Imagine launch Midband Ripwave Replacement - WiMAX

thebman · 05-07-2010 08:28PM

watty wrote: »

But like Mobile, it depends which mast you are on, how far you are, what interference and what kind of users on same mast (a bunch of Students or Grannies?).

Getting an outdoor aerial is always good advice.

Yes true that and after all my almost praise for them recently, the service was down randomly until now since I got home at half 6. Oh Imagine.

dondwyer157 · 05-07-2010 11:32PM

watty wrote: »

But like Mobile, it depends which mast you are on, how far you are, what interference and what kind of users on same mast (a bunch of Students or Grannies?).

Getting an outdoor aerial is always good advice.

well I'm not a million miles away from UCC, but I doubt many students would be taking advantage for WiMax just yet. From what I've seen, o2 seem to have the student mobile bband maket almost all to themsleves! (They do a cheap student deal)

Outside mast I reckon would be the way to go alright. I'm in a bit of a valley so I'd probably need it. Still have about a month and a half left on the Vodafone contract, but I reckon I'll give Imagine a ring when it's up......unless Vodafone wanna step in and PM me with an offer......:D

Do they block all torrents, even legal ones? It's not that big a deal for me as I rarely use any torrents, but I don't like the idea of them being banned altogether.:mad:

thebman · 06-07-2010 01:25AM

some people say it only works at 3 am or so but I have a work around. PM me for details as I know they monitor this thread and will block if they find out.

Crap at the moment.

jay93 · 06-07-2010 02:21AM

thebman wrote: »

some people say it only works at 3 am or so but I have a work around. PM me for details as I know they monitor this thread and will block if they find out.

Crap at the moment.

that is dire that is 1227 ms ping time pages must take a age to even load at that time of the morning to it should'nt be that bad ..id dump that service as it really isnt worth paying for even my 3G services from both o2 and 3 are wayy better than that wimax is a big hype for nothing in my opinion it sucks really really bad !!

thebman · 06-07-2010 08:26AM

Its not like that all the time, just last night. Something obviously went seriously wrong, usually ping is about 70-120ms.

smelly sock · 06-07-2010 02:21PM

You would think if they monitored this thread they would realise how poor and inconsistent their product can be and try an improve the service. I get the impression customer satisfaction isn't high on their list of priorities.

watty · 06-07-2010 04:02PM

It's of the nature of a Mobile /Nomadic product, especially at 3.5GHz. It's impossible to have it consistent without banishing EVERY indoor aerial and Dongle and ONLY having fixed aerials and a strict limit on sales per sector.

Which is a totally different network to what they decided to sell.

MrVestek · 06-07-2010 04:35PM

smelly sock wrote: »

You would think if they monitored this thread they would realise how poor and inconsistent their product can be and try an improve the service. I get the impression customer satisfaction isn't high on their list of priorities.

You would think.

imaginarywimax · 21-07-2010 05:25AM

Just found this on youtube... thought you'd all get a kick out of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNU4qBZmZiw

po0k · 21-07-2010 11:15PM

Mine came today.

It's not a faster, asymmetric Breeze, annoyed that there's no jack to plug in the roof-mounted antenna.

The PIN I was emailed and SMS'd doesn't work.

Failballs to WiMAX so far.

Only getting the minimum 2 bars in the area I want to locate the router, peaking sometimes to 3 bars when sitting on the northfacing bedroom window in the other end of the apt.

Will be returning stating not fit for service intended if it doesn't deliver a stable connection.

I had better get my 50quid setup fee back too.

22-07-2010 04:01AM

po0k wrote: »

Mine came today.

It's not a faster, asymmetric Breeze, annoyed that there's no jack to plug in the roof-mounted antenna.

The PIN I was emailed and SMS'd doesn't work.

Failballs to WiMAX so far.

Only getting the minimum 2 bars in the area I want to locate the router, peaking sometimes to 3 bars when sitting on the northfacing bedroom window in the other end of the apt.

Will be returning stating not fit for service intended if it doesn't deliver a stable connection.

I had better get my 50quid setup fee back too.

