Whats Up With The Broadband In Ireland?

bINNIe23

Just moved here from San Francisco for the long haul and set ourselves up in a country home 2 miles outside of the Town Center in ENNIS, COUNTY CLARE.

There's no need for us to have a land line, we dont need it! But the broadband companies keep telling us that we need to have one in order to get Broadband. We found that the alternative is this dodgy little USB device that is suppose to get us good coverage, but i'm skeptical.

Can someone be SO KIND to give us some leeds? some direction? some suggestions? -on how we can get hooked up PROPER? I will do my best to repay your kindness. Really, I WILL!

THANK Q!

~ binnie
http://www.5lowershop.org

BeerWolf

Broadband rollout in Ireland has been pathetic and embarassing to say the least.

I've been stuck on dial-up for the past decade and no sign of me getting broadband through phonelines was ever going to happen. I live in deep countryside north of Dublin near the borders of Meath.

Then along comes my savior, Digiweb, and lo-and behold I get broadband in the form of mobile.

This is not like them so called 3G mobile broadbands that are 'fast and reliable', they're not. Those, simply put, suck. Digiweb uses a new form to what I think is 4G.

It's a little gizmo that either attaches to your laptop or to the back of a router hooked up to a PC.

I'll admit I was a bit skeptical myself. I'm an avid gamer and wasn't expecting a playable connection online. And to my surprise the service was working well beyond my expectations. See for yourself:




Connections are very consistant and no packet loss. 35+ pings. I can vouch on this product off Digiweb


Give it a look.

LINK

watty

Options are:
DSL via Phone Line. You have to pay about €26 per month simply to have the line with nothing. Some people do Bundles or LLU, where the line rental is "hidden". You won't know if DSL works before you install and they will not refund if it doesn't. A high proportion of lines fail for DSL, especially in rural areas. If it fails DSL you are stuck paying line rental for a minimum time. The actual phone calls make Mobile look expensive.

Cable. Mostly only in Major cities. Only recently taken over by UPC and suffering from 20 years neglect. They are working hard to upgrade it so that it does Broadband. Nearest is Limerick.

Fixed Wireless: Variable in quality according to supplier and technology. Some areas only one or no suppliers. Even eircom has this nationwide, though generally only admit to it if they have run out of wooden poles for phone line in your direction. The main differences in interference are:
2.4GHz WiFi band: No licence needed, but nothing can be done about disruption due to video senders or other WiFi
Unlicensed Registered: The 5.x GHz Band. Slightly less interference but not really protected.
Licenced (Also called FWA or FWALA.): Comreg has to track down and block any interference. Each operator's base / channel is licenced and protected. 3.5, 3.6 and 10.5GHz bands.

Digiweb Metro: Cable / DSL performance and phone via Wireless. Probably not in Ennis right now. Though there is a mast in Co. Clare.

Business Wireless: Very expensive Dedicated or low contention link, alternative to DSL or even leased Line. I doubt if in Ennis.

Leased Line: Bawahhaa!!! You don't want to know what this costs. Trust me. 64K( expensive) to 2Mbps (very expensive) and higher (need GNP of small country).

Fibre: If you really need 100Mbps to 10Gbps and you happen to be near one that belongs to Shannon Broadband, eNet, BT/CIE, ESB or Digiweb. For what you get it's not bad, but if not near it forget it. For Data Centres and ISP backhaul. The encumbent eircom has them too, but you saw their leased line prices?

2 Way Satellite: 512k can actually be cheaper than a 64k leased line. Infact if you use it all day, it is cheaper than dialup! Latency is a pig at about 800ms though.

Mobile Phone Modem: You can use phone handset, PCMICA card or USB modem. It's 50k to 3Mbps down and 50k to 350k up, depending on which mast you get, how busy it is etc. Max 24 users on a sector for the fastest Up to HSDPA mode. If the sector is busy you may not get connected, or get 70k rather than 3600k. Some Internet applications don't work very well on some Providers. You really only get this dodgy little USB device if there is nothing else or you need mobility. A basic two way satellite is bit more expensive but actually works virtually all the time. GSM/GPRS/EDGE is 900MHz (Vodaphone, O2) or 1800MHz (Meteor) depending on operator. 3G/HSDPA/HSUPA is 2100MHz band. Lower frequencies give more reliable coverage. Only O2 does EDGE and HSDPA. ( Handy World Phone Frequencies

"Broadband" in a box: IBB ripwave, Clearwire. It can be fine doing 250k to 1M, but it can also be 60k with 2000ms ping. They can't control where people are. A bit like a cross between WiFi, WiMax and Phone Mobile. Really the fixed wireless with outdoor aerial is much better. If they have it in your area and there is nothing better take the trial. If it isn't good make sure and get them to sign for it when you take it back.

Digiweb Mobile: Sadly only in Finglas / Naul/ Swords /Blanchardstown. Not in Ennis for a while. It's not based on Mobile phone technology so has a nice low latency. It's somewhat like Mobile Wimax (3500MHz) will be like in 2009 but on a much nicer frequency (900MHz). It is planned to rollout nationwide.

Ennis has a lot of ISDN. But while two channel basic ISDN is 128k error free and nearly equivalent to 200k compressed analogue and better than some Mobile or Wireless products the high line rental and lack of any true unlimited flat rate Dialup Internet makes it much more expensive than 2 way satellite.

However it's VERY pretty there near Ennis. I have fond memories of watching the goats, hens and ducks near there while I used my 300 baud dialup.

