We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
UPC HAS LAUNCHED what it claims to be the fastest fibre broadband service available in the country.
The new service will include unlimited 240Mbps fibre powered broadband service which has been made available today.
The service will cost €25 per month initially before increasing to €45 after four months for new customers, and will be available to those who are within the UPC footprint.
In a statement announcing the move, UPC’s Portfolio Product Manager Cambell Scott said that the launch was “grounded in the needs of the Irish consumer.”
“This is all part of our commitment to constant innovation and continually leading the way in broadband to meet the needs of the Irish consumer today and tomorrow,” said Scott.
Earlier last week, UPC announced a price increase to its TV and call services, which will be introduced in February. At the time, a spokesperson for the company said that the change arose “mainly from increased operational costs and revised content and copyright charges from channel and content providers.”
Those affected have or will receive an email telling them how exactly it will impact them.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
They need to fix there crappy routers first
Their*
Completely agree. They can increase the speed all they like, but until they stop using substandard hardware like the “technicolor TC7200″ they gave me last year, it’s utterly pointless. Absolute rubbish!
Buy your own. Much better. They’ll always provide crappy ones that they buy in bulk in some stupid contract with the manufacturers.
Shocking their routers are, I was passing by Upc shop in the ilac centre last week so I dropped in and spoke to a guy in there about their crappy routers and why they won’t let their customers bridge their routers so people can use their own routers and he couldn’t answer me, I said go look at boards.ie thread on it and he said oh we don’t go near there.
Upc don’t wont you to bridge your routers and just use as a modem because this horizon crap they want you to use if your in a friends house you don’t have to ask them for their SSID ( service set identifier) key to use their wifi
You can’t buy your own router if you can’t bridge your connection with their crappy routers and just use as a modem, only the Cisco EPC3925 lets you do that but they’ll tell you they don’t do them anymore
You can hack their router/modem so that you can use it only as a modem and use your own router. Max I get out of the UPC router is about 30-40Mb on wifi standing 5 inches from it.
The 240Mb quoted here is only for wired connections. Not sure why the adverts don’t say that as most devices are only used over the wifi.
UPC are probably one of the worst company in Ireland to deal with on a customer service level.
Just got my super duper fibre optic broadband from Eircom about an hour ago and I’d delighted with it. The speed of downloading is fantastic, only took 1.5 minutes to download 390 MBs. Happy days :)
@Morgan Freeman
>Not sure why the adverts don’t say that as most devices are only used over the wifi.
Eh, the speed is to the modem. No company says you will get that speed over wifi. They cant determine wether you have some shi!!y a/b device, or g or n.
Wifi speeds are always going to pall compared to wired.
@Ann Reddin Should try it at peak times much much slower then I got 8Meg download last night during the busy time. 40-50 wifi most of the time 100 wired when everyone is gone to bed!
@Unknown They are the ones providing the “shi!!y” modem-router where you can’t get decent wifi speeds so how the heck is that the responsibility of the consumer who is paying the guts of 500 quid a year for it. You also can’t then purchase a router yourself because they have locked down the device so they limit your options.
You can easily get decent Wifi speeds with decent hardware. The point you missed is that they advertise 250Mb now but you’ll never get that with the setup they provide. Max you’ll get on most devices is 40Mb. That should be stated.
@ Andrew
I will download a file of similar size at about 8pm and see if there is a difference, but I live in Dublin 2 across from the Stephens Green Centre, a Hotel and a large office building so I would imagine that there is probably more traffic ( (I’m far from being a technological expert so don’t know if that is the right word) during business hours than there is in the evening. But I’ll leave a comment to let you know.
A UPC reaction to mass cancelations after the price hike announcements.
Could be right. I tried to call them yesterday about the price hikes and got a message saying they were receiving an unusual amount of calls and the wait time would be 25 minutes. Id say they’re getting hammered over the price hikes.
THEY’RE FULL OF S****
like all things, “it will only be this, it will only be this” oh and this nugget “not all”
SOME UPC CUSTOMERS will see an increase to their monthly TV bill as the company introduces a new price change starting next month.
TV Bill they say, but wait theres more. “From 1 February, the prices for various TV services will change for some customers while changes to telephone rates will occur from 3 March.”
so, someone with just broadband now suddenly has a TV? can’t be called a telephone cos according to this nugget, its 1 February.
“A spokesperson for UPC said that the price increases won’t affect everybody as some services remain unchanged and that the price increase ” – Is Enda working for them in there by any chance?
A Broadband only, NO TV, NO Telephone:
Dear ***********,
We’re writing to inform you that the price of your UPC service will go up by €1.00 a month from 1 February 2015 and will be reflected in your next bill. While a price rise is never welcome, it means that we can bring you even more of the best value and most exciting entertainment in 2015.
Some of our Home Phone call rates will increase from 3 March 2015. You can find more details on these changes in the link below.
I only have broadband, no phone or TV. My email from UPC said 2euro increase per month.
How come yours is only one euro?
Anyone else think UPC are trolling us
@ Bry. How much are you paying for that if you dont mind telling me?
