What is UPC BB

spooky donkey

Ok been looking on their site and see they have cheap optical BB on offer. But how does it work, is it over phone lines, do they bring fiber into your house or is it off the cable TV set up.

I would ring them and ask but I doubt id get an answer this late on a saturday night.

Also is it any good? I see a lot of complaining threads on here about their BB service!

Spear

spooky donkey wrote: »

Ok been looking on their site and see they have cheap optical BB on offer. But how does it work, is it over phone lines, do they bring fiber into your house or is it off the cable TV set up.

I would ring them and ask but I doubt id get an answer this late on a saturday night.

Also is it any good? I see a lot of complaining threads on here about their BB service!

None of those. It's cable modem based, over their TV network, with fibre for the backhaul. Their phone service goes through their cable modem.

spooky donkey

yes was just wondering whats invovled in getting it in. I dont need a phone line then but do I need their TV service. I only want BB and nothing else can this be done.

Oh and thanks for the quick answer spear.

Ranicand

spooky donkey wrote: »

Also is it any good? I see a lot of complaining threads on here about their BB service!

People don't come on here when everything is fine with their broadband.

A few people have problems but it is the best broadband in Ireland.

Here are my speed test and ping right now.

IrishTonyO

If you are in an UPC area you can get broadband on it's own but there is an extra standalone charge of €8 a month

spooky donkey

yes the stand alone charge seems to be there if you dont have TV. But it would still work out cheaper and faster than my imagine service im getting atm.

Oh and Rancid I do know what you are saying about people coming on here only when they have problems, thats true its just that I think im seeing more UPC problem threads on here than other BBs, but that could just mean thats its more popular also.

Any know know if it is in D15 I tried to enter my address on the ordering page but its not coming back with a result positive or negative, seems it cant fine my house.

IrishTonyO

give them a call don't trust what the web site says about availability

vibe666

if you have a laptop (or desktop) with wireless on it, take it upstairs near a window at the front and back of the house and look for other wireless access points and see what you find. if you see any UPC wireless access points then you might well be in luck. if it's available in your area then it's unlikely you'll be the first one to get it so you chould see one or two of your neighbours with it.

you should also find that if you're in an area they service, you'll get the odd bit of junk mail through your letterbox advertising that they are available.

vampire of kilmainham

spooky donkey wrote: »

Ok been looking on their site and see they have cheap optical BB on offer. But how does it work, is it over phone lines, do they bring fiber into your house or is it off the cable TV set up.

I would ring them and ask but I doubt id get an answer this late on a saturday night.

Also is it any good? I see a lot of complaining threads on here about their BB service!

It all goes through the one cable your TV B/B PHONE the cable is fiberoptic iv had no problems with it and i have it two years now i find the 15MB B/B quite fast...

vampire of kilmainham

spooky donkey wrote: »

yes was just wondering whats invovled in getting it in. I dont need a phone line then but do I need their TV service. I only want BB and nothing else can this be done.

Oh and thanks for the quick answer spear.

They do some good deals if you get digi tv box phone and B/B i got the lot costs 60euro a month for all three with 15mb b/b you'll only pay more if you use your phone...

IrishTonyO

vampire of kilmainham wrote: »

It all goes through the one cable your TV B/B PHONE the cable is fiberoptic iv had no problems with it and i have it two years now i find the 15MB B/B quite fast...

The backbone is fibre optic to their hubs, however the cable from there to the house is normal cable

technonerd

UPC are connected to a M.A.N (municipal area network) which is owned by the government and is operated by a company called e-net, the network is fiber optic and UPC in all their wisdom connected to the network using coaxial cable and that is why the upload speeds are so poor.

It is a hybrid fiber coaxial network
UPC say it is their network and would have you beleive it is true fiber optic broadband, but that is just marketing mumbo jumbo.

The connection is a lot better than most out there, but I think they really should have upgraded to a true fiber connection as they may get left behind when Eircom or some other company connects homes with true fiber optic broadband!

IrishTonyO

technonerd wrote: »

UPC are connected to a M.A.N (municipal area network) which is owned by the government and is operated by a company called e-net, the network is fiber optic and UPC in all their wisdom connected to the network using coaxial cable and that is why the upload speeds are so poor.

