Rural Broadband

Laguna

Hey what's the deal if you're living near a rural town (in my case Borris, County Carlow) which has had its exchange upgraded but you live beyond the 4km (I live 6km) from the exchange?. Does this mean I will NEVER get BB in my gaff now or what?, I'm technologically savvy regarding broadband and I know for a fact that in other countries, BB DSL signals can travel greater distances than 4km using DSL repeaters and whatnot, but all I have been getting from the Eircom sales staff is

Eircom Guy:"You live too far from the exchange"

Me:"Is there any plans to put DSL repeaters along the lines to boost signal distance?, as a lot of people in the extended Borris locale would take up BB but their houses are sparsely dotted due to the nature of the countryside"

Eircom Guy:"DSL repeaters?, I wouldn't have a clue"

Me:"So basically what Eircoms position is, for the forseeable future, I can't have broadband as you view the Borris exchange as being upgraded and have no financial incentive to put a single repeater on the line so I can get BB"

Eircom Guy:"Pretty much, yes"

Is that really it?!, no chance of me getting BB?!, wireless isn't an option either as Clearwire/Digiweb have told me they'll be keeping their wireless services for larger towns and cities.

Reaver772

http://www.torque.ie/Coverage.html
you might get wireless coverage with them otherwise the only thing i can think of is satelite broadband. Hope that helps.

Mr_Man

Even if the distance were increased (and that would seem to be unlikely) then you face anoter couple of potential problems. Firstly is the quality of the copper between you and the exchange. The state of the copper in the Eircom network is not as good as it could or should be. This poor quality copper results in many people who are within range of an exchange being unable to get broadband.

The second problem is the use of splitters or pairgains by Eircom. This is a device to increase the number of logical phone lines which can be supported on a physical phoneline. If you have one of these babies on your line you are also unable to get broadband.

If you have a wireless operator covering your area then you may be in luck. Another approach is to go the Group Broadband Scheme route.

I found myself in a similar position to you and our GBS is going live in the next few weeks, so it can be done.

Good Luck
M

netwhizkid

Those Splitters are referred to by Eircom technicians as "Carriers" and they act like a double adapter works on a single electrical plug. They allow several numbers to be carried on the space normally used for a less amount. Anyway wasn't there an article in Yesterday's Irish Examiner (i didn't see it but i heard about it) about the Government setting up a telephone company to roll out broadband to the masses. Isn't that an awful stupid move by the government when the logical thing to do is renationalised Eircom and invest the billions so badly needed in the Irish Telecoms industry, Heck as much as i am against capitalism they could do it Public-Private and invest billions into an open network of fibre-optic into every house in the country and deliver ADSL2 of Voice, Data and Images, Ie Tv (a fibre optic cable TV system) High speed internet and regular old phone. It would be a great service if rolled out and everyone would benefit, but this government are just so short-sighted. I am making a very large political issue out of this and have already lobbied various government ministers about it.

lucernarian

I believe that Eircom are conducting a trial into the possibility of extending the distance limit at the moment but details of it were sketchy. I think that they have no choice but to extend the limit beyond the ridiculously low limit that stands now. I have been told I cannot get it at a distance of 6.5 km.

Cable quality is quite dependent on location. The line along one road may have proper junction boxes and distribution points used which are only a few years old while another line may have houses connected to it directly with the join taped over and junction boxes without the "box".

Some rural areas have extensive new cabling so you could well be lucky in that regard. Pairgains are everywhere though so that may spoil your chances. Eircom are removing pairgains, but at a very slow rate.

Go the GBS route. People have set up Group Broadband Schemes throughout the country and successful ones operate in places like west Mayo.

Roen

Check the wireless routes, Digiweb, Clearwire, IBB, plus a host of other smaller local operators, you should definitely be able to get a signal there, I know that part of the country

Laguna

I can personally assure you that no wireless operator is broadcasting in the local vicinity of Borris!, I've had many (many, many) emails, phonecalls to and from Digiweb, IBB, Clearwire, Eircom FWA assuring me that wireless can not be availed of in Borris, County Carlow. The only places in County Carlow where you can get wireless broadband is Carlow town, Rathvily and Bagenalstown.

jimmycrackcorm

ADSL2+ gives greater distances so you may have to wait until some other company uses LLU to get access to the exchange.