Imagine LTE Rural Broadband

Quin_Dub · 18-05-2021 11:31pm

tomjohn01 wrote: »

Hi, this may be answered already, but can you use your own router with imagine?

Yes you can , with the caveat that some of their older hardware doesn't support bridge mode so if you got install a few years ago , you might need to get them to upgrade the hardware , which is a €100 call-out fee.

You just have to call them to get them to enable it for you , they may ask you to send them an email formally requesting it as well.

Helpneeded86 · 21-05-2021 10:52am

I am getting stung for a £100 cancel fee. I was pretty shocked as I have them 20 months and apparently it is a 24 month contract.

I am moving to an area with no coverage.

I get the contract states what it states. If I refuse to pay can they put a strike against my credit rating?

Gav_96 · 21-05-2021 7:26pm

My neighbour got them in yesterday, 80 down on wifi at 6:30pm, the guy outside told me the tower went up 2 days ago so very little customers so far. currently on 7mb connection that stable. you think I will most of the time get better than 7?

rodge123 · 25-05-2021 9:57pm

Anyone else experiencing issues in cappagh, north Kildare mast this evening?

Pretty much unusable compared to the usual just about meets our needs!

Ardent · 26-05-2021 11:10pm

rodge123 wrote: »

Anyone else experiencing issues in cappagh, north Kildare mast this evening?

Pretty much unusable compared to the usual just about meets our needs!

It always goes to sh*t shortly after 9 pm.

MuddyDog · 27-05-2021 4:03pm

Apparently a new mast has gone up in my area and it has 5g speeds of up to 150mb. Sales guy rang the doorbell asking if I was interested. I had imagine 2 years or so ago for a few months before cancelling as the speeds dropped way too much at peak times and it regularly cut out for a few mins here and there. He said those were old masts and equipment and it has all been upgraded recently in my area. Has anyone recently switched to these newer masts and if so how has the service been? I online game a lot so low ping and a stable connection is vital for me!

mossie · 27-05-2021 4:12pm

MuddyDog wrote: »

Apparently a new mast has gone up in my area and it has 5g speeds of up to 150mb. Sales guy rang the doorbell asking if I was interested. I had imagine 2 years or so ago for a few months before cancelling as the speeds dropped way too much at peak times and it regularly cut out for a few mins here and there. He said those were old masts and equipment and it has all been upgraded recently in my area. Has anyone recently switched to these newer masts and if so how has the service been? I online game a lot so low ping and a stable connection is vital for me!

First, they don't do 5g, it's 5g ready apparently but not currently 5g. I have reasonable download speed, average 80 Mbps and ping is ok. Upload speed is only around 5 Mbps which might affect gaming. My connection is also prone to dropping completely and staying down anything from 1 to 10 minutes. So far when I contact them all I get is "your connection is working now" nothing about the times when it's not.

Overall I'm reasonably happy with it as it's far better than any other option but if/when NBI comes my way I'll be leaving Imagine.

MuddyDog · 27-05-2021 4:23pm

Thanks mosie. Yeah that's right he said 5g around the end of the year so I might sign up then to see what the story is unless fibre becomes available before. I'll stick with Whizzy for now anyway!

ArrBee · 31-05-2021 9:36pm

Ive read a few pages back but not the entire thread.
I saw talk of a hidden daily limit (and uncapped period at night time) and the monthly FUP.

But is there any info on blocking or throttling/prioritising based on site or traffic type?

mercurystorm · 07-06-2021 10:38pm

They claim not to have any site specific blocks.. however...

I run a Plex Media Server on a hosted dedicated server out of Germany, for approx 2 weeks I was unable to stream from that server at all - Speed tests to that specific server came to 0.16mb down.. friends on Eir on 100mb DSL got 98mb speed test and friend on 500mb virgin cable got 350mb speed test

I moved to another provider with a new IP address and voila I can stream again perfectly with no issues - They are definitely throttling the IP of my old server (as much as they deny it)

d31b0y · 08-06-2021 12:13pm

Call me cynical but why would they block a (assuming) private IP with what is most likely reasonably small amounts of traffic being generated to their network overall? Unless it was some weirdly popular plex share...

