Broadband in Cork

rebs23

Broadband speeds have reduced considerably recently. Service is down at the moment and generally it's just shocking. Anyone else notice significant issues recently?

ofcork

More people wfh id say is causing issues.

corks finest

rebs23 wrote: »

Broadband speeds have reduced considerably recently. Service is down at the moment and generally it's just shocking. Anyone else notice significant issues recently?

Yes it’s up n down

Been brutal past few days

yogmeister

My sky broadband has been gone for a few hours tonight. I'm in the Shandon area.

jimgoose

Pulling over 50Mb/s this morning via Eir fibre. It was running 95Mb/s back at the start of May. Definitely more people connecting. The technicians were round last week about running cabling for fibre-to-the-router, as part of general network upgrades in the area, so that'll be nice when done.

rebs23

jimgoose wrote: »

Pulling over 50Mb/s this morning via Eir fibre. It was running 95Mb/s back at the start of May. Definitely more people connecting. The technicians were round last week about running cabling for fibre-to-the-router, as part of general network upgrades in the area, so that'll be nice when done.

I live close enough to the City Centre and can only get 7Mb/s max! Was getting 30 but now I can't even get a connection. Got connected recently to a different provider which lasted less than 3 weeks and now gone since the weekend, it's shocking. SIRO is available in some spots locally but not others.
I'm pulling my hair out, can't work from home now, no TV streaming, no PS4 for the teenagers.....It's just such an essential service but broadband is simply not available in this part of Cork City. I know first world problems but still.

jimgoose

rebs23 wrote: »

I live close enough to the City Centre and can only get 7Mb/s max! Was getting 30 but now I can't even get a connection. Got connected recently to a different provider which lasted less than 3 weeks and now gone since the weekend, it's shocking. SIRO is available in some spots locally but not others.
I'm pulling my hair out, can't work from home now, no TV streaming, no PS4 for the teenagers.....It's just such an essential service but broadband is simply not available in this part of Cork City. I know first world problems but still.

I see. I'm in a quiet corner of Bishopstown, where presumably there isn't quite that density of demand. And you're right, first world problem or not, it is an essential utility these days in this part of the world.

opus

I switched to GoMo with a 4G wifi router for broadband from VM almost a year ago now, don't think it's ever gone down. Speeds vary (in Shandon) from 10Mb to 60Mb but normally around 25Mb or so. Experimented with a 48 SIM as well but it wasn't anywhere near as consistent as it got dog slow at times.

I don't stream stuff so the 120Gb limit (before throttling) works fine for me but obviously wouldn't suit everyone, well worth it though to save €50/month.

ofcork

Im in the northside get about 60mb/s with eir fibre to the cabinet.

corks finest

ofcork wrote: »

Im in the northside get about 60mb/s with eir fibre to the cabinet.

I’m in Carrigaline VF siro , speeds up to 650 but down to feck all at times ,of late

rebs23

Just signed up to Virgin after realising there is the old multi-channel cable installation in the house. Mortified I didn't know this earlier. Then checking the cable and someone cut/shredded it out the back so they will have to re-install it. The contrast between dealing with Virgin and Vodafone/Eir/Sky is night and day. Whatsapp connection service, box delivered within 24 hours, top class service. Hopefully the installation will be of the same standard but it might be worth checking if you're having trouble with the other providers to check if you can get their system installed as Virgin effectively have their own network.

Heckler

Am with virgin now too. Not bad. A couple of dropouts most evenings. Glasheen area.

What I couldn't understand is years ago I had eircom broadband. Moved and cancelled and when I moved back to the same house 15 years later was told by eircom that broadband wasn't available at the address ??

So went with virgin. Bit pricey (70 odd a month, BB and phone) should look at changing my plan. Don't need huge fast speeds.

