Imagine LTE Broadband in Donegal

implausible

Have just been onto this crowd - they're offering 70 Mbps as opposed to my current <3Mbps with Vodafone. Afaik, it's done via a signal from the local radio/tv mast (not v technical, sorry).

It's €59.99 per month which is €20 dearer than my current ****ty service and €100 for installation. I'd be inclined to go for it if I thought it was worth it.

Anyone get this installed or have any advice for me? Are there alternatives with a more reasonable price? I'm in the Finn Valley area.

L1011

Their "70" is probably going to be similar to whatever figure Vodafone will tell you is theorethically possible - either 36 or 72. I would insist on an on-site demonstration of speed before committing.

muffler

Apart from the likes of satellite BB which is expensive I dont think there's any other alternatives for rural areas just now. The government have a rural broadband scheme planned/in progress for the county but I heard all that before though.

Are you too far out of the town to get anything faster than 3mb by fixed line?

NIMAN

I enquired with them as their service seemed very good.

Unfortunately they don't cover my area, yet.

As previously said, I would take the "up to 70" with a large pinch of salt. Most of us in Donegal know the story of BlueBox superfast broadband from NWE in Derry.

Technique

They will be transmitting from Mongorry Hill.

Cherry Blossom

I was on to them as well, if it's fast enough for Netflix I'd be happy. Haven't made up my mind yet if I really need it enough to pay €60 a month though.

muffler

I only had about a 30 second look at their website but is there not something about a home phone included in the deal? I mighn't have read the details correctly.

Technique

I've got their Wimax product. I'm getting about 6 to 10 mb and it's fast enough for Netflix so I'd guess that the faster LTE serrvice will handle it no problem.

We also get a phone line as part of the deal, with free national calls etc.

TireeTerror

Its not yet available in Donegal despite the BS spouted on their site about being live in your area. I ordered 5 weeks ago and still waiting. Its also an extra €50 on your first bill for the installer visit. Never mentioned then when I placed my order, so I will of course be disputing it.

Mongorry Hill in Raphoe is expected to actually be live mid July.

just_manu

Hi all, just spotted this thread. Have been following the 'Imagine Fibre Broadband' thread since I signed up for this about 5 weeks ago! Heard nothing since.
Seems that imagine are planning to commission loads of sites around the country in mid July! They must have an army of installers ready for mid July all waiting to pounce!

Did any of you have the old disastrous Irish Broadband / imagine service? I think it was called ripwave or something?? I had it up to about a year ago. It was much quicker to get information in a newspaper than use the service provided by imagine!
I moved to 3 broadband (which is meant to be 4g but ain't!).

I was very happy to see LTE coming to Mongorry, but, after reading the other thread, I really hope they don't
rip the arse out of it by over subscribing again!!

Tireeterror, I was told that it was up and running and there was a test team trying it out too. I did the same as you and asked if I could be one of the test group and they said they already had what they needed.

sob1467

muffler wrote: »

I only had about a 30 second look at their website but is there not something about a home phone included in the deal? I mighn't have read the details correctly.

I asked them about it, unlimited national calls (Not really unlimited as 60-minute limit on single calls but still) on calls are included in the €60 a month.

just_manu

I was just on to Imagine CS to see how the "roll out" was going and when it would be up and running on Mongorry. (I signed up on May 31st !)
They said it was up and running since last week and install teams are flat out installing.
They said the scheduling team are calling people to arrange install and that he was sending a mail to the scheduling team to give me a call today. Hopefully I will get an install date.... Will post here on any update I get.

Have any of you heard of any installs being done over that last week?
Looks like it may actually be starting to move forward... am eagerly waiting to hear of some speeds!

mrsinister75

just_manu wrote: »

I was just on to Imagine CS to see how the "roll out" was going and when it would be up and running on Mongorry. (I signed up on May 31st !)
They said it was up and running since last week and install teams are flat out installing.
They said the scheduling team are calling people to arrange install and that he was sending a mail to the scheduling team to give me a call today. Hopefully I will get an install date.... Will post here on any update I get.

