Internet in Ireland
In this day and age, it is vital that you are able to connect to the internet. For the most part across Ireland, you will have good access to internet services. There may be some coverage issues in more rural areas of the country. This is an issue that the National Broadband Plan is trying to address.
If you are in a city or town, you will normally not have any problems with getting adequate coverage. Overall, you will be well able to find a package that suits your specifics needs.
The different Internet service providers in Ireland
You can choose from many different internet service providers in Ireland. It is important that you research to see which of these providers will be best suited for your situation. A lot of people like to use the same provider for their internet that they use for their phone landline. There are often cost-effective packages that you can avail of in this regard.
The leading internet service providers currently in Ireland are Eir, Virgin Media, Sky and PureTelecom.
Landline
A lot of people like to use the same provider for their internet that they use for their phone landline. There are often cost-effective packages that you can avail of in this regard.
When you have finished your research and decided upon a provider, you can go to one of their branches or ring them to make an installation appointment. You will usually need to show some proof of address and some form of ID if this is the first time signing an internet contract with that provider.
Mobile data
These days, even the most basic phone plans will have internet data as part of their offer. You can either decide to pay through a monthly bill or pay as you go by adding a certain amount of credit to your phone. For pay as you go packages, if you add a certain amount of credit to your account in a given month, then you will get access to unlimited internet data.
4G is widespread across the country, and you can usually get good access for about EUR20 a month. A lot of places now have free public Wi-Fi available if you want to get online and do not have enough mobile data.
You will usually need to show some proof of address and some form of ID if this is the first time signing an internet contract with that provider.
Internet prices in Ireland
Generally, you will be able to get adequate internet access on your mobile device for EUR20 a month. Most landline plans will cost you between EUR30 and EUR40 each month for access.
Formalities
The likes of Cork have extensive Wi-Fi available for free across the city. This is something that Dublin is planning to replicate in the near future. Otherwise, most restaurants, pubs and coffee shops will also have public Wi-Fi on offer. You will have to be careful when using these networks, as they do pose security risks if nefarious individuals are trying to infiltrate the network to get access to data from other people's devices.
