What's the current state of Eclipse Internet?

[dancingmatt]

Hi all

For those of you currently using Eclipse Internet, I'd be really grateful if you'd post and say how you're getting on with them.

I'm looking to buy an 8MBit connection for gaming, a bit of surfing, not much downloading really and Eclipse look like the ones to go for but I've read mixed opinions on this and other sites, however not many up-to-date opinions from the last month or two.

So how's your download speed and availability?

Thanks in advance

DM

[frazered]

tried thinkbroadband aka adslguide ?

[CrazyMonkey]

Well i was on a CS:S server last night (well i go on it alot, good reg admins ect)

And they have warning messages every 10 mins saying and i quote " **WARNING** Eclipse Internet suck, stear well clear. Horrid service poor support and slow speeds"

Not saying its rubbish but this guy must of had such a bad experience to do that.

[McClane]

I have them at home and at uni. At uni my connection is pretty bad in the evening, although it has improved since a year and a half ago. Last night when I played a bit of cs it was fine. At home in London the connection seems to be ok in the evenings and I've never had a problem gaming there. I'm guessing it's bad at uni because there are two unis in Bath and it's a very small city. I know a lot of downloading goes on during term time

The FUP is the best I have seen for any ISP and the few times that I have called them their customer service seemed to be alright.

EDIT: Forgot to say, my ping is better than average. At home I usually have the lowest ping on the server.

[ultim8um]

Seems good here in the Midlands No problems and seems fairly speedy most of the time (outside of the 6pm - 12am band). Ping is always good to CS:S servers etc

[shamus21]

has ultim8um says outside the primetime its ok top speed at what ever your tel-line will do. in my case primetime between 4pm 11pm the speed will be up and down and the lag can be really slow sometimes.

[johnny02004976]

my mate switched to them about 3 months ago and has been extremely happy with the service

[Apex]

There still below par but i cba to move at the current time as i am moving into a area with cable.

[dancingmatt]

Thanks for everyone's help so far. I'm basically only going to be using it in peak times, probably 7pm-midnight (should go to bed earlier but hey!) weekdays and throughout weekends. I would schedule big downloads for between 1am and 6am I guess, but it's mainly going to be used for gaming and surfing (and will be shared on PCs and so doing both at the same time).

So... they seem reliable, have good policies, but bad speed when I want to use it... I'm slightly put-off of them now...

Any more opinions and experiences please?

Cheers

DM

[HoldenBurn1000]

Im using them and have been for about 3 months now. It has never been "down" as such but somtimes download speed is very up and down. Somtimes fantastic and others dire.

I should have the 8mb line but I dont think I have ever had it that fast and doesnt seem any faster than some "slowler" lines. Reliable and great pings in CS:S though. Over all I'd recommend them.

[McClane]

I think it's only really the download speed that is unreliable in the evenings. On occasion pages take ages to load but not often enough to be annoying any more. Download speed can vary but I don't think I've ever seen above 200-250k in the evening. It really depends on what you are downloading and from who you are downloading though. This has been my experience in Bath.

As I said previously though, I also have Eclipse at home in SW London and although I don't use it a lot (except when I'm back in the holidays) I've never really had a problem with it. My brother lives at home still and he plays cs and WoW all the time in evening and generally doesn't have a problem. Also, pings are always good in games

I wouldn't be that put off by them from what people have said. I remember when I used to have Nildram at home. At the time Nildram were by far the best ISP, however, we constantly had stability issues. As soon as we switched to Eclipse they were gone. The problem is that depending on where you live has a big affect on how good the services is.

[beachboy]

I used to have a dial-up service with Tiscali. Don't ask!
I have used Eclipse Broadband for over a year now and I can confirm that their high ratings for reliability and customer service are thoroughly deserved. I am currently using the Home Broadband Option 1 which costs £14-99 per month with 10 email addresses included. To make their prices appear more attractive several ISPs only quote for one ema and then in the small print charge extra for additional ones. So be wary.
My connection is called Premium Plus which means I always receive the highest available speed. It was 2Mbps but recently Eclipse increased it to 8Mbps. My connection runs at 7.5 Mbps all the while, peak or off-peak.
The only possible disadvantage is that there is a monthly 2Gb cap. This is fine for me but you may need the £18-99 Home Option 2 which has a 10Gb cap. On the odd occasion that I exceed my monthly cap I simply pay £1.75 for each extra Gb used.
I prefer to have the high speed connection at all times.
The customer service, based in Exeter, has been first-class both over the phone and via email.
You will note from their website that Eclipse has a very large number of satisfied customers who, like me, are prepared to strongly recommend this broadband service to others.
I am sure some more Eclipse customers will reply to you shortly in the same vein.

[nimblegimble]

I've been with them for 4 months now and I have to say that I've very pleased so far. I play Battlefield 2142 and nothing untoward seems to have happened.

[MadduckUK]

The Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA UK) has announced the finalists in the 2007 ISPA Awards.

Best Consumer Broadband
Be Unlimited
Eclipse Internet
Entanet
Namesco
Seriously Internet

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/

[dancingmatt]

Thanks again everybody - that all looks very promising and I like their FUP. Essentially all their connections are up to 8Mbit, and their lowest priced packages which are what I am interested in:

£14.99 for lowest priority and 20GB max during peak hours 6pm-midnight but otherwise unlimited capacity

£14.99 for top priority but 2GB cap instead

£18.99 for second to lowest priority and 30GB max during peak hours 6pm-midnight but otherwise unlimited capacity

£18.99 for top priority but 10GB cap instead.

£1.75 per additional GB regardless of package. And you get a free modem on 12 months contracts, or can take a 1 month contract but have to pay £47 set up fee.

They also do a £30 refer a friend scheme. So when I join them, then someone should nominate me as their referrer, and then someone nominates them in turn, and so on in a chain...!

Thanks again

DM

[beachboy]

Well done, dancingmatt, you will not regret moving to Eclipse broadband.