# UPC for Phone + Broadband



## flowerman (23 Sep 2014)

Hi,we are living in Dublin and we are sick and tired of waiting for Eircom to give us fibre broadband.We were prommised it for last October 2013.All we get these days are endless excuses from them for the last year on why it hasnt happned yet.

Can anyone tell me what are UPC like for phone and broadband?
Is it a reliable service and whats the broadband speed like.Is it a constant high speed?

What do you actually get with UPC when you ask for a phone and BB package,do you get any free calls or minutes at all?

Thanks.


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## Sue Ellen (23 Sep 2014)

The speed on the UPC broadband is excellent, we have the top speed which probably helps. 

The Anytime package on the phone is good value once you make sure to stay away from 11811 etc and use www.saynoto1890.com.  This AAM thread gives good advice too.

I'm not a fan of Horizon but perhaps they have sorted their teething problems by this stage.

If you ring their Sales Team it pays to haggle.


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## JohnJay (23 Sep 2014)

Ive UPC broadband, phone and TV. The broadband speed is always good. Service is usually good, though I did go through a period earlier in the year where it became unreliable for a few weeks. I have their phone service, but I dont use it very much as I have a good mobile package.


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## Palerider (24 Sep 2014)

I have UPC, phone, tv, broadband, when they carry out repairs / upgrades etc in your area you do lose all services, there is no advance notice generally provided, very annoying, broadband speed fine with a wired connection, the wireless is hopeless to the extent that UPC recommend extenders themselves.


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## flowerman (24 Sep 2014)

Thanks for the advice.
I wired our entire home myself with Cat6 for futureproofing so everything is hardwired.I wont be relying on wifi as I prefer a direct hard wired connection for all our media devices.
Myself and my wife are just sick and tired of Eircoms excuses and false prommises over the last year.6.8mb BB is not good enough in 2014
Glad to hear that UPC offer a good service and is reliable for speeds.Think I will go with them so.
Thanks.


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## dub_nerd (24 Sep 2014)

I have UPC. Broadband is excellent, possibly the best there is. Wireless on the Horizon box is brutal and will quite likely need to be supplemented with ethernet, powerline adapter, or your own wireless bridge. Phone service is fine, and Anytime packages are OK. I use VoIP phone with a different service which gives me most landline calls for free, cheap international mobile calls, and I'm able to route Ireland mobile calls alone to UPC, so that I get my full free Anytime 150 minutes on the most expensive mobile calls.


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## jdwex (24 Sep 2014)

flowerman said:


> Hi,we are living in Dublin and we are sick and tired of waiting for Eircom to give us fibre broadband.


This is the wholesale site
http://fibrerollout.ie/where-and-when/ and may give a better idea on what is going on.


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## flowerman (24 Sep 2014)

jdwex said:


> This is the wholesale site
> http://fibrerollout.ie/where-and-when/ and may give a better idea on what is going on.


 
Thanks for that.
Eircom have said to us since December 13 that E-Fibre was in our area.And it does indicate that on the Eircom map in your link
They claimed that the local exchange junction box on my road needed to be switched over to accept fibre broadband and that we would have it in 2 weeks time.That prommise has been made on about 10 different occasions now since last December.Then they said our phone line outside would need to be taken down and a new fibre line installed to the house,this would happen in a weeks time.Again that excuse has been given to us over and over again since December 13.

I know all that has to be done but Im just sick and tired of all of the Eircom carrry on,excuses and delays at this stage.Im paying 35 euro per month for a very slow 6.8mb bb and for a bad crackly phone line too
Im sick of all the Eircom excuses at this stage.


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## mro (25 Sep 2014)

UPC broadband speed is excellent but dont get the Horizon tv package. We switched recently to it (as we moved house) and it is awful.


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## Steven Barrett (25 Sep 2014)

flowerman said:


> I know all that has to be done but Im just sick and tired of all of the Eircom carrry on,excuses and delays at this stage.Im paying 35 euro per month for *a very slow 6.8mb bb *and for a bad crackly phone line too
> Im sick of all the Eircom excuses at this stage.



I dream of having broadband speed that fast. I get less than 2mb where I live. UPC aren't available in my area, so I looked around for other providers. Magnet told me they would get me 5mb, no problem. Complete lie and because they use VOIP, the phone and internet wouldn't work at the same time. So I went back to Eircom last month and I'm waiting for eFibre. Maybe my children's children will see the day.


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## flowerman (25 Sep 2014)

mro said:


> UPC broadband speed is excellent but dont get the Horizon tv package. We switched recently to it (as we moved house) and it is awful.


Thanks,I have heard some bad things about Horizon allright.
I dont want or need Horizon.I wired our house with 3 x co-ax and 3 x Cat6 to each room and TV location in the house.Installed a 90cm sat dish out back and also have set top boxes with android and IP TV functionality built into them.

So all I will be looking for is a good BB and telephone package with a clear phone line and a good constant BB speed.


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## DrMoriarty (25 Sep 2014)

With that kind of setup and those requirements, UPC is definitely the best option available. As a new customer, you'll also enjoy a tasty discount for the first 6 months and free connection, etc. Thereafter, every 12 months when your contract expires, ring up their "loyalty department" and haggle for some further concession — see this rolling thread on Boards.ie). The only thing I don't like about UPC is the extra cost if you don't want to pay by DD.


