DerekMartin.ca

For 55$ I get 10mbit with Rogers and 95GB download, with $25 max charge for unlimited overusage. My download speeds at 1.150 megabYtes (!) per second. That’s pretty much 100% of their promised throughput. Downloading a 700MB movie takes about 10 minutes. USENET maxes out my connection and I never have to upload anything. Sweet.

BELL SUCKS. at 2009-08-22 15:56:57

Julian said: Wow, Derek, You didn’t tell me U.C. was from Devon. U.C. I just spent two years living there and will probably go back to live permanently some time in the future. My girlfriend grew up near Honiton. We lived in a few places Stockland (near honiton), Gittisham (near honiton), and Shaldon (near Teignmouth). Made quite a few trips to Plymouth for shopping etc. My internet wasn’t anything like what you’re experiencing. That was partly due to the fact that I was relient on what landlords had already installed and partly due to the fact that once you move out to the country your options drop off considerably. Then it’s all dependent on how close you live to the exchange server. If you live close enough and BT has the right type of wiring in the area you may be lucky enough to get 8mb but more likely you’ll be limited to a maximum of 2mb. It sounds like cable really is the way to go if you live in an area covered by Virgin, which to my understanding is mostly limited to main town centers (Plymouth, Exeter etc.) at 2009-09-01 17:12:30

Alex Sirota said: We got Bell Entertainment recently in Toronto. If the roll out goes well this will be the premier service in TO. 28Mbps down 13 up and iptv service. The service is in beta for sure and will be for a while till at least May if not all of 2010. If you want to try it and if it’s available it’s 50% off now.

read more on Http://bellent.currentinternet.com that’s the bell entertainment user community at 2010-01-14 17:17:29

(Derek)[http://www.derekmartin.ca] said: Distributel.ca offers a viable alternative to Bell & Rogers (even though it’s DSL, so they lease their lines from Bell). Unlimited local calling, all phone features (display/fwd/voicemail/3way), 5 megabit internet with no limit & no modem rental fee for $39.95/mth. Add $10/mth for unlimited North American calling. More info: http://distributel.ca/en/phone-service-internet-access.htm at 2009-08-26 20:12:27

(black trees)[http://www.myspace.com/blacktreesbandpage] said: I’m having a similar problem with Bell. I originally went with high speed lite and decided high speed premium would better suit my needs. I got a sales call from Bell and decided to upgrade. I’ve waited two weeks now and am still getting the same slow speed. I was going to call them today to let them know, but my phone isn’t working. LOL! at 2009-09-30 15:16:04

Sam said: Always ask around to see if fiber is available to your home. If not then ask where is the closest fiber cabinet to your home, because you will have to use copper cables from your house to that cabinet. With any copper cable distance is always the main factor for internet reliability, and speed. at 2011-01-27 22:55:55

jcd.lin said: Like you I hate Bell; it’s service is completely bullshit.

They promised a speed up to 7mb/s, but it only runs up 4.5mb/s, even so the speed is not stable. Sometimes I would get 2mb/s for the whole day. So I was really upset and decided to contact them. It took me one hour to an answer that this speed is what they could offer me. The rep was beating around the bush and asked me to perform all kind of activity, from rebooting the modem to check the physical location of the modem. Then I asked the average speed of similar plans and whether that’s what Bell could offer. Here is what she said: “Usually that’s the average speed. But it depends on the Internet traffic and line status as well.” WTF, couldn’t she just tell me the truth and save me one hour, and perhaps find a better service provider?!?! at 2009-10-02 00:29:14

u.c. said: Hi Julian We were having afternoon Tea in Shaldon last week.Nice place.We know Honiton well.If u get back over here Derek can give u our email.. We r about 8 miles outside Plymouth Centre on edge of Dartmoor.

Rgds U.C. = Charlie at 2009-09-02 06:56:13

u.c. said: Julian,check this out

http://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk/bimages/12444852.jpg at 2009-09-02 07:25:40

(thom)[http://www.tbray.com] said: I switched from Bell to Rogers a while back - then for almost three months would lose my rogers internet connection for an hour or so at a time almost daily. I finally gave up - after two technicians came by and several calls, and asked if there would be a penalty for disconnecting my service. They waived all disconnection fees and everything worked out just fine. Bell, on the other hand is charging me some kind of monthly fee on a cell phone that THEY disconnected over a month ago - my last bill was $100 more than the previous, and it’s not even active….I hate bell. at 2009-11-16 19:11:19

u.c. said: update to previous comments: Now getting 100megabit on trial. Averaging 85megabit here in stormy Devon UK. at 2009-11-16 19:22:45

Roger is rippedoff said: Forget Rogers, too expensive. Bell rolled out fast and cheaper offer. Time to move. http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/70401115e2.png at 2010-02-16 01:24:02

Julian said: Wow. Well done for exercising your right to choose (even in a limited field of choice) and then being an informed enough to evaluate the service, recognize you had been wronged, and take action. I’m actually proud of you.

