Buyer guide
Buying IPTV in Ireland: a practical guide
A neutral guide to how IPTV works in Irish homes, what it realistically costs, which devices behave best here, and how to avoid the mistakes that cost people money. Written to be useful whether or not you buy from us.
What IPTV actually is
IPTV means television delivered over an internet connection rather than through an aerial, a satellite dish or a cable running into the house. In practice it looks like an app on your television or streaming box, with a list of live channels and a library of films and series behind it.
The important consequence is that the quality of your broadband becomes the quality of your television. With an aerial, a weak signal is a problem with the aerial. With IPTV, a weak connection at half past eight in the evening is a problem with your evening.
That single fact explains most of what follows, and it is the thing sellers in this market are least likely to lead with.
What is different about Ireland
Guides written for other markets miss several things that matter here, and following them leads to avoidable disappointment.
Broadband is not uniform
Ireland has excellent full-fibre coverage in many areas and genuinely marginal fixed-wireless connections in others, sometimes within a few kilometres of each other. Advice that assumes everyone has fibre is useless to half the country.
The housing stock fights Wi-Fi
Solid-wall construction, Georgian conversions and long narrow terraces are all common, and all hostile to a wireless signal travelling two rooms. In a modern timber-framed house the same router would be fine.
Consumer protections are real here
Buying a digital service at a distance in Ireland brings statutory rights, including a cancellation right with specific conditions for digital content. A seller who cannot describe those rights on a public page is one to be careful with.
Viewing habits are seasonal
Demand in Irish households spikes hard around sporting calendars and the winter months. A service that behaves perfectly in July is not proven until it has survived a wet November evening.
Money
What IPTV realistically costs in Ireland
Our own pricing is shown here as a worked example. Use the same arithmetic on anyone else you are considering.
A worked example: our terms
Total charged in euro, with the genuine monthly equivalent underneath.
1 month
€15 total
Works out at €15.00 a month
Try the service for a single month before you commit to anything longer.
3 months
€33 total
Works out at €11.00 a month
Saves €12 (27%)
A season-length term. Popular with households that want to cover the winter sports calendar.
6 months
€45 total
Works out at €7.50 a month
Saves €45 (50%)
Half the monthly cost of a rolling month, without committing to a full year.
12 months
€65 total
Works out at €5.42 a month
Saves €115 (64%)
The lowest monthly cost we offer. Chosen by most households that have already tested the service.
Budget for hardware once
If your television is older, allow for a streaming stick. It is a one-off cost, usually less than a single month of subscription, and it removes most future problems.
Budget for a cable
A long ethernet cable costs very little and outperforms any Wi-Fi upgrade. It is the highest-value few euro you will spend on this.
Do not budget for a VPN by default
Plenty of sites push one as an add-on. It is not required to use a subscription like this, and it usually makes streaming slower rather than better.
Decide
A short decision path
Four questions, answered honestly, will tell you whether to proceed.
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Does your connection hold up in the evening?
Run a speed test at half past eight on a weekday, not at lunchtime. If it holds above 15 Mbps steadily, you are in good shape. If it collapses, fix that before buying any television service.
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Can your television or box handle it?
Anything from roughly the last six years, or any modern streaming stick. If your set is older, plan on adding a stick rather than hoping.
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How many people watch at once?
One stream is included in most subscriptions, including ours. If two rooms need different programmes simultaneously, price that in before you order rather than after.
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What are you actually replacing?
If a single named programme or competition is the entire reason, be careful. No honest provider will guarantee a specific title, and buying on that assumption is how people end up disappointed.
Avoid these
Five expensive mistakes we see repeatedly
Buying a year before testing a month
The saving on a long term is real, but only worth taking once you know the service performs in your house. Test first, commit second.
Blaming the service for the Wi-Fi
Most buffering complaints are a network problem two rooms from the router. Diagnose before you demand a refund, or you will repeat the experience elsewhere.
Believing a channel list
A wall of broadcaster logos is a marketing asset, not a licence. Ask what is actually guaranteed and see how the answer changes.
Paying by a method with no recourse
If a seller insists on a payment route that leaves you no way to dispute a transaction, treat that as the answer to every other question you had.
Not reading the refund page first
Five minutes before ordering is worth an hour of argument afterwards. If there is no refund page at all, you already have your answer.
Ordering on match day
Activation and setup take a little time, and everyone else has the same idea. Order midweek and have it working before it matters.
Guide finished
If you have worked through this, you are ready to ask good questions
Ask them of us or of anyone else. A provider that answers specifically is worth more than one that is a few euro cheaper.
Prefer email? Write to [email protected]. We answer 09:00 to 23:00 Irish time.