EsatBTBT in Ireland provides a range of adsl packages to domestic and business users.
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After about a month of looking for the response from Eircon to the linefault logged by BT TS I got a call to tell me my BB problem was now fixed. Strange I thought when I was still experiencing less than optimum DL speeds.
They asked me to try their standard ftp.esat.net DL test but I could only get about 200KBs, a good 2MBps TS exclaimed. That’s right but I pay for a 3MBps I said, TS agreed and again came up with the ‘when all else fails tell the customer his line can’t take 3MBps’ approach in the hope I would say o.k. downgrade the service.
No such luck TS I have had BB for over 18 months now with a rock steady 2.65Mbps DL speed until about 2 months ago. I told him that something has changed on the Eircon side and I wanted it fixed.
When pushed TS admitted that the Eircon engineers report on the fault stated ‘the fault had cleared when they were testing the line’.
I know this is techie speak for ‘I don’t know what was causing the fault and I really haven’t a clue what I did to fix it but it seems to be working now!’
Pulling my hair I could only ask that another line fault be logged in the hope the Eircon will realise I won't go away but if this fails I think its time to do a bit of investigation work and obtain phone numbers for the relevant managers in both BT and Eircon.
Then they'll find out the meaning of the saying 'the squeaky hinge gets the oil'.
Howfast
__________________ The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.......... Oscar Wilde
Nice Eircon line engineer [same one who fixed my line fault before] rang about the line fault logged by BT TS, explained my problem i.e. paying for 3Mbps and getting less than 1Mbps. He checked the line and guess what – yes it’s testing perfect and he then said “there’s no reason why you should not get full speed on that line.”
I started to query the fluctuating noise margin [SNR] on my line as a possible issue but I soon suspected this engineer knew his stuff in relation to PSTN but was not upto speed in relation to BB.
All he could offer me was the suggestion that maybe the speed problem was caused by the numbers online at the time. After that the only prospect was for me to get back to customer service and so the circle begins again.
Perhaps contention is the problem but whatever the contention I should not be getting less than 2Mbps when I pay for 3Mbps and degrading my service to the 2Mbps package is not the solution as contention on that is twice as bad at 48:1.
I’ll try BT TS again though I suspect I’ve probably a better chance of winning the Euromillions than Eircon BB responding in a proper manner but then if I win the lotto I would be able to afford an uncontended service [dream on].
Howfast
__________________ The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.......... Oscar Wilde
What ever about their inability to get Eircon to rectify my DL speed problem, at least BT TS has not forgotten their promise to call me back when they had something to report. Unfortunately, I have had more detail from the local Eircon phoneline engineer than BT seems to be getting from Eircon.
After some friendly discussion on the matter TS, declaring that their line prequalification test shows my line as only 1Mpbs capable, make another attempt to get me to downgrade my account to 2Mpbs. However, TS does admit that the prequalification test might not be accurate as notwithstanding my current problems I can get over 1Mpbs and had been getting 2.65Mbps previously.
It does appear that front line BT customer service does not have any clout with Eircon because when Eircon gets a speed fault logged they appear to immediately assume it is line noise, pass it to the local line engineer and when the line checks out ok they report no problem back to BT. Eircon don’t seem to want to look at their DSL equipment, at least not on the basis of a line fault logged by BT TS.
TS did admit that as Eircon don’t allow BT access to the exchanges or the DSL equipment they were pretty much reliant on the reports coming back after they log a line fault.
In the hope that someone in BT TS has a contact in Eircon BB wholesale I asked to have the issue escalated to a BT TS supervisor but they don’t come back to work until 4 Jan 2007.
I’ll now make it my New Year resolution to wage a campaign on the suits in BT and Eircon who are happy to take my money without ensuring I get the service advertised and paid for.
If anyone has any relevant contact names and or numbers I'd appreciate a post or a PM.
