Anyone hear of 'magnet.ie' before?

murphaph

Heard an ad on the radio this morning for magnet . Looks a bit pricey, no?

icdg

They've been advertising in the national newspapers too. Digital TV over ADSL is something that hasn't been done really in this country before, so its interesting in that regard. But their channel line up is a lot less than NTL's, plus they don't have Sky One and Sky News. They need to get that sorted...

Marcopolo85

icdg wrote:

They've been advertising in the national newspapers too. Digital TV over ADSL is something that hasn't been done really in this country before, so its interesting in that regard. But their channel line up is a lot less than NTL's, plus they don't have Sky One and Sky News. They need to get that sorted...

Only 50 digital channels??!! :eek:

bk

This sort of TV over Broadband service is called IPTV, however there are a few things to note about it:

NTL and Sky actually transmit all their channels to your box, which then selects and decrypts the channel. IPTV can't do this due to limited bandwidth. Instead what it does it has a server that streams just one channel to you at a time. When you change the channel, the box sends the new channel instructions to the server and the server switches which channel it is streaming to you (it is actually more complicated and efficient then this, but you get the idea). The delay between switching channels can be quiet large due to latency.

Second (and more seriously) because of the very limited bandwidth available on DSL and because a standard definition channel in MPEG2 will take about 4Mbps, it means you can only hook up one TV (best case scenario maybe two) to the service. So if you want multiple TV's in your house or VCR's/DVD recorders it won't work, it simply doesn't scale as well as cable.

This is why Verizon is going with Fiber To The Home in the US for their service, they will have far greater bandwidth, allowing them to carry more streams and scale better. In the UK BT is trying to solve this problem by selling a box that has both DTT and broadband. It uses DTT for normal TV viewing and only uses the broadband bandwidth for VoD and interactive services.

Mossy Monk

4MB isnt the fastest internet available in this country

paulm17781

Magnet do fiber in new developments. I assume with this you could use multiple TVs. I don't think it is really worth ditching NTL and Blueface (unless I was in a FTTH area).

Round Cable

Mossy Monk wrote:

4MB isnt the fastest internet available in this country

Still it's twice Eircom's €55 speed and in terms of upload, it's 30 times faster.

icdg

There's a full list of the channels they carry here:

http://www.magnet.ie/packages/magnet-tv-advantage.aspx

The only major channels they have and NTL doesn't are FX and Challenge. NTL's line up is IMO significantly better...

bk

paulm17781 wrote:

Magnet do fiber in new developments. I assume with this you could use multiple TVs.

That is right, it should even be able to carry multiple High Definition streams, however I haven't actualyy heard if they do offer multiple streams in FTTH areas at the moment and it isn't on their website.

paulm17781 wrote:

I don't think it is really worth ditching NTL and Blueface (unless I was in a FTTH area).

I would agree, NTL's Digital line-up is much better. Also it is only a matter of time before they launch thier own VoIP service.

Also rumour has it that next year NTL will be introducing interactive TV, Video on Demand services, a PVR and will probably up the BB speeds offered.

Mossy Monk

bk wrote:

Also rumour has it that next year NTL will be introducing interactive TV, Video on Demand services, a PVR and will probably up the BB speeds offered.

in one year?

i'll believe it when i see it. i would say the broadband speeds increasing will happen but the rest of it

bk

Mossy Monk wrote:

in one year?

i'll believe it when i see it. i would say the broadband speeds increasing will happen but the rest of it

I agree, it does seem like a lot to deliver.

BB will definitely happen, Eircom is rumoured to be deploying ADSL2+ at the moment which will offer speeds up to 24Mbit/s. NTL will have no choice but to respond.

VoIP will also happen, NTL have already announced that it should be available by the end of the year:
http://www.enn.ie/news.html?code=9610175

Interactive TV, VoD and a PVR are more far fetched. However there are rumours that NTL are working on these services right now, perhaps they will have a new box that will integrate all three.

A lot is going to change in the next 12 months, the next 12 months will probably see a massive shift in the market. NTL is going to come under far more pressure and competition. DTT will likely be launched in Ireland, also ISP's like Digiweb, Magnet, Smart and perhaps even Eircom will start offering the triple play of BB, phone and TV using IPTV and VoD. NTL is going to have to compete aggresively.

Mossy Monk

agreed and the winner will be the consumer

roykeane16

Ntl Seems The Best Only Problem Is I Am In Leitrim And Canonly Get Chorus

JTMan

A know several ppl who have moved into new developments and their only cable choice is one of these new providers and as DMC says the channel choice is so poor compared to ntl or sky. Plus it is quite expensive for what you get. €54 for this crap packages ... http://www.magnet.ie/packages/magnet-tv-advantage.aspx !! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

roykeane16

yes fungus magnet are bllody dear 80euro a month total ripoff

Round Cable

Yes but for €80 you're getting 4MB down/upload (easily the best broadband in the country), telephone line rental, free national calls and a nice selection of TV channels.

Let's compare this to the other providers:

Eircom Broadband: 2MB down, 0.1MB up €55
Eircom Line Rental (Plus "free" national calls) €40
Sky/NTL digital basic digital €30

€80 doesn't look so bad.

paulm17781

Round Cable wrote:

Yes but for €80 you're getting 4MB down/upload (easily the best broadband in the country),

Dungarvan has a 9Mb cable connection.

Mossy Monk

but 512k upload rather than 4MB

JTMan

The fact that the force you to take the high telephone rental charge just to get that sad Digital TV package is a joke. I would much rather NTL Digital with free mutli room analogue viewing for 29.50 a month and ntl boradband for 25 euro a month.

Their broadband offers might be one of the best in the country but it is also one of the most expensive and their TV and phone packages are hardly anything to get excited about.

Freddie59

Fungus wrote:

The fact that the force you to take the high telephone rental charge just to get that sad Digital TV package is a joke. I would much rather NTL Digital with free mutli room analogue viewing for 29.50 a month and ntl boradband for 25 euro a month.

Their broadband offers might be one of the best in the country but it is also one of the most expensive and their TV and phone packages are hardly anything to get excited about.

Right folks!

1. Yes - the symetrical down/up is attractive, but let's face it - the majority of people only want the down side. Very few actually transfer large files the other way.

2. If you do the sums (leaving aside the 4 Megs up) then the package does seeem poor value.

3. Let's say you'e taking 3 Megs from NTL then that will cost you €45 per month. Throw in €30 for a COMPREHENSIVE Digital package and the luxury of analogue multi-view, and let's say the €10 per month package for unlimited calls from www.broadtalk.ie and you're up to €85. And that's not taking into account that the DSL TV will be verrrrrry slooooowww changing channels. So for another €3..........:eek: