From Clearwire to Eircom!

meathman 007

I have been with clearwire for over 6 months and needless to say it has been a painful experience. Considering i have only ever been with clearwire as a broadband provider, i would still consider myself a virgin when it comes to 'proper' broadband

Hopefully i am getting the 2mb eircom package installed by an engineer on wednesday....... what can i expect?

1. Do eircom block ports like clearwire? - i.e will i be able to use limewire, torrents etc

2. I have an xbox360 which was unplayable on xbox live with clearwire - is it good with eircom?

3. I have a relatively new Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop which i use in my bedroom wirelessly - what is the netopia modem/router like that i received from eircom. I suppose my room would be about 30 metres from where the router will be placed.....

Any other differences/benefits of eircom over clearwire?

I would get a 20gb download limit each month, can i pay a fee to increase this limit...?

dub45

meathman 007 wrote:

I have been with clearwire for over 6 months and needless to say it has been a painful experience. Considering i have only ever been with clearwire as a broadband provider, i would still consider myself a virgin when it comes to 'proper' broadband

Hopefully i am getting the 2mb eircom package installed by an engineer on wednesday....... what can i expect?

1. Do eircom block ports like clearwire? - i.e will i be able to use limewire, torrents etc

2. I have an xbox360 which was unplayable on xbox live with clearwire - is it good with eircom?

3. I have a relatively new Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop which i use in my bedroom wirelessly - what is the netopia modem/router like that i received from eircom. I suppose my room would be about 30 metres from where the router will be placed.....

Any other differences/benefits of eircom over clearwire?

I would get a 20gb download limit each month, can i pay a fee to increase this limit...?

1. No and Yes (afaik)

2. Someone else will have to answer this one.

3. The only predictable thing about wireless equipment is its unpredicatability and every situation potentially has its own problems - for instance thickness of walls etc. A couple of friends of mine use the netopia wirlessly with no problems at all but it is impossible to say in advance.

4. Eircom don't as far as we know so far implement the download limits.

In spite of the hatred on boards for them Eircom are probably the most consistent of the isps and unless you are unlucky you can expect regular and reliable service. This is borne out by the general absence of complaints about their service (as distinct from complaints about their behaviour!) on boards.ie.

dr.bollocko

They do watch and have charged for going over their download limit with some people I know. But you can up it to a higher limit by calling them. Eventually, if you call them 600 times, talk to 3 team leaders and then maybe visit the nearest eircom office to you they might even actually install that broadband for you.
As long as you have waited the regulation 18 hours on hold and been given the run around by at least 18 members of staff. Oh and dont expect anything as easy as them remembering to call you back or logging any of your call on their system either.

meathman 007

i actually ordered it over a month ago and i was told the engineer would be out in 2 weeks. I told them i had a monitored alarm and i wanted the 3mb package. So i ring them 2 weeks later to ask when the engineer is coming and they tell me that the engineer wont be out for another 3 weeks?! oh and then they tell me that their system says i ordered the 2mb package and that i did not mention i had a monitored alarm! what a joke of a company. But the reality is, broadband like most things in this country is a complete farce, its like we are living in a 3rd world country. But any other provider uses eircoms line - granted some are cheaper etc, but i taught eircom would be the best option

Back to my questions in the first post i made, can anyone elaborate further.......? i dont want this to become a 'eircom are a joke' thread.....

dr.bollocko

You will be able to use away on your limewire and BT file downloads, they wont be blocked out.
The xbox live is a great online system, (well I like it for what it does) and it is quite good on Eircoms broadband generally. I have never had problems.

You can pay eircom to increase your limit by asking them to increase your speed. If you upgrade from 2mb/s to 3mb/s they up your d/l limit to 30gb... and so on.
I dont actually know much about their wireless router, but there is a lot to be said for a lovely big long network cable going all the way through your house.

watty

eircom is not the only alternative. Others depending on location are Smart, UPC/NTL (cable) , Magnet and Digiweb Metro (different kind of wireless to Clearwire or Ripwave, more like Cable or DSL via microwave).

meathman 007

i have no line of sight to my house so i cant get metro, ibb etc. Im happy at the chance to get eircom, ive failed the line test for years...... so it came as a shock when they rang me a month ago and said i could not get it!
Is is nearly guaranteed that i will be able to get the broadband when they come on wednesday? would they bother sending out an engineer if there was a good chance i couldnt get it?

Finally, could someone (with experience) tell me the best way to go about cancelling clearwire?

the_syco

The Eircom wireless router is a Netopia Cayman 3347W. 4 ports out the back, and wireless gets a good signal throughout the house.

When you get it (the router), enable WEP, or MAC address security, or something, or the neighbours will leech your bandwitdh.

Finally, whats with thiis "engineer" thing? Me, and everyone I know who has Eircom just got a router, plugged it in, and it worked. Thought the engineers were only for the totally useless?

OP, try plugging all the phone's out, in your house, plug the modem in, and plug it into the PC with an ethernet cable. Turn everthing on, follow the instructions, and try and goto www.google.com

meathman 007

2 reasons for the engineer

1. i have a monitored alarm

2. my broadband exchange has to be enabled or something to that effect

dub45

meathman 007 wrote:

2 reasons for the engineer

1. i have a monitored alarm

2. my broadband exchange has to be enabled or something to that effect

Engineers are usually sent out when you have an iffy line. You say that previously your line has failed so this would appear to be the reason in this case.

