In the electronic age, most people enjoy the speed and efficiency of high-speed internet and broadband services. Unfortunately, most of Ireland’s users still use dial-up connections to access the internet. This is due to poor coverage of broadband services. Although they are working on expanding the coverage areas, you should find out whether the area you are moving to offers broadband internet.
There are four major kinds of broadband services provided:
- ADSL ( through phone line )
- Cable ( through TV cable )
- Wireless Broadband
ADSL
To get ADSL 1st you have to request a landline from Eircom if you do not already have one. You need to call Eircom to do so. This can be accomplished via phone or in person. To get a new landline connected usually takes around 2-4 weeks.
Once you have your landline connected, you need to test the line if it is broadband compatible. You can do this online too. If you verify that it is, in fact, broadband compatible, then you can choose any ADSL provider to give you the internet access through the Eircom line.
Some providers require you to change to their services in order to have internet access from them. This means you will have a new phone number, and they will provide you with the telephone services.
The General speed of the ADSL services is 2048k/128k, and it will cost you around €30/month. You can also get faster internet connections but they will cost you a great deal more. For example, one provider offers 3mbit connection for €79 and €149 for 4mbit connection. In my opinion, this is not worth the speed difference. Some providers are also setting a monthly limit on downloads. This is usually around 10Gigabites/month.
The entire procedure to get ADSL internet access if you do not already have a phone line can take up to 2-3 months. For this reason, when you move to Ireland, this is an issue you should start handling as soon as possible.
Finally, here are some links to the most known ADSL providers:
www.smartelecom.iewww.eircom.iewww.netsource.iewww.icecomms.nethttp://u.tvCable
You can also connect to internet through your television cable. The main provider for this in Ireland is NTL. They provide you with three different speed 300kbps, 750kbps and 1.5Mb. This will cost you around €25+ per month.
The following is a list of links to the most known Cable providers:
www.ntl.ieWireless Broadband
This is a wonderful solution for internet access. Usually, they have a number of strategically placed high-sites, allowing customers to connect to the network using a radio unit linked from their PC to a roof-mounted antenna. This equipment links the user to the nearest base station. Each base station links back wirelessly to the central hub. The hub in turn connects to fibre-optic cable, which links to the Data Centre. From there users connect to the World Wide Web. It is being offered in four speeds: one, 2, 3, 4Mbit same speed upstream as downstream. It will cost you around €35 for the lowest speed up to €150 for the 4Mbit connection.
Please note that if you live in an apartment complex, it is usually impossible to fit the outside antenna on the roof. In this case, you need to find other kind of internet access.
Finally, links to the most known Wireless Broadband providers are as follows:
www.amocom.comwww.irishbroadband.iewww.digiweb.ie
Broadband Internet 
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