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Review by JPhillip 
member for 4.9 years, 5 visits, last login: 4.9 years ago
updated 4.9 years ago
 Toronto,ON
 $39 per month about 5 days Bell Canada "Fast, Reliable, Great CSR, Great Tech Support, Professional" "Network overloaded thus the unavoidable throttling" "One of the best service providers out there"
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I've been a Bell Sympatico customer for a very long time since about 1999 after experimenting with Rogers before that.
It has been a very long time so bear with me on the vague details.
I remember seeing one of their commercials on TV one day and I was impressed by what they had said. I called them and asked to sign up to and give their service a try. The CSR was absolutely wonderful. He answered all my questions and even gave me a satisfaction guarantee. He seemed very knowledgeable and very in-tune with the newest technology at the time. After I told him all my details the CSR assured me it would be hooked up within seven days.
Two days later my brand new modem arrived via Canada Post so getting the modem was as simple as walking down to the post office. I set it up and waited for the activation date. I later found out the CSR wasn't being honest with me. He said I would be hooked up in 7 days, but actually it turned out to be 5. 
My download speeds were fantastic as well as my upload speeds. I was satisfied with the price and everything was absolutely great. I was finally loving every moment that I was online.
In regards to their billing I found them to be very precise and accurate except for one occurrence. I received a bill that stated I owed zero this month. I called in to inquire and the CSR apologized to me! He then said he would give me another month for free as well as send me a plush doll of Gordon and Frank as at the time of the mix up their mascots were the infamously cute Bell Beavers. I didn't even know you could buy them anywhere at the time. Needless to say, I was thrilled.
Years after that Bell's throttling was started due to reported abuse of their network with P2P applications as well as cap limits imposed. I was quite unhappy with this and decided to switch providers a few months ago. Although the other provider I used was competent, in my opinion they had nothing on Bell and I am seriously considering going back to them. I believe the network congestion problem will be solved in the near future and I want to give them my support financially so they can help clear up this network congestion problem.
In regards to their tech support I had to call only on time when my modem mysteriously one day disconnected for more than an hour. The CSR told me it was because of upgrading going on in my area so my services would be improved afterwards. He was extremely polite and helpful.
All in all it is a great service and I am considering returning to them despite the cap and throttling.
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Review by embassy
member for 5.3 years, 8 visits, last login: 4.9 years ago
updated 4.9 years ago
- Montreal,QC
- $40 per month
- (12 month contract)
- Bell Canada
- "stable connection"
- "Horrible customer support and a total pain in the @ss"
- "Avoid the hassle"
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Even AFTER cancelling my account with Bell and moving to a new provider I'm still having to deal with their incompetence. I get daily automated calls asking me to make an appointment with their technical support, and after 3 attempt to get them to stop the calls Bell can't figure out where the calls are coming from or how to stop them.
This is typical of Bell's service!
UPDATE: Now about 4 months after writing this review, we are STILL getting these automated calls several times per week, at all hours. Totally rediculous!
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Review by keepsake
member for 5.1 years, 73 visits, last login: 244 days ago
updated 5 years ago
- M1L
- $30 per month
- (12 month contract)
- Bell Canada
- "Ordering through 'sales merchant', service is actually fairly decent, I'm actually unthrottled"
- "As we all know, Bell Canada is throttling everything now; my internet connection fluctuates"
- "If you can get 5Mb/800Kb for $30 or less, no reason to switch... yet."
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Pre-Sales:
The usual stuff, except our internet was actually introduced by a sales merchant. I don't quite remember, but I felt he had some adequate information.
Install Co-ordination:
I made a lot of modifications myself to the installation, but from what I remember, it wasn't done all too well - wires left in heaps and etc.
Connection Reliability:
For all the Bell-haters out there, I'm going to have to apologize, but the connection is decent here (in Toronto). I pretty much have 24/7 uptime, with downtime very occasionally and when another computer in my home network tries to access the internet (not really sure why, no IP clashing or such).
Tech Support:
By far the worst. I'm sure I'm not alone here. This doesn't need much explanation except: ignorant, time-wasting, and unhelpful.
Services:
The line gets really mixed results here. Last night, I did a speed test and achieved 4200/680, but today I only managed 3400/680 at best, and 1300/300 at worst. For some reason, I'm not throttled yet, and can still get 200+ speeds on popular torrents (tested with ubuntu), so I'm leaving a neutral note here.
Value for Money:
This one is really up to you guys. I can get a decent deal still (if it weren't for the deal, I'd have already switched to TekSavvy, but the decent pricing (for 5Mb/800Kb with unlimited bandwidth it costs me $30 CAD per month) keeps me at Sympatico right now. If the prices were to increase (even a rise to $35 would be sufficient) I would change to TekSavvy and ditch this dynamic IP for a static one - they cost the same anyway.
