Alternatives to IBB .. RipWave

scottmc

Hi Everyone,

I recently moved over here (to Dublin from Sydney,Australia) not much more than 2 weeks ago. Because I don't yet have a bank account nor have I received any 'electricity bills' or anything as proof of address, I am unable to signup to Vodafone, 3, O2 or any other 3G type broadband... I thought I would infact have no internet for another month or so until I could prove address.

Then I found IBB, and picked up a RipWave modem - and am now online (I was so.. stoked at first)... , the speeds I'm receiving are nowhere near 512/128kbit. My pings to the first hop (the gateway) are absolutely terrible!! I've never seen anything like it. My modem indicates I have about 4 bars of Signal and about 4-5 bars of Quality (I'm near City Centre). The fastest I could download was 12k/sec (the first day I got it, and havn't seen speeds anywhere near that since)... I'm glad I didn't pay the extra 8euro a month for the 1mbit connection - i'm sure it is no better!

Are there any alternatives to IBB ? with a similar contract (6 months) and that don't require any physical installation - basically, anything wireless.

See ping results below (this is whilst the connection is idle - nothing downloading/uploading, not accessing email or webpages)-

In Australia, we have a similar service to IBB (exact same modem, same speeds etc) - so I understand it will never be as good as a cable/wired connection ... but in Aus, the pings to the ISP (first hop) were always well below 100ms... allowing atleast Skype to work.

C:\Documents and Settings\scottmc>ping 89.125.137.1 -n 50

Pinging 89.125.137.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=278ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=136ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=1215ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=109ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=258ms TTL=255
Request timed out.
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=229ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=1248ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=109ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=1438ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=119ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=138ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=277ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=296ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=255ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=323ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=270ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=267ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=614ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=191ms TTL=255
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=337ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=1185ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=108ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=136ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=224ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=1052ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=108ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=236ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=203ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=400ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=287ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=743ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=300ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=658ms TTL=255
Request timed out.
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=1936ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=108ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=1325ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=108ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=205ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=132ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=160ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=1097ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=108ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=606ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=344ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=1032ms TTL=255
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=108ms TTL=255

Ping statistics for 89.125.137.1:
Packets: Sent = 50, Received = 46, Lost = 4 (8% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 108ms, Maximum = 1936ms, Average = 456ms

Hal1

Try moving the modem firstly, near a window or somewhere you might get a better signal. Option 2, call and complain, cover the modem in tinfoil heh, (heard that improves signal but dont hold me to it) Im on ibb too but I got an antenna on the roof.

Pinging 89.125.137.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=15ms TTL=248
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=248
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=11ms TTL=248
Reply from 89.125.137.1: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=248

Ping statistics for 89.125.137.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 10ms, Maximum = 15ms, Average = 11ms

Boston

There's clearwire, but its the same ****e technology as ripwave from what I recall.

Sponge Bob

Maybe pay digiweb for 1 year in advance on metro light , 20 a month and c 100 install . or full 3 mbit metro is 35 a monthh and c 100 install ( could be corrected on this though )

scottmc

thanks for the tips... i am desperate so will try the foil idea.

As for moving around the window etc - its currently sitting on the window... is it possible to attach a larger arial to the ripwave modem? One on the roof isn't posible, but maybe i coudl hang one out the window.. i called m IBB and they got me to do a 'speedtest' by downloading a file and to send them printscreens of the download process... its been 2 days and havnt heard anything yet.

thebman

You probably won't hear back from them, they are an Irish Company. That was just to make you feel better.

Don't go with Clearwire, they block almost every port known to man and the speeds are crap. Friend has that without the attachment to roof (so similar setup to ripwave) and it was fine during the trial period and then it went crap and all the ports were blocked. During the trial he was able to play Eve online but after the trial he could no longer play it. The service is also incredibley over priced.

As bad as ripwave is, at least IBB seem to know its terrible and not be crappy about returns. If your with Clearwire, they have sent out debt collectors in the past (even to paid up customers).

Most other forms of broadband in Ireland require an attachment, phoneline or cable (NTL/Chorus) and most of those have minimum one year contracts.

Not sure what the mobile broadband minimum license terms are. I think they are a year (my da has it). Overall, a lot of Irish Users are on 3's offering so the service can be poor but they have the best coverage nationwide and their prices are good. Worth a look and they have a 14 day money back policy if you can't get good coverage. O2 and Vodafone have similar offerings, not as good as 3's on paper but might be better when it comes to speeds because of the number of users using each service.

gamer

I get 4 bars, 200k per sec approx speed on ripwave. I,m looking thru all,options as regards broadband, i want 40gig allowance 1MEG speed ,so i,m going thru websites looking at speed costs, dl caps etc.RIPWAVE ,depends on los, line of site to aerial, and distance to aerial, go 4 breeze if its avaidable in your area .INstallation is free.The thing bout ripwave is if signal is bad, you can bring it back to shop ,within the first week, and get a full refund.Try putting it in upstairs wiindow,facing aerial.

The Fool

Improve your ripwave signal with pringles!!

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055120900

tak

Stop w***ing around with that old Ripoffwave and check your area for Digiweb Metro.
http://www.digiweb.ie/home.asp

There is no comparison, Buddy - I've been through it.

I seldom get less than 900kbps download and have 240 kbps upload all the time.
==> VoIP \o/ with www.blueface.ie !

Pay them €240 (12 x €20) for a year and the installation is not charged.
Just look round your area for those small square white dishes.
Ask their owners how's it going with their net speeds.