Eircom Uncongested Broadband,what quesruons should I ask rep?

gerrybbadd

So, an Eircom Rep called to my house today, offering 8mb uncongested and unlimited broadband for 35 euro a month. It was my oh that answered, I'm at work. But the rep is to call back tonight to speak with me at 8 pm. All sounds a little to good to be true. I'm sure the lines in my area (Boyle, Co. Roscommon) are not able for more than 2mb down.

Contract length would be 12 months.

Any suggestions as regards questions I should ask this rep when he calls back?

Thanks

RoryMurphyJnr

tell him to jog on

go with upc or anyone else you can find.
I have the same deal and I'm lucky to get 1.7mbs due to how far the house is from the exchange.

Can't use it for Sky on demand, playstation or xbox live, fecking useless it is.

I can't wait until the contract is up, I'm outta there the minute that date comes around

gerrybbadd

RoryMurphyJnr wrote: »

tell him to jog on

go with upc or anyone else you can find.
I have the same deal and I'm lucky to get 1.7mbs due to how far the house is from the exchange.

Can't use it for Sky on demand, playstation or xbox live, fecking useless it is.

I can't wait until the contract is up, I'm outta there the minute that date comes around

I'd love to be able to get UPC, but it's not an option down in the shticks I'm afraid!

starviewadams

Eircom must be desperate for customers at the moment,another guy was offered a similar deal in another thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=81977684&postcount=893

I wouldn't take anything the rep tells you at face value,get him put any deal he offers you in writing,and don't sign up to anything until you've had a few days to think about it.

Sponge Bob

Get it all in writing, it could be 1 month only at that price.

1. Confirm speed
2. Confirm duration of discount to €35 a month
3. Confirm price after discount runs out, eg €69 a month.
4. Confirm telephony package in bundle
5. Confirm mobile minutes included and to whcih network(s)

If he writes down €35 a month that is for the entire contract ....but watch your bills in case the discount 'disappears' and be prepared to make a formal complaint immediately.

ShiverinEskimo

Do you already have a landline? If so find out if the 35 is for the broadband on top of your line rental or if it includes line rental (seems to expensive for just BB and too cheap to include line rental).

Ask him what your options are if the 8Mb speed is not available - can you cancel the contract liability free? Get it in writing if he says yes.

If you have an existing landline ring two to three DSL providers and ask them to test the speed your line. All three should give the same speed as they will all use the same Eircom-provided line test. If they give different replies someone is lying.

gerrybbadd

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

Do you already have a landline? If so find out if the 35 is for the broadband on top of your line rental or if it includes line rental (seems to expensive for just BB and too cheap to include line rental).

Ask him what your options are if the 8Mb speed is not available - can you cancel the contract liability free? Get it in writing if he says yes.

If you have an existing landline ring two to three DSL providers and ask them to test the speed your line. All three should give the same speed as they will all use the same Eircom-provided line test. If they give different replies someone is lying.

Unfortunately I don't have an existing landlines, so can't ring about. I'd like to be able to cancel of the service is not up to par though.

ShiverinEskimo

gerrybbadd wrote: »

Unfortunately I don't have an existing landlines, so can't ring about. I'd like to be able to cancel of the service is not up to par though.

Well many companies operate the 7 day cooling off period only. They will refuse to cancel it based on speeds usually and give you that the speeds are "Up to 8Mb" which is fair enough - it's down to the quality of whatever line you end up with.

When the line is installed they will be able to test its rating and tell you what the max speed is. If it's not 5, 6 or 8Mb I'd think twice before proceeding. If you're in the sticks as you say it's more likely to be a measly 1Mb or 2Mb. Which might be better than nothing - but nowhere near the 8Mb they are promising.

gerrybbadd

I PMd an Eircom Rep there. I'm around 1200metres from the exchange, and the exchange is NGB / ADSL2+ enabled, so I should be able to get a good speed. The estate I'm in is less than ten years old too, so in theory, the lines should be fairly god coming into it

andersat2

confirm how to run away from them in two months time...
one of the most crap broadband services in Ireland.

mitosis

gerrybbadd wrote: »

I PMd an Eircom Rep there. I'm around 1200metres from the exchange, and the exchange is NGB / ADSL2+ enabled, so I should be able to get a good speed. The estate I'm in is less than ten years old too, so in theory, the lines should be fairly god coming into it

You must have a neighbour with broadband you could ask re the quality.

ShiverinEskimo

andersat2 wrote: »

confirm how to run away from them in two months time...
one of the most crap broadband services in Ireland.

This kind of hyperbole is really no help. The guy lives in an area not well served by other services. Apart from UPC, DSL offers his next best chance of reliable broadband. All DSL in this country is served via Eircom's network so really saying it's crap is saying every DSL provider's service is crap - which is simply untrue.

I have 12Mb DSL with Eircom and it is absolutely bullet-proof. No contention, no disconnections - it just works.

Sponge Bob

Run away to what, crappy 3g mobile rubbish in a rural or small town area. ??

No. If you want something that works then eircom is the best bet in parts of Ireland, that or one of the better Wireless Operators, so then it boils down to what deal they give and locking it in.

If they renage on the deal a formal complaint . cc Comreg, will usually sort it out in your favour esp if in writing.

gerrybbadd

Thanks for all the helpful replies guys. I think if the offer sounds good over the 12 months, I might just bite. It's probably the best I can get in my area, currently. I'm not holding out too much hope on Sky's broadband offering, whenever that launches!

Sponge Bob

In small town and rural Ireland eircom = sky = eircom.

goldenhoarde

gerrybbadd wrote: »

Thanks for all the helpful replies guys. I think if the offer sounds good over the 12 months, I might just bite. It's probably the best I can get in my area, currently. I'm not holding out too much hope on Sky's broadband offering, whenever that launches!

One thing to note is that broadband speed is not guaranteed in this country so once they give you any speed (even 1kbps) at all you cannot get out of the contract. This was confirmed to me by comReg as the provider is doing what he has said in providing broadband!!! Might be crap but that does not come into it.

So i'd ask them for the min speed they can provide you with at this address rather than the max.

Also when you get the service in do some speed tests over the first few days and keep them (screenshots) so that if the quality drops you can revert back to the speeds you got at the beginning. also remember during the day the speeds could be good but at night when everyone is streaming YouTube, downloading etc you will have a worse speed

Also rember any issues get out before the 7 days cooling off period otherwise you are tied in.

The exchange in boyle is up green street so the further you are away from that the slower the max speed you can get is.

Also check with neighbours as to their speed so you can get an idea of the speed they can provide.

Have used eircom broadband in plunkett ave to connect to my work via vpn on occasion and the speed has been not too bad

Remouad

gerrybbadd wrote: »

Thanks for all the helpful replies guys. I think if the offer sounds good over the 12 months, I might just bite. It's probably the best I can get in my area, currently. I'm not holding out too much hope on Sky's broadband offering, whenever that launches!

Skys Broadband will be using the eircom network so doubt you'll be getting anything better speed wise.

Sponge Bob

Not every NGB exchange is up to 24mbits, some are max up to 8mbits, get that headline speed in writing too. You will get most of your speed if within 1 mile of the exchange.

Boyle could only have been recently enabled for NGB ( not until after eircom took down their ngb.ie site in the late spring) and recently enabled exchanges often only have up to 8mbits...the earlier ones got 24mbit upgrades too. If eircom are prepared to sell you an NGB package that is because they upgraded the backhaul .....Boyle is on a main fibre so that is easy...not because they upgraded the lines.

Most exchanges are not upgraded to NGB ( only around 400+ out of 900+ have 'NGB' gear) and you can get 1 3 or 7.6 mbit packages only on those. NGB packages are 'up to' 8mbits at a minimum.