Imagine LTE Rural Broadband

df_h

just_manu wrote: »

Ok, I just got installed after lunch. The guys were quick helpful and friendly.
He showed me his speed through his wired connection to the router and he was getting 96meg download and 8 up!! Fantastic. !!!

Then I tried my phone connected over wifi and was getting around 15 / 20 down and 4 up.
I have since tried on my laptop over wifi but only get between 30 and 40 down!
Does anyone know if this is normal loss over wifi? I was expecting some loss over wifi but surely it should not be cutting it down that low??
Anyone else got this?
(Don't get me wrong, either way am much better off than I was and am happy either way!)

Yes I wrote about this before the wifi signal out of the black WN-600 box is terrible, literally falls of a cliff with a few steps away (walked around with wifi analyzer around house)

Best connect directly using ethernet cable

Or setup another better wifi router in ap mode with this one

ED E wrote: »

Common misconception that wifi might take off a certain percentage. Networking works at slowest link in the chain. So your older wifi device can manage 30Mb, on a 30Mb line you see 100%, on a 360Mb line you see 12%.


Not sure if their modem supports 5Ghz but you may see better rates with that but older devices won't connect. If you have any modern iPads then test with that, they've an excellent radio/antenna for a handheld.

If you list the devices you've tried we can tell you what they're capable of.

No 5Ghz to be seen, the signal coming out is very weak, like i said a quick walk about with android phone and wifi analyzer shows this

just_manu

df_h wrote: »

Yes I wrote about this before the wifi signal out of the black WN-600 box is terrible, literally falls of a cliff with a few steps away (walked around with wifi analyzer around house)

Best connect directly using ethernet cable

Or setup another better wifi router in ap mode with this one



No 5Ghz to be seen, the signal coming out is very weak, like i said a quick walk about with android phone and wifi analyzer shows this

Thanks, am using an iPhone 6 Plus and download is around 20mb. I am also using a few year old Dell laptop and speeds on it are 30 / 40. Will try hard wire that in a bit, but I got the router put in the attic so won't be spending much time wired into that! 🙂

Waffleon

just_manu wrote: »

Thanks, am using an iPhone 6 Plus and download is around 20mb. I am also using a few year old Dell laptop and speeds on it are 30 / 40. Will try hard wire that in a bit, but I got the router put in the attic so won't be spending much time wired into that! 🙂

There lies your problem. The attic is no place to put a poor cheap nasty little router. Your WiFi is going to suck until you move it. Even a higher performing router will perform significantly worse in that location...

Scruff

Waffleon wrote: »

There lies your problem. The attic is no place to put a poor cheap nasty little router. Your WiFi is going to suck until you move it. Even a higher performing router will perform significantly worse in that location...

powerline with wifi extenders is what you need in this situation. Have a similar setup. all routers and cabling nicely hidden in attic.

just_manu

Scruff wrote: »

powerline with wifi extendersis what you need in this situation. Have a similar setup. all routers and cabling nicely hidden in attic.

Scruff, thanks for the info.
So for the uninitiated, the tplink would connect to the router and then send the data signal through the electric cables to another point that can be connected to via an Ethernet to eg a PC and these end points are wifi extenders too?
Question, is there much loss in speed when you do this? Noting my earlier post regarding 90mb+ Speeds when wired directly to the router versus 30 / 40mb over wifi.
Apologies for going off topic a little here.

ED E

just_manu wrote: »

Scruff, thanks for the info.
So for the uninitiated, the tplink would connect to the router and then send the data signal through the electric cables to another point that can be connected to via an Ethernet to eg a PC and these end points are wifi extenders too?
Question, is there much loss in speed when you do this? Noting my earlier post regarding 90mb+ Speeds when wired directly to the router versus 30 / 40mb over wifi.
Apologies for going off topic a little here.

Exactly.

Depends on the wiring of your home. Some people get >100Mb, some only get 30Mb. Only way to know is to trial them. Wifi at the far end has the same limitations as a wifi router, but being A) not in the attic and not a really cheap-ass pile of junk they will likely do better. In my experience 40-50Mb is what you tend to see wirelessly.

irishchris

leex wrote: »

Looks like a non wireless router from the pics?

there is no external antenna but is wireless.

speeds are down at peak times now but they are still way above what i was getting off imagine at off peak times. all in or around 50mb/s which i am happy to see for peak times.
here is the most recent one

I also got a text from imagine earlier saying that the service will be offline from 1am to 4am for a week for mast upgrade so hopefully that is also a good sign.

