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Review by knothead 
UPDATED: 111 days ago
member for 1.5 years, 31 visits, last login: 9 days ago
 London,ON
 $45 per month (12 month contract)
 about 18 days
 "Better than cable"
 "Customer support is horrible; Pre-Sales assurances of Line speed were completely FALSE"
 "Check to see if there are other affordable DSL providers in the area first"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Ordered the 7Mb service, so far am only obtaining ~4.5Mb.
Customer support is a nightmare. They seem to have all of their call centres located in India. This is the main killer of the service since you obtain a different answer every time you call in, and nobody seems to know what's going on or how to solve any real issue.
It took almost a week after the modem finally arrived before it worked at all.
*Update*
I've been talking to some techs in the sympatico direct forum, these guys are 1000X better than those jokers who answer the phone. Anyways, long story short, I've been told that my CO doesn't even support ADSL 2+ which means that it is impossible for me to obtain over 6 Mb. This really pisses me off as I inquired specifically about the bandwidth before placing my order for sypmatico, and was re-assured that my building was obtaining the 7 Mb. This is very dishonest, and quite frankly I'm going to move my business elsewhere when my contract is up.
*Update 2*
It's now been about a year on the service and it's been pretty rock solid. My only really annoyances are the unnecessary throttling and that the sympatico DNS servers seem to be sketchy. I've since switched to using opendns instead of the sympatico ones and this has cleared up the problem, of course this was a solution I had to find and implement myself seeing as the support people couldn't suggest a thing. As for the throttling, I really wish they'd stop this. I don't often use much bandwidth, but when I do need it I hate seeing my rate drop to ~55 Kb/s.
*Update 3*
I'm now leaving Bell Sympatico. I have no real beef with them other than the fact that their customer support doesn't speak english very well, and aren't knowledgeable at all (which wasn't really an issue as I rarely contacted them). The connection was reliable though they never obtained their advertised 8 Mbit speeds. The throttling was annoying whenever I needed to VPN to work. The main reason I'm switching is due to price, I can get exactly the same service, and maybe even slightly better (MLPPP) for a cheaper price.
*Update 4*
Even though I am no longer with Sympatico they are really pissing me off. They tried charging me a $100 "early disconnection fee. This was even though I gave them over 30 days notice (their requirement) and had NO contract. They replied that according to their records I had a 2 year contract. I was not able to get any CSR to clear the problem up as they all insisted that I had a contract because their computer said so. I had to fax them the details published on their OWN website stating the account had no contract along with my original T's&C's which also indicated that there was no contract before they'd reverse the charge. After all of this they phoned an in-law of mine who lives in a different city (and was never in any way associated with my account) to tell me that my charges had been reversed rather than phoning me (the only phone number on the account). Bell has some very serious account handling problems and are VERY frustrating to deal with!
Followup comments:  BCBoy
join:2008-05-27
Hawkesbury, ON | I feel your pain I really do, since your story is almost an exact mirror of mine... | |
| wolfchen
join:2008-05-22
London, ON
 ·Bell Sympatico
2 edits | Who was your ISP before Bell? We're in London, ON, too, apparently at the limit of distance from the CO. After this, our 4th annual nightmare of dealing with whatever they change at this time of year, we're looking for an alternative, Rogers. Not optimistic they are fundamentally better, but if they at least don't fix what isn't broken, we'd be happier.
May I ask who your ISP was in the London area before Bell? | |
| | knothead
join:2008-05-20
London, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Bell Sympatico
| Re: Who was your ISP before Bell? Hi, I actually came over from Germany, and Bell is my first ISP in the London area. Before that I did have HSE with Bell in Ottawa, and was getting my full bandwidth and then some, so I'm somewhat disappointed with them now.
I have heard some good things about TechSavvy in this area. And they're slightly cheaper. | |
| | | wolfchen
join:2008-05-22
London, ON
·Bell Sympatico
1 edit | Re: Who was your ISP before Bell? You'll have to pardon my misspelled username here. Hope it didn't make you shudder 
We again have fairly consistent 1500 kbps download rates after the annual failures to connect, and like you, hate paying for something we are not getting and that Bell cannot deliver at this distance from a CO. The attitude we've had so far has been cavalier and patronizing, "Those are the numbers. Take it or leave it.", and we've had to argue forcefully to even get them to raise the cap they'd placed at 1184.
