UPC 240mb now entry level speed!

Joo0

Just noticed on the UPC website that the entry level broadband speed is now 240mb. The 45 euro package which previously included 120mb has doubled in speed and stayed the same price

bk

Joo0 wrote: »

Just noticed on the UPC website that the entry level broadband speed is now 240mb. The 45 euro package which previously included 120mb has doubled in speed and stayed the same price

Yup, it seems that way!

Also free TV for 12 months for new customers!

Puts them in a very strong competitive position versus Eircoms "upto" 100Mb/s BB.

However I will say this €45 package actually offers less then what they offered just 6 months ago. 6 months ago you got 240Mb/s BB + unlimited landline + mobile calls for €45. Now you only get the landline calls for that price, you need to pay €55 for mobile calls!

Niemoj

Wow UPC are really upping their ante! 240Mb for the same price as Vodafone charge for *up to* 100Mb!

Nollog

bk wrote: »

Puts them in a very strong competitive position versus Eircoms "upto" 100Mb/s BB.

If people weren't going with UPC at 120mbps already, they were mad.
This doesn't really do anything to get people away from eircom, as speed wasn't the issue in the first place for the remaining people in UPC areas.

bk

/\/ollog wrote: »

If people weren't going with UPC at 120mbps already, they were mad.
This doesn't really do anything to get people away from eircom, as speed wasn't the issue in the first place for the remaining people in UPC areas.

It puts a comfortable gap between them and Eircom.

There is little real world difference between 100Mb/s and 120Mb/s, it was close enough and fast enough that people might not consider switching to UPC for it.

And then there is Eircom now aggressively pricing their TV service, that might actually win quiet a significant number of UPC customers over.

Finally you have Vodafone who are strongly rumoured to be preparing to launch their own TV service in a few weeks.

UPC need to be careful not to get caught out by lots of fresh competition. In particular UPC's TV packages have become rather expensive and over priced. The market is ripe for disruption there.

Then there is the upcoming threat of FTTH and 1Gb/s from Eircom and SIRO.

UPC need to be careful not to be surpassed, they need to:

- Launch their own mobile service (become a quad player), to match Eircom/Meteor and Vodafone.
- Make 240Mb/s the base package and look to release 500Mb/s and 1Gb/s package of their own.
- Price their TV packages more competitively

We have seen fantastic advancements in the quality and availability of high speed broadband over the past few years, but it is still relatively expensive.

€75 for UPC's cheapest Broadband + Phone + TV bundle.

Now just look at what Free.fr gives you for €30, upto 1Gb/s BB + unlimited calls + 200 channel TV (including 50 HD channels)!

We still have a long way to go.

Nollog

bk wrote: »

It puts a comfortable gap between them and Eircom.

There is little real world difference between 100Mb/s and 120Mb/s, it was close enough and fast enough that people might not consider switching to UPC for it.

Yeah great for the people a few meters away from the exchanges that could actually get 100mbit, but in real terms 90% of the efibre folks would be getting 70mbps.
Meanwhile UPC's speeds are usually spot on.

The speed upgrade isn't something I see them needing to change to compete, until siro launch. Then they absolutely need to upgrade.

For sure on the TV stuff, they and Sky have been pricing themselves out of the market imo, when IPTV is actually viable(next year probably) they'll be riping their pants.
I'd never get a TV package myself, as I've no real interest in it. Only way they'd get me that way would be to have it for free or bring down the overall price.

bk

/\/ollog wrote: »

Yeah great for the people a few meters away from the exchanges that could actually get 100mbit, but in real terms 90% of the efibre folks would be getting 70mbps.
Meanwhile UPC's speeds are usually spot on.

Oh, I know, but the reality is that for the vast majority of people, there is little or no real world difference between 70Mb/s and 120Mb/s

In reality anything above 50Mb/s is more then enough for the majority of people. Netflix, Youtube, etc. HD all work exactly the same on 70Mb/s as they do on 120Mb/s.

Hell I'm a software engineer who works at home and I saw little real world difference in download speeds in going from 16Mb/s to 240Mb/s !!

Once you get above 50Mb/s, I think people become more concerned about price and the cost of bundles with TV, phone, etc.

/\/ollog wrote: »

For sure on the TV stuff, they and Sky have been pricing themselves out of the market imo, when IPTV is actually viable(next year probably) they'll be riping their pants.
I'd never get a TV package myself, as I've no real interest in it. Only way they'd get me that way would be to have it for free or bring down the overall price.

