Imagine LTE Rural Broadband

Quin_Dub

lawred2 wrote: »

you don't need anyone to do that for you..

extending your wifi is something you could do yourself

https://signalsolution.novatel.ie/tenda-o6-high-powered-long-range-outdor-wifi-extender

Interesting bit of kit if it's effective.

Potential solution for people living just outside the range of a Fibre enabled exchange but with line of sight to a property that can connect.

Atomic Pineapple

Would it have been a good idea to install these at the end of current Fibre lines and then let houses nearby, but not able to get FTTH, to connect to them?

lawred2

Quin_Dub wrote: »

Interesting bit of kit if it's effective.

Potential solution for people living just outside the range of a Fibre enabled exchange but with line of sight to a property that can connect.

I'd be dubious about the 10km claims but I'd be confident 300m would be doable with decent line of sight

dam099

Atomic Pineapple wrote: »

Would it have been a good idea to install these at the end of current Fibre lines and then let houses nearby, but not able to get FTTH, to connect to them?

The Wifi extenders?

- Fibre lines are largely passive so likely no power at the end of a run.
- OpenEir would be effectively offering a mini WISP service with all the addtional support that entails, not something they will want to do
- That gear uses unlicensed frequencies, OK for an end user to use themselves but could be regulatory issues with a commercial operator of their size using them

Mortelaro

Very tempted to try those
Line of sight to a house with Ftth is 2.62kms no hills
50ft high UK tv masts on both houses still being used might mitigate any trees
300mb ftth at that house

Melodeon

I'm using similar Ubiquiti kit to tap into my brother's 150mb ftth, 800 meters away, with perfect line-of-sight.
These are very typical figures for what I'm getting 24/7, pretty much exactly what he's getting right beside his own modem/router:


I'd strongly advocate anyone who's unfortunately 'just' out of reach of ftth to investigate doing something similar.

Mortelaro

Melodeon wrote: »

I'm using similar Ubiquiti kit to tap into my brother's 150mb ftth, 800 meters away, with perfect line-of-sight.
These are very typical figures for what I'm getting 24/7, pretty much exactly what he's getting right beside his own modem/router:


I'd strongly advocate anyone who's unfortunately 'just' out of reach of ftth to investigate doing something similar.

How long have you had that kit
What's its range given the 2.62km distance is over 3 times yours
Any maintenance issues?
Easy to set up?

alec76

Go with Ubiquiti , they have great name/well made , flawless software.

Mortelaro

Any particular ubiquiti version or a link? Preferably on Amazon

Melodeon

Mortelaro wrote: »

How long have you had that kit
What's its range given the 2.62km distance is over 3 times yours
Any maintenance issues?
Easy to set up?

I used 2 of these:
Ubiquiti 5GHz NanoStation AC
https://www.ui.com/airmax/nanostation-ac/
Claimed max range is 15km.
I got them from senetic.ie and they came in at €274 for the pair with two mounting brackets, including shipping and VAT.

So, not cheap, and considerable overkill for the distance I'm dealing with, but what the hell
The Loco version would have been more than enough in reality.

Anyhow, it's been installed for almost 6 months now and has been rock-solid reliable, except for that time my sister-in-law unplugged the power supply for the one at their end to plug in the hoover!

Set-up is pretty easy, and there are plenty of how-to guides on YouTube and the like.


There are a few provisos for this sort of thing:
Sharing connections like this is frowned upon by the ISPs, so it's probably best not to contact them for tech support with the setup.
Both ends of the link need to be utterly in agreement and happy with the arrangement. Someone acting the bollix at the remote end doing dodgy or illegal stuff will get the innocent account holder in deep trouble, and equally, suctioning up all available bandwidth will quickly test the strength of the relationship. Finally, if someone at either end really wanted to, they can fairly easily get access to the network and devices at the other end of the link, giving rise to potential security and privacy issues.

In short, this is really only suitable for situations where the people at both ends are utterly trusting of each other.

coffeelover

Thanks for the replies. I’ll look into them and buy one. I just see imagine have this one as well. Would this be different?

coffeelover

or this one from freetv.ie

The Cush

coffeelover wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I’ll look into them and buy one. I just see imagine have this one as well. Would this be different?

Adapters for within your own house only using the house electric wiring.

I've been sharing my up to 3 Mbps connection with my brother's house across the road since Jul 2010 using Nanostation2 Loco units, almost 10 years now, still working.

Gonzo

Melodeon wrote: »

I'm using similar Ubiquiti kit to tap into my brother's 150mb ftth, 800 meters away, with perfect line-of-sight.
These are very typical figures for what I'm getting 24/7, pretty much exactly what he's getting right beside his own modem/router:


I'd strongly advocate anyone who's unfortunately 'just' out of reach of ftth to investigate doing something similar.

that's seriously impressive from that range! I had no idea this was possible nearly 1km away and almost the full speed and low ping.

