Posted this already but I guess it belongs here too:
I can sympathise with all the slow-speed sufferers on
IBB.
My connection on Breeze 2MB service went to sub-56k speeds for most of August and September. Worse than dial-up, impossible to work from home (one of the reasons I paid extra for wireless).
As of last Monday it's back up to about 700KB/s up 1.3MB/s down during daytime, around 600-800MB/s down evenings. (In Blanchardstown from Ballycoolin via Westend office block antenna i think). Reckon this speed is about right for a 24:1 contention ratio.
I was going to cancel the direct debit this week, regardless of contract, as I was sick of the appalling service.
IBB obviously don't have either the resources or the courtesy to reply to customer emails (other than an automated reply- like that's helpful), or to inform us of what's going on. It would have helped if I had known they were doing maintenance or upgrade and had some target date.
Service is back up to what it should be for the €50pm charged, but i have no loyalty left whatsoever to
IBB. If it happens again i'm bailing out for whoever is cheapest on ADSL. When the contract ends i'll go to ADSL (main reason i went wireless is because phone exchange for my area wasn't DSL enabled until last month or two). At least eircom, for all their faults, do bother to answer phone and email.
Ayway to get all this off my chest, my basis for terminating contract would be as follows:
Sale of Goods and Supply of Service Act can be found online at:
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1980_16.html
Part IV Section 39 (
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZA16Y1980S39.html)
is as follows:
39.—Subject to section 40, in every contract for the supply of a service where the supplier is acting in the course of a business, the following terms are implied—
( a ) that the supplier has the necessary skill to render the service,
( b ) that he will supply the service with due skill, care and diligence,
( c ) that, where materials are used, they will be sound and reasonably fit for the purpose for which they are required, and
( d ) that, where goods are supplied under the contract, they will be of merchantable quality within the meaning of section 14 (3) of the Act of 1893 (inserted by section 10 of this Act).
Looking at this, it can be argued that
IBB have displayed a lack of due skill, care and diligence in supplying their service. Two months = 16% of the contract term during which time the service failed to even approximate the service that was advertised.
As for a defined lower speed limit for a service to be called broadband (mentioned in a previous post referring to ComReg),
under the 1980 Act Part II Section 10:
13.—(1) Where there is a contract for the sale of goods by description, there is an implied condition that the goods shall correspond with the description; and if the sale be by sample as well as by description, it is not sufficient that the bulk of the goods corresponds with the sample if the goods do not also correspond with the description.
As far as I know there is extensive precedent that this section extends to description of services. The Breeze 2MB is advertised and supplied as symmetrical wireless at a 24:1 contention ratio, so the
absolute minimum up/down speed = 2MB/24 = 83kb/s. (And if necessary
IBB could be asked to prove continuous maximum contention from their service logs)
Don't know what
IBB would do about it, probably no reply as usual. The loss of custom due to bad press generated if it went to court would probably far outweigh the value of the remaining months on my subsription.
Anyway, commiserations and sympathy to anyone who is stuck with
IBB for the indefinite future.
Breeze 2meg line 
Linear Mode
