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Review by docbill 
member for 6.4 years, 134 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated a few hours ago
 Stoney Creek,ON
 $65 per month- (24 month contract)
 about 5 days Bell Canada "Very fast upload rate, all inclusive package" "will be too expensive at the end of the promotion" "would not recommend"
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It is now 2012 and I am back with Bell again. A door to door salesman sold me on a triple play package free for 6 months. It is however a 2 year contract, which will cost me $300 to disconnect early, and there is a $30 activation fee. I don't really need the satellite TV or the bell phone line, so I am listing the rate at $330/6 for the six months.
First the good:
The install service was excellent. The Bell tech showed up on time, and rewired my phone line. I hadn't used the line in years, when I had cancelled the regular phone line one of the reasons was phone picked-up radio signals and the DSL was dog slow. However, with the new Fibe connection I am getting the advertised 25/7 without the same speed both to Bell's test sight, and my favourite speed test site in the US. The Bell router has wireless N, two USB ports, and four LAN ports. Overall it seems like fairly solid hardware.
Now the not so good:
The technician could only connect the router within three feet of the phone jack. So I had to run my own 100 ft cable to get the connection to my computer. The wireless service seems fair, but not as good as my Asus RT-16N.
Now the bad:
I had to see comments in this forum to learn how not to have a double NAT. Bell seems to cycle my IP address very regularly. That breaks my IPV6 tunnel and causes my VPN tunnels to drop. I have to regularly update sites like salesforce.com which use IP security with my IP address. This also seems to mess-up Bell's bandwidth counter. I have a bandwidth tracker on my modem, so I know exactly how much I use. One one day when they toggled my IP address they list me as uploading 3.2GB and downloading 3.0GB. But my bandwidth counter shows it was really 0.5GB and 0.2GB. I NEVER have a higher upload than download usage. The Bell technician seems to think that meant someone hacked into the Bell wireless router. That is unlikely, as I am the only one in the neighbourhood with the knowledge needed to break SPA security. However, I have switched of the Bell wireless and I will wait to see if that happens again.
Unless I find ways to mitigate the bad, I will probably switch to TekSavvy or back to Cogeco Cable at the end of the six months.
Update: According to the sales brochure I was suppose to get a 125 GB capacity, but I only got 100 GB. I did not feel like arguing so I paid $10 for 80 GB of bandwidth insurance bring me up to 180 GB. At first glance that seems like slightly more than I had with Cogeco, but I have found the Bell bandwidth counter is more inaccurate than Cogeco. So I expect I really will get about 170 GB.
Update: 2012-02-29 Worst day ever. I went to the bathroom and when I returned my work VOIP line lost connection to the conference call I was on. I then tried my personal VOIP line, and that failed as well. I then tried the Bell Canada line. I tend to avoid using that because it is so full of static. But anyway, I got back into my conference and then my internet connection kept dropping for the rest of the meeting. Finally this evening I went to inspect why my line was so full of static. I had previously called Bell for that, but they told me there would be a service charge even though the problem existed since install which was less than 30 days ago at the time I called. Consequently, I decided to find the problem myself. It turns out that the bell technician who wired up the internet and put in the VDSL splitter, had wired the outlet so both the phone line jack and the internet jack were both wired together, and the actual voice line was wired to screws not connected to anything. Whenever I would use the phone, I would get flooded with static, and eventually the DSL modem would drop the connection. Now that I corrected it, the phone is crystal clear. All I can say, is I don't really blame Bell for the mistake, but they should stand by there services. If they do an install and it doesn't work, they should correct the problem they created.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
In 2002 I signed up for Bell Sympatico DSL service. They sent me a Speedstream 5360 and installation instructions. The network connection worked well, and I paid the advertised price. About a year later, they introduced bandwidth caps. After being presented several large bills, I suspended my Sympatico service and switched to Cogeco. I stuck with Cogeco for about six months, then Sympatico dropped the bandwidth caps and I switched back. When switching back I learned that Sympatico had unsuspended early and been charging my credit card. In the end they offered a few months of discounts. I still probably overpaid some, but it wasn't worth arguing because Cogeco and Sympatico were my only broadband options.
Several times in the last few years, Sympatico has notify me my DSL speed was being increased. However, it was 2400 kbps in 2002, and it is still 2400 kbps today. At least Sympatico remained a reliable connection.
