UPC 240mb/s + unlimited mobile calls €45

bk

Akula wrote: »

BK what modem have you bridged from?

Technicolor TC7200, though it isn't bridged, I've been too lazy to get around to that yet, the wifi router is just plugged into it.

Didn't get any confirmation but looks like i've been upgraded after requesting it last night, happy days. Now to get my tc7200 bridged when my R7000 nighthawk arrives so i can actually get good wireless speeds.

On Gigabit Ethernet

listermint

Me too,

Need new Wireless Access Point though. Ugh more money

listermint

So was thinking rather than blowing my load on an R1700 or an AC1750 Router. My only issue is Wifi Speeds at this level.

What about concentrating on that piece

TP LINK RE200 AC750

http://www.dabs.ie/products/tp-link-re200-ac750-wifi-range-extender-9L13.html?src=3

Anyone any experience with one of these ?

thefinalstage

I was getting between 150 and 180Mb down over my home plugs (PLA5205) so I reckon I'll get the full whack over the new 1200Mb ones (ZyXEL PLA5405). Damn I wish I could cable....

My main problem is wifi. The house I'm in is a fecking black spot for it. I have the Asus RT AC-68u and signal in the house is just bad. It's in the middle of the house beside the tv and like 10 feet away I only have 2-3 bars on 2.4Ghz. Tried all the channels, just can't figure it out. Scanned for networks and found maybe 3. The cisco in bridge mode is giving similar wifi strength! Any suggestions? Just wants reliable wifi around the house.

ED E

Have you had aluminium insulation fitted perhaps?


The other thing is not all noise on 2.4 will show on a WLAN scan as it can only show other networks. Look for anything else that might be on the same band.

listermint

Cordless Phone ? They play havoc with it.

bk

thefinalstage wrote: »

My main problem is wifi. The house I'm in is a fecking black spot for it. I have the Asus RT AC-68u and signal in the house is just bad. It's in the middle of the house beside the tv and like 10 feet away I only have 2-3 bars on 2.4Ghz. Tried all the channels, just can't figure it out. Scanned for networks and found maybe 3. The cisco in bridge mode is giving similar wifi strength! Any suggestions? Just wants reliable wifi around the house.

It sounds like you are suffering from a lot of interference on the 2.4GHz frequency. That looks like an excellent router, you should have no issues getting close to full speed.

Try switching to using 5Ghz frequency for devices that support it and obviously use 802.11ac if your laptop supports it.

The 2.4Ghz frequency can be very noisy, with neighbours using the same frequency and with things like baby monitors, DECT phones and microwaves also causing interference on this frequency.

5GHz has more bandwidth and tends to be much less "noisy", less people tend to use this frequency, things like baby monitors, microwaves, etc. don't cause interference in this frequency.

The one disadvantage is that 5Ghz tends to not travel as far as 2.4Ghz and it doesn't penetrate walls and floors as well. But this is actually an advantage! It means you are less likely to suffer interference from distant neighbours using 5Ghz on the same channels. It is more contained in a positive sense.

Usually 5Ghz is more then powerful enough to well fill a typical Irish home or apartment with a strong signal and lots of bandwidth.

Your router is a dual radio model, so it can operate both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz frequency simultaneously. Setup your devices to connect to 5Ghz first, but fall back to 2.4Ghz if the 5Ghz is out of range. That way you get the best of both worlds.

bk

BTW another point, while your laptop might only show 3 other networks, your router will be much more sensitive and might be picking up much weaker and more distant wifi routers not picked up by your laptop scan and might be avoiding those frequencies. Again try 5Ghz

thefinalstage

ED E wrote: »

Have you had aluminium insulation fitted perhaps?


The other thing is not all noise on 2.4 will show on a WLAN scan as it can only show other networks. Look for anything else that might be on the same band.

There has to be something alright, can't figure it out. It's an old council house so not exactly huge either.

listermint wrote: »

Cordless Phone ? They play havoc with it.

I thought about that so at this moment there is no other wireless broadcaster I can find. Cordless phone, baby monitor, video sender and the like. I even double checked to make sure the ciscos wifi was off too and yep.

bk wrote: »

It sounds like you are suffering from a lot of interference on the 2.4GHz frequency. That looks like an excellent router, you should have no issues getting close to full speed.

Try switching to using 5Ghz frequency for devices that support it and obviously use 802.11ac if your laptop supports it.

The 2.4Ghz frequency can be very noisy, with neighbours using the same frequency and with things like baby monitors, DECT phones and microwaves also causing interference on this frequency.

5GHz has more bandwidth and tends to be much less "noisy", less people tend to use this frequency, things like baby monitors, microwaves, etc. don't cause interference in this frequency.

The one disadvantage is that 5Ghz tends to not travel as far as 2.4Ghz and it doesn't penetrate walls and floors as well. But this is actually an advantage! It means you are less likely to suffer interference from distant neighbours using 5Ghz on the same channels. It is more contained in a positive sense.

Usually 5Ghz is more then powerful enough to well fill a typical Irish home or apartment with a strong signal and lots of bandwidth.

Your router is a dual radio model, so it can operate both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz frequency simultaneously. Setup your devices to connect to 5Ghz first, but fall back to 2.4Ghz if the 5Ghz is out of range. That way you get the best of both worlds.

That's the funny thing. The 5ghz band is a bit ropey too. The bedroom directly above gets only 3 bars on that.

bk wrote: »

BTW another point, while your laptop might only show 3 other networks, your router will be much more sensitive and might be picking up much weaker and more distant wifi routers not picked up by your laptop scan and might be avoiding those frequencies. Again try 5Ghz

I scanned with the Asus to check and see what networks were around. There are a few more then I thought but still all on 1 or 6. 11 is clear (only when I but it on 20Mhz though, hrmmmm)

murphaph

They're savage speeds. I'm just looking at options for later in the year for my apartment here in Berlin (In Germany contracts auto-renew so jumping ship is much more difficult and has to be timed perfectly...that's much better in Ireland).

My contract expires in August (VDSL50/10 ... fastest DSL I can get) and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Kabel Deutschland (our UPC!) is now available in our building but the max speeds Kabel Deutschland offer anywhere (published offerings for residential customers anyway) is 100/6. UPC is blowing them out of the water with these speeds.

Kabel Deutschland products & prices

listermint

thefinalstage wrote: »

There has to be something alright, can't figure it out. It's an old council house so not exactly huge either.



I thought about that so at this moment there is no other wireless broadcaster I can find. Cordless phone, baby monitor, video sender and the like. I even double checked to make sure the ciscos wifi was off too and yep.



That's the funny thing. The 5ghz band is a bit ropey too. The bedroom directly above gets only 3 bars on that.


I scanned with the Asus to check and see what networks were around. There are a few more then I thought but still all on 1 or 6. 11 is clear (only when I but it on 20Mhz though, hrmmmm)

Try putting it to 20/40Mhz if you have addtional bandwidth option and stick original on 6 and additional on 10. This worked for me,

bk

thefinalstage wrote: »

I thought about that so at this moment there is no other wireless broadcaster I can find. Cordless phone, baby monitor, video sender and the like. I even double checked to make sure the ciscos wifi was off too and yep.

Remember, it can be effected by such devices in your neighbours homes too or even nearby Taxi company and it's radios.

AlanS181824

murphaph wrote: »

They're savage speeds. I'm just looking at options for later in the year for my apartment here in Berlin (In Germany contracts auto-renew so jumping ship is much more difficult and has to be timed perfectly...that's much better in Ireland).

My contract expires in August (VDSL50/10 ... fastest DSL I can get) and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Kabel Deutschland (our UPC!) is now available in our building but the max speeds Kabel Deutschland offer anywhere (published offerings for residential customers anyway) is 100/6. UPC is blowing them out of the water with these speeds.

Kabel Deutschland products & prices

Some interesting offers on there, the free tablet for one!

I noticed the Vodafone logo up the top so is that a subsidy of Vodafone Germany but with Cable internet?

murphaph

AlanS181824 wrote: »

Some interesting offers on there, the free tablet for one!

It's not free. It ends up costing you 280 quid.

AlanS181824 wrote: »

I noticed the Vodafone logo up the top so is that a subsidy of Vodafone Germany but with Cable internet?

