Callidus Wireless Broadband

[cooper]

BKC was owned by a local chap in New Ross.
IT WAS OWNED BY BRENDAN KEHOE

[vlf126]

Originally Posted by cooper

BKC was owned by a local chap in New Ross.
IT WAS OWNED BY BRENDAN KEHOE

TORQUE were running the show then Callidus bought them out,i know nothing of the wexford part of things or the company that were supplying the internet down there but the kildare south Dublin Wicklow region was TORQUE INTERNET BASED IN BLESSINTON VILLAGE and Callidus bought them out..I answered post about the Wicklow Dublin Kildare end of things NOT WEXFORD..Regards

[Inchmurrin]

Originally Posted by irishbear

Not all my friend, we now have one of the best providers in the Wexford area, National Wireless Broadband HTTP:\\nationalwirelessbroadband.com.
When they started they had 2mb Down and 512kb Down, they have done some upgrading in the last week and that speed has gone up to "at times nearly 3mb down and 712up. I believe they have also started up in the Clonroche area, and will soon have a full county coverage. They use Avanti, and will only hook up 25 people to any one mast. They have also increased their bandwidth to over 12mb so there is ample room for expansion.

Perhaps they (you?) need to update their website coverage map, if indeed they do cover my area - there is a big hole around Adamstown village in wexford (see they quote above, I said the area I was referring to was Adamstown in Wexford, not Wexford as a whole).

Moreover, I play online games - sat. back haul just doesn't cut it, by a long shot.

So - as far as I can see (including the coverage map from the business you mention) Callidus (via IFA) and PermaNet are the only two providers that cover my area.

[irishbear]

Originally Posted by Inchmurrin

Perhaps they (you?) need to update their website coverage map, if indeed they do cover my area - there is a big hole around Adamstown village in wexford (see they quote above, I said the area I was referring to was Adamstown in Wexford, not Wexford as a whole).

Moreover, I play online games - sat. back haul just doesn't cut it, by a long shot.

So - as far as I can see (including the coverage map from the business you mention) Callidus (via IFA) and PermaNet are the only two providers that cover my area.

I don't see the reason for you to get personal with me, or how you could conclude that I could update their website.! I live in Ferns, and know exactly where Adamstown is. I am only here passing what ever information I find out about the service, because I know that many people are fed up with Calidas. I was not speaking about the Ferns covering the whole county, would have thought anyone with half a brain would know that!! They now Have a sight in Clonroche, and one in Gelenbrien, This is on a hill with a very high mast and has I am led to believe about a 15 mile radious. But what I was really speaking about is the amount of masts that may become available to them, maybe already have done as I write this.
As for the Map in question, that is there since it was first installed in Ferns.
As for the backhaul, I did not know that Calidas had one. I know of at least 3 individuals here in Ferns that do online gaming on NWB without any problems.
I am in no way involved with NWB only as a customer, "and a very satisfied one at that"
So if you really do need updated info why don't you pick up the phone and ring them to see if your area is covered or not. It's amazing what you can find out from a simple phone call.

[daveypjd]

Irishbear & Inchmurrin, cmon guys were are here to help out and vent our frustration (and there's plenty) at Callidus not each other.

I contacted the guy from NWB last week and he is coming to plug me in asap. Strange..... my Callidus service has been working reasonalby all week but I expect it to fail soon.

[irishbear]

Originally Posted by daveypjd

Irishbear & Inchmurrin, cmon guys were are here to help out and vent our frustration (and there's plenty) at Callidus not each other.

I contacted the guy from NWB last week and he is coming to plug me in asap. Strange..... my Callidus service has been working reasonalby all week but I expect it to fail soon.

You are quite right daveypjd, My only reason for that reply was to Clarify that I have nothing whatsoever to do with NWB, as was my interpretation of Inchmurrin telling me to update the site.
As for you connecting up to them, I feel you will be pleasantly satisfied. I find the service to be outstanding. I am this past few days having a bit of trouble with my connection going off, but it has something to do with my onboard LAN, I am trying to decide if I get a new computer, but if not I will have to buy a LAN card. I have been thinking about a new computer for a while so it has nothing to do with the Internet connection.

