IBB Bandwidth

Kevok

I used to be on the Sandyford at 128k a sec.... god how much i miss it.

But, they siad moving to 3-rock would solve the packet losses and dropped connections. Which was true, i get stablish pings now (seem much better tonight, 25 to irish cs servers, 50 to british EF servers.) and packet loss is not as bad.

But i'm currently downloading a linux ISO from esat. Bad me i hear you say, hogging all the bandwith. Yes, everyone else connected to the 3-rock transmitter curse my name as I rob you of a whopping 1.6k a sec. :rolleyes:

Needless to say, I'm not amused.

TCP/IP

The reason that all the problems are occuring with the three rock transmitter is that the equipment that IBB are using is basically a cheap version of the different types of wireless transmitters that are available in the market it is unable to fully cope with the broadband internet that it is intended for. Simple look at the coverage maps between Leap and IBB for masts of the same mountain. Come on IBB get it together, you offer great prices but supply a s**t product.

Serbian

Sounds like they have over subscibed their service and used substandard hardware? Doesn't look like the problems are going to be fixed any time soon so...

leonlafrite

stupid question : what / who are IBB:o

Lemming

Originally posted by leonlafrite
stupid question : what / who are IBB:o

IBB stands for "Irish BroadBand". They are an internet service provider, much the same as eircom.net esat or ntl internet etc, only they provide internet access via wireless means, rather than over copper/cable

Website here

Phier

From reading boards i came accross IBB and contacted them to find out some info. Im living in Broadford so would be using the 3-rock mast that everyone is complaining about

I might still go with them, for a no-cap service that (should) be getting better - its good value for money.

here is the main part of the email:

---

And - do you provide any support for setting up wireless under unix?
No however our equipment is compatible.

We would need to organise a Line of Sight survey to establish whether you
have a clear signal from our transmitter Three Rock. Below is some further
information on our products and service. Should you have any questions or
require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.


Residential Package:
Speed Installation
Monthly Rental

512k ^À265.00 * plus VAT (^À320 inc VAT)
^À40.00 plus VAT (^À48.40 inc VAT)
1 Mb ^À265.00 * plus VAT (^À320 inc VAT)
^À70.00 plus VAT (^À84.70 inc VAT)

Notes:
· Service is subject to a successful line of sight test.
· If PoE (Power over ethernet) is required, installation charge is
^À315 plus VAT (^À381 inc VAT).
· A minimum contract term of 12 months applies.
· Installation includes equipment which remains the property of Irish
Broadband


Coverage:

Our transmitters are currently placed in the following locations -
· Sandyford Industrial Estate, Dublin 18
· Three Rock Mountain, South County Dublin
· RTE, Donnybrook, Dublin 4
· ESB HQ, Fitzwilliam Street South, Dublin 2

We will shortly have transmitters going live at the following locations:
· Guinness Gravity Bar, Dublin 8
· Greencore (Sugar Company), St Stephens Green, Dublin 2

We are also negotiating with property owners in Dun Laoghaire, Clondalkin,
Blanchardstown and a number of other areas throughout Dublin with a view to
providing a service in those areas and we are hoping to have finished our
site acquisition process throughout the metropolitan Dublin area by 6
months' time.

Equipment:

Equipment consists of a rooftop antenna manufactured by Stelladoradus -
http://www.stelladoradus.com/2.4para.shtml which is connected via cable to
Breeze Access frequency hopping equipment -
http://www.alvarion.com/RunTime/Products_2020.asp?tNodeParam=9 Equipment is
included in the install charge and remains the property of Irish Broadband.
We can also provide a flat panel antenna if the building is high enough and
which would be attached to the side of the building.

Additional services:

Irish Broadband offer a range of additional services such as firewalls,
hosting, IP addresses, DNS hosting, e-mail addresses, etc.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any queries that you may have on
our products and services.

Best regards



Carmel O'Callaghan
Irish Broadband Internet Services

Tel: + 353 1 2063755
Fax: + 353 1 2063701

E-mail: carmel.ocallaghan@irishbroadband.ie
Web: http://www.irishbroadband.ie

---

Q:

are these antenna's crap? is it better to read up on it and install it myself?
would PoE make my connection better even if not really necessary?

Thanks

--
Phier

Turner

After reading this thread I hate to say it but I am actually glad to be on Eircoms 1mb adsl service.

Never any downtime
Always get 104kb download speed
pings 50-75 irish servers.

Chief.

Mr. Flibble

I'm on a 1mbit connection on the RTE transmitter with IBB. All I can say is that the service is fine. I dont play games online so can't comment on ping times but I can always get over 60k/s.

I know its not 125k as theoritically possible but what do i expect with 8:1 contention ratio.

These web bandwidth checkers aren't the best for testing your bandwidth.

Try downloading a big file from ftp.esat.net using a program that opens multiple connections such as Download Manager.
I got 124kb/s doing this last time I tried.

Mr. Flibble

I'm on a 1mbit connection on the RTE transmitter with IBB. All I can say is that the service is fine. I dont play games online so can't comment on ping times but I can always get over 60k/s.

I know its not 125k as theoritically possible but what do i expect with 8:1 contention ratio.

These web bandwidth checkers aren't the best for testing your bandwidth.

Try downloading a big file from ftp.esat.net using a program that opens multiple connections such as Download Manager.
I got 124kb/s doing this last time I tried.

Serbian

Originally posted by Mr. Flibble
I'm on a 1mbit connection on the RTE transmitter with IBB. All I can say is that the service is fine. I dont play games online so can't comment on ping times but I can always get over 60k/s.

