Horizon TV- Awful?

beauf

Assuming the problem appear in those 7 days. Things like missed recordings, incorrect billing, will most likely not happen in that period.

paulboland

I can understand some of the complaints people have with Horizon

Yes the Software of the EPG needs lot of improving and in some houses the Wi-Fi will not be great

There are some who have ok Wi-Fi but yes its not as good as a standalone Wireless Router

Some of the Wi-Fi and Wired Problems are to do with peoples equipment not having the correct specs

Wireless Your Laptop or PC or Phone or Tablet must have Wireless N to get wireless speeds of 40Mb to 70Mb with average speed been in this range depending on distance from router and interference
If any Device is Wireless g and in use all wireless connected devices will be reduced to wireless g speed including wireless N devices

Lot of Older PC's and Cheap Laptops only have Wireless G 20Mb to 25Mb speed and some only have (Wireless B = 5Mb-8Mb speed)

Wired you need to have a Gigabyte Ethernet Connection on your Laptop or PC if you want speeds above 80Mb
100Mb/120Mb/200Mb wired Connection you also must be using a Cat5e or Cat6 Cable

If your PC or Laptop only has 10/100 Fast Ethernet connection you will only get speeds of max 80Mb to 90Mb with average of 70Mb to 80Mb and are using a Cat5e cable
You wont get speeds 100Mb or above

Most of this was not a problem when UPC broadband was only 30Mb or even 50Mb as customers Routers were only capable of this


You also better off posting any problems you have in UPC thread as you have an official UPC Reps there
They do of course check these threads from time to time but will not always have the time as they will as a priority reply to problems in UPC Forum


I'm curious why some here who post comments never post any problems in the UPC Forum
Some do of course post in both forums
To me its a bit strange some of the users here I have never seen post any comments in UPC Forum but only in Cable & MMDS & IPTV
Its good to see users post in both Forums

I have Posted in UPC Forum extensive problems and some solutions which UPC have responded to and others have also to solve problems
I have asked UPC to let Customers know in advance what specs the equipment must have to get the Expected results
You be surprised that a lot of people don't know or understand that's there PC or Laptop or Phone does not have the specs to handle the higher Broadband Packages

The Problems with Horizon yes there are still some big issues that still need fixing but its not as bad as it was when it was first been tested last year by a lot of people in these Forums

What still needs to be improved is
EPG
Series Link
Program Planner have the ability to choose a day using the colour buttons
Better on Demand but it will never be as good as Sky and you be wasting your time expecting that

Some improvements will be solved with software firmware and also new features
The Wi-Fi Problems can be solved by using a separate Router as a Wireless Access Point or by using Wireless Powerline Homeplugs

beauf

paulboland wrote: »

...The Wi-Fi Problems can be solved by using a separate Router as a Access Point or by using Wireless Powerline Homeplugs

That not fixing the problem. Its a workaround. It doesn't change the fact that the supplied equipment does not perform to a reasonable level.

Its being sold to non techies. They should not have to do the above.

former legend

beauf wrote: »

Assuming the problem appear in those 7 days. Things like missed recordings, incorrect billing, will most likely not happen in that period.

I was responding to IrlMonk who started with "as soon as I hooked up the box".

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.

Are you happy with how the UI works? The 2 second delay between switching stations!
Are you happy with the very poor wifi coverage as many complain about having?
The YouTube app that does not work properly.

No need to be smart and jumping to conclusions that I was rude to their IT, in fact I wasn't. I simply told her that I was not happy with the performance and their product. and it was then that she got snappy with me.
I made this clear in the post.
Anyway, I am unhappy with their service and product and so are others which is basically what this thread is about.

Wabbit Ears

It takes nowhere near 2 seconds to change channels on horizon. I had the horizon and sky HD box running side by side and horizon is actually faster at channel changes then the sky box is, Its also faster then the old UPC boxes and freesat/Freeview boxes. Horizon has its issues but channel change speed is not one of them

IrlMonk

Wabbit Ears wrote: »

It takes nowhere near 2 seconds to change channels on horizon. I had the horizon and sky HD box running side by side and horizon is actually faster at channel changes then the sky box is, Its also faster then the old UPC boxes and freesat/Freeview boxes. Horizon has its issues but channel change speed is not one of them

If you use the "Back" button and bring up the menu showing whats on "Now" and then when you scroll through the channels while watching What's on the tv, the changes are very slow.
There are other options to use but that is my preferred option.
Either way the UI is very poor. Badly designed. Maybe the ram is an issue. But something is certainly not right with this box.

Wabbit Ears

yea, the screen in screem scrolling is slow, It takes about 2 seconds for it to appear. That's just a weird way to channel surf......

robertxxx

This product is pure toxic sh1t.

Im looking to get out of my contract, im over one month into it, have people quit their contracts before and if so did they upc come looking for money.

Im thinking of just deleting their info from my bank account so they don't get another cent from me!

