Irishwisp

Dustaz

Saw this on the broadband forum and i dont think theyve been mentioned here.

No mention of coverage areas but there is a cap (eircom, youll pay for setting this standard, youll pay....)


www.irishwisp.net

Snaga

stick a .net on the end there instead of the .ie

As for coverage......

We have a wireless transmitter on 3-rock mountain, which makes it likely you can avail of your service if you live in Sandyford, Leopardstown, Balinteer and beyond.

Nice to see its 50 euro including VAT

About the cap

Q. What are the hidden extras?

A. There really are no hidden extras. Your Internet access will be €49 including VAT per month no matter how long you are connected.

There is a download/upload limit of 3 gigabytes per month but this is so large that you would have to be regularly downloading full-length movies to come close to exceeding it.

This limit is in place to avoid abuse so that the monthly price can be kept low. Either way, we won't charge you if you accidentally go over. We'll just ask you to ease up

3 gig ala eircom's cap. This is not a large cap by any stretch of the imagination. At least they dont "reserve the right" to charge you for it. (youll just be disconnected )

But theres this

Q. I'm a network engineer, can I run a server?

A. We're engineers too and we knew you'd ask. Considering the bandwidth used by servers and the technical issues it causes, we can't allow you to run any kind of server using our service. We don't provide static or registered IP addresses either. If you don't intend using the service for basic home or home-office use, Irish WISP is not for you.

It all comes back to the bandwitdh, gah. Looks neat for basic home use though when compared to the alternatives.

kamobe

There is a download/upload limit of 3 gigabytes per month but this is so large that you would have to be regularly downloading full-length movies to come close to exceeding it.

Are they trying to convince us that 3 gigs is a lot? Maybe 5 years ago it was....

Nice coincidence that they've chosen the same cap as Eircom.

Kappar

Q. How long does it take to install?
A. At time of writing, installs are taking 3 days to a week.

This seems quite a long period for installing, But i'm no expert.
Does anyone know what the aerial looks like. Is it big?

Kappar

I noticed this in their TOS (http://www.irishwisp.net/custagree/index.htm)

"You may not use the services of Irish WISP to run any kind of server, including file-swapping applications , mail, web, ftp and any other service, which in the view of Irish WISP causes a degradation of service for other customers or creates technical difficulties for Irish WISP staff."

then in thier FAQ they say

"Q. What about downloading/uploading music and movies?

A. You will be able to download music using file sharing applications such as Morpheus and Kazaar. The monthly download limit should allow you to download about 500 songs per month. Be careful with movies as they can be very large. Beware that most file sharing applications make files available to others. If you forget to disable the shared folders, other internet users will be able to use up your 3 gigabyles by downloading the files from your PC."

Seems odd.

spongebob

seems to be owned by someone in Dublin 18. Anyone hear of these guys or Techontime as they also appear to be known.

It does seem to satisfy the golden rule of location location location.

M

ando

why am i not supprised they are offering it to sandyford and south dublin first ? I might setup my own wireless ISP and stick an aerial on 3 rock since sandyford and Sdublin need it so much :mad:

OHP

Originally posted by Kappar
I noticed this in their TOS (http://www.irishwisp.net/custagree/index.htm)

If you forget to disable the shared folders, other internet users will be able to use up your 3 gigabyles by downloading the files from your PC."

Seems odd.

I agree totally. If YOU are the person that is allowed 3gig, then how can anyone else use it? Unless its a 3gig cap that works both ways 1.5gig upload, 1.5gig download which does'nt make any sence at all? Im somewhat dumbfounded by this?

OHP

theciscokid

There is a download/upload limit of 3 gigabytes per month but this is so large that you would have to be regularly downloading full-length movies to come close to exceeding it.

erm, thats the first thing i'll be doing, bar driving up to tallaght and getting my mate with cable to do it for me,

i'd have that wasted in one day,

i think the whole irish broadband view is obsurd,

broadband should always be on with no cap



:rolleyes:

theciscokid

no mention of contracts, can you just leave ?

or is there , wait for it , a fixed contract, god damned people can't give up the net even if they wanted too,

MDR

Lemming got a flyer from em though the door.

Might try and establish a line of contact and invite onto the boards. Me wonders why wireless ISP's have still yet to discover people live North O the Liffey too

STaN

post a scan of the flyer?

zynaps

Originally posted by OHP
I agree totally. If YOU are the person that is allowed 3gig, then how can anyone else use it? Unless its a 3gig cap that works both ways 1.5gig upload, 1.5gig download which does'nt make any sence at all? Im somewhat dumbfounded by this?

OHP

I assume it means 3 gig upstream and 3 gig downstream...
If it's 3 gig overall, between up and down, that's a joke

zynaps

zynaps

Noticed this in the faq too...

Q. Why is it so cheap?
A. Compared to the US or the rest of Europe, €49 is about average for this kind of service. It's just cheap compared to the alternatives that are on offer in Ireland.

So they're somewhat on the ball :P

And...

Q. What is the upload speed?

A. The upload speed (the speed from your computer to the internet) will not be as fast as the download speed. It will be in the 128-256kb/s range but is not guaranteed. Most web browsing activities do 7 times more recieving than sending. This is ample for the needs of a home or home-office user.

So it's asymmetrical, which also shows their reluctance to have people running servers or sharing files. Unlike the mysterious IBB, but from what I've been reading on their thread I wouldn't really trust them as far as I could throw them, reliability-wise.

zynaps

Serbian

Originally posted by Kappar
I noticed this in their TOS (http://www.irishwisp.net/custagree/index.htm)

"You may not use the services of Irish WISP to run any kind of server, including file-swapping applications , mail, web, ftp and any other service, which in the view of Irish WISP causes a degradation of service for other customers or creates technical difficulties for Irish WISP staff."

then in thier FAQ they say

"Q. What about downloading/uploading music and movies?

A. You will be able to download music using file sharing applications such as Morpheus and Kazaar. The monthly download limit should allow you to download about 500 songs per month. Be careful with movies as they can be very large. Beware that most file sharing applications make files available to others. If you forget to disable the shared folders, other internet users will be able to use up your 3 gigabyles by downloading the files from your PC."

Seems odd.

For me that says, You can use all these programs as long as they don't cause a degradation of service for all our other customers.

When you are actually degrading the service for others is anyones guess, especially since there is a cap in place, but if you do degrade the service I presume you will be kicked out Surf No Limits stylee.

Kappar

Originally posted by Serbian
For me that says, You can use all these programs as long as they don't cause a degradation of service for all our other customers.

When you are actually degrading the service for others is anyones guess, especially since there is a cap in place, but if you do degrade the service I presume you will be kicked out Surf No Limits stylee.

Yeah but if the say your not allowed use a file swapping apps then say "You will be able to download music using file sharing applications..." and if people upload from you will eat into you 3GB cap.

This is assuming that i'm not missing something and "file swapping " and "file sharing " or different things if so excuse me.

Lemming

Originally posted by STaN
post a scan of the flyer?

When I find the little bugger I'll scan it in. I also had a lengthy phone conversation with them about what their service would and would not allow, latency, etc, etc.


Oh, and happy new year boys and girls!

Originally posted by Ando
why am i not supprised they are offering it to sandyford and south dublin first ? I might setup my own wireless ISP and stick an aerial on 3 rock since sandyford and Sdublin need it so much

Ummm, not meaning to be smart, but three-rock mountain overlooks south-east dublin. That's possibly why their service is there at present.

martinikarl

Christopher mulready kindly invited me on to this forum to respond to questions, complaints etc.

Thank you for your comments. I cannot promise to answer all the questions all of the time but I will drop in as much as possible.

Regarding the bandwidth cap of 3 gig.....this applies to each direction. The total limit is 3 gig up plus 3 gig down. This totals 6 gig total per month if you count both directions.

Regarding the conflict between the customer agreement and the FAQ....'file sharing applications' will be removed from the customer agrement. Thank you for pointing it out.

"Are they trying to convince us that 3 gigs is a lot? Maybe 5 years ago it was.... "

Bandwidth is very expensive to buy and like any limited, contention-based resource (electricity, water) it must be metered to give a lower price to all. We may offer a larger limit in the future for an extra charge but we don't have a figure yet.

"Nice coincidence that they've chosen the same cap as Eircom"

It's no co-incidence. It makes it easy to figure out:

Eircom 3 gig - €107 inc VAT
Irish WISP 3 gig - €49 inc VAT

Please also note that we do not intend to make money from people who exceed 3 gig. We will ask them nicely to refrain and if it persists we may take other steps, such as throttling the connection.

The service is only available in South Dublin because north Dublin lacks hills. Geography was the major factor in this decision, not demographics.


'no mention of contracts, can you just leave ?'

Yes. At any time, for any reason.



Karl Martini,
Managing director,
Irish WISP LTD
www.irishwisp.net

sceptre

Welcome to the forum Karl.

As you can probably see from the UTV thread a few pages down, fancy things like customer interaction and straight-talking about services offered is one of the more appreciated things here.

Always nice to see.

gurramok

The service is only available in South Dublin because north Dublin lacks hills. Geography was the major factor in this decision, not demographics

North dublin has Howth and that other lovely hill called Dunsink Dump

MDR

Hey Karl,

Welcome to IOFFL and thank you for engaging with your customers (potiential). It seems that you recognise the fundamental problem restricting the entry of residental customers into the broadband market ... price. With all the hot air Eircom and even Esat/NTL like to bandy about, kill apps etc, Irish Wisp (and Irishbroadband) have sought to let the consumer decide, to give the consumer choice, I applaud you for it.

Any plans to extend your product range,
lower bandwidth for a lower price,
256k with a 1gig cap for €25 a month would be a killer product make no mistake. Also any plans to extend the service geographically, there are two sides to the city, lots of consumers in the north too ...

Lemming

Welcome to the boards Karl. Your interaction is much appreciated

If only more ISPs / Licensed Operatos would to the same for their "valued customers" the market be the better for it!

martinikarl

It's remarkable to see how active this forum is. Thanks for the support.

Any plans to extend the service to other areas of Dublin depend on the success of the existing installation. Line of sight and population densities are the major issues. Unfortunately, Howth overlooks Dublin bay to the south and the Irish sea to the north and the major population centres are too far.

Karl Martini
www.irishwisp.net

pork99

I know very little about wireless networking but from the little bit of reading I've done I cannot understand why IBB and, I assume, IrishWISP are using this central transmitter and radial LOS to each client instead of a radio mesh layout where each client is also a retransmitter.

Surely radio mesh would allow more or less blanket coverage anywhere without relience on expensive base stations? But I'm not an engineer.

MDR

It's remarkable to see how active this forum is.

IrelandOffline has around 2000 members, Dustaz and Septre will be able to fill you in as to how many unique hits this forum gets on a daily basis (which I hear is alot). And all these people are potiental customers ...

Unfortunately, Howth overlooks Dublin bay to the south and the Irish sea to the north and the major population centres are too far.

St Davids CBS on the Malahide Road, Artane, geographically it sites at the top of a hill. Its got line of sight to huge chunks of North Dublin (Artane, Coolock, Dumcondra, Raheny, Clontarf) even, its a five story Victorian Building, you stick an antenna up there (there are none at the moment) you would have a kick ass resource.

Its a school, they prolly have huge internet bills, go talk to them, I am sure they would do a deal, in exchange for cheaper web acceess.

martinikarl

Thanks.....I may pop out there and have a look

BoneCollector

Christopher mulready kindly invited me on to this forum to respond to questions, complaints etc.

Thanks for responding to my invite, im sure everyone will appriciate all your input.

zynaps

Originally posted by pork99
I know very little about wireless networking but from the little bit of reading I've done I cannot understand why IBB and, I assume, IrishWISP are using this central transmitter and radial LOS to each client instead of a radio mesh layout where each client is also a retransmitter.

Surely radio mesh would allow more or less blanket coverage anywhere without relience on expensive base stations? But I'm not an engineer.

I think having each client as a transmitter too would be much more expensive to set up, and I'm not sure if there would be regulatory issues if it was a different broadcast system...
It'd be nice though! Bigger customer base...

zynaps

pork99

I think having each client as a transmitter too would be much more expensive to set up

Nokia make a neat looking system for this - no idea how much it costs but its an exterior box with an antenna on it - probably connects to your pc like the IBB setup

BKtje

Does anyone know what areas this service covers?
I'm looking at leap atm for my service (Dun Laoghaire) but if wisp do my area i may be tempted to put up with the cap for €50 odd a month less.

EDIT: nm i re-read the site and saw the areas it covers. Ignore plz.(unless DUn Laoghaire is somehow covered )

David C

Karl,

Firstly, great to see more company participation on the boards!

I'm assuming, as with Irish Broadband, this service is blocked out to areas south of Blackrock.. eg Deansgrange, Cabinteely, Killiney & Ballybrack because of the transmitter's location on the more north westerly facing side of 3 Rock...

An additional transmitter on the east facing slopes would be very welcome here.. Unlike in north Dublin, the mountain is already there so it would be great if it was used to it's full potential....

Killiney Hill also has fantastic LOS to a large population itching for broadband. Looks right over Dun Laoghaire, Monkstown, Dalkey & Blackrock and far further to the north and west. There are already several two way relays up at the abandoned castle above Dalkey Quarry.
The other side of the hill looks over Shankill, Killiney, Ballybrack & Bray.

Best of luck!

raphaelS

Originally posted by David C
Karl,

Killiney Hill also has fantastic LOS to a large population itching for broadband. Looks right over Dun Laoghaire, Monkstown, Dalkey & Blackrock and far further to the north and west. There are already several two way relays up at the abandoned castle above Dalkey Quarry.

Best of luck!

Good point David... Killiney Hill is a nice spot.
And I also would like to see this area covered since I failled my IBB's LOS!

Raphael

martinikarl

I'm getting allot of emails about coverage.

