Imagine LTE Rural Broadband

eskerman

jay93 wrote: »

How's the 3 network coverage where you live? You can get a router from them and also ask them for a €20 all you can eat data SIM card for a phone put it into their router and you'll have unlimited data on that. It's a good solution if you've no other options.

I haven't tried Three at all - I only tried Vodafone Mobile broadband and it was very good and reasonably stable - i use about 250GB per month and Vodafone only offered me 150.

Might give Three a call tomorrow - I will chug along on my 1.3 for now - sadly

Im not jumping into a 24 month contract unless I am getting stable speeds and a decent data allowance - asking for a lot it would seem and I'm only 6km from the exchange

debarra156

eskerman wrote: »

Im on the Trim side of Enfield - near Baconstown and I moved from a very bad EIR broadband (around 2.2MBPS down and 0.4MBPS up) to Vodafone and it went from bad to worse -I was lucky to be getting 1.4 down and up was 0.1 maybe 0.3. The contract kicked off end of Oct and I was on the phone to them every day for a month - they extended the cooling off period and then tried to hook me into a contract in Jan - I eventually got a release from contract and I have my UAN so I am free to look at options

I am about 6km from Enfield exchange and despite the so called EIR roll our map about fibre I can't get any preliminary dates even to the year from Eir - nobody knows and you can't speak to the dept who are responsible = total frustration.

I tried Vodafone Mobile Broadband 4G and it was good - 25/35Mbps down however the data limit was 150GB for €60/month - I need at least 250GB/month and thats not heavy usage in todays market - couple of tablets and laptops would use up 150GB easily and I also need broadband for work

I am exporing this Imagine broadband as my only option and was wondering if anybody can give me some feedback - good and bad / warts and all and especially in the Enfield location which I understand is fed from Cappagh mast

Thanks in advance
Paul

For what its worth, my experience with Imagine is mixed. I have been a customer for about 4 months and my service has been poor until last week when I was switched from a mast 13k away to one 3k away. Until then I couldn't depend on the service and despite dozens of phonecalls, letters, emails etc it took almost 4 months to get it sorted.

My advice is to establish ideally prior to an installation how far you are from the mast and what is the topography between you and it. I would make sure I am there on installation day and only sign on the dotted line if it is clear that you have a strong signal both in terms of the speedtest the installers will carry out but also in terms of signal loss that they establish when testing. You may have to look over their shoulders but in my experience they're a decent bunch and will have no objection.

If your signal is good, it is better than most local wifi service providers and many DSL based services. I'm happy with my lot now and while I'm still wary of deterioration over the coming weeks, it is currently by far the best available to me in my current location in South Kildare. As far as I can determine, FTTH is due later this year in my area. Imagine's contract cancellation fee is only €100 so hopefully the level of service will be maintained until then.

eskerman

debarra156 wrote: »

For what its worth, my experience with Imagine is mixed. I have been a customer for about 4 months and my service has been poor until last week when I was switched from a mast 13k away to one 3k away. Until then I couldn't depend on the service and despite dozens of phonecalls, letters, emails etc it took almost 4 months to get it sorted.

My advice is to establish ideally prior to an installation how far you are from the mast and what is the topography between you and it. I would make sure I am there on installation day and only sign on the dotted line if it is clear that you have a strong signal both in terms of the speedtest the installers will carry out but also in terms of signal loss that they establish when testing. You may have to look over their shoulders but in my experience they're a decent bunch and will have no objection.

If your signal is good, it is better than most local wifi service providers and many DSL based services. I'm happy with my lot now and while I'm still wary of deterioration over the coming weeks, it is currently by far the best available to me in my current location in South Kildare. As far as I can determine, FTTH is due later this year in my area. Imagine's contract cancellation fee is only €100 so hopefully the level of service will be maintained until then.

