Please Ring Eircom If...

SOLACY

You are experience absolutely terrible broadband speeds in whatever area you live in from roughly 6pm-12am almost EVERYDAY. Before ringing, please do a few speed tests here before the decrease in broadband speed and then when the decrease in broadband speed occurs:
http://speedtest.smarttelecom.ie and tell them your results.

If you live around the middle of Ireland and the west you are probably experiencing this. I live in Offaly and from my research it appears to me that this only occurs in counties around Offaly. So if you have this problem then:

(Have your account details ready)

PLEASE RING EIRCOM'S COMPLAINT NUMBER ON (1800 200 481).

TELL THEM YOU ARE NOT RECEIVING ACCEPTABLE BROADBAND FROM ROUGHLY 6PM-12AM ALMOST EVERYDAY FOR THE PAST 2-3 MONTHS.

TELL THEM IT IS NOT A PROBLEM CAUSED BY YOUR COMPUTER(S) OR ROUTER AS THE DECREASE IN SPEED ONLY OCCURS ROUGHLY FROM 6PM-12AM EVERYDAY.

ALSO SAY THAT YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHY ALL OF EIRCOM CUSTOMERS DO NOT EXPERIENCE. (Add that you do not think it is contention as it wasn't even remotely bad during the summer which would be a time of high service use).

STATE THAT YOU KNOW LOTS OF OTHER PEOPLE FROM AROUND YOUR AREA EXPERIENCING THE EXACT SAME SPEED DECREASE FROM ROUGHLY 6PM-12AM NEARLY EVERYDAY FOR THE PAST 2-3 MONTHS.

IF THIS DOESN'T RESULT IN ANY IMPROVEMENT RING BACK AND SAY THAT YOU RANG UP AND ISSUED A COMPLAINT ALREADY AND IF YOUR SERVICE DOES NOT IMPROVE THEN YOU WILL CONSIDER EITHER SWITCHING TO ANOTHER SERVICE SUCH AS BT OR UPC (Name a company) OR TAKING LEGAL ACTION.

Note:
I am an Eircom user and am tired of this frustratingly slow broadband service during the last 2-3months. Please ring and be adamant. Don't let them suggest problems and if they say to contact Technical Support it just shows how much of a disgrace they are.

Thankyou.

BNC

Should we shout too?!

jor el

SOLACY wrote: »

IF THIS DOESN'T RESULT IN ANY IMPROVEMENT RING BACK AND SAY THAT YOU RANG UP AND ISSUED A COMPLAINT ALREADY AND IF YOUR SERVICE DOES NOT IMPROVE THEN YOU WILL CONSIDER EITHER SWITCHING TO ANOTHER SERVICE SUCH AS BT OR UPC (Name a company) OR TAKING LEGAL ACTION.

If the slow down is only happening from 6-12PM, then you're pretty much guaranteed it's contention. Regardless of which, a contention ration of 24:1 or 48:1, and their minimum broadband requirement of 256kbps, gives them an awful lot of leeway when it comes to speed variations.

Threatening legal action will likely end the call in fits of laughter. By all means, complain about poor service, but don't go off on one, giving them an excuse to ignore you.

seanybiker

SOLACY wrote: »

I live in Offaly and from my research it appears to me that this only occurs in counties around Offaly.

Ha Ha Eircom dont like brown cowen and are taking it out on the other Biffo's

SOLACY

jor el wrote: »

If the slow down is only happening from 6-12PM, then you're pretty much guaranteed it's contention. Regardless of which, a contention ration of 24:1 or 48:1, and their minimum broadband requirement of 256kbps, gives them an awful lot of leeway when it comes to speed variations.

Yep, that's right, contention, yet a lot of Eircom users don't get a major decrease in speeds. I'm pretty sure I'm on the Dublin server and if alot of people in Dublin aren't having problems then how can it be contention if we're on the same server?

You'd want to be mentally challenged to think it's contention.
Did you ever think of Eircom using this as a cover up to reduce costs seeing as the cost of things in relation to broadband maintenance are pretty high in proportion to what they would like to make?

