Imagine LTE Rural Broadband

ArKl0w

runawaybishop wrote: »

So what if I am not? Can I not have an opinion. I don't see how 1 is even slightly relevant.

Of course you can have an opinion ,don't be getting angry with me for having an alternative one
But I do find it daft to be condemning a service with no hands on experience of it

The sample size here is pointing quite clearly to a drastic slowdown of the service at peak times. I am not sure why you are defending this. It's extremely obvious what is happening. Imagine have prior in this also.

I'm not defending Imagine,I'm saying if it's tonnes better than existing services in the area,then it's logical to use it until something better comes

runawaybishop

ArKl0w wrote: »

Of course you can have an opinion ,don't be getting angry with me for having an alternative one
But I do find it daft to be condemning a service with no hands on experience of it


I'm not defending Imagine,I'm saying if it's tonnes better than existing services in the area,then it's logical to use it until something better comes

Angry? Anyway...

It's currently slowing down severely. The masts, and in particular the one with 8mb reports, are not even fully subscribed. This doesn't bode well for the users.
This is poor service and dishonest advertising and I don't see how they would be worth recommending as the service is right now. 60 euro for 18 months on a degrading service is not a good deal no matter where you are and is absolutely miles away from what they are pushing.

I understand you are saying if its better than what you can get elsewhere fire ahead but we do not know how bad the service will drop to. Like I said, if they could guarantee me 10 mb that would be attractive to me compared to what I have now but a service that yo-yos drastically and that is degrading is just a straight nope.

ArKl0w

Yo yo drastically and huge drops is a very loaded statement based on a small sample size here
Bare in mind ,this is a forum which is only known about by a relatively small amount of people
Their facebook page would be better known but the problem with relying on that is by its very nature ,it's a magnet for complaints
Happy people don't go there as much,they're not motivated to do so,they just get on with it
Ergo it's skewed and not a representative sample

If I thought users were getting a fluctuating service such that things weren't working,then I'd agree with you on your decision to avoid but at one or two here hitting 8mb's and others complaining about being in the teens as a min that's unlikely

Both Eir and Vodafone are 18mth contracts btw
Sky is 12
All of them have plenty customers with crap lines
It's all relative
If I don't get this service (trees may be a problem for me) I'll try whizzy net as 2 neighbours have it with a stable 10 down and it's truly unlimited

morgana

As others have said, the drastic and fairly sudden deterioration of peak speeds is worrying (it started about 2 weeks ago for me) as you don't know where it will end. If it was just contention then why did it start so sudden from never ever going below even 40 to single digits? I would expect that to happen more gradually as the mast is filled up.
Having said that, in daily use it has not effected us as our use pattern is light - just 2 people and gaming and Netflix at peak time. But it would certainly be an issue with more people.

I fully agree with the argument of at least misrepresentation of their service in their advertising if the recent deterioration is indeed a trend rather than just a speed bump (pardon the pun). Imagine is still way better than what I had before.

I got a text last night that they are working on my mast this morning to improve services so we shall see.

JB81

Was talking to Imagine yesterday and was told they can offer me up to 70mb in my area and a minimum of 30mb, never to go below.

I assume this is all talk?

km79

JB81 wrote: »

Was talking to Imagine yesterday and was told they can offer me up to 70mb in my area and a minimum of 30mb, never to go below.

I assume this is all talk?

read a few of the posts above and you will get your answer

I'm still going to chance it if they ever come to install

ArKl0w

morgana wrote: »

As others have said, the drastic and fairly sudden deterioration of peak speeds is worrying (it started about 2 weeks ago for me) as you don't know where it will end. If it was just contention then why did it start so sudden from never ever going below even 40 to single digits? I would expect that to happen more gradually as the mast is filled up.
Having said that, in daily use it has not effected us as our use pattern is light - just 2 people and gaming and Netflix at peak time. But it would certainly be an issue with more people.

I fully agree with the argument of at least misrepresentation of their service in their advertising if the recent deterioration is indeed a trend rather than just a speed bump (pardon the pun). Imagine is still way better than what I had before.

I got a text last night that they are working on my mast this morning to improve services so we shall see.

Has your service got worse since or roughly the same?
Your Speedtest results ( http://www.speedtest.net/results.php?sh=d1d2ec92489d3a1a71988c36955e2437&ria=0 ) did drop to 5 and between there and 7 on one day for a few hours
The next and only time in those 5 days that it's below 10,you test 3 mins later and it's 60 plus

I would be doing cartwheels if 9 out of 10 tests,I got teens and higher never mind your regular above 20
Plenty Eir fibre customers are 20 to 40 or lower
Bare in mind also that tests spike every time you test During the test across all platforms ,so often luck of the draw where it stops at the end of the test
For most things,you need an average and that average needs to be fast enough for what you use it for

This is an infrastructure being built,its new,hic ups are likely
Wireless signals are also weather dependent,they are after all using the same frequencies as tv which suffers badly sometimes from high pressure (tropospheric ducting of signals)

That is a down fall of this method of broadband that usually doesn't need explaining to average users because they don't test several times day like you and I would

amadablam

JB81 wrote: »

Was talking to Imagine yesterday and was told they can offer me up to 70mb in my area and a minimum of 30mb, never to go below.

