Exchange enabled - line failing, but neighbours not!

hjr

Hi,

My exchange has finally been upgraded! however, when I do a line check it says that my line is failing, even though my neighbour who lives 500 metres away is passing(subject to confirmation)...I live about 8KM from the exchange so I know I'm on the edge, but just wondering what my options are? Can I ring eircom and ask for a technican to call out?
How do they know how far I am from the exchange based on my phone number? It must be a very accurate formula if my neighbour gets through and him only 500 metres better off!

Thanks

Knasher

I've heard, although I have my doubts, that you should unplug all the devices from the phone line (apart from the actual phone your calling them from) before you call them for the test. Which would seem to imply that they do some sort of noise check on your line, then and there.
Just as a side note, I had a friend in Cork who used to constantly fail the line checks, so eventually he just rang them up and said he had an engineer out to check his line (friend of the family type thing) and that he passed. He was then allowed to get broadband, and it worked no problem. Not that I'm encouraging that you do the same, cause if it doesn't work you might be forced to buy your way out of the contract, but just stick with it.

CutzEr

Knasher wrote: »

I've heard, although I have my doubts, that you should unplug all the devices from the phone line (apart from the actual phone your calling them from) before you call them for the test. Which would seem to imply that they do some sort of noise check on your line, then and there.
Just as a side note, I had a friend in Cork who used to constantly fail the line checks, so eventually he just rang them up and said he had an engineer out to check his line (friend of the family type thing) and that he passed. He was then allowed to get broadband, and it worked no problem. Not that I'm encouraging that you do the same, cause if it doesn't work you might be forced to buy your way out of the contract, but just stick with it.

DOITDOITDOITDOITNAO

thefinalstage

hjr wrote: »

Hi,

My exchange has finally been upgraded! however, when I do a line check it says that my line is failing, even though my neighbour who lives 500 metres away is passing(subject to confirmation)...I live about 8KM from the exchange so I know I'm on the edge, but just wondering what my options are? Can I ring eircom and ask for a technican to call out?
How do they know how far I am from the exchange based on my phone number? It must be a very accurate formula if my neighbour gets through and him only 500 metres better off!

Thanks

You are 8km from the exchange. If you got broadband you would most likely be on extended reach 5 or 6. Not worth the hassle really..

Xcellor

hjr wrote: »

Hi,

My exchange has finally been upgraded! however, when I do a line check it says that my line is failing, even though my neighbour who lives 500 metres away is passing(subject to confirmation)...I live about 8KM from the exchange so I know I'm on the edge, but just wondering what my options are? Can I ring eircom and ask for a technican to call out?
How do they know how far I am from the exchange based on my phone number? It must be a very accurate formula if my neighbour gets through and him only 500 metres better off!

Thanks

Something to try if disconnecting everything etc fails.

Phone eircom to order a new phone line at at that time check if the new line they give you is BB compatable. Eircom were offering free phone line a while back I remember reading. When you phone they can give you the new phone number and also check if you can get BB there and then.

If you are really 8km from the exchange you may get a very slow BB indeed.

X

jor el

hjr wrote: »

I live about 8KM from the exchange so I know I'm on the edge

8km is about 3 km beyond the edge, though there have been some lucky people to get broadband at that distance, but it's rare, and it'll be extremely poor.

hjr wrote: »

It must be a very accurate formula if my neighbour gets through and him only 500 metres better off!

500m is a lot, in terms of DSL. You say his line is subject to approval, which means he's just about on the edge, and it needs further inspection to see if his line will actually be capable. At 500m beyond him, you have no hope (realistically).

jor el

Xcellor wrote: »

When you phone they can give you the new phone number and also check if you can get BB there and then.

No they can't. They won't approve the line for broadband until it's actually installed and tested. They won't tell you anything about broadband on a line that isn't installed and active.

You can order broadband on a new line, and if it turns out the broadband doesn't work, then you can cancel the whole lot. If the line installs are free still, then this doesn't really bring any benefit.

lucernarian

I've seen a line at about 7.25 km with 1024/128, albeit with signal margin of around 8. The connection is stable, so I'm told.

There's nothing exceptional about that line, so there's no reason to rule 8km out as a no-hoper.

Jor El, the edge is somewhere between 96 dB and 100dB. That's 5 miles, not ~3 miles. This has been said several times before.

OP, the measurements are fairly accurate, but whether it's a pass or fail is not so much. E.g. The limits between 2002 and 2006 (I think) were 4.5 km, or 54dB technically speaking. Then they increased it by 6dB twice in rapid succession, then in early 2007 increased it by another 12dB to 78dB (6.5 km). Then a while after that, I'm not sure how long, they increased it by a substantial margin. I was at the edge on 6.5 km, then all my neighbours started passing. I remember reading that it increased by 20dB, but don't hold me to that exactly. So it's a massive change from what they thought was needed for stable DSL.

But 8km is indeed pushing it, and it's probably better to expect the worst. Disconnecting everything from the master socket, extensions and all, and just using a corded phone in the main socket could make the difference. I was at the very edge and anytime I disconnected the extensions, we passed, and when they were wired up, it was a fail again.

Finally, for a line like yours, it's best to find an eircom technician in the local area (assuming your local one is very small, go to the nearest biggish town's exchange, you'll probably find one there) somehow or other, and talk to him about it. Offer him a few quid for looking at your line or something.

Xcellor

jor el wrote: »

No they can't. They won't approve the line for broadband until it's actually installed and tested. They won't tell you anything about broadband on a line that isn't installed and active.

You can order broadband on a new line, and if it turns out the broadband doesn't work, then you can cancel the whole lot. If the line installs are free still, then this doesn't really bring any benefit.

In my case they told me that the number I was assigned was BB enabled so I would be able to get BB on it. However just being on an exchange that is enabled does not mean you can get BB... The agent however was very upbeat and confident heh.

As it turned out they had selected me on an exchange that had broadband. At the turned out that exchange was nowhere near me I had to wait 2 years to get my exchange enabled.

Liam Byrne

Are pair-gains consigned to history, or could they still be a factor ?

crol

adsl reach V speed ...

lucernarian

They're still alive and well sadly. I've had unconfirmed reports that lines with pairgains will pass, subject to confirmation over the last couple of years. Having said that, I know of a number 200 metres from the Whitehall exchange that can't get broadband. I assume because of a pairgain, as the line is definitely short enough.

It's certainly possible that it will fail simply because of the pairgain. And they're more likely 5 miles away, simply from a lack of free pairs.

In other words, the OP should grab a hold of the local eircom linesman, by hook or by crook, to find these things out:)

Edit: That graph above is wrong.

Firstly eircom have stated that line distance is 12dB attenuation per km. Secondly, I know of stable 1024/128 connections on RADSL with attenuation in the 80dBs. My own line has a signal margin of 15dB with 1024/128 and still has 78dB attenuation, according to eircom management. So no more of the graph!

Tim M-U

hjr wrote: »

Hi,

My exchange has finally been upgraded! however, when I do a line check it says that my line is failing, even though my neighbour who lives 500 metres away is passing(subject to confirmation)...I live about 8KM from the exchange so I know I'm on the edge, but just wondering what my options are? Can I ring eircom and ask for a technican to call out?
How do they know how far I am from the exchange based on my phone number? It must be a very accurate formula if my neighbour gets through and him only 500 metres better off!

Thanks

hi

so you say your line has just been enabled for DSL broadband, congrats!. It may take eircom upto 2 weeks (i think) before your broadband connection is fully working (so eircom might not help you until then). Please note: you may find the connection may not work from time to time in the 2 weeks period.

phone eircom and ask for more infomation.

hope this helps, and hope you enjoy your broadband in time...

Tim.

vorbis^cs

my linetests on eircom.net bt.com even ringing them and asking them to check my line, it says my line is not suitable for broadband even tho im on 3mg eircom.. so it would be worth getting a engineer out to have a look