And tell me how else you are meant to solve something apart from switching service or using legal action if they don't give you an improvement?

Think before you post.

bounty

SOLACY wrote: »

Yep, that's right, contention, yet a lot of Eircom users don't get a major decrease in speeds. I'm pretty sure I'm on the Dublin server and if alot of people in Dublin aren't having problems then how can it be contention if we're on the same server?

You'd want to be mentally challenged to think it's contention.
Did you ever think of Eircom using this as a cover up to reduce costs seeing as the cost of things in relation to broadband maintenance are pretty high in proportion to what they would like to make?

And tell me how else you are meant to solve something apart from switching service or using legal action if they don't give you an improvement?

Think before you post.

maybe you pissed off the wrong eircom person with your charming personality

yoyo

My broadband doesn't slow down although I've found regularly these days youtube becomes unuseable for me on eircon, I wonder are they throttling youtube traffic? All speedtests show 5+meg which would be normal, also the BBC video player never seems to work anymore for me... Literly doesnt buffer at all, and it used to work... :P

Nick

SOLACY

bounty wrote: »

maybe you pissed off the wrong eircom person with your charming personality

Why even post? Lol.
At least I'm trying to do something about this crappy service. That's why Eircom are giving us crap speeds, because they can, because people like you complain but don't do anything about it.

And the above post states that it isn't likely contention.

BNC

OP, I'd suggest you go off and do some reading as to how t'internet works.

Suggest you start here.

alan4cult

SOLACY wrote: »

Why even post? Lol.
At least I'm trying to do something about this crappy service. That's why Eircom are giving us crap speeds, because they can, because people like you complain but don't do anything about it.

And the above post states that it isn't likely contention.

I'd like to contend that.

bounty

SOLACY wrote: »

Why even post? Lol.
At least I'm trying to do something about this crappy service. That's why Eircom are giving us crap speeds, because they can, because people like you complain but don't do anything about it.

I think you need to take a deep breath, and calm down kid. No one cares about the problems of the obnoxious.

And by the way, I've got 20mb UPC

neilk32

this is a really big problem in the midlands are especially for online gaming. Its mainly the latency that gets worse and would not really be noticed by your average pc user.

Brimmy

SOLACY wrote: »

And tell me how else you are meant to solve something apart from switching service or using legal action if they don't give you an improvement?

Think before you post.

Take your own advice.

The TOS of the contract you agree too state that the service can be from 160 upwards depending on a plethora of factions. You can ring and complain and most likely something can (and will be done) but threatening legal action is laughable. You can not run to a lawyer the second you don't get something you're not happy with. By all means change providers if the service is unacceptable, ask NICELY to be comped for the previous few months and you may be given a month free (as long as you do this to complaints and not tech support).

The attitude you have is laughable, your approach to how the service is works is even more laughable. Call and complain if you're not happy, be nice and something may be done. But calling up and screaming your head off will not help. If anything it'll make the person on the phone LESS inclined to help you.

And yoyo - Eircom don't throttle traffic, is it all players like dailymotion etc or just youtube and the bbc? Could be a multiple of issues from browser settings to firewall to just a bad speed at the time.

neilk32

tbf to solacy , i know hes been calling up for months and so have i and numerous other people in the midlands area and nothing has been done about the poor service, everyday from 6-11 or 12 xbox live becomes unplayable due to the latency of the connection.

BNC

what package are you on from Eircom neil? There are reported latency problems with the 7mb package.

What was your connection like over christmas during the day, not 6-12? When a lot of people would be on holidays etc.

neilk32

i'm on the 3mb package and so is solacy it was ok during the day at xmas basically the same as it is now, you sometimes get the odd day where its not as bad but they are very rare now

faoile@n

neilk32 wrote: »

i'm on the 3mb package and so is solacy it was ok during the day at xmas basically the same as it is now, you sometimes get the odd day where its not as bad but they are very rare now

Its clearly a contention issue so. The contention ratio on the 7mb package is 24:1 which might be worth a shot if your line can handle it.

