Broadband in the countryside

BobLeeSwagger

I'm after moving to a house for the first time and previously we had 3Mb eircom broadband bundle at home. Where I am now the max the line can take is 1Mb and the max I'm getting is 0.8Mb from eircom.

I use the broadband for online gaming and speed is key. Just wondering what broadband people in the countryside are using since eircom is so slow and fiber is all thats on their agenda.

vibe666

i imagine you have very little choice unless you happen to be near a mobile phone mast with decent speeds.

people don't tend to pay attention to broadband availability when moving house, but (IMHO) it's a service like anything else that needs to be taken into consideration. personally i wouldn't go anywhere near a house that didn't have access to decent broadband, but that's just me. anything with any kind of broadband speed in single figures would be off the table from the get-go.

if you saw my current speed and ping tests you'd really hate me, particularly as a gamer.

the_syco

BobLeeSwagger wrote: »

Where I am now the max the line can take is 1Mb and the max I'm getting is 0.8Mb from eircom.

Tell us where you are located?

vibe666

his profile says Location: →☼←

which looks to me like he's in the ar$ehole of nowhere! :pac:

long_b

Fixed wireless access would be your best bet if you can get it
If you post your general area peeps here can suggest local providers

smellslikeshoes

BobLeeSwagger wrote: »

I'm after moving to a house for the first time and previously we had 3Mb eircom broadband bundle at home. Where I am now the max the line can take is 1Mb and the max I'm getting is 0.8Mb from eircom.

I use the broadband for online gaming and speed is key. Just wondering what broadband people in the countryside are using since eircom is so slow and fiber is all thats on their agenda.

Sorry but that's simply not true, low latency, low jitter and high reliability trumps broadband speed all day everyday for gaming. A stable 1Mbit connection is plenty for online gaming, if you are having problems gaming with it there is something going on rather than it just being inherently not capable.

cunnijo

BobLeeSwagger wrote: »

I'm after moving to a house for the first time and previously we had 3Mb eircom broadband bundle at home. Where I am now the max the line can take is 1Mb and the max I'm getting is 0.8Mb from eircom.

I use the broadband for online gaming and speed is key. Just wondering what broadband people in the countryside are using since eircom is so slow and fiber is all thats on their agenda.

Hi

There are alternatives to DSL(Eircom etc) in the forms of fixed wireless and mobile broadband. For fixed wireless a lot will depend on which part of the country you have moved to. These companies generally offer faster speeds in rural areas. Examples of these are Digiweb (Metro), Imagine (WiMax), Ripplecom just to name a few. For mobile broadband it will depend on which mobile operator has good coverage

As for gaming fixed wireless would be much better than mobile broadband. They generally will have higher download allowances than mobile broadband, which is uaually no more than 15GB a month

BobLeeSwagger

Sorry I thought I had posted a location. I'm in Cavan near the Fermanagh/Leitrim border, outside a town called Ballyconnell.

smellslikeshoes wrote: »

Sorry but that's simply not true, low latency, low jitter and high reliability trumps broadband speed all day everyday for gaming. A stable 1Mbit connection is plenty for online gaming, if you are having problems gaming with it there is something going on rather than it just being inherently not capable.

I have not used the connection for gaming at all as I have no console at the minute. Thanks for your input though. My ping is high though (97) and the download is only 0.10 Mbps. Cant see the high ping doing me any favours online.

cunnijo wrote: »

Hi

There are alternatives to DSL(Eircom etc) in the forms of fixed wireless and mobile broadband. For fixed wireless a lot will depend on which part of the country you have moved to. These companies generally offer faster speeds in rural areas. Examples of these are Digiweb (Metro), Imagine (WiMax), Ripplecom just to name a few. For mobile broadband it will depend on which mobile operator has good coverage

As for gaming fixed wireless would be much better than mobile broadband. They generally will have higher download allowances than mobile broadband, which is uaually no more than 15GB a month

Thats really good information there. Just what I was looking for. Least I can do is check out what I can get elsewhere. Appreciate it!

bealtine

BobLeeSwagger wrote: »

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Thats really good information there. Just what I was looking for. Least I can do is check out what I can get elsewhere. Appreciate it!

Have a look at this to see what WISPs are around that area : http://irelandoffline.org/map/

Find the town in the finder box in the left pane, the red marker should end up on your town.

Then click on Wireless ISPs (you can click any of the coloured areas and get contact details for each WISP)

BobLeeSwagger

bealtine wrote: »

Have a look at this to see what WISPs are around that area : http://irelandoffline.org/map/

Find the town in the finder box in the left pane, the red marker should end up on your town.

Then click on Wireless ISPs (you can click any of the coloured areas and get contact details for each WISP)

Thats brilliant. Thanks for your help! Arden broadband seems to cover our area best. Net1 seems to be kinda sketchy.

siblers

Can you see any Antennas/Masts on top of any hills in your area? If you can then you'll have a great chance of getting fixed wireless, similarly if any of your near neighbours have fixed wireless boxes on their roofs, then that's a good indication thatyou may be able to get it. Mobile broadand isn't ideal as the pings are usually high and speeds unstable.

BobLeeSwagger

My next door neighbor has no phone line or broadband as its only his holiday home. Cant seem to see any masts around but I haven't had a chance to look around to be honest.

uncle_sam_ie

Are you on a contract with eircom? Because, it's costly to get out of it.

BobLeeSwagger

I'm currently on a seven day cooling off period which began today.

msq

BobLeeSwagger wrote: »

I'm after moving to a house for the first time and previously we had 3Mb eircom broadband bundle at home. Where I am now the max the line can take is 1Mb and the max I'm getting is 0.8Mb from eircom.

I use the broadband for online gaming and speed is key. Just wondering what broadband people in the countryside are using since eircom is so slow and fiber is all thats on their agenda.

Check this map for wireless broadband providers in your area
http://irelandoffline.org/map/index.html#

BobLeeSwagger

Thanks msq, Bealtine Suggested that site earlier and thanks to everyone that replied!