Rural broadband

Muckit

How are things in your area? It's cat melodeon here where we are. It's frustrating as in the modern household it's nearly as necessary as tapped water!

Be interested in hearing people's experiences.

darragh_haven

We have a local provider here called Rapid broadband. It good 99% of the time. 3 meg speed is €35 a month.
No other company could provide our part of West Cork, and I tried them all.

_Brian

We were having awful problems, we live in a reception black spot so the mobile providers were no use, we were getting a very weak signal for 3 mobile and it was torture..

Eircom said we were too far from the exchange to get fixed line..

However, through a neighbor I discovered that the pole we're serviced from had a number of "copper connections" available, basically the option to get your phone line connected directly to the exchange rather than sharing a line with others.. I managed to get the last available connection and when I rang Eircom afterwards they said yes, broadband was available.. Now, its not mad fast but quite consistent speed with very little packet loss etc.. 1.8MB download. We now stream all movies/TV online.

Rural broadband services in this country are a joke... When the politicians talk about "rural broadband" they mean the County towns, they don't mean actual rural households..

Muckit

How do you check the speed again? Good to know the figures needed to stream.

More importantly herself has the option to work from home occasionally but this is obviously not an option with no/poor coverage as she needs to log into companies live system.

Also for farm point of view, everything is online now agfood, bps, ordering tags, mobile farm banking, researching equipment, service providers, donedeal and boatds of course!!

ganmo

We use the mobile broadband at home, 5mb normally.
had to get a signal booster to get enough signal to use it.

fixed line would only be 1 to 2 mb, tempted to switch over due to download limit on mobile

ganmo

Muckit wrote: »

How do you check the speed again? Good to know the figures needed to stream.

More importantly herself has the option to work from home occasionally but this is obviously not an option with no/poor coverage as she needs to log into companies live system.

Also for farm point of view, everything is online now agfood, bps, ordering tags, mobile farm banking, researching equipment, service providers, donedeal and boatds of course!!

http://www.speedtest.net/

Freejin

ganmo wrote: »

We use the mobile broadband at home, 5mb normally.
had to get a signal booster to get enough signal to use it.

fixed line would only be 1 to 2 mb, tempted to switch over due to download limit on mobile

Where did you get the signal booster? Is it external?

Timmaay

I could rant all day about how sh1te it is, and how useless eircom support is. Speed is generally no better than 0.3mb/s, line regularly drops etc. YouTube or loading any sorta video are outa the question.

ganmo

Freejin wrote: »

Where did you get the signal booster? Is it external?

ya an ariel fixed to the chimney cable into a box in the attic and another ariel in the ceiling inside. never had phone signal inside before getting it, maybe enough to send a txt.

something like http://www.mobileboosterie.com/3G_2100_Mobile_Phone_Signal_Booster-250m2/p2086943_9510353.aspx
we got it from a lad in meath, near summerhill i think it was

Captain Pancake

I live in West Cork and use Digitalforge (based in Schull, County Cork).

I get 10 Mbps download, and 1 Mbps upload, and it works 99% of the time. When it is up and going, it's absolutely perfect. I can stream Netflix, have FaceTime or Skype chats, and do any of the other Internet stuff all the while drinking tea for hours. It's pure bliss...

However, a couple times during the month, I sometimes have latency issues, in which I walk away from the computer and have several pots of Barry's Tea. So, when it is not working well, it's definitely not working; but, I have my fill of tea.

Staff is friendly, helpful, and decently responsive for any issues. Give them a go, if they provide service in your area.

Buford T. Justice XIX

ganmo wrote: »

http://www.speedtest.net/

Thanks for that.

Just tested here for Vodafone wifi
Ping 40ms
Download speed 7.54Mbps
Upload speed 2.32Mbps

Tbh, I have no idea what that means:o

ganmo

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Thanks for that.

