Eircom ADSL Trials Appear To Be On Again

viking

Originally posted by ando


Your in Artane and on Belcamp ? ... bloody hell. I'm in Raheny and on the same exchange but line failed ? Raheny is closer, is it not ?

I know, its strange, but Belcamp isn't really that far away from where I am (as the crow flies). Unfortunately even if you are ten metres away from the exchange if your line is not up to scratch, well then you can forget about ADSL.

Anybody know what test they perform on your line to see if its able for ADSL, ie. is it tested for noise etc.??

pete

was told at lunchtime today tha blanchardstown exchange is not trialling

plus, i'm guess i'm too far from the exchange because the line test failed anyway

i live in one of the new estates up near clonee - there's THOUSANDS of new houses out here - and none of us will be able to get DSL?

sigh

actually - does anyone know if the 'line quality' test that they do is affected in any way by having two lines? Multiplexing, or whatever it's called...

Mountjoy Mugger

Not meaning to rub it in, but has anyone got a phone-call back from Eircom confirming an installation date?

I was told before 5 this evening..just getting a little anxious, that's all.

Lemming

Originally posted by Mountjoy Mugger
Not meaning to rub it in, but has anyone got a phone-call back from Eircom confirming an installation date?

I was told before 5 this evening..just getting a little anxious, that's all.

I heard something *kinda* similiar of the nice I-scream lady I talked to. Then a friend in Eircom gave me another number (when I asked her if she could check the Dundrum exchange availability) and was told "No .. you're not eligible" by someone else ... go figure

I think the whole thing is a bad mess. Their appointments system was down when I rang(2nd time) as well .. so they were totally unco-ordinated

Dustaz

Id advise anyone to go for the ethernet option if you have a NIC. The USB modem they give you tends to act funny in win 98se, not anything too serious, just 'funny' (its fine under win2k tho)

I find it strange that so many people are failing line tests. Last time around, almost everyone who applied (all that i know of anyway) to the enabled exchanges passed them. It may well be worth your while ringing back at a later date?

On another note, What are we to take from this new trial? Does anyone know if these exchanges are recently upgraded? If that is the case, then Eircom are actually delivering on one of thier promises - They said the last trial would see a selected few southside exchanges being done, with around 30 more within 6 months (including northside ones). They actually delivered on that...wonders will never cease.

The fact that they are trialling these exchanges indicates to me that they are preparing to dig in thier heels on the price issue tho. If they were willing to sede to the odtrs price, surely they would just launch at the next opportunity?

Moriarty

Ive jsut phoned, and they said that adsl will be available in Limerick 'by the start of next year'. He couldnt tell me which exchanges exactly would be upgraded, but said that he is pretty certain of an early 2002 release in limerick.

alastair

Originally posted by Mountjoy Mugger
Not meaning to rub it in, but has anyone got a phone-call back from Eircom confirming an installation date?

I was told before 5 this evening..just getting a little anxious, that's all.

I got a call back with a date this afternoon. around 5 or thereabouts.

segadreamcast

Originally posted by El_MUERkO
I live in Glasnevin North but I dont know what exchange I'm connected to Glasnevin, Finglas or Ballymun. The bloke on the end of the line was really friendly and tested the line no problem.

But my line was to weak for the signal

However if hes will to test me they'll probably give anyone a shot so ring them.

Right, here's what I've gathered...I rang Eircom just now.

Glasenevin North is my parents house the fella tested that first...it's connected to the Santry exchange and he said that WASN'T upgraded yet...k?

After that, he asked had I received a letter...I mumbled the same thing as I heard on here "ugh...yeah...it's somewhere around here" and he really saw right through it.

Then I asked about my own house in Ballymun *blush* and basically what he told me was that that was connected to the Finglas exchange and it WAS updated and some exchanges weren't upgraded and that was it really. He just said bye...

But that makes no real sense? He told me the line worked etc...then hung up? Grrrr...I think I'll call back tomorrow.

By the way...Santry upgrade is scheduled for Christmas .