Bring the Wi-Max! at 2009-08-20 18:26:39

Andrew said: This pretty much answers any questions that I had. My family has been with bell for a few years now, and after an upgrade, our service would cut out constantly. A dozen calls and 3 dozen transfers later, still no fix. Now the service won’t stay up for more than two minutes and bell is telling me the same crap that they did before.

I’m sending this from my phone, solely because my Internet isn’t working.

Rogers, here we come! at 2009-12-04 18:59:06

(Hossain)[http://hossainkhan.info] said: Thank you Darek for putting this realistic picture on your blog. It is very unfortunate that despite of knowing distance affects bell’s speed, the sales people hide this fact and sells their service. Even though I use 6mb line, but I never got this much of speed and the speed is variable which is not acceptable at this age. I’m thinking of switching to Rogers soon. at 2009-12-06 02:53:06

(Derek)[http://www.derekmartin.ca] said: That is the most insane deal I’ve ever heard of!

Our minimalist landline with local calling only, plus call waiting & voicemail is $30/mth. Adding long distance is probably another $10/mth. 50 megabit internet is the fastest that is currently available, and it costs $149.95/mth (with 175 gigabyte limit). The cheapest HDTV package (Digital Basic) is $33/mth PLUS $12.95/mth for the HD tuner. That does not include any specialty/movie channels.

So, for the equivalent of what you’re getting, it costs us at least $235/mth. at 2009-08-24 15:06:23

u.c. said: I guess Id better not ask Virgin for any further discount then! check them out on www.virginmedia.com .You can build your own bundles and theres some stuff not shown. eg they dont actively sell my phone package anymore.. Talk Anywhere 400.Existing customer can manipulate their packages anytime they like.Its sure nice to know somethings cheaper in the UK for once. at 2009-08-24 16:01:15

u.c. said: Here in the UK we now have one cable provider,Virgin Media (Richard Branson).They took over 99% of all other cable providers a few years ago. We also have BT (British Telecom) who use copper wires and some fibre optic. I use Virgin, been with them for 10 years and had very few problems. For 58 GB Pounds a month (ignore rate of exchange and remember for what you buy with a Dollar costs us a Pound here) I get 50mb Broadband (with all sorts of goodies) ,No limits or restrictions on use, a landline telephone inc 400 minutes a month phonetime to anywhere in the World inc Mobiles(not sex chatlines) and HD TV. I get the speeds promised most of the time.They are trialling 200mb in London( UK ) and this will soon be rolled out in stages.They intend to just give customers the best speed they can get where they live in future for a set charge.It looks like I wont have to pay anymore. I live in Plymouth UK. pop 250,000. The other non cable providers promise the earth, like Bell, but cant deliver, promising all kind of hybrid services copper/optic but it does not work. The best place in Europe for Broadband at present is France.They started rolling our 100mb some years ago and are probably hypersonic now.I also like the fact I can lean on my provider over price and negotiate a deal. at 2009-08-23 12:23:26

(Derek)[http://www.derekmartin.ca] said: Bell’s network gives you a direct, unshared connection to the internet, BUT the further you are from the Bell networking station, the lower your speed will be.

Rogers network gives you a connection to the internet that is shared between other people in your area, BUT there is no decrease based on distance.

If you are VERY close to a Bell networking station, you will get great speed. If you are not (i.e. you are not getting the speed you were promised), then you’re better off getting a plan from Rogers.

I pay for 10Mb/s, and I get 9.8Mb/s all the time. I’m loving it :) at 2009-10-09 01:56:41

Slow said: I’m with bell and I’ve had nothing but problems and I’m heading towards rogers, I live in Ottawa and the best i get with bell on speedtest.net is 1.49Mb/s down 0.52Mb/s up, I’m paying for 7Mb/s! I’m just wondering if rogers would be similar where I pay for 10Mb/s and only get something like 2Mb/s at 2009-10-09 01:22:16

