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

10belowzero

Bob is badly missed ,hopefully his back office exile will end soon.
I think Solair or arctan, a few post's back talked about some cust's internal wiring making your toe's curl. I've seen 2.5 twin and earth used as well as lighting flex, bell wire , alarm cable , co-axial tv cable, fencing wire , fuse wire , speaker wire,clothes line in one place, a multitude of electrical strip connectors , black tape magic(some of these can be a true wonder to behold).
Trying to figure out some of these wiring configuration's is something else - some time's you really do scratch your head in awe and wonder.
Let's not forget the 2 million mile long white telephone extn cord that is twisted in a billions knot's, that not even Houdini himself could escape, and usually for optimal transmission effect thrown out thru window's to reach some far flung room in the house or worse still an out building with more wonder's to behold.
It's for this reason that the company decided all install's will be done by tech's.
With a new tech install done on every NTU on the new network , fault level's will be kept to a minimum from day 1 which is how it should be.

Solair

Using electrical connectors suitable for 230V 20amp circuits is a common one.
People don't seem to distinguish between signal carrying cable and power cables!

There's also a huge difference between what will suffice for analogue voice and digital data.
The POTS service is pretty robust and uses quite serious amounts of power to drive signals down long lines. It tends to be able to overcome a lot of bad wiring.
DSL is trying to use the full bandwidth of the line and its a lot more fragile and sensitive to things like unexpectedly high resistance that's outside the spec for a telephone line.

You can also introduce line noise that you can't hear on the analogue phones that is very audible to your DSL modem and will cause slow connections or dropping connections.

Basically you've no idea what kind of disastrous DIY jobs are out there.

A lot of electrician installed phone setups aren't to spec either. Wrong types of cable used, way too many extensions, ridiculously long runs of unshielded cable etc

I know I've disconnected the extensions in a new build house because they introduced audible 50Hz humming to the phone! Someone just stuffed them into the same bundles as the electrical wiring and it was inducing noise.

Add a 'homeplug' ethernet over poweline devicd to that (even in a neighbours), or a faulty switch-mode transformer on some charger or low-voltage lighting system and its bye bye ADSL!

MMAGirl

When they put me on fttc Eircom brought a new cable from the pole and put in a new box in the hall.

Praetorian

10belowzero wrote: »

Bob is badly missed ,hopefully his back office exile will end soon.
I think Solair or arctan, a few post's back talked about some cust's internal wiring making your toe's curl. I've seen 2.5 twin and earth used as well as lighting flex, bell wire , alarm cable , co-axial tv cable, fencing wire , fuse wire , speaker wire,clothes line in one place, a multitude of electrical strip connectors , black tape magic(some of these can be a true wonder to behold).
Trying to figure out some of these wiring configuration's is something else - some time's you really do scratch your head in awe and wonder.
Let's not forget the 2 million mile long white telephone extn cord that is twisted in a billions knot's, that not even Houdini himself could escape, and usually for optimal transmission effect thrown out thru window's to reach some far flung room in the house or worse still an out building with more wonder's to behold.
It's for this reason that the company decided all install's will be done by tech's.
With a new tech install done on every NTU on the new network , fault level's will be kept to a minimum from day 1 which is how it should be.

Bob is very badly missed, no doubt.

Great to hear your perspective. I hope your picture of a new clean network will come to pass. I have however, over the past 12 years come across a few Eircom engineers who were not the best. I hope all the installs will be fully upto scratch

10belowzero

P , they are in every job , like Ted said to Dougal ,did you save up ten tayto packet's to become a priest.
It's a hell of a lot easier to do a clean new install than mess around with all kind of wonder's produced by the diy genius at work.
Electrician's also love cutting all slack on cable's in socket's back to the nearest nano millimeter and for good measure cutting all spare cable's out all together just to make sure they are never of use to man nor beast.
People don't plaster over their ESB meter's or fuse board's or bury their gas meter's or water main's and expect them to work, yet they seem to have no hesitation in doing so with their telephone line and expect it to work normally and at top speed for b/band - as for business it's sat I'm not even going there.

Skull Murphy

Israeli Superiority wrote: »

He's no Sponge Bob, though.

Praetorian wrote: »

Bob is very badly missed, no doubt.

Don't get this at all, guy just had too much time on his hands.

Solair

MMAGirl wrote: »

When they put me on fttc Eircom brought a new cable from the pole and put in a new box in the hall.

That could be the simplest solution in a lot of cases.

