how-to block ads
|
»next review in page
Review by static416 
Posted: 64 days ago
member for 2.8 years, 239 visits, last login: 4 days ago
 Toronto,ON
 $100 per month
 "Speed as advertised for HTTP use only"
 "SSL, VPN, and bittorrent are all throttled to the extreme"
 "25Mbit service is like owning a Ferrari with a 80kph governor. Expensive and pointless."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Previously used Teksavvy. First thing I noticed with Rogers is that their CSR's, even the techs, are not very knowledgeable. I'm more familiar with the technology than they are and I'm just a software engineer.
The 25Mbit and 50Mbit plans are a complete ripoff. What's the point of having a fast connection if it's throttled down to nothing 24/7. Bittorrent and VPN are essentially useless. Which raises concerns not only about honesty in advertising, but also privacy as well if they are not going to let you use VPN to protect yourself.
I don't see Rogers is going to get anyone to continue to pay for this service. Speed is only useful for downloading large files, and they won't let you do that, so what's the point in paying $100 for the speed?
Don't pay for anything higher than the $45 10 Mbit package.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Rogers Hi-Speed |
 | »next review in page (previous review)
Review by Tristan
UPDATED: 79 days ago
member for 3.2 years, 587 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Nepean,ON
$56 per month
 about 10 days
"It's not Bell Sympatico"
"Expensive, poor performance, unreliable DNS service, technical support staff are clueless."
"Sadly the best value in high-speed, on account of lack of competition."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
9.3.09 - Speeds have been more consistent lately, although they do drop for what seems like extended periods. Still haven't seen a speed increase for the Extreme tier. Rogers isn't making any friends by keeping Extreme at 10/1.
5.25.09 - Speed tests conducted over a series of days have been showing 9.8Mbps/998Kbps, so speed has been restored. Looking forward to the June speed increase, but not looking forward to the inevitable price increase based on lies.
5/5/09 - Internet connection has been going up and down. I can browse webpages one minute, and then I can't the next minute. Outage duration is about 1 minute. Affecting VOIP.
4/27/09 - Just repaired a shoddy hook-up of a friends internal phone wiring to the demarcation point, and now she gets 7Mbps (and bonus no line noise and restored volume). I once said she'd be lucky to get half my speed, now she gets nearly twice my speed. Need to make some calls, Rogers needs to restore my connection to 10Mbps, because that's what I'm paying for.
4/22/09 - Latest speed test showed about 4Mbps.
4/2/09 - On-going speed tests show my average speed has been decreasing, and is now at 6.5Mbps down. I stopped using Rogers DNS servers, and my reliability rate for successful web connections has increased to 100%. Changing DNS servers also eliminated DNS redirections. Why do I stay with Rogers? Oh yeah, because Bell is worse.
2/15/09 - Speed-tests to Rogers servers use to show near-10Mbps down/1Mbps up, but over the last couple of months, I've been getting on average 7.8Mbps down/1Mbps up. I re-test at different times of the day, and it seems to be pretty much the same. If this trend continues, the service will be completely valueless. Time to switch to a lower-speed tier to save money. Ottawa really needs more competition - we need FTTH already! I'd pay a couple of thousand dollars for the last-mile feed if it meant ridding myself of Rogers.
1/2/09 - Is it just me, or has Rogers become super slow? The speed checker to Rogers own servers shows I'm no longer capable of getting good rates (tested multiple times a week).
11/11/08 - I received another phone call from Rogers. They informed me that I'd have to change DNS servers in order to avoid Rogers failed DNS lookup redirections, and that I'd have to call back to Tech Support to get different DNS addresses. I don't want to call Rogers Tech Support, because they aren't smart. I'll use another DNS server that's considerably more reliable. Too bad for all other clueless Rogers customers.
10/12/08 - Rogers is now redirecting failed DNS lookups to their Rogers Yahoo Search page. Opting out only works so long as the cookie that is set isn't deleted. The alternate redirection page is a plagiarized page out of Internet Explorer, which is funny considering I don't use Internet Explorer, I use Firefox.
10/12/08 - Rogers internet has been slowing down at times over the last couple of weeks. I'm not the only person experiencing this, my friends, employer, and even my workplace connection is slow, in some cases dial-up speeds.
10/11/08 - Just noticed that Rogers finally patched their DNS servers for a DNS Redirection Vulnerability. It took way too long for Rogers to act on this issue.
