4g broadband as home internet - would it work?

irishfeen

Hey lads and ladies,

We live in an area without any line broadband available in any form whatsoever - now I know the government plan on rolling out broadband to everyone but we might all be dead and buried until that happens...

Basically we are currently with ripplecom (dish at side of house pointing to mast) but we are finding that its poor at best - slow speeds (1-2mb at best) the vast majority of the time and we are paying €55 for the privilege. Vodafone 4g has become available in the area and is registering speeds of 21mb+ (unbelievable for us) the vast majority of the time.. we are even starting to tether from phones to watch matches and videos but we only have about 5GB data on the phones.

We are using between 65-75GB a month of data and we were wondering does Vodafone ever give that kind of download limit with 4G? .. also we have TV's, skyboxes etc connected by line via a router to a main central box which also gives us WIFI... is it possible to use 4G internet in such a way that you could replace the ripplecom wire with say a Vodafone box/dongle and keep our current setup?

Any advice would be appreciated!

yomamasflavour

I think the biggest Vodafone do is 10GB for €30.
Three do 4g 60GB for €34.

Realistically neither are really suitable. The technology cant support people using it as a home connection and youll likely find as more of your neighbours use it that the speed/quality drops significantly.

Three do ~15GB 4g as a €20 prepay. If you were considering getting the billpay version, it would give you an idea of the reliability/quality before signing up.

irishfeen

yomamasflavour wrote: »

I think the biggest Vodafone do is 10GB for €30.
Three do 4g 60GB for €34.

Realistically neither are really suitable. The technology cant support people using it as a home connection and youll likely find as more of your neighbours use it that the speed/quality drops significantly.

Three do ~15GB 4g as a €20 prepay. If you were considering getting the billpay version, it would give you an idea of the reliability/quality before signing up.

The thing is we are limited to Vodafone - they are the only ones with 4G coverage in this area.. we used to have a 3G dongle from three before ripplecom but we only had about 15GB with that and it was very slow.

Are there any other options do you think or are we stuck with ripplecom for the foreseeable future?

ED E

Performance 4G 20 GB 24 months €29.99

That with a 4G USB dongle supporting router will merge with your existing setup. But usage limits are low.

If they gave out 100GB bundles then load on the masts would quadrouple and speeds would go to pot, thats the nature of mobile BB. If you're using 70GB on 2Mb you can be sure you'll use at least 120GB on a faster link.

Check if there are any other FWA providers(Ripplecom is FWA) in the area. Thats your best bet.

Nonoperational

Vodafone 4G is very impressive, but the caps are low. That's the nature of the beast.

irishfeen

Nonoperational wrote: »

Vodafone 4G is very impressive, but the caps are low. That's the nature of the beast.

That really is the problem - we have never got next to near the 23mb+ speeds before and we are well able to watch matches or anything else just tedering via a phone.. Even a solid 10mb connection would suit us fine but doesn't look like it will happen anytime soon.

Xcellor

LTE/4G QOS is much better than 3G but depending on the amount of ppl using your cell the speed will drop. However you are more likely to receive a stable connection i.e. a stable 5mb per second rather than one moment 10mb next moment 1 mb. Latency should also remain more consistent.

kyeev

irishfeen wrote: »

We are using between 65-75GB a month of data and we were wondering does Vodafone ever give that kind of download limit with 4G? .. also we have TV's, skyboxes etc connected by line via a router to a main central box which also gives us WIFI... is it possible to use 4G internet in such a way that you could replace the ripplecom wire with say a Vodafone box/dongle and keep our current setup?

Any advice would be appreciated!

I'm out in the sticks too, no landline/broadband.
I've got 4G x 50gb a month deal with meteor for 20 euro.
I get between 15 and 20 Mbps download.
Streams RTE player, 4OD, Youtube no problem.
Movies take about 10 minutes to download.
I have a Huawei b593s-22 router.
I have to say its brilliant system.

bk

Nonoperational wrote: »

Vodafone 4G is very impressive, but the caps are low. That's the nature of the beast.

