SIRO - ESB/Vodafone Fibre To The Home

ED E · 04-10-2016 1:11pm

Where are you getting GFast from BK? It was in the test bed and then the test village in Mayo then zilch. Everything I've seen is pointing to 100% GPON.

The vast majority of cabs feed too large a radius for GFAST.

irishgeo · 04-10-2016 7:06pm

Finally a Castlebar launch.

captain_boycott · 04-10-2016 8:45pm

irishgeo wrote: »

Finally a Castlebar launch.

will believe it when I see it! Any info on what areas/estates will get it?

Gonzo · 04-10-2016 11:02pm

ED E wrote: »

Where are you getting GFast from BK? It was in the test bed and then the test village in Mayo then zilch. Everything I've seen is pointing to 100% GPON.

The vast majority of cabs feed too large a radius for GFAST.

Im guessing if GFAST was to be successfully deployed many more cabs would need to be deployed as GFAST is far more distance sensitive than the already distance sensitive FTTC, it only gives worthwhile benefit up to 600 meters?

I reckon Eir will do GFAST but only those within 600 meters from the cab will benefit and those between 1km-2km will stay with what they have untill FTTH is rolled out. Eir would have to double the concentration of cabs for GFAST to be properly deployed across all urban areas.

ED E · 04-10-2016 11:56pm

Why do you reckon though?

OpenEir copy OpenReach - Openreach have no significant deployment of it yet
No new cabs(new location) are coming, the whole point of the FTTC system is to use the existing CCP
Adding GFAST cards to a FTTC cab would mean "wasting" the expensive VDSL2 LTs theyve only just purchased
GFast will be wide spectrum noise in a cab thats already trying to mitigate FEXT

trompele · 05-10-2016 7:31am

redfacedbear wrote: »

Here in Wexford they are working on areas that already have Eir ftth (Heathfield & Bloomfield in Clonard).

I thought they were picking easy to do areas (relatively modern estates with proper ducting) but I also notice they seem to be ready to go on pole-mounted fibre in Carcur (an older part of town).

I saw them also running fibre along main street and yesterday they were around old cinema.

irishgeo · 05-10-2016 8:10am

captain_boycott wrote: »

will believe it when I see it! Any info on what areas/estates will get it?

Time to tweet siro and find out.

irishgeo · 05-10-2016 2:23pm

irishgeo wrote: »

Time to tweet siro and find out.

my address appears in the address checker and in the grey area.

captain_boycott · 05-10-2016 3:07pm

irishgeo wrote: »

my address appears in the address checker and in the grey area.

me too! But still going to remain skeptical that this has as much chance of happening in the next 12 months as Mayo have of ever winning SAM!

Mickeroo · 05-10-2016 4:40pm

irishgeo wrote: »

my address appears in the address checker and in the grey area.

Where can you check this?

bk · 05-10-2016 5:38pm

ED E wrote: »

Why do you reckon though?
OpenEir copy OpenReach - Openreach have no significant deployment of it yet

The reason I think Eir will do G.FAST, is because it seems BT/Openreach are going full steam ahead with G.FAST. It seems their trials were very successful and they are now moving onto large scale trial/initial phase deployment:

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2016/06/bt-openreach-reveals-g-fast-broadband-cabinet-extension-pod.html

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2016/09/bt-reveal-massive-uk-g-fast-pilot-lr-vdsl-broadband-trial-areas.html

I agree with what Gonzo said. They won't install new cabs for this, just bang extensions on existing cabs and offer 300Mb/s out to 500 meters. People beyond that will just continue on VDSL, similar to how those beyond 2000 meters stayed on ADSL.

The benefit for them is that if it is cheap enough to do, it gives 50% or so of their urban customers a nice bump up to "good enough" 300Mb/s, thus giving them breathing space to continue with the FTTH rollout in rural areas, before switching to urban areas and the people who are more then 500 meters from a cab.

A G.Fast rollout would likely be much faster and cheaper then the FTTC rollout, never mind vastly more expensive FTTH. No new fibre is needed, no new ducts, no new cabs, no new electrical works. Just reuse the existing FTTC fibre/ducts/cabs/electrical and bang a G.Fast extension on the existing FTTC cabs.

Seems like a really cheap and easy, stop gap solution.

BTW The CEO of Eir has previously said they are looking at both G.Fast and VDSL2 Long Reach.

Gonzo · 05-10-2016 5:55pm

G Fast seems to be well in use in Spain, Movistar are offering 12 months of 300/30 for only 26.90 per month, normally 41 per month.
http://www.movistar.es/particulares/internet/adsl-fibra-optica/fibra-optica-100mb

I wonder how soon will Eir start to roll this out to urban cabinets.

Johnboy1951 · 05-10-2016 5:59pm

Gonzo wrote: »

G Fast seems to be well in use in Spain, Movistar are offering 12 months of 300/30 for only 26.90 per month, normally 41 per month.
http://www.movistar.es/particulares/internet/adsl-fibra-optica/fibra-optica-100mb

I wonder how soon will Eir start to roll this out to urban cabinets.

EDIT:

The kicker is in the details as usual!

Google translate:

Promotion for new high 300Mb Fiber (subject to coverage) that are contracted through this channel online. Touted Price: 26.9 € / month for 12 months (not including line fee € 17.40 / month) employable until 31.10.2016 . After the promotion will pass automatically billed to your PVP off promotion: 41 € / month (not including line fee € 17.40 / month). It includes 500 minutes / month to domestic mobile on Saturdays and Sundays and 50 minutes / month from Monday to Sunday. (Offer not valid for migration from copper to fiber). The installation fee is € 157.3, which is free with the commitment to maintain the optical fiber 12 months (early departure penalty proportional to the time failed to comply with a maximum amount equal to the subsidized quota). Fiber Service symmetric (300 Mb 300 Mb download and upload), optional contract for the Customer, has a quota of 5 € / month. All prices include VAT (Peninsula and Balearic applies VAT 21%, 10% IPSI Ceuta, Melilla IPSI 4% and 7% IGIC Canary Islands). Terms of Service available in www.movistar.es.

Kristopherus · 05-10-2016 7:37pm

irishgeo wrote: »

my address appears in the address checker and in the grey area.

So does mine. But we had Eir in the area pulling cables in the last 2 weeks. 2 vans were outside my gaff today for a couple of hours, but no sign of Eir personnel:).

Kristopherus · 05-10-2016 7:40pm

Mickeroo wrote: »

Where can you check this?

http://siro.ie/roll-out/.

Type your address on the line at the top LH corner of the page.

Mgit · 11-10-2016 8:58pm

Anyone else with Siro and the Vodafone tv service having issues with the hg659 modems needing a reboot once in a while to kick them back to life? See the text below that I just posted on the vodafone thread.

***********************************************
Just to make you aware there is some frustrating shortcomings in siro / lightspeed techsupport call centre and TV service.

Initially when I signed up to the service and called the helpline with some queries last April I found the agent extremely knowledgeable and answered all my queries.

My recent experience regarding my current issue has been very poor. There seems to be a hardware fault with my current modem because every once in a while the modem goes offline. This has happened twice in the one week on some occasions, and gone for a month or 6 weeks without issue on other times. When the broadband goes offline the hg659 modem does not broadcast a wifi signal, the tv service doesn't work and gets stuck at a Vodafone loading screen, recording's are missed, if I plug a laptop into the modem it cannot get an ip address or connect to the Web interface on modem.
Once I pull power from modem and restart all is fine again for a period.
If the modem is powered up with no wired connection to anything including wan then it will broadcast a WiFi signal, and a plugged in laptop will get an ip address and be able to connect to the modem Web interface. As I can't do any of these when the service is down I know it's a problem with the modem. If some of your proper technical staff read this I'm sure they will agree but it's frustrating trying to explain this to you call centre agents and getting told there is no issue. They keep referring to the ont but this has nothing to do with my modems ability to broadcast a WiFi signal etc as mentioned above.

I have called a month ago about this issue, and again tonight and have been fobbed off both times and have been told they can see no issues. They said the modem restarted at 12:27 today but apart from that there was no issues. That was me power cycling the modem because it went dead sometime between me going to work at 9am and coming home at lunch.
Regardless what was happening with the line into my house the modem should be broadcasting a WiFi signal but your call centre techs won't accept there is a problem with the modem. He said as it hasn't happened for a month it doesn't warrant any action and to call back again while the problem is occurring rather than power cycle the modem. Im sorry but I don't think it's acceptable that I pay €85 a month for a service that keeps going down even if it is only once a month especially when it affects my TV service. If this issue occurs when tech support is closed than it could take a couple of months to finally catch the issue happening while support is open. If I hadn't a TV service than it wouldn't be such a frustrating issue, as currently if I'm away for the weekend and it goes down then I won't be here to power cycle modem and can miss a weekend of recordings.