If your really not happy switching providers would have a much greater impact compared to shuting at customer care agents :rolleyes: From my experience though Eircom have the best reputation when compared with resellers and switching providers could potentialy make things worse.

Liam Byrne

Smart have a great 3mb connection without contention....had it for 2 years before moving house.

Definitely worth switching to if you're in an area in which they're available.

dub45

From reading various post on here it does seem to happen from time to time that performance decreases at a particular exchange due to additional new customers being connected and eventually Eircom put in additional resources (for want of the proper technical term).

Rather than ranting at CSOs I suggest an old fashioned letter to the Eircom CEO explaining the situation in courteous terms of course. There have been several instances on here of such a letter working wonders and at least it is better than ranting here.

dub45

SOLACY wrote: »

Why even post? Lol.
At least I'm trying to do something about this crappy service. That's why Eircom are giving us crap speeds, because they can, because people like you complain but don't do anything about it.

And the above post states that it isn't likely contention.

There is a formal complaints procedure via Comreg have you tried that?

Also if you are in the midlands how can you claim that you are on Dublin server?

Cabaal

If you follow these instructions nobody will want to help you, if you have speed issues you need to approach it logically and without coming across as a git or muppet.
Threatening legal action in anyway will just make people laugh tbh

SOLACY, if you post another post all caps I'm not even going to bother editing it I'm just going to delete it.
ITS CONSIDERING SHOUTING AND IS HARD FOR PEOPLE TO READ!!!

thefinalstage

Solacy, it is contention. Its very simple. The times you described are the peak hours. Do as Cabaal says and approach it logically.

armour87

This is good for a 3MB line, right?

elexes

good to see I'm not alone on this one I'm in the midlands and from about 6:30pm - 12:30 my ping goes from about 100 to 870 . I'm not on the 3mb connection I'm currently on BT option 3.

its been doing my head in for the last while

neilk32

Heres my connection before it starts to mess up

johnplayerblue

seanybiker wrote: »

Ha Ha Eircom dont like brown cowen and are taking it out on the other Biffo's

Brown Cowen Ilike it.

johnplayerblue

enix wrote: »

good to see I'm not alone on this one I'm in the midlands and from about 6:30pm - 12:30 my ping goes from about 100 to 870 . I'm not on the 3mb connection I'm currently on BT option 3.

its been doing my head in for the last while

Pings of 870? You little pussy, My pings are what you call proper pings :pac:

Hank Scorpio

lol at people ranting at the op, i understand his frustration 100%

dub45

nuxxx wrote: »

lol at people ranting at the op, i understand his frustration 100%

''Understanding'' ''compassion'' 'rapport' etc. are for the personal issues forum.

The bb forum is more about practicalities. The op is not helping himself in any way in the manner of his posting - he has been extremely offensive to people attempting to point him in the right direction (claiming that someone who pointed out that the problem is 'contention' is 'mentally challenged' for example)

Additionally the op has demonstrated in several posts that he has not got the faintest clue as to how bb works so to dismiss peoples' suggestions as to the likely cause of the problem in such dismissive a manner is truly mind boggling!

PogMoThoin

Hows this for crappy overcontended shítty service, this is supposed to be up to 7.6mbit



When I ring to complain I get ran around in circles.

neilk32

at least xbox live would be playable with them pings check mine out now ffs

dub45

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Hows this for crappy overcontended shítty service, this is supposed to be up to 7.6mbit



When I ring to complain I get ran around in circles.

What speed is the modem syncing at? What are your line stats? Are you using wireless or ethernet?

clansman

this is mine, and i live in the country with only a few house around. And most of the ppl around are aged. .. tut tut eircom... they are up to some thing!!!




edit,,, I am on a 3mb line,
a tracert gives me this


C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>tracert -h 10 www.bbc.co.uk

Tracing route to www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.251.197]
over a maximum of 10 hops:

1 3 ms 5 ms 3 ms 192.168.1.254
2 54 ms 54 ms 54 ms b-ras1.wtd.waterford.eircom.net [159.134.155.9]

3 474 ms 459 ms 459 ms 86.43.242.70
4 588 ms 520 ms 521 ms 83.71.115.3
5 495 ms 522 ms 479 ms 83.245.126.93
6 468 ms 569 ms 473 ms 212.58.238.129
7 493 ms 577 ms 512 ms 212.58.239.58
8 * * * Request timed out.
9 * * * Request timed out.
10 * * * Request timed out.

