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MrMazda86 (banned)
join:2013-01-29
Kitchener, ON

MrMazda86 (banned)

Member

Bell from Hell & the 2-Wire 2701HG-G Modem

Greetings oh wise internet,

It would seem to appear that in recent times, Bell from Hell has decided to start countering any of their 2-Wire 2701HG-G modems that users have modified by reflashing them with the Singtel firmare in order to be able to unlock them and access the Management & Diagnostic Console to be able to do such things as bridge the modem to be able to use a Wireless N instead.

For the last year or so, this has worked fine, but it now seems that Bell is taking measures to remove such modems from their network by screwing around with their connectivity. The question here is does anyone know (or have) a generic firmware, or even a Bell from Hell firmware that can access the MDC that I could re-flash these modems with to be able to render them usable once more?

Any help anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated. I currently have not one, but THREE of these modems that Bell has done this to. In an ideal world, I'd like to sell them, or otherwise send them to a home where they would be appreciated and used, rather than sitting in a closet collecting dust. The short version of how I got my hands on so many modems was that I had it out with Bell's Executive office when I went through the HELL of 9 technician visits in a matter of 2 weeks. Every time a technician would come, they would change the modem AGAIN, thinking that the modem was the problem. Of course, every time that they'd do this, they would never give me any kind of return instructions or anything for the old modems.

As you may have guessed, Bell tried charging me through the arse for these technician visits, however with a quick call to my lawyer (who I sent after Bell like a wild pitbull on speed) and Bell seemed to have a very different attitude with me. I was damned if I was gonna pay some $800 in technician visits alone for technicians to come, replace the modem that didn't need to be replaced, remove hardware from my internal wiring that neither needed to be removed, nor did they ever give back to me as it was not theirs to take, and left without having fixed the problem. One such technician I actually felt the need to call the Waterloo Regional Police to have removed from my home because he decided he wasn't going to listen to simple instructions, then was going to insist that he change wiring that didn't need to be changed. The inevitable result of this resulted in about 4.5 hours of my time being spent re-doing the wiring that they screwed up and pulling the wiring for my 2nd VoIP line off of the Bell line as they had bridged the two together, which by the way did happen to fry my VoIP adapter.

So... This leaves me with a number of "spare" modems, some of which cannot be used currently thanks to Bell blacklisting the Singtel firmware, a nightmare of a wiring mess to have to clean up, and a legal battle that I am still battling out. If there is anyone here that could help me get a "proper" firmware (as far as Bell from Hell can tell) on these modems to be able to render them functional again would be greatly appreciated.

On the note of the 9 technicians from hell in a row, I have come to discover that Bell from Hell doesn't like when a customer lashes back at them with a bill of their own. Namely, they don't like when a customer owns a small technical services company and decides to create an account for them in which to bill them for $85/hr for the re-wiring that was needed to fix the lines that they screwed up, plus another $100 or the VoIP adapter that they destroyed, PLUS... Get this... I was so frustrated that I upheld my threat and slammed them with a bill for $25/min (and I don't do per-second billing for them) for a whopping 456 minutes of technical support time that I could have otherwise spent making money off of customers. When you roll all of that together and add the mandatory 13% HST, it came out to a whopping $13,427.26 that they now owe just on their f**kery alone. This doesn't even begin to touch the legal fees or anything else such as the $25 "late payment" fee, or the compound interest rate (billed as per Bell's own interest policies that they charge their customers) for having to put up this fight.

One thing that I will admit though is that sending Bell a bill for $13,427.26 for such things certainly does get their attention REAL FAST. What gets their attention even more is when you submit this bill to your lawyer to have them be the ones to hand it over to them with the threat of litigation should they fail to comply. Don't get me wrong though... This isn't my usual MO when it comes to business, but when you're an evil faceless corporation like Bell from Hell, sometimes drastic measures are necessary in order to accomplish anything. This is where TekSavvy comes in handy, since TekSavvy has never played the kind of games that Bell has, nor have they ever (and I highly doubt they will ever) resort to such things as Bell has.

