Fiber Broadband Coming to Parts of Clare

Clareman

Personally I think this is great cause I'm on the roll out map, sorry for all of you that aren't.

Clare Champion Article

Eircom added eight locations in County Clare to their fibre rollout plan, including Ballyalla Cross, Ballymachill Cross, Clarecastle, Rockmount, Shannon Airport and Whitepark.
Last month, Ennis and Shannon Town were included in Phase IV of the fibre rollout plan.

Johnboy1951

At this stage I have (I think) overcome my perceived need for it.

I would have made use of it, had it been available, but now have adjusted myself to doing without it.

I seem to be managing just fine with a 4Mb/s download ..... and TV/Film/etc provided by Satellite & DTT.

..... or maybe I am learning patience ......

Mr. G

This is probably FTTC rather than FTTH. We seriously need UPC in Ennis

Clareman

I've the Vodafone Ultimate Package and get 12meg broadband, unfortunately it keeps knocking off if I use the full bandwidth so I've trottled it back a bit, used to be important for me to get the top broadband as I used to work from home and there'd be quite a difference in call quality and stuff, but now that it's uncongested broadband that's not really an issue.

Mr. G

I've imagine at 12meg. Last month I hit 1TB, not sure how I did that. No uncongested broadband for us. Hits 4mb some weekend evenings but other wise I get the full 11mb.

Try setting up QoS and call quality shouldn't be an issue then.

Johnboy1951

Maybe the ESB will go ahead with their fibre roll out ........ that would be nice ...... fibre over the ESB poles to maybe the transformer which would be equivalent to FTTC ..... and then high speed wireless from there to the house - if not fibre all the way ...

muggles

Where is "Whitepark" in Co. Clare?? Or do they actually mean Cappahard?

Clareman

I always thought that Whitepark was up near the TV transmitter in Maghera, I seem to have a vague memory of it being on an old test card or something.

muggles

Thank you Clareman. Did a search on google maps and indeed there is a Whitepark between Maghera and Feakle.

Chavways

Its a joke that its actually taking this long to roll it out.I live in Clonlara so I'll be lucky to have fibre by 2016 or 2017. Meanwhile UPC will probably be supplying 500mb to Dublin city. I'm currently with Eircom on the 24mb package but the most I get is 11mb. They are completely useless but there's no good alternative.

muggles

Totally agree. If we're down to listing such confined, specific areas as Rockmount, Ballyalla Cross and Ballymacahill Cross it's all the same. I may as well hang up my hat on it.

Clareman

muggles wrote: »

Totally agree. If we're down to listing such confined, specific areas as Rockmount, Ballyalla Cross and Ballymacahill Cross it's all the same. I may as well hang up my hat on it.

I don't think they are confining it to those areas, just that they are the places they are going to out to from the main exchange in town, so everyone out the Gort/Kilrush/Clare Roads will all get fibre.

cgarvey

Mr_Grumpy wrote: »

This is probably FTTC rather than FTTH. We seriously need UPC in Ennis

Correct. FTTH is just for a very few places (Dublin/Wicklow); the vast majority will get FTTC (and some variant of VDSL from the cab to the premises).

muggles wrote: »

Where is "Whitepark" in Co. Clare?? Or do they actually mean Cappahard?

The latter. The exchange is called Whitepark, but is in that estate somewhere (I think it's just a small exchange, probably underground). FTTC will be a long time coming to remote places like Feakle (nevermind Maghera!).

muggles wrote: »

Totally agree. If we're down to listing such confined, specific areas as Rockmount, Ballyalla Cross and Ballymacahill Cross it's all the same. I may as well hang up my hat on it.

They are all the Ennis exchanges. Some are tiny exchanges (like Whitepark), but others are big enough (like Ballyalla) that would serve a lot more than just the immediate area.

It's still all limited to built up urban/sub-urban areas though.

Clareman wrote: »

I don't think they are confining it to those areas, just that they are the places they are going to out to from the main exchange in town, so everyone out the Gort/Kilrush/Clare Roads will all get fibre.

