Sky digital in Smithfield market

PhilieQuinn · 17-09-2009 12:15pm #1

Hi,

I was just wondering if anyone living in Smithfield market apartments has managed to get Sky digital installed?! The management company said they were going to give it to one block as a trial run and then give the rest of us the option if it went well. I'm about ready to throw my Smart vision box out the window. Anyone heard anything?

Cheers

?Cee?view · 17-09-2009 5:25pm

We should have a ceremonial burning of the crap Smart boxes! Most inappropriate name ever.

I'm in Block C and no sign of anything. I signed up on some online thing ages ago but just gave up on it.

"Smart" is beyond useless. Would definitely take Sky if available.

universe777 · 17-09-2009 6:37pm

In Block A myself, Smart is sh1te! As of a couple of days ago half the channels are not working...
The picture quality is rubbish, MPEG2 as far as I know.
We signed up for that SKY digital thing too but heard nothing back.
Smart's channel line up is crap and expensive..
It's not fair that they have a monopoly on Smithfield Market, I don't want Smart.
What ever happened to anti-competition laws??

Smart, if you are reading this, give up, you are on your knees, sign over Smithfield Market to UPC/NTL or SKY, you just cannot supply digital tv, accept it!

?Cee?view · 17-09-2009 6:50pm

I raised the anti-competitive thing with them years ago. They said that anyone was free to compete in Smithfield Market if they were willing to invest in the infrastructure. Smart own all the cabling. It means that the developers got to sell the properties as being completely "cabled" without having to pay themselves to put in the cabling - Smart put it in.

Sky with the dishes on the roof that can serve multiple apartments seem to be the only hope.

PhilieQuinn · 17-09-2009 9:09pm

It's beyond a joke, I'm in block a myself. The management company told me they were going to let one block test the sky digital out and then roll it out to everyone else. Probably just fobbing me off. They told me 2 years ago they were getting setanta 1 and that never happened either. It's a disgrace, I can't imagine anyone could possibly be satisfied with the smart vision service.

universe777 · 18-09-2009 8:36pm

well I have heard of people in this development that just don't have Smart, no television or just a small aerial for the 4 Irish channels so clearly a lot of people are not satisfied with it.

Is there a residents association for this development? If not there should be, strength in numbers, petition everyone in the development...
i.e.

Do you want to:

1. Keep 'Smart'
2. Get Sky
3. Get NTL

Just a suggestion...
I think any talk between individuals and the Management company or Sky is just that, they want big numbers and they need to be constantly harrassed until Smart is gone..

Failing all of the above, I propose a good old fashioned witch hunt & lynching, or mass burning of Smart boxes on the square, maybe on Halloween..

Dandelion6 · 19-09-2009 7:19pm

universe777 wrote: »

well I have heard of people in this development that just don't have Smart, no television or just a small aerial for the 4 Irish channels so clearly a lot of people are not satisfied with it.

That's me, but mainly because I don't watch enough TV to justify the expense. I have Smart broadband though and it's rubbish - terrible speeds and the customer service is beyond a joke.

Is there a residents association for this development?

Well there's the management company for owners. Most of the owners are just landlords of course but some of us actually live here... we're due for another AGM soon and I'm sure this will come up, if not I'll bring it up. Not sure what good it'll do though since the issue of the crap broadband was brought up a couple years ago and we're still stuck with Smart

On the bright side Smart is being bought out so maybe the new owners will be an improvement...

universe777 · 20-09-2009 12:58am

Dandelion6 wrote: »

On the bright side Smart is being bought out so maybe the new owners will be an improvement...

It's still not clear what wil happen to them, I'd say they will just try to secure further investment in the company and keep it as is.
They have 90 or 100 days from a week or 2 ago to get some plans together.

Mikeyg1978 · 04-10-2009 2:25pm

I was talking with the building management and they said they have been trying out an alternative service provider in one of the other blocks and once thats conlcuded and proven to be economically viable they will roll it out. But in my opinion this is just a load of bull**** and they have no intention of doing anything. I was thinking of installing a satelite dish on my balcony - either for freeview or sky. I know its prohibited by the complex rules but I'm on the fifth floor and I dont think anyone looks up that high and also I would like to see them try and take it down - the phrase "from my cold dead hands" comes to mind. Any thoughts on this? Really dont want to move out of smithfield but I think i've reached breaking point. By the way the competitions authority ruled on the exclusivity deals between TV service providers and developers and said there was no case of a monopoly situation - state rules in favour of developers, what a surprise!

