SkyBooster (europeonline)

BoneCollector

I have been using europe on line for quite some time and found it very usefull for large downloads. I have now subscribed to SKYBOOSTER and have been using it for about 3-4 day.. and have to say it ROCKS!!
Forget eircom with a 3gig cap, you can download as much as you like for upto 20 hours at anything upto 712kbs

Bone Collector

KdjaCL

Hmm
Looked at this b4
Was wary of it .
What was total set up cost for you ?
I have a Sky dish seems to fit the bill but might have to move it (no idea where its aimed now).
And re uploads really bad ,i know ping is terrible and what way to Eircom come into this.
I would love to know what someone in ireland thinks of it.
thx
kdja

Tellox

wheres this availible?

byte

Originally posted by BoneCollector

Forget eircom with a 3gig cap, you can download as much as you like for upto 20 hours at anything upto 712kbs

Bone Collector

I have just signed for the standard multicast EON. Looking forward to it.

20 hrs per month is a bit low.

BoneCollector

Looked at this b4 Was wary of it . What was total set up cost for you ?

if i was to do it again now!
€59 euro for card and Europe online (€159 originaly cost me)
€34.90 for skybooster per month (alot less than ercon)

20 hrs per month is a bit low

Not when you concider you can download as much as you can find within that 20 hrs and you dont have to use the hi-speed all the time your on, you can switch it on and off to save for when you need it most! :cool:

Tellox

and its availble where?

jmcc

Originally posted by BoneCollector

Forget eircom with a 3gig cap, you can download as much as you like for upto 20 hours at anything upto 712kbs

I've been mulling over the idea of subscribing to Skybooster. The main problem has been the cost per byte:

Nominal 768K bits/s = 96K Bytes/s

Roughly 96 KB/s
Now working that through gives [1]:

5760 KB/min
345600 KB/Hour (337.5 MB/hour)

For the 10 hour option it is roughly a 3GB cap.
For the 20 hour option it is roughly a 6GB cap.

You also have to add the cost of the local phonecalls to the 34.50. Still though it is an option given the slow pace of ADSL rollout. Still with adding in the Filefetch option and the fact that you aren't online for as much with the Skybooster downloads, it does make some sense.

Regard...jmcc

[1] Roughly because I am not sure whether the spec is for K=1024 or K=1000.

BoneCollector

And if you had always on with a 3gig cap for 34 per month
you would probably take it. however here you get say 6g cap for that price and as you say.. file fetch allows you to add extra bandwidth to your downloads with a file server space of 700mb (should realy be 2gigs by todays standards) the combination of both serivces make it a very good pack in the mists of Irelands Non paticipation in the the broadband phenomena.

www.europeonline.com (available all over europe)

Saruman

Thing everyone forgets about skybooster is this.. and EON even advise it.. id you need to download something.. do it OFFLINE using filefetch... its faster to download than skybooster anyway.. use skybooster for surfing and downloading smaller files but for anything of 50mb i would suggest offline with FFM or FAZZT (standard EON).

I have not signed up for skybooster yet but EON works grand..
if you still dont like the 20 hour limit then another company has similar service.. a little slower and slightly more expensive but no time or cap limit.. http://www.netsystem.com/eng/index.htm

EvilGeorge

Yep skybooster is class but I signed up for it just before I seen the netsystems.

Skybooster uses a time cap of 10/20 hrs rather than a size limit - which actually works out better and is almost 3 times cheaper than adsl in Ireland.

Dont know what the netsystem is like, a bit slower but without a cap.

The thing you must remember though is you have to keep you modem running while downloading so you phone bill can still be costly.

Arboration

If it was 20 hours a week, I could understand.
But isn't 20 hours a month a bit soggy?
What if you're a roleplayer?
Or like to chat online alot?

I really don't think this service is great personally, as I use well over 20 hours a month.
I might use 20 hours in 4 days.

Or is that 20 hours at any one time?

BoneCollector

Well then you switch it off!!
Exacltly! how much bandwidth do you think you need to chat!?

Balfa

like they said, you can switch it off when you want to and just use normal speed. chatting isn't exactly the most bandwidth intensive thing.

EvilGeorge

I just use it for downloading. Browsing , chatting can be done by normal modem - turn it off for that.

Have not tried any online gaming to see how it would work yet but yes that would be time consuming.

Arboration

An RP session in chat can be as long as 7 hours.
12 in some cases.
I am a deep Role Player.
20 hours a month isn't enough.
And I wouldn't let Eircom charge me anymore than I should have to pay.

