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Review by rjrenholder See Profile

  • Location: Hamilton, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $59 per month
  • Install: about 1 days
Decent speeds for the price, fairly reliable
Horrible office support
If it's all that is available, take it.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I was originally a customer of Southmount Cable (now Source) for approximately 15 years. After moving to a new area, the local choice for television was Mountain Cable, which was fine, they've always provided good service and I had no issues.

Until Shaw came in.

After the purchase, the service provided has been fine (they've even upgraded the connection speeds) but when it comes to issues, forget about it. You'll be hung up on by the office staff, informed that you need to drive to the office for paper work, and generally treated like a piece of excrement.

Twice now they have had issues with billing between them and my bank. Both times have resulted in disconnection of service immediately and without warning. Their answer? Not our problem, talk to the bank, we didn't receive payment *click and hung up on*. And the worst thing is, they don't inform you of anything, you're completely out of the loop. They'll let the problem lapse for two, three months, and one day out of the blue they'll cut you off at the knees and demand all back payments -- which you've probably paid all along.

I felt I was alone, but having talked to local neighbours, others further out in the area, it seems this is common practice with Mountain Cable/Shaw Hamilton.

Service? You'll get a decent connection if that's what you're after. If you have problems, you either better be able to fix them yourself or be ready to shout and scream at the seemingly incompetent and unhelpful office staff. To them all you are is a number in a ledger and a payment they can milk from you.

member for 12 years, 6 visits, last login: 11.6 years ago
lodged 12 years ago


Review by thebig See Profile

  • Location: Hamilton, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $59 per month
  • Install: about 7 days
Unlimited internet.
Price is a little high for just internet.
Sure beats bell...
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I was with Teksavvy, but with only 3mb line capacity, i decided to bite the bullet and pay a little more for 7mb unlimited service.

member for 21.3 years, 3394 visits, last login: 134 days ago
updated 13 years ago


CrappyMerger
@mountaincable.net

CrappyMerger

Anon

Shaw bought them...

Caps have been introduced...F U Shaw! Give me back my Small ISP!






Review by neosporin See Profile

  • Location: Hamilton, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $240 per month
Incredible speed and reliability (often downloading faster than advertised speed)
Shaw introduced monthly bandwidth caps
Failed potential, look for another provider without caps
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

My family was originally on Bell Sympatico since around 2000 and we switched to Mountain Cablevision after Sympatico introduced bandwidth caps. Their main office was right around the corner and it'd be easier to have our phone, cable, and internet all bundled together. So we made the switch, had no second thoughts. We loved Mountain Cablevision, it was always reliable and always there when you needed it.

But then Shaw came in and bought the little company out, thereby destroying the link that the company actually had to it's customers. It's no longer the same company, no matter how much they try to tell you otherwise. They're the same as the other major network providers, out to gouge you in whatever way they can.

They force bandwidth caps to keep you worried about streaming online media, making you back off of the internet and fall back into the arms of the cable companies expensive television packages. Skype and other video conferencing and internet telephony is also affecting their digital phone subscriptions.

I guess that's what happens when 3 companies control the market, you get screwed.

For now, we're looking for a new provider because with the amount of Netflix, Youtube, and other internet stuff we do we go over the cap. We're at 200GB this month through normal internet usage, which also includes content distribution like Steam games or large game patches.

It seems like Shaw Hamilton is just another dinosaur internet provider living a few years back in technology. It's a shame, they really could have forced change to Bell and the others through competition.

If you're looking for a fast ISP and you don't stream, download, or use any type of content distribution, I'd do a little more research before hopping onto these big guys, if I were you. They're great if you don't use the internet often, however. But then at that point you might as well get a slower package, which in turn also scales down the bandwidth.

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member for 16.8 years, 28 visits, last login: 13 years ago
updated 13.1 years ago


Review by hickins See Profile

  • Location: Burlington, ON, Canada
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
fair connection
bad for value and rude customer support
would not recommend if you have other options
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I was with mountain cable when I used to live in Hamilton.
I had a problem where their system charged me for a canceled service, however they told me that they will pay it back, but I didn't like the idea of paying for a canceled service. Anyways, my point is that I have experienced bad customer support where they insisted on charging me however they know that this service is canceled.
I canceled all services to find out that I'm too far from a CO and I cannot possibly connect to any dsl provider.

