Broadband in Graignamanagh - KK

€>sense

Hi all,

Can anyone help me pick between broadband providers in Graignamanagh, Co. kilkenny?

I'm passing line tests in some of the dsl providers but not with others? BT tells me I can only have their 1mb/s service but eircom says I can have their 2mb??? Can I rely on those web tests?

I am about 3.5 miles from the exchange, but the next door neighbour (identical distance as we share the same line to a pole between the two houses) got the 1mb service from eircom but was only getting 700mb/sec on speedtest.com (I think that was it). Is that good or bad? Is it because of the distance from the exchange?

I'm also worried about line quality There are more joins/junctions on my line. He consistently got 45 kbps when on dial-up but I'm only getting 28 or 33 kbps on dial up so am I likely to get a degraded DSL service too? Am I looking at less than 500mb/s with a 1mb/s service?

Now to the meat of my post, does it follow that I'll get about 1mb/s if I order the 2mb/s service? Will choice of provider matter or will they all offer the same package as eircom?

I was tempted by the BT bundle, but am worried about the reports on here about customer service.

The possible ADSL providers from the govt broadband site are eircom 1-3mb, bt 1mb only, imagine 1-3mb, perlico 1-2mb, & irish broadband 1-2mb. Which of these should I choose? the cheapest?

I don't want satellite, but perhaps there are wireless or other options not listed on the govt site? Any recommendations?

Finally, this could be either a business or a home account as I run a small business - are there any advantages to either.

Sorry for the long post but this is very confusing and I'd be most grateful for a bit of illumination :-)

Sponge Bob

I would go with the 1mbit package, I have had my suspicions about eircom misselling for some time and this example does seem blatant.

They both use the same line tests and technology and logically should arrive at the same conclusion as to suitable packages.

At 3.5 miles you would be lucky to get 2mbits what with the oul laws of physics being what they are.

A 1mbit falling to 500k should be more stable than a 2mbit falling to 500k but I am amazed you 'qualified' for 2mbits, honestly I am :eek: . .

Have you plugged any gear into your line that could 'interfere' such as a sky box or a display phone, whats the dialup speed with all this stuff out when you connect ???

Can you PM me your number so I can run the line test and see the results myself.

€>sense

3.5 miles is by road, so maybe its a bit shorter by line (as he desperately clutches at straws!)

No sky box (yet!), phone is Philips cord less, there are 5 phone points in house, all joined to the incoming line in one box. Bloody builders broke the cat 5e cable from the house to the manhole where eircon put their box, so electrician has a join .5m from the house and 2m from the manhole. When he joins he just wraps the wires together. Is there a better way of joining cables so the join doesn't degrade the signal?

Will try phone out and see if dailup improves.

PM-ed you with phone no.

Thanks Sponge Bob

towel401

just going by the name of the place you should be glad you can even get broadband without having to build a 20 meter high mast or a dish twice the size of your house

Sponge Bob

Fascinating results .

Eircom seemed OK ( ish) , they said

(Number) May be suitable; subject to confirmation aka "Amber" , it does allow you to order a 3mbit line thereafter apparently but I would have to set up an account number.

I did not test the number with Imagine or Perlico in case they pass it to telesales people to annoy you, as they do.

IBB would sell you 1mbit or 2mbit only . 2mbits is risible for an amber line .

IBB Test .

http://www.irishbroadband.ie/dslcoveragecheck.php

I checked another line I know to be good and they would sell it anything so I know its tied to the result.

Digiweb flagged it "amber" , they may supply you DSL and will send an engineer out before they do . Same as eircom .

Digiweb Test Here

http://www.digiweb.ie/athome_broadband_dsl_index.asp?i=1&i2=4&i6=1

Thats usually a case of check the line and give you 1mbit . This is for the most marginal of the marginal but you usually get 1mbit by the skin of your teeth which sounds right to me. They did not try to flog 2mbits .

UTV were cagier but positive.

"Our initial test on your phone line indicates that you should be able to have Clicksilver Broadband (subject to line test).

UTV Test Here

https://ssl.u.tv/UTV_Internet/Residential/ClicksilverBroadband/su_availability_checker.asp

Not sure what they would have sold you as I would have to sign up .

BT have a ****e interface. When you test for 3mbits it loops you back to 1 2 3 again. You must select a package and create an account to proceed, I did not

BT Test Here

http://www.btireland.ie/AtHome_bb_check.shtml

Therefore the only result I found was actually WRONG was IBB who are prepared to sell you 2mbits on a line that will not take 2mbits .

