New to Dublin - Question about Electricity & Internet

sadsfae

Hi Folks,

I've been lurking here for a few months and recently moved to Dublin at the beginning of December.
I'm originally from U.S. (NC) but have relocated here from Czech Republic where I've spent the last few years. I wanted to say that the discussions and forum topics (and search function) have proven helpful in many aspects of my recent move.

After quite an ordeal settling in (bank account, finding a flat, etc) I am now looking open utility accounts for both electricity and internet. I wanted to know if anyone has pointers on the best choices for these.

(ISP)
I've been using UPC broadband in Coolock where I had been staying until now. The modem/router combos they ship are pretty low-quality with the wifi having all sorts of jitter issues only remedied by using a direct cable. Besides that, the actual quality has been pretty good. I see there's a few other choices out there and wanted to know what folks might recommend. I work remotely quite a bit so that's important to me, and if I could get around not using an ISP-provided modem/router that'd be great - if not I can setup my ASUS router pimped with Tomato firmware as an access point to get around any flaky wifi issues inherent in some of the models I've read about.

(Power)
I also see there's a few options to choose from. I am hoping to play the "new customer" angle here and get a good deal for the first few months. Can anyone recommend options if there's clearly a better choice amongst the others?

I will be moving from Coolock to the tail end of Temple Bar (where it starts to be D8 near Czech Inn) next week. Thanks again for any insight.

ardmacha

Check out the cable TV forum and Broadband forums for some discussion both on new customer deals and on setups using your own wi-fi router with a UPC modem.

whiskeyman

bonkers.ie for energy suppliers also.

Most are around the same, but it can depend on what sort of user you are.

odyssey06

You should suss out what kind of heating is in your new flat\apartment... a lot of apartments use 'storage' heating, where you are charged half the usual rate discounted as the heaters build up heat overnight and 'store' it, to be released during the day. If you have such a heating setup, you may be limited in what company you can use if you want to keep that discounted rate.

If you have any specific questions about heating etc, best to post on the Accomodation forum as our electricity companies operate nationally ...
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=38

ProudDUB

You can usually get a cheaper rate for electricity if you agree to direct debit, whereby your bill is taken from your bank account every month.

Take in to account the standing charges as well as the charges per unit.

Some providers will let you choose between paying a flat rate for your electricity, regardless of the time of usage. Or they charge you a cheaper night rate and a much higher day rate. (You will need to have a second night rate meter put in if you want to do that. Not sure if you can do that if you are in an apt. Check with your landlord.) So have a think about your electricity usage.

If you are out most of the day and you are ok with running your power guzzling appliances - dishwasher, dryer, washing machine, immersion etc etc - during the cheap night time period, that might work for you. (I think the nighttime rate starts at 11pm and ends at 6am or something like that.) But if you are at home a lot during the day & you'd prefer to have everything running before you go to bed, the flat rate may work best for you.

Internet - There are only a few providers, but UPC has the best reputation by far. However, a lot depends on the wiring inside the apt building itself. If that hasn't been upgraded to the new fibre optic cabling, you won't get good speeds, no matter what equipment you use. You don't have to use the provided UPC router. I think you have to, if you are planning on using their land line phone service, but for internet, you can use your own router if you want to.

Gooooooo Tar Heels !