I called them back again to reconnect my services and of course that was the time when they can beat me really good, they made me take a home phone with internet otherwise they will charge 129$ for connection fees and so I did.

After I moved to Burlington I was so happy that I canceled my services with no return!

member for 14.8 years, 59 visits, last login: 3.5 years ago
lodged 14.8 years ago


Review by Jagarm See Profile

  • Location: Hamilton, ON, Canada
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
Fast High speed internet
Terrible lite speed internet, and tv channels
Mountaincable is terrible!
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I've had mountaincable for many years, and in the last few years we got the bundle, where we get high speed internet, cable tv plus and digital telephone. Everything is great, except month by month they keep rising their prices, and my guess is that the way they treat the customers.

Due to budget we have switched to lite speed internet, which is 80 K up and down and that is terrible, I'm sure you know how google page is simple, it takes forever to open. Other cable companies such as rogers, cogeco and others you can get the lite that is 256 to 512 with the same price as mountaincable which is 24.95.

If another provider was available in my area I would moved from it,

I've had their cable tv for years and not even one channel has been added, or trials. southmount or source was my provider at my previous address, and they had free preview of channels. but not mountain.

If you have a choice between mountaincable and another provider, stay away from mountaincable is terrible

member for 14.9 years, 2 visits, last login: 14.2 years ago
lodged 14.9 years ago

heynow1232
join:2008-04-16
Canada

heynow1232

Member

Do The Math

80kB/s is 640 Kbps that is for cogeco, probably rogers and mountain cable.

Gixxer
join:2008-08-27
St Catharines, ON

1 edit

Gixxer

Member

HA!

You're getting a good deal with Mountain Cable, how can you complain? 7/1, unlimited downloads? Anywhere else you're looking at more for the price of cable alone, throttling, UBB, saturated nodes and the list goes on. Who cares about TV, with unlimited bandwidth you can make your computer the TV!

Review by Marcer See Profile

  • Location: Hamilton, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $120 per month
  • Install: about 15 days
Connection fairly reliable
Slooooow speeds, staff not knowledgeable
Better than Bell, but would consider going elsewhere
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I've been a Mountain Cable subscriber for over 3 years and I can't believe that they still lag behind the market when it comes to internet speed, and channel offerings.

That being said, I have only positive things to say about their phone service.

Their technical support is friendly, and courtious, but still comes up lacking any time me or my wife have to contact them. At this point, she won't even deal with them, she waits until I am home. She feels that they belittle her and treat her like she knows nothing. I can't get a straight answer when I ask a question and often have a representative who has little idea about what I am talking about.

Their cable television services are behind the market as well, with very little VOD content (that being said I should be thankful they have even started offering it) and no option of a la carte pricing for single digital channels.

The price is reasonable, but I'd be happy to throw some extra $$ their way every month for faster speeds.

**Correcting:
I haven't run a speedtest in a while (as speeds off of mountain's speed test are NOT the speed out to the web), but that being said, the upstream speed is "improved" ( but still not as fast as I'd like to see it).

I had not seen the availability for A la Carte pricing unit Mike pointed it out, That being said, I am still against being forced to take the timeshifting channels (most other providers let you choose the theme pack to be included) and also let you "build" theme packs.

Finally with regards to # of channels I'll have to get back to you on that

member for 16.7 years, 4726 visits, last login: 20 days ago
updated 16.1 years ago


MikeG
Premium Member
join:2004-10-02
Hamilton, ON

1 edit

MikeG

Premium Member

Corrections..

It seems like im always defending Mountain Cable around here but...

The speeds are now 6mbps / 512kbps , not 384kbps.
quote:
I've been a Mountain Cable subscriber for over 3 years and I can't believe that they still lag behind the market when it comes to internet speed, and channel offerings.

They offer 334 channels, if you have the numbers for a comparable company, please post them.. im curious to know how many channels they offer(seriously).
Comparing Mountain Cable to Cogeco, Rogers, and Bell is fine, but obviously they aren't going to be 100% the same. You have to take into account that Mountain has 40,000 customers, Cogeco has 857,221(1,156,157 if you include Portugal), Rogers has 2.3 million. They don't have nearly the amount of resources available as the others.