Trace complete.

Damien360

You are wasting your breath talking to eircom or comreg on this matter.

1. Comreg only there to give info on the compliant channels. Toothless, waste of money and should be scrapped. I tried by email with them and gave up.

2. Eircom. I rang them and a techie rang me back. He got me to connect to tte router by ethernet cable only. Turn off my wireless and my firewall. And then run the speedtest on my laptop on the link to the eircom website. Then did a test via the router test page. Both came back with 700ms pings on a 3MB line with a speed of about half expected. Hmmmm, he said. Then he pinged my router from his site and declared he was getting 16ms pings. He concluded that the line and equipment was fine but there may be a problem at the exchange. 3 days later all was good with good pings for gaming of 40ms but about a month later it all went queer again and gaming is impossible. Getting accused of using a switch to avoid being shot in games and cheating.

I am actively pricing a change to UPC without their TV package and getting the 10Mb line. Eircom 3Mb with all calls included at set price is 55 per month. UPC 10Mb line with all callls included is 53 per month. I loath to deal with UPC and their known poor service and support but I have had enough.

Only thing stopping me is trying to find out if there is a 6 euro extra standalone charge per month for not taking the TV package. Also need to know how it will effect my Sky+ box when I need to keep telephone line plugged in to it. If all ok then I am switching.

Vote with your feet. It is the only thing eircom understand.

PogMoThoin

dub45 wrote: »

What speed is the modem syncing at? What are your line stats? Are you using wireless or ethernet?

Its contention, Frenchpark exchange is in dire straits, I'm on ethernet, my modems syncing @ 7.6 and I've nearly a perfect line 200m from the exchange. I get 780KB/s dl at night and early morning, in the evening its fcuked.

Downstream Upstream
Max Allowed Speed (kbps) 7616 672
SN Margin (dB) 12.10 12.00
Line Attenuation (dB) 5.00 3.00

Hank Scorpio

dub45 wrote: »

What speed is the modem syncing at? What are your line stats? Are you using wireless or ethernet?

Heres one for you, how about you stop asking the exact same questions the eircom "technicans" do as there never the reason for peoples problems since the eircom upgrade, its highly insulting to many posters, and its NOT helpful.

dub45 wrote: »

''Understanding'' ''compassion'' 'rapport' etc. are for the personal issues forum.

The bb forum is more about practicalities. The op is not helping himself in any way in the manner of his posting - he has been extremely offensive to people attempting to point him in the right direction (claiming that someone who pointed out that the problem is 'contention' is 'mentally challenged' for example)

Additionally the op has demonstrated in several posts that he has not got the faintest clue as to how bb works so to dismiss peoples' suggestions as to the likely cause of the problem in such dismissive a manner is truly mind boggling!

Hes trying strongly to get his point across as the normal methods do not work and im speaking from 3 letters posted over the past 2 years and not 1 reply, not 1 of my mannered phonecalls being taken lightly.

"Understanding" things is also important if your a moderater Alot of people dont have a clue about how broadband works it seems
Maybe this year you`ll post a technical answer and surprise me.

neilk32

two of my friends from birr also on the portlaoise server first is supposed to be on 3mb and second is on the 7.6mb package


my speed at 11 shows a little recovery

dub45

nuxxx wrote: »

Heres one for you, how about you stop asking the exact same questions the eircom "technicans" do as there never the reason for peoples problems since the eircom upgrade, its highly insulting to many posters, and its NOT helpful.

Line stats show in many cases the reasons for peoples' problems. And they make a very logical starting point to try and diagnose what really is the problem. And contrary to what you say stats have become even more relevant since the upgrade because increased speeds put a lot of pressure on the line.

