Reduced Broadband Speeds in Tramore

gary_walsh17 · 24-11-2013 11:27pm #1

Anyone remember that lightening strike in Tramore about 3 weeks ago? Apparently from what I have heard is that there is a problem in the exchange with Eircom's equipment and they are avoiding the repairs due to budgetary constraints at the end of year (hence why the fibre rollout has been delayed until Feb '14). I am a Vodafone customer on 70Mb/s DL package although my line can only take a max 12Mb/s until fibre is available and consistently I have had this issue which I consistently found occurred after the lightening strike a few weeks ago, no issue in 5-6 years before this with Vodafone (always good a reliable speeds for me). I have enclosed 2 copies of speed tests from tonight alone. If Vodafone/Eircom do not consider this issue I will be making an official complaint to COMREG within the next few days and anyone that has contacted them, I recommend that you do the same here (COMREG complaints form) to help us get this atrocity of disservice resolved asap.

200motels · 25-11-2013 8:53pm

I couldn't live with those speeds.

corkview · 26-11-2013 4:39pm

You need to report this to your service provider. If there is a line fault it is an eircom issue but if not it is a vodafone issue.

looksee · 26-11-2013 4:44pm

I am in Tramore with Eircom but I haven't noticed any problems with broadband.

Sully · 26-11-2013 4:52pm

gary_walsh17 wrote: »

Anyone remember that lightening strike in Tramore about 3 weeks ago? Apparently from what I have heard is that there is a problem in the exchange with Eircom's equipment and they are avoiding the repairs due to budgetary constraints at the end of year (hence why the fibre rollout has been delayed until Feb '14). I am a Vodafone customer on 70Mb/s DL package although my line can only take a max 12Mb/s until fibre is available and consistently I have had this issue which I consistently found occurred after the lightening strike a few weeks ago, no issue in 5-6 years before this with Vodafone (always good a reliable speeds for me). I have enclosed 2 copies of speed tests from tonight alone. If Vodafone/Eircom do not consider this issue I will be making an official complaint to COMREG within the next few days and anyone that has contacted them, I recommend that you do the same here (COMREG complaints form) to help us get this atrocity of disservice resolved asap.

1) You cannot be offered 70mb broadband in Tramore at present or in the past. Nobody can tell you exactly when your line will be fibre enabled or what its speeds will be, at this stage.

2) Fibre was due to be live in areas around Tramore March 2014 for several weeks. I'm not sure who is telling you otherwise or that the weather damaged equipment.

3) Problem with your line? Report it to your current provider. You are entitled to refunds if its not fixed within a certain period of time. Its up to your current provider to contact and raise the issue with eircom. You cannot deal with eircom. Comreg will confirm this is the case!

4) Happy to report that I am a UTV Customer in Tramore, no issues. Other people with Sky in different areas, no issues. So it isn't widespread anyway! We all use eircom lines and the same exchange.

Hope that helps!

gary_walsh17 · 26-11-2013 8:29pm

Sully wrote: »

1) You cannot be offered 70mb broadband in Tramore at present or in the past. Nobody can tell you exactly when your line will be fibre enabled or what its speeds will be, at this stage.

2) Fibre was due to be live in areas around Tramore March 2014 for several weeks. I'm not sure who is telling you otherwise or that the weather damaged equipment.

3) Problem with your line? Report it to your current provider. You are entitled to refunds if its not fixed within a certain period of time. Its up to your current provider to contact and raise the issue with eircom. You cannot deal with eircom. Comreg will confirm this is the case!

4) Happy to report that I am a UTV Customer in Tramore, no issues. Other people with Sky in different areas, no issues. So it isn't widespread anyway! We all use eircom lines and the same exchange.

Hope that helps!

1. I correct myself, 'up to 70Mb/s package' to which my line package is the 'up to 24Mb/s package' which has a max line speed of 12Mb/s at present.

2. I know the fibre is not due in Tramore until "February 2014" according to Eircom Wholesale and their local engineers, which was a revision from "December 2013" initial date.

3. Sully, I have reported the issue, several times at this rate now, Engineers have checked my line and equipment and confirmed there is not issue which any. I previously worked with Vodafone and know the process, hence to raise the issue I raised it with them first.

4. I have had it confirmed to my by multiple Eircom Technician's is the area that a network card in the exchange has damage and is causing the others to overworked at peak times which is leading to speed reductions and ping increases. This is not provider specific (but as a Vodafone customer I am obliged to complain to them/about them for Vodafone to get Eircom to repair the issue). I have several neighbours, friends and family in different areas of the town that have this issue and have had engineer visits citing no problems. Eircom Wholesale in Citywest need to sanction the repairs to faulty equipment and there is a fear amongst many that this delay may not be until the fibre service is installed in February!

zalifer · 26-11-2013 9:43pm

Just got connected today, after they put in my phoneline 2 weeks ago.