I have nothing to say about tech support, I don't call them so i don't know what they're like now.

VOD i can agree with you on, however, they just started offering it and have 10 free categories avail.(though some are rarely updated...)

And.. a la carte pricing is available
»www.mountaincable.net/in ··· s#themes
$1.99 for each channel, Cogeco is $2.49, cant find Rogers price.

edit: approximately
source cable: 288 channels.
persona:395 channels
compton comm.: 297 channels
Marcer
Premium Member
join:2007-07-08
Hamilton, ON

Marcer

Premium Member

Re: Corrections..

said by MikeG:

They offer 334 channels, if you have the numbers for a comparable company, please post them

edit: approximately
source cable: 288 channels.
persona:395 channels
compton comm.: 297 channels

Well... I get:

273 Channels (including the Superchannel channels)
298 Channels (if I include the 25 Super Sports Pack Channels) and
359 total Channels (if i also include the analog mirrors in the 900's)

MikeG
Premium Member
join:2004-10-02
Hamilton, ON

1 edit

MikeG

Premium Member

Re: Corrections..

said by Marcer:
said by MikeG:

They offer 334 channels, if you have the numbers for a comparable company, please post them

edit: approximately
source cable: 288 channels.
persona:395 channels
compton comm.: 297 channels

Well... I get:

273 Channels (including the Superchannel channels)
298 Channels (if I include the 25 Super Sports Pack Channels) and
359 total Channels (if i also include the analog mirrors in the 900's)
Are those #s for Source, persona & compton or for Mountain?
I counted every channel(including supersprtspak+music channels). I did not count analog repeats and "on demand" channels.

The # for Mountain isnt official, i just counted off their channel guide »www.mountaincable.net/in ··· el_guide
Edit:Just recounted.. 280 without PPV channels + Super sports pack.
323 with PPV + SSP.
323+ 70(?) analog repeats = 393
Iduno lol.

travisc
join:2001-11-09
Uxbridge, ON

travisc to MikeG

Member

to MikeG
I think we have more than 297 channels at Compton.

MikeG
Premium Member
join:2004-10-02
Hamilton, ON

2 edits

MikeG

Premium Member

Re: Corrections..

I quickly counted off the channel guide on their website, not including the "on demand" channels. »www.compton.net/digitalt ··· ide.html
Marcer
Premium Member
join:2007-07-08
Hamilton, ON

Marcer

Premium Member

Re: Corrections..

I cut and pasted mountain's line-up into excel and extracted the #s from there

MikeG
Premium Member
join:2004-10-02
Hamilton, ON

MikeG

Premium Member

Re: Corrections..

channels.sxc.zip
29,321 bytes
.sxc
channels.xls.zip
324,889 bytes
.xls
channels.ods.zip
29,688 bytes
.ods
I used openoffice "calc" (spreadsheet program) to count the channels today.
I got 313 total channels, & 374 w/ analog repeats.

Attached the documents

Review by MrShag See Profile

  • Location: Hamilton, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $130 per month
  • Install: about 7 days
Its al down hill
Speed, customer service, price,
switch if you can.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

After months and months of poor billing.
And despite having paid our amount, MC has decided to cancel our service in 2 days.

The bill is confusing. Our receipt say that we paid them at the end of November, and that now we owe them 400$.

I think the way they treat customers is a lot like bell. Once they get you hooked, then they really don't care what-soever.

Even with all the crap rogers is putting their customers through. We have no choice,.

__old

I opted for the mid-speed package. I also went for the all-in-one. I got the digital cable, high-speed access, and telephone.

They did the install for free. The guy who showed up was very knowledgeable, and helpful.
Any customer support issue was addressed right away. No waiting on the phone for hours like Bell. It isn't very hard to find someone that will listen to what you need.

As noted before, this company definitely needs to upgrade its speed. I came from Cogeco,
I was at around 10k down.Right now, on the same package, I am pulling 5 at best. The overall package is more expensive. I am using all three. With cogeco there was no long-distance charges to anyone in North America. Its too bad, that there is no speed increase planned. I am sure that If I heard cogeco would be at my building, I would switch back.

