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eVision (IPTV service from Eircom) [Merged]

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13567…21

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    #62
    ted1
    Registered Users Posts: 23,262 ✭✭✭✭ted1


    Andy454 wrote: »
    ONE Point that seems to have escaped you all....

    18 MONTH CONTRACT!!!!!

    70 HD CHANNELS ON SKY vs 20 UPC vs 10 on eVision

    1/7 the HD channels for 1/3 the price...

    TBH some Channels aren't much better in Hd, FILMS and some Dramas should be in HD. but the likes of Sky News, Sky living, reality TV programes arent a great loss if there in SD.


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    #63
    barrackali
    Registered Users Posts: 425 ✭✭barrackali


    ted1 wrote: »
    TBH some Channels aren't much better in Hd, FILMS and some Dramas should be in HD. but the likes of Sky News, Sky living, reality TV programes arent a great loss if there in SD.
    Sky Sports News would be terrible without HD..imagine a world without all those lovely ladies in HD


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    #64
    channelsurfer2
    Registered Users Posts: 2,582 ✭✭✭channelsurfer2


    suprised that eurosport is not even in the add-on 6euro pack. its not a bad channel and would make the 6euro worth paying and along with the itv channels if they could manage an agreement.


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    #65
    Mearings
    Registered Users Posts: 557 ✭✭✭Mearings


    zg3409 wrote: »
    The Eircom TV system comes in via a phone line. However you must be in an area where eFibre is available.

    If you currently have a phone line you can check availability here:
    https://secure.eircom.net/fibre/

    Thank you. I see by the map that this area is ready for eFibre but when I
    use your link to check the address I find that this building is not included.

    UPC seem to have the only telecom cabling in this pile; so much for choice.


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    #66
    zg3409
    Registered Users Posts: 6,565 ✭✭✭zg3409


    Mearings wrote: »
    UPC seem to have the only telecom cabling in this pile; so much for choice.

    UPC just added newer cheaper packages yesterday to rival Eircom's offering.

    Have a look at the thread here:
    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057063005

    I have just saved by switching to a cheaper package. Depending on your TV and Broadband needs, one of these packages may suit.

    I don't think Eircom's offering is really much better if you had a choice between the two for basic TV. In my case UPC works out far cheaper.


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    #67
    Mearings
    Registered Users Posts: 557 ✭✭✭Mearings


    zg3409 wrote: »
    UPC just added newer cheaper packages yesterday to rival Eircom's offering.
    Have a look at the thread here:
    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057063005
    I have just saved by switching to a cheaper package. Depending on your TV and Broadband needs, one of these packages may suit.
    I don't think Eircom's offering is really much better if you had a choice between the two for basic TV. In my case UPC works out far cheaper.

    Thank you, I'm mulling & am also attending to your last paragraph.
    Btw I have found an Eircom wall socket, so I do have a choice.
    My present monthly bill is €71- €66 + €5 [for 19(?)hd channels & Cisco stb] + bb + phone.


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    #68
    zg3409
    Registered Users Posts: 6,565 ✭✭✭zg3409


    Mearings wrote: »
    Thank you, I'm mulling & am also attending to your last paragraph.
    Btw I have found an Eircom wall socket so I do have a choice.
    My present monthly bill is €71- €66 + €5 [for 19(?)hd channels & Cisco stb] + bb + phone.

    Just beacuse you have an Eircom outlet does not mean eFibre ability.

    1) Your area must be eFibre enabled

    2) You must be physically close to he nearest eFibre telephone cabinet (a few hundred metres)

    3) Your line must pass tests for quality

    4) Your final speed must be above a certain value before they will offer you TV. (All eFibre speeds are"up to" depending on your distance from the cabinet.

    Eircoms basic eFibre with phone/broadband/TV with HD is 60+5=65 RTE2 in HD and RTE1 in HD(future) do not requre the HD pack (same with UPC and Sky)

    You would need to carefully compare channel lineups and the lack of on-demand on Eircom's setup. Also a new 18 month contract, and possible line activation charges etc.


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    #69
    walrusgumble
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,062 ✭✭✭walrusgumble


    channelsurfer2 wrote: »
    well Eircom seem to be very confident it will work, otherwise they wouldnt be spending millions on it.

