Sympatico High Speed Dry Loop for 7mb/1mb, 60GB cap = 34.95, modem inc, NO CONTRACT

[deal_king]

I called to cancel and was offered the following after I tried to pricematch with http://web.vdn.ca/maxnet-en/maxnet-high-speed

Sympatico High-Speed 7mb/1mb
Dry loop
60GB cap
No contract
$34.95

Considering that I was paying 27.95 to Sympatico for 5mb/1mb unlimited for the last 11 years, and that Bell suddenly raised the price of my unlimited plan last November to 52.95, its the next best thing.

I know about Acanac and Teksavvy and their unlimited plans, but I run an e-commerce business and only exceeded 60gb once in the last 3 years.

Has anyone negotiated a better deal for Sympatico High Speed (5mb or 7mb)? If so, how?

[NG]

Buying anything from Bell helps to feed the beast.

[bubble.tea]

Isn't there a Bell retention thread?

A little bird told me retention with bell tops out currently at $14.99 for three months then $19.99 for another three then $29.99 for the remainder of the year. You'd have to beat that for this to be a hot deal I should say.

My figures might be a dollar or two off

[Hugh Jass]

Best I could get out of them was $33.95 a month for 7Mb service. Long time customer, with home phone and ExpressVu also.

[adrianf74]

I know about Acanac and Teksavvy and their unlimited plans, but I run an e-commerce business and only exceeded 60gb once in the last 3 years.

Has anyone negotiated a better deal for Sympatico High Speed (5mb or 7mb)? If so, how?

My condolences. I wouldn't pay $34.95 to Bell for internet (directly) ever again. They had offered me MAX10 service with a contract (including a paltry 100GB cap) for $41.95 or the same deal you've mentioned. They wanted to give me the $34.95/60GB cap offer on a contract only at the time.

I've been with Teksavvy now since November with ZERO downtime. Likewise, I've got a friend who's been with them for over two years. My only disappointment was not moving sooner. For $29.95 a month you can have a 200GB cap.

Cheers.

[mlerner]

That's nice but it's UP TO 7 mbps and 60 GB cap - that's just too small. Also you better hope you don't have a service outage due to the telephone wiring, you'll be spending hours on the phone trying to get the Indian rep to schedule a service call.

[vric]

I use DSL 5Mbit no cap for $29/m..

But your deal isn't too bad for a dry loop (what everyone seem to forget here.. dry loop usually cost $10 alone)

[nx6288]

60GB Cap? No Thanks.

[Avignon]

I was on the old unlimited until June (since they started HS ~1999).
the best they offered me was ~$37/mo. on an annual contract limited but 7 mbs. I told them I was going to teksavvy, still didn't budge.

Moved to teksavvy in Dec.
Lots of dropped connections initially, which I attribute to bell screwing with TS.
great support at TS, so I am persevering - hope they get it sorted out so I don't have to go to Rogers.

At one time we had Bell home line, 2 bell cell phones, expressvu & sympatico.
Now we have only the home line (which we will dump next year for TS).
A truly screwed up company.

[tweetybird]

DO NOT GO WITH SYMPATICO, they will tell you is is 34.95 and billing errors will drive you crazy, one month they charge 49.95 and I call and they fix it and then the following month they tack in $5 charges...endless waste of time. Go with Techsavvy..

[Germack]

DO NOT GO WITH SYMPATICO, they will tell you is is 34.95 and billing errors will drive you crazy, one month they charge 49.95 and I call and they fix it and then the following month they tack in $5 charges...endless waste of time. Go with Techsavvy..

+1 Same thing happened to me. Each month they overcharged me. I finally canceled and went to Acanac.

[tsttm]

those of you on teksavvy, are you buying the modems from them or are you getting them elsewhere for cheap?

[funnypanks]

I called to cancel and was offered the following after I tried to pricematch with http://web.vdn.ca/maxnet-en/maxnet-high-speed

Sympatico High-Speed 7mb/1mb
Dry loop
60GB cap
No contract
$34.95

Considering that I was paying 27.95 to Sympatico for 5mb/1mb unlimited for the last 11 years, and that Bell suddenly raised the price of my unlimited plan last November to 52.95, its the next best thing.

I know about Acanac and Teksavvy and their unlimited plans, but I run an e-commerce business and only exceeded 60gb once in the last 3 years.

Has anyone negotiated a better deal for Sympatico High Speed (5mb or 7mb)? If so, how?

most likely ur gonna be calling in every month so they fix the bill for you, its a pain in the ass, spend a little extra and switch to any competitor. i was on a employee discount plan with them, and it took them almost a year before i didn't have to call in to get the price quoted

[zsnow]

i'm still paying $67 for the max10 100G service.
it's hard for dryloop customer to convert to other company.

[night_sky]

Does anyone know if Sympatico blocks ports?

In particular, has anyone used openVPN in Sympatico network? I couldn't get it to work in Rogers network, I suspect it's a ports issue.

[TheRequiem]

those of you on teksavvy, are you buying the modems from them or are you getting them elsewhere for cheap?

Bought my own for around $60 after tax.

http://pricecanada.com/detail.php?product_id=484876&sku=TN516

Prices are a little higher now with the dollar where it is, but still better than buying from them. It was a breeze to configure if you are technically competent. (If you can flash and configure your own WRT, you'll have no issues with this.)

+1 for TekSavvy here. I send nothing to but love their way.

We really should organize an RFD group with them. They offer discounts for grouping, or so I've heard.

[Fire]

60G cap.... freezing cold

[ipxxx]

=( this should go in Shopping Discussion (considering the OP is asking whether or not you can get a better deal)...anyways, with Bell there are no deals

Thanks anyways OP

[ralph_toronto]

Listen everyone, bell sucks bottom line. They will BS you and charge you whatever they feel like. Their business model is a sham.

[neostylez3]

ya we got fed up with bell and their mystery charges...

initially bell was good, after rogers started to mess with their network and tweak traffic... but i think bell realized they could squeeze more profit from their internet services, and started traffic shaping as well, plus they had the private equity and teachers buying them out so, they had to look good.

anyways, i went with
http://www.pcvonline.com/productDetails.aspx?prodID=6620 its ADSL2+, switching two lines, from bell to teksavvy.

teksavvy ripping customers off on initial hardware and phone filter purchases... its cheaper to get from computer store those things, save enough for a 24 beer perhaps even export.

200gb> 60 or 100gb, cheaper, and 5mbs vs. 6mbs...teksavvy wins, bell epic fail.

[Shimso]

That's nice but it's UP TO 7 mbps and 60 GB cap - that's just too small. Also you better hope you don't have a service outage due to the telephone wiring, you'll be spending hours on the phone trying to get the Indian rep to schedule a service call.

rofl.

When I was with Bell my connection was at MOST 2Mbps, it disconnected in inclimate weather, never stayed connected for more than a day, etc. This was despite being told numerous times that I was close to the main service centre (or whatever its called). I had 2 or 3 tech guys come over - 1 guy worked on my house's internal wiring, another replaced about 100m worth of cable going from outside my house, and another said I was "making it up" despite the fact that he couldn't get a good signal at my house either. Nothing improved. I literally spent DAYS with their POS CSRs. I called telling them that for the umpteenth time I was disconnected, and the guy said he fixed it. I ran a speed test and he downgraded me to a 0.8Mbps profile without telling me (I was paying for "up to 5Mbps"). I called him out on it and he told me that's a problem with billing, not him, and the douche hung up on me.

I switched to Rogers and ever since I've been paying about $5, my connection has only ever gone down once for 5 hours after a year in a half (usually I'd see 5 hours of downtime about every 3 days on Bell), and my connection is never below 6Mbps (typically closer to 7).


Rogers, Telus or any other company could kick kittens into a blender and I'd still have no problem choosing them over Bell; Bell is by far the worst company I've ever dealt with. Bell rather spend their money in some horribly-produced ads than to actually make their services worth a damn.

[Kat]

most likely ur gonna be calling in every month so they fix the bill for you, its a pain in the ass, spend a little extra and switch to any competitor. i was on a employee discount plan with them, and it took them almost a year before i didn't have to call in to get the price quoted

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. "Most LIKELY" your internet will work just fine, and you will be billed the exact correct amount.

The Internet is a place where people go to complain about things. Not just this, but every device. You're not going to get anywhere near a "fair" comparison as most people don't go around posting how great their service is, how great this or that is... People don't say anything when the billing and internet is fine, well, because they expect it to be that way.

/Rant.

Let me be the first to say that I'm with Bell Sympatico. I download about 100 Gigs a month. The service is great. No down times. No Billing errors. Service exactly as it should be.

[Bolo!]

is that a 60GB cap per day? I can click off 60 gigs in no time.

[jedijome]

bell sympatico really does suck.
just stay away.

up to 7mbps and a 60gb cap?
forget it.

just go with teksaavy or any other competitor which offers a lot more for around the same price and save yourself the hassle.

once i got sick of bell treating me like crap i just told them to go shove it and I've been using teksavvy ever since. never had an issue and neither has anyone else that I've recommended them to. it's actually quite gratifying to see the number of new customers they've lost through word of mouth and no doubt will lose through the internet.

[puff_daddy_58_99]

I'm on teksavvy.... why don't they offer a 7 mbps service? I would pay more for that, no way in hell i'm going to bell

[bingo_jake]

I'm on teksavvy.... why don't they offer a 7 mbps service? I would pay more for that, no way in hell i'm going to bell

I asked them about, they said that's DSL2 and they don't have it. :cry:

[akz]

watch out.. just cause u have it locked in for no contract bell is known for saying oh the contract is expired (despite there being no contract) and forcing u to pay up regular price..

[fsabbagh]

Ur lucky. I've been with them for many many years and yes they constantly screw up the bills. I've called every month in the past 3 months.

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. "Most LIKELY" your internet will work just fine, and you will be billed the exact correct amount.

The Internet is a place where people go to complain about things. Not just this, but every device. You're not going to get anywhere near a "fair" comparison as most people don't go around posting how great their service is, how great this or that is... People don't say anything when the billing and internet is fine, well, because they expect it to be that way.

/Rant.

Let me be the first to say that I'm with Bell Sympatico. I download about 100 Gigs a month. The service is great. No down times. No Billing errors. Service exactly as it should be.

[akito925]

My condolences. I wouldn't pay $34.95 to Bell for internet (directly) ever again. They had offered me MAX10 service with a contract (including a paltry 100GB cap) for $41.95 or the same deal you've mentioned. They wanted to give me the $34.95/60GB cap offer on a contract only at the time.

I've been with Teksavvy now since November with ZERO downtime. Likewise, I've got a friend who's been with them for over two years. My only disappointment was not moving sooner. For $29.95 a month you can have a 200GB cap.

Cheers.

Me too I'm part of Teksavvy!!! no download CAP! boycott bell!

[junkmail2002]

Go with teksavvy...

$29.95 + dry loop charge (varies by band)... 200Gb/Mo cap. Or $39.95 + dry loop without a cap.

I've had it up for about six months... Haven't had to call customer service yet. It just works. The only downside is that it is 5M/800k service... but I prefer that over paying Bell or Rogers.

I have a static IP and am running a home PBX, server and a few other things... Torrent works. Say NO to Bell...

http://www.teksavvy.com/en/resdrydsl.asp?ID=7&mID=1

[lorax1284]

It's probably $2 per gigabyte over 60.

So, if you download 80 gig one month, it's an extra $20. If you only download 40 gig one month, you don't get $20 back.

Do NOT accept a 60 gig cap: that is too low for anything but simple email and Web surfing: just downloading trial software can cost dozens or hundreds of megabytes.

Teksavvy will give you DSL high speed with 200 gig download on a dry loop for about $40 per month.

As someone said earlier in this thread: don't feed the beast.

EDIT: I no good math: 20 gig over your cap is $40! That's more than the monthly charge INCLUDING the 60 GIG throughput: how do they justify charging EXTRA per gig over the included amount!? At that point it should be economies of scale and the cost should be less per gig!

[bubble.tea]

^ LOL...let's lobby for ROLLOVER bandwidth!!!!!

[NG]

Bought my own for around $60 after tax.

http://pricecanada.com/detail.php?product_id=484876&sku=TN516

Every once and awhile someone will post them for around $25 here - however i didnt' realize you had to do configuration yourself - DSL modems aren't "plug n play"?

Rogers, Telus or any other company could kick kittens into a blender and I'd still have no problem choosing them over Bell; Bell is by far the worst company I've ever dealt with. Bell rather spend their money in some horribly-produced ads than to actually make their services worth a damn.

+1 Sure people complain on the internet but the amount of horror stories about Bell is obscene - even the mainstream press picks up something now and again like a few weeks ago where Bell was charging hundreds of thosands in fees to people who were victims of voice mail hacking.

**************************

[pipegrep]

+1 f bell. I had the same billing problems. They kept sneaking extra charges on. Calling their support when their service is down is like clapping with one hand.

[fourtwenty]

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. "Most LIKELY" your internet will work just fine, and you will be billed the exact correct amount.

The Internet is a place where people go to complain about things. Not just this, but every device. You're not going to get anywhere near a "fair" comparison as most people don't go around posting how great their service is, how great this or that is... People don't say anything when the billing and internet is fine, well, because they expect it to be that way.

/Rant.

Let me be the first to say that I'm with Bell Sympatico. I download about 100 Gigs a month. The service is great. No down times. No Billing errors. Service exactly as it should be.

I also had billing problems and it took 5 months before they stopped over charging. I have 2 friends that it happened to as well. Who knows how many others are overpaying and just too lazy to do anything about it, which is what Bell is counting on.

I've been with Teksavvy over a year now (on dryloop, have VOIP) and it's exactly what i need. The less business people send to bell, the better as far as I'm concerned.

Edit:BTW, there are many people posting that Teksavvy is great, so that blows your whole "people don't say anything when the billing and internet is fine" theory...

Also, are you paying their full price, or did you negotiate a discount? The problems with billing seem to be for those that negotiate a lower than advertised rate. Bell ignores this hoping those people will forget or get tired of calling for the price adjustment every month.