Thanks for taking the time to reply - your opinion and advice is much appreciated. I spoke to a sales guy at imagine and asked all the relevant questions and that included the key question if they can send a technician to check my location for signal strength before I would consider committing to a contract and I was told no - the don't offer this pre sign up - all I have is a cooling off period of two weeks from order date. I am not sure if there is an installation charge ? Apparently they are confident I will have no problem with the service in my location - I'm also concerned about this 20GB daily limit

Pondering again as I've had nothing but bad experiences with most of the service providers out there

debarra156

eskerman wrote: »

Thanks for taking the time to reply - your opinion and advice is much appreciated. I spoke to a sales guy at imagine and asked all the relevant questions and that included the key question if they can send a technician to check my location for signal strength before I would consider committing to a contract and I was told no - the don't offer this pre sign up - all I have is a cooling off period of two weeks from order date. I am not sure if there is an installation charge ? Apparently they are confident I will have no problem with the service in my location - I'm also concerned about this 20GB daily limit

Pondering again as I've had nothing but bad experiences with most of the service providers out there

My experience with Service Providers is similar to your own. On balance despite my poor initial service, I would consider taking a chance with Imagine. Right now (11.15pm) I vary between 20 and 40mbps down and 2 and 4mbps up with pings of approx 30ms. These are comparatively good but you need consistency so use the 2 weeks cooling off to your advantage. I am wary of speedtest but it is a useful benchmark. The download cap is not a problem for me.

Good luck with your decision.

eskerman

Thanks again and I think we are both on the same page - I too find Speedtest a good guide and I've witnessed pings of 400 plus at times - consistency during the cooling period is helpful but not a guarantee - if it costs €100 to terminate a contract it might be work the try - do they have an installation charge and did you have to wait long for the install

debarra156

eskerman wrote: »

Thanks again and I think we are both on the same page - I too find Speedtest a good guide and I've witnessed pings of 400 plus at times - consistency during the cooling period is helpful but not a guarantee - if it costs €100 to terminate a contract it might be work the try - do they have an installation charge and did you have to wait long for the install

They have an installation charge of €150. However, as I had an existing ethernet cable to my roof from an earlier local wifi service they reduced to €100. In my case installation was quick. It seems that if they have capacity at a local mast, they move within days. If they're anticipating a new mast or an upgrade you may gave to wait. I am of the view that they are hoovering up business before the national broadband framework is published so if they have indicated that Cappagh is suitable for you, I would guess that it will be quick.

ItHurtsWhenIP

jay93 wrote: »

How's the 3 network coverage where you live? You can get a router from them and also ask them for a €20 all you can eat data SIM card for a phone put it into their router and you'll have unlimited data on that. It's a good solution if you've no other options.

Ssssssssshhhhhhhhhh ... Don't you know there's a certain boardsie that hangs around this thread, he might try to close that option down again! :rolleyes:

eskerman wrote: »

...
Might give Three a call tomorrow - I will chug along on my 1.3 for now - sadly
...

If you call Three, don't tell them you're looking to put the SIM in a router. The AYCE package is for phone only. However they don't appear to prevent the SIM being used in a router (unlike the UK, where Three do this), so if you have a good Three signal, it's an unlimited package for peanuts. However there was somebody on here who has tried to get Three to block this service for the hundreds and thousands of people who depend on it.

eskerman wrote: »

...
all I have is a cooling off period of two weeks from order date.
...

Imagine annoy me with this. The cooling off period of 14 days actually starts from the date of installation. If they give you any guff, quote them the distance selling regulations, which states the cooling off period starts on delivery of service.

eskerman

Thanks for contributions and possible options including Three - the sim only no data limit is attractive and perhaps can be "tested" using PAYG rather then getting stuck in a bill pay contract for 18/24 months which I think is too long - but that's another argument.
I think the mobile broadband (4G with good coverage) is the only guarantee of service when your living rural and I have no confidence in the likes of EIR rolling out fibre to me even at 6km from the exchange in Enfield - there is talk about Vodafone and ESB Networks offering high speed to all domestic customers especially rural however that's clearly years away.

With the Three router can it be used for network cabling as I have some devices that are networked

If there was a choice between Imagine 20GB daily and the likes of Three with no limit data - what would be considered the best option - I'm assuming both use the 4G system so technically is there a difference ?

xxyyzz

eskerman wrote: »

Im on the Trim side of Enfield - near Baconstown and I moved from a very bad EIR broadband (around 2.2MBPS down and 0.4MBPS up) to Vodafone and it went from bad to worse -I was lucky to be getting 1.4 down and up was 0.1 maybe 0.3. The contract kicked off end of Oct and I was on the phone to them every day for a month - they extended the cooling off period and then tried to hook me into a contract in Jan - I eventually got a release from contract and I have my UAN so I am free to look at options

I am about 6km from Enfield exchange and despite the so called EIR roll our map about fibre I can't get any preliminary dates even to the year from Eir - nobody knows and you can't speak to the dept who are responsible = total frustration.

