Imagine LTE Rural Broadband

Gonzo

Imagine wouldn't have a leg to stand on in an area that has other fiber alternatives like FTTC, Cable and FTTH as those 3 variations are far more stable, have upgrade paths and are largely unlimited downloads.

Fairly certain when the blue line scheme is completed and the NBP is well into development that Imagine will probably try and resell Eir/Siro's FTTH at some point.

df_h

Gonzo wrote: »

Imagine wouldn't have a leg to stand on in an area that has other fiber alternatives like FTTC, Cable and FTTH as those 3 variations are far more stable, have upgrade paths and are largely unlimited downloads.

Fairly certain when the blue line scheme is completed and the NBP is well into development that Imagine will probably try and resell Eir/Siro's FTTH at some point.

Still waiting...

Looks out the window..

Nope no flying pigs today...

Chef-1st

Haven't posted in a while, but been keeping an eye on the posts.
Bad form on the 12-7am no-cap change in t&c's. They specifically told me in writing that there was no limit at this 12-7am time. One of the reasons I signed up. Although I did mention in an earlier post that it didn't add up, as it was 'at their discretion'. That was a contradiction to what I was told by CS.

Still no resolve to the poor and inconsistent speeds I get at peak hours though.
Last I was told I'm escalated to 'engineer status', my continuous speed tests are appreciated, and they'll get back to me with any developments on the issue. But that has been it the past few weeks. Not a word more out of them.
I refuse to ring their customer service 1890 number now, as most of the time, you're put on hold, which costs ME a fortune, to ring them, about THEIR issue. It's BS. Emailing them takes very long to get an actual response. I've kinda given up with them now. The constant runaround is exhausting. And their constant lies about how "it just couldn't be a contention issue!" is annoying now.

On a positive (albeit personal) note, EIR have really stepped up their game around my area the past few weeks, and are flat out installing lines and upgrading exchanges. So it turns out I might be leaving Imagine hopefully in the near future. Even FTTC will be far better than Imagines unstable service. What's the point in 80M at 9am when you're in work with 12M in the evening when you use it?
A solid +30M no-contention line with a 1T monthly cap for 45 p/m would suit me fine. Fingers crossed.
I keep up the speed tests anyway, mainly at the peak times now, as I know it's always back up to +80M in the mornings!

Decent Skin

Gonzo wrote: »

Imagine wouldn't have a leg to stand on in an area that has other fiber alternatives like FTTC, Cable and FTTH as those 3 variations are far more stable, have upgrade paths and are largely unlimited downloads.

Fairly certain when the blue line scheme is completed and the NBP is well into development that Imagine will probably try and resell Eir/Siro's FTTH at some point.

First paragraph is true, but having waited for ANYONE to provide same, I'd welcome Imagine, and I think anyone looking for unlimited free downloads between 12 & 7 is the equivalent of someone taking the piss at a free bar.

And that's someone 3 miles from a city centre - not even the sticks.

If Imagine had managed to install I'd be happy out, as the €60 or so a month would have provided 12 times the download limit that Vodafone were offering, with the potential for 3 times the speed.

Unfortunately it wasn't to be.

Chef-1st

Decent Skin wrote: »

and I think anyone looking for unlimited free downloads between 12 & 7 is the equivalent of someone taking the piss at a free bar.

So basically you're calling us all a bunch of free-loading spongers?
I wouldn't say that's very fair at all. I don't know what kinda low-res 360p era you're in, but the modern online age uses us a lot of bandwidth.
And when you sign up to a contract given incorrect/false information, there are solid grounds for complaining.

Gonzo

the 12am - 7am unlimited with Imagine had provided users with a bit of room to breath, while they would have to monitor there downloads during the day, at night they could have the freedom to finally download that large game file that they paid up to 60 euros for or binge watch some series on Netflix or set some shows/movies to download on their Sky HD box so that they could keep the daytime free from downloading. I don't think any of that qualifies as abusing the service, just normal internet use for users with a fast connection. As I said before it really does not take much to blow through Imagines cap especially if a family with kids is involved.

The only thing that qualifies for an abuse of an unlimited download limit would be people who will q up many 100s of Gigs of torrents on a nightly basis to download more stuff than what is possible to watch, people who would do that are very few and far between at this stage.

Dero

Exactly. This weekend is a case in point actually. My son just bought Bloodborne on the PS4. That is a totally legitimate download of ~60GB. As we have a monthly allowance with our current provider, it's not a problem, we just let it run overnight(s).

It raises the question though; what would we do if we had Imagine? Our normal daily usage is below 20GB (upload/download combined), so generally it's not an issue, but something like this is a perfectly legitimate use of a broadband connection, and could not in any way be construed as abusing the network.