Let us know how it goes - specifically the interactions you have with imagine - ive heard bad things about their customer support in regards to wimax specifically and would like to see if there is any truth to this

cheers dude

fcrossen · 22-07-2010 09:37AM

po0k wrote: »

It's not a faster, asymmetric Breeze

I don't think anyone ever said it was. In fact I have comparison benchmarks somewhere on this thread which show clearly that it isn't.
At this stage though the thread is so saturated with rubbish that it is difficult to weed out the chaff... the only thing WiMax will compare favorably to is Ripwave or 3G

po0k wrote: »

Only getting the minimum 2 bars in the area I want to locate the router, peaking sometimes to 3 bars

I rarely get more than 2 bars where mine is located, and it is fine.

DoctorGonzo08 · 22-07-2010 12:32PM

Have it now a month and a half. Had a few hiccups along the way but I am quite pleased with it now. First thing I would recommend is use Opera's browser. Internet Explorer is rubbish on Wimax, connection constantly dropping out. Firefox is a little better but not a hell of a lot. Since using Opera streaming & page loading is as fast as the 3MB broadband I had with NTL.

po0k · 22-07-2010 11:01PM

warlikedave wrote: »

Let us know how it goes - specifically the interactions you have with imagine - ive heard bad things about their customer support in regards to wimax specifically and would like to see if there is any truth to this

cheers dude

Brought it into work today, was getting 4 bars. Got onto their support before heading home, got a callcentre guy after a few minutes who sorted out the PIN issue.
Activated the connection in work (D2) at a window.
speedtest.net was gving me ~200ms/0.5-0.6Mbps down/0.5Mbps up.
Pinging google, boards, a uk game server jumps between 120 and 250, spiking to 400.

Brought it home (D6), tested it again, 2bars, pretty much the same results, more packetloss on the pings.
Downloading a small .iso from HEAnet got me ~35KB/sec.
I didn't waste my time doing smokeping/mtr/iperf runs across it.

So it's cock-in-ear performance. Not suitable for intended purpose (upgrading from Breeze), sales guy said to try it out and not to cancel what I have until I verify it works.

I get 250KB/sec and pings of 15-20ms with the breeze connection. And a static IP.

I'd love to see an option to use the breeze's fixed directional antenna (still 3.5Ghz band isn't it?) instead of a mincing little homehub thing.
Might mean an engineer call-out to point it to a different highsite, but I would expect it to be a much better product.
Leave the indoor motorola for the farmvillians.

Service-wise I have no complaints about Imagine.
Hopefully that opinion won't change tomorrow after the phonecall.

fcrossen wrote: »

I don't think anyone ever said it was. In fact I have comparison benchmarks somewhere on this thread which show clearly that it isn't.

Cool, I wasn't replying to anyone, it was just a statement of what I was hoping against hope for.
When the sales guy said it was indoor antenna, I suspected it might be a bit like Ripwave but gave them the benefit of the doubt.
"Intel and Motorola make solid gear most of the time" and "WiMAX has been knocking around for aaaaages".

But I live on the ground floor of a 4 floor building, not an Intel cardboard test facility

watty · 23-07-2010 05:46AM

po0k wrote: »

So it's cock-in-ear performance. Not suitable for intended purpose (upgrading from Breeze)
When the sales guy said it was indoor antenna, I suspected it might be a bit like Ripwave but gave them the benefit of the doubt.
"Intel and Motorola make solid gear most of the time" and "WiMAX has been knocking around for aaaaages".

But I live on the ground floor of a 4 floor building, not an Intel cardboard test facility

It's Ripwave using OFDM instead of CDMA.

Fixed Wimax is good.

ANY Mobile/Nomadic product with indoor aerials on 3.5GHz will be poor, the Mobile Wimax is better than Ripwave on a very loaded sector (OFDM vs CDMA), just as LTE will be better than 3G. But If you have the same band which is unsuitable for Indoor use and roughtly same spectrum (same licences) then it won't be much better.

Unfortunately because the spectrum is shared between the users having any mobile/Nomadic/indoor aerials will spoil the network compared to a system that only uses fixed aerials

See http://www.radioway.info/comparewireless/
The only big advantage or difference between the Imagine Wimax and Ripwave or 3G is that it's not CDMA. So on slides of the link it's pretty similar to 3G (with more capacity as it has bigger channels) and lacks the evil cell breathing.