There is also Hobby/Enthusiast/Community outdoor WiFi which may or may not connect to the actual Internet, such as Mid West WAN. At one stage Tuesday nights was network Doom all the way from Limerick to Galway. Using a pair of MMDS style mesh dishs and WiFi bridges or routers you can do your own private licence free link to a friend that can get Internet, 8km is easily achieved at a once off cost under 500 Euro.

watty

BeerWolf:
Sadly Digiweb Mobile is not anywhere near Ennis yet. You are only taunting them.

Onikage

watty wrote: »

A basic two way satellite is bit more expensive but actually works .

Replace "bit" with "much", and "virtually all the time" with "except in the rain" I think.

I've used 3 mobile broadband since march, and while it's not perfect (See http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055115306) it's certainly better value than paying for something you don't need. Works in England too. But really, after moving from the states you're going to go through a long, painful period of adjustment to Ireland's awful broadband!

watty

If your Sat system does not work in rain it is not properly installed. OK Basic two way Sat could be twice the price of cheapest Mobile, but if a professional install, there no comparison on speed and reliability. But it's definately not mobile.

Onikage

Well, I can't comment on the quality of work by installers in Clare. The ones I've met in Westmeath are paranoid about the kryptonite-like properties of leaves (water being the main component of leaves and rain).

ardmacha

The actual phone calls make Mobile look expensive.

Not really true, landline calls are better quality and much better value, and they allow people call you cheaply. But you may not make enough of them to warrant the overhead for a land line. However a DSL line is also likely to give you stable broadband, although in Ireland this cannot be guaranteed. It should work 2 miles from town though.

bigpaddy2004

watty wrote: »

BeerWolf:
Sadly Digiweb Mobile is not anywhere near Ennis yet. You are only taunting them.

Watty I have always been wondering seen as you have indept answers for everything related to Digiweb...do you work for them?

Sorry for high jacking the thread.

watty

Mehawaehha
see my sig.

Though actually I knew lots BEFORE...


I have lots of in Depth answers about Telecom, Satellite, Networks & Computers too, but I don't work for Nortel, Cisco, Sky, Canonical, Microsoft or Intel.

Sponge Bob

You should not wind up the poor Clare people ....or any other rural dwellers......talking about Digiweb Mobile all the same Watty . It may well work but only in a small area north of Dublin with no sign of any further deployments anywhere.

And we could mention Metro 20 too . When will that go live in Ennis ????

http://www.digiweb.ie/media_release.asp

10 Jan 2006 - Digiweb announce €8.5m broadband and voice expansion with “Metro-20” project
Digiweb Ltd has today announced an €8.5m investment in Broadband in Ireland with the announcement of the “Metro-20” project

The spectrum for Ennis was reserved a year and a half back minimum.

vibe666

most people don't realise that watty IS digiweb.

they have him wired directly into their core server room, he runs the whole thing from in there.

how else do you think he managed to get 11,500 posts since April 2002.

Sponge Bob

vibe666 wrote: »

they have him wired directly into their core server room,

If they wired him to a mast in Ennis instead for a few days then the locals might have the Metro live by the 10th of January 2008, that being precisely 2 years after the announcement by Digiweb . . I reckon they will miss even that schedule .

Then they might have a decent wireless service within 2 miles of Ennis instead of some laggy 3g or EDGE service.

watty

vibe666 wrote: »

most people don't realise that watty IS digiweb.

they have him wired directly into their core server room, he runs the whole thing from in there.

how else do you think he managed to get 11,500 posts since April 2002.

Most of that time I was working for me. Only Digiweb more recently.

I can't comment on when a Nationwide Mobile or Shannon/Ennis Metro is happening, partly as I don't know, and also until the engineering is nearly done these things can easily be delayed. However I have heard both "mentioned".

watty

ardmacha wrote: »

Not really true, landline calls are better quality and much better value, and they allow people call you cheaply. But you may not make enough of them to warrant the overhead for a land line. However a DSL line is also likely to give you stable broadband, although in Ireland this cannot be guaranteed. It should work 2 miles from town though.

Yes, apart from the line rental, landline calls make Mobile look very Expensive. I think you took what I said the wrong way round.

bigpaddy2004

watty wrote: »

Most of that time I was working for me. Only Digiweb more recently.

I can't comment on when a Nationwide Mobile or Shannon/Ennis Metro is happening, partly as I don't know, and also until the engineering is nearly done these things can easily be delayed. However I have heard both "mentioned".

I had a feeling you were no ordinary eejit

towel401

BeerWolf wrote: »

Broadband rollout in Ireland has been pathetic and embarassing to say the least.

I've been stuck on dial-up for the past decade and no sign of me getting broadband through phonelines was ever going to happen. I live in deep countryside north of Dublin near the borders of Meath.

Then along comes my savior, Digiweb, and lo-and behold I get broadband in the form of mobile.

This is not like them so called 3G mobile broadbands that are 'fast and reliable', they're not. Those, simply put, suck. Digiweb uses a new form to what I think is 4G.

It's a little gizmo that either attaches to your laptop or to the back of a router hooked up to a PC.

I'll admit I was a bit skeptical myself. I'm an avid gamer and wasn't expecting a playable connection online. And to my surprise the service was working well beyond my expectations. See for yourself:




Connections are very consistant and no packet loss. 35+ pings. I can vouch on this product off Digiweb


Give it a look.

LINK

I'd kill a donkey for a connection like that