Not just the main exchange (Drumbiggle Rd.), but the other big exchanges in Ennis as well (and some tiny ones too, because they're usually new, and serve a dense population). "Everyone" doesn't cut if for DSL either, unfortunately. Most along those roads should see some benefit, but there will be some out the Kilrush road who will miss out. It'll come down to location of existing street cabs, the density of lines in those cabs, and so on. The problem is that older lines (like the main Drumbiggle Rd. exchange) tend to have fewer street cabs (line goes straight back to the exchange), and to get FTTC, eircom'll need to install new street cabs. Now they'll have been doing that all along (especially in the property boom), but might be much less inclined to install new ones now. Most will see an improvement, but definitely not everyone, unfortunately.

CptSternn

Is there any word on how much it will cost to get the new Eircom fibre broadband?

I am currently entertaining the idea of moving to the Netherlands. I have been looking up costs to compare from there to here and something I found today made me sick.

https://www.ziggo.nl/#producten/alles-in-1/extra/

Ziggo is like UPC and is available throughout the Netherlands, as is fibre optic broadband. What makes me sick is that for €63 there you can get 120 Meg fibre broadband connection with an unlimited download quota, the basic HD digtial TV package, and a phone line.

Here my 8 meg connection with a phone line costs me more than €63 a month, and the basic sky package is close to €50.

I must say, I was quite disgusted when I realised how much we pay for so little here.

colm_mcm

The whitepark exchange also does some of the other estaes on the tulla road too. Far as I know its not an ngb exchange like ennis is. It wasn't a few years back anyway.

gctest50

CptSternn wrote: »

Here my 8 meg connection with a phone line costs me more than €63 a month, and the basic sky package is close to €50.

I must say, I was quite disgusted when I realised how much we pay for so little here.

5meg for free, 1 gigabit for $70


http://googlefiberblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/how-do-you-want-your-internet-you-choose.html

Johnboy1951

gctest50 wrote: »

5meg for free, 1 gigabit for $70


http://googlefiberblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/how-do-you-want-your-internet-you-choose.html

Not 'quite' free ..... but close .....

The Free Internet option will cost $0 per month, although you will have to pay a $300 construction fee (which can either be paid at once, or in $25 monthly installments).

I would take it, given the chance

cgarvey

colm_mcm wrote: »

The whitepark exchange also does some of the other estaes on the tulla road too. Far as I know its not an ngb exchange like ennis is. It wasn't a few years back anyway.

Correct. Somewhat mitigated by the fact it will have FTTC/VDSL next year (end of), and that it's a small exchange, so DSLAM-level contention is probably a bit less (but, still noticeable).

buzz_E

Mr_Grumpy wrote: »

This is probably FTTC rather than FTTH. We seriously need UPC in Ennis

+ 1 from me for this comment.

Mr. G

Even if upc was in just the business parks and a few main roads.

Eircom are a disaster.

phog

Mr_Grumpy wrote: »

This is probably FTTC rather than FTTH. We seriously need UPC in Ennis

UPC dont do FTTH either.

Mr. G

phog wrote: »

UPC dont do FTTH either.

UPC is much faster then FTTC though and they do tv, not that that's brilliant.

Janrey

Does anyone have Eircom landline broadband in and around Miltown Malbay and if so,what is the quality like

Godot.

O2 are doing a great job with mobile broadband in Clare but I suppose there are people out there that are really heavy internet users and would go for the fibre.

cgarvey

Godot. wrote: »

O2 are doing a great job with mobile broadband in Clare but I suppose there are people out there that are really heavy internet users and would go for the fibre.

Once you go outside urban areas (which in themselves are very hit'n'miss between all the operators), they are a mess. Unfortunately they've massively over-sold their midband offering as broadband, and most of West Clare is suffering now as a result. o2 aren't alone in that, either.

Godot.

cgarvey wrote: »

Once you go outside urban areas (which in themselves are very hit'n'miss between all the operators), they are a mess. Unfortunately they've massively over-sold their midband offering as broadband, and most of West Clare is suffering now as a result. o2 aren't alone in that, either.