Just one example of what Bell has pulled as compared to the standard of excellence that TekSavvy provides is that when I determined the problem to be the modem, Bell started to challenge me on it, saying that unless a Bell technician visits my home and determines that the modem is the problem, they will outright REFUSE to help me. In fact, it took almost 2 hours of fighting with a "big wig" at Bell's executive office (which in TekSavvy terms, would be like having to put up a fight with TSI Andre) before they would start to see things my way. It seemed that when my telling them that when I replaced the 2-Wire 2701HG-G modem with an old Simmens SpeedStream 5200 that suddenly, I was able to establish a PPPoE link again, whereas I could no longer do this through the 2-Wire modem, yet for some reason, this unto itself was insufficient for Bell to believe that the modem was the problem. Bell from Hell also didn't seem to like the fact that I thought it was unreasonable to force me to pay a monthly service fee for renting a modem that does not work.

The good part out of this is that I've since been able to give Bell from Hell the proverbial "1-finger salute" and cut their crappy customer service out of the picture completely by switching over to TekSavvy. I must say that I'm very glad that I made this change, mainly because it gets very frustrating when you have to call in because something is wrong, only to get Ali Babba Shaqua Shouvez from Bangladesh on the phone, who doesn't possess a sufficient comprehension of the English language necessary to do their job adequately. I can honestly say that unlike Bell, I have *NEVER* had this problem with TekSavvy. Keep up the good work.

Mike2009
join:2009-01-13
Ottawa, ON

Mike2009

Member

I have a non-Bell 2701 HG-T with Qwest firmware that runs very well. It has less info than others like the AT&T firmware that I had on my 2700 but I highly recommend it nonetheless.
MrMazda86 (banned)
join:2013-01-29
Kitchener, ON

MrMazda86 (banned)

Member

Are you by any chance able to rip the firmware out of that bad boy? *crosses fingers*

Mike2009
join:2009-01-13
Ottawa, ON
TP-Link Archer C7
Technicolor DCM476
Grandstream HT701

Mike2009

Member

»www.qwest.com/internethe ··· 5.48.2sp

The status page gives the following info:

VPI: 0
VCI: 35
Broadband Negotiated Mode: G.DMT2+ Annex A
Connection Status: CONNECTED
Speed (down/up): 19453 Kbps/1086 Kbps
Number of Retrains: 0
Number of Retrains Elapsed Time: 0H: 00M: 00S
SNR Margin (Downstream/Upstream): 12.1 dB/10.3 dB
Attenuation (Downstream/Upstream): 7.6 dB/5.2 dB
MrMazda86 (banned)
join:2013-01-29
Kitchener, ON

MrMazda86 (banned)

Member

OMG OMG OMG!!! You're a life saver! Thank you 10,000,000x

Mike2009
join:2009-01-13
Ottawa, ON

Mike2009

Member

No problem. Let us know how it goes.
MrMazda86 (banned)
join:2013-01-29
Kitchener, ON

MrMazda86 (banned)

Member

So far, it seems to be re-flashing no problem. I will soon be in the testing stage to test if this turns out to be a viable solution that Bell doesn't lothe...

@Teddy Boom: I know you've had a lot of success with ripping the firmware and such from modems such as the Thompson DCM476 and the Motorola SurfBoard SB(somethin er other), but I was wondering... If I had an original 2-Wire 2701 HG-G modem with the original Bell crapware on it, would you be able to rip the firmware from it to render me an "upgrade image" that I could use to reflash and update the firmware on modems that are running the older firmware? If not, would you be able to rip it in such a manner that I could either send you (or otherwise bring you) my other 2-Wire 2701HG-G modems to be able to plop the firmware onto them forcibly? If so, name your price and you have yourself a business deal.
MrMazda86

MrMazda86 (banned) to Mike2009

Member

to Mike2009
I have successfully re-flashed the modem and programmed it to replace the Simmens SpeedStream 5200 and Linksys WRT54G router and so far, I've noticed nothing but results. The speed seems to remain consistent, and I've been able to reach speeds on that line like I've never reached before. I'm very much liking the way this is working.

