Rural wireless broadband - Carlow

Laguna

I've been waiting for broadband to come to my area for five years (Borris, County Carlow) having made immeasurable amounts of emails and calls to Eircom. Broadband finally came to Borris town last November (in terms of the exchange being upgraded). Now, as I live beyond the mythical 4.5km DSL limit enforced by Eircom from my exchange (I live 8km by copper wire, 6km by road - work that one out), I despair as it was unlikely enough that broadband was to ever come to this area in the first place, let alone for another exchange to be put in/the line distance increased.

Eircom now, as this is a rural area, see their 'upgrades' as done and will invest no more money or time in Borris (so whoever can't get BB now, will never). The whole notion is ridiculous, about 1,000 people live within a 4.5km of Borris yet I'd estimate about 3,000 to be withing a 8km radius, why did they bother upgrading the exchange at all if the majority of people in the locality of Borris still won't be able to get it?!.

However, on top of Mt Leinster there's a RTE transmitter that serves the whole of the south east of Ireland for T.V and radio and from what I've heard, Digiweb/IBB use the RTE transmitters just outside/adjacent to Dublin to supply customers with Metro/Ripwave broadband services, now I'm wondering to myself, is there any likelihood of Digiweb/IBB/Clearwire using more of the RTE masts around the country to enable people like myself who're at the mercy of the joke of a copper network (i.e. will never get broadband through the phoneline because of 'distance') to get broadband?.

There's potential for thousands customers like myself for whatever company sets up on the Mt Leinster mast as the reach of the signal would be huge as it's on high ground and surrounded by the likes of Borris, Enniscorthy, Bagenalstown (i.e. many towns). Many people who live in these areas will never get broadband offered to them through their phoneline (including myself) and this is my only hope of ever being able to access the Internet at a speed reminiscent of living in the year 2006 (as opposed to my current 28.8k connection)..

So, does anyone know of any plans for a wireless service to be offered through RTE masts outside the major cities in Ireland?...

Takeshi_Kovacs

Have a look at permaNET.ie I got their service last week and it is going grand so far. I think they might be setting up in your region of the country shortly as well, there is a little map on their website (not a great a map though, ) which shows where their service is available and where it is rolling out... and a lot of Carlow looks set to be recieving the service in the near future...

Duiske

Cheers for that Takeshi. Laguna, could our wait be coming to an end ?
Looking at that map and the red circle just to the right of Borris, do you think the transmitter will be on White Mountain , or somewhere along the Blackstairs ? I have clear line of sight to both. Can actually see an antenna of some description on White Mt, do you have any idea what it is for ? Does not look like a telecoms mast.

flamegrill

Duiske_lad - you can already get broadband in Graigue. Call John on 086-3749032 to have a chat with him. I know of two people with it, one on the New ross road and 1 in St mullins. Both have LOS to the blackstairs, not entirely sure what the name of the peak that the mast is on, but it is there none the less.

Paul

Laguna

Duiske_Lad wrote:

Cheers for that Takeshi. Laguna, could our wait be coming to an end ?
Looking at that map and the red circle just to the right of Borris, do you think the transmitter will be on White Mountain , or somewhere along the Blackstairs ? I have clear line of sight to both. Can actually see an antenna of some description on White Mt, do you have any idea what it is for ? Does not look like a telecoms mast.

Yeah, I have a clear line of sight to both myself and I can also see a mast on the White Mountain, I'd reckon that's the one because it'd roughly be in the centre of the red circle in the map. I hope it comes soon though, the site says within the coming months but I'm so pessimistic about these things!..
Oh and Duiske_Lad, maybe this is the end of your wait for sure!, the Graignamanagh exchange got upgraded for DSL on the 22nd of March, so it looks like you'll be able to get it through your phoneline anyway!..

Laguna

flamegrill wrote:

Duiske_lad - you can already get broadband in Graigue. Call John on 086-3749032 to have a chat with him. I know of two people with it, one on the New ross road and 1 in St mullins. Both have LOS to the blackstairs, not entirely sure what the name of the peak that the mast is on, but it is there none the less.

Paul

Hey Flamegrill, would this apply to me in Borris too?..

Duiske

Like the old one about waiting an hour for a bus, then 2 come along at the same time, I have just spotted Sponge Bob's updated list of DSL enabled exchanges.....and Graignamanagh is on it Flamegrill, thanks for that number. Know a few who may be too far outside town for DSL, so I will pass the number on to them.

flamegrill

aye just happened to test the old pairs line in coolroe and it passes wh00t!

gona order them broadband from utv today !