[pauln]

I have been with Torque in the Blessington area for a couple of years now, and in all that time I probably had a decent connection for about 50 days, so I was delighted to hear they were been taken over by Callidus, my joy did not last long, in the last 6 weekends I have had a connection only 3 weekends, and true to form I have none now and its back to dial up Eircom (at least its reliable).
The problem appears to be that my I P address changes and therefore I lose connection, Callidus don’t seem to know what causes it, they come out eventually, and ‘’ fix it’’ and its ok for another few days.
Anybody out there know what might be causing this to happen and I could pass the info on to them, I would do anything to get it sorted, at €45 a month its very annoying.

Thanks, Paul.

[daveypjd]

Nearly a week of no problems with Callidus, maybe they are finally listening. I even managed to download a few hundred meg, .Still all too late, my confidence has long since gone.

irishbear, I`d find it hard to justify replacing a pc for the sake of a €30 network card.

[irishbear]

Originally Posted by daveypjd

irishbear, I`d find it hard to justify replacing a pc for the sake of a €30 network card.

Hi Daveypjd, you missed the last line in my post:

I have been thinking about a new computer for a while so it has nothing to do with the Internet connection.

I am just wondering if I should go ahead and buy it now, So no need for LAN card, or buy the LAN card and wait a while before buying the computer, which I will be doing. It seems they are going down by the week, but I wonder how much more. I have a P4 3.4ghrtz with 2 gig ram and 2 300gb ata serial drives, But I do a lot of work with Photoshop, and I was looking out for Core2Duo E6600(2.4G/4M) Processor.

[irishbear]

Originally Posted by pauln

I have been with Torque in the Blessington area for a couple of years now, and in all that time I probably had a decent connection for about 50 days, so I was delighted to hear they were been taken over by Callidus, my joy did not last long, in the last 6 weekends I have had a connection only 3 weekends, and true to form I have none now and its back to dial up Eircom (at least its reliable).
The problem appears to be that my I P address changes and therefore I lose connection, Callidus don’t seem to know what causes it, they come out eventually, and ‘’ fix it’’ and its ok for another few days.
Anybody out there know what might be causing this to happen and I could pass the info on to them, I would do anything to get it sorted, at €45 a month its very annoying.

Thanks, Paul.

Hi pauln,
It might be worth looking at jonathanlowe's post:
http://www.irishisptest.com/forum/6286-post35.html
and one of the answers he got:
http://www.irishisptest.com/forum/6293-post39.html

Yours seems to be a problem very much like his. Hope this is of help.

[Inchmurrin]

Originally Posted by irishbear

I don't see the reason for you to get personal with me, or how you could conclude that I could update their website.! I live in Ferns, and know exactly where Adamstown is. I am only here passing what ever information I find out about the service, because I know that many people are fed up with Calidas. I was not speaking about the Ferns covering the whole county, would have thought anyone with half a brain would know that!! They now Have a sight in Clonroche, and one in Gelenbrien, This is on a hill with a very high mast and has I am led to believe about a 15 mile radious. But what I was really speaking about is the amount of masts that may become available to them, maybe already have done as I write this.
As for the Map in question, that is there since it was first installed in Ferns.
As for the backhaul, I did not know that Calidas had one. I know of at least 3 individuals here in Ferns that do online gaming on NWB without any problems.
I am in no way involved with NWB only as a customer, "and a very satisfied one at that"
So if you really do need updated info why don't you pick up the phone and ring them to see if your area is covered or not. It's amazing what you can find out from a simple phone call.

Irishbear - apologies, I clearly picked up on your previous post incorrectly, it appeared you has some inside knowledge of their service - I appreciate now that that is from being a customer of NWB, nothing else. No offense was intended.

On the point of the back haul - this is only info from NWB's own website (in the About Us section if I remember correctly). My brother used a WISP with a sat back haul in a rural part of Scotland for about 24 months (community of about 15 houses in a villiage, provider went in and setup as per the model NWB's site say they use), he was OK with some games (MMOs) but for low ping requirements of, for example, Battlefield, Counter-Stike etc, the slight delay rendered playing useless.

You are right, I could call to them to see if the info about the back haul and the coverage map are out of date, but I'm with PermaNet now for 12 months anyway, so may do next year - who knows! Eircon may actully have converted the local exchange by then.....<dream sequence>.

Having said that about NWB's site, PermaNets and Callidus's site are not much more informative. You would think the website of an ISP would be slightly more decent than these three examples.

On a slightly different point, but perhaps more on topic, when the PermaNet engineer came out and took down my Callidus equipment (which they have still not picked up) he commented that the bridge on my roof was only a "pad" and not, as he was installing, a "mesh". I'm not sure about the technical differences between the two, but its looks fairly clear that the mesh will allow for a wider spread of angle for a good signal - perhaps this was the route of some (but not all i.e. outages) Callidus problems.

