Eircom broadband - no wireless facility

Tea drinker

A friend of mine has broadband from eircom for a number of years, and is happy with them because they are reliable.
However, he wants to use wireless, but the old box they gave him way back then didn't have wireless, so he politely asked for an up to date model - their reply? 98 euro please.

It seems unreasonable that a loyal customer could be treated like that - he has obviously paid many times over for the equipment and should be given up to date equipment. I'm sure the old equipment is end of life and end of support, it must be?

Has anyone else come across this problem? Did you move suppliers in order to get wireless?

Cheers

cpu-dude

Tea drinker wrote: »

A friend of mine has broadband from eircom for a number of years, and is happy with them because they are reliable.
However, he wants to use wireless, but the old box they gave him way back then didn't have wireless, so he politely asked for an up to date model - their reply? 98 euro please.

It seems unreasonable that a loyal customer could be treated like that - he has obviously paid many times over for the equipment and should be given up to date equipment. I'm sure the old equipment is end of life and end of support, it must be?

Has anyone else come across this problem? Did you move suppliers in order to get wireless?

Cheers

Now you wouldn't be very loyal if you moved just for a wireless router. Ring up and try again, talk to the Care Team a few times and see if it makes a difference. If not, go out and buy your own wireless router - they're really cheap now.

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/6750392/Trail/searchtext%3EWIRELESS+ROUTER.htm

dub45

Tea drinker wrote: »

A friend of mine has broadband from eircom for a number of years, and is happy with them because they are reliable.
However, he wants to use wireless, but the old box they gave him way back then didn't have wireless, so he politely asked for an up to date model - their reply? 98 euro please.

It seems unreasonable that a loyal customer could be treated like that - he has obviously paid many times over for the equipment and should be given up to date equipment. I'm sure the old equipment is end of life and end of support, it must be?

Has anyone else come across this problem? Did you move suppliers in order to get wireless?

Cheers

I am always amazed at what to me are the unrealistic expectations people have of broadband providers. At the time you sign up you take whats going and at the time your friend signed up customers got a free modem. If you buy a car or anything else in that vein you dont expect your model to be updated with each new issue of the range.

Having said that there is a recent thread on here of customers getting free wireless models no problem from Eircom so try again.

And as somebody else has pointed out you should be able to get wireless router modem for 50 euros or so.

MunsterCycling

Or just plug it in and out then ring complaining about the intermittent connection...

dub45

MunsterCycling wrote: »

Or just plug it in and out then ring complaining about the intermittent connection...

Dont strain your back doing it Eircom definitely dont pay for physiotherapy sessions!:)

Tea drinker

dub45 wrote: »

I am always amazed at what to me are the unrealistic expectations people have of broadband providers. At the time you sign up you take whats going and at the time your friend signed up customers got a free modem. If you buy a car or anything else in that vein you dont expect your model to be updated with each new issue of the range.

Having said that there is a recent thread on here of customers getting free wireless models no problem from Eircom so try again.

And as somebody else has pointed out you should be able to get wireless router modem for 50 euros or so.

There is nothing amazing or unrealistic about expecting to get the hardware refreshed to a current standard, after all, as I said if he has been with them over 3 years, why should he stay with them for what is now very obviously a sub standard obsolete service which they are refusing to upgrade? I've looked at an old Eircom bill and for broadband it says "Equipment rental" 49.58
So if you had a rental car you should expect to still be driving it 10 years?
Anyway loyalty should work both ways. He can move and probably get wireless cheaper with someone else, but he wanted to give them the chance - looks to me like they blew it.
Go back cap in hand beggin, huh :rolleyes: - I'll say it to him to try again, but maybe they are tightening the purse strings a bit.

dub45

Tea drinker wrote: »

There is nothing amazing or unrealistic about expecting to get the hardware refreshed to a current standard, after all, as I said if he has been with them over 3 years, why should he stay with them for what is now very obviously a sub standard obsolete service which they are refusing to upgrade? I've looked at an old Eircom bill and for broadband it says "Equipment rental" 49.58
So if you had a rental car you should expect to still be driving it 10 years?
Anyway loyalty should work both ways. He can move and probably get wireless cheaper with someone else, but he wanted to give them the chance - looks to me like they blew it.
Go back cap in hand beggin, huh :rolleyes: - I'll say it to him to try again, but maybe they are tightening the purse strings a bit.

