dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
1723
chipface
join:2011-07-13

chipface

Member

[Home Phone] stop sell

Is there any eta on when the stop sell on POTS will be lifted? My girlfriend wants to get away from Bell due to sneaky price increases and under no circumstances will she go with voip. And if that's not possible because she has a Bell number, would getting a new one or getting a new one with Rogers, and then porting over be possible?

HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt

Premium Member

It won't be... i know its not ideal, but the only way to save is to switch to VoIP.
chipface
join:2011-07-13

chipface

Member

Oh I know. I even told her that. Her dad even has a battery backup and she still won't do it.

NytOwl
join:2012-09-27
canada

NytOwl

Member

As far as I know, Primus Canada does not have such a stop-sell in place.

While their POTS home phone is more expensive than TekSavvy's, it's still cheaper than Bell.

Since she can't go with TekSavvy for POTS, she can at least explore other POTS resellers. Primus Canada is the only other one I'm personally aware of, but surely there must be others.
chipface
join:2011-07-13

chipface

Member

For some reason Primus home phone isn't available in her area, just voip. I'll have to call them to see.
koreyb
Open the Canadian Market NOW
join:2005-01-08
Etobicoke, ON

koreyb to chipface

Member

to chipface
She just may have to deal with Bell's "SNEAKY PRICE INCREASES" if she won't leave POTS. Rogers is VOIP, as is Primus unless they don't have their own switch on your circuit, then they resell Bell. If they have their own switch, it is basically VoIP, only instead of a box at your end they use Bell wires to connect to their own equipment, which uses VoIP technology.

What is her BASIC concern with VoIP? Reliability? Emergency? Sound Quality? Bad experience in the past? Not understanding how it works or just fear of the unknown?

With VoIP, I always recommend a cell phone as a backup and a UPS on the phone/modem but to be honest where VoIP did die (less than 3 times I can remember in the last 5 years this happened and only one time was longer than an hour), the cell phone took over without issue, including incoming calls getting routed automatically to my cell phone..

Sadly some people may complain, but if they are unwilling to change, they may just have to pay the price.

anon234
@teksavvy.com

anon234 to chipface

Anon

to chipface
Your best bet is to call Bell and beat them down.
There's a thread over on RFD where people are getting basic POTS for under $20 / month.

The best argument these days is to state that it's cheaper to have a cell phone instead of Bell's landline service.
Goldielover
join:2008-02-29
Toronto, ON

Goldielover to koreyb

Member

to koreyb
Quite a few of us are leery of VOIP due to both reliability and emergencies. I have a POTS line with a corded phone, and I was one of the few on my floor who kept phone service during the recent ice storm. We were down for a number of days, and both cell phones died by the third day. As I don't drive we had no way of recharging them. I am a bit older, with a disability, and need reliable 911 service. I am fortunate that I was able to have my number ported to Teksavvy, but I know a number of seniors and the disabled, all of whom are on fixed incomes, who are held hostage by Bell's "sneaky price increases".

Guspaz
Guspaz
MVM
join:2001-11-05
Montreal, QC

Guspaz to chipface

MVM

to chipface
I don't have a car, and I could recharge my smartphone hundreds of times over if the power failed from a variety of sources. Of course, I'm battery crazy. There would be:

- My Macbook Air notebook (50 Wh)
- My broken-chassis-but-still-charged Toshiba r700 notebook (66 Wh)
- My APC BR1500 UPS with BR24BP external battery pack (564 Wh)
- My APC BR1500G UPS with BR24BPG external battery pack (588 Wh)
- My APC BE750G UPS (108 Wh)
- My NewTrent IMP120D USB battery pack (44 Wh)
- My NewTrent IMP1000 USB battery pack (40 Wh)
- My Tekkeon TekCharge MP1550 USB battery chassis along with probably 5x4 sets of Eneloop AA batteries (not sure how many there are once I start cracking open remotes and controllers) (estimated total of 48 Wh)
- My old Duracell AC inverter's built-in battery pack (admittedly I don't keep this charged, if it even still works at all) (~40 Wh)

Total estimated battery capacity in apartment usable for smartphone charging: 1,548 kilowatt hours.

If we assume 80% efficiency converting battery power to charging power, and 80% efficiency on the iPhone charging (64% overall efficiency), that can charge my iPhone 4S a total of 187 charges.