joe said: I have to laugh at the dedicated connection thing nobody gets a dedicated connection. Any land line of any kind is shared and bell is totaly unethical. My girlfriend had a bell cell phone and a contract. Her cell got broken and she contacted bell they told her her contract would be up in january and she would be eligable for a new phone and a $250 ADDITIONAL discount on a new phone for being a loyal customer. When i took her to get a new phone she picked out a phone and the sales person told her it would be $186 with a three year contract. I said wait a min she gets a $200 discount for customer loyalty. He told me yeah that is after the loyalty discount. I said yeah but that is the price with tax for the phone and i haven’t had a bell service in 15 years. He said yeah that’s the deal for the three year contract. I said so basically you think my fiancee is stupid. He himmed and hawed and did the i didn’t say and that’s not entirely true blah blah blah. So we went with rogers. The next month she got a phone bill for $450 for early cancellation. I phoned bell madder than a hornet and talked with 5 people who’s final answer was her contract was till march and should have stayed with bell. They call every day and every day we tell them the same answer we would rather deal with an ethical company and pay more then one that lies and steals. What bell did was charge her a $450 your not with bell charge and it is not fair. they are lucky it was her cause i wouldn’t pay it. so if you want go with bell I won’t as long as i live. at 2010-05-18 16:13:36

Adam said: I had to laugh at reading this article…the author of this article is obviously a Rogers (cough, cough) I mean Robbers employee. Rogers does not offer 7 Mbps, they tell you they offer UP to 7Mbps when in reality no matter the connection when uploading to you tube or face book is slow as cold molasses.

When I lived in Newfoundland I was with rogers and bell at the same time. I decided to do an upload test with the same video file. The connection with Bell uploaded within 30 minutes and Rogers (cough, cough) I mean Robbers, still had 25 minutes remaining. Both connections were the same speed. Robbers offer lie speed while Bell offers High Speed.

I now live in Ontario and I am doing the same test again, I have both bell and Rogers, both connections are the same dedicated speed and surprise, surprise…Rogers, (cough, cough) I mean Robbers is still the slowest…PERIOD. I mean dead in the watter, the ship has sunk. I uploaded the very same file to you tube and the uploading times were the same in Newfoundland as they are in Ontario. I will be with bell and recommend everybody go with bell, get away from the cable snake known as Rogers (cough, cough) I mean Robbers. at 2010-10-25 16:46:31

(Derek)[http://www.derekmartin.ca] said: Hi David, Thanks for your comment :) Yep, my Dad already has a pair of “digital HD rabbit ears”, and he gets 20 channels or so, crystal clear… including US channels. If rabbit ears work for you now, get some digital ones, and you should be good to go! Ironically, he was a Bell employee for 35 years. Even HE feels gouged by their ways these days.

how could I send myself an email from bell.ca, is it possible to create a fraudulent email?

Unfortunately, it’s really easy (for a programmer). This is one of the reasons there are so many email scams. Sending email is almost the first thing they cover in any internet programming course, and oddly enough, you can just set the “sent from” address to be whatever you want. Of course this only works for sending email. If they don’t actually have that email address and you replied, they would never get your reply. at 2011-05-09 14:20:57

jan said: Just wondering what to do should I go with Bell or stick with Rogers? I was comparing the prices, but not the speeds of each for internet. Is it better to get a higher download speed or a higher upload speed? at 2011-11-08 17:36:23

jan said: hey, derek did all this happen in Etobicoke? I was thinking of switching to Bell, but am very confused. People say its better to get a higher upload speed. But with your experience now I really don’t know. I live near Humber College Lakeshore Campus. Any advice? at 2011-11-08 17:06:09

(Derek)[http://www.derekmartin.ca] said: Hi Chris,

The only reason I can think of that you wouldn’t be able to continue using TekSavvy for your intenet while using Bell for TV is if they both come in over your phone line, and Bell needs some kind of filters on the line for their PVR to work, BUT I don’t think that’s right… because I’m sure it would work fine with Bell internet, which is exactly the same as TekSavvy’s.

My gut tells me they’re just trying to pull the wool over your eyes and get you onto more of their services.

I would call TekSavvy and ask them if their internet works fine with Bell’s TV. Say you already have Bell TV and are thinking of getting TekSavvy internet, but you were told it was not compatible. I’m sure they’ll tell you it works fine.

The other thing you could do is see if TekSavvy Cable Internet is available in your area. It’s a new offering from them. Previously all of their internet has been DSL (over phone lines, not cable). That would definitely be compatible with Bell TV, because it wouldn’t even be using the same wiring.

hope this help! at 2012-01-06 13:41:01

Daniel said: Holy shit, im so pissed at Bell. I signed up for Fibe 12, and for the first 3 months, the promised speeds, but now, they dropped of to a download speed of 2 mbps from 12, and 0.56 mpbs for the upload speed, from 2. I just called them, and they said that Bell made a “mistake”/lied to me, and she said that the only internet availible in my area is the Essentail Plus, which is 2mbps for download speed, and .5 for upload. After 1 hour of switching departments, i finally met a Customer service dude names Mike. He was straight forward with me, and told me i could either switch to Essential Plus, or leave, and that if i left, i would pay nothing because i was lied to. I was with Bell for 22 years. They just lost a 22 year customer. Goodbye Bell, Hello Rogers at 2011-01-07 22:50:47

