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Review by wireme9 See Profile

  • Location: Surrey, BC, Canada
  • Cost: $34 per month
  • Install: about 60 days
Excellent reliability!!
1 minor thing: read the last paragraph of my review
Definately worth every penny and then some
Pre Sales information:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

This review is from BC. The telco in question is Telus and the isp is www.telus.net

I phoned them up and they did a loop check on my phone to see if I wa within range for dsl service then they put me on the waiting list until the new lines were installed. I recieved an email stating they had a port for me about 2 months later and chose to buy the quick connect package; buy the dsl modem and self install. The self install was simple and only took 10 minutes! (but I already knew a lot about how it worked anyway)

6 days after the email (they told me 7) I was speeding along with 140KB/s downloads and 60KB/s up. The modem cost $309 + tax and came with a $200 service rebate credited to my account. There is no installation charge with the quick connect and the monthly fee is $34.99 for 2 dynamic IPs - 1.5Mbps downstream and 0.512 Mbps up.

The dsl modem is a 3Com Home Connect capable of up to 8Mbps down and 1Mbps up, so upgrading my account should be easy enough.

The mail server is reliable; it has never been down as far as I can tell and the news server is just as good as my $120 (US) / year service!!

The ONLY bad thing I can think of is this: The step-by-step self install instruction book did not mention the dsl modem's dip-switch settings in the step-by-step. Fortunately for me, the first thing I ever read when doing something like this is the Troubleshooting section so I know what the common mistakes are. This is where the dip-switch settings are located.

member for 23.1 years, 1 visits, last login: 23.1 years ago
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Review by gerhardius See Profile

  • Location: V6H3r
  • Cost: $49 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 5 days
Speed, Service, Reliability
None for me
I am very happy
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I ordered DSL Professional ($49.95 plus $15.00 for ISP fee, but I avoided this needless charge), including a MainStreet Xpress 27020 modem and dynamic IP, when I moved into a new apartment in January 1999, and it was installed within the week. My timing was outstanding, as there were many open ports in my exchange. When I moved in with my girlfiend, I had no problem getting my service switched, I was without DSL for about 12 hours. Both times that the tech people came out they were very helpfull, and the second guy even tweaked my connection a little bit (the connection was above the Pro Minimum of 1.6/?) and I was getting nearly 1.8. After I fiddled with my setup a little bit, my speed comes out over 2.0/500. Just tested now and got 2125/50 with my router and firewall in place. Aside from the move, my service has been unavailable (that I am aware of) only three times: two their problem, one my problem. Having spread flowers at the feet of the DSL Goddess, I must aknowledge that I have had two friends experience problems getting service, and dealing with evasive sales people. The problem is the lmited number of ports available, but service is always "available soon" because "we are adding new ports in your area." I've compared my speed to friends with cable, and only on rare occassions are they faster. When we play online they are often getting only 1.1/250. Their numbers are subject to wide variation, but mine are pretty consistent. Shaw just took over @home in Vancouver, and they have begun the process of repairing what Rogers and @Home have damaged. I will keep an eye on how they can improve the system. The Initial installation fee was refunded after 12 months, in addition to a free month. I was not charged anything to move my DSL, nor was I charged an installation fee at place 2. Overall, my experience with Telus has made me a happy computer geek.

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Review by twidge See Profile

  • Location: St Albert, AB, Canada
  • Cost: $39 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 2 days
Incredibly fast download and upload speeds, low pings in games
none that I can think of.
Amazing speed, cheaper than cable, if you buy a modem
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

We had Videon cable since september of 98, and it started off very, VERY fast, with downloads hitting a peak of about 700 KB a second, and uploads at about 250 KB a second, but then as more people signed up with it, it got slower, and slower, and slower, and finally before christmas, I bought an ADSL modem and signed up for their service on the 21st. they connected me by the 23rd, and I installed it myself. I had some trouble getting it running, and it took me about 2 hours, then I finally phoned tech support and told them of my troubles, and they told me that I just had to connect to their server and verify my account, so I did that, and am now enjoying my 250-300 KB a second downloads, and 100 KB a second uploads, VS videon's roughly 20KB a second downloads (if I was lucky) and their 5 KB a second uploads. Although the dramatic difference in speed isn't as noticeable in areas where less people have cable, I am still totally impressed by my ADSl service, I love it.

