Any satellite broadband ireland users

tammy

Hi,

we are trying to get some form of communication in new house. No phone, mobile coverage patchy and no wireless available.

satellite broadband ireland claim skype can be used reliably on their service.

Does anyone have experience of this service? Are there any better satellite services out there that people have experience with?

We live in a NBS area, however 3 will give us no idea of when they might think about providing the service, and then we could use that service or fall back on subsidised satellite.

jor el

tammy wrote: »

satellite broadband ireland claim skype can be used reliably on their service.

I would not trust that statement anyway. Satellite latency can be as much as 2 seconds, meaning you'll have a 2 sec delay in any conversation. Any more than about 200 or 300ms is noticeable, 1-2s would be very irritating.

If it's a one-way satellite service, you'll need a phone line for the upload. Two-way is better, but usually more expensive (however there's no need for a phone line, so you'll save that much).

Satellite is no more than a download accelerator, it is not broadband, and cannot provide a lot of the services you would expect/want from broadband.

tammy wrote: »

We live in a NBS area, however 3 will give us no idea of when they might think about providing the service, and then we could use that service or fall back on subsidised satellite.

Is this the satellite NBS you're talking about, or 3G? From what I've read, the satellite that Three intend to use has not even been launched yet. No one has any idea when (if ever) this will be available. NBS is a bad joke.

Fuzzy Clam

jor el wrote: »

Satellite is no more than a download accelerator, it is not broadband, and cannot provide a lot of the services you would expect/want from broadband.



I

It is Broadband, or Midband anyway.

Gaming and Voip are about all you can't do on it. Well, you can use Skype but it's awkward. I'm not aware of any other services that it cannot provide.

tammy

Is this the satellite NBS you're talking about, or 3G?

It's NBS satellite, we would be eligible for, presuming three can't provide a mobile broadband service, if or when they get around to it.

There is 3G coverage up the road about 2 kilometres, which is very frustrating.

Moonbeam

Do you intend to get a phone line?

Talk to digiweb about Satellite.

Is there no3g coverage at all?

Any local wireless providers?

Do not get satellite unless you really have to!

tammy

We hope to not have to get a phone line, it would mean digging trenches and putting up poles.

There is 3G coverage about 3k up the road, but any reception is patchy in our location.

Believe me satellite is my last option. Wireless is not available, though I am looking into providers.

Matt Bauer

VoIP will run on a good quality 2-way satellite connection, with the major caveat being the delay. This makes it useless for business use, unless you fancy your customers shouting at you.

Dr. Nick

The problem as I see it with 2way is the d/load limit. What's the best one-way with a decent limit?

Dr. Nick

YNWA wrote: »

The problem as I see it with 2way is the d/load limit. What's the best one-way with a decent limit?

anyone?

yuloni

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echidna

Hi Tammy,
I have been using satellite BB through NBB (they went bust) and now through ABB(same company resurrected - didn't want to but too costly to change equipment - another story!!) Their monthly outlay is from about 40 euros upwards.
Anyhow, I have used skype - the delay is sometimes minimal, sometimes very bad. I don't use it much now, too annoying. Forget using webcam - far too slow for pics. The supposed download speed of 1MB is rarely if ever, achieved with this company, and neither is the upload speed of 128
I have complained to these guys and they are good at making excuses, but not much good at resolving the problems. I don't have much faith in Satellite BB, it does OK for me as I don't use it for much at present, but I have no hope of getting terrestrial BB in the long-term (or so eircom tell me!) Luckily, where I work has super-fast BB, so I can use this to dowload stuff.
Good Luck with your search, but I would not give the NBB crowd a ringing endorsement. (Choose someone else - in other words)

yuloni

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echidna

Thanks Condi,
I understand what you mean, I was just replying on my experiences with NBB in response to Tammy's query about any other providers. I looked into swapping over to another provider, but it is the outlay for equipment again that has stopped me. I might give that crowd a ring though (SBI) and see if I could use my equipment with their service. Unfortunately, 3's service does not cover my area yet - hopefully will be an option in the future.
Cheers for the links

anneboleyn

I've just had Tooway satellite installed from Digiweb at a cost of about €600. Bizzarely our rural area isn't covered by the NBS and there is no fixed line or mobile service where we live. So far so good speedwise, but you need to be aware that if you're not on NBS the download limits are fairly low.. 2.5 gb per month on the basic package at €34 per month, and 4.5 gb on my package of €49 per month. If you use too much at once they slow you down.. that's only happened to us once at the beginning when we played Youtube for 4 hours solid , excited by the novelty .. so not cheap, but God it's worth it to feel connected to the outside world:)