Eircom do not provide wireless broadband. They provide broadband over dsl. they are not providing a sub standard obsolete service (except by comparison with other countries of course but that is not what we are debating)

Eircom unlike other isps have never sought the return of the modem whereas the likes of UTV reserve the right not to release your line until you have returned the modem irrespective of its age.

Giving out 'free' equipment increases costs for customers old and new. If Eircom have say 100,000 customers and they 'refresh' even 20% of the routers in the course of a year that has to cost them upwards of 100,000 euros and thats estimating the cost of a router to Eircom of only 5 euros and doesn't allow for storage delivery etc.

As I have pointed out here many times in spite of the irrational hatred for them on here Eircom are a pretty good isp. By and large most people find them reliable and get in and around the advertised speeds. (I know some people in the country have had problems with their local exchanges in the past year with capacity etc) they dont charge people for going over the dl limits and they dont choke peoples connections. Also Eircom have consistently passed on improvements in the service to customers without requiring them to enter into anew contract. And an important factor for many people their billing system appears pretty reliable to judge by the absence of complaints on here about it.


So if your friend wants to take his business elsewhere he is quite entitled to do so. Eircom (nor any isp as far as I know) never give an undertaking to a new customer to keep their equipment up to date.

Baneblade

just to put it in context if you changed providers you could have a period of down time while it is being changed over and would probably be charged a connection fee or have to pay extra for a wireless modem on depending the company.

also eircom do have one good point in that they will replace faulty equipment even if it is outside the warrenty period.

you also need to look at it from their point of view they sold you a service and you have been using it for x years. and will continue to work for x years more without wireless. the offers available at the time of sign up are to entice new customers

that said i do think they should offer some form of upgrade program for older modems and will have too if and when they decide to offer higher speeds for home customers

coldfire1x

Try www.adverts.ie

You willl find a cheap wireless router. Plug it in and you are sorted

vibe666

the difference with buying a car is, you buy it, end of story.

when you purchase broadband it's an ongoing commitment and you are paying a montly subsription. i don't think it's a huge stretch to expect eircom to upgrade their faithful long term customers by upgrading them to a wifi router if they request it, considering they are giving them away to all new customers just for signing up.

call them again and suggest that if you moved to another ISP you'd get a free wifi modem and see what they say to that.

maybe consider speaking to their cancellation department and asking if they would consider providing you with one for free to stop you taking your business elsewhere?

cpu-dude

vibe666 wrote: »

I don't think it's a huge stretch to expect eircom to upgrade their faithful long term customers by upgrading them to a wifi router if they request it, considering they are giving them away to all new customers just for signing up.

Every company offers deals to new customers, it's standard practice.

It entices new people to join the service but Eircom also get people under a contract which they either have to pay the full subscription to and receive the service or pay a fee to cancel it. Eircom would loose huge profits if they just gave a new router (an upgrade, not a replacement) to every customer - they do have half a million of them after all.

The OP has Broadband, receives it no problems. He wants an upgrade so there is no surprise that he has to pay for it. Although Eircom prices are pretty steep, that's why I suggested a new router from elsewhere.

Tea drinker

Thanks for the replies folks, I'll go have a chat with my mate and see if he called Eircom again. Maybe a little persistence would do it

mukki

i'd say 1 in 10 broadband costomers have more then 1 router lying around the house, just fask around

Marlow

vibe666 wrote: »

the difference with buying a car is, you buy it, end of story.

when you purchase broadband it's an ongoing commitment and you are paying a montly subsription. i don't think it's a huge stretch to expect eircom to upgrade their faithful long term customers by upgrading them to a wifi router if they request it, considering they are giving them away to all new customers just for signing up.

This is where you go wrong.

You sign up for broadband, it's an ongoing commitment.

You buy (or get it free) the modem however. That's not an ongoing commitment. You are free to replace it with anything else at any given time. That's exactly why they charge 98 EUR for a new one. You have to buy it. If you want a free modem, you would have to tie yourself in with a new 12 months contract, that's exactly what it is paying for the modem.

/M