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The thread "Worth changing to Smart? Any complaints?" has not received any replies for a month. It has been automatically closed as a result. You may start a new thread on the topic if the information in this thread is not sufficient.
Hi
I'm currently a Eircom broadband user and am fed up with paying over the odds for the service plus phone line rental. I am now seriously considering changing to Smart Telecom. Rand them up and they said I'm with reach of their server which is good news.
Just wanted to check with everyone out there before I do the deed if anyone has had any major regrets changing from Eircom to Smart?
Was it easy changing over?
I am using a Netopia wireless router (got from Eircom originally), does this work OK with Smart telecom broadband or do I need to buy their wireless modem for their service?
I just moved to smart the other day and I have to say im impressed well worth the move ( and the wait ).They do however give you a very cheap AOLYNK router which is fine for generic use. I'd reccommend Drayteks ADSL2+ routers for better routing.
A few things you'll need to be aware of if you move to smart.
(i) you will have to change your phone number as smart will be handling your calls and broadband.
(ii) at the moment they dont have call forwarding and call answering in most areas of the country. this im told will change in the future.
(ii) You will only receive bills from Smart and not eircom , though technically your still connecting via eircom ( or rather leasing your line from your home to the eircom exchange where its plugged into Smart)
(iii) Once you order theres aprox 10-15 day waiting period as Eircom ( reluctantly) unplugs your line from their exchange into Smarts
(iv) Smart have their own fibre network around ireland so they have plenty of bandwidth to give away thus they dont have any contention ratios like every other provider out there. thats not to say you will always get 100% of your bandwidth 100% of the time. there are some factors that change the speeds now and then.
Hi Jagnet,
Thanks for the advice.
"They do however give you a very cheap AOLYNK router which is fine for generic use. I'd reccommend Drayteks ADSL2+ routers for better routing."
Are these routers wireless? I do my computer work in the spare bedroom, minus a phone line! And did you have to return your modem to eircom?
Sunster
I never had eircom BB ,their prices are one of the most expensive. I used to have Digiweb for a few years and no request for their old modem yet. ( wasn't great anyways.)
Nop the Smart standard router doesn't have wireless built you can ask for one when ordering though it costs a hefty €140 and it'd probably be as basic as the standard router. For that price you'd find a pretty good alternative.
But if you were to get a wireless router I'd recommend the expensive but good Draytek Vigor2800G or cheaper alternative the D-link DSL-G604T.
You would find these on ebay or other shops online. I doubt anywhere in Ireland would sell them. just remember that if you buy online that you get the European versions compatible with Irish&UK DSL.
Also a note to anyone getting the basic Smart router, it only allows you for forward 1 port to an individual IP. you cannot forward multiple different ports to an internal IP.
But if you were to get a wireless router I'd recommend the expensive but good Draytek Vigor2800G or cheaper alternative the D-link DSL-G604T.
You would find these on ebay or other shops online. I doubt anywhere in Ireland would sell them.
www.expansys.ie have the D-link DSL-G604T for €95.95 inc. vat + €14.95 DHL delivery (1-2days) they don't carry any Draytek products though.
Just changed to Smart telecom from those dodgy ibb fellows and i have to say so far i'm impressed. I've done seven speed tests so far and got 2.91mb d/load and 256kb upload everytime with quality of service at 95 to 97%. compare that to the ibb speeds we were getting which were anything from 200 to 400kb down and slower than dial up speeds upload lots of the time with only 30% quality of service, smart may take a while sorting customers out but its definitely worth it in my opinion.
Also a note to anyone getting the basic Smart router, it only allows you for forward 1 port to an individual IP. you cannot forward multiple different ports to an internal IP.
This is incorrect, at least with the latest firmware revision (...028). I mapped a few ranges of ports to a few different internal ips yesterday and it all worked as expected. Using UPNP, programs also open ports when they need to.
Not that it matters much to me as I'm only getting ~600kbit throughput on my supposed 6mbit line!
Hi
I'm currently a Eircom broadband user and am fed up with paying over the odds for the service plus phone line rental. I am now seriously considering changing to Smart Telecom. Rand them up and they said I'm with reach of their server which is good news.
Just wanted to check with everyone out there before I do the deed if anyone has had any major regrets changing from Eircom to Smart?
Was it easy changing over?
I am using a Netopia wireless router (got from Eircom originally), does this work OK with Smart telecom broadband or do I need to buy their wireless modem for their service?
Thanks for your help!
Sunster
ive recently changed from eircom to smart - no complaints yet re broadband but speeds vary quite a lot...having problems with incoming caller display...also u cant block ur outgoing display...the quality of phone signal when on a call is sometimes pretty hazy, like talkin on a mobile with a bad signal, voice echo etc...people ringin me hav complained that the ringing tone suddenly disappears...but its cheaper & functional so im happy!!
I signed up for Smart almost a year ago and while I had to change my number, it didn't matter at all since I'd just gotten the number for broadband.