Normally ~200 mbps on Virgin n Bishopstown
(Speed test on phone via Wi-Fi)

Usually rock solid except for last week, out for 2 days, wonder were they fixing something

run_Forrest_run

experiencing internet outages lately with Vodafone. To be honest I'm fairly sick of them at this stage. Absolute nightmare to get in contact with (Passage area)

rebs23

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

experiencing internet outages lately with Vodafone. To be honest I'm fairly sick of them at this stage. Absolute nightmare to get in contact with (Passage area)

Completely gave up with Vodafone. Had their broadband for 2 weeks before I was cut off for no reasons. I literally spent a day on the phone between different people in their call centre, got them to cancel my order eventually so I could go with another provider.
Nearly as bad as Eir.

run_Forrest_run

rebs23 wrote: »

Completely gave up with Vodafone. Had their broadband for 2 weeks before I was cut off for no reasons. I literally spent a day on the phone between different people in their call centre, got them to cancel my order eventually so I could go with another provider.
Nearly as bad as Eir.

well, I've been with them for a few years now and up to last November 2019, it was all fairly good, to be honest. However, since then things have gone downhill. It's impossible to get in contact with a person and their 'network crew' are a joke when it comes to working on an issue.
I'd switch to Virgin but they don't seem to be available in my area.

corks finest

Heckler wrote: »

Am with virgin now too. Not bad. A couple of dropouts most evenings. Glasheen area.

What I couldn't understand is years ago I had eircom broadband. Moved and cancelled and when I moved back to the same house 15 years later was told by eircom that broadband wasn't available at the address ??

So went with virgin. Bit pricey (70 odd a month, BB and phone) should look at changing my plan. Don't need huge fast speeds.

Buddy in Sheares park has no issues ref VM

corks finest

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

well, I've been with them for a few years now and up to last November 2019, it was all fairly good, to be honest. However, since then things have gone downhill. It's impossible to get in contact with a person and their 'network crew' are a joke when it comes to working on an issue.
I'd switch to Virgin but they don't seem to be available in my area.

Twitter/ always answer fairly quickly, and if they don’t tweet publicly as I did to get attention, worked
PS yes vodaphone have gone down a bit alright

corks finest

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

experiencing internet outages lately with Vodafone. To be honest I'm fairly sick of them at this stage. Absolute nightmare to get in contact with (Passage area)

Twitter bud, if not replying within a few hours tweet publicly outlining your frustration over no interaction etc, they WILL respond

corks finest

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

well, I've been with them for a few years now and up to last November 2019, it was all fairly good, to be honest. However, since then things have gone downhill. It's impossible to get in contact with a person and their 'network crew' are a joke when it comes to working on an issue.
I'd switch to Virgin but they don't seem to be available in my area.

Twitter/ always answer fairly quickly, and if they don’t tweet publicly as I did to get attention, worked

corks finest

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

experiencing internet outages lately with Vodafone. To be honest I'm fairly sick of them at this stage. Absolute nightmare to get in contact with (Passage area)

Serious problems in the Carrigaline/ passage areas for a long time,so bad last year we lost service during the Christmas period, got free broadband for 3 months as issues were ongoing, actually contacted SIRO themselves and captured their admission ( screenshots)to ongoing problems in the Carrigaline area despite VF customer care denying it

corks finest

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

well, I've been with them for a few years now and up to last November 2019, it was all fairly good, to be honest. However, since then things have gone downhill. It's impossible to get in contact with a person and their 'network crew' are a joke when it comes to working on an issue.
I'd switch to Virgin but they don't seem to be available in my area.

Twitter/ always answer fairly quickly, and if they don’t tweet publicly as I did to get attention, worked

corks finest

rebs23 wrote: »

I live close enough to the City Centre and can only get 7Mb/s max! Was getting 30 but now I can't even get a connection. Got connected recently to a different provider which lasted less than 3 weeks and now gone since the weekend, it's shocking. SIRO is available in some spots locally but not others.
I'm pulling my hair out, can't work from home now, no TV streaming, no PS4 for the teenagers.....It's just such an essential service but broadband is simply not available in this part of Cork City. I know first world problems but still.

