Digiweb satellite Broadband

MagicSean

http://www.digiweb.ie/home/tooway/

Anyone have any experience with this? I currently use Ripple but am unhappy with the stability or price of their service. The Digiweb one seems pretty good although I don't see an installation charge or any reference to download limits. No reference to upload speeds either.

urbane4u

I am on Digiweb metro...60GB for 41 Euros per month.
The speed is kinda okie (8 MBPS), but the once it reaches 80 % (that is 48 GB), they slow the connection down..it is crap actually after that.
Unfortunately there is no UPC at my place;digiweb is the only option cause it is satellite.

bealtine

MagicSean wrote: »

Anyone have any experience with this?

Satellite will never be broadband with their rolling daily caps, to be honest you'll be better off on an FWA connection, even if it's crap

cunnijo

urbane4u wrote: »

I am on Digiweb metro...60GB for 41 Euros per month.
The speed is kinda okie (8 MBPS), but the once it reaches 80 % (that is 48 GB), they slow the connection down..it is crap actually after that.
Unfortunately there is no UPC at my place;digiweb is the only option cause it is satellite.

Hi

Firstly Digiweb Metro is fixed wireless not satellite and speeds are generally as they say. For an extra €4 a month you can opt for the Express package where the D/L speed will increase to 30Mb with a 100GB capping. U/L speed remains the same at 1Mb. There is also an off peak phone service offered too as part of this

I agree with bealtine regarding TooWay. the capping is very low (similar to mobile broadband) and the pings are very high due to distance, which can really affect connection speeds.

So to the OP if you're not happy with Ripplecom and Metro is available in your area then by all means give it a try. As for TooWay unless you want just to use the web for general stull like emails, twitter, etc it is not worth the cost.

bealtine

cunnijo wrote: »

I agree with bealtine regarding TooWay. the capping is very low (similar to mobile broadband) and the pings are very high due to distance, which can really affect connection speeds.

The caps are much worse than mobile:

http://support.digiweb.ie/questions/3808/Tooway+Satellite+Ku+Traffic+Usage+%26+Fair+Access+Policy+Explained

MagicSean

That's pretty terrible. Thanks beatline.

urbane4u

don't go for it man............i am on dial up or the last 9 days on digiweb cause I used up the bandwidth.life is hell if you think about it.

orwellg84

urbane4u wrote: »

don't go for it man............i am on dial up or the last 9 days on digiweb cause I used up the bandwidth.life is hell if you think about it.

I am assuming you are on Digiweb's Tooway - which package are you on? And is it ever any good?

urbane4u

I am on the metro home (60 GB package). It is fine, but when it reaches 48 GB, it is damn slow.

bealtine

Here are the "new" packages "fair use policy"...

http://support.digiweb.ie/questions/3844/Digiweb+Tooway+Ka+Satellite-+Fair+Access+Policy

Note : "Traffic used in access of above will result in system being temporarily slowed until usage comes back in line with agreed fair access policy."

Mr. G

Op, what county are you located?

orwellg84

I'm confused here. As said Metro is a wireless package not satellite. I'm still wondering if there is anyone with first hand experience either running or using a system using Digiweb/Tooway Satellite?

I see that there is now a 50Gb package, not cheap but we are getting desperate now, I've had all the serious FWA operators crawling all over our property and even some more mickey mouse ones too, all saying "if you were only the other side of that hill you'd get great service".... DOOH!!! Obviously none can supply. The local highpoint is hogged by Mobile masts and the owner of the site is coining it from them already, so I know the monthly rental they are looking for to co-locate FWA suppliers is artificially high.

So our current options (for a couple of years I guess) are mobile or satellite and I wondered if anyone has any experience of the satellite product? Gaming of no interest, downloads, uploads and reliability of service are a must. Which is better mobile or satellite?

Finally anyone know why fixed IP is only offered for one of the Digiweb products?