I believe the pay TV market will be heavily disrupted over the next year. As Sky and UPC's TV duopoly is broken by disruptive TV services from Eircom and Vodafone (and Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime, etc.), I expect the "basic" 50 to 100 channel TV to basically become free when bundled with broadband from all companies.

And rightfully so, it is ridiculous to have to pay €30 for so much crap reality TV, repeats, +1 channels, all of which are full of ads!

I think we will see ad supported TV return to being "free".

Joo0

bk wrote: »

Oh, I know, but the reality is that for the vast majority of people, there is little or no real world difference between 70Mb/s and 120Mb/s

In reality anything above 50Mb/s is more then enough for the majority of people. Netflix, Youtube, etc. HD all work exactly the same on 70Mb/s as they do on 120Mb/s.

Hell I'm a software engineer who works at home and I saw little real world difference in download speeds in going from 16Mb/s to 240Mb/s !!

Once you get above 50Mb/s, I think people become more concerned about price and the cost of bundles with TV, phone, etc.



I believe the pay TV market will be heavily disrupted over the next year. As Sky and UPC's TV duopoly is broken by disruptive TV services from Eircom and Vodafone (and Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime, etc.), I expect the "basic" 50 to 100 channel TV to basically become free when bundled with broadband from all companies.

And rightfully so, it is ridiculous to have to pay €30 for so much crap reality TV, repeats, +1 channels, all of which are full of ads!

I think we will see ad supported TV return to being "free".

The only thing keeping a lot of people subscribed to sky/UPC is sport. IPTV would be fine on a 240MB connection from UPC but with Eircom if you can only get 50/60mb and then add IPTV you are down to 30mb. Will Sky ditch the dish and go IPTV in the near future?

Dave..M

Joo0 wrote: »

The only thing keeping a lot of people subscribed to sky/UPC is sport. IPTV would be fine on a 240MB connection from UPC but with Eircom if you can only get 50/60mb and then add IPTV you are down to 30mb. Will Sky ditch the dish and go IPTV in the near future?

We are the only market that SKY operate in where they have not (officially) launched an OTT service. I'd suggest it's because they have been unable to find a price point that would attract customers and not cannibalise their existing dish base. SKY have always viewed us as the poor second cousin, grateful for the scraps (essentially a byproduct of satellite signals to the UK market) but I'd suggest a nice little earner for them all the same that they perceive as under threat. Eircoms VDSL may be inferior to UPC (their peering is streets ahead though) but it put an essential backstop into the market and for open resale, SIRO will again drive everyone else forward. eVision may be noise but again its essential competition, if Vodafone launch a product, even better. I'd like to see Amazon Prime video launched here and ultimately NOWTV (though the cost vs GBP converted will be interesting and perhaps ultimately more costly than currently). Competition is king though so the more the merrier even if they won't appeal to everyone, bring it on!

maclek

I just upgraded from 120mb to 240mb in order to get a higher upload speed. I'm surprised they didn't increase the upload speed on the more expensive package, I think that's what a lot of people are looking for rather than faster download speeds.

I guess I'll call them tomorrow and downgrade my package. Being able to call mobiles for an extra tenner a month isn't worth it, I already get that on my mobile.

keithclancy

Jesus thats a good deal, basic package here in NL actually got downgraded from 60 to 40 since they bought Ziggo and is a tenner more expensive per month (45)

I'll be sticking to my 60mb legacy package for 35 / month :P

240mb is not necessary for me :cool:

As soon as FTTH is available in my neighborhood i'm switching though.

Johnboy1951

In reality anything above 50Mb/s is more then enough for the majority of people. Netflix, Youtube, etc. HD all work exactly the same on 70Mb/s as they do on 120Mb/s.

While I agree with the opinion, I do not see it having any great impact on what people purchase (in the majority).

I believe people are 'programmed' to believe 'bigger is better' etc and when two salespeople call, one offering twice what the other offers for around the same price (a little dearer) the consumer will take the bigger ......... after all 'it is better value'!

I have to admit to having some feelings along those lines myself ...... if FTTH was possible here I would jump at it.

I would try to figure out how to make best use of it after I got it

ItHurtsWhenIP

maclek wrote: »

I just upgraded from 120mb to 240mb in order to get a higher upload speed. I'm surprised they didn't increase the upload speed on the more expensive package, I think that's what a lot of people are looking for rather than faster download speeds.

