satellite broadband?

loulou in meath

Dear people,
Its my first time writing on boards so forgive any lapses in protocol!
Looked for a while for info on satellite broadband, as I am moving to Co Meath near Oldcastle soon and am struggling to make sense of it all.
The NBB have what seems like a good deal on satellite broadband; Initial registration and link up payment is €199; Triple play Home office and TV deal with Voip phone (allegedly local and nationals calls for free)and Satellite TV with 1mbs uploads and128kbs upload all together for €99 per month. I would supply my own wireless router. Is this as viable an option as it seems?
I know many complain about the satellite, but does it work at all? I seem to have little choice, as Ice soundsp particularly rotten. The no need for a land line charge is seductive, do ye's know what is the National broadband TV and Phone connection like?

My area has quite low O2 coverage, and have heard locally that the eircom access goes down when your neighbours are on the phone.... I swear me head is melted.
Many thanks,
Loulou in Meath

Username!

No DSL service out that way? That would be very surprising as Meaths very built up now.

loulou in meath

Thanks, My understanding is that the service based on phone lines is v patchy in that area (close to Ballinacree near Oldcastle is in the heart of the country; a field away from Cavan, not built up at all).
There is also bad TV signal there, so its a new build and I am attracted to the idea of not renting a land line. But the NBB; TV, broadband and phone for €100 seems attractive on paper!
If I knew of a good and poven DSL provider for the money in the area...maybe, but local reports are a bit dodgy. I confess to being a luddite!

Fuzzy Clam

If I understand you correctly, you don't want to get an Eircom landline. If so, then you probably wont be able to avail of the free calls. VoIP on satellite is pretty useless due to the latency. As is gaming, if thats what your into.
On the face of it, The NBB deal doesn't look too bad BUT unlike the more expensive packages from Digiweb and others that use Vsat, it seems that there is a contention ratio. Vsat is 1:1.
Although they claim no download limit, I would guess if you go beyond 1 or 2 Gb you will find the speed throttled during the daytime. This is the same for all Sat internet afaik.

loulou in meath

Well, I will get a line(or 2) if I have to, and thank you, as this is exactly the info I need to start unraveling what would suit.
No, I am not into gaming. I just want a fairly good, trouble free broadband access, phone line and TV reception without it getting too expensive and complicated. We dont hugely download. Two of us will be using all of these for seperate work. And we would ideally want separate phone lines.

Hmmm, I spoke to a guy in NBB today and he was selling the phone line as a 'landline rental' free package!
Sorry I dont understand a contention ratio of 1:1... thats rotten? and 'latency' is the effectivess of line? Told you I was a luddite.

You are of the opinion that digiweb is better option?

Fuzzy Clam

Latency is the delay. When you click on a webpage, it can seem a bit "sluggish" in responding.
Contention is how may users may share the same bandwidth. With NBB (if I understand what they say in their T &Cs) it may be 5 or 10 users. Vsat users (Digiweb etc) don't share their bandwidth.
However, Digiweb charge upfront for the equipment (96 cm dish and modem) and it IS expensive. Also, a 1 mb connection is dearer and no free TV/calls. It is very reliable tho.
At 10 to 20 times faster than dialup, its not all that bad but deffo a last resort.

loulou in meath

Thanks Fuzzy Clam, your replies are really helping me get a sense of it all. I will go and find out more- armed with me new vocab, and check out the other DSLs more and digiweb. But I have the impression that the eircom landline bandwidths are overloaded/over extended in the area. Fair play, very thankful for your expertise.

crawler

Fuzzy Clam wrote: »

Latency is the delay. When you click on a webpage, it can seem a bit "sluggish" in responding.
Contention is how may users may share the same bandwidth. With NBB (if I understand what they say in their T &Cs) it may be 5 or 10 users. Vsat users (Digiweb etc) don't share their bandwidth.
However, Digiweb charge upfront for the equipment (96 cm dish and modem) and it IS expensive. Also, a 1 mb connection is dearer and no free TV/calls. It is very reliable tho.
At 10 to 20 times faster than dialup, its not all that bad but deffo a last resort.

Vsat users DO share bandwidth and quite heavily so! A lot more so than DSL.

Moonbeam

If you can avoid satellite do.
Seriously check out all available options and then only if you really need a connection and there are no other options resort to Satellite.

Fuzzy Clam

crawler wrote: »

Vsat users DO share bandwidth and quite heavily so! A lot more so than DSL.

Regular speed checks on a 512 connection over a 1.5 year period show the speed almost NEVER dropped below about 490. The average over the last 4 months (10 speedtests taken after 6 pm) was 502 k with the lowest at 493. I'm not including one test of 677 as I think that may have been an error.
If they do share bandwidth, then it can obviously handle it better.