As I mentioned above, I still get the IFA (Callidus service) text messages when their is an outage - its is appalling the number of these I've seen in the time since I moved to PermaNet, I'm just glad I jumped when I could.

[daveypjd]

Yep, me too. I've got a tiny 10" sq pad on my roof also. Maybe this has been the issue all along but I have often mentioned my concern to Callidus support as it often needs a restart.

[irishbear]

Originally Posted by Inchmurrin

Irishbear - apologies, I clearly picked up on your previous post incorrectly, it appeared you has some inside knowledge of their service - I appreciate now that that is from being a customer of NWB, nothing else. No offense was intended.

On the point of the back haul - this is only info from NWB's own website (in the About Us section if I remember correctly). My brother used a WISP with a sat back haul in a rural part of Scotland for about 24 months (community of about 15 houses in a villiage, provider went in and setup as per the model NWB's site say they use), he was OK with some games (MMOs) but for low ping requirements of, for example, Battlefield, Counter-Stike etc, the slight delay rendered playing useless.

You are right, I could call to them to see if the info about the back haul and the coverage map are out of date, but I'm with PermaNet now for 12 months anyway, so may do next year - who knows! Eircon may actully have converted the local exchange by then.....<dream sequence>.

Having said that about NWB's site, PermaNets and Callidus's site are not much more informative. You would think the website of an ISP would be slightly more decent than these three examples.

On a slightly different point, but perhaps more on topic, when the PermaNet engineer came out and took down my Callidus equipment (which they have still not picked up) he commented that the bridge on my roof was only a "pad" and not, as he was installing, a "mesh". I'm not sure about the technical differences between the two, but its looks fairly clear that the mesh will allow for a wider spread of angle for a good signal - perhaps this was the route of some (but not all i.e. outages) Callidus problems.

As I mentioned above, I still get the IFA (Callidus service) text messages when their is an outage - its is appalling the number of these I've seen in the time since I moved to PermaNet, I'm just glad I jumped when I could.

Inchmurrin, No offense or no apologies necessary, it just seemed fairly clear to me that you thought I was in some way associated with them, and wanted to set the record straight. Reading my reply, I may have come over a bit rude, and I'm not here to be that way. I can see why you might have thought I was in some way associated with them with my singing their praises so much. I do have some inside knowledge of their service as the mast serving Ferns is only about 50mtrs away from my house, So if I see them over there working I would often go over to have a chat, as I was their 1st connection in Ferns, apart from the house that the mast is on. And they do keep me up to date as to the way their operation is going, purely because because they know of my interest, and had got as many connections in Ferns for them as I could, because I wanted it to be successful. (My own interest) I had been trying to get broadband in Ferns for the past 3 yrs.

As for the mesh dish, they use those as they get near the fringes of their signal strength, and it does make a fair bit of difference.

I have to agree with you about NWB's website, it does need updating. I know of 3 different places that they are up and running, and the new coverage is not on the map. But I that to me is there loss, I know they are getting as many sites up as quickly as possible, but it would not take very many minutes to upgrade the map with the terrain map that they use, they are fairly accurate, it a computerized system and all they do is put the location of the mast on the map and it fills in the area of coverage for them in the red. Of course it will never be 100% accurate, because of tall buildings or trees that may hinder the line of sight.
I do no that they have a full back haul, but I would have no idea of how the service would work with games like you speak about. I am 61 and the tenancy to try and play those games has long gone.

[mullins]

You would be well advised to take the promises stated by those working for Callidus within these forums, with a pinch of salt.

The company may have, like many companies, good intentions, but the basic foundations required to achieve their goals are lacking. It is not all negative however, as they do excel at avoiding any contact with their customers quite well .

Avoid these guys unless you have absolutely no other option regarding broadband providers.