€2 Bry? you might have a super duper broadband connection package? I’m gonna call them now
FFS just checked for post and I have a letter from UPC telling me they are putting my bill up by 4 EUROS PER MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The only service I get from them is TV and I don’t have a sport or movie pack included. They can go shag themselves, I’ll be cancelling their crappy service.
I really wish they stop calling these Hybrid products “Fibre”, until you have actual Fibre Optic connection terminated on your wall then it isn’t Fibre (FTTH = Fibre to the Home), in case of UPC they are using HFC (Hybrid Fibre Coax) basically Fibre to a box out on street and then 100-200 properties connected to termination point via traditional COAX. Eircom are guitly of same marketing sin as they are offering FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) where the last couple hundred meters still over the copper phone line.
Also, they advertise in bits and market it bytes. So, people think that they are getting 100MB when their only getting around 12MB. Well, up to 12MB haha
Totally unnecessary speed. UPC are just trying to justify increased prices. I would much rather a reliable 10-20 meg connection for €15-€20 per month.
Is Magnet.ie any good does anybody know?
Ditched them after 6 months.
Incredibly slow speeds compared to UPC, unreliable, plenty of downtime.
I’d advise against them.
you won’t notice the speed at all, they’ve done this 3 times since i’ve been with them. its all BS. a 10-20mb would indeed give you the same speed.
It seems to depend where you are. I’ve a UPC 200Mpbs broadband package and regularly get download speeds of a bit above that, and always above 150. There is zero chance, having got used to that, that I’d make do with a 20MB connection.
Just checked it now, and it’s download 205.41, upload 19.72.
Granted I’ve a Cisco router – and I think that’s what makes the difference in large part.
It’s necessary if you want to run 50 devices from your network haha
Don’t.. Please don’t do it tk yourself.. worst service I’ve ever received for anything.. just don’t.
Wish I understood all of the above!
Mary all gobble de gook to me too. My broadband is subject to weather. If its stormy or rain i dont have it.
I’m currently on their 120mb offering but can’t get anywhere close to that using speedtests, that’s then I’m connected to the router with a wired connection.
And what speeds are you getting? I just signed up for that package yesterday, if I got at least 50% of the 120mb I would be happy compared to what I am used to and once it doesn’t disconnect/crash
I currently have digiweb 25mb and only getting a maximum of 6mb and it keeps crashing so I had enough and changed.
You might get 120Mb on their new 250Mb offer.
In any case, all providers should be made to advertise *average* speeds, not hypothetical absolute-dream-scenario-with-higher-spec-kit-in-the-lab-at-4am-when-everyone’s-asleep-speeds.
As irritating as UPC can be they are by far the best provider in Ireland, that isn’t really saying much though..
If your in a relatively new development you usually can get good speeds, strangely I’ve been getting 150mb lately even though I’m on the 120mb package :o
Their routers are crap though, weak wifi and no ability to assign static ips
Edward 120 x 1.24 = 148.8 thats why you are getting 150Mbps reading.
I’m on the same package.
Never get anywhere near those speeds.
I have a Cisco router and on Friday last week, my download speed was 1014kbps…..yes, KBPS!
Shocking. Highest I’ve ever seen it was maybe in the 40MB range.
Depending on the time, day and who’s at home, the speed can vary big time
Most people don’t need fibre, especially 240mbps. It’s the equivalent of having a Ferrari in Dublin – it looks and sounds great, but you can never drive over the speed limit.
I’ve never experienced such bad customer service as I have with them. Time and time again promises, offers and fixes never followed up on, nice staff but you can tell none of them are taking ownership of the problems.
Had planned on leaving this month,
One thing I have to say though is their 120mb broadband is great, if people are having issues with it its probably because of the wifi (and for some reason UPCs newer wifi boxes are terrible compare to their old ones) , not the broadband, try plugging straight in and you’ll get those speeds.
Try Eircom. I dare ya.
Eircom is looking more attractive daily.If only they gave At The Races in their package.
i have a 2mb eircom line. i dream of faster.
Sadly can’t get it in the west :( best I can get is 8mb with Sky. And that drops to below 4 during peak times.
Not 100% sure about this but you could be dropping down speed due to contention ratio, meaning others are sharing your bband connection, some bband providers in my case Vodafone offer 0 contention ratio, meaning I dont share my bband. Just ring sky and ask them what’s the contention ratio on your connection
Oh I know it’s the contention ratio but there’s nothing they can or will do about it. It was the same when I was with Vodafone and sitcom *shudder*
But with the latter two my speed was capped and 3mb and I could pay extra for a higher speed, Sky have the one price and I get whatever speed my line and handle. One of the downsides to living in the sticks I’m afraid.
Eircom, not sitcom. Damn you auto correct!
@ see my vest, based on my experience with them you could have put a “h” in there!!!
A Freudian slip by the autocorrect, See My Vest, but not necessarily an inaccurate description.
For web browsing you cannot tell difference if you have 50 or 100 meg connection. Feel the difference barrier is at 2 or 3 meg any more is exactly same for browsing. For video streaming that barrier is about 5 meg for non hd and music and maybe about 10 or 15 meg for hd content. Anything above is rather a gimmick unless you download extraordinary amounts of data like large graphic or video files on daily basis and you connect to extremely fast link servers.