Howfast
__________________ The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.......... Oscar Wilde
Howfast,
i admire you courage in trying to improve your service. Some time ago I tried all the tricks that I knew to and sort my speed problems but no luck. I can, however, confirm that out biggest problem is that Eircom hold the key to all this. Until the other isp's can get into to the local exchanges and work in them, we do not stand a chance.
One other problem one has is the phrases that the Isp's use that is "up to". This is their get out clause. All they have to say then is you line is not capable of higher speeds. Of course thre is ,"The Regulator", who has no powers at all in this matter.
Howfast,
i admire you courage in trying to improve your service. Some time ago I tried all the tricks that I knew to and sort my speed problems but no luck. I can, however, confirm that out biggest problem is that Eircom hold the key to all this. Until the other isp's can get into to the local exchanges and work in them, we do not stand a chance.
One other problem one has is the phrases that the Isp's use that is "up to". This is their get out clause. All they have to say then is you line is not capable of higher speeds. Of course thre is ,"The Regulator", who has no powers at all in this matter.
Here ends the lesson.
Mike
Hi ellardm
I agree LLU has the potential to sort our problems. However, I've been following these issues across the water, on the basis that when the U.K. throws out something because it either no longer works or something better is available then that is when it is introduced into Ireland. So, based on the problems people seems to be having with a myiad of isp's over there I will welcome LLU when it comes but I don't expect it to be a panacea for all ills.
As regards the 'upto' let out I believe that should only apply to the max speed your line is capable of sustaining. As the Eircon Bitstream RADSL product is distance dependant then the closer you are to the local exchange then the more likely you are to get 'upto' the advertised speed of the package you pay for.
It does or should not mean that this speed can fluctuate to the extent that you get 1Mbps today, 2Mbps evenings and or 3Mbps when nobody else is online.
In the meantime I'll keep on the good fight and report back if I'm successful.
Howfast
__________________ The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.......... Oscar Wilde
I’ve managed to find my way a bit further up the TS food chain. It has now been suggested that the problem is contention as I was an early subscriber on my local exchange [I got connected within 3 weeks of the exchange going DSL live] I was not fighting for bandwidth.
I did not accept this answer stating that notwithstanding contention it should not mean I get 1Mbps when I pay for 3Mbps or that downgrading to 1 or 2Mbps was a solution because the contention is worse.
The upshot is TS agreed to push Eircon to check the DSL switches etc., and connection to my home. Eircon are as usual dragging their feet but I do get regular email reassurances that BT have not forgotten me.
Howfast
__________________ The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.......... Oscar Wilde
However, I do not believe a word of it."Contention", Ha, Ha. I have had more problems over the last 2 weeks. From no BB for 2 days, dropping connections last night, to dail up was faster.
Can they say why it is only sice May with me that the service is ?????.
I have tried all the tricks in the Trade to contact BT Ts, without luck. Emails are not being answered.
At present, I am thinking of changing IPS. Even going back to Eircom
However, I do not believe a word of it."Contention", Ha, Ha. I have had more problems over the last 2 weeks. From no BB for 2 days, dropping connections last night, to dail up was faster.
Can they say why it is only sice May with me that the service is ?????.
I have tried all the tricks in the Trade to contact BT Ts, without luck. Emails are not being answered.
At present, I am thinking of changing IPS. Even going back to Eircom
Mike
Hi ellardm
I don't think changing to Eircom will be the answer - read the following
Quote:
Originally Posted by RoninIV
To be quite honest I am guessing your on one of the ASAM's that are overbooked. We have a growing number of customers who are getting int./no synch issues in relation to oversubscribed exchanges. Now this is not really news as Eircom has been aware of this for some time, and only recently have they released a List of new stations around ireland to help relieve the congestion (Damien Mulley » Blog Archive » eircom to enable another 100 exchanges, 120k more people can avail of broadband) because that is what it really is, as you say, you come home in the evening and jump on and get lower bandwidth than say in the morning. I partly blame the sales staff as they are just throwing anything and everything to the public to get the almight euro and sign up new customers, and couldnt give a damn to the rest of us who have to shoulder the weight of new people taking away the bandwidth. So to sum up, no you havent done anything wrong and I doubt your equipment is in any way faulty, its just a matter of to many people in your area. Hopefuly this will be resolved but I cant give you a date or time. If it gets any worse I would suggest changing to a new ISP, even though you would be jumpered in the same exchange, Eircom provide racks/ports for other ISP to rent and perhaps they can suit your needs better as they are on a seperate line(so to speak) and dont compete with eircom customers.
