Review by Stojko 
UPDATED: 158 days ago
member for 2.1 years, 390 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Grand Falls-Windsor,NL
 $40 per month
 "Reliable (for the most part), no apparent throttling, consistent yet slow speeds, no caps (yet)"
 "Horrible customer service, useless tech support, owned by Bell - just wait for the caps"
 "Consistent (yet slow) speed, no bandwidth cap/throttling but horrible service"
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Bell Aliant is okay if you never have to contact them for customer service in any way - whether it's general information, billing, account changes, tech support, Aliant just can't get it right.
On a positive note, the connection is generally reliable. I'm kinda far from the CO, but I usually get around the speed I pay for, and the connection is consistently availalbe to you without much downtime (I'm looking at you, Persona). Aliant's website pricing is very inconsistent and unreliable - they heavily use "contract pricing", "introductory pricing", etc. while the real prices you will pay for the service are higher. I *strongly* recommended a Value Package. You're still being ripped off, just on a smaller scale. On a 12-month contract without a value package, Aliant's 1.5mbps internet is a whopping $44.95. Without a contract, $49.95. This is 2009 - $50 a month for 1.5mbps? The Ultra and Max tiers are not available on my street, however I have used Aliant High Speed Ultra at a friend's house for about a week and speeds were generally consistent at the ~5mbps level which was good.
If you compare it to Rogers, you get less speed for the money but you do take advantage of the fact that, at the moment, there are no set bandwidth limits on your account and you won't end up paying up to $25 per month extra like you would with Rogers High Speed Internet. In the more densely populated neighborhoods of St. John's, Aliant High Speed Max is offered at $60 per month (or a $15 per month upgrade in a Value Package) which offers downloads up to 10mbps with no bandwidth caps, which is comparable to Rogers Express High Speed Internet at $47 per month but with a not-so-attractive bandwidth cap of 60GB.
In the end, you aren't getting the best deal in the world for your internet connection, paying up to $49 per month for 1.5mbps internet, but when it comes down to it, if you bundle Aliant High Speed Internet with your telephone service or Bell TV service, the price isn't that bad compared to the other choices you have here. Can't complain when you can download whatever you want (presumably, they do say in the terms and conditions that if you "impact" anyone else on the network by using it too much, bye bye) compared to being hit with surcharges up to $25 per month for exceeding a measly 60GB (2GB a day) cap with Rogers. If Eastlink is available in your area (most of the maritimes + small towns in Newfoundland), go for them instead.
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NBTel now Aliant
