Cliftonensis

Has anyone else used this firm to provide internet service?

They run a number of systems and seem to trade under different names. They provide internet by area wide wifi and you have an mast on your roof.

They provided me with a 2 meg system and a local telephone number to work over the system.

The service has never provided anything like 2Meg and when I complained they said it was down to the radio connection between me and them caused by things outside of their control, e.g. trees and power lines.

I have software that provided a visual representation of the link between my PC and what ever site I choose (BBC in my case). This shown no loss until after hop 7 - well down the system and into the Fastweb network. Another test shows the Jitter to be too bad to sustain a clear telephone conversation.

I have sent them screen graphs of the reports and they simply ignore me and do not reply.

30 minute programmes form the BBC often take hours to download. Only at the quietest times can I ever stream video over the connection and sometimes it cannot even cope with voice only from BBC radio.

Has anyone else used these or a similar service?

Internet over the phone line is not available here - anyway that stopped every time it rained and took days to dry out!

duffer

At work as we don't have ADSL in our area we use xDSL wireless service, which basically uses a mast as well. The service is provided by a company called Telemar. We have a 1.5Mbps service and on average we are around 1.3Mbps in terms of actual speed which is more than adequate for business needs. Using Voip or Skype over this connection can sometimes be choppy but it's not the best technology for using Voip. However, before installing the mast they should've done a free test from your roof to see if there were any obstacles in the way, if there were, they would've informed you already.

You say that you're downloading from the BBC, therefore do you have a proxy as well? That may be the bottleneck if not set up correctly.

What is 3G mobile coverage like in your area?

Cliftonensis

They did a check on the roof and showed me a video that they claimed was being streamed but I am beginning to wonder if the film was on the hard disc of the netbook they used.
I wonder also if they have restricted my speed because I download from the BBC quite a lot (couple of hours worth a day on average). But they told me there was no limit. They tried to make me pay for a years renewal months ahead and got very stroppy. I emailed them a copy of the contract and heard no more they just withdrew the payment demand on PayPal. They sell VoIP service and I use Skype as well but the measurements for Jitter I get make it impossible to use most of the time. The know there is not much you can do about it. I have set up a page on Facebook and and going to put readings on there to warn others. Thought it might stir them into some action.

TestaRossa

My OH went through something similar with a mast company in Spain, they wanted money up front as a deposit before they even checked the site to see if it was suitable...I think a small amount was paid out in the end, then they never came, when they did the finally said the site was unsuitable. I think the deposit was about €50 so my OH wrote it off to experience....I know some of these companies can be really good - duffer being a case in point and I know a few people who use this system successfully around the Siena area, but with everything there are always a few cowboys...

duffer

It's the cowboys, as TR correctly pointed out, you need to be aware of. There is a company near here that also offers the same service for half the price or triple the speed for the same money but you get what you pay for in the end. Telemar are more expensive but at least they can guarantee me a minimum level of service at all times and an excellent customer service. Whereas these small-time companies are have higher ratios for the connections so you'd be sharing the bandwidth with many others, therefore at peak times, the internet gets bogged down.

Be very careful with what you write on FB about this company as the last thing you'd want is to be sued for defammation. Italy's a legal minefield to navigate.

If you're area is covered, why not just get an internet key?

Cliftonensis

Thanks for the warning but am being very careful and only quoting actual figures from the monitoring software. All I am trying to do is get the B******ds to answer me and try and do something about it. The problem is clearly too many people sharing the network. during busy times my download slows to 17Kbs at times. This evening it got up to 90Kbs!

bricwood

I use a similar service and I get about 1mgb , its supposed to be up to 7mgb, but its enough for me I download from the bbciplayer, maintain 8 websites, skype works perfectly, for some reason it all works better through a proxi , but to me compared to a phone dongle its great, my IP address is fastweb if I dont go through a proxi, to be honest it seems as good as my 8mgb I had with BT, curiously my upload speed is half a meg not too bad I dont think I got that with BT

Cliftonensis

Still getting no response from this firm. I send them printouts from various tests showing where the packet loss is, where the delays are and the high Jitter levels that stop the VoIP from working. the VoIP number they sold me tells callers the number is unavailable more often than not. annual contract expires next month and I still have never had anything like a 2 Meg service.
Problem is there seems to be no alternative supplier - and they know that.
Anyone got any ideas how to put a rocket up them?

bricwood

with what 1mgb I can stream bbc most of the time I stream coronation street from ITV watch channel 5, skype works perfectly , sometimes it goes of in the middle of the night for an hour and it varies on weather conditions slightly, like I said they said up to 7mgb and I got over 2 at first but I suppose more sign up the speed goes down, I pay 35 euro per month in the post office

Cliftonensis

My download speed sometimes is Kbps!!
The funny thing is a few weeks ago the delay was showing up as being in the Fastnet network. Now it seems to be going via Tiscali. No idea why. It never shows a problem in the wireless hop and they blame that first hop and conditions beyond their control!

bricwood

my Ariel has a white box, it has five lights if they all come on its full power, I get 5 but still only around 1 meg, my connection was like a dial up for a time after 3 or 4 weeks but I let it go an eventually they sent an apology, I was getting a dish first of all but everyone said its rubbish , I tried a dongle but for me living here it was useless , I know people say they are great but I had no luck here or uk, a really slow confection is brain damage! as they say you cant go back after broadband, you could get a lawyer or refuse to pay but if its the best available and you need it don't know what you can do

Cliftonensis

Funny that. When they came out and demonstrated it they had a white box on an extending pole which they shoved up and showed me (what they claimed) was video streaming.
When they came to install it the next day they provided something more like a small square dish. I wonder if that is the problem. The unit they demonstrated may have better reception. I will take it up with them. Thanks.

bricwood

my installers showed me a video , I had my doubts too, I bets its on the laptop

bricwood

there is another problem it seems to me with this set up, you have the box on the roof that connects by wifi, them the cable to downstairs with an ethernet connection , I plugged my ethernet into a netgear wifi terminal as I have 2 PCs and a notebook , problem is you cant set a password I have tried many times and it will not stick so I have an open wifi network, my computers are password protected so nobody can get into my computers but I noticed the people who live opposite me granddaughter walking round the garden with a laptop wondering where the wifi is coming from, I dont mind her using it and will tell her so later but if I was in a big town this would be a problem , when they installed my internet I asked for a wifi network and chose a router but they forgot to bring it and were a bit cagey so I got one in media world and set it up myself. I have set up wifi before and never had a problem, I hope in the summer I dont get loads of holiday makers on my connection, I think I will put the ethernet in my main pc and network from there but its messy and means its on all the time

Cliftonensis

The VoIP service has been out of action now for over 6 weeks. I have reported it several times by SMS (Their instructions to do so), e-mails and by registering a service request which generates a service tracking number. This might be good if every request I have made is still listed as open and new because they ignore it!

Now I am trying to find an alternative provider. The speed is still well below what they claim (got 750 Kbs yesterday which is high for me) and jitter is so high it says VoIP wont work almost everytime I test it.

If I was in the UK I would sue them but no point here.