Incredibly slow speeds with Eircom, is it worth switching?

SwarfegaHead

So I'm a bit fed up with the current state of my internet connection. We've been on the same plan with Eircom for years, and we've had very little opportunity to avail of their upgraded packages when they eventually came around. We're still on an outdated 7Mb plan which costs twice what it should, and rarely even achieves d/l speeds of more than 700kb/s. I've been living in Waterford during college terms for the past few years, and having UPC has soured me altogether on my current home service.

I've been shopping around and I've all but settled on switching to Vodafone or Sky, both of which seem to offer a 24Mb service in my area at a reasonable enough price, compared to the ~€60 Eircoms website says is their best available here.

My only reservation is the fact I can't seem to get a reasonable estimation of what speeds my line will get. Eircoms website estimates a max d/l speed of 17Mb/s, whereas Sky estimates 6.8Mb/s. Given the fact we're on a 7Mb connection now and can't even reach a 1Mb/s speed, I don't know if it's just due to having a crappy line, and I don't see much point in going through the hassle of switching over if it can't improve our speeds.

So, can anyone shine some light on whether switching might actually yield some improvements, or am I just stuck with this godawful internet until someone decides to improve the infrastructure around here?

FSL

If you using a telephone line then the quality of the wire is the predominant factor as far as speed is concerned.

ED E

7Mb is legacy gear. If you havent been changed to 8/24Mb system for NGA then theres two options.

1. The exchange was upgraded and eircom never moved you over. They could just order an upgrade and you speed would fly up within a week.
2. The exchange is still on old gear, rated for 1,3 and 7mb, not uncongested and slow for whoever you go with.

TheDoc

Was with them in Donabate on a "24" mbps ADSL line, paying through the nose at 67 a month.

In summary, never got anywhere near the spead, line constantly in bits, riddled with data loss and just about every problem. 10 months investigation, each time getting a few euro knocked of the price.

Efibre came along, Eircom enabled 40% of Donabate and said " done" and moved on, no plans to come back to do anything with the other 60%.

Ended up packing my bags and moving the family back to Swords. Got UPC in, not a hiccup (touchwood). Absolutely blazing speeds, for one third of the price. Getting 150mb on their half price for six months deal, and then at full price still cheaper then the ****e Eircom were peddling

Internet is a big deal for me, downloading, streaming, games. Eircom was so rubbish I genuinely moved house.

Actually had the old landlord onto me the other day. I'm gone since January and had given him a brief on the internet situation. Said he is being hounded by the new tenants because the internet is still in bits, and he was asking me to give him some pointers on the problems.

And this governments communication minister is constantly harping about the improvement in connectivity over the years. Absolute rubbish.

There might be the infrastructure, but its no use when it doesn't work have the time.

Your pissing against the win I'm afraid, typically in an area that doesn't have UPC, you've very little options, and they are normally all expensive and rubbish.

I said I'd never touch Eircom again, and was forced to go with them, but now I'll ensure I never move to an area that is not UPC enabled.

I simply don't understand how anyone can use Eircom, if they have a UPC connection available, will never comprehend it.