Imagine LTE Rural Broadband

Marlow · 28-06-2020 12:16am

joujoujou wrote: »

As far as I know fixed wireless won't dial up the network, Imagine LTE does. SIM card is in the aerial unit. The only way it's "fixed" are the bolts you mentioned.

I am going to try to point it to another tower (there are at least 2 I can see from here) and check if I get a connection.

If you can switch tower, then it's not fixed wireless, yes. But I highly doubt it.

As for the dial-up bit or the SIM card: that does not matter. Most ISPs use dial-up protocols for their internet connectivity: it's called PPPoE.

The requirement for it to be called fixed wireless is that you're locked into a specific sector or repeater and thus, the provider can manage contention. That is what makes it fixed wireless. The tech or the way the connection is established doesn't matter.

/M

joujoujou · 28-06-2020 12:23am

Marlow wrote: »

If you can switch tower, then it's not fixed wireless, yes. But I highly doubt it.

[...]

The requirement for it to be called fixed wireless is that you're locked into a specific sector or repeater and thus, the provider can manage contention. That is what makes it fixed wireless. The tech or the way the connection is established doesn't matter.

/M

Will point myself to another tower soon, that should clarify whether it's locked or not, I've not enough knowledge regarding the details I can read from the data I can retrieve from the router (and I'm not sure if it's there) to determine that.

mossie · 03-07-2020 7:46pm

Some time ago I got the access details for my router and set up port forwarding for my CCTV. It worked fine at the time but for some reason seems to have stopped working. Same for any other device I've tried with. When I put in my ddns address in the browser it takes me to the login page for my router even with the correct port number included or I get "refused to connect". I think the router firmware may have been updated in the meantime but I can't see any change to the port forwarding. Anyone have similar experiences and / or solutions?

Thanks
Mossie

tubawaski · 09-07-2020 12:02am

Hello,

We've been thinking of switching to Imagine. The ADSL we have is very slow, this test done at midnight but during the day we get maybe 2Mbit at most:

We've also tried 3 home broadband plan but it's also shocking, no matter if peak or off-peak the speeds from 3 is always the same:

With some having to work at home and some doing uni work it's impossible to work with these speeds.

I called up Imagine and he told me the house is 2.2KM from the mast, he also said that on average people here get speeds of 80-90Mbit (dont know until I find out). Is this distance fine for signal strength? And also if there's anyone who would possibly be on the same mast (Coolaney, Co. Sligo, you can see the mast on the mountains, the site name of the mast is Bralee), can you provide some speed tests?

Thanks

TopTec · 09-07-2020 8:57am

You should get good speeds from that mast... with Sligo having good FTTH coverage. I recall a few hundred posts back someone who was getting 100+ mbps from that mast when they signed up. Direct LOS that close will be perfect for speeds. Be aware though that the 80 - 90 is in the early part of your contract so expect it to drop off especially in the pm.

I am on the Ballina mast, another relatively quiet one. I average 20 - 40 Mbps during the pandemic, 40 -80 before. Certainly better than what you are currently getting, but Imagine are more expensive and have a fair useage policy in place.

I've just run a test on Ookla, first one in some time, came back as 99mbps down, 3.50 up.

TT

Happy_Harry · 09-07-2020 10:27am

tubawaski wrote: »

Hello,

We've been thinking of switching to Imagine. The ADSL we have is very slow, this test done at midnight but during the day we get maybe 2Mbit at most:

We've also tried 3 home broadband plan but it's also shocking, no matter if peak or off-peak the speeds from 3 is always the same:

With some having to work at home and some doing uni work it's impossible to work with these speeds.

I called up Imagine and he told me the house is 2.2KM from the mast, he also said that on average people here get speeds of 80-90Mbit (dont know until I find out). Is this distance fine for signal strength? And also if there's anyone who would possibly be on the same mast (Coolaney, Co. Sligo, you can see the mast on the mountains, the site name of the mast is Bralee), can you provide some speed tests?

