What to get? - UPC broadband/TV

RolandIRL

Hi,

there's 6 of us in the house, and we're about to order UPC broadband and TV (no phone) as part of the student deal (4 months free), so would the 20MB connection be sufficient for all of us to use at the same time? Would there be any issue with the router having 6 wireless connections on it together?

We only want the basic TV package, whatever is the cheapest available, or would it be worth it to get the Fibre Power Starter (25MB/TV/phone) for €60/month?

Any other issues i should be aware of about UPC, like extra charges or the like?

thanks

PerrinV2

Are upc doing another student deal this year?
I haven't seen anything on their site about it

RolandIRL

I PM'd Jason earlier and he said it's a 12 month contract with the last 4 months free. Just want to get an idea first on what package would be right before i sign up rather than have UPC try to convince me we need 100MB! :pac:

vibe666

you might be being a bit optimistic on the amount of use it will get with 6 people in the house.

i'd say go for the 25mbps as you'll get a much higher cap (afaik 500gb from this month) and a free wireless router.

RolandIRL

vibe666 wrote: »

you might be being a bit optimistic on the amount of use it will get with 6 people in the house.

i'd say go for the 25mbps as you'll get a much higher cap (afaik 500gb from this month) and a free wireless router.

i think it's 500GB for all packages ordered after July 2011 - http://www.upc.ie/termsandconditions/acceptableusagepolicy/ - i'll be saying to them anyway not to use torrents, that'll just eat away the usage.

Correction, another of the housemates decided she wants in, so i think it's best to go for the 25mb broadband. Is there any issue with the router for having as many as 7 simultaneous connections?

edit: also there's a UPC box behind the telly that was there when we moved in. Is it hard to do the self-install?

collier

Roland Deschain wrote: »

vibe666 wrote: »

you might be being a bit optimistic on the amount of use it will get with 6 people in the house.

i'd say go for the 25mbps as you'll get a much higher cap (afaik 500gb from this month) and a free wireless router.

i think it's 500GB for all packages ordered after July 2011 - http://www.upc.ie/termsandconditions/acceptableusagepolicy/ - i'll be saying to them anyway not to use torrents, that'll just eat away the usage.

Correction, another of the housemates decided she wants in, so i think it's best to go for the 25mb broadband. Is there any issue with the router for having as many as 7 simultaneous connections?

edit: also there's a UPC box behind the telly that was there when we moved in. Is it hard to do the self-install?

You do get the 500gb cap on all UPC packages from August 2011. Torrents will ofcourse make you reach this fast. Streaming films etc will also consume bandwidth quickly.

There is not an issue with having 7 users on the one router. However I will say that the router given with sub 50mb packages can be temperamental. I would advise the 50mb package as you will be given the Thompson router instead of the Cisco.

A self install is handy to do if you want all the equipment in the room with the UPC outlet they provide all cabling and instructions on how to connect the devices.

PerrinV2

What broadband speed and tv package were you getting on the student deal?

How much was it a month? cause if you switch packages won't you get stuck on a 12 month contract?

RolandIRL

@perrin, No, this is the first time i'm signing up with UPC. i just moved into the house this year, so a previous tenant must have had the UPC box installed already.

@collier, is the thompson router much better?

I'll be signing up via the boards deal online tonight (have to wait and see if any housemate wants to change their mind)

collier

Roland Deschain wrote: »

@perrin, No, this is the first time i'm signing up with UPC. i just moved into the house this year, so a previous tenant must have had the UPC box installed already.

@collier, is the thompson router much better?

I'll be signing up via the boards deal online tonight (have to wait and see if any housemate wants to change their mind)

Yes the Thompson is alot better then the cisco one but do make sure that UPC hd/100mb bb/phone is available in the house or you won't get faster then 20mb to check this go to UPC.ie and enter your address and you should have a tick beside everything.

RolandIRL

collier wrote: »

Yes the Thompson is alot better then the cisco one but do make sure that UPC hd/100mb bb/phone is available in the house or you won't get faster then 20mb to check this go to UPC.ie and enter your address and you should have a tick beside everything.

yeah, all ticks beside it, though it doesn't say what's the max broadband i can get. I'll ask whenever Jason's team calls after i place the order tonight.

Thanks for all your help guys

PerrinV2

I was just wondering myself what was the student deal roland? as in broadband speed and price?
Kinda in the same position as yourself,couple of students in the house but we won't be there for 12 months

collier

Roland Deschain wrote: »

collier wrote: »

Yes the Thompson is alot better then the cisco one but do make sure that UPC hd/100mb bb/phone is available in the house or you won't get faster then 20mb to check this go to UPC.ie and enter your address and you should have a tick beside everything.

yeah, all ticks beside it, though it doesn't say what's the max broadband i can get. I'll ask whenever Jason's team calls after i place the order tonight.

Thanks for all your help guys

Generally if hd is available your bb max will be 100mb

RolandIRL

PerrinV2 wrote: »

I was just wondering myself what was the student deal roland? as in broadband speed and price?
Kinda in the same position as yourself,couple of students in the house but we won't be there for 12 months

According to Jason anyway, the student deal is 12 months for the price of 8. if you sign up via the boards deal, you get a €50 voucher for DID or CPW and UPC will ring you to go through the whole pricing thing

collier wrote: »

Generally if hd is available your bb max will be 100mb

sound, cheers for the info, will decide what's best when i ask the housemates later.

TimeToShine

sorry for bumping because I didn't want to make a new thread.

I've had the student starter pack since september, I've cancelled the DD in may and assumed that they would cut off service because of this. They texted me about a payment so I'm assuming that they're going to continue service and expect me to pay ~200 euro for the summer when there's no-one in the house. I have the student starter pack but I can't find any information on the contract length (hoping it's a 9 month) or how to avail of this 3 months free deal.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

colm_mcm

It's a 12 month contract with a specific few months free. Call them.

TimeToShine

colm_mcm wrote: »

It's a 12 month contract with a specific few months free. Call them.

thanks very much.