NGB in Kilmihil

sibergoth

absolutely terrible speeds today.  REALLY GETTING PI$$ED OFF WITH THIS !

ads20101

Hi folks,

Before I start I am quite aware that this could be in the eircom or vodafone forum - but I've decided to stick it in here - but, eircom forum mods, I completely understand if you move this.....

Anyway onto the issue at hand.

There is a vodafone rep doing the rounds in the village just now trying to get eircom customers to move to vodafone landline & broadband.  

However, one thing she said did interest me.  She stated that the eircom exchange is due for upgrade by the end of the year.

Eircom reps, sibergoth or anyone else can you please see if there is any credence in this, because I feel that I keep my ear pretty close to the ground and I've heard nothing about this.

If true, I'll be super impressed.

Come on eircom

---

impress me  

eircom: Mark

ads20101 wrote: »

Hi folks,

Before I start I am quite aware that this could be in the eircom or vodafone forum - but I've decided to stick it in here - but, eircom forum mods, I completely understand if you move this.....

Anyway onto the issue at hand.

There is a vodafone rep doing the rounds in the village just now trying to get eircom customers to move to vodafone landline & broadband.  

However, one thing she said did interest me.  She stated that the eircom exchange is due for upgrade by the end of the year.

Eircom reps, sibergoth or anyone else can you please see if there is any credence in this, because I feel that I keep my ear pretty close to the ground and I've heard nothing about this.

If true, I'll be super impressed.

Come on eircom

---

impress me  

Hi ads20101

If you would like to PM me with your address we can check the exchange and neighbouring customers with eircom broadband to check if there any upgrades planned.

Mark

 

ads20101

Thanks Mark

PM sent

Please let me know if you need anything else

eircom: Mark

ads20101 wrote: »

Thanks Mark

PM sent

Please let me know if you need anything else

Hi ads20101

I PM you back there, sorry it was not better news.

Mark

ads20101

eircom: Mark wrote: »

Hi ads20101

I PM you back there, sorry it was not better news.

Mark

Thanks anyway, I suspected as much that there was no new timeframe.

eircom: Mark

ads20101 wrote: »

eircom: Mark wrote: »

Hi ads20101

I PM you back there, sorry it was not better news.

Mark

Thanks anyway,  I suspected as much that there was no new timeframe.

No problem ads20101

If you want to get back to us at the start of next year we can see if there is any news.

Mark

sibergoth

I've heard all the lies before...  

as we now know, it isn't the exchange that needs an upgrade, it's the backhaul link TO the exchange. if that was boosted we could get 24Mbps here on the existing exchange.

If we lived in Cooraclare, the bustling metropolis of 150 people, we would be due eFibre next year, but we don't, so we're stuck on a 16Mbps link for a village of 650 people....

eircom: Mark

sibergoth wrote: »

I've heard all the lies before...  

as we now know, it isn't the exchange that needs an upgrade, it's the backhaul link TO the exchange. if that was boosted we could get 24Mbps here on the existing exchange.

If we lived in Cooraclare, the bustling metropolis of 150 people, we would be due eFibre next year, but we don't, so we're stuck on a 16Mbps link for a village of 650 people....

Hi sibergoth

I did make the distinction via PM that there was no indication of both NGB and bandwidth capacity. Without being able to see the reply in private messages I am unsure how you can conclude I have lied to ads20101?

Mark

sibergoth

the lies I mean are that of Vodafone hinting that we'll be 'upgraded soon'

ads20101

Hi all,  I'm having terrible problems with my connection tonight.  DSL connection coming and going every few mins.

Are other people in the village having a problem like this?

Reps do you know of a problem on the exchange?

Cheers

eircom: Alan

ads20101 wrote: »

Hi all,  I'm having terrible problems with my connection tonight.  DSL connection coming and going every few mins.

Are other people in the village having a problem like this?

Reps do you know of a problem on the exchange?

Cheers

Hi ads20101

There is no recent area wide issue registered for your area. There may be an issue with your line, if you are an eircom customer feel free to PM me your landline number and I'll run a few tests on your line.

Thanks

Al

ads20101

eircom: Alan wrote: »

Hi ads20101

There is no recent area wide issue registered for your area. There may be an issue with your line, if you are an eircom customer feel free to PM me your landline number and I'll run a few tests on your line.

Thanks

Al

Thanks Al, even though I am using an eircom exchange my current ISP is vodafone - do I need to go through them to check my line?

eircom: Alan

ads20101 wrote: »

eircom: Alan wrote: »

Hi ads20101

There is no recent area wide issue registered for your area. There may be an issue with your line, if you are an eircom customer feel free to PM me your landline number and I'll run a few tests on your line.

Thanks

Al

Thanks Al, even though I am using an eircom exchange my current ISP is vodafone - do I need to go through them to check my line?

Hi ads20101

Unfortunately there are restrictions on our visibility on lines not with eircom so you will need to contact your provider I'm afraid.