Have any of you heard of any installs being done over that last week?
Looks like it may actually be starting to move forward... am eagerly waiting to hear of some speeds!

hi i signed up 3 weeks ago and phoned them at the end of week one as i did not get any communication from them and was told i would get a email and welcome package so after 2 weeks still no email or welcome package so i phoned customer care and was told that it was not yet active and i would have have to wait until mid july then out of the blue today i got a call to say they have a install space open tomorrow so i will post speeds and ping tomorrow.oh i am on the killygordon side of convoy.

just_manu

mrsinister75 wrote: »

hi i signed up 3 weeks ago and phoned them at the end of week one as i did not get any communication from them and was told i would get a email and welcome package so after 2 weeks still no email or welcome package so i phoned customer care and was told that it was not yet active and i would have have to wait until mid july then out of the blue today i got a call to say they have a install space open tomorrow so i will post speeds and ping tomorrow.oh i am on the killygordon side of convoy.

Great, must be really starting to roll it out so.
Will be waiting patiently to see what speeds you get.
Am in Drumkeen with line of sight to Mongorry so fingers crossed its decent.

Technique

I saw their vans at the Clanree Hotel a few weeks ago, so they must have been based there when setting up Mongorry? This afternoon I saw the same vans at the Frontier Hotel in Bridgend so maybe they're setting up a mast in Inishowen.

muffler

Technique wrote: »

I saw their vans at the Clanree Hotel a few weeks ago, so they must have been based there when setting up Mongorry? This afternoon I saw the same vans at the Frontier Hotel in Bridgend so maybe they're setting up a mast in Inishowen.

Are they using their own vans i.e. with their own logo and name?

Its just that I was passing through Raphoe today and seen at least 5 KN networks vans there.

just_manu

I got a call from Imagine cust care and they are installing tomorrow sometime between 9 and 1pm.
Fingers crossed!!

Technique

muffler wrote: »

Are they using their own vans i.e. with their own logo and name?

Its just that I was passing through Raphoe today and seen at least 5 KN networks vans there.

Yes, Imagine LTE branding. About 4 Transit-sized vans.

NIMAN

I think the KN Networks guys do work for Eir(com), don't they?

muffler

NIMAN wrote: »

I think the KN Networks guys do work for Eir(com), don't they?

They do....and Sky also. Not sure but Vodafone may also use them but Im open to correction on that.

mrsinister75

just_manu wrote: »

Great, must be really starting to roll it out so.
Will be waiting patiently to see what speeds you get.
Am in Drumkeen with line of sight to Mongorry so fingers crossed its decent.

got it installed this morning and have to say i am very happy with it.i did a speed test 4 times over the last 2 hour and the lowest i got is 55mb down 7mb up and the best i got was 81mb down and 7up. ping is 20 to 35ms so it is good for gaming or streaming hd video.

muffler

mrsinister75 wrote: »

got it installed this morning and have to say i am very happy with it.i did a speed test 4 times over the last 2 hour and the lowest i got is 55mb down 7mb up and the best i got was 81mb down and 7up. ping is 20 to 35ms so it is good for gaming or streaming hd video.

Thats great news. long may it continue

NIMAN

mrsinister75 wrote: »

got it installed this morning and have to say i am very happy with it.i did a speed test 4 times over the last 2 hour and the lowest i got is 55mb down 7mb up and the best i got was 81mb down and 7up. ping is 20 to 35ms so it is good for gaming or streaming hd video.

Keep us updated with your speeds over the coming weeks and months if you can, as I am sure there will be plenty of us considering this crowd in the future.

muffler

mrsinister75 wrote: »

got it installed this morning and have to say i am very happy with it.i did a speed test 4 times over the last 2 hour and the lowest i got is 55mb down 7mb up and the best i got was 81mb down and 7up. ping is 20 to 35ms so it is good for gaming or streaming hd video.

You know, Im on fibre in the twin towns and I get a fairly steady speed of 57mb down so you're on the pigs back with that. Might be a few euro more than Im paying (€50/month) but you have damned good speeds and I think you also have some phone minutes included in the package. All in all Im sure you're happy with that.

just_manu

Ok, I too got installed after lunch. The guys were quick helpful and friendly.
He showed me his speed through his wired connection to the router and he was getting 96meg download and 8 up!! Fantastic. !!!
Then I tried my phone connected over wifi and was getting around 15 / 20 down and 4 up.
I have since tried on my laptop over wifi but only get between 30 and 40 down!

Surely the wifi should not be cutting it down that low??
I know you lose speed over wifi but a 50% loss seems excessive? Anyone else got this?
(Don't get me wrong, either way am much better off than I was and very happy to get up and running)

L1011

Wifi can lose even more than that. No ISP ever guarantees wireless speeds.

A lot of devices are unable to braek 72mbits, some 54mbits; and that assumes there is nothing else using the wireless at the time as well as perfect signal.

Technique

Upgrading your wireless card on your laptop may help.

implausible

Thanks for the input, guys. Am seriously considering it, as we have iPads, phones, laptops, tv all trying to work off current crappy connection. After pulling out my Vodafone paperwork, though, I've just realised I've another 6 months to run on their contract, so breaking that is going to add the expense of installation and the new service. Am worried though if I wait the service will be oversubscribed by the time I get to it.

Muffler, no other option I'm afraid, BB is through the phone line off the Killygordon exchange which I'm pretty far away from. Looked into bluebox a few years ago, but didn't go for it.

NIMAN

implausible wrote: »

Muffler, no other option I'm afraid, BB is through the phone line off the Killygordon exchange which I'm pretty far away from. Looked into bluebox a few years ago, but didn't go for it.

Probably a wise move.;)

CrazyEight

just_manu wrote: »

Ok, I too got installed after lunch. The guys were quick helpful and friendly.
He showed me his speed through his wired connection to the router and he was getting 96meg download and 8 up!! Fantastic. !!!
Then I tried my phone connected over wifi and was getting around 15 / 20 down and 4 up.
I have since tried on my laptop over wifi but only get between 30 and 40 down!

Surely the wifi should not be cutting it down that low??
I know you lose speed over wifi but a 50% loss seems excessive? Anyone else got this?
(Don't get me wrong, either way am much better off than I was and very happy to get up and running)

Hard wired to modem will always give you higher speed, wifi depends on a number of things ie distance, obstacles, but mainly the wireless card in your device

CrazyEight

muffler wrote: »

They do....and Sky also. Not sure but Vodafone may also use them but Im open to correction on that.

Kn install for all providers on the telephone network. Although with vdsl installs they only do the cab work for sky and then sky send out their sierra techs to do the in home work.

muffler

CrazyEight wrote: »

Kn install for all providers on the telephone network. Although with vdsl installs they only do the cab work for sky and then sky send out their sierra techs to do the in home work.

A guy from KN networks hooked up my Sky fibre so Sierra weren't in the loop at all.

CrazyEight

muffler wrote: »

A guy from KN networks hooked up my Sky fibre so Sierra weren't in the loop at all.

Was it a new connection or upgrade?

muffler

CrazyEight wrote: »

Was it a new connection or upgrade?

Upgrade.

CrazyEight

muffler wrote: »

Upgrade.

Kn will normally only do a line provide if theres no existing line or vdsl cab work if just an upgrade and then if theres any issues a kn tech will then call out

TireeTerror

At Mongorry hill there appear to be 3 masts. One tower near the road which is relatively low, the really big single pole antenna and another slightly higher tower a little further away from the road.

Does anyone know which one Imagine are using? Is it the really tall single pole or one of the towers which have loads of stuff all over them?

I can see the huge single pole and the most northerly tower from my house, but the tower nearest the road at Mongorry is hidden by the forest.

muffler

TireeTerror wrote: »

At Mongorry hill there appear to be 3 masts. One tower near the road which is relatively low, the really big single pole antenna and another slightly higher tower a little further away from the road.

Does anyone know which one Imagine are using? Is it the really tall single pole or one of the towers which have loads of stuff all over them?

I can see the huge single pole and the most northerly tower from my house, but the tower nearest the road at Mongorry is hidden by the forest.

No idea, sorry, but Google street view shows what was there 5 years ago. I would assume that Imagine didnt put up a new mast/transmitter (or whatever its called) but used an existing one.

TireeTerror

muffler wrote: »

No idea, sorry, but Google street view shows what was there 5 years ago. I would assume that Imagine didnt put up a new mast/transmitter (or whatever its called) but used an existing one.

I drove up, I was up that way getting some parts for my Land Rover, so thought I might as well have a sneak peak!

The single pole is huge, its way way way higher than the towers, Id say about 2.5 times the height. That street view image doesn't really show the difference in height well Although it was the towers that I could see loads of loads of small dishes, which no doubt is what Imagine are using.

Well they are coming to install tomorrow, so we shall see how it goes.

mrsinister75

just_manu wrote: »

Ok, I too got installed after lunch. The guys were quick helpful and friendly.
He showed me his speed through his wired connection to the router and he was getting 96meg download and 8 up!! Fantastic. !!!
Then I tried my phone connected over wifi and was getting around 15 / 20 down and 4 up.
I have since tried on my laptop over wifi but only get between 30 and 40 down!

