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Review by bmr50 See Profile

  • Location: Sudbury, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $48 per month
  • Install: about 3 days
They install for you
no self install-would prefer self install
Getting faster speed now
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

So far so good,left sympatico because of bad tech support and went to persona cable internet,used tech help once just to see if it was better than sympatico's India help.Persona spoke english becuase it is based in canada.And I understood everything they said.Responce from tech was quick and painless,problem solved in a few minutes.Dont know why they wont let you install yourself,but i can live with that.I got the ultimate pack,that gives better speeds,so far it has proven to be more reliable than sympatico's ultimate pack.So far I do see slow downs at peak hours can be madding at times.Over all i am still not sure about cable being faster than dsl,jury is still out.I have seeing slow speeds lately not sure why,really starting to wonder about this service,the other thing that I dont understand,is that there are no forums by Persona customers any where there are lot of people using persona but no one is seeking help or even talking about it.So far this cable (persona) has been rock solid,cant complain at all,tech help is local and easy to reach and help out.Have just been told that Persona is now being bought by EastLink, so name Persona is gone and is now EastLink,Will have to see what the change means.Still finding speeds on this cable service spotty,in fact some days it just seems to die out,not happy but no where else to go.Have just upgraded to the 15 meg service,very fast and no price change,cant beat that.

member for 23.6 years, 4968 visits, last login: 3.3 years ago
updated 11.6 years ago

brancod
join:2006-03-05
Azilda, ON

brancod

Member

optimizing speed

use OpenDNS (»www.opendns.org) servers 208.067.222.222 and 208.067.220.220 to speed up your access. Also making sure no Spyware is on the system by using »www.superantispyware.com or »www.spywareterminator.com usually helps out quite a lot too.

To check your speed, go to: »www.speedtest.net or »www.speakeasy.net (click on Speedtest) in lower right hand corner.

TCP Optimizer program at »www.speedguide.net/downloads.php can also help speed things up a bit.

bmr50
join:2000-08-03
Sudbury, ON

bmr50

Member

Re: optimizing speed

Thank you,I will give the OpenDNS a try and check for spyware.
brancod
join:2006-03-05
Azilda, ON

brancod

Member

Re: optimizing speed

Cool. Let me know how it works out for you. Sometimes the browser you're using can
make a big difference due to the browser's page rendering engine and resource usage
(CPU usage and memory usage). The fastest browser for starting up and browsing in
my own experience is K-Meleon, »kmeleon.sourceforge.net/
and with the Opera browser, »www.opera.com being second.

Firefox is okay too but it tends to use up too much memory and avoid Internet Explorer 7
at all costs. Internet Explorer 8 looks very promising though and fixes quite a lot of bugs.

MeMeMeMe
@sudbury.on.ca

MeMeMeMe

Anon

Re: optimizing speed

Actually, Firefox 3, or anything using the new gecko 1.9 engine will be the fastest, with Safari coming in second, although when K-Meleon updates to include gecko 1.9 they will be just as fast Firefox 3...

dbrancon
@personainc.net

dbrancon

Anon

Re: optimizing speed

Thanks for the info. I'll have to try out Firefox 3. Has anyone tried the 'fasterfox' extension/plugin? Does it make much of a difference and/or worth installing?

»fasterfox.mozdev.org/

sherca
@personainc.net

sherca

Anon

slow internet

I am not happy with the new Eastlink. I did the speedtest and it rates as average..of course it's 430 in the morning.
I usually stick to ADAWARE and Spybot as most antispyware is spyware in itself so be careful!
Right now my computer is faster than the internet.
This is very annoying.
I too switched from Sympatico and ma Bell for the EXACT same reason BUT not sure if Eastlink is local anymore, so I might start shopping around.

bmr50
join:2000-08-03
Sudbury, ON

bmr50

Member

Re: slow internet

I agree with you,I am not sure about the change either,but where else can you go other than back to sympatico?

