What's an acceptable download speed??

fennor72

Hi all
Just had the latest result of a complaint I made to three about my download broadband speed, they stated that my average download speed of 1mbps was adequate enough for general browsing.
For starters my download speed is nowhere near 1 mbps, the last few speed tests have been 0.34, 0.39, 0.28.
What can I do? Is there a minimum download speed I can't find it on the website, and the operator I spoke to could not find it either. I told them I wasn't happy with the outcome and the supervisor is contacting me tomorrow.
I was going to ring comreg in morning to see if they have any guidelines that could help.
It's an obsolute pain in the ass, kids can't do homework, browse, wife can't work from home, etc, it's useless

ednwireland

sorry comreg wont care

fennor72

ednwireland wrote:

sorry comreg wont care

So who is the broadband regulator

Aaargh123

What does your contract say it will provide? (Bearing in mind they all say "up to..")

And 1Mbps is crap. Not much better than dial-up.

I can manage with 10Mbps, but with several of us online at same time, it becomes unstable.

We're virginmedia 'up to 240 Mbps'. Have *never* got that - 120Mbps max when direct connection to ethernet. Usually it's 10-15 Mbps on wifi.

There are some guidelines for this - probably on Comreg - basically what % of max is acceptable for average daily use

Aaargh123

What does your contract say it will provide? (Bearing in mind they all say "up to..")

And 1Mbps is crap. Not much better than dial-up.

I can manage with 10Mbps, but with several of us online at same time, it becomes unstable.

We're virginmedia 'up to 240 Mbps'. Have *never* got that - 120Mbps max when direct connection to ethernet. Usually it's 10-15 Mbps on wifi.

There are some guidelines for this - probably on Comreg - basically what % of max is acceptable for average daily use

ednwireland

fennor72 wrote: »

So who is the broadband regulator

there isnt one, fought and fought many years ago finally got connected but my download is 3mb and upload .2mb fibre stopped a few hundred yards away, cant see imagines wireless mast.

with 2 working from home i've rigged a second 4g link wich isnt quick either into the network so one one works on that and one works on the landline.

as far as i know there is no speed broadband providers have to guarantee, just had a quick look at comreg no mention of speeds anywhere

https://www.comreg.ie/ga/eolas-tomhaltora/idirlion/service-issues/

Broadband Speeds

The advertised broadband speed is the maximum attainable speed. It may not be guaranteed that you will receive that speed, please always refer to the terms and conditions of your contract where this should be outlined.

If you are experiencing poor broadband speeds you can lodge a complaint with your service provider and allow the service provider 10 working days to respond. ComReg can then intervene after this period to find out if anything can be done to improve the service for you.

A number of factors often determine the quality of a broadband service a consumer will receive including:

• The number of devices connected to the broadband service (for example laptop/ computer/mobile phones/iPads/TV etc);
• Congestion on the line (particularly at busy hour periods);
• The distance from the exchange;
• The processing speed of the consumer’s computer and router or modem;
• The speed of the connection between the computer and modem or router;
• Whether the connection is wired or wireless as this will impact speed even if the other users are not using the Wi-Fi.

i wouldn't hold my breath expecting them to do anything

fennor72

Aaargh123 wrote:

What does your contract say it will provide? (Bearing in mind they all say "up to..")

I can't find it in the contract, but I complained in January about the same thing and was told my speed was above the acceptable limit of 1.8 mbps now its 1 mb so they are clearly changing the requirements.
I tried everything, I spent a lot of time, and money last summer, finding the best signal and put up an external antenna which worked OK for about 4 months then the signal kept getting weaker and disconnecting. So I've disconnected that system and have positioned the router where we can get a signal. What even more frustrating is I can get a great signal outside on rare occasions but it never last for more than a couple of minutes

fennor72

ednwireland wrote:

with 2 working from home i've rigged a second 4g link wich isnt quick either into the network so one one works on that and one works on the landline.

ednwireland wrote:

as far as i know there is no speed broadband providers have to guarantee, just had a quick look at comreg no mention of speeds anywhere

What we had to do is get a second broadband package from eir just for my wife to work from home

Aaargh123

Ah - are you on mobile wifi already? Apologies if I missed that.

I don't know if Sky would be any better? I *think* they use dishes.

Either way, 1Mbps is crap. Sorry if ComReg think it isn't. I've heard that squeaky wheel tweeting about shoddy service can yield results. Hsbevyiu tried that yet?

fennor72

Aaargh123 wrote:

Ah - are you on mobile wifi already? Apologies if I missed that.