This is the sort of thing that the overnight unmetered window is for, and taking it away actually has me considering that we may be better off staying on our 8Mb/1Mb Ripplecom connection, and I'll tell you something, it you know Ripplecom, you'll know that is a strong statement...

km79

Gonzo wrote: »

the 12am - 7am unlimited with Imagine had provided users with a bit of room to breath, while they would have to monitor there downloads during the day, at night they could have the freedom to finally download that large game file that they paid up to 60 euros for or binge watch some series on Netflix or set some shows/movies to download on their Sky HD box so that they could keep the daytime free from downloading. I don't think any of that qualifies as abusing the service, just normal internet use for users with a fast connection. As I said before it really does not take much to blow through Imagines cap especially if a family with kids is involved.

The only thing that qualifies for an abuse of an unlimited download limit would be people who will q up many 100s of Gigs of torrents on a nightly basis to download more stuff than what is possible to watch, people who would do that are very few and far between at this stage.

Exactly
Well said

SpannerMonkey

Dero wrote: »

Exactly. This weekend is a case in point actually. My son just bought Bloodborne on the PS4. That is a totally legitimate download of ~60GB. As we have a monthly allowance with our current provider, it's not a problem, we just let it run overnight(s).

It raises the question though; what would we do if we had Imagine? Our normal daily usage is below 20GB (upload/download combined), so generally it's not an issue, but something like this is a perfectly legitimate use of a broadband connection, and could not in any way be construed as abusing the network.

This is the sort of thing that the overnight unmetered window is for, and taking it away actually has me considering that we may be better off staying on our 8Mb/1Mb Ripplecom connection, and I'll tell you something, it you know Ripplecom, you'll know that is a strong statement...

I agree with you but they dont actually cut you off or charge you extra . Your speeds are just throttled back so probably still better than ripplecom :-P

Dero

SpannerMonkey wrote: »

I agree with you but they dont actually cut you off or charge you extra . Your speeds are just throttled back so probably still better than ripplecom :-P

Yeah, I may have been a bit hasty with that, but still, my point is more that a big game download like that is something that happens once every few months. If their "discretion" system work as intended then it wouldn't be a problem. The issue is that it's currently very vague and unclear. :-/

morgana

Dero wrote: »

Exactly.
This is the sort of thing that the overnight unmetered window is for, and taking it away actually has me considering that we may be better off staying on our 8Mb/1Mb Ripplecom connection, and I'll tell you something, it you know Ripplecom, you'll know that is a strong statement...

Rofl, yes I do know Ripplecom, and even with their best domestic allowance of 150 gig you would be in trouble with 60 gig.

In fairness, the game download issue is my only one with Imagine, and I wish they would be more forthcoming in properly clarifying and acknowledging the need of occasional large game downloads.
That's all we want, really.

SpannerMonkey

Dero wrote: »

Yeah, I may have been a bit hasty with that, but still, my point is more that a big game download like that is something that happens once every few months. If their "discretion" system work as intended then it wouldn't be a problem. The issue is that it's currently very vague and unclear. :-/

Agree 100%

Gonzo

on Imgaines website they have the service listed under a heading 'Plans & Pricing' and they only have 1 option with their 'huge 20gb daily allowance' and call it 'the full fibre experience'.

Perhaps its time for them to introduce a slightly more expensive product for medium-heavy users, maybe an extra 10 euros per month for a bigger and more versatile allowance such as a monthly cap of 1TB rather than a daily allowance, similar to all other fiber operators. 70 euros per month for 1TB data and speeds up to 80 meg would be fine for all but the most heavy user.

Ten Pin

Chef-1st wrote: »

I refuse to ring their customer service 1890 number now, as most of the time, you're put on hold, which costs ME a fortune, to ring them, about THEIR issue.

Try 014375000 instead.

Might be worth adding that number to first post of this thread.

Don't know of any other ISP that charges bill pay customers to call them.

ED E

Ten Pin wrote: »

Try 014375000 instead.

Might be worth adding that number to first post of this thread.

Don't know of any other ISP that charges bill pay customers to call them.

Most (Virgin, Eir at for sure) have two numbers and advertise the 1890 while the freephone 4 digit short number is free.

TireeTerror

Most companies have "Calling from outside Ireland" numbers, which are regular numbers, not the usual 1850 or 1890 rubbish.

As for the issues relating to 70GB per week, I think the poster who originally posted that has become confused a little, which is no surprise considering the different things we have all been told.

When I received my callback from Imagine relating to my complaint I asked them to explain to me exactly what the current situation was.

