upgrade of phone line

ikarie

I putting this message on the board as a last chance for eircom to resolve an issue before I pull the plug on my account.

ordered a phone line to our house in a rural location.
Was eventually installed, with an attached story that beggars belief, however that is not what this message is even about!

I was waiting for my current broadband contract with a wireless provider to end before getting broadband from yourselves. There is a new digital exchange only 5km away, my neighbours have broadband, one works as a software engineer for a large very well known internet company and manufacturer. He works from home as well, so speeds and connection were apparently not an issue.
Our phone though, since the installation was buzzy and unreliable, I told that internet connection was not possible due to line quality at the time.
It took Eircom two years to find the bloody fault!
Then engineers announced it was a shared line
told me to ring this broadband help line and told me to tell them I needed a copper installation,
I was told by the call centre it would be sorted.
Rang the number back ( in fine form, no issues) after several weeks to just inquire about an update to my line.
Was told by this obnoxious, insulting women that I should never have been offered that service in the first place(this women was nearly shouting )
That I was never going to get it! and if I did not like it I could go elsewhere.

My next call was to customer complaints
A. about yer one!
B. was this all true!

apparently it was!
they said not enough carriers, and maybe.. I could talk to local engineers..maybe.. oh and sorry about yer one.
I did repeatedly check with various engineers but got nowhere.

I was then given the name of T*** M*****
in Drogheda AEH and told to write to him

But to be honest this is it, I can't go any further!. what other person accepts years of this!
I know you (Eircom) have problems but jezz..

eircom: Ant

ikarie wrote: »

I putting this message on the board as a last chance for eircom to resolve an issue before I pull the plug on my account.

ordered a phone line to our house in a rural location.
Was eventually installed, with an attached story that beggars belief, however that is not what this message is even about!

I was waiting for my current broadband contract with a wireless provider to end before getting broadband from yourselves. There is a new digital exchange only 5km away, my neighbours have broadband, one works as a software engineer for a large very well known internet company and manufacturer. He works from home as well, so speeds and connection were apparently not an issue.
Our phone though, since the installation was buzzy and unreliable, I told that internet connection was not possible due to line quality at the time.
It took Eircom two years to find the bloody fault!
Then engineers announced it was a shared line
told me to ring this broadband help line and told me to tell them I needed a copper installation,
I was told by the call centre it would be sorted.
Rang the number back ( in fine form, no issues) after several weeks to just inquire about an update to my line.
Was told by this obnoxious, insulting women that I should never have been offered that service in the first place(this women was nearly shouting )
That I was never going to get it! and if I did not like it I could go elsewhere.

My next call was to customer complaints
A. about yer one!
B. was this all true!

apparently it was!
they said not enough carriers, and maybe.. I could talk to local engineers..maybe.. oh and sorry about yer one.
I did repeatedly check with various engineers but got nowhere.

I was then given the name of T*** M*****
in Drogheda AEH and told to write to him

But to be honest this is it, I can't go any further!. what other person accepts years of this!
I know you (Eircom) have problems but jezz..

Hi ikarie,

Thanks for posting on the eircom Forum on boards.

Just to advise you on ADSL fixed line broadband.

ADSL is rate adaptive technology and is geographical dependent. That is, adsl is dependent on the distance from the exchange to your premises.

Since you point out that your premises is over 2.5KM from the local exchange, a broadband connection would likely be described by a fixed line Internet provider, as being in an amber region /or extended reach location.

Extended reach is determined and graduated in terms of distance from the exchange. If your premises were around 2KM away from the exchange, this would be considered as being in Ext Reach 1. If you're over 5KM from the exchange this would be considered Ext Reach 5 or 6. In the latter case, it may be difficult to actually provide broadband. Most Internet providers may not consider this suitable and may not even offer you any service at all. In eircom's case they will always at least try to provide even a minimum broadband connection if possible.

