Eircom eFibre VDSL/FTTC rollout – plans to reach 1.6m premises by mid 2016

godskitchen

Whats the consensus here with regards which ISP to go for/wait for?

Are the people who go with Eircom going to be tied into a contract and end up paying more than with Vodafone et al.....

Does anyone have any contact details for other ISPs besides Eircom to talk about fibre?

I dont want to advise people to go with Eircom just because I cant see any other info from other ISPs....

Gregor Samsa

godskitchen wrote: »

Whats the consensus here with regards which ISP to go for/wait for?

Are the people who go with Eircom going to be tied into a contract and end up paying more than with Vodafone et al.....

Does anyone have any contact details for other ISPs besides Eircom to talk about fibre?

I dont want to advise people to go with Eircom just because I cant see any other info from other ISPs....

Best thing probably is to wait until the other ISPs reveal their pricing in that case.

Vodafone phoned me two weeks ago, offering me a fiver a month off my home phone/broadband package, plus a mobile add on free for 6 months (which I was paying for), if I signed up for a further 12 month contract. I asked the rep about Fibre, and he said that it would be announced in May, and that I would be able to switch to it. I've personally sworn never to return to Eircom at any price, so I'm happy to stay with Vodafone, even though I don't know the Fibre pricing yet. Obviously Vodafone knew Eircom were about to announce their pricing, and Vodafone didn't have theirs ready, so they're making an effort to incentivise people to take out a contract to stick with them for the fibre roll-out, as it's a time that will see a lot of people looing at the options of moving ISP.

I'm getting 2.5 mb on a 8 meg line, and I'm in an area that is now Fibre enabled, so I'm looking forward to the switch, pretty much regardless of price.

The next day, Vodafone sent me a text and an email, with links to their Fibre info page (http://www.vodafone.ie/df/homebroadband/enhanced/) and "Register your interest" form.

If you're looking for the best value, then waiting for the other ISPs to show their hand is probably the best bet before locking in to Eircom. I assume they'll all announce pricing in the next 2 weeks. If Eircom suits you, and you're not too concerned about price, then signing up now won't be much of an issue.

swoofer

we all wait until 20th may and then wait for the early adopters to tell us how good..... etc

AidenL

red_bairn wrote: »

Yeah, nobody has mapped any cabinets in your town. If you have the time, get out and about to see if there are any around the town or smaller areas (usually beside areas with cul-de-sacs and housing estates. Note that some may be hidden behind bushes or inside the estates.

Have been looking, can't see anything.

Sadly for me, its probably a glitch on their system.

LFCFan

Finical wrote: »

Same boat here. Two houses in my estate seem to be only able to get it. I'm guessing they have not updated much of the addresses yet?

I rang Broadband sales and they said I will be able to get it when it rolls out on the 20th but he said because I'm on an upgraded exchange I'll be able to get it but I know from bitter experience with Eircom that even being on an enabled exchange means nothing if other things aren't in place.

Solair

Checked our address.
There's a box basically 200m from the front door and fibre comes up as not yet available.

I'm guessing they're only listing addresses in fully complete areas.

If its not available at my address though, I will be getting whole street to switch to UPC.

allen175

Solair wrote: »

Checked our address.
There's a box basically 200m from the front door and fibre comes up as not yet available.

I'm guessing they're only listing addresses in fully complete areas.

If its not available at my address though, I will be getting whole street to switch to UPC.

What exchange are you on?

red_bairn

Solair wrote: »

Checked our address.
There's a box basically 200m from the front door and fibre comes up as not yet available.

I'm guessing they're only listing addresses in fully complete areas.

If its not available at my address though, I will be getting whole street to switch to UPC.

That's what I thought. I checked ours but we don't have the cabinet in place yet so wasn't sure if other people were getting YES for the go ahead unless whole exchange was completed.

Solair

allen175 wrote: »

What exchange are you on?

Wellington Road in Cork.

Just hoping this using going to be patchy coverage though.

I do note though the ESB still haven't connected power to the boxes around there. There are ducts to ESB poles with no connections made yet.

Cabinets are in place though (some still going in in the area as recently as today tho)

godskitchen

godskitchen wrote: »

Whats the consensus here with regards which ISP to go for/wait for?

Are the people who go with Eircom going to be tied into a contract and end up paying more than with Vodafone et al.....

Does anyone have any contact details for other ISPs besides Eircom to talk about fibre?

I dont want to advise people to go with Eircom just because I cant see any other info from other ISPs....