Worked in Romania years ago ( aid) for 12 years over n back a few times a year so was well used to comparing their speeds with ours( Internet) on really rural areas we were well behind even then , a country with basic infrastructure was light years ahead of us

corks finest

Heckler wrote: »

Am with virgin now too. Not bad. A couple of dropouts most evenings. Glasheen area.

What I couldn't understand is years ago I had eircom broadband. Moved and cancelled and when I moved back to the same house 15 years later was told by eircom that broadband wasn't available at the address ??

So went with virgin. Bit pricey (70 odd a month, BB and phone) should look at changing my plan. Don't need huge fast speeds.

Buddy in Sheares park has no issues ref VM

65535

There are a few choices.

VDSL/DSL - Copper telephone line.
Eir(Com) own the cables but other providers will supply like Voda/Sky etc. but at the end of the day you are on Eir copper and the distance from your local telephone exchange will determine what speed you get.

Fibre to the Home - FTTH - SIRO which is ESB/Vodafone do this install, normally only where VM are not installed.
You then decide from a list of providers - max speed 1GB

VM - Virgin Media - (Princess Holdings/Cork Multi Channel/UPC)
Their own Co-Ax TV network - speeds up to 1GB advertised
(If you can get the cable installed)

Radio Network - Nova Broadband etc.
They send a signal (over shared radio frequencies) to an antenna on your house.
Speeds can vary

3G/4G router
essentially if you can get speeds on your mobile then you can buy/install one of these which will give you
'midband' - better than nothing.

seefin

With virgin and apart from losing connection for a few seconds at a time about 5 o clock , it's been good. Out of contract soon and units they give a good deal, thinking of switching to sky ( mainly for the tv package). We have fibre apparently , is sky broadband reliable these days? Working from home so need it to be

TheDriver

65535 wrote: »

There are a few choices.

VDSL/DSL - Copper telephone line.
Eir(Com) own the cables but other providers will supply like Voda/Sky etc. but at the end of the day you are on Eir copper and the distance from your local telephone exchange will determine what speed you get.

Fibre to the Home - FTTH - SIRO which is ESB/Vodafone do this install, normally only where VM are not installed.
You then decide from a list of providers - max speed 1GB

VM - Virgin Media - (Princess Holdings/Cork Multi Channel/UPC)
Their own Co-Ax TV network - speeds up to 1GB advertised
(If you can get the cable installed)

Radio Network - Nova Broadband etc.
They send a signal (over shared radio frequencies) to an antenna on your house.
Speeds can vary

3G/4G router
essentially if you can get speeds on your mobile then you can buy/install one of these which will give you
'midband' - better than nothing.

Don't forget Eir FTTH which is like siro and usually available in places outside a town and not served by siro or VM

ofcork

I think with copper it depends how far from the cabinet you are too.

corks finest

seefin wrote: »

With virgin and apart from losing connection for a few seconds at a time about 5 o clock , it's been good. Out of contract soon and units they give a good deal, thinking of switching to sky ( mainly for the tv package). We have fibre apparently , is sky broadband reliable these days? Working from home so need it to be

Brother has sky in Bishopstown ( ****e)

run_Forrest_run

corks finest wrote: »

Twitter bud, if not replying within a few hours tweet publicly outlining your frustration over no interaction etc, they WILL respond

I did contact them via DM on Twitter and yes, they replied to me fairly promptly. However, their response was a token "we are looking into the issue" and then a few hours later I received a text from them with an issue ID for reference. Jump forward 2 days later and I receive another text saying they are still looking into the issue and further investigation is required. This is their form, I've had an identical experience last year, they pretend to act promptly but over time the texts stop coming and there's no closure on the original issue they raised.

I even asked them on Twitter to tell me what the actual problem is but I heard nothing back. I honestly feel they are doing nothing and have no idea about the problem, it's all smoke and mirrors.

corks finest

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

I did contact them via DM on Twitter and yes, they replied to me fairly promptly. However, their response was a token "we are looking into the issue" and then a few hours later I received a text from them with an issue ID for reference. Jump forward 2 days later and I receive another text saying they are still looking into the issue and further investigation is required. This is their form, I've had an identical experience last year, they pretend to act promptly but over time the texts stop coming and there's no closure on the original issue they raised.