I don't particularly like Bell, but I don't particularly hate it. Maybe it's because I'm not throttled, and normal internet activity is still pretty fast, and gameplay yields relatively low ping (in Counter-Strike: Source I average about 40-50ms). I get the bang for my buck, so I'm still fairly happy here.
EDIT:
I forgot to mention, if I were in fact throttled (which apparently should take place on the 7th(?), then for sure I'd change. I'm still pondering switching over to TekSavvy at the moment, because I'm not sure if I want Premium with the bandwidth limit (when technically at the moment I have unlimited).
My speed test: »/im/48695972/11005.png
EDIT on April 13, 2008:
Their customer service isn't totally incompetent, but... their systems don't work very well, apparently. I signed up for a 12-year contract, with discounts amounting to $30 a month (modem rental included), yet their system claims I'm paying $48 a month. ...okay... Anyway, I cancelled today, and I'm going to have this service for one last month before I switch to TekSavvy. I don't really hate the connection (though yesterday, my line dropped 10+ times in one night, it's not something that happens more than rarely), but I think I could do better.
MINOR ADD-ON on April 28, 2008:
Speed was actually maxed today, and recently there haven't been much down-time, so I'm pushing reliability back to a five.
»/im/49965030/54508.png
FINAL EDIT on May 11, 2008 (mother's day!):
I'm officially with TekSavvy, and have dropped Sympatico (and glad to have dropped too!)
TekSavvy!: »/im/50699913/86780.png
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Review by Phix
member for 7.3 years, 77 visits, last login: 54 days ago
updated 5.1 years ago
- Quebec,QC
- $40 per month
- "Good latency (fastpath), no contract and cheap price."
- "I would like to have the possibility to buy the modem and have a higher download speed"
- "Customer since 2005 with the same service. The connection is stable."
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I think I called technical support two times in 3 years or so. The Internet connection is stable and it cost me 40$/month with no contract, tax in. I would like to be put on a 7mbit profile, but I don't know if my line can handle it. I'm on a 5mbit profile right now. I'm still on an unlimited plan, but I don't know for how long. It seems like they are putting everyone on a 30 or 60gb plan.
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Review by mligeza7
member for 11 years, 72 visits, last login: 179 days ago
lodged 5.1 years ago
- Smiths Falls,ON
- $49 per month
- Bell Canada
- "Reliable"
- "slow to repsond to problems"
- "Good Solid service"
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Considered Cable but I had a service problem with the cable company in my area. Cable company is Cogeco and they are a real Mickey Mouse company.
I've been with Sympatico now for 8 or 9 years. Can't say that I have had any real problems with them.
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 Review by BigSensFan
member for 9.8 years, 5728 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 5.2 years ago
- Marmora,ON
- $35 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 5 days
- Bell Canada
- "No Downtime at all"
- "Mail Platform is buggy and blocked by alot of other ISP"
- "Great Bang for the buck"
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I am on the 6M platform. See Test speeds of around 5200 down and 650+ up. Service is reliable, only gripe is the 'new' Hotmail based email accounts. My mail is blocked by alot of servers because of the Hotmail relationship. Mail servers seems to be very glitchy at times too (lose mail between 2 @sympatico.ca addresses quite frequently.) I use Gmail as my primary mail now.
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Review by pudgemuir
member for 6.3 years, 83 visits, last login: 1.8 years ago
lodged 5.2 years ago
- London,ON
- $46 per month
- about 5 days
- "Connection never drops"
- "Torrent Throttling"
- "Great service if you are not dowloading torrents and/or p2p"
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Bell is a good servicei.There connection is good. crappy part is im a torrent njnja, and bell is really cutting down on torrents, so im looking else where. thanx bell!
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 Review by Deadpool
member for 12.1 years, 3259 visits, last login: 3.4 years ago
updated 5.2 years ago
- Canada
- $49 per month
- about 4 days
- Bell Canada
- "Fast, reliable, no downtime"
- "Customer Service, Traffic Management"
- "Most reliable for ME"
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New Review TODAY (Feb 20 2008):
Disclaimer:
I do work for Bell Canada, however I'm not going to write anything along the lines of "Sympatico is the best", or "They do everything right", etc...That will just invite a flame war to no end and is pointless.
However, I will say that my personal experience, as a customer first, has always been good. I live in Ottawa so FTTN is out of the question (at least for now), and I'm currently getting a 5 Mbps service.
I use the 2Wire 2700 modem and the only issue I've had with it in the 6 months I've had it is a hiccup with the Wireless piece where for about a week it was intermittent. I was able to resolve that by changing the security settings (odd to say the least).
I've had some form of Sympatico DSL service since 1998, so long before I started working for Bell Canada, and I've never suffered any significant downtime or otherwise (and if I did it was usually combined with a POTS outage as well).
Installation was simple, but I'm tech savvy so I didn't anticipate it would be difficult either.
I recently moved into a new home last August and have not suffered any problems with my DSL service at the new location, and it was up and running the day I moved as I had requested (and no, I didn't pull any strings to get it done).
