line tests

SoundWave

can eircom actually do live tests when i ring 1800512128 or do they just reference a database??

Any time i ring and ask for a "live" test to be done i get some monkey telling me that the test results are accurate but they are getting them from a database,

my line was recabled on friday and they are telling me that i have to wait for 3 weeks before i can check again.

man i love eircom*

Cheers In advance

Rob

*lie

BigEejit

You could try the online chat thingy ... that is probably the only way you MIGHT get your line tested real-time ...

PaulMagrath

When you ring them all they do is check if you are inside the LIKELY range of your nearest broadband-enabled exchange.

This is NOT despite what they will tell you, in any way a line test. A line test requires a telecomunications enginner to manually come to your house (or more likely for most people, your neighbourhood phone routing box) and check the strength of the signal, distortion/interference on the line, etc. This can not be done in real time using online chat.

If someone in your neighbourhood has broadband, you can in all likelyhood get it too.

If the guys on the phone say that you can't get broadband, generally speaking, you can't. They nearly always are overly optomistic when calculating the range of the exchange as they want to suck as much money from you as they can.

Chowley

the guys on the phone say that you can't get broadband, generally speaking, you can't.

Thats not true at all as has been said on these forums many times, it can be to do with how many things you have connected to your phone line and what they are.
Ive also read that dampness affects the line test ( could be wrong).
Also they could just be trying to get you onto isdn 2 weeks time he'll get a phone call from eircon asking if he'd like to get ISDN (which is more profitable for them).

I was also failed on the line test recently, I find it very hard to believe that I can get 150 pings to UK 12 man 56k CS severs, occasionally as low as 90ms ping if I fiddle with my rates enough, and then end up failing the line test how could this be a bad line.I never get disconnects or other problems with it.I dont know if this really has any bearing on the quality of my line but if it was a bad line i would be on a server with 11 other 56k gamers in the UK and get a 150ms ping.

Im gonna try and get onto an engineer anyway and try and get him to test the line.

bk

Originally posted by PaulMagrath

If the guys on the phone say that you can't get broadband, generally speaking, you can't.

Nope, my line was passing for the last year, then when I went to get bb, it failed and continued to fail for about 1 month.

It turned out to be a faulty piece of telephone equipment (one of those splitter adaptors that allows you to plug two phones into one) that had been causing interference on my line. Once I removed it, I passed the test after about 2 weeks and I'm on ns bb right now

Eircom retest all lines about once every month and store the data in a database. When you ring them for a test, they don't actually test the line, they just check the database.

PaulMagrath

Okay, I seem to have confused some people with what I was trying to say. Let me clarify:

When I say "If the guys on the phone say that you can't get broadband, generally speaking, you can't" I mean exactly that: they are usually right when they say you can't get broadband IMPLYING that they do not quite have as good a rate at saying when someone can actually get broadband. This is because they are only checking one factor (the range from the exchange to you as the bird flys) whereas there are numerous factors such as faulty telephone equipment, dampness (unlikely but possible as water is a electrical conductor and could therefore cause slight interference).

Chowley: you will still be failing the line test if your local exchange has not been upgraded, your neighbourhood as faulty/old/incompatible wiring, etc. What you can get ping-wise with ISDN or narrowband is not an indication of the suitability of your line for broadband.

I hope I have clarified matters and apologise for any confusion caused by my previous post.

bk

Originally posted by PaulMagrath
Okay, I seem to have confused some people with what I was trying to say. Let me clarify:

When I say "If the guys on the phone say that you can't get broadband, generally speaking, you can't" I mean exactly that: they are usually right when they say you can't get broadband IMPLYING that they do not quite have as good a rate at saying when someone can actually get broadband. This is because they are only checking one factor (the range from the exchange to you as the bird flys) whereas there are numerous factors such as faulty telephone equipment, dampness (unlikely but possible as water is a electrical conductor and could therefore cause slight interference).

