Hands on: eircom Broadband on test

Pro

Just as I was in the middle of confirming a credit card transaction online, my dial-up Internet connection dropped. Couple this with large e-mails taking their time to download and with web surfing generally a slow experience, I decided that it was time to ditch the dial-up and move to Eircom’s iStream broadband service.

The first thing to do was to call Eircom sales. I was offered the basic package of modem, free installation and first month free rental, which I accepted. Eircom then had to qualify the phone line. This took about a week and Eircom rang back saying the line passed its tests and was fit to carry the ADSL service.

About a week later, a box arrived by post containing the starter kit – a modem, USB, Ethernet cables and instruction leaflet. I opted for the self-install starter kit option, but you can get an engineer to configure the device for you at a price.

If you are technically minded, the self-install is easy and will have you up and running in about ten minutes. Two weeks after I received the modem, the line was ready and I had to ring technical support for the user name and password. Technical support is a 1550 number charged at 70 cents per minute. Considering that Eircom charges EUR54.25 for the service, I was not impressed at having to pay to find out my user name and password! Once the connection was made, I had to change Outlook to connect for mail via the LAN and the same with Internet Explorer.

First thing you notice is the speed – up to 512Kbit/s rather that the dial-up crawl of 32Kbit/s or less. Web pages load pretty quickly and downloads are a lot faster. For the home user, download is limited to 4Gbyte per month, which should cater for most people’s needs. However the ability to watch movie trailers, listen to radio from another country, pull down large files without interruption and still take a phone call on the same line, is outstanding.

There is no doubt that you can do a lot more with broadband than with analogue. From an educational point of view, the full force of what the Internet offers is but a mouse click away, while online gaming is now a more pleasurable experience.

Eircom has a decent portal at home.eircom.net/broadband and its support site offers tools such as DSL Speed Test and DSL Usage Stats. You can use these tools to ensure you are getting the correct speed from your line.

There is no firewall provided with the starter package. Eircom recommends BlackIce Defender, but you can also use Tiny Personal Firewall or Zone Alarm Pro. These software firewalls are sufficient for most needs, but should you go along the hardware route, be prepared to pay for it. Eircom can provide you with a Firewall, but if you go for an all-in-one-third party modem/firewall, Eircom will not support the device. If you can afford it, get a hardware firewall, as these devices are more difficult for the hackers to attack.

PC Live! Verdict ***
Eircom Broadband: Overall the service is quite good. Eircom’s DSL technical support team, based on the experiences that I have had with them, are both knowledgeable and courteous. Hopefully in the near future the cost of the monthly rental for this service will fall; only time will tell.

Cost: Monthly subscription: EUR54.45, Connection: Free* Modem: Free*
www.eircom.net

*Special offer runs until December 31st