Sick of UPC, Is eFibre reliable?

lightspeed

Im having trouble yet again with UPC and just got off the phone with them as i was not happy with the service or my last bill.

i was previously paying around €76.00 with multi room in 2 rooms and one recording box.

This was only after i phoned them last year as the price we were paying then as an existing customer was well in excess of their current price offers.

We are now out of contract and was charged their current price for the which came to just over €96.00.

Now i ring them and they tell me it is going up by a further €10.00. She then tried to persuade to pay an additional €5.00 for up to 240 mbps as im currently on up to 120mbps.

I reminded her that currently im only getting 8mbps and their is a guy from UPC coming tomorrow to try fix it as they say their a fault on the line that a technician needs to fix. The also told me it would be €40.00 if the fault is not with UPC and caused by loose wire etc even though he had just said there is a fault from their end.

The €10.00 increase is partly due to the multi room increasing to €11.00 per room.

When i first got up a few years ago, i think it was €2.50 per room, then €5.00, then €8.00 and now it gone to €11.00. The recording box monthly charge is also increasing by €3.99 i think.

I told the girl on the phone that i would discuss our options further with my father as the account in his name but we will probably cancel to go to eircom.

with eircom current advertised prices, i reckon it will be €381 less than upc with the €10.00 price increase.

Can anybody confirm if it is at least reliable? im in north county dublin area.

Thanks

bk

First if you threaten to leave upc they will normally go be you a significant discount.

The issue with Eircoms tv service is that unlike upc it uses the broadband service to deliver tv and thus your bandwidth.

With multiroom that could be as much as 40Mb/s! That is on top of Eircom putting you on a stable profile for tv which means it would start out being 20% slower!!

Add to all that that Eircom eFibre is based on your distance from the cab and it can be as low as 5Mb/s!! Obviously tv service will by work on that then.

I think your best option is to review what you actually need from upc. Do you really need 2 multi rooms, etc and then negotiate with them for a cheaper rate while threatening to leave for Eircom.

lightspeed

Its probably a better set up but whilst trying to up sell horizion, the UPC agent told me that Horizon is an all in one system with broadband, tv and telephone all in one box. So i assume tv will also come from the box with UPC as with Eircom eFibre.

ED E

Sky TV > UPC TV > Eircom TV

The user experience isnt the same with their set top units. Try one before you move.

Horizon tends to cause terrible wifi issues, then you have to fight them to give you your modem back for free, which means the same setup as you started with. Dont bother.

I'd try and get a better bundle from UPC, not move. They're most expensive because its a far superior product. If you insist on moving get eircom fibre and Sky Tv, its better tv and cheaper than all sky as calculated by BK.

bk

ED E wrote: »

I'd try and get a better bundle from UPC, not move. They're most expensive because its a far superior product. If you insist on moving get eircom fibre and Sky Tv, its better tv and cheaper than all sky as calculated by BK.

Actually the cheapest combination (and also probably the best experience) is UPC Broadband and Phone + Sky TV (satellite).

Hackery

You would be better off getting a few Freesat and Saorview combo boxes. No monthly charges after set-up. Then standalone NGA BB for €35 a month. Saving €70 a month or €840 a year.

dam099

bk wrote: »

Actually the cheapest combination (and also probably the best experience) is UPC Broadband and Phone + Sky TV (satellite).

If you want HD is it though? I see the cost (vs UPC bundles) then as

UPC €35/40/45 + SKY €29 + €15 so ranging from €79-89 vs €75-85 for the UPC bundles for TV/BB& Phone. Also the low end UPC Broadband has a limited cap and to get the kids/documentary etc. channels Sky becomes another €9 so €98 vs the comparable UPC at €85.

As a Horizon TV user I'd have to agree the TV experience is not good though, from seeing Sky at others homes it does look better.

My priority is having good BB (TC 7200 bridged with Archer C7, thanks to your advice here ) and live viewing of the kids channels so UPC TV is good enough for my needs in spite of it's limitations.

bigbadpat

Hackery wrote: »

You would be better off getting a few Freesat and Saorview combo boxes. No monthly charges after set-up. Then standalone NGA BB for €35 a month. Saving €70 a month or €840 a year.