Just tested here for Vodafone wifi
Ping 40ms
Download speed 7.54Mbps
Upload speed 2.32Mbps

Tbh, I have no idea what that means:o

thats good

Greengrass1

Have a satilite broadband here. Only 2mbs on that test costs 40e a month. Don't have any issues with it tbh

lakill Farm

test

46 pings
4.27Mbps download
0.43 Mbps upload

when we moved here the house and office come off the same pole but 2 different numbers

Could get broadband on the house, but not the office :rolleyes:

Had to drop a cat 5 cable from house to office until 2 years ago when the office number got broadband on the line

Eircom could never explain the 2 lines coming off the one pole and one had broadband, the other hadn't

locha

This guy had a great idea.
http://www.farmersjournal.ie/guy-discovers-70-times-faster-internet-connection-on-his-farm-184037/

gctest50

locha wrote: »

This guy had a great idea.
http://www.farmersjournal.ie/guy-discovers-70-times-faster-internet-connection-on-his-farm-184037/

someone on boards did this too, cut n pasted in here cos might be useful to some :

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=79680554


http://www.adverts.ie/routers-and-modems/3g-modem-outdoor-setup/2636620






Router nice n snug in a box :




round thing on pole lets you wirelessly link it to house







"House end"

columf

locha wrote: »

This guy had a great idea.
http://www.farmersjournal.ie/guy-discovers-70-times-faster-internet-connection-on-his-farm-184037/

Things like that are great if 4g is available.
I built a 3g outdoor CPE using a sierra mini pci card from a old laptop,a Mikrotik Routerboard 433ah and a cheap patch antenna I made. stuck it in a pole mount box and powered it over poe. The mast was quite and we could get a constant 7mbps downlink with fairly low latency. Sierra Wireless have a 4g mini pci expess card if that was compatible with mikrotik you could do the same even run a AP directly from the mikrotik.
Wireless ISP'S can be hit and miss most of them don't even know what contention they are running they want to lock you into a contract and give you up to 3 4 5 6 7 8 mbps take your pick you will get the same performance with most companies there are a few good wisp providers about.

visatorro

have better reception on achill island than I have here , 30 mins from Dublin. Fecking joke. eircom landed out to the house, laughed and drove off. have a Vodafone dongil only good for browsing. YouTube or videos,, no a hope. have 3 dongil aswell. it's for videos but it's as reliable as a blind and deaf sheep dog. around four in the morning it works away grand

Farmer Pudsey

Most people blame eircom for poor rural broadband. I have found out a lot about broadband and the way it is provided. Rural broadband has been put to tender 2-3 times with the tender winners failing to provide a viable service to rural Ireland. It matters little where you live in Ireland if it is on the doorstep of Dublin or in Achill Isalnd your broadband depends on your distance from the Eircom exchange and if there is a dedicated cable pair all the way to the exchange for you.

Back before broadband and internet were available, the present network was designed to provide a telephone service. On longer lines in Rural area's instead of continuing to give every phone a dedicated cable pair splitter's were used to give two phone service over the one pair of wires. This is why some phone lines cannot get broadband as these split pairs are unsuitable to provide the service.

The issue goes back to rural broadband tenders the current holder is 3 Mobile. They won the tender but have not provided the service. Previous to them some other provider got the contract. In generl the area's worst hit are those that have no 4G either. Lots of area's have 4G coverage, however because of distance from masts signal strenght is an issue.

It will be intresting to see who will win the next rural broadband tender and if they win will they provide the service.

ganmo

Pudsey you're always on the ball

I live in the minister of communication's constituency and according to the master map I should have fibre...

restive

I am with eurona brisknet. It uses a site to site transmitter. I pay €420 a year for 8mb download. It does youtube and netflix well but I have a tv android streaming box it is struggling with.
I still have a phone line and would idealy like a tv, phone & internet bundle.

Kovu

restive wrote: »

I am with eurona brisknet. It uses a site to site transmitter. I pay €420 a year for 8mb download. It does youtube and netflix well but I have a tv android streaming box it is struggling with.
I still have a phone line and would idealy like a tv, phone & internet bundle.

Wouldn't we all! Sky don't do our area though and a satellite is expensive. We do have a freeview one I put up myself but it's not very reliable in bad weather. I use the o2/3 dongle and have excellent service. I do live on top of a big hill with the mast nearby though. Used ripplecom before that, think they're under a new name now. Looked into Arden broadband last month but the parents wouldn't use it enough to justify the cost.

Muckit

Anyone using a chromecast dongle thing? They seem a great job. I am right in saying that basically anything you have on your laptop/tablet can be played through tv?

I know I still have to sort my coverage issues first, but a lad can dream!!

ABlur

Muckit wrote: »

Anyone using a chromecast dongle thing? They seem a great job. I am right in saying that basically anything you have on your laptop/tablet can be played through tv?

I know I still have to sort my coverage issues first, but a lad can dream!!

Yeah have one here for Netflix and YouTube on our non 'smart tv'. Great gadget, the small lad uses it to watch his Mine craft videos suppose it's better on a big screen than on a tablet screen.

KatyMac

_Brian wrote: »

We were having awful problems, we live in a reception black spot .

