torque broadband?

dahamsta

Wrong board, question already asked. :rolleyes:

http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=torque+broadband+site%3Aboards.ie

aare

Well once the question is asked, there is no harm in answering it?

Torque are a truly great young company, giving excellent service. I've been with them since June (I was fully installed within FIVE DAYS, though, admittedly, they were working on a mast within a couple of miles of me at the time.)

Apparently they had to get Broadband for their internet cafe and people kept asking them about connections so Torque.ie was born.

Speeds are good, download is unlimited and any problems are resolved immediately.

The only downside is that tech support is only 9-5 7 days a week...but problems do seem to get resolved outside those hours...

aare

It's not so much "how far out they go", as whether they cover your area, because coverage is still patchy...

Give them a call on Monday and check.

Signal can be affected by all sorts of things, but the only way to find out for sure is to get them out to do a test.

Ok, I know, I am doing this "calm down and wait for monday" thing...but believe me, within 45 minutes of hearing they existed I was down in Blessington triangulating the map they have on the office wall.

aare

Hmmmmmmmm,

Hard to know...they haven't got Colbinstown or parts of Dunlavin but they have Kildare...

...and I am a LOT further away from mast that 4 miles...

Call them on Monday, I know it's hard to wait...

Enfusion

Right well guess its time for a bad review of them. I ordered Torque broadband over 7 weeks ago only got installed on Friday after god knows how many calls and even calling Comreg. The contention ratios are fairly high(30 to a real connection) and alot of the time I am getting less than 1KB connection (My dial-up is 4 times faster than their "broadband").Despite a totally clear line of sight and being only 4kms from a node I have packet loss anywhere between 7 and 35 percent. Also they appear to be throttling my downloads severely :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Enfusion

One last thing forgot to metion when they first came to install the guy doing the install screwed up and put the antenna in a place it couldn't get a signal something he should've checked before hand

cormy

My I also throw my tuppence-worth into this discussion. I am a Torque internet customer and I am experiencing regular and sometimes very prolongued outages in my connection (we're talking several hours at a time). I have phoned Torque numerous times (during business hours) and have *never* actually gotten through to them. Despite the voicemail greeting ".... your call is very important to us ..." etc. they don't return phone calls/messages. Now I don't know if the outages are Torque's fault or mine, or a bird is sitting on the antenna etc. etc., but unless they actually talk to me I wont find out - so it may as well be their fault.

I hate to have to blast "Truly a great young company" (quote from aare) but they do deserve it at this stage as far as I'm concerned. I would *not* recommend them to others.

MadMaximus

Hi,

My name is John Byrne and I’m one of the Directors of Torque Internet.

One of our clients advised me of this thread, as she felt some of the comments were a bit unjust and misleading.

Not that I would deny that some of our clients have had various different issues from time to time, but the vast majority appear to be exceptionally happy. So I figure that Members here might like to have the opportunity to tackle me directly and anonymously so that in return I might have the opportunity to address these issues.

Enfusion, :eek: If you are having issues, you should call the office. We cannot remedy issues if we are not aware of them. If you have difficulty getting through to the office, which is possible because unfortunately we only have one very busy phone line, you can E-Mail support@torque.ie and we will get back to you. My opinion is that there is no point of having Broadband if it is no better than Dial-up but, your issue could be anything from interference from an in house Access Point, Wireless Router, TV Extender or Portable DECT Phone to a dodgy antenna or even a loose cable or connection. But unless you contact us, we don’t know where to look for the issue. In relation to the time it took to get you connected, as I am sure you are well aware if you called the office many times during you’re wait, the delay was due to serious supplier issues which took over two months to resolve. I won't go into details as I dislike having to repeat excuses based on the “stories” that our suppliers told us, but I assure you we did the best we could to have you connected up as soon as it was possible. And lastly regarding the location of the antenna, it is quite probable that the installer had simply no reason to believe that the first location would give any trouble. As you said, “your 4Klms from the transmitter with clear Line Of Sight”. And upon completing the installation, he would have found that indeed it was causing trouble, or simply he felt he could get a better signal somewhere else and therefore put in the extra effort to insure the installation was done correctly.

Cormy, firstly please accept my sincerest apologies for any issues you are currently having as well as the difficulty in getting through to our office. If you could drop an e-mail to us detailing your issues, we will investigate and either have a solution or at least an explanation for your troubles within 24 hours. Please be assured that indeed your calls to our office and any messages left ARE VERY important to us and unfortunately I’m at a loss as to why you got no replies. I will make further enquiries.