Thanks

Al

sibergoth

I also had connection issues on and off yesterday... however it seems OK today.

usually this type of error is fixed fairly quickly - a local engineer may need to reboot something at the exchange..
if you call vodafone it usually takes longer for them to answer the phone than the error takes to get fixed.

when an issue occurs, check nothing has changed at your side.  pick up the phone on the broadband line - have you got a solid dial tone?
if yes, switch the router off and wait 30 seconds, then power on again. see if that helps.

if not - log into the router (usually from a web browser on 192.168.1.1 or similar) 
check the connection status and speeds.

if NOTHING seems wrong at your end but you still don't have a connection then the issue is probably at the exchange and you can either wait a while for it to be fixed or if it goes on a long time (more than 4 hours) then call Vodafone and report the issue.   

sibergoth

we need this, by the way.


http://www.siliconrepublic.com/comms/item/34606-dublin-wireless-provider-hi

ads20101

sibergoth wrote: »

we need this, by the way.


http://www.siliconrepublic.com/comms/item/34606-dublin-wireless-provider-hi

Good god ........ Yes!!!!!

sibergoth

can't find a link to their website..........  

likelihood of ever getting this in Kilmihil ??  care to place a bet?

sibergoth

i am extremely angry now.
just read this:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057094026

and then looked at the list of areas being upgraded... 
Kilmihil is NOT on the list,

http://pressroom.eircom.net/images/uploads/4453_Eircom%20Map%20Page%20FA4.pdf


we are never going to get fibre here, definitely not for another 3 years.

this is a kick in the nuts.  

sibergoth

oh by the way, Cooraclare is on the list.

see my earlier comments.........

sibergoth

also.

I got a flyer through the door from Brian Crowley MEP last week that he was in the area taking issues from local people, so I wrote him an extensive letter on why the internet here sucks.  I asked that he assist us in getting back on to some kind of realistic broadband plan.

I've just sent him an update with this kick in the nuts detailed above.


I'd ask that everyone here could do similar it might make our voices count.  

Email info@briancrowleymep.ie
http://briancrowleymep.ie

sibergoth

my letter:


Dear Brian,


According to a flyer through the door today, you are in the area, seeking opinions of local people on issues they have.



Therefore I’d like to voice my opinion to you regarding the broadband internet access available to myself and the local people of Kilmihil, Co. Clare.

I have already made my opinions known in an article in the Irish Independent some months ago, but absolutely nothing has changed since then, so I continue my crusade.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/features/is-ireland-living-with-a-great-broadband-myth-241405.html


I have lived here for about 15 years now.  I’m a techy, I work for a global computer company as a senior program manager in custom solutions.  My company has a large office about 50 miles from here.  I am lucky enough to be able to work from home, saving me around 3 hours per day in commute and around €100 a week in diesel and car wear and tear.  A considerable saving in time, money and of course environmentally impacting exhaust gasses.

However, I am suffering the constraints of the local infrastructure.  Whilst we do have ADSL Broadband here at the exchange (enabled only about 3.5 years ago) and the exchange is capable of delivering up to 24Mbps to each subscriber, after much investigation I discovered that the backhaul link from our exchange to the next hub is a wireless microwave link, fixed at a maximum of 16Mbps.  Thus, our entire village must share this 16Mbps link, which is why each subscriber household is artificially limited to 2.5Mbps down and a very poor 0.3Mbps up.

When children are at school I usually see a solid 2.5Mbps speed, this is ‘just about’ useable for my work needs, however, in the evenings and weekends and holidays I see a significant slow down, making my connection almost unusable.  (The rest of the village will be seeing the same slow down too, whether they are trying to work, play, stream online video or video chat with loved ones)

I have investigated ALL possible alternative solutions and I’m afraid none are viable:

3G mobile broadband.  We are in an ‘NBS’ (national broadband scheme) area, which means three.ie have excellent coverage here, but the NBS specification only guarantees a 2Mbps connection.  This may have been considered good about 10 years ago, but in 2013 this is the equivalent of dialup speed.  Not only this, but the connection will drop dramatically from a good 7 or 8 Mbps during the middle of the night to a horrendously unusable less than 0.5Mbps during peak times.   3G connections are not considered viable by my company as an only means of working from home due to the wild variations in speed and signal that users will see.    I’m happy that my iPhone has a good strong signal here at home, but 3G is not a good enough solution for a primary means of working online.   I would strongly suggest that policy makers re-visit the NBS specification urgently.

Satellite broadband.  Not really even worth a mention, sadly the Satellite broadband solutions are always going to be marred by the ‘lag’ or delay that comes with the nature of the system.  The signal must travel up to the Satellite and back down again to the server, causing a huge delay of 1-6 seconds, making VOIP, Video and even a simple shared screen meeting presentation impossible.  Expensive, low bandwidth allocations, weather dependant, this is not even close to a viable solution.

Fixed Wireless. As I don’t live exactly in the middle of the village, but a couple of miles outside, I am not covered by the fixed wireless providers range. Even if I was, the packages are expensive and limited,  I often contact the providers repeating my request that they increase their range to cover my house, but sadly the plea falls on deaf ears, I remain out of range.

