Eir Fibre and alarm wiring

Irish Steve

Customer has upgraded to Fibre, but the main socket has been put on the end of a poorly installed and ancient wire that goes back to a 50 pair box on the wall (industrial unit) and from what I can see of it, there's an alarm in the line before the splitter, wired with external gel crimps that are tucked in the corner of the main DP panel that go out and back to the alarm on a separate cable.

The download speeds are dire, the modem reckons it's capable of 90 Mb, but the actual speed is closer to 20Mb, or slower, with upload about the same, and my prime suspect is that the wiring to and from the alarm is causing problems with the signal quality, I rebooted the modem earlier and it took 2 power down resets before it was able to sync with the exchange end.

I have it in the back of my mind that the alarm is supposed to be split out at the main terminator box after the broadband/POTS split.

If that's the case, should Eir have updated the wiring to change this, or it is the alarm supplier or the user that is responsible for it?

Thanks.

ED E

KNN(eir) should have disconnected the alarm or refused to install on the appointment date, alarm should be backfed to the CCU(Faceplate). They'll connect a pair if ones existing but they wont run a new length, thats third party as its after the demarcation point and the customers responsibility.


Nothing should touch the line before the new NTU, all POTS comes off the filtered side and VDSL modem is the only unfiltered device. Anyone handy with a crimp/blocks can fix this in a few minutes.

mass_debater

Remove the front filter off the ntu and plug the modem direct into the ntu back Ethernet socket and see how it works. If it's fine then you have a problem with your internal cabling, your own responsibility.

Irish Steve

mass_debater wrote: »

Remove the front filter off the ntu and plug the modem direct into the ntu back Ethernet socket and see how it works. If it's fine then you have a problem with your internal cabling, your own responsibility.

Won't eliminate the alarm wiring, there's a multi pair (25 plus) coming in from the cabinet, there's several lines for this company, and other lines to offices at the back of the unit for another user that's not related, and inside the terminator box for the external cable, it goes out to the alarm, and then comes back to a pair of gel crimps tucked in the corner, and then out to the fibre NTU box, which (as confirmed above, and what I was expecting) is not going to work as it's supposed to.

I have spare gel crimps and all the other tools to sort it, and I can run a 4 pair in from the 50 way to the NTU (which is lying on the floor at the moment!), sort out the correct wiring from the 50 way to the NTU on pair 1, then use pair 2 and 3 from the NTU to the alarm and back, which should help considerably, given the cable in the building is at least 25 years old, so not exactly ideal for feeding fibre around the place!

Thanks

mass_debater

Irish Steve wrote: »

Won't eliminate the alarm wiring, there's a multi pair (25 plus) coming in from the cabinet, there's several lines for this company, and other lines to offices at the back of the unit for another user that's not related, and inside the terminator box for the external cable, it goes out to the alarm, and then comes back to a pair of gel crimps tucked in the corner, and then out to the fibre NTU box, which (as confirmed above, and what I was expecting) is not going to work as it's supposed to.

I have spare gel crimps and all the other tools to sort it, and I can run a 4 pair in from the 50 way to the NTU (which is lying on the floor at the moment!), sort out the correct wiring from the 50 way to the NTU on pair 1, then use pair 2 and 3 from the NTU to the alarm and back, which should help considerably, given the cable in the building is at least 25 years old, so not exactly ideal for feeding fibre around the place!

Thanks

If you know how to fix it good and well

What I meant was if you still had a problem with the front removed you have grounds to go back and tell them to fix it, they'll be able to line test to the demarcation point with the internal loop removed and will see any taps, poor cable or other issues on the line.

Irish Steve

mass_debater wrote: »

If you know how to fix it good and well

What I meant was if you still had a problem with the front removed you have grounds to go back and tell them to fix it, they'll be able to line test to the demarcation point with the internal loop removed and will see any taps, poor cable or other issues on the line.

OK, understood, given the way things are on the site, it will fail at present, and yes, it's probably their problem, but in the short term, it will be simpler and quicker to do a fix that will sort the issue, and I shall leave enough spare at the Eir box that if they ever decide to change the way it's connected, and put the alarm wires onto an external connector box, which is probably how it's meant to be, that will be possible.

Thanks

mass_debater

FYI, in on the NTU filter is the pair going to the alarm, out is the return. You'll need to break the resistors on the filter to get the phone socket on the right working when these are connected

Irish Steve

mass_debater wrote: »

FYI, in on the NTU filter is the pair going to the alarm, out is the return. You'll need to break the resistors on the filter to get the phone socket on the right working when these are connected

Thanks, that will help. it will be "interesting" to see how it was set up at the moment, I won't be surprised to find some loose connections in there, given its rattling around the floor with a mess of extension leads to computers and the like.

Tomorrow morning's challenge, they need the internet (and more importantly the network printer) this evening. so moving the router to get to the wall and fix the NTU properly isn't going to happen today.