Irish broadband ads flatten three different products into one “from €25” tile. Fibre and cable are a wire to the door. 5G home is a router on a mast. Starlink is a dish on a satellite — nationwide if you can see the sky, and not fibre, however often rural Facebook groups say otherwise. This page ranks every retailer we track, then groups them so you pick a technology before you pick a brand.
Fibre / cable is the default wherever it exists: Sky, Vodafone, Pure Telecom, Virgin Media, Digiweb and Eir. 5G is Three’s whole product, plus Imagine’s 5G home (and 5G add-ons at Vodafone and Eir). Satellite is Starlink only in our dataset. Imagine also sells fibre and fixed wireless — still not Starlink. When the pole is empty, use an alternative as a bridge; when NBI or SIRO is live, leave the dish. Map: Open Eir vs SIRO vs NBI vs Virgin.
Rural decision tree: best rural broadband. Dish vs the National Broadband Plan: Starlink vs NBI. Prices are advertised plans from August 2026. We do not invent lab Mbps.
Fibre, cable, 5G and satellite are not the same product
Retailer choice on the same Open Eir or SIRO line is a contract decision. Fibre vs 5G vs Starlink is a physics decision. Mixing them up is how a Dublin estate buys a dish, or a farm pays Virgin prices for a network that will never pass the gate.
| Product | What it physically is | Who sells it here | Not this |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full fibre (FTTH) | Glass to the premises — Open Eir FTTH, SIRO, NBI | Sky, Vodafone, Pure, Digiweb, Eir; Imagine Fibre Starter where they have wholesale | FTTC copper last mile; 5G; Starlink |
| Cable | Virgin’s own coax (plus growing fibre) | Virgin Media only | Open Eir. Nobody else can use that street cabinet |
| 5G home | Indoor router on a mobile mast | Three (5G-only); Imagine 5G; Vodafone and Eir also list 5G | A speed guarantee. Advertised 500 Mb follows the cell |
| Fixed wireless | A rural mast, not a mobile phone cell | Imagine (and Digiweb leftovers) | NBI fibre; Starlink |
| Satellite | Low-earth-orbit dish, clear sky view | Starlink | Fibre. Do not call it fibre. Do not buy it on a SIRO street |
Open Eir FTTC still gets sold as “fibre”: glass to the cabinet, copper to the door, often ~100 Mb. That is a wired product, but it is not the 500 Mb FTTH headline. Explainer: FTTH vs FTTC vs cable.
Starlink is satellite. Typical planning speeds on residential tariffs we list are 100 Mb (€35), 200 Mb (€55) or Max at 400 Mb (€75), with 15–30 Mb upload. Latency is better than old geostationary satellite and still not SIRO. Rolling monthly is the point — cancel when NBI’s engineer can book. Starlink review.
When each wins
Use this table before you open a comparison site. The winner is the technology at the Eircode, then the fairest retailer on that technology.
| Situation | Winner | Why | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| SIRO, Open Eir FTTH or NBI at the door | Fibre retailer (Sky intro, Vodafone SIRO, Pure contract, Digiweb NBI) | Upload, latency, evening stability. Same glass, different bills | Do not buy 5G or Starlink to be clever |
| Virgin-passed urban estate, no SIRO | Virgin cable | Often the fastest advertised download in that street | Open Eir FTTH if it also exists — better upload |
| Need internet this week; renter; new-build waiting | Three 5G | No engineer, portable, €25 promo (24-month) or €44.99 (12-month) | Imagine rolling 5G if you need leave-anytime |
| Rural house, NBI “coming”, usable mast | Imagine wireless / 5G | Bridge product; freeze on selected plans; leave when fibre is live | Three 5G if Imagine does not cover |
| No fibre date, no usable 5G or wireless mast | Starlink | Coverage is the product. €35 rolling on 100 Mb | Waiting — only if you can live without a line |
| NBI just passed the pole | NBI fibre (Digiweb, Sky, Vodafone, Pure) | State-backed rural FTTH. You never buy from NBI itself | Keep Starlink only until the engineer has been |
| Two WFH desks | SIRO / NBI fibre (Vodafone, Digiweb, Pure) | Symmetrical upload. Virgin 1 Gb is 50 Mb up | Open Eir FTTH 500/100 is usable, not ideal |
| Cheapest intro regardless of technology | Three 5G promo €25 | Then Sky fibre €27.99, then Pure/Virgin €30 | Model thereafter — Virgin jumps to ~€70 |
If the map says NBI is passed, the dish has lost. That argument is Starlink vs NBI. If you are still waiting on a date, the rural order is fibre when it exists, then wireless, then 5G, then Starlink — best rural broadband.
Every retailer we track, grouped
The ranking cards include all nine providers. Read them in three blocks, not as a single “fastest brand” list. Starlink sits last on purpose: satellite, not a fibre also-ran.