    Eircom shares was suppose to work during the 1990's, look what happened to that


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    #70
    SpaceTime
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,088 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    channelsurfer2 wrote: »
    well Eircom seem to be very confident it will work, otherwise they wouldnt be spending millions on it.

    It's not just streamed over the internet, rather it's streamed from managed servers at various points on eircom's own network with quality-of-service managed end-to-end. So it should work quite well.

    The efibre cabinets are capable of supporting multicast IPTV too so it should be quite a decent service.


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    #71
    BionicRasher
    Registered Users Posts: 2,791 ✭✭✭BionicRasher


    Looks like a great deal and is very well priced too.
    UPC will never come to my area...well maybe in 5 years so my TV choice is Freesat/Saorview or Sky.

    Now with this it gives a great option for TV. Also if you bundle in all the stuff like TV, broadband, landline and mobile phone I think our household could save about €50 a month.

    I can keep my Freesat box and get eVision TV, fibre broadband, landline with free calls etc and a free mobile phone with 150 mins and 150 texts all for €50 for 6 months and 75 after that.

    If I was to do this separate with a phone/broadband provider and get the basic Sky package and a mobile phone then I would be looking at 90 minimum a month and probably wouldn't have free mobile calls etc and other stuff Eircom can offer


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    #72
    bk
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,463 Mod ✭✭✭✭bk


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    It's not just streamed over the internet, rather it's streamed from managed servers at various points on eircom's own network with quality-of-service managed end-to-end. So it should work quite well.

    The efibre cabinets are capable of supporting multicast IPTV too so it should be quite a decent service.

    That is true, but there is one gotcha people should keep in mind.

    Eircoms eVision TV service will eat into your available broadband bandwidth.

    Lets say you are getting 50mb/s from eFibre. Well if you watch one HD channel, it will use about 10mb/s of your BB, so you will have only 40mb/s left.

    Watch two HD channels at the same time (multiroom) and you will be down to 30mb/s, etc.

    With UPC, watching TV has no effect on broadband, so even if you are recording 4 channels at the same time on your Horizon box and watching a fifth, you will continue to get the full 120mb/s from the broadband.

    That can be a big deal for a big family or a house with lots of people sharing.

    To be honest I'm surprised Eircoms PVR doesn't allow you to record a second channel, that is a serious downside of the service. Even Smarts IPTV over ADSL PVR could do that 5 years ago! I believe this is something many people would be expecting from their PVR and pay TV service, really big omission.

    If it is available to you, UPC's Horizon box looks to be far more powerful, feature rich and versatile. UPC also looks to have a better channel lineup and of course their broadband is second to non.


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    #73
    Cushie Butterfield
    Registered Users Posts: 1,861 ✭✭✭Cushie Butterfield


    bk wrote: »
    That is true, but there is one gotcha people should keep in mind.

    Eircoms eVision TV service will eat into your available broadband bandwidth.

    Lets say you are getting 50mb/s from eFibre. Well if you watch one HD channel, it will use about 10mb/s of your BB, so you will have only 40mb/s left.

    Watch two HD channels at the same time (multiroom) and you will be down to 30mb/s, etc.

    With UPC, watching TV has no effect on broadband, so even if you are recording 4 channels at the same time on your Horizon box and watching a fifth, you will continue to get the full 120mb/s from the broadband.

    That can be a big deal for a big family or a house with lots of people sharing.

    To be honest I'm surprised Eircoms PVR doesn't allow you to record a second channel, that is a serious downside of the service. Even Smarts IPTV over ADSL PVR could do that 5 years ago! I believe this is something many people would be expecting from their PVR and pay TV service, really big omission.

    If it is available to you, UPC's Horizon box looks to be far more powerful, feature rich and versatile. UPC also looks to have a better channel lineup and of course their broadband is second to non.
    I'm a bit confused over the bandwith - would the tv not be using different frequencies than the broadband & not affecting speed to any great degree?

    The rep on the Talk to Eircom forum stated that HD isn't available to multiroom boxes. Also, the Eircom site states here https://www.eircom.net/tv/features that you can
    • Record two shows, watch one

      Now you never need to miss your favourite show with our multi record and viewing options.


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    #74
    bk
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,463 Mod ✭✭✭✭bk


    Cushie Butterfield wrote: »
    I'm a bit confused over the bandwith - would the tv not be using different frequencies than the broadband & not affecting speed to any great degree?