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## gipimann (25 Sep 2014)

SBarrett said:


> I dream of having broadband speed that fast. I get *less than 2mb where I live*. UPC aren't available in my area, so I looked around for other providers. Magnet told me they would get me 5mb, no problem. Complete lie and because they use VOIP, the phone and internet wouldn't work at the same time. So I went back to Eircom last month and I'm waiting for eFibre. Maybe my children's children will see the day.



And I dream of having BB speed that fast - I get less than 1mb.....


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## dub_nerd (26 Sep 2014)

DrMoriarty said:


> The only thing I don't like about UPC is the extra cost if you don't want to pay by DD.


They got rid of that.


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## DrMoriarty (26 Sep 2014)

They were required by law to remove the charge. Instead you now get a €3.75/month "discount" if you pay by DD.


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## kmick (26 Sep 2014)

I have had UPC in three houses now and overall the broadband is poor. I supposedly have 200mb but Id be lucky most nights when I use it to have anywhere near 6.8Mb, I ofetn get 404 timeouts with the horixzon box!. If it were a one off Id say it was unlucky but I have had the same problems with all 3 houses. Their product is cheap and the quality is reflected in that. I have rung them dozens of times from all properties. Customer service is good but they just cant do anything. By all means switch but dont expect miracles.


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## Steven Barrett (26 Sep 2014)

Was having a look at that map and noticed Kilternan had a blue dot beside it so I gave Eircom a call. It's due to be completed on 15 October and they should have it fitted in my house on 22 october. Up to 90mb.


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## dub_nerd (26 Sep 2014)

kmick said:


> I have had UPC in three houses now and overall the broadband is poor. I supposedly have 200mb but Id be lucky most nights when I use it to have anywhere near 6.8Mb, I ofetn get 404 timeouts with the horixzon box!. If it were a one off Id say it was unlucky but I have had the same problems with all 3 houses. Their product is cheap and the quality is reflected in that. I have rung them dozens of times from all properties. Customer service is good but they just cant do anything. By all means switch but dont expect miracles.



I've read (probably on boards.ie) that there's some kind of local "concentrator" thing (sorry, don't know/understand details) that can affect your UPC broadband performance. Personally, I get the nominal 120 Mb down and 10 Mb up that I'm paying for every single time I test it. Never varies. And I'm a fussy broadband user so I test it fairly regularly. Although I have to plug in by ethernet because I can only get 55 Mbps over wireless.


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## jdwex (26 Sep 2014)

SBarrett said:


> Was having a look at that map and noticed Kilternan had a blue dot beside it so I gave Eircom a call. It's due to be completed on 15 October and they should have it fitted in my house on 22 october. Up to 90mb.


Just  a heads up. If there is a confirmed exact date (15th Oct) it's on the 28 notice period that eircom wholesale have to give the retail operators before they can accept orders on the wholesale system for that cabinet. October 22nd is a preferred date - but it cannot be confirmed until the wholesale systems are opened for that cabinet (reserve port, schedule appointment etc)


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## Steven Barrett (26 Sep 2014)

jdwex said:


> Just  a heads up. If there is a confirmed exact date (15th Oct) it's on the 28 notice period that eircom wholesale have to give the retail operators before they can accept orders on the wholesale system for that cabinet. October 22nd is a preferred date - but it cannot be confirmed until the wholesale systems are opened for that cabinet (reserve port, schedule appointment etc)



I don't really understand what you are saying. Will I have to wait until 13 November before I can get efibre? The fella in Eircom told me it was starting on 15 October, I could ring then and get a technician out to the house for 22 October. 

Thanks for the heads up but you're the man that told a kid that Santa isn't coming until mid January.


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## huskerdu (26 Sep 2014)

I have UPC for phone/broadband and TV.

WE pay for 50MB Broadband and the speed is approx. 43-45MB every time I test it. 
We very rarely have a problem with streaming or the broadband connection not being available. 

Our wifi is good quality, even in the attic, BUT we don't have horizon. I am refusing to "upgrade" to horizon because of the brutal wifi service.


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## Sue Ellen (26 Sep 2014)

DrMoriarty said:


> They were required by law to remove the charge. Instead you now get a €3.75/month "discount" if you pay by DD.



I understood the charge was wiped if you just register on their website.  My mother does not pay by D.D. and because I registered her she is not charged the €3.75 which she did pay previous to the registration


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## jdwex (26 Sep 2014)

SBarrett said:


> I don't really understand what you are saying. Will I have to wait until 13 November before I can get efibre? The fella in Eircom told me it was starting on 15 October, I could ring then and get a technician out to the house for 22 October.
> 
> Thanks for the heads up but you're the man that told a kid that Santa isn't coming until mid January.


No, I'm just saying the appointment date cannot be confirmed until the cabinet is launched on October 15th.


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## Steven Barrett (27 Sep 2014)

jdwex said:


> No, I'm just saying the appointment date cannot be confirmed until the cabinet is launched on October 15th.



Ok. Thanks.


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## AlbacoreA (27 Sep 2014)

huskerdu said:


> ... I am refusing to "upgrade" to horizon because of the brutal wifi service.



I have the horizon but I ordered with a separate router. That said the separate router the TC7200 is quite poor also, so I have my own WiFi router connected to it instead. 

So instead of one neat box I've ended up with 3 to get get have decent WiFi. 

When I use powerline adapters I get 70~90.


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## flowerman (20 Nov 2014)

Well Ive finally gone and done it.UPC engineer is comming out on Saturday to hook us up.
37 euro per month for a year for 60mb BB and home phone.I get 3 euro 50 cents off that as a discount,so it will be 33 euro 50 cents a month.
And the UPC chap is giving us the 1st 2 months for half price.

I gave Eircom a few more months to sort us out and they have failed to do so.So its bye bye to Eircom and all their excuses...........(thank the lord).


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## flowerman (21 Nov 2014)

Eircom are demanding 197 euro of a cancelation fee off me for leaving to go to UPC.

I dont think I should have to pay this due to the shoddy phone line and BB speed I have had to put up with.I had a fault with my phone that I reported over a week ago and they said they fixed it,what they did do was make it 10 times worse and my BB speed dropped to a pittyfull 3mb and a shocking bad phone line aswell.I have done several tests via Eircom speed test and taken photos of the results,Ive also logged the calls Ive made to them and taken note of their excuses.
I kicked up a stink over the problem still not being resolved and they still have not fixed it.Just more excuses yet again.

They now say that if I dont accept this cancelation fee then they wont disconnect me and they will keep on billing me each month that goes by.

Can they not not just send me a final bill and let me take them on via ComReg over the cancelation fee??

Can they legaly keep me connected in this manner??

Do I have any rights here??


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## flowerman (23 Nov 2014)

UPC chap arrived yesterday afternoon and was gone within an hour.We now have 60mb bb and a new phone number too.
Well happy with the bb speed and my android IPTV box is super fast now.No buffering on any of the TV channels or movies we were watching last night or today.I should have switched over from Eircom ages ago,but Im well happy now that I have finally switched.


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## Leo (24 Nov 2014)

flowerman said:


> Eircom are demanding 197 euro of a cancelation fee off me for leaving to go to UPC.
> 
> I dont think I should have to pay this due to the shoddy phone line and BB speed I have had to put up with.



How long have you had the service, and when did you first report the issue? 



flowerman said:


> They now say that if I dont accept this cancelation fee then they wont disconnect me and they will keep on billing me each month that goes by.
> 
> Can they not not just send me a final bill and let me take them on via ComReg over the cancelation fee??
> 
> ...



The answers to the previous questions will guide here. How long was left in your contract period, and what do the t&cs say about cancellation? Read through them and make sure you put the cancellation notice in writing. If you satisfy their requirements on cancellation, then it's unlikely they can keep billing. 

If they have consistently failed to deliver on the contract, then you've a good case so long as you have maintained a history of all communications.


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## flowerman (2 Feb 2015)

If I could add my 2 cents worth to this thread and to update the thread please






As you all have read,I moved from Eircom to UPC late last year.Reason being I had enough of Eircom false prommises and lies about getting E-Fibre.

Eircom wanted a cancelation fee of just on 200 euro from me for breaking my contract.
I told them during at least 3 seperate phone calls to them that I never signed any contract and that I was never given any actual terms and conditions with my original Eircom pack in the post.

The Eircom lad tried his best to TELL ME and I MUST PAY the cancelation fee to leave.

Long story short I told him that he had to show me an actual  written contract as a verbal contract over the phone is not a legal contract.

Result was that Eircom suddenly "waived" the 200 euro cancelation fee and I said GOODBYE to Eircom there and then on the phone.

Best decision I ever made.


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## AlbacoreA (2 Feb 2015)

I don't think you are correct. 



> It is always easier to know what your rights and responsibilities are if you have details of the contract in writing, however, a verbal contract is also enforceable.



[broken link removed]


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## flowerman (2 Feb 2015)

AlbacoreA said:


> I don't think you are correct.
> 
> 
> 
> [broken link removed]



I never agreed to any contract,I never said YES when asked,as I was not asked in the 1st place.
I wasnt even told of the specific terms and conditions.

So there was no contract,verbal or written.

*Contracts may differ in many ways and there are no hard and fast rules governing what terms should be in a consumer contract.[broken link removed].
*
Eircom couldnt prove to me that a contract existed so they couldnt persist with demanding that I pay the cancelation fee.I called their bluff and they folded.People power can win over if you persist with it.


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## AlbacoreA (2 Feb 2015)

Regardless it still doesn't mean verbal contacts are not enforceable. They are just hard to prove. 

UPC have similar cancellation fee. They claim to record the call though. You need a FOI to get access to it. 

Certainly be the squeaky wheel. They often won't bother pursuing it. Especially if you've left a trail of complaints about the service that you didn't get.


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## Leo (3 Feb 2015)

Verbal contracts are perfectly valid. It's always worth pursuing though, as the vendor may not be able to locate the recording of your acceptance of the contract.


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