Magnet Networks says its new mobile broadband product bridges the distance between a fibre-enabled exchange and the customer.

Broadband Anywhere  uses 4G LTE technology to connect fibre broadband networks to a customer’s premises without any cabling. Magnet says it’s not subject to contention, and within 24 hours of first enquiry a customer can have full connectivity with average minimum speeds of 20Mbps anywhere in Ireland.

The company stresses that its new platform will be a godsend to remote workers, at home due to Covid-19 and struggling with poor broadband connections. 

Marketing director Louise McKeown (pictured) said: “Our recent testing achieved average minimum speeds of 20 megabytes per second at 91 random locations nationwide, and we have customers who are now getting 25Mbps upload and download in a two-bar 3G area.

“We are using 4G to bring the signal from the end of the fibre to the consumer, covering the distance with a quality signal that existing copper services are unable to carry. 

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“If you are within a few kilometres of a mobile phone network, we will be able to deliver quality broadband to your business. Even if located in an area which only receives 3G, we can still deliver average speeds of 20Mbps.

“The product will not only deliver for rural businesses in 98% of the country, but it also provides a low-cost, high-capacity backup service to businesses which have good broadband, but need continuity of supply.”

Broadband Anywhere is sold on capacity rather than speed, and users will not suffer contention on their lines, according to McKeown. The basic package starts at €59 for 100GB, rising to €88 for 600GB. The self-install unit has a €49 activation fee.

One user, project manager John Rattigan, who is based in a rural location in Galway, says the product is delivering speeds of 35Mbps and has changed his experience of working remotely.

"Prior to this we would have been getting between 1Mbps and 3Mbps, with upload speeds between 0.5Mbps and 2.5Mbps,” said Rattigan. “We have struggled for years with broadband services of various kinds, between fixed-line, mobile services or those which depend on line-of-sight to the mobile mast.

“During lockdown it was almost untenable, and I often had to go around the house telling people to turn off their devices because I needed to send an email. Before, services such as Netflix were simply a no-go, and now we can have several devices running it at the same time.”

Full details of the new service are available here.