Fibre and cable
| Retailer | Networks | Cheapest intro | Thereafter | Headline advertised |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sky | Open Eir FTTH/FTTC, SIRO, NBI | €27.99 | €50 | 500 Mb (500/100) |
| Vodafone | Open Eir, SIRO, NBI, plus 5G | €40 | €55 | 1 Gb (500 and 1 Gb often the same price) |
| Pure Telecom | Open Eir, SIRO, NBI | €30 | €40 | 500 Mb class (cheapest tariff is 100/100) |
| Virgin Media | Virgin cable / Virgin fibre only | €30 | €70 | 1 Gb (1 Gb intro matches 500 Mb) |
| Digiweb | Open Eir FTTH, SIRO, NBI (+ wireless/satellite leftovers) | €37.95 | €50 | 1 Gb SIRO |
| Eir | Open Eir FTTH/FTTC, plus 5G | €34.99 | €75.99 | 500 Mb (owns the wholesale copper/fibre) |
5G and wireless
| Retailer | What you are buying | From / mo | Contract | Advertised down |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three | 5G home only — not a fibre retailer | €25 promo / €44.99 (12-month) | 24 or 12 months | 500 Mb (mast ceiling) |
| Imagine | 5G home, fixed wireless, and Fibre Starter 500 where they have it | €40 Basic / €50 Unlimited / €55 fibre | Monthly | 300 Mb on 5G; 500/500 on fibre starter |
Vodafone and Eir also sell 5G home as a side door. That does not make them 5G-first brands; their cards in this ranking sit in the fibre/cable block because that is the product you should buy when the wire exists. Three is the default 5G specialist. Imagine is the rural wireless bridge with a leave-anytime 5G pledge and a freeze to December 2030 on selected plans. Three review · Imagine review.
Satellite — one name, not fibre
Starlink Residential 100 Mb €35, 200 Mb €55, Max 400 Mb €75. Thereafter equals intro. Rolling monthly. Unlimited data on residential. Kit terms (included vs deposit) change at checkout. Digiweb still lists satellite leftovers for addresses waiting on fibre — treat those as a bridge, not as NBI. Never rank Starlink inside a fibre table.
Price, contract and the 24-month hangover
Cheapest intro and best technology are different jobs. Three can win month one on 5G and still be the wrong stay once SIRO is in the street. Virgin can win a download contest and lose year two.
| Technology | Cheapest intro we track | Contract shape | Year-two character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5G home | Three €25 (24-month promo) | 12 or 24 months (Three); monthly (Imagine) | Three promo → €40 after 24 months. Imagine stays at intro |
| Fibre (Open Eir / SIRO / NBI) | Sky 500 Mb €27.99 | Usually 12 months (Eir 1 Gb is 24) | Sky → ~€50; Pure +€10; Vodafone → €55; Eir → ~€76 + April €4 from 2027 |
| Cable | Virgin 500 Mb or 1 Gb €30 | 12 months | ~€70–€72 — the hangover |
| Satellite | Starlink 100 Mb €35 | Rolling monthly | Same €35. Dearer than NBI 500 once fibre is live |
Setup fees on these plans are €0 in our dataset. The jump is the monthly rate. Fair-contract fibre is Pure (and Digiweb intros we flag with no built-in hike). Fair-contract alternatives are Imagine and Starlink. Intro-vs-thereafter ranking: cheapest broadband in Ireland.
How we ranked fibre vs 5G vs Starlink
Every retailer in the dataset is on the page. Order is grouped, not a blended “score out of 10” across physics that do not compare:
- Fibre and cable first — Sky, Vodafone, Pure, Virgin, Digiweb, Eir, in overall hub order. That is the default when a wire exists.
- Then 5G / wireless — Three (5G-only), then Imagine (5G, wireless, some fibre).
- Starlink last — satellite last resort. Not fibre. Not a SIRO substitute.
FROM / THEREAFTER / CONTRACT / SPEED are the cheapest tariff we list for each retailer in August 2026. SPEED is advertised download on that tariff. We do not invent lab Mbps. Affiliate links never change the order. Availability is always by Eircode — check availability.
Picks by situation
If fibre or cable is at the door — buy the wire
Sky for the cheapest 500 Mb intro (€27.99). Vodafone for SIRO symmetry (€40 for 500 or 1 Gb). Pure for no-hike fibre. Virgin for urban download on its own streets. Digiweb for NBI. Eir when nothing else reaches — then switch before thereafter (~€76) and the April rise. Best fibre broadband.
If you need a line this week — 5G
Three promotional unlimited 5G at €25 for 24 months, advertised 500 Mb. Imagine 5G from €40 monthly if you need to leave when the engineer books. Neither is FTTH.
If there is no wire and no mast — Starlink, then leave
Residential 100 Mb €35 rolling. Cancel when NBI is live. Do not keep paying satellite prices for a pole that has already passed. Starlink vs NBI · best rural broadband · networks explained.