I assume this is all talk?

Its a 30 minimum at the point of installation, not 30 minimum service. That's just my experience.

I am happy enough though as its better than anything else I can get.

Last night it's was less than 2mb for most of the night but it generally is over 8-10 at peak.

Its not the service they make it out to be but since when did you ever get exactly as advertised with any broadband service in rural Ireland or most other products . By rural, I mean anything outside of the main cities and towns.

bennyineire

So got installed yesterday, My mother in law let the guys in.
They rang me and told me they were getting 50 down, happy days

Got home at 5 yesterday done a speed test and it was 20 down, still good eh

Between then and 11 last night I got speeds from ranging from 1.93 to 24 and everything in between but the medium was around 4 down, and this is on a new mast that went live last week.

Done a test this morning at 7 and I couldn't get anything, had to reboot the router.

I reckon there is defiantly SNR issues, the antenna is looking straight into a tree not more that 100 metres away, they put the antenna on the side of my house, I can see the mast from my garden but not my house, I went up on my roof and checked it from the chimney and I reckon they can get clean line of site with a 1.5M pole.

I'm not happy and I'll be giving them a call after 11.

BTW do they supply you with a phone or do you have to buy one yourself ?

Galway_guy_33

bennyineire wrote: »

So got installed yesterday, My mother in law let the guys in.
They rang me and told me they were getting 50 down, happy days

Got home at 5 yesterday done a speed test and it was 20 down, still good eh

Between then and 11 last night I got speeds from ranging from 1.93 to 24 and everything in between but the medium was around 4 down, and this is on a new mast that went live last week.

Done a test this morning at 7 and I couldn't get anything, had to reboot the router.

I reckon there is defiantly SNR issues, the antenna is looking straight into a tree not more that 100 metres away, they put the antenna on the side of my house, I can see the mast from my garden but not my house, I went up on my roof and checked it from the chimney and I reckon they can get clean line of site with a 1.5M pole.

I'm not happy and I'll be giving them a call after 11.

BTW do they supply you with a phone or do you have to buy one yourself ?

you connected to the athlone site? anyone get connected to this site yet?

vidapura

I can see this Imagine problem is going to keep rolling on..
Kind of amazing they themselves haven't tried to contribute to this thread.

So, I'm still a position to choose.. (haven't moved into the new house yet...)

The question for me is what are the alternatives to Imagine.

I do get 16Mb on speedtest.net on my meteor mobile outside the house.. so maybe thats one option.
Don't think eircom is available on the road...

Anyone able to speak about the meteor wifi routers? Or is there a thread I can be pointed at?

(I don't want to derail this thread now.. its just I've searched for a meteor thread and haven't found one current)

Thanks

bennyineire

Galway_guy_33 wrote: »

you connected to the athlone site? anyone get connected to this site yet?

Cappard in Loais

TireeTerror

JB81 wrote: »

Was talking to Imagine yesterday and was told they can offer me up to 70mb in my area and a minimum of 30mb, never to go below.

I assume this is all talk?

I would ask them to send you an email confirming that your speed will NEVER go below 30Mb. You will not receive a reply and therefore there is your answer.

um7y1h83ge06nx

Imagine are in my area but with some of the comments on here I think I will stay with my current wireless (MMDS or similar I presume) provider. As the hardware gets more and more loaded it will only get slower and the 18 month contract is very off-putting.

ArKl0w

Ahmed Narrow Beer wrote: »

the 18 month contract is very off-putting.

Just on that,you can get out of the 18mth contract for €100

So if you have a year to run,17 months to run,you don't pay 10x59 or 17x59 to leave
You just pay €100
So it's a lot better in that respect than most others,if for example something better comes available

um7y1h83ge06nx

Thanks for the heads-up, that's not as bad then.

km79

ArKl0w wrote: »

Just on that,you can get out of the 18mth contract for €100

So if you have a year to run,17 months to run,you don't pay 10x59 or 17x59 to leave
You just pay €100
So it's a lot better in that respect than most others,if for example something better comes available

Good to know thanks

crazy2

Quick question folks on the phone system, I know you have to plug your phone into the router in order for it to work but if I wanted to add a second/ third phone can this be done and what is the best way to do it?

On the speed front seem to be getting on average 10-15 most of the time which is a lot better than the 3-4mb I was getting before.

ED E

crazy2 wrote: »

Quick question folks on the phone system, I know you have to plug your phone into the router in order for it to work but if I wanted to add a second/ third phone can this be done and what is the best way to do it?

