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

spix

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.

I was just using youtube as an example really. My internet is just dreadful, if anything it has gotten worse since 2005. I was at 3mb at some point but had to be downgraded as my line couldn't handle it. Years later still no improvement. If more than one person uses it, it comes to a grinding halt even loading basic websites. Complained to Eircom loads of times but have given up now. Maybe in another 10 years...

Mickalus

spix wrote: »

I was just using youtube as an example really. My internet is just dreadful, if anything it has gotten worse since 2005. I was at 3mb at some point but had to be downgraded as my line couldn't handle it. Years later still no improvement. If more than one person uses it, it comes to a grinding halt even loading basic websites. Complained to Eircom loads of times but have given up now. Maybe in another 10 years...

I think the majority of people feel your pain. I'm stuck on a 1.7meg connection. Try working from home on that! lots of fun.
That's NGB as well....

Hoping for a major improvement at end of the month.

Nolars

Ah stop lads we don't need anything above 3mbps, I for one don't wanna be like all those UPC folk and soon to be efibre lads downloading HD porn 24/7. Sure what else would yea use those kinda speeds and unlimited data for? terrible behavior.

briany

I have a 2meg connection right now which I find OK to be honest. It's workable, I'll put it that way. Definitely will be glad to see the upgrade, don't get me wrong, but it won't be like a whole other side of the Internet will become open to me like what happened when ADSL came in but the services I do use will just get that much faster. Much faster, in fact. What services should I try to avail of that would be absolutely impossible on a 2mb connection?

belcampprisoner

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/comms/item/32205-ireland-languishes-near/

Nolars

belcampprisoner wrote: »

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/comms/item/32205-ireland-languishes-near/

How does Magnet have a higher average speed then UPC?

spix

belcampprisoner wrote: »

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/comms/item/32205-ireland-languishes-near/

That makes Irelands broadband look good tbh...even if it is second last. There's many of us which would have 0.2 mbps if our download speeds were on that comparison.

Nolars

funny

red_bairn

In the period 2000–2006 the average salaries in Chukotka increased from about US$165 (€117/£100) per month in 2000 to US$826 (€588/£500) per month in 2006.

Can you guess why?

Statistics aren't always what they seem...

belcampprisoner wrote: »

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/comms/item/32205-ireland-languishes-near/

TrustedApple

Does anyone have a idea if Cahir in South Tipp Will get getting the upgrade ?

spix

samapple789 wrote: »

Does anyone have a idea if Cahir in South Tipp Will get getting the upgrade ?

Yep it will.

Squaredude

Will Ballybunion in Co.Kerry be getting this upgrade at the end of the month?

spix

Squaredude wrote: »

Will Ballybunion in Co.Kerry be getting this upgrade at the end of the month?

Afraid not

Richard Dower

Nolars wrote: »

Ah stop lads we don't need anything above 3mbps, I for one don't wanna be like all those UPC folk and soon to be efibre lads downloading HD porn 24/7. Sure what else would yea use those kinda speeds and unlimited data for? terrible behavior.

Tbf....these days there are numerous reasons for needing fibre...prime example is HD streaming, not porn....but tv or Netflix/Hulu etc.

I think 150mb is overkill myself....unless, and this is a recent example for me: a 19GB download from the PS store, took hours!.....thus 150mb would be awesome for such needs.

I'd be happy with 50/20 or 50/15....i'm not going for the 70mb, i'll get the cheapest package. Hell if i could get 30mb for the same price i'm paying now i'd be happy.

I'm on the NGB 24mb package @ 30 Euro pm, but only get 10mb down....so if i got full whack 30mb for the same price i'd be laughin

Not arsed abot upstream either.....10mb would be grand

Solair

I checked a good few obvious addresses around the Wellington Road Exchange area which is definitely well in progress / near completion at this stage and none of them come up.

Even addresses on Wellington Road itself come up as unavailable.

I know the scheduled completion date is December, but it's well ahead of schedule by the looks of things.

Addresses in Douglas come up as available - but that area was one of the first completed.

While I'd say a lot of areas might be available ahead of schedule, only a few will be connectable on May 20th.