But that is the thing, Vodafone 4G is fast, because of the caps.

If they had no caps or much higher caps and people actually tried to use it as a replacement for wired broadband, then the speeds would drop to nothing very quickly.

This is down to pure physics and the bandwidth available. You just can't change that!

4G is good for what it is, mobile internet, it is no good as a replacement for quality wired broadband, not unless you are completely desperate and have no other choice.

Nonoperational

bk wrote: »

But that is the thing, Vodafone 4G is fast, because of the caps.

If they had no caps or much higher caps and people actually tried to use it as a replacement for wired broadband, then the speeds would drop to nothing very quickly.

This is down to pure physics and the bandwidth available. You just can't change that!

4G is good for what it is, mobile internet, it is no good as a replacement for quality wired broadband, not unless you are completely desperate and have no other choice.

Yep, that was my point. They are the fastest because they have the lowest caps.

howamidifferent

kyeev wrote: »

I'm out in the sticks too, no landline/broadband.
I've got 4G x 50gb a month deal with meteor for 20 euro.
I get between 15 and 20 Mbps download.
Streams RTE player, 4OD, Youtube no problem.
Movies take about 10 minutes to download.
I have a Huawei b593s-22 router.
I have to say its brilliant system.

What plan is this on...The standard seems to only offer 7.5GB with an additioan 1GB for 9.99 per month?

irishfeen

Nonoperational wrote: »

Yep, that was my point. They are the fastest because they have the lowest caps.

It would be grand if all those with access to line broadband would féck off and let us out in the sticks with the 4G ... a stable 4G connection of even 15-20mb with say a 100GB download limit would be more then adequate for us.

kyeev

howamidifferent wrote: »

What plan is this on...The standard seems to only offer 7.5GB with an additioan 1GB for 9.99 per month?

This one
http://meteor.ie/student/
You don't have to be a student tho...

bk

irishfeen wrote: »

It would be grand if all those with access to line broadband would féck off and let us out in the sticks with the 4G ... a stable 4G connection of even 15-20mb with say a 100GB download limit would be more then adequate for us.

Actually you will find there is more congestion and slower speeds on 4G in Dublin then out in the sticks!

People in Dublin, etc. on 4G have zero impact on those in rural Ireland. In rural areas, cell tower usually cover an area of about 10km radius. So it is your neighbours who are "stealing" your bandwidth.

irishfeen

bk wrote: »

Actually you will find there is more congestion and slower speeds on 4G in Dublin then out in the sticks!

People in Dublin, etc. on 4G have zero impact on those in rural Ireland. In rural areas, cell tower usually cover an area of about 10km radius. So it is your neighbours who are "stealing" your bandwidth.

Haha it was only a joke mate ... we are living outside Mallow (about 7 miles) so I think "our Vodafone mast" may be serving a large area including the town which might mean as people have said the 4G might slow down as time goes on.

jay93

The biggest limit on vodafone 4G is 20GB on bill pay they don't offer 4G pre pay yet.

Zack Morris

yomamasflavour wrote: »

I think the biggest Vodafone do is 10GB for €30.

Vodafone are suffering the consequences of being so tightfisted.

irishfeen

Zack Morris wrote: »

Vodafone are suffering the consequences of being so tightfisted.

Read that in the independent today, surely we will see Vodafone increase limits..

irishfeen

I see three have 4G package available for €28.45 Ex-VAT with 60GB (for business customers) ... just a pitty they have no coverage around this area yet... why oh why couldn't Vodafone have something similar available

lukegriffen

jay93 wrote: »

The biggest limit on vodafone 4G is 20GB on bill pay they don't offer 4G pre pay yet.