Review by larochemi See Profile

  • Location: Picton, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $42 per month
seperate phone and internet equipment.
requires occational reset.
good download
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
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Value for money:

I was pleased to see the installation was separate phone modem from internet modems. This allows better management within the premises . Have found that the service will require occasional restart ( powerdown and detach cable feed for a minute) to restore service. Possible susceptible to inclement weather.

member for 11.8 years, driveby review (so far)
lodged 11.8 years ago







Review by KiloDelta See Profile

  • Location: Sudbury, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $103 per month
  • Install: about 4 days
Speed is always consistant, TV signal always strong
Service kicks out sometimes without warning, Modem burned out, Had to get two modems now one for the phone and one for the net
Customer Support is Kinda going downhill
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I have the full DIGITAL PACKAGE(Internet, Phone and Digital TV). Have Digital TV and PVR which allows me to record shows and watch them later. PVR has its issues but all in all still good. PvR will sometimes record a different channel or will record 5 minutes into the show and stop 5 min before the show ends. Kinda pisses me off when you don't get to see the last bit of something.

Was VERY easy to order and get installed. All I did was called and ordered it and they had it on like 4 days after I called!

They brought the modem to me and I installed it myself(external, so it was easy to install).

The also brought some extra COAX cable in case I needed it for the connection and the Ethernet cable also.

Tech support and the people they send out are kinda useless, theres only a few I've come across that REALLY know what they are doing.

I have a static IP and I don't mind having it. Little unsafe but OK for now I guess.

All in all it is a good service and I like them, just wish they would lower thier prices abit.

member for 20.2 years, 979 visits, last login: 5.1 years ago
updated 12.4 years ago

rrtch70
join:2004-01-19
Picton, ON

rrtch70

Member

Persona Home Page Yuck

;)I just got hooked up to this service and after the first couple days of bugs got worked out it Rocks.....very fast...The only thing is have you seen the Persona Home page....my god that is the worst home page for an ISP that I have ever seen...there is nothing to it and very Generic....Please update guys.......do something with it it is not something I would set as my home page and there is not alot of information on it....another thing If i want to create sub accounts I have to call to have tech support do it....what are ya new?????i have never had an ISP set up that way why can't we do our own online?????Where do you find out if there is going to be any maintenance our outages....Nope ya won't find it you have to call Tech support to find out...???????beyond that the service is awesome and very fast...I am Happy......;)

cable addict
@alexandria.dyn.perso

cable addict

Anon

Re: Persona Home Page Yuck



You are right. Very bad home page. I tried to find out whether there is a phone number we can use if cable is down for maintenance. Tech support tells me there is only one number in Sudbury that is available. Such a big ISP should have the means to make alternative access avaialable for high volume users like myself. Tsk Tsk, the ISP is still living in the 20th century.

Otherwise, very fast, usually exceed download speeds typical for cable, uploads are still a bit iffy with this ISP. Tech support is good, always there, and knowledgable.

6 stars out of 10
rrtch70
join:2004-01-19
Picton, ON

rrtch70

Member

Re: Persona Home Page Yuck

They sure have to come out with a better home page not to much there would like to see something that gives you access to Persona stuff and also has news weather etc on it but beyond that where I am speed is awesome right around 2.8 to 3.0 all of the time never have tested upload and my connection is always there only was offline once for about 2 min...and Tech support is good I give it a 9 out of 10

Review by scottmur74 See Profile

  • Location: Langdon, AB, Canada
  • Cost: $40 per month
Fast Connection
Connection not reliable for the last 2 months
Its the only option other than dial up
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
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Value for money:

Persona/Eastlink is currently the only option other than dial-up even though we live in a suburb (Langdon) only 15-20 min outside Calgary. About 2 months ago they added another community to the node that my town is on and every since my connection has gone to crap. Disconnects every 10min to 60min and it stays disconnected for 2min to 2 hours, and forget peak times now its pretty much useless from 5pm till 11pm.

I've called tech support at least 1 a day and i get the same "cycle your modem and router....still not working? must be your router" Ok I went out and bought a new router.... nothing changed. I plugged directly into the modem and nothing changed. I started running pingtest and 3dtraceroute and they were saying i was getting anywhere from 2% to 50% packet loss and that the problem was persona, I found this site and it said the same thing.