[vlf126]

Hi the service over the past month or so has been a little faster than dialup there was an improvment since the take over of Torque but it has gradually gone down hill,i have sent numerous emails because the phones must be broken and still there has been no reply,Apparently the same people are still running the servise under the name Callidus,,this info came from one of their so called engineers,,Unfortunatly im on the DREADED Saggart mast that this engineer said keeps breaking down and the problem cant be found,,Im afraid if things stay the way they are myself and other Cutomers that i spoken too in my area will be changing to another servise provider as there is now broadband in my area through the phone line with numerous companies ,I know and im sure most of you know that Callidus do read the posts here so do something about it and PLEASE LOOK AFTER THE INTERST OF YOUR CUSTOMERS BEFORE ITS TO LATE,After all who pays the wages for the marvelous Callidus helpline and service .. They tend to forget that without its users of this service there wouldnt such a thing as Callidus...Regards Steve

[marathont]

I have been using callidus/bkc for a 2-3 years in wexford. It is very frustrating and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Although I am encouraged by rick from callidus post, I want to believe him.

The goes down for hours or days at least once a fortnight. And when the service is up its only ok.

Web browsing is ok and fast enough except you have to refresh every second page or it will never load.

I have to use a download manager to download files so that I can stop and resume to get them to work.

And I have never gotten streaming to work consistently (youtube etc). Games work ok most of the time although I do get random disconnections fairly regularly .

I think all this is due to high packet loss somewhere along the line, not at my end as i have checked with a program called axence nettools.

I just had to get this of my chest.

[vlf126]

Rick is an ok guy i know because i have met him BUT the problem is he was one of the guys that ran Torque Internet that was based in Blessinton village,That network was crap and not worth the money that they charged for the connection and what they charged per month,now he has gone over to Callidus Internet (the people that bought out Torque) this is better more stable but is still sometimes goes down..The problem i had up to two days ago was that somebody was using the band width from the mast i access SO Richard from the callidus end of things came out couldnt find the problem but said he would moniter the network over the next few night and guess what,it seems to have worked..Before this another guy from the Torque end of things came to my house SAT here all day and the end result was NOTHING CHANGED ..All he was interested in doing was telling me about how his father was a micrsoft partner..DUH...SO all i can say to you is take everything your told with a pinch of salt ..Try to get through to Richard as he seems to be a heck of A lot more sensible and explains things a lot better.. Anyway just to let you here my opinion, Companies will tell you anything to try keep you sweet,,you have to admitt though the network is a lot more stable since the take over..Can you send me the link to Ricks Post will ya.. By the way he got Married the other day... up the rick hahaha NOW YOU CAN JOIN THE MARRIED CLUB... hahaha

[jonathanlowe]

Originally Posted by pauln

The problem appears to be that my I P address changes and therefore I lose connection, Callidus don’t seem to know what causes it, they come out eventually, and ‘’ fix it’’ and its ok for another few days.

If you are talking about the IP address on the Bridge unit, you either have a fault in the unit or someone is accessing your setup routine and changing the settings.

There has been a tendency in the IT world not to use passwords on anything. This was because users forgot the password. As some bridge units are accessable across the WAN someone may be able to logon to another users bridge unit and change it's IP address. I suspect they may do it in error using the address for the other user by mistake - you for instance - and because many techs now use no password when setting up - or the same password - they think they are on their own system.

Yes the Aerial thingy is set-up as a bridge, that's why I refer to it as "bridge Unit".

I don't know why it's not setup as a router, some of them can. This would allow it's built-in DHCP server to be used. If the techi then set your machine to automatically detect settings it would be alocated an IP address when switched on.

What I would like to know, why is it set-up as a bridge when the units can be used as a router with DHCP server; there would be double the addresses available. I suppose it's because some of the units cannot be set-up as routers.

Someone like to tell me why they do it this way?

[vlf126]

Hi, the SMC router i am using was passworded by somebody that used to work for Torque that has since left so that when Richard came to sort the problem out couldnt access it,after many phone calls and searching he evenually got the password and was able to access it..Many other companies give you the password and allow it to be changed so that the user can set it up the way they want it and encrypt if they need too..On the other hand Torque and Callidus dont allow this why i dont know,(maybe its so they can access it when they want) that in my mind shouldnt be allowed but hey i have another wireless router that i go through first and encrypt it there although THAT DOESENT STOP THEM ACCESSING THE SMC ROUTER FROM THERE END..We "THE CUSTOMER" are not allowed to alter the settings or access their system as stated in the contract so why would they want to fiddle around with the routers in out homes,im not saying that this is the case but when they password it and not allow us to choose our own password things seem a little suspect do you not think.. As the way things stand it seems that we all get penalised for other peoples missus of bandwidth..Maybe it is a good idea to do what i did and buy another router put it inline encrypt it set up the firewall "that works better than any software firewall" than password that..at least if somebody is accessing the company router it stops them accessing your pc..If what your saying is correct Callidus need to sort this problem out before things turn sour by the users like yourself and myself and thay start to loose customers but as far as passwords the router that Torque provided is passworded and from what i gathered from when Richards was there all the other router passwords were there from the Callidus end of things but not Ex Torque Network...Anyway thanks for the reply ALL NEW INFORMATION IS GREATLY WELCOMED..Regards vlf126