It's more likely (still not a good situation) that there was a serious issue with routing to that host. Did you reach out to them to troubleshoot at all?
To be fair, if it was me, I'd probably take the path of least resistance as you did changing host after an initial contact and denial of issue from Imagine.

Personally, I've not seen any site or traffic specific shaping / throttling. Normally if it's **** for one protocol, it's **** for all of them.

NIMAN · 09-06-2021 10:10am

I saw a gathering of about 7 Imagine branded jeeps and trucks in Inishowen yesterday, with a load of workers all having a break together.

They must be up here getting the new services set up.

We were told start to mid July for the commencement of the service.

mossie · 12-06-2021 4:23pm

Have been having a lot of problems with Imagine for a few months. My connection speeds have dropped by around 50% but the most problematic part has been regular loss of connection which can last from maybe a minute up to 5 minutes or even more often in the middle of zoom meetings. I called them yesterday and to be fair the guy I spoke to was most helpful. He reviewed my connection over the last few months and said there was a clear problem with the "metrics" and there could be a number of causes ranging from tree growth to connection to the wrong cell. He's arranged for a call out next week so hopefully there will be a solution.

NIMAN · 16-06-2021 12:46pm

After the hard sell from the Imagine guys, decided against switching to them. For now at least. In no small part to a lot of issues I have read about online.

Also chatting them, I wasn't filled with confidence about getting the 150meg they claimed I'd get.

They said each transmitter has the ability to output 1tb speed. And it holds 150 users max. I asked surely if all 150 are online, they there is no chance they are going to get anywhere near of 150meg. I said I'd be happy with probably 50meg at peak times, but to be honest I would doubt that would be possible too.

Also, I was told if I'm unhappy with their service after 4 months there is a special deal of getting out of the contract of €100, rather than paying rest of the 60 per month contract. So if they provide me with a rubbish service despite promising everything, I have to pay them more money to leave? Ah, no thanks.

I will listen out to my neighbours, once I find a few who have signed up, to see how they are finding it, before considering them in the future.

oscarBravo · 16-06-2021 1:21pm

NIMAN wrote: »

They said each transmitter has the ability to output 1tb speed.

Hah! That's hilarious.

Assuming a spectral efficiency of 25b/s/Hz, that would require 40GHz of 3.5GHz bandwidth. The problem with that should be fairly obvious...

mossie · 16-06-2021 1:30pm

mossie wrote: »

Have been having a lot of problems with Imagine for a few months. My connection speeds have dropped by around 50% but the most problematic part has been regular loss of connection which can last from maybe a minute up to 5 minutes or even more often in the middle of zoom meetings. I called them yesterday and to be fair the guy I spoke to was most helpful. He reviewed my connection over the last few months and said there was a clear problem with the "metrics" and there could be a number of causes ranging from tree growth to connection to the wrong cell. He's arranged for a call out next week so hopefully there will be a solution.

.

Had the guys out yesterday. Had to move the receiver because something was getting in the way of the signal and causing the drops in connection. Moved the receiver to the other end of house and it's back to normal, no drops and faster than for some time.

NIMAN · 18-06-2021 8:59am

oscarBravo wrote: »

Hah! That's hilarious.

Assuming a spectral efficiency of 25b/s/Hz, that would require 40GHz of 3.5GHz bandwidth. The problem with that should be fairly obvious...

Yeah I asked the guy plenty of questions and quite often I could tell he was waffling.

Now I am no expert by any means, but I would have plenty of experience of technology and good and bad broadband providers over the years, so I can spot nonsense when I hear it.

Problem is, many homeowners are totally baffled by their patter, and just believe everything they are told, and will sign on the dotted line.

On my walks over the last few days, I have been looking out for a house with their receiver now installed. Haven't found one yet.