And I cannot funderstand how anyone could find being asked for their line stats 'insulting'.

nuxxx wrote: »

Hes trying strongly to get his point across as the normal methods do not work and im speaking from 3 letters posted over the past 2 years and not 1 reply, not 1 of my mannered phonecalls being taken lightly.

"Understanding" things is also important if your a moderater Alot of people dont have a clue about how broadband works it seems
Maybe this year you`ll post a technical answer and surprise me.

As soon as you post a literate one and surprise me! I wonder about those ''mannered'' phonecalls too!:)

dub45

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Its contention, Frenchpark exchange is in dire straits, I'm on ethernet, my modems syncing @ 7.6 and I've nearly a perfect line 200m from the exchange. I get 780KB/s dl at night and early morning, in the evening its fcuked.

You must nearly be living in the local exchange with stats like that. Would there be any way of contacting any of the local Eircom techs to see if Eircom have any early plans to deal with the situation. Failing that you should initiate the formal complaints process and yet again I would suggest sending a registered letter to the CEO of Eircom and if you could get a few signatures on it from people locally so much the better.

Hank Scorpio

dub45 wrote: »

Line stats show in many cases the reasons for peoples' problems. And they make a very logical starting point to try and diagnose what really is the problem. And contrary to what you say stats have become even more relevant since the upgrade because increased speeds put a lot of pressure on the line.

Do bad linestats cause erratic pings?

There is 2 central routers on eircoms network seriously overloaded , 1 in central ireland and 1 in Dublin and this is accounting for ALOT of the problems from users in the east and south east regions

SOLACY

Sorry about the abusive posts everyone! But, I still stand for it not being contention though! I'm going to explain why. If you disagree with me, fair enough!

From my knowledge of how broadband works I see these reasons as logical, if I say something illogical then tell me! Someone is bound to disagree with me, but from what I understand as contention, I don't believe the decrease in speeds to be contention.

Reasons:
1. The broadband is always bad from the exact same times, even on weekends, which as you would expect, people would stay on longer and this should cause the speeds to be slower for longer, but no, it perfectly redeems itself at 12am.

2. Up until October the broadband was absolutely perfect. The summer would have been a crazy time for broadband usage. If it's contention then Eircom must have gotten a lot of new users from the summer to October on the server I'm on!
I'd say there's even less users everday now at peak times than there was in the summer, and yet there wasn't even a trace of latency/contention in the summer.

3. Everyone I know that has been experiencing decrease in their speeds said on Christmas Day that the broadband was perfect. Seems a bit odd that on St. Stephen's day the speeds turned terrible again and still continue to be.

4. They are a business. Businesses like to make money. Nobody can really trace what broadband speeds Eircom are sending you, what you receive is a totally different story. They see this as an opportunity to make money/reduce costs. But unfortunately the majority of users do nothing about it only complain.

5. How can anyone but Eircom really prove that it is contention? Eircom could say it is but that would clearly show that they aren't a dedicated company and haven't shown any signs to improve their service so I doubt they will say it's contention.

Anyways, on their complaint page it says
"At eircom we aim to be Ireland's leading class service provider, delivering a comprehensive range of advanced communication products to you our customer. Despite our best efforts from time to time things can go wrong."

"In the unlikely event that the level of service we provide you does not meet your expectations, it is important that we hear from you."

LOL.

If you are complaining about their service and haven't called them to complain, then ring or send a letter for goodness sake! 1800 200 481!

dub45

nuxxx wrote: »

Do bad linestats cause erratic pings?

Do androids dream of electric sheep?:) They can certainly cause slow speeds and dropped connections

nuxxx wrote: »

There is 2 central routers on eircoms network seriously overloaded , 1 in central ireland and 1 in Dublin and this is accounting for ALOT of the problems from users in the east and south east regions

And this claim is based on....................?

BNC

dub45 wrote: »

Do androids dream of electric sheep?:)

Decker would agree with you there

SOLACY

dub45 wrote: »

Do androids dream of electric sheep?:) They can certainly cause slow speeds and dropped connections



And this claim is based on....................?

