[oclug] Sympatico update

Wed Dec 23 15:00:46 EST 2009

Lucky you ! I tried this with my service, which was perfectly running
with DSL previously, but was downgraded because of my area's expansion.
When I wanted to switch back to DSl, I was told it was only available at
500 kbps or something ridiculous like that. And they did not want to do
anything to get the service back. I was on the end of a street, and the
last three houses were stuck to that speed. My only other choices were
eiter cable modem with Videotron or WiMax, Videotron being slightly more
expensive than WiMax. We don't have Cable TV, we're using Satellite
service.

I got the modem free, but Bell needed me to sing up for two years. Few
months before the ocntract was over, I checked and DSL service was back.
I quitted Bell at the end of the contract and now use a third-party DSL
provider.

JF

http://www.franconerd.com
http://www.messier.ca

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [oclug] Sympatico update
From: james terris <james_terris at yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, December 23, 2009 1:54 pm
To: General Membership Discussion List <oclug at lists.oclug.on.ca>

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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