Over the last few months I have also had problems with the length of time it takes programs to appear on the rewind service. Some nights the 9pm news could be available to view on catchup at 10.30pm, and other nights it's still not available at 1am the following morning. Even the 6pm news is not available sometimes at 1am the following morning. I rang tech support to ask how soon after a live program catchup becomes available and the agent told me he didn't know because he didn't have the Vodafone TV in his own house. I complained after he said this and he put me on hold, and then came back and said that the catchup service was provided by a third party and that Vodafone had no control over it.

I've also had problems with 1hr programs that only record for 30mins, sometimes the start of the program is missing, other times the ends. Support asked me take note of some example dates and times of these occurrences which I've yet to start doing that. Based on my recent experience's with supports interest resolving problems it's hard to be motivated to take the time to do this.

Asides from these complaints I find the speeds excellent and can't fault the broadband when it's working. The TV service is also very good too when it works. If the problems continue with the intermittent connection drop's when my modem crashes and missed recording issues I will end being left with no choice and cancelling the TV service and going back to sky, leaving just bb with vodafone.

ctlsleh · 11-10-2016 11:33pm

ED E wrote: »

Why do you reckon though?
OpenEir copy OpenReach - Openreach have no significant deployment of it yet

No new cabs(new location) are coming, the whole point of the FTTC system is to use the existing CCP

Adding GFAST cards to a FTTC cab would mean "wasting" the expensive VDSL2 LTs theyve only just purchased

GFast will be wide spectrum noise in a cab thats already trying to mitigate FEXT

I think you are spot on here.......The only reason to do it is to ward off competition by delivering a 300M service before Siro gets there and thereby keep them at bay as majority of subs will not know the difference between a 300Mb service over copper vs the same over fiber.
You would only be able to serve the customers in a 300M radius which may not be a lot depending on the density of the area, so if you're Eir, then it would be a defensive strategy only while you plough ahead with your FTTH strategy.

12-10-2016 12:21am

Mgit wrote: »

Anyone else with Siro and the Vodafone tv service having issues with the hg659 modems needing a reboot once in a while to kick them back to life?

No problems here thankfully.

ED E · 12-10-2016 12:35am

Mgit wrote: »

Anyone else with Siro and the Vodafone tv service having issues with the hg659 modems

Wait. They've finally caught up with Eir and bought better CPE? Supposed lightspeed forced their hand there.

captain_boycott · 12-10-2016 11:41am

any updates from Castlebar anyone?

If they are planning to be up and running in the town before year end, I would have expected to see a lot more ESB activity around the town, laying fibre, installing gear on poles, etc.. Not seen sight of any ESB Vans out the Moneen rd. side so far.

urgash · 12-10-2016 12:22pm

ESB have not much to do really, contractors from Siro doing some works at the beginning, in my case it was Gealtec. ESB did some few days work after 2-3 weeks since when i seen Gealtec on my estate and around Skibbereen town.

captain_boycott · 12-10-2016 12:32pm

don't they need to dig up the paths to run the fibre?

In the past year, we had contractors dig up all over the place to install fibre. In that case it was E-Net for business users. I assumed ESB/Siro will now need to do similar and run their Fibre out to the estates?

irishgeo · 12-10-2016 12:42pm

captain_boycott wrote: »

don't they need to dig up the paths to run the fibre?

In the past year, we had contractors dig up all over the place to install fibre. In that case it was E-Net for business users. I assumed ESB/Siro will now need to do similar and run their Fibre out to the estates?

nope they are going to push it through the existing ESB ducts.

Anyone else in castlebar see green stickers on the esb boxes?

urgash · 12-10-2016 7:33pm

Westnet announced as third retail partner

We are delighted to announce that Westnet has become our third retail partner.

