Would I be mad to leave UPC for Vodafone Fibre?

breeno

Hi guys,

I'm with UPC for Internet and TV at present and am moving my TV to sky as I can't stand the interface of horizon or the older box anymore. In regards to the Internet, it has been quite patchy in recent months and is really beginning to frustrate me. I've been on to them a few times and they've reset settings etc but to no avail. I'm sick of it and thinking about fibre but am I mad to do so? How reliable etc is the connection normally? All providers say I can get 90mb down. I'm about 150m to the cabinet so would hope to get near enough to this speed.

Any help is much appreciated!

bk

Well it sounds like you would get good performance (for VDSL) from VDSL. 90mb/s does seem likely if the cab is 150 meters.

However before moving, it might first be helpful to debug the issues you are experiencing with UPC. Typically UPC is much more stable and faster then VDSL.

What UPC modem are you using?

What results do you get from speedtest.upc.ie? (remember to test it with ethernet to get an accurate test).

Is it the wifi failing or the modem?

Wifi on UPC's can often be pretty poor and can cause drops, but when connected via ethernet, it is rock solid. The solution to this issue is to use your own high quality wifi router connected to the UPC modem and thus bypassing UPC's weak wifi.

Another issue sometimes encountered is that UPC's oldest router, the Cisco model can sometimes over heat and crash. The solution to this is to put an external fan on top of it, to cool it, clears it up well!

breeno

bk wrote: »

Well it sounds like you would get good performance (for VDSL) from VDSL. 90mb/s does seem likely if the cab is 150 meters.

However before moving, it might first be helpful to debug the issues you are experiencing with UPC. Typically UPC is much more stable and faster then VDSL.

What UPC modem are you using?

What results do you get from speedtest.upc.ie? (remember to test it with ethernet to get an accurate test).

Is it the wifi failing or the modem?

Wifi on UPC's can often be pretty poor and can cause drops, but when connected via ethernet, it is rock solid. The solution to this issue is to use your own high quality wifi router connected to the UPC modem and thus bypassing UPC's weak wifi.

Another issue sometimes encountered is that UPC's oldest router, the Cisco model can sometimes over heat and crash. The solution to this is to put an external fan on top of it, to cool it, clears it up well!

Thanks for the quick reply. My connection is through the horizon box. WiFi speeds vary wildly, as high as 50mb but as low as 3mb. Will check the wired speed and see how much different that is.

I really just wanted to be sure that people wouldn't be shouting "stop, you mad man" for considering leaving upc for fibre!!

Thanks for the help.

bk

breeno wrote: »

Thanks for the quick reply. My connection is through the horizon box. WiFi speeds vary wildly, as high as 50mb but as low as 3mb. Will check the wired speed and see how much different that is.

Yes, I think if you check with ethernet you will find that you are getting the full speed from UPC and that it is much more stable. The wifi on the Horizon box is particularly bad.

You would be better off staying with UPC IMO and getting a high quality wifi router of your own to go with it.

cerastes

breeno wrote: »

Thanks for the quick reply. My connection is through the horizon box. WiFi speeds vary wildly, as high as 50mb but as low as 3mb. Will check the wired speed and see how much different that is.

I really just wanted to be sure that people wouldn't be shouting "stop, you mad man" for considering leaving upc for fibre!!

Thanks for the help.

Im with UPC, Id had it with the tv interface up to a point, went out of contract and changed to sky for tv for a year, then cancelled that. Now my digital receiver is a much worse interface but its free per month, although Id happily ditch the tv and Ive only a few weeks to encourage the other half, doubt it though.

That said, Im glad I was never persuaded to the horizon box and wifi operated through it too, just wasnt convinced so glad I stuck with an independent combined modem/router, aside from the jump in cost when I already have a free tv service, my broadband was mostly reliable (last time I said that it went unreliable only very recently).
Ive considered hard-wiring some connections but I dont have anywhere to bring them up/down without being hidden, which for me is an absolute.

My UPC modem is the router also, not sure if theres any advantage to me plugging in my own router to it too?

JuRy40

Would I just plug the router directly in to the Horizon box to bypass the UPC wifi? I have a wifi usb stick for my computer as that does not have wifi built in, would this still be able to pick up the signal from the router?

bk

cerastes wrote: »

My UPC modem is the router also, not sure if theres any advantage to me plugging in my own router to it too?

Much better performance.

While the UPC routers are better then the Horizon boxes, they are still poor for wifi.

I get about 60mb/s from my UPC routers wifi in the same room, but 200mb/s from the (802.11h 5Ghz) wifi of my own high quality router plugged into the UPC modem.

bk

JuRy40 wrote: »

Would I just plug the router directly in to the Horizon box to bypass the UPC wifi? I have a wifi usb stick for my computer as that does not have wifi built in, would this still be able to pick up the signal from the router?

Pretty much, though you will need to change some settings on both your Horizon box and router. I don't have Horizon myself, so I'll leave it to someone with experience with it to explain how.

And yes, the wifi usb stick sohuld be able to connect to the new router. However what standards does the wifi usb stick support? If it supports 802.11n at 5Ghz then it should be good. But if it is an older model it might limit the speed you get and you should thus upgrade that too to get the best performance.

cerastes

bk wrote: »

Much better performance.

While the UPC routers are better then the Horizon boxes, they are still poor for wifi.

I get about 60mb/s from my UPC routers wifi in the same room, but 200mb/s from the (802.11h 5Ghz) wifi of my own high quality router plugged into the UPC modem.

I probably wont get around to doing this as Ive so many other things to do, plus the reason I mentioned (I dont like wiring on the surface), so unless I do some work which enables me to cover them up, I would do it at the same time.

Having said that, my modem is my router too, its a combined device.
Previously, I had a seperate modem and router, which is generally the format of things I prefer (I'm not as keen on certain hybrid devices that do a very specific thing).
I admit Im not certain if a combined modem router or a seperate modem+router is a better setup regarding speed from the UPC angle alone as Ive had both setups with UPC.

With a combined modem/router, will I still gain an advantage plugging in my own router to that setup?
Ive an older non wireless router, Im wondering if that would be faster than even my current wireless setup? I wouldnt rule out a newer router but Id probably try the old one first.

Zack Morris

Going by other posts on here, Vodafone have a 300GB fair usage policy. Be careful of that.

bk

cerastes wrote: »

With a combined modem/router, will I still gain an advantage plugging in my own router to that setup?
Ive an older non wireless router, Im wondering if that would be faster than even my current wireless setup? I wouldnt rule out a newer router but Id probably try the old one first.

Yes, if you plug a high quality router (dual radio, dual band 802.11n model or better) into the existing UPC modem/router, then you will be able to use it and you are likely to get significantly better performance.

Certainly you can try the old one first, it may or may not improve performance.