UPC Signup Woes

Knasher

Up until recently I lived in an apartment with another person and had UPC broadband in which was in the other persons name. When our lease expired I brought the modem with me as she had no interest in keeping it. Initially I figured I'd just transfer the account into my name so we wouldn't have to pay the early termination fee as we had recently upgraded to the 15mb package. However UPC had no system in place to allow that unfortunately. I asked at that time if my new address would be able to get UPC broadband and I was informed it would.

Anyway I figured I would do nothing until the old account expires (in a couple of days), and I have been using the broadband without a hitch in my new apartment, before signing up for a new contract because I wanted to use the old modem as I have heard a lot of complaints about the cisco all in one router.

I rang them up this morning to sign up for an account, and I was now told that they don't offer service in my area, despite the fact that I am actually writing this post using their apparently non-existent service. So what do you think, should I keep trying to ring them and hopefully get through to somebody who will allow me to get broadband, or do I just give up and go with another provider. I would much rather stick with UPC as I really enjoyed their service (and to be honest it was one of the things I looked for when I was finding my apartment) if it were at all possible. But if UPC wont budge then I really should be getting in contact with somebody else so I can avoid as much downtime as possible.

Additionally, although I can't be 100% certain, I'm pretty sure that other people in my apartment block have successfully signed up for UPC broadband as I'm able to pick up a UPC ssid. I know I could be picking it up from somewhere else but the building has a river on one side of it and a parking lot on the other so I'm a reasonable distance from any other buildings and I can pick up the ssid throughout the apartment.

homer911

What happens if you do nothing with your non-existent line? Will you continue to have service?

Knasher

To be honest I don't know. I expected to be cut off on the 10th but its still going at the moment. I know my former housemate has canceled the account and the direct debit from her account so I'd imagine its only a matter of time. There is probably a couple of days leeway before they get around to cutting off the account so I wouldn't be surprised if it stopped working any day now. I'm only too happy to pay them for their service if only they would let me. I moved into my new apartment on the 1st so I've been using it for 17 days without an issue.

big_show

I'm after moving into a new apartment yesterday and ordered a transfer of my broadband, UPC then rang me to tell me they don't service that area and also i've noticed SKY Conway stickers all over the connections on the wall (a quick google brings bad news about these guys).

I hope mine is the same problem that you are having cause i don't want to lose my 10meg! Let us know how you get on OP!

Karmafaerie

If the building you are living in has an exclusive contract with another provider, there is nothing UPC can do.

This doesn't seem to be the case with the OP however, as he/she is connecting onto UPC's network.

The reason his/her modem is working now is that the cables in his/her apartment are connected to UPC's network, and the MAC of the modem is still asigned to the former housemates account.

It takes 30 days notice to close an account, and if notice was only given on the 10th then it won't be until next month that you're cut off.

If you have connection then there should be no problem with gettin Broadband, unless you have a very weak connection now, and the cables haven't been upgraded.

How is your speed in the new address?
If you are getting full speed, then there should be no problem.
UPC have a history of getting their availability mixed up some times.
Call UPC and give them your address.
If they say that the service isn't availabele, insist that it is and that you know people who do use it in the building/estate.

big_show

Karmafaerie wrote: »

If the building you are living in has an exclusive contract with another provider, there is nothing UPC can do.

Surely i can pick who i get to provide my broadband? fair competition and all that no?

Knasher

We actually gave notice last month and were told it would end on the 10th, so I'm expecting it to shut off at any moment. I don't know why it hasn't ended already, I can only guess that there is a backlog in disconnections (an awesome backlog) but that won't last. There was some stuff towards the end where I was trying to get the account ported over so perhaps thats slowing things down.

As I said earlier I don't actually know if the SSID I'm picking up is coming from another apartment in the same complex or not. I suspect it is simply based on the coverage I'm getting and the fact the the apartment is on a hill overlooking the river so it should be a week spot for networks from other buildings. So I can't give a definitive address of where the SSID is originating from, hell they may be just using a UPC router with a DSL line for all I know, all I can see is the UPC ssid.

Speed wise I'm actually better than my old, officially supported, apartment. I'm on the 15mb package and I get an average speed of about 17mb and a very good ping, honestly I couldn't be happier with the service.

If I had to take a guess, and I've never worked in networks so its only a guess. I know for a fact that UPC are operating in the general area as I know people who live relatively nearby and who have the BB service. I'm guessing that when the line was installed to the apartment block only one line was put in from the exchange and then split up among all the apartments as all it was needed for at the time was TV. If I'm wrong about UPC having other BB clients in the same building then its possible that I'm the only one currently operating a modem on that line. So while the line can support broadband, it can only support a very limited number of people using it (possibly only one) hence UPC don't bother offering it at all. Just guessing of course but it sounds plausible to me, hopefully I'm wrong.

Somebody from UPC PM'd me anyway and said he would look into it, so hopefully he will get back to me with good news. The time I rang UPC to order it, the person I talked to just kept saying that the service isn't offered, but like I said the first time I rang it was - wish I had put through the order then and there as I only need to get onto their system so I can pay them and the won't shut me off.

Knasher

Surely i can pick who i get to provide my broadband? fair competition and all that no?

Unfortunately that only applies to your phone line as its a public utility installed on the tax payers dime, the cable lines were installed by a private company and therefore owned by them. AFAIK Eircom don't actually own the phone lines, they are just contracted to maintain them, just speculation mind you but I'd imagine thats how its set up. In America even the phone lines are privately held, so the only competition occurs between the incombent DSL and cable provider, and then only because when they were installed they weren't competing products.

Karmafaerie

big_show wrote: »

Surely i can pick who i get to provide my broadband? fair competition and all that no?

Nope.

Lots of estates and buildings sign exclusivity deals with certain providers for TV/BB etc.

It'd be in the lease agreement or estate managment one.

Whenever I move address I make sur to find out, as I've no intention of giving up UPC broadband, and a few apartment buildings around Limerick never opened their cables up to UPC as they had exclusivity deals with Sky for instance.

Knasher

Just to close off this thread and in case anybody in the future is in a similar situation to me, in the end I wasn't really able to get anywhere with UPC and have gone with a DSL provider instead. A couple of people from UPC did get into contact with me to try and give me a hand, but in the end to no avail.

The reason I was given was that the tap (which is used to split a line for a customers connection from what I gather) was inaccessible for whatever reason and so my line was noisier than it should be and that they wouldn't be able to guarantee a level of service to me. I offered to sign up without any guarantees, based on the fact that I was happy enough with the service I had for the 20 days it lasted and that it would only take 5 months of service before I covered the early termination fee in case the service stopped working. But again they refused.

In any case, thanks to the UPC techs who tried to help and to anyone who gave a suggestion.