Distance from exchange

Ronan · 29-09-2003 4:07pm #1

Hi,
Ok I've probably missed some threads about this, but my searching hasn't come up with what I need to know. Basically, I've just come off the phone from Eircom, I was trying to find out why my phone line fails the DSL test . Now, after a good 10 mins of asking question and getting no answers I told them what I thought of their service and gave up. Here was my question.

How do I find out how far I am from the nearest exchange (I'm in bayside, Sutton, Dublin 13)

At least then I would know if it was at least a posability to get DSL...

spongebob · 29-09-2003 4:18pm

ask around sutton x where the exchange is and then clock it from there in your car 3.5km max Istr.

Ronan · 29-09-2003 4:22pm

ok, this is going to seem really stupid, but I'm no expert. But what exactly is the exchange ? is it just a big box they have ? Cause there is no way I'm more than 4.5km from the cross, but if it by wires then who knows ? Is there any maps or anything.

Sorry if this is all a bit dumb, but I'm just stuck for answers.

seamus · 29-09-2003 4:29pm

If you're close to the exchange, either by car or as the crow flies, then there may be other factors causing you to fail your test.

There may be splitters on the line - evident by a frustratingly low connection speed on dial-up, usually somewhere between 28K-36K bps.

There may also be too much equipment, or the wrong type of equipment connected to the phone line in your house. Best thing is to disconnect all phones except the one closest to the line entry point (usually the one nearest the front door).

Anyone else have more suggestions?

Ronan · 29-09-2003 4:33pm

thanks, I'll give that a shot, but I hold little hopes. For the record I usually connect at about 44 - 49 kbps on the modem, so I think the line is ok.

Eurorunner · 29-09-2003 5:02pm

dont give up just yet. Theres plenty of info already posted ..search some more . You could start by reading shinzons posts - his current thread alone has a lot of info ref. line tests.

Its all part of the buying experience with €ircon that they mould you into a telecoms engineer before you get your hands on the prize ie. broadband

Sar! · 29-09-2003 5:07pm

Very interesting....sorry for being a bit duh here but surely if they provide a service they would encourage people to use it... i.e. make it as easy as possible for the customer??? Or is that just me living in a very nieve world???

ColinM · 29-09-2003 5:25pm

Originally posted by Sar!
surely if they provide a service they would encourage people to use it... i.e. make it as easy as possible for the customer??? Or is that just me living in a very nieve world???

Yes!

Eircom would love to be able to demonstrate that nobody wants broadband. They'd love to be able to say that they have made adsl available on over half a million lines, but gosh darn it, nobody seems to want the blasted thing! Oh well, better get everyone on to our "high-speed" ISDN. What's that you say? We'll make more money on a business model that charges by the second? Oh, our primary concern is just to provide a good service to the customer. We don't care about money. In fact, if everyone would just bugger off and stop trying to compete with us or regulate us we could get on with providing our fantastic services to our wise customers who know that if something costs alot it must be great!

thegills · 29-09-2003 10:21pm

Most of the eircom exchanges in Dublinhave a telecoms mast on their grounds belonging to Vodafone. Not a thin type like O2 but a wide mutta f**ker. They are usually 2 storey brown brick buildings.

Go to Esat or Viacom and ask them to test your line, the chances are you'll get a call from eircom within 24 hours telling you they made a mistake with their testing.

shinzon · 30-09-2003 10:26am

The endless merry go round that is eircom, sigh, im going into my seventh month of battles with them to get broadband.

The only real advice i can give you is dont believe a word eircom tells you.

When i started all of this to get broadband back in april/may time, they said nothing was wrong with the line, flash forward to the present day, they tell me theres something wrong with the line, they send out an engineer, he supposedly fixes it, they retest and it still fails, they ask me to physically disconnect all wiring in the house they retest and it still fails, if you hop over to my thread, theres an end in sight, theres a ot of useful info in there about different work arounds to eliminate at least your internal wiring from the equation to see if its that thats causing the problem.

But persist bitch moan complain, speak to supervisors managers, etc etc etc

Only way, unless by some miracle, during the retest sometime next week your line passes of course

, oh at least one good thing that comes out of this is that youll be able to field strip a telephone soket blindfolded in the pitch black

Shin

Ronan · 30-09-2003 10:33am

Thanks for the advice. Hopefully later this week I will have the time to try out all the tips I pick up here and do a retest. I'll let you know.

