Metro Users - I need your help!

Steffano2002

Dear Metro users,

I got a call from a Digiweb engineer saying he'll be coming tomorrow morning to install Metro (3Mb/512k). But I have a few questions that need answering:

1) Would you recommend Metro to a friend/family member?

2) Are any of you based in the Dublin 7 area (Stoneybatter/Cabra/Smithfield)? If so, are you happy with your Metro broadband?

3) Have any of you moved from IBB (I am currently on IBB 3Mb/3Mb) and regretted it?

4) How is latency for online gaming? I am personally more interested in a good ping than a good download speed...

Thank you in advance for your help!

zoro

I'm in phibsboro - D7
When it works, it's a dream, superb pings all the time.

When it doesn't ... well ... just look at the 27 page metro thread on the first page of broadband
*edit* yes i'd recommend it

Steffano2002

Thanks for your reply Zoro!

Which mast are you on? (I'm close to Phibsboro so I could potentially be on the same mast)
What "QoS level" (or is it "SNR level"?) did you get when they installed the aerial?

zoro

Haven't a fecking clue
and I'm pointed at the big mountain thingies over *points* there

Steffano2002

So Zoro, what is wrong with your connection? Crap latency + high % packet loss? How long has it been going on for?

zoro

Since I got the thing really. I'd get bouts of good service so it (my complaining) fizzles out for a while, then it kicks up a fuss again and I'm on here venting steam again

Steffano2002

Sh!t... That's the last thing I wanted to hear... I really need my latency to be "perfect"... We'll see how it goes sure... I might not even have a LoS!

Keep you updated anyway

zoro

Oh I'd love perfect latency too - ping spikes drive me f*cking insane

It's bad at the moment - but it's been worse. Just off the phone and I've a service call due at some stage this week to try to boost my SNR (which is low atm) and that will help apparantly

Steffano2002

Can somebody tell me what SNR I should have in order to have a good Metro connection? I want to be able to tell the engineer tomorrow that I don't want it installed unless I have a minimum of _ _?

Sparky

zoro wrote:

Oh I'd love perfect latency too - ping spikes drive me f*cking insane

It's bad at the moment - but it's been worse. Just off the phone and I've a service call due at some stage this week to try to boost my SNR (which is low atm) and that will help apparantly

my snr was apparantly good when it was installed and now is in the -20 figures.

Steffano2002

Thanks a million Sparky_S! I'll be aiming for the high 30's then!!!

Sparky

Sparky_S wrote:

my snr was apparantly good when it was installed and now is in the -20 figures.

i forgot to add a to that post

zoro

Sparky_S wrote:

my snr was apparantly good when it was installed and now is in the -20 figures.

Exactly the same problem I have.
I vaguely remember a ~30 figure, I think, when it was installed

Steffano2002

Update 1:

So as you know, got a call from an engineer yesterday saying they wnated to come around @ 8 A.M/ this morning. Now what you don't know is that I told that engineer today wasn't a good day for me because I have to work and he says to me "I'll be there @ 8:00 A.M. on the dot! Can't you take an hour off?". So I spoke to my manager and took an hour off this morning.
8:15 A.M: Nobody had showed up. So I rang your man from yesterday who says to me "Yeah I had 2 calls logged @ 8:00 A.M. Should be there around 9:30/9:45" oO :eek: :mad: :mad: :mad:

So anyway, an engineer eventually shows up at around 9:30 or so. Really nice guy. Very apologetic even if it wasn't his fault. Unfortunately, he is the only Digiweb engineer without a van thus meaning he didn't have a 3-storey ladder! :mad: So he couldn't get onto the roof but he's pretty sure LoS will be fine.

I asked them to come tomorrow or Friday as I'm off these days.

To be continued...

Sparky

zoro wrote:

Exactly the same problem I have.
I vaguely remember a ~30 figure, I think, when it was installed

well mines -26 now (well last friday) the installer said even without a meter working on the day it was originally installed that it would of being in the plus even if it was by eyesight.

Mutant_Fruit

So overall... what are peoples views on Metro? Better or the same as IBB?

EDIT: I wrote smart instead of metro, doh!

Sparky

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

So overall... what are peoples views on smart? Better or the same as IBB?

on smart?
do you mean metro.

watty

They won't install unless they get a minimum "good" signal.

Mutant_Fruit

watty wrote:

They won't install unless they get a minimum "good" signal.

So the people who are having problems are only have problems because their signal has deteriorated? Not because of any bandwidth problems/backhaul issues on digiweb's side of things? I'm really tempted to change, but i don't want to be in another 6month contract with a dodgy service when NTL or Smart may arrive within the next 6 months.

PowerHouseDan

My Metro Service is fantasic i have to say, Nothing compared to Ibb Cust service know what there saying, I am getting true speeds.....

dathi1

anybody using metro in the city centre?? feedback appreciated.

zoro

Yes. I'm in phibsboro.