22-06-2021 11:11am

Occasionally whatsapp is very slow for me on imagine despite fast speed tests
Anyone else find that
Sending a video now and it's just stuck

mercurystorm · 23-06-2021 11:28pm

sending a video is upload, and Imagine upload speed is DISMAL, especially in the evening

What is even worse is that one device uploading can basically take down the entire connection until the upload is completed as the route to send packets to request websites etc is so congested it cannot...

I only get 2mb upload speed on really lucky days, most of the times its around 1mb!

spankalish · 24-06-2021 8:08pm

No broadband signal since 4pm today, on Ballinrobe mast.

Get it sorted. It's been up and down the whole time. Joke of a service!

bennyineire · 25-06-2021 11:20am

spankalish wrote: »

No broadband signal since 4pm today, on Ballinrobe mast.

Get it sorted. It's been up and down the whole time. Joke of a service!

You do know we are all customers here and not actually imagine broadband themselves? :pac::pac:

spankalish · 25-06-2021 1:37pm

bennyineire wrote: »

You do know we are all customers here and not actually imagine broadband themselves? :pac::pac:

I want you @bennyineire to get the sh1t sorted. Useless service!!!

Dero · 25-06-2021 1:54pm

bennyineire wrote: »

You do know we are all customers here and not actually imagine broadband themselves? :pac::pac:

In fairness we're probably as useful as Imagine themselves anyway.

spankalish · 25-06-2021 2:12pm

Dero wrote: »

In fairness we're probably as useful as Imagine themselves anyway.

That was my exact thought! ðŸ€£

spankalish · 25-06-2021 2:12pm

spankalish wrote: »

That was my exact thought! /quote]

NIMAN · 28-06-2021 2:42pm

Kinda glad I didn't sign up now.

Snow angel · 03-07-2021 7:03am

Do Imagine still have the 20gb daily limit?

If so how does anyone working from home use it? I would be on zoom for 5-6 hours a day with plenty of files uploads and downloads. Will it be adequate. My neighbour has it and has 67 download 4 upload. I have hollocore floors so would need another router upstairs in an access point.

mercurystorm · 03-07-2021 11:36pm

Snow angel wrote: »

Do Imagine still have the 20gb daily limit?

If so how does anyone working from home use it? I would be on zoom for 5-6 hours a day with plenty of files uploads and downloads. Will it be adequate. My neighbour has it and has 67 download 4 upload. I have hollocore floors so would need another router upstairs in an access point.

yes they do! And its pretty bad working from home, often voice quality on video calls is degraded

god's toy · 04-07-2021 6:59am

Snow angel wrote: »

Do Imagine still have the 20gb daily limit?

If so how does anyone working from home use it? I would be on zoom for 5-6 hours a day with plenty of files uploads and downloads. Will it be adequate. My neighbour has it and has 67 download 4 upload. I have hollocore floors so would need another router upstairs in an access point.

As a note, was only on zoom yesterday for 7hrs with 25 other people, no files downloaded. used 12.93GB data, no slowdowns at all. (Wicklow area)

Quin_Dub · 05-07-2021 1:44pm

Snow angel wrote: »

Do Imagine still have the 20gb daily limit?

If so how does anyone working from home use it? I would be on zoom for 5-6 hours a day with plenty of files uploads and downloads. Will it be adequate. My neighbour has it and has 67 download 4 upload. I have hollocore floors so would need another router upstairs in an access point.

mercurystorm wrote: »

yes they do! And its pretty bad working from home, often voice quality on video calls is degraded

No , they don't , at least not explicitly.

There's the 1TB Monthly limit but they do have a "excessive daily usage" limit which for most people seems to kick in somewhere in the upper 20's (~26/27GB) - It's based on a certain % usage level above the average for your mast.

If you hit that you get de-prioritised for the remainder of that day - You can still use the system , but you are at the back of the queue relative to all the other users on your mast/cell.