[bestjsg]

just a newbie question....what exactly is Dry Loop means ? from what I gathered so far, it means no home phone line but just using the phone jacks for internet, but does that mean any home phone or Bell home phone in particular ? ..

[happy4uall]

DO NOT GO WITH SYMPATICO, they will tell you is is 34.95 and billing errors will drive you crazy, one month they charge 49.95 and I call and they fix it and then the following month they tack in $5 charges...endless waste of time. Go with Techsavvy..

EXACTLY SAME THING happened with me...Will be changing to TS or Acanac once contract ends on March 15...can't wait....Bell s*cks..:mad:

[demonizer]

lol, never believe what bell CSR's says. A family member called them about a problem with our home phone and at the end of the call, our internet went from unlimited to a 60GB capped service. Good thing I was home and made a call back to undo anything that was changed in the account.

[bubble.tea]

just a newbie question....what exactly is Dry Loop means ? from what I gathered so far, it means no home phone line but just using the phone jacks for internet, but does that mean any home phone or Bell home phone in particular ? ..

Ask...and you shall receive. (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=dry+loop)


FWIW, I was with Bellus for 3yrs...negotiated a stupendous retention deal. Kept my pricing down, kept my unlimited bandwidth for YEARS....no problems.

Finally pissed off the wrong asswipe agent who was chewing his gum like a cow in my ears, and zap, next day while checking my account online, the bandwidth was gone and put on 60Gb. Friggin RUNT. Lesson learned. Suck it up. I've been fighting for ~6months now to get the unlim bandwidth reinstated LOL...

[junkmail2002]

just a newbie question....what exactly is Dry Loop means ? from what I gathered so far, it means no home phone line but just using the phone jacks for internet, but does that mean any home phone or Bell home phone in particular ? ..

It means no phone service on the line. If you have regular POTS telephone service, even if it is with another company such as Primus (unless you are on Primus' DSLAM, but ignore this statement unless you live downtown Toronto), you will be going through Bell's equipment - which means that you can get regular DSL.

If you don't have traditional phone service, then Bell needs to provision a 'DRY' loop which means that they have to keep the line alive even though there is no phone service. For this, you or the DSL company have to pay a fee to Bell... That's why DRY DSL costs more. However if you set yourself up with a VoIP service, you should be able to more than offset the cost of the DRY LOOP

[bestjsg]

Ask...and you shall receive. (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=dry+loop)


FWIW, I was with Bellus for 3yrs...negotiated a stupendous retention deal. Kept my pricing down, kept my unlimited bandwidth for YEARS....no problems.

Finally pissed off the wrong asswipe agent who was chewing his gum like a cow in my ears, and zap, next day while checking my account online, the bandwidth was gone and put on 60Gb. Friggin RUNT. Lesson learned. Suck it up. I've been fighting for ~6months now to get the unlim bandwidth reinstated LOL...


I love that link thanks..! learning something new everyday..

[bubble.tea]

... That's why DRY DSL costs more....

huh? I've been on dry loop since '05 Jan'ish or whenever it was finally made available by Bell. Same price as if I had a tel line with them.

[junkmail2002]

huh? I've been on dry loop since '05 Jan'ish or whenever it was finally made available by Bell. Same price as if I had a tel line with them.

Bell may eat the cost for their customers or you negotiated a good deal and noone caught on. But why would you get DRY DSL service from BELL?!? The whole point is to ascend from the ninth circle of bELL.

Do you have regular phone service with any carrier?

[SPARTACVS]

Buying anything from Bell helps to feed the beast.

Bell is average but sympatico is terrible. Never saw such a messy company. I will NEVER be again one of their client.

[Sinoed]

DO NOT GO WITH SYMPATICO, they will tell you is is 34.95 and billing errors will drive you crazy, one month they charge 49.95 and I call and they fix it and then the following month they tack in $5 charges...endless waste of time. Go with Techsavvy..

+1! I am so frustrated with Bell right now.. This has happened to me I don't know how many times!:mad: Every time I'm supposed to get a promo rate I never get it, they overcharge and I have to spend umpteen hours on the phone arguing with useless CSR's who always ask for something I'm never given. I learned the hard way, always get the name and operator ID and a confirmation number. Write it down because you'll need it later when you have to call back. Be firm and if you get nowhere ask to speak to the manager. I'm going to be soo happy to leave Bell when my current promo is up.

[Won J Kim]

too bad Telus abailable only t west. Nic priceing for sure! Go thank OP!

[NG]

Bell is average but sympatico is terrible. Never saw such a messy company. I will NEVER be again one of their client.

Still part of the same beast. Besides Bell has even renamed Sympatico "Bell Internet".

[bubble.tea]

Bell may eat the cost for their customers or you negotiated a good deal and noone caught on. But why would you get DRY DSL service from BELL?!? The whole point is to ascend from the ninth circle of bELL.

Do you have regular phone service with any carrier?

We don't have any landline service. *Wireless Fam FTW*

I've always known dry loop DSL from bell to be the same cost as if you had a line with them. Many Mmmmmmmmmany agents have told me this...and clearly it is reflected in my past 4-5yrs of bills.

[Scottie]

That's nice but it's UP TO 7 mbps and 60 GB cap - that's just too small. Also you better hope you don't have a service outage due to the telephone wiring, you'll be spending hours on the phone trying to get the Indian rep to schedule a service call.

thank you come again.

[SPARTACVS]

Still part of the same beast. Besides Bell has even renamed Sympatico "Bell Internet".

It means nothing. A subsidiary can be better than the head company and vice versa.

[NG]

It means nothing. A subsidiary can be better than the head company and vice versa.

How about a horror story about Bell landline service then?

Years ago when Bell had those pay as you go internet terminals I tossed in a toonie and it didn't do anything. So I called Bell and they said they'd credit the $2 to my account.

Sure enough about a week later I get a knock at my door from a Bell rep saying he's got a service call scheduled for my phone line. I said no and explained what I thought had happed and he said OK and left.

Sure enough when I got my monthly bill and there was a service call charge that was around $80. Took me about 2 weeks and about 3 hours on the phone with various reps to get it removed. After that I canceled my Bell landline and Sympatico. I actually never had a problem with Sympatico - it was entirely a landline issue.

Or how about those folks who find they're the victim of Bell voice mail hacking and facing bills in the thousands only to be offered a way out if they keep their mouth shut about the flaws in Bell's voice mail system by signing a non-disclosure agreement:
http://money.canoe.ca/News/Sectors/Telecommunication/2009/01/27/8160576-cp.html

I've also heard a number of horror stories about Bell TV (formerly ExpressVu).

The company is rotten to the core. I stand by my contention that anybody who subs to anything from Bell just helps to feed the beast.

[paradime]

DO NOT GO WITH SYMPATICO, they will tell you is is 34.95 and billing errors will drive you crazy
This is exactly my experience with Bell!!! I had so many problems with their billing, it was insane. You'd talk to their support people and the problem would be solved, right? Wrong...and you wouldn't realize it until your next bill arrived.

When I finally cancelled out of frustration, I paid my full balance on-line. The site said I had a zero balance. Then I get a bill for $2 and change! Not worth my time to call them up, I pay it. My balance says zero again. Then I get a bill for 12 cents. This is crazy! They spent 50-odd cents to mail me a bill for 12 cents? Ok...I go on-line to pay it and it says I don't have an active account. Fortunately, that was the last bill I received.

Good riddance, Bell. I refuse to use Bell for anything. I know people recommend Techsavvy and others but they're still using Bell's DSL. I've wiped my hands clean of anything Bell or Bell-related.

[tweetybird]

surprised to see so many people having had the same "errors". is it pure incompretence or is there something deeper here :cheesygri

worst thing, when I canceled, they said to me they need 45 days to cancel, guess they needed to make one final billing error!

[jamewoong]

Their slogan:

Que la vie N'EST PAS BELL.

[SPARTACVS]

This is exactly my experience with Bell!!! I had so many problems with their billing, it was insane. You'd talk to their support people and the problem would be solved, right? Wrong...and you wouldn't realize it until your next bill arrived.

When I finally cancelled out of frustration, I paid my full balance on-line. The site said I had a zero balance. Then I get a bill for $2 and change! Not worth my time to call them up, I pay it. My balance says zero again. Then I get a bill for 12 cents. This is crazy! They spent 50-odd cents to mail me a bill for 12 cents? Ok...I go on-line to pay it and it says I don't have an active account. Fortunately, that was the last bill I received.

Good riddance, Bell. I refuse to use Bell for anything. I know people recommend Techsavvy and others but they're still using Bell's DSL. I've wiped my hands clean of anything Bell or Bell-related.

I agree with you. The problem is, if I drop teksavvy to avoid Bell, I'm stuck with cable, I don't know where you live but here in Québec there's a monopolistic rip-off with cable because you are stuck with the only cable provider in your region. Only one cable provider is allowed by region. Here it's mainly videotron. Videotron is another money stealer. And the keyword is "stealer". not taker. It"s normal for a company to make money but when they use a lot of debatable practices with high prices, then they steal you.

So no matter what, we lose: Bell or videotron, that's it. No other solution for high speed internet.

[sonyHdr12]

It's probably $2 per gigabyte over 60.

So, if you download 80 gig one month, it's an extra $20. If you only download 40 gig one month, you don't get $20 back.

Do NOT accept a 60 gig cap: that is too low for anything but simple email and Web surfing: just downloading trial software can cost dozens or hundreds of megabytes.

Teksavvy will give you DSL high speed with 200 gig download on a dry loop for about $40 per month.

As someone said earlier in this thread: don't feed the beast.

does bell has max pay if you download 300 g ,like rogers ,they just charge you $25 more, my roommate switch rogers to bell ,I recommend her to the $20 per mother unlimited download company ,she is afraid of too slow .anyway she pays internet ,I can't do anything ,although I know Bell sucks.

[FinderRO]

+1 Same thing happened to me. Each month they overcharged me. I finally canceled and went to Acanac.
+2
Same thing here.
Last 4 months with Bell I had to call and argue with the service reps every time I received a bill, because of their monthly overcharge.
When my contract was up for renewal I canceled right away and went with Teksavvy. Phone&Internet. Happy ever since.
I will NEVER go back to those bastards with anything :!:

[donye]

I like the bell high speed at home and dial up from work.
Bell give me 10hours free dial up connection every month.(included high speed price)
Is any other company give high speed + dial up?
I pay $24.95 +tax every month.I've been with bell over 10 years.

[ericdraven]

I've been with Bell HS for about 10 years with unlimited still.

I changed to a dry loop conection about 4 years ago and the connection doesn't drop but when the connection goes down it goes down.

The thing I don't like is calling tech support because it's in India, they make it sound like they are North Americans but they are really polite and you don't get attitude, it's just the fact that I'd prefer keeping everything Canadian.

[fourtwenty]

I like the bell high speed at home and dial up from work.
Bell give me 10hours free dial up connection every month.(included high speed price)
Is any other company give high speed + dial up?
I pay $24.95 +tax every month.I've been with bell over 10 years.

This must be one of those high speed "light" set-ups.

[1barginxhunter91]

hmm all your opinions got me thinking that i should leave bell...to be honest where i live thier service is not bad at all i never have been disconnected once and i have been with them for 2 years.. right now im not on contract and am paying alot and i am getting frustrated with all these overusage charges... I called to cancel and a very nice rep who actual seems like he knows what he is doing offered me a bell i think its internet performance for $30 not including modem.... i told him to note it down on my file... one of my dads freind has cia which is 3web he has phone and internet for 40 bucks not including taxes and he said for his area it is working for him for the last 5 years very well... do you guys think i should try to negiotate a package with bell for phone and internet or should i just move to cia(3 Web) thanks :cheesygri

[fourtwenty]

hmm all your opinions got me thinking that i should leave bell...to be honest where i live thier service is not bad at all i never have been disconnected once and i have been with them for 2 years.. right now im not on contract and am paying alot and i am getting frustrated with all these overusage charges... I called to cancel and a very nice rep who actual seems like he knows what he is doing offered me a bell i think its internet performance for $30 not including modem.... i told him to note it down on my file... one of my dads freind has cia which is 3web he has phone and internet for 40 bucks not including taxes and he said for his area it is working for him for the last 5 years very well... do you guys think i should try to negiotate a package with bell for phone and internet or should i just move to cia(3 Web) thanks :cheesygri

Move away from Bell.

[mlerner]

It means nothing. A subsidiary can be better than the head company and vice versa.

The internet division was re-organized with the re-branding. There really is no Sympatico division anymore.

[vipt2000]

This thread is becoming 'Bell Complainer Thread"

Just to put my 2 cents in: I am a happy camper since I switch over from Bell HS to Teksavvy for more than a year now.

[duckdown]

Lost me at "60GB Cap"

[vipt2000]

Lost me at "60GB Cap"

Yup I guess everyone hate BELL.

I hope RFD is getting $$$ from Teksavvy for all the free advertising/excellent reviews by RFD members.


:D

[fl9805]

Which one is better (Teksavvy versus Acanac) for high speed internet?

Also: Is there any benefit of having a STATIC IP?

Thanks in advance :)

[SPARTACVS]

Which one is better (Teksavvy versus Acanac) for high speed internet?

Also: Is there any benefit of having a STATIC IP?

Thanks in advance :)

teksavvy has a very good reputation. Decent prices and, more importantly, good tech and custommers service. Check canadianisp for a comparison.

[oncl0ud9]

Question about teksavvy, on top of the 39.95 monthly rate for unlimited bandwidth. You also have to pay for a band rate charge as well? I dont believe velcom charges for this do they?

[smihaila]

Question about teksavvy, on top of the 39.95 monthly rate for unlimited bandwidth. You also have to pay for a band rate charge as well? I dont believe velcom charges for this do they?

You need to pay band rate on top of that. I'm with Teksavvy and also evaluated Velcom - both are charging it.

The only difference may be with some providers (i.e. acanac?) where they are averaging the band fee in such way it's the same fee for all the zones (a, b, c etc). People in the less expensive bands would subsidize the others.

[smihaila]

teksavvy has a very good reputation. Decent prices and, more importantly, good tech and custommers service. Check canadianisp for a comparison.

