Horizon TV- Awful?

IrlMonk

Zascar wrote: »

They sound like very smart and highly trained customer service reps.

They are to smart indeed.
Robbing people and getting away with it.
Falsely advertising about a new product that has amazing capabilities.
Then when their customers complain they get aggressive and defensive over the phone.
They know exactly what is wrong and they won't be admitting any faults.

IrlMonk

danom8 wrote: »

I've had Horizon installed since it was bring trialled. One thing that I will say speeded up my box no end was taking my television of the box. It's almost like as if having any weight at all on the top of the Horizon box renders it almost unusable in terms of speed. Not sure if it's just me but if you do have anything on top of the STB I'd say to take it off.

I got an external modem from them. But it did not speed up the box in any way. The UI is still painfully slow.
The internal modems within the box has a dreadful cover range. It drops even when your in the same room.
Bad hardware and software by the looks of things.

Sorry I did not read the original post properly. But I think it's the hardware or software.

Swampy

Internal modem is so ****. Is it possible to go back to the external way? Will I still set similar speeds?

IrlMonk

Swampy wrote: »

Internal modem is so ****. Is it possible to go back to the external way? Will I still set similar speeds?

The modem I got back off them was the one I gave back.
You will not be able to get the 100 they say you get, although I never could. And my devices need to have the 100gbs network card which non of them do, so I am averaging 40 download speed and the range is better along with better connection with less dropping.

Set up my computer for the first time since we got Horizion in and the internet is just awful. It won't stay connected for more than a few minutes at a time and I spend more time troubleshooting problems than anything else. UPC customer support kept telling me to plug out the box and then plug it back in as "that shouold fix any issue" though they did repeatedly state that "there are no issues that they can see". It really is a joke, download speeds are pitiful, Thief is downloading off of Steam at a healthy 14.8KB/s and maxed out at a stunning 76.4KB/s an hour or so. At this rate I'll be plkaying it some time before I die though most likely not this year. I did a speed test and it just repeatedly timed out and when it did work the results was a download speed of 12.4KB/s and an upload of 3.4KB/s. This is on a computer wired to the box.

Crysis 3 is 2% downloaded after being left on for 7 hours. The customer support told me that the issues are not on their end that that I should contact Steam and Origin. They also made a snide comment about the number of times I've called them to complain and when I asked about getting a seperate router the prick just said "we get your kind all the time. Ringing up with "issues" that we can't detect hoping we'll knock a few euro off the bill". Told him that either they fix the issues or they can collect the box after I've fucked it off the wall a few times. Was told that my agressive and abusive tone was typical of those looking for everything for free and at this stage I just hung up

IrlMonk

Deleted User wrote: »

Set up my computer for the first time since we got Horizion in and the internet is just awful. It won't stay connected for more than a few minutes at a time and I spend more time troubleshooting problems than anything else. UPC customer support kept telling me to plug out the box and then plug it back in as "that shouold fix any issue" though they did repeatedly state that "there are no issues that they can see". It really is a joke, download speeds are pitiful, Thief is downloading off of Steam at a healthy 14.8KB/s and maxed out at a stunning 76.4KB/s an hour or so. At this rate I'll be plkaying it some time before I die though most likely not this year. I did a speed test and it just repeatedly timed out and when it did work the results was a download speed of 12.4KB/s and an upload of 3.4KB/s. This is on a computer wired to the box.

Crysis 3 is 2% downloaded after being left on for 7 hours. The customer support told me that the issues are not on their end that that I should contact Steam and Origin. They also made a snide comment about the number of times I've called them to complain and when I asked about getting a seperate router the prick just said "we get your kind all the time. Ringing up with "issues" that we can't detect hoping we'll knock a few euro off the bill". Told him that either they fix the issues or they can collect the box after I've fucked it off the wall a few times. Was told that my agressive and abusive tone was typical of those looking for everything for free and at this stage I just hung up

There must be something that can be done with their disgraceful accusations and behaviour! Never witnessed the likes of it before.

IrlMonk

IrlMonk wrote: »

There must be something that can be done with their disgraceful accusations and behaviour! Never witnessed the likes of it before.

I don't think I've ever got so much as an apology for the poor service. Sky customer service isn't great but at least their apologetic and don't insult customers or imply that there's nothing wrong with their service.

SteM

This is weird. I've found the opposite since they changed from NTL to UPC. I've think their customer support has improved 100%. I've been contacting them a lot recently with broadband issues and they've never suggested that it was my fault or I was trying to kid them. In fact, they were ultra fast in sending me a new router out - got it the day after I made the complaint.

ted1

Deleted User wrote: »

Set up my computer for the first time since we got Horizion in and the internet is just awful. It won't stay connected for more than a few minutes at a time and I spend more time troubleshooting problems than anything else. UPC customer support kept telling me to plug out the box and then plug it back in as "that shouold fix any issue" though they did repeatedly state that "there are no issues that they can see". It really is a joke, download speeds are pitiful, Thief is downloading off of Steam at a healthy 14.8KB/s and maxed out at a stunning 76.4KB/s an hour or so. At this rate I'll be plkaying it some time before I die though most likely not this year. I did a speed test and it just repeatedly timed out and when it did work the results was a download speed of 12.4KB/s and an upload of 3.4KB/s. This is on a computer wired to the box.

Crysis 3 is 2% downloaded after being left on for 7 hours. The customer support told me that the issues are not on their end that that I should contact Steam and Origin. They also made a snide comment about the number of times I've called them to complain and when I asked about getting a seperate router the prick just said "we get your kind all the time. Ringing up with "issues" that we can't detect hoping we'll knock a few euro off the bill". Told him that either they fix the issues or they can collect the box after I've fucked it off the wall a few times. Was told that my agressive and abusive tone was typical of those looking for everything for free and at this stage I just hung up

Did you run a connection test? they may have a point.

amz10000

I find that Horizion internet speed is very bad it takes me half an hour to load Facebook sometimes, they really need to improve on this.

ted1

ted1 wrote: »

Did you run a connection test? they may have a point.

I plugged in my mobile internet dongle and the speeds blew UPC away. I know how to set everything up to get the best speeds and the Horizion box is just such a piece of crap that it doesn't work properly. Read through the various threads on it and you'll see that I'm not the only one having issues.

ted1

Deleted User wrote: »

I plugged in my mobile internet dongle and the speeds blew UPC away. I know how to set everything up to get the best speeds and the Horizion box is just such a piece of crap that it doesn't work properly. Read through the various threads on it and you'll see that I'm not the only one having issues.

I'm not disagreeing with you. but before I go lambasting some one I would do a simple speed test with an independent site. their could have been a problem with steams servers.

where you contacted by WiFi or wired.

who_me

If you avoid the Horizon Wifi, the UPC broadband service can actually be very good. I added a good dual-band N router with MIMO and it made a huge difference. And last week I bought a new (2013 model) iMac and the download speeds I'm getting over Wifi is very impressive - at least 70-80Mbps but often up over 120Mbps. Since the iMac supports AC Wifi too, I'm tempted to buy one of those routers to see if it can go even faster.

And I used to complain about the service a lot, but with a decent dual-band router and 'modern' devices that support 5GHz & MIMO you can get excellent networking speeds.

IrlMonk

who_me wrote: »

If you avoid the Horizon Wifi, the UPC broadband service can actually be very good. I added a good dual-band N router with MIMO and it made a huge difference. And last week I bought a new (2013 model) iMac and the download speeds I'm getting over Wifi is very impressive - at least 70-80Mbps but often up over 120Mbps. Since the iMac supports AC Wifi too, I'm tempted to buy one of those routers to see if it can go even faster.

And I used to complain about the service a lot, but with a decent dual-band router and 'modern' devices that support 5GHz & MIMO you can get excellent networking speeds.

So you had to go out and purchase a router yourself!
I had a technician out and he advised me to purchase a wifi booster. As I said to him, why should I have to go out and purchase additional items when I was perfectly happy with the previous box and it is the problems with the new box that is at fault.
The new box wifi is a disaster so why should the customers go out and purchase hardware to make up for what upc know is a known issue! !!

IrlMonk

And by the way, the wifi is crap on the box and more importantly the UI is a pain in the back side. So really when you look at it, it is disgraceful how UPC get away with providing a brutal service. Along with their smartarse customer service employee's.

who_me

IrlMonk wrote: »

So you had to go out and purchase a router yourself!
I had a technician out and he advised me to purchase a wifi booster. As I said to him, why should I have to go out and purchase additional items when I was perfectly happy with the previous box and it is the problems with the new box that is at fault.
The new box wifi is a disaster so why should the customers go out and purchase hardware to make up for what upc know is a known issue! !!

Yeah, I thought it was a clever idea at the time, having the router & TV box in one meaning one fewer box, less cabling and one more free socket.

But I'd guess it's also part of the problem. The Horizon doesn't have any external antennae (my new one has 3) which probably doesn't help with the reception/speeds as they might not have wanted ugly antenna on a set-top box that might be installed on a tight shelf or cabinet.

It's a pity, but ultimately UPC offer the best broadband out there (up to 500Mbps for some business customers) by some margin, so it was easier to buy a good router and enjoy the speed than leave and go to a slower provider.

ted1

ted1 wrote: »

I'm not disagreeing with you. but before I go lambasting some one I would do a simple speed test with an independent site. their could have been a problem with steams servers.

where you contacted by WiFi or wired.

I already did independent speed tests and when you can use a meteor mobile internet dongle and get faster speeds downloading off of Steam you kinda assume that problem is with UPC.

L1011

Deleted User wrote: »

I plugged in my mobile internet dongle and the speeds blew UPC away. I know how to set everything up to get the best speeds and the Horizion box is just such a piece of crap that it doesn't work properly. Read through the various threads on it and you'll see that I'm not the only one having issues.

Using a mobile dongle != actually checking your wiring to the Horizon box was done properly. One poorly connected pair and a NIC that's insisting on connecting at a gigabit will give those speeds and worse.

Use the PC over a new, molded CAT5e or higher cable for a speed test.

MYOB

MYOB wrote: »

Using a mobile dongle != actually checking your wiring to the Horizon box was done properly. One poorly connected pair and a NIC that's insisting on connecting at a gigabit will give those speeds and worse.

Use the PC over a new, molded CAT5e or higher cable for a speed test.

The box is connected properly, it's been checked a dozen times with a variety of different cables and a borrowed router which showed significantly faster speeds. The problem is with the box being a piece of crap/

bronn

Forewarned is forearmed, and all that. A big thanks to all of you who spoke about the appalling wifi from the Horizon Box. When ordering Horizon (because we couldn't take the woefully erratic recording from the HD Box anymore) I explained that I had a home office set-up that I was happy with. They said fine, no problem, you can keep your modem and we won't activate the internet on Horizon. So this is our current set up and it works grand, unless the UPC network throws a total wobbler.

• Upstairs, in the office, we have the old Thompson UPC modem. Disabled the wifi on that modem and connected it via ethernet to my Apple Time Capsule.
• Put the Time Capsule in bridge mode and assigned it a static IP.
• Set up the Time Capsule's network to broadcast (hidden) 2.4 GHz and 5GHz.
• All devices in the house connect to the Time Capsule and STAY connected, even when out in the garden.
• It hasn't been a plain sailing. We got billed for keeping the modem but with one phone call, it was all sorted out, no problem and very pleasantly (much to our total shock).
• The house alarm is a monitored system and it works via an ordinary telephone cable splitter into the back of the Thompson, no problem.
• Yes, we need two devices for the Internet to work reliably (which is rather ridiculous) but it does work and like I say, it's only when there's a network glitch, that it fails.

As for the telly, we're not all that keen on Horizon but it is fractionally better than the HD box. Recordings are mostly reliable but series link has failed a few times. It can handle recording more than two programmes at once (astonishing, I know). The picture quality is great on HD but some of the SD stuff is just okay.

However, the user interface on Horizon is utterly appalling and counterintuitive.

• The menu covers almost half the screen.
• It takes forever to see what's on the telly.
• The guide is as good as useless as you cannot go to a specific day.
• Menu linking to a sub-menu, linking to another sub-menu, linking to another sub-menu etc etc. GAH! I just want the subtitles, ffs!
• Delete / Delete everything placed together. When you finally get to delete the programme, it takes forever, so you're not sure if it's doing it or not.
• A channel list that you have to go through one by one or engage "super-fast scroll" which zips by and keeps going even though you're not pressing any damn buttons.
• The apps that are so bad they're funny. Like the app that loops a picture of a fire burning.

Lastly, maybe we're just being thick but... where do you find the channel numbers on Horizon? I know 101 is RTE 1 HD, 102 is RTE 2 HD er... 108 is BBC1 HD. But what's ITV? Discovery? National Geographic? Sky Living? I don't know where to find the channel numbers so we can write them down and eventually memorise them. We can't keep scrolling through that poxy menu to get to channels. It's driving us nuts and I'm going to be totally embarrassed if this is something v obvious.

dodzy

bronn wrote: »

Lastly, maybe we're just being thick but... where do you find the channel numbers on Horizon? I know 101 is RTE 1 HD, 102 is RTE 2 HD er... 108 is BBC1 HD. But what's ITV? Discovery? National Geographic? Sky Living? I don't know where to find the channel numbers so we can write them down and eventually memorise them. We can't keep scrolling through that poxy menu to get to channels. It's driving us nuts and I'm going to be totally embarrassed if this is something v obvious.

UPCs list. Get your channels, add them to Favourites, and they'll stay at the top of the channel list. Basically, everything you add will be above CH.101, in the order you select them. You can rearrange this FAV list in the settings later, should you choose to do so.