Thank you sooooooooo much!

Mike2009
join:2009-01-13
Ottawa, ON

Mike2009

Member

Great to hear. It's a fantastic modem, easy to bridge and great on crappy lines. Enjoy!

Teddy Boom
k kudos Received
Premium Member
join:2007-01-29
Toronto, ON

Teddy Boom to MrMazda86

Premium Member

to MrMazda86
said by MrMazda86:

@Teddy Boom: I know you've had a lot of success with ripping the firmware and such from modems such as the Thompson DCM476 and the Motorola SurfBoard SB(somethin er other), but I was wondering... If I had an original 2-Wire 2701 HG-G modem with the original Bell crapware on it, would you be able to rip the firmware from it to render me an "upgrade image" that I could use to reflash and update the firmware on modems that are running the older firmware? If not, would you be able to rip it in such a manner that I could either send you (or otherwise bring you) my other 2-Wire 2701HG-G modems to be able to plop the firmware onto them forcibly? If so, name your price and you have yourself a business deal.

It is an interesting question.. But to start, I think the problem you are running into is different than you think.

1 year or 18 months ago Bell started using a 6.x.x.x firmware on the 2wires. That version can't be upgraded with the 5.x.x.x SingTel firmware because the 2wire won't allow the firmware downgrade. It isn't a lock that Bell is putting on at all. And that's why the Qwest firmware works, it is a 6.x.x.x firmware. The 2wire happily accepts it.

Similarly, if you take an old Bell 5.x.x.x unit you can put SingTel on it, or Qwest. If you put Qwest, you can never go back to SingTel, but you can go from SingTel to Qwest.

As for messing about at the JTAG or in circuit flash programming level.. Well, I've never tried, but it might be possible. The Qwest firmware works fine though, so unless you really really want access to the old MDC, I think the Qwest firmware is the easiest solution.
MrMazda86 (banned)
join:2013-01-29
Kitchener, ON

MrMazda86 (banned)

Member

If you should develop means of ripping the firmware, I have a 6.x.x.x firmware version modem that I'd want to send your way to grab firmware off of. This way, I can be-rid of the more problematic 5.x.x.x firmware that lies on the older modems, but still flash it with a legit Bell firmware so that if the customer returns the modem to Bell, there's no way for them to know that the firmware was changed as they don't check the firmware in the modem.

Ironically, the 2-Wire 2701HG-G with the 5.x.x.x firmware was recalled because of some firmware issue. In some cases, users may not be affected by this, however in other cases, the firmware has caused some interesting problems. I've even noticed the differences in performance between the two different versions actually.
taraf
join:2011-05-07
Ottawa, ON

