My 26k eircom connection

Tony_ire

After being driven insane with my slow 26k connection, i finally called eircom today to see if i could get them to do something about it.The first person I spoke to did his best to get rid of me, telling me that my connection speed was 'the luck of the draw' and that some people cannot use the internet on their phone line at all. He kept calling my line a 'normal' one.
We got the line installed a few years ago when the house was built and I think they just split next doors' line in half.
I think I read on this forum before that eircom were obliged to give us a full line (i.e.up to 56k) if we moved to another operator like esat.
They put me through to another man who said he would log that i had asked for the line to be improved, and said that they wopuld see if anything could be done.
I got the impression that they aren't going to do anything. He also mentioned that theere was a shortage of cable in the area, if that means anthin to anybody.

It'd be really helpful if anybody else who has had this problem could help, and tell me what eircom should be do that they might be reluctant to do.

dahamsta

Originally posted by Tony_ire
I think I read on this forum before that eircom were obliged to give us a full line (i.e.up to 56k) if we moved to another operator like esat.

As far as I can remember, Eircom are only required to unencumber a line where Esat have requested it for unbundling. In which case you'd need to talk to Esat Business about DSL.

adam

Canadian

I just saw a documentary about a chairty that provided computer and internet access to a school in Uganda.

They didn't have broadband, but they did manage to have pretty good dial up access and from the speed pages were coming up - i'd reckon it was closer to ISDN.

My guess the Ugandan government is less corrupt too. And there were no traffic jams in front of their homes due to a single traffic light in their village. And the weather looked much nicer.

Can you pls remind me why you people stay there?

Caunck

dahamsta

Originally posted by Canadian
Can you pls remind me why you people stay there?

Drink! Feck! Arse! Girls!

watty

I get 41K
It randomly disconnects (eircom end)
Sometimes 3 seconds, sometimes 10 minutes.

Eircom say I'm not entitiled to ANY internet.

I pay phone call bills to Esat.

Comreg say I am entitled to working Internet. But are bogged down about baud rate (which is only one part of Internet usability, even 1200 baud works it you aren't worried about the bill and the line doesn't get dropped. My 42K doesn't "work")

For over 6months Eircom was "at me" to get Eircom Hispeed. I got Chorus Wireless Phone instead. It worked for 2 years perfectly at 49K (You have to get a 2nd time slot or it is only 19.2K, but works 100%).

Chorus lost licence and I'm back with Eircom.

They urge me to get HiSpeed.

I order it and they cancel order without telling me...

Your exchange has no space for additional ISDN equipment.

I'm 900m from a modern Digital Exchange on BB trigger program. Less households than trigger level!

The line was faulty (though they had claimed it tested fine.) it is fixed and part from cabinet to house replaced.

I still do not have functional Internet access. The Exchange works for voice and that is all they will care about.

There is this
http://www.comreg.ie/FWABroadband/FWPMA_3-5.asp?S=4&NavID=228&M=

But Eircom won't supply it.

Tony_ire

Well they got back to me today and said tha there was nothing they could do.
Now i have kinda given up.He said i was lucky to get 26 or 28k.
How can we not be entitled to the internet?

RicardoSmith

I've never been able to get a decent internet connection in any house I've lived in.

At the moment mine varies from 33k to 44k and disconnects happen regularly no matter which ISP I use.

The Real B-man

Bastards you cant win its a gimmick to get you to get BB then you cant no win situation i get 45.2k on average my mate in tallaght get an amazing 54.4k!!!!!

RicardoSmith

Originally posted by The Real B-man
Bastards you cant win its a gimmick to get you to get BB then you cant no win situation i get 45.2k on average my mate in tallaght get an amazing 54.4k!!!!!

My line fails the BB test so BB isn't an option for me. So basically eircom could care less if I get the internet, they know they'll get at least my line rental no matter what I do. Of course as soon as there is any other alternative then I'll switch. But at the moment there isn't one.

Scruff

i can only connect at 28.8k. Numerous complaints and looking to get bb but no joy.
Connected at 31.2k once and nearly fell off my chair in amazement. was back down to 28.8k the next time. Only use phone line for internet and to be honest, i hardly use that any more even though i'm on iol anytime. just download what i want at work and either burn it to cd or bring it home on usbkey.

actually i dunno why i dont just chuck in the landline altogether and just connect at 14.4k using the 400 free mins a month on my mobile....

subway_ie

I usually only ever get 28Kbps, sometimes if I'm very, very, very lucky I'll get 44Kbps for a day or two. That's tolerable, but what realy gets me is the quality of my line - not just for internet, but also for voice. Every few weeks, there's this really loud crackle on the line that stays for a few days (maybe a week) and then just disappears. Eircom line tests don't show anything up as being wrong, and they even send out engineers (of course they threaten that I'll have to pay for him if they don't find anything... which they never do, because by the time they send him out - at least a week later - it's always gone). It's getting a bit ridiculous at this stage. I'm living in a 5 year old housing estate, and about 900m from the local exchange (I know the wire is probably a lot longer, but still).

RicardoSmith

Originally posted by Scruff
...
actually i dunno why i dont just chuck in the landline altogether and just connect at 14.4k using the 400 free mins a month on my mobile....

Any more details on that?

RicardoSmith

Originally posted by subway_ie
......It's getting a bit ridiculous at this stage. I'm living in a 5 year old housing estate, and about 900m from the local exchange (I know the wire is probably a lot longer, but still).

The problem happens to new lines too. Theres simply a fault on the line and Eircom don't have the will, or incentive to fix it. Probably they don't have the technical skills either. If there were fined heavily everytime they couldn't fix problems we'd start to get somewhere, or if there was a choice of who we could lease a line from or we could use the TV cable as an alternative to the phone line.

But until any of that happens, Eircom can do what they like. They've lost lots of customers so far this year. If they had competition there would be a rout.

Delphi91

Originally posted by subway_ie
...Every few weeks, there's this really loud crackle on the line that stays for a few days (maybe a week) and then just disappears. Eircom line tests don't show anything up as being wrong, and they even send out engineers (of course they threaten that I'll have to pay for him if they don't find anything... which they never do, because by the time they send him out - at least a week later - it's always gone)....

I often get something similar - well, maybe often is a bit too strong, its happened 3 times in the past 2 years. The problem tended to be water getting into an underground junction(?) box in the back garden. It got to the stage that when I'd call Eircom to report the problem, I couldn't hear the person at the other end with the loud staticy-type noise.

I'm surprised at the length of time they took to respond. If they don't send engineers out within a specific time (48 hours, I think - check phone book), you are entitled to monetary compensation - reduced line rental on next bill or something like that - check the Customer Charter in the phone book.

The one thing that I did discover is that there is more than one test on a line that they can do. Take the test that "Eircom Biddy" does with a grain of salt. I got chatting to the engineer the last time he was here and he had a few other tests that he could do - he found a problem when "Eircom Biddy" said there wasn't one.

Mike

huge

Originally posted by dahamsta
As far as I can remember, Eircom are only required to unencumber a line where Esat have requested it for unbundling. In which case you'd need to talk to Esat Business about DSL.

adam

26k oh my god get this guy bb stat lol

Agent Smith

my dial up to either iol or utv always log's on @ 31.2kbs,

once, i got 51.8kbs...

i was like WoW....



i'm waiting for broadband.....

Scruff

Originally posted by RicardoSmith
Any more details on that?

on the 400 free mins? signed up to vodafone timeout 200 option when i got my first post pay phone nearly 4 years ago. never bothered changing it since. Never have used the 200 mins since the start and i can carry over up to 200mins over each month, so every month i start out with 400 and always carry over 200. Its only free to vodafone and landline off peak & weekends, so actually its probably crap but none of the never options are that much better imo, though i only really use the phone offpeak and weekends anyway.

Number6

Destroy the little grey box on your telephone pole. That little box spilts your telephone line with your neighbor, just get a shovel to it. When they come out to repair it they are legally obliged NOT to install another gray box as it is illegal. "Lightening" struck my box and it's been clear sailing ever since.

Explosive_Cornflake

Originally posted by subway_ie
I usually only ever get 28Kbps, sometimes if I'm very, very, very lucky I'll get 44Kbps for a day or two. That's tolerable, but what realy gets me is the quality of my line - not just for internet, but also for voice. Every few weeks, there's this really loud crackle on the line that stays for a few days (maybe a week) and then just disappears. Eircom line tests don't show anything up as being wrong, and they even send out engineers (of course they threaten that I'll have to pay for him if they don't find anything... which they never do, because by the time they send him out - at least a week later - it's always gone). It's getting a bit ridiculous at this stage. I'm living in a 5 year old housing estate, and about 900m from the local exchange (I know the wire is probably a lot longer, but still).

I used to have this problem also. Had lots of engineers out in the house. They said, oh, thats your internal wiring, so we disconnected everything except the main line and it was still there. A very long time later we got a competant engineer out, and we founbd out that the line between my house and the box at the bottom of the garden was hit by lightening, and it cracked the wire insdie, so when it was wet/windy and the line was crap.

parsi

Ah the great "its your internal wiring" excuse. Its been a few years since I had eircon out for repairs but I did have a run of about 3 or 4 failures not long after we moved in. Each time they tried to blame the extension wiring for the upstairs. And each time after I told them that they had installed it they climbed nback down and went back into their box.

When the eircon guy came the first day to put in the phone and the extension he said to me that it would be cheaper for me to do it (it was already wired by the builder) bit I told him I wanted them to do it in order to ensure that it was done right (didn't say that I wanted it done so they wouldn't have an escape clause..)

Explosive_Cornflake

Actually, a bit OT, but my father went looking for this before. Basically he wanted a box that he could plug the main wire coming into the house into a box, and then with a crimpers and some jacks plug the outbound wires into the box? (Do you follow this at all ?)
Does such a thing exist?

Edit: I rephrased it a bit.

