Eircom eFibre VDSL/FTTC rollout – plans to reach 1.6m premises by mid 2016

Solair

It looks like eircom are *very* keen on launching it as soon as possible.

They wanted to launch it in April, but couldn't get agreement from Comreg as other operators who will be using it wanted more time to test how their systems would integrate with it.

So, May 20th is the earliest date and I would strongly suspect they'll be switching on as soon as humanly possible.

We already got sales calls from Eircom and Magnet about it.

Magnet were offering us 2 months free 'fat pipe' (what they're calling it!) if we switched our ADSL service over. They'd immediately upgrade us when it is switched on.

swoofer

why are vodafone staying so quiet?

Praetorian

I am sure I was offered 3 months free fat pipe. I asked the guy what was he smoking. I think the magnet staff are a little embarrassed about the product name

swoofer

very good

Solair

I'd love to know what they're going to call FTTH then!

DECEiFER

Is there any map or document that lists FTTC and FTTH areas/exchanges/estates discretely? It'd be cool to see how many areas will be getting proper fiber with mega-low domestic ping times.

Solair

So far, only what people on the forum have mapped : http://bit.ly/10834qE

(The map's not at all complete, these are just the cabinets people stumbled upon)

Eircom look like they might be doing a map sometime before launch.

You'll spot the cabinets around though.

DECEiFER

Ah yeah, I'm in an area but just wanted to see which were FTTH specifically as that's likely to produce a much better connection.

Solair

There are no FTTH products being rolled out as part of this AFAIK.

There were a very small number of trial areas in South Co. Dublin and Wexford, but that's all they're doing for now.

There's some possibility of FTTH in the future as they're installing sufficient fibre for it and it could be run from these / another cabinet, but so far, they're sticking with FTTC.

They're going with VDSL2 with Vectoring.

DECEiFER

Solair wrote: »

There are no FTTH products being rolled out as part of this AFAIK.

There were a very small number of trial areas in South Co. Dublin and Wexford, but that's all they're doing for now.

There's some possibility of FTTH in the future as they're installing sufficient fibre for it and it could be run from these / another cabinet, but so far, they're sticking with FTTC.

Ah I see. Well that makes me feel less bad about being with UPC under contract, for the moment anyway.

Solair

DECEiFER wrote: »

Ah I see. Well that makes me feel less bad about being with UPC under contract, for the moment anyway.

UPC's FTTC (over coax & DOCSIS 3) will still be faster than eircom's FTTC (over phone line & VDSL2 ).

In theory VDSL2 with vectoring can offer 100mbit/s and even up to 250mbit/s (in theory if the cabinet's like next to your modem).

I think eircom's talking more about pushing it to about 100mbit/s though.

Davy

https://maps.google.ie/maps?q=http:%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FZoJPsB&hl=en&ll=53.394843,-6.201695&spn=0.001398,0.004128&sll=53.3834,-8.21775&sspn=6.424543,21.643066&t=m&z=19&layer=c&cbll=53.394843,-6.201695&panoid=RfQ1xYi7t_2VKmwW6tY0gg&cbp=12,261.19,,0,10.74

DECEiFER

Solair wrote: »

UPC's FTTC (over coax & DOCSIS 3) will still be faster than eircom's FTTC (over phone line & VDSL2 ).

In theory VDSL2 with vectoring can offer 100mbit/s and even up to 250mbit/s (in theory if the cabinet's like next to your modem).

I think eircom's talking more about pushing it to about 100mbit/s though.

Ah they'll start small. It's the same with Cable. You look at speeds offered by Shaw in Canada; while Ireland has the fastest DOCSIS service in Europe (I believe), and we're kicking the US's ass, Canada has our ass handed to us - but that said, the packages from Shaw that do match UPC's are more expensive! I digress. I was never too fussed about VDSL2 over copper from the cabinet so I'm not going to be in a rush to sign up.

Thanks for the replies, I had no idea that FTTH wasn't being rolled out currently - I assumed it was being done in some areas. But I thought the limit with FTTC was 50Mb/s. I read that not only on the eircom Fib(re) Pilot site but elsewhere (I can't remember the sites) also. I know I'm talking out of my ass, I need to get into some hard research into VDSL2 because I know feck-all about it.

Solair

There are various implementations of VDSL in service around the world.

Eircom's using a technology known as 'vectoring' which actively manages the crosstalk (interference from other lines) in a given bundle of cables. This allows them to take the speed up to 100mbit/s.

They're probably launching at up to 70mbit/s though.