I tried Vodafone Mobile Broadband 4G and it was good - 25/35Mbps down however the data limit was 150GB for €60/month - I need at least 250GB/month and thats not heavy usage in todays market - couple of tablets and laptops would use up 150GB easily and I also need broadband for work

I am exporing this Imagine broadband as my only option and was wondering if anybody can give me some feedback - good and bad / warts and all and especially in the Enfield location which I understand is fed from Cappagh mast

Thanks in advance
Paul

I'm curious why you switched from Eir to Vodafone, they are using the same infrastructure. Vodafone just buy wholesale from Eir and sell it on to the customer so you were getting the same package supplied by a different vendor.

The Eir rollout map is part of the national broadband plan which is currently tied up in red tape with contracts etc and the tender has not been finalised. It won't begin until 2018 at least. I wouldn't be holding my breath on it for another few years.

Happy_Harry

eskerman wrote: »

If there was a choice between Imagine 20GB daily and the likes of Three with no limit data - what would be considered the best option - I'm assuming both use the 4G system so technically is there a difference ?

You seem to be in a similar situation as I was... 6 kms from exchange, in a similar setting , giving you bad DSL and at this point probably no hope of fibre.

I used Vodafone and Meteor 4G but the caps at the time were prohibitive so I used it wisely. Like you I used it for a couple of netflix users, a few tablets and working from home
I couldn't get a decent Three signal.

I am now with Imagine with my DSL as a fail over ( I will probably get rid of it as in fairness I have used the failover only twice for perhaps a couple of hours)

My advice - get a Three Prepaid SIM card, check signal and speed in and around your house on a phone with 4G enabled. If you are getting a decent signal keep on testing for a week and see if it is stable. Once you are happy that it is stable get a 4G modem router and perhaps an antenna and use the Three card with AYCE data (no guarantee this will continue to work eternally though)
If you don't have decent Three signal- sign up to Imagine, and see if you have a signal , yes you pay the €100 up front but you get it back if you don't get a decent speed and they won't install.
The majority of people here have had very few technical issues with Imagine, so chances that you will continue to have a good service once installed are in your favour.
The 20GB cap - I have had no issues with it , and from what I read they throttle, not disconnect.

I did and I haven't looked back, OK, I am not getting the super speeds some people get as I am not that close to the mast but 40-50Mbps is more than enough , especially if you are used to 1.5 Mbps DSL. Yes, sometime my modem reboots itself for no reason or I need to reboot to get service back, but this may happen max once a week. I have had no serious outages and (thankfully) never had to call customer service.

eskerman

xxyyzz wrote: »

I'm curious why you switched from Eir to Vodafone, they are using the same infrastructure. Vodafone just buy wholesale from Eir and sell it on to the customer so you were getting the same package supplied by a different vendor.

The Eir rollout map is part of the national broadband plan which is currently tied up in red tape with contracts etc and the tender has not been finalised. It won't begin until 2018 at least. I wouldn't be holding my breath on it for another few years.

Thanks for your reply - I switched from EIR to Vodafone based on a better monthly plan deal - I was assured by Vodafone that my broadband which is rated at 3meg would be the same as EIR - this was not the case and the day I got switched over my speeds dropped to in some cases unusable - phone calls to 1907 support daily and never getting to the root of the problem - specking to a different support person every time you call - tweaking and making changes and all sorts of excuses - resulted in them releasing me from the contract - bottom line is it was a bad experience and I'm not blaming Vodafone - as clearly its all tied back to EIR and you can never get the root cause of service related problems - even an EIR field service engineer called to my house and he was calling on the "rules and regulations" and that he was not allowed to look inside any more then 3 meters of my front door - which I partly understand but he never got to the root of the problems

I think its an overloaded line from the exchange and it simply can't support the number of connections - I cant wait for years and I have to make a choice as I work from home

d31b0y

xxyyzz wrote: »

I'm curious why you switched from Eir to Vodafone, they are using the same infrastructure. Vodafone just buy wholesale from Eir and sell it on to the customer so you were getting the same package supplied by a different vendor.

