UPC Horizon Launched

gerbo wrote: »

I currently have the very expensive combination of Sky Tv and UPC broadband. I have been reluctant to move from sky because I find the HD box excellent. Is it finally time to move to UPC? Is the Horizon EPG on a par with Sky?

I have the same setup as above and I'm in the process of cancelling SKY to go down the route of UPC for all 3.

grimm2005 wrote: »

A resounding "No" to your first question. The box is very buggy, and worse then the old UPC box in some ways. I'm sure others on the trial would agree. They have been releasing updates for it but I haven't seen any discernible difference. The UI is very "busy" and is far less user friendly then the old EPG, which in itself is less user friendly then Sky. The box needs a lot of work and I'm surprised UPC have decided that now is the right time to launch.

As for you're second query, you can watch movies streamed wirelessly from a connected PC. I'm unsure about a direct HDD connection but it does have a full size USB port so might be possible.

Ah sh1t b4lls. I though this new box might be the answer for my needs. Also read reports of the box wifi range being pretty sh1tty and not working upstairs etc. It looks like I will have to re-assess my plans

Noise Annoys wrote: »

The info on UPC's site about the new Horizon service includes a brief mention of being able to use the Guide on your iPad to change channel on your TV. It mentions needing a Horizon TV Remote App to do this, but there is nothing called that in the App Store.

Anyone know anything more about this?

I asked about this in the UPC talk to thread. Seems it will be released imminently. Especially as the version that was available on the Swiss iTunes store has been updated today and now includes Ireland under the log in choices. Yet to try it with my box tho..

I've asked this question on a previous thread but here goes again. Will I be able to record radio programs on the Horizon box?

Mearings wrote: »

I've asked this question on a previous thread but here goes again. Will I be able to record radio programs on the Horizon box?

Hi Mearings,

Ive just checked and no doesnt look like you can record them.
Does not give the option to view info like the TV stations.
So unless someone else knows a way?

Tazzer wrote: »

As far as I know you cant view the actual programs if you are not connected to a UPC broadband.

Oh right. Seems fair enough I suppose. This looks like a good deal for families alright.

former legend wrote: »

The negative opinions on the Horizon box are not unanimous. I've had it for a while and have no issues with using wifi throughout the house or in the garden.

I've no major issue with the user interface either. Saying it's worse than the old UPC box is very harsh indeed.

I have to say I'm happy with its come along way since the early days of the trial and can only get better. From what I heard the trial was mainly sorting out all the major bugs and now they will focus on perfecting the box.

0ph0rce0 wrote: »

Can anyone have a look at their signal strength and tell me where its at, when i plug my cisco box in i'm getting full bars on strength and quality, when i throw the horizon in they are down in the low mediums.

Cheers.

Mines is on medium for strenght and high for quality. Are you having any problems

0ph0rce0 wrote: »

Same here, there is the odd break up, but i'm guessing its all good if yours is the same.

Cheers for taking the time to do that, much appreciated.

I never even have the odd blip with mine.

Gotham Knight wrote: »

Horizon Remote app is in the App Store today. I just downloaded it and gave it a try. Seems to work fine.

Anyone know if you can use the Horizon TV app when you're overseas? I assume not but it's worth asking

Thanks for the heads-up. I guess it pretty much makes the existing Horizon app obsolete, given you can stream content as well as control the Horizon box.

I did notice there's an incompatibility between the new Remote app and the old Horizon app; if the old app is 'running' in the background, the new Remote app will have problems. You have to kill the old one first.

Also, it says it's optimised for iPhone 4s and iPad 2 (& better). I tried it on the iPhone 4 and it was ok, but I'll have to wait until I get home to give it a proper tryout.

This post has been deleted.

0ph0rce0 wrote: »

Can anyone have a look at their signal strength and tell me where its at, when i plug my cisco box in i'm getting full bars on strength and quality, when i throw the horizon in they are down in the low mediums.

Cheers.

I had that problem 2 months ago
I got UPC to come out to check my cables
There was a short in the cable so they replaced the cable and put in a new upc box point
From low signal it went to medium to high
Depending on the channel your watching a HD channel should be very near the high setting for it signal
Standard channels should be mid medium to high

It might be the same for you or it's the horizon box itself

The older upc digital box did not need good cables the Horizon does

Also only use one cable from upc point to horizon
Using 2 cables male to female to extend to horizon will reduce its signal quality

Also the cable that comes with horizon box is poor use a high quality coaxial cable instead

SwdDub wrote: »

Yep. Doesn't work. Half a dozen visits from technicians didn't sort it out either so it's not just me being a mongo.

Did you try using windows media player
With streaming turned on

What pc you using and operating system

And important part the horizon needs to be your router and pc be connected to the horizon using wired or wireless wired been best

Are you using a router that's seperate from the horizon router if you are it won't work to stream to horizon as the horizon needs to on the same network as your pc

SwdDub wrote: »

Yep. Doesn't work. Half a dozen visits from technicians didn't sort it out either so it's not just me being a mongo.

SwdDub
Could the firewall on your PC be blocking the connection? Try turning it off for 15 minutes then setup your home media.

Regards,
Us

finn20 wrote: »

Hi I have ordered the horizon box and was wondering if I ordered another box for the bedroom would it have to be wired in ? Or would it just work off the wifi signal ...

They only allow 1 horizon HD Box per household for now

You can still have multiroom Digital + HD box or standard box or digital + box


They have in Holland new multi room horizon box planned similar to sky hd multi room box but there not released yet there so it will be a while before Ireland see them

former legend wrote: »

The negative opinions on the Horizon box are not unanimous. I've had it for a while and have no issues with using wifi throughout the house or in the garden.

I've no major issue with the user interface either. Saying it's worse than the old UPC box is very harsh indeed.

Well everyone has their own experiences with the box but personally I don't think it's that harsh tbh. While missed recordings are much less of an issue then they used to be, that's pretty much the only major improvement imo. It's still quite laggy in places but the biggest minus that makes it imo worse then the previous box is the UI as a whole. Too many 3D menu type transitions and button presses for what should be simple things. Big thumbnails and text instead of having an interface where you can quickly browse through channels and see whats on later without disrupting your viewing.

The guide is also hopelessly broken. No way of quickly seeing whats on days in advance and scrolling is completely broken. Also On Demand is a nightmare to use as they don't list content, just give big thumbnails which is no use if you quickly want to find a certain programme (something which the search feature should alleviate but it doesn't).

There's more but this is quickly turning into a bit of a rant lol so I'll stop there. I really wanted to like this box and had very high hopes it'd be a saving grace for UPC as their broadband is second to none and all they needed was a TV service to match but for now it seems Sky+UPC seems to be the only way to go to get the best of both worlds. There's some great potential for it but the software and interface just isn't up to scratch but I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt as I was in a trial but now that it's now public I have doubts there's going to be any great update to overhaul the interface.

Captain Morgan wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

nope, you cant.