It is a hybrid fiber coaxial network
UPC say it is their network and would have you beleive it is true fiber optic broadband, but that is just marketing mumbo jumbo.

The connection is a lot better than most out there, but I think they really should have upgraded to a true fiber connection as they may get left behind when Eircom or some other company connects homes with true fiber optic broadband!

Afraid you are wrong there, it is UPC's network, the MAN managed by e-net is only beginning you can see where they cover on the maps page on their site http://www.e-net.ie/man-maps.html. Plus their advertising is technically correct as they say it is Fibre powered, they don't say Fibre Network as it is not fibre to the home FTTH yet

vibe666

technonerd wrote: »

It is a hybrid fiber coaxial network
UPC say it is their network and would have you beleive it is true fiber optic broadband, but that is just marketing mumbo jumbo.

very true. if you go far enough back along the connection, even a dialup connection is fibre.

Karmafaerie

Somebody should really tell UPC that they didn't have to invest that €100,000,000 or so on their network over the last few years, cause it bellonged to the government.

Cause I don't think they know!

technonerd

When UPC talk about upgrading "their" network they are talking about the coax cable going from your house to a station a few 100 meters away.

And they are using the M.A.N.

http://www.e-net.ie/indirect-connections.html

Nearly every provider in the country is using the network, and when they talk about the cost that includes wages of the techs and electronic engineers, diesel, the cable, overtime, expenses etc.

IrishTonyO

technonerd wrote: »

When UPC talk about upgrading "their" network they are talking about the coax cable going from your house to a station a few 100 meters away.

And they are using the M.A.N.

http://www.e-net.ie/indirect-connections.html

Nearly every provider in the country is using the network, and when they talk about the cost that includes wages of the techs and electronic engineers, diesel, the cable, overtime, expenses etc.

Man you really should gets your facts right before making statements as if they are truth. UPC owns and runs its own network (MAN). MAN stands for Metropolitan Area Network and anyone can own and run one if they have the money and will.
UPC's network is 100% their own, with not a penny invested in it by government.

"It is part of the UPC Broadband division of Liberty, UPC being an abbreviation of that company's previous name, United Philips Cable. It owns almost all of the cable operations in Ireland including those in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. UPC was due to replace NTLChorus on customer bills issued from 21 October 2007, however, a full rebrand began on May 1, 2010" and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPC_Ireland

bk

technonerd wrote: »

When UPC talk about upgrading "their" network they are talking about the coax cable going from your house to a station a few 100 meters away.

technonerd, please stop, you couldn't be more wrong.

UPC has their own fibre optic network, one of the largest in the country, across most of the large cities of Ireland that they operate in.

They recently started using MAN's and the BT Network, to reach 6 towns including Carlow, Portlaoise, etc. But this is only a fraction of their overall network.

technonerd wrote: »

UPC in all their wisdom connected to the network using coaxial cable and that is why the upload speeds are so poor.

......

The connection is a lot better than most out there, but I think they really should have upgraded to a true fiber connection as they may get left behind when Eircom or some other company connects homes with true fiber optic broadband!

I think it was a very wise choice, they will be able to offer 120MB/s BB in a few months time when they move to DOCSIS 3 and they can move to even higher speeds with newer cable modems in future that use even more channels. All without the horrendous cost of rolling out FTTH.

They can easily compete with FTTH for many years to come on speed, as UPC themselves have proven in the Netherlands where they are handily beating KPN's FTTH services.

And when the time comes they can always upgrade to FTTH if needs be.

As for Eircom introducing FTTH, ROFLOL, Eircom is nearly bankrupt with 4 Billion in debt, who would loan them the estimated €1.5 to €4 billion extra needed to roll out FTTH?

Yes another company might come along and do it, I wish someone would, but I think it is highly unlikely.

Karmafaerie

technonerd wrote: »

Nearly every provider in the country is using the network, and when they talk about the cost that includes wages of the techs and electronic engineers, diesel, the cable, overtime, expenses etc.

I know the price of desel has gone up, but €100,000,000 over about three years!
Dude, come on.