4g prepay has been available for months

http://www.vodafone.ie/pay-as-you-go-plans/

irishfeen

lukegriffen wrote: »

4g prepay has been available for months

http://www.vodafone.ie/pay-as-you-go-plans/

You wouldn't do much at home with 5GB of data...

bk

irishfeen wrote: »

Haha it was only a joke mate ... we are living outside Mallow (about 7 miles) so I think "our Vodafone mast" may be serving a large area including the town which might mean as people have said the 4G might slow down as time goes on.

Yes, it would be common for rural cell sites to be located in the nearest town or village.

bk

Zack Morris wrote: »

Vodafone are suffering the consequences of being so tightfisted.

Ouch, read the comments at the end of that article, almost every single one is scathing of their service and everyone saying their are just waiting for their contract to end and to move. Not good for Vodafone.

Meteor really needs to do better to take advantage of this. I really don't feel Meteor are at the races at all, it feels like it is Three who are sucking up all the defectors, along with Tesco Mobile and 48 Mobile (both on the o2/Three network anway!).

irishfeen

bk wrote: »

Ouch, read the comments at the end of that article, almost every single one is scathing of their service and everyone saying their are just waiting for their contract to end and to move. Not good for Vodafone.

Meteor really needs to do better to take advantage of this. I really don't feel Meteor are at the races at all, it feels like it is Three who are sucking up all the defectors, along with Tesco Mobile and 48 Mobile (both on the o2/Three network anway!).

They will surely increase data limits and bring down the cost of bundles - if not three will pass them out eventually.. business customers seem to be keeping Vodafone going.. their precieved "better coverage" is waning though.

Bog Standard User

live in dublin 7.

i get 38mb average speeds on my phone with 3 4g

bk

irishfeen wrote: »

They will surely increase data limits and bring down the cost of bundles - if not three will pass them out eventually.. business customers seem to be keeping Vodafone going.. their precieved "better coverage" is waning though.

Actually since buying o2, Three has already passed them as the largest carrier in Ireland!

Just Vodafone still make the most revenue and profit due to all the large corporate customers. But with a stronger Three, Vodafone could see a big loss of these.

jay93

lukegriffen wrote: »

4g prepay has been available for months

http://www.vodafone.ie/pay-as-you-go-plans/

I know they do as I'm with them for phone and I have 4G where I live but I think they are looking for broadband plans which as of yet they only offer 4G on bill pay for mobile broadband devices.

jay93

It's about time vodafone has some competition in Ireland they have been at the top for so long O2 came close but not nearly as close as Three/O2 combined when Three increase their 4G coverage particularly to my area I'd go back to them no problem 3G doesn't cut it for me it's really slow where I live even with full bars of signal likely down to contention.

mass_debater

Bog Standard User wrote: »

live in dublin 7.

i get 38mb average speeds on my phone with 3 4g

Do come back in 12 months and see how that's doing. I saw huge speeds on 3g once

AlanS181824

I live in Carlow town and have Three's €20 deal, use as much as I like and no repercussions but sadly over the last few months I've felt the service deteriorate as much people join the network!

Hopefully once the start merging with O2 then their speeds will improve.

howamidifferent

kyeev wrote: »

This one
http://meteor.ie/student/
You don't have to be a student tho...

Seems you need to login to your campus account to authenticate and get this deal? How does a non student get it?

bk

jay93 wrote: »

I'd go back to them no problem 3G doesn't cut it for me it's really slow where I live even with full bars of signal likely down to contention.

4G doesn't particularly have much more bandwidth then 3G, so as more people switch to 4G, you will find your speeds drop down to similar to 3G over time. *

* 4G does use the available bandwidth more efficiently then 3G and it can combine different frequencies better then 3G could. However people need to understand that it isn't somehow magic. It is using the same airwaves as 3G * and thus is limited by the same laws of physics.

As more people use 4G the greater the contention will increase.

* Obviously it isn't using the exact same frequencies, as that would cause a collision, but very close frequencies that have the same total radio bandwidth.