On the speed front seem to be getting on average 10-15 most of the time which is a lot better than the 3-4mb I was getting before.

You can either wire them all together with a Y/multi splitter but for most people a cluster of wireless DECT units is usually favourable. 1 base station + as many remotes as you need.

littelady

Hi all, I am new to imagine and was wondering if there is a way to check my data balance. Thx in advance

crazy2

ED E wrote: »

You can either wire them all together with a Y/multi splitter but for most people a cluster of wireless DECT units is usually favourable. 1 base station + as many remotes as you need.

So say if I was to go with this option you'd have the base station plugged into the router and then the other two phones would work perfect?

http://www.currys.ie/Product/gigaset-al415a-cordless-phone-with-answering-machine-triple-handsets/332642/402.3.0

TheRiverman

I am with eir on a pair of copper wires with 3mb broadband 7km from my local exchange.The highest download speed I have ever got is 1.78mbps but almost all of the time it is 1.4/1.5 with an upload of .2.This is due to the distance from the exchange and at times congestion.My broadband is also tied in to a ridiculous bundle that I don't need but have to pay for in order to get the broadband.
Imagine are now advertising in the village where the local eir exchange is and I have signed up for a coverage test and am awaiting a call from them to find out if I could get coverage from the Athlone site.
I have read the various good,bad and indifferent Imagine speed posts here and it appears even the lowest is always going to be better that the crap line I have from eir.Anyway I will now wait and see what happens.

ED E

crazy2 wrote: »

So say if I was to go with this option you'd have the base station plugged into the router and then the other two phones would work perfect?

http://www.currys.ie/Product/gigaset-al415a-cordless-phone-with-answering-machine-triple-handsets/332642/402.3.0

Yep. As long as your house isnt a mansion or a cottage of solid stone walls they'll work perfectly.

giggsirish

Old Kilcullen mast. Router rebooted twice and using a cable connection. Very poor service from Imagine in Kildare

ArKl0w

crazy2 wrote: »

Quick question folks on the phone system, I know you have to plug your phone into the router in order for it to work but if I wanted to add a second/ third phone can this be done and what is the best way to do it?

On the speed front seem to be getting on average 10-15 most of the time which is a lot better than the 3-4mb I was getting before.

Regarding your speed
How far are you from their transmitter and do you have an uninterrupted line of site to it?
I'm just trying to 2nd guess what I might get here as I have another less hassle option as a plan b
Thanks

giggsirish wrote: »

Old Kilcullen mast. Router rebooted twice and using a cable connection. Very poor service from Imagine in Kildare

I would certainly not be happy with that if it's normal for you?
Again do you mind if I ask,how far from their mast and do you have any trees or other hills in the way?
Thanks

giggsirish

We have perfect line of sight ( not so mush as a leaf in the way). Can see the mast 3km away. Our signal was described on day of install on one of the best they had had in area.

Speed was around 45MB-55MB all day but every evening service goes to pot. Countless phone calls (always on hold and answered in the 30-35 minute time frame) but no better off for it

ArKl0w wrote: »

Regarding your speed
How far are you from their transmitter and do you have an uninterrupted line of site to it?
I'm just trying to 2nd guess what I might get here as I have another less hassle option as a plan b
Thanks


I would certainly not be happy with that if it's normal for you?
Again do you mind if I ask,how far from their mast and do you have any trees or other hills in the way?
Thanks

Gonzo

giggsirish wrote: »

Old Kilcullen mast. Router rebooted twice and using a cable connection. Very poor service from Imagine in Kildare

if that is contention wouldn't ping also be badly effected?

This seems to be getting worse by the day, when speeds started dropping after the loss of the NBP, speeds started dipping, then past few weeks they dipped into the 20's and last week around 10's and now low single digit figures down as low as 2 meg has been reported over past 24 hours, hardly the 'full fiber experience'. Anyone who has ADSL over 6meg and thinking of changing would be better off just staying with ADSL the way things are looking.

ArKl0w

Well you saw my adsl Gonzo,2mb at best
Whizzynet is working fine and stable 8 to 10 mb locally and 2 up
Unlimited for €35 a month and no contract

Now in my case I'd be much better off on that if things are as bad as the above poster
But even here,reports of that low(still twice what I have) are sporadic

ArKl0w

Here's whizzynet locally in the evening by the way

Very Tempting

ItHurtsWhenIP

ArKl0w wrote: »

Here's whizzynet locally in the evening by the way

Very Tempting

That's daycent ... I'd take that if I could, as this is what I get (3/1 package):


Now in fairness this has been as solid as a rock from Munster Broadband in the last many months, but if Whizzynet was available (and stable), I could be tempted.

I don't think I would like the variability and uncertainty of the Imagine service at this point. I presume everybody is still waiting for the magical usage meter that will probably never come. :rolleyes: