Recent upgrade to telecom pole but what is it?

grimeire

Hey,

been using mobile broadband for years as its my only option to have more than 10Mb dl and a few weeks ago i noticed that they seems to be a upgrade to the telephone pole that my neighbor is connected to. I connect to another pole but this pole is actually closer to my house than the pole i connect to and this pole is also closer to my house than my neighbors house.

Any one have any idea what it is? Is it fiber as all sites(eir, vodafone etc..) still say fiber is not available at my address and the mac i can get is 28Mb. I asked the neighbor and he doesnt have a clue he is in his 70's so just uses it for basic browsing.

grimeire

I just checked with my neighbors eircode and they can get up to 2000Mb.

How is this possible???

The Cush

It's a fibre distribution box.

Who installed it, open-eir or NBI?

What does the NBI and open-eir websites say for your eircode?

https://openeir.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/lookup/index.html?appid=a8fdd9780bd84f0799f99522c48f6e66

https://nbi.ie/map/

grimeire

@The Cush

Thanks that's what I thought.

On the NBI site it says

"Your premises is not included in the national rollout

Internet service providers have indicated that they intend to offer speeds of 30mbps or greater in your locality.

If you believe your premises should be included in the national rollout you can find out more in our FAQs at the link below."

And

"Your nearest Broadband Connection Point is 8.00 km

There is a fiber cabinet less than 100m from my house that services the housing estate across the road. A member on here told me I was connected to one a couple KM away.

The Cush

It's an open-eir distribution point so, how recent was it installed?

What does the open-eir map checker indicate for your eircode?

If you can get onto them to get your eircode linked to that distribution point.

How far from your house is the pole that carries the DP?

grimeire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120538520#Comment_120538520

Not sure when it was installed but just noticed it a few weeks ago so I assume some time this year.

Do I just contact open eir via email to get them to change the dp I am connected to?

when you say DP i assume you mean the pole i provided the picture of. Im less than 10m from it but there is 2 sets of trees inbetween my place and that pole.

Im in the light blue area on open eir so up to 100Mb.

Here a screenshot providing a bit more context of the pole and where me and my neighbor are.

zg3409

There can be a delay between equipment installed and websites being updated. There can also be a delay between equipment on site and actual launch of the service. Does your phone line go to this pole or another pole?

You could try ringing them and convincing them that the equipment is installed. Or give the neighbours eircode and explain you are right beside.

It can be a problem to get through to the right department and to get them to understand but well worth a try.

If you are good friends with neighbours they might upgrade and you could run a cable or wifi or fibre optic from their house. You could even pay for their service if you are desperate.

trant

If your neighbour's Eircode shows as included in the NBI rollout, you may have been excluded from the NBP inadvertently. If this is the case, you'll need to contact DCCAE to have your address reviewed for inclusion:

https://secure.dccae.gov.ie/forms/NBP-Customer-Service.aspx

From experience, this took about a year of back and forth between NBI, my County Council Broadband Officer and our local TD. Once we were added, there was a wait of another few months before our property was actually updated on the map and ready for install.

Worth it in the end, but not a trivial undertaking.

heavydawson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120538123#Comment_120538123

Vodafone don't offer 2gbps connections via NBI (only 500/1000), so it's more likely OpenEir or Siro. Not sure if Siro use DPs like the one above, so more likely to be OpenEir. I'll bet your neighbours Eircode says it's not in the intervention area on the NBI site.

monseiur

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120538423#Comment_120538423

It seems that the info on the NBI website is way out of date. I entered my Eircode and it says that nearest broad band connection point is 14.37 km away - In fact I have fibre optic high speed broadband for over two years and the connection is on a pole less that 40 metres from my house !!

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120545634#Comment_120545634

Broadband connection points, BCPs, are public WiFi points in community centres, libraries etc. provided under the national broadband planas an interim broadband solution for rural areas. Once the nbp is fully rolled out they will be discontinued.

