Poor 1MB DSL vs Satellite ?

yuloni

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lucernarian

burrentech wrote: »

You can buy these at B&Q, they come with two sockets, one for the DSL, and one for the phone. The only downside is that the phone socket is the UK format, so renders the phone socket unusable, unless you can make up a special adapter yourself. All I did was add another standard Irish socket next to it to handle the phone connection.

All the socket does is remove the need for the plug in filter that comes with your 'free' DSL modem.

The second point is incorrect. Also, the sockets eircom and eircom phonewatch use have two RJ11 ports as normally used in Ireland, no adapter needed.

The socket allows for alarms to be filtered along with the various phones and faxes in use. The alarm must be wired permanently to the line so it's not as easy as just sticking a filter to the alarm line though there are guides on the net to do that. Those workarounds could invalidate your home insurance if the insurer found out however.

In this case, the socket with built in filter also filters almost all the internal wiring in the house along with the phone. Using just microfilters means that the wires to the extension sockets themselves can interfere with the DSL modem even if it's plugged into its own socket. The filter gives guaranteed separation from all the rest of the house wiring which can and does pick up all sorts of interference.

OP, using a better cable to the socket will give a very slight improvement and may not even be noticed at all. The instability in your connection unfortunately would need more drastic work than that. Getting an eircom linesman to take a look at what's going on could give some real dividends and he might be able to alter the wiring so that the socket with your modem would be the main filtered socket and all the other sockets could then be isolated. Or else a problem lies outside the house and he'd be equipped to solve that too.

DSL can give you predictable and cheap broadband in a way that Satellite can't. As Ka-Sat gets taken up by more companies, satellite internet costs will drop. If you don't want to go down the route of logging a fault and have eircom investigate then I'd wait for one of the improved satellite offerings to reach the market.

long_b

Condi wrote: »

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A wonder line ! I've asked UTV in the past should I try going to 3 MB but they always advised against it. Inspired by your example I might just plough on and get them to upgrade me
Here's tonight's pingtest

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We're one of only two houses down the lane that can get DSL at all. The other house shows as marginal on line checkers too. Looks like the oldest two houses got the best lines - the poles around here are covered in splitter boxes

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I'd be using Citrix over the web to remote desktop to my work PC.
Would it be a case of type ... pause .. type .. pause ?

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Just metres outside it - I'm on the list for the Rural Broadband Scheme though.

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

Getting an eircom linesman to take a look at what's going on could give some real dividends and he might be able to alter the wiring so that the socket with your modem would be the main filtered socket and all the other sockets could then be isolated. Or else a problem lies outside the house and he'd be equipped to solve that too.

UTV have identified a likely external fault so Eircom engineer on the way.
ATM I've got no dial tone from the main socket but it's syncing at 864

If you don't want to go down the route of logging a fault and have eircom investigate then I'd wait for one of the improved satellite offerings to reach the market.

Can I ask the Eircom guy to check it all the way to the exchange ? In the past they've just shrugged and said I was lucky to be on DSL at all at this distance.

lucernarian

When the eircom linesman comes around and gives you any guff, just say that your relation in Co. XYZ has a 4 mile long line and it gets the full 1 meg (I'm using that connection right now so it's certainly possible!) and why is your line different etc. Even offer him a few extra quid for his troubles if you want, it may embarass him into doing it or else he'll take it and check the whole line to the exchange!


When were you going to mention you've no dial tone at the main socket?! That's a massive indication of a big fault on your line:D Don't bother with any cables from maplin until this fella looks at the line. Let us know how it goes!

long_b

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

When the eircom linesman comes around and gives you any guff, just say that your relation in Co. XYZ has a 4 mile long line and it gets the full 1 meg (I'm using that connection right now so it's certainly possible!) and why is your line different etc. Even offer him a few extra quid for his troubles if you want, it may embarass him into doing it or else he'll take it and check the whole line to the exchange!


When were you going to mention you've no dial tone at the main socket?! That's a massive indication of a big fault on your line:D Don't bother with any cables from maplin until this fella looks at the line. Let us know how it goes!

We don't use a landline at all - only bought a handset today to appease UTV.
Plugged it in to the master, got a dial tone for a second but then just a very faint buzzing noise.

long_b

Eircom must have fixed the line as the dial tone is back, no discernable buzzing on the line now either.

VERY frustrating 5 minutes on the phone with a different UTV rep that went something like this

I'm not getting the same speeds I used to on my line
Your line is non-standard and too far from the exchange, you can only get the speed you're currently getting
No, I know I've been getting better sync rates than this ...
Your line is non-standard and too far from the exchange, the condition of your line is not good.
That's what I'm saying, the condition of my line has deteriorated
Your line is non-standard and too far from the exchange, you can only get the speed you're currently getting

No joy basically, will try different cables over the next couple of nights.

