wireless broadbands are they better than DSL?

CyberGhost · 31-07-2004 7:56pm #1

Hey!

I remember reading here, that people who had IBB and other wireless BB services, were getting slow speeds, because the connection was devided by 8, and when you are on dls you still get full speed, but here if you had 1meg connection, you'd get 12.8kb/s at peak times! and that it very slow!

did they fix those problems or not?

what kind of speeds do you get?

I need a high speed constantly, so I don't know if I can trust wireless, and go with it instead of DSL, even though wireless looks faster

Kevok · 31-07-2004 8:33pm

Pinging www.boards.ie [82.195.131.128] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 82.195.131.128: bytes=32 time=6ms TTL=59
Reply from 82.195.131.128: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=59
Reply from 82.195.131.128: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=59
Reply from 82.195.131.128: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=59

Ping statistics for 82.195.131.128:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 5ms, Maximum = 6ms, Average = 5ms

Pinging clarity.jolt.co.uk [195.149.21.11] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 195.149.21.11: bytes=32 time=17ms TTL=58
Reply from 195.149.21.11: bytes=32 time=19ms TTL=58
Reply from 195.149.21.11: bytes=32 time=16ms TTL=58
Reply from 195.149.21.11: bytes=32 time=19ms TTL=58

Ping statistics for 195.149.21.11:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 16ms, Maximum = 19ms, Average = 17ms

Thats on the IBB 1 meg vl connection. Downloads are consistently 100 -120 kb/sec except a week or two ago when they were trying new traffic management software.

Since their early days they've come along way (i've been with them since oct 2002), I can't get DSL. From what I gather their Ripwave product is pretty bad. If they ever say they'll ring you back, they won't, you have to chase them.

[Edit]They'll tell you up front that they *do* prioritise business customers during the day, so don't expect to be able to download at full speeds at peak time. From about 5pm on though it's grand. However it seems to be dependant on what tower your on and whether your sector is crowded.

I was moved to another sector recently that had little or no business customers on it and my speed has been flying during the day.[/Edit]

Moonbeam · 02-08-2004 2:10pm

It is geographically dependent if you are are the right area it rocks compared to the equivalant priced/speed Dsl.
If not it doesn't.

Mutant_Fruit · 02-08-2004 2:39pm

I remember reading here, that people who had IBB and other wireless BB services, were getting slow speeds, because the connection was devided by 8, and when you are on dls you still get full speed, but here if you had 1meg connection, you'd get 12.8kb/s at peak times! and that it very slow!

Well, i heard that DSL connections were slow, because it was 2meg divided by 48 :eek:, which is only 5.3kB/sec!

Basically, you have your facts a bit wrong. The contention ratio means that in the worst possible scenario, you will get those really slow speeds you quoted, but in a good ISP, you will never ever get speeds that low.

I can generally max out my IBB 512/512 connection any time any day.

CyberGhost · 02-08-2004 2:53pm

hmm... I might consider

Net1 or IBB

but still kinda not sure about the wireless, is it secure?

Ripwave · 02-08-2004 3:40pm

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

Basically, you have your facts a bit wrong. The contention ratio means that in the worst possible scenario, you will get those really slow speeds you quoted, but in a good ISP, you will never ever get speeds that low.

The conventional wisdom is that the the 48:1 contention ration for a DSL connection is actually based on 192 customers sharing a single 2Mb pipe. As many exchanges don't actually have anything like 192 customers, the contention ratio just doesn't rear its ugly head very often, because there is always a minimum of 2Mb available, even if there aren't 192 customers on your exchange.

With wireless, on the other hand, if you're on a 40:1 contention ratio 512K package, you're sharing 512k of bandwidth with 40 other users - if even one other user is downloading something, you'll feel the difference (and IBBs cells are much larger than the area covered by a telephone exchange).

Ripwave · 02-08-2004 3:42pm

CyberGhost wrote:

but still kinda not sure about the wireless, is it secure?

The commercial wireless operators all use encrypted transmissions. It's at least as secure as DSL, and probably more secure than Cable.