8/15/08 - I received a personal phone call from the office of the President of Rogers. They heard my crys for a solution [for the many Rogers customers] to a DNS Redirection Vulnerability issue.
- Service Specs -
As of July 20, 2008
--> High-speed extreme
--> »www.speedcheck.rogers.com shows Extreme to be 10 Mbps/1 Mbps down/up.
--> I get 9.66 Mbps/994kbps respectively to Rogers own servers.
--> Real-world speeds will vary greatly depending on time-of-day, and connections outside of Rogers jurisdiction.
--> Norton Security included. - not really for free, as it's rolled up into the cost to deliver service.
- What I hate the most -
--> Very expensive.
- Requirements -
GOOD FAST internet access in order to keep current for my job, hobbies, education, and increasingly to access and keep on top of very important services and discussions provided by my local government.
- Service Deficiencies -
--> Personal webspace is plain, no "added value".
--> No advanced web services (PHP, MySQL, etc).
--> Reduced quality of service due to interference with certain ports and services, such as bittorrent and encrypted traffic.
--> Restrictive "Terms of Use" with regards to operating server applications.
--> Partnership with Yahoo!
--> Receive HTML error pages regularily, appears to be DNS related. Sometimes have to refresh a web page twice. Can be fixed by using almost any other non-Rogers DNS server.
--> Rogers is experimenting with DNS redirection on invalid domain lookup.
8/12/08 Update: Rogers has hidden an opt-out feature, unfortunately it requires a cookie be placed with the browser (a volatile opt-out). Upon opting out, I notice I'm still not getting proper error pages; I receive Internet Explorer error pages in Firefox (Rogers thinks it's ok to steal Microsoft's IE error pages).
--> Rogers injects warnings into web pages when you're close to hitting your monthly bandwidth cap, a clear-cut net neutrality violation, and security violation.
--> Norton Security - not really free as advertised, as Rogers rolls it up into the cost to deliver internet service. Norton's software gives nothing but problems. There are truly free solutions that work better, faster, and don't damage your computer if you have to uninstall them. If you choose to install Norton's, don't come asking me for help when it breaks. Value: $0.00, lower if it breaks the Windows in your computer.
- Cost to Value Ratio -
Rogers has issued several price increases over the years in spite of global bandwidth prices decreases, and ALWAYS places the blame on increases in the cost to provide the service. The "cost to value" ratio grows worse with each price increase.
- Other Services Offered -
--> Home phone - overpriced! Why would anyone pay $19.99/mo for the first year, and $29.99/month there-after, only to get 1 calling feature included (ie: call display)? I've been using Primus talkbroadband for years, and I pay $15.95/month, and comes with 16 free calling features. Primus has made me a very happy customer, and I funnel the savings into my son's RESP.
--> Cable TV - very expensive. Too many unwatched and unwanted channels. Cost to Value ratio is pathetic, when compared to a rectal exam.
--> Cellular - expensive. Going to switch to another wireless carrier.
- Repeat Service Issues -
My connection has gone down several times over the past year, sometimes for a whole day. Calls to tech support result in the usual "We don't support home routers, connect directly" crap, yet the problem miraculously rectifies itself "during" the support call, while the router is connected. Inexperienced support reps. I get better tech support by placing my head inside the door jam, and repeatedly slamming the door closed on it.
- Conclusion -
Rogers needs to invest in more bandwidth, and improve network topography to offset technological advances. The internet will grow with more connected devices, and more software performing very cool stuff. Our ISP's should not interfere with internet access in any shape or form; this is referred to as Net Neutrality, and is a growing concern for virtually everyone who connects to the Internet. As "getting online" becomes more of a necessity, Net Neutrality will become increasingly important.
If the world switches to encryption by default on all net traffic, that will restore the integrity of the service - it's time ISP's understood that we want them to be dumb pipes, not value-added services, especially when it involves them interfering with the data we receive. Value-add services add no value to me. I'm not as gullible as the average consumer.
** We need increased competition with better service! **
I'd switch ISP's, but with my options are limited to cable or DSL. While throttling and other forms of interference persist, I won't be trading my noose for a tighter noose.
My condolences to anyone who is affected by Bell's recent throttling of wholesale partners. It's time the big broadband players in Canada started to clean up their acts. Consumers won't tolerate this crap for long!