Thanks

I am 10+ k away and would see those speeds during off peak times. In the evening it is a bit of a lottery. Could be anything between 0.5 to 30Mbps down

tubawaski · 09-07-2020 10:38am

TopTec wrote: »

You should get good speeds from that mast... with Sligo having good FTTH coverage. I recall a few hundred posts back someone who was getting 100+ mbps from that mast when they signed up. Direct LOS that close will be perfect for speeds. Be aware though that the 80 - 90 is in the early part of your contract so expect it to drop off especially in the pm.

I am on the Ballina mast, another relatively quiet one. I average 20 - 40 Mbps during the pandemic, 40 -80 before. Certainly better than what you are currently getting, but Imagine are more expensive and have a fair useage policy in place.

I've just run a test on Ookla, first one in some time, came back as 99mbps down, 3.50 up.

TT

I'll take 20Mbps down any day over what we get now. Plus some better upload would be appreciated. I'm gonna have to do a lot of uni work over Teams so I need something decent that can at least handle that. All the other stuff like Netflix, YT would be a bonus.

I'm at home most of the time so during off peak times, guess the speeds would still be better than these times.

I dont mind the fair usage policy, I dont see our household going over the 1TB limit.

tubawaski · 09-07-2020 10:42am

TopTec wrote: »

You should get good speeds from that mast... with Sligo having good FTTH coverage. I recall a few hundred posts back someone who was getting 100+ mbps from that mast when they signed up. Direct LOS that close will be perfect for speeds. Be aware though that the 80 - 90 is in the early part of your contract so expect it to drop off especially in the pm.

I am on the Ballina mast, another relatively quiet one. I average 20 - 40 Mbps during the pandemic, 40 -80 before. Certainly better than what you are currently getting, but Imagine are more expensive and have a fair useage policy in place.

I've just run a test on Ookla, first one in some time, came back as 99mbps down, 3.50 up.

TT

Another thing, what are your average speeds from about 6pm to midnight?(peak times)

joujoujou · 09-07-2020 1:41pm

tubawaski wrote: »

[...]

I called up Imagine and he told me the house is 2.2KM from the mast, he also said that on average people here get speeds of 80-90Mbit (dont know until I find out). Is this distance fine for signal strength? [...]

Yes, that distance is fine for decent speeds, especially that area is covered by local fixed wireless provider, so (I guess) there's not so much demand for Imagine rural product as elsewhere.

Treat speedtest's results with a pinch of salt though, it's good to check on other sites as well.

Just now - speedtest gave 81 Mbit/s down 12 Mbit/s up, testmy.net gave 40 Mbit/s down, 4 Mbit/s up.

TopTec · 09-07-2020 2:46pm

tubawaski wrote: »

Another thing, what are your average speeds from about 6pm to midnight?(peak times)

Don't know to be honest... I haven't tested in a while. I will do some tonight.
TT

Wing126 · 09-07-2020 6:44pm

So I just noticed Imagine now have 3 masts closer to me than the one I signed up with initially. I wonder how I could get on to one of those.

Anybody on either of the two masts in Naul or the mast out by Donore?

Mortelaro · 09-07-2020 7:14pm

joujoujou wrote: »

Yes, that distance is fine for decent speeds, especially that area is covered by local fixed wireless provider, so (I guess) there's not so much demand for Imagine rural product as elsewhere.

Treat speedtest's results with a pinch of salt though, it's good to check on other sites as well.

Just now - speedtest gave 81 Mbit/s down 12 Mbit/s up, testmy.net gave 40 Mbit/s down, 4 Mbit/s up.

If you do two tests back to back on imagine,no matter what tester you use they will be different
Sometimes wildly different
Ftth will generally give the same result each time

joujoujou · 09-07-2020 11:03pm

That's why ookla based tests are not reliable.

5uqH5IFOA.CKvi8hhQr.png

TopTec · 10-07-2020 8:31am

As promised...my Ookla tests from yesterday evening... (Ballina mast, been with imagine for 3 years)

19.30 - 84 down, 2.37 up
19.40 - 106 down 3.8 up
20.15 - 88 down, 4.62 up
21.40 - 54 down, 4.58 up
22.50 - 36 down, 4.42 up
23.20 - 41 down, 3.89 up

Following Joujoujou's post above just did a comparison test....

