Imagine LTE Rural Broadband

Trick of the Tail

Thanks for your suggestions; I don't have anything Android, iPhones etc yes but the updates only happen occasionally. iCloud yes, but I'm still surprised that its moving 15GB a day.

Skybox yes too, 10GB a week? really?

No Windows here at all!

My router (I come out of theirs into mine and use mine for the wifi and wired connections) does show me the traffic, and it runs at about 2Mbps while I'm working.

Would that really add up to 15GB in 12 hours or so?

Marlow wrote: »

Background downloads ?

- Android Play Store
- iPhone Updates.
- iCloud enabled ?
- Sky box connected to your internet ? That uses like 10GB a week on channel updates at least.

The best one is, if you have a Windows 10 update, that fails. It'll start downloading all over again in background, fail again and continue to loop like that ! All without telling you apart from the failed installs.

/M

SuperBrian91

I live in a broadband black spot in Co. Galway I am currently with Eir paying over €60 a month for a 3MB connection and a phone line but I'm externally unhappy with the speed.



I'm in a Amber area in the National Broadband Plan and the Blue area stops 0.5Km from my house, typical.

I did some looking into Imagine LTE but having being seeing mixed reviews on them. I did contact them and they said I'm about 3KM from the mast so should recieve good speeds. I hate having to leave Eir has they have great support teams and customer service but can't wait until 2020 or longer for good broadband.

I am also worried about the 20GB daily allowance I am gamer, Netflix user and download movies and there is more people in the house the do the same will this 20GB be enough. A game itself could be between 30-60GB to download and bang before you know it date is gone.

If anyone uses the internet similar to me that is with Imagine LTE could you please let me know how it works for you. Thanks

km79

SuperBrian91 wrote: »

I live in a broadband black spot in Co. Galway I am currently with Eir paying over €60 a month for a 3MB connection and a phone line but I'm externally unhappy with the speed.



I'm in a Amber area in the National Broadband Plan and the Blue area stops 0.5Km from my house, typical.

I did some looking into Imagine LTE but having being seeing mixed reviews on them. I did contact them and they said I'm about 3KM from the mast so should recieve good speeds. I hate having to leave Eir has they have great support teams and customer service but can't wait until 2020 or longer for good broadband.

I am also worried about the 20GB daily allowance I am gamer, Netflix user and download movies and there is more people in the house the do the same will this 20GB be enough. A game itself could be between 30-60GB to download and bang before you know it date is gone.

If anyone uses the internet similar to me that is with Imagine LTE could you please let me know how it works for you. Thanks

Which mast

morgana

SuperBrian91 wrote: »

I am also worried about the 20GB daily allowance I am gamer, Netflix user and download movies and there is more people in the house the do the same will this 20GB be enough. A game itself could be between 30-60GB to download and bang before you know it date is gone.

If anyone uses the internet similar to me that is with Imagine LTE could you please let me know how it works for you. Thanks

I am a similar user I presume, gamer, 2 people in the house using Netflix, Android box, etc..
Day to day usage is usually perfectly ok as gaming itself does not use that much data. We set Netflix to standard quality as well.

I do have my own router connected to Imagine's router WAN port, so I could control data volume for certain devices if need be. I had the router before I changed to Imagine and I had no intention forgoing the features it offers to Imagine's pretty crap router, especially as they don't give you access at all. I have the their WiFI off and use my router's (Asus RT-N66U) superior one. It also allow me to monitor usage.

Your major concern are game downloads, which, as you said can be easily in excess of the 20 gig allowed.
Your only option is to time the download starting maybe at 11pm and let it run until the cap is reached. Rinse and repeat the next day.
Game updates should be manageable as they are usually not as sizeable as a fresh download.

So yes, the cap is annoying but can be managed with some forethought & planning.
I am like everybody else, Imagine, warts and all, is the best (only) option for now. Come the NBP, that will change :P.
But then, you are talking at least 2 years and most likely many more given the government's track record in those things.

wotzgoingon

Trick of the Tail wrote: »

Skybox yes too, 10GB a week? really?

Disconnect the Sky box. We have Sky years(over 15 anyway) and currently have a HD box and none of the boxes have ever been connected to the phone line.

And it does not interfere with the service. I also watched the Mcgreger vs Mayweather fight by booking it and that was with out a phone line connected so i do not know why someone would connect one up to it tbh.

wotzgoingon

Quin_Dub wrote: »

My exchange, whilst upgraded to Fibre for those in range is still using an 8mb/s Sat link for those out of range , so basically useless. For various range and topographical reasons I can't use any of the local Fixed wireless providers (Ripplecom etc.)

No way, that is not what I wanted to hear. My neighbours 2 mins up the road are getting connected to FTTH early next year and I kept saying to myself when they upgrade the exchange and line I should get a better connection. I currently get a 3Mb connection, mostly between 2-3Mb

I was hoping after the upgrades I would see maybe a 7-8Mb connection.