I may require access to the internet, but it's the ISP's that are making the net less fun and less exciting.
Followup comments:  
Leathal
Premium
join:2002-02-09
Toronto, ON
| The waiting game. "I can't wait for increased competition. Rogers, your not the best, you are sub-par."
People have been saying this for YEARS now and nothing has changed nor do I think anything will change for at least another 10 years with the way Rogers and the CRTC moves on changing things.
Leathal | |
| Kdee
join:2005-08-26
Etobicoke, ON | There is competition. .... It's called Teksavvy. You should check them out. | |
| | MmmPancakes
join:2007-05-29
Toronto, ON | Re: There is competition. .... DSL may not work out for some people and they have to stick with cable. And Rogers is basically the only cable provider throughout Ontario. | |
| 
Bellunder
@teksavvy.com
| Glad someone knows what's going on You are one of the very few who knows exactly what's going on. As can be seen the number one shorted stock on the NASDAQ is level 3. Level 3 sells bandwidth which is still falling sharply in price and will continue to fall in price. Equipment costs have fallen sharply the Canadian dollar has risen sharply. All of this means sharply higher profits for internet companies. The rest of the world has passed part of the savings along to their subscribers while Canada in its' infinite wisdom has fleeced their subscribers by doing the opposite. It's so bad soon satellite internet from America will cost less than Canadian broadband. | |
|
Jingles57
@rogers.com | Cybersurf No not 3web... very lowsy tech support and internet speeds are a little bit slower then advertized and they still go through rogers | |
| Tristan
join:2006-09-10
Nepean, ON
 ·Rogers Hi-Speed
| 3WEB Hehehe, lousy customer service? So what you're saying is SSDP (same sh#t different pile).
I am my own customer service. I wouldn't dare let an "expert" give me advice (shudder). I've already been told that my Internet connection broke (twice) because of my router, which was utter BS. | |
|
Steven1
@rogers.com | Competition Im with Execulink Telecom and no problems with speeds or anything. Wonderful techs and with a satellite office close by the tech will actually come out here if Im having any problems. | |
|
Willowdale1759
@primus.ca
| DSL Sucks - Bell and Primus vs Rogers Cable So first I have Bell Sympatico DSL and they increase the speed to 3Mb but I can only get 1.5Mb in my area in Willowdale (Toronto, near Yonge and Sheppard).
So I switch to Primus and am still limited to 1.5Mb as they are using Bell lines.
Customer service with both Bell and Primus sucks.
Primus IS much cheaper than Bell when bundled with my home phone and long distance but the DSL can only go 1.5Mb when I am paying for 7Mb.
Customer service at Primus tells me I can downgrade to the "lite" package" which costs about the same in the bundle (home phone with 2 services) or I can cancel my service?!.
Clearly they don't give a rat's ass about their customers.
Essentially CS from everyone is very deficient.
I recall taking a full day off work to wait for the non-existent "cable guy" not to show. Thanks for that Rogers.
$1200 a year doesn't seem to buy any kind of customer support.
So sad to say the bundled cost of:
home phone with 2 services
internet 7Mb
long distance 6c/min
basic cable TV (assuming no extra cost)
will be cheaper with Rogers than with Primus (phone and internet)plus Rogers (basic cable).
Hoping not too optimistically and all other issues aside my internet speed should be able to exceed the 1.5Mbps cap on my DSL service.
Not a big vote for Rogers here but at least in my area and for my needs it MAY be faster and cheaper. | |
|
MrPalooza
@rogers.com
| Loving Rogers Since Rogers Hi-Speed was implemented I have been a customer twice over and a user of Sympatico. Rogers has been nothing but good for me. In the early years it had a lot of problems.
For the last 3 years it has been nothing short of miraculous. I run 4 computers in the house, 3 of which are in my office. I download approx 200gig every month. In those three years I think the total downtime is about 1 day at the most.
I also do a lot of online gaming and never experience an unstable connection. I run 5 websites and never have a problem connecting or uploading content to my sites or blogs.
