 Review by Raptor 
UPDATED: 1.6 years ago
member for 8 years, 1597 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Etobicoke,ON
 $32 per month (4 month contract)
 about 7 days
 "You can access the internet with their service"
 "Excessive throttling, slower than advertised speeds"
 "Bell is on shakey ground"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
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[March 26 Review]
Wrapping up from my previous update, the speeds never increased and I was simply stuck on 2.5mbit/.8mbit because of my poor SNR/Atten. So, basically I attribute that to either faulty equipment on Bells end, perhaps the DSLAM or the fact that my trustworthy CSR simply lied about the speeds I would be achieving. I'm banking on the latter, of which may or may not be his fault. I mean, who wants to tell a customer looking to purchase the highest 5mb tier at the time that based on their current network setup, I could barely get half of the speed. Perhaps that was why he was so eager to give me a near $20 discount with no contract. We'll never really know I guess.
Bottom line, Bell now throttles and employs all of the same practices that Rogers does - offering services they cannot deliver, and will not admit to. On top of that, they're now harassing 3rd party ISPs, which further limits customer choice. Sweet.
Why would I go with Bell at this point -- and that's an honest question? What precisely do they offer that others don't? Nothing that I can see. In fact, they're making it so other companies have to be like them, by negatively affecting wholesalers (Acanac, Teksavvy, etc) by throttling. Geez, why not just buy them out....
Hopefully, the wholesalers will band together, and either some legal action or regulatory action via the CRTC will correct this. Until then, don't expect me to sign up for Bell DSL the next time I move for school/co-op term. Oh, and I dumped your cell service and convinced my parents to do the same because of your shady customer service. Enjoy.
[Sept. 26 Review]
Sub 2.5mbit downloads, yet somehow 800kbit up, go figure. Connection goes on spurts where it drops every now and again. Not sure if its an evening thing only or not as I'm not home. If this continues, I'll cancel and hop on Rogers for the last 3 months of my term here.
What happened to good old reliable DSL? It may be slower, but the connection was always consistent. So much for that.
Tech support said they would look into it, and call me back....ahem, that was last week boys. How's that going?
[Sept. 8 Review]
Trouble in Bell paradise. I moved to Etobicoke for a 4 month work co-op, and since Bell had my 'trust' at this point, they got the nod.
I called in, and Mohamed (not being an ass, that was his name), got very excited when I said I was in Etobicoke because he could offer me the full 5mbps tier. Now at this point I hadn't even mentioned that I would require such levels. I just replied, "if I was going to sync 3 or less I'll try Rogers first." But he reassured, that I would be prancing along a 5mbit in no time, on my DRY DSL. He also threw me a $32/mo no contract setup. That was nice.
Ordered on Wed., modem came on Tues (Holiday Mon.), and DSL was up on Wednesday after a tech came out and apparently installed a new direct line to my bedroom - thankfully, my landlord supervised as I was at work.
He did a good enough job when i got home, modem was sitting on my desk, hooked up to the phone jack, but he didn't mess with my computer (thanks). So I just plugged her in and she synced. All in all, tech who came did a fine job, no complaints.
Time for the BBR speed test. This is where the ride gets bumpy. Oh no, I'm getting about 2.24bit / .8mbit. That was upsetting, weird how i get perfect upload but my DL is garbage. I then unlocked my modem, and checked line stats. They confirmed the BBR speedtest + overhead.
From there I took matters into my own hands and hooked up my modem directly to the wire coming off the pole. I actually hooked up just before my Demarc (disconnecting of course). With my laptop, I scored just under 3mbit/.8mbit. So I was losing about a half mbit on my internal wiring. I was hoping it was more like 2.5mbit  Once again, line stats confirmed that I had increased to about 3mbit signal strength.
My SNR/Atten. were still in the crapper I might add. They didn't change and were SNR: 5 Atten: 57 ---sweet eh? I cant believe I even have DSL. This suggests that I'm not on the wrong profile or anything since I cant really go anywhere.
So the Bell techs will be hearing from me tonight, as I've got time to spare with nothing to do in Etobicoke while I'm here. I will be good, I promise, and be nice. All I want is a no BS tech, that can perhaps honestly tell me, our network cant give you 5mbit at your range, or there must be network problems. The truth, that is what I want.
I'll be updating this review in a day or two. Bell, your ratings go in the crapper and I'll be giving Ted another chance if you jerk me around. Good luck to you.
[June 5th Review]
Rogers in my area (Waterloo by the University) is crippled during peak times, at least on my node, and has been for the last 2 years since I've been here. So I've committed to Bell and they haven't let me down. I got a sweet deal for 4 months @$20/mo, and I cancelled as I left for co-op, no fees. Even though I technically screwed them for their deal, it solidified the relationship for sure, so I was willing to come back with them and not even check if Rogers had got their act together. Yes, theyre slightly slower, but 100x more reliable.
*NOTE* - I'm doing my 2nd time around with Sympatico as i'm back on a school term at the university. I purchased High Speed, and when I did, I asked if I was going to be in range for the 5mb upgrade. The tech said he 'looked' at the stats, and said I was too far and would be syncing at 2.4mbps. Well I knew that was bs, since I had had better line stats before. Now I thought they set your profile for you and all, so I'd be locked in to the 3mbit profile maybe, but after 2 weeks of that, I've been magically upgraded to the 5mb, and am syncing at about 4.2mbit. I was very pleased when I noticed my newsgroups cruising at over 500kb/sec.
Bell, if you compete or are close to Rogers speeds, you will retain my business permanently. Rogers lost it because they weren't reliable and they pretty much jerked me around instead of just admitting the node was overloaded.
CONCLUSION: I can probably bash with some cons, and support with pros for each internet provider. The truth is, check your local area for reliability. They're both the same price essentially, and both about the same speed with the new 5mb upgrade, so it really comes down to service. Right now, Rogers is in the crapper for the area that I'm in, and they're going to have to end up swaying me back. I don't have my wireless through them, I convince friends to switch, and I tell people to go for DSL if at all possible. So Bell, you have my business -- don't screw it up please 
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