Eircom Broadband - 24 Mbps???

johnmolloy554

Lads
I'm not the most up to date when it comes to Broadband speed etc but I installed Eircom Broadband in Feb 2006 and haven't really had a problem with it until now. I've noticed it has slowed down a lot when it comes to downloading large files. The icon in the Taskbar is saying that my signal strength is excellent but my speed is only 24.0 Mbps. It is 24.0 95% of the time and will sometimes go to 36.0 or 56.0 but only briefly. To be honest, I never paid much attention to this before but I'm nearly sure that it was always 56.0 Mbps before. I pulled these stats from my Eircom page

Speed 1024/128 (kbps)
Line Attenuation 42/26 dB

Can anyone tell me if I'm wrong or should I upgrade my Eircom package?

Thanks

Mountjoy Mugger

You are getting reports of the maximum sustainable speeds between your wirless router and laptop/PC.

You are only on the 1MB package. I'd certainly consider upgrading, if your line is capable.

Creamy Goodness

no, that 24.mbps/36.0mbps/56mbps is the speed of your wireless network connection.

you're broadband runs at a much slower rate over this connection.

if you were meant to be getting 24mbps broadband speeds you would a) know about it or b) be insanely rich not to care how much eircom was charging you.

robbingood

ive been havin same problem.im on 2mb package but its still slow as hell at times.i contacted eircom and they said its because im too far out of the town and the line is just bad.also its slow at certain times of day wen server is full

robbingood

robbingood wrote: »

ive been havin same problem.im on 2mb package but its still slow as hell at times.i contacted eircom and they said its because im too far out of the town and the line is just bad.also its slow at certain times of day wen server is full

So eircom make you pay for a 2 meg line nd yet your not getting half of the service. Sounds like bullsh*t. I don't live in town and im on a 2 meg line, my connection is perfect. I would be around 3 - 4 miles from the centre of town.

Freddie59

M!Ck^ wrote: »

So eircom make you pay for a 2 meg line nd yet your not getting half of the service. Sounds like bullsh*t. I don't live in town and im on a 2 meg line, my connection is perfect. I would be around 3 - 4 miles from the centre of town.

My sister had a similar problem lately. A check on www.speedtest.net revealed a down speed of 0.1 Megs (100k). It only came to light when she used Skype. Upon contacting a chap in Eircom (very friendly and courteous I might point out) she was told that her line was capped to a 'midband' speed.

Upon enquiring further about this she was told that when the Broadband dropped out on a line the tech would call and someone at the far end would drop the speed until it reached a point where it did not drop out. Thus 'midband'.

She then pointed out that she was paying for 1 Meg. The chap then increased the speed to 1 Meg and asked her to report back if it dropped out. Not a budge - and still running at 1 Meg. Possibly because whatever was affecting it on her line was fixed. Interesting one though. 'Midband'. A new term even for Irish broadband connections.:D

Creamy Goodness

M!Ck^ wrote: »

So eircom make you pay for a 2 meg line nd yet your not getting half of the service. Sounds like bullsh*t. I don't live in town and im on a 2 meg line, my connection is perfect. I would be around 3 - 4 miles from the centre of town.

no they make you pay for a service of up to 2Mbps you will never get full speed from an adsl product.

smellslikeshoes

Cremo wrote: »

no they make you pay for a service of up to 2Mbps you will never get full speed from an adsl product.

I disagree, it is possible to get the full amount. It just doesn't usually happen.You only have to look through the speedtest thread for evidence of it.

Sponge Bob

smellslikeshoes wrote: »

I disagree, it is possible to get the full amount.

Its POSSIBLE with Smart and its IMPOSSIBLE with eircom and resellers thereof.

eircom count their pppoe encapulation overhead as a 'service' because comreg let them . An eircom 2mbit line has about 250k of overhead so you cannot get more than about 1.75mbits out of it , thats a 10% guaranteed degredation.

Smart advertise and deliver a 2.3mbit product by eircom standards, once the overhead is stripped out you have 2mbits left for yourself.

AlmightyCushion

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Its POSSIBLE with Smart and its IMPOSSIBLE with eircom and resellers thereof.

eircom count their pppoe encapulation overhead as a 'service' because comreg let them . An eircom 2mbit line has about 250k of overhead so you cannot get more than about 1.75mbits out of it , thats a 10% guaranteed degredation.

Smart advertise and deliver a 2.3mbit product by eircom standards, once the overhead is stripped out you have 2mbits left for yourself.

When downloading a file on eircom 2Mb package I get over 200KBps. I actually limit my download manager to 180KBps so I have some left over for browsing while I'm downloading.

briantwin

OK lads, again with the Eircom bashing ya gotta love it. Anyway just something to think about here . Everyone using an Eircom router (netopia 3347/2247) , your wireless network is insecure unless you change the wireless encryption from the generic comes as standard WEP to WPA-PSK. Otherwise your broadband slowing down is more than likely your scalliwag neighbours jackin your broadband and getting free stuff!

Beware of the Judder Man when the moon is fat, lads!!

Snaga

AlmightyCushion - you may be confusing bits and bytes.

2Mbit/s = 2000kbit/s
2000/8 = 250KBytes/s (8 bits in a byte)

So the fact that you are only seeing just over 200KBytes/s actually proves Sponge Bob's point rather than refutes it.

Snaga

FYI - The % loss Sponge Bob is talking about is due to IP over PPPoE encapsulation over an ATM network layer - its nothing to do with the distance from the exchange.

Someone sitting in the exchange would see exactly the same % loss as someone 2 miles away. (Assuming both are synced at the same physical DSL bit rate).

Sponge Bob

briantwin wrote: »

You would have to have the loop from the exchange in your bedroom beside your PC to get the full whack like that !! Its the way of things im afraid. You'll also get a loss of speed due to the line attenuation and noise margin.

A 2mbit line should work at up to 3 MILES, a 24 mbit not so .

Anything over 200kbps on a 2mb line is acceptable to any ISP. If i ever had someone demanding 250kbps on a 2mb line i'd advise them to move next door to the exchange and also get brand new properly insulated cabling going straight as the crow flies to the router.

eircom will not give you 256KbYTES ( 2048 divied by 8) except on a 3mbit line . You should max out at 220-230k or so on a download if your line is perfect ....which is of course not whats advertised to the gullible.

Dont forget the supply is 2mb not 2.5mb to compensate for all these factors.

Arse!! Pish! and Pottybabble !!!!!

Its a misnamed 2mbits at 10nm from the DSLAM port .

Eircom should not be allowed to sell this as a 2mbit product .

Its actually an UP TO 1.75 mbit product .

You should get 2048kbit ( which divvied by 8 is 256kbytes a second) and at about 3 miles max . It will OF COURSE degrade thereafter or even before . Nevertheless its possible up to about 3 miles if the line is any good.

If I meet someone moaning about their 1mbit package only supporting 512k ...AND they are over 5 miles from the exchange .....I tell them they are lucky to even have 512k.

As does the technology adapt so must the mind!

Snaga

Network speeds are measure in decimal units, not binary units - using the SI model.

1Mbits/s is therefore 1000 kbits/s, not 1024kbits/s

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilobit

Just posted for clarity sake given the nature of the thread.

Solair

It's quite likely that it's a contention issue.

Basically, all of the operators (other than Smart and Magnet) have a setup where by you may connect to the exchange at your full speed, but anything up to 48 people are sharing the same pipe back from the exchange to the internet.

This means that when your area gets busy, your real speed drops even though your line is still 'synching' at the correct rate to the exchange.

It's quite likely to be nothing to do with your line, but rather with the fact that they've insufficient capacity from the exchange to the internet.

If you are looking for a faster connection that's stable the only two that can do that are Smart and Magnet at the moment.

Irish_Army01

I'm on a 1 meg line and AFAIK I'm getting 90% of that?

Can one of you IT Gurus translate this please. I pinged the UK.

bushy...

Try another server nearer home and paste it in ?

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Its a misnamed 2mbits at 10nm from the DSLAM port .

Eircom should not be allowed to sell this as a 2mbit product .

Its actually an UP TO 1.75 mbit product .

Better idea ,companies shouldn't be allowed to advertise a contended product by its maximum speed so

2meg/half-the-estate has to be advertised as 80k

ethernet

Irish_Army01 wrote: »

I'm on a 1 meg line and AFAIK I'm getting 90% of that?

