Moving from BT to NTL BB - any experience?

Fingleberries

Hello All,

Apologies for starting a new thread on this, I have tried to search boards and google already and couldn't find any info on this. I have a few questions and hope that someone might be able to help.

Some background:
I am currently with BT for Broadband (~7.6Mbps) and Phone, and recently got a flyer saying that NTL were moving into the area offering a triple play deal (TV / Phone / BB). The price seems very good - I'm tempted, and it says that they'll move your phone number, etc., but have some reservations or questions.

Questions:

1. Has anyone had any experience moving from BT to NTL and how would you rate it? (I know NTL Customer Service is pretty non-existent, so I would hope for a smooth transition to avoid having to talk to them)
2. A lot of the documentation on the UPC site talks about moving your from Eircom, and if you have broadband with someone else you'll need to cancel that manually - is that the same if your phone and BB are not with Eircom?
3. There is a 'rumour' thread here on Boards about a possible impending upgrade on the top package from 20Mbps to 50Mbps in March(ish). Is there any truth to this? I can't find anything official / semi-official in writing anywhere...
4. What is the contention like on the 20Mbps package at peak times?
5. I can see the NTL 'green box' on the corner of my street - would that help performance any (does it mean that I'd get a better signal than someone further up the street )?

Many thanks in advance for any feedback / tips / advice..

stiofanD

I moved from BT to ntls triple play offering about a year and a half ago and I'm very happy with the service. The porting of my number from BT to ntl went very smoothly on the ntl side. Unfortunately, BT claimed that they were not notified by eircom that the number had been ported away from them and continued to charge me line rental for about 5 months more.

Eventually, after many phone calls and letters from ntl AND eircom proving that there was NO phone service on the phone line to my house anymore, I got a full refund from BT.

So my advice to you is to cancel any direct debits you have with BT before you initiate the porting process so they can't bill you in error.

Other than that, I'm more than happy with the tv/broadband/phone deal from ntl

Fingleberries

Thanks Stiofan, that helps my decision.
Another quick question ... Did you have to cancel Broadband with BT manually, or did NTL take care of that too?

jor el

You'll have to cancel BT yourself, giving the required notice. They might tell you it's 30 days, but if you look at the T&Cs, it's actually 14 days. The two networks are completely separate, BT on DSL, NTL with their own cable.