I even asked them on Twitter to tell me what the actual problem is but I heard nothing back. I honestly feel they are doing nothing and have no idea about the problem, it's all smoke and mirrors.

Post it publicly,obviously not personal details etc but a broad outline of why you’re pissed off, keep at it , I plagued them on Twitter with speedtest screenshots a few times daily , got tech support onto it, changed 3 modems( this is their run of the mill sorting)
Eventually they didn’t charge me for months, problems have mostly gone but not all,it’s annoying but definitely better than eir etc, ps all screenshots etc were in a DM on Twitter

seefin

corks finest wrote: »

Brother has sky in Bishopstown ( ****e)

Is it slow or use it that it goes down alot? Does he have fibre connection?

corks finest

seefin wrote: »

Is it slow or use it that it goes down alot? Does he have fibre connection?

No fibre and yes slows down, he’s in Firgrove

65535

TheDriver wrote: »

Don't forget Eir FTTH which is like siro and usually available in places outside a town and not served by siro or VM

Thanks. Indeed, I spotted that, however it is posted in Cork City so I left it out.

corks finest

65535 wrote: »

Thanks. Indeed, I spotted that, however it is posted in Cork City so I left it out.

On a side note bloody cloudflare stopping me posting directly anyone else having these issues, happening more regularly now on boards

corks finest

65535 wrote: »

Thanks. Indeed, I spotted that, however it is posted in Cork City so I left it out.

Cloudflare preventing me replying directly, anyone else having problems? Thanks

ofcork

ofcork wrote: »

Im in the northside get about 60mb/s with eir fibre to the cabinet.

My speed is down to 21mb tonight first time ive seen a drop like that.

corks finest

ofcork wrote: »

My speed is down to 21mb tonight first time ive seen a drop like that.

My siro speeds dropped to Fzsll a few times of late, from 440 plus to 35/40

Pen Rua

corks finest wrote: »

My siro speeds dropped to Fzsll a few times of late, from 440 plus to 35/40

@ Corkfinest - what's your experience with SIRO? And which provider are you with? Looking at moving to a new place which is only serviced by SIRO, so would love to hear your experience of it in Cork.

corks finest

Pen Rua wrote: »

@ Corkfinest - what's your experience with SIRO? And which provider are you with? Looking at moving to a new place which is only serviced by SIRO, so would love to hear your experience of it in Cork.

With VF, generally fantastic - had hassle with them for months but didn't get charged, we run lots of devices no problems now, yes can dip occasionally, but I unplug router a few times a week then back great again immediately.
This morning my WiFi speed on my one plus 7 Pro reads 490.
We're in Carrigaline, I find their customer care service outstanding, pm of more information required

Janet_Yellen

I've found Vodafone to be much better than eir (in every way)

seefin

Discovered have fibre to the home, not siro but something else(?). Signed up with Sky . Surely speeds will be ok with them , they said guaranteed 50mb but should be over 300mb. Anyone have any experience of them using ftth? Also the sales guy said there may be a higher connection charge if they have to do any digging to bring the connection into the home.

corks finest

Janet_Yellen wrote: »

I've found Vodafone to be much better than eir (in every way)

Same

TheDriver

Janet_Yellen wrote: »

I've found Vodafone to be much better than eir (in every way)

True but have found others to be better again. Check out siro website for other retailers.

Cork Trucker

Vodafone all day long

corks finest

corks finest wrote: »

With VF, generally fantastic - had hassle with them for months but didn't get charged, we run lots of devices no problems now, yes can dip occasionally, but I unplug router a few times a week then back great again immediately.
This morning my WiFi speed on my one plus 7 Pro reads 490.
We're in Carrigaline, I find their customer care service outstanding, pm of more information required

424.2

Mbps download

189.4

Mbps upload

Latency: 8 ms
Server: Dublin
Your Internet connection is very fast.