I guess I'll call them tomorrow and downgrade my package. Being able to call mobiles for an extra tenner a month isn't worth it, I already get that on my mobile.

I think the 240Mbps package should have a 24Mbps upload. If you didn't get this when you upgraded, call the support crew in the first place or the UPC reps here on boards and ask them to look at it. If they can't fix it, then you can look for a downgrade (though if 240Mbps is now the base package, you may need to argue a bit).

colm_mcm

I see the free mobile calls are gone from the standard (well, middle really) package (the one that was 120mb) now.

thomas anderson.

I'd need to upgrade every nic in the house for 240mb

Johnboy1951

bk wrote: »

Yup, it seems that way!

Also free TV for 12 months for new customers!

Puts them in a very strong competitive position versus Eircoms "upto" 100Mb/s BB.

However I will say this €45 package actually offers less then what they offered just 6 months ago. 6 months ago you got 240Mb/s BB + unlimited landline + mobile calls for €45. Now you only get the landline calls for that price, you need to pay €55 for mobile calls!

Maybe I am reading things incorrectly ..... but the €45 package provides Irish landline + mobile calls - unlimited, with 400 mins of international calls to landlines only.
Did they previously include international mobile calls also?

Unlimited Seamless Broadband
Unlimited calls to Irish landlines and mobiles
400 minutes to landlines in 22 international destinations

bk

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Maybe I am reading things incorrectly ..... but the €45 package provides Irish landline + mobile calls - unlimited, with 400 mins of international calls to landlines only.
Did they previously include international mobile calls also?

Where are you reading that?

From what I'm seeing the €45 package no longer includes Irish mobile calls like it did 6 months ago:

http://www.upc.ie/broadband/

Unlimited Seamless Broadband
Unlimited calls to Irish landlines
400 minutes to landlines in 22 international destinations

See no mobile calls.

To be honest I'm not sure why anyone would bother paying an extra €10 per month for mobile calls from a landline. Much better to spend that €10 getting unlimited mobile calls from a mobile.

I suppose these sort of packages will start making more sense when they start bundling in their own mobile phone service.

Imagine a package something like the following for €55

- 240Mb/s BB
- Unlimited landline and mobile calls
- Mobile phone service with unlimited calls, texts and 1GB and data

I could imagine something like that being very popular.

bk

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I believe people are 'programmed' to believe 'bigger is better' etc and when two salespeople call, one offering twice what the other offers for around the same price (a little dearer) the consumer will take the bigger ......... after all 'it is better value'!

I couldn't agree more Johnboy1951, it is pure marketing.

Just like the megapixel race in cameras, or pretty much anything to do with IT (CPU's, RAM, etc.).

However I do think you eventually hit a point of diminishing returns where faster doesn't mean much and the focus switches to other aspects, such as quality.

Look at how the CPU Megahertz race is now largely over (other then for gamers), where pretty much any mainstream CPU is fast enough for most people and their needs. So instead the focus has switched to performance per watt, to allow more attractive form factors like the Macbook Air and tablets, etc.

I think we are getting to the same stage with broadband, where anything above say 30Mb/s (for an individual) and 50Mb/s (for a family) is probably plenty fast.

I think as the broadband market is now starting to mature, that we focus on other aspects of broadband:

- Price
while much better now, I think entry level broadband in Ireland is still far too expensive.

- Upload speed
Upload speeds need to improve with people now using cloud services like Google Photos, youtube, etc.

- Quality of peering with other ISPs and international connectivity
Something which Eircom is very good at, but UPC has been relatively poor at.

- Amount of contention on the network

They still have a way to go.

Having said all that Johnboy1951, I agree, I'd also be extremely tempted by FTTH too if the price was right, even though I know I don't need it

Johnboy1951

bk wrote:

Where are you reading that?

From what I'm seeing the €45 package no longer includes Irish mobile calls like it did 6 months ago:

http://www.upc.ie/broadband/

http://www.upc.ie/bundle-builder/broadband-tv-phone/

bk

Ok, Johnboy1951, so it is saying two different things in different places on their site.

Obviously one is wrong, I hope I'm wrong, but I expect I'm not.

Johnboy1951

bk wrote: »

Ok, Johnboy1951, so it is saying two different things in different places on their site.

Obviously one is wrong, I hope I'm wrong, but I expect I'm not.