Yes, 512 is not great in this day and age but at least its consistent which is more than can be said about DSL and especially fixed wireless judging by the 100s of reports that are posted here.
512 thats always on is better for many than a fixed wireless connection thats down more times than it works.
Its the expense thats the real killer.

watty

NBS's provider is sharing the same bandwidth for most of western Europe. The speed will drop as more users added.

Generally fixed wireless is far better.

Fuzzy Clam

watty wrote: »

NBS's provider is sharing the same bandwidth for most of western Europe. The speed will drop as more users added.
If you're referring to the Astra, then yes this may be a problem. It would be interesting to hear of others experiences.
Generally fixed wireless is far better.

There are many users who complain of speeds little better than dialup and dropped connections who may disagree with you.

smellslikeshoes

Fuzzy Clam wrote: »

There are many users who complain of speeds little better than dialup and dropped connections who may disagree with you.

You could say the exact same about satellite's poor prices, speed, latency, patchy signal in poor weather.

Fuzzy Clam

smellslikeshoes wrote: »

You could say the exact same about satellite's poor prices, speed, latency, patchy signal in poor weather.

And if you would bother reading back at what I have already said about satellite instead of just jumping in with a half arsed comment, then you would know that I have said that.
It also goes to show how little you know about it anyway. Bad weather affects barely affects the signal on Digiweb.
Why don't you bring something to the discussion instead of acting the arse...

Fuzzy Clam

Once again, a thread is hi-jacked by those who simply want to sprew forth idiotic comments. I took the time to respond,as best I could, to the O/P which is more than some did.
I'm outta here!

loulou in meath

Thanks again Fuzzy Clam for your response. Dont know what the issues are here between yous folks so also thanks to the others too.
Best,
Loulou

Fuzzy Clam

loulou in meath wrote: »

Thanks again Fuzzy Clam for your response. Dont know what the issues are here between yous folks so also thanks to the others too.
Best,
Loulou

Thanks Loulou.
Alas, there are those on Boards who jump in on any subject,without reading whats already been said, just to be destructive rather than helpful.
To reiterate what I said initially, and what Moonbeam also said, satellite should only be a last option. Its only a substitute for "proper " bb but may do depending on needs.

trabpc

Fuzzy how does NBB offer of 1meg + 200 mins phone for €58pm sound in comparison to Digiweb's offer

Fuzzy Clam

trabpc wrote: »

Fuzzy how does NBB offer of 1meg + 200 mins phone for €58pm sound in comparison to Digiweb's offer

Sounds a lot better IF the satellite link is any good.

All I can say for sure is that the Digiweb was rock solid ALL the time. Never noticed any contention issues and only once in over 1 1/2 years did the speed drop due to very heavy rain. This was with a 96cm dish and I think the 2 watt tx. Cap limit is crap though and expensive. Wanna buy the dish and modem?:)

Edit: I've just seen Marks comments about NBB. If I had the choice, I would probably opt for NBB over Digiweb if 100% reliability wasn't an issue. I had to have "always on" BB and the cost was shared amongst a few people so cost wasn't a major problem.

big mce

Three broadband works in Balinacree. Eircom also works in certain parts but then if you don't want a landline!

loulou in meath

I cant afford Digiweb start up costs, but do want to hit the ground running. Might have to give in and get eircom as a first option and its free connection if i do a bundle, but all they can offer in that area is DSL 1mb. which I know is a bad service from local knowledge.

Three broadband has such a bad rep especially on the boards, it doesnt seem like a good option, (any one got good experiences in that area?) it and NBB seems a bit of a chance to take, as fuzzy clam says it only is a good deal if it works and every option available seems to entail quite cr*ppy service unless you can fork out for digiweb.

So much for efficient rural resettlement!

barnicles

1MB DSL is a lot cheaper and better with latency etc.

Go for the DSL imho

Fuzzy Clam

loulou in meath wrote: »

I cant afford Digiweb start up costs, but do want to hit the ground running. Might have to give in and get eircom as a first option and its free connection if i do a bundle, but all they can offer in that area is DSL 1mb. which I know is a bad service from local knowledge.

In your position, I would still give Eircom a try first. Its only a 6 month contract and if its REALLY that bad, then you can consider your options. I said it before, Satellite really is the final option.

loulou in meath

Thanks Fuzzy Clam, that is my thinking. NBB did seem seductive, so I am glad I got your input as it would have driven me crazy, but no doubt eircom will do the same too.

loulou in meath

whoops, thanks to barnicles too!

barnicles

loulou in meath wrote: »

whoops, thanks to barnicles too!

No probs lol

watty

Satellite is for people that can't get DSL or Fixed Wireless. No comparison on latency (x20 worse) and speed.