The box on pole is a fibre distribution point.

grimeire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120545557#Comment_120545557

Correct i just checked an it says "Your premises is not included in the national rollout" for my neighbor on NBI.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120543813#Comment_120543813

Is it really this awkward. I would of thought if a fella came to install the internet he would just go with the closest point which is the DP on the pole 10m from my house.

Having to jump through hopes so I can have decent internet to work from home in this day and age is insane.

is it worth getting on to comreg here are they still as useless as they were in the past for me?

elperello

After seeing this thread I noticed those boxes on poles down the country at the weekend.

I was told that the crew mounting the boxes are just doing that job and apparently another crew will actually connect them to fibre.

Could be all wrong but that's what I was told.

trant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120545978#Comment_120545978

If neither your neighbour or your own property are included in the NBP, this line of inquiry is not going to get you anywhere.

As @heavydawson mentioned it's probably OpenEir or SIRO.

grimeire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120543813#Comment_120543813

It asks if the house was built in the last 24 months. Is there a reason for this. Will they prioritize new builds?

My place was recently majorly renovated and extended now goes into the green area on open Eir. The place is nothing like it was before and no one would think it was a referb they would think it was new since literally everything was done. Am i better off saying it a new build?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120546775#Comment_120546775

Yes we both own.

is Comreg of any use here?

grimeire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120546233#Comment_120546233

I find it hard to belive that they have one crew mounting boxes and another connecting to fiber. Seems a bit mad to me but have seen stupider things.

In my case the DP seems to have cables running to it so I assume it is already fiber enabled

trant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120546815#Comment_120546815

New builds refer to properties without Eircodes, or those that have just been created. They are not prioritised but are included after the rest of the area goes live.

My comment regarding the NBP was that if neither your property or your neighbours are included, it means your area is not included to begin with. There is no point chasing NBI.

Contact your local County Council broadband officer, I don't think ComReg will do any good as OpenEir are only obliged to provide a working phone line (or suitable alternative) to every home in Ireland. There is no USO for fiber (yet).

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120546829#Comment_120546829

Like I said my informants could have the wrong end of the stick.

Maybe it could be that putting up the boxes is a fairly simple low tech task that can be done by anyone with a short training course.

Whereas the actual connection of the fibre requires a bit more technical knowledge.

Anyhow maybe someone else will come along to clarify.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120546815#Comment_120546815

As this is an open-eir rollout and there is no fibre USO there is little point contacting Comreg, it'll be a commercial decision for them to connect you. As posted previously by zg3409, your best bet is to contact eir/open-eir, tell them your situation, proximity to the DP etc. They may send someone out to see the situation on the ground.

I recall someone posting here previously that got a similar connection with a bit of persistence.

Are there any fibre connections within the overall blue 100 mbps area? Maybe this is part of their urban rollout plan?

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120546829#Comment_120546829

As your neighbour's premises is available to order the DP is live.

grimeire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120548971#Comment_120548971

what do you mean is there "fibre connections within the overall blue 100 mbps area?"

grimeire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120548977#Comment_120548977

Is it not possible that i can just pay openeir or another third party to connect me?

Its in there best interest here. Ill be paying them like €65 a month going forward.

Also i dont understand how vodafone can offer up to 2000Mb while all other providers for my neighbor are only offering 1000Mb.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120549121#Comment_120549121

If you look at the open-eir map there are premises in the FTTC blue areas around the country (up to 100 Mbps) where they have connected premises to FTTH (green areas), because it was convenient for them to do with a fibre line nearby.