    That is the difference between Eircom and UPC.

    Eircom are using IPTV, which actually runs over your broadband connection and thus uses up your broadband bandwidth when watching TV, much in the same way that watching Netflix, youtube or RTE Player would.

    UPC on the other hand do use separate frequencies and protocols for their Broadband (DOCSIS 3.0) and TV service, so they don't interfere with one another.

    The reason for the difference is that UPC use a vastly higher quality cable (shielded coax) compared to Eircom (unshielded twisted-pair) which is capable of carrying vastly more bandwidth (5Gb/s on cable versus just 100mb/s on phone line).

    That is why going with UPC if available is the much better bet, it is much more future proof.
    Cushie Butterfield wrote: »
    The rep on the Talk to Eircom forum stated that HD isn't available to multiroom boxes. Also, the Eircom site states here https://www.eircom.net/tv/features that you can
    • Record two shows, watch one

      Now you never need to miss your favourite show with our multi record and viewing options.

    I bet they aren't allowing HD on multiroom boxes as they know it could end up using too much bandwidth (SD is probably only about 2mb/s).

    This is a definite disadvantage compared to UPC, who allow for HD multirrom and you can record 4 HD channels at the same time.

    Thanks for the info on the Eircom PVR, I stand corrected, but I wonder if it only supports recording a second channel in SD and not HD.


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    #75
    bk
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,463 Mod ✭✭✭✭bk


    Hmm.. Interesting to note, that the Eircom site claims that the multiroom box does in fact support HD:

    https://www.eircom.net/tv/equipment-features

    I wonder which is correct? I wonder if the multiroom box does support HD, but Eircom are limiting it?

    Also does anyone know does the multiroom bow work over ethernet only or does it also support wifi?


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    #76
    ei9go
    Registered Users Posts: 1,015 ✭✭✭ei9go


    bk wrote: »
    That is the difference between Eircom and UPC.



    I bet they aren't allowing HD on multiroom boxes as they know it could end up using too much bandwidth (SD is probably only about 2mb/s).

    The reason will be because they use homeplugs for the extra rooms and mostly they barely cope with HD. I have 500 mbit ones and you can see the frames dropping when streaming Hd content.


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    #77
    bk
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,463 Mod ✭✭✭✭bk


    I will say, looking at videos of eVision and Horizon GUI's the eVision GUI does look a lot nicer.

    In particular I like the way that you can browse whats on other channels down the left hand side of the screen, while still watching the same channel on the rest of the screen.

    It is a very good way of showing a lot of data on screen at the same time, while still being able to watch the current show.

    No reason why Horizon can't copy that and I hope they do.


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    #78
    Cushie Butterfield
    Registered Users Posts: 1,861 ✭✭✭Cushie Butterfield


    bk wrote: »
    Hmm.. Interesting to note, that the Eircom site claims that the multiroom box does in fact support HD:

    https://www.eircom.net/tv/equipment-features

    I wonder which is correct? I wonder if the multiroom box does support HD, but Eircom are limiting it?

    Also does anyone know does the multiroom bow work over ethernet only or does it also support wifi?
    Yes, so it does. Further clarification is definitely needed. I got the impression that the multiroom box is to work over wifi only http://www.boards.ie/ttfpost/87059389


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    #79
    zg3409
    Registered Users Posts: 6,565 ✭✭✭zg3409


    bk wrote: »
    Also does anyone know does the multiroom bow work over ethernet only or does it also support wifi?

    If it does not, then you could use a wireless adapter like Sky boxes, however for reliable TV I would recommend cables every time, as Wifi can be dodgy at peak times, when everyone is using similar radio channels. It's not as noticeable on websites as they automatically re-sent the webpage, but on TV a drop out of more than a few seconds will cause buffering like on you you tube, etc.

    Anyone re-decorating should be installing Gigabit wired where possible.


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    #80
    Philip Andrews 89
    Registered Users Posts: 1 ✭Philip Andrews 89


    bk wrote: »
    I will say, looking at videos of eVision and Horizon GUI's the eVision GUI does look a lot nicer.

    In particular I like the way that you can browse whats on other channels down the left hand side of the screen, while still watching the same channel on the rest of the screen.

    It is a very good way of showing a lot of data on screen at the same time, while still being able to watch the current show.