Arrigle Boy

I am moving to a remote part of South Kilkenny. I have looked at broadband options and have been left with no option but to go for Digiweb Sattelite Tooway Value @ €34.99 per month with equipment/installation costing €589.00 once off. Can AnneBoleyn advise as to its reliability. I will be mostly using it daily for online banking, sending/receiving emails, Skype, general browsing and less frequently for booking flights/holidays, theatre tickets, restaurant tables, renewing insurances and Revenue-Online services. Are the download/upload speeds OK for these purposes? Also the available traffic of 2.4GB - I don't generally upload movies/music, only the odd upload to Revenue Online, but I do like to use Youtube every now and then - is 2.4GB enough in your experience? Would welcome your advices please. Thank you in advance.

Matt Bauer

Arrigle Boy wrote: »

I am moving to a remote part of South Kilkenny. I have looked at broadband options and have been left with no option but to go for Digiweb Sattelite Tooway Value @ €34.99 per month with equipment/installation costing €589.00 once off. Can AnneBoleyn advise as to its reliability. I will be mostly using it daily for online banking, sending/receiving emails, Skype, general browsing and less frequently for booking flights/holidays, theatre tickets, restaurant tables, renewing insurances and Revenue-Online services. Are the download/upload speeds OK for these purposes? Also the available traffic of 2.4GB - I don't generally upload movies/music, only the odd upload to Revenue Online, but I do like to use Youtube every now and then - is 2.4GB enough in your experience? Would welcome your advices please. Thank you in advance.

Shouldn't you be in a National Broadband Scheme (NBS) area? You can check at www.three.ie

Arrigle Boy

Matt Bauer wrote: »

Shouldn't you be in a National Broadband Scheme (NBS) area? You can check at www.three.ie

Thank you for that Matt Bauer. I guess I should be on the NBS but when I did a coverage search on 3 website it said "sorry not in your area...but coming soon"! How soon is soon I wonder? Having read my previous post do you think I will survive with Digiweb until something more affordable comes along? I do have an Eircom telephone line for voice only...the lines are shared so no broadband and I'm about 8km from exchange! Mobile coverage is patchy but I will try Vodafone stick when I move in. Any other suggestions? Thank you again for reply.

watty

Satellite can easily be better than the so-called NBS. 3 has no broadband product, nor any licence for Broadband wireless. HSPA is a protocol on a Mobile Phone system. It's Mobile Internet.

If you can't get 3's HSPA signal they are legally obliged to supply you with the superior satellite system at same price, because of their commitment under NBS.

watty

Condi wrote: »

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Actually they are just a reseller and installer. They don't "providing satellite broadband", nor are they an ISP. Eutelsat, SES-Astra "provide satellite". Some Irish Satellite service resellers are also regular ISPs.

yuloni

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Dr. Nick

Condi wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

mine too

anneboleyn

Arrigle Boy wrote: »

I am moving to a remote part of South Kilkenny. I have looked at broadband options and have been left with no option but to go for Digiweb Sattelite Tooway Value @ €34.99 per month with equipment/installation costing €589.00 once off. Can AnneBoleyn advise as to its reliability. I will be mostly using it daily for online banking, sending/receiving emails, Skype, general browsing and less frequently for booking flights/holidays, theatre tickets, restaurant tables, renewing insurances and Revenue-Online services. Are the download/upload speeds OK for these purposes? Also the available traffic of 2.4GB - I don't generally upload movies/music, only the odd upload to Revenue Online, but I do like to use Youtube every now and then - is 2.4GB enough in your experience? Would welcome your advices please. Thank you in advance.

Sorry - been away for a bit Yes it's reliable , we've gone for the 4gb, as we found we kept getting slowed down on the 2.4 package when we used things like You Tube intensively .. but it really is only video downloads that eat up the allowance, everything else it's plentiful for. And you're probably in the same boat as me re NBS , I live on Tipp Kilkenny border in remote area, and am not covered.

Arrigle Boy

Thank you for that AnneBoelyn. By strange coincidence the guy came to install Digiweb Satellite today! I must say the dish wasn't quite as overwhelming as I had thought it might be and it sits comfortably, high on the southeast gable end. I was satisfied with download speed (no worse than the Eircom bundle I was used to). So far so good. Good to know that you're satisfied with Digiweb. And yes, NBC is a no-go for me too! But the joys of living the remote rural life far outweigh these inconveniences. That said, I'm really pleased I now have broadband (good to have some connection to the outside world). Kindest regards, Arrigle Boy.:)