West connect experiences

topmanamillion

I'm looking into getting broadband from these, I seem to be within coverage according to their website and I'm going to contact them tomorrow.
What are people's experience of them?

Radharc na Sleibhte

Cheaper AND Faster than Fastcom!!!!
Would also love to hear more about these. This is first I heard of them OP but it certainly reads very well.

bennyc

I do a lot of house calls for IT support and have 3 houses using this now, form what I can see, faster and better than fastcom and brilliant customer service.
I plan on moving once I am out of contract with Eir as I can only get 3MB.
No contract also afaik.

shanec1928

If you need port forwarding check in advance if the ports are free.

Radharc na Sleibhte

topmanamillion wrote: »

I'm looking into getting broadband from these, I seem to be within coverage according to their website and I'm going to contact them tomorrow.
What are people's experience of them?

Just wondering if you've gone ahead with them?
Or if anyone else is using them?
Very little advertising considering what they're offering is far above anyone else, rurally at least. I'd never heard of them before this thread.

coolbreeze01

I'm with them since October very pleased with there service
I have the 10 mb package my speeds are always 10.5 mb download
2.5 upload
I'd say i had about 3 incidents where the speed went low, about 3.5mb
which is still faster than i can get from eircom these wouuld be short term as in a couple of hours,

bennyc

coolbreeze01 wrote: »

I'm with them since October very pleased with there service
I have the 10 mb package my speeds are always 10.5 mb download
2.5 upload
I'd say i had about 3 incidents where the speed went low, about 3.5mb
which is still faster than i can get from eircom these wouuld be short term as in a couple of hours,

Any gamers in the house ?

coolbreeze01

bennyc wrote: »

Any gamers in the house ?

I do a bit myself not really online though as i couldnt really when i was with eircom.
i tried the starwars battlefront beta online had no problems but wouldnt be a
good judge.
Anything you would like me to test?

bennyc

coolbreeze01 wrote: »

I do a bit myself not really online though as i couldnt really when i was with eircom.
i tried the starwars battlefront beta online had no problems but wouldnt be a
good judge.
Anything you would like me to test?

FIFA if you have it, I tested FPS and it seemed fine, with FIFA using fastcom there was a slight frame skip every 6 seconds, just a blip, but its the only game I bother much with online, I was in a house with west connect and the lad was playing fifa on XBox and the same frame skip was there , like a .10 second lag and catchup every 6 odd seconds. Although I play on PC now I dont know if the same occurs on that, its enough for it to be a deal breaker for me.
Although if they fix the onlin on PES this wont be an issue

Radharc na Sleibhte

bennyc wrote: »

FIFA if you have it, I tested FPS and it seemed fine, with FIFA using fastcom there was a slight frame skip every 6 seconds, just a blip, but its the only game I bother much with online, I was in a house with west connect and the lad was playing fifa on XBox and the same frame skip was there , like a .10 second lag and catchup every 6 odd seconds. Although I play on PC now I dont know if the same occurs on that, its enough for it to be a deal breaker for me.
Although if they fix the onlin on PES this wont be an issue

What's your friends opinion of west connect in general? Any idea what package he's on?

coolbreeze01

bennyc wrote: »

FIFA if you have it, I tested FPS and it seemed fine, with FIFA using fastcom there was a slight frame skip every 6 seconds, just a blip, but its the only game I bother much with online, I was in a house with west connect and the lad was playing fifa on XBox and the same frame skip was there , like a .10 second lag and catchup every 6 odd seconds. Although I play on PC now I dont know if the same occurs on that, its enough for it to be a deal breaker for me.
Although if they fix the onlin on PES this wont be an issue

sorry Benny just do a bit of fps.

bennyc

Radharc na Sleibhte wrote: »

What's your friends opinion of west connect in general? Any idea what package he's on?

he loves it, on 12MB I think, he was on fastcom and moved, the gamer is 12 and didn't spot the lag I mentioned so I didn't point it out. FPS looks perfect, I know another lad who plays FPS quite a bit and has no issues, maybe my OCD just cant handle a little lag.