The Cush

coffeelover wrote: »

or this one from freetv.ie

You didn't include a link but this would be the current version of my setup - https://www.freetv.ie/wireless-bridge/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrEEOV5oA8Y

orm0nd

Mortelaro wrote: »

Any particular ubiquiti version or a link? Preferably on Amazon

look up a guy that has a channel on youtube called "crosstalk solutions"

some good info on the ubiuiti nano stations set up

Fatal Except1on

31GB Call of Duty Modern Warfare update today. So everyone expect their internet to go to **** while all the kiddies (and adults) update their games.

Mines gone to 0.5mb all evening.

Dero

So it looks like my Imagine adventure has come to an end.

I got notified yesterday that my connection was being permanently restricted to 1mb. My usage this month is well below the 1TB FUP allowance, so I called to clarify. Their response was to confirm that permanent means permanent. There is no avenue of redress, no appeals process, absolutely no way to restore the connection, ever. I requested an escalation, cos that seems a bit extreme to me. Needless to say I never got a call back, so I called again this morning and they doubled down on the permanent bit. They got new guidelines from management this morning to say permanent is forever and there is no way to restore it.

After a somewhat heated discussion, I am left with no option but to cancel. A 1mb connection is completely unusable, and I am certainly not paying €60 a month for the privilege.

It's a nice time for them to do it though. I'm fortunate to have a job I can do remotely, but not with that level of service. I'm a bit stuck now. I can't go to the office, and mobile reception is not good enough.

I don't think there are any other ISPs covering me here, but I suppose I'll have to go and find out.

In any case, the point I'm making is that this is why I wanted clarification from them on the off-peak usage (which I never got). Looks like it's moot anyway. They clearly want rid of users like me.

They had no interest in the fact that my usage this month was lower because of making deliberate efforts to move things to the night. Their justification was that I had breached the usage limit twice previously, and current usage and trends were irrelevant.

Quin_Dub

Fatal Except1on wrote: »

31GB Call of Duty Modern Warfare update today. So everyone expect their internet to go to **** while all the kiddies (and adults) update their games.

Mines gone to 0.5mb all evening.

You're doing well - I couldn't even get Imagines own speed test to load.

Tommy Lagahan

Dero wrote: »

So it looks like my Imagine adventure has come to an end.

I got notified yesterday that my connection was being permanently restricted to 1mb. My usage this month is well below the 1TB FUP allowance, so I called to clarify. Their response was to confirm that permanent means permanent. There is no avenue of redress, no appeals process, absolutely no way to restore the connection, ever. I requested an escalation, cos that seems a bit extreme to me. Needless to say I never got a call back, so I called again this morning and they doubled down on the permanent bit. They got new guidelines from management this morning to say permanent is forever and there is no way to restore it.

Jesus thats insane, what has your usage been the past few months?
If you've been under the FUP consistently I'd be getting on to comreg about this, absolutely outrageous. In the middle of a pandemic with everyone working from home as well.

listermint

Dero wrote: »

So it looks like my Imagine adventure has come to an end.

I got notified yesterday that my connection was being permanently restricted to 1mb. My usage this month is well below the 1TB FUP allowance, so I called to clarify. Their response was to confirm that permanent means permanent. There is no avenue of redress, no appeals process, absolutely no way to restore the connection, ever. I requested an escalation, cos that seems a bit extreme to me. Needless to say I never got a call back, so I called again this morning and they doubled down on the permanent bit. They got new guidelines from management this morning to say permanent is forever and there is no way to restore it.

After a somewhat heated discussion, I am left with no option but to cancel. A 1mb connection is completely unusable, and I am certainly not paying €60 a month for the privilege.

It's a nice time for them to do it though. I'm fortunate to have a job I can do remotely, but not with that level of service. I'm a bit stuck now. I can't go to the office, and mobile reception is not good enough.

I don't think there are any other ISPs covering me here, but I suppose I'll have to go and find out.

In any case, the point I'm making is that this is why I wanted clarification from them on the off-peak usage (which I never got). Looks like it's moot anyway. They clearly want rid of users like me.

They had no interest in the fact that my usage this month was lower because of making deliberate efforts to move things to the night. Their justification was that I had breached the usage limit twice previously, and current usage and trends were irrelevant.

no offence intended, but there has to be more to this story tbh.

Your version makes no sense with their policies.

Dero

Tommy Lagahan wrote: »

Jesus thats insane, what has your usage been the past few months?
If you've been under the FUP consistently I'd be getting on to comreg about this, absolutely outrageous. In the middle of a pandemic with everyone working from home as well.

Well you see, that's the problem. I went over in December and March, so that's what they're basing it on. I'm beyond annoyed with how they've approached it, but have to be philosophical in the long run. They're not going to change their mind, so I need to research alternatives.

I'll probably complain to Comreg anyway, but I'm sure that Imagine have had this policy checked by their own legal team.