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Review by Bozo23 See Profile

  • Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
  • Cost: $45 per month
  • Install: about 250 days
Fast and Rock solid
Customer Service cost me 9 months, Some techs good, others should stick with their day jobs.
I deplore Rogers , so for me this was the only choice
Pre Sales information:
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I live in Vancouver and have had DSL now for 7 months. $39.95 plus tax/month for 1472 / 512 according to the installers test. Just did the simple registry tweak after so-so initial test and got a 1280/396 at peak time. Absolute ugly experience getting connected. Initially, a new Service rep who failed to register me cost me a 9 month wait after previously available ports were gone. Upon calling again after waiting a full month for a response after believing I was registered, I was informed they had no such record of this having taken place. I won't begin to tell you the lengths and times I spent on hold during this affair. Rogers wasn't looking all that bad at this point! Anyway, when the day arrived the installer was on time, quick, and knowledgeble. My connection is bulletproof, whereas my Telus dial-up was brutal. I used to marvel at our work's network speed; my home connection buries it.

In all fairness, times on hold now are minimal, (my father got DSL over the holidays and I spent a bit of time on the phone with their people) the people polite and reasonably knowledgeble. I still find Tier 1 service spotty. It depends who you get. I can see where the Average Joe could get himself in trouble, especially with the QuickConnect kit. To sum things up, if I had to go back to dial-up, I'd go without.

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Review by Escape24 See Profile

  • Location: Canada
  • Cost: $59 per month
  • Install: about 5 days
Rock Solid Connection
Long Waiting Periods For Customer Service
Price/Performance has cable beat.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
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Value for money:

Connection: 2.5/640
Install: Home Connect

I was once a Shaw@home user in Victoria for 2 years $39.99. Was great and all, till everyone and there dog got online with Shaw. Now its just terrible for downloading speeds, and for online gaming. My email was always down, my download speeds were never higher than 60 Kilobytes per second near the end.

I bought the Home Connect kit for $299. Was online in 5 days no problems. Got the solid 1.5/512 connection, sometimes 1.6/600. No packet loss, and no email problems. I have never lost connection, email is never down, lower ping times. My download speeds are up around 170 Kilobytes, all for $34.99. I recently upped my package to the Pro package, and I see consistant speeds of 2.66/700 all the time. I couldn't be more happier, and my download speeds are always around 270-300 Kilobytes per second. And since I bought the home connect kit, I pay $59.99 per month instead of $64.99. The only thing Telus could really do to be better, is get SDSL, or VDSL on the go.

Cheers,
Escape.

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Review by cadonweb See Profile

  • Location: Victoria, BC, Canada
  • Cost: $39 per month
  • Install: about 30 days
Extremely reliable, never lost packet or email, always fast
Had to wait several months before a port was available
I don't think @home can beat this service if their lives depended on it!
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I was on Telus' dial-up service for almost a year before ADSL became available in my area. I thought of going with @home (Shaw in my area: Victoria) but I kept hearing too many horror stories about Rogers@home (just check out: »www.rhua.org) and the @home service in general all over North America. I thought Shaw would be better than Rogers so I decided to check their claims (2.8 Mbits/s) against what their customers actually got. I tested Shaw's speed on a couple of my friends' computers. The download speeds I saw were: Most of the time: 700 to 800 Kbits/s, peak times: 300 to 400 Kbits/s and very rarely: around 1 Mbit/sec. One of my friends also complained of losing the occasional email or packet. Now that I have ADSL, I'm glad I waited. Telus advertised a maximum download speed of 1.5 Mbits/s and upload speed of around 500 Kbits/s, I get consistent readings of 1.1 to 1.6 Mbits/s download speeds and 320 to 600 Kbits/s upload speeds. I have 2 dynamic IPs but they haven't changed since the first day.

