New phone line conection by radio signal? What exactly is this?

[Ruth]

Hi all
We are moving to our new home soon - Eircom were contacted (and rapidly responded) to our request for a line connection. There were some difficulties with the line installation so the engineers have decided to install a radio box on top of a newly installed phone pole in our field (which will one day be a garden ) Otherwise the line connection would take up to a year. Husband's only question to them was in relation to trees and leaves getting in the way of the signal - not an issue he was told.
Whatever about the opportunity for a chat with Mum and sisters; what about broadband possibilities?; and what exactly is this radio technology?
Thanks in advance
Ruth

 

[nt00deep]

Used extensively in the developing world where laying cables is impractical. First I heard of it being used in these parts.

 

[Dearg Doom]

I've seen an installation like this at a customer of mine in Co. Wicklow. It basically uses a radio link to connect you to the Eircom transmission network instead of the usual cabling that would have to be extended to your house (a wireless land line, if that isn't an oxymoran). It worked fine in this case and they were able to get ADSL services over the radio link like you would on a normal land line. The only down side was support was very bad, there didn't seem to be any awareness of the system in Eircom support.

 

[dam099]

It worked fine in this case and they were able to get ADSL services over the radio link like you would on a normal land line. The only down side was support was very bad, there didn't seem to be any awareness of the system in Eircom support.

I would not have thought it would be ADSL but rather some sort of Fixed Wireless internet access (still broadband just a different flavour of it).

 

[Dearg Doom]

Definitely ADSL.

 

[govinda]

Hi Ruth, this is an alternative called "Wireless in the local loop" - Eircom and BT Ireland can provide it:

[broken link removed]

Sometimes its used instead of installing a traditional phone line. It can also be used to offer broadband, called Fixed Wireless Access. Details of Eircoms product are on their site, I can't give you a direct link as they time out but if you go to eircom.ie and search for FWA you should find details:

******************************************************
eircom fixed wireless access (FWA)
eircom fixed wireless access delivers broadband to you using FWA packet technology. Your router connects to an external antenna in your home. This antenna uses a radio channel to link into a base station, and then to the Internet.
eircom fixed wireless access (FWA)
Download large files in seconds: access speeds of up to 512kbps.
Accessible in 63 areas of the country: where DSL is unavailable.
Keep your Internet spend predictable: with a flat, affordable monthly fee.
Check out our fixed wireless access frequently asked questions section

Contact us
If you are interested or have any queries on eircom broadband satellite / fixed wireless access (FWA) phone us for free on 1800 303 503.
******************************************************

So basically this could be "narrowband" or "broadband" - best to give Eircom a ring, especially if they haven't quoted you €700-odd for installation, which is the charge for the FWA Internet product as I looked into this in Meath, a while back.

 

[snoop1]

Ruth,

I have such a system in my house. Built the house a few years ago, and this system was put in by eircom - basically not putting landlines in the area (probably due to the low populatiom?).
I was told that a clear line of "sight" is need between the unit on the outside of the house and the nearby "receiver", which in my case is located on a hill maybe 7 miles away.
I have a lot of trees around, and at the time I had to cut back some.... I find that I often don't have a signal and can be "crackly" also. When the signal goes (not sure if it's due to trees, or what) it can be gone for a while. I've had to replace the house unit as it blew a fuse or something to that effect. I'm not sure if it's just me, but I'm not particularly happy with the system and would prefer a land line. Also, as indicate in some of the threads, I'm not sure if the hardware/installations required to get broadband would be more expensive than with a landline.

 

[ajapale]

Moderation Bump

 

[Capt. Beaky]

Perhaps this is closely related to the OP's query. Got Digiweb connection recently. Broadband fine but there is a voice delay on the international calls. Have a clear view to the signal on the Dublin mountains. Will probably migrate back to Eircom after contract is up as the savings don't make up for the inconvenience of butting in and having to repeat.