10MB-up / 1MB-down Ottawa Ontario | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of Rogers Hi-Speed |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by aft3rgl0w
UPDATED: 86 days ago
member for 86 days, 51 visits, last login: 1 days ago
Ottawa,ON
$47 per month (12 month contract)
about 2 days
"DOWNLOAD speed"
"upload speed sucks; unneccessary charges"
"out of 2 evils, this one's faster for downloads... that's about all the good I can say"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
had rogers cable tv for a year. switched from DSL to hi-speed cable internet earlier this month. what I did: called them to say I want hi-speed internet, and I will go pick up my own modem as it will be faster. asked if there will be a charge for picking up in store, was told flat-out NO. Got my modem, hooked up OK, internet running fine. Checked my bill today when it came in... found a 14.95 "activation" fee (read: cash grab) and a TEN DOLLAR MODEM PICKUP FEE!! ($9.95)
I called them to inquire as to this bullshit charge and was told "yes, we charge 10 dollars to pick it up in-store as opposed to $49 for a tech bringing it out" After picking up the pieces from my head exploding, I gently explained to the tech that this was a completely unnecessary, excessive fee, especially considering all it took for them to get the service going was click a couple buttons. Threatened to quit if it was not removed immediately (and I would have). They took it off without much of a fuss, so I'll give them points for that, as usually trying to get any kind of refund or compensation with them is like pulling teeth. Anyone else receiving this charge should call and complain and get it reversed.
Bottom line is Rogers and Bell are both evil money-grubbing corporations who care only about lining their own pockets at whatever and whomever's expense. The throttling, caps, extra charges and shitty customer service need to come to a stop NOW and we as consumers are the only ones who can and will make that happen.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Rogers Hi-Speed |
| »next review in page (previous review)
 Review by DurkaDurka
UPDATED: 109 days ago
member for 6.7 years, 1329 visits, last login: 1 days ago
Toronto,ON
$55 per month
"Stable Connection, Average Speeds, Horrible Caps."
"Caps, Throttling, Poor Customer Service."
"Extreme is a joke."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Rogers Positives:
- Connection is stable, no latency issues or slowdowns.
- Can't think of anything else
Rogers Negatives:
- Very little to differentiate between Express and Extreme
- Throttling
- Customer service is horrible 90% of the time.
- Bit Caps are laughable
- Online billing system is inaccurate. It does not note payments I make to my account.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Rogers Hi-Speed |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by darkfly
UPDATED: 110 days ago
member for 156 days, 3 visits, last login: 110 days ago
Oshawa,ON
$60 per month
"Only High Speed service we can get in our area."
"Rogers' throttles our 10Mbit package like hell, crappy speeds, crappy uploads."
"Wish I could get a better ISP, but for now this is the best I can do."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
For other options for broadband is Bell, but according to their systems we can only get the basic package (19.95, with 2GB downloads, real pile of crap). Forced to keep Rogers for now.
Speeds that the current Rogers' package offers us is 10Mbit download with 1Mbit upload. Download speeds are too bad, they hover from 6-8Mbits, however our upload is so bad its lags for online gaming. 1Mbit upload is really more like 0.1Mbit upload, and yeah I know 1Mbit isn't a hole lot, its about 116Kb/s, but its more like 10kb/s online.
We've had the package for well over 3 years now, with all the changes they've made has wanted me to switch, I manage my own network as Rogers doesn't understand how to install the router/switches or running wires.
One last note, Rogers has been known to interrupt our service without notice, and you'll forced to call them to see what the hecks going on.
Our of a rating of 100, I give Rogers Cable 100/40.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Rogers Hi-Speed |
| »next review in page (previous review)
 Review by i286
UPDATED: 114 days ago
member for 1.8 years, 338 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Toronto,ON
$35 per month (12 month contract)
about 2 days
"reliable, English support, it's not Bell"
"bandwidth caps are very low, DNS servers are flaky"
"I hate Bell, so anything not from Bell is OK"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I am with Rogers for about 3 years in Downtown Toronto - it was quite reliable all this time. May be four or five 10-minute outages in the entire time I am with them.
In terms of technology - they are pretty advanced - Belden coaxial wires keep the signal well - the modem shows 200+ days of uptime. I've had the same IP address for more than a year! Not like with Bell's 18th century rotten wires.
However, Rogers' caps are very low - they've bumped the speeds (and prices) so now you can easily go over. The overage charges are high too.
Other issue I have is the DNS. Their servers go up and down and web surfing becomes really annoying and slow. I punched OpenDNS into the WRT54GL (running Tomato) - and now everything works flawlessly.
If they would just bump the caps a little bit - then it'd be simply fantastic. But I know that's not happening because Bell is going to cry crocodile tears to the government about unfair competition.
