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Rogers Unveils $2 Broadband Price Hike For All
Latest Hike Not Received Well by Users
by Karl Bode Tuesday 17-Jan-2012 tags: business · bandwidth · Rogers Hi-Speed
Users in our Rogers forum note that the Canadian cable operator is informing users that as of March 1, most broadband customers will pay $2 more a month for "the many enhancements" Rogers has launched. Needless to say that the price hike isn't going over well in our forums, with users noting that thanks to limited competition they already pay more for service than many developed nations. Rogers has also led the charge when it comes to throttling and capping services, leading all Canadian ISPs in network neutrality complaints. You can find our user reviews here, which can speak to service quality or lack thereof.

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Given these failings, customers are a little curious about what "enhancements" Rogers is referring to. In a post in our forums defending the move, a Rogers representative insists that users are lucky that the hikes weren't worse, given Rogers had to "absorb much of these costs." The company insists the improvements include some additional TV channels and SpeedBoost, a technology that delivers a little extra bandwidth at the beginning of a download (Comcast users in the States know it as PowerBoost):

We’ve recently added 38 new TV channels and 36% more content to On Demand. We’re continuing to roll out the brand new Advanced Search function. We have also developed our Remote TV Manager App for smartphones, allowing customers to set and manage their PVRs while on the go. We’ve added SpeedBoost to all of our High Speed Internet packages. We’ve also increased monthly usage allowances and increased the posted download speeds on many of our packages.

Rogers is taking a bit of a beating in the thread from customers, many of whom note that Rogers for some time has been advertising Speedboost as a courtesy service offered free of charge. Others note they haven't seen any speed increases in several years, despite seeing annual (or bi-annual) rate hikes. The reality is that Rogers raises rates because the state of poor competition allows them to, something reps obviously can't address honestly. Fortunately for those who do have options, the Rogers hikes come as competitors like TekSavvy are unveiling new unlimited offerings that beat Rogers pricing and restrictions rather soundly.

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dillyhammer
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You have to wonder...

I'm not convinced a 3rd party cable service is the way to go. While at first blush it might seem like a workaround to the price increases, there's not much point in having an inexpensive, unlimited package when slow speeds, congestion, and massive long term DHCP issues are the flavours of the day.

DSL, which I've long held to be dead, is looking pretty good these days.

I think I'll take a pass on TPIA.

Mike
--
No more UBB... nor more AVP... now it's "Capacity Based". Oh... wait... isn't that what we wanted?

IllIlIlllIll
EliteData
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Hampton Bays, NY
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Re: You have to wonder...

said by dillyhammer:

DSL, which I've long held to be dead, is looking pretty good these days.

theyre starting to put usage caps on DSL now (from what ive seen).
never thought that would happen.
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dillyhammer
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Re: You have to wonder...

said by IllIlIlllIll:

theyre starting to put usage caps on DSL now (from what ive seen).
never thought that would happen.

TSI had kept their DSL unlimited offerings, from what I can tell.

»www.teksavvy.com/en/newprice.html

Myself, 300G is plenty, especially with the meter off between 2 and 8am. 52.99. Looking pretty sweet. Even if the 7/up costs a few bucks more.

Waiting for similar offerings from Caneris and Ebox before pulling the trigger.

But man, Rogers, B#ell.... seem like cheeks from the same ass. Hard to tell where one stops and the other starts, save for the crack up the middle.

Mike
--
No more UBB... nor more AVP... now it's "Capacity Based". Oh... wait... isn't that what we wanted?

IllIlIlllIll
EliteData
Premium
join:2003-07-06
Hampton Bays, NY
kudos:7

Re: You have to wonder...

said by dillyhammer:

said by IllIlIlllIll:

theyre starting to put usage caps on DSL now (from what ive seen).
never thought that would happen.

TSI had kept their DSL unlimited offerings, from what I can tell.

»www.teksavvy.com/en/newprice.html

Myself, 300G is plenty, especially with the meter off between 2 and 8am. 52.99. Looking pretty sweet. Even if the 7/up costs a few bucks more.

Waiting for similar offerings from Caneris and Ebox before pulling the trigger.

But man, Rogers, B#ell.... seem like cheeks from the same ass. Hard to tell where one stops and the other starts, save for the crack up the middle.

Mike

not to throw the topic off but when most ISP's eventually have usage caps and the user cannot locate "meter free" internet, the only thing left is free dialup which is hard to find but still exists out there
out of curiosity, i wonder how long it would take to download 4GB on dialup with occasional phone line interruptions like loss of sync.
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syslock
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Re: You have to wonder...

said by IllIlIlllIll:

said by dillyhammer:

said by IllIlIlllIll:

theyre starting to put usage caps on DSL now (from what ive seen).
never thought that would happen.

TSI had kept their DSL unlimited offerings, from what I can tell.