Sorry if I wasn't clear, our area is clearly a bit of a blackspot, for mobile and broadband coverage. The only other provider advertising in the area is imagine and I've heard from neighbours that they have been told they can't get adequate coverage from them.
Eir is poor but good enough to do general browsing

shaveAbullock

Awful predicament but unfortunately you can't expect a broadband company to supply you with a service at a significant financial loss.

The National Broadband Plan should be in place already but of course the government made a balls of it

ED E

What are you hoping for? If you want to cancel the contract complain a few more times and they'll release you. They can't and won't do anything to improve it.

touts

If this crisis has shown anything it is that the National Broadband plan must become the top priority after the return to work. Other projects like the Metro and the second Dublin Airport Runway are now pointless vanity projects. Broadband is essential to a safe economy and has the advantage of spreading people out of Dublin into rural Ireland thus easing the housing crisis.

Of course it won't because a Metro to the airport is just too cool.

orm0nd

fennor72 wrote: »

Hi all
Just had the latest result of a complaint I made to three about my download broadband speed, they stated that my average download speed of 1mbps was adequate enough for general browsing.
For starters my download speed is nowhere near 1 mbps, the last few speed tests have been 0.34, 0.39, 0.28.
What can I do? Is there a minimum download speed I can't find it on the website, and the operator I spoke to could not find it either. I told them I wasn't happy with the outcome and the supervisor is contacting me tomorrow.
I was going to ring comreg in morning to see if they have any guidelines that could help.
It's an obsolute pain in the ass, kids can't do homework, browse, wife can't work from home, etc, it's useless

I presume that's mobile broadband. Try changing your router to 3G only, has improved it for some.

Henry Ford III

You'd want 10mbps anyhow.

ednwireland

who are you getting service from at the moment ?

have you tried a router, external aerials ?

is that the only provider you can use - ( i recently switched from vodafone to gomo and get much better coverage with gomo)

e.g

https://www.freetv.ie/cctv/ip/routers-antennas/

fennor72

ED E wrote:

What are you hoping for? If you want to cancel the contract complain a few more times and they'll release you. They can't and won't do anything to improve it.

This is my 4th complaint since January,.
I just want the option to be able to find a better alternative provider if there is one

petes

fennor72 wrote: »

This is my 4th complaint since January,.
I just want the option to be able to find a better alternative provider if there is one

Official complaint?

fennor72

Yes, January came back with adequate speed, logged another ticket with them in early March, after 2 week's ringing was told they could see I logged a complaint but couldn't see a result so advised me to log another ticket, at which point I heard no more.

fennor72

orm0nd wrote:

I presume that's mobile broadband. Try changing your router to 3G only, has improved it for some.

Thanks, I tried that a couple of weeks ago but it's no better

ED E

What do they say when you try to cancel?

jimmycrackcorm

shaveAbullock wrote: »

Awful predicament but unfortunately you can't expect a broadband company to supply you with a service at a significant financial loss.

The National Broadband Plan should be in place already but of course the government made a balls of it

The government haven't made a balls of it. They were criticised for it because of the expense, but now we see exactly how essential it is going to be.

For now you can't fault the Govt for the benefit of someone living in a house with acres of garden instead of nice wired urban broadband.

As for the Ops predicament, he should buy a directional antenna setup that will boost the signal to a mast that provides the best available connection.

shaveAbullock

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

The government haven't made a balls of it. They were criticised for it because of the expense, but now we see exactly how essential it is going to be.

They have, it was announced in 2012. 2020 was the original date announced for completion.

fennor72

ED E wrote:

What do they say when you try to cancel?

They will not cancel the contract as they deem 1mb an acceptable download speed.

fennor72

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

As for the Ops predicament, he should buy a directional antenna setup that will boost the signal to a mast that provides the best available connection.

I do have an external antenna set up, as I said its signal has gradually gotten worse over the last few months.
I might spend tomorrow evening measuring the speed at various spots outside the house to see if there is a newer stronger signal.

65535

Look online for your nearest mast - get a directional antenna and point it towards that mast, connect same antenna to your router.

Example directional antenna: https://www.freetv.ie/4g-antenna/

fennor72

65535 wrote:

Look online for your nearest mast - get a directional antenna and point it towards that mast, connect same antenna to your router.

Thanks for that, I know where my nearest mast is, it's actually only a couple of miles away, the problem being I'm situated at the bottom of a large hill which is between me and the mast.
Intermittently I can get 15 - 20 mb down pointing at that mast but the signal doesn't last and goes back down to 1mb.
Do.you think that type of aerial would help with that problem.