Personally, I switched from Eir when they increased their price to €55. VF charge €40 for the same broadband service, albeit without a phone.
As a benefit, my speed increased from 2.5 to 3.5 / 4 Mbps. I am not sure if they just set a higher profile than Eir or if they rent physical space on the exchange and there are just less vodafone customers on that particular exchange.
I suspect the former but I'm still happy enough with the change.
Of course, I don't like the 18 month contract they insist on. I'll be running Imagine and Vodafone in tandem from March until the end of the year (unless Imagine let me push out my install date again).

d31b0y

eskerman wrote: »

I think its an overloaded line from the exchange and it simply can't support the number of connections - I cant wait for years and I have to make a choice as I work from home

Most of your problem is likely down to distance from the exchange, if you are 6KM away...

eskerman

d31b0y wrote: »

eskerman wrote: »

I think its an overloaded line from the exchange and it simply can't support the number of connections - I cant wait for years and I have to make a choice as I work from home

Most of your problem is likely down to distance from the exchange, if you are 6KM away...

I always knew the distance of circa 6km was a factor and I was able to chug along at 2.4mbps however it's progressively got worse and I guess my only choice for a "stable" higher speed service is to consider mobile 4G which I think is available here in Enfield

Imagine are saying there are limited spaces on the local transmitter and to call them to guarantee a slot ! sales promo perhaps ?

ArKl0w

Maybe try 2 connections,that would give you 40 gigs a day or 1200 gigs a month for less than €100 a month ex vat
I don't know if imagine would allow that but you could try one in the company name and another in your personal name
Downside is 2 connection fee's

However as reported here Imagine don't charge you for going over the 20 gig a day,they just slow your connection to 6Mb but reset it back to normal at midnight on the day you go over
So really if you can get it,it's an awful lot better than what you have

eskerman

ArKl0w wrote: »

Maybe try 2 connections,that would give you 40 gigs a day or 1200 gigs a month for less than €100 a month ex vat
I don't know if imagine would allow that but you could try one in the company name and another in your personal name
Downside is 2 connection fee's

However as reported here Imagine don't charge you for going over the 20 gig a day,they just slow your connection to 6Mb but reset it back to normal at midnight on the day you go over
So really if you can get it,it's an awful lot better than what you have

Thanks for that and to be honest my family and business usage is around 220/230GB per month so based on the 20GB per day allowance I don't think I have any issues with Data and I can quite easily work with 6mbps considering I've only ever had around 2/2.4 in the better days !
I understand Imagine also offer a VoIP telephone which would be a lot cheaper for off peak calls etc

Hobson's choice but I'm probably going to give Imagine a try - can't be any word then the rubbish I have currently

morgana

Having been with Imagine since February 2016, it certainly had its up and downs, but overall I am happy with the service. There were some peak speed related problems last September but they have been sorted (after a few weeks) and I've had a steady 60 - 68 Mbps off-peak and around 50 Mbps peak since (speed test history). Ping is pretty steady around 40 - 70 ms, so no complaints. Service is usually solid, very occasional router reboots (maybe once every two weeks).
I've found CS from extremely helpful and knowledgeable (at the very beginning) to ok (now) - I even got call-backs to check issues were resolved (some longer outage about 2 months back).
From my experience I can recommend them, they beat my previous provider hands down both in terms of speeds/allowances and cs.

There seems to be anecdotal evidence that they have eased on the cap enforcement. About 8 months ago I got mails when I hit 15 gig and got throttled once i got over the 20 gig. Before Christmas I downloaded ESO (like 60 gigs over a few days) and I got easily up to 18 gig a day without any warning mails. I use my own router so I can see & monitor my daily/monthly use.

eskerman

morgana wrote: »

Having been with Imagine since February 2016, it certainly had its up and downs, but overall I am happy with the service. There were some peak speed related problems last September but they have been sorted (after a few weeks) and I've had a steady 60 - 68 Mbps off-peak and around 50 Mbps peak since (speed test history). Ping is pretty steady around 40 - 70 ms, so no complaints. Service is usually solid, very occasional router reboots (maybe once every two weeks).
I've found CS from extremely helpful and knowledgeable (at the very beginning) to ok (now) - I even got call-backs to check issues were resolved (some longer outage about 2 months back).
From my experience I can recommend them, they beat my previous provider hands down both in terms of speeds/allowances and cs.

There seems to be anecdotal evidence that they have eased on the cap enforcement. About 8 months ago I got mails when I hit 15 gig and got throttled once i got over the 20 gig. Before Christmas I downloaded ESO (like 60 gigs over a few days) and I got easily up to 18 gig a day without any warning mails. I use my own router so I can see & monitor my daily/monthly use.

