Eir TV

Hey cloudhopper. I currently have eir for bb and tv. I've been with them for 7 years from the previous evision and now have the eir tv through apple tv.

I think like most companies you only usually hear the noise of people complaining and the ones that are happy are the silent majority. In that time I've had about 3 issues which were dealt with really fast by eir. The first two were right after I'd flipped when they were rolling out efiber and they were to do with the cabinet. The other a socket in the house which they came out right away and fixed. Anytime I've called them I've always had great service. Contrast that to both Sky and BT previously who I had absolute nightmares with.

The current TV I'm very happy with. Haven't had any interruption in service and the picture quality is fantastic. Some channels are HD but not all but from the top of my head RTE, Virgin, TG4, CH4, BBC, eir sport are all HD. Maybe missing some. The HD pic quality is excellent. Recording wise you can't record RTE but they have the player which I find a lot better than many say. Again maybe I've lower standards but I really don't see all the guff that it gets. I only ever really record off BBC and that's probs you can do that, series record etc...

Now what some have had issue with is the remote. It's an apple TV which I was used to in any case and I actually prefer the apple tv remote over a normal big ass tv one. If you've never used it it can take some getting used to. The eir tv app itself is good but there are a couple of little annoyances that could take it up a step. That said it's very like any other EPG you may have seen on an android box or online.

gmacww wrote: »

...I think like most companies you only usually hear the noise of people complaining and the ones that are happy are the silent majority.

eircom, outsourced most, if not all, of their customer support (i.e. Call Centres) to a third party. That is where the majority of issues, and many complaints to ComReg, arose. It has now been brought back in house and should improve substantially.

I'd be happy to give them another go, if I get the chance. I suspect that their service is going to be excellent.

gmacww wrote: »

...I've had about 3 issues which were dealt with really fast by eir. The first two were right after I'd flipped when they were rolling out efiber and they were to do with the cabinet. The other a socket in the house which they came out right away and fixed. Anytime I've called them I've always had great service. Contrast that to both Sky and BT previously who I had absolute nightmares with.

Most fixed broadband, apart from Virgin Media, uses the eircom network for providing the connection to the home. The same team maintains this, regardless of whom the customer signed up with.

icdg wrote: »

As good a place to mention this, Apple just announced their Apple TV (6th generation) and the remote has been redesigned with directional buttons, which might suit those whose main complaint was the remote. (Also, Siri apparently finally works here, which is about time at this stage).

I was with Sky tv for decades for the sports.

Last year I switched to Eir TV and I'm extremely happy.

I'm just paying €10 per month for uk and Irish tv and also some others like Discovery, UK Gold etc.

I also purchased extra apple boxes from adverts and they also give me the Eir tv package at no extra cost. I can also cast Eir tv from my phone to chromecast and it all works flawlessly.

I also dabble in Sky sports via the Now TV app and there are always good offers on that. I'm currently subscribing to Sky Sports for the end of the Premier league and that's costing €20 for a months viewing.

I'm very happy, far better value than Sky as that was crazy costs.

I've no issue with the apple touch remote and my family have no complaints about it either.

You can also control the apple box via remote apps for android and ios

NewClareman wrote: »

Can you use the App Store with the Apple TV that eir provide?

Yes.

Surprised people are not using sat and saorview services once you have a sat dish and aerial and a box for recording.

greasepalm wrote: »

Surprised people are not using sat and saorview services once you have a sat dish and aerial and a box for recording.

Too many wires, my home is much more clutter free now as Eir tv box is wireless.

Recording is old school cloud recording and all the catch-up tv is adequate

Is it just me, or do some of the posts on this thread read more like an advertisement than a genuine endorsement?

All i can say if internet goes i can still watch tv as dont have all eggs in one basket.

Agreed plenty of options to use or choose from.

icdg wrote: »

Indeed.

If I were to call eir TV’s particular strengths, it’s that it’s cheap if you’re already an eir BB subscriber, it’s app allows you to cast the full line up with no restrictions (Sky, please give us Chromecast support in this day and age!) and of course eir Sport (though that is now living on borrowed time and will be gone sooner or later though given the wind down announcement). Also if you were planning on buying an Apple TV 4K anyway it may be a cost effective way of getting it.

The disadvantages? The recording restrictions are number one obviously. Lack of premium sports or movie channels (some of us want to record NFL prime time games!). The Apple TV remote (though as mentioned, they’re bringing out a better one and eir always sold a third party conventional remote). No channel numbers (personally speaking, I couldn’t live without them!)

With the current Apple TV 4k and Eir TV I can do everything with my thumb, I find it extremely convenient and I can do voice control also

icdg wrote: »

...
The disadvantages? The recording restrictions are number one obviously. Lack of premium sports or movie channels (some of us want to record NFL prime time games!). The Apple TV remote (though as mentioned, they’re bringing out a better one and eir always sold a third party conventional remote). No channel numbers (personally speaking, I couldn’t live without them!)