Cogeco raised everyones rate by 2 dollars or so. But then doubled the speed. I can live with something like that.


member for 17.7 years, 1433 visits, last login: 10.9 years ago
updated 16.3 years ago


Annoner
@mountaincable.net

Annoner

Anon

Cogeco

Cogeco is $10 a month more compared to Mountain for the medium bundle. Thats because Cogeco upped their prices $5/mo more last month without adding anything to their bundle.

Cogeco charges for installation and no-fault service calls. Mountain doesn't charge for either.

Cogeco enforces a strict bandwidth limit which suspends your internet for the remainder of the month on the third notice. Mountain has no bandwidth limit whatsoever.

Mountain's service calls are placed at same level priority as it's other services, and are known for same-day or next-day appointments. Cogeco is not next day for Hamilton. Never has been, never will be.

Cogeco throttles sharing, and slows your connection speeds down the first time your internet is suspended for bandwidth abuse. Mountain doesn't throttle speeds/ports.

Cogeco's email does not have any form of spam control, and is the most complained about feature among their customers. Mountain's incoming mail server is spam controlled.

Cogeco outsources 80% of it's staff. Mountain is all Mountain Cable employees with computer backgrounds (Cogeco is focused primarily on customer service, not technical so they hire anybody).

If you want to get into phone and cable, Cogeco uses VOIP so when the modem goes down so does your phone. Mountain has a direct phone line. Cogeco charges a $15 activation fee to activate your digital receivers. Mountain doesn't charge, nor do they even need an "activation" to be sent to the receiver. The technicians decide where the modem goes at Cogeco. At Mountain you can pick anywhere in your house.

Ive been a Mountain subscriber my whole life, and I've worked at Cogeco for 6 years.

ANNON123ROGERS
@cgocable.net

ANNON123ROGERS

Anon

Wrong on Cogeco

Cogeco enforces a strict bandwidth limit which suspends your internet for the remainder of the month on the third notice. Mountain has no bandwidth limit whatsoever.
WRONG IT"S ACTUALLY 2 WARNINGS, 3 SUSPENSIONS THE 3RD IS TILL THE END OF THE MONTH.

Mountain's service calls are placed at same level priority as it's other services, and are known for same-day or next-day appointments. Cogeco is not next day for Hamilton. Never has been, never will be.
COGECO DOES HAVE NEXT DAY SERVICE CALLS FOR HAMILTON UNLESS THE TECHS ARE FULLY BOOKED THIS ONLY HAPPENS RARELY AND USUALLY IN THE SEPT. ONLY

Cogeco throttles sharing, and slows your connection speeds down the first time your internet is suspended for bandwidth abuse. Mountain doesn't throttle speeds/ports.
WRONG AGAIN COGECO DOES NOT HAVE THE NETWORK TOOLS AND CAPABILITY TO DO THAT.

Cogeco's email does not have any form of spam control, and is the most complained about feature among their customers. Mountain's incoming mail server is spam controlled.
THAT'S WHY MANY CUSTOMER'S OF MOUNTAIN HAVE IMPORTANT EMAILS MISSING AS THE POOR FILTER CONSIDERS ACTUALLY IMPORTANT EMAILS AS SPAM, JUST TERRIBLE.

Cogeco outsources 80% of it's staff. Mountain is all Mountain Cable employees with computer backgrounds (Cogeco is focused primarily on customer service, not technical so they hire anybody).
NOT ANYMORE COGECO DOES NOT OUTSOURCE THE MAJORITY OF IT'S STAFF AS OUTSOURCING ACTUALLY COSTS COGECO MORE. AS FOR THE TECHNICAL STAFF MOST ARE COMPUTER SCIENCE GRADUATES FROM VARIOUS INSTITUTIONS

If you want to get into phone and cable, Cogeco uses VOIP so when the modem goes down so does your phone. Mountain has a direct phone line. Cogeco charges a $15 activation fee to activate your digital receivers. Mountain doesn't charge, nor do they even need an "activation" to be sent to the receiver. The technicians decide where the modem goes at Cogeco. At Mountain you can pick anywhere in your house.
COGECO TECHS ALWAYS ASK THE CUSTOMER WHERE THEY WOULD LIKE THE MODEM PLACED.