Kappar

I liv in Ballinteer and I called last Night and the said the line was degregated so NO!:( and today the have no more trials for the Ballayboden Exchange but someone said eairler that Ballinteer was Dundrum i am goin call LAter I se if i get someone else.
Dose anyone know if you get a new line if dose it come from the same exchange for sure.

Boston

Dustaz, yes these exchanges were due to be upgraded with the secound lot of upgrades.

also id imagine that the lines the excahnges in these areas (aka summer hill) would be alot older and more out dated then those in the first 9.

it makes sense they would upgrade the newer ones first.

electroshock

I live in Skerries and the exchange hasn't been upgraded. They guy on the phone said it would be the turn of the year before it is upgraded.

Quick question: Even if the exchange isn't upgraded can they still run the line test?

Thanks

Boston

Kappar it should do, but believe it or not ive two phone lines and i found out today, one goes to clontarf and the other to summerhill haaa

electroshock, no they wont, but you used to be able to buy a kit that would test the quailty of your phone line from cisco.

BKtje

Ekehoe: could ya do me a favour.

Could ya ask the engineer if the Dun Laoghaire auxilary exchange has been upgraded yet (wasnt last time it was 'supposed' to be out). Ive tried ringing em but the 2 times ive tried was busy and other time it rang out. bah@that.

ill keep tryin tho

ffs. whats an auxilary exchange!! and more importantly wtf am i on it

ne ways ta if u see the engineer before i get through.

BK

Boston

id imagine its a temp overflow exchange from the main one.

BKtje

Right cheers
ill keep tryin , bound t get through since no one else is havin this prob

i got a feeling im still stuck on this temp exchange

El_MUERkO

Right, here's what I've gathered...I rang Eircom just now.

Glasenevin North is my parents house the fella tested that first...it's connected to the Santry exchange and he said that WASN'T upgraded yet...k?

After that, he asked had I received a letter...I mumbled the same thing as I heard on here "ugh...yeah...it's somewhere around here" and he really saw right through it.

Then I asked about my own house in Ballymun *blush* and basically what he told me was that that was connected to the Finglas exchange and it WAS updated and some exchanges weren't upgraded and that was it really. He just said bye...

But that makes no real sense? He told me the line worked etc...then hung up? Grrrr...I think I'll call back tomorrow.

By the way...Santry upgrade is scheduled for Christmas .

Cheers for the info NoelRock, there is hope for us yet

Boston

you could allways get a secound line and request it off the main exchange, might not be enough to get you on the trial but maybe for when they roll out adsl

segadreamcast

Originally posted by El_MUERkO


Cheers for the info NoelRock, there is hope for us yet

No problem of course, and yeah there is definitely a sense of rejuvenated hope amongst us it seems.

Is that line open on Saturday, does anyone know? (I want to catch this nice Rosemary person )

Victor

Originally posted by Telgere
rang number and im living on lower mount street they said that my number wasn't able to trial

where is the nearest excnage from here ?

Merrion Exchange is off Upper Merrion Street (behind Dunloe Hall Apartments). It's unlikely that you would be on Beggar's Bush Exchange.

po0k

A good bunch of ye don't seem to know how the DSL is implemented. I won't pretend to know it either, but here's a quick run down.

1.Uses a higher frequency range above that used for normal anologue voice calls, hence why you can dial ordianry numbers whil being online 24/7, and why a splitter box is needed to separate the frequancies.

2. Does not, repeat, DOES NOT work on ISDN lines. Jut doesn't. Different technology. xDSl is for POTS, Plain Old Telephone System

3. One reason I can think of why alot of ppl with brand new lines are failing the test is cos they don't actualll yhave 'whole' new lines, merely a half of another one, even half of their own line if they got a second 'one' "installed".
Eircom and other telcos do this on PSTN lines using a DACS box.
I ahve one on my own pole. Limits modem speeds to a max of 31200bps, effectively halfing the connect speed. It is comonly called a 'line-splitter' for this reason.
The controller used to do the splitting takes up an band of frequency which xDSl uses, hence why you can't get it if you ahve one of these 'lines'.
It's a bi4tch, more-so cos it's widespread and Eircom sure as fluck don't advertise it. Cheap basterds still charge full feckin price for the line rental too.

