Ripwave Broadband

eirebhoy

Just wondering if anyone has got the Ripwave product from IrishBroadband.ie? It is the cheapest broadband that I can get in my area and it has no cap. Just wondering is the speed good and is it reliable?

Also, would you recommend getting the Breeze package which has a faster upload speed and lower contention ratio than Ripwave for an extra fiver?

Thanks.

Kappar

I have it. It's not super fast but it is fast if you know what i mean.
Pings; I don't get the best pings but some others that have Ripwave do. Otherwise it's good it does the job.

eirebhoy

So, do you think I should pay the extra fiver for the Breeze? Will it be much different?

Creamy Goodness

eireboy i just had a look at that that's sweet

for an extra fiver the contention rate is halfed to 20:1
and your upload speed is multiplied by four

for an extra fiver a month i think that is worth it.

pity it ain't available where i am though

eth0_

Are you sure there's no cap? I was going to get ripwave but they told me it would defintely be capped...

Mutant_Fruit

Just to point out... home breeze is what you get if you have the LOS product as far as i know. If you have ripwave, ya can;t "upgrade" to home breeze or breeze plus.

Just to let you know I have had so much trouble with irish broadband its not funny. I have the home breeze plus or whatever theyre calling it now. It is dodgy at the best of times. I'd say around 70% of the time I cant play online games because the connection is just too unstable. Pings soar from 90 to 1000+.
Download rates I suppose can be quick enough from time to time.



On the whole I would just avoid them altogether and go for any alternative. It's worth the extra cash. I can tell you now that if things dont improve I won't be renewing my contract.


I know of one person out of a handful who is satisfied with the service and he's on the sandyford tower. I'm trying to get them to switch me to that tower. Tbh dont bother if you dont live in sandyford.

Actually heres a little taste of what you're getting yourself into.
I just pinged boards there. Remember I'm supposed to have the home breeze plus :rolleyes:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>ping www.boards.ie -t

Pinging www.boards.ie [217.114.166.147] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=131ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=110ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=122ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=146ms TTL=50
Request timed out.
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=46ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=54ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=197ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=64ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=85ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=126ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=48ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=44ms TTL=50
Request timed out.
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=52ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=58ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=99ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=178ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=60ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=63ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=173ms TTL=50
Request timed out.
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=74ms TTL=50

Ping statistics for 217.114.166.147:
Packets: Sent = 23, Received = 20, Lost = 3 (13% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 44ms, Maximum = 197ms, Average = 96ms
Control-C
^C

Ripwave

Originally posted by eireboy
So, do you think I should pay the extra fiver for the Breeze? Will it be much different?

HomeBreeze is a "Line of Sight" product, and requires that an aerial be installed on your roof. RipWave (only available from 3Rock) is not "Line of Sight", and doesn't require any installation - just plug it into a powerpoint, stick the ethernet cable into your PC and you're online - no drivers or username/password needed. (If you get the USB version, you need a driver).

You'll get better performance if you have the Ripwave modem on the side of the house closest to the transmitter, but it'll work anywhere, if you're in range. And, because it's not lashed to the side of your chimney, you can bring it over to your friends house and it'll work there too.

The downside is that latency is high - I get 130ms pings to www.boards.ie, though they're fairly consistent. (I'm not close enough to the transmitter to get a "green" reception light - in fact, mine shows red more often than orange, but it still works fine).

Pinging www.boards.ie [217.114.166.147] with 32 bytes of data

Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=119ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=118ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=117ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=125ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=174ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=132ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=131ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=129ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=128ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=126ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=145ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=143ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=152ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=130ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=139ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=108ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=126ms TTL=50
Reply from 217.114.166.147: bytes=32 time=125ms TTL=50

Ping statistics for 217.114.166.147:
Packets: Sent = 18, Received = 18, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 108ms, Maximum = 174ms, Average = 131ms

So HomeBreeze will give you lower latency, but it seems to be inconsistent. You'll get faster uploads (I don't know about you, but I don't upload much anyway). But you'll have to have an aerial on your chimney.

Ripwave is "nomadic" - you can move it about, within the house, or within the neighbourhood (though the license terms suggest that you're not supposed to do that - a "you can but you may not" situation). It's probably not for you if you're a gamer, because of the higher latency, but if you're mainly interested in browsing and downloads, it's great.