[oclug] Sympatico update

[james terris]

Years ago, the town house that I was moving to could not get dsl
service (I can't remember the exact reason but it wasn't line problems). 
The ISP I was trying to subscribe with told me that 
getting Bell to fix the problem for them was going to be difficult
and take quite a while but if I signed up with Sympatico first
they would fix the problem quickly since I was a Sympatico customer
at that point. After they fixed it I was able to switch over to 
the other ISP... lol

--- On Wed, 12/23/09, dman at lanhouse.ca <dman at lanhouse.ca> wrote:

> From: dman at lanhouse.ca <dman at lanhouse.ca>
> Subject: Re: [oclug] Sympatico update
> To: "General Membership Discussion List" <oclug at lists.oclug.on.ca>
> Date: Wednesday, December 23, 2009, 9:42 AM
> I was in the same boat as
> Garth.  It was a total disaster with me as well. 
> Billing me when I had no service.  Avoid 3web,
> cybersurf, etc.
> 
> As for Sympatico, my father-in-law is attempting to upgrade
> from dial-up 
> to high speed in the new year (yes he is a little behind
> the times).  He 
> called his current ISP and they checked his two phone lines
> for DSL 
> service.  Both could have the service but there is no
> space left in the 
> DSLAM.  So, he called Sympatico.  They will sign
> him up no problem.  How 
> can that be?  What is Bell doing?  Are they
> keeping space in the DSLAM for 
> Sympatico and screwing the smaller ISPs?  Or maybe
> they kick off a 
> competitor's customer's service to free up a spot for a new
> Sympatico 
> customer?
> 
> I advised him against Symaptico because I think Bell is
> scum.  However, 
> Rogers is also scum.
> 
> I have only heard good things about Teksavvy but I believe
> they are also 
> at the mercy of scummy Bell with regards to the DSLAM and
> would 
> potentially put him in the same boat as I was in with (in
> order) Magma, 
> IStop, Cybersurf (bought customers from IStop) all of which
> claimed to be 
> screwed by Bell during my times of service.
> 
> The only thing that works for me (and yes it is kind of a
> deal with the 
> devil) was to get Rogers and then host my email with
> another company.  And 
> the only way to get competitive pricing from Rogers is to
> threaten to quit 
> once a year to get a "customer retention" deal.  And
> yes, every time I 
> call, I feel a little bit dirty having to deal with the
> devil.
> 
> 
> Good luck with what ever you choose.  I have not found
> a satisfactory 
> solution.
> 
> Dennis
> 
> 
> On Wed, 23 Dec 2009, james terris wrote:
> 
> > I also recommend teksavvy.
> >
> > --- On Wed, 12/23/09, Garth Boyd <garth at fios-software.ca>
> wrote:
> >
> >> From: Garth Boyd <garth at fios-software.ca>
> >> Subject: Re: [oclug] Sympatico update
> >> To: "General Membership Discussion List" <oclug at lists.oclug.on.ca>
> >> Date: Wednesday, December 23, 2009, 8:10 AM
> >> I would strongly advise AGAINST CIA,
> >> 3web, Cybersurf and any of the
> >> other names they go by.
> >>
> >> Check with the BBB first. Also check at
> DSLreports.com.
> >>
> >> I was with them (not by choice, they purchased the
> ISP I
> >> was with) and
> >> it was a total disaster.
> >>
> >> I recommend teksavvy. They know how to run a
> business.
> >>
> >> G
> >>
> >> 2009/12/22 Jean-Francois Messier <jf at messier.ca>:
> >>> ....or get yourself an email account which is
> not
> >> dependent on your ISP.
> >>> I have my own domain name hosted in Arizona
> >> (GoDaddy.com), and it works
> >>> with all ISP's I had over the years.
> >>>
> >>> Now, switching to another ISP entirely is
> another
> >> option. Sympatico is
> >>> known to be more expensive than many others, I
> use
> >> CIA.COM (3web.com)
> >>> and I'm rather happy with them. No
> download/upload
> >> cap, a static IP is
> >>> available, and no fuss, it works just fine. I
> may not
> >> have the 5 MBPS
> >>> that Bell wants to promise me, but thisis
> likely
> >> related to the distance
> >>> with the POS than the actual service.
> >>>
> >>> One thing to do is to test your performance
> using
> >> speedtest.com. Of
> >>> course, you won't know the difference until
> you
> >> switch, but for $10 less
> >>> per month, it's worth it any time.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> JF
> >>>
> >>> http://www.franconerd.com
> >>> http://www.messier.ca
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> -------- Original Message --------
> >>> Subject: [oclug] Sympatico update
> >>> From: Mike <kenziem at sympatico.ca>
> >>> Date: Tue, December 22, 2009 9:03 pm
> >>> To: oclug at lists.oclug.on.ca
> >>>
> >>> Just had an automated phone message from Bell
> >>>
> >>> They are switching mail servers (January 4)
>  the new
> >> servers are pophm
> >>> and
> >>> smtphm  (hm for Hotmail)
> >>>
> >>> I tried to get the needed info from the
> Outlook and
> >> Mac instructions
> >>> they give
> >>> but it keeps failing on password.
> >>>
> >>> I looked into it a bit more and it looks like
> it is
> >> wanting a windows
> >>> live
> >>> login
> >>>
> >>> Does anyone have a work around,  or is it
> time to
> >> find a new ISP?
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> Collector of vintage computers http://www.ncf.ca/~ba600
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> OCLUG general discussion list
> >>> OCLUG at lists.oclug.on.ca
> >>> http://oclug.on.ca/mailman/listinfo/oclug
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> OCLUG general discussion list
> >>> OCLUG at lists.oclug.on.ca
> >>> http://oclug.on.ca/mailman/listinfo/oclug
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> - Garth
> >> --
> >> OCLUG general discussion list
> >> OCLUG at lists.oclug.on.ca
> >> http://oclug.on.ca/mailman/listinfo/oclug
> >>
> > --
> > OCLUG general discussion list
> > OCLUG at lists.oclug.on.ca
> > http://oclug.on.ca/mailman/listinfo/oclug
> >
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