We all have 20GB of data, that includes data you download AND upload. There is no midnight to 7am free allowance. Its midnight to midnight and all data is monitored at all times.

If you go over your 20GB in that 24 hour period you will be warned. If you go over it again in the same week they will throttle you.

So I asked if that means we can only go over it once in a week, he said yes. So I suggested that I would be inclined to make sure that on the one day a week I went over, I would make sure I downloaded as much as I could, all the games and all the movies for the week ahead, knowing I couldn't exceed 20GB in a day for another week. I suggested that once people start doing this en mass that it would certainly affect the network for other users, and it would make more sense to have the free unmonitored hours late at night when the system was in less demand.

He then replied stating that if anyone goes over 70GB in one day they would be throttled immediately. He confirmed that I could consume 20GB of data each day, and one day per week I could go up to 70GB and not be throttled. This would mean you could have 6 days using 20GB and 1 day using 70GB totalling 190GB per week. If you're going to go over 20GB you may as well get near 70GB because you cant go over it any other day in that week without being throttled.

Im am waiting for another call next week in relation to their solution before I contact Comreg. I told them I would be posting up here everything they said to me.

robert muldoon

Gonzo wrote: »

on Imgaines website they have the service listed under a heading 'Plans & Pricing' and they only have 1 option with their 'huge 20gb daily allowance' and call it 'the full fibre experience'.

Perhaps its time for them to introduce a slightly more expensive product for medium-heavy users, maybe an extra 10 euros per month for a bigger and more versatile allowance such as a monthly cap of 1TB rather than a daily allowance, similar to all other fiber operators. 70 euros per month for 1TB data and speeds up to 80 meg would be fine for all but the most heavy user.

Great idea if they can technically do that

Dero

Well Jeez, if they can't technically manage that I'd worry for their ability to deliver the service at all...

Surely something has to give here somewhere. I'm sure for most people, 20GB a day with occasional forays over and above would be fine, but it will all come down to how they police it. The OTT heavy-handed approach is not the way to go IMHO.

Discretion is the better part of valour after all.

Gonzo

TireeTerror wrote: »

He then replied stating that if anyone goes over 70GB in one day they would be throttled immediately. He confirmed that I could consume 20GB of data each day, and one day per week I could go up to 70GB and not be throttled. This would mean you could have 6 days using 20GB and 1 day using 70GB totalling 190GB per week. If you're going to go over 20GB you may as well get near 70GB because you cant go over it any other day in that week without being throttled.

good that we're a bit closer to understanding the situation but from a customer point of view it's still not good enough.

Realistically it should be technically possible for Imagine to have at least 2 pricing plans for their network. The current one could be labeled as Imagine Lite and apply to general users or the solo user and a new package added with a monthly 1TB limit marketed towards larger households and medium to heavy users for an extra 10 to 15 euros per month. Imagine's system should be well capable of this?

It would give people choice and those who subscribe to the extra download allowance package could use their service without worry and enjoy a fast connection the way its meant to.

Right now while im suffering on an 8/9meg connection at least i dont have to monitor what im downloading. But if I was to wake up in the morning and suddenly have an 80meg connection at my disposal it would be very tough staying under 20GB a day with such a connection! downloading a 20GB data on an 8meg ADSL line only takes a few hours, your looking at minutes rather than hours on Imagine LTE and that would just take the good out of it all for me.

jfcunniffe

My speedtest tonight only getting 12.65Mpbs download

Dero

Gonzo wrote: »

Right now while im suffering on an 8/9meg connection at least i dont have to monitor what im downloading. But if I was to wake up in the morning and suddenly have an 80meg connection at my disposal it would be very tough staying under 20GB a day with such a connection! downloading a 20GB data on an 8meg ADSL line only takes a few hours, your looking at minutes rather than hours on Imagine LTE and that would just take the good out of it all for me.

Yep, same here. I would gladly pay a bit more for a 1TB monthly allowance. As you say, an 80Mb connection is just a tease if you can blow your transfer allowance in a few minutes. :-(

Here's a thing; for those who *have* been throttled, what's the time between hitting the limit and being throttled? If it's not immediate, then it really pushes people towards using *even more* data a peak time. If I have a large download pending which I know will take me over the limit, surely I should kick it off at 21:30-22:00, so as to maximise my download before the cap resets at midnight?

Badly designed system really, no matter what way you look at it.

Chef-1st

jfcunniffe wrote: »

My speedtest tonight only getting 12.65Mpbs download

Imagine technical support: "but it simply can't be contention related!".

ItHurtsWhenIP

@TireeTerror - thanks for the clarification.