Briefly, I apologise for any bad experience you had with Technical Support or Customer Care. The Technical Support agent was possibly just advising you on the circumstances of providing broadband in these situations. To be fair to the agent, she would be primarily concerned with the ability of your phoneline to have access to broadband. A distance of 5KM in a rural location would certainly be considered as in an amber region. This would certainly extenuate difficulties in providing broadband with any Internet provider.


Again apologies for any bad experience that you've had with our customer care. If you would like to PM me your home phone number or eircom Account number I can investigate this further.

If you wish to see what Internet or phone packages /or bundles are available with eircom, please visit our Products /Sales website below :

eircom Products - Internet Availability

If you need further clarification on your broadband availability please call into eircom Technical Support :

Broadband Technical Support : 1890 260260 (lowcall); Hours : 08:00 - 22:00 (Mon - Sun).

Let me know if I can help you further.

Kind regards,
Ant

ikarie

Hi Ant,

Basically you are reiterating the statement of the 3rd representative I talked to,
given that the second one was a nutter.

so in the final analysis:
I have no ADSL broadband,
I have little chance of getting it (even though all around me have it!)
I am still left with a dodgy shared line.
And from the maps I studied of your wifi spots and mobile receptions, they offer little chance of good service either.

Looks like its time to ring your call centre up and get rid of the phone,
the line rental will pay for extra download speed from your competitor whose system I was already using for broadband.

This is not my loss, apart from my time and patience.
It is yours, another customer gone.

ikarie

Briefly, I apologise for any bad experience you had with Technical Support or Customer Care. The Technical Support agent was possibly just advising you on the circumstances of providing broadband in these situations. To be fair to the agent, she would be primarily concerned with the ability of your phoneline to have access to broadband. A distance of 5KM in a rural location would certainly be considered as in an amber region. This would certainly extenuate difficulties in providing broadband with any Internet provider.

Finally Ant,

I think you need to read my post again, that is not what I complained about.
If you are going to apologise, please make sure the post doesn't read like a script.
You are giving me 'word for word' what the 3rd rep said!

regards.

eircom: Tony

ikarie wrote: »

Finally Ant,

I think you need to read my post again, that is not what I complained about.
If you are going to apologise, please make sure the post doesn't read like a script.
You are giving me 'word for word' what the 3rd rep said!

regards.

Hi ikarie
I am afraid that the situation is that we may not be able to propvide broadband on your line, however this should have been told to you before you ordered your line.
If you PM me your telephone number and the name that was given you ( I presume this was a local tech manager in your area) I can chase this issue for you. I cannot promise success but do promise to chase the chance that we can do this for you.
My apologies for the frustration caused to you and hope you PM me this info.
Regards
Tony

ikarie

eircom: Tony wrote: »

Hi ikarie
I am afraid that the situation is that we may not be able to propvide broadband on your line, however this should have been told to you before you ordered your line.
If you PM me your telephone number and the name that was given you ( I presume this was a local tech manager in your area) I can chase this issue for you. I cannot promise success but do promise to chase the chance that we can do this for you.
My apologies for the frustration caused to you and hope you PM me this info.
Regards
Tony

PM sent

eircom: Tony

ikarie wrote: »

PM sent

Thanks ikarie, have received PM and hope to be back to you later today.
Tony

eircom: Tony

ikarie wrote: »

PM sent

Hi ikarie
I have spoken to local tech Patrick and confirmed the advice he gave re Drogheda AEH. I have raised this issue with that section to see if your line can be changed over to a new port and new cable. This can take some time and I would not expect to know if successful until next week.
I will update you as to progress as soon as I can. My apologies I cannot get this done any faster, but will push posibility and keep you updated.
Tony

ikarie

OK Tony,
We'll see how it goes.

neiphin

this will be interesting

eircom: Tony

ikarie wrote: »

OK Tony,
We'll see how it goes.