Paul

bigpaddy2004

Laguna wrote: »

Hey Flamegrill, would this apply to me in Borris too?..

Reach Broadband have a transmitter up on the RTE mast and I do believe they cover Borris.

The Fool

Laguna wrote: »

Eircom now, as this is a rural area, see their 'upgrades' as done and will invest no more money or time in Borris (so whoever can't get BB now, will never). The whole notion is ridiculous, about 1,000 people live within a 4.5km of Borris yet I'd estimate about 3,000 to be withing a 8km radius, why did they bother upgrading the exchange at all if the majority of people in the locality of Borris still won't be able to get it?!.

However, on top of Mt Leinster there's a RTE transmitter that serves the whole of the south east of Ireland for T.V and radio and from what I've heard, Digiweb/IBB use the RTE transmitters just outside/adjacent to Dublin to supply customers with Metro/Ripwave broadband services, now I'm wondering to myself, is there any likelihood of Digiweb/IBB/Clearwire using more of the RTE masts around the country to enable people like myself who're at the mercy of the joke of a copper network (i.e. will never get broadband through the phoneline because of 'distance') to get broadband?.

QUOTE]

Eircom have a funny habit of enabling exchanges,bending there distance rules and suddenly finding investment for an area when the likes of digiweb/ibb/clearwire move into an area. Probably makes them think twice before investing...

thegills

Have you tried these lads?
http://www.aptus.ie/carlow.html
thegills

joecarolan123@g

look up 3 it worth its waight in gold to me .it works on the same system as a mobil phone i can take mine any where in the world and its great .you dont need a land line .just make sure you can get a signal on your mobil .good luck .joe

davidoco

thegills wrote: »

Have you tried these lads?
http://www.aptus.ie/carlow.html
thegills

Anyone here a customer of aptus on rural broadband (wireless). Are you getting near promised speeds and any comments on the customer service?

Thinking of getting it installed in Myshall working off transmitter somewhere in Ballon.

Walkman

AFAIK 3 have a mast on Mt Lenster

The Fool

Laguna wrote: »

However, on top of Mt Leinster there's a RTE transmitter that serves the whole of the south east of Ireland for T.V and radio and from what I've heard, Digiweb/IBB use the RTE transmitters just outside/adjacent to Dublin to supply customers with Metro/Ripwave broadband services, now I'm wondering to myself, is there any likelihood of Digiweb/IBB/Clearwire using more of the RTE masts around the country to enable people like myself who're at the mercy of the joke of a copper network (i.e. will never get broadband through the phoneline because of 'distance') to get broadband?.

QUOTE]

Ok here's my 2 cent..............
Mount Leinster because of it's location is probably used as a hop site for clearwire/ibb/digiweb. i.e they just use it to join sites in the south and midlands and may not actually provide any other service from there.
Between install/hardware/rent costs providers need to know they'll get a return. If they're already threre these costs aren't as big.

You could round up a few names of neighbours within a couple of miles of yourself who would be interested in broadband (with a line of site from mast). Then approach the providers with X amount of customers on a plate for them.

Lot of hassle for you but if you're willing should get a result

smellslikeshoes

GOGO Zombie thread.

davidoco

davidoco wrote: »

Anyone here a customer of aptus on rural broadband (wireless). Are you getting near promised speeds and any comments on the customer service?

Thinking of getting it installed in Myshall working off transmitter somewhere in Ballon.

Despite the lack of a reply, went with aptus with wireless pointing somewhere in Fenagh direction from Msyhall.

2MB and what you pay for is what you get. Speedtest tests done and always between 1.4 and 2. It's the business apart from poor 150ms pings which keeps the gamers and talkers off the connection.

I bet I have the fasted broadband in Myshall for now.

Duiske

smellslikeshoes wrote: »

GOGO Zombie thread.

Made a bit sad by the fact Laguna passed away a few months after starting this thread.

bigpaddy2004

Duiske wrote: »

Made a bit sad by the fact Laguna passed away a few months after starting this thread.

That is sad...God rest him.

smellslikeshoes

Duiske wrote: »

Made a bit sad by the fact Laguna passed away a few months after starting this thread.

I feel like an idiot for posting that now and can't edit it out. RIP

bigpaddy2004

Duiske wrote: »

Made a bit sad by the fact Laguna passed away a few months after starting this thread.

I just come accross this thread again after posting in it a few months ago while searching something else. I was just curious as to how laguna passed away if anyone knew?