I know it's frustrating but keep pushing BT TS, eventually they'll have to address your problems. BTW if you reach a reasonable TS bod at any stage get their name, you can ask for that agent in future calls.
Howfast
__________________ The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.......... Oscar Wilde
There may be a solution. If it is true that other ISP's may have space to spare in your exchange, then switching it Eircom may be a mistake. Like it or lump it, Eircom would have the biggest backing I'd imagine. This is down to trust. People will go with who they know. Eircom has been around the longest, and they are the owners of the lines. BT has a nice backing, probably due to their attractively priced packages.
Here's a possible solution. Before I migrated to BT, I was with UTV. My only reason for changing was to avail of the top package for less money. UTV were grand (as good as you're gonna get), and I'd recommend their services to anyone; for the lack of anything better. Also note that they're more expensive than BT, but still cheaper than Eircom. If you're going to change ISP's, then I'd advise you give them a go. I doubt they'd be over-subscribed down in Cork. They're one of the bigger, but lesser known companies. That's my logic for thinking they may be better for you than Eircom and BT.
I was onto BT tech support a week ago for near an hour, started off with the guy wanting me to check my router connection speed in its settings, so I said whats the point as it always says 3MB, what reply do I get, it seems fine then and you've no problem
So I go to him that I've been running various speed tests and tried downloading the BT test file and was only getting download speeds of between 50 - 70KB/s. Ended up having to do that all again, then onto connecting up another router, to my surprise I get the same result .
Then he comes up with an answer to the problem, "we'll downgrade you to 1MB as your line doesn't seem to support 3MB very well and that will solve the problem". I'm like how does this solve it, I have and pay for a 3MB service and expect to get what you advertise and I pay for, besides even if I opt to downgrade I'm still not even going to get 1MB as my speeds are below that. Then he goes to me "well what do you want me to do", I replied "fix the problem, what else" . Conversation ends up with the usual, we'll ask for a test to be carried out on the exchange.
There may be a solution. If it is true that other ISP's may have space to spare in your exchange, then switching it Eircom may be a mistake. Like it or lump it, Eircom would have the biggest backing I'd imagine. This is down to trust. People will go with who they know. Eircom has been around the longest, and they are the owners of the lines. BT has a nice backing, probably due to their attractively priced packages.
Here's a possible solution. Before I migrated to BT, I was with UTV. My only reason for changing was to avail of the top package for less money. UTV were grand (as good as you're gonna get), and I'd recommend their services to anyone; for the lack of anything better. Also note that they're more expensive than BT, but still cheaper than Eircom. If you're going to change ISP's, then I'd advise you give them a go. I doubt they'd be over-subscribed down in Cork. They're one of the bigger, but lesser known companies. That's my logic for thinking they may be better for you than Eircom and BT.
I tried to find out from their website but the line checker requires you to input your universal account number and I don't want to take the chance they'll move me until I'm sure I want to move.
Howfast
__________________ The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.......... Oscar Wilde
I tried to find out from their website but the line checker requires you to input your universal account number and I don't want to take the chance they'll move me until I'm sure I want to move.
