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Mobile Broadband?
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I think it varies depending on where you’re going. Some people in my area (Wicklow) say it’s fine, but my sister who lives in Co Limerick got one boasting “up to 3 megabits per second”. What they didn’t say was that “up to” also includes numbers like 128 kilobits per second which is about the most she’s ever got out of it. I’d ask around before committing, as these things come with minimum period contracts.
Paul
Hi John,
Am in the telecommunications business and, trying hard not to go off into one of my
rants on the subject, broadband in Ireland is a farce.Government waffles on about the information age economy, how important BB is
to our future economic well being and then does bugger all about making it happen.It sold Telecom Eireann to the people who already owned it, namely us, at a stupid price.
(Mary O’Rourke take a bow).Then it was sold to people who, as far as I can see, did’nt really have an interest in providing
a decent communications system to the people.It was leveraged to the hilt and sold on again, at major profit, to an investment company
who themselves now have serious financial issues.We’ve had MANs where our towns were dug up for months to put in enough fibre optic to
run NASA. What are they used for? Heaven knows.We had Eircom selling Eircell (we usta own that too) to Vodafone and then a few years later
buying Meteor.I have customers (business) paying through the nose for broadband and getting a couple
of hundred K. “A shure isn’t it better than dial up”As for the mobile broadband that prompted your question. I’ve seen normally sane people
who signed up these type of services ready to fling the modem against the wall in frustration.From what I know (Some would say that is very little) you would need to have a very good
mobile signal for it to work satisfactorily.I’ve done reports for the chamber of commerce (so they could make representaions to government)
and met with Eircom. I’ve even gone on local radio to say the stuff that I’ve mentioned above.
What happened? Diddly!I hope I’m wrong but I would’nt be holding my breath waiting for 3 to ride to the rescue.
Major apologies John for ranting on your thread but it’s good to talk.
John.
“it’s good to talk”….hahahaha nice one.
My parents use O2 broadband. The live in rural county Kildare and the connection is very slow and frustrating sometimes, but other times it is fine for browsing sites etc. I wouldn’t really recommend it, it seems mainly slow whenever I’m down there.
If you haven’t much alternative it might be worth it.
It’s definitely worth getting a free trail if such a thing exists.Thanks for the feedback everyone… I think I might send ComReg an e-mail and demand some answers!
5faythe-John – We love when someone rants around here… so feel no shame in your actions. You can always call into IrishWonkaFan and give him a few slaps to vent some anger… I’m sure he won’t mind, he’s an understanding kinda guy… just tell him nfl sent you.
Good morning John,
Many thanks for you kind response to my rant.
As for ComReg. Do you have time to waste?
The response from a highly paid spin person will go along the lines of:
“x% of those who require broadband are connected to enabled exchanges and
statistics show that we are among the top y% in the known world for broadband
penetration.If you cannot get DSL (telephone line) broadband you can avail of
one of the many wireless providers who now cover over z% of the country.If you are one of the very few people who have no access to broadband we have just awarded
a multi-million Euro contract to So & So Ltd (Limited). When they are finished this project w% of
the remaining V% who can’t avail of broadband now will be able to avail of some sort of broadband.We have also appointed Bloggs, Bloggs & Bloggs to do a report on the availability of broadband in
rural Ireland. Yes the €1.5M this will cost is justified in that we will all benefit from this report
in the long term.Blah blah % % blah waffle blah % waffle % blah blah ………..”
Are you bored with this reply yet. Thats the idea.
People get P***** off when they can’t get satisfactory comms services. They complain
to somebody they think might give a s***. Their complaint is “taken on board” (theres one
for the cliche thread) and will “be looked into”. If they follow up they are bombarded with
statistics which prove that they have really no reason to complain at all.Most people just pack up. I suppose life is too short for stuffing mushrooms.
Cheers,
John.aoluain wrote:
My brother was with 3 and he had to permanently hang the dongle out
of the window in the house to get a quality speed.. . . . . until he got arrested!
5faythe wrote:
People get P***** off . . . .
Would that be you John? Certainly sounds like it!
Hi David,
How did you get that impression?
You would think I would get sense at my age.
Sometimes I get asked a question and instead of saying nothing
I go and bloody answer it.Been in the telecoms business since 1973. Have seen & learned a
few things along the way.A lie down in a darkened room might be in order.
Cheers,
John.5faythe wrote:
Sometimes I get asked a question and instead of saying nothing
I go and bloody answer it.I know what you mean, kinda snowballs before you realize.
5faythe wrote:
A lie down in a darkened room might be in order.
With a good whiskey.
Now theres an idea.
I have a touch of what some describe as “man flu” so I could kill
2 birds with the one (can you have just 1) hot whiskey.That looks like mixed metaphors & cliches in one sentence.
I’ve already promised Mark in another thread that I would go
and “…actually engage in some photography..”Dilemma.
John.
5faythe wrote:
I’ve already promised Mark in another thread that I would go
and “…actually engage in some photography..”Dilemma.
John.
Yeh but did you say when. Most people haven’t seemed to notice that despite all my rants and stuff, I’ve never actually posted a proper photo yet! Can’t see that lasting much longer, as I write this Mark is probably now checking me out and will tell me the same.
Most people haven’t seemed to notice that despite all my rants and stuff, I’ve never actually posted a proper photo yet!
Wow – you’re a photographer??? :shock:
Sorry John, can’t help you with BB. My 1Mb suits just fine right now…better than dial up anyway.
irishwonkafan said
“Sorry John, can’t help you with BB. My 1Mb suits just fine right now…better than dial up anyway.”Hi Alan,
I’m one of the fortunate ones that has broadband in the office & at
home.Both are very good.
They slow a little at times due to the contention ratio.Even in the small community that is our camera club there are people
who just can’t get a service.
And lets be honest in this day & age, when so much stuff (some essential like virus
software updates) is available on-line, not having access to a broadband service is
unacceptable.I have a customer who recently moved his office from Wexford Town centre to
just on the outskirts of town.
He had BB and ISDN in his old office.
Eircom could not supply BB or ISDN in his new office due to lack of cable. They
were able to supply one analogue line on a carrier (shared) line. Such carrier lines
make dial up slower and have been outlawed by the regulator except where no other
method of line delivery is available.This is just one of dozens of such stories.
Back to the darkened room.
John.
5faythe wrote:
They were able to supply one analogue line on a carrier (shared) line. Such carrier lines
make dial up slower and have been outlawed by the regulator except where no other
method of line delivery is available.There’s something you can explain to me, what exactly is a carrier line? My nearest neighbour was told that they could not have broadband because their line is a carrier line. I have it in my house and yet I’m the end house in the line of three houses in a cul-de-sac. My brother is in the first house and he has it, but the middle house can’t. Why?
thedarkroom wrote:
5faythe wrote:
They were able to supply one analogue line on a carrier (shared) line. Such carrier lines
make dial up slower and have been outlawed by the regulator except where no other
method of line delivery is available.There’s something you can explain to me, what exactly is a carrier line? My nearest neighbour was told that they could not have broadband because their line is a carrier line. I have it in my house and yet I’m the end house in the line of three houses in a cul-de-sac. My brother is in the first house and he has it, but the middle house can’t. Why?
Normally a telephone line is supplied on a pair of copper wires all the way from
the telephone exchange to the subscriber (old P&T name for customer) premises.A carrier system allows multiple telephone lines to be supplied on a single pair of
wires.There is a “box of tricks” at each end to do the electronic magic.
Unfortunately the dsl (broadband) is designed to be supplied over a copper pair &
not on carrier channels.So which ever neighbour has BB has a copper pair all the way to their house.
John.
A friend rang me yesterday to look at his PC… having switched from fixed line eircom broadband to O2 mobile he was wondering why his PC was so slow internet wise (he suspected he had some sort of virus).
Well… it turned out to be the O2 mobile broadband. With 4 of 5 bars light on the signal strength indicator I attempted to download a 10MB file… the data transfer rate, brace yourself, wait for it….
0.98kb sec at one stage up to a whopping 3.98kb sec at another stage
How on Earth can O2, Vodafone, Meteor and anyone else supplying these P.O.S. mobile dongles get away with it?
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