You must live in our attic as we are in the back end of a black spot. Lose connection on wi-fi and phone every time it rains.

TheBody

I live 1 km from Mullingar in a fibre area. I have fixed line broadband through the phone line and I get a positivily crap 1mb download.

It's not even good enough to watch a 2 minute video on youtube.

pawrick

I was refuse planning permission for about 6 esb poles without putting them 3 meters back from the road on to neighbours land, I was going to pursue it only to find out that the line I'd be connected to was at the end of one which already has terrible speeds sub 1mb or the likes so it wasn't worth the trouble. Annoying part is I'm between this line and an efibre enabled one. I'm just outside of wimax range also.

On the plus side I have steady 4G in my house and that covers me as long as I don't plan on downloading a lot, i can stream movies no trouble which is fine for me for now.

I really hope the esb brings broadband out to places like mine where I'm just falling awkwardly between everyone else and then I wouldn't have to argue with everyone over putting up some poles. I really feel that there is no real strategy for broadband in Ireland and it can be seen by how many businesses have proper websites if any at all catering to our own population.

pawrick

Muckit wrote: »

Anyone using a chromecast dongle thing? They seem a great job. I am right in saying that basically anything you have on your laptop/tablet can be played through tv?

I know I still have to sort my coverage issues first, but a lad can dream!!

I have one also and use it to stream movies or youtube from my phone instead of a laptop/pc to the tv. works great for me

SpaceSasqwatch

Timmaay wrote: »

I could rant all day about how sh1te it is, and how useless eircom support is. Speed is generally no better than 0.3mb/s, line regularly drops etc. YouTube or loading any sorta video are outa the question.

sadly asdl is all about distance.

How far from the exchange are you?
you have to be less than 1km to get 24meg
less than 3 to get 8meg and the speeds drop off quickly from there on out.
If you're not on NGB you will also have contention to deal with.
If you are a good bit away no amount of engineers/checling of lines for faults will get your speeds any better.

Midfield9

Vodafone 4g very happy with it. 20gb download limit is the only issue if ya start into a series on Netflix. Had a 3 dongle before this which was acceptable but not as reliable.

Buford T. Justice XIX

We're paying 15 euro for 15Gb downloads on Vodafone 4G but the kids off school means we run out before the month ends.

Our only other option is Permanet with 15Gb for 24 euro a month.

But we recently got moved off a shared line on the landline phone so we might have some options open up soon with the local exchange being upgraded (nearly every year now:mad:) to fiber but we still would probably be 2 miles from the fiber line as it will probably only go to the local village.

Timmaay

SpaceSasqwatch wrote: »

sadly asdl is all about distance.

How far from the exchange are you?
you have to be less than 1km to get 24meg
less than 3 to get 8meg and the speeds drop off quickly from there on out.
If you're not on NGB you will also have contention to deal with.
If you are a good bit away no amount of engineers/checling of lines for faults will get your speeds any better.

Yep that's the problem, we're on an extended reach (category 5 distance or something) from the 2 closest exchanges. Paying 25e or something a month for 0.3megs is painful 2bh, but haven't come across an alternative yet.

SpaceSasqwatch

Timmaay wrote: »

Yep that's the problem, we're on an extended reach (category 5 distance or something) from the 2 closest exchanges. Paying 25e or something a month for 0.3megs is painful 2bh, but haven't come across an alternative yet.

yeah you're kind of snookered where you are.

Not sure what your mobile coverage is like but if was anyway half decent you'd get better speeds but the download caps are sh1te and in this day and age , you'd fly through 20gig in no time.

larrymiller

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

We're paying 15 euro for 15Gb downloads on Vodafone 4G but the kids off school means we run out before the month ends.

Our only other option is Permanet with 15Gb for 24 euro a month.

But we recently got moved off a shared line on the landline phone so we might have some options open up soon with the local exchange being upgraded (nearly every year now:mad:) to fiber but we still would probably be 2 miles from the fiber line as it will probably only go to the local village.

This is permanet speed on a good day

Buford T. Justice XIX

larrymiller wrote: »

This is permanet speed on a good day

It would keep the data under the cap anyway:)

larrymiller

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

It would keep the data under the cap anyway:)

Aye some how we never go over the cap and we use it an awful lot.
Here's the speed on my phone 4g. If I could get unlimited data on my phone use it as wifi speed is unreal.

larrymiller

larrymiller wrote: »

Aye some how we never go over the cap and we use it an awful lot.
Here's the speed on my phone 4g. If I could get unlimited data on my phone use it as wifi speed is unreal.