I expect you are right and they forgot to update the page I linked to

maclek

MMFITWGDV wrote: »

I think the 240Mbps package should have a 24Mbps upload. If you didn't get this when you upgraded, call the support crew in the first place or the UPC reps here on boards and ask them to look at it. If they can't fix it, then you can look for a downgrade (though if 240Mbps is now the base package, you may need to argue a bit).

I had the middle package that was 120meg down, around 12 up. I don't need faster than 120 down but I needed more than 12 up, so I upgraded. I'm now getting my 24 up as you said, but the middle package offers that too I assume so I might as well downgrade, I think the charge is €10.

IIt would be nice if the top package was upgraded to 240 down and say 48 up, then I'd stay on the top package.

I'm quite happy with my UPC broadband:

Chaos Marine

I don't have a television or a phone as I have a mobile and I've had their 120MB connection for a while. Can I get the 240 connection without getting their TV and phone package?

bk

Chaos Marine wrote: »

I don't have a television or a phone as I have a mobile and I've had their 120MB connection for a while. Can I get the 240 connection without getting their TV and phone package?

You don't have to get the TV service, but you do have to get the phone service with their broadband. However the phone service is basically free, so that doesn't matter. You don't have to bother using the phone if you don't want to.

PixelTrawler

Any word on existing customers getting bumped now that 120meg doesnt seem to exist for new customers any longer?

Wouldnt mind the extra upload speed...

Chaos Marine

Nope. Unless you want to go into another one-year contract. I'm kinda looking for a new place to move to as Blackpool is getting worse and worse. A few months ago, I got attacked and needed stitches thanks to some wandering pack of knackers and the other night I've been woken up in the middle of the morning by some screaming loons demanding to fight some one else and then listening to him pounding a door demanding the guy who he wanted to fight to come out.

bk

I got an email from UPC yesterday offering free 100 channel Horizon TV for 12 months when bundled with 240MB/s BB for €40 per month

Looks like a very good deal, I'm currently on 240Mb/s BB + phone only (no TV) for €44

It looks like I would however lose free mobile calls, but not a big deal given that I have that on my mobile already.

My only concern is that they would force me to use the crappy Horizon TV box for BB. I have my UPC router currently working nicely in bridge mode and certainly don't want to lose that.

As I mentioned earlier, my prediction that TV services will end up becoming free look like it is largely starting to come true. I expect this offer is coming from UPC due to Eircom's free Evision offer and the expected launch of Vodafones TV service soon.

Joo0

bk wrote: »

I got an email from UPC yesterday offering free 100 channel Horizon TV for 12 months when bundled with 240MB/s BB for €40 per month

Looks like a very good deal, I'm currently on 240Mb/s BB + phone only (no TV) for €44

It looks like I would however lose free mobile calls, but not a big deal given that I have that on my mobile already.

My only concern is that they would force me to use the crappy Horizon TV box for BB. I have my UPC router currently working nicely in bridge mode and certainly don't want to lose that.

As I mentioned earlier, my prediction that TV services will end up becoming free look like it is largely starting to come true. I expect this offer is coming from UPC due to Eircom's free Evision offer and the expected launch of Vodafones TV service soon.

The main reason of free TV is down to loosing 10% of their TV customers in a space of a year. With another loss coming when MMDS is switched off

Dave..M

bk wrote: »

I got an email from UPC yesterday offering free 100 channel Horizon TV for 12 months when bundled with 240MB/s BB for €40 per month

Looks like a very good deal, I'm currently on 240Mb/s BB + phone only (no TV) for €44

It looks like I would however lose free mobile calls, but not a big deal given that I have that on my mobile already.

My only concern is that they would force me to use the crappy Horizon TV box for BB. I have my UPC router currently working nicely in bridge mode and certainly don't want to lose that.

As I mentioned earlier, my prediction that TV services will end up becoming free look like it is largely starting to come true. I expect this offer is coming from UPC due to Eircom's free Evision offer and the expected launch of Vodafones TV service soon.

I've seen others noting that they got to keep their old router and have the Horizon box just for TV once requested. Personally I'd have no use for the Horizon box and frankly the risk of losing bridge on my trusty old TWG isnt worth the speed upgrade that I don't need! No doubt I will be upgraded next time there is a billing increase to justify it (probably due soon enough in fact!)

joe_99

bk wrote: »

My only concern is that they would force me to use the crappy Horizon TV box for BB. I have my UPC router currently working nicely in bridge mode and certainly don't want to lose that.

