Going from Sky to NTL - any opinions?

My sister has the Sky Family Pack and Disney, but no landline (her 12-month
minimum subs was completed at a previous address) and just uses her mobile to
make calls.

However, she's looking to get the equivalent package on NTL and use their
phone system for calls to landlines so has worked out that overall it'll be
cheaper.

I've no experience of NTL's quality of service over the digital TV side of
things, and until the competition is opened up for line rental in the coming
months, BT want to charge £10.50/month for that, and despite there being an
old socket in an upstairs bedroom, BT wanted to charge nearly £100 for putting
one in downstairs when they reconnect.

Occasionally BT have cheap "reconnect to BT" offers, and when I did it 5.5
years ago I only paid £10 for the whole thing, plus the usual line rental of
course.

All opinions welcome. TIA,
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot uk
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk (editor), http://LeilaniWeb.co.uk (editor),
/* 968 DVDs, 283 games, 33 videos, 81 cinema films, 70 CDs, laserdiscs & news
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I have been using NTL for the last 5 years for both phone and TV (and
internet), and the service has been fine so far.

However, forget about anything interactive (at least here in Glasgow). It
can take as long as a few minutes for a simple text page to download on
their "TV guide" page, and pressing the Interactive button results in having
to wait for the page to download for at least 3-4 minutes, only to find out
that it is as good as a blank page. I have yet to find anything useful with
their interactive service, and always end up re-booting the box
(disconnecting and connecting) when I get fed up waiting for it to download
after accidentally pressing the button.



"Dom Robinson" wrote in message
t...
My sister has the Sky Family Pack and Disney, but no landline (her
12-month
minimum subs was completed at a previous address) and just uses her mobile
to
make calls.

However, she's looking to get the equivalent package on NTL and use their
phone system for calls to landlines so has worked out that overall it'll
be
cheaper.

I've no experience of NTL's quality of service over the digital TV side of
things, and until the competition is opened up for line rental in the
coming
months, BT want to charge £10.50/month for that, and despite there being
an
old socket in an upstairs bedroom, BT wanted to charge nearly £100 for
putting
one in downstairs when they reconnect.

Occasionally BT have cheap "reconnect to BT" offers, and when I did it 5.5
years ago I only paid £10 for the whole thing, plus the usual line rental
of
course.

All opinions welcome. TIA,
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot
uk
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk (editor), http://LeilaniWeb.co.uk (editor),
/* 968 DVDs, 283 games, 33 videos, 81 cinema films, 70 CDs, laserdiscs &
news
/* love actually, monster, spy hunter 2, james bond: everything or nothing
Fight back against "PRESS RED":
http://dvdfever.co.uk/pressrel/pressred.shtml

I have been using NTL for the last 5 years for both phone and TV (and
internet), and the service has been fine so far.

However, forget about anything interactive (at least here in Glasgow). It
can take as long as a few minutes for a simple text page to download on
their "TV guide" page, and pressing the Interactive button results in having
to wait for the page to download for at least 3-4 minutes, only to find out
that it is as good as a blank page. I have yet to find anything useful with
their interactive service, and always end up re-booting the box
(disconnecting and connecting) when I get fed up waiting for it to download
after accidentally pressing the button.



"Dom Robinson" wrote in message
t...
My sister has the Sky Family Pack and Disney, but no landline (her
12-month
minimum subs was completed at a previous address) and just uses her mobile
to
make calls.

However, she's looking to get the equivalent package on NTL and use their
phone system for calls to landlines so has worked out that overall it'll
be
cheaper.

I've no experience of NTL's quality of service over the digital TV side of
things, and until the competition is opened up for line rental in the
coming
months, BT want to charge £10.50/month for that, and despite there being
an
old socket in an upstairs bedroom, BT wanted to charge nearly £100 for
putting
one in downstairs when they reconnect.

Occasionally BT have cheap "reconnect to BT" offers, and when I did it 5.5
years ago I only paid £10 for the whole thing, plus the usual line rental
of
course.

All opinions welcome. TIA,
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot
uk
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk (editor), http://LeilaniWeb.co.uk (editor),
/* 968 DVDs, 283 games, 33 videos, 81 cinema films, 70 CDs, laserdiscs &
news
/* love actually, monster, spy hunter 2, james bond: everything or nothing
Fight back against "PRESS RED":
http://dvdfever.co.uk/pressrel/pressred.shtml

"Dom Robinson" wrote in message
t...
My sister has the Sky Family Pack and Disney, but no landline (her
12-month
minimum subs was completed at a previous address) and just uses her mobile
to
make calls.

However, she's looking to get the equivalent package on NTL and use their
phone system for calls to landlines so has worked out that overall it'll
be
cheaper.

Not sure if this is still going but I'm moving soon and was contacted by NTL
over taking out a TV package FREE because I had Cable modem service and
telephone service.