Speeds seemed a touch low, so I called them, and for some reason I had been limited to 8mb. I have the "Advanced Unlimited" package which is up to 24, but instead of our local max of 12, I got 8... They sorted that out, said it will be 12mb inside 24 hours.

And then I went to play some games this evening, and found the connection had hit 1.5mb, and was suffering from terrible pings.

I have to say this is not a good start to the relationship. From the look of it, they are hoping they can sneak by without fixing it until the fibre rollout. I'm going to be contacting them tomorrow, because this is certainly not the service I am supposed to be paying for.

Sully · 26-11-2013 10:42pm

gary_walsh17 wrote: »

1. I correct myself, 'up to 70Mb/s package' to which my line package is the 'up to 24Mb/s package' which has a max line speed of 12Mb/s at present.

I'm still lost. The max speed you can be advised on is up to 24 in NGB, and the average is below 12 where a speed test will give you a guide speed but still not exact, which is what the Tramore area is setup for. Who told you that Tramore or your line will be able to get up to 70?!

2. I know the fibre is not due in Tramore until "February 2014" according to Eircom Wholesale and their local engineers, which was a revision from "December 2013" initial date.

Date keeps changing, it was March a few months back. This is common in fibre areas, the dates are constantly changing. While it shows Tramore as being live for fibre then, not every area or every house will be ready in February.

3. Sully, I have reported the issue, several times at this rate now, Engineers have checked my line and equipment and confirmed there is not issue which any. I previously worked with Vodafone and know the process, hence to raise the issue I raised it with them first.

I assume you previously had higher speeds with Vodafone, and when the engineers said that the line was fine and they couldn't see any problem you raised it again through Vodafone that its not the case? What's the current situation - eircom ignoring Vodafone or eircom insisting all is okay?

One theory for you - there is talk that efibre installations have resulted in broadband speeds dropping. Not sure how true that is though.

4. I have had it confirmed to my by multiple Eircom Technician's is the area that a network card in the exchange has damage and is causing the others to overworked at peak times which is leading to speed reductions and ping increases. This is not provider specific (but as a Vodafone customer I am obliged to complain to them/about them for Vodafone to get Eircom to repair the issue). I have several neighbours, friends and family in different areas of the town that have this issue and have had engineer visits citing no problems. Eircom Wholesale in Citywest need to sanction the repairs to faulty equipment and there is a fear amongst many that this delay may not be until the fibre service is installed in February!

Don't mention it in your complaint to COMREG, because that's a breach of compliance. The engineers shouldn't have spoken with you. Nice guys and all, but its not supposed to be public information (assuming its true).

sparkling sea · 03-12-2013 12:07am

Just switch to Total Wireless Ltd - no landline needed - cheaper option IMO

Sully · 03-12-2013 12:11am

sparkling sea wrote: »

Just switch to Total Wireless Ltd - no landline needed - cheaper option IMO

Slower broadband and I doubt its that much of a saving?

Shy_Dave! · 03-12-2013 5:46pm

I, along with neighbours and friends in Tramore have had this issue since Halloween.
Finally got a call from Vodafone today, they will ring back tomorrow to preform tests.
As I said to them 'It is a wider problem than just my line'.

Edit* I'm assuming the whole issue is to do with Eircom upgrading in the area or as you say, damaged network equipment.

DaveC85 · 03-12-2013 9:56pm

I've had the same issue for several weeks now. I'm on the fabled "up to" 25 meg package. Line capped at 9meg for optimum performance. I switched from vodafone to eircom during the summer under the impression of "next gen uncongested" broadband.

Oh its uncongested during the day(I get 7.5 meg) but as soon as 6pm arrives I'm lucky to get 3meg till about 11 when it slowly picks up.

I was informed by one eircom engineer last week and one today that my lines are fine both internally and externally. The problem lies at the exchange with the network card. Being one short, the other cards are required to pick up the slack which causes the congestion.

Eircom on the whole couldn't care less. It's hard to keep calm when the person at the end of the phone is powerless to help resolve this.

I work during the day so I use the Internet at night. Forget xbox live unless your doctor has provided a lot of calming medication, you'll die!! Lots. Sky player reminds me of the nightmare that was dial up and if your lucky to still live in the 90's you won't be trying to run multiple devices like that lovely family in the eircom ad that you can't help but despise.

Meanwhile eircom hide behind those lovely 2 word's that boil my blood....."up to". I quite feel like paying "up to" the €40 promotional offer I was suckered into.

Keep an eye out on adverts gents, I might sell my xbox one, jebus knows I won't get on till feb 14 lol

gary_walsh17 · 03-12-2013 10:16pm

DaveC85 wrote: »

I've had the same issue for several weeks now. I'm on the fabled "up to" 25 meg package. Line capped at 9meg for optimum performance. I switched from vodafone to eircom during the summer under the impression of "next gen uncongested" broadband.

