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2 Years On..
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21-01-2009 2:06pm#1So it's been about 2 years since I've had to research what broadband to go for and it seems nothing has changed at all, low cap, high prices and line rental essential for a good connection
It's for a house with 5 levels, so the router will be in the sitting room on the 1st floor and access not really required on the 4th floor. so:
ground floor < floor where connection is most important
1st <wireless router, sitting room
2nd <kitchen/bedroom
3rd <bedrooms
4th <bedroom with no pc
(with the router on the ground floor, even the 2nd floor has trouble receiving the signal, with it on the 2nd floor, ground floor has trouble receiving, but with it on the 1st floor, all 5 levels can receive it)
This is in Dun Laoghaire, and I thought Smart or UPC would be viable options but neither are available in Dun Laoghaire so the rest of the options are pretty terrible. We just want broadband and don't care about phone calls or anything like that and it seems if we want a reliable connection with a good cap (20gb minimum as there'll be a few of us) it's going to cost at least €40 a month. Line speed not too important but really, I thought it would have gone up from 1mb as it was 2 years ago, seems the best deal for us is with BT, €45 a month for 10gb cap and 1mb speed.
This is a half rant/half request so if anyone knows any hidden gems for us, please share
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Breeze is much better than Ripwave, but inferior to DSL and DSL can have lower contention.
I don't agree on the contention bit. It always depends on how the system is build. The latency is controlled on Breeze or fixed wireless in general, because the clients aren't roaming. In that sense it compares pretty much to DSL. How much it is contended then depends on the provider and they way they stick it together.
Beyond that, latency tends to be better on fixed wireless than DSL. Again, we could fight religious wars about that
/M0 -
No need to fight Marlow & Watty.
You are both wrong
In fact I am joking - both can be good and bad - for example DSL might have full contention because of backhaul limitations in some areas, whereas wireless operators can over subscribe sectors/base stations and or suffer from the same limitation as DSL.
where DSL might get the edge is that DSL has a nailed up one to one relationship (copper run) at the access side whereas wireless will nearly always be one to many (air interface).
If all were equal in the world and spectrum and backhaul were in excess supply - they would be more or less about the same - IF all were equal. Problem is - in the real world - fairness and being equal is not always the reality......you could have endless bun fights on latency - interleaving on DSL and TDD v FDD on wireless along with endless stuff on SNR, packet loss and on and on and on.....0 -
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Ah I love when there's a bit of debate in my threads, always provides good info
Ogham, I didn't know about the uncapped addition to UTV, thanks, but I'd really prefer to avoid line rental altogether, I rang Digiweb about metro and they said out of 40 people in Dun Laoghaire who tried it, only 2 were able to connect so there's a very slim chance I can get that. I don't want to pay for the 4mb breeze and would probably prefer to get DSL like we used to have but don't care for a phone line or anything like that either. That line rental thing is really annoying, I did read it will possibly be reduced some time though.
With regards to the connection reaching all floors, it's ok where it is at the moment, it can get as far as the 3rd floor and is fine on the ground floor (where it'll be used mostly, which is the most important), it's perfect on the 2nd floor too and obviously on the 1st floor where the router is. I was just wondering how it would work if I was to get one of them satellite things on the roof, where would the modem need to be if I'd a satellite on the roof? Would it need to be on the top (4th) floor? Meaning it wouldn't reach to the ground floor..?0 -
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I was just onto Digiweb there about their metro service and if I can get a signal, it'll be 5mb broadband with a 20gb cap and cost €518.40 for the first year
It will then cost €419.40 for year 2 so 2 years will cost €937.80 as opposed to €1,120 with UTV and I'll be getting 5mb instead of 3mb but will be on a cap of 20gb, which is fine for me and will hopefully be with the amount of us sharing the connection in the house.
There's a slim chance it will actually work where I am as they said that out of 40 people who got a technician out to check, only 2 could actually receive the signal, but my place is very high so might be ok, it'll take 10 working days though and is only €21 cheaper for year one, after which I'm sure there will be better deals about and maybe UPC will be in the area.
What would be better I wonder Metro 5mb/20gb cap, or UTV 3mb through DSL with unltd cap?