An Taoiseach Enda Kenny announced that construction of our network is underway in Castlebar and services will become available from retail partners in December. Mayo based broadband provider, Westnet, was unveiled as our third retail partner at our town hall in Castlebar in association with Mayo County Council.

There you go, nice present for christmas in Castlebar.

Nothing about Skibbereen

oscarBravo · 12-10-2016 8:33pm

captain_boycott wrote: »

don't they need to dig up the paths to run the fibre?

In the past year, we had contractors dig up all over the place to install fibre. In that case it was E-Net for business users. I assumed ESB/Siro will now need to do similar and run their Fibre out to the estates?

Enet installed all new ducting for their network, which required digging up some streets and footpaths. There will be a certain amount of civils required to install new chambers near existing ESB street cabs for Siro, but for the most part they can use existing underground and overhead infrastructure, so the disruption will be significantly less.

Kristopherus · 12-10-2016 11:38pm

captain_boycott wrote: »

any updates from Castlebar anyone?

If they are planning to be up and running in the town before year end, I would have expected to see a lot more ESB activity around the town, laying fibre, installing gear on poles, etc.. Not seen sight of any ESB Vans out the Moneen rd. side so far.

Well, last week I saw 2 X Eir vans and 1 X Siro van touring around the town. They seemed to be doing a visual survey, they were going so slowly. Got a big email today from Siro telling me it will be available via their retail partners in December.

irishgeo · 13-10-2016 8:00am

Kristopherus wrote: »

Well, last week I saw 2 X Eir vans and 1 X Siro van touring around the town. They seemed to be doing a visual survey, they were going so slowly. Got a big email today from Siro telling me it will be available via their retail partners in December.

December would be great. Seems fairly quick considering other towns and the issues they had with delays. But maybe they are learning their lesson and not announcing too early and doing a lot of work in the background.

After the recent simply broadband price rise. I'll be saving money by switching to this.

godskitchen · 13-10-2016 2:49pm

Is it just me or is the map Siro are using the worst map ever?

Da Bounca · 13-10-2016 3:46pm

godskitchen wrote: »

Is it just me or is the map Siro are using the worst map ever?

It's not just you. It's awful.

Nollog · 14-10-2016 1:57am

Last week I saw a lot of Esb vans down a lane in letterkenny. they're getting closer to me. they were there for a good 3 days at least.

Manc Red · 14-10-2016 5:28pm

I'm in Letterkenny. Just got a letter from the ESB saying our electricity might be off next week for a few hours as they install fibre.

When they install fibre in an area, do they pump fibre to all homes or is this done only when you order it?

oscarBravo · 14-10-2016 5:36pm

Manc Red wrote: »

When they install fibre in an area, do they pump fibre to all homes or is this done only when you order it?

When you order it. The initial build brings fibre to the chamber near your home, and ordering a service from one of the retail operators triggers the installation of the last bit of fibre to the home.

Gonzo · 14-10-2016 5:37pm

Fiber FTTH is something you have to order yourself no matter what service provider is providing it. Work is required to get it into your home, new wiring and new modem.

Nollog · 14-10-2016 6:26pm

Manc Red wrote: »

I'm in Letterkenny. Just got a letter from the ESB saying our electricity might be off next week for a few hours as they install fibre.

When they install fibre in an area, do they pump fibre to all homes or is this done only when you order it?

Where aboots?

jimmad · 14-10-2016 9:49pm

They installed the fibre to the poles serving my house here weeks ago out the ramelton Road, still cannot order it on there system, I wouldn't hold your breath..

urgash · 14-10-2016 11:15pm

Digiweb accepting pre-orders in these towns:

Dundalk, Louth.
Letterkenny, Donegal.
Drogheda, Louth.

I can't post the link, i'm too newbie sorry.

Nollog · 15-10-2016 12:12am

jimmad wrote: »

They installed the fibre to the poles serving my house here weeks ago out the ramelton Road, still cannot order it on there system, I wouldn't hold your breath..

Yeah it's slow going. I'm not wired up yet I think. BEEN no power cuts and no loud digging.

Chimichangas · 15-10-2016 9:43pm

Coming up to 4 months on Siro, wouldnt be far off it anyway. Broadband works great.
But VF are BEYOND clueless on the phoneline/VOIP.

Last they told me over 2 months ago was that they were working on fixing this issue. "Its an unusual one that hasnt happened before." A special elite group of 9-5 tech troubleshooters are working on it...Can never get talking to them.