Thanks for that reply - i picked up on the point about you using your own router which I would like to do - thinking about extending my wifi range in the house with one of the old Eircom routers which I have found to be quite reliable - can you get access to the Imagine router or did you use your own router from the getgo

morgana

I have access to the router (guessed user/pw combi) but they changed that since and do not give ppl router access.
But I did not need it - i just connected my Asus to the WAN port of the Imagine router (I have the old Greenpack router) and let it automatically configure itself for internet access. The only thing I did is disable the Imagine wireless - not essential either. Just configure your own router's wifi on a different channel. You cannot replace the Imagine router with your own as it powers the outside antenna.

eskerman

morgana wrote: »

I have access to the router (guessed user/pw combi) but they changed that since and do not give ppl router access.
But I did not need it - i just connected my Asus to the WAN port of the Imagine router (I have the old Greenpack router) and let it automatically configure itself for internet access. The only thing I did is disable the Imagine wireless - not essential either. Just configure your own router's wifi on a different channel. You cannot replace the Imagine router with your own as it powers the outside antenna.

Thanks for that - I did ask the question to Imagine and they confirmed I can add a second router to theirs if I wan to boost

Anyway I have pulled the trigger on the order with Imagine about 30 mins ago and I just had had a call from their installing dept to say I can expect the installation tomorrow morning ! I am impressed as it gives me a good 14 days cooling period to make sure the service is what I want - anything is better then what I have just now - so lets see how this develops - I will gladly share my results and experiences with my new broadband provider

emm80

What are peoples phone quality like in the imagine package? I have it a week, the BB is great, but the quality of the line is shocking, gonna try a different handset, but it's almost unusable as it is, breaking up, huge 5sec plus delays..

claytonie

Based in Kildangan and signed up this afternoon as don't expect eirs FTTH to be ready for at least another year after handing over all required details and paying the initial €100 was very surprised to get the call an hour later to say they will be around 9am tomorrow morning to complete the install. Less than 24hours turnaround is pretty impressive.

eskerman

claytonie wrote: »

Based in Kildangan and signed up this afternoon as don't expect eirs FTTH to be ready for at least another year after handing over all required details and paying the initial €100 was very surprised to get the call an hour later to say they will be around 9am tomorrow morning to complete the install. Less than 24hours turnaround is pretty impressive.

I ordered mine this afternoon and like you I had a call to say I can expect the installation crew over tomorrow morning - so far I'm impressed and if speeds are as I'm expecting it's a good result - EIR are stuck in neutral in my neck of the woods - good luck with your new system

morgana

emm80 wrote: »

What are peoples phone quality like in the imagine package? I have it a week, the BB is great, but the quality of the line is shocking, gonna try a different handset, but it's almost unusable as it is, breaking up, huge 5sec plus delays..

No issues with the phone quality. I would contact tech support to look into it.

emm80

Ok, I'll try the new handset first, it's a panasonic, the one I have is a BT cheapo,

TopTec

emm80 wrote: »

What are peoples phone quality like in the imagine package? I have it a week, the BB is great, but the quality of the line is shocking, gonna try a different handset, but it's almost unusable as it is, breaking up, huge 5sec plus delays..

Mine is not so good. Have a double unit phone which worked fine with the Eir line. With Imagine it is common for poor line sound quality, drop outs and voice feedbacks which is the worst. Frequently I have to get callers to re-ring and the line usually improves. I have tried the old basic 'trim' phone but that is the same so it is definitely the line.

Having said all that if I still had the Eir service in this weather I would have no line and no internet, so I count my lucky stars.

TT

emm80

It's it weather related I wonder? My eircom line entries had either I don't think, it wasn't great, but there was delay at least. I have only called it from a mobile though, I wonder would a landline call be as bad, must check.
Maybe there's interference, the phone and router being close together or any other electrical equipment might affect it?
I'll have to investigate, it's not a deal breaker, but it's going to be a pain because I have zero mobile signal if I'm not standing outside, so the phone is handy to divert calls to.

tsue921i8wljb3

I'm using a VoIP service on my LTE connection, not Imagine's own but Blueface and it has been flawless.

eskerman

Reyansh Little Bandage wrote: »

I'm using a VoIP service on my LTE connection, not Imagine's own but Blueface and it has been flawless.

I think Goldfish.ie also supply a voip service

tsue921i8wljb3

eskerman wrote: »

I think Goldfish.ie also supply a voip service

Blueface actually don't do residential accounts any more, mine is legacy. My post was more to show that the service can handle VoIP without issue.