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Looking for advice about Eir VOIP and Eir mobile package

FlexMcMurphy

I am a long time Eir customer. Now paying €84/month for landline and FTTC, nothing else.

Today I finally called up Eir. I said Pure Telecom offer €30/month for 12 months and there is no reason for me to stay with Eir. Eir offered me a new contract at €35/month. They also offered me a €9.99/month rolling contract on my mobile phone and I can keep my number. They also said I would have to switch to VOIP for landline.

A few questions:

Is there any disadvantage to switching the landline away from copper to VOIP? I think I read a few negative comments about VOIP, like you cannot use phone points in your house anymore instead one phone has to be connected to the modem/router and others would connect wirelessly to that. But is the voice quality as good/reliable with VOIP compared with over copper wires or not?
I am a long time Vodafone pay-as-you-go customer. Should I be concerned about the Eir mobile/4G service being less good compared to Vodafone? I have a friend who pays a €9.99 to another provider, can't remember the name, and apparently the coverage is spotty compared with Vodafone.

Cheers,

Flex

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pizzahead77

The call quality on VoIP is generally better than the copper line if moving to FTTH - not sure about it on FTTC. My parents were having terrible trouble with the copper line and it was replaced by FTTH instead and they have had no quality issue.

Everyone will be switched over to VoIP in the coming years as eir decommissions the copper network.

Depending on where your new router gets installed, it could be possible to rewire the internal phone sockets to connect to the VoIP socket on the new router.

The eir 4G/5G coverage will all depend on the coverage in your area - maybe get an eir payg sim and try it out in your phone to check the coverage where you live.

You can always still get the €9.99 deal from eir later as a broadband customer.

FlexMcMurphy

Cheers pizzahead77

I checked on coveragemap.comreg.ie and I think I'll stay with Vodafone. I pay €20 each 28 days on payg which is pricey but I think Vodafone have the best coverage nationally. Coverage where I live and work will not be as-good if I go with Eir… apparently they took over Meteor so it doesn't surprise me that the Eir mobile coverage is not as good as Vodafone.

For VOIP, should I just be able to plug the base of my existing cordless phone in to the back of the Eir router or will I need to buy a new phone or adapters? There's something called an Analogue Telephone Adapter (ATA) but maybe that is built in to the Eir modem/router?

One downside to VOIP is you have no landline phone during a power cut. And something about Eir don't give you details to make full use of VOIP on other devices? So for example, if you want to replace the Eir modem/router you will need to daisy chain the Eir router, functioning as a dumb switch, to your new router just to keep the VOIP phone working. Another downside to VOIP is none of the phone points in the house will work anymore either unless, as you say, they all get connected somehow to the router, which I would probably have to pay an electrician to do.

So there are downsides to VOIP as I see it but maybe no showstoppers for me at least, and besides I will more than likely never use it anyway because who uses landlines at home any more?!

Cheers,

Flex

pizzahead77

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122653784#Comment_122653784

Yes, you'll be able plug your existing cordless phone into the eir router - it has an ATA built-in.

The Cush

On the ATA, this may be built in to the router already and depending how your internal phone wiring is done it should be possible to feed every existing point around the how like now and use the existing analogue phones. If there isn't an ATA your supplier should be able to provide a standalone unit.

When my SIL moved from the copper landline we simply disconnected the incoming landline cable behind the socket, connected the ATA and all worked as before.

RobiePAX

In regards to mobile coverage, they all have black spots around Ireland. There's only x3 options Vodafone, Eir and Three.

You could try eir €10 offer. See how it is. Switch back if you won't like it as there's no commitment.

Clear Mobile does a deal for €15, they run off Vodafone. So good option to consider too if you want a cheaper deal.

As for VoIP, you might as well switch now as copper will be gone soon. Most providers will force you to switch to it if you want a decent deal.

