Wired Broadband Alternatives

michealkc

Hi All.

So I had eir do a check on the broadband speeds on my newly purchased home. Turns out that they cannot even guarantee me a speed of 2 mbps.

So my 2 options are

1. Go with a line of sight mast provider within the locality. They will charge €40 per month for speeds of up to 12mbps and a limit of 150 gb per month. However to make this work I will need to dig a shallow trench from the house, (there are trees blocking the line of sight toward the mast from the house) across the gravel driveway, across the lawn to the boundary ditch, erect a 7/8 foot pole. Then the provider can come back onsite to attach an antennae to said pole and set me up.

2.
I have heard that if I had an external antennae on my gable then 3 broadband might be an option. However, I have heard that my mbps speeds might be diminished here below 12 mbps. I do know that there are no contracts here so I could leave easily if it wasn't working out. Are there any folks out there that would set up that external antennae?

What should I go for?

Micheal

ED E

Get a pay as you go sim from each provider (Three, Eir, Vodafone) and test speeds with an unlocked phone off and at peak in the garden.

Thatll be a starting point to see whats viable.

michealkc

ED E wrote: »

Get a pay as you go sim from each provider (Three, Eir, Vodafone) and test speeds with an unlocked phone off and at peak in the garden.

Thatll be a starting point to see whats viable.

Thanks Ed E.

I tried that what you suggested with the sim cards and discovered that 3 had the best coverage. Where would I be able to purchase one of those external antennaes?

westyIrl

michealkc wrote: »

Thanks Ed E.

I tried that what you suggested with the sim cards and discovered that 3 had the best coverage. Where would I be able to purchase one of those external antennaes?

If you have good coverage on a phone in the garden, most likely you will not need an external antenna at all. How were your speed tests? (try 3g and 4g). First step would be to buy a unlocked 4G router such as the Huawei B525, B593, E5186. Mount it up good and high (in attic if you can).

After that you can get an antenna if the coverage is not good enough. Poynting antennas come highly recommended and I use the 4G-XPOL-A0002 which is a directional antenna. But if you don't need such high gain you could opt for the Poynting 4G-XPOL-A0001 which is non-directional, but try router on it's own first.

Jim

michealkc

westyIrl wrote: »

If you have good coverage on a phone in the garden, most likely you will not need an external antenna at all. How were your speed tests? (try 3g and 4g). First step would be to buy a unlocked 4G router such as the Huawei B525, B593, E5186. Mount it up good and high (in attic if you can).

After that you can get an antenna if the coverage is not good enough. Poynting antennas come highly recommended and I use the 4G-XPOL-A0002 which is a directional antenna. But if you don't need such high gain you could opt for the Poynting 4G-XPOL-A0001 which is non-directional, but try router on it's own first.

Jim

Hi Jim,

Thank you for all that good advice.

Speed tests on the phone with tesco mobile (which is esentially 3) ran well during the day. Over 10 gb per sec. Then in the peak times it slows to 2.2 gb per sec or even under 2 gb per sec.

I can see that the b525 modem is readily available with 3. I will have to check if it is the strongest performer. If I were to mount it in the attic, would the signal become weak by the time it gets down through the upstairs bedrooms and then the sitting room below that.

westyIrl

michealkc wrote: »

Hi Jim,

Thank you for all that good advice.

Speed tests on the phone with tesco mobile (which is esentially 3) ran well during the day. Over 10 gb per sec. Then in the peak times it slows to 2.2 gb per sec or even under 2 gb per sec.

I can see that the b525 modem is readily available with 3. I will have to check if it is the strongest performer. If I were to mount it in the attic, would the signal become weak by the time it gets down through the upstairs bedrooms and then the sitting room below that.

Thats reasonable. Just remember that three themselves do €20 all you can eat data prepay which is quite popular. The B593 supposedly has the most sensitive internal antennas and can also take an external antenna if need be. Check adverts, ebay etc. 50-70euros usually.

If you mount in attic, wi-fi degradation is a possiblity, especially if you have foil backed plaster slab. However, you can just hardwire an access point to the 4g router, placed at you preferred location if wi-fi performance isn't up to par. Biggest thing is if you have a power point in the attic, try in upstairs window etc. first if you like. It is trial and error.

The reason you want to leave the 4G antenna to last is that they are relatively expensive (for a decent one), need to be mounted on chimney etc, and you still want a short enough distance between antenna and router to minimise cable losses (5m max). Antenna will not improve mast congestion after all.

Jim