However, about 6 months ago that started changing. Every few hours my VOIP phone would beep, indicating the DSL had recycled to a new IP address. I contacted Bell, but they refused to support me unless the modem was plugged directly into my computer. Unfortunately, I do not know how to configure Windows for PPPoE, and I have lost their directions years ago. When I asked them how to connect my computer to the modem, they could not help me. So I just lived with the problem.
Over the months, the problem got worse. Finally, by mid-October the line was recycling every 15 minutes. Since I was convinced the problem had to be either the line or the Speedstream, I decided to search my basement to see if I could find one of the DSL modems I used in Seattle. When I had inquired about using my own modem in 2002, the Sympatico tech had told me no other modem would work with Sympatico. However, after reading discussions on the internet I found that was a lie. In my basement, I found the Speedstream 5260 that had been sold to me by Speakeasy. I unplugged the the 5360 and plugged in the 5260 and found my disconnect problem was solved!
After that, I decided I have to find some other broadband service. I suspended my Sympatico account for six months and I will cancel at the end of that time if I am still happy with my new ISP.
2012-07-27: One week ago I got up in the morning and found my internet was down, and the DSL modem was not getting a signal. After waiting an hour, I called Bell on my cell phone. 47 days prior I had put in a cancel order for my phone line in 30 days and at the same time negotiated a new rate for my internet. It turns out they forgot to note on the cancel order I needed to be put on a dry loop. Bell said they had to send a technician out, so they couldn't come until Monday. Monday morning came along, and bright and early my internet was up. Two hours later a technician showed up, equally confused as to why Bell sent him out to my house, when they just needed to make the change at the office. Bell also made a $165 error in my bill this month, but after talking to them I got an instant credit for part of it. The other part is the termination internet termination fee, which of course I should not have to pay unless I terminate it... So for that they gave me a monthly credit that will balance out should I carry it the full term of the original contract. I'm still keeping Bell, but one more mistake like this and I cancel, no matter what. I already have a second internet connection. I would prefer to keep both, for enhanced reliability, but it isn't worth dealing with repeated mistakes.
2013-04-02 I've dropped Bell and I'm now with Velcom.
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Review by beoneradio
member for 55 days, 0 visits, last login: 55 days ago
lodged 55 days ago
- Laval,QC
- $56 per month
- (6 month contract)
- Bell Canada
- "bad service"
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they sold me a plan for 6 months 56$ after with out notice my plan change to 79$ told them is too expensive they advice me that i would keep same plan .
Now I received a bill of 177$ for this month really how can that be if I was on vacations.
well they don't care and all they try to do is to sale me more bandwidth.
I am canceling with them .
Comments:
 | | Stay away from BELL. They are the biggest crooks I just got out of a 3 year contract and i paid through my nose. Never ever trust what they say. You will pay for that big time and when you go back to their crappy customer service, they will simply say sorry but you still have to pay no matter what anyone promised you. | |
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Review by Furious1964
member for 1.6 years, 7 visits, last login: 45 days ago
updated 56 days ago
- Dorval,QC
- $143 per month
- (12 month contract)
- Bell Canada
- "Bandwidth is fast now that throttling is gone."
- "Tech support and reliability is non-existant."
- "NEVER, EVER deal with Bell."
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Never deal with Bell EVER.
Been a client for nearly 20 Years and I placed an order for a FibeTV/Internet/Cell bundle Saturday Feb. 2, 2013. Got a call from a rep on Tuesday about canceling my lan and confirming my order. For some strange reason, the rep canceled that order and I was left waiting like an idiot. Was on the phone for 3 days with 8 different reps trying to get everything settled, but it all snowballed and I ended up canceling everything and trying to go with someone else. I couldn't because of a bankruptcy I had to declare 3 years ago because I lost my job and couldn't pay my bills. I have a good job now (for over 3 Years) but because of that, I can't get my services reconnected and I'm without telephone and soon will be without internet.
So I recommend that people go elsewhere for internet/phone/TV service and give Bell the cold shoulder.