Radharc na Sleibhte

bennyc wrote: »

he loves it, on 12MB I think, he was on fastcom and moved, the gamer is 12 and didn't spot the lag I mentioned so I didn't point it out. FPS looks perfect, I know another lad who plays FPS quite a bit and has no issues, maybe my OCD just cant handle a little lag.

Great stuff. I was thinking of going for the 50mb but certainly 25mb package anyway. Paying €50 to Fastcom for 12mb but it's gone to shyte lately.
Can't handle that either. Seems to only ever happen when I've the ball too.

mobil 222

Radharc na Sleibhte wrote: »

Great stuff. I was thinking of going for the 50mb but certainly 25mb package anyway. Paying €50 to Fastcom for 12mb but it's gone to shyte lately.
Can't handle that either. Seems to only ever happen when I've the ball too.

I did not think both the 25 and 50 mg fibre products were available yet

mobil 222

I live outside Sligo and have been waiting a few Months for West Connect to come my way
They are nearly finished testing in Castlegarron so hears hoping for the next week or two.
Does anyone know do they operate in the same way as Fastcom
Also what happens with contention ratio

sligojoek

My 2 lads play FIFA. I'm on 6mb with Fastcom. They were havin trouble with lag on the WiFi. I had to run a cable from the router to the attic and back down to their room. It seems pretty ok now. I'm lucky enough to be just 2Km from the mast as the crow flies so that might be a factor.

I've a year left on my contract. It'll be interesting to see what's available after that. Fastcom will have to up their game to compete with fibre optic when it's rolled out in this area.

red sean

mobil 222 wrote: »

I live outside Sligo and have been waiting a few Months for West Connect to come my way
They are nearly finished testing in Castlegarron so hears hoping for the next week or two.
Does anyone know do they operate in the same way as Fastcom
Also what happens with contention ratio

Similar system using an antenna as fastcom. Time will tell regarding contention, depends how many customers and traffic they'll have.

bennyc

red sean wrote: »

Similar system using an antenna as fastcom. Time will tell regarding contention, depends how many customers and traffic they'll have.

At the moment their USP is to keep contention way down compared to Fastcom although as you say time will tell.

I think I might hold off for a while, I have three on the mobile and get 30+ on 4G so I use that for tethering and have all the devices on the house connected to that so the bit of gaming can be done via DSL. So every other mobile , tablet TV Laptop etc is set to use both Eir and my Phone, when I reboot the Eir box the rest jump over to the mobile, Its awkward but it works.

Radharc na Sleibhte

Really I don't understand it, so is that the crux, the only real reason they're faster than Fastcom is they've less customers? Am I better off where I am so I wonder?

coolbreeze01

When I first contacted West connect (I can't think of his name) he told me that only so many customers would on each reciever.
They own the transmission poles so he just put on another reciever
This is what I was told anyway

Slygo

I would AVOID WestConnect at all costs! Seriously...you will be waiting days and days and days for a response. Where are they when the connection goes down? You can be waiting for almost a WEEK for any response. Staff are also mannerless; at least the ones who I've dealt with. Fastcom has its issues as well but I've found that WestConnect promises a lot but definitely DOES NOT deliver.

Radharc na Sleibhte

Yip, having been and left West Connect I can agree and safely say AVOID. Awful product. Didn't find the customer service too bad but the reliability and speed of the connection was practically zero.

a_noodle_jenny

Any more feedback from West Connect. I just spoke with them there and I'll hear back this afternoon. From what I can see there should be no problem as regards location and suitability. Seems like a small company that can offer a good service (in our case where alternatives are poor and poorer) We can get 1.7Mbps download and 0.2Mbps upload on traditional Eir type service so would have to explore other service offered by Eir such as 3G/4G router options that a neighbour in the area is using.
I'm interested in the higher end packages 25MB / 50MB - theres no contract either so I might try the lower one and see if it is enough.