Unfortunately, anyone who uses Bell's equipment is subject to the same issues, and there have been reports in the news recently that Bell is perhaps doing bandwidth shaping for ISPs who use Bell equipment.
If we want to eliminate potential headaches caused by this monolith, the only real option is wireless/satellite or cable. So far, we're still discussing what we SHOULD be charged for this mediocrity, but we'll move if the rate doesn't drop to a more reasonable, proportionate amount.
Tschüss
Paul
P.S. Having read the details you posted, your current speed is enviable! | |
| 
travisc
join:2001-11-09
Port Perry, ON | Better than cable? Doesn't really sound like you've determined that to be true. | |
| knothead
join:2008-05-20
London, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Bell Sympatico
1 edit | Re: Better than Cable I have had Rogers Cable Internet in the past, so yes, I have determined that it is better than Cable. I know this isn't always the case, but in my area the price/performance ratio for sympatico clearly beat out the Rogers packages. Of course I'm now looking at Teksavvy as their price/performance is beating out Bell right now.... | |
| 
Questions
@videotron.ca
| In regards to your update #4 In regards to your update #4.
Did you get the money back yet? Or did they just give you lip-service saying they would? Let us know.
In regards to Bell phoning other members of your family, is the credit card info, money info in any way associated with them?
If Not, then I suggest you put this in writing to the privacy commissioner of Canada. They have no right to start calling your family members to say anything about your account.
Bell used to do this 4-5 years ago or so. They can't.
Fight back. Takes only 30-min to write a letter and send it off to the privacy commissioner about this practice of calling other people to discuss your private info. Don't let them get away with it. | |
| | knothead
join:2008-05-20
London, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Bell Sympatico
| Re: In regards to your update #4 I finally got all of my money back after faxing them the T's&C's which came with my account. It was a very frustrating process and it's crazy that they don't even know what the accounts are that people are signed up for. As for the in-laws, the only reason they had there number at all was that when we were moving in 2 years ago (from Europe) we didn't have any local contact number, and they wouldn't open the account otherwise, but they weren't associated with any of the billing or payments..... | |
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Review by fl106c
Posted: 111 days ago
member for 5.8 years, 311 visits, last login: 48 days ago
Blainville,QC
$59 per month
about 10 days
 Bell Canada
"Efficient and competant technical support"
"First modem became defective after 2 weeks :("
"looks like a good deal"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
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Had issues with my modem (2 wire 2702hg-g). Could only connect to certain sites...but it would time - out on others...including dsl reports. After chating with a tech for about 30 mins. and trying the standards, he asked me if it would be alright if a lvl2 tech got in touch with me next day. Well, they actually did call me at the appointed time and after close to 40 mins. of him having remote access to my comp. said he coundt figure it out, and that he guessed the modem was defective. So I received a new one 4 days later...and it works great!
I have the total performance package , wich is actually pretty good .
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Bell Sympatico |
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Review by homer729
UPDATED: 118 days ago
member for 155 days, 24 visits, last login: 81 days ago
York,ON
$45 per month
about 30 days
Bell Canada
"Acceptably reliable connection"
"Poor customer service, ridiculously low transfer caps, paying too much for too little"
"Only choose Bell if you truly have no other options"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I signed on with Bell Sympatico in 2001, and was on the Sympatico High Speed plan (3 Mbps down) for 39.95/month. For the first few years, I had few problems. Connection was reliable with very few disconnects or other problems, and most importantly, there were no transfer caps in place. Customer service was acceptable too. I hated the fact that an unavoidable modem rental fee was charged, but had few other gripes.
Starting from late 2005 and on, the service has been descending into a giant sinkhole faster and faster. Customer service became awful, and it's not because it has been outsourced to India. It bothered me because the first-level support guys are literally drones that read out a script and are taught to say nothing else. The only thing positive I can say is that support is available through online chat 24/7 which was quite useful sometimes.