The service, customer and technical, has been impeccable the whole time. The BB hasn't gone down or slowed once and I've not experienced any of the call problems that swizzle has. Ah well, lucky me.
Their service is pretty good, but Broadband and Phone. They're having a few annoying glitches at the moment though with speeds, a good few people (myself included) seem to be getting a lot of poor transfer speeds, even though the modems report that they are connected at a far faster speed. Technical support can, depending on what the issue is, be helpful however if you experience major problems you could find yourself on your own - that said the guys on the forum are excellent for dealing with queries and usually try to help as best they can.
As for the router, I don't know if it's ADSL2+ compatible or not (it may be possible to make it ADSL2+ compatible by a firmware upgrade) - for best results you should make sure that the router is ADSL2+ compatible otherwise you could find yourself running into difficulty, especially if you're a good distance from the exchange or if your line isn't great quality. If you do need to buy a wireless modem though, don't get the Smart one - you can pick up a Linksys model from argos for €99 which reportedly works excellently with the service.
As mentioned before, call forwarding and call answering are NOT availalble, due to some technicality with the VoIP system which Smart use to route their calls from your local exchange to their central HQ.
Other than that, I'd say go for it! I've had more than enough major problems since I got it in, but I wouldn't say I regret it - at the end of the day it's €10.50!
I have a similar throughput prob to Acous, Supposed 3 MB line but only ~1.2 MB Dl speed, I'm running the standard router they give you. Has anyone got any ideas how I could raise the speed, or what could be causing the slowdown? (I do have a very long cable running from wall socket to router)
Last edited by IamTheSmee : 12th May 2006 at 02:12 AM.
1. Click here.
2. Type in your username and password when requrested ("admin" for both, unless you have changed the password to your own, which is highly recommended).
3. Post the line stats that appear back here, mainly the Tx Bit Rate, Rx Bit Rate, Line Attenuation and Local SNR Margin figures. This should give some indication as to what sort of state your line is in.
The odds of the cable that you are running affecting your speed is highly unlikely. You can run 100 metres of cat 5 before you acheive total loss. I doubt that you are running more than a few metres at home. It all depends on how much contention is on the line that is coming into your house. I would contact your isp and ask them what the contention ratio is. 1.2 isn't too bad though. I've been with smart for about a month and so far so good. I have the 5mb package and reguarly receive speeds of about 2.7mbps. It bursts to 4 sometimes but I'm happy out so far
1. Click here.
2. Type in your username and password when requrested ("admin" for both, unless you have changed the password to your own, which is highly recommended).
3. Post the line stats that appear back here, mainly the Tx Bit Rate, Rx Bit Rate, Line Attenuation and Local SNR Margin figures. This should give some indication as to what sort of state your line is in.
Hey Kensington would you be good enough to tell me what these results mean? :
Hey Kensington would you be good enough to tell me what these results mean? :
TX = 314300
RX = 275400
Local Line Attn 71.5 dB
Local SNRMargin 11.0 dB
Thanks
Wow - your line is in a terrible state!!!
Rx bitrate of 275400 means you'll be getting through about 220kbps download, or roughly 22kB/s.
Your Line Attenuation is very high - 71.5dB, for a good solid 2Mb connection you'll begin to have problems once you pass ~55dB. 71.5dB is very bad and shows that the signal on your line is VERY weak, either because your line is poor quality or because you are too far from the exchange.
Your SNR Margin is also pretty poor, especially since your line is "synced" or capable of a mere 200 odd kbps. The higher this SNR number is, the better. With your line connected at 220kbps and with an SNR margin of 11dB, this shows your line is swamped with a lot of noise and is barely even able to handle 200kbps. Once your SNR goes down to about 10dB or less, you'll start getting a lot of problems such as heavy packet loss, high latency and possible connection dropouts. Have you any problems with your phoneline such as buzzing, crackling or interference when you pick your phone?
I'd suggest first you go through a few checks - connect ONLY your modem DIRECTLY into the phoneline ie. no other phones connected, no extensions, no splitters etc. and then see if the line stats change. If this improves your connection then check any extensions and that ALL phone devices in your house have a splitter on them. If this doesn't work then I'd recommend you go to the smart telecom support forum at http://support.smarttelecom.ie/forums/index.php and post your problem in a thread there and hopefully an admin will check it out and see if anything can be done to improve your connection, however with the line stats so poor it doesn't look like there's too much hope for you unfortunately!
Am using smart telecom, but lately noticed that my speed for downloads gone down to 10kps and the upload is 190kps. Checked it here on the irish speed test web site and on their smart telecom website.
Working to solve the problem.....take your pick huh?
I am told that Smart broadband will finally be available here in Mullingar in 6 weeks or so. And I have been intending to change over from Eircon. Up to this, reports on Smart have on the whole been positive, so I am disappointed and worried to hear of your bad experiance.
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Worth changing to Smart? Any complaints? 
well worth the move ( and the wait ).They do however give you a very cheap AOLYNK router which is fine for generic use. I'd reccommend Drayteks ADSL2+ routers for better routing.
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