Broadband in Drogheda Dublin Rd area.

lucernarian

Oceans12 wrote: »

Drogheda will have FTTC by end of this year, from Eircom, as its currently in phase 2 of the fiber project, until then the dublin road area will not have any decent broadband speeds. I have spoken with a senior manager in eircom who tells me work will start soon on this.


i have a few properties around Drogheda, and i was working in one last week in wheaton hall doing some painting, when a chap from UTV called in, a young guy about 20-24 selling utv broadband, and he started off by saying that Wheaton hall was now cabled up to the new exchange, up the road, ( i assume that he was talking about CLXA grange rath exchange)

i told him that that was a crock, as wheaton hall was built around 1993, and the phone cables are old and not so good quality wise, and too far from local exchange for decent speeds above 4mb.

when i questioned him, and told him the above, he backed off, and said, "i didnt know that", so obviously a sales pitch was being spun to people he called to, you havent a chance in hell of getting 20mb in wheaton hall at the minute, as your line goes back to DBC! on Patrick st.

I figured as much, the cost of deploying FTTC to Wheaton Hall would be less than rerouting to Grange Rath as I mentioned earlier on. Also, age is not always a big factor. Older cables can often use thicker copper than newer cables. (I don't know what's the story with the cable feeding Wheaton Hall's cabinet). But the main cable from the cabinet could be rerouted to Colpe Cross in theory. It was done with the Donore Road area and places like Meadowview which is now served by an exchange up the road from Lidl and Wesco's. http://g.co/maps/k3smg

positron

Thanks for confirming my fears guys!

Has anyone heard of a 'carbon fibre' network? According to UTV rep (who was on phone to me just there) this is definitely not FTTC, and there's an existing carbon fiber network (?!!) in all of Drogheda, and they have exclusivity over it, and that I will get 24 mbps etc.

The only 'carbon fibre' that I know of is my camera tripod, monopod etc, or bicycle frames, and carbon-fiber and fiber-optics are different beasts in my mind, so I begged ignorance and asked them not to sign me up to anything for another two weeks, within which I hope to see some update from ferpur and other brave souls..!

Oceans12

positron wrote: »

Thanks for confirming my fears guys!

Has anyone heard of a 'carbon fibre' network? According to UTV rep (who was on phone to me just there) this is definitely not FTTC, and there's an existing carbon fiber network (?!!) in all of Drogheda, and they have exclusivity over it, and that I will get 24 mbps etc.

The only 'carbon fibre' that I know of is my camera tripod, monopod etc, or bicycle frames, and carbon-fiber and fiber-optics are different beasts in my mind, so I begged ignorance and asked them not to sign me up to anything for another two weeks, within which I hope to see some update from ferpur and other brave souls..!

how are they going to get data on your line when the copper runs direct to patrick street exchange? , unless they move some ADSL equipment closer to your house, or FTTC, or FTTH then i cannot see how in wheaton hall, you will get anywhere near 24mb.

i would call them and ask for the precise information, as it looks like a dodgy sales pitch they are spinning.


there is a MAN fiber network around drogheda, have they got some sort of link into this? be careful as if you go with UTV then when FTTC, comes with eircom you will be contracted into utv, and wont be able to avail of the eircom offering..

just put 2 wheaton hall ph numbers into the utv line checker and its saying utv broadband not available ... seems like some sales person doing anything to get a sale!!

positron

Oceans12 wrote: »

just put 2 wheaton hall ph numbers into the utv line checker and its saying utv broadband not available ... seems like some sales person doing anything to get a sale!!

I just tried this, and I got this back:

Thank you for submitting your details.

Good news! You can get broadband from UTV Internet!

The maximum speed your line can handle is 3000Mb.

Please note, various factors may affect the actual speed on your telephone line, for example the quality of copper going into your premises, internal wiring and proximity to your local telephone exchange. Speeds quoted are 'up to' and are exchange and distance dependent

This looks like the exact limit that I asked Vodafone guys to set on my account due to connection dropping issues when they upgraded me to 8mb. Sounds like they are just trying to resell what vodafone/eircom is doing, with a bag load of fancy but untrue sales pitch? I am disappointed!

Oceans12

positron wrote: »

I just tried this, and I got this back:



This looks like the exact limit that I asked Vodafone guys to set on my account due to connection dropping issues when they upgraded me to 8mb. Sounds like they are just trying to resell what vodafone/eircom is doing, with a bag load of fancy but untrue sales pitch? I am disappointed!

its a recession, they have to tell even bigger lies now to get people to sign up! I have asked eircom what the story is, and will let ya know what they say, but im sure they will agree with what i said before...

Oceans12

positron wrote: »

I just tried this, and I got this back:



This looks like the exact limit that I asked Vodafone guys to set on my account due to connection dropping issues when they upgraded me to 8mb. Sounds like they are just trying to resell what vodafone/eircom is doing, with a bag load of fancy but untrue sales pitch? I am disappointed!

normally a router will show speed like 5120 kbps which is 5mb for a line syncing at 5MB

are you sure its showing 3000MB?

positron

Ah f*ck, I am only noticing that now! Yes, 3000Mb is exactly what the UTV line-checker told me - that entire quote is a copy and paste from UTV line-checker result dialog.

But I think they meant 3000 Kbps though, and it's probably a bug on their website / dialog, probably coded to show 8 or 24 Mb, and whatever database they are looking with my phone and UAN numbers probably gave them back '3000', and the site incorrectly displayed it as 3000 Mb. Although it would be nice to have a 3 Gbps connection.....!

positron

Oceans12 wrote: »

there is a MAN fiber network around drogheda, have they got some sort of link into this? be careful as if you go with UTV then when FTTC, comes with eircom you will be contracted into utv, and wont be able to avail of the eircom offering..

There is?

Well, if even if UTV has some sort of access and exclusivity deal to this, it wouldn't make my phone lines any better if they are wired straight to Patrick St exchange (rather than local boxes? Or does this MAN network link up to boxes in the estate? And/or is my twisted pair line wired to Patrick Street, or to a local box?).. etc etc.

Too many questions and so few seems to know the answers! This must be the second best kept secret after the Coke recipe.

Oceans12

positron wrote: »

There is?

Well, if even if UTV has some sort of access and exclusivity deal to this, it wouldn't make my phone lines any better if they are wired straight to Patrick St exchange (rather than local boxes? Or does this MAN network link up to boxes in the estate? And/or is my twisted pair line wired to Patrick Street, or to a local box?).. etc etc.

Too many questions and so few seems to know the answers! This must be the second best kept secret after the Coke recipe.

your line goes to patrick street, you can be sure of that. if it could be done eircom would have done it already! and the technology in drogheda has not changed yet,
all the adsl / dsl gear is still in the exchange!!

UTVRep91

Hello. I have seen some of the comments posted and I want to help clear things up for you to have peace of mind.

1. The Lines:
Ericom, Vodafone etc all use Eircoms copper lines. That's why if you're with Vodafone and there's a problem Eircom is sent out to you.
At UTV we have our own lines (LLU lines).
They were set down 10-12 years ago by BT but never activated. We recently got the rights to use these lines which are stronger than Eircoms, so we can offer 24MB.

2. The reason two people are given different prices is because of Packages.
For 35.77 per month, you are getting off peak free calls and 24MB broadband. Incl. Line rental and VAT.
The second person may have asked for unlimited downloads, Anytime talk, 7c international calls etc.

3. There would have been forms filled out when you were signing up. The terms and conditions should have been filled out with you there since we'd need your details, you should have been left with a copy of them which are a green sheet.

4. No matter what package we sell, we get the same commission. If we sell the off peak package, we get the same commission we would get for selling the anytime package with added unlimited downloads etc.

I hope this helps clear things up for you guys.

positron

UTVRep91 wrote: »

Hello. I have seen some of the comments posted and I want to help clear things up for you to have peace of mind.

Just fyi, you may want to contact one of the mods, as there are some procedures / policies to follow when it comes to representing companies on boards.

UTVRep91 wrote: »

1. The Lines:
Ericom, Vodafone etc all use Eircoms copper lines. That's why if you're with Vodafone and there's a problem Eircom is sent out to you.
At UTV we have our own lines (LLU lines).
They were set down 10-12 years ago by BT but never activated. We recently got the rights to use these lines which are stronger than Eircoms, so we can offer 24MB.

This seems to be the core of what UTV sales team is saying and what everyone is questioning. Can you point to any source / link / document / news item etc - to substantiate these claims? When did BT lay this network, and when did UTV get access to it.

Second question: How come UTV line checker is telling me that I can get 3 Gbps connection, when you the maximum you are offering is 24 Mbps?

Sorry for the questions, but thank you for posting here!

Oceans12

UTVRep91 wrote: »

Hello. I have seen some of the comments posted and I want to help clear things up for you to have peace of mind.

1. The Lines:
Ericom, Vodafone etc all use Eircoms copper lines. That's why if you're with Vodafone and there's a problem Eircom is sent out to you.
At UTV we have our own lines (LLU lines).
They were set down 10-12 years ago by BT but never activated. We recently got the rights to use these lines which are stronger than Eircoms, so we can offer 24MB.

2. The reason two people are given different prices is because of Packages.
For 35.77 per month, you are getting off peak free calls and 24MB broadband. Incl. Line rental and VAT.
The second person may have asked for unlimited downloads, Anytime talk, 7c international calls etc.

3. There would have been forms filled out when you were signing up. The terms and conditions should have been filled out with you there since we'd need your details, you should have been left with a copy of them which are a green sheet.

4. No matter what package we sell, we get the same commission. If we sell the off peak package, we get the same commission we would get for selling the anytime package with added unlimited downloads etc.

I hope this helps clear things up for you guys.

hi can you tell me what estates these lines were run to?

ferpur

another update still have not had my broadband switched rang utv today they have told me that there was a prob with eircom releasing the line. but my line will be switched by next mon at the latest. not holding my breath though

lucernarian

I imagine all the lines that UTV now "own" will still run all the way to Patrick St. from the Dublin Road estates just like they've always done. It would take quite a lot of digging and installing of new cabinets to run their own lines closer to houses (e.g. what UPC did in other towns and cities in last 3 or so years.

positron

Thanks for the update ferpur, please keep us posted.

And it looks like we scared off UTVRep91.

Salty Dog

Article in the Leader saying that Drogheda is to be include in Eircom's latest fibre roll out to be connected by the end of the year. Talking about speeds of over 40mbps

Fenian Army

Salty Dog wrote: »

Article in the Leader saying that Drogheda is to be include in Eircom's latest fibre roll out to be connected by the end of the year. Talking about speeds of over 40mbps

Will Dublin road people get this?

lucernarian

Fenian Army wrote: »

Will Dublin road people get this?

Yep, assuming they pay for whatever speed package eircom offer.

Fenian Army

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

Yep, assuming they pay for whatever speed package eircom offer.

You mean... I might be able to watch a youtube video without waiting an age for it to buffer? :O

Oceans12

i would guess most of the Dublin Rd area will be FTTC, so speeds will vary a bit depending on how far the houses in each estate are from the cabinet..


but speeds will still be a lot faster than the current DSL service, with much better download , and upload speed..


i would guess that the average house in an estate on the dublin road will get around 20-25 mb download with 5 - 7 mb upload, with those within 350M of the cabinet 30-35 mb download and around 5-16mb upload..

eircom would hardly do FTTH to estates such as Wheaton Hall, Bryanstown, Longwood, Beaubec, Roschoill , Stameen, ? or would they?

Declan_M

Oceans12 wrote: »

i would guess most of the Dublin Rd area will be FTTC, so speeds will vary a bit depending on how far the houses in each estate are from the cabinet..


but speeds will still be a lot faster than the current DSL service, with much better download , and upload speed..


i would guess that the average house in an estate on the dublin road will get around 20-25 mb download with 5 - 7 mb upload, with those within 350M of the cabinet 30-35 mb download and around 5-16mb upload..

eircom would hardly do FTTH to estates such as Wheaton Hall, Bryanstown, Longwood, Beaubec, Roschoill , Stameen, ? or would they?

Hi
In wheaton hall currently using "3" E585 mifi dongle acceptable speed but need real wifi coverage. Have a dovado router so need a new modem. Anyone using O2 or meteor dongles in wheaton hall? Obviously if we ever get right eircom/upc etc thats the way to go, just looking for satisfactory interim solution

Oceans12

ferpur wrote: »

another update still have not had my broadband switched rang utv today they have told me that there was a prob with eircom releasing the line. but my line will be switched by next mon at the latest. not holding my breath though

hi fepur, any word on your utv broadband, what speeds are you getting with them now?

Fenian Army

Im using vodafone/perlico and the last few days speed has been utter crap, anyone else the same?

ferpur

Oceans12 wrote: »

hi fepur, any word on your utv broadband, what speeds are you getting with them now?

so utv is c**p same speeds as eircom customer service is useless sales people are liars i would say they are worse then eircom:mad:

Oceans12

i seriously doubt eircom will deliver FTTC / FTTH to Drogheda before end of 2012, they would want to be doing the work now to meet that date, considering the amount of work required...

maybe they will do a portion of a road, with FTTH / FTTC and then say Drogheda is complete. :rolleyes:

kalayil78

Hi all,
we are in Wheaton hall area.
I too agreed to switch to UTV internet on mar 12, as advised by UTV rep.
Nothing happened, except got 2 month’s bill from UTV for April & may 12, and am still using active Vodafone internet with their bill.
I told utv customer care, am not interested in UTV at all & please don’t switch to UTV straight away after this call (as on 18th may 12), then they are asking for compensation. I don’t know what compensation as they didn’t made switching at all.

dear all , don’t be a victim.

Oceans12

kalayil78 wrote: »

Hi all,
we are in Wheaton hall area.
I too agreed to switch to UTV internet on mar 12, as advised by UTV rep.
Nothing happened, except got 2 month’s bill from UTV for April & may 12, and am still using active Vodafone internet with their bill.
I told utv customer care, am not interested in UTV at all & please don’t switch to UTV straight away after this call (as on 18th may 12), then they are asking for compensation. I don’t know what compensation as they didn’t made switching at all.

dear all , don’t be a victim.

what speeds did they promise you,? and did they mention anything about "exclusive use of new lines" ? when they called to your door? also how can they bill you for services not provided?
get onto comreg and lodge a complaint,

people around the dublin road area, should all get together, and as a group, hopefully a large number, will have better bargaining power lets get onto eircom and ask for a date of when Drogheda will have better broadband.
end 2012 is a bit of a wishy washy timescale that will most likely be missed!

ferpur

Oceans12 wrote: »

what speeds did they promise you,? and did they mention anything about "exclusive use of new lines" ? when they called to your door? also how can they bill you for services not provided?
get onto comreg and lodge a complaint,/QUOTE]

comreg say you have to write utv a letter of complaint if they do not respond within 10 working days comreg can then take over the complaint
they have my letter 5 working days as of now no response yet:mad:

PollyLouM

I moved to UTV too after listening to sales talk. I was very cynical, specially about the LLU or LUA lines or whatever he called them, but sure isn't it cheaper than Eircom. So..... my speeds are around about 2.5mb (!) so when I rang UTV they did some checks on my lines and said line could only take 3mb. I had been sold an 8mb package by Eircom some years ago but was anxious to leave them as bimonthly bill was 120euro. So now I've got the same speed, but I'm paying out less. Gotta think positively...

ferpur

PollyLouM wrote: »

I moved to UTV too after listening to sales talk. I was very cynical, specially about the LLU or LUA lines or whatever he called them, but sure isn't it cheaper than Eircom. So..... my speeds are around about 2.5mb (!) so when I rang UTV they did some checks on my lines and said line could only take 3mb. I had been sold an 8mb package by Eircom some years ago but was anxious to leave them as bimonthly bill was 120euro. So now I've got the same speed, but I'm paying out less. Gotta think positively...

but you are tied into a 12 month contract and cannot change if something better comes along

kalayil78

Oceans12 wrote: »

what speeds did they promise you,? and did they mention anything about "exclusive use of new lines" ? when they called to your door? also how can they bill you for services not provided?
get onto comreg and lodge a complaint,

people around the dublin road area, should all get together, and as a group, hopefully a large number, will have better bargaining power lets get onto eircom and ask for a date of when Drogheda will have better broadband.
end 2012 is a bit of a wishy washy timescale that will most likely be missed!

They did a well planned brain washing by offering 24MBPS Broadband ( its not tricky “UP TO 24 MBPS”) . I double checked with the rep. during his door visit in 2nd or 3rd week of March. What he said, its brand new FTTC connection, and from the new Optic fibre distribution box to home is hardly 20-50m copper connection, so the speed is nearly 24MBPS.
So my thought was, “if that the case, it will be definitely better than the present 3 MBps.”

positron

yep, the rep dished out all that fantasy stuff at me too - I was very pessimistic at what he was offering, and he directly and clearly lied. He told me its FTTC, but it's not the new FTTC project eircom is doing. It's a network that was laid when the estate was built, and that UTV now have exclusive access to it for next 5 years.

The thing is, that guy does not work for UTV Internet. He works for a sales company for a percentage of the sales, just like all those people who call around trying to sell you eircom house alarms (special offer only if you buy now - that type of cr*p). If you approach UTV about this, they will probably tell you that they know nothing about what the sales person of the sales company has been offering.

