1. BROADBAND INTERNET IN THE
DUN LAOGHAIRE AREA
By Edward Brophy
DL242 Year 4

2. WHAT’S THE SITUATION?
I want to start up an small business in
my locality, a vital part of which is my
internet access.
 It must be speedy, reliable and cost
effective, so what are my options?

3. GLOSSARY OF KEY DEFINITIONS
 MODEM – A device that modulates
and demodulates an analog carrier
signal to encode digital information.
 Mb – Unit for measuring information, 1
million bytes.
 Gb – Unit denoting 1 billion bytes.

4. DISTRIBUTION METHODS
Wired Broadband
 (A)DSL – Digital Subscriber Line: Internet
connectivity is delivered on high frequency
telephone line, the signal is then filtered
between the phone and modem.
Pros and Cons:
Pro: Greatest infrastructure, majority of
buildings have copper wire already installed.
Con: It’s wired! Peaks at about 20mbps.

5. DISTRIBUTION METHODS
Fibre Optic / Cable
 Currently at speeds of 100Mbps. Google
are currently developing 1Gbps fibre wire
broadband.
Pros and Cons:
Pro: Ultra fast download speeds.
Con: Majority of buildings have no fibre optic
cables installed.

6. DISTRIBUTION METHODS
Wireless – WiMax and Wi-Fi
 Current peak at approx 70mbps. Can cover
a radius of 50km.
Pros and Cons:
Pro: Wireless, from provider, not just from
modem.
Con: Can offer high speed over short distance
or low speed over long distance but not both.

7. DISTRIBUTION METHODS
Satellite
 Expected to be capable of 1.2gbps speeds
by 2015 with the planned COMMStellation.
Pros and Cons:
Pro: Global access.
Con: Subject to weather conditions.

8. WHO ARE THE MAJOR PROVIDERS?
Majors Minors
 UPC  O2
 Vodaphone  BT
 Imagine  Magnet
 IrishBroadband  UTV Internet
 Eircom  Digiweb
 Onwave

9. SO, WHO CAN GIVE ME ACCESS?
The providers to the greater
Dun Laoghaire are:
1. Eircom
2. Digiweb
3. UPC
4. Vodaphone
5. Imagine
6. Onwave

10. WHAT MEANS DO THEY USE?
WIRED:
DSL
1. Eircom
2. Digiweb
3. Vodafone

11. WHAT MEANS DO THEY USE?
FIBRE OPTIC CABLE:
1. UPC

12. WHAT MEANS DO THEY USE?
WIRELESS:
1. Imagine
2. Digiweb

13. WHAT MEANS DO THEY USE?
SATELLITE:
1. Digiweb
2. Onwave

14. WHO DO I GO WITH? A ROUNDUP OF THE
BEST OFFERS.
Ihave decided that I want high speed
access at an affordable price without
compromising on quality. I also want to
take care of my home phone needs at
the same time and preferably have no
download cap. So given that criteria,
what offers/bundles will I consider?

15. OFFER COMPARISON
Onwave, Satellite “ten+” UPC, “Fibre Power 50Mb”
Features: 10mb speed, Features: 50mb speed,
phone service. phone service.
Costs: €99 installation, Costs: €50 connection
€25 connection fee, fee, €45 monthly. Total
monthly fee €124.95. €95.
Total €248.95. Constraints: ‘data
Constraints: 25gb dl transfer allowance’ (cap
limit. renamed)
of 500gb.

16. Vodafone “Ideal + Talk Off-
Digiweb “Talk Xtra”
peak”
Features: 8mb speed Features: Free
DSL, free calls to Irish installation, 8mb speed,
and UK landlines and unlimited off-peak calls to
mobiles. Irish landlines, 200 off-
Costs: Free connection, peak mins on weekdays
€59.95 monthly. Total to Vodafone mobiles.
€59.95. Costs: €48 monthly.
Constraints: ‘fair use’ Constraints: Contract
1,500 phone mins per duration 1 year, 300gb
month, 150gb cap. cap

17. THE DECISION
 Onwave „Ten +‟ has phone included, but
the 25gb data transfer limit is a big draw
back. It is also the most costly installation
and monthly option.
 UPC „Fibre Power 50Mb‟ boasts an
impressive 50mb speed and (officially) no
data transfer limit. It also includes phone
services and the website has confirmed that
it is available in my locality.

18. THE DECISION
 Digiweb „Talk Xtra‟ has free installation and
a monthly cost of €59.95, making it one of
the more affordable options. It also has an
acceptable data transfer limit of 150gb. It is,
however, joint slowest in terms of download
speed at 8mb.
 Vodafone „Ideal + Talk Off-peak‟ is also
limited to 8mb. The €48 monthly fee makes
it the cheapest option, however, there is a 1
year contract with this option.

19. THE FINAL DECISION
After weighing the options in front of me, I
have come to the decision that my young
business will be using UPC as our internet
provider.
It is only second best in terms of cost but it
offers unrivalled speeds and given the
demand for improving fibre optic
infrastructure, this seems like a choice that
could well prove its worth in the long run.

20. REFERENCES
Price comparisons, retrieved 20th Oct 2011 from,
http://www.bonkers.ie/compare-broadband/dublin-
county/broadband-in-dun-laoghaire/
Onwave, Packages, retrieved 20th Oct 2011 from,
http://www.onwave.ie/packages/broadband
UPC, Fibre Power 50Mb,retrieved 27th Oct 2011 from,
http://www.upc.ie/deals/broadbandandphone/fibrepow
er50mb/
Digiweb, Digitalk Voice Services, retrieved 20th Oct
2011 from,
http://www.digiweb.ie/business/products/voice/

21. REFERENCES CONTINUED
Vodaphone, Internet and Broadband, retrieved 20th
Oct 2011 from,
http://www.vodafone.ie/df/homebroadband/productdet
ails.jsp?productid=572057&producttypetab=HOMEP
HONEBROANDBAND&categorytab=subcategory_2&
perlicoid=115059
Satellite Technology, Broadband Internet Access,
retrieved 27th Oct 2011 from,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadband_Internet_acce
ss#Satellite_broadband