I second that -- for teksavvy.

Acanac has (or least had) shady business practices. Never had them but that's what others were saying.

[tehownt]

Which one is better (Teksavvy versus Acanac) for high speed internet?

Also: Is there any benefit of having a STATIC IP?

Thanks in advance :)

I've had Acanac for more than a year now using their 19$ deal (plus 7$ dry loop fee) and I'm not really that satisfied.
First, expect quite a high ping, for me it's around 60 at the first hop (meaning that I can't ping lower than 60ms anywhere), which gives around 80-100ms to most servers (i.e. forget gaming). That might be because I'm located in Montreal and it might be better in GTA but its only speculation.
Second, they use cogent's network. I heard bad things about them before but never had the chance to witness it before going with Acanac, and let me say that I'm really not impressed: there's so much packet drop (around 30% according to mtr) that using VOIP becomes a real pain.
So of course you get unlimited D/L and their private SSH tunnel so as to avoid throttling (which btw is the main reason why you should boycott Bell) but once you have to pay 34+7$ dry loop it really isn't interesting anymore.

I seriously hope they succeed in fixing their network, if that's the case then it would be an awesome provider, but until then, I'm switching to tekksavvy on Peer1 (shouldn't bust the 200GB limit).

Regarding the static IP, it depends... If you absolutely positively do not want to run a dynamic DNS updater locally and want to host your own web server (on a slow 80k/s U/L connection) it might be interesting.
Otherwise you can still use services provided by dyndns and the like, or even better get some cheap hosting from dreamhost/bluehost/whateverhost for around 4-5$/month.

[paradime]

should i just move to cia(3 Web) thanks :cheesygri
CIA is fast and cheap but there use to be a lot of complaints over their tech support...essentially sitting on-hold for hours. If I could get CIA where I'm living now, I would have certainly gone with them.

Ultimately, I would ditch Bell. :D

Lost me at "60GB Cap"
To be fair, there is really no "cap." Rogers will just surcharge you to a maximum of $25 (except on their cheapest plan) for going over 60 GB. So, you can download 200 GB but you'll be billed up to $25 on top. I don't mind since I pay extra for newsgroup access anyway.

I've only ever gone over 60 GB twice and the one time, I was over slightly so the surcharge was under $3. The other time, I was way over so I decided to download stuff like crazy since I hit the $25 max.

[smihaila]

I've had Acanac for more than a year now using their 19$ deal (plus 7$ dry loop fee) and I'm not really that satisfied.
First, expect quite a high ping, for me it's around 60 at the first hop (meaning that I can't ping lower than 60ms anywhere), which gives around 80-100ms to most servers (i.e. forget gaming). That might be because I'm located in Montreal and it might be better in GTA but its only speculation.


Hi, 60msec latency for the first hop is not that bad. I'm in Montreal as you and using teksavvy in interleaved mode (in order to have the line more stable and higher rates - 6mbit profile) and getting 54msec. I tested before with non-interleaved but besides a smaller latency (25-30) no advantage.

I also did some tests with Bell sympatico DSL (while a Bell technician was at my apartment for measurements) and what I can tell you is that with them the ping to the first hop was indeed very good (10msec) but OVERALL when I was counting the total number of hops to a given internet destination (greater than teksavvy's), the total latency was almost the same...

So, my point is that latency to the first hop is not that important. The overall one is what counts. Teksavvy and other Ontario-based ISPs of course have higher first hops because of the way the equipment is located in the DSLAMs.


their private SSH tunnel so as to avoid throttling (which btw is the main reason why you should boycott Bell)


That's a nice feauture that Teksavvy doesn't have.


but once you have to pay 34+7$ dry loop it really isn't interesting anymore.


$7 for the dry loop is not bad at all. I'm Band B and paying $9.1 + GST.


I seriously hope they succeed in fixing their network, if that's the case then it would be an awesome provider, but until then, I'm switching to tekksavvy on Peer1 (shouldn't bust the 200GB limit).


Yes, Peer1 is very good. But you can never know 100% if teksavvy will always route through Peer1.

And btw, the VOIP quality is excellent. Using unlimitel.ca with pay-as-you-go plan as my one and only "landline" (yes, pay as you go, incredible but it's way cheaper considering how rarely I'm using the phone).

[robsoprano]

I currently have Vianet Residential DSL in Northern Ontario (which i believe uses bell's network) No service interruptions in past year and a half and liked not having a contract, paying for activation or having to talk to Bell:

* Free activation until further notice
* $39.99 / month
* Modem rental and software included
* Up to 5 Mbps download speed
* Up to 1 Mbps upload speed
* 5 email addresses
* Free junk mail filtering
* WebMail Access
* 100 MB of personal web space
* No charge dial-up access if DSL connection fails
(It makes no mention of bandwidth limits so I've treated it as unlimited for the without getting any notice about "excessive usage")

http://www.vianet.ca/residential_dsl.php

I'm actually paying $41.99 total after taxes (just guessing the breakdown is $37.16 + 1.86 GST + 2.97 PST).

On the lookout for a better deal or faster download speed but i dont really see anything worth the switch here so far.

My option for cable internet here is Cogeco http://www.cogeco.ca/en/high-speed-internet-_o.html, which has a great speed from reports i've seen but also has a download caps and much higher prices.

[tehownt]

When I had sympatico I usually had very good pings, sometimes even 15ms on some speakeasy servers.
I hope teksavvy will get me something better than 80/100ms overall which is unacceptable, Interleaved of Fast Path I don't really care, if they do not, I'll see how long I can tough it and otherwise I'll have to go with the cable.


And btw, the VOIP quality is excellent. Using unlimitel.ca with pay-as-you-go plan as my one and only "landline" (yes, pay as you go, incredible but it's way cheaper considering how rarely I'm using the phone).

That's exactly what I'm using and at 1c/min for most of North America cities it rarely busts 4$/month.
If anyone has the courage to setup an OpenWRT + Asterisk router it's the best phone deal you can get. (Add a little UPS for reliability when power's off).
There's even a step-by-step guide at http://wiki.koumbit.net/Asterisk14OnOpenWRT

[rfd-addict]

Just wanted to know if anyone could get this rates & speeds matched with rogers ...

[spong]

That's nice but it's UP TO 7 mbps and 60 GB cap - that's just too small. Also you better hope you don't have a service outage due to the telephone wiring, you'll be spending hours on the phone trying to get the Indian rep to schedule a service call.

+1. been there, done that. They messed up my inside-the-house wireing and tried to charge me over $200 to correct whatever they messed up in the first place. Took me 2 months to get them admitting that it was their own damn fault. By that time I have already paid for it (to avoid interest charge. Don't want to start another argument within another) and they are still deducting my phone charge from that 200 dollar payment after 6 months

[sahilz]

Just wanted to know if anyone could get this rates & speeds matched with rogers ...

I tried, Rogers wouldn't budge. So moved to Bell internet. Good thing is Bell gives $5 off for every service in a bundle.

[Supra_KL]

never use bell.
capped, throttled and over priced with hidden fees or contracts. dont support a monolopic company that the crtc just let's pass by. go teksavvy or acanac

[NG]

There seems to be almost unanimous hate towards Bell here.

How can we capitalize on that?

Of course I'm sure we've all told people we know about the horrors of Bell but how can we work together to do our part to sell this company down the river?

[akademiks]

God, I wish Teksavvy offered higher speeds (or - Bell would allow them to)

5mb/s internet is a joke. This is the same crap I've had for 5+ years.

[deal_king]

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. "Most LIKELY" your internet will work just fine, and you will be billed the exact correct amount.

Let me be the first to say that I'm with Bell Sympatico. I download about 100 Gigs a month. The service is great. No down times. No Billing errors. Service exactly as it should be.

Clearly you didn't read what the guy wrote. He said that he was on a discounted plan. Sympatico has a known issue with billing at discount rates. Customer Retention agrees to a specific rate, and then you discover a few months later that they are actually charging the original rate. When you call the billing department to complain, they say they neglected to add the credits to your bill and then proceed to add the credits manually to every past month. To add further agony to the situation, they can't issue the credit to your credit card, but instead use it as "store credit" for future services.

It is an unholy nightmare and I have experienced this FOR THE LAST 6 YEARS with Sympatico.

It goes to say that if you pay their regular rate, you will not have a problem with billing. But if you have negotiated a discount rate (as have most RFDers in their right mind), you will have a problem at some point.

[deal_king]

Guys!

The OP's deal was 34.95 dryloop, 60GB cap, no contract. For anyone who doesn't surf over 60GB (most people), it's a pretty good price. I'm a pretty heavy downloader of movies and torrents and my largest download month ever was 67 GB.

Acanac may charge $20/month but it is actually $27/month with a dryloop. Teksavvy is almost the same price as the OP's deal with the extra dryloop fee included... Not sure about Teksavvy, but Acanac works on a contract basis (pay for the whole year). The Sympatico deal is NO CONTRACT.

[Avignon]

Clearly you didn't read what the guy wrote. He said that he was on a discounted plan. Sympatico has a known issue with billing at discount rates. Customer Retention agrees to a specific rate, and then you discover a few months later that they are actually charging the original rate. When you call the billing department to complain, they say they neglected to add the credits to your bill and then proceed to add the credits manually to every past month. To add further agony to the situation, they can't issue the credit to your credit card, but instead use it as "store credit" for future services.

It is an unholy nightmare and I have experienced this FOR THE LAST 6 YEARS with Sympatico.

It goes to say that if you pay their regular rate, you will not have a problem with billing. But if you have negotiated a discount rate (as have most RFDers in their right mind), you will have a problem at some point.

+1 - I was with Sympatico in the dialup days, then started at the very beginning with dsl in 1999. They kept offering me one year contract discounted rates, then proceeded to charge me the full rate. This happened continually, year after year. Finally i told them the amount of time I was spending acting as their de facto billing dept wasn't worth it & i moved to teksavvy a few months ago.

Internet connection was fine, however - no complaints there.

[HarvsDad]

I'm FREE! THANK GOD I'M FREE!!!....

Just got off the phone with Sympatico to cancel my service. Surprisingly, I got a very nice CSR who actually understood my reasoning. I told her that I wasn't cool with the fact that I've paid for my modem 5 fold over the last 5 years with them, and that I'm still paying way too much for a 5meg service (I was on the old highspeed no cap service). She totally got it, and then proceeded to figure out what she could offer without doing a contract. After all was said and done, the best she could do was a whopping total of 5 dollars less than what I pay now monthly...right... well too bad so sad...She tried the whole 'well it's a faster line you'd get', to which I said, 'yeah, but now I'm capped, and I was doing just fine with the 5 meg and it was unlimited'.

So Teksavvy here I come! Thanks to everyone here on RFD for giving me the strength to break free from the Matrix :cheesygri

Mike

[sahilz]

Bell has also increased the Modem rental from 2.00 to 3.95, if it has not been mentioned, starting April.

[smihaila]

Not sure about Teksavvy, but Acanac works on a contract basis (pay for the whole year). The Sympatico deal is NO CONTRACT.

Teksavvy has no contract as well.

[hothummer]

why is everyone here so jiggy for Teksavvy? The dry-loop service from them would be $40/month while Acanac is $27/month. Seems like Acanac has pretty good service and I would rather pocket the $150 savings by going with Acanac.

I cancelled my Bell yesterday.. 8 years with them and like other posters have said, best they could do was $5 less/month and I would have to be throttled, shaped, f*cked and *scr*wed. All that PLUS I can spend every month on the phone with billing trying to get them to actually charge me the correct amount.

BYE BYE BELL.. SEE YOU IN THE CHAPTER 11 LINE..

[aoisora]

why is everyone here so jiggy for Teksavvy? The dry-loop service from them would be $40/month while Acanac is $27/month. Seems like Acanac has pretty good service and I would rather pocket the $150 savings by going with Acanac.

I cancelled my Bell yesterday.. 8 years with them and like other posters have said, best they could do was $5 less/month and I would have to be throttled, shaped, f*cked and *scr*wed. All that PLUS I can spend every month on the phone with billing trying to get them to actually charge me the correct amount.

BYE BYE BELL.. SEE YOU IN THE CHAPTER 11 LINE..

It's because overall Teksavvy has pretty good rating then Acanac although the price is more expensive then Acanac. Sometimes you cannot judge by the price only, do they have superior technical support, customer service or any other billing issue? Those are the factors why the price could be more expensive. Obviously, Bell has the worst technical support and billing issue. Rogers is a robber, and their technical support is same as Bell. When you do some research about Teksavvy, you should find out that their overall rating is on average.

[sunnybono]

I called to cancel and was offered the following after I tried to pricematch with http://web.vdn.ca/maxnet-en/maxnet-high-speed

Sympatico High-Speed 7mb/1mb
Dry loop
60GB cap
No contract
$34.95

Considering that I was paying 27.95 to Sympatico for 5mb/1mb unlimited for the last 11 years, and that Bell suddenly raised the price of my unlimited plan last November to 52.95, its the next best thing.

I know about Acanac and Teksavvy and their unlimited plans, but I run an e-commerce business and only exceeded 60gb once in the last 3 years.

Has anyone negotiated a better deal for Sympatico High Speed (5mb or 7mb)? If so, how?

I pay the same amount for ultra High Speed.

sk

[Mendes]

I pay the same amount for ultra High Speed.

sk

WITH dry loop?

[tomtomtom]

I also cancelled my sympatico retention plan 2 weeks ago. I was on 29.95 for 6 months and 34.95 for the following 6 months with 5mb (60GB cap).

the nice lady I was talking to offered 5 bucks recurring credits, and totally understand why I was cancelling, went ahead with cancelling. Later the week, retention called. They were sympathethic of us leaving Bell and ask what they can do to keep us. I told them in the face.. no cap, no throttle for 29.99. He returned with the ultimatum - 100GB, 7MB for 34.95. :lol:

NO DEAL.!

I got the shipping label to return modem on Monday, shipped the stuff back yesterday. This f*cking 2wire modem drove me nuts. I got myself a TP-Link DSL for 25 bucks. It's working great;)

Teksavvy, here I come.