Charles Hicks said: I appreciate that insight Derek… I’m moving into a new house just to have high speed internet… I’ve been living in the country for 10 years, going through the likes of dial up, single/dual band satelite internet, and the bologna PPPoE Xplornet wireless high speed… I had Bell phone me offering the 50 MBPS package free for the first six months, then I can downgrade to 16 if I really wanted to… The guy had me intrigued with the Fibe plan, but I’m weary of going forward… I remember people on Sympatico DSL having massive trouble, and having to call Bell India for any support… On the fence with Bell Fibe 50, but if it’s not great, I’d rather put in the 25 MBPS plan from Rogers Cable… Any info would be greatly appreciated…

Thanks,

Charles at 2011-04-27 20:09:03

(Derek)[http://www.derekmartin.ca] said: “Adam” - I googled your email address (which contains the year 2010, so I know it’s new) and found nothing. Is it more likely that my blog is the only one you’ve contributed to, or that this is a fake email account owned by a Bell employee?

I’m sorry, but nothing is as black and white as you claim it is.

If I lived closer to a Bell networking station (Bell will tell you that performance degrades past 2km) I’m sure I would have had an excellent experience with Bell. BUT I don’t live near one of those stations, and my signal sucked. This is a known downside of DSL technology, as compared to CableModem technology. It’s not lies or smoke & mirrors. That’s just how it is. This is why people who live in the country side have to use satellite internet even though they have a landline telephone. DSL simply can’t reach them over the phonelines with any sort of acceptable performance. They also can’t use CableModems because people in the countryside don’t have access to cable. The cable companies thought it wasn’t worth their money to run cable out there, when there’s only 1 family for every few miles of cable they’d have to put in the ground. I grew up in the country, and we couldn’t get cable even if we’d wanted it.

As for Rogers being slow — I have never found that to be the case (knock on wood). My 10 megabit download & 1 megabit upload consistently performs at those speeds, according to SpeedTest.net. If you are consistently getting slow speeds with Rogers, I suggest you call technical support.

Also, anyone who knows me knows that I’m not a Rogers employee. In fact, I have had numerous horrible experiences with Rogers, some of which almost landed me in court… BUT they never lied to sell me something they couldn’t provide. at 2010-10-26 12:20:48

(cm)[http://www.google.com] said: If ever you have an issue with a communications service provider you can get arbitration through The Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS). http://www.ccts-cprst.ca/ They helped resolve an issue I had with Bell Mobility. Who knows, maybe you’ll get your month’s service charge back from Bell. at 2010-09-10 03:23:44

(David Arnold)[http://none] said: Great blog, thrilled to hear so many tales of woe… I’m not alone.
17 years ago I moved from the 3rd to the 4th floor in the same apartment building and Rogers told me that the connection fee was the same for moving as it was for a new customer. So I decided to try my Grandmothers old rabit ears for a few months to save some money since they weren’t rewarding me for loyalty, five bucks would have kept me as a customer. To my surprise I got a long list of televisiion stations, with almost no issues. So 17 years later I’m still using rabit ears although I lost all the USA stations that have gone digital, I figure I’ve saved at least ten thousand dollars by now. Do you have any idea what’s going to happen this August when we go digital and will a digital antena keep me going with free tv reception? do you have any suggestions? I’m afraid to talk about Bell because I figure that I’m going to have a stroke if I do business with them, it upsets me just to talk about them. I have countless stories of their lies. It’s systemic, from managment down, and i’m repulsed by the name Bell Canada. I don’t know of another company that wants their staff to lie to their customers. I’ll tell you one short story. I accepted a Bell internet deal and thought that I’d be protected as long as I got it in writing. So before I said yes I had the sales person send me an email confirming the price. They immediately started to charge me a higher price and I talked to their esculation department and sent him the email I had received from Bell.ca, I can’t fake an email right? Well I sure don’t know how to. They wrote me back and told me that they did not have a copy of the email in their records… in other words suggesting that I was lying to them. Like I said this was an offical Bell Canada email with their logo’s and trademarks all over the email, and it was from bell.ca, how could I send myself an email from bell.ca, is it possible to create a fraudulent email? and then send it back to them. (It wasn’t a print out, it was all electronic over the internet.) Needless to say, I decided that I just wasn’t paying, and never did. I now use a Wind datastick? . It’s okay, and I get the bill I expect to get. It’s nice not to have to waste time and upset talking to Bell everymonth. It was going to kill me, not joking. How can one give money to a company that does everything it can to decieve it’s customers, and rewards the employees that do it well. I’m willing to figure out other ways of doing business, but I really wish I didn’t need to. I use Bell for my land line, but without any options, I use an answering machine so that I don’t pay them for call answer, and i don’t use any other services, not because I don’t want to but because I will not give them any extra money, and I subscripe to Skype for long distance in Canada and the USA, 2.95 a month to call landlines anywhere in canada and the usa. After 17 years of rabit ears I’m at the point where I don’t need to save the money as much as I did back then when it was really important and i would spend some money if they would just tell the truth and do honest business. If i could count on them I’d try Bell fibe, but I won’t risk getting into the B.S. with them again. I survived cancer, but I doubt I could survive bell canada lies. Thanks again for setting up this blog, it might save lives. Please keep it going as long as you can manage it. It’s really important. thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank YOU. at 2011-05-09 06:34:02