    No reason why Horizon can't copy that and I hope they do.



    Hi, I think the Horizon box can show what's on other channels at the same time. Saw it do it in Carphone Warehouse today. Pretty cool.


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    #81
    Davy
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 19,340 CMod ✭✭✭✭Davy


    Philip Andrews 89 wrote: »
    Hi, I think the Horizon box can show what's on other channels at the same time. Saw it do it in Carphone Warehouse today. Pretty cool.

    The horizon just shows the channel list on the left hand side,,,,,when pressing and holding the down arrow iirc


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    #82
    7upfree
    Registered Users Posts: 2,124 ✭✭✭7upfree


    Philip Andrews 89 wrote: »
    Hi, I think the Horizon box can show what's on other channels at the same time. Saw it do it in Carphone Warehouse today. Pretty cool.

    Yep. We have it. When you scroll up or down you get a video miniscreen of what's on plus the info.


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    #83
    ftakeith
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,251 ✭✭✭ftakeith


    evision is like bt vision in the uk

    ask most of the people that got bt vision, its not value for money


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    #84
    SpaceTime
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,088 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    They would really want to leverage the ability of IPTV to deliver on-demand content.

    UPC Horizon and Sky+ services already do this and do it extremely well.

    In France for example Orange TV (France Telecom) basically caches everything on their servers. So you can watch any show any time after the broadcast date for 30 days or so and they've a huge range of on demand and interactive content.

    UPC and Sky have massive R&D capabilities compared to eircom though.
    UPC being one of the world's largest cable operators and Sky being the world's largest direct to home satellite operator and their both got very deep pockets.


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    #85
    barrackali
    Registered Users Posts: 425 ✭✭barrackali


    They both definitely have deep pockets, and both UPC & Sky will spend whatever it takes to squash Eircoms offering. The fact that Eircom is in serious economic difficulty has led them to offer a poor quality IPTV product, and I just can't see them having much success....especially when UPC enter the mobile market.

    In saying all that, at least this might spark a little downward pressure on prices.


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    #86
    pa990
    Registered Users Posts: 3,884 ✭✭✭pa990


    As s long time fta fan I was considering eircoms tv service.
    But aside from not bring on their efiber network I really don't see it as value

    Unless there are massive improvements in the channel line up in the coming year I can't see it being of any interest to me.

    However , for someone in a location that cant get satellite (very few) it may be an ideal solution,.
    But overall it'll probably be a loss leader for them.,


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    #87
    ftakeith
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,251 ✭✭✭ftakeith


    anyone subscribed yet to e-vision


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    #88
    zg3409
    Registered Users Posts: 6,565 ✭✭✭zg3409


    I was just thinking about the lack of on-demand on this service. The very least they could offer is the Irish streaming players, RTE, TG4, TV3. If they could do a deal with Netflix or similar for boxsets, then it would be a serious offering. If they offered pay per view movies they might even make some extra money from it.

    I see some high end TVs are charging 300 more for access to just the Irish TV players.

    It couldn't be that hard to come up with a half decent offering, even at a premuim price or could it?


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    #89
    DublinBeaker
    Registered Users Posts: 255 ✭✭DublinBeaker


    I am considering changing from my current providers for phone/broadband and tv to Eircoms solution including eVision.

    There are a few threads open about eVision and download speed and other stuff.

    Just wondering, what is eVision like. I have Sky tv, would I be made changing to eVision ?


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    #90
    ChrisMcCauley
    Registered Users Posts: 235 ✭✭ChrisMcCauley


    Just got it installed and it seems pretty flakey to me. Took ages for the engineer to get it running - just hanging at the 'boot' screen. A call to support later and apparently "the platform is down". Engineer got it working again but as soon as we powered off and on it's gone again.

    No TV now :-(


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    #91
    DublinBeaker
    Registered Users Posts: 255 ✭✭DublinBeaker


    ChrisMcCauley wrote: »
    Just got it installed and it seems pretty flakey to me. Took ages for the engineer to get it running - just hanging at the 'boot' screen. A call to support later and apparently "the platform is down". Engineer got it working again but as soon as we powered off and on it's gone again.

    No TV now :-(

    Hi Chris,
    Just what I imagined.
    Bit too late for you but think I will steer clear for a few months


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