PhilieQuinn · 04-01-2010 3:34pm

Hi, I was speaking to Sky this morning and the bloke on the phone said over 300 people had registered their interest in Smithfield market but only a few had it installed. I told him nobody knew we had the option of getting sky in yet and
he said it was no problem, I could order today and someone from Finlay's communication would come out and set it up. Then when I called back after lunch to order it, they said it wasn't available yet. I'm starting to think they're just taking the p*ss out of me. I'm waiting for Finlay's to call me back so I can find out if they've surveyed the place or set anyone up with Sky yet. Does anyone have the management company's number? I think it's a bloke called Gerry.

Dord · 04-01-2010 4:14pm

PhilieQuinn wrote: »

Hi, I was speaking to Sky this morning and the bloke on the phone said over 300 people had registered their interest in Smithfield market but only a few had it installed. I told him nobody knew we had the option of getting sky in yet and
he said it was no problem, I could order today and someone from Finlay's communication would come out and set it up. Then when I called back after lunch to order it, they said it wasn't available yet. I'm starting to think they're just taking the p*ss out of me. I'm waiting for Finlay's to call me back so I can find out if they've surveyed the place or set anyone up with Sky yet. Does anyone have the management company's number? I think it's a bloke called Gerry.

At least its a sign of something happening! I'm in Block B but haven't heard of anyone getting it yet here. Post up if you hear anything back from Finlays.

I don't have yer mans number but you can find it on the noticeboards around the buildings.

PhilieQuinn · 04-01-2010 4:26pm

Dord wrote: »

At least its a sign of something happening! I'm in Block B but haven't heard of anyone getting it yet here. Post up if you hear anything back from Finlays.

I don't have yer mans number but you can find it on the noticeboards around the buildings.

Will do!

Dandelion6 · 04-01-2010 5:34pm

Apparently people have been quoted vastly different prices for installation - some of them utterly extortionate!

PhilieQuinn · 04-01-2010 5:45pm

Dandelion6 wrote: »

Apparently people have been quoted vastly different prices for installation - some of them utterly extortionate!

Is that for Smithfield market or just in general?

Dandelion6 · 05-01-2010 10:11am

Smithfield Market.

PhilieQuinn · 05-01-2010 10:29am

Dandelion6 wrote: »

Smithfield Market.

Sky got back to me last night and said they haven't had it installed for anyone in Smithfield market yet coz they're waiting on Finlay's to do a survey and they don't know when that will get done. Disaster so it is.

PhilieQuinn · 05-01-2010 11:15am

I spoke with the management bloke there this morning and he said they've given an alternative service to some of blocks D and E. He said it's a company called system one and they're an independent provider like Smart so it'd probably be more of the same sh*t. That option should be there in the next month. He said NTL will be looking at the place in the next week or two and they might be an option aswell. No word on Sky though.

Dord · 05-01-2010 11:56am

PhilieQuinn wrote: »

I spoke with the management bloke there this morning and he said they've given an alternative service to some of blocks D and E. He said it's a company called system one and they're an independent provider like Smart so it'd probably be more of the same sh*t. That option should be there in the next month. He said NTL will be looking at the place in the next week or two and they might be an option aswell. No word on Sky though.

Cheers for the update. Just looked at the system one website and it looks like they do Sky & free to air installations on a large scale (whole buildings at a time rather than individual apartments).

NTL would be better than whats there at the moment either.

Ryback · 07-01-2010 2:12pm

It seems like the SystemOne installation should go ahead pretty soon. I'm in Block A and have been waiting to get rid of Smart for the past 3 years. I rang SystemOne yesterday to find out what the story was with installation and what kind of service they provide. They told me that the initial installations have gone well and they have a meeting with Wyse this week for the go ahead to hook up the other apartments.

They use a shared dish rather than any kind of IPTV thankfully. To get set up there is a one off fee €399 for equipment and installation. With this you get over 100 channels, I don't have a complete channel list at the moment. Apparently after this there is no more charges, although confusingly they also mentioned a €50 a year maintenance fee.

They are also an authorised Sky retailer so if you want Sky can set you up with a package as normal after installation. Of course you then have the Sky subscription charges on top of your €399 outlay.

There are flyers for SystemOne at reception in Block A, for info you can call them on 087-9772460

Seems like good news but for people renting , like myself, it's hard to stomach a €399 fee when you could be out the door in 6 months and the next guy waltzes in to find his apartment already hooked up.

PhilieQuinn · 07-01-2010 2:52pm

Ryback wrote: »

It seems like the SystemOne installation should go ahead pretty soon. I'm in Block A and have been waiting to get rid of Smart for the past 3 years. I rang SystemOne yesterday to find out what the story was with installation and what kind of service they provide. They told me that the initial installations have gone well and they have a meeting with Wyse this week for the go ahead to hook up the other apartments.

