Want to change to UPC but!

TCP/IP

Hi All,

Well finally UPC are coming to my estate and will be offering triple play. I am of course going to change my phone and broadband over to UPC but I am really struggling with the taught of moving to the UPC TV service. I am a big sports fan and even though I could get Sky Sports from UPC they dont offer it in HD. I was speaking to a sales manager for UPC and he reckons that UPC will have sports in HD come August but they deffo will not have SKY F1 at this stage.
What does anybody that has the TV from UPC think of it.

Many thanks
TCP/IP

Eamo71

TCP/IP wrote: »

Hi All,

Well finally UPC are coming to my estate and will be offering triple play. I am of course going to change my phone and broadband over to UPC but I am really struggling with the taught of moving to the UPC TV service. I am a big sports fan and even though I could get Sky Sports from UPC they dont offer it in HD. I was speaking to a sales manager for UPC and he reckons that UPC will have sports in HD come August but they deffo will not have SKY F1 at this stage.
What does anybody that has the TV from UPC think of it.

Many thanks
TCP/IP

Well at the moment UPC has Premier league HD games on ESPN and Setanta. Also the F1 is on Setanta as well. RTE2HD will also be carrying The Euros in HD I assume...in addition to the Olympics. You'll also get on demand as well if you go for the digital select or max packages. I'd ask the UPC folks about getting the On Demand service in your area.

djimi

TCP/IP wrote: »

I was speaking to a sales manager for UPC and he reckons that UPC will have sports in HD come August but they deffo will not have SKY F1 at this stage.

I was told two years ago the same thing; that they would have Sky Sports HD in time for the start of the PL season (in 2010). I was also told a few months back that they would definately be carrying Sky F1. In short, their sales team lie through their teeth.

In general their TV service is at best adequate, but very poor in comparison to Sky. Horrendous equipment, lack of services, lack of channels, lack of HD just make it a no brainer to stick with Sky for TV in my opinion.

Their broadband is exceptionally good btw; just in case it seems I am against them completely

Eamo71

djimi wrote: »

I was told two years ago the same thing; that they would have Sky Sports HD in time for the start of the PL season (in 2010). I was also told a few months back that they would definately be carrying Sky F1. In short, their sales team lie through their teeth.

In general their TV service is at best adequate, but very poor in comparison to Sky. Horrendous equipment, lack of services, lack of channels, lack of HD just make it a no brainer to stick with Sky for TV in my opinion.

Their broadband is exceptionally good btw; just in case it seems I am against them completely

They're carrying F1 on Setanta. THE OP can check out all the packages available on http://www.upc.ie/television/

The only adv Sky has is its premier league monopoly which it is in danger of losing anyway http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2118037/Sky-lose-Premier-League-rights-admits-Scudamore.html

djimi

Eamo71 wrote: »

They're carrying F1 on Setanta. THE OP can check out all the packages available on http://www.upc.ie/television/

The only adv Sky has is its premier league monopoly which it is in danger of losing anyway http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2118037/Sky-lose-Premier-League-rights-admits-Scudamore.html

Im aware they carry F1 on Setanta, but when I rang them earlier on in the year I was told that they would definately be carrying Sky Sports F1 in time for the start of the season. F1 on Setanta is fine if all you want to watch is the race from green flag to chequered, but if like me you want to watch the pre- and post-race coverage also then the coverage on Setanta isnt exactly going to cut the mustard.

The main advantage Sky has with its coverage is the services they offer; HD and interactive are big pluses in Skys favour and the lack of them detracts massively from UPCs offerings. The lack of match choice on Football First is a royal pain in the ass to be honest!

TCP/IP

Thanks for the replies guys. Well they told me Sky F1 is not going to happen but HD for sports will do. I have a funny feeling I will keep my TV viewing with Sky until I can get sports in HD from UPC.
One other thing is the F1 on Setanta in HD?

djimi

Yeah the F1 is in HD on both Setanta and BBC (when they show it).

If Sky Sports HD is a dealbreaker then I would definately stick with Sky until UPC actually have Sky Sports HD rather than just promising it.