Yes, Vodafone bought Kabel Deutschland recently, presumably as part of their strategy to get more into fixed line telecoms.

I just noticed that they are now offering 200/12 (not available at my address however) but it's significantly more expensive than UPC's (better and faster) offer:

Link

Note there's only flat rate calls to landlines, not mobiles like the UPC offer (that's a real sweetener).

AlanS181824

murphaph wrote: »

It's not free. It ends up costing you 280 quid.


Yes, Vodafone bought Kabel Deutschland recently, presumably as part of their strategy to get more into fixed line telecoms.

I just noticed that they are now offering 200/12 (not available at my address however) but it's significantly more expensive than UPC's (better and faster) offer:

Link

Note there's only flat rate calls to landlines, not mobiles like the UPC offer (that's a real sweetener).

Oh really? So a bit of sneaky advertising on their part then.

You'd think with the lower VAT that it'd be cheaper in Germany than Ireland.

One thing I find really interesting is that with Vodafone Deutschland and Kabel Deutschland is that you can get Sky TV with their own TV offerings.

The prices are very dear but it's interesting nonetheless.

Sky mit Vodafone/Sky bei Kabel Deutschland.

Wish they did that here!

Oat23

Wired straight to the bridged Cisco modem


Through router connected to bridged Cisco


Unfortunately it seems my router is 10/100

I'll invest in a new one I guess.

Thor

Oat23 wrote: »

Wired straight to the bridged Cisco modem


Through router connected to bridged Cisco


Unfortunately it seems my router is 10/100

I'll invest in a new one I guess.

Make sure your not using a cat 5 cable. You need at least cat 5e or cat 6.

Edit*

Just clicked on your my router link. Does look like it's only 100mbps capable.

dub45

thefinalstage wrote: »

There has to be something alright, can't figure it out. It's an old council house so not exactly huge either.



I thought about that so at this moment there is no other wireless broadcaster I can find. Cordless phone, baby monitor, video sender and the like. I even double checked to make sure the ciscos wifi was off too and yep.



That's the funny thing. The 5ghz band is a bit ropey too. The bedroom directly above gets only 3 bars on that.



I scanned with the Asus to check and see what networks were around. There are a few more then I thought but still all on 1 or 6. 11 is clear (only when I but it on 20Mhz though, hrmmmm)

Have you tried inSSIDer or something similar to scan?

bk

AlanS181824 wrote: »

Oh really? So a bit of sneaky advertising on their part then.

You'd think with the lower VAT that it'd be cheaper in Germany than Ireland.

Prices don't look bad, €40 for the first 12 months for 200/12.

Yes it jumps up to €60 after that, but I assume the contract is only 12 months long, so you shop around and move to another company or get a reduction to the €40 rate by threatening to leave. €60 is only for the lazy.

Also I see they have 100/6 for just €20 for the first 12 months. Now that is very competitive and a nice cheap product like that is definitely missing from the Irish market, where there is no high speed broadband options below €35

Also their equipment options are interesting. Free rental of a basic modem, €2 per month for a basic wifi router or €5 for the excellent, high quality Fritzbox wifi router.

The geeks here in Ireland would LOVE to have an option of no wifi plain modem that they could then connect their own quality router to in bridged mode.

Also charging a small fee for a quality piece of equipment like the fritzbox isn't a bad idea for people who can't afford to buy their own up from.

AlanS181824 wrote: »

One thing I find really interesting is that with Vodafone Deutschland and Kabel Deutschland is that you can get Sky TV with their own TV offerings.

The prices are very dear but it's interesting nonetheless.

Sky mit Vodafone/Sky bei Kabel Deutschland.

Wish they did that here!

But what exactly does that mean, does it mean?

A) Comes bundled with Sky satellite
Comes with a Sky+ box that operates over IPTV/cable TV
C) Is just the Sky channels delivered over cable with the cable companies own TV box and interface?

My German isn't great, but as far as I can tell it is just C, which really isn't much different to Sky channels being carried on UPC here.

There does seem to be two advantages of this approach, first it includes all Sky channels, not just the select ones and it also includes a Sky Go subscription.

AlanS181824

bk wrote: »

Prices don't look bad, €40 for the first 12 months for 200/12.

Yes it jumps up to €60 after that, but I assume the contract is only 12 months long, so you shop around and move to another company or get a reduction to the €40 rate by threatening to leave. €60 is only for the lazy.

Also I see they have 100/6 for just €20 for the first 12 months. Now that is very competitive and a nice cheap product like that is definitely missing from the Irish market, where there is no high speed broadband options below €35

Also their equipment options are interesting. Free rental of a basic modem, €2 per month for a basic wifi router or €5 for the excellent, high quality Fritzbox wifi router.

The geeks here in Ireland would LOVE to have an option of no wifi plain modem that they could then connect their own quality router to in bridged mode.

Also charging a small fee for a quality piece of equipment like the fritzbox isn't a bad idea for people who can't afford to buy their own up from.



But what exactly does that mean, does it mean?

A) Comes bundled with Sky satellite
Comes with a Sky+ box that operates over IPTV/cable TV
C) Is just the Sky channels delivered over cable with the cable companies own TV box and interface?

My German isn't great, but as far as I can tell it is just C, which really isn't much different to Sky channels being carried on UPC here.

There does seem to be two advantages of this approach, first it includes all Sky channels, not just the select ones and it also includes a Sky Go subscription.

I was in Berlin in November and interestingly almost all the WiFi networks I could find were those FritzBoxes, unless that's what all ISPs give over there then that perhaps show the Kabel Deutschland uptake?

If you go to the link that says Sky on Kabel Deutschland website you can see a Sky, Kabel Deutschland and Vodafone logo! Pretty confusing looking.

Anyway, it seems to be that their TV service, Vodafone and Kabel Deutschland's appear to be IPTV so I'm guessing as is Sky's?

I like that option, Vodafone broadband with Sky, Sky via Satellite on it's own, Sky with UPC.

All that.

Edit: Actually maybe you're right, just like having Sky channels over UPC/Magnet/eVision etc just with slightly different branding.

Using the Sky brand to perhaps elevate their service?

Very interesting nonetheless.

murphaph

bk wrote: »

Prices don't look bad, €40 for the first 12 months for 200/12.

Yes it jumps up to €60 after that, but I assume the contract is only 12 months long, so you shop around and move to another company or get a reduction to the €40 rate by threatening to leave. €60 is only for the lazy.

Also I see they have 100/6 for just €20 for the first 12 months. Now that is very competitive and a nice cheap product like that is definitely missing from the Irish market, where there is no high speed broadband options below €35

Also their equipment options are interesting. Free rental of a basic modem, €2 per month for a basic wifi router or €5 for the excellent, high quality Fritzbox wifi router.

The geeks here in Ireland would LOVE to have an option of no wifi plain modem that they could then connect their own quality router to in bridged mode.

Also charging a small fee for a quality piece of equipment like the fritzbox isn't a bad idea for people who can't afford to buy their own up from.

Unfortunately the contracts are minimum 24 months-the usual length for telecoms products here. It's a real balls and made worse by the way contracts auto renew here.

My own VDSL contract (1&1 50/10 with free Fritzbox 7360) is technically €40 but reduced to €30 for the entire 24 month minimum contract period and I have found on forums here that I just need to cancel and the customer services will offer to extend the discounted price for another 2 years....if I sign up again for the full 2 years. It's very backward compared to Ireland really.

Having said that, the Fritzbox is my property after 12 months and I'll be able to get another (later version) for free again (or upgrade to the 7490, which has ac and is dual band 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, for €50, which is buttons for such a powerful device...they cost a minimum of €200 normally).

I do like the way KD offer a "modem only" for free. That is exactly what I'd take and then hang a flashed (DD-WRT or openWRT) TP-LINK on it. I can't bring myself to bridge a FritzBox though and do the same with that!

murphaph

AlanS181824 wrote: »

I was in Berlin in November and interestingly almost all the WiFi networks I could find were those FritzBoxes, unless that's what all ISPs give over there then that perhaps show the Kabel Deutschland uptake?

No, FritzBoxes are a common choice here among all ISPs. I guess it's just easier for them as AVM is a German company and their tech departments can converse in German with each other.

AlanS181824

murphaph wrote: »

No, FritzBoxes are a common choice here among all ISPs. I guess it's just easier for them as AVM is a German company and their tech departments can converse in German with each other.

Oh that's interesting.

I should have known they were German, that design is one of a kind:pac:

sonofenoch

Signed up the other day for 240mb .....got no confirmation emails but 'MyUPC' is showing I have it

speedtest is giving the same download results I have always got even with 120meg



upload looks right

ED E

Is that wifi? If so you'll need a better router to do 200 over wifi.

If its on an ethernet cable its operating at 100Mbs not 1000Mbps(1Gbps) speeds. That can be the network card or the quality of the cabling.

ramas2

Same story, after upgrade download speed dropped to 80-100 from solid 120 on speedtest, but on torrent getting 240 meg.😕

sonofenoch

It's wired, always and only ever use wired .....the white Thomson jobby UPC supplied

ramas2

Im using wired connection, cat5e

sonofenoch

My connection is coming through a splitter from the box on the wall (anologue going to another room) would this affect the connection?

bk

sonofenoch wrote: »

My connection is coming through a splitter from the box on the wall (anologue going to another room) would this affect the connection?

Yes, possibly, the splitter might not be operating at the right frequencies. Contact UPC and they should be able to trouble shot it for you.

dalta5billion

ramas2 wrote: »

Same story, after upgrade download speed dropped to 80-100 from solid 120 on speedtest, but on torrent getting 240 meg.😕

Try speedtest.upc.ie .

2kreative

After upgrade to 240mb (Navan) - wasn't much better during peak times before that on the 120mb package mind you.
speedtest.net/my-result/4051999650

Confirmed 240mb's on package was applied with UPC, wired connection, did the whole support thing happened to get about 168mb on the phone and was told once I receive 70% of the advertised rate they won't send out an engineer - ah sure tis grand... But on the upside if I'm willing to use my internet at 2.30am I get 228mb...

bk

2kreative wrote: »

After upgrade to 240mb (Navan) - wasn't much better during peak times before that on the 120mb package mind you.
speedtest.net/my-result/4051999650

speedtest.net can be quite poor at accurately reporting the correct speed for these sort of very high speed broadband products.

Better to test with speedtest.upc.ie and also by downloading an ISO from heanet.

2kreative

UPC's own speed test reports similar during peak hours, Steam & Origin DL's would be of similarly poor speeds.

bk

2kreative wrote: »

UPC's own speed test reports similar during peak hours, Steam & Origin DL's would be of similarly poor speeds.

In that case it sounds like there is congestion on their backhaul links from Navan.

You need to contact UPC and report it. I'm certain their network ops department are already aware of the issue. These sort of issues can't be fixed over night, it takes a while to order and put in place new backhaul, but it usually eventually does get sorted.

sonofenoch

Without splitter in wall outlet

kk887

I am on the 120mb package and paying 52.5 per month. Now, they are charging 3 euro more per month which isnt a big money to be honest.

However, they are doing 20 Euro for the first 4 months and 40Euro per month afterward. Which is 400 Euro for the first twelve months compare to 666 Euro for my next 12 months...The new price on their website is still cheaper than what I am paying even if it go for the full price (40 Euro per month which still costing 480 only, it is even cheaper if I go for 240mb as 45 Euro per month and it would be 540 for the year)

So I am thinking to change to the new plan but the question is, is this 12 or 24 months contract?

ThisRegard

Just switch to the 240 package with another 12 month package.

bk

ThisRegard wrote: »

Just switch to the 240 package with another 12 month package.

Or alternatively switch to 120mb for e40 per month. Yes that means a new 12 month contract.

QikBax

I'm getting about 90mb Wired and Bridged Wireless (Cisco 3925 to TP Link AC750) on the 240mb package.

Is it likely because of Cat 5 cables. Will I try cat 6?

bk

QikBax wrote: »

I'm getting about 90mb Wired and Bridged Wireless. (Cisco 3925 to TP Link AC750)

Is it likely because of Cat 5 cables. Will I try cat 6?

