IBB or Digiweb

talking_walnut

Hi,

Gonna get broadband and was wondering could someone advise me which of these companies to go for? Looking at the 2Mb option which is about €30 a month from both companies so there's no difference in terms of price. IBB have the advantage of having no download limit which is good as there'll be 3 of us in the house using it.

I know people used to have awful problems with IBB but have they got their act together? Is there any advantages to Digiweb that I'm not aware of?

Only gonna be in the house I'm in for 6 months so these 2 seem to be the only option. Can someone in the know advise me as to what my best option is?

Wcool

Ok this is my short and subjective answer based on personal experience (Digiweb) and impressions from Boards.ie

IBB: Was not good a year ago, but has improved a lot.
Advantage: Unlimited up- and download, symmetric speed.
Disadvantage: Unclear what fair use policy is. ie how much you can download.
If you would read their T & C literally, you couldn't even use bit torrent as they forbid any 'server' type of traffic (and you could argue that upload of traffic acts as a server). I don't know how good their support is, but I got a signal test fairly quickly (I failed unfortunately)

Digiweb: Overall people seem to be very content. I am myself.
Advantage: Good support and very quick on repairs. Knowledgeable.
Reliable, good pings. You get a phone for free with Digiweb, so you can dump Eircom.
Disadvantage: Download limit (I reach that quite quickly on my own), 3 people on 30Gb is not much (no matter what Watty says )
Avoid if you are on Three Rock mast it seems.

Red Alert

IBB aren't all that proactive about policing 'servers' anyway. It's unclear as to what a server is, for example does running a HTTPS squirrelmail mail client for your own use count as a server?

watty

IS three rock not a lot better now?

talking_walnut

Thanks for the response guys. I take it it's the wireless option you're talking about Wcool? Can't get that where I am so it's gonna have to be DSL but no matter, it should be the same in principle.

Cheers

Wcool

@Watty Have only seen people complaining about Three Rock, but I don't know how long ago this is. I thought up to very recent though. If Three Rock is ok, please stand up.

With Wireless it's not a bad idea to checkout if neighbours (on the same mast!) have a good connection as wireless seems more prone to the number of subscribers connected to one mast.

@talking_walnut: oops this makes a big difference, I was talking about Metro. AFAIK, Digiweb DSL is a resale of Eircom DSL, in that case I wouldn't go for Digiweb as you wouldn't get many benefits and one big drawback: the up and download limit. Officially, Eircom has a limit as well, but they are not known to enforce it.

watty

Eircom
They do sometimes and may do anytime it suits them in the future.

talking_walnut

Looks like IBB it is so. Can't go for eircom cause they've a minimum contract of 12 months and I'll only be in the place for 6 (well closer to 5 really). Appreciate the response guys.

mikeruurds

I've just signed up for IBB and the minimum contract for Breeze is 12 months.

Ripwave is much slower than Breeze and offers you the option of a short rolling contract, but the speeds are abysmal and probably won't do if you're sharing between 3 people.

Mike

pizzahead77

talking_walnut wrote:

Looks like IBB it is so. Can't go for eircom cause they've a minimum contract of 12 months and I'll only be in the place for 6 (well closer to 5 really). Appreciate the response guys.

Do eircom not offer a 6 month contract now? I know they did last year.

FastFullBack

Does anyone have any experience of IBB or Digiweb in the Cork area.
Looking to go with one of there 3MB packages. IBB is €48.4 a month, no cap and no installation fee.
Digiweb is €35 a month, 30GB cap and €90 installation fee.

Anyone know where their Masts are and what kinda performance people are getting from these.

Thanks

zAbbo

Digiweb - (free installation with annual payment)

From Digiweb Site

FastFullBack

zabbo wrote:

Digiweb - (free installation with annual payment)

From Digiweb Site

Ya but don't really wanna be paying €420 all in one.

Plus the no cap of IBB is appealing compared to 30GB of Digiweb

watty

The IBB ripwave has no cap because it doesn't need one. It's too slow. They have "fair use" however on all their systems I think.

The Digiweb cap is rolling and the throttle is faster than ISDN, no other penalty or charge for over cap.