mobil 222

Just wondering about some of the negative comments on the above company.
I have had their service for well over a year now and am quite happy with what i
am getting from them.
I have reported faults via their Landline and their text service after hours.
Service has normally restored within 4 hours.
On at least 3 occasions this year they have had problems with power caused by a third party which has not been their problem.
The good thing about them is that i have never experienced a contention ratio problem.
I am on their 12 mg package and can work Netflix in HD on two televisions, also can browse at the same time.
The one problem i have is that their packages are expensive but having no contract is a plus, and their unlimited download policy.
Also last year they brought broadband to places that could never be reached in Sligo and Leitrim.
While they are up against big companies like Eir, Vodaphone and Imagine they provide what they advertise not like some who offer up to 70 mgs and when evening comes this can drop to 30 mgs.

Pretzill

I'm with west connect for over a year - I have to say at least I'm getting half decent broadband - and a better, cheaper and unlimited option. I'm 10mpb down - but get between 8.5 and 9 down and 2.5 up -

There have been frustrations recently as the service tends to drop at the most inopportune times and I rely on a connection for work. However I find they are fairly quick to respond if even it's just to let you know it's out for the day!

I did have a couple of bad experiences with rather rude customer service tactics too but probably a mixture of my frustrations and their ineptitude on the issue.

Overall I'm delighted to have a broadband service because eir is only touching 1.5mpb down where I live and is useless.

I do have a nagging feeling that contention issues may worsen with West Connect and to be totally honest if eir rolled out a better service I'd be on it.

Such is the problem with rural broadband - I've heard of lands in Ireland that moan about their 100m
b lines - yis bastards!!

Radharc na Sleibhte

mobil 222 wrote: »

Just wondering about some of the negative comments on the above company.
I have had their service for well over a year now and am quite happy with what i
am getting from them.
I have reported faults via their Landline and their text service after hours.
Service has normally restored within 4 hours.
On at least 3 occasions this year they have had problems with power caused by a third party which has not been their problem.
The good thing about them is that i have never experienced a contention ratio problem.
I am on their 12 mg package and can work Netflix in HD on two televisions, also can browse at the same time.
The one problem i have is that their packages are expensive but having no contract is a plus, and their unlimited download policy.
Also last year they brought broadband to places that could never be reached in Sligo and Leitrim.
While they are up against big companies like Eir, Vodaphone and Imagine they provide what they advertise not like some who offer up to 70 mgs and when evening comes this can drop to 30 mgs.

What is it exactly you're wondering? It depends on what your expectations and perception of value for money are i suppose. Speeds I achieved for 50mb service attached. These were the times it was even half working. More often than not it just shut down in the evenings. They most certainly do not provide what they advertise. Sadly, 99% of people are only with companies like this as they have simply no other option in this country. Its grand if youve no other option. Thats all i can say for it.
Thankfully FTTH saved me and I am now 1000mb down 100mb up.:pac:

a_noodle_jenny

Radharc na Sleibhte wrote: »

What is it exactly you're wondering? It depends on what your expectations and perception of value for money are i suppose. Speeds I achieved for 50mb service attached. These were the times it was even half working. More often than not it just shut down in the evenings. They most certainly do not provide what they advertise. Sadly, 99% of people are only with companies like this as they have simply no other option in this country. Its grand if youve no other option. Thats all i can say for it.
Thankfully FTTH saved me and I am now 1000mb down 100mb up.:pac:

Urgh - I was holding onto hope that's bloody awful... any positive experience out there
My alternative is dire - the 35 speed is from family homestead but it's quite good speeds I'd say 5/6 devices on network prob more at a time and it reads this. 1.76mbps is where we are building

The last two tests are
#1 Netflix running and MacBook just switched on but not in use
#2 wifi turned off on MacBook and Netflix paused
No kids in house able to use internet yet, I'm worse than the kids and those speeds are gonna drive me mental as my current speed is fairly ok but when you throw a few devices on at one time it stops working which is the key difference between B.B. And fibre standard internet
Urgh please I hope there's good news
Manorhamilton area here, Clarification (North Leitrim) ��

a_noodle_jenny

I’ve a date booked for install for west connect
Going with VOIP landline also as our mobile signal is poor and the landline only is quite expensive through Eir or similar
Another local family has west connect and are happy

Constant Curiosity

Slygo wrote: »

I would AVOID WestConnect at all costs! Seriously...you will be waiting days and days and days for a response. Where are they when the connection goes down? You can be waiting for almost a WEEK for any response. Staff are also mannerless; at least the ones who I've dealt with. Fastcom has its issues as well but I've found that WestConnect promises a lot but definitely DOES NOT deliver.

it still sounds like they aren't half as bad as EIR! i got installation with them yesterday, very happy so far, we stream extensively and they were the only alternative in our middle of nowhere

mobil 222

Constant Curiosity wrote: »

it still sounds like they aren't half as bad as EIR! i got installation with them yesterday, very happy so far, we stream extensively and they were the only alternative in our middle of nowhere

I have been with West Connect for two and a half years. I find them ok to deal with. Their 'no contract' policy offered is something that no other company offer

Most of their problems are as a result of third parties and this can be very annoying especially when it may not be a telecoms issue.

I have never had a problem with contention ratio issues
My speed has been constant since day one apart from three occasions which were sorted out within 6 hours.

I have a big issues with their prices and if they want to compete with other Telecom companies, then 79 euro for 50 megs !!! will not run.
Eir are offering 150 megs for less but you are locked into a 18 month contract.

I believe West Connect have new products coming online this year so it will be interesting to see will it involve more packages with a different price structure
Actually would not mind to see them offer 6 and 12 month contracts running parallel with their current offers.

shanec1928

If your going down the WiMAX option your options are fairly limited to that dsl or satalitle. I wouldn’t even bother comparing it to any fibre offerings.

Marlow

They might have to up their game in the future, as they're getting more competition.

There's a new rural ISP, that now covers Castlebaldwin and Geevagh.

/M

JJayoo

Has anyone experienced issues with West Connect over the last few weeks? Our broadband has seriously reduced to the point at which I just tend to use the data on my phone.

I have left them multiple messages over the last two weeks but so far have received no response.

mobil 222

JJayoo wrote: »

Has anyone experienced issues with West Connect over the last few weeks? Our broadband has seriously reduced to the point at which I just tend to use the data on my phone.

I have left them multiple messages over the last two weeks but so far have received no response.

What area are you in and what package

JJayoo

It's an unlimited package for 30 per month. Finally got a reply back from them today after trying their number about 20 times and someone is going to come out and check it tomorrow. There is another company offering broadband in the area so will probably swap over if the issue can't be remedied.

martosligo

JJayoo wrote: »

It's an unlimited package for 30 per month. Finally got a reply back from them today after trying their number about 20 times and someone is going to come out and check it tomorrow. There is another company offering broadband in the area so will probably swap over if the issue can't be remedied.

So did they sort it ?

JJayoo

martosligo wrote: »

So did they sort it ?

No they never came out, but my mother got through to them on the phone today and was talking to the boss and he will get someone out later today. She said she was considering cancelling the service and joining another company that is providing broadband to some neighbors and he told her that most of the other ones are illegal/breaking the law and aren't registered and will eventually be shut down

Not sure if this is actually true or was he just trying to spook an old woman who wouldn't have a clue about these topics.

Marlow

JJayoo wrote: »

No they never came out, but my mother got through to them on the phone today and was talking to the boss and he will get someone out later today. She said she was considering cancelling the service and joining another company that is providing broadband to some neighbors and he told her that most of the other ones are illegal/breaking the law and aren't registered and will eventually be shut down

Not sure if this is actually true or was he just trying to spook an old woman who wouldn't have a clue about these topics.

That's sounds like a whole lot of nonsense. It's easy to check though.

