ESB to create new fibre powered ISP

back before the days of DSL when ISDN was classed as "superfast broadband", I heard tell in the UK that there was a new fancy way of sending data along electricity lines and that it would revolutionise the way we all got internet access as the electricity companies could provide broadband over their existing powerline infrastructure.

unfortunately nothing ever came of it, but i do believe that was the core birth of the homeplug networking market and i do sometimes wonder what happened to the technology to basically turn all of the existing power line infrastructure into a giant nationwide homeplug network.

i wonder why it never came to fruition in the end?

ClonNGB wrote: »

I seem to remember the transformer things screwed up the signal. Anyway I think the fibre runnig alongside the electric cables is the way to go. Must be as future proof as you can make it. Also has the added benefit of stopping the copper theives!

i'm sure there's a good sideline to be had in 2nd hand fibre as well as copper.

All sounds great....but wouldn't the fibre be very exposed?

As a transmission network wrapped on heavy hi tension cables, up on sturdy steel pylons it's fine, but what about when it drops down to local level strung along between poles?

What happens when we get a bit of a storm with poles and lines down all over the place?

Davy wrote: »

The odds of taking down the certain amount of poles the fibre will be on would be slim, we don't have storms that often that would take poles down

You don't live in the sticks then....:P
http://www.thejournal.ie/tornado-clonfert-1111719-Oct2013/

That's an extreme one but during winter all it takes is a bit of wind to take a tree down and the neighbouring lines and poles. Happens all the time.
Even some tool going home from the pub with a skinfull and takes out a couple of poles.

Davy wrote: »

If you can find out how many poles had to be replaced for that 'twister' you can prove me wrong, not till then :P

56.....:pac:

Ah not a clue really but even downed wires, particularly fibre, would be a headache.

I guess it's too early to ask but would the fibre just go to various exchanges and then copper to the house? Or can they connect straight to each building?

Has fibre strung up on poles been deployed anywhere else? What did BT do in the North? I assume there is very similar settlement patterns up there?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if poles are knocked down in a storm, then the electricity would also be knocked out and you won't be able to access the Internet anyway. When they fix the electricity, they also fix the Internet and you get them both back at the same time. No?

Raoul Duke wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if poles are knocked down in a storm, then the electricity would also be knocked out and you won't be able to access the Internet anyway. When they fix the electricity, they also fix the Internet and you get them both back at the same time. No?

:P
Well that's a given. My point is the repair and restoration time.
It's a lot handier repair downed powerlines on their own but dealing with fibre as well would take longer. The ESB can often restore power in a couple of hours but it could possibly take a couple of days to restore fibre, especially in rural remote poorly accessible areas where this technology would be targeted.

bk wrote:

A storm might take down some poles, which might knock out the fibre for a few days to a particular area, but it could be relatively easily repaired.

Doesn't sound too bad but we have people on here crying if their internet is down for a couple of hours.:D

Raoul Duke wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if poles are knocked down in a storm, then the electricity would also be knocked out and you won't be able to access the Internet anyway.

You would if your lappy had a 12 cell battery

Davy wrote: »

It has been done here already too on trial.

Has it?

I know there was trial in Tuam a few years ago of internet over power cables (ie using the same cable for both) but didn't know about an ESB FTTH trial.

bealtine wrote: »

A number of fibre runs especially out West are clipped to poles

Aye but FTTH?

bealtine wrote: »

Why not? There's not a lot of difference between a run and a drop really, once clipping is shown to work it's only a small thing to do the drop somewhere:)

Oh yeah, I know the mechanics of it all right. Just wondering about the trial Davy mentioned.

Good man.

Mesut Ozil wrote: »

I can't believe a tornado as an example of storms in Ireland. :rolleyes:

When the power goes out, it usually because of trees falling down on powerlines. Round objects have a certain amount of wind resistance, the curvature of a pole guides the wind around it, unlike a billboard sign, which catches a lot of wind and need to be heavily supported.

The employees of ESB know more about physics than the Average Joe on Boards.ie, so this is a non-issue.

I know the West is stormier than Meath, but it's worth mentioning that we haven't had a blackout due to a storm since the mid-nineties or early-nineties.

gadgetman496 wrote: »

You would if your lappy had a 12 cell battery

You would be able to access the internet if you had a 12 cell battery!? Jaysus that is one amazing battery to power the modem too.

gadgetman496 wrote: »

Incorrect I have an ALDI Gen

That's nice to know! But what about the downed fibre cables (if you were on the ESB network).

Will this be in rural areas as well? First ISP to get broadband to the countryside will clean up!

km79 wrote: »

Apologies if asked already but will a phone line be needed

No.