After all my problems, I’ve decided to bite the bullet and stay with my original provider. While they cannot guarantee my upload connection, at least it is a connection. With the new provider, I was dependent on the goodwill of my neighbours to even get a connection, so I’ve given it up as a bad idea.
Hopefully my provider will resolve the problems with my upload speed. In the meantime, I need some sort of working internet connection, so I’ll live with it.
The saga that is my broadband connection continues. I am now staying with my old provider, as I am unable to get the written permission that I need for my new provider to perform the installation of the aerial on my neighbours chimney. Having just read that last sentence, I think a recap is called for:
In 2005, I had broadband installed in the house I rent and share with a couple of friends. Because we couldn’t install a phone line, we went with a wireless provider. For €36 a month they provided a 1Mbps connection with a static IP address. The connection is synchronous – i.e. the download and upload speeds are the same. There was no download cap, so you could transfer as much data as you liked without fear of being penalised.
Following my telephone call to my provider on the 9th January, an engineer called out today to check my connection. Before he even came into the house, he could tell me that the aerial was pointed towards the wrong high-site. After some basic testing he confirmed that my download connection was fine, but that my upload was not. Apparently the upload connection was very unstable.
The upshot is that they’ll try to connect me to another high-site, but it won’t happen today. Not with the high winds that we’re experiencing at the moment. Hopefully I’m one step closer to getting this sorted out.
After another call and more troubleshooting with my provider I’m still having problems with my connection. I’ve done everything I can to eliminate any hardware or software problems on my side. So far I’ve tried with:
Still no joy. I know the problem is not with my equipment, but I’m having a tough time explaining that to my provider.