I can't stand Bell - I get angry instantaneously, so I will stick with Rogers for now.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Rogers Hi-Speed |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by bt
Posted: 116 days ago
member for 268 days, 239 visits, last login: a few hours ago
canada
Contract price not specified.
"Reliable and fast in my area"
"Caps, throttling"
"Only game in town for fast internet"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Speed tests consistently read no lower than 95% of the advertised 10/1 speeds and downtime is practically non-existent.
On the flip side, the caps are restrictive and encrypted outbound is throttled 24/7. There is also a history of corporate decisions that are not consumer friendly that leave a bad taste in my mouth.
Unfortunately, DSL in this area tops out between 2 and 3 Mbps due to distance from the CO (with no remotes), making Rogers the only game in town for anyone who wants more speed than that.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Rogers Hi-Speed |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by Fredra
UPDATED: 161 days ago
member for 9.6 years, 3746 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Nepean,ON
$70 per month
about 2 days
"Faster than dial-up when the node is not busy"
"Slow at the best of times, poor tech support"
"A monopoly"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
Although I have a business account, the speed is never close to the promised level.
Their customer support is the worst I have ever experienced, it is pathetic.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Rogers Hi-Speed |
| »next review in page (previous review)
 Review by Raptor
UPDATED: 180 days ago
member for 8 years, 1597 visits, last login: a few hours ago
London,ON
$55 per month
about 7 days
"$100 Paperweight...although its no wicked looking Lancity"
"Caps, constant price increases, throttling, store employee knowledge"
"Become a Rogers employee so you can get a reasonable rate"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
At first, Rogers or for this case at the beginning Shaw, owned the high speed world. It was everything u could ever imagine. Insane speeds for downloading, uploading, anything....we're talking pretty much uncapped as much as your computer could handle bandwidth....+500k/sec down and the ability to host and play games with insane upload....but all that has gone down the crapper along with now more money each month....Rogers sucks now and thats all there is to it...it costs more, it's stupidly slower being capped at 1000/180ish....whats the point now...? Their tech support is ridiculous and their other customer support/repair is pretty much 1 guy, his dirty old van and a screwdriver, who may or may not come within the next 6-8 weeks to tell you the modem is broken...how do they break so much? I have never so much as looked at mine in the 3 years I had it and its been replaced because it "broke" 5 times? I don't think so...
As far as what they promised....noooo. They never sent a single email about new prices or speeds....they don't even advertise speeds because they know they're brutal....that's all there is to it...don't bother with rogers. Hopefully someone will eventually take light on to all the unhappy people and straighten themselves up. All it'll take for me is another company to offer more speed and/or consistency and I'll switch...
****UPDATE March 9 2004*****
ok, rogers users, i have found the solution to all problems...ready?
B*tch at the tech support like there is no freaking tomorrow.
Embellish your crap speeds just a little, or a lot...whatever, and get angry, yell, swear, do whatever, (you don't have to be mean to the tech person) but basically just lose it. I say this because:
3am at night: speeds 1000/100 (the capped value I've been at for a few months now)....begin drunk bitching at tech support.
Next morning: speeds 2000/400--they haven't dropped since.
Seems to be the key, they have the bandwidth, they just know that they can shaft 9/10 people and hold back on the bandwidth.
****UPDATE OCT 27 2004*****
So this magical Extreme package comes along, what more could we all ask for right? Well frig....apparently they don't know how to use these new Docsis modems and the network is over congested and blah blah blah, Rogers sells their services without having enough network capacity...but they still get their money right?
I have $100 paperweight of a Motorola modem on my desk. It wont connect since it wont receive a response and it isn't assigned an IP. Smooth Rogers. When it first stopped working, I called Rogers that day. After 5+ tech visits, and 10+ phone calls they were 'gracious' enough to loan me a Terayon while the Docsis crap is fixed with the Motorola (extreme). How nice of them...except the network is over congested at the moment so i get 100/27kbps (that's NOT kB) on a test...whats that, less than 10KB/s or something terrible....$45 well spent!....essentially, no one knows whats going on, after talking to 10+ techies, none could refer me to anyone that knew about how, when, if at all the problem was being worked on, let alone understood. So I'm in week 3 of having my 100$ paperweight....if Rogers was beside me id punch him in the face....