The impact of de-prioritisation is entirely dependent on how busy the mast you are connected to is. Post up your general location and people here can let you know what the situation is near you.

For example , I used to be connected to the Maghera Mast and it was very busy so when I got de-prioritised my connection became essentially unusable getting maybe 0.1Mb/s .

I got moved to a new mast a few months ago and now I wouldn't know if I've been deprioritised or not as because it's brand new there aren't many users so even being at the back of the queue doesn't really make any difference.

I work from Home all the time and always have , certainly since I've moved to the new mast I don't have any issues.

I'd average about 25Gb of peak usage every day so I use about ~750GB of peak usage each month.

However I make use of the free off peak downloaded for big updates etc - Typically I'd be downloading ~500GB each month during off-peak.

amadablam · 17-07-2021 2:34am

Would anyone know what the coverage is like with Imagine in Quin Village in County Clare?

Im asking for a friend as although there is a 'part fibre' service there, the speeds seem to be pretty low.

I was a customer of Imagine in Limerick and had great service for the 4 odd years I used them but had no other choice there myself and don't want to recommend the service if its worse than the connection they have.

joe123 · 20-07-2021 5:37pm

Imagine vans and advertising all over the place in North Galway at the minute. Even local County Councilors promoting them on Facebook.

We are unfortunately stuck in an area that is "premises pending survey" with zero info on when it will be complete.

If this thing about 150 max people sign up, my estate is going to likely take up at least half that as the speeds on DSL/VDSL are **** here. 7-13Mb for most.

wotzgoingon · 20-07-2021 11:10pm

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117638536#Comment_117638536

I'd stay on what you are on. I currently get 2Mb and wouldn't think of switching to Imagine.

Quin_Dub · 21-07-2021 10:26am

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117622783#Comment_117622783

They only have Fibre to the Cabinet in Quin so once you are outside the immediate 0.5km to 1Km range from the top of the village where the cabinet is , the speed drops away dramatically.

I'm near Quin (about 3km away) and have been using Imagine for a few years now.

There are 2 masts available to Quin - Maghera and another one closer to Newmarket on Fergus near Fenloe which is brand new , only went live a few months ago.

The new mast is why Imagine started putting up posters around the area again.

I used to be connected to the Maghera mast and it was extremely congested and the speeds were massively variable - I could get 180Mb/s first thing in the morning but then struggle to get 1Mb/s at 8 or 9pm. The other issue was very low upload speed even when getting 180Mb down I'd only be getting 2-3Mb/s up.

I got moved to the new mast a few months back and whilst the top end speed is lower (now get a max of about 80Mb/s) so far it has been extremely stable. On average the speeds I'm getting are 50Mb/s down and 15Mb/s up with very little variability through the day.

The absolute worst I've seen is around 25Mb/s down and 5Mb/s up so it's always at least usable.

Depending on where exactly your friend is they may have line of sight to the new mast , but I'd avoid it if the connection is to Maghera.

If they do the site speed test early in the day , Maghera will look great as you'll probably see really high speeds , but the congestion on that site means that later in the day you get absolutely hammered.

As always though with Imagine if they oversell the new mast (which they have a habit of doing) , things will decline but for now at least the service is pretty decent.

joe123 · 21-07-2021 3:08pm

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117639443#Comment_117639443

Is that due to bad experience or from reading this thread?

Im always conscious of the fact, folk who run into issues/bad experience will go to forums where those with a good experience dont tend to bother so perspective can be skewed.

If a mast is considered fully subscribed at 150 people, what should a person expect speeds to be during the day? Do Imagine still over subscribe or is that a thing of the past now?

If I could get speeds of 80+ up and 10 down that would tied me over until NBI get their act together.

wotzgoingon · 21-07-2021 3:43pm

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117642244#Comment_117642244

No experience just reading this thread.