Oh its uncongested during the day(I get 7.5 meg) but as soon as 6pm arrives I'm lucky to get 3meg till about 11 when it slowly picks up.

I was informed by one eircom engineer last week and one today that my lines are fine both internally and externally. The problem lies at the exchange with the network card. Being one short, the other cards are required to pick up the slack which causes the congestion.

Eircom on the whole couldn't care less. It's hard to keep calm when the person at the end of the phone is powerless to help resolve this.

I work during the day so I use the Internet at night. Forget xbox live unless your doctor has provided a lot of calming medication, you'll die!! Lots. Sky player reminds me of the nightmare that was dial up and if your lucky to still live in the 90's you won't be trying to run multiple devices like that lovely family in the eircom ad that you can't help but despise.

Meanwhile eircom hide behind those lovely 2 word's that boil my blood....."up to". I quite feel like paying "up to" the €40 promotional offer I was suckered into.

Keep an eye out on adverts gents, I might sell my xbox one, jebus knows I won't get on till feb 14 lol

Have to say hearing that, it's depressing. The whole "up to xxxMb/s" is only meant to be there to cover what the line can actually handle based on your distance from an exchange (further away, lower potential maximum as a result of noise distortion), not that their network cards/hardware is incapable of handling the traffic. Most people are contented on their lines in carious ratios depending on the are but we do pay for "uncongested" braodband which even with contention, bandwidth should not be affected.

It is a sad state of affairs and when local engineers and call centre techs are powerless to help no mater what they do, it is just extremely frustrating. It is such a shame that UPC is not available for cable broadband in the area, an ability for Eircom to lose customers would definitely make them pick up the slack they think their customers will just deal with.

My wonderful up to 12Mb/s speed at present:

Sully · 03-12-2013 10:29pm

I assume its not a major problem because Vodafone, Sky etc. would have gone absolutely ape and went straight to Comreg. Which, should be an avenue for people if you are being told its a failing by eircom to fix an issue with their network. But your provider should be pushing for this also.

At least in the early new year we should all be offered speeds of up to 100mb. Any improvement is a welcomed improvement and Sky are apparently doing fibre in the new year also (so I was told by a rep).

gary_walsh17 · 03-12-2013 11:40pm

Sully wrote: »

I assume its not a major problem because Vodafone, Sky etc. would have gone absolutely ape and went straight to Comreg. Which, should be an avenue for people if you are being told its a failing by eircom to fix an issue with their network. But your provider should be pushing for this also.

At least in the early new year we should all be offered speeds of up to 100mb. Any improvement is a welcomed improvement and Sky are apparently doing fibre in the new year also (so I was told by a rep).

I suppose enough complaints would need to be put in by customers and so on before anything may be done... What should be done and what is done is often a far cry of a difference

Max speeds offered should be up to 70Mb/s no? That's the max Eircom & VF can offer on fibre lines at present as far as I can read from their websites. Sky will be a welcome price war addition but sure they still use Eircom lines, so as long as Eircom lines/exchanges have an issue, there will be an issue.

The sad part is that even after multiple complaints are made to a provider, if the phone service and broadband service still are "working" (but may not be optimal i.e. broadband speeds), then they are not obliged to offer a refund for a sub-optimal service...even which if they did, they would only offer the broadband component which is only valued at approx €8 per month depending on package sold.

I can't for sure know that I will be lucky to have this issue resolved before end Feb '14 :mad:

gary_walsh17 · 03-12-2013 11:44pm

And the latest result

:mad:

Sully · 03-12-2013 11:45pm

gary_walsh17 wrote: »

I suppose enough complaints would need to be put in by customers and so on before anything may be done... What should be done and what is done is often a far cry of a difference

Max speeds offered should be up to 70Mb/s no? That's the max Eircom & VF can offer on fibre lines at present as far as I can read from their websites. Sky will be a welcome price war addition but sure they still use Eircom lines, so as long as Eircom lines/exchanges have an issue, there will be an issue.

The sad part is that even after multiple complaints are made to a provider, if the phone service and broadband service still are "working" (but may not be optimal i.e. broadband speeds), then they are not obliged to offer a refund for a sub-optimal service...even which if they did, they would only offer the broadband component which is only valued at approx €8 per month depending on package sold.

I can't for sure know that I will be lucky to have this issue resolved before end Feb '14 :mad:

eircom announced over the weekend that speeds are being upgraded in the new year.

Voda already undercut eircom but there probably boxed into a corner now in fibre areas because now UPC, Sky & eircom offer TV & fibre broadband. Vodafone only do broadband and no TV. That might impact them.

gary_walsh17 · 03-12-2013 11:50pm

Sully wrote: »

eircom announced over the weekend that speeds are being upgraded in the new year.

Voda already undercut eircom but there probably boxed into a corner now in fibre areas because now UPC, Sky & eircom offer TV & fibre broadband. Vodafone only do broadband and no TV. That might impact them.

I look forward to the increased speeds, that is good news

, just hope the congestion & bandwidth issues are resolved beforehand

joe250 · 04-12-2013 11:04am

Very Same problem.Slow speeds the last 2-3 months.
I called eircom and was on the phone for over a hour.
At the end of the call I was told it was because the laptop was running Linux(LOL) but I told him i had a windows laptop to as speedtest was the same he had no excuse and said he would report the problem.
That was 1 month ago and still the same slow speeds.

sparkling sea · 04-12-2013 7:29pm

Sully wrote: »

Slower broadband and I doubt its that much of a saving?

I got rid of my landline and kept my my 051 with VOIP. I'm definitely seeing the savings and the broadband is fine for the likes of Netflix, etc.

Sully · 04-12-2013 9:06pm

I was with a local business today and their broadband cut out on them completely. Is this what people are experiencing? She said it was happening a while?

Shy_Dave! · 04-12-2013 10:53pm

For me and my neighbours it doesn't cut out but the ping response time doubles in the evening time, slowing everything down as you can image.

That being said it has been fine last two evening but I'm not holding my breath.

gary_walsh17 · 05-12-2013 11:59am

Sully wrote: »

I was with a local business today and their broadband cut out on them completely. Is this what people are experiencing? She said it was happening a while?

I've had drop outs a few times but mainly its the throttling of bandwidth and speeds during peak usage times is what has been a major issue

rasper · 12-12-2013 9:54pm

My exact issue has been going on for 6 months , phone and bb went down one evening last june , phone back up following day but bb 1-4 mb up and down , for last 8 eight years always had a consistent 7mb, twice eircom out twice they found faults, twice they said it fixed , bb still same , 3rd time out , they now saying its internal wiring and all just a coincidence ,
Dropping first chance I get

rasper · 12-12-2013 9:58pm

My exact issue has been going on for 6 months , phone and bb went down one evening last june , phone back up following day but bb 1-4 mb up and down , for last 8 eight years always had a consistent 7mb, twice eircom out twice they found faults, twice they said it fixed , bb still same , 3rd time out , they now saying its internal wiring and all just a coincidence ,
Dropping first chance I get

rasper · 13-12-2013 8:17am

Thanks for providing the comreg complaints link , as I thought this was a very localised issue not the exchange, have submitted my complaint to comreg and I urge everyone else to do the same , only takes 5 mins,
The regulators are the only ones that can get results , can only imagine the hundreds of people spending hours on the phone , unplugging rebooting before finally giving up as Eircom want you to so

DaveC85 · 13-12-2013 12:57pm

Did the same myself last week Rasper. I'll post up any findings from them when I know

Sully · 13-12-2013 1:27pm

I started to pay a bit of attention to my own speeds and there ranging from 2mb - 6mb. I'm fairly sure I had higher at one stage. Ill be keeping a log before making a complaint.

daaave · 13-12-2013 5:38pm

taken today @ 16.30. i'll post up results again in a couple of hours(varies between 1-4mb in the evenings)
unfortunately, it seems that congestion is the killer for me.
i'm with sky btw and I know there are a good few others with them in my estate.
its gone to the stage that I cant play online games while the kids are watching something on netflix.
when signing up to sky, was told there would be no issues with congestion and I should have stable speeds of up to 12mb

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3163244695

DaveC85 · 13-12-2013 6:26pm

Sadly it makes no difference which provider your with as all the lines are owned by eircom. Vodafone,sky,utv are all in the same boat.

I'm the same as well,i switched from vodafone to eircon on the 21st of sept under the guise of uncongested next gen broadband, got a couple of weeks of good broadband and then the **** hit the fan. Same deal in my house too,either i can play my xbox or my partner can use facebook,its one or the other and thats simply not good enough. Saved throughout the year for the xbox one and haven't enjoyed a nights gaming online since launch and no one in eircon could care less or even be truthful with the issue.

rasper · 14-12-2013 8:27pm

Im also with sky and in fairness to them, ive absolutly no doubts id be a lot more frustrated if it was someone else, couldnt fault them second to none, and an irish call centre too.
Rang them to let them know on comreg complaint afterwards and was against eircom , and the agent agreed best route
have used regulator's before and they really are only ones that eircom will listen too, so lads few mins , test your speed im supposedly on a 19mb package
and average about 3mb, if its crap pop in your complaint, we pay eircom through the nose to maintain those lines

Reduced Broadband Speeds in Tramore

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