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New Phoneline into house for broadband?

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  • 28-06-2020 2:36pm
    #1
    theguzman
    Registered Users Posts: 2,081 ✭✭✭


    There is the remains of a phoneline into where I am living now that has not been active for 15 years. A landslide took out a pole and the cable snapped in several places. It would need a new pole and re cabling for a few hundred metres.

    I am thinking of contacting Eir to get the service reinstated to see if it would support ADSL2+, the distance from the telephone exchange is pretty far so it would be a gamble. Still if I got 2-3mbps solid on it then it would be a better service than the 3G I am currently enduring.

    What I need to know is there a cooling off period? I don't want to be on the hook for a years contract if it transpires that the line won't support DSL. I have very poor mobile reception also inside the house but don't want to pay €50+ for a landline voice service only.

    How do I got about this? I have the Eircode and what are the likely costs if any? I am mainly motivated to do it for to have an active run for fibre on the NBI later which will be reusing EIR's poles. So that NBI can't say you don't have a phoneline we must go wireless. And if it supports 3 mbps then great it would be better than the thrash I currently have on 3G.


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    #2
    ED E
    Registered Users Posts: 36,164 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    theguzman wrote: »
    It would need a new pole and re cabling for a few hundred metres.


    I can see them refusing to serve in that circumstance.


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    #3
    theguzman
    Registered Users Posts: 2,081 ✭✭✭theguzman


    ED E wrote: »
    I can see them refusing to serve in that circumstance.

    Don't they have a mandate to provide a PSTN voice service?


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    #4
    alan4cult
    Registered Users Posts: 1,583 ✭✭✭alan4cult


    You'd be better off laying a fibre line, have you checked whether you are close to a fibre distribution point?


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    #5
    theguzman
    Registered Users Posts: 2,081 ✭✭✭theguzman


    alan4cult wrote: »
    You'd be better off laying a fibre line, have you checked whether you are close to a fibre distribution point?

    8kms to the telephone exchange, only vDSL, the exchange acts as the cabinet for the entire small village, it is fed by trunk fibre but nothing only copper coming out from there.


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    #6
    TomOnBoard
    Registered Users Posts: 5,109 ✭✭✭TomOnBoard


    theguzman wrote: »
    Don't they have a mandate to provide a PSTN voice service?

    Worth pursuing I'd say. However, I'm not sure you'd have rights to cancel the service if you didn't like the ADSL outcome. You'd probably have a minimum 12 months contract on the PSTN service regardless. I could be wrong, others may be better clued in and can answer that.

    As you're 8km from the cabinet, I'd be very surprised if you got much of a service at all TBH..


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    #7
    fritzelly
    Registered Users Posts: 17,253 ✭✭✭✭fritzelly


    At over 5km Openeir don't even bother supporting ADSL service - the signal becomes too unstable, at your 8km you would better off using paper cups and a piece of string
    So if the plan is just for internet forget it for now til fibre is available in the area - the installer will tell you this if it ever gets to install stage

    (Plus you will be waiting a long time to get it installed)

    Re the wired fibre - unless you are in the sticks miles away from any kind of reasonable build up of houses you should still be able to avail of it


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    #8
    ED E
    Registered Users Posts: 36,164 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    theguzman wrote: »
    Don't they have a mandate to provide a PSTN voice service?

    They used to have to up to a cost of 7 grand. No longer.
    theguzman wrote: »
    8kms to the telephone exchange, only vDSL, the exchange acts as the cabinet for the entire small village, it is fed by trunk fibre but nothing only copper coming out from there.

    ADSL might sync at 128kbps, 0.12Mb. Waste of everyones time.
    fritzelly wrote: »
    Re the wired fibre - unless you are in the sticks miles away from any kind of reasonable build up of houses you should still be able to avail of it


    It sounds like the dwelling might far from a road that would attract a FTTH run, if thats so he might be over the drop range limits. Even NBI arent going to serve every 500m driveway no matter what TDs promise.