No mention of contention on metro package 0 -
With the UTV deal you also get free calls to landlines in Ireland and the UK every evening and all weekend. If you make any calls to the UK this will save you a lot.
There's no mention of the free calls on the package I'm looking at unfortunately
https://ssl.u.tv/UTV_Internet/Residential/ClicksilverBroadband/option.asp?option=3&ROIUser=true
(EDIT: oh it actually says it at the bottom, I wasn't sure if that was with the package or not though, and what's the 3euro additional fee per month if you don't get the utv talk? Surely it'd be cheaper without the utv talk? So I wonder is the UTV talk/free evening calls included in the 540 per year.. and do I save a tenner if I don't need the modem?)
The 3mb utv bundle gives free anytime calls for €597 per year uncapped.0 -
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Will indeed be ditching the phone line if I go with Metro, but it will still cost 518 for the first year, or are you saying you can get Metro even cheaper than 34.95 a month if you don't get a phone number at all off them? I don't see an option for that though
So besides the cap, Digiweb is the better option with the same contention, a faster line speed of 5mb compared to 2, and cheaper also?0 -
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Yeah, I have no need for the existing number so wouldn't be porting it if I went with Digiweb so wouldn't be paying the 60 euro porting fee. If it was possible not to get phone number at all and pay less than the €34.95 I'd go for it, but seems phone numbers are inclusive anyway. Tis a pain having to pay eircom line rental alright, so I suppose it comes down to what would be better, 3mb uncapped broadband, or 5mb with a 20gb cap using the metro airwave system which hasn't got the best record in Dun Laoghaire.
Which would be more likely to have problems I wonder? The previous providers were indeed UTV but not the same package and I never really had any problems, with 3mb it'll be a good boost too, I wonder would that improve my VOIP experience?
What would you folk go for? 0 -
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A 20GB cap seems a bit small for a 5Mbit connection.
I use UTV myself, and generally it's OK (there have been issues before that also affected BT, who UTV seem to use to some extent). Once/if Smart unbundle the exchange in Donegal Town, I'll be off like a shot to Smart though.
With regards wifi reception, could you not maybe put on a higher-gain antenna on the router, which may improve reception throughout the house?0 -
Reception is actually fine on the ground, 1st, 2nd and 3rd floor. Not sure about the 4th floor, but the person up there doesn't have a laptop and would be using somebody elses so the reception throughout the house is fine Yeah, I'm thinking 20gb isn't much on a 5mb line, and also between 5 people it could be a bit dodgy and would have to be checking the usage to make sure it's ok all the time. Might just go with UTV so. Pity NTL/UPC and Smart aren't available where I am. To find out if Digiweb will work, will take up to 10 working days for them to send somebody out, and if it works when they get here, we have to sign up (or probably pay a call out fee) if it doesn't work, which 38 out of 40 in Dun Laoghaire resulted in, then I'd have to forget that and go with UTV anyway. 0
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I got a PM saying that about 50% of Dun Laoghaire installs are successful so I might give Digiweb a go. Sometimes in the past, I've had problems sending emails as it said the IP address was flagged for spamming, it's happening now on my o2 connection If I was to get a fixed IP address, would this solve it as it'd only be us using it and none of us are looking for somebody to share our friends fortunes. What are the pros and cons of a fixed IP and I don't see digiweb offer this, does the digiweb connection work in the same IP way? 0
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Join Date:Posts: 26415
Think I'll be going with Digiweb, found out their contention is 1:36 as opposed to 1:48 with UTV and if you go over the 20gb, you aren't charged or disconnected, the speed just slows down, which is fine with me
UTV do offer an unlimited option for 5e extra a month, I have the option and have to say I've had no issues with charges etc since I've had UTV since June/July.0 -
Think I'll be going with Digiweb, found out their contention is 1:36 as opposed to 1:48 with UTV and if you go over the 20gb, you aren't charged or disconnected, the speed just slows down, which is fine with me
I would worry about that speed reduction - especially since there are going to be a few of youe sharing the broadband. According to several comments on boards the speed reductions on Metro can be very noticeable.0 -
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