taraf to MrMazda86

Member

to MrMazda86
quote:
It would seem to appear that in recent times, Bell from Hell has decided to start countering any of their 2-Wire 2701HG-G modems that users have modified by reflashing them with the Singtel firmare in order to be able to unlock them and access the Management & Diagnostic Console to be able to do such things as bridge the modem to be able to use a Wireless N instead.
The 2-wire has 802.11n wireless, and it'll automatically bridge the connection if you plug a router's WAN port into LAN1 on the 2-wire. You don't even have to remove your user/pass from the 2-wire, but it's generally recommended.
quote:
Any help anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated. I currently have not one, but THREE of these modems that Bell has done this to. In an ideal world, I'd like to sell them, or otherwise send them to a home where they would be appreciated and used, rather than sitting in a closet collecting dust. The short version of how I got my hands on so many modems was that I had it out with Bell's Executive office when I went through the HELL of 9 technician visits in a matter of 2 weeks. Every time a technician would come, they would change the modem AGAIN, thinking that the modem was the problem. Of course, every time that they'd do this, they would never give me any kind of return instructions or anything for the old modems.
They provided you with the modem, and you voided the warranty, and you're surprised that they aren't accomodating? If you *really* want to use a modem other than they intended, Buy One. The 2-wire is ADSL/ADSL2, and there are a very large number of modems which support the same technology available on the market. That one that costs $20 and is at the top of the list? I've been using that on an ADSL2 16/1 connection for over a year without any problems, and the base firmware on it provides all of the functionality you've been demanding in this thread.
quote:
As you may have guessed, Bell tried charging me through the arse for these technician visits, however with a quick call to my lawyer (who I sent after Bell like a wild pitbull on speed) and Bell seemed to have a very different attitude with me.
Bell's official policy is that as soon as you contact them with a lawyer, they provide no further support until the issue has been resolved by the court system. If you'd actually contacted them with a lawyer, you wouldn't have had a tech out. Further, you openly admit that you flashed the firmware with a non-Bell firmware, and then the modem developped problems. I'm calling BS.
quote:
On the note of the 9 technicians from hell in a row, I have come to discover that Bell from Hell doesn't like when a customer lashes back at them with a bill of their own. Namely, they don't like when a customer owns a small technical services company and decides to create an account for them in which to bill them for $85/hr for the re-wiring that was needed to fix the lines that they screwed up, plus another $100 or the VoIP adapter that they destroyed, PLUS... Get this... I was so frustrated that I upheld my threat and slammed them with a bill for $25/min (and I don't do per-second billing for them) for a whopping 456 minutes of technical support time that I could have otherwise spent making money off of customers. When you roll all of that together and add the mandatory 13% HST, it came out to a whopping $13,427.26 that they now owe just on their f**kery alone. This doesn't even begin to touch the legal fees or anything else such as the $25 "late payment" fee, or the compound interest rate (billed as per Bell's own interest policies that they charge their customers) for having to put up this fight.
Good luck with that. If your lawyer is worth his paycheque, he'll tell you not to waste your money trying to enforce that. Their terms of service are quite clear as regards that point, and you agreed to them by signing up for the service. Since I have a feeling it'll become important at some point in the future, I'll also point out that TekSavvy's ToS also indemnifies them against liability for this kind of crap.
quote:
The good part out of this is that I've since been able to give Bell from Hell the proverbial "1-finger salute" and cut their crappy customer service out of the picture completely by switching over to TekSavvy.
Ahh... now I get it. In the two cases I've seen where somebody *actually* sued Bell, the "resolution" provided by the court system was that Bell was allowed to terminate their service contract, and put a mark on their in-company credit history declaring that Bell would never sell that person a phone line or other services again. Congratulations.

Enjoy TekSavvy... I'm glad you're not having problems with it, and hope it continues to work for you.
Expand your moderator at work
jdoe71
join:2008-02-07
L0L0L0

jdoe71 to MrMazda86

Member

to MrMazda86

Re: Bell from Hell & the 2-Wire 2701HG-G Modem

The suggestion to get a TPLink modem is a good one. I had a couple of the 2Wires and found them good on my somewhat noisy line, as good as a Speedtouch. However, the TPLink modems are better than either of them. I've been using them for 3 years now, have yet to have one fail, had 2 2wires and 2 Speedtouch 516s puke prior to going to TPLink. Combine that TPLink with a TPLink 1043 300N/Gigabit router and you have a kick ass combo for pretty cheap bucks that outperforms the 2Wire totally in every respect.