First place to check, is the company you look at registred with the CRO: https://search.cro.ie/company/CompanySearch.aspx .. you can search by name or if they're a limited company, their registration number should be on their website. Westconnect actually is breaking the law, by not having that information at the bottom of their website. Or in their contact section. A good example on how it should be done is Northwest Broadbands website: http://www.nwb.ie/ or Airwire: http://www.airwire.ie (at the bottom of every page)

Next place to check is with Comreg: https://serviceregister.comreg.ie/ Just type in the company name and it should tell you what services they are registered for.

Any responsible ISP has their own IP addresses and is most likely registered with RIPE. This is not a requirement though. It just tells you about the quality of service they provide. Have a look if you can find them in this list: https://www.ripe.net/membership/indices/IE.html

To be honest, if he spouts negative comments about the competition, that sounds like slander, he must be really in trouble. I wouldn't buy services of Westconnect, if that's how he conducts his business.

/M

martosligo

So your neighbors service is good? What have they got?

JJayoo

Thanks for the detailed reply Marlow

Martsosligo: A few neighbors have Servebyte and they are pretty happy with it, now I was also happy with WestConnect up until about 5-6 weeks ago. At first I didn't pay that much attention or didn't want to make a fuss especially since before them our service was terrible. Maybe the issue will be resolved today.

JJayoo

Guy was just out and he did something up on the roof. It is a lot faster now.

mobil 222

Have been with West Connect now close to 3 years. Was on their 8 meg package for 2 years and apart from third party disruptions a couple of times there service was good.
Last May i desided to up to their 25 meg package. There was some issues at the beginning concerning parts that had to be fitted at their base station, but this was sorted out after a couple of weeks.
They kept me updated most of the time.
As far as i know their faults section is operated out of hours from a call centre up north,,, I may be wrong about this.
They are very slow and I have learned it is best to contact direct during office hours.
Back in july I started having problems with speed drops after 3 or 4 in the afternoon and i informed them about it.
I spend a few days doing direct speed checks and found the speed dropped down to single digits at the same time every evening .
As I am on a fibre package,they do advertise it as one, my contention ratio would not have been a problem.
There was an outage the first week of August and things have settled down since that.
This company are offering no contracts so i can leave them at any time,i have also experienced no 'trottling/ on their service.
Having come from a telecoms background myself i can see a issue arising with interferance because of the amount of companys now offering wireless broadband,
If a company has a large number of subscribers per distribution then bandwidth will be a problem.
When my connection was been done I remember the installer list out all the base stations that was nearer to me ,but he could not use them because they belonged to someone else.
Where I am from West Connects customer base might not be as much as in other places,but there is no shortage of other companys overing wireless broadband.
Why there was a reduction in my speed only at particular times when bandwidth would not have been a problem !!
My speed was always dipping in and out, my speedcheck app was a joy to even watch, going from 25 down to 5 up to 20 back down to10 etc
While I am paying big money to West Connect monthly,i do deserve a good service but i have an idea on why the problems i had were happening and I don't think they were to blame !!

Marlow

What you describe is generally caused by contention. Not enough bandwidth on the base or too many customers on the sector.

Unless they use specialized gear for their 25 or 50 MBit/s packages on your premise, it will never be right. Their standard gear can deliver 25 MBit/s but not consistent.

Other wireless providers in the area should have no impact if they build their network right.

/M

bennyc

Firstly I don't want to take this into an illegal TV discussion.

Is anyone using an IPTV service via west connect and what are your experiences with lagging buffering, I don't mean Netflix but live TV via smart IPTV apps etc.

I currently have a 4G router with a Three sim installed for unlimited data @€;20 a month, this works perfect for everything except they must have throttled IPTV, it worked for a while and nothing in the last year. Gaming is surprisingly perfect via the 4G connection something that never worked before.

Marlow

bennyc wrote: »

Is anyone using an IPTV service via west connect and what are your experiences with lagging buffering, I don't mean Netflix but live TV via smart IPTV apps etc.

