3 edits | Velcom tech support (resolved) Bottom line: If you're thinking of switching to Velcom to solve your problems with Bell, they use Bell tech support themselves and have no way to remedy any real problems that come up.
I've been signed up for Velcom for over a month now with no service, only the constant blinking of the "line sync" light and Error 678.
I signed up for Velcom approximately one month ago - in order to benefit from the unlimited bandwidth and possibly escape from Bell and Cogeco's horrible tech support and throttling.
I just moved in to a place and had to get a phone line set up, I had to get a Bell tech to come in because the wiring was a mess and all the lines were cut (literally). So I already know that the wiring in my house is messed up.
In any case - I got the phones working and phoned Velcom. Setup was a breeze, they said I'd get my modem in four days, and I did. I never got any information for my username and password so I phoned tech support to get the connection up and running.
Got my password, hooked it up, connected - ERROR 678 and blinking line sync light on the speedtouch home modem. Okay - so tech support tells me to do all the standard stuff, unplug the modem, check the cables, check your computer etc. None of that worked - so they opened a ticket with Bell so they could check that the line had been hooked up properly.
About four days later Bell came while I was not at home and left a note on the door saying that the connection was fine on the outside of the house and the problem was my modem. So I phoned tech support and they told me to call their sales department and get a new modem sent out. Fine, but it was Friday after six and the sales office wouldn't be open until Monday.
In the meantime I brought my "broken" modem to another house with functioning Bell high speed internet to check if I can get a solid green line sync light. I do get a solid green light, so I bring a different modem (speedstream 6520) to my house to see if it gets the same blinking sync light problem, and it does. I'm not incredibly tech savvy, but in my books that means that the line sync error is in the house and not the modem.
I phoned Velcom tech support and they said that I should have phoned them while I was doing the test and therefore my test is invalid, and the modem is still the problem. Fine, I'll follow protocol then. By that time it's Monday and I ask the sales department to send me a new modem, I have to pay another 40 dollars that will be refunded to me when I send back the old modem. It takes longer this time for the modem to be delivered (for whatever reason, I'm not blaming that on Velcom) and when the new momden is delivered, surprise, the sync light is still blinking and I get error 678.
So anyways, I phone tech support and relay this information - they say that they'll open another ticket with Bell and make it clear that the problem is inside the house and they have to send a technician to find it. It's been a month at this point with no service whatsoever and I'm thinking of canceling, but I think that if they finally get a Bell technician to come and fix the problem it will be fine.
But it's been a week, and I phone tech support every 24 hours, because they say it will take 24 hours for a bell rep to contact me; Sometimes they say my ticket has been closed because Bell couldn't contact me (despite my cellphone being on 24/7) and that they'll open another ticket, sometimes they insist that I unplug my modem and restart it, or create another connection in the connection wizard in Windows XP. and sometimes they just tell me to be patient and wait.
I think I've waited enough... still no service, and I'm going to cancel on Monday (because their sales office is not open until then). This is my last desperate plea, perhaps someone recognizes my problem and can help me - or at the very least, anyone thinking about switching to Velcom can see what I've gone through.
It bears repeating,
Bottom line: If you're thinking of switching to Velcom to solve your problems with Bell, they use Bell tech support themselves and have no way to remedy any real problems that come up.
EDIT: Threatening to cancel seems to have made them take notice. They say there's a Bell tech coming tomorrow, so we'll see.
UPDATE: The bell tech finally came and fixed the problem, we now have internet! So I am not going to cancel my service. I'm going to leave my post up though because I think the trouble I went through is still valid. |