UPC Ireland's top speed's 150mbit/s at the moment. Numericable in France already do 200mbit/s albeit in limited areas. They've mostly got 100mbit/s

DECEiFER

Solair wrote: »

There are various implementations of VDSL in service around the world.

Eircom's using a technology known as 'vectoring' which actively manages the crosstalk (interference from other lines) in a given bundle of cables. This allows them to take the speed up to 100mbit/s.

They're probably launching at up to 70mbit/s though.

I've heard of vectoring. I know a lad on the Canary Islands and they're using VDSL2 with Telefonica and it's pure ****. I'm guessing it's the cheapest and sloppiest implementation. The modems hang and the service is slow (they'd be jumping for joy at 70Mb/s).

Solair

DECEiFER wrote: »

I've heard of vectoring. I know a lad on the Canary Islands and they're using VDSL2 with Telefonica and it's pure ****. I'm guessing it's the cheapest and sloppiest implementation. The modems hang and the service is slow (they'd be jumping for joy at 70Mb/s).

I've used Telefonica in Northern Spain and struggled to get 8mbit/s in a city centre location

DECEiFER

Solair wrote: »

I've used Telefonica in Northern Spain and struggled to get 8mbit/s in a city centre location

As I always say to the guy (he's English but living there since his teens): El Telefonica Del Corrupto Grande.

I suppose BT are too eliminating the crosstalk as they offer 100Mb/s with BT Infinity, which I thought was FTTH (as they previously offered 40Mb/s FTTC) but could well be FTTC. I haven't looked at their product page in months but I do remember up to 100Mb/s packages being offered.

I'm happy to see that eircom are making efforts to do it right as it wouldn't have surprised me in the least if they too took the half-assed route and just let the interference run amok.

Solair

Numericable : http://offres.numericable.fr/tripleplay/ipower-12831 -- Ireland's not too bad, but France is definitely way ahead on speed compared to lots of places (if you're in a cabled area)

Although, just looking at their map, only a very select few areas have 200mbit/s .. many have 100mbit/s or even just 30mbit/s

DECEiFER

Solair wrote: »

Numericable : http://offres.numericable.fr/tripleplay/ipower-12831 -- Ireland's not too bad, but France is definitely way ahead on speed compared to lots of places (if you're in a cabled area)

Ah yeah, but they're French - that's tough enough to live with, they deserve at least one advantage over the rest of us. :P
(that was a joke in case anyone's offended)

I've just chatted with the guy in the Canary Islands on Skype and the fastest he can get at home is 20Mb/s over ADSL2+ but VDSL2 lines are provided by Telefonica to businesses at a mere 30Mb/s. He works for a small business there managing their I.T. equipment and network and he says to this day, from when he told me in late 2012, the modem keeps hanging. I can't say if the mainland is currently any better in VDSL2 areas.

Solair

DECEiFER wrote: »

Ah yeah, but they're French - that's tough enough to live with, they deserve at least one advantage over the rest of us. :P
(that was a joke in case anyone's offended)

I've just chatted with the guy in the Canary Islands on Skype and the fastest he can get at home is 20Mb/s over ADSL2+ but VDSL2 lines are provided by Telefonica to businesses at a mere 30Mb/s. He works for a small business there managing their I.T. equipment and network and he says to this day, from when he told me in late 2012, the modem keeps hanging. I can't say if the mainland is currently any better in VDSL2 areas.

I'd say things could be a little different on the Canary's though. It's a fairly remote location and probably not as open to competition for telecoms as the rest of España and there'd be significantly higher costs to operators as it's so remote from 'the mainland'.

DECEiFER

Solair wrote: »

I'd say things could be a little different on the Canary's though. It's a fairly remote location and probably not as open to competition for telecoms as the rest of España and there'd be significantly higher costs to operators as it's so remote from 'the mainland'.

That's true. Though their wages aren't great so some overheads are lessened. It's the same here compared with the UK. Ireland used to be terrible and it was down to the demand per square mile. We have a big enough island to cable and not as many people to take on the products associated with the cabling compared with the UK. This is one reason, among other shameful reasons, why our phone line rental is up on being the world's most expensive.

Sponge Bob

Davy wrote: »

https://maps.google.ie/maps?q=http:%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FZoJPsB&hl=en&ll=53.394843,-6.201695&spn=0.001398,0.004128&sll=53.3834,-8.21775&sspn=6.424543,21.643066&t=m&z=19&layer=c&cbll=53.394843,-6.201695&panoid=RfQ1xYi7t_2VKmwW6tY0gg&cbp=12,261.19,,0,10.74

Sorry Davy, is that another cab location?? There is one marked nearby on Coolock Drive but I marked one there for you.

