Can't get ISDN

Brouhaha

Hi,

My cousin is running a business from home in rural Co. Limerick (about 10 miles from Limerick city) and, obviously, can't get broadband. He also can't get an ISDN line, has been told his local exchange ain't up to the job. Can this be correct?

spongebob

his local exchange is ISDN enabled, all exchanges are nowadays. This sounds like a crap excuse.

If he is 4 miles from the exchange (total cable length) he is marginal or too far away for ISDN , it does not work as far out as an analogue line.

More than likely his line is pairgained (a 'carrier line'in Eircom speak) so his line is not up to it while his exchange is.

His best bet is a friendly natter with the local engineer with a nice bottle of Bush ready under his oxter in the hope of a result. It is the easiest way.

Eircom should be able to supply him ISDN over wireless using what is called an Airspan box, the local engineer would not install these but someone in Limerick City sure as hell can. If Eircom say they cannot do this he should contact Comreg immediately and tell them Eircom refused to supply him ISDN over 3.5Ghz (the frequency the Airspan operates on) . He should mark his position on a map when writing to John Doherty in Comreg. Comreg have the coverage maps for Eircoms 3.5Ghz but Comreg refuse to let us lower orders see them under any circumstances.

Demand that Doherty confirm or otherwise that your brother is in an area serviced by Eircom and where ISDN is available over 3.5Ghz wireless.

M

Delphi91

I'm in the same situation.....Nearest exchange is Castletroy which is DSL enabled, but I'm a bit too far for that. So tried ISDN over the summer - no dice.

Seems that the phone line running by the house was line that was originally used to connect one exchange to another and it was "downgraded"(?) so that it could connect an exchange to houses. It seems its quality is such that it can't be used for ISDN

Wasn't aware of the ISDN over wireless option....Where can I find out more???

Mike

Our man in Havana

Originally posted by Muck
Comreg have the coverage maps for Eircoms 3.5Ghz but Comreg refuse to let us lower orders see them under any circumstances.

Does the Freedom of Information Act apply to Comreg? If so can't someone just ask for them.

dahamsta

Originally posted by Delphi91
Seems that the phone line running by the house was line that was originally used to connect one exchange to another and it was "downgraded"(?) so that it could connect an exchange to houses. It seems its quality is such that it can't be used for ISDN

Sounds like call centre boll*cks to me.

adam

spongebob

Originally posted by Bond-James Bond
Does the Freedom of Information Act apply to Comreg? If so can't someone just ask for them.

Ask Phil Nolan for it. phil.nolan@eircom.ie . It is much easier to deal with Phil than to deal with Biddy or Comreg. If Phil himself, personally, won't deliver then you can go to Comreg about it .

Comreg have Told people who asked for 3.5Ghz coverage maps to FoI them. The only problem is that Comreg have not indicated that they will comply with the FoI . It would be an interesting project for a journalist of repute as long as the nice coloured maps were published in a nationwide newspaper as a result.

Kaaaaaarrrrrrrrrlinnnnnnnnn we need you (again)

M

daveharlowe

Hi,

I know it's not exactly what you are looking for, but if you are in need of broadband, and have no other options (and are willing to donate to community networking) Midwestwan could help.

We are a hobby organisation, so there are no guarantees as regards service availability, but you could approach the committee and see if you are within range of a node.

Ref:

http://www.irishwan.org/board
http://www.midwestwan.org/
http://www.irishwan.org/

regards,
Dave

daveharlowe@hotmail.com

MidWestWan Vice chairman

Our man in Havana

Originally posted by Muck
Ask Phil Nolan for it. phil.nolan@eircom.ie . It is much easier to deal with Phil than to deal with Biddy or Comreg. If Phil himself, personally, won't deliver then you can go to Comreg about it .

Comreg have Told people who asked for 3.5Ghz coverage maps to FoI them. The only problem is that Comreg have not indicated that they will comply with the FoI . It would be an interesting project for a journalist of repute as long as the nice coloured maps were published in a nationwide newspaper as a result.

Kaaaaaarrrrrrrrrlinnnnnnnnn we need you (again)

M

And you have to pay €15 for a FOI request and the cost of producing the info. I wonder how much those maps cost?

As for them refusing, what grounds do they have for refusing?

Ripwave

Originally posted by Bond-James Bond
And you have to pay €15 for a FOI request and the cost of producing the info. I wonder how much those maps cost?

You only have to pay for the cost of copying them, not for the cost of producing them. Complain to the Information commisioner if you are charged anything more than a reasonable "time and materials" charge (and that means €10 or €15 in total, unless it requires a couple of days full time work by someone to complete your request).

As for them refusing, what grounds do they have for refusing?

"Commercially sensitive" information does not have to be released under FoI - though it's hard to see how this could be considered commercially sensitive, except for the fact that it's probably uneconomic for eircom to provide this service, so it's bad for eircom "commercially" if this information was in the public domain, and people knew they could demand this service. But that would be a perverse use of the "commercially sensitive" exemption, given that it is a requirement of eircoms license that this service be available in designated areas.

Delphi91

Originally posted by dahamsta
Sounds like call centre boll*cks to me...

Only thing is, it came from the engineer himself. But then again, considering the balls-up he made of my phone system (which he left without fixing), I wouldn't trust him. The second engineer who I had to call to fix the system (who still didn't do it properly) confirmed the diagnosis. He did suggest that an exchange was "supposed" to be built about 0.5 miles down the road, and that could solve my problem. No indication of when, though...:(

Mike

bminish

There is such a thing as an ISDN repeater with allows them to go quite a lot further than 4miles, My line is on one and there's around 7 miles of copper between me and the exchange but I think that in the current asset stripping climate getting eircom to actually fit one might prove difficult.

.Brendan

oscarBravo

Originally posted by bminish
There is such a thing as an ISDN repeater with allows them to go quite a lot further than 4miles, My line is on one and there's around 7 miles of copper between me and the exchange but I think that in the current asset stripping climate getting eircom to actually fit one might prove difficult.

s/difficult/impossible/ -- I was talking to an ex-eircom guy a while ago, and he was surprised to hear that anyone had one.

godfrey

We are a hobby organisation, so there are no guarantees as regards service availability, but you could approach the committee and see if you are within range of a node
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just connected to this network today, and it rocks. seriously.

g

:cool:

bkehoe

Not all exchanges are upgraded for ISDN btw. Mine isnt!