When Bell grandfathered the unlimited Sympatico plans, I received several calls to switch to the "improved" (capped, of course) plans. I denied them all, but was finally tricked into switching. What happened was as follows. I asked to suspend my service for a few months as I was going out of the country. Before suspension, I asked Bell if I would be able to go back to my existing plan, to which they said yes. After coming back, I found out of course, that apparently the "system" would not let me go back. I was then put on Bell Internet Performance, with a 60 GB cap at the time.
To make matters worse, Bell started using DPI throttling to relieve supposed "network congestion," instead of upgrading their networks to handle increasing demand. Somehow, they had even convinced the CRTC that this was okay, and that it was even okay to throttle wholesale customers without informing them in advance.
A few months ago, I had not been using my connection very much for an extended period. One day, when I checked my transfer rates, I was alarmed to find a down speed of 1.5 Mbps and an upload of 300 kbps. Upon calling Bell, I discovered that my line profile had been "accidentally" decreased, even though there were no reliability or stability issues necessitating this change. I can only speculate why this change occurred, and my guesses are not good.
Poor customer service and tech support, lower and lower transfer caps (Bell Internet Performance is now at 25 GB instead of 60 GB in Ontario!), DPI throttling all convinced me that staying with Bell would mean I would be paying more for poorer service every year. What was the point of a so-called "up to 7 Mbps" service if I would use up my transfer allotment for the month in a matter of hours?
To anyone considering Bell, I would only recommend them if you really have no other options (be sure to check small ISPs such as TekSavvy and Acanac) in your area.
EDIT: In the past few weeks since quitting Bell, I have spoken to some of my friends about third-party ISPs, and how they offer far far more reasonable transfer caps, lower prices and better customer service. The universal response is always, "Is it faster than Bell or Rogers?" I am always forced to chuckle and explain that on paper, Bell and Rogers offer higher speeds, but with absurdly low caps designed to gouge users and DPI throttling of your connection, these speeds are meaningless. After all, switching from 5 Mbps to 12 Mbps will not make Youtube videos load any faster, or your downloads from any server other than something as beefy as microsoft.com any faster. Your torrents, legal or illegal, won't be faster either as they are throttled down to nothingness.
A reasonable analogy is as follows: Most homes are equipped with 100 Amp or 200 Amp electrical panels, meaning the combined total draw by all equipment in the house cannot be more than 100 or 200 Amps respectively. Suppose you are offered an upgrade to an 800 Amp electrical panel, with the caveat that you cannot use more than 10000 kWh. You would of course never switch, firstly because of the hard limit on how much you can use, and secondly because you would correctly surmise that an 800 Amp panel is completely useless to the average household.
Moral of the story, what you need are reasonable or no caps on your usage, NOT speed that you cannot use anyway, due to either the lack of servers that can actually send data to you at that speed, or because when you try to use up your connection with BitTorrent or your favorite form of distributed downloading, you can't!
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Bell Sympatico |
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Review by kami147
Posted: 120 days ago
member for 358 days, 23 visits, last login: 98 days ago
Scarborough,ON
$99999 per month (month by month)
about 999 days
"NONE!"
"constantly changing policies and bandwidth useages"
"BAD HORRIBLE AVOID!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
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(ratings below consensus)
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K, so i just compaired all their services and here's one thing i noticed
Performance package:
before 7Mbit and 60GB limit
current 6Mbit and 25GB limit
when i first signed up for the service, it was unlimited
next
bandwidth calculations.
beginning of month every 24h updated
end of month closer to 60h b4 updated
result
by the end of month any bandwidth i used just b4 it rolls over to new month gets pushed into the next month. = EVEN MORE LIMITED IN THAT MONTH
AVOID THIS BULL#(*&# COMPANY, their service is over priced and under valued
Followup comments:
clap clap
@videotron.ca | You forgot the cost savings Don't forget the 5$ you save when you bundle!  | |
| ChampUz
join:2009-02-13
Mississauga, ON | Hell What a joke. 25GB can eat my bottom. | |
| Mister_E
join:2004-04-02
Etobicoke, ON | But... it's fair to point out that the new 'Performance' package is $29.95/month vs. what the previous charge was ($39.95, I believe)...
