Eircom NGB

Hank Scorpio · 28-01-2014 11:00pm #1

Hi lads,

I'd appreciate if this wasn't moved to the Eircom forum.

Alot of customers, myself included have been having huge slowdown at night on Eircom NGB and high latency, however is it advertised as uncongested.

From their website

"We say "up to" because the broadband speeds your line can receive may vary - this can depend on factors such as how far you are from your local exchange. With our uncongested Broadband you will not share your broadband connection with other internet users in your area - even at peak hours of the day! This ensures you will always receive the fastest speed your line can support and delivers a consistent online experience for you"

My local exchange is just down the road and during the day I get around 16Mb down I'm fine with that, I get good pings around 12ms to Irish servers as fastpath is enabled on my line. At night the speeds drop to 3 and under sometimes and the latency to Germany or anywhere centrally in Europe is 200+, and close to 100 for Irish servers.

I'm just looking for feedback from other NGB customers and maybe they could post their speedtests/pings during peak hours, around 8 or 9 O'clock.

Just looking for some advice, I'm at my wits end trying to get Eircom to sort this and I don't know what else to do.

_John C · 28-01-2014 11:49pm

Not from the times you asked for but they still show the problem.

Hank Scorpio · 28-01-2014 11:51pm

Have you tried getting them to sort it John? It seems like a nationwide problem but I can't say that for absolute sure. I'm based just outside Kilkenny

_John C · 28-01-2014 11:58pm

No. Waste of time Id imagine.:(

PauloMN · 29-01-2014 12:12pm

Lads I have the same issue here on Vodafone. Definite pattern to it, after 6pm weekdays and pretty much all weekend. Speed drop to 1/2Mb down, pings up. I'm on 24Mb package. The speeds are so bad in the evenings that I can't use YouTube or Sky Go etc..

I work from home during the day so I'm just glad this is not affecting my daytime speed or I'd be in trouble.

VF have just fobbed me off with excuses about my line, and they've reduced my max speed which hasn't done anything to improve the poor evening speeds, and has just reduced my daytime speeds.

Quite honestly it is a joke in 2014. We've more and more devices in the house connected to the net, yet our speeds are dropping. And before anyone asks, I've switched off Wifi and just used one cable connection to my PC for speed tests in the evening, they are still slow.

Seems to be affecting a lot of people on DSL, regardless of provider - hence I don't think switching would make any difference. No UPC here unfortunately.

When NGB first came out it was great. I was on 7Mb package and used to get slow evening speeds, NGB gave me solid speeds at all times - was a big difference when it came out. I'd say for the past 3 or 4 months though, the speeds have been crap in the evening. I've heard people talking about "backhaul", or rather not enough of it, which does makes sense I suppose as more areas become fibre enabled, more pressure is being put on the system and we're all suffering.

Are people on fibre also seeing these slow evening speeds, and to the same extent?

Mightycraic · 29-01-2014 5:27pm

This has been ongoing for months. Their website claims are blatantly dishonest and misleading. I have, today, contacted Comreg who, in turn, have suggested the Advertising Standards Agency. Comreg will be contacting Eircom on our behalf with the complaint. It will quite probably fall on deaf ears again.

It is clear that the Eircom NGB (marketing spin) is grossly oversubscribed. We are on an 'up to 24Mbps' copper connection and, due to the exchange distance, should be getting, and are configured for, 12Mbps. I cannot remember the last time we enjoyed that speed. Typically, during the day, we get between 5 and 10Mbps and from 5pm onwards, it can drop down below 1Mbps (last night - 550kbps). Traceroutes to both Irish and UK nodes frequently suffer packet loss.

Notwithstanding the technical performance issues, their customer communication ranks as the worst ever in my experience. Despite numerous promises with updates, I have received ONE call with no subsequent follow-up. They even closed my case without acknowledgement as to whether it had been resolved.

Hank Scorpio · 29-01-2014 5:38pm

Thanks for the replies, my problems started around September. Before efiber rolled out I couldn't fault the connection. It is a horrible way to run a business by signing up as many customers as possible without investing in their network to handle the traffic.

