Broadband and Sports packages.

[Oldschool]

Based on a few posts on the rant thread, would posters mind posting to this thread.
My BB isn't good enough for sports/TV packages at the moment. I'm currently on Sky dish but cancelled Sky Sports when Nigel squared screwed up the Heineken Coupe.
However the Vodafone are in the process of upgrading their own BB to fibre optic to the my doorstep.
Ergo moi will shortly in the market for a suitable sports package.
Your combined input/knowledge would be more than welcome and not just moi.
PLEASE.

[johng]

Vodafone. Eir. Sky. Etc etc. All use eir phone lines. Apart from commercial providers who beam it into your home the only exception is virgin.

Imho you may as well get eir for sports and broadband if you are using anyone else who uses their lines.

Personally I have sky for tv and virgin for broadband and phone. Which means I can get eir on my sky box.

Sky use satellite for tv but their broadband comes down eir lines

You cannot get eir/bt sports on virgin at all.

This MAY change next year

[Oldschool]

Vodafone. Eir. Sky. Etc etc. All use eir phone lines. Apart from commercial providers who beam it into your home the only exception is virgin.

Imho you may as well get eir for sports and broadband if you are using anyone else who uses their lines.

Personally I have sky for tv and virgin for broadband and phone. Which means I can get eir on my sky box.

Sky use satellite for tv but their broadband comes down eir lines

You cannot get eir/bt sports on virgin at all.

This MAY change next year

My situation is that a couple of weeks ago a couple of guys showed up on my doorstep and told me that Vodafone were planning to string fibre on my overhead line power line so perhaps this only applies in isolated areas.
Eir have high capacity fibre running to about half a kilometre away. My impression is that Vodafone are piggy backing on Eir infrastructure as you suggest but putting in their own fibre the last half kilometre and doing it overhead (cheapest and sensible option).
As an aside would Vodafone have make that fibre available to Eir if the customer decided to change BB supplier.

[johng]

The esb put fibre in the powerlines back in the 80s but very little utilisation of it. Which is a bit mad.

Not sure how the scenario you paint would play out.

I had imagined you living in sandymount OS.

[johng]

Eir use what's called "fibre to the cabinet" i.e ordinary copper pair to your house from the cab. So you need to be close to the cab and have your cab "fibre enabled"

[Dave Cahill]

I think theres only something like 100k FTTH enabled homes in Ireland

[Oldschool]

The esb put fibre in the powerlines back in the 80s but very little utilisation of it. Which is a bit mad.

Not sure how the scenario you paint would play out.

I had imagined you living in sandymount OS.

Rumours of my well heeled, posh b$&%@#d life style are somewhat overstated.

[Oldschool]

Eir use what's called "fibre to the cabinet" i.e ordinary copper pair to your house from the cab. So you need to be close to the cab and have your cab "fibre enabled"

I'm too far from the cab and the attenuation on my broadband signal s just too much for a quality TV package.
I'll keep you posted as to what actually transpires with the Vodafone thing.

[johng]

I think theres only something like 100k FTTH enabled homes in Ireland

Is that the virgin installed base?

[johng]

If you subscribe to Eir sports on Sky. (Without any Eir Broadband) It costs 245 for a 1 year contract or 27.50 a month with no contract.

Between the jigs and reels if you take the monthly option from September to May and cancel for the summer the total price is 225.

Seems like less hassle to go for the full year... Unless..... They lose BT Sports mid season.

[johng]

How long does it take to get Eir on your sky box? Any deals going?

Eir have all sports channels for €1 p/m for 3 months with sky. €27 p/m thereafter.

I know nothing about it as I don't have Sky. Just saw the deal there

That now makes it cheaper to get it for 9 months and cancel for the summer. 6 x 27.50 + 3 x 1

Just pasting this in here for posterity.

[johng]

So. If you want to have Eir Sports and BT Sports to see all of Leinster's games this season....

Cheapest option. Get some form of Eir Broadband. Presuming you have a fibre enabled cabinet near you. Then you get them both free. (Well, bundled)

Downside is I think Eir TV is a distant 3rd behind Sky and Virgin from a quality/reliability pov. (Only from hearsay as I have only ever had the other 2)

Best quality/speed option. Sky for tv. Virgin for Broadband. Pay for Eir/BT on your Sky box.

Downside is it has to cost more. How much more depends on all the options you choose.

In between there are a multitude of other options. Just bear in mind most providers of broadband (Inc Sky) are dependent on Eir phone lines.