I kept my original router when i upgraded to Horizon. I have since got rid of the TV service as the Horizon box is appalling

My aunt took up the Horizon offer, turned out to be a bit of a mess.

They requested to keep the modem afterwards and paid the €45. UPC said the request would take 48 hours and the modem would be reactivated. Four days later, nothing happened, so my cousin phoned UPC. The request was never submitted. The CSR said they couldn't reactivate his modem as it had been deleted from their system and they'd have to send a new one out. He took the opportunity to request a Cisco 3925. The rep agreed, but they got another TC7200 in the end, which I half expected would happen.

I also have a TC7200 bridged, which I wouldn't want to lose. But I'd also be concerned that if I tried to change my package, that they'd use that as a chance to move me to IPv6/DS-Lite which I definitely don't want!

MarkAnthony

UPC bank on the fact that the vast majority of people never use this speed. I do wish people (not necessarily the people here) would get it through their heads that you aint getting 240Mbits on wifi.

I'd wager the vast majority of single cabled connections can't take it either.

Anyways the point of my little rant is it's nice to have an M3 sitting in the drive. You're still only opening it up to it's max a tiny minority of the time.

zl1whqvjs75cdy

Do the vast majority of people need 240 though? Yeah its nice to have that totally legally obtained movie on your laptop 5 minutes faster, but aside from that what's the benefit? I had UPC but I hate the company and switched to sky. Getting 100 now (and I have tested it so I do actually get 100) and its fine for my needs. I'd be a semi heavy user, good bit of online gaming and lots of downloading of large files and I have had no issue with Sky.

donkeyoaty0099

donkeyoaty0099 wrote: »

Do the vast majority of people need 240 though?

Not exactly, well not me anyway. I'd be happy with even 30-50Mb at a lower price to be honest. When I signed up to UPC I originally had 8Mb, but with a combination of speed bumps and price increases I now have 120Mb but am also paying almost double what I originally paid.

MarkAnthony

Why do people bundle? I've never got this. Broadband from UPC, TV from Sky. Play them off against each other, much cheapness all year long.

Nollog

MarkAnthony wrote: »

UPC bank on the fact that the vast majority of people never use this speed. I do wish people (not necessarily the people here) would get it through their heads that you aint getting 240Mbits on wifi.

You could get 240mb/s on wireless if you've got the proper equipment.

MarkAnthony wrote: »

Why do people bundle? I've never got this. Broadband from UPC, TV from Sky. Play them off against each other, much cheapness all year long.

If you take TV out of the equation, often Phone and Broadband with the same provider is cheaper than separate.

MarkAnthony

/\/ollog wrote: »

You could get 240mb/s on wireless if you've got the proper equipment.

I agree but the vast majority are using the default equipment. UPC bank on this,

If you take TV out of the equation, often Phone and Broadband with the same provider is cheaper than separate.[/QUOTE]

The only option in most cases but I refer to TV + broadband. To me it's like bundling my electricity bill and car insurance, I just don't see the relation. Furthermore it costs more so why do it?

If you're going to pay for TV Sky is the only show in town. Otherwise Netflix and Saorview and/or freesat IMHO.

Nollog

I'd imagine it's mainly the idea that one bill is easier to deal with than 2.

Or it's just a marketing trick, making them think it's cheaper when it's only cheaper for the first X months.

MarkAnthony

/\/ollog wrote: »

I'd imagine it's mainly the idea that one bill is easier to deal with than 2.

Or it's just a marketing trick, making them think it's cheaper when it's only cheaper for the first X months.

That's the bit I just don't get - people would rather one bill/no bills. Pay as you go penetration here is massive because people would rather pay more than have a bill. I don't understand why those bill companies aren't here like in the UK when you pay them and they pay your bills - maybe my first million :pac:

MarkAnthony

MarkAnthony wrote: »

I don't understand why those bill companies aren't here like in the UK when you pay them and they pay your bills - maybe my first million :pac:

They're not very common but there was one in Rathmines, went bust a few years ago.

Nollog

MarkAnthony wrote: »

That's the bit I just don't get - people would rather one bill/no bills. Pay as you go penetration here is massive because people would rather pay more than have a bill. I don't understand why those bill companies aren't here like in the UK when you pay them and they pay your bills - maybe my first million :pac:

you should do a groupon for tv bundles, kinda like the onebigswitch thing, but with a not-awful website.

