VDSL on a "split-line".

ItHurtsWhenIP

Hi folks,

My exchange is finally about to get VDSLed and as our neighbouring village's exchange got vectored within a week of being VDSLed (last month), that should hopefully mean that ours will be too.

I had previously believed myself to be a shade over 2KM from the exchange, but I took a look at the way the line comes out of it, to come down my road, and I've recalculated it and reckon I could be at 1.9KM, so should be good for 7Mbps ... I'm surviving on 3Mbps :eek:, so this will be fairly noticeable!

Now about my line. It comes up from the road to a pole in my neighbours field. It then splits into two lines, one running to an old granny flat in front of mine and the other to the house. From what I was told it was the same line and same number, so the phone would have rung in both buildings. Hence I don't think it would be a "party-line" (but am open to correction).

A few years back a careless hedge cutting tractor ripped the phone line off the granny flat and the cable is now lying in the neighbours field - they haven't noticed! :eek:

Will this split-line cause me any problem with getting eVDSL?

The line isn't currently active, so if the split would cause a problem, could I ask for the "tractor disconnected" :rolleyes: line to be properly disconnected?

ED E

If you've got DSL its definitely not a carrier line (pair gain, party line etc). TE did lots of weird things back in the day but never heard of that one. Strongly suspect the original owner was good friends with a tech to get a favor like that done.

The main problem with the broken line is that itll be earthing making noise on the line. At 1900m you'll really want to avoid any more degradation. A quick fix would be to make sure the pair isnt touching, tape up the end and then just wrap it up and hang it on the pole. 5 minute jobbie. Its then a bridge tap though so ideally a tech should fully remove it. Reporting a phone fault may be enough to get this done.

Ideally fix it now, as youll need the prequal test to pass before you can order the upgrade.

BlinkingLights

VDSL from the nearest cabinet is installed by a technician, as they have to patch your phone line to equipment in a cabinet on the street / road rather than the exchange where your voice service comes from. It's possible you might not be exchange launched.

If you already have ADSL you have a direct path back to the exchange. It's possible the line you're seeing is carrying up to 6 or even 8 pairs of copper wire. Your line only uses one of them. The line that's cut isn't electrically connected to yours.

In some instances they used digital multiplexers to carry more than one voice line on the same copper pair. This happened where they ran out of pairs. It was called Pairgain or a carrier line or in the UK DACS. It's not possible to have DSL services on such a line so you definitely don't have one.

The technician will call out and check the signal when installing VDSL. If there's an issue they'll resolve it there and then or if it's a major problem, reject the installation.

But typically, you'll get what you ordered with VDSL as it's not generally self install.

You'll get a new NTU filter socket etc etc.

They're generally doing this as it avoids endless tech support calls due to dodgy internal wiring.

ItHurtsWhenIP

ED E wrote: »

If you've got DSL its definitely not a carrier line (pair gain, party line etc). TE did lots of weird things back in the day but never heard of that one. Strongly suspect the original owner was good friends with a tech to get a favor like that done.

The main problem with the broken line is that itll be earthing making noise on the line. At 1900m you'll really want to avoid any more degradation. A quick fix would be to make sure the pair isnt touching, tape up the end and then just wrap it up and hang it on the pole. 5 minute jobbie. Its then a bridge tap though so ideally a tech should fully remove it. Reporting a phone fault may be enough to get this done.

Ideally fix it now, as youll need the prequal test to pass before you can order the upgrade.

The line isn't active and our exchange had nothing before now, so I'll have a wander into the field and check the end of the line that's hanging down and fix that up at least.

As for TE doing odd things - there was a local man from half a mile down the road who is still an Open eir linesman, who probably had a hand in setting this up back in the 80's when the last bit of the house was completed.

BlinkingLights wrote: »

VDSL from the nearest cabinet is installed by a technician, as they have to patch your phone line to equipment in a cabinet on the street / road rather than the exchange where your voice service comes from. It's possible you might not be exchange launched.

If you already have ADSL you have a direct path back to the exchange. It's possible the line you're seeing is carrying up to 6 or even 8 pairs of copper wire. Your line only uses one of them. The line that's cut isn't electrically connected to yours.

In some instances they used digital multiplexers to carry more than one voice line on the same copper pair. This happened where they ran out of pairs. It was called Pairgain or a carrier line or in the UK DACS. It's not possible to have DSL services on such a line so you definitely don't have one.

The technician will call out and check the signal when installing VDSL. If there's an issue they'll resolve it there and then or if it's a major problem, reject the installation.

But typically, you'll get what you ordered with VDSL as it's not generally self install.