Surely the wifi should not be cutting it down that low??
I know you lose speed over wifi but a 50% loss seems excessive? Anyone else got this?
(Don't get me wrong, either way am much better off than I was and very happy to get up and running)

my gaming pc and xbox or on the other side of my house from router and i get my full speed.i use tp link power line adaptors which you get in argos letterkenny.

just_manu

Anyone else getting really slow speed (1meg!!) from mongorry this evening??

excollier

The tall mast is the TV transmitter group c/d.
I live very close to it. Using Blue Box for the past 8 years so this looks interesting. I heard rumours that the frequency they use is going to be sold off though.

TireeTerror

just_manu wrote: »

Anyone else getting really slow speed (1meg!!) from mongorry this evening??

Ive been online all day, literally non-stop gaming from about 10am until now and had no problem at all. Ive done several speedtests and always been around 60+. I downloaded a game on Steam earlier that was 7GB and it averaged at 89Mb and peaked at 93Mb.

just_manu

TireeTerror wrote: »

Ive been online all day, literally non-stop gaming from about 10am until now and had no problem at all. Ive done several speedtests and always been around 60+. I downloaded a game on Steam earlier that was 7GB and it averaged at 89Mb and peaked at 93Mb.

Thanks.
I have been up and running since getting installed on Tuesday and all was well. Wired speeds of 70 +. (Sometimes even better!)
I downloaded a PS4 game last night which I think was around 45gig in size. I kicked it off after 10:30pm or later, actually probably closer to 11 expecting that it would run for quite a while and definitely into the 12 am to 7am 'download as much as you like' window. I had only minimally used any download allocation prior to kicking off so should have had most of the 20 gig allocation left for that day.
Anyway, my wired connection download speed has now dropped drastically to 1mb!
Looks like I am getting throttled.
Wonder if the midnight to 7am unlimited downloads is true. ??

just_manu

just_manu wrote: »

Thanks.
I have been up and running since getting installed on Tuesday and all was well. Wired speeds of 70 +. (Sometimes even better!)
I downloaded a PS4 game last night which I think was around 45gig in size. I kicked it off after 10:30pm or later, actually probably closer to 11 expecting that it would run for quite a while and definitely into the 12 am to 7am 'download as much as you like' window. I had only minimally used any download allocation prior to kicking off so should have had most of the 20 gig allocation left for that day.
Anyway, my wired connection download speed has now dropped drastically to 1mb!
Looks like I am getting throttled.
Wonder if the midnight to 7am unlimited downloads is true. ??

Just checked again after midnight, all back to normal.

Delofan

Got mine installed on Friday 15th in Castleshanaghan.

Delighted with the results so far.

Latest upload speed Ping 24ms, Download 60.49mbps, Upload 6.10mbps.

Hope it continues.

Dats_rite

Any inishowen residents signed up for this yet?

If so what speeds are you getting?

muffler

Any more feedback from new customers who signed up?

just_manu

muffler wrote: »

Any more feedback from new customers who signed up?

All working well for me.
Have just noticed that the house phone is not working. Seems to go to voice mail without ringing. Will be on to Customer Care tomorrow.
Apart from that, no complaints here.

Galdonagh

Hi all,

anyone in Galdonagh are get this?

Does the speed drop off much if you move upstairs on wifi?

I considered this a couple of months ago, and decided against it.

I'm glad I did.
Yesterday, I signed up for 100Mbps fibre, unlimited package, with unlimited landline minutes for €40 a month for 6 months, rising to €45 a month after that. Free high speed router and installation, and no fixed contract.
Speed test was giving me 90Mb.

Maybe check whether/when fibre will be available in your area.
There are some decent packages available at the moment. (Aslo some ridiculous ones, when you read the small print -like prices tripling, after the introductory period, or 15 or 20Gb daily limit when you have a streaming tv package, for instance. A few games on the playstation network would soon eat into that kind of allowance. You don't buy fibre unless you're going to be using serious bandwidth!)

TireeTerror

Galdonagh wrote: »

Hi all,

anyone in Galdonagh are get this?

Does the speed drop off much if you move upstairs on wifi?

I've not noticed any drop in speed upstairs. Even in the far corner of the house its still reasonable. Typically getting about 40-50Mb on my Galaxy S6. Wired Im getting around 80+ most of the time.