Imagine launch Midband Ripwave Replacement - WiMAX

Goodshape

So everyone's writing this off as **** then? Is that a fact or just pessimistic speculation?

It's not "real" WiMAX or something?

I know press releases should generally be taken with a pinch of salt, but I'd say the very same for Irish begrudgery and pessimism at times.

Would be great if we could cut through the bull**** on both sides.

TheDeficit

is there contention/congestion ?

Scruff

just saw a highlight of the report on six-one news on rte and even at the launch today it only hit 3mbps....

Sponge Bob

Scruff wrote: »

just saw a highlight of the report on six-one news on rte and even at the launch today it only hit 3mbps....

Well in fairness they had 4 of them on the go at the same time

jellies

Scruff wrote: »

just saw a highlight of the report on six-one news on rte and even at the launch today it only hit 3mbps....

Anyone at the event would have seen live demos of mobile WiMAX dongle doing 17Mbps. Unfortunately there arent too many DSL lines in the country that can do that speed.

TheDeficit

Scruff wrote: »

just saw a highlight of the report on six-one news on rte and even at the launch today it only hit 3mbps....

i'm pretty sure that was the upload, the download was over 17mb. Eircom's been so bad lately I'd consider this if it's A. suitable for gaming B. doesn't slow in the evenings/weekend and C. has a truly unlimited download plan.

jor el

jellies wrote: »

Anyone at the event would have seen live demos of mobile WiMAX dongle doing 17Mbps. Unfortunately there arent too many DSL lines in the country that can do that speed.

There are a lot of lines that can do that speed.

TheDeficit wrote: »

I'd consider this if it's A. suitable for gaming B. doesn't slow in the evenings/weekend and C. has a truly unlimited download plan.

Probably suitable for gaming, as max ping is said to be 200ms. You can be guaranteed that the speeds will slow, by some amount, at peek times. You can be damn sure there won't be an unlimited cap.

juuge

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Dreadful website that , very hard to see what is on offer where you live ...and Imagine resell DSL which is their single most widely available product .

By the time you navigate as far as the business end you could well have given up .

Yep! Tried to make sense of their web site today and gave up! Dreadful!

Queston_man

The service they are claiming isn't 4G.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4g#Objectives

I thought this was 4G

A nominal data rate of 100 Mbit/s while the client physically moves at high speeds relative to the station, and 1 Gbit/s while client and station are in relatively fixed positions as defined by the ITU-R

copacetic

Their website is shocking, no mention of pricing and absolutely no mention of what speeds they are 'promising'. They were going on about keeping their promises on the news which isn't hard when you avoid promising anything!

thebman

If you click the speed test link on the bottom of the homepage you get the following:

You’re probably paying around €50 for slow broadband down your phone line. WiMax is super fast broadband that’s up to 50% cheaper.

So I'm guessing entry level service will be 25 euro.

Viral video channel on youtube here:
http://www.youtube.com/imaginewimax#p/a

Goodshape

copacetic wrote: »

Their website is shocking, no mention of pricing and absolutely no mention of what speeds they are 'promising'.

The 'WiMax Plans' section open on Monday. Didn't take much to see that, surely?

Maybe it's just that their old site sucked so bad.. I thought this one was a huge improvement tbh.

Rattlehead_ie

TheDeficit wrote: »

i'm pretty sure that was the upload, the download was over 17mb. Eircom's been so bad lately I'd consider this if it's A. suitable for gaming B. doesn't slow in the evenings/weekend and C. has a truly unlimited download plan.

Agreed with TD on this, that was the upload that was reaching 3Mbs and IF thats what you can realistically I am very impressed and looking forward to seeing more from these guys.

As for the website. To be fair it does says official product launch is the 19th, which is Monday. Today was obviously just the announcement.

Still, I'll wait to test it before I pass judgement.

laurence997

thebman wrote: »

yeah and that looks very much like a screenshot from Google maps.

Could be terms of use violation. I'd assume it is as its unlikely that Imagine needed to have ferry lines on their map.

Dont google back Imagine though? That might explain it.

jellies

jor el wrote: »

There are a lot of lines that can do that speed.

Yes - there are. But as a % of eircom's copper network its very low. Being generous, less than 10%. I know this from a project I worked on a while ago to provide broadband to >500 remote users. In fairness, they were well spread all over the country.

Mantel

From the tech side they're shooting themselves in the foot by not releaseing details about their service, contention, what frequency they use, etc. Ripwave was good for what it was at the start, then more people started to use it, then it became known as ****wave. We'll only know how good the product is when someone gets it and uses it and then comes back three months later to rereview it.

People who rent will be intrested because of the mobility of it and no fixed line rental, not to mention the price. Hopefully they get the finger out and release pricing information.

huggs2

This is an interesting news item on wimax.com
http://www.wimax.com/commentary/news/wimax_industry_news/october-2009/imagine-launches-global-4g-wimax-network-in-ireland-1014

thebman

laurence997 wrote: »

Dont google back Imagine though? That might explain it.