Ment to attached this

Buford T. Justice XIX

larrymiller wrote: »

Ment to attached this

:eek::eek:

Say my name

So broadband has just been installed to the house.

Download speed 40.4 Mbps.
Upload speed 26.8 Mbps.

Now how do I use it?

Bullocks

Say my name wrote: »

So broadband has just been installed to the house.

Download speed 40.4 Mbps.
Upload speed 26.8 Mbps.

Now how do I use it?

Pornhub I suppose !

Say my name

Bullocks wrote: »

Pornhub I suppose !

It's no good. It's ruined. Pornhub is too fast now.

It's like watching a David Attenborough programme about chipmunks!

TheBody

Say my name wrote: »

So broadband has just been installed to the house.

Download speed 40.4 Mbps.
Upload speed 26.8 Mbps.

Now how do I use it?

That’s a decent speed. Who is your provider?

Say my name

TheBody wrote: »

That’s a decent speed. Who is your provider?

Eir.

Fibre went down under the road in the last few weeks.

Eir salesman was out in a few days after that to all the neighbours.
I thought they were just changing the router (Vodafone) but boxes on poles were changed and a new line put in today.

Funny enough the previous provider rang up yesterday offering a package 10 Euro a month cheaper than their last contract.
It's funny when word gets out that you're moving the price comes down. But I doubt the new line would have been put in if I stayed. But how and ever it's a brave new world out there now.

TheBody

I’m stuck with satellite broadband. It works but you wouldn’t want to be in a hurry.

tinner777

lads, get yourself a modem that takes a sim card, something like this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/D-Link-Unlo.../dp/B00BN36NMM

and connect to an aerial up high.

Get a sim from 3 on their €20 a month all you can eat data.

I went from 2 to 40mbps!!

whelan2

Say my name wrote: »

So broadband has just been installed to the house.

Download speed 40.4 Mbps.
Upload speed 26.8 Mbps.

Now how do I use it?

You'll never be off boards now

Tigerandahalf

Say my name wrote: »

So broadband has just been installed to the house.

Download speed 40.4 Mbps.
Upload speed 26.8 Mbps.

Now how do I use it?

That is a strange speed to get for someone connected to fibre optic broadband. Normally minimum speed is 150mb/s. Are you close to a town/village and have a green cabinet close to you?

ganmo

tinner777 wrote: »

lads, get yourself a modem that takes a sim card, something like this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/D-Link-Unlo.../dp/B00BN36NMM

and connect to an aerial up high.

Get a sim from 3 on their €20 a month all you can eat data.

I went from 2 to 40mbps!!

With 3 all you can eat is 60GB which is a fair bit but not enough for streaming vids

Say my name

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

That is a strange speed to get for someone connected to fibre optic broadband. Normally minimum speed is 150mb/s. Are you close to a town/village and have a green cabinet close to you?

The line is going past the house to the local school from the exchange.
I couldn't tell you about the green cabinet.
I never noticed one anyway.

The salesmans spiel was that it would be up to 50? You're putting doubt in my mind though if he meant 150.

I checked the speed on Eir's tester speed website thingy. I'll check again later. Maybe I'm not fully signed up yet or something.

Tigerandahalf

Say my name wrote: »

The line is going past the house to the local school from the exchange.
I couldn't tell you about the green cabinet.
I never noticed one anyway.

The salesmans spiel was that it would be up to 50? You're putting doubt in my mind though if he meant 150.

I checked the speed on Eir's tester speed website thingy. I'll check again later. Maybe I'm not fully signed up yet or something.

When you say line going past the house, is it running along the poles along the esb wire or along the telephone wire?

It is just that normal fibre optic cable would be run upto your house and could deliver upto 1,000mb/s (or 1gb/s) whereas fibre to the green cabinet gives a max of 100mb/s and the further you are from the cabinet the speed drops. Over 1km away and the speed could be small.

Fibre to the cabinet comes from the cabinet to ypur phone line through the existing copper phone line whereas fibre to the house comes right into the house with them drilling into the house and putting in a box that is connected to a power source.

The speed you have though is plenty good for streaming videos or sports.

tinner777

ganmo wrote: »

With 3 all you can eat is 60GB which is a fair bit but not enough for streaming vids

hi, i've 3 boys here, new craze in my house is watching someone else play games i've paid for :rolleyes::rolleyes: And i'd use it loads, we're always over 60gb and never had an issue.