Hi ikarie
apologies for delay here, I have been advised that a decision will be possible next week. I will pass on any info I get.
Tony

ikarie

Hi ikarie
apologies for delay here, I have been advised that a decision will be possible next week. I will pass on any info I get.
Tony

neiphin wrote: »

this will be interesting

OK...

neiphin

@ikarie
the suspence is killing me
how did you get on ?
did tony sort things out ?

ikarie

neiphin wrote: »

@ikarie
the suspence is killing me
how did you get on ?
did tony sort things out ?

No word on this 'decision' yet, thanks for asking.

ikarie

eircom: Tony wrote: »

Hi ikarie
apologies for delay here, I have been advised that a decision will be possible next week. I will pass on any info I get.
Tony

Tony, if no word by next Wednesday (14th Sept) I WILL make the decision on Eircom and review all accounts.

eircom: Tony

ikarie wrote: »

Tony, if no word by next Wednesday (14th Sept) I WILL make the decision on Eircom and review all accounts.

I understand that ikarie and apologies for delay, I have spoken with both local line tech in your area and his technical manager early this morning re this decision.. The logistical considerations have not yet been confirmed so was unable to get a final decision on this. This will take time and I hope to have word before this. Even then I cannot promise success.
Tony

eircom: Tony

ikarie wrote: »

Tony, if no word by next Wednesday (14th Sept) I WILL make the decision on Eircom and review all accounts.

Hi ikarie
I can see that your line will now allow a broadband order to be accepted. I cannot propmise what speed is available yet as the technician has set a provisional 2Mb ( as part of a new provide). This is part of the process to allow broadband service and will know the speed capacity once service has been activated.
If you wish to call 1901 or our broadband sales team on 1800 503 303
they should now be able to issue a broadband request order for you.
I hope this works out ok for you and if you have any further issue or question please let me know.
Tony

ikarie

Hi Tony,
Yes they said it was amber, so speeds could be a lot less however we'll see how it goes first.
Anything below 2M at this stage would be below what your competitors give me already, though your rep said 1M was fine!!!.
They'll be testing two weeks from now.

eircom: Tony

ikarie wrote: »

Hi Tony,
Yes they said it was amber, so speeds could be a lot less however we'll see how it goes first.
Anything below 2M at this stage would be below what your competitors give me already, though your rep said 1M was fine!!!.
They'll be testing two weeks from now.

Hi ikarie
when this has been activated I can test again. Factors like line quality and profile sync may affect speed test and I can have this investigated for you . Let me know when active.
Tony

ikarie

Eircom 3Mb ADSL modem 0.36Mb download speed

O2 3Mb 4G wireless Router 1.96Mb download speed

Tony, as you can see the line is active but the result is terrible.
The modem is attached to the main line coming and tested with no other devices on the line.

eircom: Tony

ikarie wrote: »

Eircom 3Mb ADSL modem 0.36Mb download speed

O2 3Mb 4G wireless Router 1.96Mb download speed

Tony, as you can see the line is active but the result is terrible.
The modem is attached to the main line coming and tested with no other devices on the line.

Hi ikarie
I have asked that your profile be reset and this may help connection speed, this should take effect in next 10 Mins. As you are connected into main phone socket via ethernet, could you re set modem and see if any improvement?
Thanks
Tony

ikarie

It'll have to wait until this evening, I'll try it then.

ikarie

Tony,

Worse if anything, peaked at 0.230Mb, then fell over, took ages to reconnect. Modem showed connection error.

Walked over to the neigbours house, he tested at 2.43Mb!, but his line comes up the other side of the road.