Gav_96 · 22-07-2021 12:13am

one of my neighbours has already cancelled. don't know what to think of that. doesn't seem good as only a new mast. was debating going with them for the time being.

xxyyzz · 22-07-2021 1:24pm

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117644678#Comment_117644678

Best ask them, it really does depend on your mast. I've been with them for 2 years and have had no issues for about 95% of the time. Two of us have been working remotely using it with no problems. There's lots of horror stories on this thread but it's the internet. People only post the bad stuff.

amadablam · 25-07-2021 11:29am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117640498#Comment_117640498

Thanks very much for your post and all the information Quin_Dub.

The property is just outside of the village, maybe a kilometer, on the road heading back towards Dromoland interchange. Is that the side the cabinet is on?

The speed they are getting are pretty low at times but from reading your experience, it might be worth speaking to Imagine if getting on less congested mast was a possibility

Although if the masts are servicing the wider areas out towards Cratloe, Sixmilebridge, they might get over subscribed over time.

Such a pity ftth isn't available there get though as choice is very limited as it stands.

I definitely had great speeds with Imagine in Limerick and I was on the Woodcock connection I think.

Quin_Dub · 26-07-2021 9:57am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117658616#Comment_117658616

The Cabinet is actually on that road , just opposite the entrance to the Manor View estate , so they are reasonably close to it.

Given where they are , they should be able to connect to the new mast so it may be worth getting Imagine out for a site visit , but definitely avoid the Maghera connection - It's far away (18KM or so) and as it's one of their older masts it's pretty much fully loaded all the time.

Where I am is covered by the National Broadband plan and according to the information the area is due to go live in the 2nd half of next year , the site says "July-Dec 2022" for my location and to be fair I did see guys out doing site assessments on my road last week in a van with NBI logos , so at least they are making progress.

Nalz · 03-08-2021 1:57pm

Anyone with connectivity issues? Mine started playing up 20mins ago in Gorey

xxyyzz · 06-08-2021 6:59pm

Mine seems to be down this evening in Tralee.

xxyyzz · 09-08-2021 10:35am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117716944#Comment_117716944

I think I may have figured out why

rodge123 · 09-08-2021 12:22pm

Mine gone now last 20 mins, Cappagh north kildare mast. Anyone else?

starlady1 · 14-08-2021 8:20pm

I am thinking of sigining up with Imagine Broadband. Anyone here with Imagine Broadband have concrete floors in their house? I am wondering is their signal strong enough to carry through concrete floors. The rep says it is but with my current provider I needed a second router. Imagine are refusing to provide one and said one router is enough.

joujoujou · 15-08-2021 6:40am

Just use any second router you have, set to work as access point.

BobC88 · 16-08-2021 9:26pm

Well lads..

We built & moved in before Christmas, airtight house so obviously a couple of questions here regarding setup.

We’ve been getting by on our Eir DSL connection, getting about 6 or 7 Mbps at the best of times. Every inch of the house is covered with Ubiquity Unifi access points, so getting 100% of whatever speed coming into the house, everywhere.

I signed up with Imagine last week, haven’t heard anything from them & I’m waiting on the install. Problem I foresee now is these lads are probably gonna want to drill holes into the house & probably not want to entertain getting the router into the comms room.

If they won’t play ball with the Cat6 I already have, which I can run to wherever they want, would I be best cancelling & hanging on for the NBP? Price is also double what I’m paying currently.

Thank you

BArra · 18-08-2021 8:47am

whats the projected date for NBI? the risk with most wireless providers and imagine is no different is the contention during 'peak' hours, when this happens your 6/7mb DSL would likely be better

the unit they would install on roof would have POE so just needs ethernet cable hooked in, so if you have this in place already it would just need to be available on your roof to plug into the antenna

d31b0y · 18-08-2021 10:23am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117764140#Comment_117764140

They had no problem putting the router where I asked them. I just had to run their CAT 6 through my attic as they wouldn't go in there.

trant · 18-08-2021 3:52pm

Anyone else down in South Dublin/Kildare today? Offline here since about 11am.

Imagine LTE Rural Broadband

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