Howfast
They tend not to be listed on those sort of sites. They're not listed for Shannon either, but I know 2 people who are still their customers in this town. Then there's also me, who is a past customer of theirs. This is all in a small to medium sized town (10k-12k people living here, while during the day the population, so I'm told, can be as much as 20k-25k due to the various industrial parks). I state this because we're not a big town or city. We don't even have broadband services from IBB or Chorus here. Yet, UTV are available. But also note the distance. I'm nowhere near their HQ in Belfast. UTV are a national ISP. By not being listed, it only serves to prove the point about them being one of the bigger, but lesser known ISP's.
I found that entering a random 4 digit number, such as 1124 as your UAC, will do the job. They won't sign you up until you complete the form. They legally can't, so don't worry.
Also, the 3 questions they ask. Say no to the first 2 (ISDN and Phonewatch), and yes to the third. Well, the third doesn't matter as such if you're only checking, but the first 2 questions need a no reply as you know.
One final thing. If your line fails, do give them a call. Their number is 1890 926111. They will be able to tell you more. That goes for you too, ellardm. If anyone has been a long-term suffering customer of BT, it's you two!
Seifer.
Last edited by oneill.dav; 31st January 2007 at 01:08 AM..
They tend not to be listed on those sort of sites. They're not listed for Shannon either, but I know 2 people who are still their customers in this town. Then there's also me, who is a past customer of theirs. This is all in a small to medium sized town (10k-12k people living here, while during the day the population, so I'm told, can be as much as 20k-25k due to the various industrial parks). I state this because we're not a big town or city. We don't even have broadband services from IBB or Chorus here. Yet, UTV are available. But also note the distance. I'm nowhere near their HQ in Belfast. UTV are a national ISP. By not being listed, it only serves to prove the point about them being one of the bigger, but lesser known ISP's.
I found that entering a random 4 digit number, such as 1124 as your UAC, will do the job. They won't sign you up until you complete the form. They legally can't, so don't worry.
Also, the 3 questions they ask. Say no to the first 2 (ISDN and Phonewatch), and yes to the third. Well, the third doesn't matter as such if you're only checking, but the first 2 questions need a no reply as you know.
One final thing. If your line fails, do give them a call. Their number is 1890 926111. They will be able to tell you more. That goes for you too, ellardm. If anyone has been a long-term suffering customer of BT, it's you two!
Seifer.
Hi seifer
Tried the random UAC but it still came back no service. Rang the 1890 number and spoke to a nice TS person who confirmed UTV service is on my exchange but he felt after hearing about my difficulties that because they were only reselling Eircon Bitstream changing to UTV would probably not make any difference.
Howfast
__________________ The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.......... Oscar Wilde
Tried the random UAC but it still came back no service. Rang the 1890 number and spoke to a nice TS person who confirmed UTV service is on my exchange but he felt after hearing about my difficulties that because they were only reselling Eircon Bitstream changing to UTV would probably not make any difference.
Howfast
It depends on how you're to look at it. If you're to go on the assumption that that fella who wrote the blog is correct, then maybe the TS guy is wrong. If the blog fella is wrong, then the TS person could be correct. You should research the truth, and use that to make a decision. In any case, good luck with what you do choose!
I'm still getting download speeds of well under 100KB/s and webpage load time is slow.
Esat TS gave me a call the other day to say that Eircom had fixed the problem and asked me to download their test file, speeds were still just as slow, so he went to log the fault again with Eircom. Now today I got a call from an Eircom engineer saying that there was no fault and that he would come round with his own modem and if it came up saying it was connected at 3MB then there was no problem with the line, oh yeah, an he'd charged me €57 to do this. I went onto say that no way I'd pay him and that it was a complete waste of time doing this as it will say and always says it's connected at 3MB anyway and that is not the way to check download speeds. What reply did I get, that I knew nothing ! So looks like I'll be cancelling my BB then and staying well away from any provider that uses "Eircons" line.
I'm still getting download speeds of well under 100KB/s and webpage load time is slow.