In closing, we are a small company and we are doing everything possible with the limited resources at our disposal, to provide a reliable and fast broadband service to mainly rural areas, which the bigger companies simply ignore. We want all our customers not just to be happy, but ecstatic with their service and I would encourage any one with issues, concerns or questions to get in touch with us by phone or maybe better, by E-mail.

John

info@torque.ie
john@torque.ie

damien

Another rep from a Broadband company decloaks. Welcome to the forum. Stick around.

cgarvey

Enfusion, every single company will have issues. Most of them (not all, I accept) are solvable, if you just contact them. I think it's unfair to criticise someone without giving them a change to make it right. Did you try to contact them? Was their response of any help?

.cg

Enfusion

Relating to the later message from the director I did call a good few times and mostly got the answering machine of which a fair few of messages weren't replied too. I did try to e-mail a few times(4 - 5) but I couldn't e-mail them at the time because of the connection so I gave up on that. I do stand by my first post that the install time was pretty excessive but something I hope will not be a future issue.

Just to update everyone now. The connection is setup and running well now around a week now . I have to say I am quite happy with it now low ping times and (just checking now) 2% packet loss. The download speed dont seem to ever drop below 16 kbytes and alot of the time hits 35-40 kbytes. Skype is fine to use except for one or two tiny niggles Which I have been told will be ironed out soon. I would definately recommend them now

aare

Just for the record, I'm not too good at interpreting pings etc (beyond alive vs. dead anyway ) but I do know that while downloading linux isos from places like heanet I have gotten truly incredible speeds between 100kbps and 150kbps, reliably over 100kbps as long as it isn't "peak time".

Also, I dunno why but I always get through on the phone...usually on "redial" but still, I have no patience WHATSOEVER really and I get through...

Maybe you call at wrong times? They only have 9 - 5 support at present.

Enfusion

Nah this its always between 9-5. I am nut for time keeping!!:) But anyway point is connections up and running well

oswaldcobblepot

hey i just thought id update this thread for anybody who may consider buying a torque service. STAY AWAY! we have been with them for about 2 months now and have ran into terrible problems, (check the torque broadband thread). we recently found out from the owner of the company that infact he is doing a nightcourse on how to operate this technology and actually is considering selling the company on because he cannot cope. in the mean time this is the first time in 9 days that we have broadband. excellent service. (sarcasm!):mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

aare

It is with great sadness that I am forced to endorse the above post, particularly as, at the time I posted them, the glowing reports I made of Torque internet were 100% true.

The company began well, in good faith, with great enthusiasm. I will also state that last Christmas, "MadMaximus" was answering support calls and resetting systems when he was so ill that, in my honest opinion ,he should have been in an ambulance on his way to hospital never mind relaxing and enjoying the season.

However, since then, there have been changes in staff and management that, even from my limited knowledge of them, add up to both a saga worthy of Emmerdale and a staggering, inevitable deterioration of service.

I cancelled my account in June, even though the closest I can get to broadband without them is Vodaphone on GPRS and a 10 mile drive with a laptop for 3g if I really need it, until they upgrade the local transmitter.

From the bottom of my heart I hope that the owner of the company DOES cop himself on, recognise that he is out of his depth, in more ways than one, and sell the company on, he's a nice lad at heart, with good intentions, and I hope he finds his way through this.

But that isn't my problem or your problem.

I would honestly say to anyone who is thinking of taking an account with Torque not to do so. 3g will cover most of their area within 12 months (cards can be bought on ebay that enable PCs to take mobile connect cards, booster antennae are also available) . Much of their area is already covered by ADSL services, so check your options.

Beyond that, my experience with wireless services has lead me to the conclusion that problems like those a Torque are more the rule than the exception and that, in addition, local wireless services can be the hi-tech equivalent of the days when all phone calls had to go through the local postmistress. At best, personal friends get preference in all matters including tech support, bandwidth allocation and basic service maintenance, at worst...work it out for yourself...

...all with no real accountability, to anyone, anywhere.

Bluntly, unable to get ADSL in the near future, I feel a WHOLE lot more comfortable with nice, impersonal, multinational Vodaphone, and their nice, impartial, professional support services.

thebman

The fact that nobody seems to be held accountable when service providers are unable to provide even half the service they have a contract with the customer to provide is an utter disgrace and failure of unbelievable proportions of several government bodies to protect consumers. Comreg don't do anything, our minister does nothing and even general consumer rights seem to be ignored by wireless providers under the sale of goods and supply of services act.