[smihaila]

It's because overall Teksavvy has pretty good rating then Acanac although the price is more expensive then Acanac. Sometimes you cannot judge by the price only, do they have superior technical support, customer service or any other billing issue? Those are the factors why the price could be more expensive. Obviously, Bell has the worst technical support and billing issue. Rogers is a robber, and their technical support is same as Bell. When you do some research about Teksavvy, you should find out that their overall rating is on average.

Couldn't agree more. Their customer support is exquisite, being prompt in helping you with line issued that you may have etc. Not to mention minimum downtimes, speed rates as advertised even at peak hours and ... not being tied to any contract or payment in advance for a full year.

[rinottawa]

DO NOT GO WITH SYMPATICO, they will tell you is is 34.95 and billing errors will drive you crazy, one month they charge 49.95 and I call and they fix it and then the following month they tack in $5 charges...endless waste of time. Go with Techsavvy..

+1

Sympatico is a terrible robbing company with most of its employee in India.

[AlexFWD]

I pay 39$ a month tax included for:

5 mbit - unlimited DSL - no contract - dry loop
voIP phone - free long distance in canada - with all options (messaging, etc)

Have been with the deal for the past 6 months and I'm very happy. (cia.com)

To me this deal is cold... 40$ a month tax in for unlimited phone and high speed internet puts a smile on my face :)

[trucanuck]

Not sure if it has been mentioned yet but this deal is so cold it would make a polar bears nuts shrivel.


Going with Bell Internet is something you would regret. They are just plain bad in almost every way. Do not support this company as they have screwed over a great many RFD'ers.

Bell internet sucks, period.

[kmltick]

those of you on teksavvy, are you buying the modems from them or are you getting them elsewhere for cheap?

You can buy the modem from a local computer store. For me I bought the TP-Link 8816 from cty.ca for $25.

You can similarly rent to own or buy outright a modem from Teksavvy.

[dinesh_zee]

why is everyone here so jiggy for Teksavvy? The dry-loop service from them would be $40/month while Acanac is $27/month. Seems like Acanac has pretty good service and I would rather pocket the $150 savings by going with Acanac.

I cancelled my Bell yesterday.. 8 years with them and like other posters have said, best they could do was $5 less/month and I would have to be throttled, shaped, f*cked and *scr*wed. All that PLUS I can spend every month on the phone with billing trying to get them to actually charge me the correct amount.

BYE BYE BELL.. SEE YOU IN THE CHAPTER 11 LINE..

www.velcom.ca is another available option. No reviews from me yet as it has been only a few days since I signed up. It is the same price as Teksavvy, except you get unlimited d/l instead of 200gb cap.

[vindollar]

I'm on the grandfathered unlimited plan with Bell, and I just called and ask.

They gave me a crappy option for 34.95 for 7MB and 60Gb for 6 months and 39.95 for another 6 months on a 1 year contract.

NO DEAL. Gonna cancel on Monday after I change all my sympatico mail.

[ricoboxing]

THANKS No users have thanked deal_king for this thread.


i wonder why?

[ares_toronto]

I had tons of bad experiences with Bell in the past, the most recent one is the funniest, some salesman at Futureshop talked me into signup with bell when I purchased a TV from FS. signed up and two days later was told that my area didn't have DSL service available. so I said fine and forgot about it, a month later, a bill came from Bell with $129.xx charge for activation, first month fee or something else. It was so funny becuase:
1. I never received anything from Bell and wehn I called them, they asked me to return the modem they sent me.
2. The service I originally applied was the first 3 months free and no activation fee, not sure what those charges came from.
3. Took me 5 months and more than 12 hours of time to get my money back
4. Still remembered that the first time I called them for my money, waited 40 minutes to talk to a real person and was told I will have my money back soon until found out I was charge for another monthly fee on my credit card a month later.

So I decided at that time, never deal with bell ever again even they give me free service (Since in their stupid mind "free" means charging more)

[vipt2000]

I'm on the grandfathered unlimited plan with Bell, and I just called and ask.

They gave me a crappy option for 34.95 for 7MB and 60Gb for 6 months and 39.95 for another 6 months on a 1 year contract.

NO DEAL. Gonna cancel on Monday after I change all my sympatico mail.

I don't understand why people would use the email accounts from their Internet Provider (IP). If change your IP then you have to get new email accounts.

Just sign up with gmail, hotmail etc. there are plenty of free emails out there!

[mahoro]

I am still w/ the old contract w/ Bell
$50 w/ tax total, no cap

The download speed is decent from 2am to 4:30pm (5XX kb/s BT download depends on the Seed/Leechers)

I was hesitating if I should change to telesavvy

but I heard bell throttle 3rd party ISP.

So I stick w/ my plan for now

[Cheapster]

I'm on the grandfathered unlimited plan with Bell, and I just called and ask.

They gave me a crappy option for 34.95 for 7MB and 60Gb for 6 months and 39.95 for another 6 months on a 1 year contract.

NO DEAL. Gonna cancel on Monday after I change all my sympatico mail.

In case u didn't know. U have to give them 30 Days Notice. So u will have plenty of time to transfer your email.

[superwell]

Does anyone have experience with the TP-Link WR642G . I need a wireless adsl option, as i have the 2wire wireless now from bell and still need it when i switch over.

[tomtomtom]

Does anyone have experience with the TP-Link WR642G . I need a wireless adsl option, as i have the 2wire wireless now from bell and still need it when i switch over.

I got my gf a TP-Link W8920G (ADSL + wireless router). It has been problem free for 2 weeks since purchased. Speed and Signal range is good. CTY for $55

http://www.cty.ca/ProductDetails.asp?pid=2794

AFAIK, if you switch over, you have to return the modem and stuff. Judging that you have Bell 2wire (good router, sh.t firmware) you don't have a router?

[superwell]

I got my gf a TP-Link W8920G (ADSL + wireless router). It has been problem free for 2 weeks since purchased. Speed and Signal range is good. CTY for $55

http://www.cty.ca/ProductDetails.asp?pid=2794

AFAIK, if you switch over, you have to return the modem and stuff. Judging that you have Bell 2wire (good router, sh.t firmware) you don't have a router?

Yes i will have to return it..reason why i am asking about another wireless option. How much better is your compared to the one I was asking about...mine is $29.99 at PCV

[vipt2000]

In case u didn't know. U have to give them 30 Days Notice. So u will have plenty of time to transfer your email.

Also, just return the rental modem but keep the dsl filters if you decide to sign up for another DSL provider.

[Imelda_Acanac]

The first year with Acanac is for a full year prepaid at $227.40 ($18.95 mth).
However the subsequent years, you can pay on monthly terms instead:
6 mths at $35.95 per mth, 3 mths at $37.95 per mth, 1 mth $39.95.
Please read online http://acanac.ca/DSL-Terms.htm .
Download without worries 1gb to 100gb month.

Imelda O. Suzara
Acanac Rep

Guys!

The OP's deal was 34.95 dryloop, 60GB cap, no contract. For anyone who doesn't surf over 60GB (most people), it's a pretty good price. I'm a pretty heavy downloader of movies and torrents and my largest download month ever was 67 GB.

Acanac may charge $20/month but it is actually $27/month with a dryloop. Teksavvy is almost the same price as the OP's deal with the extra dryloop fee included... Not sure about Teksavvy, but Acanac works on a contract basis (pay for the whole year). The Sympatico deal is NO CONTRACT.

[tomtomtom]

Do you guys PM?:confused: Company T charges 29.99

[Imelda_Acanac]

For those concerned about the ping test and dsl connectivity,
please call Acanac support 1 866 281 3538 ext. 4.
You can also read more http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc737478.aspx .

Imelda O. Suzara
Acanac Rep

I've had Acanac for more than a year now using their 19$ deal (plus 7$ dry loop fee) and I'm not really that satisfied.
First, expect quite a high ping, for me it's around 60 at the first hop (meaning that I can't ping lower than 60ms anywhere), which gives around 80-100ms to most servers (i.e. forget gaming). That might be because I'm located in Montreal and it might be better in GTA but its only speculation.
Second, they use cogent's network. I heard bad things about them before but never had the chance to witness it before going with Acanac, and let me say that I'm really not impressed: there's so much packet drop (around 30% according to mtr) that using VOIP becomes a real pain.
So of course you get unlimited D/L and their private SSH tunnel so as to avoid throttling (which btw is the main reason why you should boycott Bell) but once you have to pay 34+7$ dry loop it really isn't interesting anymore.

I seriously hope they succeed in fixing their network, if that's the case then it would be an awesome provider, but until then, I'm switching to tekksavvy on Peer1 (shouldn't bust the 200GB limit).

Regarding the static IP, it depends... If you absolutely positively do not want to run a dynamic DNS updater locally and want to host your own web server (on a slow 80k/s U/L connection) it might be interesting.
Otherwise you can still use services provided by dyndns and the like, or even better get some cheap hosting from dreamhost/bluehost/whateverhost for around 4-5$/month.

[old_type]

my 2 cents...

tried acanac for a year, took about 2 weeks to get it up and running, quite a lot of headaches possibly because it was dry loop

afterwards, service was ok, fast, but it went down for about 20mins once a month

but they were cool and everything when i wanted to cancel...

dropped off the equipment, ended contract got my deposit or whatever back

[Imelda_Acanac]

Acanac is like every internet service provider -- competitive
and tries to provide the best internet service possible for the price
and to retain customers satisfaction so they remain with Acanac.
The User Agreement and all prices and terms are published
on the website. You can read it here http://acanac.ca/User-Agreement.html.

Imelda O. Suzara
Acanac Rep

I second that -- for teksavvy.

Acanac has (or least had) shady business practices. Never had them but that's what others were saying.

[Imelda_Acanac]

Dry loop has no dial tone and phone use and is cheaper
but functions the same for DSL internet.
Thank you for at least trying Acanac for the first year deal.

Imelda O. Suzara
Acanac Rep

my 2 cents...

tried acanac for a year, took about 2 weeks to get it up and running, quite a lot of headaches possibly because it was dry loop

afterwards, service was ok, fast, but it went down for about 20mins once a month

but they were cool and everything when i wanted to cancel...

dropped off the equipment, ended contract got my deposit or whatever back

[to_munda]

I don't understand why people would use the email accounts from their Internet Provider (IP). If change your IP then you have to get new email accounts.

Just sign up with gmail, hotmail etc. there are plenty of free emails out there!

Thats wut I've been doin since forever!!!
;)

[kingfencer]

DO NOT GO WITH SYMPATICO, they will tell you is is 34.95 and billing errors will drive you crazy, one month they charge 49.95 and I call and they fix it and then the following month they tack in $5 charges...endless waste of time. Go with Techsavvy..

agreed, i talk to way to many reps from india from bell, so many billing problems. and they lowered my speed from 7 meg to 6 meg as soon as i signed the contract...

[whoa-albert]

Just like OP, I've been paying Bell $52.95 with no cap. Except I definitely think I can get something faster for the price I'm paying. I don't know where to start looking and switching ISPs is such a hassle.

[Torch]

Thats wut I've been doin since forever!!!
;)

Best option is register a domain name and get email service on it. You can change every aspect of your service including DNS registrar and keep your email address forever. It's also an extremely convenient way of sorting mail - you can give every company a different email address when you register. Set up a wildcard imap account with your email host and use your email client to filter incoming messages according to the TO: field.

For example, I give companies email addresses like telus@mydomain.com, facebook@mydomain.com, etc etc... especially for questionable companies that are liable to SELL my address for spam. If they do sell my email address, there is no question WHICH company did it!

When that happens, I just set up an email forward so all the spam going to that address (like shadycompany@mydomain.com) gets forwarded to an appropriate address like techsupport@shadycompany.com... so their tech guys get the spam instead!

[whoa-albert]

Well, anyone on Bell Sympatico High Speed, should consider "upgrading" to Bell Internet Max 10. After talking to a representative, apparently it's 2x faster for the same price of $52.95 (might have to pay extra for modem rental), but you are capped at 100GB.

[harpons]

Another happy TekSavvy Dry Loop user here.
Been with them for 6 months, no line drops, no connection down, never ever had to talk to them, so no clue how good their tech support is.

Did some research between Acanac and TekSavvy before selecting. But there are some horror stories on dslreport about Acanac.
Didnt want the risk of something might go wrong. Paid more for TekSavvy and a happy camper since.

[aos007]

I am paying $50 a month for 6Mbit/640kBit from Telus and it's not a dry loop either. And the official cap is 60GB though they haven't been enforcing it from what I know (I don't go over). What am I missing here, when a $35 no contract deal for even faster connection is rated only 1 star?? Or is the competition so much better out east?

[Flipcharmer]

I've been paying Bell for $52.XX a month for unlimited bandwidth connection. I've asked them why is the price of my internet is so high and they told me that I'm on an old platform type of plan. They could change my pricing but then they would put a cap on my connection.

Is TekSavvy really a good company? Was there any hassle or downtime when you switched from Bell to TekSavvy?

[George4twenty]

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. "Most LIKELY" your internet will work just fine, and you will be billed the exact correct amount.

The Internet is a place where people go to complain about things. Not just this, but every device. You're not going to get anywhere near a "fair" comparison as most people don't go around posting how great their service is, how great this or that is... People don't say anything when the billing and internet is fine, well, because they expect it to be that way.

/Rant.

Let me be the first to say that I'm with Bell Sympatico. I download about 100 Gigs a month. The service is great. No down times. No Billing errors. Service exactly as it should be.

Every experience I have had with bell, as well as every experience I've discussed with others regarding bell all provide evidence that you are the exception to the rule.

Bell called a businessperson I know to make an offer on high speed DSL. He signed a contract to get his rate only to later discover the service was NOT available in his area. Bell refuses to release him from the contract even though they are unable to provide the offered service.

My Wife has spent hours over days and weeks trying to sort this out for him and made absolutely no progress.

MOST LIKELY? - Isn't that the generic answer Bell CSR's are instructed to give to customers? MOST LIKELY your internet will be available when you need to use it. MOST LIKELY you'll get better than 1Mbs. MOST LIKELY you will be billed the exact correct amount.