I've just got eir Fibre with eirTV, as the pandemic scuttled my move to rural Ireland. First impressions are good, I'm amazed with the number of channels in HD. My immediate issue is the 'Wifey' factor - she considers the Apple remote, and the various apps all too complicated. Worst case it will bring all the channels to our downstairs den, without any new cabling.

By the way I can confirm that eir provide a bog standard Apple TV, with no restrictions of any sort. I have installed the NowTV app, so that I can watch F1.

babelfish1990 wrote: »

Are you satisfied with the Cloud recording feature? I have the previous eir TV solution, which has traditional disk recording. I have been reluctant to upgrade to the Apple TV box from Eir, as it only has Cloud recording. Can you record all BBC content? Is RTE recording still missing? (Not such a problem, as we can use the RTE player, although it is a bit buggy). I think Apple announced a new Remote recently, but perhaps it is an extra?

I had the previous tv box as well. The picture and sound are far superior from the apple tv than the old box. Now that said I think I had the original evision box so they may have improved over the years.



Cloud recording for me is fine but to be fair I don't tend to record a lot. My wife uses it all the time and has no complaints. She's mainly recording BBC content. While I haven't checked every program on BBC any that I've tried to record have done so without issue. RTE recording is still not available but the player is and to be honest I find the player absolutely fine and a perfect alternative. Each to their own though.


Apple announced a new remote for the new version of the tv. I'd say it will be a while before you'd get that one from eir as I'm sure they've a stock of current gen tv's to get through first. Eir also sell a "traditional" remote as well. I've not used it mind as I actually prefer the apple one. It's faster and less cumbersome.

Thinking of getting eir tv after being years with sky.

Does it run off broadband only?
Can you record RTE channels?
Can you rewind and pause?
Is the box for tv just the tiny Apple TV box? (If so, can this be placed at any tv where the broadband reaches?)
Is the user interface ok?
Will it be a pain to adapt to after sky for years?

NewClareman wrote: »

• The full Tv Service runs on AppleTV, and only works on your home network.
• The eirTV app also works outside the home network, with a limited set of channels, including eir sport.
• You cannot record RTE channels, but you can go to the RTE Player from within the eirTV app.
• You can rewind and pause some channels, but not the RTE ones. Start from the beginning is also available for many channels (again not for RTE).
• The AppleTV can be placed anywhere the Broadband is within reach. This was one of the reasons I went for this as I only have satellite in the sitting room and kitchen. (I have cat 5e cable, unterminated, in every room. However, I never bothered wiring it all up.)
• I am really impressed by the User Interface. It's of similar quality to Netflix and Amazon Prime,which we use already. The other half was wary at first but now she has no problem. She's using the Tv Remote to turn the TV on/off and the Siri remote for everything else. The breakthrough was that AppleTV switches the TVto the correct input, automatically.)
• Only you can answer about Sky. However, if 'Wifey' can hack it, I'd say you'd be ok. She was particularly taken that she can watch TV on her iPad, even outside the house. (In theory you could do that with our current Combo Box, but the User Interface for streaming is crude.)

It's still early days and I'm not yet ready to retire my existing setup. However, I suspect that my Tiviar box will shortly be switched off. One rant is that the quality of all the Irishchannels is better on eirTV, than on Saorview. It is really galling that this hasn't been sorted by no,with all the channels on Saorview being in proper HD. /rant

Thank you for that in depth reply. disappointing the way you can’t pause or record RTE.

For the ones you can record, where do they record to?

The only thing wifey watches is Bleedin home and f’in away. Something I watched 30 years ago !! (For Sophie)
Wonder can this be watched on the rte player.

How long after a programme is finished is it live on the player. E.g. 9 o clock news, would that be there when it’s over at 9:30pm etc or would you have to wait hours?

obi604 wrote: »

For the ones you can record, where do they record to?

They are recorded in the cloud, so are available on any device.

obi604 wrote: »

How long after a programme is finished is it live on the player. E.g. 9 o clock news, would that be there when it’s over at 9:30pm etc or would you have to wait hours?

I don't know, sorry.

obi604 wrote: »

How are people finding the lack of pause on RTÉ channels. I find I use it a lot, especially with the kids etc.

I’m just used to pause and indeed record on sky

It's a PITA to be honest. I've had live pause and recording for as long as I remember. When I left Sky, after many years, I moved to free solution using a single box. It also has live pause and has served me well, as described here.

Having said that, every approach has its good and bad points. For me, usability, cost and content are king. Taking each area:

Cost
The cost is only €10pm, which is nothing, if already using eir Broadband.

