ISDN to DSL - who to ring first?

niallb

Have an ISDN line, calls with another provider, line now in amber. Who should I ring first?

I've my calls with UTV, and have been using them for "flat" rate since they started it.
Ideally I'd like to get a BT broadband and calls package.
On Thursday night for the first time, my line came up as "Pass (Subject to Confirmation)"

As best as I can follow the line, I'm nearly 5.9km from the exchange.
I work from home, and want as little interruption as possible in access.
If I'm down to POTS for any length of time, I'll be losing my telephone
if I have to use it for dialup. I may even have to use the mobile for internet access. There's no Vodafone coverage here at all, or I'd already have
their flatrate package. O2 coverage is very poor, and Meteor perfect.

Any suggestions as to how to make this happen smoothly?
Should I ring Eircom first? Arrange an appointment to get the line
downgraded and tested? Should I get BT to do this?

Would it work out cheaper to order an Eircom broadband package?
Does it have any bearing on the ISDN downgrade costs, and
potential upgrade costs should the DSL sync fail?

If anyone has recent experience of upgrading an ISDN line,
particularly a long one, I'd love to hear how it went.
Also any experience of how likely a line with such a result is to pass.

Thanks,
NiallB

Fitzee

I guess you want to keep online all the time, so I'd recommend ordering a new line from eircom - This may cost up to Eur125 or so, or may be free... (there was a promotion but I think it's over now) Probably cost you 125 unfortunately. Once you get the line, order DSL on it and once this is delivered, ask eircom to swap the number from your ISDN to the new line.

You're borderline if you're right about 5.9km, since August eircom are using new ADSL technology extending reach from 5km to 5.5km. It is still possible that you will not be able to get DSL, even if it passes the online test! Fingers crossed!

niallb

Thanks for the reply.
A new line isn't going to fly.

There's a spare one at the far end of the house which I
only deactivated last year. It could be turned on in a few
days, and if the ISDN downgrade goes pearshaped, I'm
planning on turning it back on anyway.

Anyone got any idea can you get a line test done on a line
with soft dialtone on it? I know the number, though the
normal website for testing knows it's not active.

No analogue line in this area passes the test.
All I have in my favour is a line that now says it passes.
At least that gets me the chance to try to get DSL on it.
Even if it only syncs reliably at 512k or 256k I might be
able to persuade someone to give me service.
I'd be happy with a 64k DSL link! Dial up costs me a fortune.

My main question stands though, and is simply a request
for advice as to who would be best to contact first, and
how to phrase the request to make it run smoothly.

Thanks,
NiallB

kaizersoze

I have no experience of a situaton like yours, but if it was me, my first and last call would be to Eircom (as much as it pains me to say it). I think you have enough complications without bringing in another supplier. They will do the downgrade and setup for you and will probably be more inclined to sort out any problems that may arise if the order is with them.
I know it's the dearest option but ater 6 months you can change. Just ring them up and tell them you want to order BB. They will know what you have and do the rest.
Good luck.

Foxwood

Much as it pains me to say it, I have to second that suggestion.

If you weren't in a "marginal" area, it might be worth looking at a different solution, but if none of your neighbous lines are passing, then you will probably need eircom on your side to have any chance of getting things working. So just go with them, and then re-evaulate in a few months time.

thefinalstage

Eircom still fails my line to this day but I have been using there broadband for years :P

niallb

Thanks guys,
that's kind of what I thought myself.
It's about as complicated as it can get already!

My only reservation was that I knew BT had given service
to a few lines in Limerick that had failed for Eircom at 1Mb.
They were willing to drop to 512/768 or whatever to make it stable.

Maybe Eircorn themselves will do so at this stage.
I'll ring them Monday, and see how much they're going to
charge to cripple my lovely ISDN line. I'll miss it.

Thanks,
NiallB

niallb

Well,
Imagine rang me yesterday to see did I know my line now passed.
Eircom rang me this morning, and an account manager called out
to me and did all the paperwork in person. Very impressed.
They're also not charging an arm and a leg to downgrade the ISDN.
Not sure how that would have gone if I'd gone with BT :-)

I've ordered 2Mb broadband, expecting unofficially
to only get 512M which I'm happy with.
If you're wondering why I'm ordering 2Mb rather than 1Mb as it's not
even going to reach 1Mb most likely. It's simply to bring the uplink
to 256k instead of 128k.
I was pleased they were open to suggestion on that one.
I'll post up how things go.

Thanks for your input everyone,
NiallB