Again a friend of mine had experience of an engineer calling recently and the guy was really excellent ( a previous attempt some years ago sadly and the engineer sadly did not give a f**k)

If you have had problems up to now in getting a pass it may be that you have a dodgy line and/or are quite a distance from the exchange so your line may not be able to handle the faster speeds even the 2Mb you have ordered may be pushing it so be prepared for this.

meathman 007

you could be right dub, but i was told an engineer would have to come out because i have a monitored alarm - nothing about the quality of my line was mentioned

Can anyone give me guidance on the best way to cancel clearwire......?

I hope im not getting my hopes up only for eircom to come tomorrow and tell me i cant get there broadband!-

the_syco

meathman 007 wrote:

i have a monitored alarm

Does it send noise down a phone line? Like when a fax machine does every so often when it "checks" for messages... and fails the line test.

Beta Ray Bill

The Wireless works fine, I have it at home and have had 3 laptops running from it fine and can even be out in the front garden and still have access. My Neighbor 2 doors up has it and hasnt secured his and I can access that also (I know he has the netopia router btw), so the range is fairly good. The wireless as I said already is reliable and simple to set up. However, it only operates at 11 MBs so transfering files from one PC to another VIA wireless is quite slow and I defo would not recommend using it with any media centre type application. But for things like XBL its fine. As I said the range is actually quite good and it is also easy to encrypt so your home network will be secure.

XBL is also good and yes you can download Limewire and BT's

Not 100% sure what the DL limits are. I think that all depends on what option you decide to go for

for most people 2mb is fine, if your into your downlaods and XBL.

Hope this helps

Graham

thefinalstage

The modems are very easy to install. Literally 10 minutes work. The eircom cd with the modem will show you in vivid color but don't actually install anything just follow the instructions.

watty

The alleged "hatred" of eircom on boards is little to do with quality of service but due to:
:: Inability to get DSL in the first place
:: High line rental. Twice a typical similar country.
:: Blocking competion with awkward & expensive LLU and number porting.
:: Having a national FWA (wireless) licence yet it's nearly impossible to get the service and it is hugely overpriced if you do.
:: Not offering true flat rate dialup, esp on 2 ch ISDN when you can't get DSL
:: For offering the oxymoron of "time limited" DSL

Their DSL is however reliable and "proper" Internet if you can get it. You are best to google on seting up and change everything afterwards if you do use the CD. There is no need for the CD or to install any software for the Router.

Use WPA with 32 to 63 character random key (write it down first!). Change the Router password (write it down).

ZENER

meathman 007 wrote:

Can anyone give me guidance on the best way to cancel clearwire......?

My advice is cancel the direct debit then call them and tell them the service was not as described and that under the consumer act pertaining to false advertising of a product you are canceling on the grounds of breach of contract.

The important thing here is don't tell them you are going to cancel before you stop the payments. They'll hit your account for the remaining 6 months in one go - they did this to me.

ZEN

ladyez

dr.bollocko wrote:

They do watch and have charged for going over their download limit with some people I know.

Of course they watch downloads what sane company wouldn't, eircom have never charged for going over the download cap...they can't they don't have the billing capability...

daithimac

with clearwire you have to cancel the direct debt and call them telling them to pick up your box. its still there property. make sure the direct debt is canceled. I sent the box back at the beginning of may and went to the US at the start of june for the summer. in late june I got a email from clearwire saying that when my is picked up I should keep the recipt from the currier and send it to them. This is like me telling my girlfriend to bring her coat to the dinner we went to last saturday. but anyway they kept charging me each month until I got back and canceled the direct debt. I expected a email thretening legal action but none has come yet. there chancers.

I have eircom 1mb now and the service is great. It certainly takes a while to get in and the guy on the phone told me that it would not work cos we have a interlink system but the fact is I knew better than he did. It works great with both my laptops and the 360 and psp though that can be sometimes laggy because its 1 mb.

The only problem I have found with Eircom is that I cannot use torrents. they trottle the living hell out of them, in fact the reason I came on this board is to find out how to get around that

SneakyRob

Eircom do not charge for going over the download cap.

Also the only reason i can think for slow torrents with eircom is the critically lower upload rate on all ADSL providers. 1 meg package is 1024 download and 128 upload. and since torrents are generally 1.0 U/D ratio youd be getting a tenth of the potential download speed.

micks

the_syco wrote: »

Does it send noise down a phone line? Like when a fax machine does every so often when it "checks" for messages... and fails the line test.

I was told when i got eircom BB that if i had an alarm connected to the phone i'd require and engineer to install - i dont but have a digi with my alarm and plan to connect when i get around to it:rolleyes: so asked what the implications were and was was told there's none but that in the past some customers had done the self install and fecked up the connection to their alarm and blamed eircom so
to be on the safe side now they send out an engineer

tuxy

dr.bollocko wrote: »

They do watch and have charged for going over their download limit with some people I know.

Do you have anything to back this up? Like a scan of the bill with excess download on it.
Many many people have made this clam but disappear when asked to back it up with real proof.
As far as I am aware no one on Eircom DSL has been charged for going over the limit.
Some of the wholesale resellers do charge but not Eircom themselves.