First time a tech guy was supposed to come out his truck broke down he got me to check my modems levels over the phone (they were fine) he also said they should have fiber here in about 4 months (am i supossed to pay for 6 months of crap before it gets better??), second time a guy was to come out he called and said we know there's a problem but we are working on it...that was a week ago and its still not fixed. So now the problem has been happening for 2 months.

Dont bother using there online tech support form cause even though i sent many many emails detailing the problem and sending proof all i ever got was an automated response that they couldn't diagnose the problem over email and to phone tech support (who are pretty much useless)...Why have online tech support is all it ever says is call tech support.

I've heard a rumor that Telus is coming soon with high speed so if it doesn't change soon I'll be switching (that is if its true).

member for 14.1 years, 3 visits, last login: 14.1 years ago
lodged 14.1 years ago


Review by BlackmoT9 See Profile

  • Location: Calmar, AB, Canada
  • Cost: $50 per month
  • Install: about 10 days
No monthly download limit, easy to talk to tech support
Quality of service sucks (lagging, connectivity issues), poor tech support
If you have a good option. don't use these guys
Pre Sales information:
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Value for money:

My package: residential service, 5 Mb down, 0.5 Mb up. Speeds usually achievable.

Order and install was good, not a big delay.

Modem is a Motorola

Phone processes seem efficient, it is not hard to connect to customer service, billing or tech support.

Have had major issues with lagging, lack of service (i.e., poor or no connectivity), poor service for 7 months now. Despite many complaints and multiple visits from techs, no resolution has been achieved. Every time I call they put me through the same rigamarole, reboot your modem, reboot your computer, disconnect your router. They always "blame" my equipment for the problem. One twit actually suggested that I do a system restore on my PC. This was after I told her that I tested the connection on three different computers.

Giving up and changing ISP's now.

member for 15.8 years, 13 visits, last login: 13.5 years ago
updated 15 years ago


Review by mikesuds See Profile

  • Location: Garson, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $42 per month
  • Install: about 14 days
no problems with the cable tv
everything else lol
horrible sevice horrible customer service
Pre Sales information:
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Tech Support:
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Value for money:

Here in sudbury you pretty much have two choices for internet bell or persona because the other isp are affiliates of persona

i am an avid gamer and so i went with the high speed at a bundle

took me 2 to 3 weeks to have it setup from the day i called as i was told it was a very busy time for them being that it was september

i cant quite remember the first modem we got but within 2 months it had to be replaced due to being deffective i now have the arius touchstone telephony modem and have no problems with it (that is when my internet is up and running)

good or bad experiences where to start

well there are no good ones

so with the bad

- very slow speeds
- tech support is useless
- maintenance personel are useless

as you can tell i have nothing good to say about this company i have been battling with them for months now dealing with tech support people that keep telling me that i am the only one in this world that is having problems with their service when 3 other apartments in my building alone are have the same problems not to mention friends that live across town are in the same boat and what about all the sites with blogs of people discouraging other people from getting this companies services

I could be wrong but in the last few months im pretty sure ive spent more time having no phone and internet then i did having it i must have had 20 or so service calls in the last 3 months its gotten to the point i answer my door and go back to my 360 because i know what im gonna hear from yet another tech " there is nothing wrong its just you"

member for 15 years, driveby review (so far)
updated 15 years ago


Review by mtrenout See Profile

  • Location: Sudbury, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $38 per month
  • Install: about 7 days
Very fast and reliable
Some service installers are numpties
15 Mbit service for $40/month is a great value
Pre Sales information:
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15 Mbit service currently comes bundled with their VoIP and digital TV service for $99/mo.

member for 20.5 years, 20 visits, last login: 15.3 years ago
updated 15.6 years ago







Review by scavenJER See Profile

  • Location: aob2ao
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
a few very good linesmen
a couple of really bad linesmen
make friends with the good ones
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

First and foremost, there aren't "other options" except dial-up which might get you 33.3; so we're "over the barrel and waiting". Persona knows this and will take advantage of every opportunity to make sure you know it.