Is there any point in me asking them to move me to 3 Mb as a test ?

lucernarian

Has there been any improvement in speeds after they fixed the dialtone?

long_b

After about 20 resets I got it to sync at 906
This AM pulling down fairly constant 800, up 100. ping 150-200
Got to be happy with that !
Might as well try the bump to 3Mb, just fir curiosity

lucernarian

They won't give it to you, I forgot to mention. If they say your line is marginal then eircom wholesale themselves won't let any line speed beyond 1 mbps on it. I have banged my head off a brick wall with them about this and I've used lines that were in much better shape than yours!

Seeing as your line won't get the full 1 mbps, you should make a complaint with UTV. If they ignore it or do not give you a complaint reference number (or even if they do) then go on to ComReg and say that they are completely unwilling to do anything to improve your internet connection's stability and will not investigate if there is another reason other than line length for the poor speeds. "Amber lines" as eircom originally called them are no excuse for unstable connections or allowing faults on the line and UTV should know this.

It can take a few phone calls etc but phone companies often are motivated to work better if ComReg do investage. Fingers crossed!

long_b

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

They won't give it to you[\QUOTE]
Nuts

Seeing as your line won't get the full 1 mbps

Not far off this morning ...

you should make a complaint with UTV.

The (very unhelpful) guy yesterday was adamant - they wouldn't do any further investigation. Asked him to get the line checked back to the exchange but he said whatever the Eircom guy did yesterday pretty much covers them.

I'd need more ammunition before I'd do a complaint - will definitely monitor my speeds over the next while.

Thanks very much for all of your help peeps.

bob11

The new Tooway Ka-Sat speeds and caps via digiweb :

http://www.digiweb.ie/home/tooway/packages/index.php

Be online with Digiweb Tooway within 10 days

Download Speed 6Mbps 8Mbps 10Mbps 10Mbps
Upload Speed 1Mbps 2Mbps 2Mbps 4Mbps
4 Weekly Data Included 4GB 8GB 13GB 25GB
Hardware & Installation €249 €249 €249 €249
Price per month €39.95 €59.95 €79.95 €129.95
First 3 Month Price Offer
24 Month Contract Term Appli €19.95 €29.95 €39.95 €64.95

.

long_b

bob11 wrote: »

The new Tooway Ka-Sat speeds and caps via digiweb :

http://www.digiweb.ie/home/tooway/packages/index.php

Be online with Digiweb Tooway within 10 days

Download Speed 6Mbps 8Mbps 10Mbps 10Mbps
Upload Speed 1Mbps 2Mbps 2Mbps 4Mbps
4 Weekly Data Included 4GB 8GB 13GB 25GB
Hardware & Installation €249 €249 €249 €249
Price per month €39.95 €59.95 €79.95 €129.95
First 3 Month Price Offer
24 Month Contract Term Appli €19.95 €29.95 €39.95 €64.95

.

Thanks bob11 - I see they've dropped their installation fee a lot but made up for it by the 24 month contract !!

Hopefully this type package will be available from the RBS next year ?

Here's them rolling caps

Per Hour Per 4 hour Per Week Per 4 Week
Value6 500MB 1GB 2GB 4GB
Plus8 1GB 2GB 4GB 8GB
Extra10 1.5GB 3GB 6GB 13GB
Pro10+ 3GB 4GB 12GB 25GB



Traffic used in access of above will result in system being temporarily slowed until usage comes back in line with agreed fair access policy.

50% Traffic Discount


As traditionally the satellite network is less busy during night time hours, overnight usage volumes are discounted by 50% during Off Peak hours to reward use of the satellite network at times of traditional low usage.
Off Peak Hours are currently defined as between the hours of 10pm to 6am GMT / UT.

In my mind these caps with that great speed would be like having a Ferrari with only a fiver's worth of petrol in it ?

lucernarian

Seeing as their customer care *won't* do anything, you'll have to put up with 906 kbps until the next disconnection. It would nearly be better for you if you let the modem work at a lower speed as if you leave the modem running at 906, they will see a line that usually gets nearly 1 mbps whereas if you let it connect at say only 512 kbps then they may be more obliged to do something. Also the ComReg route is one that has given results on several occasions for other posters here.

Another thing you could do is to move to eircom and eircom support seem to take a more sympathetic approach to DSL speed issues. But then you'll have to go through the same troubleshooting etc.

Perhaps the best way to do something is to find the eircom linesmen who work in your area, they often can be seen at the exchange. Talk to them and they may well help or do a little work here and there or at least suggest what the exact issue is. They're usually nicer and friendlier than your average customer support agent. Mention that you had a line fault recently and they may know if that had any bearing on broadband usage. Around here, I know someone who just asked an eircom man working down the road from him to get his line working for broadband and he just came up to his house and uninstalled the pairgain there, no questions asked! This was near the Collon exchange in Co. Louth.

long_b

Right so ... after extensive testing I've found that Meteor are the best of a bad bunch in my area. Getting 1 to 4 Mb down by standing on one leg with my arm out the window (almost).
Going to get the landline out - unless there's some kind of mad ADSL super ++ that will allow me to get great download speeds on a "marginal" line ?