Does dialup speed relate to broadband suitability?

magher

There is an occasional crackle on my line but my dialup speed is always 45-46K and sometimes 48K.

I am about 4 miles away from my exchange in Kingscourt,Cavan (which eircom has informed me is BB enabled)but my line test says "Unfortunately we are not able to pre-qualify your line at this time".

I have been told I am too far to get BB ,but is over 45k speed dialup not good enough.

byte

At 4 miles from the exchange, you're too far for ADSL. A wireless ISP would be your only hope, if you have one, and have Line of Sight with their transmitter.

watty

Distance AND dialup speed.
4 Miles is 6.4km, adsl limit is less than 5km. Does not matter if your dialup is 49k with zero errors on quiet line. (Which my Chorus Wireless phone was over 12.5km link!).

If you were 1km and dialup was 22k, I'd say it is unlikely to work.

Needed for BB:
No crackles
Less than 5km
Better than 42k bps dialup

Urban Weigl

watty wrote:

Distance AND dialup speed.
4 Miles is 6.4km, adsl limit is less than 5km. Does not matter if your dialup is 49k with zero errors on quiet line.

It would be more correct to say that the limit of Eircom's DSL is limited to less than 5km, because that is not actually the technical limit of DSL technology. For example, across the border in Northern Ireland, DSL works grand up to 10km.

IT Loser

watty wrote:

Distance AND dialup speed.
4 Miles is 6.4km, adsl limit is less than 5km. Does not matter if your dialup is 49k with zero errors on quiet line. (Which my Chorus Wireless phone was over 12.5km link!).

If you were 1km and dialup was 22k, I'd say it is unlikely to work.

Needed for BB:
No crackles
Less than 5km
Better than 42k bps dialup

I had some huge discrepancies in my dialup speeds, once I had it 50k, then as low as 4.9.

The phone line was dog shat, and I was failing the line test...now I'm passing it, and I've patched up my line pretty good- but the above information has me feeling queasy. The line is pretty clear now, and I'm definitely under 2 miles from an exchange.

The guy at Eircom ran a test on my number, and he was talking about how the exhange was enabled, all was good, then I heard him reel off something about 5meg....[information coming back to him from the exchange]

Anyone think now that passing line tests and getting the thumbs up from ISP's is all bull......??

kaizersoze

IT Loser, why are you feeling queasy? Everything looks good to go .
When they run a line test they can tell from the results the maximum speed your line can handle. That's probably what he was on about when he mentioned 5meg.

IT Loser

Well Kaiser, very simply, the fact that the line has the occasional crackle is what really bothers me. For some reason, using my rudimentary tools and applicances I have been unable to eradicate this completely, and I find that a lot of the stuff [jacks, adaptors etc] sold in stores is [for supposedly standardised gear] of poor quality [i.e. RJ11 spade ends not clicking into sockets like they ought]. The last think I want is to have busted my hump resolving this, only to be told that the shoddy line is messing it up for me.

Any advice on where/how to get basic standard phone line stuff?
Ta

bk

Go to netsource.ie, enter your phone line number and it should tell you the last time that the test was run. Just wait to a day or two before that date (but a month later obviously) and remove all the telephone equipment in your house for a few days and you might pass the test.

kaizersoze

IT Loser wrote:

Well Kaiser, very simply, the fact that the line has the occasional crackle is what really bothers me. For some reason, using my rudimentary tools and applicances I have been unable to eradicate this completely, and I find that a lot of the stuff [jacks, adaptors etc] sold in stores is [for supposedly standardised gear] of poor quality [i.e. RJ11 spade ends not clicking into sockets like they ought]. The last think I want is to have busted my hump resolving this, only to be told that the shoddy line is messing it up for me.

Any advice on where/how to get basic standard phone line stuff?
Ta

AFAIK, the 3G stores sell the proper Eircom gear for extensions and even the main socket.
The crackle on the line could be as simple as a dodgy phone or something.
Did your line pass the last test done? If it did I would advise you to order BB of someone quick before it fails at some point and you'll be back to square one.

Sponge Bob

3g stores sell the official eircom sockets which is what _should_ be where your main socket is. They are decent quality too .

JohnC.

