Thinking of switching to magnet broadband provider

wiredmacker

Hi Guys

I'm using NTL broadband at the moment and have the NTL Max Package!

* 6Mb downstream; 512k upstream
* 24 hour online connection - no time restrictions
* No telephone line required
* 40Gb usage limit
* Up to 5 email addresses

Anyway I'm thinking of switching to Magnet broadband provider in the next month or so because I'm not happy with the NTL contention ratio and would like to try ADSL 2 I here it offers better performance. Mind you I'm not sure if the NTL broadband package I'm using at the moment is ADSL 2, I guess not.

Does anybody know if magnet use any kind of traffic shaping. I'm worries if I switch over to magnet that I won't be able to use bittorrent or VOIP! Are there any magnet broadband users here? Are you getting any of these problems?

Foxwood

wiredmacker wrote:

Anyway I'm thinking of switching to Magnet broadband provider in the next month or so because I'm not happy with the NTL contention ratio and would like to try ADSL 2 I here it offers better performance. Mind you I'm not sure if the NTL broadband package I'm using at the moment is ADSL 2, I guess not.

DSL technology used telephone lines. NTL is a cable company, it doesn't use telephone lines to deliver services.

Does anybody know if magnet use any kind of traffic shaping. I'm worries if I switch over to magnet that I won't be able to use bittorrent or VOIP!

Magnet place great store by their claims of an uncontended network. It wouldn't make much sense for them to do packetshaping of the network is supposed to be uncontended.

watty

NTL is cable. Uncontended cable isn't impossible, only far off places with fibre to the end of the street can do it. I'd guess at least 48:1 contention on NTL.

There are rumours that you can't configure you modem ports on Magnet, that Magnet has to do it for you,

Yes it does make sense to do traffic shaping and portblocking as then less backhaul is needed and then ftp, http, email etc can be uncontended.

There is not enough backhaul for everyone to run full speed simultanously on ANY network. They claim to have enough backhaul for their peak traffic.

It's an uncontended access node, not an uncontended network.

If you can get magnet, then their broadband is one of the best products. But the TV part frankly makes even Chorus Digital MMDS look attractive.

DeVore

I use Magnet. Here's my two second review:

The Bad:
1. My connection regularly (ie: every two hours) disconnects and reconnects. I dont know why, but I suspect its some IP renewal thing.

2. We dont have access to the router to sort this out or to tweak other settings.

3. The TV supply is pants as is the interface to the program listing. We kept NTL cable for the TV.

The Good.
1. OMG the connectivity. They arent kidding, we seem to be completely uncontended and I regularly get download speeds of 200Kps from decent sources. We're on their top package and its like we're jacked in.

2. The support. Normally their support level is good. I think I have been marked with some customer tag of "narky bollox who can and will cause us trouble" after I complained loudly here when our installation didnt go as planned. However, there is no denying they have decent support and people who seem to know what they are talking about, particularly their Level 2 engineers.

Most package operators seem to get the peripheral things right and the central thing (connectivity and throughput) wrong. Magnet seem to have done the opposite, the core of their product is fantastic, the addition bells and whistles dont seem to be matured.

VOIP, they give you a cute little handset and freecalls etc etc. Its all very nice but I rarely use it because I'm rarely here and I use my mobile.

Verdict: I've tried most suppliers, Magnet aint perfect but its the best I've used so far. 7/10

DeV.

Foxwood

watty wrote:

There are rumours that you can't configure you modem ports on Magnet, that Magnet has to do it for you,

Posts from people who know what they are doing suggest that the Magnet modem passes all traffic, so you don't need to configure anything on the modem.

Pehaps DeVore can confirm.

watty

In which case you need a separate NAT/Firewall/Router box optionally with WiFi.

wiredmacker

Thanks for the tips guys. I think I'll stick with NTL for the moment

cramp

Ill give u my quick review..


good points
4mb/100gb line
Always get 4mb on downloads, usually peaks at 4.2mb
The line has never been down!
Have had NO real tech issues with them..
I have gone over 100gb regularly and not been charged!

bad points
Tech support is pretty bad, the same guy who sells the magnet package is usually the tech support , who is reading from a script!
I have to ring THEM to remind them to take the money that i owe THEM!!!

After breaking away from EIRCOM iam very happy, something else that i don't see them mentioning is that for a while back when u changed to Magnet/smart you had to change your number, but Magnet will allow u to keep your Eircom number.... i think people would be interested in that!

Foxwood

cramp wrote:

something else that i don't see them mentioning is that for a while back when u changed to Magnet/smart you had to change your number, but Magnet will allow u to keep your Eircom number.... i think people would be interested in that!

It's not that Magnet are letting you keep your eircom number - it was eircom that was preventing peope from keeping their number when they moved, not Magnet (or Smart). eircom are still limiting the number of customers that are allowed to keep their number when they switch to 60 per day. That's 60 in total shared between Magnet and Smart.

cramp

didnt know that m8.......................mind you when my m8 was signing up they told him that it would be a further week (3 weeks total) if he wanted to keep his original number!

cramp

Foxwood

cramp wrote:

didnt know that m8.......................mind you when my m8 was signing up they told him that it would be a further week (3 weeks total) if he wanted to keep his original number!

Yup, another week for you to mull over whether you want to leave the warm embrace of mother eircom.........

mrooqie

I have to pay 50euros for line rental from eircom and 42 for Digiweb=92 euro for internet access.I see that this Magnet is much better at all. isn`t?

Foxwood

mrooqie wrote:

I have to pay 50euros for line rental from eircom and 42 for Digiweb=92 euro for internet access.I see that this Magnet is much better at all. isn`t?

eircom line rental is "only" €24.18, not €50. Magnet Lite (upto 4Mbps) will cost you €24 line renta plus €28 for the broadband. You could save €14/month, and get a faster service, if Magnet is available on your exchange.

mrooqie

Foxwood wrote:

eircom line rental is "only" €24.18, not €50. .

My line rental (i don`t know why) is 39.96 + Vat 8,73. It`s alomost 50euros.

Foxwood

mrooqie wrote:

My line rental (i don`t know why) is 39.96 + Vat 8,73. It`s alomost 50euros.

It's 39.96 plus VAT because eircom bill bi-monthly. It's €24.18 per month, or €48.36 per bill.

(VAT is 21% - it's €8.40 on your line rental, not €8.73)