Iol broadband sorted (nearly)

bizmark

it took 2 days from form to username and password

um ya id call them again that sounds a awful wait for a password

though i do thing they are pritty busy

CubicleDweller

bizmark,

Thanks for that. Sounds like a modem from the "Prestige 630 Series" from Zyxel.

Here's a link (dunno if this will work):

http://www.zyxel.com/product/model.php?indexcate=1022046269&indexcate1=1021877946&indexFlagvalue=1021873638

Does it look like the pic on that page?

It would be really useful to know *which* modem from the series it is. I've seen mention of 630-11, 630-13 and 630-41 on various websites - there are probably others, too. Of course, the Zyxel site doesn't have much detail on the different versions. Thing is, it seems that some have Linux drivers and some don't... Is it possible that there's an number like "630-XX" somewhere on the underside of the modem?

It's not the end of the world if I can't get this little beasty to work with Linux. Sooner or later, I was going to buy an all-in-one ADSL modem and hub/switch/router/whatever. Might just be sooner, rather than later. But if I can't use it, I could have bought the alternative box and been online days ago - assuming that my line was activated when they said it was...

bizmark

thats the modem alright ill notice the little blue box anywhere

exiot

Urgh, came home today thinking a sexy package would be there waiting for me, covered in shiny lights saying "Open me", fat chance. Got an ESB bill though.

Im really annoyed now, I was so excited about it, thinking it will be here today. If it isn't here by Tuesday Im going to the IOL headquarters and give them a piece of mind........or maybe I will just stay at work.

Turner

Ye'all now dont forget to update the ping/download speed thread at the top of page.

-ADREN-

Just curious Biz, is the reason youve only seen 348 kbs down , because thats all youve pushed or is it that its because its the radsl product and it doesnt always reach 512k?? There is a handy bench mark test from tinet. (the old eircom IP) which I have found to work, http://homepage.tinet.ie/~leslie/testpage.htm Go down to other speed test things until you see the ´toast´one and there are several nice test for you to do there, inculding some video streams. Just nice to see what kind of performance your getting.

Regards,

Adzzzy.

bizmark

daz i tryed the vidio streaming test in that page you give me

i was streaming at 512kbs stable

ceejay

BB at last, oh it feels good

My pings are averaging 23ms to boards.ie and 36ms to jolt.co.uk, downloading something from Windows Update was at 512kbps

For comparison, here's my timeline:

3/6/2003: Got the forms, called to make sure line was OK, filled in forms and sent them back the same day

10/6/2003: Got email asking me to call them about the username and password, rang them and gave them the username and password I wanted.

18/6/2003: no sign of anything, chased them, said they were waiting for eircom

2/7/2003: Modem arrived - well, the postman tried to deliver it, I wasn't here

4/7/2003: Managed to get the package from the post office - no way would it fit through any post box I've ever seen Was online within half an hour

FYI, the box contains the ADSL modem - Zyxel Prestige 630M-11; CD-ROM with drivers, etc.; one double-socket microfilter/splitter for where you're connecting the modem; two single socket microfilters - for other phone extensions; RJ-11 extension cable - just like a regular phone cable; USB cable. The modem is tiny, and it takes its power from the USB cable, so no extra plug needed.

Next on the agenda - setting up ICS and XBox Live

Ciarán.

CubicleDweller

Congratulations Ciarán, and thanks for the very informative post. Looks like your order was a couple of days behind mine - right up to the point where it says "Modem arrived".

Still, that gives me hope that my modem will arrive on Monday. As a matter of interest, what part of the country are you in? (I'm in Drumcondra - Dublin's Northside.)

The 512kbps d/l speed is good news. I'd assumed that with RADSL, the quoted 512K was an upper limit - something you were unlikely to see unless you lived next door to the exchange. (You don't, do you?)

So, the modem's a 630M-11. I have a bad feeling about the Linux situation - saw one website at least which said that the -11 version doesn't have a driver. Still, there are people working on it:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/zyxel630-11/

Looks like they've a *long* way to go, though - nothing there but a document or two.

Wait a minute, I just noticed something on the Zyxel website:
"- Win98 SE, WinME and Win2000, Win XP support "

Note the "SE" (Second Edition) in "Win98 SE". That suggests that this little beauty won't work with the original Windows 98, only with the later Windows 98 SE.

I've got a dual-boot setup - Win98 for games, Linux (RH9) for everything else. Does anyone know how to quickly tell if your Win98 setup is SE or the original version?

Ho, hum, I guess I'll be shopping for some hardware next week, either way....

ceejay

I'm in Dublin - Kilmainham. I'm not too far from the Dolphin's Barn exchange, plus when we moved in here about 18 months ago they had to run a new line from the green box at the end of the road to the pole at the back of the house - I've had consistent 52kbs dial-up, so I reckon my line is good I'm sure these two factors are helping my performance.

