New internet installed!

I had already got ADSL boradband installed by Cyta when I first moved into the villa. The maximum speed I could get was 16Mb/1Mb. Problem was it was not very reliable, particularly in the evening.

I have MAG254 boxes and on the Standard Definition channels, in the evening it would still frequently drop out and buffer. Now, this could have been also due to other reliability issues elsewhere on the internet, but I had noticed that when I was sitting in my office, I would notice that the Amplifi HD router would display internet connection lost. I would turn to look at the ADSL modem, and it would have lost its Sync with the exchange. So, not an internet issue....

I had looked at several internet providers that provide WISP (Wireless ISP), where they install an access point dish on the building and point it to one of their antennae. The prices varied dramatically and some also do not cover all areas etc.

I contacted a few of them, some didn't respond, others were sketchy with their responses to higher bandwidth options, symmetric connections etc.

In the end I decided to go with Cosmos Wireless, who offered a 30Mb/4Mb connection for a reasonable price compared to some of the others in the area. After contacting them and confirming I wanted to proceed with their proposal, they contacted me to tell me they could install the next day.

Next morning, the installation team called to say they were lost and couldn't find the villa, easy done in the area, but gave them some more directions and they eventually arrived.

They took a look at where I wanted to install the dish and got to work. They tried 2 different types of dish, but were just not happy with the connection speeds they were getting. After a few more trial and error with the positioning they concluded there was a lot of interference and would have to move the dish back in behind the house, so the dish was sheltered from the interference. After mounting a new wall mount arm, getting the connection up and then fine tuning the alignment, they managed to get a sustained healthy speed test connection at the service level they said they could provide.

They gave me a username and password for their client website, which allows you to access to data graphs, invoices etc. then left.

I switched over my internal wifi system over onto their new router, which was a simple case of swapping the Ethernet cable. I then went to try the IPTV box on the new connection and the results were clear instantly.

Turning on the TV and going to the UK:Entertainment menu, the first channel on the list is a FullHD one, and it immediately came on, it had never done that before, On the TV menus, a lot of the channels are repeated in FHD, HD and SD, and I have always had to choose the SD. Now, the FHD channels work a treat!

So, far happy with the connection, and very few minor blips, but this might be drop outs elsewhere on the internet or issues at the IPTV service provider. On the whole these are few and far between, and compared to what I had previously this is a winner!

The two guys that came to do the install and the individuals that I had communicated with via email and FB were all great. So thanks Cosmos Wireless!

Here are an example of the client website graphs, showing my connection data usage.

The dish feed arrangement they have used is a Ubiquiti Powerbeam M5 (PBE-M5-400), but they said if I had issues they would look to maybe change this for some other equipment, although time will tell how it performs.

I currently have an EdgeRouter Lite, still connected to the Cyta network, so will look to move this new connection over as the main feed to the EdgeRouter. I am using the EdgeRouter to provide address routing, with a split network, one side on a permanent OpenVPN tunnel to the UK, and the other side to local internet access, more discussed in the article I wrote while in Qatar: Building OpenVPN Site-To-Site Tunnel on Dynamic Addressing Endpoints, just need to update the settings to handle the new setup.

Ubiquiti Powerbeam and Dish.