Should I contact VF to get an update I asked...No they said. The elite tech team will let me know when it is fixed... :rolleyes:

Now I was never filled with confidence on that fob off but you kinda hope that eventually they will contact you...:o:(

Yeah, Im kinda fed up getting the same bs speel.

Would i recommend VF??:eek:

Tigerandahalf · 15-10-2016 9:53pm

Chimichangas wrote: »

Coming up to 4 months on Siro, wouldnt be far off it anyway. Broadband works great.
But VF are BEYOND clueless on the phoneline/VOIP.

Last they told me over 2 months ago was that they were working on fixing this issue. "Its an unusual one that hasnt happened before." A special elite group of 9-5 tech troubleshooters are working on it...Can never get talking to them.

Should I contact VF to get an update I asked...No they said. The elite tech team will let me know when it is fixed... :rolleyes:

Now I was never filled with confidence on that fob off but you kinda hope that eventually they will contact you...:o:(

Yeah, Im kinda fed up getting the same bs speel.

Would i recommend VF??:eek:

What are you paying per month and what speed are you getting.

Chimichangas · 15-10-2016 11:01pm

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

What are you paying per month and what speed are you getting.

45euro pm, for 150mb dl. Havent done a speed test in a while, but depending on laptop between 50mb and 130 i think.

pm. · 16-10-2016 7:26pm

Seen the attached in the estate today they have been here for the last 2 weeks. Anyone know if this is very early days? Living in Mullingar but when I look at the interactive map it says unavailable

godskitchen · 17-10-2016 3:11pm

ESB are in the Castlebar brefey road industrial estate today, they are moving between the small road side pillar boxes. Seem to be checking them.....

irishgeo · 18-10-2016 9:26am

Whats has siro broadband allowed you to do, you couldnt do before.

bk · 18-10-2016 9:48am

irishgeo wrote: »

Whats has siro broadband allowed you to do, you couldnt do before.

That depends completely on what you had before getting FTTH.

If you previously had less then a 5mb/s, as would be pretty normal for many if not most people in rural Ireland. Suddenly you will easily be able to do youtube, netflix and other video streaming services in HD and even UHD 4k.

It also makes any cloud service much easier and faster to use. Full backups of your laptops, etc. Full backups of all your pictures and videos to services like Google Photos, Flickr, etc.

It should also allow for much greater reliability of service.

urgash · 18-10-2016 10:36am

It will allow to use actually internet at any times when others using it at home! this is the most important matter for myself, 12MB ADSL and if my wife is on FB or YT I cant do much, high latency etc. Not to mention about poor skype quality.

For people who downloading a lot of movies, games etc, believe it or not it will save few quid on electricity bills, no need to leave PC on for the day or night to download files!

AlmightyCushion · 18-10-2016 11:31am

urgash wrote: »

It will allow to use actually internet at any times when others using it at home! this is the most important matter for myself, 12MB ADSL and if my wife is on FB or YT I cant do much, high latency etc. Not to mention about poor skype quality.

For people who downloading a lot of movies, games etc, believe it or not it will save few quid on electricity bills, no need to leave PC on for the day or night to download files!

Game downloads would definitely be a big one. They're huge now, some are over 70GBs. Downloading that on a <5Mbps connection would take days.

urgash · 20-10-2016 11:46am

Exactly, like me tonight - BF1 40GB+ to download over the night. Hopefully it's gonna be ready for next evening.

jca · 20-10-2016 12:35pm

urgash wrote: »

Exactly, like me tonight - BF1 40GB+ to download over the night. Hopefully it's gonna be ready for next evening.

Between 20 and 30 mins with my VM.

rob808 · 20-10-2016 1:43pm

urgash wrote: »

Exactly, like me tonight - BF1 40GB+ to download over the night. Hopefully it's gonna be ready for next evening.

cod infinite warfare 130GB gona take me days with my 4mb.

AlmightyCushion · 20-10-2016 9:43pm

rob808 wrote: »

cod infinite warfare 130GB gona take me days with my 4mb.

By the time you finish downloading it you'll probably have to delete it to make room for Infinite Warfare 2 to install.

SIRO - ESB/Vodafone Fibre To The Home

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