Best BB - Digiweb?

gd2000

I was hoping to get some direction on the best BB service to go for...

My preference is for no phone line (since I don't need it), but that preference is mainly driven by a desire to keep costs down!

I'm sick of NTL (which I ordered over 5 weeks ago, but am still waiting on a signal boost), so don't want to go for them.

What is the Digiweb Metro service like? Is the box discrete (any pics?)? Also - how do they run it into the house?

Nearly all providers want to charge some obscene installation cost (Eircom quoted €120!! I live in Rathfarnham in an estate that's 25 years old and there was a line into the house before I bought it!)...

I'm really finding the whole thing frustrating - BB only seems to become equitable when you bundle lots of other services in! BTW - in the poll Smart seem to do well - are they still providing a BB service?

mcdonnst

I have had the metro for nearly a year now and I can 100% recomend it.

Never had a problem, installation was quick enough.

I think if you pay up front there is no installation charge.

Its cheap. 20 quid a month isperfect after a few months we doubled our download limit cause we were downloading loads (now 20gig)

Router is about the size of a video box.

Customer service answers quick as well as tech support.

Asok

I think there are pics of the units used for metro on the digiweb faq http://www.digiweb.ie/support/metro/faq.asp?i=180&i2=181&i6=197#q9
they are kinda small but I have the service myself and the units are pretty unobtrusive

gd2000

Thanks for the quick replies...

Sounds good so far - is the BB wireless, or do I need to get a wireless modem?

zoro

If you're going to be using the 3Rock mast, then tell them no, no, no, no.
It's horribly overloaded, and as a result the connection is incredibly unstable.

If you can get signal from any other mast then I believe they're great (and they were when I was on another mast in Dublin too)

gd2000

Cheers Zoro - very useful feedback about 3Rock!

I'm kind of leaning towards BT 2Mb (without the calls included), 'cos I can get it wireless and use monitoring with my alarm. Also - I reckon from the FAQ with Digiweb that I'm not able to use over-rides (like Vartech) for long-distance calls...

watty

You can use call cards on Metro, just not a CPS.
A WiFi Router is about an extra 90 Euro.

FastFullBack

What are digiweb like for monitoring the download caps?

spurious

gd2000 wrote:

BTW - in the poll Smart seem to do well - are they still providing a BB service?

Yes, they are still providing a BB service if you take the phone with them too.
The best, fastest and cheapest residential broadband in the country.

is_that_so

carrolltimmy wrote:

What are digiweb like for monitoring the download caps?

They have a rolling cap, a fair method IMHO, which you can check. You just get choked when you go over it.

pizzahead77

watty wrote:

You can use call cards on Metro, just not a CPS.
A WiFi Router is about an extra 90 Euro.

€90, what??? You can get a decent 1 for €60 in Pc World/Argos

watty

Depends on what speed you want. You can get maybe for €45. But which makes people happier? Finding it cheaper or dearer? You can legitimately spend €150 too (super Spiderman MIMO mega pre MNOPQ etc).

Mycro

I've had Metro installed the last few months. I have to say it is absolutely excellent.

The quality of the phone calls is very good too - comparable to landline calls too, and to be honest, seems even better than landline calls.

I would recommend Metro to anyone who can get it. I'm delighted to wave goodbye to my UTV DSL.

monkeyfudge

I've been using them for about 3 months now in the office and I'm pretty happy with the quality of the service.

The antenna wasn't bolted to the roof, so it blew over in the gusts over the St. Patrick's weekend.

They came back promptly enough and I had them bolt it to my existing array which is actually a lot smaller and the signal has been better since then.

A-Trak

zoro wrote:

If you're going to be using the 3Rock mast, then tell them no, no, no, no.
It's horribly overloaded, and as a result the connection is incredibly unstable.

If you can get signal from any other mast then I believe they're great (and they were when I was on another mast in Dublin too)

I live in Rathfarnham too and made sure when they were installing that I would work off a different mast. The installer told me the next best LOS was clondalkin (I was a bit worried - he pointed me in that direction and I've no complaints at all.

I get 2.8mb down and 480k up with pings of 25 - 30 ms. Very consistent

The modem packed in one day and they were promptly out to fix it the next day.

So although I've herad 3Rock is a nightmare due to congestion and high amount of users, if you go for another mast in my experience it's highly recommended.

Sam Vimes

this phone line that you get from digiweb, do you have to change your landline number?

watty

You can get a new number free (076 or local geographic *), or pay eircom €50 via Digiweb to move an existing number from eircom. You must have no CPS or any service other than basic eircom telephone line rental and telephone calls via eircom, or eircom will "fail" the number porting service. Also your details on the application form must be EXACTLY as eircom use them (i.e. on eircom bill) or eircom will fail the appplication.

The form is here
http://www.digiweb.ie/pdf/Porting_form.pdf

on this page
http://www.digiweb.ie/support/metro/faq.asp?i=180&i2=181&i6=197
You print it and post it to Digiweb. eircom need a physical signed form or they fail the number porting.

Unfortunately eircom has set the agenda on fixed line number porting and it is not as smooth or fast as Mobile number moving. Complain to your TD.

(* May depend which Metro package you get, I'm not sure)

tony_flyer

I just tried to sign up for Digiweb Metro, but when the installer came he said that the signal was too weak at my house so they can't install. I guess there is nothing I can do about it, but it's very annoying as it seems like a great deal.

Tony