Eircom began rolling out Broadband in 2002 and it is now available in areas near DSL-enabled exchanges from several companies other than Eircom. These include BT Ireland, Imagine, IFA Telecom, Clearwire, UTV Internet and many others. As more and more competition has appeared so have the prices dropped. Local loop unbundling (LLU) is now starting to move with companies like Magnet Networks and Smart Telecom offering unbundled services. As in many other countries, localities in rural Ireland are unable to get DSL. Areas around major towns in Ireland, and even some smaller towns, are benefitting from either rollouts of more DSL-enabled exchanges, or wireless Internet services. The government-sponsored Group Broadband Schemes have helped some local communities set up their own internet networks whether with wireless or other technologies. Satellite Internet access is the only choice for some people (termed "Satellite broadband" by some in Ireland for PR reasons), and the broadband for schools programme provided true broadband to just over half the schools in the country (the remainder relying on satellite technology).
The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) Trends Report survey shows that DSL (Broadband over a fixed line phone) is now the most common internet access technology used for residential internet access, with 42% of home internet subscribers using a DSL broadband product to get on to the net.
Where is DSL available in Ireland?
To avail of ADSL, there are two requirements.
Firstly, you need to have a phone line connected to one of the Telephone Exchanges, which have been ADSL, enabled. More and more exchanges are going live, but we are still along way from nationwide availability.
Second, your telephone line must pass a DSL Line Test.
This test is carried out by the your phone company to determine the suitability of your phone line for having ADSL operate over it. In some parts of the country poor quality lines means that the quality of the signal will prevent ADSL from working. The use of line splitters by the phone companies to provide extra phone lines in some parts of the country also prevent ADSL from operating. If at first your line fails the test, be sure to have it re-tested as oddly people have experienced second time round passes after a disappointing first time failure!
Advantages:
1. It is always on.
2. It doesn't interfere with phone calls.
3. It is relatively fast.
4. Installation is easy and not disruptive.
5. There are typically a broad range of services available and upgrading is easy.
6. Some providers offer a self install option which saves money and speeds up connection time
7. It is a mature technology making it reliable and inexpensive to implement.
Disadvantages:
1. It is dependant on several factors relating to the copper wire it travels on, including its quality and the distance to the customer.
2. Asymmetric only in Ireland to date.
3. As it relies on infrastructure owned by the incumbent provider (Eircom in Ireland), it can be difficult for other providers to offer the service.
How does DSL work?
The standard phone line that enters your home consists of a twisted pair of copper wires. These copper wires actually have lots of capacity for carrying more than just phone conversations along them – they are capable of carrying far greater bandwidth or a greater range of frequencies than required to carry voice data. Today, telecommunication equipment that sends digital rather than analogue data can safely use much more of the phone line's capacity. A telephone conversation over a phone line, can be carried in a frequency range of 0 to 3,400 Hertz (cycles per second ). However the wires themselves have the potential to handle frequencies up to several million Hertz. ADSL is able to transmit and receive extra information along the normal phone line at higher frequencies than the voice data without disturbing the voice conversations on your line.
ADSL is asymmetric - which means that it uses most of the connection bandwidth to transmit information downstream to the user and only a small part to receive information from the user. ADSL divides up the available frequencies in a phone line on the basis that most Internet users look at, or download, much more information than they send, or upload. This is why for the entry level ADSL offerings available in Ireland the upstream speed is typically 1Mbps whereas the downstream connection is 128kbps
Technical limitations of ADSL?
ADSL connections are not available everywhere. Not every telephone exchange in the country is ADSL enabled.
ADSL is a distance-sensitive technology. You must be within a certain radius of your ADSL enabled telephone exchange. The distance is measured by the length of the cable that twists and turns underground between your premises and the exchange, and not as the crow flies. ADSL typically can operate over a distance of 5,460 metres, although some operators may keep it lower to guarantee speeds.
What equipment is needed to use DSL?
A splitter box installed onto your standard phone socket enables an ADSL modem fitted to your computer to send and receive data over an ADSL connection. The splitter has two ports, one that runs into your computers ADSL modem and the other functions as a normal phone line socket.
Depending on whether you are using your connection in a shared environment or a single user environment you will need a multi user ADSL modem, or a single user ADSL modem. Both EsatBT and Eircom provide a modem with their ADSL offerings the price of which is included in the connection fee, although you can opt to use your own equipment.
Esat BT provide the Ericsson ADSL HM120dp USB modem for their entry level ADSL package for the residential/SOHO user, and the Ericsson HM220d ADSL modem for their business option, which has a built-in USB and Ethernet interface to permit easy connection in a networked environment.
Eircom’s single user product uses the Alcatel Speed Touch USB modem or the Alcatel Home Ethernet modem. Business users get the Alcatel Speed touch Pro modem with a 4-port Ethernet interface for use in a networked environment.
It is important to consider your security set up before you introduce an always on Internet connection onto your network. A firewall to protect the computers on your network is a must in such an environment. ADSL routers are available which combine an IP router and a powerful Firewall into one affordable unit - prices should be around €100. Installation is easy with its web-browser based interface allowing you to quickly configure security rules for your home or office network.
