Is Digiweb Metro Broadband any good?

userod

Hi guys just wondering if Digiweb broadband is any good? In terms of ping, contention and speed. We'r looking to get the 8MB Down 1Mb up package (Metro) I think. I know they've low caps alright though.

watty

30G isn't low. Sort of medium 1G to 10G is low.


Recent test of Metro in Limerick
It's close to this, maybe drops to 7.4Mpbs & 0.8Mbps with 35ms ping when very busy. I've had it over five years.


Unlike Mobile, they won't install unless your signal is "good enough". Unlike Mobile as long as the signal is "good enough" you get the possible speed after allowing for contention.

The Contention is limited by the 30G rolling cap (so no start of month or end of month slow downs) and limiting how many customers are installed on each channel of each mast sector.

The phone works fine too. We moved our eircom number and ditched the line. Compared with eircom Line Rental alone we have saved over €1,500.

It's about twice as good as average DSL.

jay93

metro should be very good as its a fixed service and not mobile..
have heard alot of good reports about it to be honest its worth getting id say

cgarvey

I had Metro for a couple of years. I had one issue they refused to address, blaming contention, but which a helpful member of staff suggested, off-record, that it might be interference. So there was around a week where upload speed was ridiculous, and pings were high. It went away by itself (with Digiweb support refusing to deal with the issue). The phone service was never reliable for me (even after being moved to another site to try and resolve). I didn't use it much, but the few times I did, there was always a problem. I'd often have to reset the Thompson modem to get a phone line back, I'd often get a text saying people couldn't ring me (and there's no voicemail/divert to help with that), and I'd often get a constant dial tone with an inability to dial out.

Other than that, it was excellent. The caps were/are low and I was always having to watch them, but the quality was always good (bar the odd blip). Pings were sometimes a bit higher during peak time, but for the most part they were fine. I could use Skype without problem always. The higher pings affected Unreal Tournament play (and similar fast-moving MMPG games) a bit, but it was rarely unplayable. Uptime was good (better than most wireless ISPs I've heard about, and as good as wired services I've had). Bang for buck it was by far the best quality broadband available to me at the time. Then UPC came along and beat them out the park (cap, cost, and speed).

Would I recommend it? Yes, if you can't get cable broadand, and probably yes if you ccan get DSL (save line rental, just don't rely on the phone service; comparable cost/speed).

J_Wholesale

We've been using Digiweb Metro for a few years now. Phone line is perfect and saves a big whack on Eircom fees, and download speeds are good for the area.

Only problem is we've been having huge problems getting a wireless router to work with the Metro box. I'd love to know if anyone has succeeded in doing this, as it's driving me nuts.

watty

It's simple!

Get a decent router that has no modem, an ethernet router. Argos calls them cable router. DABs call them ADSL/Cable routers.

It has a 5th "WAN" ethernet port for the ethernet on the cable Modem (or any kind of ethernet modem).

Set up the WAN ethernet port in the new Router for DHCP. Save settings and Reboot it


Power off the Cable Modem,

Connect Router's 5th ethernet WAN port to Cable Modem.

Repower modem with Router WAN port connected or the new router will not get an IP.

Setup WiFi with WPA PSK (Pre shared key). Don't use channel 12 or 13 as anything from USA or USA country code only does ch1 to Ch 11. For passkey use a big long random mix uPPER lower case and numbers, about 20. Write it down first.

The step most people forget is to re-power the Modem if changing what is connected to it. It only ever gives one IP, and decides on MAC to give it to at power up.


Linksys, Netgear, some Dlink (not all) or Buffalo are OK. Belkin don't seem good.

You don't really need 802.11n unless EVERYTHING you connect has it and there are no walls. Video Senders, Video Baby monitors, wireless cameras will all interfere.

Avoid 2.4GHz wireless gadgets apart from Bluetooth or the actual WiFi devices.

J_Wholesale

Thanks for that. It's working properly now.

lucernarian

Once you enter the world of using the internet to watch TV or using it to listen to the radio consistently, then the caps Digiweb really don't cut the mustard. I don't have so much sympathy for people breaking caps because of dubious activities (there's only so many Linux ISOs to be downloaded in a month;)) but using various streaming services for TV or Radio is a perfectly legitimate use and when I was using my BT/Vodafone 20 meg connection, 30GB really wasn't enough. 40 to 45 GB was the norm and I'd say 60% was from streaming services. I'm busy enough with college without TV adding to it so I certainly wouldn't consider myself a couch potato.

I've rarely heard of any problems with Digiweb Metro otherwise but I don't know of any users who used the phone services personally.

Praetorian

I have a relation setup on metro and it's quite good. The speed is reliable, although seems to be slower in the evenings and slower again when the weather is bad. But in fairness she doesn't complain once she can view her web pages & upload onto facebook and flickr. The cap would definitely be an issue for anyone that downloads / games / movies / streams tv. I think I've clocked in 50 gigs downloading from steam / blizzard this month already.

Moonbeam

We are heavily dependent on the internet and have digweb 12mb metro and no complaints so far.
Much happier with it then I was with dsl.

XxjustepicxX

Hey lads I was thinking of getting Digiweb metro either 5mb or 8mb the 8mb has free installation but its bit on the expensive size right now but we're paying for 2 mobile broadband modems now and i wont mention names but there absolutely ****e..
So Digiweb Metro 8mb in the carlow town area
Now the ma wants to know what kind of equipment is required because she doesnt want a load of wiring up there is it a white box or a dish? Also is it reliable and do i need to buy a router?

Some weeks ago i ordered UPC 5mb but they cudnt install it because the wire than runs through the houses wasnt on my house so Digiweb is on the list
thanks for any help...
XxjustepicxX

watty

You need a Router to have more than one PC and the security of a Firewall. Not expensive,

The size of outdoor box is on their site and it has a single coax cable to the Modem indoor.

XxjustepicxX

I have already bought a cable router for UPC but since i cant have UPC will a cable router work with digiweb and can u send the link with the outdoor box can weather affect it? is the indoor one different?

watty

The Router you have for UPC works on Digiweb Metro

http://support.digiweb.ie/questions/34/Metro+FAQ%27s
Outdoor box


Indoor Modem

Digiweb don't install Metro unless the signal margin is sufficient for heavy rain.

Solair

A "cable router" is usually just a router - it will work with anything that has an Ethernet socket.
You will still need digiweb or upc's supplied modem but, you don't need anything else.

An apple airport is an example of one of these.

A "DSL Router" (gateway) is a similar device with a DSL modem built in. These typically only work with DSL service but, many of them an have the modem switched off and can be configured as a standard router. Some can't, so you're definitely better off buying the correct item

Digiweb's modem is basically a cable modem

D'Peoples Voice

userod wrote: »

Hi guys just wondering if Digiweb broadband is any good? In terms of ping, contention and speed. We'r looking to get the 8MB Down 1Mb up package (Metro) I think. I know they've low caps alright though.

I know its only 2mb
but I know someone that has this package
and they find it great for what they need it for, emails, reading boards.ie, www.thepropertypin.com, www.irishtimes.com etc.

it certainly sounds better than what I have:mad: