Anyone have bluebox Internet provider donegal??

Chrissy6x

Anyone have this service that can recommend it...currently no eircom broadband in my area in 2015. Im using qsat sat broadband biggest waste of time it works but runs out on 20th of every month and I renew on the 4th so basically 54.99 for 16 days. my heart is broke.

NIMAN

Used to have it at old address. I always found it steady and reliable. Only had the 1meg speed at the time.

Brother had it more recently and had to cancel as he found it very unpredictable. Since cancelled and moved back to Eircom to get a steady service.

Might be worth reading this thread from the Broadband forum, and making up your own mind
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056492710

lulu1

Never used it but have heard people complain that it was useless and that they had no coverage half the time

madalig12

Had it for years. No issues with it.

howdoyouknow

To get it you need to have line of sight to their mast which they won't tell you where it is until their technician calls out about 3 months after you order the service. After spending a half hour on your roof he asks you where x is in relation to your house as you know your local geography you tell him it's on the other side of the hill with no chance of line of sight. This has happened to myself and 4 others in the Ballybofey and Killygordon areas. From what I read before applying for the service it is very good if you get it. I just wish they'd look properly at a map when you make the initial application to see if it's viable

Oh by the way one of their masts in on barnesmore if it helps anyone

NIMAN

When I had them call maybe a year or so ago, after about 30mins getting ready, ladders, getting on to roof etc, the guy found the transmitter ok, called in to the office then informed me that this particular transmitter was full and had no more room on it!

You'd think knowing this before he set off on a 45min journey to my house would have been wise.

Bligh

I currently use them and am reasonably happy it's much faster than I could get via a land line provider and I have good line of sight to there hill top site and that helps quite a bit.

I also think the cost is OK and am one of their happy customers

NIMAN

To be honest, line of sight would be irrelevant in terms of quality of service.

You can either see the transmitter or you can't. Once you can see it and get a signal, contention is likely to be the main thing that would likely slow your service down.

Vic Vinegar

A mate has it, he lives near Annagry. He's very happy with it. Gets pretty good speeds too.

mgkelly

I'm with these guys & have been for a few years. I live outside Burnfoot (Tooban). They are my only real realistic option. I probably would get Eircom but suspect they'd be even worse.
My comments would be mixed. When I got it first, I got on with it for years. It started to become a bit slower & I began to be able to remotely access my work network, so enquired if I could do anything. Was very surprised to hear that things had changed a lot & I had been on a very old package. Surprised they hadn't updated me. On the other hand, maybe good somebody not bloody ringing you every few weeks to see if they could help! So, very poor follow up.
I also find the speed to be very variable, but might be to do with the amount of people on at same time (that's 'contention', isn't it?!). You almost think the weather makes a difference ?(not as good if stormy) but that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Then again, I'm not very scientifically or electronically minded, & if you told me the moon cycle affected signal, I'd probably believe you!
Happy to help with more info if helpful.
Martin

m99T

Check out this thread for all the reasons /NOT/ to get Bluebox/NWE/NWEWN Wireless BroadBand.

boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056492710

NIMAN

That link is already up above.

m99T

m99T wrote: »

Check out this thread for all the reasons /NOT/ to get Bluebox/NWE/NWEWN Wireless BroadBand.

boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056492710

NIMAN wrote: »

That link is already up above.

I figured that out after posing, then realized I couldn't delete or edit my post. I feel silly now, haha.

fooker!

You might be lucky and be in an area that doesn't have any problems!
mine is nothing but bother though! its slow most of the time, it was off for nearly 4 weeks at Christmas and then off for a week this month too! if you get it and have problems NWE are useless, they just tell you there are no faults!

only there is no other option in my area I would be with someone else!

here's a speed test I took earlier...

excollier

I've had it for about 7 or 8 years. Service varies from excellent to non-existent, mostly average though if a little slow in the evenings.

Donegalforever

I am a customer for a number of years.
Sometimes it is fair enough, other times it is almost as slow as a snail.
Their customer service is not so great. Firstly, they have only two telephone lines in their HQ in Derry and it is common to get a continuous engaged tone.
They are very quick to defend the service, even when it is awful and will try hard to blame your computer or your router and tell you even when it is awful slow that it is within Contention ratios, despite the fact that they are meant to provide up to 10 mbps speed.....expect a fraction of that at times.
Take whatever they say with a pinch of salt.

tekkiemetal

<MOD SNIP>

Mod note: Post removed.

Do not post the same message in multiple threads otherwise it will be viewed as spam which we went dont particularly like.

Donegalforever

I have been a customer of Bluebox for a number of years.
At no time is it super fast. It can go from an middling speed to a very slow connection.
It depends on a number of things:
1. The number of people on one connection at a given time, particularly in the evening
2. The weather.

Customer Service leave a lot to be desired. It is impossible to get through by phone to Customers Services at times. When you do, there is the strong possibility of being fobbed off. They are likely to blame your computer or router.

The only reason that I stay with Bluebox is that I really have no alternative.
My advise is if you can find an alternative Internet Service Provider in your area offering faster speeds at a realistic price, then steer clear of Bluebox.

Vinneyboy

Does anyone have the Bluebox service in the Castlefinn, Liscolley or Killygordan area who can give me some feedback, I have landline at moment and getting really bad speeds just under 2Mb with no sign from Eir of upgrades soon as I'm to far from the exchange in Castlefinn. Has the customer service improved?

madalig12

Vinneyboy wrote: »

Does anyone have the Bluebox service in the Castlefinn, Liscolley or Killygordan area who can give me some feedback, I have landline at moment and getting really bad speeds just under 2Mb with no sign from Eir of upgrades soon as I'm to far from the exchange in Castlefinn. Has the customer service improved?

