Very poor Pallaskenry Broadband

fractal

Im on the Pallaskenry / Limerick exchange, my line negotiates a consistent 7mb down, 384 up. ADSL/G.992.1

Line Attenuation(Down/Up):
28.5 dB/ 17.5 dB


DSL Noise Margin: 
13.5 dB/ 16.0 dB



1st question
My understanding is that with these numbers there is no reason why this line cannot run ADSL2+ (G.992.5) and see almost double the available bandwidth. I am paying for an "up to 24Mbit service" i don't see any reason why i should be throttled back artificially. Can this be changed for my line ?

--

Typically best-case latency to an irish server / eircom next-hop-upstream is ~50ms , but i frequently see this rise to nearly 1second. Additionally while the max usable downloads speeds I see are ~6mbit this frequently drops to under ambit (very poor). Upload speeds often fall away to <30kbps (i.e.: cannot plausibly be called broadband, worse than a dial-up modem).. This suggests high levels of congestion i.e.: a network unable to deliver the speeds promised.


2nd Question
Can you explain the worst case performance i should expect from my "up to 24mbit" package, and at what point Eircom would consider the service delivered as poor enough to be a service fault and fix it. Or maybe you could provide info on the amount of oversubscription at the Pallaskenry exchange causing these congestion issues.
--

3rd question

when i originally signed up for the package (late 2015) i was promised that Eir planned to roll out fibre in my area in "early 2016" , this has been changed to "summer 2016" .. is this now a firm date that Pallaskenry residents can rely on?

ED E

1. Line can, exchange can't
1.1 Its a radio exchange, its likely heavily congested. Your bill may say 24Mb but you're on a 7Mb legacy product
2. In the case of these exchanges there is no guarantee. Eir consider below 60% a problem but if its the exchange its either cancel or wait for upgrade. 
3. The good news:
PKY1_E01
[font=Roboto, Arial, sans-serif]Fibre Build commenced - completion work is in progress[/font]
VDSL works are under way. You're 2km away from the exchange itself though so VDSL won't reach you but as neighbors upgrade the congestion will reduce. If you're lucky the exchange might be also made NGN for ADSL at the same time. 

fractal

ED E wrote: »

1. Line can, exchange can't
1.1 Its a radio exchange, its likely heavily congested. Your bill may say 24Mb but you're on a 7Mb legacy product
2. In the case of these exchanges there is no guarantee. Eir consider below 60% a problem but if its the exchange its either cancel or wait for upgrade. 
3. The good news:
PKY1_E01
[font=Roboto, Arial, sans-serif]Fibre Build commenced - completion work is in progress[/font]
VDSL works are under way. You're 2km away from the exchange itself though so VDSL won't reach you but as neighbors upgrade the congestion will reduce. If you're lucky the exchange might be also made NGN for ADSL at the same time. 

Thanks for the information ED E , out of interest are you a knowledgeable member for these forums or an Eir representative?

Just in reply to the various points. (and in the hope i can pin down some facts here)

1. Can someone from Eir actually confirm that the Pallaskenry exchange is heavily congested. If you are selling residents "up to 24mbit" broadband it is clearly disingenuous to be unable to provide the service you describe. Equally if you are providing me a service capped at 7mbit,  (certainly looks like the only speed which can be negotiated on my line) please confirm thats the plan you have put me on. My first goal here is to get a clear description of what I am paying for because all signs to date point towards some sort of "we'll carry your traffic when we feel like it" rather than having any particular SLA i can depend on.

2. If less than 60% line rate is considered a problem then there is certainly a problem here. Now its just a matter of figuring out how the problem can be officially reported and trying to extract some sort of ETA on a fix.

3. Yes i am 2km from exchange, I guess you spotted that from SNR/Margin values i posted. VDSL typically reaches up to 3km (admittedly with ever decreasing speeds) and Eircom sold me this package promising that Fibre broadband would be available on my line (the Eircom check-my-line tool continues to tell me it will be available "within 6 months" ) so im going to hold out some hope. 

ED E , if you know more I'd appreciate any information you have, to date it has been nearly impossible to get any information out of Eircom. Part of me wonders at the legality of selling a product which apparently has no SLA, and is so inconsistent as to often ben unusable.