Ookla 107 up 5.37 down..... Testmynet 111 up 4.30 down. Pretty much the same.

TT

dam099 · 10-07-2020 10:28am

TopTec wrote: »

As promised...my Ookla tests from yesterday evening... (Ballina mast, been with imagine for 3 years)

19.30 - 84 up, 2.37 down 19.40 - 106 up, 3.8 down
20.15 - 88 up, 4.62 down
21.40 - 54 up, 4.58 down
22.50 - 36 up, 4.42 down
23.20 - 41 up, 3.89 down

Following Joujoujou's post above just did a comparison test....

Ookla 107 up 5.37 down..... Testmynet 111 up 4.30 down. Pretty much the same.

TT

Do you have your upload and download reversed above? I don think Imagine offer anywhere near 36-107 up.

TopTec · 10-07-2020 7:25pm

dam099 wrote: »

Do you have your upload and download reversed above? I don think Imagine offer anywhere near 36-107 up.

I do... well spotted... Shouldn't post when I am talking to the Amazon chat line!! Thanks.

TT

tubawaski · 11-07-2020 12:39am

We went ahead with Imagine, an engineer is supposed to come on Monday to install the receiver.

Will post once everything is done and have some speed tests.

tubawaski · 14-07-2020 12:14am

Update, the guys from Imagine came today just before 5pm, took about an hour and half or so. Everything works nicely so far but I've a question (which I think was answered already but I'll confirm anyway.

So, I see there is no infromation to login to the control panel of the router, is it right that I have to call them up to get this information? I wanted to change a few things like the SSID and password, also for static IP leases and to setup my other router which I have as a AP, and honestly would prefer that to be the main AP as the Gemtek (WVRTM-130ACN) isn't performing that great through walls.

I've done some speedtests using Ookla and testmy net, the test done back 2 back so one after another. Here are the results:

18:00:

19:00:

20:00:

21:00:

22:00:

23:00:

00:00:

Quick edit:
Done a few tests around 1:30am, all were going over the 150Mbps advertised by Imagine, but this one particularly stood out:

mossie · 14-07-2020 8:03am

tubawaski wrote: »

So, I see there is no infromation to login to the control panel of the router, is it right that I have to call them up to get this information?

I emailed them for it and probably had to do so 5 times before I got a reply. Maybe phoning might be quicker.

joujoujou · 14-07-2020 3:44pm

Got my login details over the phone straight away, no problem. Just tell them you want to open some ports for your own web server/cctv etc. SSIDs and passwords can also be altered after you log on to lteportal.imagine.ie

Found the gemtek they gave me quite decent (but I already have few APs in the house, shed and attic), especially it also has gigabit LAN, but kept rest of my network as well, with just a bit of reconfiguration.

tubawaski · 15-07-2020 1:38pm

Hi guys,

I have this weird problem, if I have anything connected to the ethernet ports of the Gemtek router, the internet is super slow, webpages take forever to load and on a speedtest the ping is super high. The device I plugged in is a Synology NAS but I also tried my other router and the situation was the same, any ideas what's going on?

Here is one with every port unplugged:

Another thing, I called them up today got the details for the router interface. However the DNS settings are locked, any way of getting around that on a network level so I dont have to set the DNS on each device manually?

joujoujou · 15-07-2020 2:25pm

tubawaski wrote: »

Hi guys,

I have this weird problem, if I have anything connected to the ethernet ports of the Gemtek router, the internet is super slow, webpages take forever to load and on a speedtest the ping is super high. The device I plugged in is a Synology NAS but I also tried my other router and the situation was the same, any ideas what's going on?

[...]

Take a look here:

https://community.synology.com/enu/forum/17/post/53448

tubawaski wrote: »

Another thing, I called them up today got the details for the router interface. However the DNS settings are locked, any way of getting around that on a network level so I dont have to set the DNS on each device manually?

