Airwave?

[i_gothere]

A "new" wireless operator just opened their doors in kilworth a week or two ago; from their package it looks like a good deal.

Apparently there is a wierd "minihub" that they install with the antennae.
As I understand it, the device plugs into the electrical outlet and has a single network port to attach the pc to (I am unsure how the antennae attaches to the device, HOPEFULLY not via network-over-electricity).

Has anyone ever used Airwave, or can comment on the "minihub" they use?

[eoinok]

Their install is a Motorola canopy unit. From Kilworth, they will probably use a dish with it as they are serving off of "Fermoy Hill" and it is a nice trip form Kilworth to up there. i.e. the hill up by the golf club in the yard that the waste recycling place is, name escapes me.

A cat5 cable is run into the house and the "minihub" you refer to is POE (power over Ethernet) injector. About as big as a match box and I think the canopy uses a 48V supply which plugs into this. Out of this POE then comes a cat5 cable which plugs into your PC/laptop/wireless AP etc etc

As for "Ethernet over mains", what is your issue with these? We must have these units installed in about 100 houses now and I would well recommend them above say using an internal wireless AP inside in a house. Especially in the more modern houses where Kingspan foil backed plaster board is used which in effect makes the house one big faraday cage. At least with Ethernet over mains, you are 100% guaranteed a good connection all the time.

[i_gothere]

Originally Posted by eoinok

A cat5 cable is run into the house and the "minihub" you refer to is POE (power over Ethernet) injector. About as big as a match box and I think the canopy uses a 48V supply which plugs into this. Out of this POE then comes a cat5 cable which plugs into your PC/laptop/wireless AP etc etc
As for "Ethernet over mains", what is your issue with these?

I didn't originally make the correct match with POE - which is simply providing power via an Ethernet adapter. Nothing sinister, however I wanted to be sure too that I might not have problems, eg blown Ethernet card+mobo in the case of a power surge. This is very different to Ethernet over Mains; which is very bad for latency-intolerant applications (games, email, videoconferencing, etc) - most noticeable when you switch the tumble dryer, washing machine or TV on.

Originally Posted by eoinok

We must have these units installed in about 100 houses now and I would well recommend them above say using an internal wireless AP inside in a house.

Hmm, "we"? . Kidding. Folks in the chain of supply are as welcome as us folks grumbling about broadband and life in general. But if you're not, sorry for the wrong conclusion

Originally Posted by eoinok

Especially in the more modern houses where Kingspan foil backed plaster board is used which in effect makes the house one big faraday cage. At least with Ethernet over mains, you are 100% guaranteed a good connection all the time.

I'll second that. I'll even go one further and say that for downloads (updates, etc) and even more demanding connections (like games and video applications); the service has so far been impeccable.
So far, I've not had one single problem with the companies service either - which is refreshing in this Ireland.

[eoinok]

I cant do the fancy copy and paste of comments thing here.

"This is very different to Ethernet over Mains; which is very bad for latency-intolerant applications (games, email, videoconferencing, etc) - most noticeable when you switch the tumble dryer, washing machine or TV on."

On the ethernet over mains, I will have to correct you on the whole latency thing. And I wont go down the usual snipping that goes on in this forum. i.e. email is probably one of the most "latency tolerant" apps that you can get, not intolerant We have had issues with 2 houses where their mains was just "too dirty" to tolerate the homeplug units. In every other house we have had zero issues. It is also down to the tpyes of ethernet over mains units you use. Some of them are a lot more "dirty mains" tolerant than others. Which we have found out over time with experimentation. We have gone down as far as hooking an oscilloscope onto a mains line, power it off a genny, and killed the power to the house. Then go along and individually flick on each MCB and see which circuit is giving the noise on your mains. In this case we found that the "upstairs lights" circuit was at fault. Proly down to something as simple as a "noisey bulb".

Eoin

[i_gothere]

Aye, could be a bad experience in a few houses simply soured the experience (we had electricians in last time I tried, no results). Also, I believe there was a some new concepts under development a while back which introduced a new process to drop latency enough to make it usable for almost any application. So, sure I could be working on old data here - if it's changed and now works better, my bad on wrong statements!

[eoinok]

I know another ISP in midleton and in one particular area he has had very bad experiences with them..... purely down to the quality of the mains in the area I would reckon....

So, instead of bashing Eircom etc over stalling the LLU, maybe we should start bashing the ESB as Eircom bashing is just gone boring !!!!!