I live in deepest darkest West Clare and getting 1MB speeds. Forests everywhere and the nearest neighbour is a 10 minute walk. I suppose it helps that the house is situated on a massive hill though.

cgarvey

Godot. wrote: »

I live in deepest darkest West Clare and getting 1MB speeds. Forests everywhere and the nearest neighbour is a 10 minute walk. I suppose it helps that the house is situated on a massive hill though.

Great, and there are plenty like you; but that's not the norm. The technology isn't designed for mass/blanket cover of broadband. You might be near a mast which helps.

There was a reason the various operators stopped offering free trials (where you could borrow a modem and test it out at home)!

WalkOn

I have see you eircom next to flannans all well.. Hope we get some fiber soon

Chriss79

Hi!
Is there any update on fiber brodband situation in Ennis? I'm interested in Tulla Road / Oakleigh Wood area. At the moment I'm with Vodafone, nevertheless line is capable of up to 3 mb/s. Real life is up to 2.5 mb/s which isn't good enough for me.
Thanks
Kris

johnam

I'm out the lahinch rd, and was told by Vodafone my line could handle 70Mb/s. I had been getting 5Mb/s up until monday morning when I got switched over, now I'm getting 67Mb/s with a 16MB/s upload.


According to speedtest.net that puts me faster than 98% of Ireland :eek:

until they all sign up for fibre broadband that is... :rolleyes:

Chriss79

johnam wrote: »

I'm out the lahinch rd, and was told by Vodafone my line could handle 70Mb/s. I had been getting 5Mb/s up until monday morning when I got switched over, now I'm getting 67Mb/s with a 16MB/s upload.


According to speedtest.net that puts me faster than 98% of Ireland :eek:

until they all sign up for fibre broadband that is... :rolleyes:

I'm so jealous! But it looks like that there is a hope :-)
Vodafone is changing you any extra for that?

johnam

Chriss79 wrote: »

I'm so jealous! But it looks like that there is a hope :-)
Vodafone is changing you any extra for that?

No...in fact it is going to be cheaper as I changed to the broadband only rate. I think they said €27 per month, but I may need to add extra data allowance to that later.

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

johnam wrote: »

No...in fact it is going to be cheaper as I changed to the broadband only rate. I think they said €27 per month, but I may need to add extra data allowance to that later.

hang on a sec, you're only paying €30/month for 50meg? i'm paying €70 to eircom at the moment for NGB but they want to move me to e-fibre for €60/month.

Mr. G

georgiecasey wrote: »

hang on a sec, you're only paying €30/month for 50meg? i'm paying €70 to eircom at the moment for NGB but they want to move me to e-fibre for €60/month.

€30 a month with no calls I'd say.

johnam

Mr. G wrote: »

€30 a month with no calls I'd say.

€27 as I'm already a vodafone mobile customer. 20GB allowance, €6 extra to increase that to 170GB. Also I signed up to a one year contract with free modem and installation, presumably as I was already a customer.

Eircom called to my door last year, (at the time I was paying vodafone €40 per month) and the eircom rep said he couldn't match Vodafone's rates, but that Eircom do offer a free music store??? and also the study hub thing. My oldest kid is 4, and spotify is also free, so the rep just turned around and left.

swoofer

johnam, you should post that speed over on the broadband boards as its the best yet and nice for ennis, I am still waiting on VF, next week I hope. How far are you from the cabinet?

How did you do that nice link? And that is ace with 26ping. You are very close to that cabinet but what a leap. 5 to 67 = 13 times faster.

enjoy

glineli

I doubt we will ever see the likes in Crusheen!!!

swoofer

has crusheen its own exchange?

glineli

GBCULLEN wrote: »

has crusheen its own exchange?

Yes, so fingers crossed it will be done at some stage

Mr. G

johnam wrote: »

€27 as I'm already a vodafone mobile customer. 20GB allowance, €6 extra to increase that to 170GB. Also I signed up to a one year contract with free modem and installation, presumably as I was already a customer.

Eircom called to my door last year, (at the time I was paying vodafone €40 per month) and the eircom rep said he couldn't match Vodafone's rates, but that Eircom do offer a free music store??? and also the study hub thing. My oldest kid is 4, and spotify is also free, so the rep just turned around and left.

Spotify and youtube are just as good if not better. Can you download music from musichub? I doubt it very much to be honest.

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

eircom musichub is shutting down anyway

faaaaaawk, i told the eircom girl on the phone i'd sign up to 18 motnh contract at €60 to get e-fibre. is that legally binding even though i just said it on the phone? i've signed nothing yet.

johnam

GBCULLEN wrote: »

johnam, you should post that speed over on the broadband boards as its the best yet and nice for ennis, I am still waiting on VF, next week I hope. How far are you from the cabinet?

How did you do that nice link? And that is ace with 26ping. You are very close to that cabinet but what a leap. 5 to 67 = 13 times faster.

enjoy

The link comes from Speedtest.net, after completing the test, there is a function to share your result. Click on that it brings up the graphic.

I would say I am no further than 150 meters from the cabinet as the crow flies.

Ya it is a huge leap, when vodafone told me that my line was capable of 70, I presumed that I would be lucky to get 50.

Is there any post in particular on the broadband forum that you would recommend posting the link in... I haven't ever looked at that forum.

Mr. G

georgiecasey wrote: »

eircom musichub is shutting down anyway

faaaaaawk, i told the eircom girl on the phone i'd sign up to 18 motnh contract at €60 to get e-fibre. is that legally binding even though i just said it on the phone? i've signed nothing yet.

http://www.thecmuwebsite.com/article/eircom-to-close-its-music-service/

You can accept a contract over the phone, yes.

http://www.askcomreg.ie/tell_us/phone_and_broadband_contracts.247.LE.asp

Once you decide to take up a particular phone and, or, broadband service, you can enter into a contract with a service provider in one of three ways: 
by agreeing over the phone and having the conversation recorded (vCAF);
by [other forms].

Voice Customer Authorisation Form (vCAF)
Many telecommunications companies are now using this method. It involves agreeing to enter a contract over the phone without signing any forms or other documents.

The normal steps are that a sales agent will discuss the service with you and explain the contract. This is your chance to ask as many questions as necessary to help you understand the service. If you agree to enter a contract, the sales agent will transfer you to someone else to verify your agreement.

Under the vCAF process, there are two distinct parts to the call - the Sales element and the Verification element. All issues pertaining to the Sale / Win / Winback i.e. Customer's Name, UAN, Account Number, Telephone Number, Packages, Contract details and duration etc., are completed with during the Sales element of the call.  Once the customer has agreed to purchase the Product the customer is taken through the verification script. This process is recorded and stored.

Mr. G

GBCULLEN wrote: »

has crusheen its own exchange?

No idea. There's details of where it will be/is rolled out on the eircom website. Best check there.

You might also want to look at the Eircom Fibre Rollout Mapping thread on the broadband forum.

Johnboy1951

Newmarket has its own exchange ..... it is connected to the fibre backhaul ..... is NGN ...... but no indication anywhere that the users might get connected to fibre ..... Sixmilebridge is listed to get cabs for FTTC but I don't think anything has been done yet ...... it too is NGN and fibre connected ....

It appears to me that unless you are very lucky you will not get fibre speeds outside of concentrated population centres.

Reports are that if you are more than 1Km from an enabled cabinet you will not be offered the fibre connection.

iquitalready

Does any one know why fibre isn't available in Cappahard? Checked my phone number and am not capable of any increase over what I already have. I looked up the eFibre map and Ennis is a sea of green ... except for a Cappahard shaped hole cut out of it! :rolleyes: There is a VDSL cabinet within the estate so I'm wondering why is wasn't enabled like the rest of the town and more importantly, when will it be.

colm_mcm

See page 1, its on a seperate exchange to Ennis.