Switching broadband + phone from Eircom to UPC, experiences?

Alex Forrest

I'm living in Dublin 8 and have recently discovered that UPC are now offering broadband and phone in addition to TV in my area.

I'm currently with Eircom for phone and broadband (Talktime Afterhours + Next Generation Broadband Regular package 8MB) and paying €56.91 per month. I have digital TV with UPC (€30 per month). However if I take the Fibre Power Essential bundle with UPC I could save nearly €18 per month and get extra services like UPC On Demand and Remote Record.

I'm a bit hesitant about switching though. I've had a very reliable phone and broadband service with Eircom and have heard mixed reviews of UPC's broadband service.

I'd be interested to hear how boards users have found UPC's broadband and phone service, and how users have found the switchover process from Eircom to UPC. I've phoned UPC Customer Service and they have said they would handle the cancellation of my Eircom service if I decided to go ahead and switch. Has this process gone smoothly for those of you who made the switch? Would it be best if I also contacted Eircom to cancel my service?

demanufactured

Best move you'll ever make.
.

starviewadams

Broadband and phone from UPC have both been top notch.We just got UPC installed and then cancelled Eircom once everything was up and running so we wouldn't be left without phone or BB.

If you are switching to UPC but want to port you current phone number to UPC then UPC handle the switchover for you,and you don't need to go near Eircom yourself.

Here's the number porting FAQ: http://support.upc.ie/app/answers/detail/a_id/97/session/L3RpbWUvMTM1OTU5Nzk2OS9zaWQvR05uQmlFaGw%3D/p/3%2C59

Sponge Bob

Don't cancel eircom until your number ports over to UPC, some UPC network segments can be crap, particularly in an area where some of the cables are ancient...like Dublin 8.

Golduck

Well I was in a similar situation to yourself OP except I had Sky TV, so I made the switch there Tuesday, the engineer should be out to me tomorrow so I'll let you know how it goes. Eircom used to be reliable for me but then my broadband seemed to get worse and worse. It started to annoy me that I was paying more for slower broadband.

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Don't cancel eircom until your number ports over to UPC, some UPC network segments can be crap, particularly in an area where some of the cables are ancient...like Dublin 8.

This. The UPC guy told me to fill out a form online once the equipment is installed, this should port my number and cancel Eircom.

Sponge Bob

You are still liable to give eircom 30 days written notice , I don't believe a number port request from UPC constitutes a valid 30 days notice.

Fortunately eircom HQ is in Dublin 8 and you can hand the written notice in to reception for the attention of the CEO if you wish.

Alun

Sponge Bob wrote: »

You are still liable to give eircom 30 days written notice , I don't believe a number port request from UPC constitutes a valid 30 days notice.

I thought that too, but contacted both eircom (by phone) and UPC (via reps here online) and was assured that that was all I had to do. So, I got UPC installed, checked it was all working, did the number port online, got my final bill from eircom, and that was the end of it. The 30-day notice clause was still in force though, so I still paid eircom for 30 days after I did the number port, so was effectively paying double for a short while.

I have to say after all the worrying about what could go wrong, it was a refreshingly simple and painless operation. Having said that, if you're with a 3rd party provider like Vodafone, things may be different, best to double check.

Sponge Bob

Thanks for that Alun, any chance you can link the assurances from the 'Talk To' forums into this thread. ??? I'm surprised it is 30 days from END of port, I would have thought 30 days from port REQUEST (by UPC) was the criterium.

Many people will also switch without porting their number and I would assume they must give the 30 day notice instead of relying on UPC to do it for them.

Alex Forrest

I don't really like the sound of having to pay Eircom for 30 days after the switch, is there any way around this? Maybe give Eircom 30 days notice first and at the end of that period make the switch to UPC?

Alun

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Thanks for that Alun, any chance you can link the assurances from the 'Talk To' forums into this thread. ??? I'm surprised it is 30 days from END of port, I would have thought 30 days from port REQUEST (by UPC) was the criterium.

Many people will also switch without porting their number and I would assume they must give the 30 day notice instead of relying on UPC to do it for them.

http://www.boards.ie/ttfthread/2056769491/1#post81038298

To be honest I'm not sure if the 30 days was from the request to port or it completing, but seeing as it was all done and dusted in a day or two anyway, the difference is academic.

AlanMc86

New UPC bundles start at €66 for all 3 services.

Mr. G

Eircom charge a cancellation fee of the equivelent of one months line rental if you don't give 30 days notice. Mind you, you will end up paying that waiting to cancel anyway, if not more because the port takes 24-48 hours after the 30 days.

Regulations are that you are free to move provider, whether in a contract or not, but you can get a cancellation charge. It is illegal for eircom to charge VAT on a cancellation fee. Ring them and get the cancellation fee waived.

wampyrus77

upc is much better


upc has fabric wires eircom doesn't


upc is 40 MBs and eircom is 8mbs


upc does internet, phone and tv

while eircom does internet, phone

they both unlimited download

upc can access most websites

while eircom can only access certain amount of websites

bealtine

wampyrus77 wrote: »

upc is much better


upc has fabric wires eircom doesn't


upc is 40 MBs and eircom is 8mbs

UPC has coax cables...

UPC min speed is 50Mb/s

wampyrus77

bealtine wrote: »

UPC has coax cables...

UPC min speed is 50Mb/s

upc has upgrade their wire to fabric 2yrs ago

upc mins speed is 40Mb/s then 50Mb/s then 100Mb/s

bealtine

wampyrus77 wrote: »

upc has upgrade their wire to fabric 2yrs ago

upc mins speed is 40Mb/s then 50Mb/s then 100Mb/s

wtf are you talking about?

Perhaps you are trying to say fibre?

It's fibre to the local node and coax to the premises...

For speeds see : http://www.upc.ie/

wampyrus77

bealtine wrote: »

wtf are you talking about?

Perhaps you are trying to say fibre?

It's fibre to the local node and coax to the premises...

For speeds see : http://www.upc.ie/

yes fibre

yuloni

This post has been deleted.

Sponge Bob

wampyrus77 wrote: »

upc has upgrade their wire to fabric 2yrs ago

The feckers were telling us it was fibre powered long before then.

yuloni

This post has been deleted.

horse7

So my contract with eircom ends in december 12th, i can cancel this in november 12th,and request upc to handle the porting etc to set up my upc service for december 12th, would that be ok?

colm_mcm

horse7 wrote: »

So my contract with eircom ends in december 12th, i can cancel this in november 12th,and request upc to handle the porting etc to set up my upc service for december 12th, would that be ok?

Get UPC in on the 8th or so just in case. You don't want to have to rejoin eircom or be without service if there's an installation issue. You can always port on the 11th then.