I currently use dial-up on our two computers, my wife's new Macbook Pro and my eMac.
These two computers are connected to a D-link router to allow file moving, and sharing
a printer. The connection is wireless for the Macbook, and ethernet for the eMac.
I want to upgrade to higher speed connection and share the connection between the two computers.
There are 3 possibilities for my location ( I think I can manage with 1 mpps speed):
a) Rogers (choice of 6, or 5, or 1 mpps).
b) Magma (Primus) DSL (5 mpps)
c) Bell Sympatico (I assume DSL) (choice of 5 or 1 mpps)
Does anyone have any advice, experience, or comments on which to choose ?
any of them will work for you. I guess my question is do you use rogers or bell for any other services ( cell phone landline, tv etc) If you use for instance two other Bell services, you can bundle them to receive a discount when you add a third.
I have to agree with olapbill, I've heard good reports about Rogers (I use Rogers), Magma (Primus), and Bell. If you have services with any one of these, you should try and pick them as you'll likely get a discount for using multiple services of theirs. You should also look at getting a deal when you join - like 3 months free service (I think Rogers have this).
Quote from: pbridges on November 29, 2006, 07:11:18 AM
a) Rogers (choice of 6, or 5, or 1 mpps).
b) Magma (Primus) DSL (5 mpps)
c) Bell Sympatico (I assume DSL) (choice of 5 or 1 mpps)
Does anyone have any advice, experience, or comments on which to choose ?
Advice: If the signal quality of your telephone line is good and you are close to a Bell Station, DSL is a smart choice. It is economical and doesn't suffer from the "user load" of cable broadband. If you are not close to a Bell Station, the DSL will not be full speed. For example, I was paying Bell for high-speed but the maximum throughput in my area is 2MBPS. Bell would not reduce my monthly rate for this reduced service, so I switched to Magma. Magma high-speed used to be $30/month, but now it's under Primus and the price is the same as Bell (about $45/month). You can still find a $30/month provider for DSL -- the lines are leased from Bell so the quality is the same. In short, shop around.
Experience: Bell is bureaucratic, inefficient and expensive. Magma is responsive and ~was~ reasonably priced. There are other DSL providers in the region who can give you the same product for less.
Comments: Rogers filters and limits some types of Internet traffic, such as Bittorrent and Usenet. In my opinion, this is unacceptable.
I use National Capital Freenet DSL service and except that it's run by volunteers and tech support is only a few hours a day, I have no problems and am VERY happy with it.
http://www.ncf.ca/
If you use a gmail address as your main email address that makes it easier to switch from company to company.
If it is easy to switch from company to company then you can sign up for a cheap 1 year package with any of them, then at the end of the year phone around the other 2 companies and ask what price they'll give you. then call the company you are on and see if they can match that price even though you are an existing customer. Not using their email makes the threat of leaving a lot easier to actally execute if you need/want to.
The cost of setting you up, and or losing you as a customer is high - although they don't want to admit it they will give you just as good a deal (or better) on the second, third.... year. You need to be polite and persistent. The people you are on the phone with when you are trying to cancel your account are trained to keep you as a customer - this can be annoying. The same people are also authorized to give you "back pocket" pricing that can be VERY good.
When deciding between Bell and Rogers it can be very helpful to talk to computer savvy users of both on your street - since service quality is a very local phenomenon from both types of services, you have to ask your neighbors.
I have been using High Speed Extreme for my PC and the peeds have been excellent. I get on an average of 768K on downloads and 6 to 700 on uploads if thats of any help at all. I do have an old Power Mac 5500/250 that Im looking to hook up via router.
I suggest teksavvy . They have been around for quite a few years now, very cheap, and service is just as good as sympatico. You obviously need to be in an area that supports DSL internet.
I agree with JM's post about NCF. They are a community network supported by volunteers ... in the community. I've used their DSL for over a year and am very satisfied. I'm also a long-time member and volunteer :)
See: www.ncf.ca
Specifically: http://www.ncf.ca/ncf/registration/dsl/index.jsp
I was a Magma user from before their acquisition by Primus. The DSL service is very good. The price used to be more competitive -- Primus changed that.
What costs you $40 or so at Primus will cost $30 with NCF. That's significant. But also note that a static IP costs $15/month with Primus and only $4/month (yes, FOUR) with NCF.
The network used by all DSL is the same. If you have DSL, anyone can bring it to you.