jcwacky

I may be moving to Ottawa next year, and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for superfast internet providers?

In the UK I currently pay £35 (~CAD$60) per month for 120Mb download and 12Mb upload speeds.

I'd be looking for similar speeds in Ottawa if possible, but could go down to about 50Mb down and 8Mb up if needs be. The upload speed is important to me.

Any information on the best areas of Ottawa for good internet speeds would also be useful, as it will be a factor when looking for accommodation.

Thanks
James

SambaDeAmigo

I think Bell is the fastest with their Fibe network

not2old

for comparison purposes only

http://www.rogers.com/web/link/hispe...owDefaultPlans

http://www.bell.ca/Bell_Internet/Internet_access

Hucards

Internet plans are horrendous in Canada. Bell Fibe has decent speeds but their usage limits are low. 100gb= upload and download. So it's basically fast internet for checking email. Forget netflix or torrents or streaming. They are however kind enough to offer unlimited usage for an extra $10/month if you have three of their services. Rogers, cogeco and the rest of them are just as bad. Smaller companies like Distributel have unlimited plans at decent rates but the upload speed isn't good.

jcwacky

Thanks all, looks like Rogers Ultimate is currently my best bet. Not cheap, but gives me 250GB/month.

What's reliability and congestion like?

Partially discharged

My Rogers plan is 300 gb a month (I don't think I"ve gone over about 150 gb) is $63.55 a month including taxes, modem rental etc.....it is called hi-speed express.

Both Bell and Rogers are companies that you need to play off one another in terms of the best prices etc. If you bundle your services with one you should be able to get a sweet deal, especially as a first time customer...stick with them for a year and then see if the competitor has a better offer.....whatever you do don't use their in house email system as that will limit your flexibility in moving to the competition.

orly

Which is why you use a Rogers Cable reseller like Teksavvy. The 150/10Mbit with 300GB package is $85+tax. There's also the likes of Start.ca or Acanac.

Note that Teksavvy tracking is broken for cable in Ontario so all packages are essentially unlimited. It's been like this for many months apparently.

ultrarunner

Not so fast.....the poster might want to read this first before making the switch to a "reseller"

http://www.canadianisp.ca/cgi-bin/is...ments&ispid=50

orly

Sure.

Then you can read this and see an entirely different outcome: http://www.dslreports.com/reviews/2564 (see the awards and ratings on the right hand side) or http://www.dslreports.com/reviews/3626

Or take my word for it as a user. Or the other couple of people I work with who initially recommended Teksavvy. It's great.

Then, if you really want to be sure, talk directly to the CEO of the company. He doesn't hide. http://www.dslreports.com/profile/1368600

Finally you could check Rogers own reviews. Oh dear.

Given I'm into Rogers Network by the 3rd hop I'd rather pay Teksavvy $45 after tax for the same speed that Rogers would charge over $60 for (with a far more stringent usage allowance).

ultrarunner

Orly....point taken, but you forgot to mention to the would be Teksavvy customer that there is a learning curve to setting it up initially

orly

How do you mean?

When you order they post you out the modem.

Contractors working on behalf of Rogers come and hook you up to the infrastructure. You just have to plug the cable into your PC and you're done.

ultrarunner

Some folks have expressed difficulty in setting up the equipment once they received it.

Side note: One reason why people want to go with Rogers or Cogeco, is that if you get a basic internet package, you can split the signal coming into the house, to scan for "free" TV and radio channels if you don't watch more telly

Hucards

My experience with Distributel:
Set up installation for November 4th as I was moving into my apartment on the 1st. A week before I moved in, the modem was delivered to the new address even though I told them multiple times that I wouldn't be moving in until the first. So I had to drive to the building and get the canada post card and collect the modem. Then on October 30th, they called and said they will come to install on the 1st as the other date was "only an estimate". My other choice was to postpone installation so I accepted. The bell guy came to do his thing and he was great. Then the Distributel guy came and he was useless. Walked in, set up the modem and declared it wasn't working. Then he said "Distributel is notorious for low quality modems" and gave me the name of a shop where I can buy a new one. He didn't know the address so said I should look it up on the Internet. He then said in the meantime I should "call Distributel and see what's up" and left. I called them and was on hold for over an hour then the tech guy said activation sometimes takes until midnight so I should wait as that works 99% of the time. The next day it didn't work so I called and was on hold for another hour and they said my activation was not until the 4th but they changed that. They also didn't send me my username or password so I could set up my router so I had to call another time and wait another hour to get that info. The Internet is up and running now and the speeds are as advertised thus far but unless unlimited usage is what you want, avoid them.
I'd imagine techsavvy is similar in terms of customer support.

ninaDGBCA

my 2 pence . We were on Rogers in Ottawa as the landlady refused a dish on her roof and therefore Bell was not an option. Rogers was fast and reliable but expensive and atrocious customer service. As long as all went well it was great but when there were problems it took weeks of calling them (India ), patiently explaining the issue over and over again and then it was resolved eventually. Now we have Storm which is super slow but best we can get and still Rogers mobiles as they gave us the best deal. Honestly 2 days after we had the deal I already regretted that we stayed with Rogers . Heard Bell is similar hard work.

What about Primus Internet, friends are happy with them? Just put our old postcode in (Ottawa Hunt Club Park area) http://primus.ca/index.php/ont_en/internet.html

not2old

just to add, that many of the smaller internet providers use the two big guys networks - in other words 'backbone' off the network, pay the big guys a fee for use them sub contract out to you the users. Quality of uninterrupted service comes first to customers of the big guys, then, the second tier (teksavvy etc) come second. So if traffic is high the second tier will start to get slower or you will likely lose service faster.

Imagine you are a small ISP it would cost you zillions to set up your own network..

Not many choices - its really all down to Bell & Rogers or one of their subsidiary companies. Quality of customer care & service will vary by region.