It would be great if people made a thread in the eircom talk to forum called Eircom Ngb and voiced their problems. We really need to make noise for this to be resolved.

jambofc · 29-01-2014 10:17pm

same for me,nightmare its that bad

http://www.boards.ie/ttfthread/2057043309/1

Hank Scorpio · 29-01-2014 10:37pm

What bugs me the most is they won't acknowledge the problem, It's like they're trained to fob people off. I sent an email to Michael Byrne head of their communication department earlier.

O'Prez · 29-01-2014 10:43pm

nuxxx wrote: »

What bugs me the most is they won't acknowledge the problem, It's like they're trained to fob people off. I sent an email to Michael Byrne head of their communication department earlier.

Yeah this constant "ring technical support" response is grating. It's going on with me since November. It's obvious there's a widespread problem so even acknowledgement of the fact would help at this stage. People on other ISPs are complaining too but don't realise it's not with their ISP the fault lays. It's with Eircom.

Hank Scorpio · 29-01-2014 10:59pm

The chap I spoke to yesterday told me to try googling ways to reduce my ping. I'm not trying be a smart arse but when that's the response I'm getting at the highest technical level I can phone it just irritates me even more.

O'Prez · 29-01-2014 11:10pm

nuxxx wrote: »

The chap I spoke to yesterday told me to try googling ways to reduce my ping. I'm not trying be a smart arse but when that's the response I'm getting at the highest technical level I can phone it just irritates me even more.

My response to reading that was a look of disbelief and a shake of me head. There are no words!

babybuilder · 29-01-2014 11:44pm

hi
Was on a 3 Mbps package and was regularly getting 2.44 Mbps actual speeds with low pings. Recently these speeds have been dropping with intermittant drops so I opted for a 7 Mbps deal instead (despite the line having a max speed of 5 Mbps). Since been connected to this "faster" broadband I am struggling to get 0.9 Mbps with frequent DSL drops. This morning at 8am did a speed test and got a steady 4.3 Mbps. dont use broadband during the day unfortunately.

Contacted an agent who went through the usual "make sure all devices are disconnected and lan cable connected to router" etc. No change and tearing my hair out.

Hank Scorpio · 29-01-2014 11:51pm

You on NGB babybuilder? It's advertised as uncongested but standard DSL from Eircom isn't. Sorry to hear about your problems

babybuilder · 29-01-2014 11:57pm

Is is advertised as "up to 24 Mbps" in my area. Im about 4 km from the local sub exchange. Is there any map or way of checking if its NGB? It is linsfort outside Buncrana up here in donegal. Lovely area but one of the down sides of building in the sticks.

Barry5714 · 30-01-2014 12:17am

With Sky myself had the same problem early 2013 promised 6MB 2km from exchange but everyday 6pm - 12am it slowed to a crawl 1MB really high ping as well..

This went on for probably 4 or 5 months now getting what i was promised 24/7

Hank Scorpio · 30-01-2014 1:46am

Barry5714 wrote: »

With Sky myself had the same problem early 2013 promised 6MB 2km from exchange but everyday 6pm - 12am it slowed to a crawl 1MB really high ping as well..

This went on for probably 4 or 5 months now getting what i was promised 24/7

Really tempted to change but afraid I`ll be locked into another contract with unusable broadband

Barry5714 · 30-01-2014 3:00am

If your having slow evening speeds at the moment i don't think changing provider will help id say its an exchange problem and the volume of traffic its able to handle so eircom slow everyone down (Vodafone, Sky, even there own customers)

Not sure what fixed my connection maybe if they get enough complaints from a certain area they'll be forced to locate and fix the problem..

Hank Scorpio · 30-01-2014 3:37am

It isn't an exchange problem, for me at least and others I've spoke to. Up to 24 is NGB babybuilder

Commander Shepard · 30-01-2014 5:32pm

We had the same kinda problem ie the speeds in the evening being a lot slower than during the day we switched to sky because we heard it was uncontested since the switch we have seen a great improvement now the sky is the same speed throughout the day

Mightycraic · 30-01-2014 5:50pm

Despite the promise of a 'return call within 24 hours' by the Eircom text service, needless to say, no call came.

As it stands today, I have submitted complaints to both Comreg and the Advertising Standards Agency in a bid to stop Eircom conning potential customers into believing that there is no severe evening latency on their NGB network.

A call to their broadband support staff last night (the IVR suggests less than a two minute wait....35 minutes later I get through) and it's still 'with the engineers'.

