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Review by markf See Profile

  • Location: Burlington, ON, Canada
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
Reliable, affordable connection, good tech support
Installation headaches
Good reliable ISP, however be prepared for an installation nightmare
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well above consensus)

I have two 25/10 DSL dryloop accounts with Electronic Box. The first account was active about 6 weeks ago at a rental address, the second has been active for just a week at my home.

My tenants were having reliability issues and slow downs with the previous ISP,. Ebox had great rates, no dry loop fee, so I ordered the service. The 12:30 - 9 pm install window was a juggling act, but we arranged it and the techs both came and went. The service wasn't up to speed when the tech left and by the next morning there was no internet at all (the previous dry loop was active until the next day). After talking to tech support we were able to determine that Bell had switched the pairs (the pair with live Internet was the pair that was not hooked up at the POTS splitter). Because the inside wiring was all over the place, I just switched the wiring at the demarc (not a fun task in the middle of February when the demarc is close to the roof line of a bungalow). Got the service working so I didn't have to schedule another day of waiting for a tech to show up.

The service is now reliable with no issues, so overall I was satisfied. I ordered an account for my house because I was happy with things.

For my home installation, the Bell tech arrived early, did their thing outside and the service was up and active before the Telecon tech even arrived. I was getting 25/7, but figured the next tech would get me up to full speed. She arrived after 8 pm, did some minor work on the wiring, but never even tested speeds. I mentioned that I was only getting 25/7 and she said that's probably the max you'll get, have a good night.

I wasn't so sure about this, so a couple of days later I checked at the demarc. At the demarc I was up to 25/9.5. I called into tech support and they said with the installation warranty, I should get the same speed in the house as at the demarc, so they scheduled a tech to come in.

I was home all day for the tech, yet no one showed up. They called my cell phone at 8:34 pm then at 8:56 pm, yet no one knocked on my door. I escalated the situation to upper management at Ebox, yet when tech support called all they could offer me was another 1 - 9 pm window despite the incompetence of their techs (I know third party, but they hire them. In this case Bell did their job right the first time).

So overall for two accounts, I would have had to take 5 half days off work to get two internet accounts working. If I was working at this time I would consider that completely unacceptable.

I have found Ebox to be a good company to deal with for the most part, however the installation process is a mess. The internet has been reliable (even though the upload is slower than it should be). The unlimited windows are excellent (2 am - 2 pm).

I would hope that they can improve the install process. Once is excusable, twice is the beginning of a pattern. I hope they are successful, however if I were to have to deal with this again, I would probably be done with them.

member for 16.1 years, 4109 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 10.9 years ago