Braodband in rural ireland

scarepanda

Hi everyone!

Were looking to rent a lovely house in south Roscommon. Its in a very rural area and we are having trouble finding out about broadband availability. Unfortunately availability of good reliable broadband is essential to us and the one thing that will prevent us from renting the house.

We rely on broadband for all our TV entertainment etc and my boyfriend plays games online quite often which automatically rules out providers such as meteor/vodafone etc.

The owners have been in contact with Eircom about broadband at the house but Eircom seem to be dragging their feet quite a bit in giving them an answer. I did contact Eircom initially when we started looking at the house and I was told that the switch was upgraded recently, but as the phone line was inactive at the time the sales person was unable to check availability.

So basically my question is what options do the people of rural Ireland have for good, reliable, fast broadband if Eircom isnt an option? I should probably add that when I say rural, I mean the house is down a back road and only 10/15 mins from Athlone.

Cheers!

ShiverinEskimo

If you're within 10km of Athlone as the crow flies try the Metro service with Digiweb.

witnessmenow

Is Metro line of site? What is it you need to be able to see if it is (in Athlone)?

ShiverinEskimo

Don't know where the transmitter is in Athlone. Call them with your location and they'll check their coverage.

Sponge Bob

ESB mast in Monksland area and the top of the Sheraton. If you have line of sight to them Metro could be a goer.

All the exchanges out there are up to 8 mbits if enabled and the house must be near the exchange, see this map.

http://irelandoffline.org/map/

NeverHappy

Ripplecom are in the midlands but you may have to pay at bit more for a bigger d/l allowance.

Onwave satellite works everywhere but again their basic package have a crappy allowance, you need to pay nearly €100 for their unlimited downloads.

At least you have options, if costly, that I havent had up until last year.

Neverhappy

munchkin_utd

the heavily subsidised rural broadband scheme is undersubscribed (meaning you wont be sharing your connection with many if anyone at all) and if you have reception its spot on.
From memory 5meg download and 1 meg up is possible.
You can (/should) get a proper mains connected wifi router that you can install in your attic or upstairs which improves reception .

The more powerful a signal then the better the connection, so distance to and lack of hills in the way of the nearest mast is the criteria there.

uncle_sam_ie

NeverHappy wrote: »

Ripplecom are in the midlands but you may have to pay at bit more for a bigger d/l allowance.

Onwave satellite works everywhere but again their basic package have a crappy allowance, you need to pay nearly €100 for their unlimited downloads.

At least you have options, if costly, that I havent had up until last year.

Neverhappy

Satellite is not an option, especially if you need BB for gaming.

scarepanda

Thanks everyone for replying!

ShiverinEskimo: I don't know how far out exactly the house is as the crow flies, but I would imagine its right on the limit. The house is approx 10 mins to elan (Or what ever its called now!). Ill have a check on that. I sent Digiweb a query earlier on this morning to see if they could give me any idea. Ill ring them tomorrow if I don't have a reply today.

NeverHappy: Satellites will be unsuitable due to lag on the network etc as my boyfriend plays online games regularly. This means that we need a service that operates in real time. Unfortunately delays are part of the package with satellites.

munchkin_utd: Who provides the rural broadband scheme? Iv heard that its provided by 3, if so would their system not be the same as other mobile providers such as vodafone? This link: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=68517995 goes somewhat towards explaining why these providers including satellites are not options for the type of service that we need.

Sponge Bob: I'm not sure whether we would have a line of sight. The local topography in the area seems rather hilly, but on a larger scale I don't know. I had a look at that link you sent me, very handy! Thanks! Its ridiculous to see though how many rural exchanges covering such a large area have no DSL.

It seems, using googlemaps, that the house is approx 5.5km by road from the exchange? Is this far? The exchange on the link you posted shows that the exchange has no DSL, Do you know how current the information is on it? I was told by Eircom that the exchange was upgraded last month.

Sorry my reply was so long. But thank you to everyone who replied.
We really need to sort something out coz we love the house

Sponge Bob

If you look BACK at the map and click the Exchanges underlay you get a good idea of the exchange area. The only exchange near Athlone supposed to get upgraded to ADSL is Ballyforan....announced in April 2007 so damn right it should be upgraded by now because if it is it was a very recent job.

The other 'non enabled' exchanges are not supposed to be enabled.

You may PM me if you wish and if you need more information on any particular exchange and I'll see what I can find out for you and you are doing absolutely the right thing making sure you are not stranded 10km outside Athlone in a virtual third world and relying on satellite broadband or some congested mobile muck.

boardtc

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

If you're within 10km of Athlone as the crow flies try the Metro service with Digiweb.

I had them out at my house and a distant tree clocks the line of site with the transmitter on top of the Sheraton hotel :-( They could have sorted either of my neighbours but not my house :-( I see the mention of the ESB mast at monksland, I called digiweb and there is no new infrastructure, still only on top of the Sheraton :-(

ShiverinEskimo

Find out who owns the tree and offer a free tree pruning service.