Irish wisp is available within a 2.5 - 3 mile radius of 3- rock mountain. There are a few black spots also. East of the dual carriageway is difficult because of the sloping hill that runs down to Blackrock. Windy Arbour is the most northerly point available.

If you are within 2.5 miles of 3-rock and you can see the summit from your roof, you are a likely candidate for the service.

It is also important to have the wireless terminate as close as possible to the computer/ethernet converter.

Some people have computers located downstairs at over 35 feet from the antenna. In such cases, especially in outlying areas, an ethernet converter needs to be installed in the attic. This adds about €100 to the cost of the install. It also helps to have power available in the attic.

Regards,

Karl Martini
www.irishwisp.net

STaN

do the people own the equipment once it is installed?

do you charge for extra bandwidth usage?

how many people can you take on in the area?

martinikarl

Irish WISP will own the equipment after it is installed.
We don't have a package to charge for extra bandwidth yet. This will change. No prices yet.
I can't tell you the how many people we can handle in the area. We won't exceed the capacity, however.

STaN

I assume you have a basic telecommunications licence?

Any chance we could see that flyer lemming

Doing a tracert on the site ... leads to aramiska, i.e satellite broadband provider. Can i ask if the service uses satellite for backhaul?

bkehoe

Aramiska give customers free hosting for their domain, so they'd have to have an aramiska service to get the hosting. Their site is even on the same server as mine at aramiska.

SkepticOne

Originally posted by David C
Karl,

Firstly, great to see more company participation on the boards!

Especially when they identify themselves.

Pepe LeFrits

Irish wisp is available within a 2.5 - 3 mile radius of 3- rock mountain. There are a few black spots also. East of the dual carriageway is difficult because of the sloping hill that runs down to Blackrock. Windy Arbour is the most northerly point available.

Same as IBB in that regard then. Will be interesting to see if Irish wisp can make up for the difference in higher upload speed & lack of cap of IBB by being reliable.

pete

northside

please

someone

help

martinikarl

I'm sure you've all heard about Eircom's proposed price reduction for DSL to EUR 45 per month excluding VAT (EUR 54.45 with VAT)

If this happens, they will still be more expensive than irish WISP at EUR 49 but too close for comfort. We intend to comete aggressively and if these plans move ahead, we will respond.

We don't have details yet but a likely response would be a price reduction, an increase in speed, an increase or scrapping of the download cap or a combination of the above.

The speeds that wireless technology offers (72 megabits/sec and rising) mean that wireless can go much further than DSL.

We are working on many value added technologies, such as video on demand which means you can rent a movie from a video server.

This is the kind of competition you've all been looking for. We welcome it and fully intend to meet the challenge.

Karl Martini

Irish WISP

David C

Scrap (or relax) the cap like Irish Broadband and I'll seriously consider signing up...

Caps are hardly used in the UK at all.. As has been said before, instead of clock watching, you're data watching with a cap.

MDR

Well done,

its nice to see a good business attitude for a change,
can I take this opportunity to re-iterate the point about
expanding you coverage ... possibly to broadband starved
North Dublin.

Lemming

Originally posted by STaN

Any chance we could see that flyer lemming

Oh fu......

I completely forgot to scan it in STaN and I distinctly remember throwing it in the recycle bin last week with a rake of other stuff. Suffice to say, there's nothing on the flyer that isn't on the irish-wisp website.

Sorry guys

And may I just echo MDR's comments about businesses who actually WANT to provide a competitive service

d0gb0y

Ditch the eircon styled cap & release a reasonably priced 1mb product & I would join up till then i await my LOS off IBB

Lemming

FOUND IT!!!

IrishWisp Flyer

Don't ask how or where I found it ......

raindog

The Nokia Rooftop solution has been discontinued by Nokia. Mesh technologies generally are very expensive from a CPE standpoint. Motorola is another company which has a system called Canopy and it is a proprietory system similiar to Nokia's one. With these types of systems users generally wouldn't be able to purchase and setup them selves whereas with Wi-Fi (802.11b) they could.

STaN

hmmm, you trying to determine what they are using?

raindog

Not publicly on the forum though I have sent a private mail on related matters ;-) I'm just replying to the comment on mesh technologies.

Gyck

Has anyone actually subscribed to their service?

Timgu

I have a subscription to irishwisp at home , I live in sandyford , I subscribed as i have dsl in work and the 56k at home pissed me off no end,
SO a note came in the door and I subscribed, ITS THE DOGS BO***X of a service, two guys arrived and installed an aerial on the roof and fitted a 'thing' in the computer and that was it, Type in your pass word and off you go, all day if want. 24/7

Photos are so quick and downloading short movies ( if you know what I mean) takes a few seconds...........

Over all it great and highly recomended.......