I live 8 miles outside Galway.
Shugger and Shíte.

carbsy

This sounds fantastic for all you Dublin peeps , but wot about this poor ol' cork soul??

A net veteran who was introduced to the net as a pioneering user in 1993 when www woz text based !! hehe

But where has it got me ??? feck all I tell ya!

Please has ne1 got ne news on ADSL in the Cork City area as its drivin me nutz!! hehe

thanks for the help

carbsy.

JANER

i am in dominick st dublin 1
less than 1 mile from summerhill exchange.....but line is shyte
i am isdn and got in a "normal" line as well at a cost at over a ton....what a waste of fvcking money....but tbh i wasn't really expecting much from the shyte pots!

Dustaz

Syxpac, I dont think the use of DACS boxes is as widespread in Dublin as it is outside dublin, could be wrong tho.

As far as areas outside Dublin goes, Eircom said they would upgrade the major cities once most of Dublin was done and gave a vague "within the year" type of statement (to me anyway). In fairness to them, they have upgraded these new exchanges when they said they would, so they might come through for cork ppl soon We know at least one exchange is limerick is upgraded anyway as Esat are trialling there.

Boston

Originally posted by [FCA]SyxPak
A good bunch of ye don't seem to know how the DSL is implemented. I won't pretend to know it either, but here's a quick run down.

1.Uses a higher frequency range above that used for normal anologue voice calls, hence why you can dial ordianry numbers whil being online 24/7, and why a splitter box is needed to separate the frequancies.

2. Does not, repeat, DOES NOT work on ISDN lines. Jut doesn't. Different technology. xDSl is for POTS, Plain Old Telephone System

3. One reason I can think of why alot of ppl with brand new lines are failing the test is cos they don't actualll yhave 'whole' new lines, merely a half of another one, even half of their own line if they got a second 'one' "installed".
Eircom and other telcos do this on PSTN lines using a DACS box.
I ahve one on my own pole. Limits modem speeds to a max of 31200bps, effectively halfing the connect speed. It is comonly called a 'line-splitter' for this reason.
The controller used to do the splitting takes up an band of frequency which xDSl uses, hence why you can't get it if you ahve one of these 'lines'.
It's a bi4tch, more-so cos it's widespread and Eircom sure as fluck don't advertise it. Cheap basterds still charge full feckin price for the line rental too.

I live 8 miles outside Galway.
Shugger and Shíte.

I find this insulting, to presume we don't know what were talking about is balox.
second what your talking is about 40% correct.
you can get ADSL on a ISDN line but not with the variant eircom mare using.

Second news lines mean nothing, sometimes your new phone line is connected to a different exchange to the first, which could be several miles away.

the copper used in the line might just be site.

aluminum or some other not copper metal may be used somewhere along the new line. BT are bastards for this, id imagine eircom are to.

and last, the engineer could be a total cowboy and fail to have put your details into the main system, this is usually fixed in a few months.

its amazing when you start to ring eircom you find out just how bad your line is

segadreamcast

OK, I rang eircom again...here's what I got this time...

Nice guy called John-Paul on the phone...answered straight away...no hold at all...and told me that.

My line (Ballymun) is indeed capable of aDSL...he asked is it for business or residential use...I said business...and that's where I messed up...it's available for residential trials there right now...and business in January --_--...

Any quick advice? I said "Both, but mainly business". Should I ring back and retract this statement? Or should I wait till tomorrow?

:P He told me to enjoy my weekend...sorry...I suddenly like that guy now...friendliest phone guy I've talked to in a while.

PiE

Anyone from the Capel St/Markets Area (Dublin 7) got any info?

Tried to ring a few minutes ago and it rang out 3 times.

segadreamcast

Just to continue...I ran downstairs to check my phone bills, and officially I am a residential customer, so hey, I'm within my rights :P I called back.

Someone else answered, I asked was John-Paul still there...sadly he had gone home...no wonder he had wished me a good weekend (hope he has one too ) .