By comparison, the $39.95 package now (Max 12) is 12MB with 50GB cap... | |
| | kami147
join:2008-12-03
·Bell Sympatico
| Re: But... k, i've used their net for some years, it went from wicked to absolute bull in about 1year, and since then it's gotten worse
i've been considering letting my dad keep paying for his own internet and i will go back to using and paying for my own cable connection like i was b4. | |
| | |
help em
@videotron.ca
| Re: But... Heck don't let your dad down! Educate him. Both of you move on!
Show him how there can be peace on earth and love towards all mankind and living things if he cuts off the axis of evil, Bell Canada.
Polar bears and seals will hug once again! | |
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Review by hormonx
UPDATED: 123 days ago
member for 3.8 years, 184 visits, last login: 3 days ago
Canada
$55 per month
about 14 days
"Good speeds, realiable"
"price and tech support"
"Good isp but a bit pricy"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
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(ratings above consensus)
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Well i assume a lot of people that will read this will not agree with me but i have to say that over last 5 years i had virtually no issues with Bell.
My connection has always been stable, no disconnects, no speed issues. I am not going to complain about throttling because i do not download as much specially not from torrent sites.
My connection has been extremely stable, i think i had only one outage for about 30 minutes, and that was it. Always consistent speeds with no interruptions.
Had some issues when i have moved within the building. I have moved fre doors up and was told the reason i can not get full 5M profiles is because wires going into my apartment are too long ( load of crap ). That was eventually delt with and i was on a 5M profile for along time, now moved up to 6M and still very stable connection.
Price is a bit high that is why i might be looking to go somewhere else, but what keeps me is the Unlimited.
So far i have been very happy with them. Time will show if i will move somewhere else or not, it will be hard to find unlimited 5M profile on a dryloop for under $50, so i might stick around with Bell.
They could work a bit on their tech support, and maybe stream line it a bit. Just whenever i have called there was always something, "my computer is slow now" or " i can't access that information from here" ... sometimes it just takes too many "please hold i transfer you" to solve a simple issue.
--------------------------------------------------
Update July 2009
I know i am one of the least popular people here .. but i ma more than happy with their service, it has been fast reliable for as long as i can remember.
Customer support has still a lot of problems but i didn't have to call them for a long time, so all is good.
My speed has been uped to 8.5mbit up and 1mbit down.
Over all very happy with Bell.
Followup comments: knothead
join:2008-05-20
London, ON | Semi-Agree I was with sympatico, and generally it ran quite well. The problem always was, when it didn't run smoothly getting the message through to their support staff as an exercise in pulling teeth. | |
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Review by jc128842
UPDATED: 130 days ago
member for 130 days, 1 visits, last login: 120 days ago
Mississauga,ON
Contract price not specified.
Bell Canada
"I can't think of any good points."
"4 dead modems in as many weeks! Huge billing errors!"
"Slow and unreliable. Avoid."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
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(ratings below consensus)
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My father worked for Bell Canada for 32 years so I've always tried to be a loyal customer. I also get to enjoy my dad's employee discounts. But Bell's billing is just a mess! I've been paying the bills, but Bell says I owe money. The account and user ID they cite doesn't match mine, so obviously there's an error somewhere, right? Not so to Bell. And forget technical support... It's in Asia and you can barely understand them over the terrible phone-lines (Bell's in the phone business aren't they?)
Avoid Bell. Slow, unreliable, and poorly managed.
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 Review by WaitForGodot
UPDATED: 134 days ago
member for 324 days, 108 visits, last login: 107 days ago
Gloucester,ON
$68 per month
"Bell forced me to make the best decision to leave Bell"
"Squeeze the (so far) loyal customers into submission, with threats"
"Throttling then lying through their teeth + All kinds of BS marketing and threats + Charge more for less + Shoddy service"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
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I was a Bell customer (landline, ISP) for a number of years.