I was about to post that but if they were overloaded doesn't that show how ignorant Eircom are? If they are seriously overloaded doesn't that suggest that they need some upgrades? Even if they are upgrading, tell us, don't leave us complaining...

dub45

SOLACY wrote: »

I was about to post that but if they were overloaded doesn't that show how ignorant Eircom are? If they are seriously overloaded doesn't that suggest that they need some upgrades? Even if they are upgrading, tell us, don't leave us complaining...

Please Eircom do something please..................................:)

Hank Scorpio

dub45 wrote: »

Do androids dream of electric sheep?:) They can certainly cause slow speeds and dropped connections



And this claim is based on....................?

Erratic ping times are a sign of bad congestion problems.
For E.G my local exchange does not contain any problems but furthur along the eircom network is where the problems begin to occur

Tracerts/PingPlotter/Visual route show the exact problems on the RIPE routers, there ips, there location and contact info, iv posted these many times

SOLACY

I can see this thread just turning into tech problems with servers etc.

The main point is, whether it is contention, us getting bullsh*tted or Eircom being unaware of the problems, Eircom are clearly not making any effort to improve their services. The only way Eircom have to improve is if there is enough demand. Otherwise it's seen as a usable service.

Don't post back,"That costs money." Everything costs money these days, and as I see it Eircom would only lose money in the long run if they don't improve the services.

johnplayerblue

SOLACY wrote: »

I can see this thread just turning into tech problems with servers etc.

The main point is, whether it is contention, us getting bullsh*tted or Eircom being unaware of the problems, Eircom are clearly not making any effort to improve their services. The only way Eircom have to improve is if there is enough demand. Otherwise it's seen as a usable service.

Don't post back,"That costs money." Everything costs money these days, and as I see it Eircom would only lose money in the long run if they don't improve the services.

Will you lead us Solacy . . .:pac: . . .

Cabaal

nuxxx wrote: »

Heres one for you, how about you stop asking the exact same questions the eircom "technicans" do as there never the reason for peoples problems since the eircom upgrade, its highly insulting to many posters, and its NOT helpful.

Your line sync and noise levels are required if you want any proper help from anybody on this forum that works in the industry and has experience.

and yes fluctuating SNR levels (line noise) will cause disconnections, bad pings and loss of sync etc, SNR levels can be affected by items with in your home so its extremely important you rule them out as this is the cause in the vast majority of people (going from personal experience in the industry) read the faq about physical connections - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=54381143&postcount=6

Once you've done this recheck your line stats.

Hes trying strongly to get his point across as the normal methods do not work and im speaking from 3 letters posted over the past 2 years and not 1 reply, not 1 of my mannered phonecalls being taken lightly.

I'd say most people here have had issues with one company or another over the years but being irate, refusing to do anything and threatening legal action is not the way to get assistance from staff of any company, people just won't want to help.

Have a issues is frustrating, hell its head wrecking but if you remain civil, logical and stern about a problem you have you'll get alot further with a complaint then a shouting match.

Most of all you can't just refuse to troubleshoot a technical issue keep demanding that eircom look at their network or an engineer comes to your house, if I had a euro for every time an end user blamed the network and then the issue was found to be in their premises I'd be paying my mortgage abit easier

thefinalstage

Cabaal wrote: »

I'd say most people here have had issues with one company or another over the years but being irate, refusing to do anything and threatening legal action is not the way to get assistance from staff of any company, people just won't want to help.

Because you will write down their name and they will get blamed regardless. So no one will give you nay concrete answers in that situation.

Cabaal wrote: »

Most of all you can't just refuse to troubleshoot a technical issue keep demanding that eircom look at their network or an engineer comes to your house, if I had a euro for every time an end user blamed the network and then the issue was found to be in their premises I'd be paying my mortgage abit easier

The troubleshooting has to be done or an engineer will not be sent out. Thems the rules.

dub45

And lately it is amazing how many posts on here have shown that internal wiring has been a major factor in poor performance. While I read a post in the last few days where the op was stating that the taking down of the christmas lights in the house had resulted in major improvements in bb performance.

Thats not to say that there is not a problem in the local exchange in the op's case but it does behove people to do as much as possible to diagnose the problem before resorting to ineffectual ranting.