Not sure how that thing works, if you pay them or the company they have the switch with. If you pay the company directly, you could differentiate yourself there, and people get a better deal by giving the company 100+ new customers at a time.

dub45

I am surprised that nobody has really mentioned the importance of wifi for most people now. Surely as the basic speeds increase the isps need to be either looking at the quality of the equipment they supply to customers as regards the wifi performance or making it easier for customers to improve the wifi speed performance and most importantly range via simple bridging?

There must be plenty of homes now with no ethernet equipped devices.

dub45

dub45 wrote: »

I am surprised that nobody has really mentioned the importance of wifi for most people now. Surely as the basic speeds increase the isps need to be either looking at the quality of the equipment they supply to customers as regards the wifi performance or making it easier for customers to improve the wifi speed performance and most importantly range via simple bridging?

There must be plenty of homes now with no ethernet equipped devices.

802.11ac is a bit of a challenge. While it can deliver excellent speed, the 5 GHz frequency pretty much limits you to that room. So I'm sure that most users would need two or three APs in an average home.

ED E

dub45 wrote: »

I am surprised that nobody has really mentioned the importance of wifi for most people now. Surely as the basic speeds increase the isps need to be either looking at the quality of the equipment they supply to customers as regards the wifi performance or making it easier for customers to improve the wifi speed performance and most importantly range via simple bridging?

Eircom is the only once that I know of to do this. Their F1000(Zyxel) was trash but theyve replaced it with the F2000(Huawei 659b) with pretty decent all round dual band and AC. Vodafones offering doesnt have this, UPCs CPE is all single simultaneous bands, the Sky hub I believe to be single band too.

ED E

Karsini wrote: »

802.11ac is a bit of a challenge. While it can deliver excellent speed, the 5 GHz frequency pretty much limits you to that room. So I'm sure that most users would need two or three APs in an average home.

5GHz isnt that bad. Its definitely shorter range and reduced penetration, but its not that bad. I pull just under 100Mbps on 5Ghz AC through two cavity block walls.

ED E

ED E wrote: »

5GHz isnt that bad. Its definitely shorter range and reduced penetration, but its not that bad. I pull just under 100Mbps on 5Ghz AC through two cavity block walls.

I have a 5 GHz router myself but when I'm in my bedroom, the data rate drops very low and packet loss increases despite the signal strength appearing to be acceptable. Maybe it's just my router so? Then again it's a 450 Mbps 802.11n unit.

ED E

Karsini wrote: »

I have a 5 GHz router myself but when I'm in my bedroom, the data rate drops very low and packet loss increases despite the signal strength appearing to be acceptable. Maybe it's just my router so? Then again it's a 450 Mbps 802.11n unit.

A decent router and client and you're away in a hack. Turns out they're SOLID 4" concrete blocks, not cavity (doh!). And I dont have AC here. I need coffee...


102.51Mb DS - Same Room
101.29Mb DS - 1 Wall
101.23Mb DS - 2 Walls
58.15Mb DS - 3 Walls
50.97Mb DS - 4 Walls

We're a bungalow so excessive walls. A modern two story will never have that kinda structure in the way (bar insulated gaffs with aluminium).

According to amazon UK my WNDR3800 was released "2 Dec 2009". Not the top of the line by a long shot. Id expect 80Mb after 4 walls with beamforming and MIMO.

moc moc a moc

dub45 wrote: »

isps need to be either looking at the quality of the equipment they supply to customers as regards the wifi performance

Limited point in the ISPs spending money on top-of-the-line hardware if the majority of the users' devices only support 2.4GHz .11g or n

bk

MarkAnthony wrote: »

UPC bank on the fact that the vast majority of people never use this speed. I do wish people (not necessarily the people here) would get it through their heads that you aint getting 240Mbits on wifi.

I'd wager the vast majority of single cabled connections can't take it either.

Anyways the point of my little rant is it's nice to have an M3 sitting in the drive. You're still only opening it up to it's max a tiny minority of the time.

I get 200Mb/s on 5Ghz ac. Also I have two gigabit ethernet ports in each room in the apartment So I can definitely max out the connection and I also use a sam knows box so I do know I get close to the full speed.

However I do know what you mean and I agree that most people would never need more then 50Mb/s and in reality aren't getting more then 50 out of their crappy wifi.