But this new guy tells me the exchange HASN'T been upgraded. (December apparently)

So out of 3 calls I have: 1 definite yes, 1 definite no, and one guy saying yes but then mumbling something about some exchanges not being upgraded and then saying "and well, that's it really, bye"

Can anyone give me a definite answer?

segadreamcast

PiE...might've been my fault...this guy took a while to do his checks and we just chatted inbetween...anyway, it seemed as though he was alone in the office place. So maybe try again now?

gurramok

I rang at 6pm earlier to downgrade my line from isdn to ordinary pstn(it was upgraded from pstn to isdn in first place 6 mnths ago)
Apparently Finglas exchange is on dsl trial, so engineer is supposed to downgrade line on Monday, cost £15.76.
Fingers crossed, my old pstn line passed test 6 mths ago so if it passes, it passes.
if it don't i'm bak on 56k......no more extortionate bills from eircon(cutting down on bill anyway)
Deadline for registering your interest for the trial, i was told Fri next( 30th)
btw friend in Donagmede (mayb Belcamp exchange) is getting installation Dec 10th

Test failures on new lines seems to be because a DACs box is used to split new lines got over past couple years r so, typical eircon.

segadreamcast

Hmmmmm...this is where my problem arises...the Finglas exchange...oh well...only time will tell...in the meantime I'll keep calling until I get some kind of solid "yes" or "no"

Best of luck with the trials by the way Guramok!

Dotsie~tmp

Phoned em up and was told Finglas exchange had been upgraded but i was too far from the exchange. Strange considering in living there.

gurramok

Originally posted by [FCA]SyxPak
2. Does not, repeat, DOES NOT work on ISDN lines. Jut doesn't. Different technology. xDSl is for POTS, Plain Old Telephone System
.

Seems to be only valid in this country, ADSL does work on ISDN lines in Uk + Germany, ISDN users have converted their lines to ADSL with NO extra cost r hassle.
Apparently, eircon have to be different, mayb its related to greed i wonder r is there a good technical explanation y they have to be different in this area ?

segadreamcast

Originally posted by Dotsie~tmp
Phoned em up and was told Finglas exchange had been upgraded but i was too far from the exchange. Strange considering in living there.

Heh...freaky eh? I'm in Ballymun and I'm told by two of three people the Finglas exchange will work for me...odd to say the least.

dahamsta

To settle the argument, yes, it's technically possible to get ADSL over an ISDN-enabled line, but it's a recent development and not widely available. And it's certainly not available in Ireland.

adam

Supercell

Moved apartment recently (used to be on North Main) and wondered if i was now on the Summerhill exchange which others said appears to be valid for the trail.

So thinking i'm a right cute hóar i call repairs..and say, opps i called the wrong number but could they tell me what exchange im on (these guys do repairs, they must know this stuff i reckon). Yer on the Summerhill exchange alright, OMFG i think, could it be possible!!
So with trembling fingures i call the adsl trial number, talk to a nice lady who says that yes i am in the trial area, but i'm on the North Main exchange (aggghhh)..and she needs to test my line first before signing me up....cold sweat running down back ..

Calling from work, but she says she can test the line without me using it..it FAILED....i almost wept with the frustration...i kid you not..so if it is rolled out...i'm not going to get it anyway..agghhh

Please someone tell me the line test failed because the phone point is at present connected to a 30 foot extension cable into my pc??? and not a phone that will ring etc???!! Please tell me its beause of that...please

Lex_Diamonds

Originally posted by Longfield
Please someone tell me the line test failed because the phone point is at present connected to a 30 foot extension cable into my pc??? and not a phone that will ring etc???!! Please tell me its beause of that...please

Longfield, I dont think it is because of that because I have a 50 foot cable going from downstairs to my PC upstairs and I passed the test.

Just out of curiosity, who else got the letter inviting them to trial?

dahamsta

Just out of curiosity, who else got the letter inviting them to trial?

