# Advice on switching phone from Eircom to NTL.



## Sue Ellen (9 Mar 2009)

Seriously thinking of moving the phone from Eircom to NTL and I'm takin' me time about doin' it 

Checked with Eircom recently and they were a waste of a phone call with regard to what was necessary to make the move.  

Comreg gave a few tips about not cancelling the line with Eircom until it had been moved to NTL to avoid any loss of service.

Had a quick read through the T&Cs and one of the minus points would appear to be a €120 fee if one ever decided to move back?

Are there any other negatives in the T&Cs that need to be borne in mind or any other advice?

What is the procedure with the whole move and how long/easy is it?


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## CCOVICH (9 Mar 2009)

Hi Sue.  We filled in a form with UPC and about 4 weeks later the changeover was complete.

Note that UPC actually gave us a new number until we switched-we had 2 numbers for this period, so you are not without a phone at any stage.  Their *physical line* is totally separate to Eircom's-it is only the *number* that needs to be switched over, so it's pure admin work.

Having said that, we were actually switching from UTV at the time and not Eircom.

When our number was switched to UPC, we noticed the following

1.  We were no longer ex-directory (I asked to be put back as ex-directory, but it hasn't happened, it doesn't really matter as we aren't in the phone book anyway)

2.  Our phone wasn't working one evening.  I logged a fault.  They came back and said something like 'oh we were doing some work and we had to reprovision your line etc.'.  Anyway, we could make calls out, but not receive calls.  They had given us the completely wrong number (not our original UTV/Eircom number, not our temp UPC number, they had taken this from God knows where....) A few calls later and it was sorted out.  I am still none the wiser as to what they were up to....

3.  Other than some techincal issues with the cable into the house which did take a while to sort out, it's been pretty good.  Your phone will be connected to your modem, which is plugged into a cable point, which is something you may have to consider....

I wouldn't worry too much about Eircom and their €120-as long as you have 6 months of phone from UPC, then youy will have saved the equivalent in line rental.

Go for it-if you have any other questions, please do ask!


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## Kine (9 Mar 2009)

Curses to you and your UPC. I'm currently in an area that can't get the damned BB from them, and I HATE paying BT/Eircom their overly inflated prices. I could save myself an absolute fortune with UPC interweb....curses I tells ya!


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## CCOVICH (9 Mar 2009)

Never lose hope.  We only received BB and digital in the past few months.  We had been at our current address for over 2 years with no digital, BB or phone available.


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## patpat (9 Mar 2009)

we just changed back from ntl to eircom hey didnt look for their 120 euro back


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## Sue Ellen (10 Mar 2009)

patpat said:


> we just changed back from ntl to eircom hey didnt look for their 120 euro back



Pray tell why did you change back?


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## felixmcg (10 Mar 2009)

We looked for BB from UPC but found them most inefficient. Waited weeks to be told that they weren't available in our area. They misleadingly advertise that their rates are cheaper etc but no use if they're only available in certain areas!
At least eircom provides a reliable service in all areas.


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## Kine (10 Mar 2009)

CCOVICH said:


> Never lose hope. We only received BB and digital in the past few months. We had been at our current address for over 2 years with no digital, BB or phone available.


 
And I do wait, trust me! 

However, it is depressing when the estate next to you can get it, and mine can't. Worst of all, I'm in freaking Dublin....seriosuly First world country with a Third world infastructure!!


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## galwegian44 (11 Mar 2009)

patpat said:


> we just changed back from ntl to eircom hey didnt look for their 120 euro back


 
Patpat - I've just decided to change my work line from BT to UPC, did you switch back for any particular reason?

Thanks.


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## AlbacoreA (11 Mar 2009)

I have the NTL phone and will probably cancel it. Call quality is more like mobile phone quality. But thats ok. The main issue for us  the call packages aren't that good value for us, we ring UK a fair bit. It will depend on your usage though. Also the cable clutter of NTL Modem/WiFi Router/ATA ROuter and DECT phone is rediculous. It needs 4 power leads! They should have a all in one unit. I tired blueface before and it didn't work on my NTL connection, there was too much inconsistant response (ping) times, which played havoc with BlueFace VOIP. Skype worked better. NTL recently improved the BB packages so I'm thinking Skype or BlueFace might work better now. That said NTL gives its own VOIP preference on their network. So who knows.


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## gobuchul (13 Mar 2009)

Well I'm switching back from UPC to eircom or smart or BT or whoever can provide an actual working telephone service. 

I have been with UPC for about 4 months and have probably had a month where I couldn't make or recieve calls, and about another 3 weeks where we could recieve,but not make calls out.

We have had the engineers out on no less than 4 occasions, and I have finally had enough. My wife said that the last engineer thought that UPC were not properly set up for the telephone service.

Does anybody know how easy it is to switch ?


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## Sue Ellen (13 Mar 2009)

gobuchul said:


> Does anybody know how easy it is to switch ?



Hi,

Welcome to AAM.

If you read the terms and conditions for UPC/NTL they normally sign people up for 12 months although they would probably find it hard to justify this if their phone service is not working properly for you and if this is the argument that they put forward then you would probably need to speak to www.comreg.ie

As mentioned in my first post there may be a €120.00 reconnection fee with Eircom.


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## vejo (14 Mar 2009)

Re - switching from Eircom to Chorus / NTL,

I too was going to switch and had booked in the engineer but when he arrived I realised that the switch would disable my Phonewatch system and that I would have to provide a mobile number to Eircom at a cost of E170.00 to maintain the service. As my mobile is work issued, I had to cancel the installation .Vejo


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## nesbitt (18 Mar 2009)

I switched from BT to Eircom in Dec 08. No hassle & no fee. In fact they sent me a letter inviting us back. Package same price but I got better Broadband, free calls to Meteor Mobiles (all family mobiles are Meteor ), free local & national calls included in bundle. I lost the free UK calls but I no longer require these. I have chorus/NTL provider for Digital TV but due to friends reports of hit and miss service and that equipment was not all in one etc. decided against this service at present. If the service improves however I will look at it again in the future as in principle it seems like a great idea to get TV, Broadband and Telephone from one provider.....


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