We've had the high speed pkg (1+Mb) package for some time already and it rarely ever exceeds 900Kbs; but one gets used to it.

The order and install was top notch and, Get to know the good installers. They play by the rules, and don't feed BS. After major wind and storm damage the drop ran flawlessly. Don't expect extras from these few, they'll consider it an insult to their work, and avoid future calls when they can. I can't speak for the others except to say one fellow told me he would check for a loose connection and didn't. They were upgrading the whole system and blamed that process.

I dragged the old COM21 from my last connection and it still runs fine.

Worst experience came during Easter break. TV/Cable went down and a call to tech support sounded like this.

It's Friday and we're showing 15 modems down, sooooo...you won't see anyone till Monday. Well there has to be 20 modems down for an immediate call-out. (Never mentioned there seems to be 15 units per node either)
They're on the way to fix it. NOT
This happened to everyone on our node, and we are pretty close knit here so we knew who we were and contacted each other to make the calls and our point to tech support.
They did get it fixed up the next evening, just in time for it to drop again! Poor QC?

The worst thing was that the front end of the customer service scheme was left completely out of the loop and couldn't get any info. Tech supprt lied repeatedly and misinformed the same. We felt real sorry for this person cause the front end was up front and honest.

The isp needs to get in touch with reality when it comes to customer service. Listen to your front end Persona, not your "back end".

And how about getting back those newsgroups too. Tch tch.

ps: There is one fella I would bet my bottom dollar on. He's been around for some time, (actually most here would grant him absent access rights no trouble), and he does it right first time. He's a pro. Honest and reliable.

member for 16 years, 2 visits, last login: 15.9 years ago
updated 16 years ago


Review by willy92 See Profile

  • Location: Peterborough, ON, Canada
  • Business customer Business customer
  • Cost: $75 per month (24 month contract)
  • Install: about 10 days
After a year of hell with Sympatico DSl This is great!
Have not found any yet
Best option in my area
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I spent a year on Sympatico DSl paying for 3 meg, best I ever got was 800KB. I averaged 4 service calls a month, DSL would be down for days at a time. Went through Sync no Surf, they still deny firmware upgrade posted here exists.

Called Persona, $30.00 install charge, great bundle price for analogue TV and High Speed. Paying $5.00 per month for no cap.

Installer here 1/2 hour ... great guys, good job. 1st connect speed was over 5 meg, varies from day to day, but never under 3 meg.

Called tech support to set up e-mail. They were polite, knew what they needed to tell me, and did not treat me like a moron like Sympatico. For once the knowledge of the tech person was not below my own.

UPDATE____ Went througha few months where the service sucked - down to .6mbs instaed of 6...Call center staff great - Business Internet contact stopped returning calls, was no help at all. Call center indicated that lines from Lindsay to Peterborough were at 94% - my node was at 30 - but there was ahuge bottleneck....Just 2 weeks ago it was off for a few hours, and since then never under 5 mbs. Would have HELPED if they talked to the customers though.

I have had no problems so far, everyone in my area loves the service.

member for 19.5 years, 48 visits, last login: 15.6 years ago
updated 16.6 years ago


Review by Grifter13 See Profile

  • Location: Marmora, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $45 per month
Seems to be getting better
Goes dead at least once a week
Would switch if I could
Pre Sales information:
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I've got the most expensive package that they offer, assuming that its the best, and I really don't think that its worth it. I have no other high speed internet options here so what can I do?

I use for playing my Xbox 360 online and it just seems to be gradualy getting worse.... Can't wait till another company offers another service in this area.

member for 20.3 years, 12 visits, last login: 16 years ago
lodged 16.8 years ago


Theadore
@personainc.net

Theadore

Anon

Persona Problems

I thought it was a fluke but talking to others in central Newfounland it seems they are horrible. The support line is a joke, calling it will get you nothing more than some lazy person telling you all your problems are because of the cable your using or the copper in your house or even somthing as stupid as "I dont get that kind fo speed and I am on a 10mbit line"

Horrible speed, and horrible service.