It's just such a ****ty time to do it. Surely they could wait till the lockdown was over?

P.S. Does anyone have experience of this Netgear LTE modem or could recommend and similar equivalent 3G/4G modem with bridge capability?

Tommy Lagahan

Dero wrote: »

Well you see, that's the problem. I went over in December and March, so that's what they're basing it on. I'm beyond annoyed with how they've approached it, but have to be philosophical in the long run. They're not going to change their mind, so I need to research alternatives.

I'll probably complain to Comreg anyway, but I'm sure that Imagine have had this policy checked by their own legal team.

It's just such a ****ty time to do it. Surely they could wait till the lockdown was over?

P.S. Does anyone have experience of this Netgear LTE modem or could recommend and similar equivalent 3G/4G modem with bridge capability?

I thought that the FUP changes meant that for the rest of the current month and maybe the next it would be limited to 1Mb but not permanent, thats draconian.
Get on to the local paper as well and rise a stink.
I got pretty close in December and March as well (850 both times I think) with just me in the house using it. A mate of mine's whole family is on it and theyve ran over once or twice too recently, I'll check in with him to see if this has happened to them.

Regarding the router, I was using a Huawei E5186 for a long time with Three and hooked up to a pair of poynting external log antennas and netting about 20-40Mbit depending on contention on 3G. Their 4G network is ridiculously contended here though, 4-5Mbit at best with a better signal than the 3G one I forced it to stay on.

dam099

Dero wrote: »

Well you see, that's the problem. I went over in December and March, so that's what they're basing it on. I'm beyond annoyed with how they've approached it, but have to be philosophical in the long run. They're not going to change their mind, so I need to research alternatives.

I'll probably complain to Comreg anyway, but I'm sure that Imagine have had this policy checked by their own legal team.

What sort of warnings did they give you on the first occasion though? Was it made clear that a second breach (the one in March presumably) would result in a permanent reduction? If that was not made clear then I think its definitely worth a shot with Comreg and also request that they confirm in writing that is their final say on the matter and to provide a complaint reference as you are going to take it up with Comreg.

Dero

dam099 wrote: »

What sort of warnings did they give you on the first occasion though? Was it made clear that a second breach (the one in March presumably) would result in a permanent reduction? If that was not made clear then I think its definitely worth a shot with Comreg and also request that they confirm in writing that is their final say on the matter and to provide a complaint reference as you are going to take it up with Comreg.

There was nothing after the first one; service just resumed in January. On 31st of March, we got another mail which warned of further restriction if we exceeded again and/or didn't modify out usage pattern. However, we did modify our usage (I even posted about it here), and we consequently are >400GB down this month over last (570GB vs 1008GB). That didn't matter though. I think they just want certain users off their network by hook or by crook.

It seems that they will under no circumstances terminate the service during the lockdown, presumably because of the optics. A 1mb connection effectively amounts to the same thing but they can say they're still providing a service.

lawred2

Check their terms and conditions for a three strikes policy. It's possible you breached the cap three times

Dero

lawred2 wrote: »

Check their terms and conditions for a three strikes policy. It's possible you breached the cap three times

I couldn't find anything in the terms and conditions about previous infractions, they they explicitly told me that the decision was based on historical rather then current usage.

To be honest, at this stage I've given up. I know I won't win. You never can against companies like that. Some people are decent and want to to the right thing and some are not. Imagine operate very much as the latter. I never wanted to be with Imagine in the first place, but we really have no other options. Roll on the NBP.

Maybe there are other wireless providers around now that I wasn't aware of previously. I'll check, but not hopeful.

joe123

Jesus, just reading some of the stories in this thread, why would anyone ever go with Imagine. I know some are stuck as there is no alternative, but they really are terrible.

Just reading through Dero's experience there, to reduce the speeds to 1Mb in the middle of a pandemic is lowest of the low.

You really should contact your local TD, Paper, rise a stink over this.

Imagine seem to be a **** of a company.

Dero

listermint wrote: »

no offence intended, but there has to be more to this story tbh.

Your version makes no sense with their policies.

More in what sense? And I really don't care if it makes sense to you. It happened as I stated. Whether you believe it or not is frankly irrelevant. I have no intention of trying to convince you. No offence intended of course.

listermint

Dero wrote: »

More in what sense? And I really don't care if it makes sense to you. It happened as I stated. Whether you believe it or not is frankly irrelevant. I have no intention of trying to convince you. No offence intended of course.

They dont shutdown connections for people being under usage. It doesnt make any sense.

You must be a regular and constant high usage user and probably by a large amount. This impacts service for your neighbours.

Ive no affiliation to the company at all, but using them for 4 years with mostly decent service tbh. Odd few hiccups but overall fine.

So i dont really care if you are trying to convince me, but we live in a world were its ok to question people on the internet and thats grand.