Europe on Line Speed

Tony

Hi Guys, I would like to know what data speeds are being achieved on Europe on line as opposed to NTL broadband. If any users have time please do a test at www.bandwidthplace.com

Thanks in advance
Tony

byte

Which service? The scheduled service or Skybooster? I have the regular scheduled service though that test only tested my dialup ( a whopping 26kbps!). It's supposed to download at 2Mbps according to the website. Skybooster can apparently get speeds of "up to" 768kbps though I guess this would depend on amount of users

bkehoe

And unlike NTL you have to pay for the time you use (skybooster charge + eircom phone charge). Netsystem offers a unicast service (like skybooster) but at a flat monthly fee. You still have to pay phone charges though whenever you're online.

Tony

Originally posted by bkehoe
And unlike NTL you have to pay for the time you use (skybooster charge + eircom phone charge). Netsystem offers a unicast service (like skybooster) but at a flat monthly fee. You still have to pay phone charges though whenever you're online.

Thanks do you have a url for this (netsystem) please.

Tony

bkehoe

www.netsystem.com/eng .

I'd go with NTL if you had the choice, even if you still happened to be on NoLimits. With all one way satellite isps you seem to need numerous threads to get close to the advertised speeds; netsystem is the worst for single thread speed I've used, though its the only unlimited one out there at the moment. Also, pings are bad; 700 - 1000ms (bit worse than i've seen on other sat isps), and browsing isnt much better than modem. Still, if there is no other choice, and you dont mind still having to pay phone charges, it's the best solution.

John R

I tried that speed test on my connection (Netsystem) and the results were 161k and 20kB/s whis is far short of the download bandwith I usually get of about 70kB/s. I assume the long ping times account for the innacuracy. Still I do not ever get near their advertised speeds of 360k (daytime) and 1Mbit (nighttime)

Like bkehoe said a cable modem service would be a much better bet , even if the advertised bandwith was a little lower. Netsystem does not always make surfing quicker, as there is a noticeable delay in loading pages. However picture heavy pages do load much quicker and if you download large files it is a huge step up from 56k.

For those like me who need a high bandwith connection and don't live in ntl's miniscule 2-way network area it is the only affordable option for the forseable future. As far as eircon's rip-off adsl goes, I use more than their monthly d/l cap in less than a week, so even if I could afford the base fee, I would have to severely limit my use of the service which defeats the whole purpose of getting broadband.

Tony

Thanks for the info guys, very helpful

Tony

DTV

Hi Im new to this, but there a question ive been wondering. What is the difference between the scheluled service and sky Booster. Is there much of a cost difference.

John R

Europe online is not a live internet service, they provide several continuous video feeds. They also have a file download service where you use their website to request files from the internet, You provide the url and their servers download them of the websites, then when the files are on the Europe online servers you request transmission to your computer, and the file is given a set time when it will be sent over the satellite, the recieving program on your computer is then set to take the file at that time. There is a program available (written by a user, not Europe online) that allows all users to download files requested by each other. The last time I checked there was a questionmark about how long both the file sharing and Europe online would be around for. AFAIK there is a poster here (can't remember who) that is a regular user who might be able to explain further. I never used it much as I couldn't get my pc to consistently download files fully, seemingly a common problem with the service.

The sky booster is a one-way satellite live internet service, it uses your dial-up isp to connect to the internet with the satellite downlink used as the return path. Like all satellite communications there is a delay making it slow but high-bandwith.

I am not sure of the exact price, but from what I remember it is very expensive and charged by the hour, I am sure the Europe online website has the pricing details.

byte

I use EON but chernobyl is the man with the knowledge on this. I do have regular problems with the scheduled service with unfinished files, though it has been a bit more reliable since i upgraded from Win98 to Win2000 (Win98, Me, or 95 are not recommended). I know EON will work until mid october but after that, I'm unsure. Still it has paid for itself IMO even if just for the DVB card alone.

AFAIK, Skybooster is pay per month but with a cap. The best live service would seem to be Netsystem.

John R

Yes, I use win98 and am unable to upgrade at the moment. The main reason I signed up was for the dvb card; I couldn't find one cheaper anywhere so the EON subscription was a bonus.

DTV

Thanks for the info

eire_insane

I have eon now since start of july and i think its great.If you have Europe Online (EON) and is getting incompletes then go to http://www.eoninside.com tells you best way to config your comp for less incomplets.And any how XP is the best for eon as it never crashes.After bout a week of probs I got eon to work pretty well and its worth it even if I can only have it for 2 mounths.