Metro is Coming!

spooky donkey

Well after spending the whole morning reading through this thread I am delighted to see an alternitave to Ive Been Buggered or IBB as most know them. I may wait a little while though to see the feed back of people who have been using. When IBB first came in I heard great things about them at the start. I hope this will not be the case with Metro.

Chaz

Updates from today's Metro Meeting as previously mentioned. Two items that needed clarification

Basic Metro Package will not have a Static IP.

Coverage Maps will be prepared and be online within the next week or two.

cgarvey

No product adjustments aside from that?

Sparky

Chaz wrote:

Updates from today's Metro Meeting as previously mentioned. Two items that needed clarification

Basic Metro Package will not have a Static IP.

Coverage Maps will be prepared and be online within the next week or two.

Please say metro plus will, please.

Chaz

Yes, Metro Plus and Xpress both have 1 static IP address included.

zoro

Thanks for getting back to us about it

watty

I have been quoted 4 week lead time. Three weeks to go.

Is mast really on Clarion in Limerick? That's where IBB has their system.

Does the Metro interface give the PC's ethernet port / card a Dynamic IP address?

I have a LAN in the house and an old NT4.0 server with Proxy/Firewall in SW. I presume I just plug the Metro interface into its 2nd Ethernet interface, that isn't on my LAN switch. Change my Proxy to use the second Ethernet card instead of Modem, though I think with a Ethernet "Internet" port rather than a RAS connection it needs a fixed static IP address.

I suppose if I occasionally pinged something more often than time-out of Metro Interface I whould keep the DHCP lease and effectively have "static" IP address for my 8 year old firewall to use!

Nevyn

So there will be no conflicts in using blueface with Metro ?
What about using the number provided with the basic package with Blueface ?

ricey

Is mast really on Clarion in Limerick? That's where IBB has their system.

Ya itS on the clarion same as IBB

Sparky

Chaz wrote:

Yes, Metro Plus and Xpress both have 1 static IP address included.

Yes Lovely

crawler

Sparky_S wrote:

Yes Lovely

To confirm :-

1) "Metro" will ONLY have dynamic IP addressing . Static IP addressing is not available for "Metro"
2) "Metro plus" and "Metro Xpress" will have one FREE static IP address
3) By default all packages will get a dynamic IP you need to call us once installed and we will assign the static IP address for you on the two higher end packages
4) If you need more than one IP address you can have them (up to 8 with RIPE approval) at a charge of €49 set up and €10.00 per month ( paid as an annual payment of €120)
5) The static IP address(es) is linked to the MAC address of the device connecting to our EMTA (NIC, Router etc) so if you change the hardware etc you need to let us know (should not happen often)

Lest there be ANY doubt


Agghhh...just noticed Sparky hosts streaming music....!!!

mickger

Chaz, Have there been any installs done in Waterford City yet? I ordered about a week ago,just wondering.

cgarvey

crawler wrote:

4) If you need more than one IP address you can have them (up to 8 with RIPE approval) at a charge of €49 set up and €10.00 per month ( paid as an annual payment of €120)

Dissapointing to see you charge a hefty "administration"[1] fee for IP addresses that are free of charge. I can understand that there would be a setup fee (because of the paperwork, and routing config, etc.), but ten quid per month for something that involves zero expense? That's a bit steep. eircom provide RIPE approved[2] netblocks free of charge (no setup or monthly), but other ISPs and HSPs do charge. I've not seen Eur10/mo being charged anywhere else, though I'm sure some do.

[1]At least I presume it is an administration fee. The usual BS to evade the RIPE requirement that the free IPs they allocate to you don't get charged for in return (bar administrative costs).
[2]At least they used to. I have, and clients & colleagues have sucessfully applied for and retained small netblocks, with eircom facilitating. No charge was ever mentioned to any of us, or ever applied.

Sparky

crawler wrote:

Agghhh...just noticed Sparky hosts streaming music....!!!

