 2mb and the way they use no caps..so i can download with out worrying..and another one is that without utv bb i can get rid of the fee for line rental so therefore drop my monthly bill by a good bit..so i will be only payin 48.40 a month no matter what..(im getting rid of my phone as well)..its the breeze 2mb package im talking about for €48.40..now ive two questions that im not sure about..

1. Is there any problems with Irish broadband that i should know about before i make the switch..

2. How would i go about canceling utv brodband and utvtalk service so that i wont get a a line rental bill for 25 euro there abouts a month..

3. lastly if irish broadband isnt the way to go what other isps can i consider..im looking for high download allowance preferably no caps at all..a nice 2mb speed will do ..be even better if more..and is priced around 30-40 euro a month if its done through phone lines..and if wireless etc..(no line rental fee)..can be up to as far as 50-60 euro

thanks for any help..

irlrobins

iggyman wrote:

1. Is there any problems with Irish broadband that i should know about before i make the switch..

Take it you haven't noticed the sticky at the top of the broadband forum detailing everyone's problems with IBB?

I'm an IBB customer and I'm one of the the lucky few who has a perfect working connection (touches wood). Would I recommend them to anyone? Not a chance.

Only go with IBB if you have no other options. Often dial up is quicker.

Sparky

I suggest that if switching from UTV to IBB is the road you want to go, then atleast do your save a favour and go out to your back garden and injure yourself with a knife or something, whatever pain you will have will be nothing compared to the pain and suffering IBB will give you.

Please don't find my comment harsh, but its the best way I can explain and I'm sure many people will agree with me.

iggyman

haha..is it really that bad guys?..like my friend has it and he lives down the road and he says he doesnt have any problems with it..and recently ive seen alot of new IBB arials been put up on houses around my area..why are people still getting it then?

irlrobins

Well if they're like you then maybe they don't have much choice but to get IBB if they want broadband. No other providers in the area.

As I said my connection is perfect (2mbps down, 5mbps up, low pings etc). But I think I'm in the minority. And once or twice when it went down it was a pain in that ass trying to get support to fix it. Half the guys who answer the phone don't know their ip from their dns.

elivsvonchiaing

I only know 6 people with/have been with IBB. Only one was still happy (2 months ago - haven't checked), one other still tolerates it. Think it really depends on your area tbh. (i.e. how much kit they installed - and how many customers pulled out - the last ppl standing are probably the winners).

dub45

iggyman wrote:

haha..is it really that bad guys?..like my friend has it and he lives down the road and he says he doesnt have any problems with it..and recently ive seen alot of new IBB arials been put up on houses around my area..why are people still getting it then?

they dont read boards.ie and reap the wisdom that is to be gained here!:)

Have you thought of trying some of the other dsl providers with a reputation for low pings? For years UTV have had a ping problem right from day one of bb. They seem to be able to correct it for a while and then it reverts.......

watty

You won't have a problem with a UTV sized CAP on IBB. Because it may be not possible to reach it. You can "upgrade" to a capless UTV account.

IBB actually have three systems. Really only the ripwave is poor.

How do you know the aerials are for IBB? The Ripwave doesn't use an external aerial.

One external aerial (CPE) can look very much like another. Some around here are actually defunct Chorus Wireless phone systems.

DecTenToo

With UTV you can pay an extra 6 euro per month and go unlimited ... check previous threads about this.

bk

You do have other options, you could move to Digiweb, BT or shudder, Eircom for DSL, they should all be better for the pings.

Digiweb also do a fairly good wireless product called Metro.

Also have you checked if Smart are available in your area, they offer a very good service.

CuLT

I've really no problem with IBB other than I could do with it being a little faster for a better price; pretty much the only reason I'm switching to NTL.

Cheaper. Faster.

iggyman

well one thing is certain im not sticking with UTV because this ping problem..and ill be gettin a ps3 around christmas and i dont want to be un able to play online because of the ping spikes..even doh the unlimited utv offer is very good i cant do it unless the ping problem stops before i cancel utv..which i doubt will happen..

now onto ibb...so the main problem with IBB is that the speeds get very slow rite? now i live in the finglas area so does anybody live in finglas that has/had IBB? if so what was IBB like for you?

one more thing..will the ping spikes still occur if i change to another DSL service like BT or is just UTV that has this problem..because considering there both running through eircoms lines..i tought the problem would still happen no matter what DSL isp i was with..so i thats why i tought about going wireless..

dub45

No in the past lots of people (gameplayers) have changed away from UTV because of the ping problem.

Afaik Eircom have pretty good pings EsatBT are unrecommendable because of potential billing problems.

CuLT

Hmm, they all use some different routing hardware along the way, don't they? (the engineering side of things is a little beyond me for now) Could conceivably be better by switching.

iggyman

Well im not sure if i want to switch to IBB now after all the bad things ive heard about it..

yeah ive heard of a few people who had UTV having the same ping problem as me..i just want to make sure that i wont have the same problem when i switch..

im liking the look of BT's 3mb package..but whats this about a billing problem? is there anything i should know about BT before i think about switching ..?

dub45

Born under a bad sign? First IBB then Esat???????

Your name isnt rip van winkle is it?

Do a search under Esat and billing.

iggyman

so there overcharging people..is this happening to the odd few or everyone?

im curious then to see what isp's yous are all with? because UTV ,ESAT and IBB all have problems and they seem to look the best from my point of view..

gordonnet

are you crazy, going from one restricted service to another. the unlimited cap on utv is of no consequence as they use QOS to manage their network. another words excessive downloads and the speeds slows

CuLT

iggyman wrote:

so there overcharging people..is this happening to the odd few or everyone?

im curious then to see what isp's yous are all with? because UTV ,ESAT and IBB all have problems and they seem to look the best from my point of view..