Move.  The final alternative, move away from here.  Again not viable since I am unable to sell my house and quite honestly, I don’t want to live in a built up area.  The national broadband plan stated that all houses ‘no matter how rural’ should have a minimum of 30Mbps, but frankly I don’t see this happening within the given time.


All the telcos advertise ‘up to 70Mbps or up to 24Mbps’ and indeed, my 2.5Mbps ADSL package from Vodafone costs the same as fellows in towns with 70Mbps Fibre…  I’m penalised and restricted by my location and honestly I am now quite sick of it.

Kilrush, a town about 8 miles away is due to be upgraded to eFibre next year (originally slated for April but now pushed out to the end of the year)

The Fibre rollout map shows Kilrush and the range of the fibre rollout.  Oddly enough, covering a very small village not far from here, Cooraclare.  Population about 150.

Kilmihil, Population about 650, only a few miles away is NOT on the fibre rollout plan at all.
I fail to see the commercial logic in this decision.   

I am tantalisingly close to super fast internet, (albeit a year away) yet may as well be thousands of miles away…

Currently, I fall below the stated speed requirements for working from home, I had to persuade the 
IT people that I am technically adept enough to work around the limitations, but only just.  A slight change in IT policy could force me back on the road again, driving 100 miles per day, wasting fuel, time and CO2 gasses away to get to the office.


Government policy seems, to me, to be confused.  Encouraging people to learn and use internet and all the benefits that it can bring is of little use when the infrastructure is so far behind and fails to deliver in so many rural areas.   

Towns and cities already have plenty of options for good internet, rural areas need focus immediately.

In my opinion the broadband infrastructure is an absolutely vital part of the economic growth of Ireland.   I don’t need to cite statistics, I’m sure you are aware of the benefits.



My message - please do what you can to speed the delivery of modern, reliable, fast internet to  rural villages such as Kilmihil, Co. Clare.  This is not a ‘want’ it’s a ‘need’.

ads20101

This is more bad news.

But to be honest not unexpected.

Sibergoth I think your letter is well written & informative but this politician is FF so I don't hold out too much hope.

As for the new fibre map, we have asked before what the rational is for eircom choosing locations.  On the face of it Cooraclare compared to Kilmihil has a far lower population and coupling this with a senior ex politician leaving there plus others with influence it does appear that there may have been a bit of (lets say) internal 'lobbying'.

Of course it may be a structural issue that prevents Eircom from going the extra few miles, but they don't wish to discuss it.

Whenever a company wishes to keep quiet on a subject that effects the general public it appears as if they have something to hide.

Has anyone asked comreg to look into this?

This really needs some independant input because this issue now smells of corruption.    

sibergoth

i know absolutely zero about politics. Who do you think is the correct person to canvas?

cheers

sibergoth

I'm going to write to these people too, named on the eircom press release:

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Paul Bradley[/font]
Director of Corporate Affairs
t: (01) 600 4281
m: (085) 174 4281
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Dearbhaill Rossiter[/font]
Head of Communications
t: (01) 600 5284
m: (085) 174 5284
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Chris Kelly[/font]
Communications Manager
t (01) 600 4444
m (085) 171 5454
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/font]

sibergoth

letter sent, if anything at all comes back i'll let ye know...

sibergoth

interesting, a response from Brian Crowley, MEP




[font=Calibri, sans-serif]Dear Adam[/font]
[font=Calibri, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Calibri, sans-serif]Thank you for your emails below regarding Kilmihil and the enormous difficulties you are having with internet connection.  You are one of a number of people who has been in touch with me  who has little or no connection to the internet and I know the difficulties and frustration this causes, both to individuals and companies alike.  I agree with you that the broadband infrastructure is vital to the economic growth of Ireland and that we need fast reliable internet nationwide.[/font]
[font=Calibri, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Calibri, sans-serif]I have written to the Minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte TD, outlining the points you raise and asking why Kilmihil has been omitted from the list of areas to be covered by July 2016.[/font]
[font=Calibri, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Calibri, sans-serif]As soon as I have any response I will be in touch with you again.[/font]
[font=Calibri, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Calibri, sans-serif]Kind regards[/font]
[font=Calibri, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Calibri, sans-serif]Is mise le meas[/font]
[font=Calibri, sans-serif]Brian[/font]

ads20101

eircom: Mark wrote: »

No problem ads20101

If you want to get back to us at the start of next year we can see if there is any news.

Mark

Hi Mark,

Just following up on your offer to link back in with you again to see if you have any better news.

The exchange is really under terrible pressure now and we are lucky if we get 0.5 Mb down at peak times thus making netflix and co almost unusable.

Please, please, please have some better news.

ads20101

ads20101 wrote: »

Hi Mark,

Just following up on your offer to link back in with you again to see if you have any better news.

The exchange is really under terrible pressure now and we are lucky if we get 0.5 Mb down at peak times thus making netflix and co almost unusable.

Please, please, please have some better news.

Bump.....

To any rep please

sibergoth

i'm fairly sure the answer is going to be 'No change yet'

i'm hoping more for 4G...  pretty much given up on decent landline broadband...