[Shimso]

MOST LIKELY you won't have an outsourced CSR downgrade you to DSL Lite speeds without you knowing it and while you're still paying ~50/month for High Speed. ;)

I am paying $50 a month for 6Mbit/640kBit from Telus and it's not a dry loop either. And the official cap is 60GB though they haven't been enforcing it from what I know (I don't go over). What am I missing here, when a $35 no contract deal for even faster connection is rated only 1 star?? Or is the competition so much better out east?

Its 1 star because its with Bell.

[superfigz]

Every experience I have had with bell, as well as every experience I've discussed with others regarding bell all provide evidence that you are the exception to the rule.

Bell called a businessperson I know to make an offer on high speed DSL. He signed a contract to get his rate only to later discover the service was NOT available in his area. Bell refuses to release him from the contract even though they are unable to provide the offered service.

My Wife has spent hours over days and weeks trying to sort this out for him and made absolutely no progress.

MOST LIKELY? - Isn't that the generic answer Bell CSR's are instructed to give to customers? MOST LIKELY your internet will be available when you need to use it. MOST LIKELY you'll get better than 1Mbs. MOST LIKELY you will be billed the exact correct amount.

SO TRUE.

They commonly tell you that you are eligible for 7mb and will most likely get that speed. Then you register, setup and find out you are 1-2Mbit. Then call in, talk to tech support, have them look at the line, try to raise the speed profile and finally find out you cannot get the service.

[tomtomtom]

SO TRUE.

They commonly tell you that you are eligible for 7mb and will most likely get that speed. Then you register, setup and find out you are 1-2Mbit. Then call in, talk to tech support, have them look at the line, try to raise the speed profile and finally find out you cannot get the service.

I got a similar experience. The customer relation department called about why I recently cancelled internet, hopefully to win back the client.

I told them three things,

1. Price
2. 60GB cap
3. Throttle

He counter offer to give me 7MB plan with 100GB cap for 29.99. So I ask him, my area can only go up to 4ish-5MB max, what is the point of a 7MB speed ?

5 second pause... ... ..., but it has 100GB capacity, 40GB more.:lol:

[johnnydoe1894]

+16,756,894 that Bell customer service and support sux.

[firechkn]

http://www.pcvonline.com/productDetails.aspx?prodID=6620

Can I use this modem out of the box for Teksavvy or does it require some programming?

Is it easy to do or am I better off buying the modem from Teksavvy?

[longdong]

Forget Bell Sympatico, billing error is common problem, month after month and hours on telephone with their support, .... it's so frustration ... if you don't want problems just pay them a very higher price ..

[mgbdragon]

I've been paying Bell for $52.XX a month for unlimited bandwidth connection. I've asked them why is the price of my internet is so high and they told me that I'm on an old platform type of plan. They could change my pricing but then they would put a cap on my connection.

Is TekSavvy really a good company? Was there any hassle or downtime when you switched from Bell to TekSavvy?

I'm not much of a tekky, but basics got Bell's ~$50 plan for $30 by requesting them to pricematch TekSavvy. No hassles but just have to check the first couple of statments which they will inevitably screw up. Other than that, to problems.

[Rurouni_Kamikaze]

http://www.pcvonline.com/productDetails.aspx?prodID=6620

Can I use this modem out of the box for Teksavvy or does it require some programming?

Is it easy to do or am I better off buying the modem from Teksavvy?

That's the exact same modem I got for Teksavvy, and I've only been with them for 1 month. It's really easy to setup, just enter your PPPoE settings, or put it to bridge mode and enter your PPPoE settings in your router and you're good to go. If you have a router that's compatible with Tomato/MLPPP, you can enjoy no throttle too. :)

[mcg]

I'd honesty go back to Bell if they relinquished the download cap and throttling.

With Teksavvy at least we can get by with MLPPP and a generous 200GB cap. With an interleave profile I can also switch over to 6M/800, which isn't too far off from what Bell is offering here.

If Rogers didnt have throttling I'd probably switch over to them too, I am speed-hungry.... a 95GB cap on their extreme plus (?) is fine too, since I don't go over 100GB most of the time.

[cdwalkman]

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. "Most LIKELY" your internet will work just fine, and you will be billed the exact correct amount.

The Internet is a place where people go to complain about things. Not just this, but every device. You're not going to get anywhere near a "fair" comparison as most people don't go around posting how great their service is, how great this or that is... People don't say anything when the billing and internet is fine, well, because they expect it to be that way.

/Rant.

Let me be the first to say that I'm with Bell Sympatico. I download about 100 Gigs a month. The service is great. No down times. No Billing errors. Service exactly as it should be.

OMG, in time you will understand what everybody else here is saying. Long story short, I was with Bell for years, got sick of their price gauging and dishonest behaviour (eg. suddenly charging me $2/min to phone the UK), left, was coerced back with a deal that sounded too good to be true, and sure enough it was. That was two years ago, two years of fighting and arguing with them over billing problems and them not honouring the deal they promised, over charging me by roughly $40 a month for two years, charging me for breaking non-existent contracts when I switched my long distance to Yak, etc. Trust me, this sort of behaviour from Bell is the rule, not the exception. If you haven't experienced this it's because you're probably paying through the nose for your Bell services and consequently have never had to deal with them on any customer service related issues. Technically, my phone and internet service are great with Bell (despite the throttling and cap), which is why I reluctantly went back to them, but their customer service is abhorrent and they can not be trusted.

Also, I wanted to mention that people who are comparing their Bell internet to other companies promising 7 MBPS service, etc., that is not a guaranteed speed, it is a theoretical maximum. When I left Bell I went to Primus who promised me up to 7 MBPS vs the 5 MBPS promised by Bell for less money, but in reality I was getting about 2 MBPS through Primus and around 4 MBPS from Bell. I fought with Primus about it, but the bottom line is these companies offering DSL service are at the mercy of Bell. So when I switched to Primus, Bell removed my "D-SLAM" (network card) from the central office (CO) very near my house and wouldn't allow Primus in there, so with Primus I was at a CO much further away, so consequently my speeds sucked. So these maximum DSL speeds should be taken with a large grain of salt.

Bottom line: AVOID BELL AT ALL COSTS

[darkprince]

same plan for 20$/month

[Imelda_Acanac]

Acanac actually has more reviews that are positive
than negative in http://www.dslreports.com/comments/2744 .
We try to assist customers to provide the best service
for the price they pay and complaints are taken seriously
that a repair ticketing process is in place to avoid cancellations.

Imelda O. Suzara
Acanac Rep

Another happy TekSavvy Dry Loop user here.
Been with them for 6 months, no line drops, no connection down, never ever had to talk to them, so no clue how good their tech support is.

Did some research between Acanac and TekSavvy before selecting. But there are some horror stories on dslreport about Acanac.
Didnt want the risk of something might go wrong. Paid more for TekSavvy and a happy camper since.

[tomtomtom]

I'm not much of a tekky, but basics got Bell's ~$50 plan for $30 by requesting them to pricematch TekSavvy. No hassles but just have to check the first couple of statments which they will inevitably screw up. Other than that, to problems.

Those older plan with unlimited bandwidth, Bell will not budge on the pricing. Your plan is likely a new ones with 60GB cap.

[serhij]

Hi Imelda,

can you please advise, is it possible:
1) to sign up for 3 months first
2) and after that for the year paying $227.40 ?

Thanks, Serhij

[tweetybird]

yeah, that would be a great option,

I withdraw that (thought we ewre talking about ACNAC)

Hi Imelda,

can you please advise, is it possible:
1) to sign up for 3 months first
2) and after that for the year paying $227.40 ?

Thanks, Serhij

[Badder]

anyways, i went with
http://www.pcvonline.com/productDetails.aspx?prodID=6620 its ADSL2+, switching two lines, from bell to teksavvy.

teksavvy ripping customers off on initial hardware and phone filter purchases... its cheaper to get from computer store those things, save enough for a 24 beer perhaps even export.

200gb> 60 or 100gb, cheaper, and 5mbs vs. 6mbs...teksavvy wins, bell epic fail.

Pardon my ignorance... What does switching two lines mean exactly? Does it mean if I'm subscribed with 2 providers (cable & DSL), I can switch between the 2 incoming lines on-the-fly?

I've got a brand new "2wire" modem from Bell "by mistake" (I've never subscribed with them), and I want to subscribe to Teksavvy. Do I have to do anything special to the modem (e.g. hack, reflash, etc) for it to work or it's just a matter of new username/password?

Thanks.

[Imelda_Acanac]

It is possible to first try Acanac DSL for 3 months
prepaid at its regular price of $37.95 month x 3 months
then switch to the 1 year deal, as long as it is
still available.

Imelda O. Suzara
Acanac Rep

Hi Imelda,

can you please advise, is it possible:
1) to sign up for 3 months first
2) and after that for the year paying $227.40 ?

Thanks, Serhij

[Imelda_Acanac]

Comparing ISPs and what each offers does help
to figure out which one fits your budget and needs.
This website by Canadianisp.ca is useful and links them
http://www.canadianisp.ca/cgi-bin/ispsearch.cgi?f=Search&p=ON.
Acanac offers the best first year deal for DSL with dry loop.
Note: all ISPs use the same lines of Bell and are affected
by its traffic management controls of bandwidth and speeds.

Imelda O. Suzara
Acanac Rep

I currently have Vianet Residential DSL in Northern Ontario (which i believe uses bell's network) No service interruptions in past year and a half and liked not having a contract, paying for activation or having to talk to Bell:

* Free activation until further notice
* $39.99 / month
* Modem rental and software included
* Up to 5 Mbps download speed
* Up to 1 Mbps upload speed
* 5 email addresses
* Free junk mail filtering
* WebMail Access
* 100 MB of personal web space
* No charge dial-up access if DSL connection fails
(It makes no mention of bandwidth limits so I've treated it as unlimited for the without getting any notice about "excessive usage")

http://www.vianet.ca/residential_dsl.php

I'm actually paying $41.99 total after taxes (just guessing the breakdown is $37.16 + 1.86 GST + 2.97 PST).

On the lookout for a better deal or faster download speed but i dont really see anything worth the switch here so far.

My option for cable internet here is Cogeco http://www.cogeco.ca/en/high-speed-internet-_o.html, which has a great speed from reports i've seen but also has a download caps and much higher prices.

[mcg]

Bell is planning to impose tariffs on DSL lines, take a look over at DSLReports.

Wouldn't matter if you were on TSI, or Acanac if this goes through... we're all ****ed! a Nice 60GB cap for all.

If this truly happens I will go to Rogers, sad to say, but meh, I want speed :)

[KAN]

I called to cancel and was offered the following after I tried to pricematch with http://web.vdn.ca/maxnet-en/maxnet-high-speed

Sympatico High-Speed 7mb/1mb
Dry loop
60GB cap
No contract
$34.95

Considering that I was paying 27.95 to Sympatico for 5mb/1mb unlimited for the last 11 years, and that Bell suddenly raised the price of my unlimited plan last November to 52.95, its the next best thing.

I know about Acanac and Teksavvy and their unlimited plans, but I run an e-commerce business and only exceeded 60gb once in the last 3 years.

Has anyone negotiated a better deal for Sympatico High Speed (5mb or 7mb)? If so, how?

VDN is a division of BELL !!!
The beast has grown more tentacles...

[TechGuyMTL]

Been on Symaptico 5 years... for the last 3 years been paying $23/month (taxes included) for HS Internet, unlimited, no contract. Pretty sweet deal I had going.

Time to renew, so called Bell today to try and get something good out of them. Best I could get is this:

$32 month
60 GB cap
up to 7mbps
No contract

It's the Bell Internet Performance plan.

They won't budge on pricing. Nor on the very lame 60 GB cap.

Very close to cancelling... I'm actually looking to switch to a new provider now for the first time.

Recommendations anyone?

[superwell]

Been on Symaptico 5 years... for the last 3 years been paying $23/month (taxes included) for HS Internet, unlimited, no contract. Pretty sweet deal I had going.

Time to renew, so called Bell today to try and get something good out of them. Best I could get is this:

$32 month
60 GB cap
up to 7mbps
No contract

It's the Bell Internet Performance plan.

They won't budge on pricing. Nor on the very lame 60 GB cap.

Very close to cancelling... I'm actually looking to switch to a new provider now for the first time.

Recommendations anyone?

you actually got a good deal from them..the only thing they would offer me was $35 for the first 6months and then $39 for the rest on a contract. SO I switched to teksavvy...$29/month..works for me...had to buy the modem..so it's kinda like the same price for the first year but after that it will be $10 less for me anyway.

[galantgtz99]

60gb cap kills the deal... i will not give up my unlimited for this.... even my unlimited was over 50 bucks...
i know acanac has unlimited as well... but tried it... wasn't as fast as my cable...

[jtplayte]

I was a sympatico customer for almost 12 years !!!!
Always paid $24.95 a month, unlimited DSL (once I got high speed), no contract, don't like contracts. They WOULD NOT budge off $29.95 a month, 1 year contract. I tried and tried as I didn't want to change my E-Mail that everyone had for almost 12 years. Not to mention multiple BIG TIME billing errors.
Long story short, Love Gmail, and Love Tekksavvy.....going on my 3rd year.
NO COMPARISON. Don't roll the dice with Bell.
Only have Bell for local line now (used to have cell and satellite too)....and the only reason is my area has no local exchange for VOIP.

If you go Bell, you have been warned, good luck with that.

jp

[vinnie1990]

Well I just re nogotiated a price with bell since everyone that is using what they call the "grand father" plan ( people with unlimited bandwidth since they were long time customers) all now pay 52.95 a month, i called in and it took me a couple tries but now my bill is now 47.95 - 10%

I just had to attatch a new house phone plan deal, WITHOUT ANY CONTRACTS ON BOTH, and i get the 10% off bundle and 5 bucks off the internet. They were also nice enough to make it 7mbs rather than 5mbs. I just complained saying how we are loyal customers and this new price was too expensive and the speed worth that price, and they will do the "best" they can. I brought up the techsavy and also rogers how for this price they are giving 7mbs and they matched the speed no problem.

hope some people can try that too.

