eircom broadband, Wireless connection problem

Wailin

Guys,

Just purchased eircom NGB broadband and having a slight problem. Im using the wireless modem which is connected to the main phone line in the hall but the laptop is in the attic and the signal between the 2 is quiet weak, only 1 bar all times. There is another phone in the main bedroom but when i connected the modem to it there was no signal at all, obviously its a weak line or something. I rang eircom to ask could they put a new phone connection in the attic which would solve the problem, my partner does not want the modem in the hall anyway. Eircom said they dont do those services and that i need an electrician. If I wanted to connect the modem straight to my pc without using wireless then i'd have to put the pc in the hall....this does not make sense to me at all. Does anyone have any suggestions here?

treatyman

You have a few choices,

Run a lengthy phone cable from the hall to the attic... You can run it along the skirting boards and it actually mightn't look too bad.. A 30m cable will cost you 5-10 euro..

Get an electrician to put another connection in your attic.. This shouldn't cost much either as any electrician worth his salt can do this is a few hours at most.. Eircom don't do this by the way, their job is not to put connections in different rooms in peoples houses...

A more expensive solution is to get a better modem,

jor el

eircom's responsibility ends at the main telephone socket. Anything in your house is your responsibility, not eircom's.

Putting the modem in the attic, and connecting wirelessly to anywhere in the house is a bad idea. The range will kill your speed. Ethernet connection is the only way to go, for reliability and range, but you'll need to run cables around the place. If you have to use wireless, then you need to put the modem in a central location, and also hope for the best.

Thread title modified, because this is not wireless broadband, it's just a wireless network.

p2p2p

I bought a set of these a few months ago and they do the job fine.

Wailin

I realise now that eircom dont do anything inside the home once the main line is installed but it would be handy if they let people know whats involved before they purchase their goods. I mean, if i didnt have wireless then I'd have to connect the pc to the modem in the hall which is beyond ridiculous. Will probably cancel everything and go with upc before the contract starts, am not happy with this at all. Thanks guys for the replies.

Wailin

p2p2p wrote: »

I bought a set of these a few months ago and they do the job fine.

Is that to help boost the signal from the modem? Does it work well?

dub45

Wailin wrote: »

I realise now that eircom dont do anything inside the home once the main line is installed but it would be handy if they let people know whats involved before they purchase their goods. I mean, if i didnt have wireless then I'd have to connect the pc to the modem in the hall which is beyond ridiculous. Will probably cancel everything and go with upc before the contract starts, am not happy with this at all. Thanks guys for the replies.

Are you truly suggesting that an isp should envisage every possible connection scenario on behalf of its potential customers?

Wailin

Do you know anything about costumer service? Do you work for eircom? If I buy something from a company and its not up to the standard they proclaim then i most certainly have every right to complain. They persuade people to purchase online because they wont employ anyone to pick up a phone. They dont state clearly whats required and the service is ****e so if your saying im wrong to complain and should just stick with it then your on the wrong thread, go elswhere please. And to answer your question, yes i do.

java

Wailin wrote: »

Do you know anything about costumer service? Do you work for eircom? If I buy something from a company and its not up to the standard they proclaim then i most certainly have every right to complain. They persuade people to purchase online because they wont employ anyone to pick up a phone. They dont state clearly whats required and the service is ****e so if your saying im wrong to complain and should just stick with it then your on the wrong thread, go elswhere please. And to answer your question, yes i do.

Clearly you did little research on the wireless range of modems before you signed up for a contract. This is not an eircom problem its yours for assuming the wireless range of a modem would extend to an attic. Odd you waited until AFTER you had ordered to ring them!

xsiborg

ah lads, chill a small bit can we? obviously the OP didnt know enough about networking, phone line nand broadband setup, etc, so eircom are naturally going to be the first port of call to vent his frustration. we all had to start somewhere!