I currently have a 4G router with a Three sim installed for unlimited data @€;20 a month, this works perfect for everything except they must have throttled IPTV, it worked for a while and nothing in the last year. Gaming is surprisingly perfect via the 4G connection something that never worked before.

IPTV using an IPTV app or IPTV box needs a fairly steady stream. I wouldn't recommend trying it on anything less than a 15 Mbit/s connection. It doesn't have to be 15 Mbit/s, but the problem is, that if anyone else in your household is using the connection, then it will stall if you have less.

Eir won't let you order their TV service unless you qualify for 24 Mbit/s minimum. I think Vodafones requirement is even higher before they let you order their TV service.

4G would be very inconsistant, what bandwidth you're getting. So as more subscribers sign up in the area, your IPTV might have gone to pot. It's an unmanaged product.

So, if you consider Westconnect for using it with IPTV you better make sure, they can deliver the bandwidth.

Also .. IPTV services aren't illegal. It's only, if they supply content, that they don't have contracts or agreements for, that it becomes illegal. But that's neither here nor there for this discussion.

/M

bennyc

Marlow wrote: »

IPTV using an IPTV app or IPTV box needs a fairly steady stream. I wouldn't recommend trying it on anything less than a 15 Mbit/s connection. It doesn't have to be 15 Mbit/s, but the problem is, that if anyone else in your household is using the connection, then it will stall if you have less.

Eir won't let you order their TV service unless you qualify for 24 Mbit/s minimum. I think Vodafones requirement is even higher before they let you order their TV service.

4G would be very inconsistant, what bandwidth you're getting. So as more subscribers sign up in the area, your IPTV might have gone to pot. It's an unmanaged product.

So, if you consider Westconnect for using it with IPTV you better make sure, they can deliver the bandwidth.

Also .. IPTV services aren't illegal. It's only, if they supply content, that they don't have contracts or agreements for, that it becomes illegal. But that's neither here nor there for this discussion.

/M

Thanks for that , yes I was able to run SD streams on 4G , which was always stable when over 10MB on three, it started to drop about a year ago and by XMas just did not work, in saying that the 4g has improved, getting up to 30MB now so downloading and Netflix HD / Youtube HD is no issue.

I could only justify paying the extra 40 euro if it was perfect so I am happy for the moment I think,

Marlow

bennyc wrote: »

Thanks for that , yes I was able to run SD streams on 4G , which was always stable when over 10MB on three, it started to drop about a year ago and by XMas just did not work, in saying that the 4g has improved, getting up to 30MB now so downloading and Netflix HD / Youtube HD is no issue.

I could only justify paying the extra 40 euro if it was perfect so I am happy for the moment I think,

Three launched there unlimited / 750GB plan end of last year/start of this year.

So that would have caused a lot of people signing up and less bandwidth being available overall. That's probably what killed it for you.

/M

JJayoo

At the moment, on my laptop, the signal looks poor as in the little internet icon only has one of its rings lit

But

I am able to watch a short HD YouTube video instantly.

bennyc

JJayoo wrote: »

At the moment, on my laptop, the signal looks poor as in the little internet icon only has one of its rings lit

But

I am able to watch a short HD YouTube video instantly.

go to www.speedtest.net and click "GO" that will tell you your speed in terms of download , ping and upload
I think you are looking at the wifi coverage which is the link between you and your router in the house.

JJayoo

bennyc wrote: »

go to www.speedtest.net and click "GO" that will tell you your speed in terms of download , ping and upload
I think you are looking at the wifi coverage which is the link between you and your router in the house.

At the moment
35 ping
6.31 download
2.33 upload

1 minute later
41 ping
8.05 download
2.39 upload

Marlow

JJayoo wrote: »

At the moment, on my laptop, the signal looks poor as in the little internet icon only has one of its rings lit

That's the wifi in your house though and has nothing to do with your internet connection.

Proper speedtests should always done with the PC or Laptop connected by cable to the router or in the case of 4G unit with the unit right besides the laptop.

Otherwise the cause of your bad connection could be your own Wifi. And that has nothing to do with your provider.

/M