They use a shared dish rather than any kind of IPTV thankfully. To get set up there is a one off fee €399 for equipment and installation. With this you get over 100 channels, I don't have a complete channel list at the moment. Apparently after this there is no more charges, although confusingly they also mentioned a €50 a year maintenance fee.

They are also an authorised Sky retailer so if you want Sky can set you up with a package as normal after installation. Of course you then have the Sky subscription charges on top of your €399 outlay.

There are flyers for SystemOne at reception in Block A, for info you can call them on 087-9772460

Seems like good news but for people renting , like myself, it's hard to stomach a €399 fee when you could be out the door in 6 months and the next guy waltzes in to find his apartment already hooked up.

Cheers for that. Gave them a call there. The 399 includes the 50euro maintenance fee which isn't bad. Doesn't sound as if they have hd or espn and setanta 1 though. Please god ntl or sky will get a move on.

Ryback · 07-01-2010 3:53pm

They can do HD and all the others but you'll have to sign up with a Sky package and the subscription fee that entails

PhilieQuinn · 07-01-2010 5:03pm

Ryback wrote: »

They can do HD and all the others but you'll have to sign up with a Sky package and the subscription fee that entails

Really? Right, I'm signing up to that so. Really not bothered about the money if it means I can get the hd and the channels. 4 years of Smart is enough.

Ryback · 02-02-2010 12:44pm

Has anyone heard any updates on this, would hope NTL would come in too to provide an alternate broadband provider now that Smart has capped their unlimited service at 170Gb

cablegeye · 03-02-2010 9:55pm

PhilieQuinn wrote: »

Cheers for that. Gave them a call there. The 399 includes the 50euro maintenance fee which isn't bad. Doesn't sound as if they have hd or espn and setanta 1 though. Please god ntl or sky will get a move on.

this sounds like a free to air set up, probably better to see if management comany could ask sky to take another look, a friend of mine said they have a fibre optical system now that could possibly overcome the previous issues with the size of the site and cable distances etc the other system does sound expensive for free to air only

DjTaz · 22-02-2010 3:15pm

Ive just moved in there myself and was wondering what the situation is now with NTL ?
Anyone know ?

I was hoping to get an Eircom Phoneline to order DSL myself as i work for a business ISP and they will pay for any connection i want as long as its on a standard phoneline, and then wanted to get an NTL Tv connection if it was available , though if someone can suggest alternatives it would be great.

DjTaz · 23-02-2010 10:04pm

Just a quick update on this - i was on to Eircom today and until the end of the week they have a special offer with no charge for install and they can do block A in smithfield anyway no problems.

So basically i get a new line in for nothing , pay the line rental on it per month, and for anyone interested (i work for a business isp so doesnt bother me) they are giving a months free broadband with the offer as well.

http://www.eircom.ie/cgi-bin/bvsm/bveircom/bladerunner/showContent.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0618251778.1266959033@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccceadejjkffeedcefeceiedffndffj.0&cid=NewPstnFindOutMorePg&site=Res

now next i have to find out about decent TV in the area.

PhilieQuinn · 09-03-2010 5:11pm

Still no closer to getting my HD. This is breaking my heart. Has anyone managed to get hooked up to that system one thing?

DjTaz · 09-03-2010 5:15pm

PhilieQuinn wrote: »

Still no closer to getting my HD. This is breaking my heart. Has anyone managed to get hooked up to that system one thing?

http://www.systemone.ie/products.html

Might give them a call later and see what they say

DjTaz · 09-03-2010 5:32pm

I just spoke to them on the phone and seemingly there are a lot in smithfield looking for something in there and they are looking at doing 2 of the blocks as a test and have been speaking to the management company.
They will ring me back in a bit with more info on it all and ill post it up.

Ryback · 09-03-2010 5:59pm

I talked to the management guy for Smithfield Market and he said that Sky, NTL and SystemOne had surveyed the place and they are reviewing the reports.
Apparently they should have more info in the next couple of weeks

PhilieQuinn · 24-03-2010 2:55pm

I've spoken to System one asking for an update. They called the management company for me and then called me back. Apparently they have the equipment and are ready to go and set up in every block but they can't do it without the go ahead from the management company. Gerry Mulvey from the mgmnt company reckons some committee has to agree on it before it can be put in.

Who are these committee people? Can we call to their houses and force them to get sh*t sorted????

Sorry, 4 years of this, it's killing me slowly

Sky digital in Smithfield market

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