Jumpy

Watty I meant to ask are you Metro or Metro Plus?

FastFullBack

watty wrote:

The IBB ripwave has no cap because it doesn't need one. It's too slow. They have "fair use" however on all their systems I think.

The IBB package I'm looking at is the 3MB Breeze.

watty wrote:

The Digiweb cap is rolling and the throttle is faster than ISDN, no other penalty or charge for over cap.

When you say rolling do you mean as of today my traffic amount is the amount from today minus 30 days. And tomorrow it will move on another day, i.e tomorrow minus 30 days.
So if you had a few days where you downloaded like crazy, once these are gone past 30 days ago there out of your traffic amount?

zoro

3 Rock is still as bad as ever. Amazingly, during the workday (Mon-Friday, ~10 to ~5) it's absolutely fantastic.

Then the network goes to ****e and you may as well be on dialup. Even DNS queries take ~500ms at times

watty

carrolltimmy wrote:

The IBB package I'm looking at is the 3MB Breeze.




When you say rolling do you mean as of today my traffic amount is the amount from today minus 30 days. And tomorrow it will move on another day, i.e tomorrow minus 30 days.
So if you had a few days where you downloaded like crazy, once these are gone past 30 days ago there out of your traffic amount?

yes.
Also for other users there is no "beginning of the month slow down", as the cap never "resets". Its a running total of the last 30 days, every day.

watty

Jumpy wrote:

Watty I meant to ask are you Metro or Metro Plus?

I'm on the 3M down & 512k up. 3 to 6 of us and 3 servers sharing it. Typically my usage is 10G to 15G a month.

caster

Wcool wrote:

Ok this is my short and subjective answer based on personal experience (Digiweb) and impressions from Boards.ie

Digiweb: Overall people seem to be very content. I am myself.
Advantage: Good support and very quick on repairs. Knowledgeable.
Reliable, good pings. You get a phone for free with Digiweb, so you can dump Eircom.
Disadvantage: Download limit (I reach that quite quickly on my own), 3 people on 30Gb is not much (no matter what Watty says )
Avoid if you are on Three Rock mast it seems.

Quick question- How do you mean that you get a phone for free with Digiweb? This is the wireless offering so i presume phone lines & dsl don't come in to it.. or have i misunderstood?

I've been with BT DSL (with cheap line rental) for the past 2 years or so, but am considering switching to Digiweb Metro for faster speeds, paticularly upload....

Thx
C

watty

It implements QOS protected private circuit VOIP (much, much higher quality than Blueface, mostly just like a real line). The modem has two phone sockets for real phone handsets or DECT base.

The NETWORK QOS means the voice is not affect by you watching video or generally vice versa as normal voice is under 12kbps (G.729 8kbps codec), but better quality than GSM.

You get one real phone number (moving an existing one from eircom costs extra), a second line/number can be obtained.

It will work for Dialup modems, phone watch, Sky boxes, Fax etc, by automatically changing Codec to G.711 (uses more bandwidth, up to 95k, a 64k ISDN/PCM like codec)

Since it only goes over Digiweb's own nework from a separate private IP on the cable side, it can't really be attacked from Internet (not visible on it), nor "sniffed". Digiweb have a phone system and interconnect to the ordinary phone system.

Calls to other Metro users are free and calls to anything else are more similar to CPS prices than eircom prices. You can't use it for peer to peer VOIP IP calls, only real phones calls, but this is why quality is higher and it is more secure. Also unaffected by firewalls etc.

I think there is also a fixed monthly option for cheaper calls. Check their website.

So no PHYSICAL line needed.

I got the second number enabled and have one of those networked Brother Copier/Fax/Printer/Scanner boxes on it.

Wcool

Second that Watty

Folks, if you are out there and need a phone in an area where Digiweb is?
For 20 euro you get a phone line + basic broadband (surfing, email) with call costs cheaper than Eircom. This is 4 or 5 euro cheaper than Eircom's line rental alone.