IrlMonk

Well the other option is:
1. Select "Menu"
2. One click over to "Tv Guide"
3. Choose either "All Channel View or Single Channel View"
Three or four clicks !!!

Either view covers the whole screen !!!
The channel change is slightly faster but it is also annoying that the menu covers the full screen.

There are dozens of other issues with the UI that other posts have covered.

IrlMonk

robertxxx wrote: »

This product is pure toxic sh1t.

Haha..... It gets people aggravated at the best of times.

robertxxx

Not sure if this is known, but when scrolling channels and say you want to view bbc1, press and hold ok and it goes straight on, then quickly release ok the press ok again to get rid of "now showing" graphic.

Its still a pathetic black box made by Samsung, which is a little strange as the sky+ box is made by Samsung and is streets ahead.

former legend

IrlMonk wrote: »

Are you happy with how the UI works? The 2 second delay between switching stations!
Are you happy with the very poor wifi coverage as many complain about having?
The YouTube app that does not work properly.

No need to be smart and jumping to conclusions that I was rude to their IT, in fact I wasn't. I simply told her that I was not happy with the performance and their product. and it was then that she got snappy with me.
I made this clear in the post.
Anyway, I am unhappy with their service and product and so are others which is basically what this thread is about.

Yeah, that is what it's about. I think it's a good product, you don't and that's fair enough, but why didn't you just cancel the service and send the box back?

IrlMonk

former legend wrote: »

Yeah, that is what it's about. I think it's a good product, you don't and that's fair enough, but why didn't you just cancel the service and send the box back?

Because I thought it could be an excellent product and I was expecting them to push out updates (maybe updates will improve it).
Initially I was going to send it back but they said there would be cancellation fees and I was assuming things would get better.

pippip

I've always had minor problems with all the UPC boxes and modems over the years. They have never been perfect but the horizon box does seem to just be badly thought out and poor build quality.

I had the UPC HD box before and it was pig slow, tv guide never appeared, so the Horizon is an improvement here in speed.

The wifi range I am finding the same as the last UPC modem I had so no change there, not brilliant but covers 75% of my house (solid concrete walls throughout). I picked up this for €25 a few weeks back and its brilliant. Now I know some of you are saying "we shouldn't need to be buying extra bits" but I now have wifi at the end of my garden and all over the house which I couldn't really expect from any modem, UPC or not.

What I would say is there is no way I could justify paying the full price for this service, I am currently on a discount from the last price hike and when that discount runs out I would be looking for another discount unless things drastically improve with the UI.

Went in to watch Jason and the Argonauts today only to find that it hadn't recorded. Went in and looked at my recordings and noticed that out of about the 15 things I'd set it to record, only one of them actually recorded though it did cut out 30 minutes early.

ted1

robertxxx wrote: »

Not sure if this is known, but when scrolling channels and say you want to view bbc1, press and hold ok and it goes straight on, then quickly release ok the press ok again to get rid of "now showing" graphic.

Its still a pathetic black box made by Samsung, which is a little strange as the sky+ box is made by Samsung and is streets ahead.

Samsung don't make the GUI.

STB

Are these boxes really being couriered to subscribers houses with the other box being collected.

Do UPC know that the very people they are sending these boxes to know feck all about setting them up ?

I really couldnt believe that when I heard it. People are worse to give them the money.

steveon

STB wrote: »

Are these boxes really being couriered to subscribers houses with the other box being collected.

Do UPC know that the very people they are sending these boxes to know feck all about setting them up ?

I really couldnt believe that when I heard it. People are worse to give them the money.

Yes they are I'm getting tons of calls from people who cannot set them up....and then the majority of people have to get a second router sent out as the coverage on wifi is useless... and so UPC see and understand this they usually contact me when there told they will be waiting 2-3 days for an engineer to be available....especially if the box was delivered on a friday its ridiculous, Ive also had a couple where there wasn't even a drop cable in the room required....or where the previous tenant used the ex upc wire for sky instead...a complete mess....

STB

@ Steveon.

Yep thats why I asked, I got a similar phone call from a non techie retired person. I couldnt fathom that people were being asked to set it up themselves by a subscription service company. Dropped in by a feckin courier, give me the old box please! What a joke.

Why isnt the wifi working through the house etc. Lunacy and cheap ass rollout.

former legend

STB wrote: »

@ Steveon.

Yep thats why I asked, I got a similar phone call from a non techie retired person. I couldnt fathom that people were being asked to set it up themselves by a subscription service company. Dropped in by a feckin courier, give me the old box please! What a joke.

Why isnt the wifi working through the house etc. Lunacy and cheap ass rollout.

People are given the option of setting it up themselves; it's cheaper that way. You can still get a technician out but you'll pay for it.

It's really very simple to set up.

STB

former legend wrote: »

People are given the option of setting it up themselves; it's cheaper that way. You can still get a technician out but you'll pay for it.

It's really very simple to set up.