I never appreciated just how bad a company Eircom was till this.

The Insider · 30-09-2003 1:46pm

If you are coming from Bayside towards Sutton Cross then you go straight through the lights, the exchange is about 200 meters down the road on the right hand side just before the protestant church, you can't miss it. If you are in bayside then you should be within range but it is not as the crow flys, the lines can often take many different twists and turns, the range for ADSL is 3.5km and RADSL is 5.5 km. RADSL is the istream offer. Sounds like the poor quality of your line is what is causing the problem.

Ronan · 30-09-2003 2:04pm

Insider I know exactly where you are talking about, just before the methodist church. Thanks for clearing that up. It is strange that I can connect at good speeds with a poor line. There are 6 phone points in the house, maybe that is my problem. I shall investigate further.

seamus · 30-09-2003 2:20pm

Originally posted by Ronan
Insider I know exactly where you are talking about, just before the methodist church. Thanks for clearing that up. It is strange that I can connect at good speeds with a poor line. There are 6 phone points in the house, maybe that is my problem. I shall investigate further.

Wow. That is almost certainly the problem

You seem to be connecting at what are normal maximum speeds for PSTN (44-49kbps) so follow Muck's advice abut unhooking all the other phones, and plugging an ordinary phone in the entry point. Then you should be all set

ColinM · 30-09-2003 2:33pm

Originally posted by Ronan
There are 6 phone points in the house, maybe that is my problem. I shall investigate further.

Is there something plugged into each phone point? How many things do you have plugged in at any one time?

I remember hearing about something called a REN (Ringer Equivalence Number) value. It seems to be an indicator of how many devices a telephone line can support. If I remember correctly, a standard line has a REN value of 5. A normal phone has a REN value of 1, a modem 2 and a fax machine 2. So, if you had any more than 3 phones and a modem plugged into the one line, you would exceed this value. Maybe a cheap phone would also cause you to exceed this value if it was not built to standard.

Anyone else know anything more about REN values?

[edit - did some googling on this and it seems that in the UK, a standard line has a REN value of 4, while in the US it is 5. We seem to have a telecom infrastructure that is more similar to the US here, so maybe it is 5 here too.]

Ronan · 30-09-2003 2:57pm

WE have 2 of them cordless thingys and a modem plugged in at the moment. I shall be trying Mucks way later on. I just hope that the previous owners who installed the extra points did a good job.

Thanks again for your advice guys. I appreciate it.

Ronan · 01-10-2003 4:22pm

Another Question to help me on my quest!

When you take the DSL line test online, does it actually check you line again, or are they just pulling info off a DB ?

Ripwave · 01-10-2003 4:34pm

Originally posted by Ronan
When you take the DSL line test online, does it actually check you line again, or are they just pulling info off a DB ?

It's just pulled from a database.

spongebob · 01-10-2003 4:48pm

To get a real test done again , and a database update shortly thereafter, ring 1800512128 . Tell them the result came from a line powered called ID device and that you removed it since.

If they dont do it straight away then ask for Emily the supervisor, she is nice to people and deserves reciprocation !

M

Negotiator · 01-10-2003 9:32pm

Is there no program to get an approximation of your distance from the exchange? I thought there was something like that in the D-link 504 router software, granted it would only work with a dsl enabled line. God only knows with eircon planning the copper runs in large S-shaped patterns to the exchange. But I'd imagine doing a tracert to anywhere and taking the first entry on the list as being your exchange (is that right?) and dividing the latency you get by the speed of electricity or some such. I'm not too well up on communication systems so this could all be a bunch of waffle

I guess there could be other unknown factors like capacitance.

Neg.

Ronan · 06-10-2003 11:59am

I had some possible good news, The brother of a work mate of my Girlfriends is an Eircom Engineer and has said he will look into this for me. Such is they way that company works!

dahamsta · 06-10-2003 12:47pm

Such is the way Ireland works.

SoundWave · 06-10-2003 2:34pm

i managed to get an engineer to come out to the house on friday and he re-cable the line for me but it is still failing, when i rang eircon on 1800512128 i keep being told that they cannot do a live test on the line, and that tests are only done on previouisly failed lines on a monthly basis.

i asked for emily but she is supposedly on lunch...

why cant they tell me why my line is failing... its not the distance from the exchange, my neighbours line tests fine and i had the line re-cabled... im getting pretty mad with the feckers,

Distance from exchange

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