Are you using a cat5 cable or a cat5e cable?

cat5 is only rated for 100mb/s, cat5e is rated for 1Gb/s

Another possibility is that the ethernet port on your laptop/desktop only supports 10/100 and not 10/100/1000, you should check this before buying new ethernet cable.

Another thing you can do is running speed tests between two devices on the same network. This will find any bottleknecks in you local network separate from issues with UPC

QikBax

Thanks for the reply.

I'm using just regular Cat 5 cables so that is probably holding it back.

I'm using a Macbook with 802.11ac for the Wireless and the laptop has the correct port so I'll try the newer cable tomorrow and see how I get on.

bk

QikBax wrote: »

I'm using just regular Cat 5 cables so that is probably holding it back.

I'm using a Macbook with 802.11ac for the Wireless and the laptop has the correct port so I'll try the newer cable tomorrow and see how I get on.

Sounds like it, I'm getting 200mb/s wireless in the same room with almost exactly the same setup as you!

I'm also using the TP-Link Archer C7 AC1750 and a macbook air (though it only supports 802.11n, not ac like yours, nice).

Remember to set the macbook to use the 5Ghz frequency and on your router, set it to only support 802.11n and 802.11ac on the 5Ghz frequency. Use the 2.4Ghz frequency for all legacy protocols.

Yes, it would be a pity to limit such nice and expensive gear for the sake of a €5 cable!!

Just goes to show, even when you have the best gear, you can still be let down by a small detail. This is why it is so hard for ISPs to guarantee top speeds over wifi.

Heisenberg1

I only enabled the 5Ghz today on my Horizon box and it has made such big difference the range has improved dramatically I'm now reaching speeds in excess of 120mb over wi-fi were before it would be no more than 40mb on a iPad air 2 well impressed with this from UPC.

ThisRegard

bk wrote: »

I'm also using the TP-Link Archer C7 AC1750 and a macbook air (though it only supports 802.11n, not ac like yours, nice).

I thought it does support 802.11ac, hence the AC in the name ? Specs I looked at indicated it does ?

bk

ThisRegard wrote: »

I thought it does support 802.11ac, hence the AC in the name ? Specs I looked at indicated it does ?

Yes, the router supports 802.11ac, what I meant is that my macbook air doesn't support ac, 802.11n only.

ThisRegard

Ah, get ya. I have a One4All voucher burning a hole in my pocket, and the Currys up the road is selling the Archer, I'm still hmming and hawing over if I actually 'need' one, no matter how much I want it.

Most of my work and entertainment is in a room off from the house so it's running on Devolo Homeplugs, but there is a direct line of sight to where the existing modem is. Within the house itself there's just the Sky box, chromecast, phones, tablets and occassional laptop messing about. So rarely will I connected directly to the modem via ethernet anyway.

rahenyrover

All this talk of better WiFi from seperate routers has me intrigued. I always (wrongly) just assumed you couldn't get more that 60 or 70 meg over wifi.

Before I pull the trigger on this could I ask some questions?

1. To setup do I simply plug an Ethernet cable from the upc modem to the new router and turn wifi off on the upc modem?

2. Will the Ethernet ports work on both? So in essence by having two would I now have extra Ethernet ports or would I only have the 4 on the new router?

3. Are there any other settings that need to be changed on the UPC modem?

From my limited understanding of this it all sounds like a no brainer but don't want to shell out 100+ only to get no benefit from it due to my lack of knowledge of how to set it up correctly.

Thanks in advance for any help.

listermint

rahenyrover wrote: »

All this talk of better WiFi from seperate routers has me intrigued. I always (wrongly) just assumed you couldn't get more that 60 or 70 meg over wifi.

Before I pull the trigger on this could I ask some questions?

1. To setup do I simply plug an Ethernet cable from the upc modem to the new router and turn wifi off on the upc modem?

Yes

2. Will the Ethernet ports work on both? So in essence by having two would I now have extra Ethernet ports or would I only have the 4 on the new router?

Yes

3. Are there any other settings that need to be changed on the UPC modem?

Not really, however you may have to give the router a static IP address in the lower range .1 .2. 3 for example

From my limited understanding of this it all sounds like a no brainer but don't want to shell out 100+ only to get no benefit from it due to my lack of knowledge of how to set it up correctly.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Updated Above