Me? Lawyer fucked me. Everybody's innocent in here. Didn't you know that?

dyslexixboy

Im with digiweb metro, 3mb down 512 up, now digiweb have had their problems and I'll be first to say that as I had serious trouble with metro at the start high pings constant disconnections etc. Although they seemed to have reslovled it cause now I get 2.8-2.9mb download speeds and it never disconnects anymore. They say was because of trees obstructing the los to the basestation and bad weather will affect it, well anyway I mainly use it for gaming mainily bf2. I get pings to uk servers between 20ms - 40ms never any higher, to us servers I get 120ms - 160ms and its still playable without serious lag. there is a 30GB cap a month.

iggyman

ye digiweb metro is looking like a big possibility for me..considering that there are problems with both IBB and BT.... and NTL and Smart isnt out in my area.. there is really only digiweb and eircom to choose from ..

although ive been thinkin i could use UTV with unlimited for the rest of the year because i wont be playing much games online before then and then look up and see if IBB and BT are still having problems around christmas time
and then make up a better decision because the problems may be fixed or even there may be some new offers out from a few of the isp's by then..

what ya's think?

MrPudding

watty wrote:

How do you know the aerials are for IBB? The Ripwave doesn't use an external aerial.

Maybe 'cos they say "Irish Broadband" on them?;)

I now also have a great connection. 1.96 down and 6+ up. Very stable. That said I did have problems until they finally upgraded the backhaul on my mast. No complaints now.

MrP

Irishpimpdude

iggyman wrote:

ye digiweb metro is looking like a big possibility for me..considering that there are problems with both IBB and BT.... and NTL and Smart isnt out in my area.. there is really only digiweb and eircom to choose from ..

although ive been thinkin i could use UTV with unlimited for the rest of the year because i wont be playing much games online before then and then look up and see if IBB and BT are still having problems around christmas time
and then make up a better decision because the problems may be fixed or even there may be some new offers out from a few of the isp's by then..

what ya's think?

I am the friend iggyman is talking about and i have to say i do get a really good connection with IBB i get 240kb/s each way most of the time.

iggyman

well im not sure were to go right now..i think ill just have to wait till christmas and see were to go..

right now these are the isp's that i can get..except for smart and ntl

BT = i know people are having billing problems but to be honest there is probably about 50 of yous at the most that are having this and im guessing BT has customers in the thousands so its really only a small fraction of them that are having problems..

DIGIWEB = now so far this would probably be tiop of the list because im not hearing much complaints from it and instead hearing good things about it..



IBB + UTV = i have to say there are alot more complaints from IBB so i think ill stay away from them for now but check back up on them around christmas..same goes for my current isp ,UTV if they get their ping problem sorted out by then well then i might well stay with them..


NTL,SMART and EIRCOM = NTL and SMART are not availible in my area so cant consiider them but by christmas they might be so ill have to wait and see..and eircom is a bit expensive for what it offers compared to other isp's so these are bottom of my list..

bk

iggyman wrote:

NTL,SMART and EIRCOM = NTL and SMART are not availible in my area so cant consiider them but by christmas they might be so ill have to wait and see..and eircom is a bit expensive for what it offers compared to other isp's so these are bottom of my list..

WEll a lot of the DSL operators now offer 6 months contracts. Why not go with them for 6 months and when Smart/NTL become available in your area, move to them.

Irishpimpdude

Magnet are supposed to be available this month in our area, so give them a try...

iggyman

only the 2mb magnet package will be availble to us this month..i may be wrong but magnet only offers 10 gb allowance a month on the 2mb package..theres no way im getting that..

yeah was thinkin of going with BT i doubt ill have any billing problems like others do..there only a very small fraction..and i like the line rental combo they do and the 30 gb allowance..so i might give them a try..and then if i dont like them ..like BK said i can just change after 6 months to a wireless one or even NTL or SMART if there availble by then..

Cuddlesworth

If you like excessive downloading then why not IBB. When it works it works great . I game on my connection as well but its hard due to packet loss.Thats why I have Eircom Dsl as well.

iggyman

yeah i mainly need it for gaming so i want no problems such as packet loss or high pings..and stuff like high allowances and fast speeds are a bonus to have..so so far digiweb ..bt and magnet are looking alright...

but i probably wont get any wireless now that its not a good choice for gaming..is that right ?

what would be the best choice for gaming..such as low pings and low packet loss.... adsl, adsl +2,wireless,cable ?

elivsvonchiaing

Was with eircom bb. Tried bt online - 2 weeks later; realised they were just jerking me around; went UTV - same story - the whole problem being - the online request form assumes an account number with the domain provider - no education of UAN number applies - This was nearly a year ago - and I just lost the rag and went to back to Eircom.

I'm a real fan of conspiracy theories - but really reckon a lot of bb providers (who are not eircom) have just not done their homework

tonkpills

Are u crazy... Dont let the unlimited download caps fool u. They are totaly EVIL COMPANY!!!!!!!!!

tonkpills

BTW they should make a show for Irish Primetime... When Broadband Companys go BAD!! LOL

iggyman

haha..tonkpills ..what isp are you talkin about when you said .."dont let there unlimited download caps fool you" ..utv?