Tried again later, back to 0.381Mb.

irishisptest speed test

Download speed: 381 kbps
Upload speed: 219 kbps
Download consistency of service: 98 %
Upload consistency of service: 99 %
Download test type: socket
Upload test type: socket
Maximum TCP delay: 850 ms
Average download pause: 33 ms
Minimum round trip time to server: 38 ms
Average round trip time to server: 40 ms
Estimated download bandwidth: 384 kbps
Route concurrency: 1.0052778
Download TCP forced idle: 0 %
Maximum route speed: 13796 kbps


General information

---

IP address: 86.45.xxx.xx
Local time: 21-Sep-2011 19:34:56
Test server: http://irishisptest.biz:443/myspeed/

eircom: Tony

ikarie wrote: »

Tony,

Worse if anything, peaked at 0.230Mb, then fell over, took ages to reconnect. Modem showed connection error.

Walked over to the neigbours house, he tested at 2.43Mb!, but his line comes up the other side of the road.

Tried again later, back to 0.381Mb.

irishisptest speed test

Download speed: 381 kbps
Upload speed: 219 kbps
Download consistency of service: 98 %
Upload consistency of service: 99 %
Download test type: socket
Upload test type: socket
Maximum TCP delay: 850 ms
Average download pause: 33 ms
Minimum round trip time to server: 38 ms
Average round trip time to server: 40 ms
Estimated download bandwidth: 384 kbps
Route concurrency: 1.0052778
Download TCP forced idle: 0 %
Maximum route speed: 13796 kbps


General information

---

IP address: 86.45.xxx.xx
Local time: 21-Sep-2011 19:34:56
Test server: http://irishisptest.biz:443/myspeed/

Hi ikarie
have sent this to line and exchange tech again as can see slight interference on line. As soon as tech has completed work I can test again. Apologies for delay, will keep pushing this for you.
Tony

ikarie

eircom: Tony wrote: »

Hi ikarie
have sent this to line and exchange tech again as can see slight interference on line. As soon as tech has completed work I can test again. Apologies for delay, will keep pushing this for you.
Tony

Tony,
Line Tech is calling tomorrow morning.

eircom: Tony

ikarie wrote: »

Tony,
Line Tech is calling tomorrow morning.

Hi ikarie
thanks for update. Yes can see an appointment for tomorrow, hope this improves service. Let me know when tech has completed work there and I will arrange new tests.
Tony

eircom: Tony

ikarie wrote: »

Tony,
Line Tech is calling tomorrow morning.

Hi ikarie
I can see from tech notes that considerable lenth of cable will have to be replaced, this is with appropriate crew now however could tale up to 4 days to complete.
I have been advised by local tech who knows your area well that you are approx 8000 metres from exchange, this is the very limit of broadband delivery and we cannot promise sufficant speeds. I hope to know more tomorrow.
Tony

ikarie

OK Tony, we'll watch what happens,

Thanks

ikarie

The phone line came back on today, it's been off since last week, any update Tony?

lucernarian

This stuff about lines over 2km being "amber" is nonsense, the amber programme only originally kicked in for lines over 4.5km. Nowadays lines up to 8km can get 1024 kbps but at that distance, it's pushing it a bit. It's better than eircom swearing blind that lines over 5km long would "never" get broadband but the speeds will never be brilliant at that distance.

Also www.speedtest.net is not the best place to check the speed of the router's connection to the internet. Go to 192.168.1.254 or 192.168.1.1 and look at the router's information. It should mention the exact connection speed on the line.

eircom: Tony

ikarie wrote: »

The phone line came back on today, it's been off since last week, any update Tony?

Hi ikarie
the technicial has changed the relevant overhead cable however line is synching at less than 1Mb at moment. This is undoubtly due to distance from, exchange, at 8km you are unlikely to get much faster speed than this.
I would advise that you give tech support a call and have them re set your profile with you over phone, they may be able to suggest some way you can at least get a constant 1Mb.
I also have to advise that at this distance there may be nothing they can do. Give them a call, you should receive a fault ref no. If you PM this number to me I can chase them for you.
Sorry that I cannot do more to provide a faster speed, I did advise going into this and providing broadband on this line that your location would be an issue.
Tony