Does anyone use them? It sounds like a good deal for cheap internet without telephone. It says setup is included and you get the router for free. There's just one thing I can't figure out. When registering, I get this question:
Anschluss
Neuaufschaltung
Providerwechsel zu iWay
Abonnementswechsel (für bestehende iWay-Kunden)
Für eine Neuaufschaltung ist zwingend ein Installateur zu beauftragen. Die Kosten dafür sind im Abonnement nicht enthalten.
Which Google translates to:
connection
Restarting
Change provider to iWay
Subscriptions (for existing iWay customers)
A new installer is obligated to commission an installer. The costs for this are not included in the subscription.
Although the first one looks like it should actually be 'new connection'. What worries me is the small print ... that I am obligated to 'commission an installer'. What does that mean? I thought setup was 'kostenlos'?
What did you have to do to activate iway internet services?
"...Die komplette Erschliessung zur Nutzung von Glasfaser Internet Angeboten und alle notwendigen Arbeiten erfolgen für Sie vollständig kostenlos, respektive sind in den einmaligen Gebühren des Abonnements bereits enthalten (Anschlussleitung, Hausanschlusskasten und Hausverkabelung bis und mit Glasfaser-Steckdose)..."
Would be also interested to see what others who have already ordered the service say.
yes i have them, exactly for only internet withouth phone/tv etc. I didnt have to pay anyone extra, but a guy did have to come by to plug in the glasfaser cable and the new router. i believe this was paid by EKZ though as it is in their interest to have customers move onto glasfaser. I also have 1 test month for free and then 3 months for free.
is your appartment already connected to glasfaser? if not, then you will have to have the installation of glasfaser done first. this in my case was also organized through EKZ, not sure how it works if you have to organize yourself
I guess that EW organizes that anyway, like they did in your case?
"...Sobald im Strassenschacht eine Glasfaserleitung verlegt wurde und der Eigentümer der Liegenschaft das Einverständnis zur Erschliessung erteilt hat, schliesst das EW die Liegenschaften mit einem Kunststoffrohr von ca. 1 cm Durchmesser an das Glasfasernetz an und zieht die Fasern in den Keller..."
I'm more interested in DSL than fiber, since I can't actually get fiber at my location ... from talking to their customer support it seems that you have to get an electrician to connect something UNLESS you have an existing NSN connection number. Currently trying to find out how to check if I have one or not.
I have used iWay for many years, from my employer-paid ISDN/ADSL to my personally paid VDSL.
I cannot help with the installation, that was a while ago. Their service is very good, i can recall 1 or 2 outages. Their customer support is very helpful, but only in German or English.
I appreciate working with a smaller company than Swisscom/Cablecom etc.
I've been a happy user of iWay (on fiber provided by EWZ) for a month. As I see the conditions are changed a bit already. I had to pay for the router and 50CHF for the initial installation (done by a guy from EWZ), but I pay a bit less monthly. I had to wait 10 days after I submitted the order form (I guess it's still the case for you). I don't speak German at all, I could do everything in English (except the order on the webpage), they were very helpful.
Two tips
The EWZ provided a 0.5m long fiber cable but if you go to the EWZ customer center they give you a longer one for free (be careful, they have different cables, you need a LC/SC one)
The other thing, even if the Fritz!box 5490 supports the fiber connection directly they provide a converter box and connect the router on a LAN cable. If you hate to have an additional box (what I do), you can connect the router directly with a trick. You have to change the uplink (on the router web interface) to the fiber connector and setup the VLAN on this connection to 132. Of course it's an UNOFFICIAL solution, so do it on your own risk and change it back if doesn't work.
Thanks for the info ... they sound like a good option! Maybe if I call them up and threaten to go with Sunrise or something else instead they'll waive the electrician fee
Just to update: I signed up with iWay (Fiberglass 10 Mbs speed an offer from EWZ) in December. Got that months for free and have been having no problem until know. The speed is also very stable. Speed test during day and in the evening always gives the same results.
Another recomendation for iWay from a happy customer, I have been with them ever since optic fiber was installed in my building (2014) and it has been very good service at the lowest price I've found.
By the way, if anyone in Zurich is interested in switching to iWay fiber, I've got some (physical, snail mail) recommendation coupons. If you sign up through them you get 4 months free + a 20 CHF coupon for the VBZ Zurich trams and buses (and I get one too!)
A question on the supplied router, do Iway have their own software in the router to restrict functionality? specificalla, can you change the IP of your LAN or are you forced to use 192.168...... ? can you reserve DHCP addresses? and does it support a separate guest network?
I can talk only about the Fritz!Box 5490 what I have, and the firmware looks like original, I haven't seen any restriction. The options you mentioned are available at least (configurable LAN network address, reserve an IP for a node, and I'm not sure what would mean a guest network, but I've seen something like this). So I think you can check the Fritz!box page if you want to be sure about any functionality.
I'm getting terrible support from them right now. I haven't been able to connect to the Internet because they were supposed to switch my line on 23 August, but they didn't and (what's really pissing me off right now) they won't reply to any of my e-mails or support tickets to explain what's going on. I'm going to try calling them later and hope anyone can speak English.
Let us know the outcome and pls write more details. Eg: is it zurinet? When did you sign the contract? And what's wrong? You have the connection but it doesn't work or they didn't even send the device? Etc.
Sorry for the delay in replying. The problem was that I was being redirected to a Swisscom website, and they were supposed to fix that by switching a connector. (I could have also hired an electrician to switch my line to another contact in my building, but telling them to switch things on their end was cheaper.)
Anyway, after emailing them every day for a week and creating a ticket or two on their website, they suddenly replied on 31 August, saying they were having problems with Swisscom. Why didn't they tell me this? But the same day the problem was fixed, and they said they would only charge me from 1st September. Still, they should have given me updates or at least replied to my emails.
I think the reliability depends on the physical connection as well. I have internet from the iWay for almost a year with no issues, but it works on the EWZ zurinet optical network, other connections (like ADSL) can have other difficulties. I absolutely would recommend EWZ zurinet, but you have to know if it's available in your area or not.