Can I have two ISP accounts on the same line?

Sconsey

Hi,

Does anyone know if it will be a problem to have two broadband accounts on the one phone line?.....I am currently on UTV but getting an intermittent service so I want to cancel UTV and sign up with Eircom, since Eircom could take 3 weeks to create my account I was thinking I'd wait untill Eircom account was active before canceling UTV.

What do you think? personally I don't think there should be a problem but I'm not really sure and i don't want to order with Eircom and then have them throw a wobbly because there is another account using the line (the more I think about it the less I think it will be an issue but I have been known to be wrong in the past )

....maybe Eircom would react to the fact that the line is already broarband enabled?

Thanks
Scones

eth0_

No. The line has to be 'released' in order to sign up with another ISP.

P1erce

Eircom cant even change your DSL package without first canceling the current one, and resiging up again, which takes two weeks. What makes you think they can do it at all? :P

Pierce

okcomputer

the only way to do it is to sign up for NTL if you can get it, nothing to do wit the Eircom line at all

dub45

Isnt there a procedure for moving from one isp to another without interruption>

you ask the isp you are moving to for a particular form (which I cant think of at the moment!) and they initiate the move - given that you are going to move to eircom they of all people should be able to do this.

When you say that your service is intermittent what exactly do you mean? Is there any possibility that its down to your line quality? as if this is the case then it may be that a move will not solve your problem. has this been happening since the speed upgrades by any chance?

Sconsey

Great, thanks for all the replies. I must ring up and look for that form.

dub45 wrote:

When you say that your service is intermittent what exactly do you mean? Is there any possibility that its down to your line quality? as if this is the case then it may be that a move will not solve your problem. has this been happening since the speed upgrades by any chance?

Yeah the problem is down to the line quality as far as I can tell but since UTV keep saying there is nothing they can do that they are waiting for Eircom to fix it I figured it might just be easier to move to Eircom...at least they couldn't blame a third party.
UTV acknowledge the problem, say they can't fix it (that they are waiting for Eircom) but insist on charging me regardless, so I am sick of paying them when they aren't providing the service I signed up for!

<Sidenote> Eircom are really slow to move on line requests for other ISP's, this makes the other ISP's service look bad. I am aware that I am playing into Eircom's hand by canceling UTV and going to Eircom because of line issues, but I just want a reasonable BB service and UTV can't provide it to me </Sidenote>

bk

Even if you are with Eircom, Eircom aren't likely to fix your line either.

You should check if you can get BB from NTL/Chorus that is the best way to get a reliable BB connection and avoids the change over period.

dub45

Sconsey wrote:

Great, thanks for all the replies. I must ring up and look for that form.



Yeah the problem is down to the line quality as far as I can tell but since UTV keep saying there is nothing they can do that they are waiting for Eircom to fix it I figured it might just be easier to move to Eircom...at least they couldn't blame a third party.
UTV acknowledge the problem, say they can't fix it (that they are waiting for Eircom) but insist on charging me regardless, so I am sick of paying them when they aren't providing the service I signed up for!

<Sidenote> Eircom are really slow to move on line requests for other ISP's, this makes the other ISP's service look bad. I am aware that I am playing into Eircom's hand by canceling UTV and going to Eircom because of line issues, but I just want a reasonable BB service and UTV can't provide it to me </Sidenote>

But have you checked your line stats? It may be that you line quality is not up to the bb product that you have:

http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/linestats.htm

http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/lowSNR.htm

iggyman

ive actually been having problems with utv as well since the upgrade early this year..is your problem with utv by any chance to do with your ping?

i did that line stats test.. and i got

Local line attenuation : 28.5 db
Local SNR margin: 24.5 db

wat does this mean?

Sconsey

I gues I should have been a bit clearer in my earlier posts....the line is not exactly broken, it just won't support 2Mb (line attenuation too high), Eircom switched the line to 2Mb so UTV are trying to get them to switch back to 1Mb, and that is where the delay is. I am constantly getting disconnected, and then re-connected, not really a problem for surfing but makes playing online games impossible as I keep getting disconnected from the servers. I believe that the modem is trying to synch at a 2Mb rate but can't because the line won't support it and this is causing the disconnects.

Heres my understanding of the stats mentioned above:
Line attenuation is driven by distance from the exchange, the lower the figure the better, needs to be 30 or less to support a 2Mb line.
Signal to Noise ratio (SNR), is based on the noise on your phone line, the higher the figure the better, needs to be above 10db to support a broadband connection. You can try improving you SNR by unpluging things like wireless phones, close the microwave door, wear tinfol-hat ...the last two may not be quite accurate.

iggyman

haha alri... i wonder is there a way to test your line to see what speed your line is capable of hitting...is there?

sconsey ..just out of curiosity what was your results in that test that i did that showes Local line attenuation and SNR Margin..

Sconsey

iggyman wrote:

sconsey ..just out of curiosity what was your results in that test that i did that showes Local line attenuation and SNR Margin..

Well taking these readings from the modem it is saying:

Line attenuation = 54 (or close to that)
SNR= anywhere between 8 and 25db it varies a lot, I usually unplug the wireless phone if it goes below 10 and that helps to raise SNR

kaizersoze

Sconsey, ring Eircom and ask them to send out a DTAF (DSL Transfer Authorisation Form). This will allow Eircom to transfer your BB to them from UTV (provided you're not in contract). The change over is seamless with no downtime. DO NOT cancel UTV until you're live with Eircom or it will fcuk the whole thing up.