Ive been a Mountain subscriber my whole life, and I've worked at Cogeco for 6 years.
I HAVE WORKED FOR THE CITY OF HAMILTON AS NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR AND COGECO AS IT MANAGER. NOW I WORK AS SERVICE MANAGER FOR ROGERS AND .... WELL WE WON'T EVEN GO THERE.

MikeG
Premium Member
join:2004-10-02
Hamilton, ON

MikeG

Premium Member

Re: Wrong on Cogeco

Actually Mountain's spam filters only tag emails suspected of spam, they are all delivered to the recipient.

That right there pretty much kills your credibility for me.
Expand your moderator at work
Leokul
join:2007-12-08
Caledonia, ON

Leokul to ANNON123ROGERS

Member

to ANNON123ROGERS
All I have to say is...

roflmao.

You worked at Cogeco eh? What department? Billing?
Haha. Computer science graduates eh? Hmm... that'd funny, 'cause I know of 4 people alone that do tech support for Cogeco and they have absolutely no computer/cable TV background whatsoever. But hey, believe what you will.
Leokul

Leokul

Member

Re: Wrong on Cogeco

.
AJS94
join:2005-11-13
Hamilton, ON

1 recommendation

AJS94 to ANNON123ROGERS

Member

to ANNON123ROGERS
I can't say that I've ever missed an email that someone sent to me. As MikeG states "Mountain's spam filters only tag emails suspected of spam". This is true.

Canada and Internet Services have one thing in common. You have the right to come and go as you please.

As far as the service staff at Mountain, it's the best I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with.

Review by Harcroft See Profile

  • Location: undisclosed location
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
  • Install: about 2 days
Finally an alternative to Bell
Constant connection drops, throttling speed, poorly informed staff
I'd rather be back with Bell.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Upon moving into my new residence I found out that Bell's DSL was not supported in my area. So I immediately called up Mountain to get my Cable connection. Upon inquiring about speeds I was transferred to the Tech support department where I was quoted "45" as the download, and "30" for download speed. The tech had no clue what he was talking about, no mention of kbps or mbps. I had to contact a friend on Mountain's high speed service to get information regarding the speed. This is totally unacceptable from a 'world class ISP'. I can only assume the support agent means 4.5 megabits and 300 kilobits, not that Mountain advertises their speed as such.

Along comes installation day, the installer was friendly and helpful, he quickly installed and tested all 3 jacks he was connecting. Though one jack was painted over and I asked him to replace the female end of the connection, he didn't. He also left splitters and cable stapled on the baseboards of my walls rather than installing the connections in wall like he should have. When the installer was here I asked him if he knew about any ports that Mountain Cablevision blocks, stating that it was fine if he wasn't sure. He told me he was sure that there were no ports blocked whatsoever. But a 1 minute trip to the website tells a different tale. Enough about the installation.

Two days after the install date, I noticed a pattern of my internet service being interrupted for 2-3 minutes with 1-2 hour intervals. I thought it would be fine and I could live with that, when 4 more days go by and I'm noticing longer connection drops lasting up to 10 minutes. So I called up Technical Support after being disconnected for about 30 minutes one morning only to have the agent accuse me of using extra unauthorized extra splitters. I don't have enough devices to even connect to the current jacks I have, let alone use extra connections. After another 5 minutes of help, he tells me it's my router, which I had already ruled out by using the modem directly on one computer with the same timeout problem. The problem has still not been solved, though the support agent assured me it's my fault and that the modem was fine.

Three days later I actually start downloading some larger files and I find out I'm throttled! Why am I paying for 5mbps download if I only get 800kbps of it? Of course Mountain Cablevision makes no note of this on their website or when purchasing their service.