Speaking of proper equipment, is there a proper box for splitting the phone line into several? Right now, there is a main socket in the attic, with a rather hilarious array of 2 and 3 way splitters splitting it into 6 lines. I'm not too happy with that, and I suspect it isn't the best way to do it as far as quality is concerned. I did look on Google and some tech sites, but all I found was a single device designed for the UK plugs. But I may not have been using correct terms or whatever.

watty

A plastic screw terminal block will work. Make sure you don't nip any wires when stripping insulation and fold back the wire a few times so screw terminal won't cut it.

lucernarian

Sponge Bob wrote:

3g stores sell the official eircom sockets which is what _should_ be where your main socket is. They are decent quality too

Never knew that. Mind you, any eircom engineer should be more than happy giving you one. I got master sockets off eircom engineers on a couple of occasions. One of them even showed me how to wire it. If anyone wants one, just talk to one of the lads in the van if they're pulled up someplace.

And dial-up speed alone does not mean you can or can't get broadband. I've seen a line that passed for broadband in Mallow connecting at 24k. My own line used to connect at 45k yet it fails the test.

IT Loser

kaizersoze wrote:

AFAIK, the 3G stores sell the proper Eircom gear for extensions and even the main socket.
The crackle on the line could be as simple as a dodgy phone or something.
Did your line pass the last test done? If it did I would advise you to order BB of someone quick before it fails at some point and you'll be back to square one.

Oh?!! How does that work...as it happens I ordered ASAP from BT and I'm due to get online this Wednesday. Why should you be passing the test and then fail it later? Makes no sense....

IT Loser

Sponge Bob wrote:

3g stores sell the official eircom sockets which is what _should_ be where your main socket is. They are decent quality too .

3G....I'll check it out then. Thanks for the heads up.

DonegalMan

To_be_confirmed wrote:

I got master sockets off eircom engineers on a couple of occasions. One of them even showed me how to wire it. If anyone wants one, just talk to one of the lads in the van if they're pulled up someplace.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, whatever you think of the eircom 'shirts' and 'biddies', most of the eircom engineers are sound guys - and *they* don't have much time for the 'shirts' and 'biddies' too

Be nice and friendly to them and usually they will pull out all stops to help you.

IT Loser

DonegalMan wrote:

I've said it before and I'll say it again, whatever you think of the eircom 'shirts' and 'biddies', most of the eircom engineers are sound guys - and *they* don't have much time for the 'shirts' and 'biddies' too

Be nice and friendly to them and usually they will pull out all stops to help you.

Yeah, but why are Eircom going to send an engineer to fix the line of a guy who pays BT for line rental, phone services and BB??
Makes no sense, does it?

Do Eircom provide a service for this sort of thing? How much does it cost?

Ta.

kaizersoze

IT Loser wrote:

Oh?!! How does that work...as it happens I ordered ASAP from BT and I'm due to get online this Wednesday. Why should you be passing the test and then fail it later? Makes no sense....

The line tests are run automatically every month or so and the results database is updated. If something happens on your line in the mean time then the database will be updated with a fail result.
My line changes from a pass to a fail result regularly and I have BB for over 2 years.

IT Loser

so what you're saying is that the line is broabband ready- but that if the ISP sees that the line is "failing" the test they may/will refuse to sell you a BB product....ergo you buy from them while the line is good

kaizersoze

More or less, yeah. An ISP won't even take a BB order if the line is showing a fail result. Once the line passes and the order is taken you're ok. One guy posted in the BB forum before that he had BB with UTV and wanted to change to BT. When he rang BT they wouldn't take the order because his line was showing as a fail even though he already had BB.

IT Loser

Gotcha- thanks.

So I just walk into 3G and ask for an Eircom phone jack, that easy?

lucernarian

An eircom man would gladly give you a master socket if you ask nicely:) Up to you though.

IT Loser

To_be_confirmed wrote:

An eircom man would gladly give you a master socket if you ask nicely:) Up to you though.

Yeah- I don't doubt it....but I have to catch one, first!!

Also.....Master sockets are ten a penny....it's compatability and workmanship I'm after. The problem is that one mans RJ11 won't fit the next guys cable. Or keeps popping out...or something. All fatal to broadband.