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smallj53
join:2002-08-25
Niagara Falls, ON | Your speeds won't be any better with Acanac You have a physical problem with your line. Only Bell can fix that. | |
|  ns
@142.240.200.x | Bell internet customer service - The worst customer service that I have had. For last 7 days they could not restore my internet connection. Calling customer service will tell it will be done in next 24 hour/ 48 hour, I feel they don't know the meaning of hour. Bell customer service has some buch of jokers up to the supervisors. Right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. For last 6 days I have spoken to 28 representatives without any success to my issue. (This might be a record). | |
| | | 1.1mbps isn't even 12 meg speed at 12/1 synch You'd be better off dropping down to 12 meg which is supposed to be 1.4 megabits per second at a 14/1 synch rate. | |
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Review by Tristan
member for 6.5 years, 1154 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 60 days ago
- Ottawa,ON
- Contract price not specified.
- "You get access to the internet."
- "Slow access, low caps, high overages, bad service"
- "Teksavvy or Start Communications internet is better, avoid Bell Sympatico"
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2/6/2013
I highly recommend Start Communications for internet service. Going to ask my employer to switch to Start.
2/6/2013
Some of the problems we've had with Bell high-speed over the last 3 years are:
- internet service seems to go down periodically
- email server seems to go down periodically
- a bad Bell wire feed to our building caused our connection to fail. When we were connected to a different pair of wires, we lost half our speed. Took several calls to get it fixed. At one point, I was talking with a call centre employee that admitted she was in Jamaica, and she was most disrespectful. She didn't want to help, and rather cited that the speeds are "up-to", but really the problem was the card Bell connected us to was bad.
- older -
Not a big fan of Bell Sympatico.
Was forced to get DSL because zoning technicalities made it impossible to get Rogers - it's actually Rogers fault that we can't use Rogers, even though Rogers offers service to this building.
Stupid Rogers.
Don't sign up with Bell. Teksavvy is much better, higher customer satisfaction, they fight for their customer's rights. Long story short, Teksavvy cares, and wants your business.
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 Review by MXB
member for 3.3 years, 15 visits, last login: 31 days ago
updated 131 days ago
- Burlington,ON
- $46 per month
- Bell Canada
- "Reliable."
- "Overpriced is an understatement!"
- "Too expensive."
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I started out in 1986 with a 300 baud modem and a C=128. I love modems. But by 2002 it became obvious that Bell's high speed would be faster and equally priced to using a 2nd phone line and a 56K modem with an account at my University. So I did some research and bought myself a D-Link DI-604 modem on sale with a mail-in-rebate. Then I ordered Bell's cheapest service which was called "Light" IIRC. It was 128 Kbps down. The Speedstream modem arrived via courier within a day or two. Setup was a breeze as I just ignored the CD they included. The router immediately hooked up to the modem after being configured and I was on. It provided access to 3 old computers on the home LAN.
I briefly considered Cogeco the local cable company but I do not like the idea of netting via their network. I guess I just feel comfortable using the phone network. Also Cogeco when I did phone once told me that they'd send a tech to "setup and configure" my computer. I told them that would be impossible as I am using multiple and exotic operating systems. They insisted anyways so that was the end of their chance. As if I would permit some twentysomething who has never heard of CP/M or even DOS touch my babies!
The only problems I've had with Bell were the contracts they kept putting me on when I called to ask why the bill was not as expected. I didn't even know they'd done that so when a year was up I'd get a bill for more than expected. However it seems that they've realized their error and now I'm on a plan that will not change all the time. Well maybe... I suspect they've just stopped calling them contracts and perhaps no longer expire them after a year. Also irritating was that they kept trying to push their higher speeds everytime I called to inquire about a billing discrepancy. I only accepted that once this fall because the price of the higher speed was actually less than what I had. The original Light kept getting faster automatically (from 128 to 512) but the new Essential Plus (2000) cost less due to the bundles ($10 off). That speed upgrade went seamlessly although they sent me a new modem via courier even though I told them I didn't need one because the old modem worked perfectly at the new speed! I had to return to sender via the Post Office. Worse is they then couriered me a _second_ modem which I simply refused to accept from the courier. Minor annoyance for me but expensive for them.
All in all I have been a satisfied customer for almost 7 years now. The connection has always been there, always at the speed advertised (oh I checked!) and sometimes faster. The modem they rent me has worked flawlessly for almost 7 years now. I've never called tech support but then again I know more than the techs do so why would I?
