Broadband in Ballymun

divinebright

Hi there I realise this is probably going to annoy some people but please realise that it is not out of laziness or not wanting to read through other threads, which i have done, but confusion more than anything. Anywho the last time I researched the whole idea of getting broadband was about 2 years ago, needless to say things seem to have COMPLETELY changed in terms of prices and services available. I'll keep it simple: i live just beside DCU (on the ballmun road side) and am looking to get broadband of some form installed. Ive been reading about IBB's service which sounds good but if someone could tell me exactly where this mast or highsite is located itd be great to see if i have line of sight. Other than that if anyone who lives in the surrounding area could give any info on services available and their experiences with them itd be greatly appreciated.

Legion

The high site for Ballymun is in the old ESB depot you should have no problem seeing it.I was on that mast for the first six months but had a very patchy connection at times but that was due to a bit of a unique situation with me being situated between a row of houses with a gap between two blocks of flats which resulted in a bit of a hit and miss LOS. ( tis hard to explain you would have to see for yourself what i'm talking about )

I'm now running of the Northside SC mast.I cant even see this mast but my connection is miles better,at last I have my upload back


In saying that you should have no problem at all on the Mun mast.

AdMMM

You could always check to see if you could get ADSL...

http://dsl.digiweb.ie - you can quickly check on the site if your line is suitable

also NTL might be around your area, but Im down in Waterford so I wouldnt know!

beller b

As I've posted before LOS of the mast doesn't gaurentee you service.. I have a clear view of that mast from my garden ,(dist. 500m) & IBB wouldn't even test for a signal...

Legion

beller b wrote:

As I've posted before LOS of the mast doesn't gaurentee you service.. I have a clear view of that mast from my garden ,(dist. 500m) & IBB wouldn't even test for a signal...

Why would they not do the test,did they give a reason ?? A friend of mine was in a similar situation when they came out they wouldnt install because of major trouble on the mast ,they where probably afarid he would be on the phone moaning about the bad connection every day but as soon as the mast was sorted they appeared at his house to see if he still wnated it installed.

Reku

If you have a wireless card you might be near enough to get onto DCU's wireless network, 11Mbps (damn sweet!). I'm not sure what sort of area it covers (probably limited to within DCU) but sure if you've a laptop just cross the road anytime you want to surf and it'll be free too!

jm2k

there's a good chance u'll be able to get NTL, friend of mine lives on glasnevin ave and they have it

Shiny

Hi

I'm on the ballymun mast and im probably living about 100m
away from you. I am beside spar at the ballymun road entrance
to DCU.

I can see 2 other houses from my flat that have IBB.

The mast is about 500m up the road in the ballymun direction.

It is the only mast in this area.

I have direct line of sight with the mast.

Speeds are pretty good although I rarely get the full 200k+ anymore
as more people join IBB in the area.

NTL, Smart, Eircom are all available in this area but mehh, who
needs a phoneline.(or cable) : )

I have looked into getting onto the dcu wireless network myself and
I think i would need some sort of antenna even just to get a signal,
never mind get good speeds or anything else.

Excessive downloading with IBB leads to a limit to 100k/sec for a couple
of weeks. (excessive = 100+gigs month)

Pings for games are fine for Irish, UK and some European servers.

pings usually between 50 and 100 to 64player uk servers.

There isn't much downtime with this service, absolutly nothing
when compared to Ripwave.(down every day crap service)

beller b

Legion wrote:

Why would they not do the test,did they give a reason ?? A friend of mine was in a similar situation when they came out they wouldnt install because of major trouble on the mast ,they where probably afarid he would be on the phone moaning about the bad connection every day but as soon as the mast was sorted they appeared at his house to see if he still wnated it installed.

Never gave a reason just looked out the window of the van, It was raining mind.. Anyway in my opinion they are all wasters, never once did I get a reply .. The Wise Man asked for details to look into it He never bothered either.. Anyway am no connected with BT 2Mps (9 days from ordering to installed, a few lessons to be learnt for Smart & IBB there!!!)

beller b

DCU??? any housing estate is full of unsecured wirless connections... but don't tell anyone!!!! LOL

Shiny

beller b wrote:

DCU??? any housing estate is full of unsecured wirless connections... but don't tell anyone!!!! LOL

I totally agree.

I can pick up 1 wireless network from my flat.


.....and it isn't secure......:rolleyes:

pity the signal is too weak.

Reku

I can pick up one from Ballymun but it's secured, it's called something like Ballymundae or the likes (hence how I know where it's coming from), so they don't even have to be on your estate for you to pick them up if you've a good wireless card.

Shiny

Yes a high power wireless card is a must.

I used one of those discontinued Orinoco cards.

Problem is the card is strong enough to pick up
a network but the network(router) is not strong enough
to send information back to the card.

divinebright

Hey guys, thanks for all the replys...very helpful and well, i couldn't have hoped for better news could I, or at least heres hoping! Anywho im living across the road in albert college so after what you've said shiny it basically boils down to either NTL or IBB cause i dont want a new phone number and i dont want to deal with eircom. I presume your on the 1MB Breeze service? I'm at work now so i cant check the whole line of site to the mast thing just yet but when they say line of sight what are the specifics, i mean are trees an issue and does it have to be from where the computer will be situated or the attic/roof (is there an antenna?). Another question I have is regards installation and the amount of time, once ordered, these services should/usually take to get up and running. Browsing about you get the impression none of these companies seem all that interested in the people whose money there taking, bar beller b's experience with BT, but is this being abit scepticle ?(with regard installation times anywho)
Also with regard to this DCU situation...do you think its plausible that I might pick an unsecure network and how would i go about testing it out?

Shiny

Yes trees would be an issue but IBB can put a 2/3 meter pole
on your roof and surely that would be able to see the mast ?

I'm on the Breeze 2mb service at the moment although i am only
getting 1mb speeds most of the time.

It took me 3/4 weeks from time of ordering mine and I regard that
as fast considering some people were waiting over 5 weeks.

The DCU network is not insecure, you would need to be a student
or know someone that is a student to get a login as far as i know.

We were talking about some radom person living near you with an
unsecure network.

you could check with any laptop that has a wireless card, just put
it beside each window in the house and click search for available
networks. Although i dont recommend this as a long term soultion
for your broadband connection.

if you want you can call in this evening and i will show you my setup?
im here all day today.

Reku

Shiny wrote:

The DCU network is not insecure, you would need to be a student
or know someone that is a student to get a login as far as i know.

We were talking about some radom person living near you with an
unsecure network.

you could check with any laptop that has a wireless card, just put
it beside each window in the house and click search for available
networks. Although i dont recommend this as a long term soultion
for your broadband connection.

if you want you can call in this evening and i will show you my setup?
im here all day today.

The DCU wireless network requires nothing more than a wireless card and a signal, no password or login. They only have passwords on the actual pcs and any former student can use their old password and then there's a generic login most students and former students know.
The main DCU network does require the correct settings on your machine but that's if as far as I know (can check for you if you want?).