Another good option is Eir broadband with Sky tv. Eir allow you to put the sports channels on your Sky box as part of the package. All you miss out on there is the extra speed you get from Virgin which may not bother most people. (Provided you have Eir fibre)

[domhnallj]

So far I have cancelled Sky Sport (saving £20/month). Taken on a PremierSports contract for one year (£100/year) so I have Pro14 covered (and some kicking coverage of stock car racing from Darlington!).

Still working on BT Sports but it looks like if I take out a EE Max contract (£43/month), I get BT Sports app included for 24 months (first three months have casting and thereafter casting costs £10/month). Additional casting costs would mean an extra £40 per year for year 1 based on scheduled matches, and £70/year in year two.

[johng]

Sky Sports is 40 a month over here. I cancelled it and got half price multiroom and HD which more than halved my sky tv bill.

[jimbobjoe]

So far I have cancelled Sky Sport (saving £20/month). Taken on a PremierSports contract for one year (£100/year) so I have Pro14 covered (and some kicking coverage of stock car racing from Darlington!).

Still working on BT Sports but it looks like if I take out a EE Max contract (£43/month), I get BT Sports app included for 24 months (first three months have casting and thereafter casting costs £10/month). Additional casting costs would mean an extra £40 per year for year 1 based on scheduled matches, and £70/year in year two.

Is the £100/year for PremierSports a one off payment? I was thinking of doing the £10 per month and cancelling during the off season.

[domhnallj]

So far I have cancelled Sky Sport (saving £20/month). Taken on a PremierSports contract for one year (£100/year) so I have Pro14 covered (and some kicking coverage of stock car racing from Darlington!).

Still working on BT Sports but it looks like if I take out a EE Max contract (£43/month), I get BT Sports app included for 24 months (first three months have casting and thereafter casting costs £10/month). Additional casting costs would mean an extra £40 per year for year 1 based on scheduled matches, and £70/year in year two.

Is the £100/year for PremierSports a one off payment? I was thinking of doing the £10 per month and cancelling during the off season.

Yep, I was going to do to the monthly payment but you'd save nothing based on a ten month season (games start end of August and through to mid-May). Might as well do the full year (stock cars!!!).

[jimbobjoe]

So far I have cancelled Sky Sport (saving £20/month). Taken on a PremierSports contract for one year (£100/year) so I have Pro14 covered (and some kicking coverage of stock car racing from Darlington!).

Still working on BT Sports but it looks like if I take out a EE Max contract (£43/month), I get BT Sports app included for 24 months (first three months have casting and thereafter casting costs £10/month). Additional casting costs would mean an extra £40 per year for year 1 based on scheduled matches, and £70/year in year two.

Is the £100/year for PremierSports a one off payment? I was thinking of doing the £10 per month and cancelling during the off season.

Yep, I was going to do to the monthly payment but you'd save nothing based on a ten month season (games start end of August and through to mid-May). Might as well do the full year (stock cars!!!).

Yeah, it's just a matter of splitting the cost or taking a £100 hit in August which tends to be a very expensive month for me anyway (Edinburgh festival). Stock cars areen't quite luring me in just yet

[johng]

How long does it take to get Eir on your sky box? Any deals going?

Eir have all sports channels for €1 p/m for 3 months with sky. €27 p/m thereafter.

I know nothing about it as I don't have Sky. Just saw the deal there

That now makes it cheaper to get it for 9 months and cancel for the summer. 6 x 27.50 + 3 x 1

Just pasting this in here for posterity.

Can't see this deal any more. Has it ended?

[El Diablo]

I have cancelled my Sky Sports as they have lost the rights to the HC. I am a Virgin customer but they dont have access to EIR, BT or Premier Sports. So from reading the above the simplest option to access Pro14 & HC is to switch my TV provider to Sky but it is going to be expensive to add Eir & BT I presume. I dont want to use any of the dodgy streaming sites.

[johng]

I have cancelled my Sky Sports as they have lost the rights to the HC. I am a Virgin customer but they dont have access to EIR, BT or Premier Sports. So from reading the above the simplest option to access Pro14 & HC is to switch my TV provider to Sky but it is going to be expensive to add Eir & BT I presume. I dont want to use any of the dodgy streaming sites.

If you are out of contract with Virgin. The best option is probably Eir for broadband and Sky for tv. You get Eir Sports and Bt sports as part of the package. (Providing you live near a fibre enabled Eir cabinet) Eir allow you to put the sports channels on your Sky box as part of the package.

You are stuck at 100MB broadband but that shouldn't be a problem for the vast majority.