Lone Stone

Yea my mother got this in the house, im lucky to get 3 bars on my wifi at the front of the house when upstairs and she cant stand the interface on the thing. Its really awfull.

JDxtra

Nearly everybody I have spoken to has had frustrations with these boxes, or knows other people who have. Word has spread. Horizon is now a spoiled brand. They are completely undoing all their marketing spend by not getting it right, or even nearly right, from the start.

Companies can spend years getting the user experience right. UPC in this instance seem to have shoehorned it in at the end of development, and haven’t nailed down the many bugs prior to a general release. Pure madness.

I love UPC broadband. But I know this stupidity is going to cost me as a customer. Phone support costs will be up, hardware costs are up, engineer costs up, TV subscriber churn also up too. All means less profit, or more likely – higher prices for customers.

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I don't think I've ever got so much as an apology for the poor service. Sky customer service isn't great but at least their apologetic and don't insult customers or imply that there's nothing wrong with their service.

Same! Shockingly rude and patronising to me after I legitimately and politely explained that the Horizon boxes were clearly unfit for purpose and that I had no intention of buying my own router when they'd already been paid for wired and wi-fi. Nearly felt embarrassed for of some their tech support peeps given the nonsense they were coming out with.

Plus the TV keeps blacking out (blamed their HDMI, i was asked to buy replacement), the DVR cuts out in the middle of recording stuff and the UI is rubbish. Theres a lag between the remote a and the box that means you'd nearly be faster walking over and changing channel manually too!

Next stop comreg...

IrlMonk

UPC are conning people
When i seen their advertisement bragging about this new box, that has so many new features and being able to watch live tv on devices around the house, i was delighted.

I signed up for this new amazing deal of the century!!

As soon as i hooked up the box, my heart bleeding sank.....
I knew straight away that the UI was all wrong in every way.
The Wifi was hopeless.
The Apps a joke and useless...nothing worked properly!!! how can that be??? technology is advancing??

And then when i called them to complain i had to listen to some eejit of an awlone telling me there was nothing wrong with the box, the snappy awl cow. (Terrible customer care.)

I could not believe that UPC are the only company i have ever known that have brought technology backwards!!!

So basically they are conning the public, denying any faults and getting away with it.
Bunch of $%£*&*&,/./><>$$^%$%& just money grabbing £%"^"%£%&£<>?<?::<?> and dont give a dam about THEIR customers.

beauf

Lone Stone wrote: »

Yea my mother got this in the house, im lucky to get 3 bars on my wifi at the front of the house when upstairs and she cant stand the interface on the thing. Its really awfull.

For older people we've got UPC to switch them back to the old HD box. Much easier than the Horizon box for them to manage. Even the remote is better.

former legend

IrlMonk wrote: »

UPC are conning people
When i seen their advertisement bragging about this new box, that has so many new features and being able to watch live tv on devices around the house, i was delighted.

I signed up for this new amazing deal of the century!!

As soon as i hooked up the box, my heart bleeding sank.....
I knew straight away that the UI was all wrong in every way.
The Wifi was hopeless.
The Apps a joke and useless...nothing worked properly!!! how can that be??? technology is advancing??

And then when i called them to complain i had to listen to some eejit of an awlone telling me there was nothing wrong with the box, the snappy awl cow. (Terrible customer care.)

I could not believe that UPC are the only company i have ever known that have brought technology backwards!!!

So basically they are conning the public, denying any faults and getting away with it.
Bunch of $%£*&*&,/./><>$$^%$%& just money grabbing £%"^"%£%&£<>?<?::<?> and dont give a dam about THEIR customers.

That's very disappointing. And I'm sure you were very polite and articulate when on the phone to their customer service too.

My wifi works fine, the mobile app works fine, the user interface is different but it took, ooooh, about 20 minutes to figure it out.

If it's not for you, just cancel your contract and forget about it.

beauf

former legend wrote: »

...just cancel your contract ...

How?

IrlMonk

former legend wrote: »

That's very disappointing. And I'm sure you were very polite and articulate when on the phone to their customer service too.

My wifi works fine, the mobile app works fine, the user interface is different but it took, ooooh, about 20 minutes to figure it out.

If it's not for you, just cancel your contract and forget about it.

Your not with it at all.
There is over 10 pages on this thread alone complaining about their service.
And as the previous post said.... You have to pay in some form when you cancel a contact.
You must be part of the 5% that are happy.
So why don't you open a thread saying how wonderful upc are and we'll see how many pages get full with compliments.
I think your posting in the wrong thread.

former legend

beauf wrote: »

How?

Via the cooling off period.