So to recap and say yet again, the techs are like PR people, they keep the peace and give politician like responses--crap. I wish there was an alternative since DSL just isn't as fast....how is it Rogers isn't a monopoly? I'm confused? I don't know of any other cable companies in SW Ontario...whatever.
Rogers continues to screw up a good thing. From the Wave, to Shaw, to Rogers, to the Yahoo junk....none of which are improvements.....
And finally, the newsgroup change....why....why mess with such a wonderful thing. Now I have nothing good to say about them. I was happy having crappy overall internet but still getting 500k/sec off newsgroups...no longer.
Conclusion
- I am convinced a monkey is running rogers.
- They don't really care, they get their money, and will maybe fix stuff if enough people complain, as the techs have told me to wait to see if other people complain.
- All us haters of Rogers should start our own cable company 
- I personally don't recommend Rogers unless you know it's good in your area.
****UPDATE Mar 1 2005*****
60 GB Cap....what the bloody crap? It's ok though since I still can't use my $100 paperweight because my extreme modem won't connect since too many extremies are already online on my node. But the good folks at Rogers tell me if I keep unplugging and plugging my modem in hoping that someone else dropped, I might get their spot! Best service ever!
Overall: Its good if its good in your area. I wish I was in a good area.
And the caps...well, there are no words for that. Ridiculous comes to mind. I am not impressed, especially since I haven't actually received any notice of the cap. So how would I know if i was an average user that used the bandwidth but didn't frequent DSLR or the crappy rogers website FAQ? Magic powers? oh no, only Ted has magic powers, he makes all our money disappear instead of paying for network upgrades....*poof*.
-----UPDATE APRIL 15, 2005-----
Well, the other day I attempted to use my Geocities, to transfer a file to someone, but even with my user name and password it wouldn't open the file manager or let me ftp. I could login via IE, but it would just time out when I clicked 'get started now'. I emailed the tech gods, and they wanted me to send them my user name and password for my account, um no. So i said screw it, got me a G-mail account. Anyways, 5 days later, I get some auto response from civics@geocities, apparently my account is now active and ready to go! Right, nice turn around on a free service which i SHOULD already be signed up for, apparently I had to activate it by attempting a login? People whine how Rogers users shouldn't complain about an 'extra service', well we used to have this extra service and it was much better! 10mb, no apparent limits?, and no GeoCrappies. But then Yahoo happened, so wheres my price drop? Only in my dreams.
My connection is a sentient life form, it chooses to be on when it wants to be, and when it's happy, it goes fast, other times it is unhappy, and chooses to hit 300ms off the first node. That's still good right? It's ok, Rogers doesn't guarantee ping times so wtf would they care. No worries, there are about 5 unprotected wireless AP's around me, since one of the modems are usually having good days when mine has a bad. Hopefully I don't get spammed for 'stealing'. People shouldn't be allowed to purchase wireless equipment if they don't have the knowledge to run it. Just like all the zombie spam bot computers out there, users who don't know anything (generally). Its in the air, and its in my house, its a backup and i don't abuse it. But I digress...
Shaw upgrades! Well that'd be nice for Rogers. I wish i understood the corporate workings, how does Shaw upgrade and others not? Cogeco and Rogers, I guess we're all different. Maybe they have a good connection in Shaw areas still? I'd like to say that, and agree with some others, I don't need 7Mbps damn it, I'm capped already, I could damn well use the upload though, maybe a guaranteed .5mbit, and max 1mbit? I'd take a 5/1 any day, and not an 'up to' 5/1.
Finally, the Rogers EULA, this has been the topic of discussion especially the caps. On one side, you have hard asses saying, if you didn't agree don't sign up for the EULA. No one reads that uber document. When I complain that my advertised 5mbit is only going 1.5 and they say well it is 'up to', well when I go and buy a Porsche and it should go up to what 300km/hr (i don't know), and if the engine is limited to 150, I'm going to go kick the dealers ass. I paid for the top speed. Don't advertise something you cant give. Give me a range or something. There's too much leeway for Rogers to jerk us around in. I invite any competition into Ontario, if you are better then we will switch to you! Gah. I want my Wave back.
**Update NOV. 2005**
I canceled Rogers and switched to Sympatico in Waterloo. I get constant 3mbit/.8mbit connection and have never had any downtime. What can i say, if you're on a good node for Rogers you're on a good node. Otherwise, don't ever expect things to improve. For anyone who is new to Rogers, if you experience slowness or downtime consistently, you should probably get out, they aren't going to fix it, as my issue was brought up over a year ago when they acknowledged the node was overloaded, after a large run-around.
