Networked Home Office-Best net/phone/cable t.v. combo?

Dinarius

We have had our new house rewired with CAT5e and COAX throughout to keep our options open.

I will be using one room as an office and I am trying to decide on the best broadband internet/telephone/digital t.v. combination to run through the system.

The house is in Dublin 14.

As well as the office, which will house a desktop and a laptop, I will want at least one other room internet enabled.

NTL have not upgraded our area for cable broadband yet, so that option is out for the moment.

I am considering Eircom for broadband. I use them in our existing house and I have had no problems. Should I consider anyone else? Speed is an issue since I transmit image files a lot.

For telephone, Eircom's TalkTime Anytime package at €39.99 a month seems a bit pricey since I am not that heavy a user, but it does include the line rental. Any views on this product? Are there better ones out there?

For digital t.v. I am looking at NTL at €29.95 a month. To be honest, getting BBC radio on FM is the real reason. The tv is only a bonus. Yes, I know I can get it on the net, but having BBC radio in places like the kitchen and bathroom, where a computer would be a non-runner, makes cable radio a must. Any alternatives? Doesn't seem to be.

What about VOIP?

Finally, what are the options for combining any or all of the above?

I should add that we have already had the phone connected with Eircom, but I presume I can move that if it's worth my while.

Many thanks.

D.

philologos

www.magnet.ie

Dinarius

Magnet Advantage looks like a complete no-brainer! Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

So, where's the catch?

Anyone with a home office set-up (thereby making fair use of the phone and internet) can only gain from this.

One wee problem.........the TV package doesn't appear to include FM radio. Hhhmmmmm...........

D.

EDITED: Just been reading some of the Magnet threads here........as always, nothing is as it might me. Too good to be true for the moment. I've signed up online and await the call.

Meanwhile, if anyone has any other suggestions regarding my original questions, I'm all eyes! ;-)

bk

BT Broadband 1m + line rental = €40
BT Broadband 2m + line rental = €50

As a comparison:
Eircom BB 1m + line rental = €55

BT also have an unlimited local and national calls product, I think it is an extra €20.

Another option would be Smart BB 2m + Line Rental = €35, however it has only limited availability, you'll need to check.

NTL would be a good option for Digital TV, you can get extra DigiTV boxes for only €5 extra each and you can run the basic analogue service (17 channel) to as many TV's/VCR's as you want.

Then you would also have the option to upgrade to NTL's excellent BB and VoIP services when available.

Sparky

you could try Metro, since they have a net and phone service, and your speed issue would be covered with the 3mb/512k, but no tv at the moment with them so you would have to either get ntl or sky, or go with NTL for the whole package. phone, net and tv.
If you got sky, they have radio also, but as you know only one channel at a time with sky.
Id say NTL for TV defo.
Broadband with BT as their service is very reliable, and take their telephone service aswell if you like (one thing to warn about bt is their billing dept. but soon they are meant to "iron" that out)
Blueface are good for voip and are cheap.
Its a pitty NTL dont have BB in your area yet as things would be easier with NTL BB and TV and possibily phone on one line.