UTV versus BT

Squiggle · 16-09-2005 9:30am #1

OK I'm with UTV over a year using the 1mb Clicksilver service - generally happy with consistant speeds and no breakdowns. Excluding calls the bb and line rental to Eircom is about 118 euro every two months.
2 mb bb from Esat including line rental is 100 euro per two month ( 1mb connection 80 euro ) but is the reliability the same? Another thread on here says Esat was dog slow yesterday but what's it like in general? I need reliability as I work a lot from home so would only make the switch if I was sure of a good service.

zuma · 16-09-2005 10:12am

BT is pretty crap...stay with UTV.......................????

Ive had BT 2Mb for 7months now and the longest and only time it has been down was from 07:00 to 08:00 many months ago.

Its easily as stable as UTV as they are both DSL, provided mostly by eircom bitstream.

If you see a difference in speed between the two then I'll be amazed as Ive had eircom BB before and didnt find any difference other than the huge savings you make with BT!!!

philologos · 16-09-2005 11:58am

BT provides lower pings than some of my m8s on Eircom connections

Sarsfield · 16-09-2005 5:44pm

I've had a rock solid connection from BT since I changed from Eircom about 6 weeks ago.

Don't forget you also get a €5 discount per bill if you opt for online billing so that's €95/2-months for BT (€75 for 1Mb)

rgill · 16-09-2005 7:39pm

Just changed over from UTV to BT.

Pings to www.boards.ie have gone from 100-120 to 30-40.
Cap is now 24GB compared to 16GB.
With Talk Plus national calls are free (UTV is just off peak)
For the last couple of months UTV broadband was freezing
for 4 -5 minutes for no reason; this is not happening with BT
BT supply an ethernet modem, UTV's was just USB
You now have to "buy" yourself out of your UTV contract - no
matter how long you've been with them.

Need I say more!!

The only downside with BT is their CustomerCare/Billing. If took 10 weeks from my initial request for broadband to the time it was live!!!! (lost order, lost account details, incorrect eircom a/c number, etc, etc, etc)

Ronan

BOHSBOHS · 16-09-2005 7:48pm

its 100 euro for BT 2mb for 2months (no 5 euro discount- its 5 extra for paperbills)

as far as i know TALK PLUS isnt included with bt?? just talk ,so no free calls at all????

dub45 · 16-09-2005 8:05pm

rgill wrote:

Just changed over from UTV to BT.
Pings to www.boards.ie have gone from 100-120 to 30-40.

Cap is now 24GB compared to 16GB.

With Talk Plus national calls are free (UTV is just off peak)

For the last couple of months UTV broadband was freezing
for 4 -5 minutes for no reason; this is not happening with BT

BT supply an ethernet modem, UTV's was just USB

You now have to "buy" yourself out of your UTV contract - no
matter how long you've been with them.

Need I say more!!

The only downside with BT is their CustomerCare/Billing. If took 10 weeks from my initial request for broadband to the time it was live!!!! (lost order, lost account details, incorrect eircom a/c number, etc, etc, etc)

Ronan

It should not be the case that you have to buy your way out irrespective of length of time with UTV. It should only be customers that have signed up since they introduced their most recent terms and conditions. If you were with UTV prior to that all that should happen is that a month's notice is required. If this is your case and they charged to you to leave get after them.

Nyum Nyum · 17-09-2005 2:23pm

Changed from UTV to BT in May or so. The service has been far better with none of the "freezes" rgill mentioned that used to plague my connection with UTV. No fiddling around with proxy servers etc anymore

bk · 17-09-2005 7:05pm

BOHSBOHS wrote:

as far as i know TALK PLUS isnt included with bt?? just talk ,so no free calls at all????

You can get Talk Plus with BT BB, however you are correct it costs more. I'm not sure how much more as BT's site isn't clear on it.

BOHSBOHS · 18-09-2005 8:06am

yep id hate to see rgill's face when he realises he hasnt got free calls and gets the bill! lol

i think talk plus is an extra 15e a month on top of the 50 (2mb BT BB)
if u want the free ireland calls..

bt is a good package but if wanna call anyone in the north ,england or scotland like i do, UTV is the only option that gives u free calls there.

BT BB is a good package but lets not be saying it gives u stuff that it doesnt
...next there will be a free jennifer ellison with BT BB lol

cormie · 18-09-2005 9:19am

Is BT the best though?

I'm with UTV for over a year now, Clicksilver and UTV Talk, I'm not entirely sure what exactly we are paying, I'm pretty sure a year ago it was €30 (Clicksilver) + €24.90 (UTV Talk/Including Line Rental) per month + on peak/mobile calls.