(Only a version of Freeview channels from the list they gave me tho')

I've no experience of NTL's quality of service over the digital TV side of
things, and until the competition is opened up for line rental in the
coming
months, BT want to charge £10.50/month for that, and despite there being
an
old socket in an upstairs bedroom, BT wanted to charge nearly £100 for
putting
one in downstairs when they reconnect.

Well,Line rental for me is free having vable modem service (Though my phone
service is a set fee for free local calls up to 59 minutes,Similar to BT's
service I think?)
I too was amazed how much BT wanted to re-connect the phone line (Is'nt it
usually to install a completely new line from telegraph pole to property?)

Occasionally BT have cheap "reconnect to BT" offers, and when I did it 5.5
years ago I only paid £10 for the whole thing, plus the usual line rental
of
course.

Yes,I think this is if the main phone socket/line is already installed and
the engineer can connect you up without visiting though.

If NTL Worls is anything to go by though (E-Mail down a lot of the
time,Having to switch servers etc) I'd hope their TV service is'nt the same!
I do know *Press Red* is practically none working on NTL though...phoning
NTL always gets you the "Oh,There's a Network problem" reply

TBH though (and fair) I've had no problems with their phone service and find
it a lot cheaper than BT :-)

All opinions welcome. TIA,
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot
uk
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk (editor), http://LeilaniWeb.co.uk (editor),
/* 968 DVDs, 283 games, 33 videos, 81 cinema films, 70 CDs, laserdiscs &
news
/* love actually, monster, spy hunter 2, james bond: everything or nothing
Fight back against "PRESS RED":
http://dvdfever.co.uk/pressrel/pressred.shtml

"Dom Robinson" wrote in message
t...
My sister has the Sky Family Pack and Disney, but no landline (her
12-month
minimum subs was completed at a previous address) and just uses her mobile
to
make calls.

However, she's looking to get the equivalent package on NTL and use their
phone system for calls to landlines so has worked out that overall it'll
be
cheaper.

Not sure if this is still going but I'm moving soon and was contacted by NTL
over taking out a TV package FREE because I had Cable modem service and
telephone service.

(Only a version of Freeview channels from the list they gave me tho')

I've no experience of NTL's quality of service over the digital TV side of
things, and until the competition is opened up for line rental in the
coming
months, BT want to charge £10.50/month for that, and despite there being
an
old socket in an upstairs bedroom, BT wanted to charge nearly £100 for
putting
one in downstairs when they reconnect.

Well,Line rental for me is free having vable modem service (Though my phone
service is a set fee for free local calls up to 59 minutes,Similar to BT's
service I think?)
I too was amazed how much BT wanted to re-connect the phone line (Is'nt it
usually to install a completely new line from telegraph pole to property?)

Occasionally BT have cheap "reconnect to BT" offers, and when I did it 5.5
years ago I only paid £10 for the whole thing, plus the usual line rental
of
course.

Yes,I think this is if the main phone socket/line is already installed and
the engineer can connect you up without visiting though.

If NTL Worls is anything to go by though (E-Mail down a lot of the
time,Having to switch servers etc) I'd hope their TV service is'nt the same!
I do know *Press Red* is practically none working on NTL though...phoning
NTL always gets you the "Oh,There's a Network problem" reply

TBH though (and fair) I've had no problems with their phone service and find
it a lot cheaper than BT :-)

All opinions welcome. TIA,
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot
uk
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk (editor), http://LeilaniWeb.co.uk (editor),
/* 968 DVDs, 283 games, 33 videos, 81 cinema films, 70 CDs, laserdiscs &
news
/* love actually, monster, spy hunter 2, james bond: everything or nothing
Fight back against "PRESS RED":
http://dvdfever.co.uk/pressrel/pressred.shtml

If things are working ok, NTL is fine, but the online TV guide is
particularly slow and you can't see ahead more than one day.

NTL customer service is notoriously appalling because it seems that they
have no interest in investing in even the necessary minimum infrastructure.
A pity the people who work there because there morale must be very low.

"Dom Robinson" wrote in message
t...
My sister has the Sky Family Pack and Disney, but no landline (her
12-month
minimum subs was completed at a previous address) and just uses her mobile
to
make calls.

However, she's looking to get the equivalent package on NTL and use their
phone system for calls to landlines so has worked out that overall it'll
be
cheaper.

I've no experience of NTL's quality of service over the digital TV side of
things, and until the competition is opened up for line rental in the
coming
months, BT want to charge £10.50/month for that, and despite there being
an
old socket in an upstairs bedroom, BT wanted to charge nearly £100 for
putting
one in downstairs when they reconnect.

Occasionally BT have cheap "reconnect to BT" offers, and when I did it 5.5
years ago I only paid £10 for the whole thing, plus the usual line rental
of
course.