Quin_Dub

wotzgoingon wrote: »

No way, that is not what I wanted to hear. My neighbours 2 mins up the road are getting connected to FTTH early next year and I kept saying to myself when they upgrade the exchange and line I should get a better connection. I currently get a 3Mb connection, mostly between 2-3Mb

I was hoping after the upgrades I would see maybe a 7-8Mb connection.

Sadly , not in my case..

They did nothing to upgrade the existing platform when they upgraded the exchange to fibre.. Contention got a little better but they left the existing ADSL hardware in-situ .

I had hoped they'd at least swap it out for a more modern VSDL setup which like you would might have taken me to a 7-10Mb/s setup , but they didn't.

I hung on to my land-line for an extra 18 months purely waiting for that upgrade that never came..

Marlow

Trick of the Tail wrote: »

Thanks for your suggestions; I don't have anything Android, iPhones etc yes but the updates only happen occasionally. iCloud yes, but I'm still surprised that its moving 15GB a day.

Skybox yes too, 10GB a week? really?

No Windows here at all!

My router (I come out of theirs into mine and use mine for the wifi and wired connections) does show me the traffic, and it runs at about 2Mbps while I'm working.

Would that really add up to 15GB in 12 hours or so?

2 Mbps full throttle 30 days is about 750GB traffic ... , that's 25 GB/day, that's 12-13 GB every 12 hours .. (rounded figures).

Skybox is a hog ... so yes, 10GB a week easy. And that's without pay per view. That comes on top.

iCloud is a massive hog. You snap a high-res picture, it syncs it from your device to the iCloud and then down to any other device, that is on iCloud. Now it's multiplied your high-res picture by any device you have in the iCloud and send that up and down your internet connection. Massive hog.

Either way .. there you go. That's where your traffic is coming from.

iCloud = EVIL. Skybox = EVIL. VPN for work .. well ... unavoidable, still .. bandwidth hog.

/M

Marlow

wotzgoingon wrote: »

No way, that is not what I wanted to hear. My neighbours 2 mins up the road are getting connected to FTTH early next year and I kept saying to myself when they upgrade the exchange and line I should get a better connection. I currently get a 3Mb connection, mostly between 2-3Mb

I was hoping after the upgrades I would see maybe a 7-8Mb connection.

Quin_Dub wrote: »

Sadly , not in my case..

They did nothing to upgrade the existing platform when they upgraded the exchange to fibre.. Contention got a little better but they left the existing ADSL hardware in-situ .

I had hoped they'd at least swap it out for a more modern VSDL setup which like you would might have taken me to a 7-10Mb/s setup , but they didn't.

FTTH introduction makes zero difference to the DSL platform. It's completely different technology.

The speeds you see on DSL are not because of the lack of bandwidth at the exchange. They are caused by attenuation and distance of the copper until it hits the fiber. That part will NEVER change.

The last straw on that was VDSL (Fiber to the Curb). There's no point into investing in more after that, which is why they're now rolling out FTTH. The next upgrade from that will be WHEN FTTH is rolled out to homes on DSL/FTTC.

If it was feasable to improve on the copper platform, OpenEir would have gone that route instead of rolling out new cables. Labor and civils is the biggest cost in providing the service.

The reason some people see improved speeds on DSL is when the distance of copper gets shorter (their line moves from the exchange to the curb). Nothing else will improve it.

/M

wotzgoingon

Marlow wrote: »

FTTH introduction makes zero difference to the DSL platform. It's completely different technology.

The speeds you see on DSL are not because of the lack of bandwidth at the exchange. They are caused by attenuation and distance of the copper until it hits the fiber. That part will NEVER change.

The last straw on that was VDSL (Fiber to the Curb). There's no point into investing in more after that, which is why they're now rolling out FTTH. The next upgrade from that will be WHEN FTTH is rolled out to homes on DSL/FTTC.

If it was feasable to improve on the copper platform, OpenEir would have gone that route instead of rolling out new cables. Labor and civils is the biggest cost in providing the service.

The reason some people see improved speeds on DSL is when the distance of copper gets shorter (their line moves from the exchange to the curb). Nothing else will improve it.

/M

I was just thinking the speed would increase as there will be a fibre line from the exchange to literally a 2 min cycle up the road and then there is only that distance of copper to my house.

But I am no way knowledgeable about this thing so maybe I'm wrong.

Marlow

wotzgoingon wrote: »

I was just thinking the speed would increase as there will be a fibre line from the exchange to literally a 2 min cycle up the road and then there is only that distance of copper to my house.

But I am no way knowledgeable about this thing so maybe I'm wrong.