Brian.mcl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058370421/looking-for-advice-about-eir-voip-and-eir-mobile-package

Hi I work in eir in relation to your query about switching to Vobb the main concern with customers across the board which it a very valid point is if the power cuts the Vobb will not work where as the Psnt line ( copper ) will still work

Now in relation to the mobile at 9.99 look not just saying this because i currently work there but it is a good service in relation to the network if anything it should be better as Vodaphone for a majority of the dishes in the country actually boos their network off of ours so all in all look if you really depend on the pstn line I'm near certain there is a form we can fill out to recontract and keep the pstn line and recontract for a better price

And i would highly advise to ask to speak to loyalty for a recontract and don't take the first offer they have new refuse to lose discounts so negotiate as much as possible

NewClareman

Moving To VoIP is no bother, the quality is as good, or better, than a traditional landline. Yes it fails during a power cut but this is not an issue if you also have a mobile. In any case you can always use a small UPS to protect you against power cuts, if it is a major concern. (Small handy ones are now available and I have just decided to get one for myself!)
I use cordless phones, the master/base station is plugged into the modem with the others working off that. If you want to used wired phones with VoIP over FTTC, a small modification to your socket is required. This is to isolate your internal wiring from the incoming DSL and allow your internal wiring be connected to the modem. It is not a big deal and it is possible the installer will do this for you. If you're moving to FTTH/Direct fibre, the installer may want to install the modem in a different location to where your phone master socket is. This would require a new cable to be run internally from the nearest phone socket to the modem.
Eir mobile coverage, while good, still has its black spots. (I live in one of them.) However eir support Wifi calling, allowing calls and texts over WiFi, at no extra cost. This is seamless and is the only reason I still have eir Mobile. Once you have a broadband connection it works anywhere, even in my local and abroad on holidays! The only reason I have a fixed line was because the mobile service was almost unusable at home. Since I got WiFi Calling I hardly use it.

pflanagan132

I have Eir broadband and landline for 30 euro per month plus mobile for 10 euro after negotiation. No issues. I never use landline, can I get rid of it and keep broadband? Would that effect my monitored alarm?

babelfish1990

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123115778#Comment_123115778

If your monitored alarm is using your landline phone, then you will lose your monitoring. Your landline phone may already be running over your Broadband - Eir have been migrating customers to VOIP for the last number of years, and they will continue to do this as the migrate the remaining customers to fibre. If your landline phone is plugged into your Broadband router, then your phone is already being carried over Broadband.

The main issue when you migrate to landline phone over broadband is that your router (and ONT if Fibre) need mains power. In a power outage (we have seen a lot of this in the last week!), you will lose power and alarm monitoring. A burglar could also knock off your mains power at the meter box so that you lose power to alarms, cameras etc. The PSTN phone lines are powered directly from the Eir exchange, which has backup. You could put a small UPS on your router and ONT, to ensure backup during a power cut, or you could run them off your Solar battery, if you have Solar PV. Even if you provide battery backup or if you are prepared to take the risk of losing monitoring during a power cut, your insurance company may not be happy. If you are claiming an insurance discount for the monitored alarm, you will need to disclose that you are no longer monitored.

You could ask your alarm provider to migrate your alarm to mobile monitoring. The alarm will already have a backup battery, and this will be used to ensure that you still have monitoring in the event of a power cut. The recent power cuts have hit mobile harder than fixed lines - so this may not help much - but a burglar will not be able to force a power cut of the mobile monitoring. Also - the insurance company is likely to be ok with mobile monitoring that has battery backup in the alarm. My alarm (HKC) has dual comms - both Mobile & Broadband.

By the way, you are unlikely to save any money by getting rid of your landline phone. The network costs relate to the line itself - which is still required for Broadband, rather than the phone service. It probably costs Eir almost nothing to provide additional VOIP numbers to residential users - since they already have to keep the VOIP servers, switches etc for Business customers, hospitals etc.

pflanagan132

Many thanks for your comprehensive reply. My reason for ditching the landline was to save money, but, as you say, it's pointless