This is what they have done in my local village, premises in the blue area, up to 100 Mbps but with a fibre connection, ahead of other premises in the village who will have to wait until the urban rollout reaches them. The (green) boxes, within the blue area, have access to 2 Gbps broadband, some within a stones-throw of the exchange with access to very good FTTC speeds.

heavydawson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120549135#Comment_120549135

The wholesalers offer different speed products to the ISPs. These days those products are usually 500 / 1000 / 2000 mbps

It's up to each ISP which of those products they want to offer. There are many reasons why ISPs wouldn't offer the 2gbps option among them:

1. The ability of their CPE (Customer Premise Equipment AKA Router) to handle that speed.
2. Their understanding of what customers will be ready to pay. If 90% of customers go for the 500mbps option, and only 10% go for the 1gbps, what's the point in offering 2gbps? You need demand for the product to back the cost of investing in the CPE, etc.

NBI launched their 2gbps product in Jan last year:

https://twitter.com/NatBroadbandIrl/status/1486322729397665801?s=20

I'd say only 5-7 of the 20+ ISPs on the NBI network offer that 2gbps product.

Things will likely change this year. The advent of Wifi 7 and new multi-gig CPE products will likely get the ISPs to slowly start pushing the 2gbps product.

Bit long-winded, but ultimately that's why some ISPs have 2gbps and most don't.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120549135#Comment_120549135

Yes it will be possible for you to pay for a fibre connection but you won't be able to order that connection until your eircode has been indexed to a DP, this has to be done by open-eir.

Something else that occurred to me, maybe because you're in that urban catchment area with a separate pole and line to the local exchange with up to 100 mbps FTTC available, they haven't indexed your premises to that nearby DP, pole and line as it could be a different exchange area.

It's been mentioned here before open-eir are building the new fibre network on the footprint of the old copper network, same routes, poles etc. NBI who are rolling out the NBP network are starting from scratch and aren't constrained like open-eir.

That's why you'll have to give them a push to relook at this situation.

grimeire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120549528#Comment_120549528

when you say more convenient is it the actual installer its more convenient for or for the ISP itself? If its the installer I can not see why they would not connect to the Fibre DP. Its 10m away.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120549539#Comment_120549539

Thanks that makes more sense.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120549583#Comment_120549583

So its not possible for me to pay for a fibre from the local cabinet/DP or replace existing copper line to cabinet to my house without open-Eir?

Yes i was told i was connected to a cabinet a few KM down the road by someone on here when i gave them my details. This was years ago when all the ISPs told me they could not give me anything better than 10Mb but houses across the road were all able to get 100Mb+. The estate across the road has a fibre cabinet and that cabinet is about 60-70 meters from my place too.

I always assumed my neighbor was connected to that same cabinet as his house is far older than the estate across the road like mine but since now he can get 2000Mb he could be connected to a different cabinet. If you look at the picture of the pole i provide. You will see 2 cables running off it. One of those is to my place and I always assumed the other was to my neigbors as his house is the only one within a 1KM in the direction it is running.

The fiber to these poles is that run over ground or under as this pole has 2 cables running up from the ground which where not there before as far as i can remember but i find it hard to believe they ran cable underground just for this pole that only ever seems to service me and me neighbor. Also I assume they will run cables over head when connecting to a home as my neighbors drive way is in the way of this pole and my house.

The Cush

when you say more convenient is it the actual installer its more convenient for or for the ISP itself? If its the installer I can not see why they would not connect to the Fibre DP. Its 10m away.

Convenient for open-eir as the fibre to the rural areas passed these premises from the local exchange as part of open-eir's 300k rural fibre rollout a few years ago

So its not possible for me to pay for a fibre from the local cabinet/DP or replace existing copper line to cabinet to my house without open-Eir?

open-eir, NBI and SIRO build, operate and maintain their respective fibre networks. They operate as wholesale providers and so don't sell direct to the public. Retail service providers such as eir, Vodafone, Sky etc. do this by reselling the wholesale networks fibre. To place an order your eircode must be included in the address file the wholesale providers maintain and provide to the retail providers.

If you look at the picture of the pole i provide. You will see 2 cables running off it. One of those is to my place and I always assumed the other was to my neigbors as his house is the only one within a 1KM in the direction it is running.

Confused now. In your first post you wrote that your house was connected to a different pole. ???

The fiber to these poles is that run over ground or under as this pole has 2 cables running up from the ground which where not there before as far as i can remember but i find it hard to believe they ran cable underground just for this pole that only ever seems to service me and me neighbor. Also I assume they will run cables over head when connecting to a home as my neighbors drive way is in the way of this pole and my house.

Two trunk lines, underground to the pole, one for copper and one for fibre. Looks like the copper trunk line's been there quiet a while up to the junction box behind the fibre box, you just hadn't noticed before now. Rural trunk lines will be a mix of underground and overground, for copper underground was done to avoid obstructions and crossing power lines.

Fibre to your house will generally follow the same route as the copper line. Trees might be an issue and may have to be trimmed before they run fibre to the house.

With the revelation that your house is connected to the pole with the DP and your eircode isn't in the address file try to contact open-eir to get them to assess the situation or via their sister retail provider eir.

BTW, fibre runs directly from your local exchange, bypassing any intermediate cabinets, even if you copper line is connected to a cabinet.

grimeire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120552755#Comment_120552755

Thank you for the response. I always thought that FTTH could mean fiber from a fiber cabinet to the home or fiber from an exchange to the home. Good to know its direct to the exchange.

Im confused myself the more i look at the pole with the DP. So to clarify there was a cable running from pole B to the house till a few years ago but it was knocked down in a storm. As i dont have a land line or broadband so I never contacted Eir or whoever to get it fixed. Now I see from pole A there is a cable going to my house but it broken and i found the end of it(see attached image) in the Y set of trees there after seeing it ran from trees X to Y. I never noticed this cable before as I can only see it at the pole and running from trees Y to X but it seems that cable must of been connected to my house also as it the only house in that direction for about 1km and there are no poles.

What I dont understand is it seems to be a single cable and if thats the case what was the cable from pole B to my house for as that is also a telecom cable. I can only assume that single cable serviced my house and a building in the north west that I believe pole B was connected to but I cannot say for certain thats where the line goes. What i can see is there is no poles anywhere else on the north side of the house so pole B must be going to poles along Z trees line and then to the building in the north west as is the only logical explanation.

Im probably way over thinking this but what makes no sense is that when i enter in the eircode of the north west building it can get speeds a bit faster(up to 34Mbps) than me(up to 28Mbps). This would suggest to me the internet/connection is coming from the Nw side of the cable and and not mine but if thats the case then why would pole B be connected to pole A as it would of been far easier to connect to the neighbor with 2GB speed with a copper telephone line between north west building and me than to connect to my neighbor from pole A as I believe there is poles running along the Z set of trees.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120553182#Comment_120553182

Whatever the situation is with the copper routing you need to get open-eir to update the situation with with regards to FTTH, the fibre distribution point couldn't be closer to your house. Probably not included because you're served from another pole/line.

grimeire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120553824#Comment_120553824

Already have they said they would get back to me within the next month once they discuss internally. Hopefully they will do something as the others have all been a waste of time.

For others monitoring this thread here is what i got back from all the of places i tired to contact.

1. Broadband officer said nothing he could do as i can get up to 30Mb and that i need to contact ISPs and hope they were willing to connect me.
2. Vodafone and Eir both said i am not in green area so nothing they can do but was only talking to sales people. Still waiting on Magnet, Puretelecom and Sky to see what they say.
3. Comreg said the same as Broadband officer
4. Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications said in my area i can get 30mbps to my premise. Therefore, State Aid rules do not allow for your premises to be taken into the National Broadband Plan Intervention area and that commercial providers have said that they will be fiber available at my location before 2026
5. OpenEir said will review and advise us if fibre service is possible at my location within the next month.

Funny thing is if i stick my eircode into any site and say i am a business all of a sudden I am able to get Fiber. Seems they can do what they want.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120553851#Comment_120553851

Could be a simple admin error with regards to your eircode seeing as business fibre is available.

Good to see open-eir have responded, keep us updated.