After over a month of spending hours daily between the CS Business Office and Tech Support, where I was being convinced by CS that I had already been upgraded to a higher DSL service (Max 10) and being charged for the same, while the scripted Level 1 telling me that I could not receive the service due to technical reasons.
Bottom line, Bell is too big and unwieldy (not withstanding the global out-sourced extension to India and Phillipines) that no one was able to successfully initiate a check of the physical hardware at the CO. ... by the time it was actually done, I had already cancelled and happily with another ISP.
Moral of the story :
Bell forced me to make the best decision to leave Bell
For this I have to thank Bell from the bottom of my heart, as today I am free (of hassles, contracts, shoddy service, etc.) and actually saving $50 (incl. taxes) per month for my Internet (much better options) and landline.
I was also paying a ransom of $10 (Usage insurance) to add 30 Gb to my 60 Gb cap. Else I had got dinged $30 for exceeding over 60 Gb. My my new ISP I have discovered that even though I my online usage in terms of hours and content is much higher, I am still using less that a third (in Gb) than I was doing with Bell. ... which raises the question of Bell's shoddy and underhand practices (fudgy Math) to scare you into paying the $10 insurance policy !!
All this demonstrates a policy to squeeze it (so far) loyal customers, into submission. FYI, I am now a happy Teksavvy customer, after reading a number reviews of alternate ISPs on DSL reports.
Thank you Bell, once again for being such a great corporate citizen and helping me save over $600 every year.
(Please also read my reply to Half Happy, below)
_________________________________________________________
Updated March 12, 2009 :
Dropped connection reliability rating, because Bell screwed up my DSL profile down to 3 Mbits on March 10, a day before the revised migration date of my landline. Still waiting for for Bell to respond in it's 24 / 48 hour window. Then I will update this review, about more of Bell's unscruplous tactics.
_________________________________________________________
Updated March 17, 2009 :
Teksavvy got my profile reset and am up and running, NO THANKS to Bell for once again proving how it constantly screws you at the first opportunity. I am not totally out of the woods yet, and will have to wait to discover what else Bell is going to screw-up at the next billing cycle.
_________________________________________________________
Updated July 15, 2009:
"Bell Canada slows certain types of downloads to as little as 1.5 to 3 per cent of their advertised speed during 9½ hours of the day, but not to the same extent during the entire period, company executives revealed to Canada's internet regulator Tuesday.
The details of the way the company throttles — selectively slows down — peer-to-peer (P2P) file transfers will soon be posted on the company's website, Jonathan Daniels, Bell's vice-president of regulatory law, said at a hearing Tuesday before the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission."
When I read this, it just made me +@#^*$.
How many times I had called Bell's support staff to inquire if they had an outage / report my internet connection was completely toast (even ping times) at certain times of the day. The standard reply from support was there was no outage, and they would make me do the song and dance of unplugging everything and rebooting the modem and the PC, basically with absolutely no difference. Knowing what I know, either the so called Tech Support were plain blind as bats or knew about this throttling policy of 1.5 to 3%, and were helping Bell laugh to the bank. Boy I hate how much frustration they caused me calling support.
Followup comments:
Bellundo
@teksavvy.com | Bell forced me to make the best decision to leave Bell This was actually rated a mixed post according to dsl reports. | |
| |
half happy
@videotron.ca | Re: Bell forced me to make the best decision to leave Bell guess the level of "service" he received from Bell was above average since its at 60%.
So maybe he is half happy with Bell? | |
| | |
WaitForGodot
join:2009-01-07
·Bell Sympatico
·TekSavvy Solutions..
| Re: Bell forced me to make the best decision to leave Bell said by half happy :
guess the level of "service" he received from Bell was above average since its at 60%.
So maybe he is half happy with Bell?
Just to clarify and to be objective, I have to give credit where credit is due.
CS Business Office and Cancellation/ Retention : I would give an A+ for knowing their business, trying to resolve my issues and to get the rest of the Bell world to cooperate.
Tech Support in CANADA : Knowledgeable individuals.