Sorry to quote myself, I have a question i cant see addressed anywhere on here or on Eircoms site....

Whats the story with Fixed IP's, will i be able to keep my Fixed IP?

allen175

Solair wrote: »

Wellington Road in Cork.

Just hoping this using going to be patchy coverage though.

I do note though the ESB still haven't connected power to the boxes around there. There are ducts to ESB poles with no connections made yet.

Cabinets are in place though (some still going in in the area as recently as today tho)

Yeah i would say that the database for the address checks probably only holds info on the exchanges that are due the rollout on the 20th.

keep in mind that it is not due for completion still december

Finical

Solair wrote: »

I'm guessing they're only listing addresses in fully complete areas.

I dunno about that man. Two houses in my estate are only listed on the addresses listed! I think they won't add in all of the addresses until after supposed launch 20th May.

AidenL

Tommy Lagahan wrote: »

Sure, its www.eircom.ie/upgradenow
Shoulda shared it in the first post, was kinda flustered tbh :pac:

Is this link still working for anyone else?

thisNthat

AidenL wrote: »

Is this link still working for anyone else?

http://www.eircom.net/efibre/

AidenL

AidenL wrote: »

Is this link still working for anyone else?

www.eircom.ie/upgradenow

thisNthat wrote: »

http://www.eircom.net/efibre/

I'm getting a different result form the two links - I assume the new one is most up to date anyway.....

yabadabado

thisNthat wrote: »

http://www.eircom.net/efibre/

when I enter my address I am getting the message that my area will be upgraded ,where is the best place to check when this will be done?Cant see anything on the eircom website and had a look around my street/area this evening and I didnt see any of the new cabinets.

allen175

Have a look here for most of the exchanges being rolled out this year
http://www.eircomwholesale.ie/News/NGA_Phase_4/

NextYearIthink

Any word on when it will be available in Bettystown? I think it's May 20th, but hope it's early, and not later!

red_bairn

NextYearIthink wrote: »

Any word on when it will be available in Bettystown? I think it's May 20th, but hope it's early, and not later!

Keep up-to-date on the Eircom Fibre Rollout Mapping thread.

Bettystown has the exchange mapped but no cabinets are mapped as of yet.

Colm R

Whats the difference between an exchange and a cabinet?

In my area, there is a green cabinet (not the new ones) about 600 meters from my home in rural Co. Meath. To be honest, I have not been looking into this efibre network much - I've just been putting up with my pretty basic broadband and just accepting it as a fact of life considering where I live.

However, in the last couple of weeks, Eircom have been laying an underground cable which seems to be running from where this cabinet is in the opposite direction to my house. The cable is orange in colour when I saw it rolled up.

So, is this a fibre cable?

Can I find out if a new green cabinet will be fitted at the location?

Is the existing green cabinet an exchange, and if so, how can I find out if my house is connected to it? If my house is connected to it, then I can assume it will be connected to a new cabinet if its put there.

The only thing I do know is the first 4 digits of my phone number (excluding area code) is the same as a house which is right next to the existing cabinet.

red_bairn

Colm R wrote: »

Whats the difference between an exchange and a cabinet?

In my area, there is a green cabinet (not the new ones) about 600 meters from my home in rural Co. Meath. To be honest, I have not been looking into this efibre network much - I've just been putting up with my pretty basic broadband and just accepting it as a fact of life considering where I live.

However, in the last couple of weeks, Eircom have been laying an underground cable which seems to be running from where this cabinet is in the opposite direction to my house. The cable is orange in colour when I saw it rolled up.

So, is this a fibre cable?

Can I find out if a new green cabinet will be fitted at the location?

Is the existing green cabinet an exchange, and if so, how can I find out if my house is connected to it? If my house is connected to it, then I can assume it will be connected to a new cabinet if its put there.

The only thing I do know is the first 4 digits of my phone number (excluding area code) is the same as a house which is right next to the existing cabinet.

The "exchange" is usually a large grey/brown drab looking building that is used for the POTS (voice) and have fibre running to them. From there to the green cabinet near you, they would have copper. Then copper from the green cabinet (ADSL cabinet) to your house. But the new cabinets bring better technology to the users where fibre will be blown through sub ducting (the orange piping you saw the men put in the ground), all the way to the new cabinets (VDSL cabinets). So the ADSL cabinets allow for broadband speeds of up to 24MB. The FTTC is like bringing the "exchange" service much more closer to the home, i.e <1000m away from your house. If it is 0-300M you could get up to 70Mbps, 300-500M 50Mbps etc. There is a table for this somewhere on the thread and in the Technical Handbook on the Wholesaler website for Eircom.