Mobile WiMax is about x8 less efficient use of spectrum than Fixed Wimax or a Mobile WiMax deployed with ONLY fixed directional outdoor aerials. 3.5GHz is particularly poor for in building use. Even 2.1GHz 3G is quite poor compared to 900MHz GSM for in building use. 1800MHz GSM is nearly as poor as 3G and much better than 3.5GHz. It's a gradual degradation as frequency rises.

po0k · 24-07-2010 12:25AM

watty wrote: »

Mobile WiMax is about x8 less efficient use of spectrum than Fixed Wimax or a Mobile WiMax deployed with ONLY fixed directional outdoor aerials. 3.5GHz is particularly poor for in building use. Even 2.1GHz 3G is quite poor compared to 900MHz GSM for in building use. 1800MHz GSM is nearly as poor as 3G and much better than 3.5GHz. It's a gradual degradation as frequency rises.

That 8x factor is what I'm seeing, along with loss.
Didn't get to ring them today, mad busy. No reply to my mail to sales rep either though.

Chaz · 24-07-2010 10:50AM

po0k wrote: »

Brought it into work today, was getting 4 bars. Got onto their support before heading home, got a callcentre guy after a few minutes who sorted out the PIN issue.
Activated the connection in work (D2) at a window.
speedtest.net was gving me ~200ms/0.5-0.6Mbps down/0.5Mbps up.
Pinging google, boards, a uk game server jumps between 120 and 250, spiking to 400.

Brought it home (D6), tested it again, 2bars, pretty much the same results, more packetloss on the pings.
Downloading a small .iso from HEAnet got me ~35KB/sec.
I didn't waste my time doing smokeping/mtr/iperf runs across it.

So it's cock-in-ear performance. Not suitable for intended purpose (upgrading from Breeze), sales guy said to try it out and not to cancel what I have until I verify it works.

I get 250KB/sec and pings of 15-20ms with the breeze connection. And a static IP.

I'd love to see an option to use the breeze's fixed directional antenna (still 3.5Ghz band isn't it?) instead of a mincing little homehub thing.
Might mean an engineer call-out to point it to a different highsite, but I would expect it to be a much better product.
Leave the indoor motorola for the farmvillians.

Service-wise I have no complaints about Imagine.
Hopefully that opinion won't change tomorrow after the phonecall.

Cool, I wasn't replying to anyone, it was just a statement of what I was hoping against hope for.
When the sales guy said it was indoor antenna, I suspected it might be a bit like Ripwave but gave them the benefit of the doubt.
"Intel and Motorola make solid gear most of the time" and "WiMAX has been knocking around for aaaaages".

But I live on the ground floor of a 4 floor building, not an Intel cardboard test facility

Nope, the breeze is all 5.4 and/or 5.8 GHz. I believe they ripped out all the 3.5GHz Breezemax stuff to make way for Navini (Ripwave) a few years back which has then since been replaced with the WiMax product you have.

watty · 24-07-2010 01:33PM

I guess the BreezeMax is expensive on Installation and a bit more expensive as equipment.

5.x is becoming a problem due to Analogue Video senders as people discover the 2.4Ghz Video senders interfere (and vice versa) with Wifi 802.11b/g

They are CE marked, but Comreg's site suggests only Wifi (802.11a/n?) is allowed 5.x Licence free operation.

Video Senders use FM so are 15MHz to 25MHz bandwidth and typically have choice of 4 "channels". 100mw is common, some are 500mW +

NZ Blaa · 29-07-2010 11:29AM

First time poster!

I know there is an 85 page thread, but i am not the most technically savvy! Living in North County Dublin and am strongly considering signing up. 150 sign up and then 40 per month. Am I stupid?

Thanks,

Chaz · 29-07-2010 11:34AM

NZ Blaa wrote: »

First time poster!

I know there is an 85 page thread, but i am not the most technically savvy! Living in North County Dublin and am strongly considering signing up. 150 sign up and then 40 per month. Am I stupid?

Thanks,

For that money - yes, I think so. Try it and see (if you can opt out). I suspect you will get similar with a 3G dongle which allows more coverage if you want to travel and you should be able to find a much better package.

That said, you need to consider the caps on both sets of packages ...

NZ Blaa - interesting name. You a Kiwi?

