Am I overlooking any ISP?

Splinters

Hi folks, Im hoping the knowledgable folks on boards.ie can help. I live in an apartment in north Dublin city centre (very central, 4 to 5 mins stroll to O'Connell St bridge). You'd think Id have no problem finding an ISP but alas that doesnt seem to be the case. Just to add, the apartment Im in is a bit of an odd one. Its a one off apartment in the building Im in. Its primarily an office block but has one very large retail store in it. My landlord told me there was originally an old townhouse in its place which was knocked down years ago but still zoned for a residential property. When this large retail store and office unit were built there was a considerable sized space reserved for a residential apartment which is now my apartment.

So the story goes....I initially wanted to go with UPC until we realised they dont service my apartment. I was quite surprised as they seem to service every other property on the road but not mine. Then I went to Magnet who assure me they could service it as it was through a phone line, so long as there was a physical phone line in the apartment they could provide me with broadband....this was at the start of December.

Since then we've had an Eircom engineer out who has supposedly connected up the line yet Magnet say they cant get a signal from it. Then a Magnet engineer came out and was able to confirm a signal through to the exchange but no further. So back it went to eircom who said there was a fault on the line but have fixed it, still doesnt work. Magnet say they've now logged 3 faults with Eircom and every time they claim its fixed but yet its still not working.

About a month ago (when it was only a month late) I was loosing faith in it ever being connected so rang UPC back again and asked them what it would take to get them to service the apartment, regardless of the cost. They said the would look into it for me and send it on to their addressing department. I got one call back from them asking specific details on the apartment which I gave and that was the last I heard of that.

Im at the stage now I have zero faith in Magnet ever getting it sorted for me. Also the fact that the verbal contract I agreed to with them claimed they would have me connected within 10 days which they broke, so Im entitled to cancel that order at any stage.

Im just wondering is there any other broadband options open to me?? It doesnt look like I can get any phone based line due to Eircoms incompetance. I cant get a satelite dish installed for Irish Broadband because of the location of the apartment. UPC dont seem to have any interest in connecting my apartment despite me being happy to pay whatever it would cost to connect. Are my only options the mobile broadband route?? The best I can find there is 3 who offer 60 gigs bandwidth which is nowhere near enough for my use. I dont suppose anyone else has any other ideas?

Blikes

You didn't mention Eircom as your ISP, have you tried them?

If you become a customer, i bet that line will magically fix itself within a few days!

Splinters

Thats true actually. Ive just heard so many horror stories about them but at this stage it looks like Im running short on options. Thanks, if nothing else works out then I might have to give them a call.

Blikes

lol. i've had them for about 8 months now. Everything works perfectly on the 8 NGB unlimited package.

As long as you know what you're doing and don't have to call customer support, you'll be flying. The Support is...lacking to put it mildly but if you do encounter a problem, the guys on the Eircom Board here are very good!

Good luck

Nothingbetter2d

Splinters wrote: »

Hi folks, Im hoping the knowledgable folks on boards.ie can help. I live in an apartment in north Dublin city centre (very central, 4 to 5 mins stroll to O'Connell St bridge). You'd think Id have no problem finding an ISP but alas that doesnt seem to be the case. Just to add, the apartment Im in is a bit of an odd one. Its a one off apartment in the building Im in. Its primarily an office block but has one very large retail store in it. My landlord told me there was originally an old townhouse in its place which was knocked down years ago but still zoned for a residential property. When this large retail store and office unit were built there was a considerable sized space reserved for a residential apartment which is now my apartment.

So the story goes....I initially wanted to go with UPC until we realised they dont service my apartment. I was quite surprised as they seem to service every other property on the road but not mine. Then I went to Magnet who assure me they could service it as it was through a phone line, so long as there was a physical phone line in the apartment they could provide me with broadband....this was at the start of December.

Since then we've had an Eircom engineer out who has supposedly connected up the line yet Magnet say they cant get a signal from it. Then a Magnet engineer came out and was able to confirm a signal through to the exchange but no further. So back it went to eircom who said there was a fault on the line but have fixed it, still doesnt work. Magnet say they've now logged 3 faults with Eircom and every time they claim its fixed but yet its still not working.

About a month ago (when it was only a month late) I was loosing faith in it ever being connected so rang UPC back again and asked them what it would take to get them to service the apartment, regardless of the cost. They said the would look into it for me and send it on to their addressing department. I got one call back from them asking specific details on the apartment which I gave and that was the last I heard of that.