Lines-person in CANADA : Knowledgeable and extremely helpful individual, especially since they have to take all the flak for the screw-ups of Bell. When the lines-person came to my house, he checked out my line thoroughly, and identified that the DSLAM at the CO needed replacement (which was subsequently replaced). This piece of equipment was causing issues from the beginning (since 2 years) for me being unable to get full 7 Mb service.
Unfortunately, the day this gentleman was dispatched was already over 3 weeks into the saga, and the die had already been cast for me to move on. When he called a tester at the CO, the tester did not know which of the job orders (including upgrade / lower profile due to DSLAM failure) to actually execute, since apparently there was a whole stack of these job orders, sitting there waiting to be executed (presumably from all the various departments which had called in.
Tech Support in India : Mostly Level 1 scripted support, sometimes who cannot connect the dots. Worse issue is that they do not comprehend the escalation process, since they will resist trying to pass the call onto their Supervisor. Once you finally get the Supervisor / floor Manager, you can get them to promise to call you back or do something, BUT they either cannot / will not call back or initiate anything. Forget about any follow-up, that does not exist in the Indian operation. Essentially you end up in a black hole, of inactivity.
Bell's business processes (to work together as whole to service their clients) : Essentially the Bell Management, who are expected to make the different pieces of Bell run together as a whole -> PRICELESS : One department cannot get another to fix/ complete their work, with the customer left hanging in frustration.
A highlight of this total breakdown of this Bell behemoth, is the fact that I received a message, 2/3 days after I had cancelled with Bell and activated with another ISP, from Tech Support ?, to let me know that my profile had to be lowered, due to Technical reasons.
PS: The lines-person already resolved the issue some days prior to that. (see above). HOW MUCH MORE DO YOU EXPECT A COMPANY'S PROCEDURES BE ??!!?? You have got to be kidding !!
Take your pick : It is the mandate / objective of the Management to get rid of as many longtime (so far loyal) customers as possible OR at least totally piss them off. Maybe the Management Team's bonuses are linked to meeting their target of losing customers. I don't know, but in the real world (non-Bell), the success of a Manager is judged by how effective they are at making things work smoothly, with customer retention as a key measure of performance. | |
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 Review by MarkAW
UPDATED: 135 days ago
member for 8.2 years, 2840 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Canada
$44 per month
about 4 days
"None."
"Everything"
"Bell sucks"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
All i will say is Bell Sympatico is better than what i had before speeds are around 3332 kbps down 395 kbps up . Better than dialup.
Would of went with Rogers since i just went with their phone service but DSL wasn't available in my area from them.
Cogeco was my third choice but i made myself a promise i would never use them ever again (long story).
At a 60GB cap and the price since no other package was available to me in my area i guess one can say i am happy with what i have.
Followup comments: danry25
join:2008-05-21
Seattle, WA | Why Not Teksavvy? Teksavvy has a footprint everywhere Bell Canada does, with
200 gb caps instead of 60 gb. | |
| |
MarkAW
Barry White or lil bratt
Premium
join:2001-08-27
Canada
·Bell Sympatico
 ·Cogeco Cable
| Re: Why Not Teksavvy? Yeah well with all that i had to pay for with Teksavvy such as:
Service: Personal DSL 5M ($29.95/month) $29.95
External Modem: None Required $0.00
Number of Filters needed: 2 ($6.99/Filter) $13.98
Ship Modem and Filters: ($10) $10.00
IP Required: 0 ($4/IP/month) $0.00
Additional IP Blocks: None $0.00 $0.00
Unlimited Dialup: No $0.00
Additional Email Accounts: ($1/account/month) $0.00
DSL Activation: $0.00 (One time fee) $0.00
SUBTOTAL $53.93
GST $2.70
PST $1.12
TOTAL $57.75
I'm better off with Bell Sympatico price wise.
--
Advertising is legalized lying. - H.G. Wells
Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. - Aristotle | |
| | |
travisc
join:2001-11-09
Port Perry, ON | Re: Why Not Teksavvy? The filters and shipping are one time charges...? | |
| | | |
MarkAW
Barry White or lil bratt
Premium
join:2001-08-27
Canada
·Bell Sympatico
·Cogeco Cable
1 edit | Re: Why Not Teksavvy? That's not the point when i got Bell Sympatico i was not charged for any filters or shipping. All Bell did was send me my startup kit and i did everything myself. If they charge me later on my first bill then i under stand that, Tekksavy wants me to pay for a modem up front plus filters and all that other stuff right there and then which worked out to around $150 (this was arund the first time i check).