[NG]

Bell is planning to impose tariffs on DSL lines, take a look over at DSLReports.

Wouldn't matter if you were on TSI, or Acanac if this goes through... we're all ****ed! a Nice 60GB cap for all.

If this truly happens I will go to Rogers, sad to say, but meh, I want speed :)

I've read a bit about that but I don't know if it's certain Bell can do that or if the cap will be as little as 60 GB (could have sworn the consensus on the Teksavvy sub forum would be that it'd be a 200 GB cap).

[NG]

Found this linked off from dsl reports for those interested:

New Bell Canada complaints site
Bell Canada is another of those giant greeedy, grasping corporations to whom its customers mean absolutely nothing, as it demonstrates almost on a daily basis.

Just like the corporate music industry, it’s immune to government intervention and pretty well does whatever it likes, whenever it feels like it, with customer care and concern squarely on the bottom of its to-do list.

This has spawned a number of websites devoted to the perfidy of not-so-simpatico Bell Canada, which sees its customers as cash cows to be milked at every opportunity, irrespective of their needs and wants.

With that in mind, “Hi,” says Bob in a p2pnet Reader’s Write, “I am filing a small claims suit against Bell for over billing. I am also complaining about the constant belligerence, misrepresentation, etc.

“If anyone has stories they can share, I would like to hear from you. You can visit the site I have set up for this here: http://SeekPhone.info, or you can send EMail directly to: Bell310@SeekPhone.info. Thanks!”

http://seekphone.info/
http://www.p2pnet.net/story/19166 [Note to mods: Despite the name this isn't a P2P site - just general tech/media info]

[bpopd]

teksavvy is probably most reliable service I've had... Rogers was the fastest.

[kyfe]

I used ACANAC for 1 year and cancelled in NOV 08, the service was always going down and I'd have to call. I was never once offered a credit against my service nor was I given a reasonable explaination as to why it was happening. The only real way to get in contact with someone is via email, to speak to a live person it's between 9 and 12 or something like that and I never got the advertised speeds instead I was averaging about half of the advertised speed up and down.

Overall a negative experience, I was suprised when I cancelled no offer to save my business was even made. Still I would choose them again over bell but now I know so many people with Teksavy that it's almost a no brainer to bring my business there.

[X-Nemesis]

I posted in the other Bell deal thread. If you don't know, read these two threads in the Teksavvy forum and no they are not to plug Teksavvy.

And then share these links with as many people as you know.

Bell files a half asses tarrif
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r220...f-assed-tarrif

ISPs demand action on speed parity
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r221...n-speed-parity

[bbbbb1]

Like many people said before, the billing errors will kill any deal you may get. (if any at all).
In the a little over two years that I was with sympatico, I had call in for at least 10 times to fix my bill. At the end I simply gave up the $20 extra they over charged me and went to Acanac.
So far Acanac is doing fine. Only one speed issue which was actually Bell's problem later got fixed.
So yes, stay away from sympatico, the $10 saving per month is not worth the 30 minutes on the phone per month.

[superfigz]

I posted in the other Bell deal thread. If you don't know, read these two threads in the Teksavvy forum and no they are not to plug Teksavvy.

And then share these links with as many people as you know.

Bell files a half asses tarrif
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r220...f-assed-tarrif

ISPs demand action on speed parity
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r221...n-speed-parity

Links aren't working, your links include "..." so maybe it got squished by something

[redkulat]

Bell is ridiculous with both their home phones and their internet service. I recently just canceled my Bell internet service (was with them for 6 years) and I am thinking of switching over to TekSavvy.

Bell was offering me a one year contract of 34.95 for 7 MB with a 60 GB cap or 6 months at 29.95 for 7 MB and w 60 GB cap.

I didn't want to be stuck again with them so I have stayed down.

Plus one of my friends disapproves of Bell because of their throttling of the internet while TekSavvy is able to get through that (something with MLPP).

I'm paying a lot cheaper and getting speeds I deserve. 200 GB is definitely more than enough for me.

[Badder]

I believe these are the links:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r22084387-Bell-files-a-half-assed-tarrif

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r22120785-FILING-ISPs-demand-action-on-speed-parity

Interesting...

[NG]

I believe these are the links:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r22084387-Bell-files-a-half-assed-tarrif

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r22120785-FILING-ISPs-demand-action-on-speed-parity

Interesting...

Even more interesting:


Bell fined $280,000 for deaths of cable workers

OAKVILLE – Bell Canada has been slapped with the largest fine ever for a federally regulated company over a health and safety violation under the Canada Labour Code.

The company pleaded guilty in a courtroom in Oakville, today to three charges in the deaths of two Ontario workers in June 2007.
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/609589

[ShootingStars]

im on bell
i got 90gb cap cuz we argued for it... cuz we used to have unlimited

[alpenrock]

I was with Rogers for my whole thingy. home phone/internet/cell/ then I was mad
when I asked rogers guy to come and fix my homw phone dried loops.
they asked me 69$ I said fcuk off and cancelld everything and went to Bell.
bell.gave me do it yourself kit. plus 44.95 for my internet minus 10$ 6 months
Oh my god. the speed never went beyond 3000KBPS I shout get 6000.
but since I change with ROGERS my speed gets to 8-9 G per second plus I called the rogers guys and told them I bought a lap top at future shop
FS told me to call rogers to 3 months but they charge me 49$for guy to come and fixed the internet. now I am so happy:lol::lol::lol:

[Chocolinx]

I called to cancel and was offered the following after I tried to pricematch with http://web.vdn.ca/maxnet-en/maxnet-high-speed

Sympatico High-Speed 7mb/1mb
Dry loop
60GB cap
No contract
$34.95

Considering that I was paying 27.95 to Sympatico for 5mb/1mb unlimited for the last 11 years, and that Bell suddenly raised the price of my unlimited plan last November to 52.95, its the next best thing.

I know about Acanac and Teksavvy and their unlimited plans, but I run an e-commerce business and only exceeded 60gb once in the last 3 years.

Has anyone negotiated a better deal for Sympatico High Speed (5mb or 7mb)? If so, how?

You do realize that 8.5/1 is the new standard for the High Speed profile. I just recently asked them to raise my 6/1 to 8.5/1 at no extra charge. Just post on the Bell DirectForum on www.dslreports.com and one of the head managers will do it for you.

[mahoro]

im on bell
i got 90gb cap cuz we argued for it... cuz we used to have unlimited

Why did you switch plan if you have unlimited?

I rather pay an extra $20/ month for unlimted, which is what I am doing right now ($50/months total w/ tax)

[Imelda_Acanac]

Acanac has asked me to be available on redflagdeals forum
to assist customers who need help and are posting complaints.
We hope to improve customer service and retention.

Imelda O. Suzara
Acanac Rep

I used ACANAC for 1 year and cancelled in NOV 08, the service was always going down and I'd have to call. I was never once offered a credit against my service nor was I given a reasonable explaination as to why it was happening. The only real way to get in contact with someone is via email, to speak to a live person it's between 9 and 12 or something like that and I never got the advertised speeds instead I was averaging about half of the advertised speed up and down.

Overall a negative experience, I was suprised when I cancelled no offer to save my business was even made. Still I would choose them again over bell but now I know so many people with Teksavy that it's almost a no brainer to bring my business there.

[eexxcess]

those of you on teksavvy, are you buying the modems from them or are you getting them elsewhere for cheap?

you can have a brand new modem for as little as $30 if you purchase elsewhere.

more info...http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=594003 ;)

[ninjafrompond]

I've been with Acanac for almost a year now, and I can easily say all the problems that have existed were because of Bell.

Acanac has seemingly gone out of their way with everything from getting Bell service techs to your door (if they even bother to knock) to creating the tunnel through Bell's ignorant throttling.

If we persist on letting Bell bully smaller ISP's like this, we'll never get out of only having two major ISP's in this country. It is far too controlled by The Big Two.

My hat goes off to Acanac for their continued effort.

[Imelda_Acanac]

There are articles worth reading on the relationship with Bell
managing the network of lines and traffic and the ISPs which
sell the internet service to customers.

Read
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:y2knxZmbUl4J:www.vaxination.ca/crtc/ADSL_intro.pdf+bell+dsl+isp+line&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&client=firefox-a
http://www.cata.ca/Communities/caip/
See attached pdf file on tariffs paid by ISPs to Bell per GAS residence
http://www.cata.ca/Communities/caip/resources/HighSpeedAccess/April0408.html

I've been with Acanac for almost a year now, and I can easily say all the problems that have existed were because of Bell.

Acanac has seemingly gone out of their way with everything from getting Bell service techs to your door (if they even bother to knock) to creating the tunnel through Bell's ignorant throttling.

If we persist on letting Bell bully smaller ISP's like this, we'll never get out of only having two major ISP's in this country. It is far too controlled by The Big Two.

My hat goes off to Acanac for their continued effort.

[murdoc2k]

cold! Totally Cold deal!

Get Teksavvy 200gb plan. It's about 28 dollars (cheaper than your bell) about 3.2 times more bandwith for your needs. Ok.. the speed is slower 5m/800k but

1) You are not feeding the beast
2) You get 3.2 more bandwidth so no over charges
3) it's about 6 bucks cheaper and there's no modem fees (cause you have to buy your own)

so unless your e-commerce site is so popular that you have more than 10 users on your site at once all day, teksavvy is good enough. I would also imagine that you would opt for a dedicated server ($100+ / month) instead of a home server if traffic was at such high levels.

--
My 2 cents.

[Imelda_Acanac]

I wrote a posting #776 to compare/contrast the 2 ISPs
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8484046&postcount=776
for the 5M unlimited plans for those who do not like caps.
Teksavvy does have a Premium HiSpeed 200gb capped
plan at $29.95 but Acanac has only one plan.
Acanac Lynx modem is $49.95 refundable
and Teksavvy sells theirs from $75. Acanac prices include taxes.
Acanac offers prepaid discounted terms 3mth/6mth/1 year.

Read Acanac http://acanac.ca/DSL-feature.htm
Read Teksavvy http://www.teksavvy.com/en/resdsl.asp?ID=7&mID=1

Imelda O. Suzara
Acanac Rep

cold! Totally Cold deal!

Get Teksavvy 200gb plan. It's about 28 dollars (cheaper than your bell) about 3.2 times more bandwith for your needs. Ok.. the speed is slower 5m/800k but

1) You are not feeding the beast
2) You get 3.2 more bandwidth so no over charges
3) it's about 6 bucks cheaper and there's no modem fees (cause you have to buy your own)

so unless your e-commerce site is so popular that you have more than 10 users on your site at once all day, teksavvy is good enough. I would also imagine that you would opt for a dedicated server ($100+ / month) instead of a home server if traffic was at such high levels.

--
My 2 cents.

[sinnor]

I am on teksavvy along with all my other family members that I got to switch from Sympatico. I setup a group account as it gives you a discount if you have more than 4 people in your group.

Teksavvy
- excellent canadian customer service (you don't have to reboot 50 times like bell to figure out a problem)
- 200gb limit
- 5meg/1meg (ya...like you can tell the difference between 5meg & 7meg. Regardless, you will exceed 200gb limit with the 5meg in less than 1month and even faster with 60gig limit)
- good price (Great price)
- need modem (just buy one)
- simple billing system
- Security (my information stays in Canada where I feel abit safer)
- all in all I feel good knowing that my money is staying in Canada and helping Canadians.

Sympatico
- crappy outsourced customer service
- 60gb
- 7meg/1meg (Doesn't mean much when your p2p speed is regulated during the day)
- very expensive
- need to rent modem
- billing nightmare dealing with these guys
- Security (Who protects our data with outsourced companies and do Canadian laws protect us if there is a breach with Sympatico's outsourced company?)
- did I mention that money is leaving the country to pay people in India for jobs that can be done by Canadians. Isn't it recession time.

Also with Bell bringing their call centre back is a lie. The reality is that they are only bringing 25% of the call centre back and at the sametime they are outsourcing the server environment guys to India.

I say support Teksavvy, Acanac or any of the local guys that actually keep jobs in Canada.

Good Luck.


Mo.

[sinnor]

For guys looking for a cheap dsl modem check out the 2 wire 2700HG-E modem. It has 4 extra ports and wireless g on it. You should be able to get it for about $20 - $40 on ebay, craigslist, kijiji etc...

Good cheap modem that supports ADSL2.

[Candeeman]

I am on teksavvy along with all my other family members that I got to switch from Sympatico. I setup a group account as it gives you a discount if you have more than 4 people in your group.

Teksavvy
- excellent canadian customer service (you don't have to reboot 50 times like bell to figure out a problem)
- 200gb limit
- 5meg/1meg (ya...like you can tell the difference between 5meg & 7meg. Regardless, you will exceed 200gb limit with the 5meg in less than 1month and even faster with 60gig limit)
- good price (Great price)
- need modem (just buy one)
- simple billing system
- Security (my information stays in Canada where I feel abit safer)
- all in all I feel good knowing that my money is staying in Canada and helping Canadians.

Sympatico
- crappy outsourced customer service
- 60gb
- 7meg/1meg (Doesn't mean much when your p2p speed is regulated during the day)
- very expensive
- need to rent modem
- billing nightmare dealing with these guys
- Security (Who protects our data with outsourced companies and do Canadian laws protect us if there is a breach with Sympatico's outsourced company?)
- did I mention that money is leaving the country to pay people in India for jobs that can be done by Canadians. Isn't it recession time.

Also with Bell bringing their call centre back is a lie. The reality is that they are only bringing 25% of the call centre back and at the sametime they are outsourcing the server environment guys to India.

I say support Teksavvy, Acanac or any of the local guys that actually keep jobs in Canada.

Good Luck.


Mo.

Doesn't teksavvy rent their lines from Bell anyway? Regardless, you're feeding the beast either way....:twisted:

[golfyfan]

Hey guys, I'm a noob to all this internet thing, I'm a girl btw. I heard that even if I go to the other companies such as Teksavvy, acanac etc. I'm still gonna be paying Bell about $10 a month for using their line (is that what the dry loop thing is?). I'm not using Bell home phone (voIP) or TV. Thanks for any help!

[calendervulture55]

Beware of Bell ,check fine print , evil company!
I have alot of my own experience with them to backup these words.

[vsj54]

SO TRUE.

They commonly tell you that you are eligible for 7mb and will most likely get that speed. Then you register, setup and find out you are 1-2Mbit. Then call in, talk to tech support, have them look at the line, try to raise the speed profile and finally find out you cannot get the service.

I got a similar experience. The customer relation department called about why I recently cancelled internet, hopefully to win back the client.

I told them three things,

1. Price
2. 60GB cap
3. Throttle

He counter offer to give me 7MB plan with 100GB cap for 29.99. So I ask him, my area can only go up to 4ish-5MB max, what is the point of a 7MB speed ?

5 second pause... ... ..., but it has 100GB capacity, 40GB more.:lol:

I thought I was alone on this. A year and a half ago my contract with Bell had expired so I had called to renew at a better price. I was on 5MB but I was told by the rep that it was no longer offered. I could stay at 5MB or go with 7MB. Stupid me I took the 7MB.

Unfortunately, my bandwidth did not increase from the old 5MB. Talking to tech support at the central office he said he could not change my profile to 7MB or even 6MB. I then find out that I was capped to 60GB whereas I was unlimited before. I called in to explain that I did not get what I ordered. In fact it got worse - less features. I said to put me back to 5MB (grandfathered). But I was told that since I switched to 7MB (based on their promise) I could no longer be grandfathered even though Bell did not deliver on the order. I said then ... ok ... give me the 7MB or even 6MB service. I was told , in a nutshell, too bad.

I've left since. I'm happy with Teksavvy. Too bad for Bell since I was with their ISP for approx 10 years. I even got rid of the land line that I had for 25 years.

[SoGood]

I thought I was alone on this. A year and a half ago my contract with Bell had expired so I had called to renew at a better price. I was on 5MB but I was told by the rep that it was no longer offered. I could stay at 5MB or go with 7MB. Stupid me I took the 7MB.

Unfortunately, my bandwidth did not increase from the old 5MB. Talking to tech support at the central office he said he could not change my profile to 7MB or even 6MB. I then find out that I was capped to 60GB whereas I was unlimited before. I called in to explain that I did not get what I ordered. In fact it got worse - less features. I said to put me back to 5MB (grandfathered). But I was told that since I switched to 7MB (based on their promise) I could no longer be grandfathered even though Bell did not deliver on the order. I said then ... ok ... give me the 7MB or even 6MB service. I was told , in a nutshell, too bad.

I've left since. I'm happy with Teksavvy. Too bad for Bell since I was with their ISP for approx 10 years. I even got rid of the land line that I had for 25 years.

i think i'm about to switch to teksavvy.
I called in to bell to try and bargain for a better deal a couple of days ago. and they said i'm currently under contract! which i do not recall agreeing to. they said i agreed to the contract over the phone last year when i was having problems with my phone line!?!?! :confused: I haven't had billing problems with them before, but just horrible service....luckily my 'contract' ends in June...get away from them for good...at least internet wise.

[ron_reck]

Just a word of caution to anyone considering any of Bell's services prepare yourself for billing and customer service nightmares beyond belief.If you have a lot of free time to spend chasing billing errors,lies and absolute garbage customer service than by all means go for it.There is a TON of info regarding these issues on the web to make anyone run for the hills when it comes to Bell.I have had over 25 years of this nonsense and am down to 1 landline and satellite with them ,down from over 9 services over the years.

[duttypersian]

bell sucks

their bandwith cap sucks

their business policies are ethically questionable

they should drop out of the face of this planet... well Canada at least

[calendervulture55]

Exactly what ron_reck says , I had these problems like many others have ,it is astonishing how this company(Bell) from hell gets away with things!
I am down to 2 services today from 5 services years ago , and hope to go down to 0 if they keep up their horrible tactics.

[ron_reck]

Just a footnote to my previous rant,I to look forward to the day when my services with Bell are 0.This forum is supposed to be for DEALS .There will never be a deal from Bell.Just for reference here is a site by Toronto Star columnist Ellen Roseman that will give you some idea on Bell Blues.
http://www.ellenroseman.com/?p=8

[Imelda_Acanac]

Bell does control the lines and gets paid by ISPs
customers for use of them. It is $8 month or $96 year
prepaid through Acanac.

Imelda O. Suzara
Acanac Rep

Hey guys, I'm a noob to all this internet thing, I'm a girl btw. I heard that even if I go to the other companies such as Teksavvy, acanac etc. I'm still gonna be paying Bell about $10 a month for using their line (is that what the dry loop thing is?). I'm not using Bell home phone (voIP) or TV. Thanks for any help!

[sw9]

I had a similar experience, but it was well before your timeline. The kicker was that I specifically asked the agent if it was still unlimited in monthly downloading and she said yes. Later I found out I was capped heavily and tried to make them good on their words, but they didn't budge and kept insisting that there was no "evidence" of the unlimited promise ever happening.

To make the matters worse, they even charged me canceling fee when I got out of my contract. I had a huge argument with the call centre person who gave me a very incredulous tone, saying she doesn't understand why I won't pay what amounted to about $20~30. :rolleyes: So since then I told all my family to switch their phones and the internet away from Bell, and they did.

I thought I was alone on this. A year and a half ago my contract with Bell had expired so I had called to renew at a better price. I was on 5MB but I was told by the rep that it was no longer offered. I could stay at 5MB or go with 7MB. Stupid me I took the 7MB.

[[H]ackerK]

I don't care what they offers, 60GB/mo kills the deal.

H^hBell sucks.

[deal_king]

Not exactly sure why, but with the original deal I posted for $34.95, I seem to have only been charged $29.95 because of a "bundle discount". However, I have no other Bell services, so I guess I'm not going to question that!

I called them again yesterday and threatened to cancel and the rep I chatted with gave me a $5 discount for 3 months.

So now I'm only paying $24.95 tax included for this deal! I guess I'll chat with them again in 3 months!

[skeletor]

umm, you guys do know that techsavvy will no longer have an unlimited data plan with talks of bell forcing 60gb caps on DSL resellers :P

[jedijome]

and that has strengthened my resolve never to go back to bell again, at least not directly, for any services . I disliked them before, but now i hate them with a passion, first the throttle, then force throttling on the resellers, then they have caps, and when people leave in droves , then they force the caps on resellers too.

when i explain this to my friends they're all usually pretty incredulous and refuse to sign up with bell either for any services.

they're getting creamed in the cellphone market anyways, i can't think of a single person i know who has a cellphone from bell. they're losing the home phone market because well lets face it lots of younger people are just ditching the home phone and switching to cellphone. finally they shot themselves in the foot when it came to the internet, which is the one growth area that they could have counted on if they invested in it and stayed competitive.

stay away from this deal, it's colder than liquid helium.

[spong]

At one time we had Bell home line, 2 bell cell phones, expressvu & sympatico.
Now we have only the home line (which we will dump next year for TS).
A truly screwed up company.

The only thing I have with Bell is the land line. I need a warm and fuzzy feeling that in case there is a power outage, I will still have phone service.

[anhtuan]

For those that don't know, you can get phone filters for free from the Bell store even if you're not with Sympatico. Just goto the bell store and ask for phone filters and they should give you some no problems.

[gordholio]

The only thing I have with Bell is the land line. I need a warm and fuzzy feeling that in case there is a power outage, I will still have phone service.

I have a regular Bell phone line, but I'm going to be switching to Teksavvy phone.
There's an installation/transfer fee of about $50 or $60 or something, but the total monthly bill works out cheaper with call ID. They don't charge a network fee for long distance.
I use long distance maybe twice a month for only about $2, but Bell chages some network fee of $6.99. Ridiculous.

[kasm]

The only thing I have with Bell is the land line. I need a warm and fuzzy feeling that in case there is a power outage, I will still have phone service.

I have a regular Bell phone line, but I'm going to be switching to Teksavvy phone.
There's an installation/transfer fee of about $50 or $60 or something, but the total monthly bill works out cheaper with call ID. They don't charge a network fee for long distance.
I use long distance maybe twice a month for only about $2, but Bell chages some network fee of $6.99. Ridiculous.

The transfer fee from Bell to Teksavvy is only $25 (activation fee). Also, you can still the the warm fuzzy from Teksavvy, as it's the same thing as Bell, only better customer service and prices. Teksavvy just resells Bell's technology.

[sinnor]

Bell is just trying to squeeze the guys with their UBB BS.

Cablevision down in the states is preparing a 100mb down/15mb up for $100 with unlimited down/up...now I will take half that speed for about $50 in Canada...aah just a dream.

Darn CRTC and Bell. I wonder why we are behind with innovations in this environment.

Your best bet is to create a group with teksavvy by getting 4 family members and each one gets a discount. I wonder if Teksavvy is willing to pool the total bandwidth usage in a group account?

Someone was asking about an extra charge related to a dry loop. Yes there is a band rate charge + internet charge or if you keep your Bell line there is no band rate charge.

[deal_king]

Not exactly sure why, but with the original deal I posted for $34.95, I seem to have only been charged $29.95 because of a "bundle discount". However, I have no other Bell services, so I guess I'm not going to question that!

I called them again yesterday and threatened to cancel and the rep I chatted with gave me a $5 discount for 3 months.

So now I'm only paying $24.95 tax included for this deal! I guess I'll chat with them again in 3 months!

LOL I noticed 2 weeks ago that while the speed of the service was normal, I was experiencing very high packet loss and latency. I complained and they gave me a month free. So essentially I'm paying $22.50 for three months and then $27.50 for the next nine months, no contract. :D

I have a love/hate relationship with Bell. I hate them because they always have billing issues and mixups. But I love them because I call and create a stink every time, and they give me free months of service. I've had 7mb 60gb for the last two years and I think I've only paid an average of $20/month overall. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Acanac and Teksavvy offer free months and customer concessions like Bell does.

[sansub]

Can some techsaavy customers let me know how much speed do you see for the 5Mbps down line? I have decided to switch from Rogers to other provider due to the 60GB cap (getting close the cap nowadays and hate to watch out for my usage activity every now and then). I got 3 choice at the moment.

* Upgrade to Extreme for 10$ extra (got an offer of 51$ including modem rent when I tried to cancel)
* Go to bell - Max 10 seems ideal but the review is mixed.
* Go to Techsaav. - price and cap is good but the download speed is 5Mbps. I can live with it if there is less trouble (downtime) and the connection speed is over 4Mbps all the time. I checked the review on them in dslreports.com. Looks like they got pretty good review. How much down speed do you guys see from them?

I would appreciate any help.

[whampoa]

The only thing I have with Bell is the land line. I need a warm and fuzzy feeling that in case there is a power outage, I will still have phone service.

Make sure you have a corded telephone (non AC power plugin) and not a cordless telephone (with an AC power plugin).

Otherwise, during a power outage none of your telephone will work, even with Bell.

[newgame99]

LOL I noticed 2 weeks ago that while the speed of the service was normal, I was experiencing very high packet loss and latency. I complained and they gave me a month free. So essentially I'm paying $22.50 for three months and then $27.50 for the next nine months, no contract. :D

I have a love/hate relationship with Bell. I hate them because they always have billing issues and mixups. But I love them because I call and create a stink every time, and they give me free months of service. I've had 7mb 60gb for the last two years and I think I've only paid an average of $20/month overall. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Acanac and Teksavvy offer free months and customer concessions like Bell does.

Lol, I recently called on Saturday and I complained how they charge so much, when Acanac charges only $20 a month, and after 5 calls, I was able to get $5 off, starting the next bill for 6 months. Did you call the billing department? I called using the Bell toll free number, greeted by Emily, and went to the Internet, Billing department. I was wondering how you navigated, so that I have better next time :D

[digitaloutlaw]

Can some techsaavy customers let me know how much speed do you see for the 5Mbps down line? I have decided to switch from Rogers to other provider due to the 60GB cap (getting close the cap nowadays and hate to watch out for my usage activity every now and then). I got 3 choice at the moment.

* Upgrade to Extreme for 10$ extra (got an offer of 51$ including modem rent when I tried to cancel)
* Go to bell - Max 10 seems ideal but the review is mixed.
* Go to Techsaav. - price and cap is good but the download speed is 5Mbps. I can live with it if there is less trouble (downtime) and the connection speed is over 4Mbps all the time. I checked the review on them in dslreports.com. Looks like they got pretty good review. How much down speed do you guys see from them?

I would appreciate any help.

I've had Teksavvy for about 1.5years now.. not ONE issue with the service. I did have a slight customer service issue - but one post in their forum was followed up within 5 mins by their CEO and management team. I get the full 5Mbps when I'm DLing (legal content) from newsgroups.

I also have Rogers 5Mbps internet installed (for my work) - had about 4 outtages in the last year with them.

I have my services both load balanced with failover using a pfSense Firewall/Router.. works great. I actually get a bit over 10Mbps when I load balance my newsgroups pipes across both my connections.

I would stay with Teksavvy even if (I mean when..) the stupid CRTC lets Bell gouge everyone with UBB. I have referred about 10 people to them already as well, and will keep doing it.

[sansub]

Thanks digitaloutlaw. I appreciate your response.

[Imelda_Acanac]

Acanac offers free months of internet through the
Referral Program. Customers whose accounts are
in good standing can refer new customers and for each
one that stays the first 30 days, one free month of internet
is added to the referrer's account. By the 10th referral,
the referring customer gets FREE internet for life.
Please read http://www.acanac.ca/Referral.htm.

Imelda O. Suzara
Acanac Rep

LOL I noticed 2 weeks ago that while the speed of the service was normal, I was experiencing very high packet loss and latency. I complained and they gave me a month free. So essentially I'm paying $22.50 for three months and then $27.50 for the next nine months, no contract. :D

I have a love/hate relationship with Bell. I hate them because they always have billing issues and mixups. But I love them because I call and create a stink every time, and they give me free months of service. I've had 7mb 60gb for the last two years and I think I've only paid an average of $20/month overall. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Acanac and Teksavvy offer free months and customer concessions like Bell does.

[The Analog Kid]

Cancelled my internet with Bell yesterday. And today, cancelled my cell phone with them.