Heh, they probably only sent out about twenty.

adam

El_MUERkO

Bet some big wig in Eircom has a fit when they see this post

They've just signed u a bunch of their biggest critics as testers of a service they've been campaining for

I'm going to ring again on Monday to ask about the the Santry/Glasnevin North exchange, hopefully thats the route of my problem. If so when it gets upgraded I may have hope

pete

i'd like to see a list of things what might make your line fail the test

i'll start the ball rolling

1. distance from your exchange

carbsy

Originally posted by pete
i'd like to see a list of things what might make your line fail the test

i'll start the ball rolling

1. distance from your exchange

2. if the eircom tester hasnt had a shag the nite b4 from the his missus.

3. if he's late for lunch.

d4r3n

i was told my line failed (i live 100m from the exchange) and if i switched from NTL to Eircom it might pass, sound like they're trying to make me swap over? i thought so, i dont mind changing once i can get ADSL my area is on trial atm and a few people around where i live are getting it.

bkehoe

Any equipment connected to the line at your house can cause the test to fail more easily, especially if you're a good bit away from the exchange. You should disconnect everything on your phone line, including any boxes for esat/ntl and you may pass the test then. This is the way it is with the testing in the UK anyway....

Brendan

dahamsta

They've just signed u a bunch of their biggest critics as testers of a service they've been campaining for

Think about what you're saying for a second now El_MUERkO, or at least think about it from Eircom's POV...

i was told my line failed and if i switched from NTL to Eircom it might pass

Unless you have some NTL equipment on your line, that's absolute rubbish. A line is a line, particularly these days when operator preselect is done at the exchange level. In fact, Eircom could be breaking the terms of their licence with that suggestion. If I was you, I'd fire an enquiry off to the ODTR about that.

adam

ekehoe

Our line failed :-(. Flippin' DACS boxes...you can see it all up and down our street.

The woman who told me that we failed (sob!) said that they do different trials in different areas...one trial area was for lines that were "imperfect", and the one for our area is for perfect lines.

FFS, we live in Dun Laoghaire...with all the road work and crap going on around here, NO ONE has a perfect line!!! Anyone else here in DL pass the line test (and where do you live? I'll pop over with my ethernet hub :-) ).

E

SkepticOne

Originally posted by d4r3n
i was told my line failed (i live 100m from the exchange) and if i switched from NTL to Eircom it might pass

If you're using the carrier preselect service from NTL, this should not make a difference. Eircom are testing the physical line that runs from the exchange to your house. This does not change when you use a carrier preselect service such as ESAT or NTL.

SantaHoe

Sounds promising... But I caved under the pressure and got ISDN installed, so... erm, shat!
Surely they don't expect you to pay £99 to get your ISDN 'downgraded' to POTS?
Bad enough paying £99 to get the crap installed in the first place.

SkepticOne

Originally posted by Dead{o}Santa
Sounds promising... But I caved under the pressure and got ISDN installed, so... erm, shat!
Surely they don't expect you to pay £99 to get your ISDN 'downgraded' to POTS?
Bad enough paying £99 to get the crap installed in the first place.

The other option is to get a new analogue line installed for £99. If this fails, then you don't need to spend another £99 to get it upgraded back to ISDN. The disadvantage with this is that this new line may be DACSed, in which case, you've spent £99 for nothing. Eircom have no obligation to supply you with a proper line even if it is required for ADSL.

With the first option i.e. downgrading an existing ISDN line, you are, at least, guarenteed a straight copper pair to the exchange. However, you are liable for another £99 charge if the test fails and you want to upgrade back to ISDN.

You can't beat the phone company, as they say.

SkepticOne

Originally posted by ekehoe
Our line failed :-(. Flippin' DACS boxes...you can see it all up and down our street.

So, are you currently getting less than 33kbs on dial-up? From what I've read, this is the absolute maximum for a DACS line.

rayatron

does any1 know if drimnagh is available for the adsl trials, its beside crumlin its dublin 12 .

G

you are liable for another £99 charge if the test fails and you want to upgrade back to ISDN.

You can't beat the phone company, as they say.

..and it prolly would fail too :mad: