Eircom Engineer installed new devices on telephone pole. What are they?

gazzer

After failing to get broadband last year as my line was on a carrier line I decided to order a totally new line from Eircom. I ordered a broadband bundle and today an engineer came out. He installed two devices on the telephone pole and connecting wire. He said my modem will be sent out in about 5 days and I should be good to go.

Im still dubious as to wheter I will be able to get broadband but the engineer said I will. Anyway could anybody tell me what the the 2 devices he put at the pole and wire were (see attached photos I took).

Thanks

spooky donkey

looks like a thermal nuclear device. remember to duck and cover when your BB goes online. But on a serious note, I sent you a PM.

Why PM?

naughto

i woulld like to know as well

John mac

for noise cancelling?

mickeyboymel

Whats the secret????

hellboy99

The cylinder case on the cable is a telephone splice case, it's used to make connections.

Sponge Bob

hellboy99 wrote: »

The cylinder case on the cable is a telephone splice case, it's used to make connections.

So the cable was damaged/tatty there and was respliced together and this protects the splice, is that it Hellboy ??

hellboy99

Sponge Bob wrote: »

So the cable was damaged/tatty there and was respliced together and this protects the splice, is that it Hellboy ??

I'd say they were rerouting wires in order for the OP to get broadband.

Oracle

I've seen these on telephone lines in Dolphins Barn, anyone know what they mean? :rolleyes:

PogMoThoin

Oracle wrote: »

I've seen these on telephone lines in Dolphins Barn, anyone know what they mean? :rolleyes:

Means Anto jumped in the canal

lucernarian

hellboy99 wrote: »

The cylinder case on the cable is a telephone splice case, it's used to make connections.

Correct and right. They're made by 3M if I remember correctly. The other small grey box is found on most (rural) lines, on the first pole the line from the house reaches. I believe it's function is as a lightning suppressor but when I've looked at them they look like nothing but a simple junction box?

watty

In Islandmagee near my mum's they don't have enough phone lines
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew_s/410205264/
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/1452207

Been like that since forever. One explination I heard was a LOT darker than on the web site there.

bealtine

watty wrote: »

Been like that since forever. One explination I heard was a LOT darker than on the web site there.

Must have a lot of Antos and canals there:~P

yuloni

This post has been deleted.

gazzer

Thanks everybody for the replies. I rang Eircom on Friday to see what the story was with getting broadband now that the engineer had been out to install the line. I got told that my line was not suitable :mad: . I was expecting them to say it anyway.

I asked to be put through to Cancellations where I waited for 30 minutes to speak to somebody and had no luck. I then rang again and got through to another section where the phone went dead in mid conversation :rolleyes: I rang again and the person I was speaking to couldnt hear me :rolleyes: . I rang a final time and was told that my modem was been sent out in the post

Anyway I checked my line on the Eircom site yesterday and was told that my line could support 3megs. Then in the afternoon I got a call from Cancellations ( I had left a voice mail with them on Friday). I explained the situation to the guy who rang and he checked my line out and told me that it was showing an amber status which apparantly means I could only get up to 1 meg max. I had ordered a 7mb bundle on line so I dont know what to do know. I still havnt received the modem.

I think I will wait until the modem arrives and check what speed I can get. If it is only 1meg I will ring up and cancell the line. I have 3 Mobile Broadband and I can get on average 4 megs with that.

hellboy99

gazzer wrote: »

I think I will wait until the modem arrives and check what speed I can get. If it is only 1meg I will ring up and cancell the line. I have 3 Mobile Broadband and I can get on average 4 megs with that.

I'd wait to see what you get as whatever system Eircom have to check the max speed in my experience it's useless. They keep saying my line can only handle 3MB max, just look at this speedtest result:



Go figure :rolleyes:

watty

gazzer wrote: »

I think I will wait until the modem arrives and check what speed I can get. If it is only 1meg I will ring up and cancell the line. I have 3 Mobile Broadband and I can get on average 4 megs with that.

In the long term 1Mbps DSL seriously beats 3 Mobile even if you "on average" get 4Mbps.

