Phone costs in Dublin

Hi everyone,

We just moved here from Germany on the 1st. and now almost seal a place around Begger Bush square in Ballsbridge. The apartment was empty for a while, but according to the agent, they have the ntl. Now we need to set up the television and phone lines. My questions are

1. Can I get internet/broadband without having a home phone? If so, which company is good to set up the broadband? Is it necessary to have a phone at home? What's the charge?

2. Which mobile phone company is good? We were in a Voda phone shop, and I was surprised that with the prepaid card, one phone call is 49 cents/min.. that's really expensive. But I was told that Voda phone has the best coverage, but do they have other phone companies with also good coverage and cheaper price? With the billpaid system, since we still don't have a permeant address, ( we are staying at my husband's one month rent free apt), can we also do the billpaid thingy?

3. How do I go about getting the phone and TV cable guy to come to our new apartment to set up the lines? I was told that they are not very efficient, so can I start calling them now even though we are not moving in yet? I mean should we get the key from the landlord to ask the cable guy to come in and install them? I am not very good with those tech stuff, I don't even know the difference between ntl and eir..

4. Is this Begger Bush square a nice area? I mean there is a Geological survey building inside next to the houses, it seems quiet. The rent is not cheap. (1650, not furnished). So I would like to get some feedback if anyone knows about this area.

Thank you all very much in advance for your help.

Jennifer

Thanks very much in advance for help.

1. No, you don't need a landline for broadband. Check here for costs callcosts and choose what suits you best.
   
   2. Beside vodaphone we have O2 and meteor. They both have good coverage, especially if you are in Dublin. Again, check the above website. As far as I know you can have a prepaid for one month and then change later. Best thing though is to walk into a mobile phone shop and ask. 49 cent per call isn't really the price for a phone call, unless you need to phone to Germany. But keep in mind phonecalls from mobiles and landlines are generally more expensive in Ireland than in Germany.
   
   3. Why wouldn't they be not very "efficient"? They won't come the next day alright, but get used to it in Ireland and don't expect German "efficiency" (which is a myth anyway).
   For the phone landline you have to contact eircom. Check first if their is already an actual line which only needs to be activated. Won't take long. If there is no line (unlikely in Dublin 4) they might tell you it takes four weeks, but usually it's far quicker.
   You can ask the landlord if he would see to it, but on the other hand you will survive without cable tv and a landline for a couple of weeks. It's anyway better if you are at home yourself for the installation.
   
   4. Beggars Bush is Dublin 4! It doesn't get any posher (well, only a little). So yes, it is a nice area, whatever nice means.
   
   And finally: Don't put yourself under stress with getting everything sorted at once. Take your time to find out everything you need to know before you make a decision. Ask the neighbours about cable tv and what kind of company they are with.
   
   Good luck!

re: the cable, I would make an appointment for a weekend after you move in (if you require a weekend). I find they're generally not too bad but it could take up to a month to make a Saturday appointment. If you know when you'll be there, go ahead and make the call.

We have meteor and the service is fine and there are really good packages - we don't yap on the mobile that much but use it when needed and pay a flat fee of 20 euro for a 60 minute package (including texts). You can get more minutes incrementally with increased costs just like you can anywhere else.

Hi there
I would advise you to look at the new wireless mobile modems for your internet access. Its the size of a mouse, you plug it into your pc/ laptop USB port and it works perfectly. My one cost €70 for the modem with 02 and is then €15 a month for the first three months and €30 a month after that. You get 10GB and we use it constantly and it never runs out. You would need to have your ID, and proof of address, ie a utility bill (Electricty or Gas) with your name and address on it. Once you have that you can also get a bill pay mobile phone which works out at better value than pay as you go. O2 are quite good with reasonable rates. You can get the O2 modem and phone bill all on the one bill. Coverage is not really an issue.

I personally would not bother with a landline unless you are making lots of calls to germany, then it may work out cheaper. However you could just download skype and get your friends/ family to do the same.

Cable wise you can go with NTL or Sky. Sky are the more efficient of the two and also have a better selection of channels. NTL are notorious for bad service levels. You could spend all day on the phone with them being transferred, put on hold etc and will never get your query resolved, I'm speaking from experience!!

look at METEOR.IE pay as you go.

I'd say meteor is the best/cheapest option. They offer lots of different plans, some with free meteor to meteor text messages and phone calls. Check out the website as above. Vodafone does have the best all round coverage. But meteor now has something like 90%+ coverage!

As for the cable question, i'd go with sky. More channels on offer, and as far as i know it works out cheaper and they have a free installation offer going on now

#1, am I missing something here? How can you get broadband without having a landline? or are you talking cable broadband and if so, that surely incorporates a landline service for telephony?

You can get broadband without a landline through www.irishbroadband.ie. I've heard the service can be so-so though. I think Vodafone has a deal like that as well now.

There are plenty of companies who offer broadband without landline or cable, i.e. www.bbnet.ie or O2 and plenty more. Landline is so last year!

Thank you all for your tips. Unfortunately the landlord did not want us. anyways, we will keep looking and I will check out the websites.. Thanks again. since everyone says Meteor is cheap and not bad, I will go for that. one question-- if the apartment has the Ntl line already, can we still use Sky cable? We have not found the apartment yet, but most of the agents told us the most apartments have ntl cable lines. I mean can we switch to Sky ?

thank you all.

Sky is not cable and is via a satellite dish. You would have to check whether you are allowed to put up a Sky dish on the property. Some rentals do not allow it due to certain by-laws etc.

NTL cable should have most of the channels you want though.....

if you're getting a flat with ntl already installed, why not just stick with ntl..

Some people may prefer Sky (like me). NTL is ok but Sky offers alot more. Unfortunately, you don't always have a choice as #10 notes, which is a shame as for many utilities, you're stuck with what you have, hence the poor service.

You don't need a land line to have internet access in Dublin. I just left Dublin (about 5 blocks from the Beggar's Bush area) after spending 5 months there. I bought a meteor mobile phone and had no land line in my apartment. I also had internet access through something called "Ripwave" which was contracted through Irish Broadband. As I recall, I paid about 50 -75 Euro for the Ripwave Modem and that price included 4 months of internet service. I then paid about 18 Euro per month after my initial 4 months and had to sign a service contract for a minimum of 6 months. It worked very well and I had no problems with internet access at all during my stay. When I disconnected my service last month, I simply returned the Ripwave Modem to Irish Broadband and they disconnected my service.

Pat

You don't need a landline to get it, but if you want to get any sort of reliable speed (without having to remortgage the house to get it) you should get a landline.

If Smart are available in your local exchange there is no choice - they are head and shoulders ahead of eircom. They give 6MB for less than eircom charge for 2MB. If you can't get Smart, don't bother with the phone.

Ripwave is spectacularly bad - less than dial-up speeds, despite what they promise.

I agree with Newgrange that landline will give a more stable broadband and cheaper phone calls too. Smart are best, but other providers are a similar price, they just offer lower speeds, this speed may be adequate for your needs. See http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=259 for discussion. Good wireless based broadband services often require an aerial on the roof, which may not be possible. If you get an O2 mobile and want to call friends in Germany check out www.1call.ie.