Topic 'Switch to Start.ca (cable) or stay with Bell Fibe 25 (VDSL)' in forum 'Canadian Broadband' - dslreports.com

Re: Switch to Start.ca (cable) or stay with Bell Fibe 25 (VDSL)

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 19:26:43 EDT

Davesnothere posted :

said by WiMax:

Vonage will not save enough per month over Bell's voice service, and do not offer/port phone numbers in many areas.

First, you did not quote me properly (your edit referenced 'coaxguy', but showed MY remark), but I'm pretty sure that you were replying to me. - Anyway, I fixed that in my quote-back.

Even if you were NOT replying to me, I need to set you straight on some stuff.

I just now went here »www.vonage.ca/ , and checked about doing a 'port-in' of numbers from Kingston and Cornwall.

The lookup said "NO, NE RIEN, NADA, ZILCH", just like on EVERY other occasion that I did this during the past 7 years or however long that Vonage has been plying their half-baked attempt at VoIP in Canada.

They are simply NOT interested in supporting the smaller centres, never have been, and I live in a smaller community than the 2 medium sized cities which I just used for my test, so you KNOW that I do not qualify either, neither for porting NOR for new numbers.

Vonage had their chance on several occasions with me and they blew it. - So did Primus and Magic Jack (2 of the other large and more established VoIP providers to Canada), and for the same reasons.

If folks who are normally local to me are forced to PAY LONG DX to call ME, just because a phone company does not support a rate centre local to me, and only offers me a number in Ottawa (closest place to me that these 3 outfits actually DO support), then that is unsatisfactory, both to me AND to my callers.

I stand by everything which I said earlier about Vonage (which was not a lot), and including the possibility of the OP considering Cogeco for [only] their phone service in this case, and I respectfully suggest that you do your homework before questioning the brief statement which I made about Vonage in my last post.

In fact, Vonage Canada is NOT EVEN as GOOD as Bell, astounding as that may sound to some readers here, considering the perverse pleasure which some of us take in bashing Bell at any opportunity.

At least Bell supports porting of numbers in each and every community which they serve, which is nearly all of them in Ontario & Quebec.

If Vonage Canada, PrimusTel Canada, and Magic Jack do not do that much to begin, then their rates and features are irrelevant and moot to MANY MANY people.

Cheers ! :)

Re: Switch to Start.ca (cable) or stay with Bell Fibe 25 (VDSL)

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 18:26:18 EDT

WiMax posted :

said by Davesnothere:

said by coaxguy:

Vonage will not save enough per month over Bell's voice service, and do not offer/port phone numbers in many areas.

Well, well. A Vonage & Bell Hater! Buddy, you have no clue as to what you are talking about. Vonage has been around Canada for more than 7 years, they can now port to ANY of Canada's exchanges. Furthermore, if their rates are no better than Bell, then why have they taken significant market share? Look, my parents were Bell subscribers for almost 60 years. My father finally got fed up with Bell's high rates that were getting higher. He switched to Vonage 5 years ago. He now gets EVERY FEATURE that Bell offers PLUS a lot more. Vonage gives their customer EVERY feature rather than nickel and dime. When my father left Bell, his monthly bill (local, 2 features) was over $40. They spent about another $20-$30/mo for long distance. My father now pays $28/mo INCLUDING TAX INCLUDING LONG DISTANCE to all of Canada, USA and 6 other countries plus they have more features than they know what to do with! For them the bonus was going to high speed Internet and their Internet usage no longer tied up their phone line. They were going to get a second line for Internet but that was going to cost another $25/mo plus a $100 installation fee.

So, go ahead, try to convince us all here that Vonage is no better than Bell. We're waiting.

Re: Switch to Start.ca (cable) or stay with Bell Fibe 25 (VDSL)

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 03:57:26 EDT

Davesnothere posted :

said by coaxguy:

Well I may pull the trigger sooner. Just got my one bill. After payment last month, bringing my balance to ZERO, I just got a $474 bill. I'm not happy.

I'm deciding between VoIP.ms or good old vonage. Is VoIP.ms hard to setup? I really only use my landline for calling parents, alarm and the occasional fax. The only feature I want is call display. Can I get that with VoIP.ms?

$474 ???!!!

That's more than my RENT !

HTH did BHELL come up with THAT much ?

= = = = = = =

Vonage will not save enough per month over Bell's voice service, and do not offer/port phone numbers in many areas.

Fax & Alarm may represent a challenge to VoIP services in general.

For better advice on those 2, ask at the 1st link from my earlier post.

Also, Cogeco offers basic phone for less than Bell does, and it would more likely support F & A.

You could run it at same time as START Internet (need 2 modems), and still play with VoIP until comfortable with results.

Re: Switch to Start.ca (cable) or stay with Bell Fibe 25 (VDSL)

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 01:21:12 EDT

coaxguy posted : Well I may pull the trigger sooner. Just got my one bill. After payment last month, bringing my balance to ZERO, I just got a $474 bill. I'm not happy.

