DSL Distance and Eircom

LFCFan

I thought Eircom were rolling out a better version of DSL that allowed people further out to get broadband? I've been told by UTV after testing my line that the most I could hope for would be around 384Kbits. I'm 3.5 miles from the exchange. If Eircom are rolling this out to some exchanges, why would they use the old technology in newly upgraded exchanges?

Sponge Bob

I have seen 1mbit at 4 miles or even longer, that line is simply crap . I have seen 2mbits at 3 miles.

LFCFan

Sponge Bob wrote: »

I have seen 1mbit at 4 miles or even longer, that line is simply crap . I have seen 2mbits at 3 miles.

I am getting around 46Kb/s on dialup so I would have thought that meant I had a decent line?

watty

If the dialup speed is low it means the line is poor. But DSL is different to Dialup, so the reverse is not true.

LFCFan

watty wrote: »

If the dialup speed is low it means the line is poor. But DSL is different to Dialup, so the reverse is not true.

Is there anything Eircom could do to sort this out or can I just forget about getting DSL in the near future?

Aseth

LFCFan wrote: »

Is there anything Eircom could do to sort this out or can I just forget about getting DSL in the near future?

the only thing they could do is change the line but as far as I know they won't do it just for one person.
If you are too far from the exchange the signal wouldnt carry that far.
Is there any other exchange in your area? closer to you? I don't know if it's possible but maybe they could connect you to another one but don't know if they are doing that.

LFCFan

Aseth wrote: »

the only thing they could do is change the line but as far as I know they won't do it just for one person.
If you are too far from the exchange the signal wouldnt carry that far.
Is there any other exchange in your area? closer to you? I don't know if it's possible but maybe they could connect you to another one but don't know if they are doing that.

I guess I'll have to hope I can get wireless Then if Sky ever drop their rediculous policy of connecting to a phone line, I'll be getting rid of Eircom.

watty

As long as you don't have a Mirror Sub, you can pay a once off fee to be phone line free.

Sky modem does work on the Digiweb Metro Broadband + phone system. I've even managed to access an eircom FTP account using dialup modem on Metro to log into eircom as ISP. If it's a mirror sub, both Sky boxes must connect to the same phone socket on Metro or it will look like the boxes are not in same house.

LFCFan

watty wrote: »

As long as you don't have a Mirror Sub, you can pay a once off fee to be phone line free.

Sky modem does work on the Digiweb Metro Broadband + phone system. I've even managed to access an eircom FTP account using dialup modem on Metro to log into eircom as ISP. If it's a mirror sub, both Sky boxes must connect to the same phone socket on Metro or it will look like the boxes are not in same house.

I'm on a Mirror Sub so phone line is a must right now. Wish they'd come up with a better way of doing it. GPS or something.

gmb

Does any know specifically what the acceptable distance in km is from a customer to the nearest broadband enabled exchange for Eircom broadband and whether this will increase following the recent Eircom accouncements ?

Searching through boards.ie and elsewhere it appears that the typical limit is 4.5km but the postings that quote this figure are quite old now.

I'm planning to build on a rural site which is 4.5km by road from the Dungourney exchange in East Cork which I understand is to be upgraded this year. If I can't be sure that access to broadband will be possible then I may as well put the site up for sale as I'm a homeworker and I need reasonably fast VPN access to IT systems which I understand rules out Satellite broadband.

It seems that the focus has switched too much from availability to speed.

I'm working now with a 3mb connection which is great but if I could just get 1mb then that would be enough for me to work remotely.

jor el

You won't get an answer on distance any more accurate than what you've found. It all depends on the distance the line travels from the exchange (which may be wildly different from the road) and the quality of said line.

If your exchange gets ADSL2+ equipment, then it might have a better chance, though this is not a guarantee either. Also, until the exchange is actually done, I wouldn't pay too much attention to eircom's schedules.

Trampas

LFCFan wrote: »

Sky ever drop their rediculous policy of connecting to a phone line, I'll be getting rid of Eircom.

You can get sky now without phone.

once of charge of €40 or so.

You only have to connect up your sky to a phone line for 12months

watty

You only need phone for Multiroom. Your Sky Multiroom does not need an eircom line as such. The now dead Chorus Wireless Phone worked. Suitably configured phone systems on fibre, Digiweb Metro or UPC cable ought to work also for multiroom, as long as all the Sky box phone lines are on the same phone port. Blueface/Skype etc is unlikely to work on ripwave, HSDPA/3G or on some other Wireless products for sky even if you have a regular phone port adaptor.

uncle_sam_ie

I'm 3.5 miles and I'm getting 2mbits, but my line was upgraded from ISDN that was strung new from the exchange back in the day. None of my neighbors, however are able to get DSL. It's just down to bad copper. If we had real competition in the market(LLU) you would have DSL. Thats what it really comes down too.

ardmacha

If we had real competition in the market(LLU) you would have DSL.

LLU wouldn't help unless Eircom were obliged to provide decent copper, which they should be required to do in any case, if only for the sake of your neighbours.

niallb

I'm over 7km from the exchange and got DSL installed last week after years of promises,
including 3 occasions I stayed at home for an engineer that never showed up.
Each time Eircom said they had a record of the order being cancelled.

I get about 800k from it - well down on speed from the Vodafone 3G I've been using,
but adequate.

I also had ISDN, so as I'm now saving 20 euro a month in line rental since downgrading,
the DSL is pretty affordable. I'm further from the exchange than several people who
have failed the line test. The ISDN line was just a better quality line to start with.

I'd suggest asking Eircom to upgrade your line to ISDN, and ask for another DSL test
a few months afterwards. It'll cost a bit and take some time, but I'm sure you're
already well used to waiting!

highlydebased

Im around 3 miles from the exchange, getting 1700kbps on the 2000kbps. Line is awful....