See also http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=68356672

From Telecoms section Comparing Mobile vs Fixed
DSL:

• + Always connects
• + Doesn't randomly drop connection
• + Speed roughly the same always unless there is a problem on the Exchange. if you have 1Mbps, likely it will always be 1Mbps unless they upgrade to ADSL2+ or "Reach" on your line, then you get 3Mbps+
• + Low latency (ping) < 50ms likely, < 30ms possible
• + Stable ping
• + Very low packet loss, unless something is broken
• + Controlled Contention, which is dropping
• + Not subsidised. High Cap possible at modest cost. Likely to get cheaper as Line rental is x3 to x5 what it should be.
• - Mobility limited to your own WiFi

Mobile 3G/HSPA:

• - Fast Dialup. Not always on. May refuse to connect
• - Absolutely drop randomly connections, losing sessions
• - Speed jitters badly. Could easily be as low as 0.05Mbps in a few months and vary 0.5Mbps to 5Mbps during a session.
• - High latency (ping) > 80ms likely, 110ms typical, > 1000ms possible
• - horribly variable ping (85ms to 2000ms)
• - Very high packet loss is common
• - Uncontrolled Contention, which is getting worse.
• - Subsidised by voice calls (perhaps over 100:1), outside of Cap can be €100 to €900 per gigabyte depending on 3G operator and package.
• + Good Mobility. "Ideal On The Go" solution

lucernarian

gazzer wrote: »

Thanks everybody for the replies. I rang Eircom on Friday to see what the story was with getting broadband now that the engineer had been out to install the line. I got told that my line was not suitable :mad: . I was expecting them to say it anyway.

I asked to be put through to Cancellations where I waited for 30 minutes to speak to somebody and had no luck. I then rang again and got through to another section where the phone went dead in mid conversation :rolleyes: I rang again and the person I was speaking to couldnt hear me :rolleyes: . I rang a final time and was told that my modem was been sent out in the post

Anyway I checked my line on the Eircom site yesterday and was told that my line could support 3megs. Then in the afternoon I got a call from Cancellations ( I had left a voice mail with them on Friday). I explained the situation to the guy who rang and he checked my line out and told me that it was showing an amber status which apparantly means I could only get up to 1 meg max. I had ordered a 7mb bundle on line so I dont know what to do know. I still havnt received the modem.

I think I will wait until the modem arrives and check what speed I can get. If it is only 1meg I will ring up and cancell the line. I have 3 Mobile Broadband and I can get on average 4 megs with that.

This business of the line not passing is simply because the line test results haven't been updated. That's all. If the linesman says the line will pass, it will pass. The customer care people are reading results off a computer and can't get around that. They should have explained that to you before you went to cancellations.

The three mobile internet dongle will not always stay at that level particularly in evenings etc.

gazzer

Thanks everybody for the replies. I rang up to cancel yesterday morning to be told that I hadnt ordered broadband at all. I told the girl that I had ordered a 7meg broadband bundle 4 weeks ago only to be told "You cant order a broadband bundle online, they should really take that down from the website. You can only order the line and then once it is installed you can order the broadband"

The girl confirmed that my line could only handle 1 meg and even at that it was 50/50 as to wheter I could get it. There was no way they could offer me a higher package. I dont want to sign up for a 1 meg connection and then if it is not even reaching those speeds I am stuck with it for a year. On top of that you only get a 10gb download.

I have 3 mobile broadband since April this year and I have never had any issues with it. The lowest speed I ever got on Speedtest was 2.4megs and I have never had an issue with connecting to the net with it. I have the Mobile Mifi device which I leave in the kitchen and I can surf the web from anywhere in the house and get grand speeds. I know not everybody has the same success with 3 but it has worked for me. On top of that I can get a 30gb download limit with them.

If I thought I woudl be able to get even a 3meg connection with Eircom I would go with them but they are unwilling to entertain the idea.

On top of that I was on hold for an hour yesterday to get through to cancellations. In the end I gave up and left a message for them to call me back. I am still waiting.

So as it stands now I dont have a broadband application with them even though I applied for a 7meg package online. If i want broadband I have to re-order a 1 meg connection and get stuck with it for a year even if the speed is crap. If I want to cancel the phone line I am at the mercy of a customer service rep getting back to me.

wellsir

Condi wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Must be the only 2 so

Unregistered.

spooky donkey wrote: »

...But on a serious note, I sent you a PM.

I want to know!

Solair

That box on the cable is just a simple splice it's connecting that small cable into a multi-core cable carrying lots of lines. It's just a neat way of doing it without having to install a junction box on the pole.

gazzer

Still no call from Eircom. What a shower of Wa**ers. I tried to get to speak to somebody again today and was put back onto cancellations. Spent another hour on the phone and hung up in utter fustration when I still didnt get to speak to anybody.