# Is BT best value broadband at €45/month



## Privinv (22 Aug 2006)

Hi
Is BT best value broadband at €45/month for phone, internet etc, are there better packages available.


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## Guest107 (22 Aug 2006)

they are if you do not rent]


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## ClubMan (22 Aug 2006)

What about [broken link removed] at €35 p.m. for line rental and broadband. Call charges extra (other than to other _Smart _users I think). Obviously who is "best" depends on your phone call usage profile. Note that _BT's _€45 p.m. package is only 1Mbps.


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## pennypincher (23 Aug 2006)

BT/Smart and Imagine are now all at the same price...1 Mb broadband(Smart are 3Mb) always on,local and national calls to land lines unlimted plus line rental for 45 Euro Per Month...Imagine have a sign up fee but not sure if that applies to a new customer.....have thought myself about going wireless but would need to be sure that it's reliable in my area.....


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## Sherman (23 Aug 2006)

pennypincher said:


> BT/Smart and Imagine are now all at the same price...1 Mb broadband(Smart are 3Mb) always on,local and national calls to land lines unlimted plus line rental for 45 Euro Per Month...Imagine have a sign up fee but not sure if that applies to a new customer.....have thought myself about going wireless but would need to be sure that it's reliable in my area.....


 
No, Smart are still €35 per month. You're thinking of their package where you get broadband, line rental, and calls for an all in package of €45 p/m.


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## Seagull (23 Aug 2006)

How much do you spend each month on national and UK calls? If it's over €10, then this is probably the best BT offer for you. If it's under €10, then consider their €35 offer which covers broadband and line rental. You also need to consider the braodband speed you want/need. The BT €45 offer is for 1MB broadband, the €35 offer is for 2MB.


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## Satanta (23 Aug 2006)

Seagull said:
			
		

> If it's over €10, then this is probably the best BT offer for you. If it's under €10, then consider their €35 offer which covers broadband and line rental.


While considering if your bill is over or under €10 per month worth considering something like [broken link removed]. Gives national calls for 5cent connection fee (tarriff is 0cent p/m) and international calls FAR cheaper than most other suppliers (even cheaper than SkypeOut for any I've checked - USA for 0.5cent p/m [thats 35cent for an hour long phone call to the states]).

(No connection with the company other than being a very happy customer) 



			
				Seagull said:
			
		

> You also need to consider the braodband speed you want/need. The BT €45 offer is for 1MB broadband, the €35 offer is for 2MB.


Give a lot of thought to what you require from your BB. If it's simple light usage then you should be fine with 1mb. If it's for heavier demanding tasks ensure you go for a higher spec to suit your needs.


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## Lauren (23 Aug 2006)

BT could be the best value ever but I wouldn't touch them. Refer to other threads here and on boards.ie for problems consumers have had with billing.


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## whackin (23 Aug 2006)

Other than billing though they are a very good service! It rarely goes down and the download rates are as good as they are supposed to be. My advice is to retain control of billing yourself, (i.e. pay by CC)  and don't pay them if they overcharge. The actual service itself is very good!


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## gearoidmm (23 Aug 2006)

The other thing about Smart apart from the fact that it is 3MB broadband is that the contention ratio is 1:1.  There is no-one else in the country offering this at that price.  I rang them yesterday to make sure that this was right as I didn't really believe it but it's true.  Signed up straight away.


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## olddog (23 Aug 2006)

gearoidmm said:


> The other thing about Smart apart from the fact that it is 3MB broadband is that the contention ratio is 1:1.  There is no-one else in the country offering this at that price.  I rang them yesterday to make sure that this was right as I didn't really believe it but it's true.  Signed up straight away.



Can Smart port your number now ? 

or do you have to give up your existing number for a new one ?


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## ClubMan (23 Aug 2006)

As far as I know (having checked in the last couple of weeks) they still give you a new number and you still have the hassle of having to transfer to eircom first and then to _Smart _if you are with another provider. As far as I know these issues are not _Smart's _fault. Not sure what, if anything, _ComReg_ are doing about this crazy anti-competitive situation. The hassle involved is the main thing stopping me from switching from _UTV _to _Smart_ right now.