The ONLY result that was clearly RIGHT was Digiweb

Eircom may well be wrong , if you are fully prepared to escalate a complaint to all of

1. Comreg
2. National Consumer Agency
3. Consumer Association

You could always try to order 3mbits to see what eircom does .

Eircom should

1. send out an engineer,
2. get you up to 33-38k dialup
3. inform you that 3mbits is impossible
4. recommend 1mbit max

Thats what they SHOULD do . If so fair enough.

The government told you to **** off , email minister@dcmnr.ir to find out why. See

http://www.broadband.gov.ie/Phoneline+Checker/

€>sense

Thx Sponge Bob,

I had the electrician around on Sat, he opened all join & junction boxes and found water in one, we emptied it and he put some kind of resin in it.

Dial up speeds are now 45.1 kbps with or without the phone line in.

OK I accept that 1 mbit is the best I can hope for, better than nothing after all.

Now who should I go with? I was tempted by the Bt package deal with the free calls to ireland and UK, but I am scared off by the customer service woes reported on here. So who gives the best deal / most professional service for a marginal 1mbit line.

Obviously price is a concern, but stability, low contention, good customer service, decent up and download limits, no blocking/throttling of services and other stuff I don't know about (but should!) would come into play. Is there a consensus on here as to who provides the best service?

Thx in advance for all the help.

Sponge Bob

Well if its running at 45k now it may support 2mbits .

You can always get 1mbit and then depending on the line stats ( signal characteristics as seen by the BB modem ) an upgrade to 2mbits may be a good idea then as the upgrade is free you just pay for the extra monthly cost on the package. A downgrade from 2 - 1 mbits would cost €30 minimum

It will not support beyond 2mbits at your distance and may only give you 1.5 stable. Far better chance at 45k dialup than 33k dialup all the same.

Its probably best off going with a BT bundle seeing as they did not take the piss and are the cheapest anyway , start with 1mbit like I said. Upgrades are free save the monthly cost so an upgrade is another €8 a month .

€>sense

Thx Sponge Bob,

Will definitely go with 1mb line. Like I said the BT package looks like a good deal, and am impressed that they didn't try to oversell.

The only concern is the reports of the poor customer service and billing issues on here. Have they been resolved? Technically if I have problems with speed or stability do BT respond? Do they throttle services? Strictly enforce the up & down load limits?

Thx again for any help offered.

Praetor

You will be just fine...

Sponge Bob

set up online account on BT website

order the 1mbit package

log in ONE more time to the BT website and MAKE SURE online billing is ticked otherwise they may send paper bills and charge extra .

Then tell me whan its done ( I have your number thats all I need)

I will contact my friend the clear eyed happy techie gnome in the BT basement who will waft it through the system and keep a good eye on it and there will be no hassles with anything.

I am MOST CERTAINLY not going to forget who tried to oversell to their customers, Sponge Bob has a looooooooong memory for shadiness and of who happily tried to sell 2mbits to an amber line that is manifestly not able for it .

In general eircom is 100% responsible for all outdoor problems and water ingress outdoors on their plant would appear to have been your problem .

Once the cable enters the house eircom are responsible for the main socket only and you are responsible for any crap inside that ...and many Irish houses have rubbish wiring I regret to say.

As I live out the country this is far more important than it is in town with shorter loop lengths and where you would have underground lines which get less water ingress , driving rain is the biggest problem where I live.

flamegrill

Where in Graig are you approx? My auld pair have it up the Inistoige road around 1.5miles out. It's on a ****ty line hanging off a load of trees and it's grand.

€>sense

flamegrill wrote:

Where in Graig are you approx? My auld pair have it up the Inistoige road around 1.5miles out. It's on a ****ty line hanging off a load of trees and it's grand.

Hi Flamegrill :-)

towel401 wrote:

just going by the name of the place you should be glad you can even get broadband without having to build a 20 meter high mast or a dish twice the size of your house

Seemingly we're lucky we have broadband at all ;-) .... or phones .... or electricity .... or running water ..... or sanitation ..... or roads ..... or language.

Yet strangely enough being called Graiguenamanagh hasn't prevented all those things - we must just be really lucky I guess.

Live out past the hurling field 3.5 miles.

suzi su

I would go with the 1mbit package too.