I honestly don't understand why more people quit Eircom *for the PHONE alone*

That said, if your broad band needs are high, Digiweb has mispriced it's Metro product. The Metro Plus package is good but if you are a heavy downloader, the next step up (60gb+more speed) it too much money (78 euro or so)

I would be happy to pay 50 instead of 35 for more bandwidth, but the option isn't there.

That's why for some people, the 55 euro Eircom/BT package is still a good deal.

Wcool

caster wrote:

I've been with BT DSL (with cheap line rental) for the past 2 years or so, but am considering switching to Digiweb Metro for faster speeds, paticularly upload....
C

Metro Plus = phone, 30gb, 3Mb down, 512kb up.

However, IBB = 3Mb up and 3Mb down. Dunno about QOS

Why do you need high upload? Bit torrent is not a good reason, 512 is more than enough, but I can imagine you like to upload files from work to your homeserver, or you serve a lot of files for friends or so. If that's the case, unlimited usage might be better for you as with Digiweb, upload counts towards your monthly usage.

zAbbo

From IBB - (Speeds of up to 3Mb)

Anyone using the service getting full speed ?

caster

Wcool wrote:

Metro Plus = phone, 30gb, 3Mb down, 512kb up.

However, IBB = 3Mb up and 3Mb down. Dunno about QOS

Why do you need high upload? Bit torrent is not a good reason, 512 is more than enough, but I can imagine you like to upload files from work to your homeserver, or you serve a lot of files for friends or so. If that's the case, unlimited usage might be better for you as with Digiweb, upload counts towards your monthly usage.

I need the upload as I work from home, and will need to backup large quantities of data on a regular basis and also to be able to send out large files to clients. For non-work, i find dsl very limiting when uploading photos etc....
Do Digiweb have an unlimited usage option? And I agree about 78 euro being high for their higher range package...

RuggieBear

zabbo wrote:

From IBB - (Speeds of up to 3Mb)

Anyone using the service getting full speed ?

I'm on the 2mb breeze and am getting 1.94 down and 1.75 up

OFDM

Digiweb have simply over-subscribed their Three Rock mast.

mikeruurds

zabbo wrote:

From IBB - (Speeds of up to 3Mb)

Anyone using the service getting full speed ?

I've just recently moved from BT to IBB (Breeze 3MB). I am getting consistent speeds of 2.92 down and 2.68 up.

I've only had it a few days now, but it absolutely kills BT 3mb DSL.

Mike

5ftGiant

zoro wrote:

3 Rock is still as bad as ever. Amazingly, during the workday (Mon-Friday, ~10 to ~5) it's absolutely fantastic.

Then the network goes to ****e and you may as well be on dialup. Even DNS queries take ~500ms at times

I have to 100% agree with you dude, office hours the connection is fine, but after 5pm its total sh**e ! I wouldnt mind if they turned around and admitted they have issues but either they are totally naive to it or just plain ignorant!

zoro

I've had quite a number of issues with my connection since I first got connected, and for more than a while I was probably paying their wages with the amount of time I spent on the phone to them.

I haven't bothered calling them in months, however, as I know full well that I'll just be fobbed off with the standard "We don't guarantee ping times". They can fall back on it as much as they want, and always be right, but it doesn't change the fact that the service is absolutely dire during peak hours, on the 3 Rock mast.

*edit* and I've no choice for competitors, unless you count IBB

fisab

watty wrote:

It implements QOS protected private circuit VOIP (much, much higher quality than Blueface, mostly just like a real line). The modem has two phone sockets for real phone handsets or DECT base.

The NETWORK QOS means the voice is not affect by you watching video or generally vice versa as normal voice is under 12kbps (G.729 8kbps codec), but better quality than GSM.

It will work for Dialup modems, phone watch, Sky boxes, Fax etc, by automatically changing Codec to G.711 (uses more bandwidth, up to 95k, a 64k ISDN/PCM like codec)

<snip>
QUOTE]

Great info there watty.
Do you know if Metro is known to work with those burgular alarm diallers?
I think they dial out on a phone modem of some sort (in order to send a text message to mobiles that the alarm has gone off)
When I talk to the alarm people they havent heard of Metro. Is there a name for the phone technology they use.