Premier broadband??

megashake

Hi,

I posted a question during xmas to find out whether usage of HSDPA based BB would be possible http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055206446 a link in a reply put me on to Premier Broadband who I called during that time, they took the phone number and they said they'd call out to do a site survey by mid-jan. They have yet to appear

Sponge Bob wrote "Premier are a good wireless isp operating initially in Laois and now moving into Kildare I hear." I called the number detailed in http://www.killenard.com/broadband-news-page.html several times and spoke to the guy, I was told their solution was "broadband from the ground up" and that some who were using HSDPA based solutions has subsequently cancelled them and gone to premier. After a few weeks I called again and was told they were waiting for equipment and they would call by the end of that week, no sign of them. I later sent them an e-mail as I didn't want to call again, I sent a mail on a Sunday afternoon and received a reply within 5 minutes, installations were delayed due to bad weather they wrote. I sent 2 replies to that mail neither of which I have received a reply on.

I turns out that premier have a mast near to where my parents live, the guy who's land the mast is on told me it's a bit too far for a signal and a connection had not been possible for my one of my parent's neighbours, when I called premier the guy seemed to know the area quite well and based on that I would've thought been able to know whether it would work or not.

http://www.premierbb.ie/about.htm details "Our wireless network went live on the 23rd January 2005 supplying Business and Residential users throughout Dublin..." where as http://www.premierbb.ie/index.htm details "Our wireless network went live on the 1st March 2005 supplying Residential users throughout Mountmellick, Portlaoise and the surrounding countryside..." and the towns listed here http://www.premierbb.ie/signup.htm are Loais/Offaly areas. I was told their web site was out of date and that base connection speeds would increase from 1MB/512K to 2MB/512K, this should now already be in effect I guess.

A work colleague tells me his father who lives in rural Donegal got hooked via a similar mesh network system, he contacted the company(don't know the name) they called out, hooked him up and he's online so what's the problem here?

Premier told me to look them up in boards.ie for recommendations, fair enough but no good right now. I'll have to try 3, O2 or vodafone then it seems until(if ever) fixed-line broadband becomes available ;(

smellslikeshoes

Like the wise Sponge said they are a good Isp, have met a few people in that part of the country that are happy with them.
I would think like any good Isp that provide broadband in Rural Ireland they are going flat out but still getting snowed under by the amount of demand. Keep in contact with them but try and be patient with them.

megashake

they haven't called yet, a site survey at least would be nice just to confirm if it'll work or not but from what I've heard it probably won't

Anyway moving on, we'll try the offer from 3, it's the cheapest and the reception where my mum lives is probably the same for O2 & voda so no point spending the extra I suppose. Have ordered a 5m USB cable to place the modem as far out and up as possible. If it's from 3 it'll be a Huawei e220? The driver pack is "3Ireland Windows E220" anyway it seems. Is there a signal booster you can get for it? I read about the anntenae connector inside and you'd have to open it etc, won't be doing that..

Sponge Bob

are ya mad megashake :eek: ???

look at the top thread in this forum below , the one with over 3000 posts complaining about the utter crappitude of 3

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=259

cgarvey

Indeed .. don't expect much from 3BB and you won't be overly dissapointed. Certainly don't invest in signal boosters, etc., before trying out their service.

megashake

Yes I am mad, mad that (1) you can't get ADSL on the regular phoneline (2) premier broadband have never called and from what I heard a signal from their local mast won't be possible anyway (3) eircom are gonna offer WiMAX in areas that already have ADSL available on the phone lines?? so those in rural areas will still have to wait and wait and wait...

Got a mail from a friend who said that my mum's neighbour who had tried premier which didn't work had gone into the mobile shop in the town and they'd allow her to try all three networks and 3 had been the best(the best of a bad lot of course) so she'd bought that. Of course 3's modem will probably be rubbish but it's the cheapest and it'll do for e-mail with a few photos and a bit of IM. My mum will eventually maybe be connected to an ADSL enable exchange which she might be too far from anyway..

