info about irishbroadband.ie?

quozl

Anyone got any info on http://www.irishbroadband.ie
they use 802.11b and 802.11a to deliver the service, and I could get it. But at 40 quid a month for 512 each way, whats the catch? Whats their uplink? anyone know? It has to be low latency to be any use to me. I'd love leap, but 100 a month is a bit harsh.
Anyone got experience of using these guys? Got ping times to uk servers from them?
quozl

David C

Prices on the site exclude vat so including vat it's:
€48.40/month for 512k up/down
€84.70/month for 1mb up/down

Connection fee is €320.65

Coverage is within a 3.5km radius of RTÉ's TX in Donnybrook and 1.5km of Sandyford Industrial estate....

Unfortunatley I'm just out of line of site here in Cabinteely for both sites... 3 Rock Mountain would be a great addition if they are planning a third transmitter to cover a wider area of Dublin...

Dustaz

Holy Moly, im in range of that.

Eircon might be getting the heave-ho once i can get out of thier contract.

Dangger

IOFFL met with IrishBroadband a few weeks back. They are the company I mentioned during my speecj at the IOFFL AGM several weeks back. I'm delighted to see them gearing up!

If you check here you will see details of their license.

NTR's licence has been transferred to Irish Broadband Internet Services Ltd. with effect from 17th July 2002.

rymus

how in the name of god can they afford to offer bandwidth like that for the prices they are quoting? I didnt hear about any satellite launches from Dublin recently

that is of course unless they are 'friendly' with someone that has a spare fibre connection or two

tuxy

their prices arent cheap they only look cheap because eircoms are so expensive
using wireless they can bypass eircom and offer services for a much better price

gurramok

Contention ratio of 8:1, so you won't get the 512kB all the time...it depends on the other 7 users.
For a 24/7 connection, i think its good value considering whats available at moment.
Now i wonder how far west is 3.5 km from rte ? !!

quozl

yes, but, any info apart from that available from reading their website
ie, personal opinions, latencies involved, whether they';re likely to change the terms of service in a few months after i've paid the install fee, yada yada yada.
thanks for the replies though lads, I'm surprised at how good these guys look.
quozl
PS I just got their email reply, and they claim 15 ms pings into europe. I must subscribe!

LoBo

sounds interesting -

Anyone know what 3.5 km from RTE covers? Their coverage map is too small to actually read...

I live in the Dun Laoghaire / Sandycove area

LizZard

Hello All ,

My Name is Michael and I work for Irishbroadband ..

Any questions, just shout and I’ll get them answered.

We will have an irc channel up soon , I will keep you posted on this matter

All The Best

-LizZard

LoBo

Just to compare prices with Eircom's incredible ADSL offer:

IrishBroadband 512k Residential
512/512 down/up
8:1 contention, no cap
€320.65 installation (including equipment?)
€48.40 per month thereafter

Eircom I-Stream solo
512/128 down/up
3GB transfer cap, (no contention with ADSL?)
€199.65 installation (+ €175 or €242 for modem)
€107.69 per month thereafter

So, from my POV its €374 + €107/month for Eircom's offer and €320 + €48/month for IrishBroadband's....

(If the 8:1 contention bothers you, you can get 1Mb connection for €84.70/month....)

looks good - let us know if anyone has used this service please

PS- Good stuff on coming on boards.ie to answer questions (you've seen the good PR UTVi have got from doing the same). Could you tell me whether the above is correct - whether the installation charge includes all necessary equipment to use your service or not?

quozl

ADSL has contention ratios too. Someone on the ILUG mentioned 20-1, not sure if that's true. But I'd be surprised if it was much less.
I got 2 replies from them very promptly, and they claim a 15-20 ms ping into europe. That's the bit i'm interested in
Can you confirm this Lizzard? And how stable is the ping? And do you charge extra for installing in unpleasantly tall, old, houses?
Your webpage also says you support 802.11a. I know it's pointless as regards the bandwidth you're supplying, but I already have a 2.4ghz omni on my roof, and using a 5.4 ghz antenna to get your service would mean much less interference for me. (I know there are 4 channels that don't overlap in .11a but I may be using them for directionals with DubWAN in the future)
Just curious, it certainly wouldn't be enough to get me to pay eircom 50 euros more a month.
quozl

yellum

Is the contention ratio for adsl 20:1 ?

[edit ] got there before me ! [ /edit ]

LizZard

Looks like you have covered it,

Yes the install price includes the equipment, but it will remain ours its rented to you,

The monthly charge is what is on our site, "no caps on throughput"

-LizZard

LoBo

sounds brilliant: can I get it?

How about a bigger map image on the coverage page?

LizZard

No problem what area you in?

LOL we are working on the map and website should be updated soon, keep you informed

-LizZard

kamobe

I sent a mail to irishbroadband last night enquiring about availability in Blanchardstown (D15). I wasn't expecting such a prompt reply, but basically for those who are interested:

We are hoping to offer a service covering the Blanchardstown area within the next couple of months but this depends on getting a high site on which to place our transmitter.