Mc Love

Solair wrote: »

Yeah, return it as quickly as you can. It's compatible with existing ADSL2 services (up to 24mbit/s) only.

Most people will refund, but bare in mind they're under no obligation to as you're basically just saying you don't like it. There's nothing wrong the modem unless they sold it as a "VDSL modem" it's as described.

Distance question:

if you're 1.2 km from the cabinet, you could get VDSL but you definitely won't see the maximum speeds, more like maybe 20mbit/s to 25mbit/s
It'll still probably drastically outperform your ADSL line though, but you won't get top speeds unless you're about 0 to 500meters from the box.

Bare in mind that the speeds vary depending on the line length, the type of wiring used on the line (it varies in terms of diameter of the cables and material and insulation types and all sorts of things) and more importantly the route it takes back to the cabinet. There's no guarantee the route's the same as the road. It could be longer or shorter.

No way of knowing really without seeing what the stats for your line are between the cabinet and your house. Even the data on your modem at the moment are relatively useless as it covers the full line right back to the exchange. We'd need to know just about the last bit from the cabinet to your house.

Jesus, thats a lot better than my 2 MB at most that I get now, I would be practically over the moon with anything near 10 even

bluemachaveli

Spotted 2 more cabs in Castletroy last night. Added to the map, didn't get pics but will try to have a drive around over the weekend to spot some more.

Oafley Jones

Mc Love wrote: »

Jesus, thats a lot better than my 2 MB at most that I get now, I would be practically over the moon with anything near 10 even

I'd kill for 10 now. Moved out to the countryside last month and I'm getting 0.86 down if I'm lucky. When I was in Cork city I'd normally have around 32.4 down with UPC.

Richard Dower

Here, right beside the trash box....you cann see the Eircom thingy on the ground: https://maps.google.ie/?ll=52.65903,-8.61518&spn=0.003189,0.010568&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=52.659348,-8.61619&panoid=63ic4m3ZkyK9U6B-KaHSbA&cbp=12,40.02,,0,0

10 R527....there is a set if traffic lights and a trash can

https://maps.google.ie/?ll=52.65903,-8.61518&spn=0.003189,0.010568&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=52.659348,-8.61619&panoid=63ic4m3ZkyK9U6B-KaHSbA&cbp=12,40.02,,0,0

Anothere here: https://maps.google.ie/?ll=52.65903,-8.61518&spn=0.003189,0.010568&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=52.659348,-8.61619&panoid=63ic4m3ZkyK9U6B-KaHSbA&cbp=12,40.02,,0,0

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Richard , I am trying to follow these and mark them. The one 'opposite the jail' is it where these phones boxes were??

http://goo.gl/maps/Axf1D

I am not getting very far. Can you do this trick. Click here

http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,558314,656963,7,10


Just move the mouse to the point where the cab is...you see a pair of numbers changing bottom left of screen, no click required just jiggy the mouse over the cab location.

NOTE the numbers shown when the tip of the arrow is over the cab location eg

558313,656963 is where the little red X is in this link.

http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,558314,656963,7,10

So one line per cab like so.

558313,656963 Garryowen Road Cabinet
558123,656456 Cabinet Opposite St Johns

I can bulk convert these OSI co ordinates to markers and then into the map.

Regards

SB

Mc Love

Oafley Jones wrote: »

I'd kill for 10 now. Moved out to the countryside last month and I'm getting 0.86 down if I'm lucky. When I was in Cork city I'd normally have around 32.4 down with UPC.

Same, living in the countryside technically, but its more like the outer suburbs its that close to them and on a good day I can get 2MB - just any sort of improvement I would be happy.

Praetorian

Was in Balrothery today. There was two cabinets mapped at Rosepark, the work has begun, but I reckon only one cabinet will go there.

I moved the second marker to Balruddery wood, where there is a completed cabinet.

According to reliable sources ie dubmick, another cabinet will be going beside the school, but no work has started yet, so I have left it unmapped.

I also saw some work going on not far from the Balrothery Inn / old n1 road. But I won't map a cabinet until I see a cab for sure.

The overall speed of the rollout since ramp up has been impressive.

Davy

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Sorry Davy, is that another cab location?? There is one marked nearby on Coolock Drive but I marked one there for you.

Yes their is one at that corner, passed it yesterday. Sorry should have been a bit more clear

Codpeas

53.385682, -6.409452 Entrance road to Sorrel estate off Shelerin Road, Clonsilla, D15