Eircom vs. UPC - Choices and problems.

Dinarius

I'm currently with Eircom for phone, broadband and Phonewatch alarm.

My typical monthly bill for phone and broadband is about €75.00.

My monthly bill for Phonewatch is €24.42.

So, I'm paying Eircom about €100 per month.

For television I'm with Chorus/UPC. I have their basic digital package, plus Sky Sports and Sky Movies. This costs €65.00 per month. (€129.99 every two months, to be precise)

I can add a 10Mb broadband connection plus Anytime World phone (much better than Eircom when you have relatives living abroad) for €50.00 per month.

Thus, unless I'm missing something, I would be paying UPC a total of €115.00 per month (my current €65.00 + €50.00) for everything instead of my current €165 per month.

My problem is it seems that I can't transfer my existing number to Chorus if I'm reliant on it for my alarm system.

1. Is there any way around this? Can I keep my Phonewatch system and set it up with another monitoring service once I've switched to UPC?

2. Can I improve on what I've outlined above?

Thanks.

D.

Paulw

I don't believe there is any way to use the PhoneWatch system over the UPC phone service.

I use UPC for TV/broadband, but still keep my phone system with Eircom. It works just fine for me.

CutzEr

Solution:

Leave chorus, join sky, stay with eircom broadband.

Davy

Get a gsm dialler fitted to the phonewatch so it uses a sim card like a mobile phone, it wont need the landline any more so you can cancel it to make the saving, and get all the rest from upc.

Orion

Are there internet monitored alarm systems? You'd think there would be by now - that would solve it all. It's something I've been meaning to look up myself for a while now.

jor el

Get rid of Phonewatch, as it's a waste of money. Then chose whatever broadband, phone and TV provider works out the best/cheapest.

robo

You can get PhoneWatch wire free...so you could get rid of line rental.
Also, you can get a splitter with Phone Watch so that you can get another broadband provider.

yoshytoshy

I got my folks upc broadband ,tv (basic) and phone (freecalls) ,for €60 a month.
There hasn't been any issues with any of their services.:)

Dinarius

Paulw wrote: »

I don't believe there is any way to use the PhoneWatch system over the UPC phone service.

I use UPC for TV/broadband, but still keep my phone system with Eircom. It works just fine for me.

But, isn't Eircom much more expensive for phone? Especially if you have relatives abroad?

If I choose the wireless Phonewatch option, then I'm in for a monthly fee for that. Anyone know who's the cheapest?

Thanks for all the replies.

D.

ps. I have considered Sky, but I can't wire the house for radio like I can with UPC, so it's a non-runner (though I would LOVE the red button!). I have only one TV, but have radios receiving BBC Radio 3/4 all over the house. And internet radio isn't as good as the UPC signal, in my opinion and would involve changing all my radios anyway.

craichoe

Dinarius wrote: »

But, isn't Eircom much more expensive for phone? Especially if you have relatives abroad?

If I choose the wireless Phonewatch option, then I'm in for a monthly fee for that. Anyone know who's the cheapest?

Thanks for all the replies.

D.

ps. I have considered Sky, but I can't wire the house for radio like I can with UPC, so it's a non-runner (though I would LOVE the red button!). I have only one TV, but have radios receiving BBC Radio 3/4 all over the house. And internet radio isn't as good as the UPC signal, in my opinion and would involve changing all my radios anyway.

Ditch the phone line, get a GSM Dialer alarm, get Chorus Broadband only, no TV. Eircom phonewatch is the biggest con ever.

Install a Freesat Box:
http://www.freesat.co.uk
That'll give you a bunch of channels to watch that are good, Sky is rubbish anyway, Sky Movies is all just bloody repeats.

Get a VoIP phone or PAP adapter for your existing one:
http://shop.ebay.ie/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38&_nkw=linksys+pap2

Sign up with Justvoip, 1 Euro will do your for 6 months of Unlimited landline calls worldwide.
http://www.justvoip.com
You'll need to stick credit on for ringing mobiles and non free numbers. 20 euros usually does me for about 2 months of heavy usage.

You could knock at least 100 euro per month off that bill ! Thats 1200 euro per year!!

PeteK*

Dinarius wrote: »

My monthly bill for Phonewatch is €24.42.

Just wanna say ours is €16 per month.. why is there a difference?

CutzEr

PeteK* wrote: »

Just wanna say ours is €16 per month.. why is there a difference?

How much does an alarm system cost?

All households are different and everybody’s safety needs will vary.

x

Byrner151

Thinking of changing to NTL from Eircom for Phone and Broadband but also have PhoneWatch. Might ditch the Phonewatch monitoring as have not used in last 3 years. Anyone know if I get a GSM dialler installed (Quoted €275 from Phonewatch) can I get the Phonewatch to dial me instead of the Monitoring Co. I also want to keep my Eircom.net e-mail. I assume this is possible even though Eircom will be gone? Ta

Big J

Byrner151 wrote: »

I also want to keep my Eircom.net e-mail. I assume this is possible even though Eircom will be gone? Ta

Still have mine in use a year after moving to NTL. Eircom don't seem to shut off the mailbox but do not forget your password and also hope nothing goes wrong with it as you are unlikely to get any technical support if you have any problems