Eamo71

TCP/IP wrote: »

Thanks for the replies guys. Well they told me Sky F1 is not going to happen but HD for sports will do. I have a funny feeling I will keep my TV viewing with Sky until I can get sports in HD from UPC.
One other thing is the F1 on Setanta in HD?

UPC is doing some promotion for Sky customers for broadband and phone without changing your TV provider...or some such thing. Again check out the web site. I agree about the interactive options particularly on Match First. If you're switching to UPC for phone and Bband and want to stay with Sky you can monitor events such as the increase in HD channels, the ramping up of content for On Demand and the Horizon box (which looks v impressive check out the thread here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056579482).
Oh and is the F1 on Setanta HD? I think so though you'd probably hAve to ring and check. Apparently the setanta coverage includes the practice sessions as well! http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056558766

edit: Yes, it's on Setanta HD

Eamo71

If you're that into televised traffic you could always sit near the M50 and see it in 3D as well! ;-)

pelluci

Another thing worth considering is that with the 3 triple play, anytime world is not being offered with the phone (at least not online). They're now offering Anytime 100 or 200 (100 or 200 minutes to mobile, landline and international, rather than the off peak or anytime landline & international calls).

You still seem to be able to get Freetime or Anytime World with the phone (on its own) and then add broadband.

Kristopherus

TCP/IP wrote: »

Thanks for the replies guys. Well they told me Sky F1 is not going to happen but HD for sports will do. I have a funny feeling I will keep my TV viewing with Sky until I can get sports in HD from UPC.
One other thing is the F1 on Setanta in HD?

With UPC you will be getting a broadband feed that nobody can match. To widen your options have a look at the Soccer forum. Your feed of sports from these origins will be so good that you can beam it on to your hd tv from your computer via a hdmi cable.

johnner09

I was also told a few months back that they would definately be carrying Sky F1. In short, their sales team lie through their teeth.

In general their TV service is at best adequate, but very poor in comparison to Sky. Horrendous equipment, lack of services, lack of channels, lack of HD just make it a no brainer to stick with Sky for TV in my opinion.

Their broadband is exceptionally good btw; just in case it seems I am against them completely [/QUOTE]
i second that as a new customer to UPC, sky television (although a bit dearer per month ) is a far superior quality service, but i suppose you get what you pay for !!!

zg3409

Well currently being a UPC broadband (and phone I don't use) and also a Sky customer, I have had both UPC and Sky at various times.

Basically for TV Sky is better but more expensive. UPC is cheaper but the main problem is their box, user interface is years behind Sky. If you are used to Sky it will drive you insane.

As said the internet is world class. If you sign up for internet and no phone no TV there is an extra charge for no TV.

However if you sign up for internet (of a certain speed) and phone, then it actually works out a few pence cheaper than just internet, and there is NO surcharge for no TV.

Regarding the internet speeds it depends on your actual needs but 25Mb via UPC is good enough to stream 3 or 4 live TV channels, and surf the Net at the same time. You may need a new computer to handle streaming especially encrypted streaming like most services nowadays. Best to get a laptop with a HDMI port.

Via UPC you can access Sky Go online to watch movies via the internet, depending on which Sky package you are on. It gives more movie/TV choices in some ways that on the Sky box. I have a Sky box yet watch movies via Sky go. For reasonable viewing you need to connect you laptop to the TV.

If you did drop Sky via Satellite, you can sign up to Sky go Monthly ticket via the internet on a month by month basis (take if for a month, drop it, take it again etc). The lineup is different to the satellite offering but it may get you over the odd match or event.

http://www.sky.com/ireland/tv/sky-go/get-it-now/

You do not need to be a Sky subscriber, nor have a dish. The lineup is not the same as the Sky Box. You need good internet which you will have.

With a Sky Go Monthly Ticket you can enjoy great TV from Sky online or on the move without an annual contract or dish - you won’t even need an engineer visit.

Watch up to 40 live channels - including all six Sky Sports, all 11 Sky Movies channels, Sky Atlantic and more - plus hundreds of shows and movies on demand through your Xbox 360, laptop, PC or Fetch box.

What’s more with the relevant Sky Go Monthly Ticket you can enjoy all six Sky Sports channels, live Sky Movies and Sky News on your iPhone (3GS or above) or iPad.