All opinions welcome. TIA,
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot
uk
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk (editor), http://LeilaniWeb.co.uk (editor),
/* 968 DVDs, 283 games, 33 videos, 81 cinema films, 70 CDs, laserdiscs &
news
/* love actually, monster, spy hunter 2, james bond: everything or nothing
Fight back against "PRESS RED":
http://dvdfever.co.uk/pressrel/pressred.shtml

If things are working ok, NTL is fine, but the online TV guide is
particularly slow and you can't see ahead more than one day.

NTL customer service is notoriously appalling because it seems that they
have no interest in investing in even the necessary minimum infrastructure.
A pity the people who work there because there morale must be very low.

"Dom Robinson" wrote in message
t...
My sister has the Sky Family Pack and Disney, but no landline (her
12-month
minimum subs was completed at a previous address) and just uses her mobile
to
make calls.

However, she's looking to get the equivalent package on NTL and use their
phone system for calls to landlines so has worked out that overall it'll
be
cheaper.

I've no experience of NTL's quality of service over the digital TV side of
things, and until the competition is opened up for line rental in the
coming
months, BT want to charge £10.50/month for that, and despite there being
an
old socket in an upstairs bedroom, BT wanted to charge nearly £100 for
putting
one in downstairs when they reconnect.

Occasionally BT have cheap "reconnect to BT" offers, and when I did it 5.5
years ago I only paid £10 for the whole thing, plus the usual line rental
of
course.

All opinions welcome. TIA,
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot
uk
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk (editor), http://LeilaniWeb.co.uk (editor),
/* 968 DVDs, 283 games, 33 videos, 81 cinema films, 70 CDs, laserdiscs &
news
/* love actually, monster, spy hunter 2, james bond: everything or nothing
Fight back against "PRESS RED":
http://dvdfever.co.uk/pressrel/pressred.shtml

In article [email protected], says...
Occasionally BT have cheap "reconnect to BT" offers, and when I did it 5.5
years ago I only paid £10 for the whole thing, plus the usual line rental
of
course.

Yes,I think this is if the main phone socket/line is already installed and
the engineer can connect you up without visiting though.

In my case, he had to come in and install a socket (there was one in another
room which never got used though and the wire had been taken out anyway) but
it must've been a good offer at the time.

Thanks to everyone for their input.
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot uk
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk (editor), http://LeilaniWeb.co.uk (editor),
/* 968 DVDs, 283 games, 33 videos, 81 cinema films, 70 CDs, laserdiscs & news
/* love actually, monster, spy hunter 2, james bond: everything or nothing
Fight back against "PRESS RED": http://dvdfever.co.uk/pressrel/pressred.shtml

In article [email protected], says...
Occasionally BT have cheap "reconnect to BT" offers, and when I did it 5.5
years ago I only paid £10 for the whole thing, plus the usual line rental
of
course.

Yes,I think this is if the main phone socket/line is already installed and
the engineer can connect you up without visiting though.

In my case, he had to come in and install a socket (there was one in another
room which never got used though and the wire had been taken out anyway) but
it must've been a good offer at the time.

Thanks to everyone for their input.
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot uk
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk (editor), http://LeilaniWeb.co.uk (editor),
/* 968 DVDs, 283 games, 33 videos, 81 cinema films, 70 CDs, laserdiscs & news
/* love actually, monster, spy hunter 2, james bond: everything or nothing
Fight back against "PRESS RED": http://dvdfever.co.uk/pressrel/pressred.shtml

My sister has the Sky Family Pack and Disney, but no landline (her
12-month
minimum subs was completed at a previous address) and just uses her mobile
to
make calls.

However, she's looking to get the equivalent package on NTL and use their
phone system for calls to landlines so has worked out that overall it'll
be
cheaper.

I've no experience of NTL's quality of service over the digital TV side of
things, and until the competition is opened up for line rental in the
coming
months, BT want to charge £10.50/month for that, and despite there being
an
old socket in an upstairs bedroom, BT wanted to charge nearly £100 for
putting
one in downstairs when they reconnect.

Occasionally BT have cheap "reconnect to BT" offers, and when I did it 5.5
years ago I only paid £10 for the whole thing, plus the usual line rental
of
course.


Watch out, if she does not go for one of the free options as NTL have or
will be starting to charge by the minute for all calls. So a couple of
seconds will be charged as a whole minute, not so bad when calling a
landline but very expensive when calling a mobile or internationally. The
minimum cost of a daytime call to T-mobile would cost 30p, and mobiles will
not be included in the free call packages. They will also charge for bill
itemisation, as most people will not have it they will not know why their
bills have shot up.

Anyway you can always have Onetel (www.onetel.co.uk) on cable lines.