I mean how is this fair to consumers (taken from lastmiles contract available from their website):

The Company provides all services on an "As Is" basis. In providing Internet access and any other services, the Company, its officers, directors,
employees, representatives and agents, make no representations or warranties except as expressly stated herein and EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL
IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND SECURITY, AND SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, LAST MILE LIMITED WILL
NOT BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICES OR TO ACCESS THE
INTERNET, RELIANCE ON INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH THE INTERNET, INTERRUPTIONS IN SERVICE, DELETION OF
FILES OR E-MAIL, LOST DATA, UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO THE CUSTOMER'S RECORDS OR FILES, ERRORS, DEFECTS,
VIRUSES, DELAYS IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSIONS OR ANY OTHER FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE.

How can a service provider legally absolve themselves of any responsibility to provide the service they are being paid to provide. This has to be illegal or at least void. It has to be against general consumer rights to state this.

If you have a contract with a service supplier you can expect that:

The supplier has the necessary skill to provide the service
The service will be provided with proper care and diligence
The materials used will be sound and that goods supplied with the service will be of merchantable quality

http://www.oasis.gov.ie/consumer_affairs/consumer_rights_and_protection/your_rights_when_you_buy_a_service.html?search=Sale+of+Goods+and+Supply+of+Services+Act

The person running Torque has not got the skills to provide the service as he is taking a course.

The service is not being provided.

The service is not of merchantable quality as it is not fit for its purpose.

This can be said of almost every broadband provider in the country. Last Mile don't tell you what their contention ratio is on the website (from what I can see) and all I can see is complaints that the speeds being achieve are not what are promised for the price on the site.

There has to be someone consumers can complain that can actually take action on the issue (ie. not comreg). Hell at this stage we should be taking comreg to court for not providing the service they are supposed to be to the taxpayers which is regulating the industry.

Even if consumers could group together to take action in the small claim courts against each wireless provider and Ireland Offline just organised the groups to get a list of names against each wireless provider to take to the courts, it would at least send a message that consumers aren't going to put up with this crap anymore.

I don't know enough about this crap to know if these are things we can do but there must be someone other than comreg who consumers can go to when the services aren't being provided.

aare

Of course, the root of this problem is simple and universal.

Most of these wireless companies have a monopolistic stranglehold over the majority of their customers because there are no alternative broadband services available in those areas, and the government is currently subsidising that monopoly by grant aiding those same local wireless services rather than taking the steps necessary to ensure proper nationwide broadband coverage.

In County Wicklow, Torque internet's main area of operations, many rural areas have no access to ADSL and Wicklow County Council are holding up the mobile network upgrade to 3g and ultimately HSDPA (which WOULD be a viable alternative for areas that do not have access to ADSL nationwide) by unreasonably delaying planning permission for transmitter mast even in area where there is no opposition or the mast is an essential part of the ESB or similar network anyway.

The government neeeds to snap to reality, facillitate and subsidise ONLY major providers, if needs be nationalising and integrating the existing local wireless networks into a single nationwide service that can offer wireless internet on the same terms, and at the same prices as existing ADSL.

Imagine if rural electrification had been instituted by a similar network of "amateur big boys profiting from their personal toys" which are all the wireless services amount to, however well intentioned?

Even 3 years ago, affordable Broadband was still something of a luxury for geeks and gamers, but today it is an essential communication tool for businesses, farmers, schoolchildren, the elderly and the infirm.

Even GPRS with a dial in speed of over 60kbps (as opposed to regular dial in at a true speed of 44kbps or, often, much less) is almost unuseable on today's internet.

By ignoring this situation we are creating technologically illiterate underclass in the rural areas of one of the wealthiest countries in Europe.

There is no excuse.

With appropriate incentives and expedition for multinational telecoms, and adequate organisation we could have had near 100% broadband coverage at a uniform price to consumers more in line with European prices, for the last 3 years.

We could realistically have it, mostly by rationalising the existing 3 tiers (ADSL, 3g and Wireless), by Easter, at minimal cost.

...and in the meanwhile, let's have subsisided free flat rate dial in in all areas where broadband is not available. Those of us stuck so long without access to an essential communication tool DESERVE at least that degree of compensation.