(Derek)[http://www.derekmartin.ca] said: Hi Laurana,

I’m afraid it gets worse. The CRTC just approved a plan known as “Usage Based Billing” (UBB). Basically, it will allow Bell & Rogers jack up their rates. Bell will be doing so on March 1st, and Rogers will follow in July. Bell will be dropping the monthly bandwidth limit to just 25GB, and will be increasing overage fees from $0.25 (current) to $2/GB. It’s unknown at this time what Rogers will be doing — they might leave everything the same. I think the safer bet right now is Rogers.

If you’re upset by these changes, call the CRTC and complain. A lot of people have been calling, and they are starting to listen!

good luck!

Derek at 2011-02-03 13:13:33

Mike said: I’m moving to an apartment on victoria park which seems to have a deal with rogers going on, I’ve been using bell for years with my family and the monthly prices usually averaged $60-80, can you give me any info on rogers and it’s monthly prices for hi speed? I thinking of switching at 2011-12-20 23:09:36

Peter said: Just got hooked up with Bell internet following a similar hard sale approach. Speeds are much better these days with both Rogers and Bell. The latest have added Fibe Internet and have much higher upload speeds while strictly limiting your download speed to whatever your plan is. Rogers’ approach seems to be different. They allow you higher speeds than what you are paying for to compensate for the potential high peak slowdowns.

The Bell sales rep who sold me into switching, promised better speeds, no contract or cancellation fees, at 50% off regular cost for 1 year, upgrade to next better package for $5/mth extra. That was hard to believe, but I finally accepted after 30 min talk as I thought I could give it a try and could cancel if not happy with it. One week later, I got it installed and realized I ended up with a 15Mb/s plan, while having 28 Mb/s with Rogers. I called Bell to ask for an upgrade and was told this would forgo the deal and I would have to pay the regular price (similar to Rogers’ 28 Mb/s package) to get 25Mb/s. Also, if I chose to cancel, I would have to pay a $200 cancellation fee. After numerous transfers and arguing, I got to speak with a Customer Loyalty rep who put me on the 25 Mb/s plan, free for 1 year, full price second year. I take having two other services with them - TV and phone - had warmed up their hearts a little. After all this, I finally ran a speed test on both connections and this is what I got:

Rogers: 30-43 Mb/s download (instead of 28) 1 Mb/s upload (as promised)

Bell: 15 Mb/s download (I take the upgrade to 25 will take a while to get processed) 3.6 Mb/s upload (instead of 10 as per current plan)

Conclusion is Rogers is still better in Customer Service and download speeds for a comparable price. Bell has become a third world company with total lack of consideration for customers and a sales approach similar to duct cleaning companies. at 2012-07-22 17:13:17

(Zaid Rasid)[http://www.zaidrasid.com] said: This is an awesome post. Not awesome that you had to struggle but I really like how you used data to present your case to the Bell reps. I think it’s better to be prepared to go into a phone call with actually data to get what you want.

It feels helpless here in Canada only having these two major providers. I hope UBB never happens and I hope that we get some more competition up in here! at 2011-02-04 16:41:02

Faraday said: Yeah there is no such thing as congestion issues with the Rogers network, once upon a time they did oversubscribe their PHUBS which could handle 1GBit/s; and so imagine splitting that up with hundreds of thousands of customers within a city … obviously peak times would result in slow speeds.

Bell does not have a fibre network, even today their Fibe shill is FTTN (Fibre to the node) which means it’s glass from the office to your nearest DSLAM but it’s dinosaur copper to your house. Right now only the parts of Quebec are getting FTTH only because the upgrade was quite easy as a result of their lines being above in ground. In Ontario we are less fortunate because Bell now has to spend money getting an underground excavation crew to upgrade everyone’s lines (which they won’t do).