You'll get a new NTU filter socket etc etc.

They're generally doing this as it avoids endless tech support calls due to dodgy internal wiring.

Trust me, I've been on this forum for a long time. I know the story. Its definitely eVDSL, there are no cabs in this area (ass-end of the mountains in Tipperary). I just had this odd set-up and never saw it discussed before and until I realised I might be in range I never thought to do anything about it.

BlinkingLights

They'll still physically call out whether it's cabinet based or not. They are basically flushing out any internal wiring issues by installing an NTU which filters off all your internal wiring, rather than running the VDSL over your internal wiring and using lots of micro filters. It cuts noise and also allows them to eliminate any issues with dodgy wiring in your house.

A lot of houses would have a whole load of extensions that could be a mix of all sorts of eras.

ED E

They wont call at all if the prequal isnt passed, which it probably wont be with a big f'ck off bridge tap. POTS fault report first.

BlinkingLights

You intermittently can't hear people on the phone, right OP?
Terrible crackles when it's raining!

ItHurtsWhenIP

ED E wrote: »

They wont call at all if the prequal isnt passed, which it probably wont be with a big f'ck off bridge tap. POTS fault report first.

BlinkingLights wrote: »

You intermittently can't hear people on the phone, right OP?
Terrible crackles when it's raining!

Sorry ... I couldn't make that out over the nasty snapping, crackling and popping from my crispi ... phone!

HoggyRS

ItHurtsWhenIP wrote: »

Hi folks,

My exchange is finally about to get VDSLed and as our neighbouring village's exchange got vectored within a week of being VDSLed (last month), that should hopefully mean that ours will be too.

I had previously believed myself to be a shade over 2KM from the exchange, but I took a look at the way the line comes out of it, to come down my road, and I've recalculated it and reckon I could be at 1.9KM, so should be good for 7Mbps ... I'm surviving on 3Mbps :eek:, so this will be fairly noticeable!

Now about my line. It comes up from the road to a pole in my neighbours field. It then splits into two lines, one running to an old granny flat in front of mine and the other to the house. From what I was told it was the same line and same number, so the phone would have rung in both buildings. Hence I don't think it would be a "party-line" (but am open to correction).

A few years back a careless hedge cutting tractor ripped the phone line off the granny flat and the cable is now lying in the neighbours field - they haven't noticed! :eek:

Will this split-line cause me any problem with getting eVDSL?

The line isn't currently active, so if the split would cause a problem, could I ask for the "tractor disconnected" :rolleyes: line to be properly disconnected?

If the line is still split on this pole, that will need to be rectified by a tech as efibre will never work at any decent rate with a bridge tap.

Not to dash the hopes but if you reckon you are 1.9km as you travel by foot the length of the cable path is probably over 2000m which could put you outside the reach of efibre.

Also; on a 2km line 3mbs seems quite low for dsl, might be worth reporting a fault.

ED E

HoggyRS wrote: »

Also; on a 2km line 3mbs seems quite low for dsl, might be worth reporting a fault.

IIRC IP is on a pre NGB exchange, its a "Home Plus" legacy package not the line thats the limit.

The Cush

ED E wrote: »

IIRC IP is on a pre NGB exchange, its a "Home Plus" legacy package not the line thats the limit.

IIRC his exchange, Rearcross, is connected to core fibre but no adsl, going straight to eVDSL. The whole exchange area is NBP, no commercial rollout. His broadband is up to 3 Mbps Munster Broadband WISP.

ItHurtsWhenIP

HoggyRS wrote: »

If the line is still split on this pole, that will need to be rectified by a tech as efibre will never work at any decent rate with a bridge tap.

Not to dash the hopes but if you reckon you are 1.9km as you travel by foot the length of the cable path is probably over 2000m which could put you outside the reach of efibre.

Also; on a 2km line 3mbs seems quite low for dsl, might be worth reporting a fault.

I've traced the cable path and measured it fairly accurately. I previously believed it to have followed the road, but a section of it took a significant short-cut of ~150m :eek:, hence I'm pretty sure I'm now below the 2KM limit, but the bridge tap worries me. I'll see if the Open eir Linesman I mentioned earlier might have a recollection about the line.

The Cush wrote: »

IIRC his exchange, Rearcross, is connected to core fibre but no adsl, going straight to eVDSL. The whole exchange area is NBP, no commercial rollout. His broadband is up to 3 Mbps Munster Broadband WISP.

And my neighbour in Murroe remembers my exact set-up!

Sorry I didn't mean to have misled anyone about my existing connectivity.