Ok, I'll get off soapbox now.

watty

Yet again today a study found No Cancer Risk. 21 year Finnish study.

Two much RF and you might cook. Look into a waveguide and you might get a cataract.

thebman

watty wrote:

Yet again today a study found No Cancer Risk. 21 year Finnish study.

Two much RF and you might cook. Look into a waveguide and you might get a cataract.

Yeah I read that too. Won't make a difference, people will still use "it causes cancer" as a reason to oppose masts etc... no matter what scientific evidence and studies show.

Marvellous country.

Fergus Cassidy

Re: Torque.

When I was moving house recently, one of my main priorities in choosing where to live was BB access. I found a place and checked with Torque. They said I had perfect LOS with one of their transmitters and two of their repeaters. Lovely jubbly.

A week after I signed a one-year lease on the house, I got a call from Torque saying all new installations had been suspended indefinitely. Jaysus!

I was seriously thinking of taking a hit on the one-year lease, until I stumbled across Vodafone's new 3G modem. It saved my ass to be honest, 'cos the only alternative I had was carrier pidgeons.

Aare, I have messed around for ages with the settings on the modem and eventually got a workaround where I get at least 256kbps, on both Mac and PC. Whereabouts are you based? Presumably somewhere in west Wicklow? If you want to mail me at mail at ferguscassidy.ie, I can pass on what I know if it helps.

thebman

Torque were just bought by Callidus according to a thread in Broadband section. They didn't even bother informing their customers according to the poster.

aare

Crossposted to: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=52600191&posted=1#post52600191

On new information from people I would trust implicitly, it gives me very great pleasure to feel able to inform you that I am satified any problem I was aware of, involving Torque Internet, or the staff of Torque Internet,(now a part of Callidus) has been permanently resolved to the extent that I would once again have every confidence in recommending the service to anyone, and wishing them every good fortune for the future.

Of course, however formal and mysterious I may sound there, that is not to say Almighty God has taken over and the service is, or ever will be 100% perfect, but then nothing ever is.

AndrewMc

Funnily enough, it's in the last few months that it's been the most stable for me. I got the impression they expanded faster than they could really cope with, which is as indicative of the poor availability of broadband as anything else.

seamus

aare wrote:

Crossposted to: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=52600191&posted=1#post52600191

On new information from people I would trust implicitly, it gives me very great pleasure to feel able to inform you that I am satified any problem I was aware of, involving Torque Internet, or the staff of Torque Internet,(now a part of Callidus) has been permanently resolved to the extent that I would once again have every confidence in recommending the service to anyone, and wishing them every good fortune for the future.

Of course, however formal and mysterious I may sound there, that is not to say Almighty God has taken over and the service is, or ever will be 100% perfect, but then nothing ever is.

I appreciate you taking the time to come back and update this thread aare.

As it is, I'm attempting to get broadband for my Dad in a tiny village in Wicklow. He's been onto eircom numerous times who consistently say either, "It'll be there this year", or "I'll check it out and call you back", and ultimately he gets the silence that we all know and hate.

I've also heard the reports of iffy service from torque, but if the owner has sold it on (at a tidy profit one hopes, given the effort put in) to a more capable company, hopefully it's worth going for.

oswaldcobblepot

hey since torque were bought out by callidus things have got better. At least I can actually get online, however gradually my speed has been slowing down every couple of weeks and I get nowhere near what I pay for. Im on the 512k package because to waste any more money on this terrible service would be insane. I just did a few line speed tests and my speed was 159k. It certainly is not peak time as its 1030 on a tuesday morning. I can understand getting speeds of 450k or 400k but this is ridiculous.

What speeds are other people getting?

AndrewMc

oswaldcobblepot wrote:

hey since torque were bought out by callidus things have got better. At least I can actually get online, however gradually my speed has been slowing down every couple of weeks and I get nowhere near what I pay for. Im on the 512k package because to waste any more money on this terrible service would be insane. I just did a few line speed tests and my speed was 159k. It certainly is not peak time as its 1030 on a tuesday morning. I can understand getting speeds of 450k or 400k but this is ridiculous.

What speeds are other people getting?

In Athy, I'm getting close to the full 1Mb most of the time, but then I'm only about 700m from the mast. Whereabouts are you?

oswaldcobblepot

I'm in Hollywood, about a mile or a little less from the mast but we have a totally clear line of sight, I mean nothing is in the way.

Its cheaper than what we paid for dial up and it certainly is faster but I still feel a little ripped off.