# Digiweb Tooway Satelittle Broadband



## Sasol (29 Apr 2013)

Hi, 

Just wondering if anyone here has experience of using Digiwebs Tooway satelite broadband ?

I am living in South East Clare, approx 2 miles from the nearest villiage. So we do not have the option of UPC etc - I do not have a phone line into my house so Eircom are not really an option at the moment. 

I am looking to get broadband that can regularly and consistently provide speeds of 3 to 5mbs. I don't need it for gaming, youtube, netflix or anything like that. I will be working from home, so I need something that is reliable and reasonabley fast. 

Digiweb Tooway offer a 39.95 per month deal for speeds of up to 20Mbps. Before I seroiusly consider it, I would like to hear if anyone has experience with this service and what theyy think of it ? I have read soe shocking reports of the Digiweb DSL service, but Tooway is the one I am thinking about looking at. 

Thanks,
S


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## Time (29 Apr 2013)

Look at fixed wireless operators (FWA) before even considering satellite. 

Satellite is woeful in quality as it is very slow and it is severely capped. It would be an absolute last resort for many. Exhaust all other avenues first.


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## Sasol (29 Apr 2013)

Thanks for the reply - are there any FWA companies that provide a national service ?


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## dub_nerd (29 Apr 2013)

Time said:


> Look at fixed wireless operators (FWA) before even considering satellite.
> 
> Satellite is woeful in quality as it is very slow and it is severely capped. It would be an absolute last resort for many. Exhaust all other avenues first.


 
Completely disagree. The fixed wireless market is populated by cowboys (with a couple of notable exceptions) who promise big and are plagued by problems. Satellite is certainly not slow -- mine is ten times faster than I was able to get from Eircom DSL. And it is not low quality -- my satellite connection is at least as reliable as my Eircom DSL and UPC cable, and far more so than cellular and wireless. (Yes, I've used them all).

I don't know why satellite gets such a bad rap. Probably because of out of date information. Once you understand the limitation of high latency, and can live with it, it is better than many other options for a lot of rural dwellers. Btw, I run both VoIP and Skype successfully over satellite.

The only thing the OP may want to look out for is that the 39.95 package has a measly 10 GB cap, while the 58.95 is 20 GB plus unlimited nighttime data. Digiweb has a usable download monitor to see how much you've used.


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## Time (29 Apr 2013)

The high ping times are unacceptable for most applications. I am amazed you can get VOIP to work over satellite. 



> The fixed wireless market is populated by cowboys


I don't think my supplier is a cowboy.


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## dub_nerd (29 Apr 2013)

Time said:


> The high ping times are unacceptable for most applications.


 
Define "most", and then name some.




Time said:


> I am amazed you can get VOIP to work over satellite.


 

It not only works, it is highly reliable.


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## Sasol (30 Apr 2013)

Thanks for the replies .

Have you used VPN using satelitte ? How has that performed? 

What do you see as the issues to look out for in relation to high latency , particularly considering my primary use will be to work from home, where I will be sharing desktops, and using instant messenger etc on a regular basis?


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## Woodie (30 Apr 2013)

My experience having used several suppliers including FWA is that, low pings are generally more important than bandwidth (unless you are using multiple devices when you might notice it).  For me satellite the restriction on caps and the latency especially when having online meetings ruled it out.   I eventually (after many tried) got a FWA connection of 3Mb and found that I always get 3Mb with pings 16-30ms which I have found fine for all use.  I even have streamed the odd movie from Sky albeit at SD rather than HD without problems.
Sasol, you are not looking for mega speeds but reliablity so Sat might do.  My hunch is that you might have issues with the VPN so I would guarantee that with any system before you jump.  Personally I would choose a FWA supplier of which I am pretty sure you should have some in your area assuming you can get Line of Sight.


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## millie123 (15 Jul 2013)

If you are happy with 3 mbps from seven in the evening, 30 seconds to load Google homepage, very slow file downloads then go for it.
Take my advice try fixed wireless it is a stable usable system that delivers.




Sasol said:


> Hi,
> 
> Just wondering if anyone here has experience of using Digiwebs Tooway satelite broadband ?
> 
> ...


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## dub_nerd (15 Jul 2013)

My experience is the opposite. Fixed wireless was a horrendous experience. It barely worked most of the time, and didn't work at all a lot of the time. Satellite was a joy by comparison -- performance never varied, ever. However, it's expensive for what it is.


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## Time (16 Jul 2013)

As a fixed wireless user my experience has been the polar opposite. I have no problems, getting a steady 5 mbps and low ping. Couldn't be happier.

It depends on the provider. Some are good and others are bad.


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