Line checker issue? Eircom says eFibre area, Vodafone says max 24 mbps

positron

I am in Drogheda and my Sky Broadband trial contract has ended and I am considering switching away from Sky.

I like the basic Vodafone package of 35 euro per month, but their line checker says I can only get a maximum of 24 mbps (aka not fibre).

Eircom line checker says I am in eFibre area and they can do fibre, however they are slightly more expensive (35 x 6 months + 50 x 6 months).

Is this a simple line checker issue with Vodafone, or can only eircom offer me real fibre?

Sorry if this has been asked previously - I googled but couldn't find anything solid.

Chris The Hacker

Just ring Vodafone and tell them the eircom line checker says it's available. See if this Magnet line checker works too: https://www.magnet.ie/

positron

Magnet line checker shows 70 mb fibre. Will ring Vodafone and see. Thanks!!

Vodafone: Darren

Hi there,
If you don't mind dropping over a private message with the landline number and a link to this thread, we can look into it for you?

Thanks,

positron

PM'ed. Thanks in advance Darren.

positron

Update: Darren checked my line and said it can do 25 mbps, so fibre is available.

I am still slightly confused as to is the 25 mbps a limit on the line and/or if I sign up thru Vodafone website, will I get locked into some sort of fine print that will set my max speed to 24 mbps forever?

murphaph

No you won't be locked into that speed forever. If your line is able then you'll see it in your VDSL modem stats and you'll be able to up it bit by bit.

positron

Thanks muphaph.

Just to update for anyone else following the thread / reads in future - On eircom website, after the line check, there's another section to click thru that shows max speeds you can get - and that also shows 25 mbps. So that matches exactly what Vodafone:Darren said above.

Vodafone website line checker still shows upto 24 mbps (non-fibre) for the line, but when I rang Vodafone sales they said 25 mb fibre. That's the maximum I can get, but realistically he thinks it would be around 18 mbps. (70 mbps dreams well and truly shattered, must be ancient line to the back of the estate). Anyway, I've signed up for 18 months of broadband max (35 pm), and got an engineer call out appointment for early next week.

Will update on progress.

ED E

DSL prequals(Line ratings) are done by the exchange and are a real world view of the current condition of the line.

VDSL prequals AFAIK are best guesses, they existing copper cabs have no way of testing the line to see what could be attained. So you may see more or less than 25.

At least with vectoring you could push 30+ if the line is in decent shape.

crawler

ED E wrote: »

DSL prequals(Line ratings) are done by the exchange and are a real world view of the current condition of the line.

VDSL prequals AFAIK are best guesses, they existing copper cabs have no way of testing the line to see what could be attained. So you may see more or less than 25.

At least with vectoring you could push 30+ if the line is in decent shape.

VDSL prequals are generally more accurate that ADSL ones. I could explain why but too much typing BK fancy taking up the mantle??

ED E

crawler wrote: »

VDSL prequals are generally more accurate that ADSL ones. I could explain why but too much typing BK fancy taking up the mantle??

I understand the issues with DSL prequals, but I've no idea how they're running them for fibre. Is it a tech manually running it from the port on the cab at the time of commissioning?

positron

ED E wrote: »

...if the line is in decent shape.

I doubt it. The maximum speed I can get now (before fibre) on Sky broadband and previously with Vodafone is between 2.5 to 3.5 mbps.

ED E

positron wrote: »

I doubt it. The maximum speed I can get now (before fibre) on Sky broadband and previously with Vodafone is between 2.5 to 3.5 mbps.

That could be a few mines of cabling though. For fibre only the last ~1Km is in use so that segment *could* be fine. Finding faults on shorter runs is easier too.

positron

I got modem in post and engineer is supposed to call around today. However I am just after realising that, looking at the instructions, the cable from eircom socket to modems DSL port is exactly what I already have in place (not a normal network cable which I thought it would be), and that also means that I already have the required master socket in place?!! I had connection issues in 2010 or so, and Vodafone had arranged an eircom engineer to come and check, and he had put in this socket with two ports!!

Perhaps I should have gone for the self-install option? Ah well, I will know for sure when/if the eircom engineer calls around later today.

crawler

positron wrote: »

I got modem in post and engineer is supposed to call around today. However I am just after realising that, looking at the instructions, the cable from eircom socket to modems DSL port is exactly what I already have in place (not a normal network cable which I thought it would be), and that also means that I already have the required master socket in place?!! I had connection issues in 2010 or so, and Vodafone had arranged an eircom engineer to come and check, and he had put in this socket with two ports!!

Perhaps I should have gone for the self-install option? Ah well, I will know for sure when/if the eircom engineer calls around later today.

Currently all VDSL installs are engineer installs

Chris The Hacker

positron wrote: »

I got modem in post and engineer is supposed to call around today. However I am just after realising that, looking at the instructions, the cable from eircom socket to modems DSL port is exactly what I already have in place (not a normal network cable which I thought it would be), and that also means that I already have the required master socket in place?!! I had connection issues in 2010 or so, and Vodafone had arranged an eircom engineer to come and check, and he had put in this socket with two ports!!

Perhaps I should have gone for the self-install option? Ah well, I will know for sure when/if the eircom engineer calls around later today.

He still needs to switch your line from the old cabinet to the new one.

crawler

Chris The Hacker wrote: »

He still needs to switch your line from the old cabinet to the new one.

Or being pedantic from being exchange terminated to being cabinet terminated (for the VDSL component)

positron

Update. Eircom engineer (a young lad, looks about 15!!) called around. All he had to do was to switch connection at the cabinet. Master plug was fine, and all I had to do was swap Sky modem with Vodafone modem and it was all good to do.

Like I mentioned earlier in the thread I was told the maximum bandwidth I am going to get is 25 mbps. I am now getting 17-18 mbps. About six times faster than my previous connection, so I am not complaining. Here are the stats from the modem.

Line standard VDSL2
Channel type None
Downstream line rate (kbit/s) 18440
Upstream line rate (kbit/s) 6081
Downstream SNR (dB) 11.3
Upstream SNR (dB) 9.2
Downstream line attenuation (dB) 21.1
Upstream line attenuation (dB) 8.8
Downstream output power (dBmV) 13.4
Upstream output power (dBmV) 7
Downstream CRC 0
Upstream CRC 0
Downstream FEC 0
Upstream FEC 0

Thanks!