Of course, it isn't all good - while trying to get ICS working, the machine won't start up again It's probably something to do with ZoneAlarm or something like that, so I'm back to 52kbps typing this Ah well, I'll sort it out soon enough I hope.

Can't really help you on how to tell if it's Win98 SE.

Ciarán.

CubicleDweller

Thanks Ciarán - sounds like you've got a good line, alright. Mine passed the pre-qualification tests at both 512K and 1MB, which hopefully means it's a good 'un as well. We'll see.

Just dug out my Win98 CD and stared at it for a bit. Can't see any mention of SE, and the latest date in the copyright is 1998, so it looks like it's probably the original version.

Damn, if I'd realised this sooner, I could probably have bought some third-party gizmo and been online with BB by now. Might have to go shopping tomorrow. Course, then I'll have to figure out how to configure the thing without any support from Esat. Sounds like a World of Pain(TM).

By the way, this is probably a dumb question - but what is ICS?

tomk

Originally posted by CubicleDweller
Does anyone know how to quickly tell if your Win98 setup is SE or the original version?

Start->Settings->Control Panel->System - it'll be right there in the top right hand corner.

parasite

i don't understand this aspect of radsl, i though that you'd only get 512 if you're line was capable, but everyone who gets is pretested for ability for 1mb

also, did anyone try refusing the usb modem, and getting a discount, like someone did with utv ?

M03

Cubicle Dweller,

ICS = Internet Connection Sharing

M03

CubicleDweller

tomk - thanks, I'll check that once I've logged off - running Linux at the mo - naturally

parasite - there is a full-blown ADSL product available that gives 1MB, but it's more expensive. They only did the 1MB test on my line because I asked them to - just to be sure that it wasn't just barely scraping through the 512K test.

(Of course, as everyon knows by now, they didn't really do the test *when* I asked them to. It had been done in advance, and the results stored in a database. The support person I spoke to may have believed he was actually running a test but in reality he was just doing a database lookup.)

M03 - thanks for that. I guess ICS is Microsoft's name for something akin to IP Forwarding. Maybe it's different, but I'm guessing they just wanted to invent their own name...

Synkronite

Originally posted by parasite
i don't understand this aspect of radsl, i though that you'd only get 512 if you're line was capable, but everyone who gets is pretested for ability for 1mb

also, did anyone try refusing the usb modem, and getting a discount, like someone did with utv ?

To answer your first question..
There are two kinds of DSL tests in Ireland done by Eircom

The first one checks for 1mb.. this applies to all business connections from 512Kbps up (ie, this is for ADSL lines).

The other one checks for RADSL (whereby it just checks if the line is capable of 256-512Kbps). Passing this test doesnt guarantee passing the other.

I tried refusing the usb modem.. got no discount, so I just took the modem.. hehe

Oh btw, EsatBT has finally gotten its act together.. Im getting pings of 25-30ms to jolt.. and download speeds in the solid 50+ kB/sec region all day.. So look forward to getting that modem!

Ancient1

everyone! daz, biz, etc....if idont get banned from the boards now, i never will. (chief...try 2 understand).


-edit-edit-edit-edit-edit-
I dont know what you are on about but no I am not going to ban you.

Chief.

50Cent

your cool

ceejay

OK, getting ICS to work for me was a pain, mainly because I'm trying to do it on Windows Advanced Server, where I already have DHCP and DNS, so ICS wasn't happy. I should really be using RRAS, but that's not working right for me at the moment - the server needs a bit of an overhaul really

Anyway, popped down to PCWorld, got myself a Zoom X4 - picked because of a prominent XBox Live compatible sticker on it, plus I already have a 8-port switch - and was up and running in about 10 minutes with it Only negative is that the XBox can't get a DNS server address for some reason. I didn't get time to follow up on that, maybe I'll get the chance tonight.

Pings are nice and low, and stable - 23ms/36ms avg to boards/jolt. Spent time updating stuff via Windows Update - steady downloads, not sure of the exact KB/sec speed, but it was nice and fast - even with two machines going at the same time.

Ciarán.

Ancient1

Exiot,

did you get your modem yet? I just got off the phone to esat, after relatively mild coercion i managed to extract the info i need: mine was posted (no courier!) on Friday, so i should get it by tomorrow. (4 days from D4 to D17...if all goes well).

Töpher

just got off the phone to them, apparently they tried to contact me about it almost 3 weeks ago - which is crap, cuz i live in a guesthouse, so someone would have gotten the message cuz always someone here! And no one did! So, i have the minimum 12 day wait from now, scum!!!!!!!

Ancient1

Neubauten,

that is bull. I was never even aware that they're supposed to contact you! i guess if i hadnt been so persistent, i never would have gotten the password!
will keep you posted.

exiot

No, I rang IOL again today (when you ring them, do you get a blank after a while, there is no sound???), and they sent me to sales, where the women said that they had transferred the information to eircom and the modem will arrive around the 14th of July.

These guys are total liers, if you ring them and they say it was posted yesterday or two days ago, my advice is to ring the number again and hope you get another operator and ask him/her and see if the first person was lying or was telling the truth.