Your Internet connection should be able to handle multiple devices streaming HD videos, video conferencing and gaming at the same time.

LEARN MORE
WiFi speed 00.24 Mon morning on phone

NeuralNetwork

There's nothing particularly unique about broadband in Cork City and the quality of connections varies depending on a load of factors - notably the technology being used, but also the backhaul that various networks have available to them.

VDSL technologies are distance-dependent in a way that FTTH and cable networks are not.

Next Generation Access (NGA):

Fixed line:

Fibre to Home (FTTH) - up to 1Gbit/s (and capable of supporting 10Gbit/s over same infrastructure.)

OpenEir - running on same ducts and poles as the copper phone networks and using the telephone exchanges as aggregation points. They're doing a fairly big expansion of rollout in urban areas at the moment, for example all the areas served by Quaker Road and Wellington Road telephone exchanges are being wired at the moment.

Siro (Joint venture between ESB/Vodafone) running over the same routes, ducts and poles as the ESB electricity network.

Both of these are wholesale access networks, so you order from a range of retailers. It's worth noting though that they do not provide the backhaul for these products, so the performance may be better on some ISPs than others.

Both of those networks are now fairly aggressively rolling out in the urban areas having initially focused on areas that were not well served by Virgin.

Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) -

Virgin Media. Capable of providing 1Gbit/s.

Good coverage in the City - less so in the commuter towns.

Closed network so only Virgin's products are available.

Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC)

OpenEir using VDSL from street cabinets. This runs up to 100mbit/s down and 20mbit/s up but drops off in speed quite rapidly depending on distance from cabinet.

OpenEir also sell exchange-launched VDSL which is sometimes slower but still reasonable enough.

Wholesale network with multiple ISPs, and the quality of backhaul varies, so do your research!

VDSL will be replaced by full FTTH as it becomes more widespread and people swap over.

Exchange-based VDSL is also sometimes the only option in areas that have older duct networks where installing cabinets wasn't practical. So, you can sometimes encounter it more in the older parts of the city centre and also pre-1970s housing estates where the way the wiring for phones was done simply didn't make cabinets all that feasible. FTTH will replace this.

Wireless access:

Multiple providers, and primarily focused on more rural locations.

E.g. Nova Networks, Imagine and a number of smaller ones. The technologies in use vary so it's worth researching very thoroughly before signing up.

Legacy products:

ADSL2:

Exchange-launched ADSL2 is up to 24mbit/s and is basically a legacy product that isn't really relevant to most anymore. There are no exchange areas in the City that don't support VDSL.

ISDN:

Legacy TDM product being shut down by 2024.

Best options:

1. FTTH with a decent ISP through either OpenEir or Siro.

2. Virgin Cable.

3. VDSL (FTTC)

4. VDSL (Direct from exchange)

5. Some of the wireless providers, but not all of their products.

Beyond that you're looking at not really NGA anymore.

corks finest

NeuralNetwork wrote: »

There's nothing particularly unique about broadband in Cork City and the quality of connections varies depending on a load of factors - notably the technology being used, but also the backhaul that various networks have available to them.

VDSL technologies are distance-dependent in a way that FTTH and cable networks are not.

Next Generation Access (NGA):

Fixed line:

Fibre to Home (FTTH) - up to 1Gbit/s (and capable of supporting 10Gbit/s over same infrastructure.)

OpenEir - running on same ducts and poles as the copper phone networks and using the telephone exchanges as aggregation points. They're doing a fairly big expansion of rollout in urban areas at the moment, for example all the areas served by Quaker Road and Wellington Road telephone exchanges are being wired at the moment.

Siro (Joint venture between ESB/Vodafone) running over the same routes, ducts and poles as the ESB electricity network.

Both of these are wholesale access networks, so you order from a range of retailers. It's worth noting though that they do not provide the backhaul for these products, so the performance may be better on some ISPs than others.