I must add that the switch from dialup to ADSL was seamless, the technician was very knowledgeable and even helped me route two computers using a hub even though he wasn't really required to help me with any additional stuff. Had to call tech support once, the tech was very courteous and helpful and resolved my problem very promptly.

member for 23.2 years, 31 visits, last login: 22.9 years ago
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Review by Msan6 See Profile

  • Location: Vernon, BC
  • Cost: $65 per month
  • Install: about 30 days
Great speed for the money
Tech support
I would do it again..
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I've been one of the first DSL customers in in our area. The connection speed is 4M/640K. This was a few years ago, and I still only pay $65, even though they changed all their plans and introduced the 1.5M connections (Glite?).
All in all I'm pretty happy with it, great download speeds (usually around 3M/550K) and very, very few outages.
The Dsl modem is a Newbridge Mainstreet Xpress 27020.
The Ip is dynamic.

member for 23.3 years, 122 visits, last login: 17.6 years ago
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hecubus21
join:2000-07-10
Wolfville, NS

hecubus21

Member

What are they doing wrong?

What probs do you have with tech support? Given your low rating, I'm curious to see what ares could use improvement. Speed of answer? Knowledge? Courtesy? Let me know.
Hec

JavaGeek
@telus.net

JavaGeek

Anon

Re: What are they doing wrong?

Tech Support..., well they in general don't know as much as would be good for them to know. This of course doesn't deal with Telus ADSL, but Telus Internet Call Director, which should be closely related. I also have Telus ADSL and wasn't too impressed, because they never gave me my a#a#####, user id when I signed up, which you need to set up ADSL go figure.
With the internet call director it was a weekend computer running poorly so I decided to format then install windows and Internet call director. When I log onto the net the ICD (internet Call Director) service no longer works. I call tech support (after trying everything), and ask if they can reset my password, they tell me they cant right then, but If I call back in an hour they will be able to. I call the next day and they (dumbly say something else), "install while you're online". well that wont do anything because all the installer does is creates an INI file, that I had already tried to fix up to see if it might work. I call back again after no success and the person says that the service is down in some parts and that it will be working in a few days. Why didn't they tell me this the first time so I'd waste my precious time calling 3x.
That's my problem with Telus' tech support, maybe if things like that didn't happen you'd get a higher rating.

Review by nerf7 See Profile

  • Location: Fort Mcmurray, AB, Canada
  • Cost: $39 per month
  • Install: about 14 days
Excellent pre-sales (right down to what T-Shirt the installer would be wearing that day)
STEADILY increasing pingtimes; long wait tmes on Tech Support line
Not too shabby, although these pingtimes suck
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I've had Telus.net DSL since Feb. '00. All in all, I'm fairly impressed with the level of service I've received. As mentioned, the pre-sales support was incredible (after being a Shaw@Home customer, though, I guess anything could seem incredible). When the salespreson couldn't answer my question, she quickly forwarded me off to a senior tech so that I could get the answers I needed.

I was disappointed to find out I'd be getting one of these crappy 3Com HomeConnect things. 3Com leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth after they pulled the plug on 80% of their product line (don't even get me started =).

Installation was kind of a pain in the ass. I'm not sure how long I waited from Order to Install, as I was put on a waiting list due to availability for a little while, but it wasn't too bad. On the day the installer was supposed to show up, I made a point of leaving work early so that I could be there for the install.

I sat there for roughly 2 hours. He didn't show up. I phoned telus.net's sales line, and I was told that they'd get the installer to phone me with an ETA as he was running behind. When the installer phoned, he said, "Yeah, well I don't think I'm going to make it there today. I don't feel like it. I'm going to go get some coffee and go home." (and yes, that was what he said, verbatim).

Annoyed, I phoned Telus back and told them what had been said to me. Needless to say the installer wasn't all smiles when he arrived at my door 15 minutes later.

Performance wise, this thing has been pretty much rock-on until the beginning of October, 2000. Ping times have been STEADILY increasing, no matter which of Telus' gatewways I go through. When I phoned the tech support line (helpdesk), after being on hold for over an hour, someone finally got around to me. He was pleasant, seemed to understand the problem, but didn't offer a whole lot in terms of an answer or solution, other than e-mailing in some traceroutes. I guess it remains to be seen what the solution is, but with pingtimes that have gone from 80ms to 950ms in the past week, I'm worried that my perfect little DSL world is about to come tumbling down.

member for 23.3 years, 4 visits, last login: 23.3 years ago
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whoever
@telusplanet.net

whoever

Anon

TELUS Service degrading rapidly in Edmonton

For the last month my Telus ADSL line, which was great up till that point, has been giving me problems. Actually it isn't the line but the connection Telusplanet.net has to the internet instead.