Mutant_Fruit · 02-08-2004 4:54pm

if even one other user is downloading something, you'll feel the difference

Not true. You won't feel the difference until IBB start running out of bandwidth. I never notice slowdowns, and i'm sure other people download when i do.

You aren't restricted by a 2mb pipe running from a relay thingy (i forget the right name) to Eircom's offices. I believe what happens is everyone connects in to the same highsite, and bandwidth is distributed there. They might have 50mbps in the tallaght highsite, and everyone runs off that. You won't notice the difference until over 100 people are maxing out their connections, if you know what i mean).

Stark · 02-08-2004 4:57pm

There are no download caps with IBB (with their ripwave product anyway).

Mutant_Fruit · 02-08-2004 5:00pm

Stark wrote:

There are no download caps with IBB (with their ripwave product anyway).

Ripwave has a "fair usage policy" but no defined limit. Home Breeze has no limits, and no "fair usage policy" meaning you can max out 24x7 if you so wish.

Kevok · 02-08-2004 5:02pm

Yes thats true to a point, they do pull a netsource sometimes and contend you with other high usage users, but only for a short while from what I've seen.

CONMIKE12 · 02-08-2004 5:59pm

I WAS WITH Ibb(BREEZE HOME,512/512 20:1) FOR SEVEN MONTHS AND IT WAS QUITE AN UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE.THE PINGS WERE ALWAYS GOOD,BUT DOWNLOAD SPEEDS WERE VERY ERRATIC.I COULD HAVE 400kb FOR 2 WEEKS AND THEN FOR NO APPARENT REASON , THE SPEED WOULD DROP TO AS LOW AS 40kb OR LESS, AND STAY LIKE THAT FOR ANOTHER 2 WEEKS.WHAT BOTHERED ME THE MOST ,WAS IBB'S HANDLING OF THIS ISSUE.THEY TOLD ME THET THE SPEEDS WERE ACCEPTABLE,AND THEN WHEN I SAID THEY WEREN'T THEY KEPT PROMISING TO RING ME BACK AND NEVER DID.THEY DON'T ANSWER MAILS EITHER.THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE IS SH**E FOR RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS.THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE ANYTHING GOOD TO SAY ABOUT THEM ARE THOSE WHO ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO AFFORD THE BUISNESS EQUIPTMENT(PACKAGE).I FINALLY HAD ENOUGH AND BROKE MY CONTRACT LAST MONTH.i HAVE BEEN USING IOLBB EVER SINCE WITH GREAT RESULTS.IBB NEVER PROVIDED ME WITH THE SERVICE THEIR WEB SITE AND PRE-INSTALL E MAILS PROMISED.DEFINITELY ONE COMPANY TO AVOID.

boo4842 · 03-08-2004 12:57am

I'm actually quite satisfied with my IBB package. I got the smaller contention ratio I think its 8:1 for an extra e8 a month, because I know I'm a bandwith hog.

The great advantages for me were:

1.) I couldn't get cable here, appearently NTL only really do west dublin, and not the city centre :rolleyes: I was VERY happy with the NTL product I was getting in Lucan before I moved. Good speeds, and no limits - best residential package in Dublin IMO.

2.) I didn't want to pay e160 for a phone line installed. I have NO use for a phone line, as I have a mobile which runs out much cheaper. So DSL wasn't really an option.

3.) I'm a bandwith hog! The 4GB limit some providers use would be smashed by me in a week or less. I have 33GB transfered since the 26th of June, that would be 8 months usage with Eircom lol.

My max download speeds are never over about 70 k/s , but its fairly consistent between 50-70 when I'm downloading a lot. Also its the same uploading, which is GREAT as I have a website that I can upload 5 times faster than DSL. I've got over 50kb/s upload.