irishchris

model number of new router is wvrtr 126gn. not sure what the make though?
quick
EDIT: A google shows me it is a gemtek. I remember the installers saying that was the make of both the router and antenna

ED E

irishchris wrote: »

model number of new router is wvrtr 126gn. not sure what the make though?
quick
EDIT: A google shows me it is a gemtek. I remember the installers saying that was the make of both the router and antenna

Frequency Band(s) 2.4 GHz
Operating System Linux, version: 2.6.36
Firmware Version Product: 01.00.10.999, Wi-Fi Component: 2.7.1.5
Hardware Version Product: V01, Wi-Fi Component: V01
Category Reference Design
Product Identifier(s)
Model Number WVRTR-126GN
Product Indoor WiFi and VoIP bridge
Company Gemtek Technology Co.
Date of Last Certification July 21, 2014

Security
WPA™ - Personal
WPA2™ - Personal
Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ b
Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ g
Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ n
2.4 GHz
2 Spatial Streams 2.4 GHz
Short Guard Interval
TX A-MPDU
STBC Transmit
40 MHz operation in 2.4 GHz, with coexistence mechanisms
HT Duplicate (MCS 32)
RIFS Test
WMM®
Wi-Fi Protected Setup™
PIN
Push-Button (PBC)

Even Virgin arent as cheapskate as that. Its 2016 lads, AC is a thing. 5Ghz is a thing.

Pious14

irishchris wrote: »

Here are some of both

I see the wire coming from your chimney. How is this brought from the chimney to where your router is? Is it internal or external? Also would you have any pics of where the wire is coming from the wall to the router?

morgana

irishchris wrote: »

I also got a text from imagine earlier saying that the service will be offline from 1am to 4am for a week for mast upgrade so hopefully that is also a good sign.

Got the same text.

Wing126

Good to see such an improvement in your speeds Chris! Also, forgive me if you've answered already but roughly how far are you from the mast?

mass_debater

ED E wrote: »

Even Virgin arent as cheapskate as that. Its 2016 lads, AC is a thing. 5Ghz is a thing.

FFS cheap b@stards

Pious14

Scruff wrote: »

powerline with wifi extenders is what you need in this situation. Have a similar setup. all routers and cabling nicely hidden in attic.

How do you find this Scruff? I want to limit the wires on show as much as possible. Do the powerlines offer good Wifi? Wat is the Ethernet connection like on them?

irishchris

And as if by magic within a few minutes of typing the last post speeds have free fallen and averaging 20-25mbs.

Have to head off so won't get chance to test again until morning :-(

irishchris

Wing126 wrote: »

Good to see such an improvement in your speeds Chris! Also, forgive me if you've answered already but roughly how far are you from the mast?

About 5km but with very good LOS

Chef-1st

morgana wrote: »

Got the same text.

Looks like we all got the same generic text today. They can't be doing upgrades on EVERY mast in Ireland surely!
"Network expansion plans" & "LTE network upgrade to increase capacity" .... what does that mean? Expanding...even more users, even sh*ttier peak time speeds?
I think it's blatant false advertising and shouldn't have the right to advertise it as "fibre speed broadband". I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure fibre speed broadband is better than 15meg.

I see Facebook and twitter posts only show the new install, day time speed tests, never the evening tests. The hype train is real people. And that's all it is. Hype.

morgana

Chef-1st wrote: »

Looks like we all got the same generic text today. They can't be doing upgrades on EVERY mast in Ireland surely!
"Network expansion plans" & "LTE network upgrade to increase capacity" .... what does that mean? Expanding...even more users, even sh*ttier peak time speeds?
I think it's blatant false advertising and shouldn't have the right to advertise it as "fibre speed broadband". I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure fibre speed broadband is better than 15meg.

I see Facebook and twitter posts only show the new install, day time speed tests, never the evening tests. The hype train is real people. And that's all it is. Hype.

I do not agree, yes it drops at peak times but my average speed is still way better than what I had. And from what I read, some ppl on fibre enabled cabinets (FTTC) can also only get 15 Mbps or less if they are not that close.
Ofc, Imagine isn't ideal with contention kicking in at peak times, but they are providing a service better than what was previously available with way better caps. In my experience at least, they have corrected problems I had and my speeds so far are pretty ok (with things being a bit wonky today - probably down to those upgrade works). So yes, they might be a stopgap solution until the NBP arrives - but that's years down the road.

gctest50

Chef-1st wrote: »

.....
I think it's blatant false advertising and shouldn't have the right to advertise it as "fibre speed broadband". I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure fibre speed broadband is better than 15meg.
.......

fibre ... non , c'est fiber

Chef-1st

Ha! Well actually.... most of you are wrong. I'm no expert, but last I looked we weren't in America.
Pretty much everyone this side of the sea spells it fiber, which is the American version of the word fibre.

marno21

They can spell fibre anyway they want - the reality is there's still no fibre involved.

irishchris

Pious14 wrote: »

I see the wire coming from your chimney. How is this brought from the chimney to where your router is? Is it internal or external? Also would you have any pics of where the wire is coming from the wall to the router?