I hate Bhell as much as the next guy, in fact dumped them years ago and became a Bhell free zone with much improved quality of life and lowered stress. You must either like to wrassle with elephants or you enjoy tilting at windmills. Cut Bhell out of your life, get some modern network gear, enjoy Tek's good service and move on. Life's too short to burn brain cells and money on a lame-assed outfit like Bhell. As I am shortly going to become a bona fide senior citizen, I wish I had back all those hours I wasted on stuff like this.
MrMazda86 (banned)
join:2013-01-29
Kitchener, ON

MrMazda86 (banned)

Member

said by jdoe71:

The suggestion to get a TPLink modem is a good one. I had a couple of the 2Wires and found them good on my somewhat noisy line, as good as a Speedtouch. However, the TPLink modems are better than either of them. I've been using them for 3 years now, have yet to have one fail, had 2 2wires and 2 Speedtouch 516s puke prior to going to TPLink. Combine that TPLink with a TPLink 1043 300N/Gigabit router and you have a kick ass combo for pretty cheap bucks that outperforms the 2Wire totally in every respect.

I hate Bhell as much as the next guy, in fact dumped them years ago and became a Bhell free zone with much improved quality of life and lowered stress. You must either like to wrassle with elephants or you enjoy tilting at windmills. Cut Bhell out of your life, get some modern network gear, enjoy Tek's good service and move on. Life's too short to burn brain cells and money on a lame-assed outfit like Bhell. As I am shortly going to become a bona fide senior citizen, I wish I had back all those hours I wasted on stuff like this.

I won't deny that TP-Link does offer a wide range of great products. TP-Link is actually one of my 2 recommended brands for purchasing of network hardware. I'm just not fond of the idea of having to purchase such a device when in theory, the equipment that I currently have should work without a problem. As for the current setup, I've opted to completely avoid the 2-Wire modem all together.

I now use a Thompson SpeedTouch 516 with NAT (among other things) disabled. The modem itself then plugs into a switch, which hosts my 5 devices to be able to use 5 separate IP addresses. In this particular case, a friend of mine was having issues with his Linksys WRT54G crapping out on him at times. My solution was to swap out his Simmens SpeedStream 5200 modem and Linksys WRT54G router with one of the 2-Wire 2701HG-G modems that I had, thus consolidating his hardware.

This worked fine for the first week or so, but after that, Bell from Hell got to the modem's firmware and screwed with it in the same manner that they've screwed with the other ones. The end result is that connectivity becomes damn impossible on the Singtel firmware, and even with the modem in bridge mode, you can no-longer establish a PPPoE link through it like a traditional modem. This problem seems to have been solved with the firmware suggested earlier on in this thread though.

As for Bell from Hell, I'll take great pride in being able to enjoy the use of their hardware that they were too dumb to inventory and keep on record that they had issued, so really... It's Bell from Hell's loss. As of now, the ONLY tie that I have left with Bell is through my friend. Since I don't particularly enjoy Bell from Hell's crappy service, I used his Bell POTS fax line that he only uses for faxing to be able to host me my own TekSavvy connection there. The interesting thing is that I get better speeds on TekSavvy in the same house than he does with Bell.. Bahahahaha go figure how that works. Clearly TekSavvy is superior
JMJimmy
join:2008-07-23

JMJimmy to MrMazda86

Member

to MrMazda86
I would file a complaint with the competition bureau honestly. Bhell's insistence on only certain modems working with it's system is a clear abuse of their monopoly.
MrMazda86 (banned)
join:2013-01-29
Kitchener, ON

MrMazda86 (banned)

Member

I completely agree. You can actually use any modem you wish on Bell from Hell's network, but they don't like when you do. This is sad really because it's just Bell from Hell's way of trying to push their stronghold on the monopoly down the throats of their customers. This is part of why I got a lawyer involved.

Mike2009
join:2009-01-13
Ottawa, ON
TP-Link Archer C7
Technicolor DCM476
Grandstream HT701

Mike2009

Member

I don't think this is really a problem with Bell blocking modems with Singtel firmware. Many have reported issues with this firmware for a few years when people started flashing it. It's that the Qwest and AT&T firmware work better in most line conditions.
MrMazda86 (banned)
join:2013-01-29
Kitchener, ON

MrMazda86 (banned)

Member

Duly noted.