It feels good!!! :lol:

Acanac it is.

[digitaloutlaw]

Cancelled my internet with Bell yesterday. And today, cancelled my cell phone with them.

It feels good!!! :lol:

Acanac it is.

Acanac is great too.. I think I went with Teksavvy due to no contract.. I have many friends on Acanac who have experienced great service as well.

[a in yul]

after reading through some pages i am wondering if those clients that had unlimited were/are allowed to keep them?

i ask because i am contemplating buying a line from someone, does BELL allow for GFathered features on a UNLIM internet line?

[saku]

after reading through some pages i am wondering if those clients that had unlimited were/are allowed to keep them?

i ask because i am contemplating buying a line from someone, does BELL allow for GFathered features on a UNLIM internet line?

Yes, they did for me. My account was on hold for the last 8 months (stayed at university) and after resuming the service, they offered me with unlimited bandwidth for $41.95 + tx:D

Speed: When the technician came to setup my line, it was only 3Mbps down and 0.4 up. I was very disappointed. He made a few calls, now....

http://www.speedtest.net/result/468336127.png

I live 150 miles north of Montreal.;)

[Happy13178]

Bell remains the only company I've ever had to call the CRTC on....and they lost the judgement. Their company simply could not be any worse if they tried (and sometimes, I think they do).

[oakville]

teksavvy downed in my area twice last week, one thing good is, each time i call them, though there is no solution, i can talk to someone. experience with Bell have always been terrible.

I've had Teksavvy for about 1.5years now.. not ONE issue with the service. I did have a slight customer service issue - but one post in their forum was followed up within 5 mins by their CEO and management team. I get the full 5Mbps when I'm DLing (legal content) from newsgroups.

I also have Rogers 5Mbps internet installed (for my work) - had about 4 outtages in the last year with them.

I have my services both load balanced with failover using a pfSense Firewall/Router.. works great. I actually get a bit over 10Mbps when I load balance my newsgroups pipes across both my connections.

I would stay with Teksavvy even if (I mean when..) the stupid CRTC lets Bell gouge everyone with UBB. I have referred about 10 people to them already as well, and will keep doing it.

[bobor]

Not sure what just happened...

I was on a call with Bell on a technical issue about my internet connection (which they solved) but then the guy told me that I could upgrade to a free Modem/Router combo AND also get $5 off each of my cell, homeline and internet connection if I allowed him to bundle these services (these are all currently through Bell)

In addition, he also increased my bandwidth.

All of this was for no additonal cost -- apparently even a $15 total discount off my Bell services.

My current Internet is about $50/month and I was serioulsy considering moving over to Teksavvy.

Did Bell actually do me some kind of favour here? I find this hard to beleive from a company like Bell

[mlerner]

Not sure what just happened...

I was on a call with Bell on a technical issue about my internet connection (which they solved) but then the guy told me that I could upgrade to a free Modem/Router combo AND also get $5 off each of my cell, homeline and internet connection if I allowed him to bundle these services (these are all currently through Bell)

In addition, he also increased my bandwidth.

All of this was for no additonal cost -- apparently even a $15 total discount off my Bell services.

My current Internet is about $50/month and I was serioulsy considering moving over to Teksavvy.

Did Bell actually do me some kind of favour here? I find this hard to beleive from a company like Bell

Check your billing details. They probably put you on a contract.

[jbbadboy]

Uh oh. Why am I paying about $63 a month (taxes in) to Bell? >:(

I'm guessing that I've been with Sympatico for at least 4 years now (could be more). I recall going with them for unlimited internet service but of course I don't remember what my online profile username/password is to check my bill.

I have no clue how my internet service price could get so high. I wonder what I'll find when I actually check my bill. :(

[sis649]

I online chatted with Bell sales rep and he can't order dry loop service for me, he asked me to call the dry loop DSL department 1-877-877-5080. Then the lady told me the price is $36 for 2M and $51 for 7M.

How can I get $34.95 for 7M?

=====================
Comp Sympatico High Speed Dry Loop for 7mb/1mb, 60GB cap = 34.95, modem inc, NO CONTRACT

[SoGood]

called in may 7 to bell, in which they told me i was on contract (contract that i don't recall agreeing to), their customer rep says my contract ends on june 13,2009.

called in may 14 to bell to cancel due to the 30day rule...in which another customer rep tells me that i was never on contract, that they sent out a contract to me, but was never signed/returned...after that i just told them to cancel it. they didn't even bother to try and keep me as a customer/give me offers even though i've been a customer since 2000

i still have 3 weeks left until my teksavvy service kicks in.
can't wait!:D

[calendervulture55]

I got this letter in mail to go with Bell for 1 year for 15$ a month each month, but I took a look at the fine print and seen I was allowed only 2gb a month download after that it would be 3.50$/gb ,what a joke.

[sansub]

I switched from Rogers to TekSavvy last week. Since then the connection is not stable. If I browse a site, some time it comes back with "Page not found" error. After clicking few times, the page loads (FireFox). Youtube videos don't load sometime (even though the page the video is contained loads fine). I am kind of disappointed now. Anyone else experience this issue?

[Blitzo]

I haven't had a single problem with teksavvy. I switched from rogers to tek about 3 months ago.

I think the best choice is teksavvy... No contract, good service, excellent customer service with someone who knows what they're talking about (no script) speaks english clearly, and reasonable price.

[JimG]

I've got 3 accounts with teksavvy and they've been great. I'll say that getting DSL setup is not as easy as getting cable installed. If you've never had DSL before and your lines are old then don't be surprised if it takes a few service calls to get everything optimized. Whereas it might take a single trip to get cable setup, it can sometimes take over a week to get DSL up and working stably and at full speed.

Teksavvy easily provides the best customer service of any company I've dealt with, they actually call you back when they say they will, they don't treat customers like idiots, and they're fair and flexible. Despite the pain that DSL can be to get setup, it's easily worth it once its working both for price and performance.

Cogeco, Rogers and Bell keep offering you more speed (10MB+) but they don't have anything reasonable for users that need more bandwidth and not speed.

[SoGood]

I switched from Rogers to TekSavvy last week. Since then the connection is not stable. If I browse a site, some time it comes back with "Page not found" error. After clicking few times, the page loads (FireFox). Youtube videos don't load sometime (even though the page the video is contained loads fine). I am kind of disappointed now. Anyone else experience this issue?

i didn't start teksavvy yet, but i did get an email yesterday that there is maintenance going on and service might be down or unstable....could that be it?

[bylo]

I know about Acanac and Teksavvy and their unlimited plans, but I run an e-commerce business and only exceeded 60gb once in the last 3 years.Remember that the 7Mb/s is "up to" and is total bellshit unless you happen to be close enough to a CO or remote to actually get it.

TekSavvy offers 5Mb/s speed and 200GB bandwidth for $30. Even if your line is capable of 7Mb/s the difference in practice between that an 5Mb/s is marginal. The difference in customer service and customer satisfaction between the two companies, however, is like night (in Bell hell) and day.

those of you on teksavvy, are you buying the modems from them or are you getting them elsewhere for cheap?
About the only criticism of TekSavvy is that they overcharge for DSL modems. Rather than pay $75 for their ST516 you can buy one for $50 from several computer stores. You can also get compatible modems with built-in routers for $40 or less.

[bylo]

I switched from Rogers to TekSavvy last week. Since then the connection is not stable. If I browse a site, some time it comes back with "Page not found" error. After clicking few times, the page loads (FireFox). Youtube videos don't load sometime (even though the page the video is contained loads fine). I am kind of disappointed now. Anyone else experience this issue?Have you called TekSavvy customer support? Unlike Rogers and Bell they're in Canada, they're competent, and they really want to help you.

i did get an email yesterday that there is maintenance going on and service might be down or unstable....could that be it?The e-mail says there will be a service interruption "Thursday early morning] Thursday May 28, 2009 from 0000 EST until 0600 EST (midnight to 6am) and again on Thursday evening / Friday early morning] Friday May 29, 2009 from 0000 EST until 0600 EST (midnight to 6am)." It highly unlikely that tomorrow's maintenance would have caused yesterday's lines to be down or unstable ;)

[jamewoong]

I don't understand... This is a thread about Sympatico deal and you guys talk about other ISP... WTH? :confused:

[trucanuck]

I don't understand... This is a thread about Sympatico deal and you guys talk about other ISP... WTH? :confused:

Because this forum is for informed consumers who would not touch a Bell Internet deal with a 50 ft pole.

[sansub]

SoGood, I saw the mail too but the outage starts on midnight (Thursday and friday??).

bylo, I haven't called teksavvy yet, but will do it either today or tomorrow. I contacted them when I tried to setup the modem (thanks to the person who suggested pvconline and tp-link. saved few bucks). Support team is extremely competent. They didn't even have the manual for the modem and yet, they guided me to set it up.

[mvelic]

does teksavy throttle traffic? will torrents, VOIP, etc work?

[tomtomtom]

does teksavy throttle traffic? will torrents, VOIP, etc work?

Yes* (courtesy of bell)

*- using special router, you can de-throttle.

[jeremiah_eng]

does teksavy throttle traffic? will torrents, VOIP, etc work?

If there is a problem with Teksavvy's service, it's Bell's fault. Throttling is now done before Teksavvy gets the traffic (meaning ALL DSL is throttled, regardless of 'provider').

If prices go up at the end of May, it will be because of Bell implementing their Usage Based Billing (********).

Bell is doing everything they possibly can to make sure you can't get better service anywhere, and by doing so, they are stifling the competition and degrading internet in Canada.

Even IF Bell was cheaper with faster service and more cap space (not happening), I wouldn't EVER go with Bell. I will stay with companies like Teksavvy who are genuinely interested in providing the best service possible.

In short, anything even remotely related to Bell should be banned from the board, because with all of their Billing Errors, Pricing Errors, Bill Correction Fees, Cancellation Fees ($200), System Access Fees, etc. any deal comes out as ice cold and a simple act of consumer frustration. Even if you DO get a good contract, someone will review it and try and get you on a different contract that pays more in different ways.

[ron_reck]

Accurate description of Bell +1

[duttypersian]

i think i already posted in this thread, but i'll say it again. throttling is evil. sure bell is aloud to do it, but they're a bunch of douche's. no wonder they're offering no contract now, because they want people back.

i hope sympatico goes bankrupt one day.

[parkourster]

bell is insanly unreliable -_-'. they say the highest speed it can go up to is 7mbps but no one realy ever gets to it. i got the full speed once but i also got .5mbps for a while. theres many problems with it a lot of the time, and i even d/c from teh internet all together sometimes when it rains X.X

[Buggy166]

those of you on teksavvy, are you buying the modems from them or are you getting them elsewhere for cheap?

bought it from them 1.5 yrs ago...its paying for itself really...and i bought the rogers one for cable which ive had for over 3-4 years prior. Now if i switch, i dont need to buy any new modems unless the speed is higher than 10mb/s

[steinberg]

bought it from them 1.5 yrs ago...its paying for itself really...and i bought the rogers one for cable which ive had for over 3-4 years prior. Now if i switch, i dont need to buy any new modems unless the speed is higher than 10mb/s

Is teksavvy for cable internet? Or anyone knows if there's a good deal for dry loop DsL?

[tomtomtom]

Is teksavvy for cable internet? Or anyone knows if there's a good deal for dry loop DsL?

Teksavvy, DSL only.

There is no good deal for dry loop. prepare to tack $8-10 on top of 29.99. Try Acanac, good price, crappy customer service

[rdx]

I have been using Bell for many years, and yes, they regularly increase the charge without telling you. They persuaded me to switch from Rogers to Bill and match the price. But months after that, they start to increase very various reasons. Billing is horrible, they told me to offer 20% discount since June 2008, up till this month, I still haven't seen the discount, and I call every single month, the rep will just say it will show up on next bill............... The Bell TV rep will always try to give you "FREE" channels for trial. And I bet that is their trick on getting additional revenue if you forget to cancel or if they screw up your billing AGAIN from there.

Too bad that there is many choices for TV. I really want to just hook up all my TVs to PC and stream free online TV and movies !!!

[Taft]

Another satisfied Teksavvy customer here.

Regarding the DSL modem when purchasing Teksavvy service, I got a modem that works just fine for a smoking price from CTY in Richmond Hill (they have a store downtown too)

http://cty.ca/ProductDetails.asp?pid=2977

I paid $28 but it's on sale this week for $23, their sales start/end Monday so GET ON IT if you think you'd be interested.

[SPARTACVS]

If there is a problem with Teksavvy's service, it's Bell's fault. Throttling is now done before Teksavvy gets the traffic (meaning ALL DSL is throttled, regardless of 'provider').

If prices go up at the end of May, it will be because of Bell implementing their Usage Based Billing (********).

Bell is doing everything they possibly can to make sure you can't get better service anywhere, and by doing so, they are stifling the competition and degrading internet in Canada.

Even IF Bell was cheaper with faster service and more cap space (not happening), I wouldn't EVER go with Bell. I will stay with companies like Teksavvy who are genuinely interested in providing the best service possible.

In short, anything even remotely related to Bell should be banned from the board, because with all of their Billing Errors, Pricing Errors, Bill Correction Fees, Cancellation Fees ($200), System Access Fees, etc. any deal comes out as ice cold and a simple act of consumer frustration. Even if you DO get a good contract, someone will review it and try and get you on a different contract that pays more in different ways.

I totally agree. Like I said, I had so much troubles with Sympatico it takes a page to write it down. Seriously, even if they pay me, I won't go back to them because they had to pay me a lot to handle all the hassle with them.

[LNahid2000]

Another satisfied Teksavvy customer here.

Regarding the DSL modem when purchasing Teksavvy service, I got a modem that works just fine for a smoking price from CTY in Richmond Hill (they have a store downtown too)

http://cty.ca/ProductDetails.asp?pid=2977

I paid $28 but it's on sale this week for $23, their sales start/end Monday so GET ON IT if you think you'd be interested.
Same modem is $19.95 at PCV Online. I bought it on Friday and it works great!

http://www.pcvonline.com/productDetails.aspx?prodID=6620