Eir: Pamela

fractal wrote: »

ED E wrote: »

1. Line can, exchange can't
1.1 Its a radio exchange, its likely heavily congested. Your bill may say 24Mb but you're on a 7Mb legacy product
2. In the case of these exchanges there is no guarantee. Eir consider below 60% a problem but if its the exchange its either cancel or wait for upgrade. 
3. The good news:
PKY1_E01
[font=Roboto, Arial, sans-serif]Fibre Build commenced - completion work is in progress[/font]
VDSL works are under way. You're 2km away from the exchange itself though so VDSL won't reach you but as neighbors upgrade the congestion will reduce. If you're lucky the exchange might be also made NGN for ADSL at the same time. 

Thanks for the information ED E , out of interest are you a knowledgeable member for these forums or an Eir representative?

Just in reply to the various points. (and in the hope i can pin down some facts here)

1. Can someone from Eir actually confirm that the Pallaskenry exchange is heavily congested. If you are selling residents "up to 24mbit" broadband it is clearly disingenuous to be unable to provide the service you describe. Equally if you are providing me a service capped at 7mbit,  (certainly looks like the only speed which can be negotiated on my line) please confirm thats the plan you have put me on. My first goal here is to get a clear description of what I am paying for because all signs to date point towards some sort of "we'll carry your traffic when we feel like it" rather than having any particular SLA i can depend on.

2. If less than 60% line rate is considered a problem then there is certainly a problem here. Now its just a matter of figuring out how the problem can be officially reported and trying to extract some sort of ETA on a fix.

3. Yes i am 2km from exchange, I guess you spotted that from SNR/Margin values i posted. VDSL typically reaches up to 3km (admittedly with ever decreasing speeds) and Eircom sold me this package promising that Fibre broadband would be available on my line (the Eircom check-my-line tool continues to tell me it will be available "within 6 months" ) so im going to hold out some hope. 

ED E , if you know more I'd appreciate any information you have, to date it has been nearly impossible to get any information out of Eircom. Part of me wonders at the legality of selling a product which apparently has no SLA, and is so inconsistent as to often ben unusable.

Hi  fractal,


Thanks for getting in touch.
I'm afraid we would be unable to check this from here and I would recommend speaking with the technical support team and troubleshooting this directly. You can contact them directly on 1890260260, free phone 1901.

-Pamela 

ED E

fractal wrote: »

ED E wrote: »

1. Line can, exchange can't
1.1 Its a radio exchange, its likely heavily congested. Your bill may say 24Mb but you're on a 7Mb legacy product
2. In the case of these exchanges there is no guarantee. Eir consider below 60% a problem but if its the exchange its either cancel or wait for upgrade. 
3. The good news:
PKY1_E01
[font=Roboto, Arial, sans-serif]Fibre Build commenced - completion work is in progress[/font]
VDSL works are under way. You're 2km away from the exchange itself though so VDSL won't reach you but as neighbors upgrade the congestion will reduce. If you're lucky the exchange might be also made NGN for ADSL at the same time. 

Thanks for the information ED E , out of interest are you a knowledgeable member for these forums or an Eir representative?

Just in reply to the various points. (and in the hope i can pin down some facts here)

1. Can someone from Eir actually confirm that the Pallaskenry exchange is heavily congested. If you are selling residents "up to 24mbit" broadband it is clearly disingenuous to be unable to provide the service you describe. Equally if you are providing me a service capped at 7mbit,  (certainly looks like the only speed which can be negotiated on my line) please confirm thats the plan you have put me on. My first goal here is to get a clear description of what I am paying for because all signs to date point towards some sort of "we'll carry your traffic when we feel like it" rather than having any particular SLA i can depend on.

2. If less than 60% line rate is considered a problem then there is certainly a problem here. Now its just a matter of figuring out how the problem can be officially reported and trying to extract some sort of ETA on a fix.

3. Yes i am 2km from exchange, I guess you spotted that from SNR/Margin values i posted. VDSL typically reaches up to 3km (admittedly with ever decreasing speeds) and Eircom sold me this package promising that Fibre broadband would be available on my line (the Eircom check-my-line tool continues to tell me it will be available "within 6 months" ) so im going to hold out some hope. 

ED E , if you know more I'd appreciate any information you have, to date it has been nearly impossible to get any information out of Eircom. Part of me wonders at the legality of selling a product which apparently has no SLA, and is so inconsistent as to often ben unusable.

Just a nerd helping out.