But if you do live in Atlantic Canada getting Bell Alliant is a no brainer; don’t even bother with Rogers out west.

It’s a blue vs. red pill game, Rogers for the most part can offer upto 50/2 in most areas, whereas Bell still uses extinct hardware and refuses to upgrade their network. I really feel for those home business subscribers cause Bell still caps you out at 300GB. at 2011-03-06 03:26:42

jacob said: I have fibe 12 and just measured my speed and it is 11.79 download and .91 upload. seems okay. i must be close to a station i guess. also have the tv and it has good picture quality and lots of commerical free movies. pvr is a goldmine. So i guess you need to figure out how close you are to the central station before you get bell internet. I got lucky. we have 3 boarders here sharing the connection and no problems. it’s slow changing channels for the tv but you can design your own channel guide.

good surfing at 2011-01-15 00:52:45

Blair said: UBB is a dead issue at 2011-02-28 23:48:00

Dougie said: great blog - I have been a Rogers customer for 15 years and just cancelled my cable, phone and internet service. I was spending close to $200 /month for all three services. I currently have the Ultimate Internet package which advertises up to 50 Mbps download. Needless to say, I do not have the time to spend with Rogers technical support on a nightly basis any longer. I have been lied to countless times and their TV GUI looks like it is from the 1970s. IPTV and FTTH (yes, I know Bell is only fibre to the node) is way of future. Bottom line: I am lucky if I get 10 Mbps download speeds between 5 and 11pm every evening. And Rogers takes no accountability. And if you do a lot of peer to peer networking and VPN to office etc., upload speeds can be hugely important. Rogers throttles the crap out of me; they claim they do no throttling. Sorry, no trust here. I have been averaging at least 2 calls a week to Rogers over last three weeks. Sorry I simply don’t have the time. I just want to get what I pay for. Huge risk with Bell Fibe, but I have spoken to a number of people in the industry who tell me this is a no brainer move and I should have done it months ago. And no, I do not work for Bell. Will add a post next month post installation…Cheers, at 2011-04-21 03:06:43

CHRIS ELLIS said: I have been with Tech Savvy for about a year( for my internet) and with Rogers( for my TV channels). I am considering going with Bell, mainly to be able to use their Hi-Tech PVR’s but they told me that I would not be able to continue using Tech-Savvy. From what I have been reading, it sounds like that would not be a good move. Any comments? at 2012-01-06 03:41:34

Rob said: UGH!

I have just gone through this entire fraudulent scam they are running. I was on a grandfathered high speed plan with unlimited usage. my average was 80GB a month. After the 3rd increase this year (2011) on the same service, enough was enough. I’ll save the details of the first 4 calls, they didn’t go well. After getting loyalty (cancellations). They assured me, based on my address and postal code in Woodstock, ON that I would be able to get close to the advertised Fibe 16 speeds. I said if I got even 13mbps I would be happy, that should be no problem at all I was told. The tech showed up late, making me lose an entire days pay. After 3 + hrs testing connections, speeds and lines from the ‘central office’ to my house, the best speed he said I would be able to obtain is ~ 8.5mbps, stable. He said at the central office the speed tested at a full 16mbps. ~ 1/2 km from my house. where it went to the box basically 10ft from my back yard it tested at 10mbps. from that box to my house it dropped to 8.5mbps. speed tests while he was there (6 - 8 tests) done on my computer showed no better than 7.38mbps. my old DSL speed was 6.08mbps 24/7/365. The tech said, when I call customer service, let them know the speeds and to back you down to the Fibe 12 service. He also stated, “I don’t know how they can get away with pitching this Fibe service in this area being that it’s still all twisted pair copper around here.”
I called and went through the explanation. They backed down the service and had no explanation for the low speeds. After all this I was going to settle for slightly better than what I had. The day following this fiasco my speeds dropped down to 5.89 - 6.01. SLOWER than what I had before. It was a Friday so I called tech support , they opened a ticket and said I’d get a call back within 30min. Nothing. I waited until the Monday to call them and found the ticket had been closed!!! No tech notes were added to the ticket she said. WTF!!?? They ran more tests and checks and all this blah blah blah. She said she’d reset my port. Miraculously, I hit 7.05 for 3 tests in a row. She said this is the best you are going to get where you live. Tuesday (today), speeds are back down just under 6mbps, again, slower than my OLD service, however now I have a GB cap.