Look i am not saying Tekksavy isn't better or as good as Bell god no,but $150 up front.
--
Advertising is legalized lying. - H.G. Wells
Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. - Aristotle | |
| | | | | 
DJMASACRE
join:2008-05-27
Nepean, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Bell Sympatico
| Re: Why Not Teksavvy? said by MarkAW :That's not the point when i got Bell Sympatico i was not charged for any filters or shipping. All Bell did was send me my startup kit and i did everything myself. If they charge me later on my first bill then i under stand that, Tekksavy wants me to pay for a modem up front plus filters and all that other stuff right there and then which worked out to around $150 (this was arund the first time i check). Look i am not saying Tekksavy isn't better or as good as Bell god no,but $150 up front. haha your sticking with Bell, over filters?
you will see very soon the bigger mistake you made
have fun. | |
| | | | | |
MarkAW
Barry White or lil bratt
Premium
join:2001-08-27
Canada
·Bell Sympatico
·Cogeco Cable
| Re: Why Not Teksavvy? And what mistake will that be, that i am sticking with a company that so far hasn't done anything to make me want to change or go to another company for internet service? Please tell me one good reason why i should even go with or take anything you say as nothing more than trash talk over Bell. Like i said i haven't had any problems with them and see no reason to change to another isp.
--
Advertising is legalized lying. - H.G. Wells
As scarce as the truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand. | |
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DJMASACRE
join:2008-05-27
Nepean, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Bell Sympatico
| Re: Why Not Teksavvy? Teksavvy offers REAL unlimited no cap packages for cheaper and better value than any Bell Package, for the same if not better steady connection.
plus if you didn't want to be throttled with various traffic ( not just p2p ) .. teksavvy has enabled MLPPP so you may get around it and get your full advertised speed. | |
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Quake110
join:2003-12-20
Ottawa, ON
·Velcom
| You can use any modem with Teksavvy (or rather, with ANY DSL providers). You'll be able to find the Speedtouch 516 at $50 if you look for it.
Caneris have even cheaper modems here:»www.caneris.com/Hardware and their filters are only $3.
In the long run, being with a 3rd party ISP will be much more profitable. | |
| georgiee
join:2008-04-23
·Bell Sympatico
| humm hi, you do not have to buy their 100$ modem. I bought mine 2wire w/ 4 port router + wireless for 28$ shipping included from canries. They also sell spitters+filters for like 2-3$! W/ very cheap cheap cheap shipping. And this is all one time.... think about how much u'll pay for bell's crappy modem... 2$/month.
Hope ur good at math bud. | |
| Yonsil
join:2008-02-21
Fort Erie, ON
·Cogeco Cable
·Bell Sympatico
·TekSavvy Solutions..
| Yet Sympatico is generally is a reliable company until they rip you off that is...as in my case.
As you (hopefully) probably have heard, there are many bitter people here over getting ripped off or being charged for absolutely no reason. Then later, Bell turn their back on you and say, "its your fault!" Er...yeah.
Anyways, other than possibility of error and you do not have family of 3 and up, your probably fine with whatever service your getting at probably $40 dollars a month.
But let's be smart here...
On a long run, you save money and you keep the modem, filter, etc. As of now, you own nothing but service you may or may not receive.
Its your choice...I know I made mine. | |
|
gitardood
@bell.ca
| Bell sucks Whilst I understand completely both the pro and con points of view, I have been back with Bell for almost 2 yr and been happy with them. I left Cogeco because their customer service leaves a lot to be desired. I had everything with them and as of today will complete the break by going satellite.
When they told me I would have to wait 3 days to get service restored (construction in area knocked out phone, tv and internet), not once, but tiwce, I had enough.