People are given the option are they ? So UPC arent just couriering these new boxes out to peoples houses with now give your old box to the courier and RTFM! Some people may have expected that the arrangements they were signing up to involved some sort of interaction from the subscription company themselves! I know the people I have spoken to did.

Simple. Simple to whom ? Simple to elderly people ? Non Technical people ?

Its cheaper that way ! For whom ? UPC ?

Listen if you are running a subscription TV/Broadband and telephone service and are taking money off these poor unfortunate people stupid enough to part with their cash every month, you set the damn thing up for them on these "proprietary" boxes. Its that simple.

How many posts does it take to realise there is a series of issues here ?

Chinese take out, bottle of beer and that film I recorded on the Horizon box. Perfect night in only the box seems to be missing the film so I think let's watch that episode of Mammon. But what's this there's no subtitles, sound is out of synch by 4 seconds and the image is pixelated so badly that it looks like I'm trying to stream a HD video on dial-up.

steveon

STB wrote: »

People are given the option are they ? So UPC arent just couriering these new boxes out to peoples houses with now give your old box to the courier and RTFM! Some people may have expected that the arrangements they were signing up to involved some sort of interaction from the subscription company themselves! I know the people I have spoken to did.

Simple. Simple to whom ? Simple to elderly people ? Non Technical people ?

Its cheaper that way ! For whom ? UPC ?

Listen if you are running a subscription TV/Broadband and telephone service and are taking money off these poor unfortunate people stupid enough to part with their cash every month, you set the damn thing up for them on these "proprietary" boxes. Its that simple.

How many posts does it take to realise there is a series of issues here ?

Not every person I have installed the horizon box for were told it was €50 to install the box if an UPC technician were required to install it, I know as I asked and many informed they would have had no issue paying that amount and were even willing to pay me more if I could sort this issue out for them, this is exactly why I am commenting on this issue.

This has alway's been UPC's ambition of self install and in fact they had hoped that a subscriber could move country with their box and simply plug it in should they move abroad again without the need of a technician or a new box product.....this is fine for some but not all...especially the elderly who need some1 to sit down and show them how to use the box in the first place.

ivyQ

Ive had upc broadband for nearly two years no problem , was thinking of moving back to skyat the end of my upc contract but then upc made me an offer anyone would be mad to refuse ..they basically cut my broadband cost in half and threw in tv services for free ...

to see here that people are saying the predecessor to the horizon box (the one I have is better)) is flipping shocking to me cs the top set box upc provided me is dismal ...laggy unresponsive , unreliable ...sloooooow , no way in a million years would I pay for it , was considering upgading to horizon but after reading the posts here ...no thank you ..back to sky me thinks

steveon

ivyQ wrote: »

Ive had upc broadband for nearly two years no problem , was thinking of moving back to skyat the end of my upc contract but then upc made me an offer anyone would be mad to refuse ..they basically cut my broadband cost in half and threw in tv services for free ...

to see here that people are saying the predecessor to the horizon box (the one I have is better)) is flipping shocking to me cs the top set box upc provided me is dismal ...laggy unresponsive , unreliable ...sloooooow , no way in a million years would I pay for it , was considering upgading to horizon but after reading the posts here ...no thank you ..back to sky me thinks

Sky Fiber been rolled out later this yr so hang tight ...might get a good triple play deal then by getting all in one go :-)

beauf

I think UPC are hard selling the Horizon box to people its obviously too complicated for. The UI but especially the remote is shockingly badly designed and unsuitable for a lot of people.

Mine is working ok, I had heard all the complaints so had low expectations. All of which its pretty much lived up to. I don't watch much TV so not a demanding user. I wanted HD on more channels and for that its working for me. Quality of the HD is good. SD not so good. Even knowing to avoid it, I've already managed to hit it the delete everything of the box by accident because of the lag. (or it crashed) . Its only a matter of time before someone else in the family does the same.

Its like having a self destruct button beside your alarm clock.

paulboland

steveon wrote: »

Sky Fiber been rolled out later this yr so hang tight ...might get a good triple play deal then by getting all in one go :-)

Have you seen the Sky threads and Eircom and Vodafone for broadband lot of drop outs and worse speed issues all use the same phone line unless you dont mind having low download speeds and are not a heavy internet user

UPC still is the best for broadband if you want speeds of 120Mb
Sky yes best for Digital TV

I would avoid Sky for triple deal of TV/Broadband/Phone if Broadband performance is important to you

I have both Sky HD and UPC Horizon and use both

Broadband overall is still best with UPC
You can have Sky for TV
UPC for Broadband/Phone

beauf

If they fixed the software on the Horizon box, and used better WiFi it would be really good.

They have the hard work done on the infrastructure.

bajer101

The problem with the Horizon box is not with the setup - that is easy. The problem is that it is a heap of junk. Elderly, non-techy people could set it up themselves - but like everyone else, they will not be able to watch TV satisfactorily. I had it for two days and organised its return before I ended up throwing it over the balcony. The big problem for me was that you just cannot browse through channels. Every channel change takes about one second - and you don't even know if your button press has registered.