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    #9
    theguzman
    Registered Users Posts: 2,081 ✭✭✭theguzman


    Update:

    I have since contacted EIR about this and am awaiting their response to me, the guy on the phone was optimistic that they might reconnect the landline and that I could get the landline and a Huawei B818 for unlimited 4G/3G internet for €29.99 per month. He reckons this would have far superior signal strength to using my Android phone as a hotspot on an upstairs window. Would it I wonder?

    Eir are referring it to Openeir and they will get back to me this week I was told. I want a landline reconnected primarily so it will be easy for NBI to string fibre along an active run when it arrives. I also want a landline for voice calls since I cannot make or receive calls on my mobile within the house except using wifi calling off the 3G hotspot. From my own surveying of the line one Telephone pole needs to be replaced, another one straighted up or possibily replaced and around 450metres of new copper ran or else a series on joinings on the old damaged cable.

    I won't get any data service but at the very least I should get a PSTN line for emergency purposes to call 999 in a medical emergency.


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    #10
    ED E
    Registered Users Posts: 36,164 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    Do your sanity a favor and setup a yagi or similar on the roof.


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    #11
    fritzelly
    Registered Users Posts: 17,253 ✭✭✭✭fritzelly


    theguzman wrote: »
    Update:

    I have since contacted EIR about this and am awaiting their response to me, the guy on the phone was optimistic that they might reconnect the landline and that I could get the landline and a Huawei B818 for unlimited 4G/3G internet for €29.99 per month. He reckons this would have far superior signal strength to using my Android phone as a hotspot on an upstairs window. Would it I wonder?

    Eir are referring it to Openeir and they will get back to me this week I was told. I want a landline reconnected primarily so it will be easy for NBI to string fibre along an active run when it arrives. I also want a landline for voice calls since I cannot make or receive calls on my mobile within the house except using wifi calling off the 3G hotspot. From my own surveying of the line one Telephone pole needs to be replaced, another one straighted up or possibily replaced and around 450metres of new copper ran or else a series on joinings on the old damaged cable.

    I won't get any data service but at the very least I should get a PSTN line for emergency purposes to call 999 in a medical emergency.

    I'm gonna say they will reject this install and just offer you a mobile LL service - too much work to just supply a copper line to one house

    If you refuse the mobile option then you will have no recourse


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    #12
    riclad
    Registered Users Posts: 8,184 ✭✭✭riclad


    If There's no fibre in the area look into getting satellite broadband, I think you are too far from the exchange to get broadband.
    You can get a 3g dongle that.ll provide a signal to use a laptop or tablet.
    Google Ireland satellite broadband.


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    #13
    dam099
    Registered Users Posts: 1,080 ✭✭✭dam099


    riclad wrote: »
    If There's no fibre in the area look into getting satellite broadband, I think you are too far from the exchange to get broadband.
    You can get a 3g dongle that.ll provide a signal to use a laptop or tablet.
    Google Ireland satellite broadband.

    Satellite should be absolute last resort, explore 3/4G with router and antenna or fixed wireless first.

    For all the thrashing they get on here I would expect Imagine to usually still be much better than satellite and there are other regional fixed wireless providers that get better feedback again.


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    #14
    theguzman
    Registered Users Posts: 2,081 ✭✭✭theguzman


    So six months later I am still as worse off as ever. Back in August after multiple calls and promises of callbacks with EIR I ended up making an official complaint to EIR, Eir then ignored this complaint (surprise, surprise :rolleyes:). At the time I never followed it up immediately as I had some other bigger priorities going on in my life.

    I spent the last 3 months away from the remote property. I did some upgrades to the house (plumbing and heatng) in the meantime and will be moving back there in mid-February.

    I contacted ComReg about Eir's ignoring of my official complaint today and ComrReg are now giving Eir 10 working days to contact me back again. checkmate your move Eir.

    I am still going to push them hard to recable and reconnect me to the PSTN. My main aim is the preservation of the line run, and having a voice phone service will be useful since the mobile signal is thrash and does not work indoors. If I have to pay one year's rental and the install cost then I don't mind it as I see it as an investment in future proofing prior to the NBI fibre arrival hopefully. If reconnected I will be 8.6kms from the local ADSL2+ Exchange so I won't get a broadband service, this exchange will also be the local OLT for NBI so if they string fibre the distance won't matter.

    As you can see from my own MS Paint map there is 7 houses in the neighbourhood (soon to be 8) and only three of these 8 have an active landline now but all of them were connected to the landline network previously including house E prior to its closing and now subsequent renovation with my neighbour renovating that at the moment.

    House C was getting 3.6mb from EIR ADSL2+ previously, the new tenants there disconnected the landline since the Gomo 4G is faster and cheaper. My house at F is 2.4kms from House C and the trunk cable from House C up is maintained with the replacement of a pole recently on the run and there is dialtone and voltage up as far as the spur branch off (red line) for Houses G & H.

    House H has an active landline and their spur branches off cross country and includes over 1km of copper which was rolled out over bog and absolutely inhospitable terrain, it runs through a National Heritage Area also so they could not go in with diggers to stands poles for it, the last few hundred metres to house H is on poles, House G disconnected and went for 2 way satellite, but their spur is still standing, these two houses will be extremely hard to service Fibre to on the NBI and due to lack of Line of sight the only option for them would be string fibre along the ESB poles serving them.

    Due to the topography of the terrain I have no line of sight to any of these houses nor would all of of them have to each other in what is a 2.75 km2 area between the 8 houses; Whilst houses A, C & D have 4G speed I have a barely usable signal, houses B,E,F,G & H don't even have a mobile signal with any of the three incumbent carriers, Eir, Three or Vodafone, I can receive 1bar of 3G at a window for 2mb but it is problematic at best and nothing indoors at all.

    In the early 1990's my House at F had a Rurtel wireless telephone system but it would often break down maybe for weeks at a time, after severe lobbying including from politicians and a family member working with Eir at the time the landline was eventually extended the 2.4kms from House C to House's E & F around 1999-2000. Houses D, G & H were connected within months also.

    I am interested in what is a mobile landline service? Is it basically a booster on the chimney or something or would they run in cable and give me a physical socket with dial tone to plug a desktop telephone into? Eir hasn't rented phones in years as far as I know. My late grandmother at this house always rented hers as they would often get blown in lightning.

    In the meantime I will get starlink when I can at the first opportunity.


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    #15
    ED E
    Registered Users Posts: 36,164 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    Forcing them to reinstate a 9km copper path...mind boggling. Itll probably only work for 9-10mo of the year.


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    #16
    theguzman
    Registered Users Posts: 2,081 ✭✭✭theguzman


    ED E wrote: »
    Forcing them to reinstate a 9km copper path...mind boggling. Itll probably only work for 9-10mo of the year.

    They only need to reconnect 450 metres, the line is active up to where it branches off for the red route to House G & H, from this point to the green road to myself is actually intact and the new House at E would easily be reconnected, it is on my own 450m road to my house at F that it needs recabling and even then about half the cable is actually good, just needs one new pole and either to straighten up or replace another and some new cable dropwire as its known is needed.


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    #17
    theguzman
    Registered Users Posts: 2,081 ✭✭✭theguzman


    After much back and forth with EIR's complaints team and assisted by ComReg and information here on boards.ie I have a result. Eir will reconnect my landline in the next two weeks and I had an Eir engineer out who surveyed it. It was ironic as the house had been surveyed by NBI this week also and it will be getting Fibre to the Home at as of yet an undetermined date into the future.

    The OpenEIR engineer thinks there may be a chance of 1mb broadband working but we won't know until the copper line is reinstated. My main aim is a PSTN landline for voice at the moment due to no mobile signal any extra broadband would be purely into bonus territory,

    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058152199

    Perhaps we should merge both of these threads since they are the same topic so I can draw it to a conclusion next week with news re: the update and any potential data service also.


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