Don't know, they should still use a proper google map integration though, it just looks bad and everyone will try to move it to see their area before realising it is just a still image.

jellies

Some details from Motorola hitting the wires here...

Motorola will provide deployment, integration and support services to Imagine in addition to WiMAX equipment. This will include WiMAX Access Points, such as the WAP 450 for increased coverage and capacity in a compact design and the WAP 800 with beamforming antenna techniques for enhanced performance. For customer premises equipment Imagine will offer the USBw 100 dongle for high speed mobile connectivity; the CPEi 775which includes a built-in Wi-Fi(®) router and ports for VoIP; and the CPEo 450 which extends the coverage of critical broadband and VoIP services, while reducing infrastructure and support costs.

A portion of purchase price will be financed by Motorola

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Motorola-and-Imagine-Bring-prnews-2236763775.html?x=0&.v=1

jackdoes

What exactly is WiMax and 4G? How do you get it? Can you pick it up using regular devices like smart phones and usb broadband?

Scruff

thebman wrote: »

If you click the speed test link on the bottom of the homepage you get the following:

You’re probably paying around €50 for slow broadband down your phone line. WiMax is super fast broadband that’s up to 50% cheaper.

So I'm guessing entry level service will be 25 euro.

Thats what the CEO said on The Last Word on todayfm yesterday.

Six One news piece 17:28 in : http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1057678

Calebmcd

17.35 Mb Download
3.00 Mb Upload
73 ping

Thats what they got on speedtest on RTE NEWS
All good except the ping. If pings where 20-30, i'd switch. Maybe the 8mb has lower pings?

But when does Mayo get it, so far its available for those with fibre available to them!

But speedtest isn't good for pings.
My test

6.12
0.31
76 ping

30ms to boards.ie

60.11 vs 25...hmmm?

godskitchen

laurence997 wrote: »

Dont google back Imagine though? That might explain it.

No, Google back WiMAX, Imagine were and are just name dropping when they mention them in their bluff.

Intel have a vested interest and will back anything that is good for their business, so you can understand them promoting the product.....

godskitchen

Calebmcd wrote: »

17.35 Mb Download
3.00 Mb Upload
73 ping

Thats what they got on speedtest on RTE NEWS
All good except the ping. If pings where 20-30, i'd switch. Maybe the 8mb has lower pings?

But when does Mayo get it, so far its available for those with fibre available to them!

But speedtest isn't good for pings.
My test

6.12
0.31
76 ping

30ms to boards.ie

60.11 vs 25...hmmm?

I think what everyone seems to be missing here is the fact that the test shown on RTE was with one user on the network.

We all know how fast Three/O2/Vodafone can be when there is only one user on the network......what am I saying, it is even the same for eircom and UPC.

Show me real world results, at peak time and then I will tell you if it is good or not. From what I read, it will face the same problems as 3G networks.

As for it coming to Mayo, it needs a direct link to a backbone from what I read, it might well suit in the towns but not in the arse end of the rest of the county. It will be interesting to see what they plan to do in Mayo, if anything.

Surely

It's not possible to guarantee a particular speed due to contention ratio etc. The amount of customers using the total network of broadband for one particular area influences how much speed you receive.

Have seen Wimax working in the flesh, my mum has it and I have to admit it is pretty whopper. I work in the technical field and her Ripwave was replaced with a new Wimax unit which is working brilliantly. Good speeds, reliable connection. Can't complain. Spoke to a few other people in her area who have it too and they are all very impressed with the service.

I know that I intend to order it myself in the future, once it is available in my home area. Also noted their website does not include any pricing or details but give them time. The service is not even on sale nationally yet, I think that is due to come soon.

One interesting point I note is that they are saying if they get enough interest from a particular area, they will install. Basically, we all know of those areas down the country where you cannot even get Eircom DSL, people are surviving on ancient dial up connections, and I think it is really positive news to hear that if you can get enough of your neighbours and community on board to ask for this service (something a lot of people having been asking Eircom for for years) then Imagine will give it to them.

I am pushing my community to get on board for this service. I live in an area with limited broadband capability and large development. Lots of new homes and families (including friends and relatives) who are dependent on the over pricing and unreliability of Eircom DSL for internet connections. This could potentially be very good for us..

TheDeficit

anyone know what the range is?
They're setting up in tralee shortly and I'm 12 miles outside the town.

Sponge Bob

TheDeficit wrote: »

I'm 12 miles outside the town.

Nahh, with a dongle ( usb device) max 2 miles on a good day and then when it rains .....

The Fool

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Nahh, with a dongle ( usb device) max 2 miles on a good day and then when it rains .....

Suppose that would depend on if they went down the road of outdoor units similar to breeze/vls. That would extend range a fair bit...

Sponge Bob

BreezeMax is not mobile wimax , it is FIXED wimax , anyway IBB/Imagine promised us that in 2004 and where are we exactly in the rollout ...anybody ??

http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2004/10/24/story57473325.asp

Sponge Bob

Yet another ****in n00b pimping Imagine services. Same happened when Imagine launched their DSL but the c**nts got banned