Just thinking, my granny's house has probably still got the same line drop that was put in in the 1950s/60s.

Telecom Éireann would have installed a modular socket sometime in the 1980s but all the wiring in the house is that very old open, grey and white, twisted pair just clipped along the skirting boards and covered in 50 years of paint.

The line comes in on a little soap-bar size junction box on the windowsill that looks absolutely ancient. From there, phone watch have added CAT5 where it runs on one pair into the alarm, and on a second pair back to the ancient junction box and feeds the existing old installation.

I'm surprised TÉ actually allowed that thick, older style cable to be used with the modular sockets which were clearly designed to be used with modern style cable suitable for push-down (IDC insulation displacement connectors) where you just squeeze the wire through the terminal which has two sharp blades that slice into the wire making a connection.

Using the wrong (thick) cable just bends the contacts out of shape and potentially makes for bad connections.

There were some really poor installations done over the years, not only DIY, but also just technicians who just whacked in a RJ11 socket onto very old wiring to avoid re-doing it.

In a lot of cases though, they did re-do wiring from scratch and did a fairly decent job, but it's all hit and miss and I think the only way out of it is to do home visits, clean installs where necessary.

The advantage of using those splitter sockets is that you put the modem on the very first point where the (hopefully) clean line enters the building and then the filter in the socket itself protects just entirely blocks out any noise being created by the existing internal wiring as it has to pass through the filter before it gets anywhere near the main incoming line. The filter will just not allow anything that is outside the bandwidth allowed for voice to pass through. So, in general it will not be able to screw up the modem.

You can't achieve that with micro-filters plugged into every socket as the internal wiring's still all connected directly to the incoming line and any noisy wiring will create noise on the modem's connection. All you're doing with micro-filters is protecting the line from whatever analogue phone/fax/modem you've plugged into the micro-filter, it doesn't do anything about the internal wiring.

---

The other thing I've seen in houses I've rented is that the electrician who installed the new NTU socket didn't seem to understand what it was for or how to do it.

They'd just connected the extension wiring to the incoming line on the back of the socket, rather than to the face plate.!
So, if you just swapped in a new splitter faceplate, it would have no impact at all as the rest of the sockets are just connected directly to the line!

So, there's DEFINITELY a need for home visits and a few basic checks.

I've even seen a setup where the incoming line was connected to the extension lugs on the back of the faceplate and the extension wiring was connected to the incoming line terminals on the back of the socket!

While it would still provide a dial tone, the socket's essentially wired backwards totally defeating the purpose of it.

Clearly some people don't bother reading the installation manuals.
It's not THAT complicated!!

---

On another point. Eircom need to provide *MUCH* clearer information on how to do phone wiring in Ireland. Nobody knows how to do it and yet, they're expecting electricians and DIY people to figure it out by osmosis.

A simple handbook would be very useful (online).

i.e. explaining how you should connect extension wiring to the terminals on the back of the face plate (perhaps label these more clearly with a sticker or something too).

Also, I don't know why they keep producing sockets with R (ringer) terminals when they're just not used and haven't been for decades. It's pointless and just creates additional confusion.

and use some standard terminology for the terminals too!

Line 1: A and B wires
Line 2: A and B wires.

Line 1 Extensions : A and B wires
Line 2 Extensions : A and B wires

That make sense!

Rather than:
L1 & L2
S1 & S2
printed on both sides of the socket!

Seriously, a bit of common sense would be helpful!

As it stands they're expecting electricians and home owners to decode cryptic markings on an excessively complicated device with extra redundant terminals on it some of which are just obsolete / deprecated and others which are only of use to monitored alarm companies for ISDN installations.

Then they wonder why half the installations in the country are wired arseways.

If any Eircom techies are reading this, perhaps make the suggestion to whoever it is designs these things

Johnboy1951

niallo27 wrote: »

We are down for phase 5 in sixmilebridge. Anyone have any clue when the phase 5 rollout is. I can't see any definite dates anywhere and will we see any advantages in speed from shannon getting phase 4. It's only a few miles away.

Think yourself lucky ...... I am on the Newmarket-on-Fergus exchange and that is not even listed for Phase 5 ..... or later!

BTW ..... there was a LOT of Eircom van activity recently on the Sixmilebridge road from Newmarket, so maybe something is being done ......




Which brings me to a question ...... our exchange is NGN enabled, so I wonder if there is any indication at all .... even the slightest ...... that the rest of the NGN enabled exchanges might go to NGA at any time ..... or soon?




