The short version: check the new Eircode first. Then pick one of three paths — transfer the account if the same retailer can serve the new door, cancel and order a new line if the network is different, or pack Three 5G / Starlink into the car. Do not cancel the old service until the new one works. A move does not automatically wipe an early-termination fee.
Same-address hops: how to switch broadband. Availability: check by Eircode.
A move is not a switch
Irish folklore still treats “I’m moving” and “I’m switching” as the same phone call. They are not. Mixing them up is how a retailer ceases the old line at the old address on a ComReg switch timeline, or how you spend completion week on a phone hotspot because nobody booked an engineer at the new door.
| Switch (same address) | Move (new Eircode) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Change of retailer at the premises you already occupy | New connection at a different door — often a different network |
| Who manages the cease | The gaining provider, under ComReg rules. You do not cancel first; no 30 days’ notice | You, unless the same provider is transferring the account. Diary the cease yourself |
| Disruption cap | Must not exceed one working day; no double billing | Not that cap. A first-time drop is an install appointment. Overlap the old line on purpose |
| Availability | You already know the network (or you should) | Unknown until you check the new Eircode. Virgin, NBI, SIRO and Open Eir do not follow you |
| ETF | Still owed if you leave inside the minimum term, unless a CCN lets you walk | Still owed unless the provider waives it because they cannot serve the new address — get that in writing |
Tell the new provider the sentence in plain English: “I am moving house, not switching at this address.” If you only say “I want broadband,” some order journeys will treat it as a same-address switch and try to cease a line that is not at the new Eircode.
Check the new Eircode first
Irish broadband is not national. The plan that works in a Dublin estate, a Cork suburb and a Mayo farm are three different shopping lists. The old contract, the old speed and the old logo do not travel.
Before you ring anyone, run the new Eircode through the checkers — ComReg, NBI map, SIRO, Virgin, Open Eir — in the order on check broadband by Eircode. Read the network name (Fibre vs Part Fibre vs Cable vs Planned), not the ad.
| If the new Eircode is… | What that means for the move |
|---|---|
| Same wholesale network as now (e.g. Open Eir FTTH → Open Eir FTTH) | A transfer with the current retailer is often possible, or a new retailer on the same poles. Still a new provision at a new address, but the physics match |
| Different network (Virgin → NBI, FTTC → SIRO, cable → 5G) | Cancel-and-new. The old product cannot be “moved.” Order the network that actually passes the door |
| NBI Passed | Order a retailer, not NBI. First-time drop needs an engineer. Connected ONT from a previous occupier is usually reuse, not a new dig |
| NBI Planned / Coming soon | Do not wait in a dark house. Take 5G or Starlink you can leave, pre-order fibre, switch when Passed. See when is NBI coming |
| Empty checkers | Honest stopgap territory: Three 5G, Imagine wireless, Starlink. Recheck the map; do not sign 24 months hoping a pole appears |
| New-build / no Eircode yet | Wait for the real Eircode. Show-house postcodes lie. Developer “fibre included” still needs a retailer order and an ONT |
Transfer vs cancel and start again
This is the fork. Same logo at both addresses is not enough — the retailer has to sell a network that exists at the new door.
| Path | When it works | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer the account | Current provider can serve the new Eircode on a product they actually sell | Remaining minimum term usually comes with you. Setup or engineer fees can still appear. Get the move date and any downtime in writing |
| Cancel + new order (same or different retailer) | New house is a different network, or you want a better contract anyway | ETF on the old term unless they waive it because they cannot serve the new address. Overlap both services. Return old kit |
| Take it with you | Three 5G home or Starlink — the product is portable | Coverage / sky view at the new door. Indoor brick can wreck a 5G router that was fine in the last let. No fibre appointment needed |
Ask the current provider two questions in writing before you give notice: (1) can you provide service at this new Eircode, and (2) if not, do you waive the remaining term? Silence is not a waiver. A rural move off Virgin cable onto NBI is the classic “we cannot serve you there” case — still get the email.
If you are staying with the same retailer on the same wholesale fibre, you are not getting a free ComReg switch at the old address. You are opening a new provision and closing an old one. Sequence the dates so you are never without a line at the place you actually sleep.
Taking Three 5G or Starlink with you
Wired broadband is glued to a pole, a cabinet or a cable tap. Two products are not:
- Three 5G home — plug-in indoor router, no engineer, no landlord drop. Pack it. Walk the new house on a Three 5G phone before you assume the speed follows. The promotional 24-month €25 plan still has an ETF if you then jump to fibre at the new door inside the term; the 12-month plan is the safer move-year contract.
- Starlink — dish, router, rolling monthly. Remount where there is sky. Trees and courtyards still block it. Confirm hardware return terms if you ever cancel; that is not an ETF, but lost kit is billed like one.
