Review by Tristan 
UPDATED: 1 days ago
member for 3.2 years, 590 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Nepean,ON
 $56 per month
 about 10 days
 "It's not Bell Sympatico"
 "Expensive, heavily throttled, poor performance, unreliable DNS service, technical support staff are clueless."
 "Rogers takes our money, charges high rates and refuses to provide the speeds we pay for. Crooks!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
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11/22/09 - I degraded Roger's pre-sales information rating, after careful review of Rogers throttling practices, which has finally been made public. At no time was I informed when signing up for Extreme high speed service that I would be restricted to 80Kbps upload.
Considering HTTP requests are generally small and not bandwidth-intensive, it is safe to assume anyone who pays for 1Mbps upstream bandwidth has intentions to actually use the extra bandwidth. When Rogers throttles P2P traffic to 80Kbps, they are stealing from every single customer.
80Kbps is not reasonable. I accuse Rogers of theft of bandwidth. I paid extra for 1Mbps, and Rogers won't let me come close to using it - ever.
I only want to be allowed to use what I paid for fairly, and occasionally when I need it. I'm not asking for 1Mbps 24/7 - I'm talking about half an hour here, maybe 3 hours there, spread out over a month, and often after peak hours.
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 | |
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