Sympatico may be slower than extreme, but i don't see any slowdowns during peak hours, and although there were a couple early billing issues, they fixed it in 2 seconds, no questions asked.
And don't get me started on the newsgroups, they already raped those back in April or whatever when they capped it to 60k/sec. I don't even use them since i bought a 3rd party service...for anyone looking around, try Newshosting.
This is one customer they've lost. Nicely done, I only gave them a year to fix it.
**Update June 2007**
Prices are becoming out of reach for the average user. Personally, I don't understand the price hikes. Yes, we're slowly seeing more speeds, but we're owed it. Services are supposed to improve with the times. I recall standard $30 a month price ranges. Now we're over $50 a month for the more standard high speed. And that's not even mentioning these ridiculous 'portable' solutions at $100 plus.
I no longer have Rogers wherever I live. I move somewhere new every 4 months the way my school / co-op is setup and I always install Sympatico. So how I am justified in rating Rogers you say? Well, my parents still have it at home. Anyways, I (they) happen to be on a congestion free node in their London home. It's around 8/1 now, which is nice. But has increased about $20/month over the past few years. Yet, the package is still considered the same package.
The most frustrating thing ever, which is why I'll continue to denounce and poorly rate Rogers are their poor customer tactics. If anyone is familiar with the origins of the Extreme package, you would recall that you could purchase the extreme modem ($100), and receive the Extreme tier for the same price as Express. At the time, I believe Extreme was 5/800, and Express was 3/384. So it made sense to avoid the modem rental if you were going to go with Extreme for the long haul. Well that’s all gone, and now extreme costs more anyway, regardless if you purchased the modem. Essentially, I was ripped off for $100!!! I bet someone in marketing got a fat bonus out of that.
Long story short, after dealing with both Rogers and Sympatico, I choose Sympatico first having been given the run around too many times from Rogers. If given a choice of a reliable 3rd party, give them a shot. It's up to the customers to show them that we're not happy.
***Update Mar. 2008***
My current living situation uses Rogers for internets. We're on the extreme profile, though you would hardly know it during normal usage hours. From about 3pm to 2am downloads grind to around 100kB, even normal browsing seems slow. Anyone who would suggest that I may simply be on an overloaded node, which may also be the case, at 2am or so, wham, I'm downloading at ADVERTISED SPEEDS - 1.1mB/sec. That would be Rogers handywork in their severe throttling of ALL traffic. I use newsgroups so, I barely touch the upload spectrum, yet nonetheless it gets throttled to hell.
My living situation in the summer will be at another residence with Rogers, which I have already lived and it is the same if not worse of a situation. It resides in a neighbourhood not far from a university campus. You guessed it, overloaded nodes, on top of the throttling. No need to explain that one.
My repeated beef is with the severe price increases that seem to be relentless. We're up to around $55/month for extreme service. That which I purchased the modem myself I might add so that I could enjoy this tier of speed without paying more. Nice scam Rogers. What happened to $30/month? Should our services not be increasing with time since as years pass technology improves? Why should the cost increase as well? Inflation doesn't quite account for all the price increases!
The ISPs of the day have too long lived on a network that people were underutilizing. They overloaded nodes knowing that most users barely touched their advertised speeds. But with todays changing times with internet video (Youtube, etc) and P2P (legit et. al) and other streaming services, all of a sudden the goldmine is costing a little more to operate than what it used to. It's a business, change with the times or get left behind. I'm sure the goldmine was good while it lasted, but if you don't get ahead of the internet it will bury you. All I can say is look to Verizon (Fios) or Videotron (Docsis 3.0). Get with the times or they'll leave you behind. The cashcow you've had should be used to build the next generation of networks. One that provides this country with a next gen network. The profits will come.
Finally, net neutrality. Learn it, embrace it.
***May 2009 Update***
While my own personal Rogers account has nothing to be commented on at this point, I will comment on an account I setup for a friend and the billing issues related.
Went into a Rogers Plus store (Rogers Video) because of a 3 month free promo + free modem (after rebate) deal. The promo was "Grab and Go" in that you bought the modem at the store, went home and fired it up and they set a few things up at the store before you left and voila, internets. Seemed good as the friend I was helping was moving into a new apartment.
