[1jim]

Hi

Does anyone here have experience of wireless broadband, we get very slooooowwww adsl broadband via talktalk currently, fibre see,s a very long way off but I have been told that a company is due to switch on a wireless mast that we should be able to use. The company is www.ineedbroadband.co.uk

Anyone use these or similar as their ISP?

Any thoughts on this as a service?
Cheers

[noiseboy72]

You may well pay a significant premium for their service. Have you tried a 3G modem from o2, Vodaphone and or 3? I have a 3 MiFi modem and get up to 4Mbs on a regular basis and have only found 1 or 2 locations where it would not connect at all.

Expect to pay about £15 a month for the hardware plus 5-15Gig of bandwidth.

[1jim]

Can't get a good mobile signal where we are on any network.... Only 8 miles from Nottingham but you would think we were in the dessert

Have looked at pricing for the wireless and was about £5-£10 more a month than the adsl version we have at the minute if you cancel the landline, set up costs are around £70 to get the aerial fitted to chimney etc but no rental costs thereafter, ot be honest I don't think I would mind paying £10 a month more if I can get much better broadband but I don't know anyone who uses wireless to find out any pros/cons

[noiseboy72]

Might be worth checking how they link into the network as well. If they use satelite, forget about gaming as the lag will be huge.

Can they demo the system to you ?

[1jim]

I will ask them now
Cheers

[1jim]

Apparently the connection is wireless to fibre,
No demo available
Am tempted to give it a go, worst case is loose £80 in installation fees, best case is decent broadband. Slightly worked about fair use policy which seems to be 15Gb, I don't use that now but wouldn't have thought it would be difficult to use with sky anytime plus etc

[Autopilot]

I had dialup until about 2006 as I live in a rural location 6 miles from a town. BT could not provide a connection but I came accross a fantastic small ISP called Rural Broadband. They supplied a modded router that works well with long lines and managed to get me 0.5mb ADSL, but it was an expensive business line (low contention).

Anyway, suffered that for a few years and never even considored 3G as I could only get signal with O2 and no 3G. But one day a mate came around with his laptop and 3 dongle. To my supprise he could get a 3G signal upstairs. So next day I went out and got a 3 dongle and Zoom 3G router. I placed it in an upstairs window and downstairs I ran a speed test. I almost wet myself when I found I was getting a ping of 75, 6mb download and 1.5 up.

It's always worth a try. 3's coverage map says I should not get any signal but it's fantastic. If I had the money I would buy a WiBE.

[1jim]

The 3G is no go here, just no signal....even mobile phone is poor, no chance of getting a 3G unfortunately.

Have decided to give the wireless a go, they have sited the mast and have said they ca get speeds up to 20Mb......and possibly 50 soon! I have opted for a trial at 8Mb to see what speeds can get and to test service. There is a 14day cancelation period from install so can put it through its paces and if it's rubbish I can ditch it with only loosing £99 installation fee, will keep talktalk landline connection for the trial and cancel this if it works as promised. Will report back if anyone is interested?

[Autopilot]

Yeah, I'm interested. What sort of download caps do they have? How much does it cost?

I never have phone signal apart from just poor O2. With the right kit set up its amazing what can be achieved. Never base it on what a mobile phone can recieve. Thinking of getting a big 3G external antenna. Worth bearing in mind if other solutions dont work out.

Anyway good luck with the wifi. Keep us posted

[EndlessWaves]

Originally Posted by Autopilot

I almost wet myself when I found I was getting a ping of 75, 6mb download and 1.5 up.

Presumably the packet loss isn't great though?

[1jim]

There is a fair usage policy of about 15gb, I'm a little worried about that but to be honest I don't use anywhere near that currently but may do with better speed....i suspect they may revisit this as they have just increased speeds and offer 20mb with a soon to be 50mb

Cost wise there is a range of packages, http://www.ineedbroadband.co.uk/home_level.htm is the best place to see them but I am going to try out 8Mb for £25.50 (raises to 28.50 in 3 mths) but will also add in VoIP for £5 a month. Currently pay talktalk £6.50 for broadband and £14.50 for line rental, we probably spend £6 a month on calls not included as Parton package which will either be free (for 01.02,03 numbers) or 5p a min for mobiles so should save a bit there, on estimates if it all works as promised I should be only paying a couple of extra quid for potentially faster and more reliable Internet.......... But being a sceptic I will keep talktalk running for a few weeks alongside the new install so can revert back if any issues crop up.

Sorry just realised that didn't quite the question as am using the iPad app, this was in reply to autos post a couple above :-)

[Autopilot]

Originally Posted by EndlessWaves

Presumably the packet loss isn't great though?

Packet loss is minimal. In fact far less than my ADSL was. I have done hundreds of speedtest.net tests in the last few months and it always say 0% packet loss following the packet loss test. Speedtest rates my connection as a "B". Other online test have confirmed the same.

It's all achedemic, but at the end of the day I can play online FPS's flawlessly 95% of the time, Skype and watch BBC iplayer HD without buffering. So I'm happy. I could do none of that with my ADSL and it's only going to get better in the next few months and years.

[Autopilot]

[1jim]

Install day tomorrow......... I guess it's time to see if all that glitters is indeed gold

[1jim]

It works :-)

Latest ping was 35

Quick easy install :-) gone from 0.6 to just under 20Mbps, still to try VoIP when adaptor arrives but am pleased so far

[1jim]

Pleased to report that VoIP set up, working well, no issues with lag etc.
Very pleased so far, a few more days then time to cancel broadband and landline :-)