It seems to work great now that the Qwest firmware is on it. The strange thing was that if I had the modem connected to their main phone line, I couldn't even get into the web interface for the modem most times because it was like the connection suddenly couldn't be made. With this firmware on it however, it seems to be behaving beautifully and now seems to deliver a slightly faster connection (1.41Mbit DL / 620Kbit UL / 115ms vs 1.1Mbit DL / 300Kbit UL / 250ms), and a much more reliable usability. It was a bit of a learning curve compared to Bell from Hell's crapware, but it was MUCH easier to navigate through and configure, and integrates the MDC into the main interface instead of hiding things and locking them down. We're both thrilled.
JMJimmy
join:2008-07-23

JMJimmy to MrMazda86

Member

to MrMazda86
said by MrMazda86:

I completely agree. You can actually use any modem you wish on Bell from Hell's network, but they don't like when you do. This is sad really because it's just Bell from Hell's way of trying to push their stronghold on the monopoly down the throats of their customers. This is part of why I got a lawyer involved.

I thought they put measures in place to lock you into certain modems (at least on VDSL2 maybe not ADSL)
MrMazda86 (banned)
join:2013-01-29
Kitchener, ON

MrMazda86 (banned)

Member

They do in the sense that they've gone out of their way to try and force their DSL modems with their proprietary crapware on them and force you to have to rent them from them, but you can actually get the same make/model of modem from another provider that isn't network locked and bring them over to Bell, without Bell having issues with it.

Mike2009
join:2009-01-13
Ottawa, ON

Mike2009 to MrMazda86

Member

to MrMazda86
Bell ruins their modems with their shitty firmware. Too bad because they could use the generic 2wire firmware which is excellent or devise their own usable one like Qwest did.
MrMazda86 (banned)
join:2013-01-29
Kitchener, ON

MrMazda86 (banned) to taraf

Member

to taraf
@taraf: I suggest that you check your facts because you're incorrect on a number of things. First off, the 2-Wire 2701HG-G is not a wireless N, but rather a wireless G. Let's not forget about the fact that establishing multiple PPPoE sessions with or through the same modem is NOT the same thing as bridging the modem to establish only ONE PPPoE session. The modem does not magically bridge itself. This is something that must be done manually.

Also, you didn't bother to inquire on when I called the lawyer vs when the 9 technicians from hell came down. You also never bothered to ask about the ToS before trying to cram it down my throat. What you don't know is that I gave Bell 2 hours notice to cancel, and they normally require 30 days notice. What you also don't understand obviously is that in the eyes of federal law, once a company breaches their contract on any clause in part or in whole, the contract in its entirety is null and void. The same holds true for ToS agreements. Since Bell has violated theirs repeatedly, I am not bound to the no liability clause, meaning I am fully within my right to pursue legal recourse.

Additionally, you also made mention of not honouring the warranty. This is a pathetic joke because the warranty on any modem is only for 1 year, and this modem is more than 2 years old, therefore there is no warranty. See, the problem here has nothing to do with warranty, rather with a principle of ethics. Bell was charging me a monthly fee for "renting" this modem, which they refused to support (without even being told about the firmware change). They refused to support it based on the fact that it wasn't in the configuration they wanted it in. For the principle of the matter, I simply refused to pay a monthly rental fee for a DSL modem that mysteriously after a power failure just outright refused to allow me to establish a PPPoE link through it any longer. This boils down to a case of the modem itself was broken, yet Bell insisted on charging me a monthly rental fee, but refused to provide me with a modem that actually works. Wouldn't this aggravate you just slightly?

These are just some of the inconsistencies between reality and your claims. Again, I must suggest that you check your facts before you try to rebut any posts as it will save you a lot of time and won't make it obvious that you don't know what you're talking about. It seems to me like you're more concerned with cramming new products down the throats of customers who already have the existing hardware that just needs updating of the software, rather than providing solutions to the problem. What's more laughable is that you do this when you clearly don't have all your facts, trying to give the impression that you know what you're talking about, but clearly don't. This is why I suggest that you check your facts...
taraf
join:2011-05-07
Ottawa, ON

taraf

Member

As a general rule, when somebody starts blustering about laws without actually providing any hard evidence and citations of which laws, in particular, they believe have been violated, I tune them out.