1mb for EUR70. Wow. Almost beginning to feel European.....

spongebob

my brain hurts......

any (this decade) chance of that map of yours showing the badlands wesht of the Shannon LizZard?

M

LoBo

I live in the Dun Laoghaire / Sandycove area - not sure how far that is Km-wise from RTE.

LizZard

Regarding Latency !

Yes out network consits of Wireless and fibre , we have two carriers both tier 1 so we are a tier 2 carrier !

I play Couter Strike in to london (well most of europe) under 20 ms

PING yahoo.co.uk (217.12.3.11): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 217.12.3.11: icmp_seq=0 ttl=246 time=22.0 ms
64 bytes from 217.12.3.11: icmp_seq=1 ttl=246 time=20.9 ms
64 bytes from 217.12.3.11: icmp_seq=2 ttl=246 time=22.1 ms
64 bytes from 217.12.3.11: icmp_seq=3 ttl=246 time=20.8 ms
64 bytes from 217.12.3.11: icmp_seq=4 ttl=246 time=21.2 ms

--- yahoo.co.uk ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 20.8/21.4/22.1 ms

Thats from our sandyford HighSite

-LizZard

iwb

LizZard,
Do you plan to come to Bray anytime soon?

Kevok

I sent an e-mail to them last night.

I don't have LOS to the RTÉ mast but i do have LOS to the sandyford mast.

Only problem is I lie about .5km outside the range of the mast (1.5km) does that mean theres no hope?

raphaelS

Hi LizZard,

What kind of devices do we got?
I guess there's an aerial (big?!) and between the aerial and the computer (USB "modem"/LAN)?
I saw from your enquiries form that there's no differences if I connect 1 or 5 computers? Is it true as a residential?

Thanks
Raphael

LizZard

Yeah its either USB or Ethernet, I think the Ethernet is a bit more but anyhow.

Regarding Bray Yes I’m out in loughlinstown so most defiantly!

I can’t wait to get rid of my ADSL thingy : P

-PS almost finished with the IRC server...

-LizZard

LizZard

Kevok

If you have good LOS it wont be a problem lets c what we can do for you, our building in SF is the national toll roads building it looks like it has a halo over it but I don’t think you would be able to c that from 5Km away lol.

lets do a test ...

-LizZard

quozl

Hey Lizzard,
do you support any sort of encryption apart from WEP (which is nasty)? Anything like a ipsec vpn over the wireless part of your network?
I'm just waiting on the guy to ring me, so I can tell him to to do a LOS test I feel strangely more confident than i did with the 6 month wait for eircom isdn.
quozl

iwb

Any idea when you might get to Bray with the service?

LizZard

Will keep informed regarding roll out of new sites like BRAY etc.

Regarding Encryption YES most defiantly!

On request we can offer IPsec VPN's etc.
Though this is not a standard feature.

-LizZard

LoBo

any idea if dun laoghaire/sandycove is within range?

alternatively, until what time do you man your phones tonight?

DaSilva

Leixlip?

- Pros for comming to Leixlip
Leixlip is big E-Town (Intel, Hewlette Packard, ect.. )
Lots of people
Mainly flat area
Me!

- Cons
Village can be a bit smelly at times

So are you planning on comming to leixlip?

sikes

i have a very clear LOS across Dublin and can see sandyford insdustrial estate. I am on Killiney Hill and would do ANYTHING for this service but i can't move home i am too young.

Meh

Originally posted by quozl
do you support any sort of encryption apart from WEP (which is nasty)? Anything like a ipsec vpn over the wireless part of your network?

If they require line of sight, it's a point-to-point tight-beamed directional link rather than a broadcast network. So an attacker can't just passively sniff your packets; they'll have to interpose an antenna in the beam between you and the base station. This is easier said than done.

PiE

What about Dublin City Center? Stick one on top of the Jervis Shopping Center and I'll be laughin'... :]

quozl

Originally posted by Meh
If they require line of sight, it's a point-to-point tight-beamed directional link rather than a broadcast network. So an attacker can't just passively sniff your packets; they'll have to interpose an antenna in the beam between you and the base station. This is easier said than done.

Lol. You're thinking of laser beams!

With a directional such as a panel, you'll get about a 30 degree arc (you can get diagrams showing the patterns of various antennas). Down in doolin at the LBW we got a perfect 11mbit connection over a mile or so by sellotaping a panel antenna to the inside of a window pointing 25 degrees off true.

A yagi is slightly better, but basically anyone in a 30 degree arc from me, extending towards (and WAY past) RTE will be able to get everything I send.