@OP, as was suggested earlier- handiest way around this is pick up a phone line extension cord in currys or your nearest electrical shop, a 50ft extension cord will cost you about €10, a splitter maybe €5, that way you can keep the phone downstairs while you take the router upstairs and connect it to the pc with the ethernet cable that came in the packaging. this will provide a much more stable connection anyway than wireless.

if you want to go wireless at a later stage, you can buy a wireless access point extender that you can stick in the closet underneath the stairs or wherever, but they'll set you back in the region of €70 or so. anyway, hope this helps...

Wailin

xsiborg wrote: »

ah lads, chill a small bit can we? obviously the OP didnt know enough about networking, phone line nand broadband setup, etc, so eircom are naturally going to be the first port of call to vent his frustration. we all had to start somewhere!

@OP, as was suggested earlier- handiest way around this is pick up a phone line extension cord in currys or your nearest electrical shop, a 50ft extension cord will cost you about €10, a splitter maybe €5, that way you can keep the phone downstairs while you take the router upstairs and connect it to the pc with the ethernet cable that came in the packaging. this will provide a much more stable connection anyway than wireless.

if you want to go wireless at a later stage, you can buy a wireless access point extender that you can stick in the closet underneath the stairs or wherever, but they'll set you back in the region of €70 or so. anyway, hope this helps...

Cheers for that. It seems everyone else here seems to think i should be an expert on wireless broadband. I decided to go from mobile broadband (from 3) which was slow but done the job most times. I also discovered the phone line in the main bedroom is affected with background hiss and is unusable since the modem went in. If a new line is put into the attic, will this stop? Am I right in saying that upc broadband is connected to the tv connection, not the phone line?

Farmer

Hi Wailin

You should have a spare inline filter (single socket) that came with your modem - fit that in line with the extension to get rid of the noise

The other filter ( double socket) should be already fitted at the modem/main socket

xsiborg

Wailin wrote: »

Am I right in saying that upc broadband is connected to the tv connection, not the phone line?

Farmer's suggestion above should work to take the hissing noise out of the phone line, putting in a second, separate line wouldnt fix the issue. You are correct though that UPC install a TV point for your modem, but then you get into the whole notion of availability in your area, etc. Plus, as far as I am aware, you would have signed up to a 12 month contract with eircom, and I dont see an easy way out of that one I'm afraid...

Wailin

xsiborg wrote: »

Farmer's suggestion above should work to take the hissing noise out of the phone line, putting in a second, separate line wouldnt fix the issue. You are correct though that UPC install a TV point for your modem, but then you get into the whole notion of availability in your area, etc. Plus, as far as I am aware, you would have signed up to a 12 month contract with eircom, and I dont see an easy way out of that one I'm afraid...

Yes you are right of course about the contract, but from what I've read on the terms and conditions customers have 2 wks to cancel from installation. If I can get the modem moved to the attic then I will be happy with it and would definitely stick with it. Thanks for the advice.

joannaman

I'd say get a better modem. The one we had in the house broke a few months back and eircom sent out another one which was absolute muck, no wireless signal upstairs at all. I bought a better one second hand and now it's lightning fast again.

p2p2p

Wailin wrote: »

Is that to help boost the signal from the modem? Does it work well?

Sorry for the late reply.
No it doesn't boost the signal.
It uses the electric wiring in your house to pipe a broadband signal to somewhere the wireless won't reach.

It's pretty simple to use. Simply plug in one of the sockets beside your router (along with a network cable from router to plug, which comes included). Then where ever you connect the second plug to the mains you get your broadband through your houses electricity wires.

SamandFrank

I rang eircom about 2 years ago about a similar problem and they happly split the line for me and put a 2nd connection in the attic. Cost in the region of 50 euro or more. They told me i could do it myself its fairly easy apperently. I think i rang sales not broadband support. Maybe they have stopped doing the service recession and what not.

Wailin

I got a connection put in the attic and everything is fine now, not using the wireless now, ethernet connection instead, seems more reliable and slightly faster. Technician split the connections in the hall so broadband is seperate to phone line so there is no background hiss. Thanks to everyone who gave advice. One or two others who replied would be better off not bothering if they call being smart and unhelpful advice, they shouldn't be on boards.ie in fact.