1. See for yourself: www.openeir.ie/Our_Network/
2. Congestion isnt a fault, its a network build out issue and thus doesnt really come with much of an ETA.
3. VDSL only goes to 2KM with the annex used here in Ireland. 1500m when its eVDSL like your exchange. The door to door reps are subcontractors who are notorious for lying (same guys do the same when selling Vodafone)

COMREG agree that Congestion isnt a fault so no SLAs are enforced. Really you'd be better trying to get a decent 4G setup going ( have a look at the midband forum for what others have done). 

fractal

ED E wrote: »

fractal wrote: »

ED E wrote: »

1. Line can, exchange can't
1.1 Its a radio exchange, its likely heavily congested. Your bill may say 24Mb but you're on a 7Mb legacy product
2. In the case of these exchanges there is no guarantee. Eir consider below 60% a problem but if its the exchange its either cancel or wait for upgrade. 
3. The good news:
PKY1_E01
[font=Roboto, Arial, sans-serif]Fibre Build commenced - completion work is in progress[/font]
VDSL works are under way. You're 2km away from the exchange itself though so VDSL won't reach you but as neighbors upgrade the congestion will reduce. If you're lucky the exchange might be also made NGN for ADSL at the same time. 

Thanks for the information ED E , out of interest are you a knowledgeable member for these forums or an Eir representative?

Just in reply to the various points. (and in the hope i can pin down some facts here)

1. Can someone from Eir actually confirm that the Pallaskenry exchange is heavily congested. If you are selling residents "up to 24mbit" broadband it is clearly disingenuous to be unable to provide the service you describe. Equally if you are providing me a service capped at 7mbit,  (certainly looks like the only speed which can be negotiated on my line) please confirm thats the plan you have put me on. My first goal here is to get a clear description of what I am paying for because all signs to date point towards some sort of "we'll carry your traffic when we feel like it" rather than having any particular SLA i can depend on.

2. If less than 60% line rate is considered a problem then there is certainly a problem here. Now its just a matter of figuring out how the problem can be officially reported and trying to extract some sort of ETA on a fix.

3. Yes i am 2km from exchange, I guess you spotted that from SNR/Margin values i posted. VDSL typically reaches up to 3km (admittedly with ever decreasing speeds) and Eircom sold me this package promising that Fibre broadband would be available on my line (the Eircom check-my-line tool continues to tell me it will be available "within 6 months" ) so im going to hold out some hope. 

ED E , if you know more I'd appreciate any information you have, to date it has been nearly impossible to get any information out of Eircom. Part of me wonders at the legality of selling a product which apparently has no SLA, and is so inconsistent as to often ben unusable.

Just a nerd helping out.

1. See for yourself: www.openeir.ie/Our_Network/
2. Congestion isnt a fault, its a network build out issue and thus doesnt really come with much of an ETA.
3. VDSL only goes to 2KM with the annex used here in Ireland. 1500m when its eVDSL like your exchange. The door to door reps are subcontractors who are notorious for lying (same guys do the same when selling Vodafone)

COMREG agree that Congestion isnt a fault so no SLAs are enforced. Really you'd be better trying to get a decent 4G setup going ( have a look at the midband forum for what others have done). 

Hi again ED E, info you've provided is very much appreciated. I've called Eircom numerous times about these problems and I've gotten zero info. I've looked through that Our_Network page, but there doesnt appear to be any info on service quality there. I can see rollout plans and plenty of other high-level info though. Thanks for the link.

Pamela, at your suggestion i called Tech Support again earlier, and we managed to get a "fault" logged (after over an hour of repeating similar tests as before), i wasn't actually seeking to report a line fault, but apparently this is the only way my service can be investigated. While the gentleman from Tech Support was polite i do not think he understood that the issue might actually live on the Eircom network and not between myself and the local exchange. I'll report back on the thread with any responses.

WRT congestion issues, if Comreg really have ruled that congestion leading to >50% packet loss , >1second ping times is not a "fault" I'd respectfully disagree, but will probably have to go along with their ruling.. IMHO if a network is designed to be sold as a service to a set of users , but causes performance like I am seeing at times of load, it has been improperly designed and that in itself is a fault. How can it be fair business practise to pile more and more people in and not tell them about the quality of the service they are likely to receive.. Anyway I suppose thats a rant for another day.

ED E, i'll have a look through the midband forum, I was involved in setting long range wireless links with IrishWAN before i left Ireland ~15 years ago, I'd hoped that stringing together my own solution would no longer be necessary..