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## olddog (23 Aug 2006)

I had an idea that 

http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/ComReg0638.pdf

might have changed the situation

But then why would it ? 

Isnt the present setup competition Irish style ?


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## gearoidmm (23 Aug 2006)

olddog said:


> Can Smart port your number now ?
> 
> or do you have to give up your existing number for a new one ?



You have to get a new number and the changeover can take up to six weeks - it appears that eircom are not too quick about changing over for some reason...


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## Guest107 (23 Aug 2006)

Ask Comreg  straight out (info@comreg.ie) how long it will take to move to Smart FROM Eircom with your old number , they should be able to answer you. If its a minute longer than that hassle Comreg .

I bet Comreg will simply BS you . They are the most useless so called 'regulator' I have ever seen, utterly afraid to 'regulate'


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## SidTheDweeb (23 Aug 2006)

If your transition to BT goes well, you're usually in the clear. All has been going perfectly smoothly for us since joining about 2 years ago. Phone + BB. Teething problems getting switched over from Eircom though.


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## MandaC (24 Aug 2006)

I signed up to BT Broadband and phone line for €40.00 per month. They have put the line live from 21st August, but have never sent me out my wireless router.

I phoned up about it to be told that the warehouse was going to post them all out in a batch, somtime soon - Did you even hear the like.


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## Guest107 (24 Aug 2006)

so will you get a rebate or will they charge you in full  from the 21st ??


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## uncorked (24 Aug 2006)

whackin said:


> Other than billing though they are a very good service! It rarely goes down and the download rates are as good as they are supposed to be. My advice is to retain control of billing yourself, (i.e. pay by CC) and don't pay them if they overcharge. The actual service itself is very good!


 
What do you mean when you say to retain control of the billing yourself by paying by credit card?  Don't you still have to set up a Direct Debit to get any of BTs broadband packages?


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## Allen (24 Aug 2006)

Looked at the BT site and couldn't find how much calls to mobiles are for their pnone internet package. Anyone else better at finding it? As most calls are to mobiles and not to other landlines this is an important bit of information to determine if it is a good package.


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## ClubMan (24 Aug 2006)

The [broken link removed] has a link to tariff information for that phone package which is also bundled with some of their internet and phone combo packages in case that helps.


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## Satanta (24 Aug 2006)

Allen said:


> As most calls are to mobiles and not to other landlines this is an important bit of information to determine if it is a good package.





Satanta said:


> [broken link removed]. Gives national calls for 5cent connection fee (tarriff is 0cent p/m) and international calls FAR cheaper than most other suppliers (even cheaper than SkypeOut for any I've checked - USA for 0.5cent p/m [thats 35cent for an hour long phone call to the states]).
> 
> (No connection with the company other than being a very happy customer)


Looking at the BT charges on the link provided above (by ClubMan) I'd suggest you'd be better off using [broken link removed] for the mobile calls. 

Costs are 10c p/m Monday to Friday and 5c p/m at the weekend. There is also a 5c connection fee for each call to any number, but for every call of over one minute you'd be making a saving over the standard BT cost. (for evening calls under one minute you may be better off dialing direct from the BT service [if a minimum call charge/time does not apply])

Worth looking at.


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## Allen (24 Aug 2006)

Thanks for that.


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## onekeano (24 Aug 2006)

Went onto the BT website last Friday and hit the "call back" button. Presented my details and got a message saying they would call me - neber happened..... Hardly the best introduction to BT?

Roy

PS.  is there some catch to 13434.ie or are all calls to landlines in Ireland free?


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## goliath (24 Sep 2006)

i was on Imagine. same price, but they wanted €50 connection to access cheaper rate even though i was with them already as my bb provider. moved to bt it seems slower and horrid customer service. should be cheaper?


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## Satanta (2 Oct 2006)

onekeano said:


> PS.  is there some catch to 13434.ie or are all calls to landlines in Ireland free?