The first store we went to explained how it all worked. At this time, it was one week prior to the move in date. I thought it best to go early because I've had install times of roughly 1 week for Rogers/Bell and I didn't want her new place to be without internet for that long. The store clerk explained the grab and go thing, and that I didn't need to order it a week in advance. So, we left and I planned to return on the date of move in.
Returning to a different store (the other one had a power outage and their system was down) to get the "Grab and Go", you know, to GRAB it and GO home and set it up within an hour or so - I was stone walled suddenly when upon attempting to do all of this was told I needed to have a tech come out and work his magic, and the next closest appointment would be later next week. Pretty unimpressed by the lack of harmony amongst employee knowledge. Store clerk said nothing could be done, despite the fact that I know they have rolling trucks for customer service emergencies, like mine if you ask me. Being misled by 1 clerk and all....via their lack of knowledge. Anyways....
Tech made it out, did his "magic" by opening a box and making a connection. The bill arrived a few days later with NO MODEM REBATE and some wonky $50 installation fee, and $15 activation fee. I couldn't find anything about the $50 install fee anywhere on the little flyer or the website, nor did either of the TWO store clerks when I specifically asked them about other charges mention them.
I called in to the Rogers billing department and and was connected to a nice lady. She listened to my sob story, but wasn't aware of my promotion. I asked about that out of curiosity and she helpfully explained that there are so many promotions through the Rogers Plus stores, Futureshop, etc that while they can look them up they don't really know about them - so that wasn't a big deal. What was excellent about her was that instead of connecting me directly to the department to resolve it, she spoke with them on my behalf so that I didn't have to re-explain my entire situation. She came back on after about 5 minutes and said the modem rebate [b]with taxes[/b] would be credited and that because of the lack of transparency and information regarding the connection fee that would be waived ($50).
Turns out that the $15 charge is for a new service (internet, tv, phone, etc) and that the $50 charge is for a new Rogers account. Since my friend didn't already have say TV, and was adding internet. My point to her on that was I shouldn't be double charged for a new connection sign up of both $15 and $50, and it should realistically be one or the other. Furthermore, had I simply been told ahead of time about the $50 charge, that would be up to me. I noted that Bell doesn't charge a install fee/connection fee and that that was part of my selection process between the two carriers. A fee that size is good for a month and a half of Bell 7Mb/1Mb service.
The lady was very helpful and we had a little discussion on how I would have liked to have been presented things as a customer (all details up front) and that clerks/employees should be more versed in making sure they explain that NEW rogers customers may incur additional fees for setting up a line. Granted, my personal opinion is that is still BS, since the cable lines are already installed in the apartment, so that all is needed is to hook up the connection at the box, which I think the $15 should account for. If a tech has to setup the modem, fine, charge $50 the same way Bell offers home installs. It is how they make money.
[b]Summary[/b]
- Rogers failed to credit modem rebate (had to call in)
- Poor education of Rogers Plus! store employees (twice)
- Sketchy installation/connection fees not properly explained/represented
+ Excellent customer service phone rep (may just be a crap shoot )
+++ Interdepartment communication transfer done by initial rep so I don't re-explain
+ Install credit, while technically valid, was given as customer service offering based on poor handling/explanation by in store clerks
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Rogers Hi-Speed |
| »next page (previous review)
Review by alwzn4vr
Posted: 207 days ago
member for 218 days, 157 visits, last login: 1 days ago
Mississauga,ON
$49 per month
"decent download speeds"
"throttles uploads pretty much all the time, DNS is often flakey"
"my other choice is Bell ADSL, no thanks. If Bell's application to cap wholesalers gets rejected I'll consider moving"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I live in Mississauga, so it's either cable or Bell. Until such time that the CRTC does something about DPI and rejects wholesaler capping, I'm not going to move. With the members in my household using video streaming more often I'm starting to hit the Rogers cap more often.
I've had rogers since it was the @home network and tech support is still as pathetic as it was back then. At least I no longer have to explain how IP and DNS works to the techs.
During a recent incident I recorded my nslookup results to aid the tech. When I offered this info, I was told that rogers could not support my 'nslookup activities'
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Rogers Hi-Speed |
|
|
(21)
(15)
(45)
·
There's always a DSL provider who has their own DSLAM