Anyway, I'm making inquiries into NetSystem.
They seem decent, and 320KBPS is better than 56KBPS :]
Not bad for €36 a month either.

chernobyl

I think far too many ppl are getting much too excited over nothing really.

If you already indulge in the "other" area of EON then that side of business is covered and do you honestly need 1mb surfing speed?

*cough* better alternative: http://www.netsystem.com *cough*

keithwhir

whats the deal with the dish ? you can us a digital TV dish (sky) but can you still watch TV , or do you have to buy an other dish.

Gaz

Your sky dish is pointed in the wrong direction so you would need a second one.

Arboration

That satalite dish from sky's old analog service should come in handy

keithwhir

how much u think i will cost me to get an old dish ?? any one got netsystem , what it like compared to europe online ?? and are you shure the sky didital dish is in the wrong direction , i think it faces east . and if it does can you use the same dish for 2 diferent things at once ??? please help me

Bios

sorry but i couldn't help it... lol

Blade

Originally posted by Arboration
That satalite dish from sky's old analog service should come in handy

You will still need to replace your LNB to a universal one for digital.

Supercell

Just would like to clear up a couple of points here.

1)Yes a standard skydish will work fine..however it needs to point to another satellite..Sky is on 28.2...Europeonline is on 19.2...degree's east , so forget about the Simpsons or Star Trek on Sky One...you cannot get it on 19.2

2)Skybooster does appear to work well for its subscribers..but ..it is difficult to set up..even for people accustomed to satellite services if the board on my site is anything to go by.

3)As chernobyl has already pointed out, Netsystem does indeed seem to be a better option. It is uncapped...i say this again uncapped. I cannot get cable..my line fails the asdl line test...i can only hope for flatrate dialup...thus netsystem seems to me to be the only hope i have of decent downloading speed.

4)Netsystem IS compatible with Europeonline (and FFM as it uses horizontal polarization..ie the same as TP115..ie the "international tp"), its on 19.2 also.

The two services use different methods of connecting, Skybooster uses socks, netsystem uses vpn, there are pro's and cons for both.

But overall Netsystem seems to me to be a genuine alternative to the Irish masses like myself where broadband means a rat touting an overpriced ~20 year old technology called ISDN.

scojones

Why is everyone gettin excited about this netsystem crap. It's been around for years. And it's not adsl. Its a unreliable sat hookup and you need to pay two bills. 1)your old phonebill.
2)your new sat bill

AND in reality it will be 8-9kbps up and 60-80Kbps down. No thank you i say! NO THANK YOU!

Saruman

true sjones.. you need to pay 2 bills.. however if you CANT get cable or ADSL and this is all you CAN get.. then you have no choice.. also cost... the cost of ADSL is off the chart.. for about €30 a month you can have a sat hookup and consider the cost of ADSL a month.. €169 min & ex vat as far as i know.. anyway damn expensive!

OK with sat you still need a dialup but would you pay that much in a month to bring it up as far as the cost of ADSL? If not (in my case anyway) its well worth it... if you would then get ADSL instead.. simple

scojones

I'd rather wait until ADSL is more affordable. No shabby sat connections and dialup bills for me.

byte

Don't hold your breath for affordable DSL. (or you'll end up like Mr Mackay in your avatar!):D

keithwhir

any one want to sell me a dish , where could i get one and how much would one cost ????

eire_insane

I was thinking does netsystem work with iol no limits because if it did all id pay is the bill for the no limits connecton and the bill for the netsystem and thats about 50-60 euro a mounth so like I think its well worth it.

By the way what actually speed will I get downloading and any good for games.I was also wondering will netsystem work with programms like kazaa and I mesh or download off ftp severs .Really considering getting this.

scojones

Originally posted by irishbyte
Don't hold your breath for affordable DSL. (or you'll end up like Mr Mackay in your avatar!):D

haha, Eircom is bad mkkkayyy!

Saruman

Originally posted by eire_insane
I was thinking does netsystem work with iol no limits because if it did all id pay is the bill for the no limits connecton and the bill for the netsystem and thats about 50-60 euro a mounth so like I think its well worth it.

By the way what actually speed will I get downloading and any good for games.I was also wondering will netsystem work with programms like kazaa and I mesh or download off ftp severs .Really considering getting this.

Netsystem does not care what ISP you use so basically yes it will work with no limits.. wish i had that! damn...