However, since you want something more specific...
quote:
First off, the 2-Wire 2701HG-G is not a wireless N, but rather a wireless G.
The first version of the 2-wire had 802.11g. The second version had 802.11n. You say they replaced the modem and it didn't fix it... given that Bell rolled out the Sagemcom modem almost 2 years ago, and launched it in earnest more than a year ago, while it's possible that a repair technician still had a 2-wire in his truck and gave you a replacement 2-wire, it's extremely unlikely that it would have been a rev.1 version, and far more likely they'd have given you a Sagemcom. If they'd mailed you out a modem, you probably wouldn't have gotten a 2-wire in the first place, and while the Sagemcom is an absolutely terrible router, it, too, has 802.11n. They also released a 2nd version of the Cellpipe 61v that had 802.11n on it, too.

While it's true that the Sagemcom is a steaming pile of donkey poop as a router, it, too, has 802.11n, and will bridge the PPPoE on FTTN. They do something weird on FTTH when you try to bridge it, but you're not on FTTH if you're using a 2-wire.
quote:
Let's not forget about the fact that establishing multiple PPPoE sessions with or through the same modem is NOT the same thing as bridging the modem to establish only ONE PPPoE session. The modem does not magically bridge itself. This is something that must be done manually.
Actually, it's something I'm doing right now with my connection. It did not require any special configuration in the modem at all... factory reset the modem, plug in a computer and turn off wireless through the firmware, and then plug in a Linksys router and configure it for PPPoE. The modem establishes a walled-garden PPPoE session which it uses to automatically update the firmware, and it bridges the PPPoE session from the router, offloading all routing to the router.

Speaking of the modem automatically updating its firmware, has it ocurred to you that this is what happened when you plugged in your Bell modem? If you didn't want it to happen, then you shouldn't have plugged it in.
quote:
What you also don't understand obviously is that in the eyes of federal law, once a company breaches their contract on any clause in part or in whole, the contract in its entirety is null and void. The same holds true for ToS agreements.
I sincerely doubt that Bell violated their terms of service in any way, because nowhere in their terms of service for residential service do they assure a level of service at all, or even service availability. In fact, their service contract and even the fine print on their website is quite clear that they cannot guarantee service availability. If you want an SLA, then they will politely suggest you contact Bell Business Internet instead of Bell Residential Sales.
quote:
Since Bell has violated theirs repeatedly, I am not bound to the no liability clause, meaning I am fully within my right to pursue legal recourse.
As I said, good luck with that. It's your money. The most you will *ever* get back from them is what you've paid them over the course of your contract, and it's extremely unlikely you'd even get that. If your lawyer believes otherwise, that's his prerogative, but if I had a lawyer who believed that, I'd retain other council.
quote:
Additionally, you also made mention of not honouring the warranty. This is a pathetic joke because the warranty on any modem is only for 1 year, and this modem is more than 2 years old, therefore there is no warranty.
Not true, actually. As long as you're renting the modem from them, they have an obligation to make sure it's in working order. Even if the hardware is more than 2 years old, they will still replace it free of charge. While you can raise a stink and get them to waive the modem rental fee, it's still considered a rental and not an outright purchase, even on the new one-time modem rental fee.
quote:
They refused to support it based on the fact that it wasn't in the configuration they wanted it in.
So, you expected them to support something they didn't sell you, and with no guarantee that your hardware wasn't the cause of the issues? Did it occur to you to put it into the configuration they wanted in order to prove it was their hardware, so that they could, you know, send you a replacement modem like you wanted?
quote:
This boils down to a case of the modem itself was broken, yet Bell insisted on charging me a monthly rental fee, but refused to provide me with a modem that actually works. Wouldn't this aggravate you just slightly?
Not really. You wouldn't let them follow their procedures to prove the hardware issue, and I have no idea how you managed to make it to executive care without somebody suggesting that they waive the modem rental fee. Heck, they don't even charge the modem rental fee any more on new installs, just a one-time $50 "modem rental fee" that usually gets waived. You wouldn't even have had to escalate to a supervisor to get that option applied to your bill, let alone gone as far as executive care.
quote:
These are just some of the inconsistencies between reality and your claims. Again, I must suggest that you check your facts before you try to rebut any posts as it will save you a lot of time and won't make it obvious that you don't know what you're talking about.
*shrugs* I work in the industry and I'm familiar with Bell's products and procedures. I've also been in the situation of having to answer the claims when somebody goes to his lawyer and doesn't tell the lawyer the whole truth. If your lawyer is in full possession of the facts, and still says that you should try suing Bell, then I'd hire a new lawyer. But that's just me.