I'm deciding between VoIP.ms or good old vonage. Is VoIP.ms hard to setup? I really only use my landline for calling parents, alarm and the occasional fax. The only feature I want is call display. Can I get that with VoIP.ms?

Re: Switch to Start.ca (cable) or stay with Bell Fibe 25 (VDSL)

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:08:02 EDT

Davesnothere posted :

said by brad:

said by coaxguy:

Brad, I have no contract whatsoever, only need to give 30 days for the Internet because its pro rated.

I'd be giving the 30 day notice at the end of the 5th month then.

+1 to THAT !

And get your order in promptly to START at that point.

Be sure to do an overlapped phase-in of your VoIP service too, so that you are comfortable when the time comes to cut the Bell landline - I would suggest for 2 months or more, as VoIP is low cost anyway - Begin shopping around NOW for that.

Good VoIP advice can be found here »VOIP Tech Chat
and here »/gbu

What you are experiencing now just proves how little that data transit REALLY costs, when Bell or one of the other incumbents can be generous when they FEEL like it, but then turn cold at a moment's notice (I knew a girl like that once).

--

We have only 2 things about which to worry :
(1) That things may never get back to normal
(2) That they already HAVE !
-
START Forum »Start Communications
Or you can still use Canadian Broadband.

Re: Switch to Start.ca (cable) or stay with Bell Fibe 25 (VDSL)

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:20:18 EDT

brad posted :

said by coaxguy:

Brad, I have no contract whatsoever, only need to give 30 days for the Internet because its pro rated.

I'd be giving the 30 day notice at the end of the 5th month then.

Re: Switch to Start.ca (cable) or stay with Bell Fibe 25 (VDSL)

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 14:12:09 EDT

coaxguy posted : Brad, I have no contract whatsoever, only need to give 30 days for the Internet because its pro rated.

Silvercat, I'm a former contracted installer in Niagara for Cogeco, and my sister in laws boyfriend is a maintenance tech for Cogeco, and he said the increased upload speeds are coming soon, real soon.

I think I may use and abuse the VDSL until the crtc ruling hits and Start may change their packages again.

Re: Switch to Start.ca (cable) or stay with Bell Fibe 25 (VDSL)

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 09:05:19 EDT

brad posted :

said by morisato:

it is a deal as it requires no contract to get it and no signup fees usally, or modem rentals etc..

So you can cancel at the 6th month without any fees what so ever? None at all.

Re: Switch to Start.ca (cable) or stay with Bell Fibe 25 (VDSL)

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 06:29:34 EDT

morisato posted : it is a deal as it requires no contract to get it and no signup fees usally, or modem rentals etc..
--
Every time Someone leaves Sympatico an Angel gets its wings.

Re: Switch to Start.ca (cable) or stay with Bell Fibe 25 (VDSL)

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 03:30:34 EDT

brad posted :

said by silvercat:

Either way, it seems like you have a really good deal with Bell for the next six months.

It isn't a deal when the 6 months are up you're raped to shit. The 6 months after that makes up for the perceived deal. Promos like this are just to get people to sign up.

Re: Switch to Start.ca (cable) or stay with Bell Fibe 25 (VDSL)

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 03:07:33 EDT

silvercat posted : I guess it all depends if you can put up with the billing errors. 10 mbit/sec upload is pretty nice.

It may not be necessary for you to stay on the $39.99 home phone for the next six months. You could sign up with voip.ms, and order an Obihai voip adapter from Amazon.com (maybe ship it across the border, and go pick it up to avoid high shipping costs). With voip.ms, you may not be paying more than $10/month. It depends how much calling you do. So that's a potential savings of $30/month, with regards to the phone payments. The Obi110 voip adapter might be useful for you, because it has a landline connector as well.

Also keep in mind that soon (hopefully) the CRTC will announce revised capacity rates for independent ISP's. If these revised rates are favourable to the IISP's, you could see more unlimited plans. Also, Cogeco will be increasing the upload speeds, but i'm not sure when this will happen.

Either way, it seems like you have a really good deal with Bell for the next six months.

Switch to Start.ca (cable) or stay with Bell Fibe 25 (VDSL)

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 00:35:30 EDT

coaxguy posted : Just trying to figure out what I want to do with the home communications setup.

I currently am on Bells Fibe 25/10 plan, getting the full 25 and 10 in the house, my attainable is much higher so im synced a few megs higher. I get the student cap of 375GB for 6 more months, and I am paying $44.99. I was thinking of switching for 2 reasons. 1) Have had numerous billing errors in the 3 months ive had the service, all requiring a pain in the ass call to correct. 2) The cap will eventually go to 125, which is not enough and the price will go up to $61.99 I believe. I also want to mention im on a $39.99 home phone plan as well.

Would it be worthwhile to avoid the billing errors, and eventual call to Bell to try to extend the cap and pricing by simply switching to the 30/2 (Cogeco Land) with 250GB cap Start offers. Then switching my home phone to voip.ms or Acanac maybe.

What would you guys do, keeping all the Bell hate to a minimum mind you. I have no contracts for any of these services, so switching will be quite painless.