I had previously broadband with UTV Internet because using eircom lines they provide the same speeds plus the fact I can go unlimited after the promotional period (in the promotional period it was free for 3 months) for only €5.99 and I get the full access to MY router (if what I read here about imagine is true, well, it’s laughable) and suck the whole internet backwards and forwards without anyone telling me OH HEY THAT’S NOT ALLOWED.

I don’t remember what exactly is the contention ratio with UTV (chap from Imagine mentioned 24:1) but I can honestly say that never ever did my connection drop down below the designated speed, network was unreachable for no reason or the service was crippled in any way unless there was some huge problem with the equipment. I should also mention I had it at various locations over the past 3-4 years and at only one place I couldn’t get the full speed due to the fact that eircom haven’t got the right gear in place and once I found that out their customer support team adjusted the pricing plan to what it should be over the phone within the matter of few minutes and gave a refund for the time in between.

If what’s already said here proves to be a sad fact than I think I will go back to UTV, especially now that eircom is putting fibre power in my area anytime now and I can get all that via UTV without drawbacks from eircom.

Any other thoughts?

As far as your access to the Wi-Max control panel goes – stick to your guns. I have been told “we aren’t geared up to give customers access”, “you might break it”, “it’s confidential”, “this isn’t a business class product” among other excuses. I asked about port forwarding and was told “you can call tech support and we’ll do it for you”. I use the device as a gateway to a LAN and server so I do need to be in control of my network. In the end I got the password to the unit.

I complained to Imagine about not being able to download a Fedora torrent on their Wi-Max network and was told “we don’t support your torrent software”. When I pointed out that I was able to download the same torrent using a Breeze connection at another location (also part of the Imagine network) and that I was able to support my own network and software (thank you very much) they fixed the issue.

Also this generic “torrents are evil” attitude really annoys me. Client-server downloads are network inefficient and, for a server, especially bandwidth hungry. Peer-to-peer networks make very efficient use of all this broadband we are suppose to have – think “green downloads”. I use torrents in preference to ftp/sftp anytime I can. And seeing as you are getting something like OpenOffice, CentOS or Ubuntu for free it is nice to be able to contribute in a small way by seeding for others. As you say Gthe1 that is what the Internet is about.

Blaming copyright infringement on torrents is akin to blaming drunk driving on cars – and banning cars will certainly eliminate drunk driving.

Traffic shaping, port blocking, firewalling just frustrate legitimate users and in my opinion turn your Internet connection into a crippled one – in other words not “of merchantable quality” and not “fit for its normal purpose”.

I have had my copyright infringed in the past, and was not happy about it. But I would wholly disagree with the tactics of IRMA and their overseas counterparts. Attacking our Internet connections will not protect a dying business model.

either way at the moment the fastest, cheapest and most reliable from my travels in this sphere is Vodafone home phone and broadband… and they are pretty much as crap as all Irish ISP’s…

And yes I agree Ripwave (yuk)!

UPC looked like a good alternative but it’s not available in this area yet.

3G looks like an option but it limits itself to one user per dongle which means having to share and that’s an argument starting already!

You are between a rock and a hard place here – if you go with an alternative provider you will be locked in to a minimum contract period (usually 12 months).

One thing which you can approach Imagine about (and I have used this in the past) is to ask them if it is OK to use a Ripwave device (yuk) until the Wi-Max service is available in your area. Get them to commit to waiving the Ripwave contract when you upgrade to Wi-Max. Note that you may be in an area of marginal Wi-Max coverage anyway, but in that case it would be difficult for them to enforce a minimum contract. Make sure you establish their policy (in writing) if you pursue this route.

Another option (and one I couldn’t possibly condone) is to sign up for a 3G trial. Most companies will give you a month’s trial without obligation – just make sure you end your trial before the month is up and make sure there are no hidden charges. There are enough operators in Ireland to get you about three months of connectivity using this method, by which time Imagine should be over their technical difficulties!

Should I take this as a warning and pull out of the deal and go with UPC or another non Eircom based broadband supplier?