MarkAnthony wrote: »

Why do people bundle? I've never got this. Broadband from UPC, TV from Sky. Play them off against each other, much cheapness all year long.

Well the marketing is evolving quickly.

A few years ago you would have been right about not bundling TV and phone. They were separate, expensive services. But phone has quickly become devalued and it is now basically given away for free with broadband. So no point in not taking it *

* With the exception of Vodafones Broadband only package where you can in fact save a few euro.

Up till recently you would be right about keeping TV and broadband separate, but now we are seeing TV going the same way as phone services and basically becoming free with broadband!!

Why would you pay UPC €44 for broadband and Sky €30 separately for TV for a total cost of €74, when I can get broadband + phone + TV from UPC for just €40.

It is a no brainer really.

This is all been driven by the TV market becoming much more competitive. We have gone from a duopoly of Sky/UPC to soon to be 4 companies offering TV (Sky,UPC,Eircom,Vodafone), plus Saorview and FTA sat AND the online companies like Netflix, Amazon, HBO, etc.

I expect we will end up seeing ad supported TV (everything but Sky sports, movies and maybe Atlantic) basically end up becoming free when bundled with broadband.

Sky is going to be the big loser in all of this IMO. They are very badly positioned for this new market reality.

Karsini wrote: »

802.11ac is a bit of a challenge. While it can deliver excellent speed, the 5 GHz frequency pretty much limits you to that room. So I'm sure that most users would need two or three APs in an average home.

My 5GHz ac has no problem reaching every corner of my faraday cage (metal studs and isolation in the walls) like home!

In fact my router gives a stronger signal on 5GHz then 2.4GHz!! *

* This is because the 5GHz radio is attached to three large external antenna on the router, while the 2.4GHz only uses weaker internal antenna! Obviously that isn't normal, but router review sites are seeing these sort of results more often now as router manufacturers are putting more effort into the 5Ghz side of things. So don't assume that 2.4GHz always has better penetration.

MarkAnthony wrote: »

To me it's like bundling my electricity bill and car insurance, I just don't see the relation. Furthermore it costs more so why do it?

It is because of the delivery method. In the end phone and TV can easily be delivered as IP services. It is natural that they would be delivered as over the top services on high speed broadband.

As for pricing, well clearly it is now cheaper to bundle.

UPC 240MB/s BB €44 + Sky TV €30 = €70
New Customer UPC 240MB/s BB + TV = €25
Existing Customer UPC 240Mb/s + TV = €40

It is now way cheaper to bundle. You could save as much as €540 a year!!!!!!

Nollog

bk wrote: »

Why would you pay UPC €44 for broadband and Sky €30 separately for TV for a total cost of €74, when I can get broadband + phone + TV from UPC for just €40.

It is a no brainer really.

As for pricing, well clearly it is now cheaper to bundle.

UPC 240MB/s BB €44 + Sky TV €30 = €70
New Customer UPC 240MB/s BB + TV = €25
Existing Customer UPC 240Mb/s + TV = €40

It is now way cheaper to bundle. You could save as much as €540 a year!!!!!!

*in the first year, terms and conditions apply, banks are regulated by the central bank of boards

bk

/\/ollog wrote: »

*in the first year, terms and conditions apply, banks are regulated by the central bank of boards

Yes and I'm after clarifying that with UPC. It is an 18 month contract. So €40 per month for 12 months, followed by €80 for 6 months.

Still not bad, it basically works out at €53 per month for the full 18 months. That still works out at €23 per month cheaper then get UPC BB and Sky TV separately.

Here is the maths if you are singing up as a new customer to each service:

UPC (BB + TV)
(25 × 12) + (80 × 6) = 780
780 / 18 = 43.33 per month

UPC BB + Sky HD TV
(25 × 6) + (45 × 12) + (38 × 18) = 1,374
1,374/18 = 76.33 per month

Eircom (BB + TV)
(30 × 6) + (73 × 12) = 1,056
1,056/ 18 = 58.66 per month

Note the above is only for 50 channel TV and no HD. Add €13 per month to add the extra 50 TV channels and HD that both the UPC and Sky packages include, so for equivalence:
58.66 + 13 = 71.66 per month

Sky BB + Sky HD TV
(30 × 6) + (50 × 12) + (38 × 18) = 1,464
1,464/ 18 = 81.33 pre month