I am not happy with Bell's cap changes, but seeing as I start max12 today, for less than I paid for 7mbps, and the cap is 50GB, I don't mind. | |
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| Forums » comments on review of Bell Sympatico |
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Review by anony_moose
Posted: 138 days ago
member for 2.4 years, 7 visits, last login: 138 days ago
North York,ON
$55 per month
"There are none to speak of, when I last attempted to fix speed problem, I was chastised by a rep for being late for a phone call"
"Abysmal customer service, their bandwidth throttling squeeze verything but the least intensive site"
"If you can find an alternative run to it now..."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
The continued battle with Bell is the bain of my existance. I've tired email, phone calls and web postings. It all gets responded to fairly fast, then the mayhem starts. You have to wait for line testing and then if they feel like it they call you back, usually never.With the online support you can post your dissatisfaction, this usually ends up with multiple phone calls. They test your line and state that it is lacking in clarity, so they downgrade you to fit the capabilities of your line. If you raise the issue that the line had been performing fine at 3 times the speed before, this is dismissed as irrelevant. After they downgrade you, they tell you about a new faster service that is capped, however you can buy additional usage insurance for another $30 that will ensure you don't get billed more than the $30 extra each month. My standard reply is that I would just like to get my moneys worth on my legacy unlimited bandwidth service, this falls on deaf ears as they are paid to promote the new improved version of their service. Unfortunately the only alternative is Rogers and I swore I would never go back to that company. So here I sit tilting at windmills...
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Bell Sympatico |
| »next page (previous review)
Review by cloud8521
UPDATED: 140 days ago
member for 253 days, 9 visits, last login: 134 days ago
Scarborough,ON
$150 per month
Bell Canada
"fast internet 7mbit (faster could have been bought) 2mbit- 16mbit"
"60GB download limit 2-100gb limits..... getting worse at that!"
"Major rip off"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
well, its pretty simple. Bell Canada was the best internet provider in Canada, many would agree. especially because of it's Unlimited plan! as a online gamer, unlimited is a must! but recently bell has become the nations sin as it brought forth to the table their stupidest move... adding download caps! in fact the caps are made to make it look professional but ultimately is made to make you shovel them your money! many would say that they have tried on a 7mbit line and have not been able to reach 100gb, but imagine on a faster line where more is used at one time, how much you can possibly use in 30 days on a 10mbit line. (that is 1.26mbytes per second). in 30 days (running without stopping at full speed) you get 3.24 TERABYTES that's 32.4 times over the limit! meaning at full speed if you want to hit your limit the max amount of time you can use your internet at full speed is just under a day! it is outrageous! not to mention the fact the internet goes down once and a while. but the limits are unbearable, as with my 7mbps (0.875Mbytes/s) connection i only get 60gb limits. looking at it mathematically we get a max of 2.268 terabytes per month! that's 37.8 folds over the limit! giving us less time with this service then the last i deconstructed. then there is the worst, being the monumental waste of money! the 16mbit! not only is it so fast a limit is unbearable, but they keep the 100 limit, which with 100 we went over like it was nothing! at least we have a $30 limit over-use! otherwise the bills will leave us homeless! at least they tell you everything... but people wont understand... in their commercials they even play on it making the consumer look like a fool!
UPDATE: speeds have changed, 19.95 for 2mbit..... but only a 2 gb download limit!
6mbit for 29.95 ... but only 25 gigabyte limit!
12mbit for 39.95..... but! 50gb limit!... 10mbit had a 100gb...
16.... has only a 75 gb limit.... 49.95.... they are starting to screw the pooch!
Followup comments:
not tormoorw
@videotron.ca | please be aware of the changes coming in May You said:
"at least we have a $30 limit over-use"
That stops in May. Then there will be no more 30$ limit.
Enjoy. | |
| | cloud8521
join:2009-03-19
Scarborough, ON | Re: please be aware of the changes coming in May you think it stops? it never begun, as over costs from last month roll over to the month after! | |
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travisc
join:2001-11-09
Port Perry, ON | Well The numerical ratings are awfully good for such a negative commentary. | |
| cloud8521
join:2009-03-19
Scarborough, ON | 5 the service is not the problem, its the download limits | |
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