Both of those networks are now fairly aggressively rolling out in the urban areas having initially focused on areas that were not well served by Virgin.

Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) -

Virgin Media. Capable of providing 1Gbit/s.

Good coverage in the City - less so in the commuter towns.

Closed network so only Virgin's products are available.

Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC)

OpenEir using VDSL from street cabinets. This runs up to 100mbit/s down and 20mbit/s up but drops off in speed quite rapidly depending on distance from cabinet.

OpenEir also sell exchange-launched VDSL which is sometimes slower but still reasonable enough.

Wholesale network with multiple ISPs, and the quality of backhaul varies, so do your research!

VDSL will be replaced by full FTTH as it becomes more widespread and people swap over.

Exchange-based VDSL is also sometimes the only option in areas that have older duct networks where installing cabinets wasn't practical. So, you can sometimes encounter it more in the older parts of the city centre and also pre-1970s housing estates where the way the wiring for phones was done simply didn't make cabinets all that feasible. FTTH will replace this.

Wireless access:

Multiple providers, and primarily focused on more rural locations.

E.g. Nova Networks, Imagine and a number of smaller ones. The technologies in use vary so it's worth researching very thoroughly before signing up.

Legacy products:

ADSL2:

Exchange-launched ADSL2 is up to 24mbit/s and is basically a legacy product that isn't really relevant to most anymore. There are no exchange areas in the City that don't support VDSL.

ISDN:

Legacy TDM product being shut down by 2024.

Best options:

1. FTTH with a decent ISP through either OpenEir or Siro.

2. Virgin Cable.

3. VDSL (FTTC)

4. VDSL (Direct from exchange)

5. Some of the wireless providers, but not all of their products.

Beyond that you're looking at not really NGA anymore.

Forgive my ignorance but what's backhaul?
Thanks

seefin

Thanks neuralnetwork, that was really useful. So if sky are using ftth( eir) , then speeds should be guaranteed to be decent?

NeuralNetwork

corks finest wrote: »

Forgive my ignorance but what's backhaul?
Thanks

Think of it as the motorway network that carries the data behind the scenes. It's the backbone network that carries traffic.

You could think of the products as being assembled like this:

Access Network

This is the bit that directly interfaces with your house or office.

It's fibre optic, coaxial or copper wires or a radio signal that connects you to the network.

This is the bit that your ISP usually advertises the speed of i.e. up to 100mbit/s VDSL or Gigabit Fibre or Cable etc.

Backhaul Network

This is a network made up of routers and fibre optic lines that are either owned or leased by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). They aggregate (gather) traffic from the access network and carry it around the country.

Peering

This will also usually contain connections to 'peering' sites like INEX (Irish Neutral Exchange) and the Cork Internet Exchange (CIX) (which is also an INEX node) where traffic is interconnected to other Irish ISPs as well as popular international, high-demand services to minimise overhead. The more peering the better! It means routing is more efficient and the distances involved are reduced, so you get better performance.

Some of the larger ISPs also have their own private peering arrangements with high demand services.

INEX members: https://www.inex.ie/about-us/inex-members/

International Network

These are networks that are sometimes owned, but often simply leased capacity on major international fibre routes and connect your ISP to major hubs around the world. The higher the capacity and fewer the hops to popular destinations, the better the end user experience.

To get a top performing ISP, you need to be good on all of these levels.

For example, if you have an OpenEir or Siro gigabit line, that only covers the access network. If your ISP isn't great for backhaul, peering or international connectivity, your high speed local access won't avoid those bottlenecks.

A lot of people think that other companies just resell Eir's ISP service. They don't. Rather, they just use OpenEir's access network. The rest of the network is owned or assembled from leasing arrangements by them.

For example, Sky Broadband is running over largely BT Ireland's networks and is managed for Sky by them. The only Eir involvement is the access network.

Siro also does not provide any internet services, it's purely an access network and the same will apply to the NBI rural fibre services.