Broadband speed test

I ran the broadband speed test using the software on this site. Smart say you get 2MB download, the quickest I got was 957kbps at 11:30pm last night. I only got 522kbps at 6:30pm yesterday.
I'll keep testing and give them the benefit of the doubt for the initial set up, but they promised 2mbps

I emailed Smart stating the slow speeds for download. They said that from their end that the 2mb was available but that there may be a problem with the phone line. I have a line from the phone socket to the computer room, they asked me to check this. If this is not the problem it might be the line from the street into the house. I'll check tonight and take it from there.

[blacknight]

There are a lot of factors that could influence your "real" download speed. I wouldn't jump down their throat just yet

i constantly get speeds of 1.8 - 1.92Mbps on Smart.

Upload's 138kbps

I'm finding that speeds with smart are up and down all the time sat 3pm all i get is 1.28 wednesday morning i was getting 1.98
Today i can't seem to download anything servers seem to be busy and time out.
Is it that everybody is on sat afternoon ? I didn't think this would have a bearing on my speeds from smart ??? ops:
Modem keeps locking up too have to keep rebooting it maybe a faulty modem is my problem ?????? :roll:
Smart service and tech support is dismal. great for putting u off and transferring you to an answering machine.
One good thing is i'm away from eircom :P but service here ain't any better.
Has anyone found a GOOD service provider ? whats NTL like ?
I might end up ditching smart if they dont pull fingers (or fists) out !!!! :!:

[blacknight]

What kind of support options do Smart offer?

Is it a 5 day or 7 day support service?

Smart offer a 7 day support but reall its more like 10 days because thats how long you'll be waiting for a reply back from them.
I was looking for the address of thier smpt thingy and they gave me the wrong 1 3 times. I eventually figured it out myself using a combination of what they gave me. It seems as if they guess answers to your problems and eh..... see if that works !!!!
I hope they sort themselves out as it'd be nicce to have an alternative to eircom rather than buying eircom from a third party.

[blacknight]

Don't they provide that kind of information in a "welcome pack" ?

No only thing in welcome pace is how to configure your modem.
Guess it wouldn't really matter if youy used a web based email service.
But even still and even if if it was in the welcome pack they should be able to rattle off the smpt addy off the top of heads. nothing worse than asking for a hand and being answered by a eahhhhh! you know you're on a loosing battle straight away.
Still i rather being with them than Eircom.
Have to port my mobile away from Meteor now bummer.... :roll:

[Kensington]

Originally Posted by CK

I emailed Smart stating the slow speeds for download. They said that from their end that the 2mb was available but that there may be a problem with the phone line. I have a line from the phone socket to the computer room, they asked me to check this. If this is not the problem it might be the line from the street into the house. I'll check tonight and take it from there.

Sounds like it could be a line issue - how far are you from the local exchange (if you know)? Also, contact customer care and see if "interleaving" is activated on your line.

[Kensington]

Originally Posted by confused and disappointed

I'm finding that speeds with smart are up and down all the time sat 3pm all i get is 1.28 wednesday morning i was getting 1.98
Today i can't seem to download anything servers seem to be busy and time out.

Have you connected your modem with USB or Ethernet? Perhaps it is an issue with your PC, I've had a good lot of problems with DHCP and my Ethernet card whereby the connection often wouldn't work but would appear to "time out".

Originally Posted by confused and disappointed

Modem keeps locking up too have to keep rebooting it maybe a faulty modem is my problem ?????? :roll:

Switch off the modem security, firewall and intrusion detection in the security settings of the installation menus. Even with these off, if you have a firewall on your PC (which you should) you are still protected. The security can wreak havoc with the modem, especially if you are doing a lot of P2P, BitTorrent or other file sharing or running apps that requires an awful lot of connections or is very demanding on the bandwidth. Make sure too that the modem is well ventilated as those things get pretty hot, even if they are ventilated!

Originally Posted by confused and disappointed

Smart service and tech support is dismal. great for putting u off and transferring you to an answering machine.

Unfortunately their CS is terrible, no doubt about that!

Originally Posted by confused and disappointed

One good thing is i'm away from eircom :P but service here ain't any better.
Has anyone found a GOOD service provider ? whats NTL like ?
I might end up ditching smart if they dont pull fingers (or fists) out !!!!

NTL has its fair share of problems and some areas of the NTL network are cursed for awful connection and latency problems. I wouldn't ditch smart - once you pursue and follow up complaints, its okay in the end plus €35 with line rental included - find another ISP that offers that kind of deal for a phoneline and broadband internet connection!

Hi there,
I get the same problem as the original poster. I have yet to record speeds of over 1.2 M. Usually it's around 850k. I've been trying every now and then for months now. Doesn't bother me though as it's fast enough and I've only noticed it down twice in 4 months.

As for the service. I initially had a problem connecting their modem to a wireless router I had bought myself but I found their technical support( not customer suppoer) guy excellent. Really new his stuff, went off and downloaded the manusl for the 3rd party modem himself and sorted me out a day later.
Never had any other dealings with them though. The quality of the phone line was initially a bit dodgy but it seems to have improved now.

Overall very good vallue for money.