Usability
This solution, taken as a whole, is the best I've had. (However, I've never had SkyQ or an Android solution, so can't compare to these.) The eirTV Interface is truly excellent, and child's play to use. The RTE player is integrated as is Prime Video. I also have a few other apps installed, including NowTV, Spotify, Netflix and YouTube. These are simple to change to and are controlled by the same remote.
I haven't managed to get the Siri Remote to power on/off the TV, otherwise it does everything.
(I haven't tried using Siri yet, either.)

Content
The number of free HD Channels, and catch-up content, was better than I expected. My sports watching is confined to F1 and hurling. I use NowTV for F1, which previously I used on my iPad.

In relation to the Kids....
We often mind our grandson, who is addicted to CocoMelon on Netflix. It drives me nuts, and I only roll it out when all else fails. There is tons of content on YouTube, which I much prefer. This includes music for sleeping, which I cast to the Lounge to help him settle. (Accepted, this is just me, and all our approaches differ. )

obi604 wrote: »

Thank you again banner man

For me and with kids I find i want to watch a programme and then get sidelined with them - so could end up pausing a programme for 30 mins etc etc. This happens a lot.

Also with kids, can’t get to watch things when I want so end up having to record. And normally RTÉ type stuff.

This all works ‘nice’ with sky.

But will disappear with Eir.......
Was all psyched about the Eir TV scenario, but it has serious limitations with regard to record and pause

Ok, I had another look for you and it appears I gave you a bad steer.

Live pause IS available for most programs.
(I was unlucky, I tried it on a film, which must have had restricted rights.)

RTE Player is part of the eirTV menu, so recording isn't a big deal.

I won't post on this again, until we've used it for a bit. I don't want to mislead anyone again. In the meantime I would encourage anyone looking to reduce their TV costs to try and get a demo. The features are far more advanced than we expected and you might be pleasantly surprised.

IrishHomer wrote: »

I also purchased extra apple boxes from adverts and they also give me the Eir tv package at no extra cost. I can also cast Eir tv from my phone to chromecast and it all works flawlessly....


You can also control the apple box via remote apps for android and ios

Hi Irish Homer,

What's remote app do you use for android?

Did your Apple TV's count towards your device limit, or were they separate? (With our plan we can use two devices, which I have assigned to our iPads. I'd hate to lose the TV on either of them.)

gmacww wrote: »

I tried it on a few shows there and I can pause without issue on RTE. Now I didn't leave it any great length of time to be honest but it does pause.



On the player question. What is on RTE is also streamed on the player at the same time so as soon as a program is over it's usually available on the player.

nice one, thank you.
so within minutes, its up on rte player yeah via eir/apple tv?
I just know from the standard rte player in a browser it takes hours for things to get on to player, so if you missed a programme, you would have to wait and wait

gmacww wrote: »

Well the one on the apple tv is just the standard rte player than you download from the app store. It's not a special one for eir or anything.

ok grand, have just noticed on rte player I may be hours waiting for fresh programme to come online





e..g I missed the 9pm news, it may not be able to view on RTE player until the next daye etc

What is the bootup or startup time of eir tv from being powered off.

My sky + box takes forever to boot up, it takes 3/4 minutes to get going, does my head in

icdg wrote: »

It’s an app. It runs on a standard Apple TV. It takes a couple of seconds.

More generally, you’re not really supposed to plug out a Sky STB at all, except maybe to reboot it if it freezes up or something. Sky want you to leave it plugged in 24/7 so it can get updates and the like. Also if you plug it out it won’t record anything while it’s plugged out.

Fair enough. I plug mine out every night. Only an odd time do I record whilst in bed so leave it on then

hello
regarding a bundle with EIR including tv {standard channels only}
do you get issued with some type of set top box as you do with sky or virgin
thanks in advance

got my Apple Eir TV hardware today. The actual go live/install is not due for another month.

I have an iPhone and apple ID already. I also have prime video as I am subscribed to amazon prime separately.
Is it best to use this or better to create a totally fresh Apple ID?



Or another way of asking

Do I even need to enter an apple ID if I don't care about the free prime video scenario?

icdg wrote: »

You’ll need one to use the App Store, Apple TV+ (you get a years free trial of that too), iCloud, iTunes, and all the other stuff you normally need one for.

I don’t see why you wouldn’t use the same one you already have for your iPhone.

Ah ok. I presume I can use the same id on another Apple TV box (multi room)

I have Eir Vision currently. Am due to get an Apple TV Box in the next couple of days. However I noticed on the email that my Sports package is not included. I called and was told I would have to download Now TV and subscribe through Now TV for Sports. Just wondering how people find using Now tv for the sports channels. Is it user friendly to download the app to the apple box, as I'm a bit of a ludite.