Which DSL Provider? (Co Cavan)

_Kaiser_

Hi all,

I was previously a BT Option 3 Residential customer (up to 7MB, "unlimited" service) that was migrated to Vodafone as part of their takeover of BT's consumer operations there before Christmas.

Leaving aside the well-documented performance issues (essentially a result of VF not having the capacity to handle the influx of ex-BT customers), the service itself offers relatively good value for money.

However, I now have to move house (albeit to another house in the same estate) and VF are telling me it may take anywhere up to a month to move the service from my current address to the new one - even though there is an active line (dial tone present) in that new house.

They're also refusing to give me the same 12:1 contention rate I had with BT, saying it's because I don't get 8MB+ on the line, and then blaming it on their provider (I'm assuming eircom?). In effect, as far as I can tell, VF don't have the same pull with eircom as BT did (as I wasn't/am not on a BT-enabled exchange)

So, what are my options? I need a decent speed (6-8MB is fine), but more importantly for the money that costs, I want a decent cap and contention rate. I'm also limited to DSL as I'm renting and can't see the landlord going for a big mast on the roof.

Do I have to take my chances with VF, or have any of the other providers caught up (even eircom themselves) insofar as offering a decent speed with a decent cap for around the €60-65 pm mark?

EDIT: I see BT still have decent Business DSL packages. Do you have to BE a business though, or could I get it from them anyway in some manner?

Cheers!

jay93

did you check out utv ??

https://www.utvinternet.com/Residential/ClicksilverBroadband/option.asp?option=7&ROIUser=true

they do 8mb internet with 20GB cap but you can get a unlimited cap for a extra 6euro 55.99 for broadband line rental and anytime calls..for the 1st 3 months they give you unlimited usuage for free then its 6euro after that to get the unlimited usage a month..it does say there is a fair usage policy but its the same with all BB providers.. only other option may be Eircom i know you prob dont like them but other than utv im not sure of other providers in your area

and also the contention rate on 8mb is 12:1

Peanut

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

EDIT: I see BT still have decent Business DSL packages. Do you have to BE a business though, or could I get it from them anyway in some manner?

Cheers!

That might be a legacy page, I was on a a Business package with BT and still got moved to Vodafone, as far as I know all small business and residential products were moved over.

If you want to hold out for the Eircom NGB packages, their top package is actually pretty generous with a 250GB fair usage policy for €61-€66 with call bundle.

_Kaiser_

Cheers for the feedback guys..

jay93: I was with UTV years ago but their customer service deteriorated almost overnight, coupled with other service/contract issues (far as I remember there was a massive thread about it here at the time) so I left them. Have they gotten any better since?

Peanut: I've been considering eircom alright. As I work in IT myself, and part of my remit is the phone/broadband management, I know both personally and professionally how much of a pain it is to get anything resolved if you're not an eircom customer.

Of course it SHOULDN'T be like this, but as our regulator is toothless and an eircom apologist at times, it is - but I've no particular beef with the company itself - bottom line, I don't care who the provider is as long as I get the best package for my money.

I doubt I'll be seeing upgrades to NGB anytime soon, but the free wifi access would be handy on my new HTC Desire. Plus they're the most likely to deliver the service this side of June I suppose.

The cap is 50GB though is the only thing, but I know that historically they've never enforced that. Is this still the case? What about all that hype in the news in the last few months about them tracking your usage for the music industry?

jay93

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

Cheers for the feedback guys..

jay93: I was with UTV years ago but their customer service deteriorated almost overnight, coupled with other service/contract issues (far as I remember there was a massive thread about it here at the time) so I left them. Have they gotten any better since?

Peanut: I've been considering eircom alright. As I work in IT myself, and part of my remit is the phone/broadband management, I know both personally and professionally how much of a pain it is to get anything resolved if you're not an eircom customer.

Of course it SHOULDN'T be like this, but as our regulator is toothless and an eircom apologist at times, it is - but I've no particular beef with the company itself - bottom line, I don't care who the provider is as long as I get the best package for my money.

I doubt I'll be seeing upgrades to NGB anytime soon, but the free wifi access would be handy on my new HTC Desire. Plus they're the most likely to deliver the service this side of June I suppose.

The cap is 50GB though is the only thing, but I know that historically they've never enforced that. Is this still the case? What about all that hype in the news in the last few months about them tracking your usage for the music industry?

im not sure what the customer service is like now one of my relitives has utv and doesnt experiance any service issues so never had to ring customer care they may still be as bad as when you left them other choice may be of course Eircon we have little choice in this country vodafone perlico are a mess at the mo system cant handle the customers

Peanut

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

What about all that hype in the news in the last few months about them tracking your usage for the music industry?

Seems to be a bit of a mess alright, latest I can find about it is here.

Sanctions based on IP address are prone to difficulties though, so I don't think they can strictly enforce this without receiving significant public backlash ala what happened in the UK recently.