Can one of you IT Gurus translate this please. I pinged the UK.

For a 1 Mbps connection, that's almost the best you're going to get. I'm on 2 Mbps and get around 1.7 Mbps max as has been explained above.

Run the test at different times (and try an Irish server -- the yellow pyramid) and you'll probably get slightly different results.

Irish_Army01

AFAIK this is a Dublin server

http://www.speedtest.net/

IT Loser

I supposedly have a 2.0 meg BT connection, in North Wicklow. My modem is connected to the phone line by a 12 feet telephone extension lead. I used www.speedtest.net to test my connection and was getting 500 down and 112 up. Sometimes the connection just drops alltogether and you have to wait for it to come back, usually takes a few minutes. It kills my streams and I can't use sopcast thanks to the interruptions. Any suggestions?? Cheers.

Creamy Goodness

Snaga wrote: »

Network speeds are measure in decimal units, not binary units - using the SI model.

1Mbits/s is therefore 1000 kbits/s, not 1024kbits/s

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilobit

Just posted for clarity sake given the nature of the thread.

then how come my router adsl stats is showing i have a 3072 kbps line instead of a 3000 kbps line?

i'm on a resold eircom line (BT).

Snaga

Cremo wrote: »

then how come my router adsl stats is showing i have a 3072 kbps line instead of a 3000 kbps line?

i'm on a resold eircom line (BT).

Simply because the person who decided what bit rate the 3Mb product would be picked that number and it has been there ever since. (Either for historical reasons, i.e. before the new definitions were brought in for the binary format in 1998 or because they were not aware of the correct SI units to use).

To be pedantic - the bit rate you mention above would be 3MiB - or 3Mebibits, not 3 Megabits.

Have a read of...

http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html

Specifically the Historical Context bit.

smellslikeshoes

IT Loser wrote: »

I supposedly have a 2.0 meg BT connection, in North Wicklow. My modem is connected to the phone line by a 12 feet telephone extension lead. I used www.speedtest.net to test my connection and was getting 500 down and 112 up. Sometimes the connection just drops alltogether and you have to wait for it to come back, usually takes a few minutes. It kills my streams and I can't use sopcast thanks to the interruptions. Any suggestions?? Cheers.

Sounds like bad wiring, maybe give it a try without the 12 foot lead if possible see if there is any difference.

IT Loser

smellslikeshoes wrote: »

Sounds like bad wiring, maybe give it a try without the 12 foot lead if possible see if there is any difference.

thanks for the suggestion but I am online now and it is only flying!! My father says the wire is good and that he can log on at 2AM and he has no difficulties. Sounds like a contention issue to me. Does anyone know what BT's Contention Ratios are like?? Cheers.

smellslikeshoes

IT Loser wrote: »

thanks for the suggestion but I am online now and it is only flying!! My father says the wire is good and that he can log on at 2AM and he has no difficulties. Sounds like a contention issue to me. Does anyone know what BT's Contention Ratios are like?? Cheers.

Contention shouldn't really be having an effect on the amount of disconnections that you get. Even though its possible that you could get a connection as low as 500k because of contention on a 2meg connection it shouldn't happen very often to such a degree. Whats your line stats like?

watty

Contention only creates disconnects on Mobile Internet 3G/HSDPA or Ripwave etc. Not DSL or Fixed Wireless.

IT Loser

smellslikeshoes wrote: »

Contention shouldn't really be having an effect on the amount of disconnections that you get. Even though its possible that you could get a connection as low as 500k because of contention on a 2meg connection it shouldn't happen very often to such a degree. Whats your line stats like?

What do you mean by "line stats" - how do I test these? Cheers.

irishboyuk

quick question. when eircom roll out the faster speeds to customers will that mean that anyone that currently lives too far from the exchange will be able to get broadband.

i cannot get bb as im to far from exchange, my understanding is that the faster speeds will mean that the signal be be able to travel futher.. is this correct??

Agent Smith

If only i had this speed at home

CRAIG07

i have just done a speed test and got 10989 kb/s download and 102 kb/s upload i am on eircom home starter.... can anyone tell me if this is a good result i havent got a clue about broadband speeds .... i think its got slower the past few months