I think you have some reading to do. Specifically, this. Start with section 7, page 15. Sections 12 and 20 are worth reading, too. Section 21 is the one that deals with your 3rd party router, and basically says you're on your own. Section 22 is the one that makes me laugh about your $13k claim, btw, and the one you should probably make sure your lawyer has read.

You agreed to their ToS by purchasing the service. Now you've cancelled the service. If you choose to sue them, that's your choice to make. But you *really* should leave it at that and call it a day. You stand to lose a lot more than you stand to gain.
quote:
It seems to me like you're more concerned with cramming new products down the throats of customers who already have the existing hardware that just needs updating of the software, rather than providing solutions to the problem.
You're expressing surprise that a Bell modem would try to update its firmware, and you're saying that I'm the one who's not in possession of all the facts? Interesting. I'm not pretending to know everything that's happened in your situation: I don't have access to your account data/ticket history with Bell, and I can't listen to the calls you had with tech. support. But I'm equally certain that you're not telling the whole truth here, and that at the very least, you haven't actually *read* the ToS that you agreed to when you signed up for Bell in the first place.

Mods, please don't delete his post this time... I don't take personal offense to it, and I have a feeling somebody at Bell legal is going to enjoy reading this thread.

Mike2009
join:2009-01-13
Ottawa, ON

Mike2009

Member

Are you sure there's an N version of the 2701? If there is I'm not aware of it.

Crowbar10
join:2009-06-23
Toronto , ON

Crowbar10

Member

said by Mike2009:

Are you sure there's an N version of the 2701? If there is I'm not aware of it.

I don't believe N was even around when the 2701 was in vogue ......
MrMazda86 (banned)
join:2013-01-29
Kitchener, ON

MrMazda86 (banned)

Member

Precisely my point... This is why I suggest that taraf actually gets all of his facts before he starts trying to make his point. There's a number of inconsistencies between what he says and what actually is. He can doubt things all he wants, but that doesn't mean that they're the way he thinks they should be.

It's a bit of a pot calling the kettle black really because he asks for proof and citations, yet will make outrageous claims himself without getting all of the facts and also without making reference to where he is getting this magical information that conflicts with everything else out there, including what the manufacturer says.

I also suggest that he stops trying to put words in my mouth, because trying to imply that I'm saying things that I never said will get him nowhere. It's clear that he doesn't know what he's talking about. He's proven that already.

Crowbar10
join:2009-06-23
Toronto , ON

Crowbar10

Member

He is a She
MrMazda86 (banned)
join:2013-01-29
Kitchener, ON

MrMazda86 (banned)

Member

said by Crowbar10:

He is a She

Oops... My bad
Cloneman
join:2002-08-29
Montreal

Cloneman to MrMazda86

Member

to MrMazda86
Dear Lord....

tl;dr

I don't even unwrap the 2wire from its packaging when I setup people with bell. 20$-30$ ADSL modem serves them better.