I am now convinced that it's a con job. On the plus side, when eircom actually does the FTTC (late this year or mid next year), we all will get faster broadband, including UTV, Vodafone - everyone. Fingers crossed it happens!

kalayil78

PollyLouM wrote: »

I moved to UTV too after listening to sales talk. I was very cynical, specially about the LLU or LUA lines or whatever he called them, but sure isn't it cheaper than Eircom. So..... my speeds are around about 2.5mb (!) so when I rang UTV they did some checks on my lines and said line could only take 3mb. I had been sold an 8mb package by Eircom some years ago but was anxious to leave them as bimonthly bill was 120euro. So now I've got the same speed, but I'm paying out less. Gotta think positively...

Hi
Yes this is the tricky part of this business, they will offer some 24 MBPS and finally confirm “line could only take 3mbps”


How is the speed, are you getting continuous speed about 2.5Mbps or its fluctuating one.
My Vodafone is giving continuous 220kBps = 1.76 Mbps through the so called 3 Mbps line

ferpur

i saw eircom doing what looked like surveying on the Dublin rd today hope this is the start of the upgrade:)

PollyLouM

ferpur wrote: »

but you are tied into a 12 month contract and cannot change if something better comes along

I'm well aware of the lenght of contract, made a point of asking. Do you honestly think 'something better comes along' in the next 12 months? I seriously doubt it. I'm okay to wait and see.

Oceans12

ferpur wrote: »

i saw eircom doing what looked like surveying on the Dublin rd today hope this is the start of the upgrade:)

hi Fepur where did you see eircom working?

ferpur

from wheton hall to stameen

Jamesmurf

Wouldnt listen to these guys....my friend "signed" up at the door...lost internet connection for 3 weeks..not worth the hassle!

Oceans12

the eircom advertised dates for phase II fiber rollout, are network build dates only, so i doubt we will see it here in Drogheda before 2013.


is anyone using vodafone broadband? can you tell me how reliable is it?

thanks

ferpur

So utv I have complained to comreg about them. Comreg have taken over the complaint but will only deal on each complaint as a case by case basis. If they get enough complaints they will then take action based on that. So if you have been lied to like I have, Complain please so other people are not taken in by this scam.

Jamesmurf

ferpur wrote: »

So utv I have complained to comreg about them. Comreg have taken over the complaint but will only deal on each complaint as a case by case basis. If they get enough complaints they will then take action based on that. So if you have been lied to like I have, Complain please so other people are not taken in by this scam.

Good idea, im going to start my complaint asap! Whoever is running this sales company is causing alot more trouble then UTV itself!
Is there anyway we can get the person who runs this "sales company" into trouble???
I mean no wonder theses UTV sales agents are lieing(probably being paid next to nothing)....Can COMREG do somthing about the sales company or would we need to deal with UTV????

ferpur

i think utv have there own sales staff i don't think they use anyone else

Jamesmurf

i think utv have there own sales staff i don't think they use anyone else


Nope, the guy at my friends door made it quite clear when I questioned him that he worked for some crowd called Simple Sales and Marketing on a commission ONLY basis.
I work in sales myself i was interested about the setup... seems fairly micky mouse to me....1 guy has offices in Cork + Dublin, they sell anything from UTV phone and broadband to childrens toys.
The guy running it obviously makes a handsome profit and the rest....NADA!!!

Oceans12

has anyone seen eircom doing any works around Drogheda, such as laying cables, new cabinets etc, as part of phase II fiber rollout?


i thought at this stage we would see some upgrade works being carried out...

WindmillWarrior

Oceans12 wrote: »

the eircom advertised dates for phase II fiber rollout, are network build dates only, so i doubt we will see it here in Drogheda before 2013.


is anyone using vodafone broadband? can you tell me how reliable is it?

thanks

I use vodafone, I'm in Bryanstown Manor and I find it quite good. Here's my results from speedtest.net (not sure why the server is showing as galway!):

ferpur

Bryanstown Manor is connected to the donore rd exchange that is why you get the speed in five oaks you are looking at 1.6 mps with all carriers

WindmillWarrior

Ah right. Jaysus, i'm lucky then!

ferpur

FYI :Dsaw someone laying cable on behave of eircom on the dublin rd today

Dingatron

ferpur wrote: »

FYI :Dsaw someone laying cable on behave of eircom on the dublin rd today

The Eircom fibre rollout has started in Drogheda. I was talking to two Eircom lads today and Mell will be completed by late August/early September according to one of them that's involved in the cabling work.

Sorry I know that's not much good to those in Five Oaks etc I forgot to ask them about that area. I'll keep my eyes open and ask next time I see them.

positron

Wow! This is the best thing I have heard in a very long time! 21st century here we come!