I don't live in Ireland and where I am ADSL is freely available for EVERYONE and where I live we've agreed to get fiber installed in every house, Ireland Offline indeed... ;(

watty

All three operators use the same modem and near identical everything else.

megashake

So all three use the Huawei E220 and are working off the same masts so the signal quality(download/upload speed) would be the same for all three?

HSDPA/UMTS (2100 MHZ)
EDGE/GPRS/GSM (900/1900/1800 MHZ)

3's coverage map(and voda's) seems to indicate that HSDPA is available in the towns/cities and it drops to EDGE/GPRS/GSM in the rural areas, EDGE/GPRS is perhaps the best we'll get.

cgarvey

You'll probably find it varies wildly for all 3 operators. Just because they use the same consumer hardware, doesn't mean they have the same network setup. 3, for example, have had some dire network service issues which are completely unrelated to the GSM setup (regaardless of your signal strength, etc.).

Best bet is to try it out. Enquire about a money-back guarantee from the shop/operator.

megashake

yeah there's a 14-day money back guarantee thing but given that it's pretty much the only option available other than dial-up the choices are limited and the user won't wanna pay the additional €10 or €20 pm for Voda or O2.

Surprise, surprise, Premier broadband are to call today to test a connection but I'm not expecting it to work...

jor el

megashake wrote: »

So all three use the Huawei E220 and are working off the same masts so the signal quality(download/upload speed) would be the same for all three?

They all use their own masts, not the same ones. Vodafone and O2 have a 2G (GPRS) network, 3 does not. So when outside 3's 3G coverage, you get nothing.

3's coverage map(and voda's) seems to indicate that HSDPA is available in the towns/cities and it drops to EDGE/GPRS/GSM in the rural areas, EDGE/GPRS is perhaps the best we'll get.

That being the case, you'll get nothing on 3, they don't have a GPRS network, and you'll only get EDGE on O2.

Not spending the extra 10 or 20 a month for Vodafone or O2 is wasting the 20 you'll spend on 3, especially if your mother is at the edge of 3's coverage area. She probably won't get anything at all if that's the case.

Of course 3's modem will probably be rubbish but it's the cheapest and it'll do for e-mail with a few photos and a bit of IM.

Wouldn't be so sure of any of those working with 3. Look at the absolutely huge thread in the Broadband forum on them.

megashake

Point taken! If the retailer allows it(as I've heard they do) we can test all three offerings voda, O2 & 3 to see which gives the best signal. I'll try the 5m USB cable to try increase the reception and check the data speeds of all three and report the findings.

I've been told that people in the area are using 3, I suppose they must be then getting HSDPA/UMTS reception, I've no idea, I'm not sure if those using it know what to look for or what the download/upload speed should be. I'm aware of the 3 network issues from 3 http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=259 and many thanks for everyone's comments here, it's always easier when you're in a position to make an informed choice :rolleyes:

cgarvey

If you're outside 3's 3G coverage, you'll get a GPRS connection (you're roaming, but it's transparent).

megashake

jor el wrote "That being the case, you'll get nothing on 3, they don't have a GPRS network, and you'll only get EDGE on O2"

cgarvey wrote "If you're outside 3's 3G coverage, you'll get a GPRS connection"

So which is it?

Sorry, what do you mean by "transparent" when you say "you're roaming, but it's transparent"?

megashake

The guy from premier broadband called on monday, he didn't even try to test a connection as he knew it wouldn't work, said it would be a waste of his time and my mum's... He said they're increasing services in the summer as they're adding more masts, let's see..

I will test the offer from O2, based on what I read seems to be the best? If you can't get HSDPA you may get EDGE(well at least in some areas) so I suppose it's worth a try. 3 have a compare page which shows the offer from O2 as being for €40 pm but O2's site lists €30 pm. Voda have a €15 pm x 3 offer with second-hand modems on offer and opening offers of €49 etc so it looks more reasonable € wise but they've a 5GB limit where as O2 have 10GB... I spose I could just test voda and O2?