Brought down to above gutter and cable tied to brackets on gutter out of view and then through a preexisting hole in my soffit into void and though a hole into bedroom upstairs. Will post pics tomorrow

Chef-1st

morgana wrote: »

I do not agree, yes it drops at peak times but my average speed is still way better than what I had. And from what I read, some ppl on fibre enabled cabinets (FTTC) can also only get 15 Mbps or less if they are not that close.
Ofc, Imagine isn't ideal with contention kicking in at peak times, but they are providing a service better than what was previously available with way better caps. In my experience at least, they have corrected problems I had and my speeds so far are pretty ok (with things being a bit wonky today - probably down to those upgrade works). So yes, they might be a stopgap solution until the NBP arrives - but that's years down the road.

Yeah I see your speeds are brill. That's the way it should be for all of us though. I'm getting frustrated with the lack of traction I'm getting from them to do anything at all to even try fix my poor evening speeds. It seems to be acceptable now. And it doesn't help that people of this thread are actually saying they don't mind the massive drop in speeds. May as well just tell them to go ahead and flood the service.

Decent Skin

Chef-1st wrote: »

Ha! Well actually.... most of you are wrong. I'm no expert, but last I looked we weren't in America.
Pretty much everyone this side of the sea spells it fiber, which is the American version of the word fibre.

The opposite is the case, as far as I know. It's like "metre" being the proper spelling and "meter" being the Americanised version.

Anyway - still waiting for a call re an install for Imagine; they're about 3 weeks behind what they promised when I signed up in March

Chef-1st

Decent Skin wrote: »

The opposite is the case, as far as I know. It's like "metre" being the proper spelling and "meter" being the Americanised version.

Anyway - still waiting for a call re an install for Imagine; they're about 3 weeks behind what they promised when I signed up in March

Yeah anyone who spells metre 'meter' is going on the American version. But that seems to be way the world is going. More and more American spelling seeping through to original English!

Chef-1st

irishchris wrote: »

And as if by magic within a few minutes of typing the last post speeds have free fallen and averaging 20-25mbs.

Have to head off so won't get chance to test again until morning :-(

Let us know how your speeds are over the week Chris.
Pity you couldn't track more results tonight. Be interesting to see how you fair out. Could be an indication of similar problems with equipment and speeds.

Chef-1st

marno21 wrote: »

They can spell fibre anyway they want - the reality is there's still no fibre involved.

True that!

Waffleon

Scruff wrote: »

powerline with wifi extenders is what you need in this situation. Have a similar setup. all routers and cabling nicely hidden in attic.

I use these on another part of the house and they are great. I only use the wired ones though....the Netgear nano av500 version. Streaming hd to media player and no problems. I have no experience with the ones with wireless but in my experience, the more expensive 1200 ones should give you great reception downstairs.
W.R.T. speeds I was getting sub 30meg from wireless from the green packet with full reception. I just set up a tp link ac1900 router and am now matching my wired computer for speed..... Again, averaging 40-60 meg.

Scruff

Pious14 wrote: »

How do you find this Scruff? I want to limit the wires on show as much as possible. Do the powerlines offer good Wifi? Wat is the Ethernet connection like on them?

i dont have these ones so cant comment, best bet would be to read the amazon reviews. Unfortunately everyones experience will vary as in addition to how the equipment runs in an ideal test scenario its down to the internal wiring in your house for the powerline performance and where you locate the wifi extender and your walls etc for the wifi.
That said i find powerline adapters great!

bk

Scruff wrote: »

That said i find powerline adapters great!

Powerline adaptors are ok, similar to wifi, they work great for some people and work terribly or not at all for other people.

It depends on the quality of your electrical cables, the amount of interference, the setup of your electrical cables, etc.

Ethernet cables (cat5e, cat6) etc. are vastly superior and vastly more reliable. But obviously the downside is the difficulty and cost of installing them.

My advice if buying powerline adaptors is to buy from a place where you can easily return them if they don't work out.