My pings to any server outside the telus.net or bctel networks is always 900ms or more. This means any connection to Eastern Canada or the US is painfully laggy, and download speeds are affected in a similar manner.

Telus tech support will try to pin the blame on anyone but themselves (it is always an outside network that the problem shows up in). They are having real trouble with Sprintlink, which I am told is the root of this problem, which is causing (so they tell me) overloading on their alternate connection to alter.net (MCI).

Here is why I don't believe them, and why I think something else is wrong:

If I send a traceroute from the University of Alberta (connects through telus to the internet) I get low pings (even through alter.net). On my computer running a simultaneous tracert to the same server it will go through all the same hosts (except for the first 3 hops which are different) and then when it reaches an outside network the lag jumps up to 900ms or so (compared to 50 ms from the same server at the same time from the University).

Draw your own conclusions... This happens to a friend of mine with the same ADSL modem on the other side of the city.

I've complained over and over (they have me on record as complaining 5 times so far, and they don't record all of them). I figure this is related to the load balancing the help desk told me they were doing since Sprintlink went down (prefers customers who are paying more??).

All in all I get about 13K/sec downloads from most sites at best. With the exception of netscape.com which seems to be the only site I can download from at 120K/sec.

I wonder how many other people are noticing this?

mudchucker
Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy
Premium Member
join:2000-10-21

mudchucker

Premium Member

Re: TELUS Service degrading rapidly in Edmonton

I have been complaining to TELUS for the past week and a half about my pings being well over 1000ms. They said over and over again it wasn't them, until Wednesday when I proved it to them will a trace route from a east coast(US) DSL tech and the website below. They kindly sent me a response saying they were working on it, and first thing this morning I'm back at full capacity. I don't mind having problems, it's getting them to listen to you to begin with.

Try this website and use Fremont, CA as the trace... www.visualroute.com/server.html

It shows you in real time your pings, location, and where the problems are.

Good luck

This post is in no way a slam against telus, I love the ADSL, just some bugs to work out.

Review by mudchucker See Profile

  • Location: undisclosed location
  • Cost: $39 per month
good speed
tech help is lacking
better than cable any day
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

1.5mbs down/512kbs up

$39.95 they installed

Waiting list was good, was told 2 months, got it 2 weeks early

2 dynamic ip's addr( acting like static though)

I've have Telus ADSL for a few months now, after completing registry tweaks with the help of DSLreport.com and trial and error(NO HELP WHAT SO EVER FROM TELUS TECH'S) the techs didn't even know how to add numbers to a person's registry setting's to get the proper speeds for your package. I have increased my download speeds from 468kbs to 1.2mbs(no lie). But NOW after 2 months of good speeds, ping rates are starting to go up now ON MY LINE, I thought I was the only one who used this line, I am the only one who uses my phone. I used to be a stable 39ms, but now it's getting as high as 130ms. If I wanted 130ms ping rates I would have stayed with my 56 dialup which I got 109ms ping rates with. Ping rates are still reasonable but hey, "I'm paying for it, I want it". Now I called and asked SALES, they referred me to the TECH dept., I have been trying for the past TWO days to get through, but a guy can only put up with that stupid voice recording for so long, "thanks for holding, your call will be answered faster than dialing again." WRONG, it don't get answered at all. And if you DO need help about advanced ISSUES, they can't help you. In the long run, Telus ADSL is VERY good, I've stated my issues as you just read, they just need better tech SUPPORT.

High ping rates that went above 1000ms, have been solved, problem with Sprintlink.net and I guess a bad router(S)

DON'T get cablerocket if you live in the Grande PRairie area and can get TELUS, they just absolutely SUCK and in town support is null.

member for 23.4 years, 4605 visits, last login: 7.4 years ago
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Blahhh
@142.176.x.x

Blahhh

Anon

Pffft!