Its down at the moment but will be up and running well when i get my metro plus installed in hopefully a week, and when i ring for my static IP address.

ro2

cgarvey wrote:

Dissapointing to see you charge a hefty "administration"[1] fee for IP addresses that are free of charge. I can understand that there would be a setup fee (because of the paperwork, and routing config, etc.), but ten quid per month for something that involves zero expense? That's a bit steep. eircom provide RIPE approved[2] netblocks free of charge (no setup or monthly), but other ISPs and HSPs do charge. I've not seen Eur10/mo being charged anywhere else, though I'm sure some do.

[1]At least I presume it is an administration fee. The usual BS to evade the RIPE requirement that the free IPs they allocate to you don't get charged for in return (bar administrative costs).
[2]At least they used to. I have, and clients & colleagues have sucessfully applied for and retained small netblocks, with eircom facilitating. No charge was ever mentioned to any of us, or ever applied.

Eircom don't charge for IPs on their top DSL package. You can get up to eight.

Technically you could say that IPs are not free from RIPE. Your LIR (local internet registry) membership fee is determined by the amount of resources you're allocated. So the more IPs you need, the higher your membership fee.

cgarvey

OK, I'll take that point that there's an indirect charge alright .. which could justifiably be passed on to customers availaling of the service. The price still seem awfully steep though. LIR fees spread over, say 20, customers wouldn't justify 10/mo, would it?

I've also got some background tech info on other costs as well, which close some of the gap (like a direct per-IP costing is possible).. still strikes me as remarkably high though.

.cg

jwt

Ripe LIR details for Digiweb

http://www.ripe.net/membership/indices/data/ie.digiweb.html

http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/charging.html

So 3,150 EURO Annual Service Fee for Digiweb

Psygnosis

Hi Chaz
I live in Skerries Co.Dublin any plans out here for the service I was donabate is covered but would this stretch to Skerries. I am quite hi up live in Kellys bay Jetty apartments.

Inge Binge

Hi,

I live in an apartment block. what hardware are they installing outside? the website says they install a radio box. but i suppose this thing needs some power?! i'm a bit concerned about the hole in the wall they have to make for the power lead.

thx
IB

Henry O'Henry

Originally Posted by Henry O'Henry
Chaz,
You never came back to me, so I decided to ring your helpline to see if they could give me any info on the above. They couldn't (apart from telling me that Metro is available at my address).
But they did mention that the "Home Security" would be launched along with "High Definition TV"in early 2006. Now I want you to know that this is Perverse Torture at its Sickest! Eircon & Skyte TV happen to be 2 of my least favourite institutions. You could save me ever having to deal with those morons ever again.
Can you give me some hope?

Chaz wrote:

Thats Crawler's field - more than mine :-) Hint Hint.

Well Crawler,
Are you guys up to the challenge yet?

crawler

Henry O'Henry wrote:

Originally Posted by Henry O'Henry
Chaz,
You never came back to me, so I decided to ring your helpline to see if they could give me any info on the above. They couldn't (apart from telling me that Metro is available at my address).
But they did mention that the "Home Security" would be launched along with "High Definition TV"in early 2006. Now I want you to know that this is Perverse Torture at its Sickest! Eircon & Skyte TV happen to be 2 of my least favourite institutions. You could save me ever having to deal with those morons ever again.
Can you give me some hope?




Well Crawler,
Are you guys up to the challenge yet?

Tssskkk...I was kinda hoping you might forget the question!!

Seriously though....there are lots of things being devleoped around Metro at the moment and both security products and Digital TV services are included.

The process of vendor evaluations is a long one and one that we have to get right. We will not launch a product until it is both finished and actually works! Sounds obvious but you would be surprised how many people rush half baked products out the door just to say they are "launched".

On the other side of it - I dont want to give anything away to our competitors - they are watching us like hawks (hello friends in other ISPs!! *waves* ) and it simply makes good business sense not to say too much.

Yes, I know this is a fluffy/marketing/no content type answer but it's all I can say for now! This is an open forum afterall....for what it's worth I had both of the above Companies installed until recently, just dumped eircom completely...so I know what it's like.

zoro

Here's an update for anyone interested in contention ratios and pings on the basic package:

I've just had my Metro Basic installed this morning. It's currently sitting there pinging the games server that I frequent most often (games1.unreal.ie - ut2k4) and here is what my in-game pings are like at 9am on a Tuesday morning.

