How come Eircom say we can't get BB, but our neighbour can?

DadaKopf

We signed up for Eircom BB on the website over three weeks ago. They sent a confirmation email and said that we would receive our home install package within 10 days.

Rang them the other day. They said that our line isn't suitable; in order for us to get BB, they would have to upgrade the Beggar's Bush exchange, node or whatever.

They say this despite the fact that our neighbours two doors away have Eircom BB.

I know, 'heard it all before', yada, yada, yada. But has anyone any real, concrete information about this or is it just bullsh*t?

And how long should I expect to wait until I get connected?

capistrano

Have you put your own extensions in? My line was okay until I put in two new extensions myself and after that the line failed their test. So I got NTL broadband instead!

DadaKopf

Whatcha mean?

And although we're about 20 mins walk away from NTL HQ, we can't get it.

aidan_walsh

I had this problem with them as well, it turned out that there was a slight buzz on our line that was easily fixed in one of the nearby junction boxes. Ring up their technical department and explain the story, ask them to run a line test (which I gather is more thorough than the one available to the BB crowd) and if all else fails ask if a technician can come out to take a look at your line.

capistrano

Whatcha mean "whatcha mean"?

Have you split your phone line at all inside your house to put a phone in another room or anything? They used to call these extra phones extensions in the olden days.

Eircom told me that this can cause your line to fail the test.

And I'm no more than about 500m from the local exchange.

DadaKopf

Yeah we have a few. But are there any other issues with Eircom in the Beggar's Bush area etc?

Blaster99

It doesn't sound like the problem is your line, but rather a capacity problem in the exchange. Did they tell you that it will be upgraded or is this it?

DadaKopf

Mentioned something about upgrading. This is the thing... if they genuinely *have* to upgrade, and they're not just making excuses, how long will the wait be? Has anyone any info on this - comparative situations or whatever, I don't trust those bozos.

dub45

DadaKopf wrote:

Yeah we have a few. But are there any other issues with Eircom in the Beggar's Bush area etc?

If you have anything extra connected in your house apart from the basic telephone (e.g. sky box, cordless phone etc) it can cause your line to fail the test.

mylo

the line test is not "realtime". Phone numbers that qualify are entered in a database and when you preform a line test the database is queried not the line itself.

it make no difference whats plugged into your phone circuit.

in answer to why your neighbor can have dsl and you cant, the quality of the cable in the local loop is also a factor. if your cables are of poor quality copper etc this can cause a failure. you could ask eircom to dig up your cables and replace them. cant see that happening. From what i can see, basically if your line dosent qualify now it probably never will.

dub45

mylo wrote:

.........

it make no difference whats plugged into your phone circuit.

It most certainly does!!!!