Im at the stage now I have zero faith in Magnet ever getting it sorted for me. Also the fact that the verbal contract I agreed to with them claimed they would have me connected within 10 days which they broke, so Im entitled to cancel that order at any stage.

Im just wondering is there any other broadband options open to me?? It doesnt look like I can get any phone based line due to Eircoms incompetance. I cant get a satelite dish installed for Irish Broadband because of the location of the apartment. UPC dont seem to have any interest in connecting my apartment despite me being happy to pay whatever it would cost to connect. Are my only options the mobile broadband route?? The best I can find there is 3 who offer 60 gigs bandwidth which is nowhere near enough for my use. I dont suppose anyone else has any other ideas?

wow you are the 3rd person to state that you tried to get connected to magnet but the line was dead.


me, nothingbetter2d
bikerguy
and now you, Splinters

daffy_duc

Nothingbetter2d wrote: »

wow you are the 3rd person to state that you tried to get connected to magnet but the line was dead.


me, nothingbetter2d
bikerguy
and now you, Splinters

Over the course of a few months. 3 customers.
Just sayin'

Nothingbetter2d

daffy_duc wrote: »

Over the course of a few months. 3 customers.
Just sayin'

actually my friend in eircom tech support says its more common that one would think.

daffy_duc

Nothingbetter2d wrote: »

actually my friend in eircom tech support says its more common that one would think.

Exactely. Nothing new, nothing to see here. It happens.
Not much Magnet can do about it, it is Eircom's copper after all...

Splinters

Still not resolved anyway. Eircom say the line is fine....even though Ive no connection, Magnet have tested the line is fine from my apartment to the exchange but cant confirm any further as its router into an Eircom cabinet.

I seem to have fallen down a crack between the 2 companies. Ive asked for an engineer from both Eircom and Magnet to come out on the same day to get this resolved so neither can pass the buck onto the other company, which doesnt seem like an unreasonable request seeing as this was due to be completed at the start of DECEMBER. Yet Im being told its a highly unusual request and they're unsure if they can facilitate it.

For an apartment right in the smack bang centre of Dublin city this is beyond a joke.

Cedrus

Is Imagine Wimax any good for you? I find their broadband fine (I'm not a power user) but voice quality is s***e.

Splinters

Ill give them a call now. I was always under the impression their speeds were terrible but from looking at their site I could live with 10mb.

The site says unlimited use, but Im assuming this is still subject to a fair usage policy. any ideas what that is? Ive tried looking on the site and cant find it.

Cedrus

Splinters wrote: »

The site says unlimited use, but Im assuming this is still subject to a fair usage policy. any ideas what that is? Ive tried looking on the site and cant find it.

As far as I need the unlimited use is accurate and that goes some way on phonecalls also, any calls that I make that are not free (except 1890) I can use skype for. Like I say I'm not a power user, I'm not a gamer don't watch films online don't download piles. 1Mb does my email skype and browsing and the price is great for getting rid of the Vodaphone/Eircom/etc sales reps. There is higher bandwidth available here but I just don't need it so don't pay for it.

-=al=-

unlimited access for imagine but they will throttle you if you use it excessively.. there was only a thread posted the other day of them capping someone at like 45gb or something

But it could work if your central... fixed wireless is better than 3g/imagine.. digiweb might offer a fixed wirless service there

Splinters

I called them there, 50 gig fair usage policy. The guy got all pissy when I said that wasnt enough trying to say that should be fine for most users. When I said if I used it for nothing whatsoever other then netflix, that would allow me to watch 1 HD movie roughly every 2 days over a month and nothing else....he didnt have an answer for that.

Fixed broadband isnt an option as Id need a satelite put up externally, not possible in this apartment.

-=al=-

Yeah 50 is pretty bad and throttling is ridiculous... I myself can easily do with under 30gb but it's only cause I'm used to having a sh*tty connection! People are using the internet more and with all these services and technologies coming in, the ISP's really have to up their game the average user is using more data all the time... Internet services really are below par these days! We're in the bloomin' dark ages when it comes to internet in this country, A terrible service of lies!

But yeah, If there is no phone line, no upc and not possible to set up an external antenna it looks like the mobile route is the way unfortunately