We go nowhere near your registry....not now, nor never. We are here to help you with basic connectivity, not tweaking. As you said, you were able to tweak your system by using your brain. Great. Now you've learned something. Would ypu rather have us tell you how to do this, or learn for yourself?
If you sould ever loose you connection, give us a call and we'll help you gladly. But don't give us grief because of issues we don't support.

mudchucker
Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy
Premium Member
join:2000-10-21

mudchucker

Premium Member

Re: Pffft!----------------->BLAH!

What do you mean give you grief on issues that you don't support. You have a PRODUCT/SERVICE, you have CUSTOMERS you should know about the PRODUCT/SERVICE, that you are providing. I'm a mechanic, people come to me because I provide a SERVICE, I know what I am PROVIDING. I don't tell them, oh sorry I don't know the answer to that question, why don't you go post you question on a mechanics forum and see what answer's you can get from there. I would politely say, sorry, I don't have that information, but let me see if I can get it for you, do you have a number where you can be reached? I didn't even get that from TELUS TECHS. Yes you folks have helped me in the past and I'm GRATEFUL for all you have done. I just figured that you should have known that bit of info on tweaking(5 easy numbers). This is an issue that will stop NOW, that problem was solved a long time ago. I see that you are getting all bent out of shape on this issue, so maybe take 2 Advil, and go lay down with a good book(pc computing or something). And reply next time with a little more professionalism.
hecubus21
join:2000-07-10
Wolfville, NS

hecubus21

Member

Re: Pffft!----------------->BLAH!

Hmm....I would take that post with a grain of salt, Mudchucker! Sounds like a flame troll to me.Tech support cannot tell you how to tweak your registry, simply because of the line between OS and service. The service provided will maintain the speeds that you pay for given a properly configured system. Editing the registry can be a dangerous thing, and that is something most tech departments will not touch with a ten foot pole. Why? Because, as you probably know, a misstep in the registry can cause all kinds of grief, including a flashing cursor on startup! Many users would insist that the ISP foot the bill for repairs and lost data. Service providers provide you with a connection to the internet. Would you get mad at your cable company because your tv's settings we're screwed up? Hopefully not! In that case however, a tech at cable land may well be able to help you tweat your tv, but without the threat of loosing all of your data, ect.
If you look around on the Telus site, you will find registry patches for several different flavours of windows, all carrying a healthy disclaimer about possibly pooching yor system. This info should have been passed on to you.
Your best bet however, is to do some research yourself, as pointed out in a less that friendly manner by the flame troll above. Reg patches are generic, while your curcumstances and conditions are not; it's best to play with the settings to find out what works best for you, rather than relying on a reg patch.

Glad you were able to get your system up to speed! Again, please don't take the above post too seriously or imagine that the poster is what he/she represents himself/herself to be.

Cheers,
Hec

mudchucker
Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy
Premium Member
join:2000-10-21

mudchucker

Premium Member

Re: Pffft!----------------->BLAH!

Thumbs up to you Hec, thats the kinda response that should have been given in the first place. Though I did come off the handle a little in my original post, I am just tired of waiting on the darn phone for so long for help. Sounds like you know your stuff, thanks for your input, and Cheers.
hecubus21
join:2000-07-10
Wolfville, NS

hecubus21

Member

Re: Pffft!----------------->BLAH!

I understand your frustration...from time to time I do need to phone tech support, and the wait can sometimes be long. Sadly, when you reach the other end, the answers can be a bit off-putting. One of the main problems users face is that the computer is such a variable beast, with many possible configurations relating to software, not to mention all of the other factors, such as many many different manufactures of hardware. Imagine, if you will, a car made of parts supplied by 200 different auto manufacturers and you will begin to see how difficult it can be to provide support for such a beast :-O. LOL! Be aware that tech support can be a frustrating experience, and try to be patient and friendly with the tech on the other end. Honey will give much better results than bile! If you want to see a truely "do it yourself isp" check out www.flex.com . Sad to say it, but is, from time to time, every techs dream. Mind you, we would (er, they would) not have jobs .

Maybe we can meet for a frag session online sometime.
Cheers,
Hec

Review by deBare See Profile

  • Location: V2X0W
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
Never down
Could always be cheaper
Better than cable!! g@home
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Value for money:

Been an ADSL customer with Telus (formely BCTel, formerly Sympatico) fr a couple of years now. Definitely better than cable.

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