For now i suppose i will go read the fine print of my contract, If I find the section where Eircom say "we have sold you a product which might not work reliably, might get turned off randomly, and we're still going to charge real money for it" .. :-/

Eir: Pamela

fractal wrote: »

ED E wrote: »

fractal wrote: »

ED E wrote: »

1. Line can, exchange can't
1.1 Its a radio exchange, its likely heavily congested. Your bill may say 24Mb but you're on a 7Mb legacy product
2. In the case of these exchanges there is no guarantee. Eir consider below 60% a problem but if its the exchange its either cancel or wait for upgrade. 
3. The good news:
PKY1_E01
[font=Roboto, Arial, sans-serif]Fibre Build commenced - completion work is in progress[/font]
VDSL works are under way. You're 2km away from the exchange itself though so VDSL won't reach you but as neighbors upgrade the congestion will reduce. If you're lucky the exchange might be also made NGN for ADSL at the same time. 

Thanks for the information ED E , out of interest are you a knowledgeable member for these forums or an Eir representative?

Just in reply to the various points. (and in the hope i can pin down some facts here)

1. Can someone from Eir actually confirm that the Pallaskenry exchange is heavily congested. If you are selling residents "up to 24mbit" broadband it is clearly disingenuous to be unable to provide the service you describe. Equally if you are providing me a service capped at 7mbit,  (certainly looks like the only speed which can be negotiated on my line) please confirm thats the plan you have put me on. My first goal here is to get a clear description of what I am paying for because all signs to date point towards some sort of "we'll carry your traffic when we feel like it" rather than having any particular SLA i can depend on.

2. If less than 60% line rate is considered a problem then there is certainly a problem here. Now its just a matter of figuring out how the problem can be officially reported and trying to extract some sort of ETA on a fix.

3. Yes i am 2km from exchange, I guess you spotted that from SNR/Margin values i posted. VDSL typically reaches up to 3km (admittedly with ever decreasing speeds) and Eircom sold me this package promising that Fibre broadband would be available on my line (the Eircom check-my-line tool continues to tell me it will be available "within 6 months" ) so im going to hold out some hope. 

ED E , if you know more I'd appreciate any information you have, to date it has been nearly impossible to get any information out of Eircom. Part of me wonders at the legality of selling a product which apparently has no SLA, and is so inconsistent as to often ben unusable.

Just a nerd helping out.

1. See for yourself: www.openeir.ie/Our_Network/
2. Congestion isnt a fault, its a network build out issue and thus doesnt really come with much of an ETA.
3. VDSL only goes to 2KM with the annex used here in Ireland. 1500m when its eVDSL like your exchange. The door to door reps are subcontractors who are notorious for lying (same guys do the same when selling Vodafone)

COMREG agree that Congestion isnt a fault so no SLAs are enforced. Really you'd be better trying to get a decent 4G setup going ( have a look at the midband forum for what others have done). 

Hi again ED E, info you've provided is very much appreciated. I've called Eircom numerous times about these problems and I've gotten zero info. I've looked through that Our_Network page, but there doesnt appear to be any info on service quality there. I can see rollout plans and plenty of other high-level info though. Thanks for the link.

Pamela, at your suggestion i called Tech Support again earlier, and we managed to get a "fault" logged (after over an hour of repeating similar tests as before), i wasn't actually seeking to report a line fault, but apparently this is the only way my service can be investigated. While the gentleman from Tech Support was polite i do not think he understood that the issue might actually live on the Eircom network and not between myself and the local exchange. I'll report back on the thread with any responses.

WRT congestion issues, if Comreg really have ruled that congestion leading to >50% packet loss , >1second ping times is not a "fault" I'd respectfully disagree, but will probably have to go along with their ruling.. IMHO if a network is designed to be sold as a service to a set of users , but causes performance like I am seeing at times of load, it has been improperly designed and that in itself is a fault. How can it be fair business practise to pile more and more people in and not tell them about the quality of the service they are likely to receive.. Anyway I suppose thats a rant for another day.

ED E, i'll have a look through the midband forum, I was involved in setting long range wireless links with IrishWAN before i left Ireland ~15 years ago, I'd hoped that stringing together my own solution would no longer be necessary..

For now i suppose i will go read the fine print of my contract, If I find the section where Eircom say "we have sold you a product which might not work reliably, might get turned off randomly, and we're still going to charge real money for it" .. :-/

Thanks for the update  fractal and I do appreciate your feedback on this.
If congestion is the issue, after investigation the technical support team should be able to clarify this for you.

-Pamela

lukejr

Hi All,

Anyone know the progress Eir is making rolling our fibre to Pallaskenry and surrounding area by the end of 2018?

fibrerollout.ie list fibre broadband as coming in second half of 2018, we're nearly halfway through the second half of 2018 and no sign of this happening yet.

Thanks, Luke