Kazu

Iam getting 46.6kps dialup connection at the moment but its a lottery and when it rains id be lucky to get 20kbs connection. The f**kers have control over the landlines
what can people do

Ripwave

Originally posted by Number6
Destroy the little grey box on your telephone pole. That little box spilts your telephone line with your neighbor, just get a shovel to it. When they come out to repair it they are legally obliged NOT to install another gray box as it is illegal.

It's not illegal, and they aren't legally obliged to not install another one.

subway_ie

Destroy the little grey box on your telephone pole. That little box spilts your telephone line with your neighbor, just get a shovel to it. When they come out to repair it they are legally obliged NOT to install another gray box as it is illegal.

Not to mention that you're going to be destroying the property of Eircom... that's not exactly "legal" either.

spongebob

Originally posted by Kazu
Iam getting 46.6kps dialup connection at the moment but its a lottery and when it rains id be lucky to get 20kbs connection. The f**kers have control over the landlines
what can people do

During the next period of dry weather you locate every junction box on your line and you then wrap them thoroughly in plastic and cover the lot in silicon gel or mastic.

That will stop the water ingress for sure.

If you notice that the problem is worse in drizzle than in pelting rain you actually need to seal up the bottom or the sides of the junction boxes and not the top.

I once had a drizzle related connection problem until I pumped half a tube of silicon gel into the underside af a rather open looking junction box on a pole down down the road....perfick

M

Number6

Originally posted by Ripwave
It's not illegal, and they aren't legally obliged to not install another one.

They cannot install another DAC box on a line even if the existing dac box is damaged beyond repair, so the cousin - an Eircon Engie - tells me.

Ripwave

Originally posted by Number6
They cannot install another DAC box on a line even if the existing dac box is damaged beyond repair, so the cousin - an Eircon Engie - tells me.

Where there are spare lines available, eircom are not supposed to install a DACS. Where there are no available circuits, eircom are not required to run new copper all the way from the exchage, and are permitted to use a DACS to provide service, if it's a choice between a DACS and no service at all. If there's an additional circuit available, they won't replace the DACS, but if there was an additional circuit available, then the buggers shouldn't have installed a DACS in the first place!

murdoc8

i had a speed of 44k then about a week ago i updated the driver on my modem
now i'm hitting 52k then i tryed for broadband but the line failed i don't think i
should push my luck

spongebob

Originally posted by Ripwave
Where there are spare lines available, eircom are not supposed to install a DACS. Where there are no available circuits, eircom are not required to run new copper all the way from the exchage, and are permitted to use a DACS to provide service, if it's a choice between a DACS and no service at all. If there's an additional circuit available, they won't replace the DACS, but if there was an additional circuit available, then the buggers shouldn't have installed a DACS in the first place!

The normal 2 day installation target , set by Comreg in the USO strand of regulation , leads to widescale Pairgain (DACS) deployment in rural areas because the engineers do not have enough time to chase spare pairs.

IoffL asked for a relaxed repair target for certain intermittent faults in the USO submission Here back in Feb 2003 .

Water ingress may be difficult to tracks so IoffL in asking for a 14 day repair period for such intermittent problems , by informed consent and also asked for informed consent on Pairgain deployments.

There is no point chasing up a leak in dry weather

M

huge

Originally posted by agent smith
my dial up to either iol or utv always log's on @ 31.2kbs,

once, i got 51.8kbs...

i was like WoW....



i'm waiting for broadband.....

god you will love bb

Cryos

just put in my 56k modem relic now and dialled up

46k and even before i started using isdn again it was 46k and i still cant get bb (pending an reply from comreg of corse)

BigEejit

Originally posted by Muck
During the next period of dry weather you locate every junction box on your line and you then wrap them thoroughly in plastic and cover the lot in silicon gel or mastic.

That will stop the water ingress for sure.

If you notice that the problem is worse in drizzle than in pelting rain you actually need to seal up the bottom or the sides of the junction boxes and not the top.

I once had a drizzle related connection problem until I pumped half a tube of silicon gel into the underside af a rather open looking junction box on a pole down down the road....perfick

M

Denzo tape is the stuff to put on damaged wires .... wear gloves when using it (its like fabric coated in the most hard to remove grease I've ever come across) I've had it on cables going to seal scarers on fish farms ... waterproof at 10meters or more for years....stuck in the grain of my fingerprints for weeks too, wicked stuff to get off your hands



On the replacing of cables: Surely if you report a faulty line with an intermittent problem they cant charge you for an engineer call-out? .... if its intermittent and not happening when he is onsite then there is buggerall he can do to disprove your problem.... has anyone been charged for a callout where no problem was found by onsite engineer when the problem was originally described as being intermittent?

Cryos

they told me that they were going to charge me for inspecting my line, engineer approached with an bill and asked did we want it put on our bill and i said "No, you can put it back in your pocket and get in the van, the line still isnt bb capable so i dont see why i should pay for you to stand around looking at my line when you did nothing"

Door closed

AdMMM

I used to always get 33.3k, then all of a sudden, I got 44k and then 45.2. It now rarely goes below 40k and if it does, I just keep reconnecting (iOL netsmart)