It says on u.tv that the BB packages include UTV talk:

† €15.99 for first 6 months then €21.99 for each month after, based on a 1MB / 20 Hours per month Cap. Offer includes UTV Talk. This offer is available to first time subscribers who are connected by 30th September 2005.

† €15.99 for first 6 months then €29.99 for each month after, based on a 1MB / 8GB Cap. Offer includes UTV Talk. This offer is available to first time subscribers who are connected by 30th September 2005.

† €25.99 for first 6 months then €39.99 for each month after, based on a 2MB / 16 GB Cap. Offer includes UTV Talk. This offer is available to first time subscribers who are connected by 30th September 2005.

Does this mean you can get UTV Clicksilver for €15.99 for first 6 months and €29.99 after INCLUDING what I'm now paying €24.90 for (UTV Talk) so instead of paying the €54.90, I'd only be paying €15.99/€29.99 for what I'm currently on (1mb 8gb cap)??

Unfortunately, allot of calls are made ON peak in our house, local and national, International numbers are never really called on our phone line.

So basically, what I'm looking for, is the best price for BB (1mb is fine for me, and an 8GB cap is fine too, just as long as there are no time restrictions like the new 20hr caps on some packages) and free calls Local and National on and off peak. Anything extra is a bonus of course, cheaper mobile calls, UK calls etc, but the main thing I'm looking for is the free off/on peak local/national and the cheap BB. What is the best package for me?

dub45 · 18-09-2005 12:07pm

cormie wrote:

Is BT the best though?

I'm with UTV for over a year now, Clicksilver and UTV Talk, I'm not entirely sure what exactly we are paying, I'm pretty sure a year ago it was €30 (Clicksilver) + €24.90 (UTV Talk/Including Line Rental) per month + on peak/mobile calls. .............

It says on u.tv that the BB packages include UTV talk:

Does this mean you can get UTV Clicksilver for €15.99 for first 6 months and €29.99 after INCLUDING what I'm now paying €24.90 for (UTV Talk) so instead of paying the €54.90, I'd only be paying €15.99/€29.99 for what I'm currently on (1mb 8gb cap)??

The language on their website is not at all as clear as it should be. UTV talk is their 'telephony' product. You still have to pay your line rental of €24.99.
UTV have no intention of competing with Smart!!!

BOHSBOHS · 18-09-2005 12:10pm

CORMIE i think BT 1mb BB with line rental and TALK PLUS would be the one for u, this would be bout 55euro per month which is basically the same price as what ur paying now

basic difference :
u lose free UK calls but gain free peaktime irish local/national calls

BUt u will have to ask for the Talk plus as this is not included as standard.

bush · 18-09-2005 1:01pm

You can keep utv talk and get broadband from digiweb. Thats what im thinking of doing cos the utv cap is really pissing me off lately.

cormie · 18-09-2005 1:23pm

Yeah I think the BT 1MB package with Talk Plus is the one I'm after. It will be basically the same as what were paying now BEFORE calls but the on peak calls on this house add up and we'd be saving allot by going with the BT any time package. Plus, with BT 1MB you get a 12GB cap compared to 8:) I've only gone over the cap about twice but still, nice to know I've an extra 50% slack! Now is BT the best? Has anyone heard of Euphony/Imagine or any of them? How do they compare does anyone know?

bk · 19-09-2005 1:20am

cormie wrote:

Now is BT the best? Has anyone heard of Euphony/Imagine or any of them? How do they compare does anyone know?

Not worth talking about, BT sounds like the best option for you or perhaps:

NTL 1M/100k - €25 plus
Blueface VoIP - unlimited local/national irish calls: €15

for a total of €40 that would be €15 cheaper then the same package from BT, however you would need to invest in VoIP hardware.

cormie · 19-09-2005 4:48am

as far as I remember, VOIP is pc related yes? This wouldn't be an option as the main user of the phone is a technophobe :rolleyes:

I think I'll get onto BT soon, thanks for the help:)

bk · 19-09-2005 12:28pm

cormie wrote:

as far as I remember, VOIP is pc related yes? This wouldn't be an option as the main user of the phone is a technophobe :rolleyes:

Not necessarily, in most cases VoIP can be used just like a normal phone, however it does require extra equipment. Either a Broadband router with VoIP capabilities and a RJ11 port (you simply connect your normal telephone to the RJ11 port) or a Analogue Telephone Adaptor or a special VoIP phone.

In all cases you can still use your existing phone, call ordinary phone numbers and keep your existing number.
http://www.blueface.ie/support/faq.aspx#supportedhardware

However you might be right it might be easier to stick with BT.

On the other hand NTL are expected to launch a phone service over their BB products that I'd imagine should be simple to use.

UTV versus BT

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