BT upgrades their LLU2 packages, "up to" 3mb becomes 6 mb, 8 mb becomes 24 mb

vectra · 30-07-2008 10:17pm

rc28 wrote: »

Put your phone number through the following;
http://www.smarttelecom.ie/line-checker.html

We're sorry but it appears Smart Broadband is not currently available in your area. (FERMOY exchange)

That answers that for me

Thanks

Sqaull20 · 30-07-2008 10:27pm

rc28 wrote: »

Sorry to be annoying but please distinguish between gb/mb and gB and mB(huge difference) as there is always confusion between the two on this forum

bytes sorry, didnt think people used bits here.

vibe666 · 30-07-2008 10:27pm

this sucks. yesterday I was all excited about (potentially) getting upgraded to 8mbps, today I hear tales of 24mbps being live in my town right now this very second, but I'm on the wrong side of town and I'm back down to earth with 10 days to go till the 8mbps hits and 24mbps god knows when, if ever. :mad:

i suppose I should be happy with getting upgraded to 8mbps (well, 7.6mbps max) next weekend but for a few hours there I had a little glimmer of hope on my way home of getting in and getting myself some proper 21st century broadband that would be able to keep up with my needs.

Sqaull20 · 30-07-2008 10:31pm

Blindpew wrote: »

[

Now that's the kind of connection that I want.

The priviliged that are under 1.8 - 2.0 km from exchange can expect those speeds.Doesnt look pretty past 2.5km.

rc28 · 30-07-2008 10:36pm

vibe666 wrote: »

this sucks. yesterday I was all excited about (potentially) getting upgraded to 8mbps, today I hear tales of 24mbps being live in my town right now this very second, but I'm on the wrong side of town and I'm back down to earth with 10 days to go till the 8mbps hits and 24mbps god knows when, if ever. :mad:

i suppose I should be happy with getting upgraded to 8mbps (well, 7.6mbps max) next weekend but for a few hours there I had a little glimmer of hope on my way home of getting in and getting myself some proper 21st century broadband that would be able to keep up with my needs.

I feel your pain! I live in the countryside and have a poor quality line. God knows when anything above 3mb will be available to me. Technologies based on phone lines (adsl2+) have reached their max speeds and will only ever be available to the cities and towns anyway. For people like us not on major exchanges I feel our only hope is some breakthrough wireless technology to be invented as phonelines can't go much faster than they can now (vdsl is too expensive for widespread rollout).

It's frustrating how the the gap in broadband services between city and countryside is becoming so stark.

Sqaull20 · 30-07-2008 10:55pm

rc28 wrote: »

It's frustrating how the the gap in broadband services between city and countryside is becoming so stark.

Thats only happenend recently though on a wide spread basis, like Eircom home customers in all of Dublin city had as fast a connection as customers in Patrickswell until just recently.

Population of 1 million vs 1100 and they both had max 3Mb home connection.

No other country but here

hellboy99 · 30-07-2008 11:38pm

Bohrio wrote: »

I'm an BT Option 2/3 Customer outside the LLU area. Will my service be affected by this announcement?

Yes. As part of this announcement, we are increasing the usage caps for Option 2 customers to 30GB, and allowing all Option 3 customers unlimited usage. All customers remain subject to their terms and conditions and our Fair Usage policy. Our plans for speed upgrades for customers outside our LLU footprint have already been communicated.

I'm not in a LLU area, on BT's site with the list of BB packages it doesn't say that non LLU areas usage caps go up

vibe666 · 31-07-2008 9:15am

I think it's been said that when our (resold to BT) eircom bitstream 3mbps DSL packages are upgraded to 7.6mbps the useage caps will be upgraded also. although it's a bit acedemic when it's been commonly said on here that they won't touch you anyway if you stay under 100gb per month.

if you put your phone number in HERE it should tell you when you're scheduled to be upgraded. think it might only work for the people on eircom owned non-LLU2 exchanges tho, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

LeperKing · 31-07-2008 9:16am

Hi Bohrio,

Speaking to BT sales, I'm on a LLU exchange (Blancharsdtown), but I'm told
"I'm not a LLU number", why is that? When they convert an exchange wouldn't all numbers be affected?