I'm connected to 3 rock according to the guys that installed it, and I'll do some more bandwidth intensive tests when I get home later on, as well as testing the connection between 7 and 12 for pings in game.

I'll get back to this thread when I've more detailed results, but so far, (after about ... oooh ... 10 minutes of testing? ) it's loverly


One thing I want to ask crawler/chaz about however, is if I can get the admin login details for the cable modem that has been provided by Digiweb? (not for anything bold ... I just wanna make changes to the LAN setup )

Chaz

zoro wrote:

Here's an update for anyone interested in contention ratios and pings on the basic package:

I've just had my Metro Basic installed this morning. It's currently sitting there pinging the games server that I frequent most often (games1.unreal.ie - ut2k4) and here is what my in-game pings are like at 9am on a Tuesday morning.

I'm connected to 3 rock according to the guys that installed it, and I'll do some more bandwidth intensive tests when I get home later on, as well as testing the connection between 7 and 12 for pings in game.

I'll get back to this thread when I've more detailed results, but so far, (after about ... oooh ... 10 minutes of testing? ) it's loverly


One thing I want to ask crawler/chaz about however, is if I can get the admin login details for the cable modem that has been provided by Digiweb? (not for anything bold ... I just wanna make changes to the LAN setup )

The CM is not a router at all - its a termination device. There is nothing to be set on the unit - the only items that can be seen are signal levels etc - nothing more. You need to use a 3rd party router to do any routing onto your own network as required.

Good to hear that you like the service - we certainly believe it is the best thing since sliced bread - but will let others decide that.

zoro

Chaz wrote:

The CM is not a router at all - its a termination device. There is nothing to be set on the unit - the only items that can be seen are signal levels etc - nothing more. You need to use a 3rd party router to do any routing onto your own network as required.

Good to hear that you like the service - we certainly believe it is the best thing since sliced bread - but will let others decide that.

oooooohhhhhhhh - I had no idea. Was that mentioned on this thread somewhere? If it was then I COMPLETELY overlooked it!
Well - the CM has given me an ip address, so I presume that it's got a DHCP server inside it somewhere, unless the wireless connection to Digiweb is really just one monstrous LAN??
I'm so glad I have a firewall

Chaz

The CM does not give you an IP - the IP comes from the Base Station - the CM simply passes this through. Its certainly not a 'monstrous' LAN - check your subnetting on the Public IP that you have.

zoro

Yeah - as I said I only had a few minutes to look at it before I rushed out the door to work.
I'll have a proper look around when I get home later on. I wanna know exactly what I'm connected to Are there other users on the same subnet as me? Or am I alone on it?

Sorry if these are elementary questions - but I'm used to my DSL router getting a WAN IP and doling out DHCP info to my LAN pc's. This is slightly new for me

Inge Binge

Hi,

I live in an apartment block. what hardware are they installing outside? the website says they install a radio box. but i suppose this thing needs some power?! i'm a bit concerned about the hole in the wall they have to make for the power lead.

thx
IB

zoro

The outside box is no wider than a portrait A4 sheet. And it's square, so it's the same height.

The cable that comes through from the outside is a standard co-ax cable, and what was done in my case (quite clever I though ... ) was to feed the cable from the roof, down the front of the apartment (I'm on the top floor so it was _very_ possible for me) and then in through an air vent in my bedroom wall.
That kept my landlord (and housemate...) happy as there were no unsightly holes in the wall, and no drilling whatsoever on the inside of the house.

The power is supplied back up through the co-ax cable to the box on the rooftop - so you literally only have that one cable.

zoro

Also, Chaz/Crawler, it may be an idea to add more information about the phone line to the website.
I was under the impression that a VOIP phone would be provided during the install - I found out that all that is needed is a regular phone that can be plugged into a standard wall socket (Eircom/Esat) - and not a special VOIP one.

And tbh - from your FAQ page:

Will my existing analogue/DECT phone work?
Yes

I not only didnt see that question on the page, but I also have no idea what DECT stands for (and neither, I would imagine, would the entire Irish userbase )

Sparky

DECT= Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications
Id say most corless phone now have it, and the best thing is you can have 6 different makes of cordless phone and they will all work and ring together with dect.