I know its not 125k as theoritically possible but what do i expect with 8:1 contention ratio.

These web bandwidth checkers aren't the best for testing your bandwidth.

Try downloading a big file from ftp.esat.net using a program that opens multiple connections such as Download Manager.
I got 124kb/s doing this last time I tried.

Well you are one of the few lucky ones (in fact you are the only person on the RTÉ mast with IBB I know that didn't have a faster internet connection 10 years ago). Just like to add that an 8:1 contention ratio is incredibly good. Eircom's is 24:1 or 20:1 so at least 2.5 times that of Irish Broadband, so you should be reaching 100kbps more often than your average Eircom DSL subscriber. Obviously this is not the case.

To check ping times (and also assuming you are running a windows system) go to start -> run and type cmd into the box (command if cmd doesn't work) and then in the command window just type ping www.ireland.com -t and look at the response times in ms. No doubt it will spike from 19 - 400+ quite regularly. (Ctrl + C will stop it pinging).

That is all,

Serb

Mr. Flibble

Hi, I know how to check ping times but as they don't mean much to me I dont bother with them often.
Here's what I got from ireland.com.


PING www.ireland.com (195.7.33.37): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 195.7.33.37: icmp_seq=0 ttl=118 time=150.961 ms
64 bytes from 195.7.33.37: icmp_seq=1 ttl=118 time=240.122 ms
64 bytes from 195.7.33.37: icmp_seq=2 ttl=118 time=241.446 ms
64 bytes from 195.7.33.37: icmp_seq=3 ttl=118 time=247.169 ms
64 bytes from 195.7.33.37: icmp_seq=4 ttl=118 time=65.823 ms


they do seem very high, maybe because i've a load of downloads going or cause its going through a wifi network here. I think I was getting much lower pings when i first got the service, posted them here somewhere. cant remember what they are. Maybe the servise has gone downhill as more people took it up..?

Mr. Flibble

I think the bad piing times above were due to me connection through a wifi network.
Here's what I got conncted by wire:
PING www.ireland.com (195.7.33.37): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 195.7.33.37: icmp_seq=0 ttl=118 time=57.92 ms
64 bytes from 195.7.33.37: icmp_seq=1 ttl=118 time=41.928 ms
64 bytes from 195.7.33.37: icmp_seq=2 ttl=118 time=16.487 ms
64 bytes from 195.7.33.37: icmp_seq=3 ttl=118 time=53.064 ms
64 bytes from 195.7.33.37: icmp_seq=4 ttl=118 time=115.241 ms

--- www.ireland.com ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 16.487/56.928/115.241 ms
(IrishBroadband)

STaN

Some people are sticking with a bad service for the years contract. But what reprocussions are there from IBB if you just say "I'm not paying the bill, cut me off if you want"

Kevok

I'd have to re-read the contract but i'm pretty sure that they charge you the difference if you ask to be cut off.

And they also come and take away the equipment. However, if your connection is down for a certain amount of time in a single month (not sure of the exact amount) the give you the option of being dissconnected with no strings.

Serbian

Originally posted by STaN
Some people are sticking with a bad service for the years contract. But what reprocussions are there from IBB if you just say "I'm not paying the bill, cut me off if you want"

Hey Stan,

I don't know if you are subscribed to the service or not, but if you are, you'll know that IBB just doens't do what it says on the tin. Bearing that in mind, you are basically paying for one thing and getting something far inferior. The problem here though is, are Irish Broadband really obliged to provide you with the 512k / 1 Meg link you are paying for? Can they get away with providing speeds as low as ISDN? (They say somewhere that with the contention ratio of 8:1 on 512k link, your speed will never go below 64k)

Personally, I feel that Irish Broadband would have a difficult time forcing you to pay up the rest of the contract. If they took you to court, the likelihood is that they would lose, and maybe even have to pay some kind of compensation. I doubt this is something they would like to risk, especially considering the fact that they are only really getting started.

So Stan, if you are with Irish Broadband and looking to cancel, I'd say ring them up as soon as possible and ask to be disconnected and tell them that you are not paying the rest of the contract because you feel the service has been way below what you believe they should be providing you. If they say, "No, you must pay!", drop words like ComReg and Legal Proceedings, and I'm sure they'll change their tune

Serb

Serbian

Originally posted by Mr. Flibble
I think the bad piing times above were due to me connection through a wifi network.
Here's what I got conncted by wire:
PING www.ireland.com (195.7.33.37): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 195.7.33.37: icmp_seq=0 ttl=118 time=57.92 ms
64 bytes from 195.7.33.37: icmp_seq=1 ttl=118 time=41.928 ms
64 bytes from 195.7.33.37: icmp_seq=2 ttl=118 time=16.487 ms
64 bytes from 195.7.33.37: icmp_seq=3 ttl=118 time=53.064 ms
64 bytes from 195.7.33.37: icmp_seq=4 ttl=118 time=115.241 ms

--- www.ireland.com ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 16.487/56.928/115.241 ms
(IrishBroadband)

A reply to Mr Flibble too,

You'll see that the ping times are erratic at best. The difference between the lowest and the highest are 100ms. And this is to an Irish Server. I'd say people on Eircom DSL would get a steady 40ish to ireland.com. IBB people should be getting even lower than that since Eircom have interleaving turned on (something which decreases packet loss but increases latency).

Serb

qwertyup

Sorry to be bumping this, but given that my chances of getting BB with RDSL have gone down the tubes, I was looking for info on IBB and the like as they are basically my last resort.

Have the ping/download speeds improved at all?

Any feedback would be much appreciated.