Thanks,
LK.

Joseph Kuhr · 31-07-2008 9:32am

rc28 wrote: »

Put your phone number through the following;
http://www.smarttelecom.ie/line-checker.html

This just gives "We're sorry but it appears Smart Broadband is not currently available in your area."

No mention of the exchange...any other way of checking?

vibe666 wrote:

if you put your phone number in here it should tell you when you're scheduled to be upgraded. think it might only work for the people on eircom owned non-LLU2 exchanges tho, but someone correc tme if I'm wrong.

Put my number in where?

Joseph Kuhr · 31-07-2008 9:47am

Just rang BT, for anyone on the Sandyford exchange I've been told we're not on LLU but will be upgraded on 9th August and will automatically get 10mb-22mb speeds (where did 24mb come from

)

vibe666 · 31-07-2008 9:55am

sorry, missed the link.

corrected my previous post, and here's the link anyways: http://www.btireland.ie/cgi-bin/upgrade_time

Joseph Kuhr wrote: »

Just rang BT, for anyone on the Sandyford exchange I've been told we're not on LLU but will be upgraded on 9th August and will automatically get 10mb-22mb speeds (where did 24mb come from )

it's speeds 'up to' 24mbps depending on the quality of your line and distance from the exchange.

afaik you'll need to have a perfect line and be within a few hundred metres of your exchange to get those speeds though, which most people probably aren't.

Joseph Kuhr · 31-07-2008 10:16am

vibe666 wrote: »

sorry, missed the link.

corrected my previous post, and here's the link anyways: http://www.btireland.ie/cgi-bin/upgrade_time

it's speeds 'up to' 24mbps depending on the quality of your line and distance from the exchange.

afaik you'll need to have a perfect line and be within a few hundred metres of your exchange to get those speeds though, which most people probably aren't.

Yeah it will be interesting to see if anyone, even those next door to the exchange can get 24mb. The sales girl kept correcting me saying 10-22mb....prob because she knows I won't get 24mb in my location.

Anyone else think the 1mb upload is a farce? I'd much rather have 3mb down and 3mb up. I wonder if they will let you sacrafice some down limit in exchange for some up limit?

vibe666 · 31-07-2008 10:31am

it's it's partly the limits of the technology rather than the ISP limiting it.

they have to cater for the vast majority of people and studies show most people use lots of download speed and comparitivley much less upload speed so most ISP's choose to roll out a product that will cater primarily for those people which whilst adversly affecting those of us who appreciate the extra upload bandwidth will be the right thing for most home users.

vectra · 31-07-2008 10:47am

How about this then
I am on the Fermoy Exchange and got the 7.6 upgrade last weekend.
From what I understand I will not be getting the "up to 24mb" upgrade.?
If this is so.
I currently am on the Deluxe option costing €42.50 per month

Should I drop it to the Value option costing €32.50 per month giving me up to 6mb.

Or
Should I ring them and ask if I am ever going to get an upgrade to the 24mb ?

Jonathan · 31-07-2008 10:54am

Joseph Kuhr wrote: »

Yeah it will be interesting to see if anyone, even those next door to the exchange can get 24mb. The sales girl kept correcting me saying 10-22mb....prob because she knows I won't get 24mb in my location.

Anyone else think the 1mb upload is a farce? I'd much rather have 3mb down and 3mb up. I wonder if they will let you sacrafice some down limit in exchange for some up limit?

You are using the wrong technology so. Get SDSL if you want 3 up/down.

EireEV · 31-07-2008 10:56am

Hi Guys,

Sorry to jump in on this one but just wondering if anybody could clarify a few things for me.

I've been on the BT 3mb package for the last 3 years - I live in Mornington Co.Meath and as far as I'm aware I'm on the Bettystown exchange.

I'd been keeping an eye on the BT website re: 8mb BB availability and last I looked Meath was on the "coming soon" list fot this.

I've logged on to the web-site this morning to see that people can now avail of 24mb in certain areas (not mine obviously) and all other users on the 3mb package will avail of 7.6mb - is this correct? Will I have been upgarded from 3mb -> 7.6mb automatically or do I need to do something?

I have the following router:

http://www.netgear.com/Products/Rout...ys/DG834N.aspx

Any advice on above and router would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

EireEV

Username! · 31-07-2008 11:01am

EireEV wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Sorry to jump in on this one but just wondering if anybody could clarify a few things for me.

I've been on the BT 3mb package for the last 3 years - I live in Mornington Co.Meath and as far as I'm aware I'm on the Bettystown exchange.

I'd been keeping an eye on the BT website re: 8mb BB availability and last I looked Meath was on the "coming soon" list fot this.

I've logged on to the web-site this morning to see that people can now avail of 24mb in certain areas (not mine obviously) and all other users on the 3mb package will avail of 7.6mb - is this correct? Will I have been upgarded from 3mb -> 7.6mb automatically or do I need to do something?

I have the following router:

http://www.netgear.com/Products/Rout...ys/DG834N.aspx

Any advice on above and router would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

EireEV

You will be now get a minimum of 3MB up to 7.6MB (if it's available to you).

vibe666 · 31-07-2008 11:02am

check my link on the previous page of the thread and stick in your phone number and it should tell you when your exchange is due for an upgrade.

mine is the kilcarn exchange in johnstown, just outside navan which is getting done (up to 7.6mbps) next weekend based on the info on that BT page.

I'd have been a lot happier with 24mbps, but over double my current speed will do for now, but I'm someone who uses what I have to it's limits so faster is always better imho.

there's a lot of things in the pipeline which I will need a faster connection to make the most of. Streaming HD video content is something that springs to mind, there's lots of that about to explode in Europe, check out the SwarmPlayer beta that the BBC is involved with.

Then there's HD video/tv/movie downloads (free and rent/buy options) on the PS3 and XBox360 on their way too.

from my tests on the 3mbps it's nowhere near fast enough to cope, so I hope 7.6mbps will do the trick. I'll be keeping an eye out for my exchange hitting that 24mbps mark though sometime (hopefully) soon.

it's all coming, I just hope we're able for it when it does.

Joseph Kuhr · 31-07-2008 11:10am

jmccrohan wrote: »

You are using the wrong technology so. Get SDSL if you want 3 up/down.

Where can I get that? I have been told to move to a business line, but I'm not a business so that doesn't make sense.

I understand the majority want download speeds but the majority do not understand that upload bandwidth is important.

My point being until now the ratio between down/up has been quite reasonable. now we have 24/1 which I think is a complete farce and is really just a marketing gimick because the majority of people will be maxing out their upload bandwidth and only using a tiny fraction of their download. I'd wager a guess that if we were all to max out out download bandwidth at the same time we'd see a lot of dropped connections.

In otherwords, by restricting the upload bandwidth they are in actual fact restricting the download bandwidth yet they can claim 24mb because technically it is a possibilty although not really.

Someone mentioned that its strange that we get 24mb and the UK only has 8mb, well its probably because they wouldn't get away with it in the UK.

I might add that these kind of tactics will get the full backing by our government who have commited to making us top of the speed league.....whatever way possible.

rc28 · 31-07-2008 11:26am

Joseph Kuhr wrote: »

Where can I get that? I have been told to move to a business line, but I'm not a business so that doesn't make sense.

I understand the majority want download speeds but the majority do not understand that upload bandwidth is important.

My point being until now the ratio between down/up has been quite reasonable. now we have 24/1 which I think is a complete farce and is really just a marketing gimick because the majority of people will be maxing out their upload bandwidth and only using a tiny fraction of their download. I'd wager a guess that if we were all to max out out download bandwidth at the same time we'd see a lot of dropped connections.
L
In otherwords, by restricting the upload bandwidth they are in actual fact restricting the download bandwidth yet they can claim 24mb because technically it is a possibilty although not really.

Someone mentioned that its strange that we get 24mb and the UK only has 8mb, well its probably because they wouldn't get away with it in the UK.

I might add that these kind of tactics will get the full backing by our government who have commited to making us top of the speed league.....whatever way possible.

What? This is not unique to Ireland- it is a limit of the adsl technology and it is the same in the UK. You can really only get a proper symmetrical connection (ie 8mb down and 8mb up) with fiber. Look at magnet.ie for that.

Jonathan · 31-07-2008 11:27am

Joseph Kuhr wrote: »

Where can I get that? I have been told to move to a business line, but I'm not a business so that doesn't make sense.

I'm not sure if it would be cost effective:P

Joseph Kuhr wrote: »

I understand the majority want download speeds but the majority do not understand that upload bandwidth is important.

Unless you are running a server / doing some serious p2p uploading, you are not gonna need a decent upload speed. 1Mbps is more than ample bandwidth.

Joseph Kuhr · 31-07-2008 11:27am

rc28 wrote: »

What? This is not unique to Ireland- it is a limit of the adsl technology and it is the same in the UK. You can really only get a proper symmetrical connection (ie 8mb down and 8mb up) with fiber. Look at magnet.ie for that.

Completely symetrical would be my preference but yes you're right ADSL does not allow it.....but something better than 24/1 would be good! It is possible.

vibe666 · 31-07-2008 11:29am

it's not tactics, it's a restriction of the technology, and the technology was chosen to appeal to the majority of consumers with a legitimate requirement for more speed (i.e. download speed, not upload).

it was not invented with the likes of p2p downloads in mind, but rather http/ftp downloads for which it is ideally suited to end users.

if you are syncing on an uncontended connection at 20mbps with one of these products and you connect to the heanet ftp server and download a linux iso you will download it at the full speed of your connection.

bittorrent and all the other p2p apps used for downloading stuff is all reasonably new by comaprison to DSL technologies, but because of it's reputation for transferring copywrited materials it's not something ISP's will ever develop their networks to make the most of.

hopefully with the growing legitimacy of p2p protocols as a means to stream (legal) media (see the SwarmPlayer beta for a good example of this) hopefully in the future things will change, but don't hold your breath.

rc28 · 31-07-2008 11:30am

Also, you asked about the smart telecom line checker I linked to. After the message that says smart isn't availble in your area you should see, in brackets, the name of your exchange. That's what it says for me and others who have linked to it before on here.
If your exchange isn't on the list on bt's website than you simply won't be getting the 24mb, only the 7.6mb eircom speed upgrade that bt resell separate from their llu2.

noodler · 31-07-2008 11:30am

It tells me my line wont be updated until september. I could get pissed thta it wont be for monthes, but its nice to actually know.

vibe666 · 31-07-2008 11:33am

noodler wrote: »

...I could get pissed thta it wont be for monthes...

if you wanted your glass half full rather than half empty it's actually AUGUST tomorrow, so theoretically at least it's possible it could be done in 32 days time.

Joseph Kuhr · 31-07-2008 11:34am

jmccrohan wrote: »

Unless you are running a server / doing some serious p2p uploading, you are not gonna need a decent upload speed. 1Mbps is more than ample bandwidth.

Yes bittorrent and a home photo server....its the 21st century and this service is not keeping with the times.

It's simply a matter of them trying to reach a target without actually providing the best service they can. Cutting the download bandwidth and providing more upload bandwidth would make this a superb service worthy of being up at the top of the league....its an improvement, but I find it falls short of whats needed in this day and age.

Jonathan · 31-07-2008 11:39am

Joseph Kuhr wrote: »

Yes bittorrent and a home photo server..

Let people download their legal linux distros off ftp.heanet.

And just get a hosted server much better job. 24/7 Uptime and your pc isnt left on all day.

Joseph Kuhr · 31-07-2008 11:40am

OK on further research it seems the max upload for ADSL is 2mb.....so seems you cannot trade download bandwidth for upload bandwidth. Well they could at least give us the 2mb

I'll have to wait until they roll out VDSL. notice the list of countries its being rolled out to.....if the government are serious about becoming one of the top broadband countries in Europe then we should see this in a couple of years :rolleyes:

BT upgrades their LLU2 packages, "up to" 3mb becomes 6 mb, 8 mb becomes 24 mb

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