No. Just because your neighbor has FTTH, your DSL will not be connected to that. It'll still connected to the same Curb Cabinet or Exchange. The two technologies have nothing to do with eachother nor do they connect in the field .. they both terminate and meet in the exchange. Not before that.

/M

august12

Quin_Dub wrote:

My area is listed on the National Broadband plan , so I'm not getting fixed line services anytime soon.

Quin_Dub wrote:

My exchange, whilst upgraded to Fibre for those in range is still using an 8mb/s Sat link for those out of range , so basically useless. For various range and topographical reasons I can't use any of the local Fixed wireless providers (Ripplecom etc.)

Quin_Dub wrote:

I'm connected to the Maghera mast about 14km away with direct line of sight.

Hi, just came across this post, similar to you, I have direct line of sight to Maghera, very interested to read the quality of your broadband service now, I am fed up with poor quality broadband, less than 1mb here, more often than not, stalls completely, went to Ennis yesterday and brought home a Vodafone dongle to check what I could get, coming in anything between 5 and 10, delighted with this but limited to 15gb a month at 22 euro every 28 days, can trial this for two weeks, would you mind confirming the installation cost for your internet and monthly charge please, I should be able to get the equivalent if I have direct line of sight and less than 14 km, possibly 6km would estimate.

Gonzo

Trick of the Tail wrote: »

Skybox yes too, 10GB a week? really?

with Sky I have often seen 1 hour TV Shows like Game of Thrones or Walking Dead take up between 3 and 4gb of data for just 55 minutes of entertainment and movies often taking up to 6gb of data.

Watch a few hours of Sky On Demand in HD and the Imagine daily cap will soon be broken.

To save you could always download in SD, but SD quality on Sky is generally awful.

George Sunsnow

Gonzo wrote: »

with Sky I have often seen 1 hour TV Shows like Game of Thrones or Walking Dead take up between 3 and 4gb of data for just 55 minutes of entertainment and movies often taking up to 6gb of data.

Watch a few hours of Sky On Demand in HD and the Imagine daily cap will soon be broken.

To save you could always download in SD, but SD quality on Sky is generally awful.

Gonzo,seriously 4gigs for 55 mins of hd ?
Try 1.5 to 2 gigs an hour at most
Don't be exaggerating

We've had this argument several times

So 8 to 10 hrs of hd would fill your 20gigs
It would want to be a very wet day...

George Sunsnow

august12 wrote: »

Hi, just came across this post, similar to you, I have direct line of sight to Maghera, very interested to read the quality of your broadband service now, I am fed up with poor quality broadband, less than 1mb here, more often than not, stalls completely, went to Ennis yesterday and brought home a Vodafone dongle to check what I could get, coming in anything between 5 and 10, delighted with this but limited to 15gb a month at 22 euro every 28 days, can trial this for two weeks, would you mind confirming the installation cost for your internet and monthly charge please, I should be able to get the equivalent if I have direct line of sight and less than 14 km, possibly 6km would estimate.

I’m 6km’s from my mast and can see it plainly
The masts are done in sectors so you might be unlucky to get one with a lot of heavy downloaders on it which will dampen your speed
That’s the risk
But most lads here are north of 20Mb in the evenings
I’m 50 to 60 most evenings and up to 90 in the day
It’s €59.99 a month and it’s an 18 mths contract but you can break it at anytime for a max of €100

Ultimanemo

SuperBrian91 wrote: »

I live in a broadband black spot in Co. Galway I am currently with Eir paying over €60 a month for a 3MB connection and a phone line but I'm externally unhappy with the speed.



I'm in a Amber area in the National Broadband Plan and the Blue area stops 0.5Km from my house, typical.

I did some looking into Imagine LTE but having being seeing mixed reviews on them. I did contact them and they said I'm about 3KM from the mast so should recieve good speeds. I hate having to leave Eir has they have great support teams and customer service but can't wait until 2020 or longer for good broadband.

I am also worried about the 20GB daily allowance I am gamer, Netflix user and download movies and there is more people in the house the do the same will this 20GB be enough. A game itself could be between 30-60GB to download and bang before you know it date is gone.


If anyone uses the internet similar to me that is with Imagine LTE could you please let me know how it works for you. Thanks

Try Airwire, they have 1TB a month option with speed above 15 mbps
Even if you stay with your phone line, I would ring around for offers, you get a better offer every 12 months by changing, with sky you will easily get what you have now Plus TV for less money, after a year leave sky and shop around again, it is not fair to pay as much as someone has 100 times your speed.

Edited to say: Each time you switch ask for a new modem if not offered, recently someone from eir trying to get me signing into contract said: new modems are much better in getting the most of the speed you have.

august12

George Sunsnow wrote:

I’m 6km’s from my mast and can see it plainly The masts are done in sectors so you might be unlucky to get one with a lot of heavy downloaders on it which will dampen your speed That’s the risk But most lads here are north of 20Mb in the evenings I’m 50 to 60 most evenings and up to 90 in the day It’s €59.99 a month and it’s an 18 mths contract but you can break it at anytime for a max of €100

That is a bit expensive, will check their site to see if they have a cheaper package, am not a heavy user and no teenagers in house.