TheChizler

Richard Dower wrote: »

Tbf....these days there are numerous reasons for needing fibre...prime example is HD streaming, not porn....but tv or Netflix/Hulu etc.

I think 150mb is overkill myself....unless, and this is a recent example for me: a 19GB download from the PS store, took hours!.....thus 150mb would be awesome for such needs.

I'd be happy with 50/20 or 50/15....i'm not going for the 70mb, i'll get the cheapest package. Hell if i could get 30mb for the same price i'm paying now i'd be happy.

I'm on the NGB 24mb package @ 30 Euro pm, but only get 10mb down....so if i got full whack 30mb for the same price i'd be laughin

Not arsed abot upstream either.....10mb would be grand

I wonder myself will it be overkill for most people all right! I presume the new modem/routers will be Gigabit ethernet, if they're not it's a major oversight on someone's part... Anyone taking care of routing themselves will have to have upgraded to Gigabit LAN, not sure most of eircom's customer base will be up to speed with this. But most people are going to stick to wireless while using, no benefit if you've anything but a properly set up wireless n network, with all devices n capable and within close range, as with some access points it takes just one device to bring speeds back down to 54 Mb/s (at a push!).

Tommy Lagahan

Does anyone know of consumer available VDSL 2 modems? Googling VDSL modem only gives info on VDSL its self and some BT infinity threads..
I'd just like the option of an alternative in case eircoms modem is a piece of crap (likely), I'd need to be able to bridge to my ASUS router at the very least.

gerryk

So my local exchange is due to be upgraded in December 2013. However, I am 3km away, atcf, so it seems that I am out of luck.
Will further cabinets be installed to make up the distance, or is it just tough? Eircom is not clear on this.

Solair

TheChizler wrote: »

I wonder myself will it be overkill for most people all right! I presume the new modem/routers will be Gigabit ethernet, if they're not it's a major oversight on someone's part... Anyone taking care of routing themselves will have to have upgraded to Gigabit LAN, not sure most of eircom's customer base will be up to speed with this. But most people are going to stick to wireless while using, no benefit if you've anything but a properly set up wireless n network, with all devices n capable and within close range, as with some access points it takes just one device to bring speeds back down to 54 Mb/s (at a push!).

It won't be overkill when streaming services become more normal. A lot of people already have smart TVs, there are vast numbers of Sky boxes out there with full interactive TV streaming service capability, PS3s, Xboxes, iPads, Android Tabs, etc etc.

I think the transition to TV being consumed via on-demand streaming is going to be very rapid in the next 18-24 months.

Ireland's actually behind the curve on that due to slow broadband in a lot of areas too.

Solair

gerryk wrote: »

So my local exchange is due to be upgraded in December 2013. However, I am 3km away, atcf, so it seems that I am out of luck.
Will further cabinets be installed to make up the distance, or is it just tough? Eircom is not clear on this.

If you're in a housing estate / cluster of houses / a road with a good few houses, the likelihood is they'll install a VDSL2 cabinet.

Your distance from the exchange itself (unless it's covering a really large rural area) is not really relevant. The cabinet takes over the role of the exchange for DSL purposes. So, all that matters is your distance to the nearest cabinet (when one appears).

Basically your line's connected to the cabinet and the cabinet provides all the DSL services to you. The exchange just becomes an aggregation node for collecting and routing all the data from the cabinets. So, in effect, they're distributing aspects of 'the exchange' into local areas rather than having it sitting in a big central office somewhere with everyone connected via long lines.

They're retaining the copper wires back to the original exchange to provide voice services for customers who wish to continue to use those. However, there's no reason that voice services can't be provided by VoIP or from the cabinets with a PSTN card.

There's no point in shutting those down until they're life-expired / uneconomic to operate.
Some companies, e.g. BT had plans to replace them in the UK, but ultimately have mostly gone for the same solution that eircom has used.

I'd say a lot of customers will ultimately use VoIP from the router/home gateway anyway. No real difference to that and the old ISDN HiSpeed setups or UPC cable phone

chopperbyrne

I'm less than 500m to the nearest cabinet, but no sign of it being upgraded

Solair

chopperbyrne wrote: »

I'm less than 500m to the nearest cabinet, but no sign of it being upgraded

Give it a while and just ignore that eircom address checker thing!

chopperbyrne

Bunclody is a reasonable sized town, so hopefully soon.

gerryk

Solair wrote: »

If you're in a housing estate / cluster of houses / a road with a good few houses, the likelihood is they'll install a VDSL2 cabinet.

