O Canada! → Canadian → Canadian Broadband > VMedia - Real-World experiences?

Re: VMedia - Real-World experiences?

Those numbers look solid . I have yet to track down anyone I know who is subscribed to vMedia locally.

Since I asked around work and had the brochure from Canada Computers on my desk (most didn't know about it) I have a lot of people waiting to see how it works out. Like me they are all sick of paying out the nose for Rogers/Bell and are considering vMedia as an option based on my feedback.

I love being the guinea pig !

Here are my Experiences so far as detailed in my review.

I ordered the $39.95 package on August 30th with Transfer of service from Rogers to VMedia scheduled for Oct 3rd. I got a Cancellation Number from Rogers for Oct 3rd.

Rogers mistakenly terminated service early on Sept 25th. I Phoned and complained. They reactivated it until Oct 3rd as originally scheduled. The VMedia reseller said that this could potentially mess up the transfer date because it might generate a new Cancellation Number different from the one already submitted. But he said it was only a small possibility and we should wait and see if the transfer actually works on specified date of Oct 3rd. In the meantime the Reseller then submitted a "contingency order" to VMedia for a backup installation date just in case the transfer didn't go through on Oct 3rd. The earliest installation date for this order was Oct 7th. The Reseller assured me that this would not override the original date of Oct 3rd and would only go into effect if the installation on Oct 3rd was screwed up.

Oct 3rd came and Rogers stopped working but the VMedia Internet didn't start. I called the Reseller - no answer - he was not in. I Called VMedia Support 3 times - each time I waited in the queue for 10 minutes only to be disconnected. I then used my Rogers Rocket Stick to go online and access VMedia's Online Chat Support.

The On Line Chat guy said that their records showed my installation date was Oct 7th. (Seems that the so called contingency order had over ridden the original order date!) He said there was no technical problem but he couldn't connect me until Oct 7th because that's when the order was scheduled for. (My credit card was all ready charged on Aug 30th for all the hardware plus a pre payment for service from Oct 3rd through the 30th.)

Both the reseller and VMedia just said - sorry there's nothing we can do.

I run a home based Software Development business. Right now I have no Internet except for my Rocket Stick and all my Phones (VoIP) are dead, except for my Cell Phone. If clients call my Business number they get dead air. One called my Cell Number today to see if I was still in Business.

I'm using my Rocket Stick to post this.

Who's to blame? Rogers? VMedia? the Reseller? I don't know but despite being extra cautious and doing everything by the book in arranging this transfer, I still am suffering (at least) a 5 day loss of service which I can I'll afford.

not laying the blame on you, but you could have and should have simply ordered Vmedia and have both services overlap instead of doing a transfer. you could have then cancelled your Rogers after you had your Vmedia up and running.

as for Vmedia, what's the price difference between a cable transfer and a new install?

i don't really see a point to offering a paid transfer for a TPIA, seems to open up a can of worms when things don't go well or a missed install date.

@jmck

Hind Sight is 20/20. If I had known then what I know now, I'd have certainly done a lot of things differently.

In fact I did do as you suggested with the transfer of my Rogers Business Phone Line to the VoIP service. I was paranoid about cancelling my entire Rogers package at the same time and potentially losing my Business Phone number. So I transferred the phone number to VoIP before I cancelled my Internet with them. And the VMedia people I was dealing thought that this was extra cautious.

Everything else I did was according to their suggestions. I put myself in their hands completely. As a Software Developer rather than a Network Specialist, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not an expert on the details of Internet Provisioning. On the other hand, I'm not a complete novice and it seemed to me that since a transfer only requires a software command without the need for an onsite visit by a technician, while a new install does require a visit by a Rogers Tech, then the transfer ought to be easier. Even at this point I can't understand why VMedia can't push it through. The new modem is getting a DNS address through DHCP (different from the Rogers DNS servers). But the DNS server simply isn't responding.

Also, is it actually possible to overlap Rogers and VMedia on the same Line? Can you have 2 different services running on the same line at the same time? I didn't think so and that's why I didn't consider it. But correct me if I'm wrong.

yeah no issue there. I had start and Rogers running at the same time when I switched.

This is why I haven't jumped ship just yet. I expect to be up and running the same day Rogers is disconnected. I can't afford, nor do I want any down time. Especially moving over from Rogers, it drives me nuts that it's hit or miss when it's literally a provision change. Nothing that requires a tech and no visit.

Thanks for sharing your story Bob. Although it doesn't change my mind about switching to vMedia, it's helping me prepare better for the switch.
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Weeeeeee

I haven't given up on VMedia either. At least not yet. As a new company I suppose you could expect some problems and this problem could possibly have been caused by Rogers when they reactivated my service after terminating it prematurely. That's what I've been told by the reseller. In fact the reseller said today that this was not his fault but mine for asking rogers to reactivate my service after terminating it before the cancellation date. There is no way for me to confirm this one way or the other. My personal belief, based on the online chat I had with VMedia is that this "contingency order" issued by the reseller is what screwed everything up. No matter. I don't want to end up in a pissing match with the reseller since I'm going to have to depend on him for support.

I think in the end the main problem was in how VMedia communicates and coordinates with their resellers. Thus the main reason for my post was because I see that the VMedia guys actually read some of these comments and I wanted to give them some feedback so they can address the problems and improve the system.

I want VMedia to succeed and provide another alternative to Rogers in the Cable Internet/TV space.

How's the picture quality that people are reporting? I know everybody has said here that it's 720p, but I asked by e-mail what bitrate encoding they were using (was wondering if 6M ADSL would be fast enough for HD streams), and the number they quoted me was less than half the bitrate that Bell's using on FibeTV.

Now, if they're using h.265 instead of h.264 (which Bell's using) that would give about the same picture quality for the difference in bandwidth requirement, but what kind of picture quality are people seeing in real world situations?

I'm *seriously* considering getting the service in the new year when I move into a new house (with DSL -- most of the complaints on this thread are about issues with cable). I was very impressed with the speed of reply I got when I e-mailed them, and even if I don't go for the TV offering, the price for the Internet is good. I won't be going with Bell/Rogers for TV though... I've been on Netflix and Rabbit Ears for a year so far, and this would mostly be so that my partner could watch sports on the HDTV without having to fiddle with connecting the laptop and streaming from the Internet. (though I won't shed a tear if I can get IFC and Showcase again...)

Side note -- any idea who I'd need to contact to request that they add eqHD, HiFi, Oasis, and RadX to the lineup? Those 4 channels all come from the same vendor (which is Canadian!), and usually come in a package together, and I really do miss having them. It hurt to cancel them when I ditched Bell, but I just couldn't justify paying effectively $70/mo for them.... They're the only channels I had that I can't replace with the Internet.