There is a €0.05 connection fee for any/every call, but the tariff after that for national calls is free (€0.00 /min). So a *national call for as long as you want for €0.05* (also without any porting, changing of numbers of filling out any other details [except for the initial form] and no commitment to stay [you just stop using the pre-dial when you don't want it]).

The international calls are the real benefit of the deal, calls to the states for €0.005 (half a cent) /min. 
(all tariffs available on the web site and a pre message of the tariff about to be used can be set up for all calls)

I sometimes feel like a 13434 rep on here when I plug them, but since I've joined up I've had no problems what so ever and recieved an excellent service. Kept a very close eye on bills etc. as I too assumed some catch may be there but after quite a few bills not a single mistake or overcharge. 

I've suggested it to every member of my family and friends and currently have my own phone, my parents and girlfriends connected through my account (with me paying the three bills other than line rental [very easy to add/remove numbers from your account]) and it's a fraction of my previous Eircom bills.
(can still be expensive if lots of mobile calls [5c/min (weekends) or 10c/min (weekdays) - still cheaper than Eircom btw] but if kept to landlines it really is superb!)

Again, no connection to the company other than a very satisified customer. I've no problem complaining when I recieve a poor service, but when something is good (and saves me money) I'll certainly praise it all I can!


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## CCOVICH (2 Oct 2006)

You don't have to hang up after 59 minutes and then dial again to avail of low rates with 13434?


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## Satanta (2 Oct 2006)

CCOVICH said:


> You don't have to hang up after 59 minutes and then dial again to avail of low rates with 13434?



Nope.

It was one of the catches I thought may have been thrown in, so kept a very close eye on it (no mention in the Ts&Cs so wasn't going to be happy if it had happened!). Some of the "free" calls from other providers do require that (Cinergi??) but not required with 13434. 

As an example from the last invoice...

24-09-2006              18:15:02             04XXXXXXX             1:18:41             *0.0500*

Just shy of 1 hour 20 minutes on a national call for 5 cent. (obviously number hidden for privacy - it happens to be an after 6p.m. call but would have been the same cost made at any time - no peek/offpeak on national calls, just on mobiles [weekday/weekend] and potentially some international calls as I've only checked ones I might/would have used)

Think I've a couple of calls showing over two hours for the same cost but in previous invoices. 

Have to say, the online invoicing system is superb. You can monitor your current bill to date, all previous invoices (all with 100% itemised detail) from your first day with the company. Not sure if it carries over to a new year as I only joined in March this year. You can also have the invoice e-mailed/faxed through to you directly from the online viewing facility (since August - so shows still developing the system even further).

So far, its been an "exactly as it says on the tin" experience. No hidden catches and no surprise costs. Vat is pre included in the billing (though the invoice is broken down to give the Vat amount where it might be needed).

Possible catch....
It does round up to the closest minute (1 minute 1 second is billed at two minutes) but given the savings this is more than worth it IMHO. 
Racking my brain for any other negatives but really am struggling to fault it so far (in over seven months).

(Rates also available for calls from mobile numbers - though a different access number needed and my own provider, Vodafone, charges for the connection number so not that competitive - havn't looked into this fully so far, just know it cost more than the 5c connection fee for a call to a landline using the service and forgot about it since then.
Additional access number also available for any non-Eircom users [BT, Perlico, etc.] so still able to avail of the service [to the best of my knowledge]).


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## podgerodge (2 Oct 2006)

I second what Setanta has said , great service and cheaper than telestunt for foreign calls in a lot of cases - 0.5 cent per minute to France and USA for example with 5 cent setup charge - so Telestunt would be cheaper for a 2 or 3 minute call but after that....


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## Sn@kebite (5 Oct 2006)

*Re: Is BT best value broadband at €45/month*

Imagine is €9.99 pm for 12GB cap, free national calls if u want to take a look,
but I think they said they're shutting down. Dont know if it's true though?

www.imagine.ie


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