[jonathanlowe]

Originally Posted by vlf126

Hi, the SMC router i am using was passworded by somebody that used to work for Torque that has since left so that when Richard came to sort the problem out couldnt access it,after many phone calls and searching he evenually got the password and was able to access it..Many other companies give you the password and allow it to be changed so that the user can set it up the way they want it and encrypt if they need too..On the other hand Torque and Callidus dont allow this why i dont know,(maybe its so they can access it when they want) that in my mind shouldnt be allowed but hey i have another wireless router that i go through first and encrypt it there although THAT DOESENT STOP THEM ACCESSING THE SMC ROUTER FROM THERE END

I don't know how the system is setup in your area, however, here in mid Wexford it's as follows. There is an aerial unit that's setup as a bridge, this is setup with the first of the pair of IP's given you by the installer. At the other end of the cable the client has either his computer or a box with several wires to and from it, for our purposes this is called a Router. If you only have your computer, the IP address on that machine is set to the second address given by the provider.

In your case you have an SMC router, the outside end of this is set to the second IP address given by the providor (Callidus). It may or may not be correct legaly for them to password protect the setup routine for your router, however if you change the outside IP address set on that router it will cause chaos on that segment of the Callidus network your on.

..We "THE CUSTOMER" are not allowed to alter the settings or access their system as stated in the contract so why would they want to fiddle around with the routers in out homes,im not saying that this is the case but when they password it and not allow us to choose our own password things seem a little suspect do you not think..

It is possible to fiddle with the settings on a CUSTOMER aerial/bridge unit, from outside your personal segment. For this reason all bridge units ought to have the password set. This password should be different for each client unit, however normally it's a global password selected by callidus that once know be an individual client would give him access to a large number of other clients within the WAN.

There would need to be a fault in your router for callidus to be able to access your setup from their side, all they ought to be able to do is ping the IP address that's visible from their side, if your firewall is setup properly even this should not be visible. The only reason a callidus technicion would set a password on your router is to prevent you from changing the WAN side address. As I stated before if you did set it to another address it would cause a lock-up in your segment....

As the way things stand it seems that we all get penalised for other peoples missus of bandwidth..Maybe it is a good idea to do what i did and buy another router put it inline encrypt it set up the firewall "that works better than any software firewall" than password that..at least if somebody is accessing the company router it stops them accessing your pc..

When setup, I was only provided with an (aerial/bridge) unit, a cable from the aerial a power supply, a connector for that supply and a length of cable to my computer. Well I had to supply that, it's a crossover cable, the techi provided me with one as it would take too long to make it up.

I only state the obvious to make it clear what I'm dealing with. The above setup involves two IP addresses, one for the bridge unit and the other for my computer. Because I have a personal LAN I had to provide my own Router. Callidus have no control over that, they cannot access it from the WAN, only I can do that from my LAN.

While I was only provided with an aerial unit setup as a bridge, a length of cable, a connector for their power supply, you appear to have been supplied with an SMC router. This would make it necessary for them to set a password on the router to prevent you from changing it's external IP address, if you did you would cause a lockup on the segment your on. This is the result of IP conflict across a WAN or even a LAN....

If what your saying is correct Callidus need to sort this problem out before things turn sour by the users like yourself and myself and thay start to loose customers but as far as passwords the router that Torque provided is passworded and from what i gathered from when Richards was there all the other router passwords were there from the Callidus end of things but not Ex Torque Network...Anyway thanks for the reply ALL NEW INFORMATION IS GREATLY WELCOMED..Regards vlf126

It would appear that Torque supplied a router, Callidus are now stuck with that as to change things would involve a complete change. In my area the Aerial includes a receiver and bridge unit, the cable into the house is a CAT5 outdoor sheathed.

The inbuilt receiver can be setup as a bridge or a router with a built-in DHCP server; in my case it's set-up as a bridge. I think the main reason for setting it up as a bridge is because earlier aerial/receiver units only had that option.

Are you setup this way? Did Torque provide you with the SMC Router? and were you provided with two 10 series IP addresses as I was.?



I'll get back to you.

Jonathan.