Dublin
IPTV in Dublin: what city broadband and old buildings mean for streaming
Dublin has some of the best connections in the country and some of the most awkward buildings to get a signal around. This page is about that contradiction, and what to do about it in a flat in Rathmines or a terrace in Drumcondra.
Building types
Four Dublin homes, four different answers
The right setup depends far more on what you live in than on which part of the city you live in.
A new-build apartment
Usually the easiest case. Fibre to the building, short distances, and the television often in the same room as the router. Wi-Fi on 5 GHz is normally all you need.
A Georgian conversion
Thick masonry, high ceilings and a router wherever the original phone line entered. Expect Wi-Fi to struggle across two rooms and plan for a cable or a mesh point.
A red-brick terrace
Long and narrow, with the router at the front and the television halfway back. This is the classic Dublin buffering complaint and it is a layout problem, not a service one.
A suburban semi-detached
Generally straightforward, with the caveat that a converted attic or a garden room is a long way from the router and will need help.
City specifics
Three things that only really apply in a city
Wireless congestion is real
In a dense block your router is competing with thirty others. Moving to the 5 GHz band solves this far more often than upgrading your broadband package does.
Rented homes limit what you can change
You cannot always run a cable through a landlord's wall. Flat cables along a skirting board, or a powerline adapter, are the usual compromise and both work well enough.
House shares need a conversation first
One subscription is one stream. In a four-person house that is worth agreeing before somebody discovers it during a match. Ask us about an additional connection in advance.
Tell us about your Dublin setup
Building type, broadband provider and where the television sits relative to the router. Three lines is enough for us to tell you what to expect.
I live in an apartment block. Will the shared connection be a problem?
Not usually, if you have your own broadband account. Where it does cause trouble is in buildings with a single shared service, or where dozens of routers in one block are all competing on the same wireless channels. Test in the evening before committing to a long term.
My flat is one room and the router is right there. Do I still need a cable?
No. Wi-Fi in the same room, on the 5 GHz band, is perfectly adequate. Cables matter when signal has to cross solid walls, which is a house problem rather than an apartment one.
Is support based in Dublin?
Support is provided in English during Irish hours, seven days a week, by WhatsApp and email. We do not claim a walk-in office, and we are not going to invent a premises to look more local than we are.
Dublin households
Get the network right and the rest is straightforward
In this city, nine times out of ten the fix is a band change, a router move or five euro of cable. Tell us your layout and we will tell you which one.
Prefer email? Write to [email protected]. We answer 09:00 to 23:00 Irish time.