NZ Blaa · 29-07-2010 11:37AM

Thanks for your reply, what do you mean by caps on packages?

Not a kiwi, from Ireland, but lived there for quite a few years, and this username made sense at the time!

Chaz · 29-07-2010 11:43AM

NZ Blaa wrote: »

Thanks for your reply, what do you mean by caps on packages?

Not a kiwi, from Ireland, but lived there for quite a few years, and this username made sense at the time!

Caps on packages = number of Gigs you can download/upload per month.

I lived in NZ for 7 months after a bit of a failed immigration attempt ....

NZ Blaa · 29-07-2010 11:48AM

Ahh, thanks!
Had Eircom but recently moved house and we have been waiting 4 weeks for them to install a new line, so we can get broadband. Mainly used broadband to watch football online, never downloaded a film or music so would imagine shouldn't go over limits.
We have signed up, but have a week to change our minds, looks like I'll need to do some more research!

We went for 12 months on the WH visa and stayed for a few years, loved it! Came home to settle though. Things are opening up again there at the moment (I work in international immigration) so always worth keeping your options open!

Thanks again for your advice

Chaz · 29-07-2010 12:02PM

NZ Blaa wrote: »

Ahh, thanks!
Had Eircom but recently moved house and we have been waiting 4 weeks for them to install a new line, so we can get broadband. Mainly used broadband to watch football online, never downloaded a film or music so would imagine shouldn't go over limits.
We have signed up, but have a week to change our minds, looks like I'll need to do some more research!

We went for 12 months on the WH visa and stayed for a few years, loved it! Came home to settle though. Things are opening up again there at the moment (I work in international immigration) so always worth keeping your options open!

Thanks again for your advice

We have just cancelled our PR application, a few weeks ago - long story but it will be difficult to go in the next few years. Still keen but suspect timing isnt great at present.

baegan · 03-08-2010 09:32AM

guys
any of ye actually use wimax? im considering takin out the 30 euro a month unlimited download package with them, but would like some feedback on their sevice.
im living in dublin 15, clonsilla and am currently with smart, 45 a month unlimited download.
im looking to change provider but no sure what best option is.
im looking for unlimited download limit and less than paying at the minute
any thoughts?

bealtine · 03-08-2010 09:42AM

baegan wrote: »

im looking for unlimited download limit and less than paying at the minute
any thoughts?

It's not unlimited, its got a 30G limit per month. This is hidden in their FUP.

thebman · 03-08-2010 10:38AM

bealtine wrote: »

It's not unlimited, its got a 30G limit per month. This is hidden in their FUP.

They aren't harsh on this though. I've downloaded a few steam games in one month that would easily have hit this limit with additional browsing and streaming video on top and no caution.

baegan wrote: »

guys
any of ye actually use wimax? im considering takin out the 30 euro a month unlimited download package with them, but would like some feedback on their sevice.
im living in dublin 15, clonsilla and am currently with smart, 45 a month unlimited download.
im looking to change provider but no sure what best option is.
im looking for unlimited download limit and less than paying at the minute
any thoughts?

Smart is probably better if you can afford it. Imagine aren't as torrent friendly as Smart would be. Other than that, service has improved a lot in Maynooth area since launching and I rarely have any issues now except some ping spiking every now and again (as in not usually two spikes in same day). Usually constant 70ms ping now.

watty · 04-08-2010 10:51AM

Will this be the last gasp of Intel backed Mobile WiMax as Intel jumps to offer LTE?

http://www.techtir.ie/node/1003503

Cantona's Collars · 04-08-2010 02:01PM

Interesting news there,as usual Ireland misses the boat.Imagines wimax offering has a very bad name and people don't care who backs it-be it Intel or Santa Clause because if it doesn't work properly they'l get rid.In Wexford town after the launch hype died down,folk realised they were sold a pig in a poke.Connect a PS3 and your pc loses connection and vice versa.Within 100 metres of the mast you could barely get a signal even with an outdoor receiver mounted on a wall.
Seems by the time we think we catch up on the rest of the world in terms of internet access they have taken another 2 steps ahead.

smelly sock · 04-08-2010 03:34PM

They aren't strict on download limits at all.

Imagine launch Midband Ripwave Replacement - WiMAX

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