Many households where you can have 5-6 people online at one time. You+partner, your kids + a few of their friends. Many of those might be streaming content.
The faster speeds are aimed at those rather than single people who have a 2nd person only sharing occasionally
Also, I find more often now that browsing on the web, fb or twitter will be content with linked or embedded video – less and less rely on text/images alone
Yes Alan that’s fair point I assumed sole usage rather than shared household, but when shared then I’d like to see UPC using better wifi routers with AC standard and better coverage… What’s the point of delivering 100+ meg into household when my UPC router can barely reach 40-45 meg and note I’m talking wifi here not through the wire. And wire is no good for me unless UPC can tell me how can I connect my phones and tablets through their wire… Also note there is no such thing as unlimited broadband – they advertise it using those words but I’m certain there is fair usage policy that applies somewhere in small font. Theoretically if you download all day and night at full speed providing they offer stable 240 Mbit/s connection and providing where you download from can also achieve same speed – then you can pull just about 2,5 terabyte of data per 24 hours. Do it for the month and see how they like it and if it’s really unlimited…
Download limit is 500gb a month with UPC
If you’re exceeding that then you’ve got a problem!
Most people here havent a clue what they are talking about.
Upc ….. never again …. bundle Beal advertised and sold to me over the phone ..TV phone and Internet all in for 50 euro a month …. first bill 180 euro … rang and they told me sorry our mistake pay it and it will go as credit on your account … hell no I will only pay the agreed 50, which I did. 2nd bill 220 I was told this was out standing 180 plus 50 for the month. Again after a lot of calls I was told oops sorry our mistake …. 3rd bill I just gave up and cancelled
Any one else find this ?
i dunno, but we’ve no TV package or telephone, so thought “ah they won’t increase it” so who are those they’re talking about when they say “not all” – yea i’m waiting to hear it, “new customers won’t see the increase” or something clever along those lines. We’ve only internet and its been increased, not from 1 March, 1 February!
You believe that and you believe anything you will get no where near those speeds that’s for sure
There are two important factors… Speed and Contention. I could have a connection of 500mb but if the contention rate is 1:100 then I may only get 5mb on average. Showing the contention rate should be compulsory because it seems to me like false advertising… By all ISPs not just UPC
Adonbilivit!
Great. Just got an email from them announcing this along with an €11 increase! Nothing for nothing.
Should read, UPC HAS LAUNCHED what it claims to be the fastest fibre broadband service available in ” CERTAIN PARTS OF ” of the country .
Try living with a download of 1.76 MB. like we have in Donegal
Great news for anyone living in a fibre area. Not much use for the rest of us.
Thanks
This should read, UPC HAS LAUNCHED what it claims to be the fastest fibre broadband service available in CERTAIN PARTS OF the country. Try living with 1.76 MB. That’s what a very large area of rural Ireland have
i hear you im the same
People generally don’t understand wifi, it’s less to do with the router more to do with the wireless aspect of it. Most typically routers regardless of make will more likely only achieve 50% of what is capable. There are so many factors that come in to play signal strength or type (a,b,g,n) being the main one also interference from other wireless signals around sure even the wifi card in your laptop/computer. If you’re getting 40-50 mb on wifi that’s generally quite good you could always get a stronger aerial for your router if that’s an option but you can’t do that on the technicolor ones and there’s also the risk of interference on your tv.
At the end of the day you’ll only ever achieve full broadband speed through your ethernet cable. Fact.
This isn’t the fastest fibre in the country, in fact it’s not even fibre..
This however, is – (sorry for the link)
http://www.thepropertypin.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=63386&start=15
The sad bit is that UPC’s kit is really letting them down – I was lucky enough to get a Cisco EPC3925 modem and separate HD DVR box, back in the pre-Horizon days, and with it bridged, and using a decent 802.11n 5GHz wi-fi router, I can get 122Mb down and 12Mb up (I’m paying for 120/10) most of the day, with drops to around 100Mb at busy times. My friends and family have Horizon, and the box does limit the broadband speeds (although you can bypass its wi-fi and use your own wi-fi unit) and the TV interface is horribly clunky and visually intrusive.
UPC hounded me for ages to “upgrade” to Horizon, but I told the reps that I wasn’t changing to inferior hardware – when I told one rep that I’d heard the Horizon kit was rubbish, from Boards.ie and from family, he said something like “ah, you know – oh well, thanks anyway…”.
Investment in backbone is wasted if the CPE (customer premises equipment) is no good, but loads of ISPs seem to fall into this trap.
A company in UK, called Samknows sends you out a gismo, that measures your speed over a month and sends emails to show you graphs of speeds, uploading, downloading, packet loss etc and it is free. Email them, and they will send the *thingymebob* which is simple to install.
I pay for 120, and mostly get 112 and upwards per month average
All providers will not guarantee wifi speeds because of the variables involved.all speeds quoted are wired only
They emailed me that they were upping it by a euro.. I have internet and phone with them, 43 or 44 a month. But I’d love to know why they keep taking the money out of my account and putting it back and then taking it out again.
have your say