Service so far has been patchy - but a major fix was due yesterday or firday apparantly. It hasn't done too much atm, but it's possible that it was postponed until next week some time.
I'm getting high pings and packetloss at the moment

Sparky

zoro wrote:

Yes. I'm in phibsboro.

Service so far has been patchy - but a major fix was due yesterday or firday apparantly. It hasn't done too much atm, but it's possible that it was postponed until next week some time.
I'm getting high pings and packetloss at the moment

me aswell, the high pings and packetloss that is.

zoro

they were great there for a whole 16 mins. Gone back to utter crap again

Steffano2002

Mhhh... Metro is basically a cheaper version of IBB then? And here I was, looking forward to telling IBB to stick their antenna up their... Oh well...

nl

dathi1 wrote:

anybody using metro in the city centre?? feedback appreciated.

yep I have it in Mountjoy Square. I have had no problems whatsoever since I was connected (about 5 weeks ago). Pings have been great (three people playing CS on the IOA server with a ping of 30) and the downloads have been very fast off fast servers (steam, ati etc). I would highly recommend the service.
One bad thing is that my phone service has not been set up yet. Even though I sent an email 4 weeks ago and again 2 weeks ago. Still no action taken.

By the way Im connected to the 3Rock mast

Steffano2002

nl wrote:

yep I have it in Mountjoy Square. I have had no problems whatsoever since I was connected (about 5 weeks ago). Pings have been great (three people playing CS on the IOA server with a ping of 30) and the downloads have been very fast off fast servers (steam, ati etc). I would highly recommend the service.
One bad thing is that my phone service has not been set up yet. Even though I sent an email 4 weeks ago and again 2 weeks ago. Still no action taken.

By the way Im connected to the 3Rock mast

Loads of people are on the Three Rock mast yet some have sh!t connections (i.e. zoro) and others like yourself have great connections...? Why is that? oO

nl

dont really know. But these are the conditions which mine is working under:

1. Perfect line of sight
2. I have a signal strength of +6

Id be interested to know what signal strength Zoro has?

watty

I'm on Digiweb Metro
I have -9dBmV to -11dBmV and my pings are 10ms to 20ms with no packet loss (12.6km path). My downnload is 2Mbps to 3mbps even via my old 90MHz firewall PC. My LOS is not perfect.


I know someone less than 200m from IBB base TX and they get 140ms to 160ms pings with up to 50% packet loss.

kaimera

perfect so far since installation.

limerick tho.

sprinkles

Can't complain about the service, been working great since I got it. In dundrum btw

Sparky

i think mine is just a bad install.

Steffano2002

Well when the engineer came last week he couldn't get on the roof but he's pretty sure LoS is perfect from up there (fingers crossed). I'm thinking I should tell the engineers not to go ahead with the install unless I have a high signal strenght like nl here... What do you think?

nl: Do you play online? How's latency? Is it really good or just ok?

Mutant_Fruit

Right, so if noone can warn me off getting em (i'm in the rathfarnham/ballyroan area) i think i'll be switching ISP's by the end of the week. Anyone in this area (probably three rock mast or thereabouts) have any major problems? Or are most happy enough.

Since its a free install, i can tell em to shove it without making a huge loss if it turns out the service is IBB like.

Steffano2002

Update 2:

Rang Digiweb to find out when they were coming around to install. Seems they had forgotten about me... Anyway the lady I was speaking to was very helpful and she rang the engineer in charge of my area to find out what the story was. He told her he would be ringing me tomorrow to arrange installation some time this week! Fingers crossed!

Gigiwagga

nl: Do you play online? How's latency? Is it really good or just ok?[/QUOTE]



Steffano I play COD UO alot and I get some servers with pings in the 30 - 40 range and above which is great, I don't find any lags usually or interruptions when I play, I'm still crap but I can't blame Metro for that. If I blow your head off sometime the name is Willywagga.

Steffano2002

info@williamrua wrote:

Steffano I play COD UO alot and I get some servers with pings in the 30 - 40 range and above which is great, I don't find any lags usually or interruptions when I play, I'm still crap but I can't blame Metro for that. If I blow your head off sometime the name is Willywagga.

I'm delighted to hear that so I am! All I'm REALLY interested in is good latency for playing online. Download/upload speeds are, of course, important; but I just want to pawn people online on CoD2!

And you'll never get to blow my head off on UO... Rarely ever played it online and now that CoD2 is out...

[V3]

What happens if you go over the cap with Metro? Also does anyone knows whether they block ports for bittorent?

Steffano2002

start@newthread.com

Steffano2002

Update 3:

I was supposed to get a call from the engineer in charge of my area today but it didn't happen... I rang Digiweb at around 4 P.M. and the lady I was speaking to said she needed to contact somebody else in order to find out why the engineer hadn't rang. She never got back to me... Getting annoyed...

Adey2002

Steffano,

I used to have IBB and have now moved to Metro. Aside from a couple of dodgy patches, the connection is good enough to play Condition-Zero and Battlefield2 on UK servers.

Average pings about 30-60 depending on the server. The important thing though is that it's a constant ping. Not like IBB's ranging from 30-4000.

I would call them again today. I had it installed about 4 weeks ago and order to installation was 5 working days.

If you havee IBB, it's well worth switching to Metro.

Steffano2002

Thank you for your post Adey2002! Glad to hear you've got great pings with your Metro connection!

I rang Digiweb this morning and they're trying to get the engineer to ring me to arrange a time & date for installation. I hope I get the call today! I think it's been a month since I signed up now!

I really really hope Metro will be the reliable connection I've been dreaming of for the past year! Don't get me wrong now, I had great periods with IBB when my ping was phenomenal but the service is just too unreliable... And €85 EUR a month is just crazy for 3MB (and you never get 3MB anyway...).

Steffano2002

Update 4:

Right so, I got a call from the engineer... He's sending somebody out tomorrow morning @ 8:00 A.M. with an 'extra long ladder'. I got him to confirm "8 o'clock" meant "8 o'clock" this time though, cos last time the engineer only showed up at 9:30 A.M!

Fingers crossed!!!

Blaster99

My only experience with Digiweb is that they asked me to rent a cherry picker. I kinda get the impression they're looking for low-hanging fruit when it comes to installations or they just haven't planned this stuff very well. In any event, I consider the installation to be Digiweb's problem so I'm not going to waste time on it.

I incidently got Irish Broadband instead, which actually seems to work in this location (off 3 Rock).

Steffano2002

Blaster99 wrote:

My only experience with Digiweb is that they asked me to rent a cherry picker. I kinda get the impression they're looking for low-hanging fruit when it comes to installations or they just haven't planned this stuff very well. In any event, I consider the installation to be Digiweb's problem so I'm not going to waste time on it.

The same happened to me but only because I mentioned the cherry picker first. I only did that because I already have IBB and they said they needed a cherry picker to get on my roof... Turns out a proper ladder will do the job just fine! I hope Digiweb get their own cherry pickers soon... They're going to lose a good few customers to IBB otherwise...

Blaster99 wrote:

I incidently got Irish Broadband instead, which actually seems to work in this location (off 3 Rock).

Keep your fingers crossed! Always works well for the first few weeks...

Mutant_Fruit

I've ditched IBB. Got an install lined up with Digiweb Metro. I'll probably end up taking IBB's equip down myself since i really doubt they'll remove their equip before Digiweb get here for the installation. I'm told 3-4 weeks.

I hope i get LOS...

Steffano2002

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

I've ditched IBB. Got an install lined up with Digiweb Metro. I'll probably end up taking IBB's equip down myself since i really doubt they'll remove their equip before Digiweb get here for the installation. I'm told 3-4 weeks.

I hope i get LOS...

When is your install planned for Mutant_Fruit? I hope to God I have a perfect LoS when the engineer comes tomorrow! I know the last engineer that came said I "should" have a perfect LoS but I don't know for sure yet...

Mutant_Fruit

Steffano2002 wrote:

When is your install planned for Mutant_Fruit?

I don't have a date as of yet. I'll ring em up tomorrow and try and get a date organised, because i don't want to cancel my souped-up-dialup IBB connection and be without the net for 8 weeks if the Digiweb installation gets delayed.

I'll probably end up on the threerock mast. I'm just a bit worried about that, because when IBB came out before, i didn't have a signal from Three Rock (but i did from tallaght). So if Digiweb's mast is in roughly the same place, i probably won't get a signal.

Do they have any other masts that might reach the ballyroan/rathfarnham area?

Blaster99

Steffano2002 wrote:

Keep your fingers crossed! Always works well for the first few weeks...

Yeah... well... the speed does fluctuate quite a bit but I'm getting something that resembles the speed I'm paying for a lot of the time. I would prefer Digiweb but if they can't be arsed installing the service, then so be it.

I think Digiweb uses one of the taller masts on Three Rock, but I might remember incorrectly. IBB uses a small mast sort of down to the right of the bigger masts, looking at it from Sandyford Ind Est. I think it's owned by a radio station.

Steffano2002

Update 5:

Engineers should have been there @ 8:00 A.M. They came at 8:45. :mad: Really getting annoyed with this now... Anyway, 2 new lads with, this time, a van and a three-storey ladder. They looked at the roof and they said "we need a roof ladder. Ours won't do". :mad: :mad: :mad:

So they rang their "boss" and he said he was sending an engineer on Monday (I have a day off - thank God) with a roof ladder.

I really REALLY hope Metro is worth all this hassle! :mad:

watty

I find Metro much better than anyones copper Eircom aDSL or ripwave IBB I have seen /used in LImerick.
Speed very good and consistant and 10ms to 20ms pings.