eir vs sky tv

cena

Anyone use either services. What are the pros and cons.

I have sky, but during the week I had a eir rep call to the house he offered tv fibre and landline for 60 euro a month for 18 months.

What I want to know is eir tv much different to sky?? I know I well be losing many of the channels I watch.

Mr E

My parents upgraded(/downgraded) to eir earlier this year, mainly a cost saving measure.
I think they secretly want Sky back, and when the eir promotional pricing runs out, they'll probably move back.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

You should call Sky and tell them you're considering switching to Eir (for whatever reasons - even say because it's cheaper and they've offered you this deal for 18 months) - Sky don't want to lose customers and will probably offer you a similar deal themselves for 18 months to stick with them, they'd rather you get a discount from them for x amount of months if it means keeping you long term. They'll never advertise it, because that's not good business, but they're definitely open to negotiation, I know quite a few people who've gotten deals off them in the past. No harm in trying, just be nice and pleasant with whoever you speak to on the phone - no one is going to go out of their way to help someone who's being rude and dickish (and that goes for any sort of sales or services - the amount of freebies and discounts I've gotten over the years from various shops and services [free pints in bars is always a good one] because I'm jovial with the staff is surprising), as 90% of the time they're treated like s**t.

flazio

The Sky TV service, even at a basic level is vastly superior to Eir (have both in the house) Catch up services, a much easier to use EPG, smarter series link. More channels and the option to tune in extra variants of channels on the "Other Channels" list.
Eir TV reminds me of a Hotel room TV service. It's pretty OK but they will miss the ease of the Sky box when it's gone.

cena

Also Starring LeVar Burton wrote: »

You should call Sky and tell them you're considering switching to Eir (for whatever reasons - even say because it's cheaper and they've offered you this deal for 18 months) - Sky don't want to lose customers and will probably offer you a similar deal themselves for 18 months to stick with them, they'd rather you get a discount from them for x amount of months if it means keeping you long term. They'll never advertise it, because that's not good business, but they're definitely open to negotiation, I know quite a few people who've gotten deals off them in the past. No harm in trying, just be nice and pleasant with whoever you speak to on the phone - no one is going to go out of their way to help someone who's being rude and dickish (and that goes for any sort of sales or services - the amount of freebies and discounts I've gotten over the years from various shops and services (free pints in bars is always a good one) because I'm jovial with the staff is surprising, as 90% of the time they're treated like s**t.

I was only given 10% discount for tv as I am still in contract with the boardband

uck51js9zml2yt

I had eir. I switched back to sky TV after 2weeks and paid for both for a few months. Sky had offered me a few months free to come back.

First Up

I'm looking at both as I've just cancelled Virgin. In what way is Sky superior? I have Eir broadband, landline etc and the TV deal on offer is quite good. The Sky package seemed overly complicated and more expensive and I'm not crazy about installing a dish.

Mr E

Sky Pros:
Better Interface
Easier to record
More channels (incl. Sky Atlantic)
Boxsets

Sky Cons:
Expensive (especially if you have Sports and/or movies), even more expensive if you use Q.
Dish required.

Eir Pros:
It does the job, nothing spectacular though.

Eir Cons:
Will be similar pricing to Sky once promotional pricing expires.
TV over IP - it uses broadband. Broadband goes down? No TV.
Clunky interface (my parents have memorised the channels that they use most and switch to them by typing the channel number)

First Up

Thanks. I think Eir will be a bit cheaper as they include their sports pack for free. (I will be adding Sky Sports.)

I don't have big technical expectations or demands and would have assumed the interfaces are similar - one remote changer is much like another. I am only switching because Virgin are stopping the Eir sports pack.

First Up

After further investigation have opted for Sky. More expensive but better range of channels. I can get Eir/BT Sports for free as an Eir broadband customer.

_Kaiser_

First Up wrote: »

After further investigation have opted for Sky. More expensive but better range of channels. I can get Eir/BT Sports for free as an Eir broadband customer.

Make sure you register your Sky viewing card on the eir site so that you can get the eir/BT channels on your TV as well

Agree with most of the above though.. I had eir TV last year and found it so bad (box kept overheating, and frequently complained that it wasn't connected to the registered BB - it was, and the EPG was unusable as any sort of programme guide) that I paid to get out of the contract.

Eir BB/fibre though works great so I kept that and got a deal with Sky for the rest

First Up

_Kaiser_ wrote:

Make sure you register your Sky viewing card on the eir site so that you can get the eir/BT channels on your TV as well

Yep, I talked to Eir and got the lowdown on the TV hook up for sports.

dinevalesco

Quick query here guys - is there any way of accessing the 'Red Button' feature on BBC on EirVision?