I have Saorview boxes / TVs in bedrooms & Freeview combination box in main room with Vodafone for the internet which I am planning to change. Works well in the North Dublin area. Go to pub for the few sport events.

Forest Demon

Don't move to eircom. Stick with upc at best price possible. I used to be with upc and now stuck with eircom due to house move. Would gladly pay more to have upc back.

Worse part about it is that eircom is more expensive then my upc used to be and is only running at about 6% of the speed.

Sky and/or UPC is the only option I would consider if upc was available in my area. Taking a contract with eircom is like paying for a plage of biblical proportions on the house. Look at their customer service forums. It's a horror story and that is those who still have the energy to fight.

We broken ones (contracted to the devil) are silent. Have to go now. They are watching me.

bk

dam099 wrote: »

If you want HD is it though? I see the cost (vs UPC bundles) then as

UPC €35/40/45 + SKY €29 + €15 so ranging from €79-89 vs €75-85 for the UPC bundles for TV/BB& Phone. Also the low end UPC Broadband has a limited cap and to get the kids/documentary etc. channels Sky becomes another €9 so €98 vs the comparable UPC at €85.

Ah, I meant to get back to you on this.

First of all I agree that UPC TV isn't bad at all. Honestly I think a lot of the moaning I hear about it is due to people just being used to the Sky+ UI and not liking something new. UPC's TV service is very stable now (you certainly couldn't say that back in the NTL/Chorus days!) and perfectly fine for most peoples needs.

As to my price comparison, I only compared the entry level TV bundles of both companies. Going beyond that it gets far too complicated, with far too many variables. Do you want HD, Sky sports + movies, Sentanta, specific TV channels, maybe like UPC's "free" analogue multiroom or Sky+ box and UI or Sky Go Versus UPC Go or the excellent UPC apps or the Horizon boxes 5 tuner ability.

Way too many variables for me to compare every package, when it comes to TV, each person needs to make the comparison themselves based on the channels and features they want.

BTW While Sky have an extra charge for HD, the box they give new customers today is always a Sky HD box and even the "Non-HD" package includes a number of HD channels like BBC 1 and 2, etc. The HD charge is to get access to the non free HD channels (Sky Atlantic, etc.).

keithclancy

Dump the Cable boxes, get the lowest UPC Package and buy some freesat boxes.

35 euros a month, 60 meg is plenty for a whole household and it'll be more reliable than the VDSL Fibre to Cabinet product.

Automan

keithclancy wrote: »

Dump the Cable boxes, get the lowest UPC Package and buy some freesat boxes.

35 euros a month, 60 meg is plenty for a whole household and it'll be more reliable than the VDSL Fibre to Cabinet product.

Just be aware there is a 30Gb limit on the 60Mb package. It is not mentioned on the main page you have to go into the T&Cs to find it.

"Limited Broadband services: These services have a monthly usage allowance of 30GB."
"We suggest you monitor your usage using the tool available in My UPC."

When I was with UPC the tool on My UPC was never right, it always showed less than what I downloaded, the UPC Tech support person told me they were having problems with it, that was over a period of 6 months. I wonder if it has been fixed yet.

bk

Automan wrote: »

Just be aware there is a 30Gb limit on the 60Mb package. It is not mentioned on the main page you have to go into the T&Cs to find it.

"Limited Broadband services: These services have a monthly usage allowance of 30GB."
"We suggest you monitor your usage using the tool available in My UPC."

Yes, though in fairness the "punishment" for going over this limit is fairly weak.

If you go over the limit two months, then they will switch you to an unlimited product, which I assume is 120Mb/s for €40.

To be honest, that isn't much of a punishment at all!

Though I haven't heard any stories of them doing that recently, so I'm not sure they are really enforcing it. Either way still very good value for money.

Hank Scorpio

And reliable... I wish I was in your position