Next stop, Small Claims Court to get a refund for the past 4 months broadband fees.

KIERAN1 · 30-01-2014 6:24pm

I went through this about two years ago and its amazing it raring its ugly head again. It lasted about six months for me. Eircom had so many complaints about it, they eventually fixed something in the main exchange and not my local one, but it got fixed. Can't say i have had any problems since.

I have 7 meg profile (local exchange ASDL1) get around 6.2 to 6.3 download 324kb upload which is the set upload can't go anymore.

Eircom has to be more careful and not annoy customers nowadays. ESB broadband is on its way and last thing Eircom should be doing is annoying customers.

You pay for a service it should be 90 to 99% perfect, with allowances though given for faults that are out of their control.

Mightycraic · 30-01-2014 6:33pm

I agree, however, this isn't a fault...it's a capacity/oversubscription issue. Having polled other users of non-Eircom customers on the Eircom infrastructure i.e. UTV Internet, Vodafone etc that are having exactly the same issues.

It wouldn't be nearly so bad if they honoured their promises regarding callbacks. I have been promised callbacks from their text service 'within 24 hours' on 4 or 5 occasions but it never comes.

Hank Scorpio · 30-01-2014 6:37pm

I got in contact Michael Byrne, waiting for a call back from one of the heads in the broadband technical department

Mightycraic · 30-01-2014 6:40pm

Congratulations. Please provide an update here.

Thanks.

Hank Scorpio · 30-01-2014 6:41pm

Mightycraic wrote: »

Congratulations. Please provide an update here.

Thanks.

Will do, hes going to call in 20 minutes

O'Prez · 30-01-2014 6:41pm

nuxxx wrote: »

Will do, hes going to call in 20 minutes

Good man yerself nuxxx.

Hank Scorpio · 30-01-2014 7:13pm

He called, I highlighted it wasn't only me, but many NGB customers around the country experiencing problems during peak hours on NGB broadband. He said a fault was showing on my line ( there was an engineer here on Tuesday already ) but he also said hes going to talk to the guys who work on the main network and get back to me tomorrow. He clarified there should be zero congestion/contention on NGB. I told him what's wrote on the Eircom website regarding NGB and uncongested. I got his name + number too.

Waiting for a call back tomorrow with baited breath.

vishal · 30-01-2014 8:35pm

Mightycraic wrote: »

Despite the promise of a 'return call within 24 hours' by the Eircom text service, needless to say, no call came.

As it stands today, I have submitted complaints to both Comreg and the Advertising Standards Agency in a bid to stop Eircom conning potential customers into believing that there is no severe evening latency on their NGB network.

A call to their broadband support staff last night (the IVR suggests less than a two minute wait....35 minutes later I get through) and it's still 'with the engineers'.

Next stop, Small Claims Court to get a refund for the past 4 months broadband fees.

Could you give me details of who to send complaints to also?

Mightycraic · 31-01-2014 3:09pm

vishal wrote: »

Could you give me details of who to send complaints to also?

Email consumerline@comreg.ie for Comreg

http://www.asai.ie/complain.asp?regular=true for the Advertising Standards Agency regarding their service level promises.

You should also lodge a formal complaint via Eircom's internal system.

Mightycraic · 31-01-2014 5:34pm

This is what an 'uncongested' next generation broadband connection (supposedly 12Mbps) looked like between 15:00hrs and 23:00hrs on Tuesday 28th January 2014. Minimum figure of 553kbps.

Mightycraic · 31-01-2014 7:30pm

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse... 135kbps at 17:30hrs today

ED E · 31-01-2014 9:29pm

What exchange are you on?

Mightycraic · 31-01-2014 10:00pm

ED E wrote: »

What exchange are you on?

Trim, Co.Meath. According to broadband support this evening, it is due for immediate upgrade.

PauloMN · 01-02-2014 1:05pm

Mightycraic wrote: »

Trim, Co.Meath. According to broadband support this evening, it is due for immediate upgrade.

Same exchange as myself MightyCraic. Been poor in the evenings for months now. Fibre cabinet was installed across the road from me about 6 weeks ago now so hopefully we get our upgrade soon.

vishal · 01-02-2014 8:44pm

It's been bad for me since September last year. I figured when efibre came along it would be ok but now that I'm reading people on boards with efibre are having speed drops I'm pissed. There's no hope to it being fixed.