In closing I had several large issues with Bell, especially with their technical support division or lack thereof. But at least they offered consistent service without changing my connection speed randomly, or giving me random disconnects constantly. Being with Mountain Cablevision for just two weeks has shown me the caliber of the company, and I will be switching back to Bell Sympatico when their DSL service becomes available in my area. Don't switch to Mountain Cablevision unless you are left with no other choice.

member for 16.7 years, 9 visits, last login: 13.7 years ago
lodged 16.7 years ago


MikeG
Premium Member
join:2004-10-02
Hamilton, ON

2 edits

MikeG

Premium Member

--

They advertise their speed on their website.

When I had my installation about 9-10months ago I just told him what I wanted and he did it very nicely. The installer was a little hesitant on drilling in some places, but after I assured him this was what I wanted, and that he'd be able to fish the line in, etc. he was 100% for it.

If you want make a topic in the MC forum and I'll try to help you..run some tests.. I'd like to know more information, as I am not throttled and haven't experienced any disconnections in the 10months I've been connected.

Have you called in about the disconnects? ..you should have a service call. Have you checked your signal levels to see if they are within spec?
Harcroft
join:2007-06-16

Harcroft

Member

Speed listing, Call ins, signal levels.

I do understand Mountain Cablevision advertises their speed onsite. But that doesn't help a user who does not currently have internet. The Sales or Tech Support division should have this information on hand for such a scenario.

I did call in regarding the disconnects as stated in my review. Which lead to the support agent resetting my modem and blaming me for the whole issue.

I have not checked my signal levels as I do not know how, so I will be asking you for help in the forums about that.

twizlar
I dont think so.
Premium Member
join:2003-12-24
Brantford, ON

twizlar

Premium Member

Re: Speed listing, Call ins, signal levels.

Sounds like a problem with your specific line. Have them check your signal levels, or you can do it yourself by logging into the modem. Mountain Cable doesn't throttle anything whatsoever.
joeyabs
join:2005-01-10
Canada

joeyabs

Member

info

First things first, you have to remember that Mountain Cable contracts out all installations, so when the installer doesn't do everything as requested, its because he's getting paid by how much work he can do by his company, so the more work he does, the better for his company, if you want quality, you need to get a service tech out there.

Speeds,

Mountain offers the 5meg down and 384kbps, so providing that your pc is clean and direct to modem, you should have no problem getting 600kB/s download, as 625 KB is max. If you run a speed test off the Mountain website, on a clean machine, you should see close to 15 meg down and 2 meg up. Now to your throttling statement, i don't know where you are downloading from, but if your downloading from a website, chances are they don't support a 5 meg download connection, only big websites like microsoft, or private FTP sites which aren't typically busy can support a full 5 meg down.

Now if you have signal problems on your modem intertwined with a small pc issue such as spyware of parasites, then you may see some other problems. Take a look at your lights on your modem when its working fine, and when its not, see if modem is dropping offline, when a tech support team doesn't know how to troubleshoot thoroughly, sometimes you need to give them all the info you can, what type of modem do you have? White or Black modem? Another good test to run when you are experiencing problems is to do a ping test, pick any website and ping it, see if there is any packet loss.

Mountain doesn't change your speed on your modem, chances are there is something physically wrong with the wire in the unit, or a bad connection, remember, if the wire is there when a contractor goes to install, he wont replace it.

Ky_D
@mountaincable.net

Ky_D

Anon

Lets clear things up here

Mountain Cable DOES NOT throttle downloads. That is a fact.

Mountain, like all ISPs, can check for any kind of problems you're having with speed on their end. They have a tool that measures your signal levels, packet loss and latency, uptime, and any connection problems. If you called them and your modem is new, they see no problems from their diagnostic test, and see no signal/packet loss, the problem is on your end.

That is likely what happened and that's why they blamed your equipment.
Harcroft
join:2007-06-16

Harcroft

Member

Responding to your statements...

First in response to joeyabs, I don't care who Mountaincable contracts out to. Either the installer does the job, or he does not. It should NEVER be up to the customer to have to research the installer to get a decent job done. If Mountaincable chooses an installer to do a job, then they are responsible for the installers work.

As for downloading being throttled, first of all every one of your comments assumes I'm a complete idiot.

I did try downloading multiple websites, over different protocols (ftp, http etc).