Ancient1

exiot,
that was what they told me a week or so ago. Said that they sent a request to eircom to have my line converted and that "it is all in eircom's hands". Imagine that! Die-hard competitors, and esat has to have eircom convert the lines (well yeah, they own the country, but why do we then wonder about the "backlogs" etc)...eircom then has to send the ok to esat that yer line is done, esat then goes on a lunch break for several days...and then they send the modem.

Stokolan

Originally posted by exiot
No, I rang IOL again today (when you ring them, do you get a blank after a while, there is no sound???), and they sent me to sales, where the women said that they had transferred the information to eircom and the modem will arrive around the 14th of July.

These guys are total liers, if you ring them and they say it was posted yesterday or two days ago, my advice is to ring the number again and hope you get another operator and ask him/her and see if the first person was lying or was telling the truth.

I'd agree with ya there.. rang them last Tuesday and they told me my modem was posted and that i'll have it on thursday.. its now tuesday of the following week NO MODEM!!! Rang them again yesterday.. same thing "yes Mr. Roche, your modem was posted and you should have it within a few days.. as you probable are aware we are having porblems with backlogs and we're sorry for any inconvience caused" ah sure no bother i dont mind waiting for a few more months....

ceejay

Just to follow up on my last post, XBox Live worked fine for me last night - I didn't have to change anything, it just worked

Had a blast with MotoGP and MechAssault (demo versions on the Live disk).

Anyway, good luck to everyone else, hope your modems come soon. BTW, if they've sent it out to you, that should mean that your line is activated by eircom, since Esat say they wait to hear from eircom before sending out the modem. So, if you're planning to use a router or alternative modem, it should be working for you.

Ciarán.

Ancient1

listen to this:
since my modem was apparently sent on Friday, and its now wednesday, i figured i'd call again, as i do every morning. I confirm everyday that my modem was sent, just to find out today that it wasnt, because my line was only "provisioned". The agent promised to find out and call back, but me knowing better, sent a nasty fax to the sales manager. Nothing. I called again and got a totally different version again - yes my line is live, but the modems are actually sent out in batches (MODEM BATCHES GO OUT EVERY WEDNESDAY). So between last friday and today they told me 5 lies, and my modem "might be" included in todays batch, then its all courtesy of An Post (they concluded its An Post, not a courier, after 7 calls).
I dont know if i'm homicidal or suicidal at this stage. I'll never call them again,never write to them again. I cant wait for my contract with IOL to expire. It is astonishing how their monumental incompetency surpasses even state imbecility, and still they manage to survive in this market. How does an average Irish telecom manage to defy reason and logic on such an unsurpassed scale? Whats the trick? I just might send in my CV coz it looks like a great job, getting paid to brush off minor annoyances in the form of customers...Esat, mere mortal words cannot describe what i wish upon you!

Spud_Gun

Hey Ceejay, I hope to see you online once I get my IOL line activated. I still need my Xbox Live kit though, but thats not a problem as it should arrive quickly from Tronix once I order it. Thank God I dont have to wait for my modem as I have a modem/router already. My heart goes out to you Ancient. The lamest excuse in the world is "Its in the post", and to hear it so many times must send you to distraction, as it seems to have done.

bizmark

Lad,s

your not going to get ANYWHERE by going through the customer care sadly anuff their total rubbish

you need higher up the chain to get the ball roleing when your being messed around like you are ...... bill murphy pat mcabe etc etc etc

Really your getting the worse of the company the top flight are very easy to work with and helpful (no less that 22 + emails from them)

MR DAZ

Ancient1......Iknow what your going through m8y!!

I too rang up last week and was told my modem was being posted monday the 7th.....
So on monday I rang to check....now it was my own fault...I spoke with "Brainless Barbie" on the phone...and told her that I was told my modem was being posted today, and could she check this for me?(Me knows i shouldnt have told her what stage my application was at.)time 12.23pm

Replie: let me just check sir...tap..tap..tap...oh yes sir your modem was posted to you at 12.00pm....can i help you with anything else sir.....

me smelled a rat straight away, but I had a **** load to do at work, so igave her the benifit of the doubt.,..


Rang them yesterday...to see "WHERE ART THOU ROMEO"(me now calls me missing modem romeo)...

I was told again that it was posted and I should have it any day.....did he mean this year,next year,or before i keel over and die......


...anyways the best is yet to come...this morning before I went to work....me starts work at 8ish....8.25 me runs down the stairs pulling on the shoe's while trying to iron me shirt.......

...the postman arrives and drops a letter through the letterbox...from ESATBT....whoooohooo I think ...I found me romeo!!!!

but no.....It was a letter saying...i quote" We hope you enjoying your broadband".....talk about a red flag to a bulll......

.......WHAT BROADBAND!!!!!!!!!!!!YEE HAVE SENT ME MY MODEM YET
.....To be continued.............................