Esat TS gave me a call the other day to say that Eircom had fixed the problem and asked me to download their test file, speeds were still just as slow, so he went to log the fault again with Eircom. Now today I got a call from an Eircom engineer saying that there was no fault and that he would come round with his own modem and if it came up saying it was connected at 3MB then there was no problem with the line, oh yeah, an he'd charged me €57 to do this. I went onto say that no way I'd pay him and that it was a complete waste of time doing this as it will say and always says it's connected at 3MB anyway and that is not the way to check download speeds. What reply did I get, that I knew nothing ! So looks like I'll be cancelling my BB then and staying well away from any provider that uses "Eircons" line.
Sorry for your troubles. It seems as though your exchange may be the problem, due to over-subscriptions. Then again, it may be that there is a line fault, and eircom can't or won't detect or fix it. Are there any other broadband options in your area, such as cable or even wireless?
I'm still getting download speeds of well under 100KB/s and webpage load time is slow.
Esat TS gave me a call the other day to say that Eircom had fixed the problem and asked me to download their test file, speeds were still just as slow, so he went to log the fault again with Eircom. Now today I got a call from an Eircom engineer saying that there was no fault and that he would come round with his own modem and if it came up saying it was connected at 3MB then there was no problem with the line, oh yeah, an he'd charged me €57 to do this. I went onto say that no way I'd pay him and that it was a complete waste of time doing this as it will say and always says it's connected at 3MB anyway and that is not the way to check download speeds. What reply did I get, that I knew nothing ! So looks like I'll be cancelling my BB then and staying well away from any provider that uses "Eircons" line.
Hi hellboy99
Have you tried testing your DL speed early in the morning say before 8am. Do you get the full 300KBps or so at that time. If you do then the Eircom engineer is correct, there is no problem with your the phoneline nor is it likely that its with your hardware either. The issue is oversubscription on the exchange.
Personally I get 326KBps between 1am and 8am but some days I'm lucky to reach dialup speeds between 5pm and midnight. I've met the local Eircom engineer who showed me the line test results and according to him my line is as near perfect as you could get.
If you have an option to get another isp that does not use DSL then this may solve your problem but choose carefully as it appears all isp's in Ireland have their own difficulties in supplying the service advertised.
Howfast
__________________ The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.......... Oscar Wilde
Have you tried testing your DL speed early in the morning say before 8am. Do you get the full 300KBps or so at that time. If you do then the Eircom engineer is correct, there is no problem with your the phoneline nor is it likely that its with your hardware either. The issue is oversubscription on the exchange.
Personally I get 326KBps between 1am and 8am but some days I'm lucky to reach dialup speeds between 5pm and midnight. I've met the local Eircom engineer who showed me the line test results and according to him my line is as near perfect as you could get.
If you have an option to get another isp that does not use DSL then this may solve your problem but choose carefully as it appears all isp's in Ireland have their own difficulties in supplying the service advertised.
Howfast
I've tried all of the above and still getting the same speeds no matter what time of day it is. As for switching provider I really don't know who to go with, if I go wireless then it will have to be Digiweb Metro.
Got another call from Esat TS earlier, "we'll send you another router (that will be the third one I'll have from them now , four including my own, so I don't think it's a router problem ), if that doesn't work then we'll take it to the next level". What part of it's not my router do they not understand
The thread "BT 3Mbps performing like 1-2Mbps" has not received any replies for a month. It has been automatically closed as a result. You may start a new thread on the topic if the information in this thread is not sufficient.
BT 3Mbps performing like 1-2Mbps 
Another update 
and he then said “there’s no reason why you should not get full speed on that line.” 
and I don't want to take the chance they'll move me until I'm sure I want to move.
So looks like I'll be cancelling my BB then and staying well away from any provider that uses "Eircons" line. 
, four including my own, so I don't think it's a router problem ), if that doesn't work then we'll take it to the next level". What part of it's not my router do they not understand 
Linear Mode
