Switching from UPC to SKY

[domhnallj]

Suprise suprise th girl from Sky didn't call back as promised.

Was tempted to stay with UPC, tun on box this morning and it's fooked and no technican available till tomorrow. What's the bet it will need to be replaced and we'll lose all that is recorded. Think we are up to our 4th or 5th box... How UPC can be happy with their supplier fook knows (seems a lo of people have problems with faulty boxes).

One of the major differences with Sky and UPC is that the box remains property of upc whereas you own your sky box.

So if your sky box breaks after 13 months, YOU foot the bill for a new one. No matter how bad you reckon the service from UPC is, they will give you a new box as many times as they have to with no extra charge.

That's also part of the problem, when you leave they take the box back. However, I think with sky if you leave they delete anything you recorded from them (well movies not sure about other stuff)

[meinster]

SS, if you're happy enough with the quality of UPC TV, then they'll work out cheaper. In my case (All UPC: €76/mo. Sky+UPC: €25+47/mo) the difference works slightly in my favour. That wasn't always the case. The reliability of the Sky boxes and the better quality TV (most, not all, channels) is worth a few quid a month to me.

UPC are not happy with the equipment providers. They've switched away from Cisco for their BB modems, and their next-gen Horizon box will be (initially) Samsung. Cisco, have bought all 'round them to improve on this (Linksys and Scientific Atlanta), so they might be back!

Agreed on regulation needed for Sky. Any content creator should have to make it available to all carriers on an equal basis (RTÉ included, even if it applies a lot less to them).

Finally, if your Sky box breaks inside the first year it'll be covered under warranty (and is usually covered by a free Sky call-out). If it breaks after that you can get standard boxes for about 50 quid second hand; under a hundred quid for a SD Sky+ box. I wouldn't let that put me off getting Sky. The Sky box is useful outside of a Sky subscription (for FTA viewing), whereas the UPC box is not; so it's not easily comparable.

[totalrandomer]

It may be worth downgrading the UPC to poverty spec and keeping the tv on it instead of the 2nd box from sky.

Great tip! I have broadband + phone with UPC. BB-only incurs a standalone charge (because you can still receive analogue TV). Phone + BB bundle doesn't, and since the phone < standalone charge, it's a no-brainer. Analogue quality is OKish (certainly watchable), and includes Setanta Ireland

I actually meant keeping the digibox. Analogue tv is dead in 2 months anyway, so not really an option.

Poverty spec on digital HD recording box, bb and phone is only 60 p/m afaik

[sheepshagger]

Thanks folks, think we'll stick with UPC.

Can see being told one thing from call centre staff then being told by the installer once he's on site, the fact we are in an apartment doesn't help.

Will be calling them to see if we can get a good deal - see on the back of Emerald Rugby magazine they are doing their tv/BB and phone package at half price (€33) for the first four months, know that will be or a new connection but will certainly ask for it.

[Hacker G]

Not sure if someone else has mentioned, but there is now a UPC app that you can use to record remotely - seems to work fairly well, although i don't believe you can watch your recordings on it...

[meinster]

I actually meant keeping the digibox. Analogue tv is dead in 2 months anyway, so not really an option.

Poverty spec on digital HD recording box, bb and phone is only 60 p/m afaik

Ah, gotcha. It's ~€70/mn now. So it all depends on how much one values HD, Multi-room, and picture/device quality. If you want HD Multiroom then UPC are definitely a lot cheaper (€5 for each of HD and multiroom with them, versus €15 for each with Sky). Horses for courses!

Analogue terrestrial TV is dead in 2+ months; not to be confused with analogue cable TV (which will be around for a while yet). UPC have a bit of work to do before they can drop it, and that's if they decide they want to.

[ruck]

You can also remote record for UPC now. There is an app for the iphone, but none (yet) for android. You can still remote record on android however, as they have a web page you can use to remote record. I've used it several times.
Sky is still better at everything TV related though, but until the days I'm living in the country and can't access their superb broadband, i'll be sticking with UPC.