Its still not as good as the 2Mbs unlimited usage product I was using in Canada for less than e30 a month. (They have a 5Mbs/800k service now for about 30 euros - we still have a long way to go ! http://www.shoprogers.com/Store/Cable/InternetContent/extreme.asp?shopperID=

The Clown Man · 03-08-2004 5:00pm

CONMIKE12 wrote:

I WAS WITH Ibb(BREEZE HOME,512/512 20:1) FOR SEVEN MONTHS AND IT WAS QUITE AN UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE.THE PINGS WERE ALWAYS GOOD,BUT DOWNLOAD SPEEDS WERE VERY ERRATIC.I COULD HAVE 400kb FOR 2 WEEKS AND THEN FOR NO APPARENT REASON , THE SPEED WOULD DROP TO AS LOW AS 40kb OR LESS, AND STAY LIKE THAT FOR ANOTHER 2 WEEKS.WHAT BOTHERED ME THE MOST ,WAS IBB'S HANDLING OF THIS ISSUE.THEY TOLD ME THET THE SPEEDS WERE ACCEPTABLE,AND THEN WHEN I SAID THEY WEREN'T THEY KEPT PROMISING TO RING ME BACK AND NEVER DID.THEY DON'T ANSWER MAILS EITHER.THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE IS SH**E FOR RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS.THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE ANYTHING GOOD TO SAY ABOUT THEM ARE THOSE WHO ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO AFFORD THE BUISNESS EQUIPTMENT(PACKAGE).I FINALLY HAD ENOUGH AND BROKE MY CONTRACT LAST MONTH.i HAVE BEEN USING IOLBB EVER SINCE WITH GREAT RESULTS.IBB NEVER PROVIDED ME WITH THE SERVICE THEIR WEB SITE AND PRE-INSTALL E MAILS PROMISED.DEFINITELY ONE COMPANY TO AVOID.

God thats hard to read.

On the left hand side of your keyboard there is a button with "Caps Lock" on it.

Press it.

There's also 3 buttons with little arrows on the right. The middle one is the "Return" button.

Use it.

SkepticOne · 03-08-2004 5:24pm

Leap broadband here at work. Rock solid for the last 5 months or so (since the company got it).

CONMIKE12 · 03-08-2004 6:24pm

The Clown Man wrote:

God thats hard to read.

On the left hand side of your keyboard there is a button with "Caps Lock" on it.

Press it.

There's also 3 buttons with little arrows on the right. The middle one is the "Return" button.

Use it.

I do apologise most profusely.I didn't realise i had broken the official boards protocol.Maybe i could p m you with any further posts i might have in the future so that you could ok them first.Your constuctive critisisms provide true encouragement for me to post on here again.I can only hope that i live up to the high standards that you have set.

Moriarty · 03-08-2004 6:35pm

In fairness now conmike12, basic use of the shift key and a few paragraphs would have made it far easier to read. It's basic etiquette.

CONMIKE12 · 03-08-2004 6:44pm

I don't object to having my poor knowledge of boards protocol pointed out,just the rude and ignorant manner in which it was done.
Someone has p m'd me and shown me the error of my typing ways...which was most welcome.
I will do better in future!!

Ripwave · 04-08-2004 10:04am

CONMIKE12 wrote:

I don't object to having my poor knowledge of boards protocol pointed out,just the rude and ignorant manner in which it was done.

You think that's rude?

I have to give you this, you've some neck on you.

CONMIKE12 · 04-08-2004 6:50pm

Now ,now...no need to get personal !!

The Brigadier · 04-08-2004 7:52pm

I have Leap at home and in the office. Fantastic service. Stable as a rock. I have had it for about 9 months now with no drop in speed or any major outages..

I did lose signal (once in 9 months) for about 20 mins once....

I am over the moon with the product with them.

CyberGhost · 04-08-2004 8:04pm

Leap costs crazy price man!

299 a month? that's bolts!

The Brigadier · 04-08-2004 9:04pm

Eh, I don't quite know what you mean by bolts.....

But Leap is only 199 for a 1Mbit/1Mbit service

I got rid of my eircom landline as I don't want to gve the rat any more of my cash!

The Ericom 2Mbit/256 Package is 169. If you factor in the cost of the landline rental as well it is pretty much on a par.

I personally would rather have the quick uplink as 256k is not enough!!!!

Also, I have had Eircom DSL and I have found Leap to be more reliable, and the guys at Leap are a nicer bunch. I feel better giving them my money!!!!!!!

wireless broadbands are they better than DSL?

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