Can someone give me a straighter answer then eircom????

Retail Mngr

Morning

rang "eircom broadband" to try and get broadband.
Lady on phone did a line test and said "your line is not enabled"
She could not say why but suggested calling "eircom lines" to see about distance from exchange etc.
Did this.
Eircom lines lady said "line is right but not quite right" and she would send an engineer
Engineer came - line fine
Rang back "eircom broadband" and told them this
They did another line test and agreed line was right but not quite right.
"It may not be strong enough" ?????? - What the hell does that mean?? I ask politly
"It means that it is fine as a phone line but not strong enough for broadband"
So no further along

Can anyone out there cast more light on what both "eircon lines" and "eircon broadband" are talking about? (other than complete cobblers)

They also suggested I could spend €120 and order a new line from them that "might be strong enough" but no gurantees? Helllllooooo What????

I've tried Clearwire, Ice, digiweb etc etc but no coverage.

Eircom are my only hope - Am about 1 mile by road from the Swords exchange in Dublin down a little country road behind the airport if that helps

Any and all help greatly appreciated

Regards

Paul
Still sinking in the pit of dinasour dial up

uncle_sam_ie

Well, it's not that you are too far from the exchange. What speeds are you getting on dial-up? It seems like there is something wrong with the copper. I read on the boards about a year ago about a guy in the same shoes as you. His solution was to call and report a fault on the line. Saying there was major static and cracking sounds and that he couldn't maintain a proper conversation. I think eircom is under no obligation to fix the line for BB, but they have to fix it so you can make phone calls.

Also, can you get a 3G signal were you live? You could go with that if all else fails.

Liam Byrne

They also suggested I could spend €120 and order a new line from them that "might be strong enough" but no gurantees? Helllllooooo What????

They gave me that rubbish 2 years ago. Then Smart come into the area and provide the service, and suddenly my wireless sniffer shows up 3 eircom subscribers in the locality.

Retail Mngr

hi Uncle Sam
As I'm sitting here I'm getting 45.2Kbps. when i reported the line fault the engineer did say that the line was suitable for phone calls and as there was no static (he was talking to me on it) that was all he could do. He did explain that they are not under any obligation to provide a line of BB standard. Will try 3G - "if all else fails" why? are they pricy or bad?

Liam
Smart telecom are'nt out here yet. Wireless sniffer - whats that?

thanks guys

Paul

1huge1

uncle_sam_ie wrote:

I read on the boards about a year ago about a guy in the same shoes as you. His solution was to call and report a fault on the line. Saying there was major static and cracking sounds and that he couldn't maintain a proper conversation. I think eircom is under no obligation to fix the line for BB, but they have to fix it so you can make phone calls.
fails.

sneaky but oh so brilliant

would be so funny if eircom found out

Time Magazine

I was in the exact same situation as you. And I know nearly every other BB provider requires Eircom to pass the test. I'm not exactly sure of the details, but after about a year of trying with Eircom, Gaelic were able to give us a 1mb line for €9.99 a month. I have to say it's pretty savage. They hinted at them pushing Eircom to upgrade the line. Worth giving them a call

PS We only got the broadband after we completely left Eircom's service, i.e. we completely switched service provider.

Liam Byrne

Liam......Wireless sniffer - whats that?

Basically a piece of equipment (available standalone or within most laptops) that will check to see if there's a wireless hotspot nearby. Most networks are visible but security-restricted, meaning that you can see that they're there but you just can't use them.

Altreab

Retail Mngr wrote:

hi Uncle Sam
As I'm sitting here I'm getting 45.2Kbps. when i reported the line fault the engineer did say that the line was suitable for phone calls and as there was no static (he was talking to me on it) that was all he could do. He did explain that they are not under any obligation to provide a line of BB standard. Will try 3G - "if all else fails" why? are they pricy or bad?

Liam
Smart telecom are'nt out here yet. Wireless sniffer - whats that?

thanks guys

Paul

That sure sounds like a line that is capable of delivering broadband.If its connecting at 45.2K it definitely isnt on a shared line. I live 2.5 miles away from my local exchange and with similar connection speeds i get a very solid 1Meg connection speed at all times. Has the actual exchange been upgraded to broadband?

lucernarian

I've said it before, but dialup speeds are not a conclusive test for ADSL compatibility. My modem connects here at 45.2 or 46.6 kbps on a line with 78 dB attenuation. Eircom fails lines above 66dB. (They equate 66dB to be 5.5 km.)

uncle_sam_ie

Retail Mngr wrote:

Will try 3G - "if all else fails" why? are they pricy or bad?


Paul

No, it's just that DSL is better and living only a mile away from the exchange you really shouldn't be in this situation, begging eircom for an essential service. And, you wouldn't if we had a regulator and minister looking out for us. Thanks again NOEL! Maybe someone else here will give you some better advice, but if it was me I'd be out with a chainsaw cutting the hedge next to the telephone pole.;)

Retail Mngr

Hi guys
Thanks for all the advice
Have stopped short of trimming the hedge but only just. Checked eircom again tonight and halelujia sints be praised and all that i am suddenly able to get broadband. 16 phonecalls later.
Many thanks for the help - will keep in touch becuase have cynical suspicion it can't be this easy
Paul

Time Magazine

My line passed the test twice. They left a message twice withdrawing the offer. But good luck.

cgarvey

Retail Mngr, if it doesn't go that swimmingly (though, things are looking good if you now get the pass.. order it quick!), mention the Amber Programme to the DSL sales people. It's an eircom programme where they'll send out an engineer to do a best-effort install/line-fix, provided you commit to ordering the DSL.

Also you could try disconnecting any internal phone wiring, as this is very often the cause of a failed test. Just leave the first "master" socket connected

cgarvey

Ibid banned for 1 week for violating the charter.