Both are the right answer for a six-month let, a new-build waiting on OpenPort, or a rural house where NBI is still Planned. Both are the wrong forever plan if SIRO, Virgin or live NBI already passes the new door. Students and short lets: best broadband for students.
Do not sign 24 months of 5G at the new house because fibre is “coming with the estate.” Planned dates slip. When the ONT is finally booked you will owe remaining months × monthly — the cautionary row on early termination fees.
Early termination fees when you leave the old house
A move does not, by itself, cancel the minimum term. The clean outcomes are: the provider transfers the remaining term to the new address; they waive it because they cannot serve the new Eircode; you wait until the term ends; a Contract Change Notification lets you leave penalty-free; or you pay remaining months × monthly.
| Situation | Do you pay an ETF? |
|---|---|
| Outside the minimum term, or on rolling Starlink / leave-anytime Imagine 5G | No remaining-term ETF. There can still be a wrap-up or kit charge. Cease when the new line works |
| Same provider transfers you to the new Eircode | Usually no — the term continues. You have not left; you have moved the account |
| Provider cannot serve the new address and waives the remainder in writing | No remaining-term ETF. Keep that email. Return the kit |
| Provider cannot serve the new address and does not waive | Yes, if the contract says so. Argue it in writing; do not just stop the direct debit |
| You could transfer but you choose a different retailer anyway | Yes — that is leaving inside the term, same as a same-address switch without a CCN |
| Contract Change Notification you do not accept | Often no — dated penalty-free window. Sequence: use the window, then move |
Unreturned routers, Virgin set-tops and Three hubs are a favourite final-bill surprise and they are not the ETF. Photograph the package. The fee mechanics, worked examples and cooling-off rules live on early termination fees.
Rentals: landlord permission
If you own the house, the install is your diary. If you rent, the building is not yours to drill. Irish retailers will still take an order in the tenant’s name; they will not magically obtain the landlord’s consent.
- New fibre or cable drop (Open Eir, SIRO, NBI, Virgin) — usually written permission. NBI in particular may need a wayleave on a long lane or an external ONT. Start this before you order; a refused landlord is not a cooling-off problem, it is a wasted survey.
- Existing ONT or Virgin socket — often no new hole. Still worth telling the landlord you are putting a retailer on the existing box. You need your own contract; the previous tenant’s login is not yours.
- Starlink dish — roof, gable or a pole in the yard. Ask. A courtyard with no sky is a no even with permission.
- 5G home — indoor router, no engineer, no hole. The default for short lets, house shares and landlords who will not sign anything. Confirm the mast indoors.
Account holder should be the person who will deal with the bill and the cease — usually you, not the landlord, unless the rent already includes a house connection. If broadband is “included,” get the speed, the network and whose name is on the account in writing before you assume you can change it.
How to do it, step by step
- Check whether you are still in a minimum term at the old address. Ask for the ETF in writing if you might leave rather than transfer.
- Confirm what the new Eircode can actually get. Check by Eircode before you pick a brand. Passed vs Planned decides fibre now vs a portable stopgap.
- Pick the path: transfer, cancel-and-new, or take 5G / Starlink. Ask the current provider in writing whether they can serve the new door and whether they waive the term if they cannot.
- Get landlord permission if you rent and anyone needs to drill, mount a dish or pull a new drop.
- Order the new connection and say you are moving. Agree a start that overlaps keys. Keep the old service up. This is not “cancel first, 30 days’ notice.”
- On the day: confirm the new line, cease the old one, return kit, read both bills. 14-day cooling-off still applies to a distance order if the new service is not what was sold.
| Have ready | Why they ask |
|---|---|
| New Eircode (the real one, not the show house) | Availability is by door. No Eircode, no honest quote |
| Move / key date | So the install or transfer lands when you sleep there, not a week later |
| Old provider, account number, whether you want a transfer or a cease | Stops them running a same-address ComReg switch by mistake |
| ETF quote in writing, if you are inside the term | So cancel-and-new is judged on real money |
| Landlord permission, if you rent | Fibre drops and dishes fail without it; 5G does not |
| Photo of an existing ONT or wall socket | Speeds up reuse of a drop the previous occupier already had |
If the new house is rural and the map is still Planned, do not sit on a promise. Use a leave-anytime bridge, pre-order fibre, and switch when Passed — when is NBI coming and the rural ranking. If you are staying put and only changing shop, you are in the wrong guide: how to switch.
Next
- How to switch broadband — same address, new provider, ComReg rules.
- Check broadband by Eircode — what the new door can actually get.
- Best broadband for students — short lets, no engineer, 5G.
- Early termination fees — what leaving the old house actually costs.
- Best broadband in Ireland — pick a retailer once you know the network.