George Sunsnow

august12 wrote: »

That is a bit expensive, will check their site to see if they have a cheaper package, am not a heavy user and no teenagers in house.

They don’t have anything cheaper and I ageee it’s dear given you can get ftth for €45
No contest if you’ve access to that
Where I am none!
And there’s no way I’m going back to a crappy 1 to 3Mb line and plenty buffering for the sake of a fiver a week extra
It’s a pint

Gonzo

George Sunsnow wrote: »

Gonzo,seriously 4gigs for 55 mins of hd ?
Try 1.5 to 2 gigs an hour at most
Don't be exaggerating

We've had this argument several times

So 8 to 10 hrs of hd would fill your 20gigs
It would want to be a very wet day...

I've seen some tv shows on my sky on demand box over the last year download between 3 and 4 gigs, yes that's higher than you would from Netflix and certainly higher than most 1080p tvshows but Sky's On Demand service does seem to use more data than most methods of watching stuff online, that's really the point I was trying to make.

George Sunsnow

In all honesty,I’ve never seen 4 gig shows on sky’s on demand so they must be very rare and we use sky a lot
No gaming in this house but I’ve only had the 75% warning twice in a year and never the slow down

2 hour movies yes but that’s 2 hours of 1080

At least the file size is there with sky,you know what you’re using

Trick of the Tail

wotzgoingon wrote: »

Disconnect the Sky box. We have Sky years(over 15 anyway) and currently have a HD box and none of the boxes have ever been connected to the phone line.

And it does not interfere with the service. I also watched the Mcgreger vs Mayweather fight by booking it and that was with out a phone line connected so i do not know why someone would connect one up to it tbh.

Because without it connected you don't get the catch-up facility.

Marlow

Trick of the Tail wrote: »

Because without it connected you don't get the catch-up facility.

Oh .. but that again eats into your broadband usage. Big time.

/M

Trick of the Tail

Thats all useful, thanks. Especially the heads-up about iCloud. Makes sense. There have indeed been times when I'd take a few photos - hadn't considered that they then download to my house!

Marlow wrote: »

iCloud is a massive hog. You snap a high-res picture, it syncs it from your device to the iCloud and then down to any other device, that is on iCloud. Now it's multiplied your high-res picture by any device you have in the iCloud and send that up and down your internet connection. Massive hog.

Either way .. there you go. That's where your traffic is coming from.

iCloud = EVIL. Skybox = EVIL. VPN for work .. well ... unavoidable, still .. bandwidth hog.

/M

jester999

George Sunsnow wrote: »

In all honesty,I’ve never seen 4 gig shows on sky’s on demand so they must be very rare and we use sky a lot
No gaming in this house but I’ve only had the 75% warning twice in a year and never the slow down

2 hour movies yes but that’s 2 hours of 1080

At least the file size is there with sky,you know what you’re using

It all depends on compression ratios, I downloaded planet earth, and it was between 3 and 4.2 Gbit/s for episode, for 60minutes, so two people would struggle to watch 3 full hd shows a day. What good is 70Mbit burst speed to you then?

You are aware your only getting that speed for 180 seconds while the speed test is running.

This is how burst rates work, your actual speed will be throttled back to probably 22-25 mbit/s as it is equalised over the whole network.

I have 20mbit/s of a fixed wireless provider without limits and dont encounter any problems,

Do you work for Imagine, you seem to be spreading a lot of mis information about how their systems work.

George Sunsnow

Movies and series wouldn’t touch that though usually
I see the speedometer during the test and know the variation yes but to be honest I judge the thing on whether everything works or not and it passes that test
No buffering unlike my poor dsl

Obviously when ftth comes I’ll be on it like it’s hot
But that’s at least 2 years away
It’s gas ftth is a km away in all directions and in the middle of nowhere but they stopped short of me because they wouldn’t underground it at an ESB pylon

Funny thing is by my estimation they’ve no customers up to there on that road but they’d have got me and others if they’d continued
It’s a whole mockery

wotzgoingon

jester999 wrote: »

It all depends on compression ratios, I downloaded planet earth, and it was between 3 and 4.2 Gbit/s for episode, for .

Would that not be GB's and you are not measuring speed so /s(second) is wrong. :P

d31b0y

New portal gone live for usage today;
https://lteportal.imagine.ie/portal/index/index

TopTec

All I'm getting is 'Access Denied'!!

TT

d31b0y

It's a different account than your regular imagine account. I was emailed my username and password.

TopTec

Just on live chat to them..... no response yet!

TT