If you ring setanta you can get a setanta only subsription (that works in a Sky box) which gets you sentanta but not Sky via your existing box and dish.

If setanta is an issue there is a quirk, in if you get broadband, they also happen to give you the 17 analgoue channels (unless you are in Cork/Galway and some specific areas) by accident as they cannot block them. From my memory Setanta is one of those 17 channels so even if you do not sign up for TV you may get setanta by just hooking the UPC cable into the back of the TV. It won't dissapear in October either.

If with UPC for TV you can still use your non subscribed Sky box for a few UK channels, however they remotely diasble recording features once you stop paying. Or better still add a freeSAT+HD box to the existing dish. This will enable recording/pause on all free satellite channels. Not quite as god as Sky but better than UPCs user interface and some channels not on UPC.

Multiroom is cheaper on UPC, but you can often bargain this down with Sky too. If you have multiroom with Sky you will need to connect both Sky boxes to UPC's phone line. Apparently this works on Dublin UPC phone lines but may not work in other parts of the country. You may need to tweak the callback settings on the Sky box to get it to work.

Like others say ignore "coming soon" sales patter. If it is not on the website, and if it not currently available to you, it may be years or never. As for triple play "coming to your estate" even if they are cabling the system today, it may take a year before the service is live at your home. They need to cable an entire area and it is a seperate team that actually finishes the job. Don't start jumping up and down yet. There is also the problem if a neighbour objects it may never make it your house. They send happy cheery letters to everyone saying they are digging and if someone causes a real fuss they try to route round that house or skip that area.

Finally you need to be out of contract with Sky to leave. Often if you have added anything or got a deal in the last 12 months you may be locked in a contract. Once out of contract it the time to start haggling for deals, but usually they come with 12 month contract, not always. Saying FreeSat+HD, Saorview, Netflix and UPC triple play, UPC's new on demand has them begging you to stay. If you actually leave they offer even better deals. (but then you may have a UPC contract)

TCP/IP

Many thanks zg3409 for such a detailed response. It is much appreciated. I think I will wait until Sky HD comes to UPC and hopefully the new horizon box might have a better epg and features. I am out of contract with Sky so wont be a problem with changing when the time comes. We are supposed to be fully live in about six weeks but lets see.

Eamo71

TCP/IP wrote: »

Many thanks zg3409 for such a detailed response. It is much appreciated. I think I will wait until Sky HD comes to UPC and hopefully the new horizon box might have a better epg and features. I am out of contract with Sky so wont be a problem with changing when the time comes. We are supposed to be fully live in about six weeks but lets see.

I think the Horizon box will be very interesting when it eventually arrives. Combined with an expanded On Demand library it could be a gamechanger for UPC.

zg3409

TCP/IP wrote: »

We are supposed to be fully live in about six weeks but lets see.

When live they post a letter to UPC customers saying some analogue channels are moving frequency and to re-scan for them. This is within a day of the changeover from the old to the new system.

As you are not a UPC customer now, you may not get the letter. After that they send sales people door to door. Don't buy from any door to door but it lets you know it is available.

TCP/IP

Cheers I have the letters in my hand from UPC to deliver to the houses. I am Chairman of our residents association and have been working with UPC to bring the service to our estate. The only current UPC product in the estate is MMDS. The estate was only built in 2006 and the cable network that was laid by the builder has been never used since day one.

johnner09

zg3409 wrote: »

When live they post a letter to UPC customers saying some analogue channels are moving frequency and to re-scan for them. This is within a day of the changeover from the old to the new system.

As you are not a UPC customer now, you may not get the letter. After that they send sales people door to door. Don't buy from any door to door but it lets you know it is available.

just out of interest why? and would that go for Sky sales reps also..?

zg3409

johnner09 wrote: »

just out of interest why? and would that go for Sky sales reps also..?

There are other threads on door to door sales. Basically they will tell you anything they can to get the commission including lies. Normally it's also cheaper to order via the website. Also you should never give your personal details to door to door sales people. They may be wearing Sky jackets, but none of them actually work for Sky but other direct sales companies.

Buyer beware.