The customer service is fine they do respond to emails but im working on leaving them as the service is just too up and down lately.

Penfailed

I had them previously as they were my only option.  Their customer service was shite.  As soon as I heard there was an alternative, I binned them.  I'm now with Beacon Broadband and have been for about a month or so.  Great customer service and no major issues with service.  If there is an issue, they e-mail you to explain, whereas Bluebox wouldn't bother their holes.

daffodill50

Hi, are Bb still giving a bad service or has anyone gotten them in more recent times and had a positive experience?

Donegalforever

daffodill50 wrote: »

Hi, are Bb still giving a bad service or has anyone gotten them in more recent times and had a positive experience?

As I posted previously, I was a customer for a number of years - (because I had no alternative)
The speed was half what it should have been. The service was awful. When the connection was down, which was fairly frequently, it was almost impossible to get through to them on the phone and when I did get through, all I got was a load of s*it.
Their repair men never seemed to stay very long; I could hazard a guess why.

I was left without a connection for 5 days. That convinced me to join Beacon who had come on the scene.
I find Beacon to offer a much better service and if there is a problem they will sort it out.
My advice is if you have any alternative stay clear of B.B.

madalig12

I got Fibre. Amazing in comparison.

Penfailed

Donegalforever wrote: »

As I posted previously, I was a customer for a number of years - (because I had no alternative)
The speed was half what it should have been. The service was awful. When the connection was down, which was fairly frequently, it was almost impossible to get through to them on the phone and when I did get through, all I got was a load of s*it.
Their repair men never seemed to stay very long; I could hazard a guess why.

I was left without a connection for 5 days. That convinced me to join Beacon who had come on the scene.
I find Beacon to offer a much better service and if there is a problem they will sort it out.
My advice is if you have any alternative stay clear of B.B.

That pretty much mirrors my experience.

daffodill50

Donegalforever wrote: »

As I posted previously, I was a customer for a number of years - (because I had no alternative)
The speed was half what it should have been. The service was awful. When the connection was down, which was fairly frequently, it was almost impossible to get through to them on the phone and when I did get through, all I got was a load of s*it.
Their repair men never seemed to stay very long; I could hazard a guess why.

I was left without a connection for 5 days. That convinced me to join Beacon who had come on the scene.
I find Beacon to offer a much better service and if there is a problem they will sort it out.
My advice is if you have any alternative stay clear of B.B.

Thank you, I have opted for Beacon.

m99T

daffodill50 wrote: »

Thank you, I have opted for Beacon.

Much better, but still no where near as good as Fiber which is all over Donegal now.

ednwireland

m99T wrote: »

Much better, but still no where near as good as Fiber which is all over Donegal now.

it really isnt !

fibre 200 yds from my house and i cant get it it , cant get bluebox, beacon or imagine, mobile signal is poor no 4g,

all under 2 miles form donegal town

Penfailed

m99T wrote: »

Much better, but still no where near as good as Fiber which is all over Donegal now.

No. No it's not. If you're not in a built up urban centre you're not getting fibre.

m99T

ednwireland wrote: »

it really isnt !

fibre 200 yds from my house and i cant get it it , cant get bluebox, beacon or imagine, mobile signal is poor no 4g,

all under 2 miles form donegal town

That's unfortunate, is it an Eircode issue or are you left out of the rural 300k? I've been working with people like this to setup wireless and even physical links between houses that can get fiber but don't wish to pay for it and houses that need it but cant get it. You might be able to look into something like that because lord knows the NBP isn't coming any time soon. If you need any advice message me and ill do my best, I know exactly what its like to be in your position and I seriously would do anything to help anyone out of it.

Penfailed wrote: »

No. No it's not. If you're not in a built up urban centre you're not getting fibre.

Unless you live in Letterkenny or a SIRO enabled town you wont get full FTTH in built up areas, its the rural folks ontop at the moment if you can get on the 300k rollout.

But in response to both of these, yes you are right its not everywhere and you're unlucky to not be included but you can get fiber throughout Donegal in rural areas, I know having managed 13 separate remote installs for small businesses, home offices and residential clients who want to pay for it. You can get fiber, and if you can you probably should. For the first time ever rural Donegal is a viable location for remote working with acceptable connectivity at an affordable price.

Penfailed

m99T wrote: »

That's unfortunate, is it an Eircode issue or are you left out of the rural 300k? I've been working with people like this to setup wireless and even physical links between houses that can get fiber but don't wish to pay for it and houses that need it but cant get it. You might be able to look into something like that because lord knows the NBP isn't coming any time soon. If you need any advice message me and ill do my best, I know exactly what its like to be in your position and I seriously would do anything to help anyone out of it.



Unless you live in Letterkenny or a SIRO enabled town you wont get full FTTH in built up areas, its the rural folks ontop at the moment if you can get on the 300k rollout.

But in response to both of these, yes you are right its not everywhere and you're unlucky to not be included but you can get fiber throughout Donegal in rural areas, I know having managed 13 separate remote installs for small businesses, home offices and residential clients who want to pay for it. You can get fiber, and if you can you probably should. For the first time ever rural Donegal is a viable location for remote working with acceptable connectivity at an affordable price.

We can't even get a landline for the phone...!