Also, I may have a directional, but I doubt the base station has. I'd imagine it's a sectorised omni. Which means that everything coming to me will be broadcast from a great height in a 90 degree (assuming 4 sectorised panels) arc. Which means anyone in about a 25 square mile area can get everything sent to me easily. I should know, I've got an omni up on my roof which I sometimes run kismet on

However, as Lizzard says they're willing to run vpn's, I'd be quite happy trusting my data to one. Someone could still log everything, but they'll have an interesting time trying to decrypt it,
quozl

quozl

as an aside. What essids are you using? I've got someone coming out for a line of sight test tomorrow, but I've logged about 2 dozen essids from my omni. Hopefully one of them is yours and i can get your service!
quozl

VeeEmmy

Originally posted by LoBo
any idea if dun laoghaire/sandycove is within range?

Dun Laoghaire/Sandycove area is approx 8 KM from the RTE tower at Donnybrook.

Blackrock is just about 3.5KM away, as are
the edge of Stillorgan, all of Kilmacud, edge of Churchtown, all of Rathgar, Ranelagh, just south of St. Stephens Green, Merrion Square, Ringsend. Draw a circle approximately along the rough arc created by those landmark areas and you'll have an idea.

Discovery maps cost about EUR6 (?) and are great for figuring out distances, etc. They are at a pretty large scale, but small enough to see the whole area.

Available at most news shops. No I don't work for OSI. Ha.

Dustaz

ok, im really really interested in this so i can dump this eircom rat off my desktop.

I think its time to toodle off to have a look at where i could put an aeriel. Im within range, but im really not sure about LOS. What form does a LOS test take does anyone know?

spongebob

do the 'S' bit in the morning

segadreamcast

And both transmitters are on the southside. Surprise sur-bloody-prise.

Apparently the Northside doesn't know what the internet is or something.

quozl

Originally posted by Dustaz
Im within range, but im really not sure about LOS. What form does a LOS test take does anyone know?

Dunno what these lads do, but as it's 802.11b, you should get a signal if you can see it clearly and you're within 10km. By clearly, I don't mean between the leaves on a tree though, the signal spreads out as it travels and there is a area around the direct line (called the fresnal zone) that has to be clear too.

Things like trees and buildings will reduce the range a 802.11b signal can travel from well over 10km to half a k.

I don't know why they just claim 3.5km on their website for the donnybrook mast, perhaps to stop ppl who are borderline from inundating them? Or perhaps because they dont want too many ppl flooding the base station? But if you can see where the antenna is mounted on the mast you should be able to get a connection (perhaps just 1 or 2 mbit),
quozl

Stonemason

They really should remove this line from their sales pitch

Wireless Broadband Internet Access Now Available To Everyone, Not The Privileged Few

as i consider living with in a 3.5 km radius of the transmitter to be abit privileged.Still hope they expand their range by about 100 miles.

Michael Collins

Hey, I live in Rathfarnham, D14....any chance of me being in range at all at all?

Thanks...

cymbeline

Hi, I work in Irish Broadband and I just want to clarify that we can only provide a service at the moment within a 3-5 km radius of RTE and 1.5 km from Sandyford Industrial Estate, subject to line of sight. A line of sight test involves someone coming to your place to check the signal, if the signal is not strong enough we will not provide a service. We have no plans for the immediate future to expand to any other areas, you must appreciate that we are a start up company and we are trying to build up a core business before we can provide service to other parts of Dublin and the regions. We know there is huge demand out there and we appreciate the interest that everyone is showing. We are trying to negotiate more high sites so keep an eye on our website and we will let you know when we have any more base stations becoming operational.
Thanks

LoBo

oh well - best of luck!

Let us know how you get on if you sign up, anyone.

I'd go for it if I were in range

Samba

Lubly, im in range of both Sandyford and Donnybrook, i'd damn well better pass the LOS test

BKtje

don't know if it matters but just thought i'd say that im very interested and am in Dun Laoghaire. (if/when you expand plz do say so here )

All the best with the business

El_MUERkO

We are hoping to offer a service covering the Blanchardstown area within the next couple of months but this depends on getting a high site on which to place our transmitter.

I dont live in blanch but the odd time I got to the shopping centre, as you come off the motorway into the shopping centre theres a new offic building thats fairly tall (10+ floors), I'd say you could cover a fair amount of Blanchardstown and Clonsilla.

Dustaz

It seems that cymbeline has Been Bad. I hope Lizzard will continue posting here though, seeing as hes done nothing to break any rules.

LoBo

Looks like they were pimping Irish Broadband in a bunch of forums...

The REAL trick (a la UTVi) is to offer a great service, then chat to your customers here, adapting the service to best suit everyone involved.

DannyD

http://www.irishbroadband.ie/
rish Broadband is currently operating in the following areas of Dublin



RTE Transmitter :Donnybrook , Dublin 4 3.5 km Radius

Burton Court:Burton Hall Road , Sandyford Industrial Estate , Dublin 18 1.5 km Radius
starting at €40.00 a month

tuxy

more pimping :mad: :mad: