Which Provider? What Type Of Broadband? Broadband In My Area? !!POST HERE ONLY!!

Welcome, if your reading this you have questions about getting Broadband, this thread isn't for questions on how to fix Broadband issues or how slow your Broadband might be but it hopefully will answer alot of common questions when it comes to choosing the Broadband you want.

IMPORTANT
Before you start I'd recommend you read the FAQ/Charter Sticky as this may answer your question before you post a question here.

Remember this thread is only for questions about choosing a provider, any other off-topic posts such as technical problems you have will be deleted. This is also not ISP bashing thread so no "UPC/Eircom sux" type of posts please as these will be removed.

Anyway first things first, there are a number of different types of Broadband providers in Ireland and here's how they break down.



ADSL Providers (Eircom & Eircom Wholesale Resellers):
The vast majority of ADSL Providers in Ireland use standard "eircom" telephone lines, so in short if you have an Eircom line and you can get Eircom Broadband then you can also get Broadband from ANY of these providers as they rent the exact same equipment from Eircom Wholesale. You are not limited to just Eircom and as such you will often get better value from any of the resellers below.
Vodafone
Eircom
UTV
Perlico
Smart
Digiweb
TalkTalk

Some things to keep in mind before ordering:
When ordering this type of ADSL Broadband remember that your price may not include line rental which is currently €25.36 a month, all of the above providers also offer bundled telephone and broadband packages which are often much better value and they also mean you won't have to have a seperate line rental bill with Eircom.

Finally remember all the above providers services come with a 12 month commimum commitment period




ADSL Providers (LLU Providers):
In "selected" areas in Ireland certain providers have installed their own equipment in telephone exchanges, LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) providers won't have their equipment in every exchange because its extremely expensive to install the required equipment.

However if its installed at your local exchange you will generally be able to get cheaper or faster Broadband and you may also be able to get TV services.

LLU providers in Ireland include:
Magnet
Smart
Vodafone

Some things to keep in mind before ordering:
The great thing about LLU providers is generally speaking the technoloigy used at your local exchange (if LLU is available) is more up-t-date and as such is designed to provide much faster speeds.

As suich whilst eircom and all its resellers can only provide upto 7MB speeds LLU providers can provide upto 24MB speeds. In addition as the company actually owns the equipment at the exchange they don't have to pay eircom line rental so monthly prices tend to be much better value. Finally Magnet also offer a TV service too.

Finally remember all the above providers services come with a 12 month commimum commitment period




Cable Providers:
Sadly there are only two cable providers in Ireland, cable has the added advantage of providing much faster speeds (upto 120MB) then ADSL Broadband and often at a much cheaper price. However it is generally only availavle in large towns and citys.

Cable Providers in Ireland include:
UPC
CableSurf (Dungarven, Co Waterford Only)

Some things to keep in mind before ordering:
Whilst UPC don't charge line rental line eircom do all their Bropadband prices are based on the assumption that you already have the basic analog TV package which costs around €24.99, if you don't want the basic TV package because for example your already with Sky then a surcharge of €7.75 currently applys.

Finally remember all the above providers services come with a 12 month commimum commitment period



"Mid-band" Mobile Broadband Providers:
So called "Mobile Broadband" services are available from O2, Vodafone, Meteor & Three. Please goto the Mid-Band forum for further information on this type of service.

Some things to keep in mind before ordering:
Whilst Midband services are great for mobility they are not really the same as ADSL & Cable due to the current technology being used, speed can vary ALOT depending on many factors in addition this type of technology isn't very suitable for online gaming or VoIP.

In short whilst one provider might work great in one area in could be awful in another area as the more people that are using that particualr provider in an area will often mean it will be slower.

So called "Mobile Broadband" service are however generally ideal for simply web browsing and collecting of e-mails etc.

Finally remember Midband providers generally provide both bill pay (contract) and Pay As You Go options.




Wireless (Wi-Max) Providers:
Need to write this up still, suggestions very much welcome for this.

Very Important Things to Remember:
Speed:
When choosing an ADSL Broadband provider or any provider for that matter remember that speeds are provided as "upto", simply put this means that while you may sign up to XYZ provider that provides upto 7MB speed the actual speed you will receive very much depends on the physical quality of your telephone wiring (both inside and outside your home) and the physical distance your home is from the local telephone exchange.

In addition the speed you receive can depend on other factors which may or may not be beyond your providers controls, these include the amount of users in your area that are using the servoice heavbily and what type of service you are trying to use (P2P for example).

Usage Caps/Fair Usage Policys:
Choose your provider carefully as many providers came with set download caps which if you exceed you will either be limited, forced to upgrade to a higher package or charged an excess usage fee. If your looking for a truely unlimited ISP I would suggest reading this post first.

Remember that even ISP's like UPC who have no set usage cap displayed on their website still have a Fair Usage Policy which as of the 25/11/2010 is about 250GB per month, other providers like Magnets also have Fair Usage Policys but apparently as of the 18/11/2010 have not enforced it yet.

Getting a telephone line installed:
If you decided to get ADSL Broadband from either Eircom, Vodafone, UTV etc then your going to need a telephone line (thats if you don't already have one), its important to remember that if you need to get a telephone line installed then you may incur installation costs.

In addition to installation costs its VERY important to remember that if you get Eircom to install a telephone line then this comes with a 6 month contract period, so if you then decided to move to Vodafone for line rental & Broadband Eircom will charge you a contract buyout fee.


Thread Feedback:
This opening post is a work in progress that is open feedback as much if you have suggestions for how it can be made better in some way then please post your suggestions in the feedback thread.