You're right, they have DNSs locked indeed! :eek:

Didn't even notice that until now, I've cascaded router with DHCP server and DNS for my local network.

mossie · 15-07-2020 2:33pm

joujoujou wrote: »

Take a look here:

https://community.synology.com/enu/forum/17/post/53448

You're right, they have DNSs locked indeed! :eek:

Didn't even notice that until now, I've cascaded router with DHCP server and DNS for my local network.

Yeah they locked that fairly recently. I remember being able to edit that before.

bonzothebuzz · 15-07-2020 9:22pm

Is anyone using imagine broadband in the Ballivor area, very interested to hear your thoughts if you are as I was going to sign up earlier on the year, cheers

AH2016 · 21-07-2020 11:54am

Just wondering has anyone else noticed this issue:

When we upload a file it basically makes the internet unusable whilst uploading. If we upload work files or a video it essentially makes the internet unusable during that time so it will kick our son out of his online game or videos will start to lag etc.

oscarBravo · 21-07-2020 12:10pm

AH2016 wrote: »

Just wondering has anyone else noticed this issue:

When we upload a file it basically makes the internet unusable whilst uploading. If we upload work files or a video it essentially makes the internet unusable during that time so it will kick our son out of his online game or videos will start to lag etc.

Filling an upload pipe will always make download unusable.

To oversimplify somewhat: when you're downloading, the remote server sends you a chunk of data, waits for you to confirm you've received it ('ACK'), then sends you the next chunk.

If your upload pipe is full, the ACK gets stuck in the queue and is delayed. The server that's sending you stuff notices the delay in receiving the ACK, and politely slows down the rate at which it sends you data.

Worst case, the ACK gets delayed for so long that the sender assumes that it isn't coming and sends the previous chunk of data again. Then it gets an ACK for the original chunk, and confusion reigns.

The short version: don't fill up your upload pipe. Figure out how much upload bandwidth you have available, and throttle your uploads to no more than (say) 80% of that.

AH2016 · 22-07-2020 10:52am

oscarBravo wrote: »

Filling an upload pipe will always make download unusable.

To oversimplify somewhat: when you're downloading, the remote server sends you a chunk of data, waits for you to confirm you've received it ('ACK'), then sends you the next chunk.

If your upload pipe is full, the ACK gets stuck in the queue and is delayed. The server that's sending you stuff notices the delay in receiving the ACK, and politely slows down the rate at which it sends you data.

Worst case, the ACK gets delayed for so long that the sender assumes that it isn't coming and sends the previous chunk of data again. Then it gets an ACK for the original chunk, and confusion reigns.

The short version: don't fill up your upload pipe. Figure out how much upload bandwidth you have available, and throttle your uploads to no more than (say) 80% of that.

I cant seem to find anywhere in the router settings where i can limit the upload bandwidth for devices.

listermint · 22-07-2020 11:01am

AH2016 wrote: »

I cant seem to find anywhere in the router settings where i can limit the upload bandwidth for devices.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHqxBsBD7SI

AH2016 · 22-07-2020 11:32am

listermint wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHqxBsBD7SI

Thank you. However that will only allow me to scale the upload from the PC. It wont allow me to do it for a mobile or other device on the network. I would need to do it in the router settings but cant see an option.

oscarBravo · 22-07-2020 11:54am

AH2016 wrote: »

Thank you. However that will only allow me to scale the upload from the PC. It wont allow me to do it for a mobile or other device on the network. I would need to do it in the router settings but cant see an option.

Depending on how the router works, it might not help to do it there. If the router restricts your upload bandwidth by creating a FIFO queue, then you'll see the same problems: your ACKs will get stuck in the queue.

Quin_Dub · 22-07-2020 3:51pm

Talking to Imagine today about enabling Bridge mode (again) and they tell me that my current kit doesn't support it and that I need to upgrade/replace the router and external equipment.

They also claim that the newer kit will help with performance issues I have been having - specifically slow upload speed.

I seem to recall a few comments recently about mixed experiences from people that had kit replaced/upgraded but can't find them now.

Any insight into whether this is a worthwhile step?

I'm on the Maghera Mast.

listermint · 22-07-2020 4:17pm

Quin_Dub wrote: »

Talking to Imagine today about enabling Bridge mode (again) and they tell me that my current kit doesn't support it and that I need to upgrade/replace the router and external equipment.

They also claim that the newer kit will help with performance issues I have been having - specifically slow upload speed.

I seem to recall a few comments recently about mixed experiences from people that had kit replaced/upgraded but can't find them now.

Any insight into whether this is a worthwhile step?

I'm on the Maghera Mast.

Mine was replaced yesterday, Speeds improved from my tests. went from 22mb to circa 80mb post install thats within 30 mins of each other.

Hard to tell if equipment or different mast.

I was having no real problems before the upgrade, never contacted them. They just called me to send out a team. Have not spoken to them in about 3 years since original gear went in.

Tommy Lagahan · 23-07-2020 10:17am

Does anyone know what the DHCP range on the Imagine modems is by default? Wouldnt mind setting up some static IPs on the LAN but dont want it getting claimed by the phone or something when it connects to the wifi.

tubawaski · 23-07-2020 12:00pm

From what I see it's from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.254, the router by default is 192.168.15.1 (I changed it to 192.168.1.1). Have my NAS setup as 192.168.1.254 and my extra router that I use as an extender is 192.168.1.3. The imagine router has sth setup for 192.168.1.2 but I'm not sure what it is.

About the stationary phone, I have not connected mine yet so not sure.

joujoujou · 24-07-2020 8:08am

Tommy Lagahan wrote: »

Does anyone know what the DHCP range on the Imagine modems is by default?

Gemtek stuff they're installing now have 192.168.15.2 up to 192.168.15.254 range.

Tommy Lagahan wrote: »

Wouldnt mind setting up some static IPs on the LAN but dont want it getting claimed by the phone or something when it connects to the wifi.

Reduce the range and assign static IP which is outside of (reduced) range or alternatively use lease reservation feature.

deadl0ck · 24-07-2020 9:17am

You can assign static IPs to specific MAC addresses also

Tommy Lagahan · 27-07-2020 11:59am

Cheers lads I'll have to get on to Imagine to get the login credentials for the modem then so

Also was Imagine down for anyone else this morning? Bit of a scramble to get online for a meeting there at 10, it came back up after rebooting the modem though.

joujoujou · 27-07-2020 12:53pm

Was fine here all day. Probably some local problem I guess.

tubawaski · 28-07-2020 2:53am

Quick update, it's quite surprising what it's capable of during off-peak times (1am-7am), and it looks like Imagine doesn't have a strict 150mbit speed limit?
$a0e24812-26e4-4d1e-a7ef-f76b9b29a720.png\$

Wing126 · 28-07-2020 2:39pm

So, having an issue, not sure how long it's been going on, but I've definitely been noticing it a lot more since I've been home.

As soon as I turn on my PS4 Pro, my network gets crippled and everything else that's connected to the net slows down.

My PS4 is connected directly to the router via ethernet and not through powerline. I have changed the channel that the wifi broadcasts on from 6 to 11 and I've changed some internet settings on my PS4: DNS, MTU and the likes.

This happens even when I'm not downloading anything on the PS4, the second I power on my PS4 the network slows.

Anybody know what might cause this? Not sure if this is an Imagine issue or a PS4 issue, but just want to get a perspective from somebody else on the same ISP.

Quin_Dub · 28-07-2020 2:43pm

Wing126 wrote: »

So, having an issue, not sure how long it's been going on, but I've definitely been noticing it a lot more since I've been home.

As soon as I turn on my PS4 Pro, my network gets crippled and everything else that's connected to the net slows down.

My PS4 is connected directly to the router via ethernet and not through powerline. I have changed the channel that the wifi broadcasts on from 6 to 11 and I've changed some internet settings on my PS4: DNS, MTU and the likes.

This happens even when I'm not downloading anything on the PS4, the second I power on my PS4 the network slows.

Anybody know what might cause this? Not sure if this is an Imagine issue or a PS4 issue, but just want to get a perspective from somebody else on the same ISP.