ps200306

Sorry for the late reply. I've tried 'em all. Had Eircom and UPC in Dublin, and fixed wireless, cellular, and satellite in the sticks. See my November 15th Digiweb satellite review here:

http://ratemyisp.ie/ratings/digiweb/

Not much to add to that. I believe they have done away with the daily/weekly/fortnightly rolling limits, and now your monthly cap - while still poor -- can at least be used any time. I have to admit to a sneaking regard for Digiweb satellite. I had one of their very early offerings when it was literally the only thing available to me. Dire speed, incredibly expensive, yet it worked without a single glitch at the exact nominal speed for a couple of years, until I finally got a fixed wireless option. Boy was that a mistake! Three years of heartbreak -- I will never, ever, go fixed wireless again; there are too many clueless cowboys around (with the sole exception of one in east Cork who I constantly see good reviews of). So I am back on satellite, and it has changed a lot -- 20 times the speed for half the price compared to five years ago. Also, VoIP and Skype now work, where they didn't before. I am still waiting for their latest promised upgrade from 8MB to 12MB although I may very well go straight back to 8MB to save some money. To be honest, the only reason I mightn't is because of the download limits -- better speed stops being particularly useful on satellite without the download allowance to match. But, all in all, I am a very happy Digiweb customer, given that I'd have essentially no options without them. Now, if only the download cap was 1TB a month!

P.S. I'm assuming you're aware of the high latency on satellite which makes it totally unsuitable for certain applications, in particular gaming.

ps200306

Ahh... just bothered to re-read your question specifically about mobile vs. satellite. Just to answer that: I've used O2 (useless) and Vodafone cellular from my location, as well as satellite, and both at the same time, so I can give you my AB comparison. At the time, I had to have the cellular as well as the satellite because I was remote desktopping to another location and waiting for each character to echo back over satellite is just about borderline tolerable, but I preferred the cellular for that job. I got great speeds out of Vodafone for a long time -- 5 to 6 Mbps, which I found quite remarkable. However, it was not entirely stable, and one day the speed halved, never to to come back again. I'm really in the sticks, so I guess one other user started up in my vicinity :-) Of course, sometimes the cellular speeds were a lot worse, but on the whole it wasn't a bad service. Couldn't do VoIP over it though, probably because Vodafone actively scramble that. (They have an additional package for VoIP to "guarantee you the bandwidth you need" which their euphemism for "we'll stop scrambling you").

Apart from the remote desktop/latency thing, for me there is no comparison. The satellite connection is way more stable and reliable. Upload speeds on both are about the same -- about 1 Mbps, but again much more stable on satellite.

As to the fixed IP thing ... I believe it is some sort of "business package", although I am not sure exactly what it is aimed at -- there's no way it would be suitable for running a web server etc. The dynamic IPs for the other packages are at least now Irish IPs. Previously you got an IP from their downlink in Turin, so Google et al. appeared in Italian.

orwellg84

ps200306 wrote: »

Sorry for the late reply. I've tried 'em all.

Thanks ps200306 for the comprehensive reply, appreciate getting used a 3 router first hand feedback. We've had various services ourselves too. When it was available Eircom FWA was rock solid even if painfully slow at 0.5mbps, with that now gone we have a Three router - which I have to say here is relatively reliable at 3-5mbps down during the day and 1-2mbps up but hopeless in the evening, so we just have to work around that. Then there are times Three drops off the radar completely and I dread having to deal with the Support Team because I found I have to get angry to get anything done and I don't like that.
I have talked with some people locally who got Tooway as a replacement and they are scathing. I guess with Digiweb who are a reseller are simply better managing the account usage and balancing.
Recently Eircom are busy installing new cabling, we are only a a few kms from the exchange so I have it on good authority that there is a strong possibility of getting a connection to the exchange for BB. That pleased me initially, even though I am sure that getting the connection the last 100m might be problematic for me - ive been working on workarounds. Given your comments I am not so happy in spending time for the effort if the Eircom service does not cut the mustard in terms of speed and reliability.

ps200306

Yeah, I always found the cellular collection very variable. I never even bothered ringing the supplier, because i always assumed circumstances were "beyond their control". Interesting about your neighbours' experiences with Tooway ... I would've expected the service to be the same regardless of reseller, since it's all basically the same infrastructure. Checked my speed again just now ... I am getting 8.5Mb (and 2Mb up) on a connection that is nominally 8Mb, so I am happy apart from the well-known limitations of satellite.

If Eircom works out for you it might be the best option. I waited years for the local exchange to be ADSL enabled, and when it finally arrived they couldn't provide ADSL to me anyway because of the local phone lines. I'm about a mile from the exchange and they wouldn't upgrade any lines. I had Eircom ADSL in Dublin before, and while it was very reliable and stable, I was paying for an "up to 8Mb" connection that could only deliver a max of 2.5Mb due to local wiring which they wouldn't fix. When UPC arrived I was paying the same price for 60 Mpbs plus phone and TV!

UltanMolloy

Re: Onwave - see http://ratemyisp.ie/ratings/onwave-broadband