As for tech support, I haven't had to use them but the last I did, it wasn't an issue (mind you it was a simple problem as well).
Traffic Management is my only sore point. I understand the need to do it, however I, like many others, can be impatient and want it NOW when I know it could be now if I wasn't being traffic managed.
I don't want to speculate on other DSL ISP's, but who's to say they'll never do it either one day? So as a consumer, it's a cat and mouse game.
Overall the service isn't perfect, but no service is with anyone, nor can they be, so to expect as much is unfair and impossible to achieve (no one guarantees 100% anything for a good reason).
Thanks!
(zips up bullet proof vest) 
Previous Review from 5 years ago:
I'm pretty happy with my Sympatico HSE service. The value is worth it, especially considering the amount of HSE I use. Although I don't go over the 10 GB cap, it's nice to know that it's not 5 GB anymore.
My speeds are always consistent, and I leave my system connected for weeks at a time without shutting it down, and I don't get any lag (no Access Manager - running XP).
I'll soon be setting up a Linux box for my HSE, which I'm already running dual-boot with my XP (I'll be seperating the two very soon). I'll be using a HUB to network them also, and I don't suspect any problems.
It's a dynamic IP service, but I'm running a Dynamic DNS service to access my PC remotely from work, or anywhere else in the world. Although the upload sucks for HSE, the download is pretty damn good.
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Review by Exodus_
member for 7.6 years, 260 visits, last login: 304 days ago
updated 5.2 years ago
- Brockville,ON
- $89 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 15 days
- Bell Canada
- "stable, consistent speeds, quick install"
- "tech support, billing issues, business portal has bugs"
- "deent enough connection"
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***edit feb 8 2008 ***
I am no longer with bell and have gone back to cogeco as they performed an extensive rebuild of this whole area and the service has been much better. I still had continual billing and some technical issues with bell that were never resolved to my satisfaction
*** end edit ***
I switched to bellnet due to technical problems with my last ISP cogeco that were not resolved. I was given information in my sales call that was not applied to my account and had to call back and speak to billing several times quoting the day/time I called an the agent I spoke with before they would believe me and put me on the correct promotion. I'm now on the correct promo though and thankfully do not see the need to call them any time in the near future! I'm on the small business ultra connection with a "static" IP address. My promotional rate is 50% off regular price for 6 months and I'm not paying the $10.00/month for Dryloop DSL.
From a technical standpoint I have no issues with the service as it works well enough for me. Ping times and latency are far better than with my previous ISP, especially during peak-hours. I also notice less "peaks and valleys" which had started to crop up with cogeco. So as for the actual connection I am quite pleased with it and have surprisingly few problems!
The eCare website not only allowed me to delete my administrator email account, but also allowed me to downgrade it to a normal user by accident! For each incident it was hell trying to get it fixed as tech support would tell me that billing only had the authority to fix it, while billing kept telling me that tech support was wrong and that they could not do it, could I please call tech support? I finally managed to have someone in tech support fix this issue for me. I also do not like the fact that the ecare site does not function correctly with my browser and only seems to really support a windows machine with netscape or Internet Explorer!
As for the tech support centre now mainly being based in India, that's not an issue for me as the level of service you get still seems to be the same -- their tech support just simply is not as good as that of other companies/ISPs I have used over the years. I would say it's "barely adequate" but I hardly ever have to call tech support unless I break something (like my email) or something is not working correctly and I've already taken steps to try and fix it myself.
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 Review by WirelessPlz
member for 8.7 years, 381 visits, last login: 17 days ago
updated 5.2 years ago
- Morewood,ON
- $44 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 5 days
- Bell Canada
- "Fast, consistent and great ping for gamers."
- "Caps, more expensive than most competitors and some throttling."
- "Coming from a WISP, this is much faster, consistent and reliable."
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I've had the service for about a month now. I was originally set on a 3mbit profile, and upgraded to a 5mbit profile 3-4 days later. Brief disconnect, and I was surfing again, at double the speeds.
The speeds have been great so far, throughout the day. It's been consistent. Being a mild gamer, I was happy to see my latency on most servers is under 40ms, reaching as low as 15-25ms.
I signed up to the Total Internet Performance 2 year contract, for 24.99$ for the first 3 months, and 44.99$ thereafter(-5$ with a bundle). This contract has a 60gb limit, which is the only real downside. I'm not a heavy downloader, but 60gb is still relatively easy to go over if you do a lot of P2P sharing.
Bell is throttling, but it seems like they aren't throttling every user. I've been getting great speeds on uTorrent at anytime during the day, though a friend of mine, a few days ago, was getting VERY slow speeds on the same tracker I was getting 500kb on. He's a heavier downloader, and still on the old Unlimited plan. Maybe it has something to do with it. I can't really confirm.
So far the service has been excellent, but I'll be sure to update my review as hiccups occur.
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