My PC's are all free of spyware and viruses, I check for both regularly so it most definitely was not that. I had also tried with multiple different PC's directly connected to the modem, and tried different cables as well.

Granted I have not experienced the massive slow downs I've had since my original review kudos to Mountaincable for that. But I STILL have frequent outages between 5 and 45 minutes. They happen at least once a week, sometimes more. I try resetting my modem, changing and rebooting my PC's and nothing seems to work. I can even log into the modem and communicate with it properly. I just can't get an IP from the DHCP server. The kicker is, I've spoken to a neighbor also on Mountaincable service and he's complained of the exact same issue.

This quite often happens late evenings or during the night when most users would be sleeping. Most users being offline does not give Mountaincable the right to deny service though. I have called in several times about this and the service agent insist that it is my hardware and that it could not be caused my them. I have demanded a new modem several times too since they've insisted it's on my end. Of course I got nowhere with that demand.

In response to Ky_D my modem is most definitely used, though it has "Tested" and a date on it with someones initials. 30 seconds of testing does not mean it works long term. Everything else you've mentioned I've responded to in my earlier statements.

In closing:
My installer (contracted by Mountaincable, not myself) did a half assed job despite my directions and requests.

My service is somewhat reliable, I have not experienced and major slowdowns in a few months but I am often denied service randomly at night which is completely unacceptable.

Review by qwerty111 See Profile

  • Location: undisclosed location
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
Fast Http browsing
Slow newserver, slow p2p
Good overall service, speeds been erratic lately
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Good overall service but lately its been kind of slow. Tech support is helpful and fast. Internet usually never goes down. No complaints except slow p2p and newserver. If you're planning on using Bit Torrent or newsgroups then this isp is no good.

member for 18.9 years, 1 visits, last login: 18.9 years ago
lodged 18.9 years ago


twizlar
I dont think so.
Premium Member
join:2003-12-24
Brantford, ON

twizlar

Premium Member

Speeds

What are you talking about? I constantly pull 700k/s from the news servers. Perhaps your client is subpar? Try Grabit. Also P2P is not limited by mountain cable but by everyone on the P2P networks, unfortunately BT, P2P really suck because of the technology, not because of the ISPs.
Kregco
join:2005-09-04

Kregco

Member

Re: Speeds

What are you talking about? I constantly pull 700k/s from the news servers. Perhaps your client is subpar? Try Grabit

Have you been getting these same speeds as of late? I know that at first i was, but not anymore.. My speeds seem to have been cut in half... literally..

kregco

twizlar
I dont think so.
Premium Member
join:2003-12-24
Brantford, ON

twizlar

Premium Member

Re: Speeds

As i type this i am downloading from them @ 650k/sec How many threads do you have running when you are downloading? I notice with only one thread i get perhaps 100k/sec
Kregco
join:2005-09-04

Kregco

Member

Re: Speeds

As i type this i am downloading from them @ 650k/sec How many threads do you have running when you are downloading? I notice with only one thread i get perhaps 100k/sec

I have 6 threads going from alt.binaries.documentaries and at this moment i am getting between 150 to 200 at the fastest. I very much appreciate comparing speeds because i called mountaincable and they didnt know what i was talking about.. I used to get the same speeds as you then out of the blue.. BANG.. cut in half.
Mountaincable preceeded to tell me that they only get 24k per thread and that the speeds that i was achieveing were not possible. I have looked for spy/adware and have nothing. Im using w2k with grabit. Mountaincable tells me that there is no cap.. So i am at a lose to why i am getting these speeds

thank you

twizlar
I dont think so.
Premium Member
join:2003-12-24
Brantford, ON

twizlar

Premium Member

Re: Speeds

said by Kregco:

As i type this i am downloading from them @ 650k/sec How many threads do you have running when you are downloading? I notice with only one thread i get perhaps 100k/sec

I have 6 threads going from alt.binaries.documentaries and at this moment i am getting between 150 to 200 at the fastest. I very much appreciate comparing speeds because i called mountaincable and they didnt know what i was talking about.. I used to get the same speeds as you then out of the blue.. BANG.. cut in half.
Mountaincable preceeded to tell me that they only get 24k per thread and that the speeds that i was achieveing were not possible. I have looked for spy/adware and have nothing. Im using w2k with grabit. Mountaincable tells me that there is no cap.. So i am at a lose to why i am getting these speeds

thank you
Thats really weird. I am running WinXP Pro, also using grabit. I'll give them a call today and see whats up.
Kregco
join:2005-09-04

Kregco

Member

Re: Speeds

Thats really weird. I am running WinXP Pro, also using grabit. I'll give them a call today and see whats up.