»www.teksavvy.com/en/newprice.html

Myself, 300G is plenty, especially with the meter off between 2 and 8am. 52.99. Looking pretty sweet. Even if the 7/up costs a few bucks more.

Waiting for similar offerings from Caneris and Ebox before pulling the trigger.

But man, Rogers, B#ell.... seem like cheeks from the same ass. Hard to tell where one stops and the other starts, save for the crack up the middle.

Mike

not to throw the topic off but when most ISP's eventually have usage caps and the user cannot locate "meter free" internet, the only thing left is free dialup which is hard to find but still exists out there
out of curiosity, i wonder how long it would take to download 4GB on dialup with occasional phone line interruptions like loss of sync.

LOL The Good Old Days...
6 days, 14 hours, 43 minutes, 48 seconds

Download Calculator I found:
»price.ledtronics.com/dlcalc.asp
talz13

join:2006-03-15
Avon, OH

Re: You have to wonder...

said by syslock:

LOL The Good Old Days...
6 days, 14 hours, 43 minutes, 48 seconds

Download Calculator I found:
»price.ledtronics.com/dlcalc.asp

I question whether the NO CAP IS GOOD ENOUGH would complain about a dialup service that had an ~18GB monthly cap. I mean, that would be downloading at your max theoretical throughput (53kbps?) for 31 days straight... I mean, it would be the same as not having a cap, right?

dillyhammer
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1 edit
said by syslock:

LOL The Good Old Days...
6 days, 14 hours, 43 minutes, 48 seconds

Download Calculator I found:
»price.ledtronics.com/dlcalc.asp

Maximum attainable speed on a 56k connection is about 44k I believe. Once in a while I used to get 46k, but it was rare.

So assuming no connection issues - and that's a stretch - 8 days, 10 hours, 1 minute, 12 seconds.

You know... give or take.

Mike
--
No more UBB... nor more AVP... now it's "Capacity Based". Oh... wait... isn't that what we wanted?

IllIlIlllIll
EliteData
Premium
join:2003-07-06
Hampton Bays, NY
kudos:7

Re: You have to wonder...

i remember downloading VB4 on dialup years ago.
if memory serves correctly, i think it took about 12-14 hours before it finished.
i had the modem set to redial if connection got lost.
it was netzero bloatware modified to work on DUN without having to run netzero (easily done).
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AndyDufresne
Premium
join:2010-10-30

When is a price hike ever well received?

Seriously, please point me to one announced price hike that was applauded by those paying for the service.
resa1983
Premium
join:2008-03-10
North York, ON
kudos:7

Re: When is a price hike ever well received?

Easy..that would be the price hike made by teksavvy at the beginning of the month. Several thanked teksavvy for keeping prices as low as they can.

Thane_Bitter

join:2005-01-20
London

Pay more now...and later

Look, if a users only is paying for Internet services, why the hell do they care if Rogers has offered "enhanced" TV services, or a ruddy iPhone ap?! They offered "SpeedBoast" for quite some time as being part of their standard offerings. They also do DNS redirection as a way to generate more profit and wall garden in anyone they believe has violated the terms of service.

At least Rogers takes the time to spin it, Bell just increases the rates and hides it in the fine print in hopes that it will go unnoticed.
bt

join:2009-02-26
canada
kudos:1

Re: Pay more now...and later

The TV improvements/remote DVR app would have been directed at the TV price hike, not the internet one.

Thane_Bitter

join:2005-01-20
London

Re: Pay more now...and later

said by bt:

The TV improvements/remote DVR app would have been directed at the TV price hike, not the internet one.

Increases are across the board, did you not even bother reading what the Rogers drones posted? »Rogers Internet Price Increase Notice

Rogers Internet "enhancements" consisted of a small cap increase and the implementation of Speedboost (aka speedboast). Both of these at the time had been offered as freebies, little surprise that Rogers turns it around as asks for more money and does so half a year later. The good news that one can find a non-incumbent ISP's that also have cable Internet - offering it for less and with more bandwidth.

Lets have a list of these 38 new channels, how many of them require either a digital box (+ Rogers rental fees), and a subscription package (more Rogers fees). Rogers continues to capture HD broadcast, compresses it, extrude it, and remodel it into standard definition as part of their basic TV services, if you want the HD version (or what is better described as Rogers degraded compressed HD variant) it will cost you extra.

Rogers didn’t offer any price cuts when they introduced caps, DNS redirection, and a litany of service fees, on their Internet packages - they just raised prices.
QB

join:2002-05-16
North York, ON

Already pulled the Trigger...

As of Jan 27th I will be with TekSavvy. I have had enough of being raped by Robbers. Service is rock solid, but the cost is rediculous for a heavy downloader like myself.... Bye bye Robbers

QB

us_citizen99

@mchsi.com

Any Canadian close to border getting us broadband

For example, do users in Windsor, ON get a wireless broadband from US carrier to skip Canadian?

What about landline broadband? Perhaps crossing border to friends or families on US side to download tons of movies/shows once a week?

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