Just the Wifi connected devices?

Is the hard-wired PS4 ok? or do you have anything else that you can connect via cable?

Just thinking maybe interference from the PSU on the Playstation if it's close to the router?

Wing126 · 28-07-2020 2:46pm

Quin_Dub wrote: »

Just the Wifi connected devices?

Is the hard-wired PS4 ok? or do you have anything else that you can connect via cable?

Just thinking maybe interference from the PSU on the Playstation if it's close to the router?

Just the wifi devices, PS4 reports download speeds well above 20mb.

The PS4 is in my room and the router isn't nearby so I don't think it would be direct interference like that.

Good shout about the other ethernet devices, I'll see if I can find another cable and try another device.

Edit: Okay actually think something has changed. I noticed my router was only using 802.11/g/n so I changed it to 802.11/b/g/n and it seems to be working? Will test a little bit now and see.

Edit 2: Got about 30 minutes before it slowed back down to a crawl again.

Edit 3: Wondering if I can get a replacement router from Imagine? From what I can find by Googling, it's possibly caused by interference from the consoles Bluetooth signal and that an older router can lead to that issue.

I'm out of contract, so likely I'd need to go back in to contract before they'd replace it right?

tubawaski · 28-07-2020 7:58pm

Wing126 wrote: »

Edit 3: Wondering if I can get a replacement router from Imagine? From what I can find by Googling, it's possibly caused by interference from the consoles Bluetooth signal and that an older router can lead to that issue.

I'm out of contract, so likely I'd need to go back in to contract before they'd replace it right?

Call them up and ask, doesn't hurt.
I dont know about Imagine, but once we had a router issue when we had Vodafone and they sent out a new one with the post. However, I cant remember if I was still on contract or not.

medoc · 29-07-2020 9:32am

It’s funny hearing the latest Imagine adverts on the radio. They’ve gone back to mentioning Fibre again now that 5G is a bad word. Very clever marketing, starting off with Fibre powered and Fibre speeds then switching to 5G ready etc when the controversy started with the NBP costs. Now that 5G is been blamed for everything from Corona to Chinese spying it’s dropped in favour of the Fibre again.

Grab All Association · 11-08-2020 1:49am

Posters up on poles under fibre Distribution Points in my area advertising “Fast Broadband”

About 8 Imagine vans and 1 Land Rover Defender parked up and installers having a meeting in Lidl carpark Thurles yesterday. Targeting areas like Borrisoleigh which not only has FTTH, but FTTC as well. Every person there who will Stupidly sign up, will just lead to more contention and more unhappy customers in non FTTH/C areas nearby.

eagle eye · 11-08-2020 1:50am

Polls went up in my area three weeks ago but I was delighted to hear it's for fibre optic.

morgana · 14-08-2020 10:59pm

Does downloading off-peak (1 - 7 am, right?) still not count towards your allowance? I could not find any mention of that anymore, but they do differentiate on their usage tracker between peak/off peak downloads without defining the time periods.

Oafley Jones · 14-08-2020 11:01pm

morgana wrote: »

Does downloading off-peak (1 - 7 am, right?) still not count towards your allowance? I could not find any mention of that anymore, but they do differentiate on their usage tracker between peak/off peak downloads without defining the time periods.

Got our first warning last week and they mentioned the above times as zero rated.

morgana · 15-08-2020 12:06am

Ok, thanks. You would think that they mention this on the usage tracking page, would be logical. Xd

tubawaski · 16-08-2020 4:58pm

morgana wrote: »

Does downloading off-peak (1 - 7 am, right?) still not count towards your allowance? I could not find any mention of that anymore, but they do differentiate on their usage tracker between peak/off peak downloads without defining the time periods.

I emailed them about this some time ago, the guy said this:

"In relation to our Fair Usage Policy, only data used within Peak times is counted towards the monthly allowance of 1TB.

Data used within our Off Peak time will not count towards your Fair Usage Policy.

Off-peak is from 1AM to 7AM."

Imagine LTE Rural Broadband

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