Mightycraic · 01-02-2014 9:17pm

That's it, I'm moving to Tralee. 4G 43Mbps d/l and 13Mbps u/l

Sheldons Brain · 01-02-2014 9:45pm

Mightycraic wrote: »

That's it, I'm moving to Tralee. 4G 43Mbps d/l and 13Mbps u/l

This is while nobody gets to use it, otherwise it will end up worse than Eircom.

MichealKenny · 02-02-2014 6:27pm

Yep this is really annoying, speedtest results for the past month on my 7mbps connection:

What I would usually get before this.

Hank Scorpio · 02-02-2014 9:50pm

Going to give them 1 more week to sort this, sorry to here about your problems Micheal. Next bill is due in 8 days, not a hope I'm paying it.

Mightycraic · 03-02-2014 7:21pm

I was told by their broadband support team that I would be refunded for payments made during these performance issues. I guess that saves me visiting the Small Claims Court. I have received confirmation from Eircom's complains department following my complaint to Comreg and the AAIA have written to me confirming that they will be investigating Eircom's claims of a consistent service, at the line maximum. They made the same claim in yesterday's Sunday Independent "Wise up on your broadband speeds or you'll pay the cost".

In the past 4 weeks, I have received 5 text messages requesting that I text UNRESOLVED to 50120 if issue is ongoing and they would contact me within 24 hours. I have received NO return calls. I sent an email to Eircom's Director of Customer Services, Michael Byrne, inviting him to call me to discuss the issues. Despite reading the email, he chose to ignore the request. That sums up Eircom's 'customer service' - appalling.

Hank Scorpio · 03-02-2014 7:26pm

Engineer was supposed to call out here this morning, never showed up. Rang up the complaints department today

Mightycraic · 03-02-2014 7:59pm

It appears that Eircom have gone into self-destruct mode. Page 1 of the Customer Service for Dummies book...don't deliberately piss off the customer and then ignore them.

vishal · 03-02-2014 9:41pm

I think we'll have to wait till esb comes a long. Then it'll be goodbye eircom

PauloMN · 03-02-2014 10:01pm

Onto VF right at this moment about the evening/weekend poor speeds issue. Heard all the excuses, and some new ones. Already been through the "it could be a line fault", "it's a wifi issue", and the best one yet "it could be a security issue on the modem".

At my wits fcuking end.

The final answer was to send out an engineer. €120 for the first half hour, and €50 per half hour after that. The fact that my daytime speeds are fine doesn't seem to enter the equation.

I asked the guy what if I spent all that money and the problem still remained, would I still have to pay? He said no, but I reckon I'd have a fight on my hands.

Hank Scorpio · 03-02-2014 10:33pm

Mine is terrible again tonight, but I'm not surprised. 90ms to eircom.net on their own network, 200+ to any server in mainland Europe. Over 100 to the uk. How can they advertise uncongested broadband and get away with it?

During the day I get 16Mb down no problem and pings are fine

O'Prez · 03-02-2014 11:02pm

I rang Sky earlier just to let them know that Eircom are acting the bollix with speeds and he said they had been inundated with similar calls. Most of them were blaming Sky of course but we all know the blame lies with Eircom.

jambofc · 04-02-2014 9:08pm

Mightycraic wrote: »

Trim, Co.Meath. According to broadband support this evening, it is due for immediate upgrade.

PauloMN wrote: »

Same exchange as myself MightyCraic. Been poor in the evenings for months now. Fibre cabinet was installed across the road from me about 6 weeks ago now so hopefully we get our upgrade soon.

same here im in Trim also fighting months with them now.

http://www.boards.ie/ttfthread/2057043309

Mightycraic · 04-02-2014 9:54pm

I finally received a phone call from an Eircom manager this morning who dispatched an engineer to the Trim exchange. After an hour's outage earlier, my evening performance figures are much better than normally experienced at this time, but still quite short of the line capacity. I was getting 1-2Mbps before this evening but getting 7-8Mbps now (should be 12).

Hank Scorpio · 04-02-2014 9:57pm

And latency? Mine is still crocked

vishal · 04-02-2014 10:14pm

I'd be surprised if it lasts at 7-8mb. People just probably haven't been using due to the outage

Eircom NGB

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