Bell is conducting fraudulent business practices, blatant lying to customers and selling a product that DOES NOT EXIST!!! Think of how many internet users don’t know how to perform a speed test and just sign up and plug along thinking they are on a faster connection. This is WRONG and needs to be stopped. In my opinion it borders on criminal and the Government (see: CRTC) allows them to do it. Do we as consumers have ANY recourse????? at 2011-11-15 16:00:49

Dave said: I’m moving in to the Oakville area next month. Are these really my only two choices? at 2010-11-15 03:04:55

Tony said: Im with rogers and Im very happy with the service, speed is great and my speed stays within range of what it should be. Im running 6 laptops off this modem and all the computers speed seem to be fine. So why the hell I would switch to that piece of shit bell. Listen to all the complaints on bell come on people what do you want want fast internet speed every month, or arguing with a bell rep every day? I hate bell doesnt matter for what service. Stay away from them they are nothing but trouble. at 2011-02-27 04:56:55

Scott said: Thanks for the review. I’m currently going through same problem with Bell. They recently offered me the Fibe 6 plan (downlands up to 6 mbps). The fastest I ever got was 1.4 mbps. So I called Bell tech department. After a visit by a technician and 4 hours with a connection - phone/internet. I was politely informed after my complaints were escalated that in my area - Scarborough, ON - the fastest download speed would be 3 mbps. So finally I’m getting a smoking speed of download speed of 1.85 mbps. Yep, the Bell rep apologized for the mistake. I asked point blank why did Bell lie to me about the service when they knew that the service was not available in my area. “We are sorry that you feel that way”. So tonight I called Rogers - no more GLORIFIED DSL. Sure Rogers is more expensive BUT if they can deliver on the speed - I’ll be happy. at 2010-12-17 02:01:28

(Derek)[http://www.derekmartin.ca] said: It is a dead issue for now, but it wasn’t when we were discussing that in the comments. Plus, Bell wants it to happen, so I’m sure it’ll be an issue again in a year or two. at 2011-03-01 16:07:06

Laurana said: I’m getting highspeed internet and cable and a phone for my new appartment…Now I’m just scared which one of rogers and bell is going to rip me off more… at 2011-02-02 22:19:53

Rick Reo said: Bell Sux!! I got a letter from bell not too long ago from their security department telling me that I am permanently banned from their service and I am not welcome to join them again.. why… its because I had a virus at my computer !!!

NEVER SIGNUP WITH BELL CANADA, BELL and BELL SYMPATICO SUX. at 2013-04-22 15:17:02

(Scott)[http://syntaxhack.in/] said: Full-time software engineer ‘ere, and recent refugee to Bell (Aliant) from Rogers. I had an absolutely horrific time with Rogers in my area, stuck with a 60gb/mo cap at the same cost and speed that I get unlimited and unthrottled DSL from Bell. (Around 6-8mbps for those wondering). We’d always been with Bell (formerly Aliant, formerly Newtel, god knows what before that) for our telephone and about three months ago we realized bundling our internet with our phone we’d get net+phone for less than we were currently paying just for net (after overage fee) with Rogers monthly. Shortly thereafter we also migrated to Bell satellite TV and haven’t had a single issue. Same deal, cheaper than Rogers Cable and the bundle made the savings significant.

The only thing I can hate on Bell about is their cellular service plans. Their service and quality is great, but the prices are utterly outrageous for the plan offerings. I’m currently a Virgin subscriber and it’s almost amusing to look at how much I’d have to pay Bell for the same amount of data on a customized plan.

The second “FibreOp” is available in my area I’m immediately upgrading ($10 extra by current rates), even if it’s not “pure” fibre optic (glass to the node, copper to the modem) it’s still significantly faster than the best available Rogers Hi-Speed plan in my area.

If anyone’s wondering, I’m in a rather rural part of Newfoundland (close to the capital, but further for services) and a lot of the better tech isn’t really here yet, but even friends and co-workers of mine in the capital (St. John’s, learn your geo!) have agreed with my opinions about the two providers hands-down. A close mate of mine’s father is a Bell employee, so it doesn’t hurt to have access to someone who knows the current systems inside and out, but even with their customer service I’ve never had a problem. No outsourcing issues in my area (all Nfld/Nova Scotia/Ontario) and I’ve never had an issue understanding what was being said by the representative. Assistance has been prompt and useful (unlike Rogers) and I’ve never gotten problems with “up-sell” when adding packages or negotiating problems.