65535

fennor72 wrote: »

Thanks for that, I know where my nearest mast is, it's actually only a couple of miles away, the problem being I'm situated at the bottom of a large hill which is between me and the mast.
Intermittently I can get 15 - 20 mb down pointing at that mast but the signal doesn't last and goes back down to 1mb.
Do.you think that type of aerial would help with that problem.

Try and put the antenna on a pole - 20 ft aluminum pole might do - the higher the better - if you do get 'line of sight' to the tower then you have a better chance of getting a usable signal.


Even if you could put it on your roof/chimney then you would have a better chance of getting a better signal.


The antenna is a directional one so point it towards the local mast.

the_syco

65535 wrote: »

Look online for your nearest mast - get a directional antenna and point it towards that mast, connect same antenna to your router.

Example directional antenna: https://www.freetv.ie/4g-antenna/

fennor72 wrote: »

Thanks for that, I know where my nearest mast is, it's actually only a couple of miles away, the problem being I'm situated at the bottom of a large hill which is between me and the mast.

Than it's not the nearest mast.

I'll rephrase the question; what is the nearest mast that you have line of sight of, from anywhere in your house? Including the theoretical line of sight from your chimney (as you can hook up something off it).

Have a look at the Poor Mans WiFi; http://www.exe64.com/mirror/wokfi/

65535 wrote: »

Try and put the antenna on a pole - 20 ft aluminum pole might do - the higher the better

If he's in a remote area, higher may not be better; higher may end up being a lightening conductor that will fry a load of things. But you do have the right idea. OP; get two poles; one 5 feet taller than the other, so lightening hits that one.

Marlow

fennor72 wrote: »

Sorry if I wasn't clear, our area is clearly a bit of a blackspot, for mobile and broadband coverage.

First of all, mobile internet is not broadband. You never know, how many people are in the same cell as you, so you can not be guaranteed a minimum speed or a contention ratio. Bandwidth usage for most providers have doubled in these times, so your 1.8 Mbit/s acceptable minimum probably is just under 1 Mbit/s now. The capacity on these mobile cells simply isn't there for general broadband use.

That would be different with a provider, that has no customers moving around. Like a fixed wireless operator. Important there is just to find one, that doesn't oversubscribe their network to hell.

Secondly .. just wait until the anti-5G crowd sets the nearest mast to you on fire. Then you've got nothing. Just saying.

/M

John mac

have you tried changing to 3g ? sometimes it can be faster than 4g.

smuggler.ie

fennor72 wrote: »

Intermittently I can get 15 - 20 mb down pointing at that mast but the signal doesn't last and goes back down to 1mb.

Once Three saw you on this speed intermittently - no chance they would let you go free...


This could indicate that, intermittently, you connecting to "good" mast/cell.
What router you operate off? B525 show cell ID - take note once on bad and once on "good" speed. Are those numbers differ significant(9870012 vs 5671234) or only by last few digits(9870012 vs 9870015)?
What antenna you have? If directional, double check masts/cells i your vicinity - try to point to next nearest with LOS

shaveAbullock

shaveAbullock wrote: »

The National Broadband Plan should be in place already but of course the government made a balls of it

Anyone who can't get a broadband connection these days have only themselves to blame for building so remotely.

Every town and village in Ireland has broadband and often extend out the main roads from the centre

shaveAbullock

So the housing shortage was a make believe situation?
Most people are not in the situation where they can sell a cheap house in a rural location and buy a much more expensive one in an urban location. People who bought a house decade ago can't be expected to know that working from home would become so popular. Even a few months ago people who now work from home never imagined it being a reality.

Thanks to technologies like GPON providing fast internet to rural locations is viable. Especially with initiatives like the NBP that was announced in 2012.

ED E

salonfire wrote: »

Anyone who can't get a broadband connection these days have only themselves to blame for building so remotely.

Every town and village in Ireland has broadband and often extend out the main roads from the centre

Thats quite ignorant to the reality of things. Areas of D12, D14, D4 that have sweet feck all (poor ADSL) due to legacy cabling. Parts of Dublin1/2 can be a disaster unless you can afford €1000/mo for a corp grade connection.

fennor72

salonfire wrote:

Anyone who can't get a broadband connection these days have only themselves to blame for building so remotely.

salonfire wrote:

Every town and village in Ireland has broadband and often extend out the main roads from the centre

Thank for the great vote of sympathy, for your information I'm only a few miles away from a main town so I don't consider myself remotely rural.

orm0nd

fennor72 wrote: »

Thanks for that, I know where my nearest mast is, it's actually only a couple of miles away, the problem being I'm situated at the bottom of a large hill which is between me and the mast.
Intermittently I can get 15 - 20 mb down pointing at that mast but the signal doesn't last and goes back down to 1mb.
Do.you think that type of aerial would help with that problem.

I'm using these here with excellent results , but it's critical that they are set up correctly, i.e stacked at correct distance and pointing at correct angle

A lot of these so called aerials are nothing more than a bit of tin foil in a plastic box. they can work in cases but often the loss on the cable outplay the benefit.

https://www.wimo.com/en/antennas/gsm-lte-mobile-phone-antennas/antennas-for-4g-lte/60072

ednwireland

salonfire wrote: »

Anyone who can't get a broadband connection these days have only themselves to blame for building so remotely.

Every town and village in Ireland has broadband and often extend out the main roads from the centre

my house is over 150 years old..........

less than 2 miles from the town boundary eir stopped fibre 200 yds away . glad you have great broadband

fennor72

orm0nd wrote:

I'm using these here with excellent results , but it's critical that they are set up correctly, i.e stacked at correct distance and pointing at correct angle

For any set up like what you have, I presume line of sight is critical, Ive no Los in any direction even the closest mast is obstructed by a hill.
I spent the last couple of evenings trying to get a stable speed with the existing antenna, I managed to find a good spot giving me up to 30mbps down over the last 24hrs, which is an unbelievable speed for me. The signal dropped a couple of hours ago back to around 2mbps, which is disappointing but I'll leave it there and keep monitoring it.

shaveAbullock

So the signal is unstable and changes even with the antenna in the same location?

Or are there times of day when more people are connected to the mast? And the real issue is too many people on one mast?

Marlow

shaveAbullock wrote: »

So the signal is unstable and changes even with the antenna in the same location?

Or are there times of day when more people are connected to the mast? And the real issue is too many people on one mast?

It is mobile internet. It was never designed for static broadband use.

So yes .. it will change cell as it sees fit.

/M

fennor72

I was just wondering I'm not too tech savy but as I said previously the signal had dropped off down to about 2mb from up to 20-30 mb for the 24hr period.
I checked it again about an hour ago and it was still slow, I restarted the router and it immediately came back to 10mb down and has stayed there.
So is it a case the antenna is always receiving a good signal but the router is not always transmitting it

smuggler.ie

fennor72 wrote: »

So is it a case the antenna is always receiving a good signal but the router is not always transmitting it

Not necessary.
Signal your antenna catch could be switching from one mast to the other - quite normal for mobile tech.

orm0nd

fennor72 wrote: »

I was just wondering I'm not too tech savy but as I said previously the signal had dropped off down to about 2mb from up to 20-30 mb for the 24hr period.
I checked it again about an hour ago and it was still slow, I restarted the router and it immediately came back to 10mb down and has stayed there.
So is it a case the antenna is always receiving a good signal but the router is not always transmitting it

Re booting the router would switch you to a different cell. It looks there is serious congestion on that signal.

No aerial system will work if the signal isn't there. Do you have a garage or any other building away from the house. If there was a signal there it might work.

Know 1 guy whose using this set-up with 2 nano stations.

fennor72

orm0nd wrote:

No aerial system will work if the signal isn't there. Do you have a garage or any other building away from the house. If there was a signal there it might work.

I've a large shed at the bottom of the garden, I've checked the signal on top of it but it's no good.
It looks like I keep the antenna in the same spot, even though the signal is fluctuating it's still the best option.

pms7

fennor72 wrote: »

I can't find it in the contract, but I complained in January about the same thing and was told my speed was above the acceptable limit of 1.8 mbps now its 1 mb so they are clearly changing the requirements.
I tried everything, I spent a lot of time, and money last summer, finding the best signal and put up an external antenna which worked OK for about 4 months then the signal kept getting weaker and disconnecting. So I've disconnected that system and have positioned the router where we can get a signal. What even more frustrating is I can get a great signal outside on rare occasions but it never last for more than a couple of minutes

was it omni or directional aerial you tried?

fennor72

Its a directional antenna.
Just a quick update, I've learned through trial and error I've 2 accessable masts.
I put the antenna up as high as I could and the mast I was concentrating my efforts on did not improve. It was still good but unstable and I couldn't get any more than 3 bars of strength on the router.
So I completely changed direction to another 3 mast further away in a village and the speed shot up, also the signal strength went to full strength on the router. It has been brilliant up until the first night of the lockdown a couple of weeks ago, when the signal dies in the evening.
It's obviously contention, but it's amazing the difference in speed.
Very late at night I've seen over 100mbps on the speed test, but in the evening it will fall to around 2mbps gradually climbing up as the night goes on.

pms7

Have a read here, lots of info..
https://confusedbird.com/index.php

fennor72

pms7 wrote:

Have a read here, lots of info..

Thank you very much, that's a brilliant forum, very informative