Ok.. thanks again i really appreciate this. I hope you get ahold of someone who knows whats goin on. If not im goin to have to start giving them more "friendly" email






Review by Turge See Profile

  • Location: Canada
  • Cost: $39 per month
Speed (3000 Down, 384 Up), No caps
Blocked ports, Blocked ports, Blocked ports
Not for advanced network users
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Although they offer excellent speeds, they like to block ports to prevent users from running servers (eg. Mail servers on port 25, FTP servers on port 21, Web servers on port 80).

If I can find an ISP which doesn't block my ports, why should I stay with Mountaincable?

member for 20.1 years, 22 visits, last login: 15.5 years ago
lodged 20.1 years ago


Isreals Son
@cpe.mountaincable.ne

Isreals Son

Anon

Stay with mountaincable because...

1) Their service is incredibly fast. When I had Rogers cable I would never see more than 350kb/sec. With Mountaincable I can download regularly at around 550kb/sec. I even saw about 650kb/sec a couple times.

2) They almost never have server problems. A LOT less frequently than Rogers.

3) You never have to wait on hold when you call tech support. Try calling Rogers and your waiting at least 20 minutes no matter when you call.
mtncbl4
Premium Member
join:2002-03-11
Hamilton, ON

mtncbl4

Premium Member

Mountain Cablevision Response

Hello and thank you for your review.

My name is Bruce Marshall and I am the Technical Director at Mountain Cablevision. I would like to take a minute to respond to your comments.

>Although they offer excellent speeds,

Thank you. We offer a premium High Speed Internet service several times faster than a sub-standard DSL service and $60 a year less than DSL.

> they like to block ports

We don't like to block ports or limit any ones enjoyment of the service.
That's why Mountain does not have bit-cap charges, has a Webmail service, SPAM filtering and Virus filtering at 'no-charge'. DSL charges an additional fee for these, but we believe these 'extras' make a more enjoyable Internet service with less problems for our customers.

> to prevent users from running servers (eg. Mail servers
> on port 25, FTP servers on port 21, Web servers on port
> 80).

These ports were not blocked for a *very* long time because we felt it limited what Mountain customers could do with the service.

The growing problems of Viruses and Worms attacking systems on these ports is what caused Mountain's change in policy.

In order to maintain a stable, reliable network, some ports had to be filtered. Sorry - we're not happy about having to do port filtering, but it's necessary now.

> If I can find an ISP which doesn't block my ports,

There may be a few ISPs not blocking / filtering ports, but it's just a matter of time before they too are forced to due to the virus / worm stupidity going on.

> why should I stay with Mountaincable?

There are several reasons:
1) For the very reason Mountain Cablevision Technician's are *very* concerned with the stability of the network and strive to make your high speed service enjoyable... and part of this network stability is because ports are filtered.

2) Winner of the Hamilton Spectator 2003 Readers Choice Award as the Best Internet Provider In Hamilton

3) $60 a year less than DSL providers

4) No bit-caps

5) No charge webmail, Spam filter and virus filter.

6) If you are looking mainly at your requirement for open ports, Mountain also offers reasonable web-site hosting where you can host your own domain.

I would also suggest you could use the 'no-charge' web space included with the service. Several customers have found creative uses for the space and this may suit your requirements.

Thanks for your comments and I hope you are enjoying the service. If you have any questions, please call us.

Mountain Cablevision Technical Support
techsupport@mountaincable.net
905.389.1393
Bunglehawk
join:2004-05-21
Hamilton, ON

Bunglehawk

Member

Re: Mountain Cablevision Response

It's not that hard to port hop.

People do it a lot, esp for web servers.

And I tell ya, I've worked for a few shady ISP's and I tell ya, I am grateful to have mountaincable.