Did we ever get an explanation as to how this affected Morgana, who is a "lite" user?

morgana

Nope, I was most definitely throttled after one warning for one incident of going over a tiny fraction. The only "explanation" i got was a quote of the T&Cs.

irishchris

Gonzo wrote: »

good that we're a bit closer to understanding the situation but from a customer point of view it's still not good enough.

Realistically it should be technically possible for Imagine to have at least 2 pricing plans for their network. The current one could be labeled as Imagine Lite and apply to general users or the solo user and a new package added with a monthly 1TB limit marketed towards larger households and medium to heavy users for an extra 10 to 15 euros per month. Imagine's system should be well capable of this?

It would give people choice and those who subscribe to the extra download allowance package could use their service without worry and enjoy a fast connection the way its meant to.

Right now while im suffering on an 8/9meg connection at least i dont have to monitor what im downloading. But if I was to wake up in the morning and suddenly have an 80meg connection at my disposal it would be very tough staying under 20GB a day with such a connection! downloading a 20GB data on an 8meg ADSL line only takes a few hours, your looking at minutes rather than hours on Imagine LTE and that would just take the good out of it all for me.

I can understand where you are coming from but it simply is not the way to go.. With it being a wisp they only have a certain backhaul. Allowing those who pay more to have a bigger allowance will eat even more at that limited back haul and will affect all users including those who pay more.
Also at 60€ per month they are already at the high end of pricing market for a wisp and I certainly would not pay more than the high price I'm already paying to end up with an overloaded network.
The most sensible option is to allow extra usage during the 1am to 7am period when the strain on the network is at its lowest and to have this 1-2 times per week per customer

Dinerve

Yeah getting about 12mbps actual bandwidth tonight....Used to be 40+ where I am over the past couple of weeks since I got connected....

Also, below is the email I've received for the 3rd time. I find it very misleading and not very friendly, especially since I was told by Technical support I haven't been near 20gb and that it's just a warning. But then why does it state that I've been above my allowance when I haven't and furthermore several times....

They said they are tweaking the notification system and to disregard it bit this is rather unsettling. I suggest they issue a warning when going over 15gb and just a warning rather than a threat IF you go past that THEN states te actual date and time AND actual volumea as they force us to call a paying number (btw thanks for posting the local number, it should be accessible to all subsribers).

Email below:

"HIGH USAGE WARNING



Dear customer,

We have noticed that your upload and download usage has exceeded the daily 20Gb limit on a number of occasions recently.

We are sending this message as a warning that if you continue to exceed the agreed daily usage limit of 20Gb a day, we will slow your speeds down.

How this is implemented is, we will slow your speed down until midnight of that same night. We will then reset your speed and usage limit at the start of the next day.

We always monitor our network to protect our customers, but also to ensure a level playing field for everyone on the network. We will continue to do this and will be back in touch if we notice any further strange activity.

Many Thanks,

imagine LTE Team."

jfcunniffe

As of 02:00 nothing at all now. Jesus paid over €400 euro in the last 2 months for what ? crap speeds, crap caps, crap company get better speed with a flashlight sending morse code. posting this with my 4G meteor now.

long_b

jfcunniffe wrote: »

As of 02:00 nothing at all now. Jesus paid over €400 euro in the last 2 months for what ? crap speeds, crap caps, crap company get better speed with a flashlight sending morse code. posting this with my 4G meteor now.

How did you spend €400 with Imagine in 2 months?

Chef-1st

irishchris wrote: »

I can understand where you are coming from but it simply is not the way to go.. With it being a wisp they only have a certain backhaul. Allowing those who pay more to have a bigger allowance will eat even more at that limited back haul and will affect all users including those who pay more.
Also at 60€ per month they are already at the high end of pricing market for a wisp and I certainly would not pay more than the high price I'm already paying to end up with an overloaded network.
The most sensible option is to allow extra usage during the 1am to 7am period when the strain on the network is at its lowest and to have this 1-2 times per week per customer

Totally agree on everything Chris said. Let the big downloads work away at 12-7. Removing this cap-free time will only affect all users during peak times, as they'll download 20g before 12am, and another 20G after 12am. Making the most of 2 days cap in a few hours.
Asking for more money for more usage will only f**k up things further, as at the end of the day, we're all on the same masts.
I agree though that people taking advantage of this 12-7am slot nearly every night is not good. There will always be people who abuse a service. The odd game download shouldn't be an issue though, and that's the majority of us.

Chef-1st

Ten Pin wrote: »

Try 014375000 instead.

Might be worth adding that number to first post of this thread.

Don't know of any other ISP that charges bill pay customers to call them.

That's brill. Thanks for that. I actually googled the number there.
I never knew there was a dedicated website against these money-hogging 1890 numbers! http://www.saynoto1890.com/
Good to know that.