Just my two-cents, I know this comment feed is a bit slow now (09 to 11 is impressive though), anyone who’d like to know more about my personal situation with the versus, I’ll try to pay attention to this for a bit. at 2011-10-08 04:01:20

kyle said: Bell itself is bullshit the sales representative that I had takled to also lied to me!!!!!!!He told me that I needed 300Gigs of usage a month!!!!! In the time i didn’t really know how to calculate gigs so I trusted him~! Then the first month the bill comes wich was 299.00$!!!!!:/ So i called them up and they said that was the price and that there was nothing that the could do!! So i canceled and called rogers to see what they could do? So I explained to them my situation and how much stuff i download and all and he gave me a plan of 20gigs! I was flaburgasted I then told im this is impossible the bell guy told me that i would need 300gigs!! He said that if i was to go over my 20gigs rogers would refund me because it would of been there falt so i was like ok give me that plan and we will go from there! Therefore that is what he did and now 3 months later my rogers bill is now 85$!!!!:) Major difference from bell!!!!!!!! GO ROGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) F U bell!!!!!!!!!!!! at 2012-11-14 02:16:59

Joycce Huria said: Well, I just switched from Rogers to Bell today because my son said Bell Fibre Optic is faster than Rogers. Huum. A very senior technician came and was not sure of what he was doing. Problem#1. the Ethernet cable that runs from the modem to the main computer in my living room was too short, and was told “I should go out and buy a longer modem. Can you imagine. $50.00 for installation plus cost of the cable. You would have thought that the installation wouls be all covered by Bell. Problem#2: the biggest problem, was the disabelling of my buzzer/intercom system which am being given a run around to get restores. I am taking the problem all the way to the CRTC, because Bell MUST enable my buzzer system back. at 2013-08-24 05:29:58

(BAlls)[http://Bell.ca] said: Bell is fucking piece of shit it took me like fucking 3hours to watch 1.30hrs movie. WTF? can’t u just make normal internet? I pay so much money just for some shitty services even my phones 3g is much fucking faster and even though i have like the fast one, but its still so analed so that i will never use it again at 2013-03-22 14:21:23

george said: bell fibe is pure shit..a nasty bit if thievery. then again pretty much all of bell is pure shit and an ongoing rip-off. find any other ways to get your tel-com services . at 2013-06-13 11:37:12

Amanda said: Had a bell rep come to my door offering great deals for bell fibe, told him I was under contract with Rogers said he would take care of that, did get a confirmation stating 420 $ in early cancelation fees were in fact waived. After finding out the deals bell rep offered were untrue and bell rep had no idea what he was talking bout I called Rogers to find out about this early cancelation , and the told me cancellation was waived cause I was moving to an address in Vancouver where Rogers could not provide service, bell rep impersonated me just to get cancelation fees waived so I could get all my services through bell wich would have been fine if he hadn’t completed mislead me as to what I would b reviving, told me I would get best package and I’m stuck with prett much basic tv. Said I would have best Internet package 265 mb stuck with 15 ( r u kidding me) tried to disconnect and hook Rogers back up now have no tv need Rogers to come back and hook up my services again probably gonna charge a service charge, waisted a whole Saturday 2:30 -11:30 having bell hooked up and trying to hook Rogers back up now neither se to work,bunch of crap I hate bell they are so slimy and I fell for it, and all bell could say was that bell rep didn’t have proper info excusing them selves from any responsibility. I am so going forward with the fraud charges Rogers wants me to persue just so I can expose bell for the scammers they reall arr at 2013-02-03 05:44:18

Sam said: You know i hate to say this but its the fact that now a days people who just gets a degree or just learn a new thing thinks that they have come to known everything in the world..so when one tries explaining they think that person is lying… how insane is this… clearly if a sales person did not informed you properly you did not got charge anything but infact you got your money back… so what is the point of making the whole story and demonstrating yourself as a fool who just got enough time to write these kind of blogs and blame people..try and get a life bud that would help you more… I hate all the telecommunication companies in Canada because they all lie… so what can we do?? nothing..so just keep our head focus to what we can change..writing here and there won’t change anything… you need to make a difference by doing something towards it… at 2012-10-20 07:10:35

Dorian said: My opinion, DONT GO WITH BIG COMPANIES. So at first we had virgin mobile untill they started overcharging us. We called customer servise and waited 1 hour on hold. After waiting an hour we decided to cancel. So, we went to rogers. The first 3 months went fine, then they started charging us for incoming calls. After the 3 year contract we switched to bell and they were not any better at all! So all 3 companies are bad and now were going with a local company. For evreything (internet, phone , tv and mobile) we have been with them for 1 year and no probleams. On top of that there headquarters are down the street! When we call them we get connected with customer servise in seconds. If we have a probleam a technician will be there in a matter of minutes. No overage fee’s! 100% unlimited internet. For all plans. We have there lowest bundle with TV, 3mb Unlimited internet and Phone with call display all for $60 per month. I would like to see bell or rogers do they well. at 2013-06-13 15:22:14