For those who are considering keeping their land line because they want to preserve their existing (and long standing) phone number, you can have that number 'ported' to any of the VOIP service providers and use VOIP receiving calls to your number as usual. Check out the VOIP thread for info
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=542

red_bairn

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Think yourself lucky ...... I am on the Newmarket-on-Fergus exchange and that is not even listed for Phase 5 ..... or later!

BTW ..... there was a LOT of Eircom van activity recently on the Sixmilebridge road from Newmarket, so maybe something is being done ......




Which brings me to a question ...... our exchange is NGN enabled, so I wonder if there is any indication at all .... even the slightest ...... that the rest of the NGN enabled exchanges might go to NGA at any time ..... or soon?




For those who are considering keeping their land line because they want to preserve their existing (and long standing) phone number, you can have that number 'ported' to any of the VOIP service providers and use VOIP receiving calls to your number as usual. Check out the VOIP thread for info
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=542

Read what 10belowzero said in the mapping thread.

Basically these guys are about 6months ahead of schedule and could be working on Phase 5 areas that aren't suppose to be touched till the end of the year.

Thanks for the VoIP info. I'll inform the paps.

Johnboy1951

red_bairn,
Thanks .. yeah read that post ..... but all of the talk is about the exchanges included in the different phases ...... nothing I have found about all those exchanges that are not listed ..... even in phase 5

I will keep searching

red_bairn

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

red_bairn,
Thanks .. yeah read that post ..... but all of the talk is about the exchanges included in the different phases ...... nothing I have found about all those exchanges that are not listed ..... even in phase 5

I will keep searching

There will most likely be no new lists for other exchanges until all Phase 1 -5 are done. So look out for more information in August.

Finical

On the eircom site only two houses in my estate show up on the "can I get it?" page. Very strange.

I'm guessing that the site hasn't all the addresses that can avail of the fibre yet? Would be typical if I couldn't get it!

Praetorian

Finical wrote: »

On the eircom site only two houses in my estate show up on the "can I get it?" page. Very strange.

I'm guessing that the site hasn't all the addresses that can avail of the fibre yet? Would be typical if I couldn't get it!

That "can I get it" system is dreadful. They would be better off having nothing online, until they have a proper system in place. An address I even checked says you can get the new fibre, even though I know for a fact there is no cabinet installed, and the cab is due in a couple of months.

Johnboy1951

I tried both Eircom and VF sites to 'express an interest' ...... I could not do so unless I had a mobile phone number.

Same for both sites!

Solair

I love how they've postal districts that list every bend in the road in County Cork yet dump Cork City in its entirety in the middle of this huge list of small towns and villages as 'Cork' a small village of 250,000 - 300,000 or so (it's not even the city council area it's the whole Cork metro area) including Douglas etc

Irish addressing is a complete joke but I mean seriously, put large cities into their own listing and divide them by area/suburb!

It's bad enough as it is!
....

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I tried both Eircom and VF sites to 'express an interest' ...... I could not do so unless I had a mobile phone number.

Same for both sites!

That's just so they can ring you every few days for a chat about fibre

Johnboy1951

Johnboy1951 wrote:

I tried both Eircom and VF sites to 'express an interest' ...... I could not do so unless I had a mobile phone number.

Same for both sites!

Solair wrote: »

That's just so they can ring you every few days for a chat about fibre

I guess I should have mentioned I do not have a mobile number to give them.
BTW, this applied to Eircom, even though I had entered that I am an existing customer, entered my account number and phone number ........ but still could not send my expression of interest because I did not have a mobile number to give to them.

It is complete nonsense!
:mad::mad::mad:

Solair

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I guess I should have mentioned I do not have a mobile number to give them.
BTW, this applied to Eircom, even though I had entered that I am an existing customer, entered my account number and phone number ........ but still could not send my expression of interest because I did not have a mobile number to give to them.

It is complete nonsense!
:mad::mad::mad:

That's quite unusual to be honest. Hardly anyone in Ireland doesn't have a mobile. They should allow any contact number though.

I wouldn't worry about it.
They'll only use the data to get and outbound sales agent to phone you anyway. Perhaps just keep an eye on the forums.

You'll probably get more accurate an uptodate information here and on the talk to eircom forum than you'll get from outbound sales people in a call centre anyway

If you're already on ADSL they'll all be trying to migrate you to VDSL as soon as possible anyway!