Actually the DSL test is far more detailed then that, it checks a whole variety of different parameters, not just distance. Do a google there is a lot of info on the web about how DSL testing is done.

Chowley: you will still be failing the line test if your local exchange has not been upgraded, your neighbourhood as faulty/old/incompatible wiring, etc. What you can get ping-wise with ISDN or narrowband is not an indication of the suitability of your line for broadband.

On the contrary, if you get a good ping, then it is pretty positive that your problem isn't caused by the presence of a pairgain (DAC/splitter) on the line. Of course it could be many other things, but at least you can rule one thing out.

Chowley

Of course my exchange is enabled, I wouldnt be so obviously pissed off if my line failed and my exchange wasnt upgraded, I wouldnt be checking my line.:rolleyes:

As far as I know ping is also affected by noise on my line, which affects BB suitability, there must be very little noise on the line.

What I think has affected this is the splitter I have in one phone socket and a cordless phone also, which supposedly affects this.

bk

Originally posted by Chowley
What I think has affected this is the splitter I have in one phone socket and a cordless phone also, which supposedly affects this.

Yes, it was a damaged splitter that caused me to fail for one month (I had been passing the ADSL and RADSL tests for 12 months before that), I took it off and a few weeks later I passed and now I've got DSL.

vasch_ro

I rang eircom to get a line test and then rang back the next day the gut Niall (nice guy) told me that I had failed , but he would not tell me why or what the test had involved I asked him would he , so he told me to ring 1800 521 128 ( I think thats it )
the girl here told me that I could not have any info in regard to what the test involved just that line failure could me one of a number of things most likely that I am too far from the exchange
but she would not tell why my line had actually failed
so where do I go from here am I fubar ??
Can I get an engineer out to the house will eircom do that ??

yours with crushed hope ......

shinzon

The problem is that eircom dont actually know why your line fails, that be all and end all database gives **** all information on why just says you do.

3 main causes are

1) ****ty wiring either external or internal

2) your distance from the exchange

3) You have to many things plugged into other telephone sockets in the house at the time of testing and therefore your capacitance drops and the DSL signal cant get through

Yes you can get an engineer out, but if they dont find anything wrong with the line theyll charge you 57 euro 14 cent, im getting one out for a second time tomorrow to test the reistance levels on the line with them doing a loop back to see if the signal wangs out anywhere, because eircom says theres nothing wrong with the line i have to pay the above fee for that privilege, and if he tests and it comes back as the lines clear, ill have him ****ing talk to the BB people and he can tell them whats what

Shin

BKtje

When you ring them all they do is check if you are inside the LIKELY range of your nearest broadband-enabled exchange

Errr are you sure of that as my original line failed and the excchange is 2 streets away (cpl hundred metres). That line was ISDN tho... New line passed without a problem.

Patiko

Shinzon, should your list of main reasons for failure include being on a split line?

vasch_ro

thanks shin you have given me food for thought ...
how do I found out where my local exchange is (am in Bray) I assume eircom will tell me if I ring them and ask , and I guess they would know how far away I am also ??

Because I would like to know just how likely I am to be within or without the range before ordering an engineer and spending 57 Euro !!!!

PaulMagrath

Originally posted by B-K-DzR
Errr are you sure of that as my original line failed and the excchange is 2 streets away (cpl hundred metres). That line was ISDN tho... New line passed without a problem.

You can't have ISDN and ADSL on the same line.

PaulMagrath

Originally posted by vasch_ro
how do I found out where my local exchange is (am in Bray) I assume eircom will tell me if I ring them and ask , and I guess they would know how far away I am also ??

You could also try here: http://www.iol.ie/~discover/net.htm for a list of enabled exchanges. But I don't know how up to date that list is.

shinzon

Originally posted by Patiko
Shinzon, should your list of main reasons for failure include being on a split line?

yes soz i stand corrected, yes split lines also contribute to a lot to line falures

shin