That doesn't do anything about the battery backups on the cell tower going down, but at least in terms of keeping my smartphone charged, that's never going to be a problem :P Now if I had a satellite phone...
ry29
join:2010-05-12

ry29

Member

Um.. ok, but do you have bottled water and packaged food? LOL
ry29

ry29 to chipface

Member

to chipface
said by chipface:

would getting a new one or getting a new one with Rogers

I thought the stop sell was specifically on Bell numbers (original) couldn't be moved to Tek. If you asked for a new number you were fine. It's that you couldn't port an Active bell line, nor a number that originated from bell (ie: you ported to Rogers, then wanted to go to Tek) that couldn't currently be done

Guspaz
Guspaz
MVM
join:2001-11-05
Montreal, QC

Guspaz to ry29

MVM

to ry29
I've been meaning to. A few months ago, I ordered two cases of US military MREs (they have 24 varieties, and 12 per case), and then a short while later I tried the MealKitSupply civilian MREs. I preferred the military ones (the civilian ones use the same components, but have less varieties), but the civilian ones are much easier to get since they ship Canadian orders from a Canadian warehouse (way less shipping costs). So while I don't currently have any multi-year shelf-stable packaged food, I have in the past.

I've been wanting to re-stock, but MealKitSupply ran out of cases in Canada (probably ran out of 2013 MREs before the 2014s arrived), and they're currently on backorder basically. I'll pick a case or two of them up soon and shove them and a few of those 4L bottles of water into the cupboard.

I don't want to sound like a prepper or anything... The large amount of batteries are because I kind of just like batteries, and keeping some long-term MRE supplies was an idea that came about from when I got real sick last year and ran out of food (I don't cook) but was too sick to go buy more. I figured that if I got sick like that again, it might be nice to have some supplies I can crack open. And maybe some water because, hey, if you've got MREs, might as well have some water and you can handle a long power failure.

Also, I actually really enjoyed the MREs. They were fantastic, and I'd love to have some more. Maybe I'll buy two cases, eat one, and keep the other for emergencies...
eheyl
join:2008-03-23
Kitchener, ON

eheyl to chipface

Member

to chipface
Not quite sure why there's still a stigma attached to VOIP. I bought the Ooma Telo last year and the quality has been better than cell and better than landline. You save some serious dough too. A far cry from Vonage a few years back.
voxframe
join:2010-08-02

voxframe to chipface

Member

to chipface
Guspaz... LMAO I never pictured you as a prepper!
(It's Justin from JAC if you remember)

And yes... The above qualifies you as a novice Prepper

I also wouldn't worry about the batteries on most cell sites dying. Most of the banks are designed for much older equipment that sucked a pile of juice. A lot of it has been massively condensed over the years, and plus there are generators on most of the sites too. (Imagine 4 racks worth of full equipment, being condensed into 6-U of powered equipment... Running on the same battery bank as before. Usually uptime can be measured in weeks.)

I actually know a site that went up recently. Ran on batteries and a small genset for about 2-1/2 months without a drop of hydro. Site was far down on Hydro install priority and it had to be lit up as of X date. So it got lit without Hydro.
voxframe

voxframe to chipface

Member

to chipface
As an addon regarding MREs... The el'cheapo ones you can buy in most department stores ended up getting me quite sick when I tried them. I have no food allergies etc (That we were able to find anyway).

High end MREs that you'd normally see for military use I don't seem to have trouble with. But the "consumer" grade camping ones, must have some kind of preservative in them that isn't found in the more expensive ones.

Tried them twice on camping trips. Two different companies, two different product. Both consumer grade, one put me out of commission for 2-3 days, the next put me in the hospital with what resembled anaphylactic shock.

Tried some "pro/military" grade ones, no problemo.
mikebru
join:2010-09-28

mikebru to chipface

Member

to chipface
If your girlfriend doesn't mind changing her phone number, tell her call Teksavvy and order new Home Phone service (POTS.)

Guspaz
Guspaz
MVM
join:2001-11-05
Montreal, QC

Guspaz to voxframe

MVM

to voxframe
I've not tried the camping-style ones. The ones I had that were for consumer purchase (from MealKitSupply) use the military components, just repackaged. Even had the real spoon. They were virtually identical to the military ones except for the different flameless ration heater and the different accssory pack.

I've got a small case on order from a new company, X-MRE. Their prices seem better than MKS, and their shipping to Canada is cheap (they charged me $10 to ship a case of 6). It looks like their MREs are a bit smaller (don't include a side dish), but I always found full MREs to be slightly too much food anyhow, so this might be beneficial. They were also willing to customize a bit for me, they gave me a list of the menus they had in different lots and let me pick and choose 6 meals from two different lots (so 12 choices) so that I could avoid the items with the most chocolate. They also use military components, and I'm looking forward to trying them.
voxframe
join:2010-08-02

voxframe to chipface

Member

to chipface
I might have a look at those.

So, why dontchya cook eh?
I love cooking, just hate the cleaning lol