Once the 20th of this month passes give them a ring and have a chat

Johnboy1951

I am 'forced' due to lack of alternate options, to have a land line for broadband from Eircom, and have no need of a personal mobile phone (I do have access if required) I found the requirement for a mobile number from Eircom to be stupid, TBH ...... even after entering my Eircom account number!

It seems they are not putting out cabs from my local exchange anyway (yes it does have fibre coming into it) so my intention was to express an interest so they might consider it at some future time.

/rant

Solair

They just want to be able to ring you every so often to tell you about their "exciting new products" and I mean you could be out shopping, at work, going for a quiet walk in the countryside enjoying the scenery and they'd be unable to reach you

Johnboy1951

Solair wrote: »

They just want to be able to ring you every so often to tell you about their "exciting new products" and I mean you could be out shopping, at work, going for a quiet walk in the countryside enjoying the scenery and they'd be unable to reach you

I guess they never heard of silent or off buttons on mobiles

Israeli Superiority

We're exactly 2 weeks away from the launch date. Can't wait to see the Speedtests.

Nolars

Does anybody know the locations that Eircom have extended from 1m homes to 1.2m homes? Thanks.

Mickalus

Israeli Superiority wrote: »

We're exactly 2 weeks away from the launch date. Can't wit to see the Speedtests.

It's like waiting for Christmas.... Only difference is that the jolly fat guy may not show up for another few weeks after the date to give you the present

spix

I've been stuck on 2mb broadband since 2005. And terrible quality 2mb at that. The 'next gen broadband' never reached my area and this probably won't either ! I'm only 2 minutes outside a major city though so its really frustrating. They seriously need to improve broadband in rural areas, cities already have good speeds.. but still upgrade them to fibre and let the rest struggle to stream youtube without it constantly stopping and starting... grrrr

Nolars

spix wrote: »

I've been stuck on 2mb broadband since 2005. And terrible quality 2mb at that. The 'next gen broadband' never reached my area and this probably won't either ! I'm only 2 minutes outside a major city though so its really frustrating. They seriously need to improve broadband in rural areas, cities already have good speeds.. but still upgrade them to fibre and let the rest struggle to stream youtube without it constantly stopping and starting... grrrr

Im in the same boat not being able to stream a 720p on youtube in 2013, while most cities and towns now will have the option of eircom or upc.

red_bairn

Nolars wrote: »

Im in the same boat not being able to stream a 720p on youtube in 2013, while most cities and towns now will have the option of eircom or upc.

Where are you located in Wexford?

Nolars

red_bairn wrote: »

Where are you located in Wexford?

Near Campile just outside New Ross. Eircom 3mb is all i can get apart from some crappy wireless services.

spix

Nolars wrote: »

Near Campile just outside New Ross. Eircom 3mb is all i can get apart from some crappy wireless services.

Yeah I just checked your exchange

Max speed 8Mb
Not in the VDSL program
LLU Exchange : No
LEA Exchange :

Basically there's no plan to upgrade it. Exact same as mine, this is in Waterford City which is 5km from me.

Max speed 24Mb
VDSL by :2013
NGB :y
LLU Exchange : Yes
LEA Exchange : Y

briany

Nolars wrote: »

Im in the same boat not being able to stream a 720p on youtube in 2013, while most cities and towns now will have the option of eircom or upc.

Any of ye under the impression that the forthcoming upgrade will improve Youtube speeds may be disappointed as YT's poor performance is caused by the way videos are cached in servers around the world and other practices employed to save bandwidth. The subject often comes up on Reddit's r/tech where users complain about not being able to smoothly stream a 360p video on their 20mb connections.

If you want to get YT faster then it might be worth checking out this article from Mitch Riber for any of ye on Windows. It explains how to block a range of IPs so that your video download is handled in a more direct fashion and therefore downloads faster.

Nolars

briany wrote: »

Any of ye under the impression that the forthcoming upgrade will improve Youtube speeds may be disappointed as YT's poor performance is caused by the way videos are cached in servers around the world and other practices employed to save bandwidth. The subject often comes up on Reddit's r/tech where users complain about not being able to smoothly stream a 360p video on their 20mb connections.

If you want to get YT faster then it might be worth checking out this article from Mitch Riber for any of ye on Windows. It explains how to block a range of IPs so that your video download is handled in a more direct fashion and therefore downloads faster.

Yea youtube is terrible in general using a 50mb connection in waterford before Youtube can still buffer its crazy. THE 720p remark wasn't probably the best example of how **** my internet is