L8rdude

From experience sky tv is superior to eir. My OH also felt sky was easier to navigate.

flazio

dinevalesco wrote: »

Quick query here guys - is there any way of accessing the 'Red Button' feature on BBC on EirVision?

No.

First Up

L8rdude wrote:

From experience sky tv is superior to eir. My OH also felt sky was easier to navigate.

I have just switched to Sky from VM (because of the Eir/BT Sports issue). I'm still getting used to the Sky stuff - the channels are not grouped in a logical sequence or groups. I have lots of channels I didn't have before, including some I am unlikely to ever watch but some that I will and many are HD. Good quality signal and equipment is discreet.

A few useful channels are unavailable - e.g BBC News which I assume is because it competes with Sky News.
However I have the Eir/BT channels back which is what I changed for.

lertsnim

Get yourself acquainted with Other Channels. Other channels available there like ITV HD, C4 HD, C5 HD, BBC News HD etc etc

First Up

lertsnim wrote:

Get yourself acquainted with Other Channels. Other channels available there like ITV HD, C4 HD, C5 HD, BBC News HD etc etc

Where do I find "Other Channels"? I've been through all the menus (I think) and see no such link, nor do the channels you listed appear anywhere I can see.

bmwguy

Could you be talked out of getting a tv subscription at all? I have saorview for the Irish channels, Netflix and an android box. Takes a bit of getting your head around but it's vastly superior if you set it up right and much, much cheaper.

sonofenoch

First Up wrote: »

Where do I find "Other Channels"? I've been through all the menus (I think) and see no such link, nor do the channels you listed appear anywhere I can see.

You need to add them manually to find them in 'other channels'.....tv guide - add channels ......google is your friend, very simple to do

here's a guide but you'll find many more
https://elfknowsit.com/sky-channel-codes-all-you-need/

lertsnim

Also the satellite section is here
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=55

Lots of people on there who use Sky boxes every day. I got rid of mine a long time ago so wouldnt be able to advise you on how to add channels.

First Up

sonofenoch wrote:

You need to add them manually to find them in 'other channels'.....tv guide - add channels ......google is your friend, very simple to do

Would appreciate some help with this. I've tried following the instructions in the link you provided but I am unable to find the "top menu" in the TV Guide. If I keep scrolling up it just continues to list channels. For example RTEOne HD is channel 101. When I scroll UP from that I get Sky 999, 998 etc. I don't get any top menu.

Am I missing something obvious here?

sonofenoch

First Up wrote: »

Would appreciate some help with this. I've tried following the instructions in the link you provided but I am unable to find the "top menu" in the TV Guide. If I keep scrolling up it just continues to list channels. For example RTEOne HD is channel 101. When I scroll UP from that I get Sky 999, 998 etc. I don't get any top menu.

Am I missing something obvious here?

Ok the easiest method is to hit the 'services' button....that will take you to 'options' ...drop down and scroll across to 'add channels'


you can access all menus with the up/down/sideways keys anyway but try the above first, mess around with it and you'll pick it up easy

here's a vid explains it better https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFBklUD4Ggs

trashcan

Have read this thread with interest. I want to move from virgin as am getting royally screwed by them cost wise at the moment, have just been too lazy to do anything about it up to now, but the Setanta/Eir sports debacle is the last straw. Setanta sports 1 was the only channel to show Irish football, and I want to hold onto it. Anyway, having read this I,m thinking of going with Eir for broad band and landline phone (need to keep the landline) and Sky for a basic to package. From what I can see that will also give me the Eir sports channel. Eir have broad band and phone for €30 per month (rising to 50 after 6 months. Sky have basic tv for 29.50 (with a free 32" tv thrown in). Way cheaper than what I'm paying at the moment for tv, broadband and phone.

First Up

sonofenoch wrote:

Ok the easiest method is to hit the 'services' button....that will take you to 'options' ...drop down and scroll across to 'add channels'

I don't have a "Services" button! Where is it?

5starpool

First Up wrote: »

I don't have a "Services" button! Where is it?

Do you have Sky Q? If so it is under the settings menu in there under manual tuning.

First Up

5starpool wrote:

Do you have Sky Q? If so it is under the settings menu in there under manual tuning.

Thanks. I've tried that. When I go into Manual Tuning it asks for my PIN. I enter the PIN I registered on the website and it says incorrect PIN.