They've kept gouging me with price increases almost on a yearly basis. It is time to abandon ship after 9 years. Not to mention the obscenity of charging me $2 for a paper bill and then sending me paper advertisements for free.
Comments:
| | I have a box of modems Bell has sent to me or family members and never asked for them back. Probably worth hundreds of $$$'s in their day. | |
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Review by ns1225
member for 2.2 years, 164 visits, last login: 6 days ago
updated 136 days ago
- Montreal,QC
- $52 per month
- about 3 days
- Bell Canada
- "Speed is as advertised, 16Mb/s on Fibe 16"
- "Low usage cap of 90GB, possibly even lower"
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Fairly good service on Bell Fibe 16Mbps down and 7Mbps upload. The price is high considering rate hikes and low usage caps so that sums up the huge negatives of Bell services. You've been warned.
The upsides are that it is a fast and reliable connection and not a single issue was experienced for the whole time I was a customer.
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Review by judgeprophet
member for 144 days, 62 visits, last login: 28 days ago
lodged 144 days ago
- Delson,QC
- $39 per month
- (12 month contract)
- Bell Canada
- "Easy setup"
- "No network improvement in my region"
- "Expensive and ignore long time customer"
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I was with them since around 2000 to 2008, (Dial-up). They did nothing to improved their network. Since i'm far from the central, i'm still at 2mb/sec MAX, at least the reseller can offer me unlimited transfert. And at the time the pricing wasn't competitive!
I have big hope for Fibe
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Review by skullan3
member for 9 years, 6 visits, last login: 141 days ago
updated 154 days ago
- canada
- $62 per month
- Bell Canada
- "Stable Internet"
- "Their screw-up cost me 80 Gigs of Data usage allowance and them a customer."
- "If you don't call them, you're fine. Otherwise, you're risking everything."
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I've had Bell DSL for close to 4 years.
Initially, I was on the 2Mbps service and then upgraded to the 6Mbps when it rolled through.
Stability and reliability wise, it's great.
Here are the problems I have had with them (most serious one last):
- In my opinion over-priced for the amount of data you get. I get a credit on my account, but without it, I would be well over what the competitors are, for far less (including the competition's dry-loop costs).
- Their billing system is annoyingly complex when it comes to understanding the credits.
- I have had the analysts give me their opinions on what the CRTC is going to do to the independent providers in terms of what they will be allowed to offer. This leaves a bad taste for customers.
- They mistakenly removed my 80 gigs (40 x 2 for $10) internet usage insurance, they admit that. But they are unable to offer more than 50 (as now they only offer 25 x 2 for $10). They tried to figure out how I could get back what I had, but their offers were:
a) slower speed package, same amount of data. The cancellation analyst indicated that I shouldn't notice the 16% reduction in download speed (from 6Mbps to 5Mbps).
b) more expensive package with 25 more Gigs..
I had to draw a line in the sand on this. Yes, I could have spent 5 dollars more a month to get 25 more gigs than what I pay now, but when you consider how far behind the monthly data caps they are for the price they offer, principle alone stopped me and I canceled.
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Reviews:
 ·DIRECTV
| Bravo. Correct move! These big corporate borgs count on the belief that the customer will always bend over and "take it" because they "need" their broadband service at any cost. If enough folks started cancelling like you the consumer would be in a much better position to get what was fair and reasonable, and actual customer "service", not lip service. | |
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Review by (hidden by request)
(review was emailed from domain me.com)
lodged 155 days ago
- L4g 7
- $140 per month
- (24 month contract)
- Bell Canada
- "Install an tech support"
- "Internet speed so slow it is unusable"
- "Bell sold this package as having faster Internet. NOT"
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I just installed Bell Fibe last week - TV is fine, but the "faster internet" they are promoting is a complete joke. My internet is so slow now I can't even use it. Takes 30-60 seconds to load every page. Impossible to watch Netflix as the movie never loads. If you are looking for faster internet DO NOT get Bell Fibe
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Review by UK_Dave
member for 2.1 years, 168 visits, last login: 7 days ago
updated 190 days ago
- Powassan,ON
- $60 per month
- (month by month)
- Bell Canada
- "Cancelling was painless."
- "Their cheeky little attempts to crush competition."
- "Screw you Bell, you won't ever get another direct dime from me."
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So pleased I left.......
To have "No Bell" in my life, has been a wonderful, calming experience....
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