Your distance from the exchange itself (unless it's covering a really large rural area) is not really relevant. The cabinet takes over the role of the exchange for DSL purposes. So, all that matters is your distance to the nearest cabinet (when one appears).

Basically your line's connected to the cabinet and the cabinet provides all the DSL services to you. The exchange just becomes an aggregation node for collecting and routing all the data from the cabinets. So, in effect, they're distributing aspects of 'the exchange' into local areas rather than having it sitting in a big central office somewhere with everyone connected via long lines.

They're retaining the copper wires back to the original exchange to provide voice services for customers who wish to continue to use those. However, there's no reason that voice services can't be provided by VoIP or from the cabinets with a PSTN card.

There's no point in shutting those down until they're life-expired / uneconomic to operate.
Some companies, e.g. BT had plans to replace them in the UK, but ultimately have mostly gone for the same solution that eircom has used.

I'd say a lot of customers will ultimately use VoIP from the router/home gateway anyway. No real difference to that and the old ISDN HiSpeed setups or UPC cable phone

I suspect that a call to my local Eircom engineer might be in order.

red_bairn

chopperbyrne wrote: »

Bunclody is a reasonable sized town, so hopefully soon.

Ah jaysus, who would want to set up cabinets there!

gerryk wrote: »

I suspect that a call to my local Eircom engineer might be in order.

You do not call to a local Eircom engineer, local Eircom engineer call to you.

Gregor Samsa

briany wrote: »

I have a 2meg connection right now which I find OK to be honest. It's workable, I'll put it that way. Definitely will be glad to see the upgrade, don't get me wrong, but it won't be like a whole other side of the Internet will become open to me like what happened when ADSL came in but the services I do use will just get that much faster. Much faster, in fact. What services should I try to avail of that would be absolutely impossible on a 2mb connection?

I get a 2.3 mb connection at most at present, but an in an area that will be getting fibre later this month, and I can't wait. For general browsing, you don't need much more speed, but what is will open up for me is two things: digital media and cloud based backup.

I have an Apple TV. With the current slow connection, I can't stream HD movies at all, and even SD content take a while to get going. With the higher speeds of fiber, I'm looking forward to seamless streaming.

I'm also looking forward to being able to use online/cloud based backup. I'm into photography, and have two 24 megapixel cameras. Shooting in RAW, each image is 24 MB, and I could have 150 photos in a day's shooting. With my current paltry upload speeds, It takes literally days to upload one day's worth of photos. So slow, that it's unusable. Fibre will make a big difference here for me.

What also will happen is that as these increased speeds become available to more and more people, more services will become available that take advantage of them, so it's not just current services that will take advantage of these speeds - it's the stuff that we don't even know we need yet

arctan

Solair wrote: »

They're retaining the copper wires back to the original exchange to provide voice services for customers who wish to continue to use those. However, there's no reason that voice services can't be provided by VoIP or from the cabinets with a PSTN card.

not 100% accurate, yes some places the copper is still necessary, but the main reason is because it's a Comreg requirement to keep it in the ground incase other operators want to use it...

it would be to Eircom's advantage though to take out the e-side cables and only have d-side copper to maintain and migrate people to VoIP

ElNino

Tommy Lagahan wrote: »

Does anyone know of consumer available VDSL 2 modems? Googling VDSL modem only gives info on VDSL its self and some BT infinity threads..
I'd just like the option of an alternative in case eircoms modem is a piece of crap (likely), I'd need to be able to bridge to my ASUS router at the very least.

You will have to use the eircom supplied modem but as you said you can bridge it to your old modem if needs be.

LFCFan

I see a lot of people mentioning ditching the voice line and going VoIP etc. With vDSL will be have the option of ditching the voice line and going pure data and if so, would that mean being able to get rid of part of the line rental?

gerryk

red_bairn wrote: »

You do not call to a local Eircom engineer, local Eircom engineer call to you.

In Soviet Russia, etc etc ...

However, I have this guy's number from a previous repair job.