I'm obviously doing something daft. I'll wait until their support line opens tomorrow and see if they can help me decipher it.

VincePP

First Up wrote: »

Thanks. I've tried that. When I go into Manual Tuning it asks for my PIN. I enter the PIN I registered on the website and it says incorrect PIN.

I'm obviously doing something daft. I'll wait until their support line opens tomorrow and see if they can help me decipher it.

Pin number is the last 4 digits of the viewing card.

First Up

VincePP wrote:

Pin number is the last 4 digits of the viewing card.

Thanks - got it. But still no joy. Frequencies on my system allow only two digits before decimal so 10818 on the chart comes out as 10.818. Also Standard on my TV shows DVB-S, while on the chart it is DBV and I see no way of changing it.

Kensington

First Up wrote: »

Thanks - got it. But still no joy. Frequencies on my system allow only two digits before decimal so 10818 on the chart comes out as 10.818. Also Standard on my TV shows DVB-S, while on the chart it is DBV and I see no way of changing it.

10818 on the above link = 10.818 on Sky Q.
That link states frequency in MHz, Sky Q states it in GHz. So that's not an issue.

To change to DVB-S2, slide right on the touch remote or right arrow key on standard remote.

Tommy Kelly

I ordered Eir TV on the 5th of July. I cancelled it after 4 and a half weeks of waiting for the installation. Within those 4 and a half weeks the Technician or installation guy failed to show up twice and that cost me two days off my work holidays as I had to stay at home.

I was told the Technician would call at anytime between 9:30am and 6pm. Anyways in the end or last week I cancelled the order.

The day after a courier rang me. He said he had to collect a package for eir. The package he was on about was the Eir TV box. Something I never got.

If that service is anything to go by I'd hate to get stuck with them for a whole 18 months. Their broadband customer service is bad enough as it is.

I signed up for new 18 month Sky contract there the other day and I'm happy out with that, especially after reading this thread.

First Up

Kensington wrote:

10818 on the above link = 10.818 on Sky Q. That link states frequency in MHz, Sky Q states it in GHz. So that's not an issue.


To change to DVB-S2, slide right on the touch remote or right arrow key on standard remote.

Cracked it - thanks.

Now I have all the channels I want and VM have collected their decoders. All done.

sonofenoch

First Up wrote: »

Cracked it - thanks.

Now I have all the channels I want and VM have collected their decoders. All done.

You might also want to know anything on 'other channels' is not recordable

First Up

sonofenoch wrote:

You might also want to know anything on 'other channels' is not recordable

I know, nor can you get any info on current or upcoming programmes.
But they can be watched at least.

sonofenoch

First Up wrote: »

I know, nor can you get any info on current or upcoming programmes.
But they can be watched at least.

You actually can by pressing the info button a number of times, current and next programme.....granted you can't scroll further ahead like normal

First Up

sonofenoch wrote:

You actually can by pressing the info button a number of times, current and next programme.....granted you can't scroll further ahead like normal

Thanks - that doesn't work for me but I can live without it.
Main nuisance with the extra channels is having to go back through the Settings/Manual Tuning/PIN routine every time you want to use one. If you know a way to short cut that I'd be grateful!

sonofenoch

First Up wrote: »

Thanks - that doesn't work for me but I can live without it.
Main nuisance with the extra channels is having to go back through the Settings/Manual Tuning/PIN routine every time you want to use one. If you know a way to short cut that I'd be grateful!

If it's a Sky Q remote I wouldn't know.....but on the standard remote it's a simple as pressing services and scroll across

First Up

sonofenoch wrote:

If it's a Sky Q remote I wouldn't know.....but on the standard remote it's a simple as pressing services and scroll across

I have two remotes and neither has a "Services" button!

lertsnim

If you have Sky Q then you wouldn't have a Services button.

mdfire

I have eir fibre to the home (1000mb) since March on a 12 month contract. (€75pm for phone and bb). I also have Sky Q with sports which is cost €94 a month and im out of contract next week. I rang sky this morning and they said they couldnt reduce my bill any further so I rang Eir.

They can do phone, bb, tv with sky sports and 2 x multiroom for €105 per month for 6 months then €160 for a further 12 months. I can also cancel the sky sports at any time (during summer) which would reduce by €40.

Its clearly a cheaper deal but will i regret it? Essentially i just watch skysports and then use youtube and netflix and the family just rte and bbc. Another option would be to wait until March when the eir contract is up and bundle the bb with sky (but do sky provide ftth?)