LFCFan

I hate all this 'up to' malarky when it comes to speeds. If I was paying for anything else I wouldn't be expected to pay full price for half the service. If I am paying for 'up to' 8Mb and am only getting 2Mb I should be paying for only 2Mb. Just like this new eFibre service will be 'up to' 50Mb. I think the ASI should implement some controls over how broadband is advertised in Ireland. Very misleading for people who have no clue about how DSL works with Attenuation etc due to distances and other factors.

arctan

it's the same with any broadband supplier ... not just Eircom, only guaranteed method of transmission with guaranteed speeds would probably be fibre to the home... there'll always be problems with attenuation and line conditions problems, be it twisted pair or co-ax

Colm R

red_bairn wrote: »

The "exchange" is usually a large grey/brown drab looking building that is used for the POTS (voice) and have fibre running to them. From there to the green cabinet near you, they would have copper. Then copper from the green cabinet (ADSL cabinet) to your house. But the new cabinets bring better technology to the users where fibre will be blown through sub ducting (the orange piping you saw the men put in the ground), all the way to the new cabinets (VDSL cabinets). So the ADSL cabinets allow for broadband speeds of up to 24MB. The FTTC is like bringing the "exchange" service much more closer to the home, i.e <1000m away from your house. If it is 0-300M you could get up to 70Mbps, 300-500M 50Mbps etc. There is a table for this somewhere on the thread and in the Technical Handbook on the Wholesaler website for Eircom.

Cheers for that. I will watch with interest and hope to see if a new Green cabinet appears next to the existing one.

However, is there any way to know if the existing green cabinet is the one that is connected to my home. There is no cabling exiting the cabinet so it must all be underground. But about 50 meters away from it, there is a cable going up pole from the ground, and from there overground to my house and beyond. I'm now worried that a new green cabinet will appear, but that my line comes from the opposite direction, of which I am not sure how far away it is, but it is definitely more than 2KM away.

Bonavox

Is there any quick way of finding out what exchange I'm part of? I have a good feeling I'm part of the Palmerstown exchange and there are two fiber cabinets across the street from me but the eFibre checker is telling me it's unavailable.

Israeli Superiority

Bonavox wrote: »

Is there any quick way of finding out what exchange I'm part of? I have a good feeling I'm part of the Palmerstown exchange and there are two fiber cabinets across the street from me but the eFibre checker is telling me it's unavailable.

Click on coverage map

http://www.eircomwholesale.ie/

This should bring up a map of Ireland. At the top right, you'll see exchange boundaries.

Bonavox

Israeli Superiority wrote: »

Click on coverage map

http://www.eircomwholesale.ie/

This should bring up a map of Ireland. At the top right, you'll see exchange boundaries.

Thanks for that I think I may be part of the Park West exchange but I can't seem to see what phase that'll be enabled for Fibre. Does anyone know when that'll be enabled? Thanks!

Colm R

Ok, I've been wondering about this all day and studied the maps and phases on Eircoms website. I've come to the conclusion that the reason the fibre is being laid along a road within 600 meters of my home is because its the shortest route from my exchange, which is about 2km away towards the next town.

I never once thought that I would get Next Generation in my area, but considering the line passes an existing old type green cabinet anyway, does it then become financially viable to install the new cabinet?

Like I said before, I have chosen to live where I do and never expected high speed broadband. But I am so close!!

red_bairn

Colm R wrote: »

Ok, I've been wondering about this all day and studied the maps and phases on Eircoms website. I've come to the conclusion that the reason the fibre is being laid along a road within 600 meters of my home is because its the shortest route from my exchange, which is about 2km away towards the next town.

I never once thought that I would get Next Generation in my area, but considering the line passes an existing old type green cabinet anyway, does it then become financially viable to install the new cabinet?

Like I said before, I have chosen to live where I do and never expected high speed broadband. But I am so close!!

Yeah, I'm in a housing estate and about the same distance from the cabinet as you are.
See page 41/42 of the proposed_technical_handbook

Israeli Superiority

Bonavox wrote: »

Thanks for that I think I may be part of the Park West exchange but I can't seem to see what phase that'll be enabled for Fibre. Does anyone know when that'll be enabled? Thanks!

I presume Park West is in Ballyfermot. I can't see Ballyfermot anywhere on this map, so your best option is to ask on the Eircom forums.