Switching ISPs: Good-bye, Bell Sympatico. Hello TekSavvy! [Update 1]
February 19th, 2008 at 04:58pm madgunde
[Update 1] We Canadians put up with a lot of abuse from our telecom/internet providers. As if high prices and poor customer service weren’t enough to endure, we’ve also put up with data transfer caps on supposedly “unlimited” internet connections and now our supposedly high-speed internet connections are only high speed for some types of data, but not others. To quote an early 90’s infomercial marketing slogan, stop the insanity!
Our government, via the CRTC, have been trying their best to inject some competition into the Canadian telecom market for a few years now, but phone number portability and competition in the DSL and home phone markets will only make a difference if customers actually start switching. It’s understandable that the majority of Canadians are reluctant to switch from one of the major providers to a relative newcomer, but really, what have you got to lose besides maybe a little inconvenience?
Up till now I was content to pay a premium for my Sympatico high-speed DSL internet service from Bell for the peace of mind of knowing I was dealing with a large incumbent that had the resources and experience to give me a reliable connection. I switched to Bell from Rogers when Rogers threatened to cancel my service because I was exceeding their monthly data transfer allowance. Bell’s Sympatico service had no such limits.
But recently, Bell Sympatico implemented traffic shaping to limit the speeds of P2P filesharing transfers during peak hours to a maximum of 30KB/s. I was resigned to live with that, provided it didn’t get any worse.
As someone who hosts their own webserver, I’ve always wanted a static IP address, but because I only run it as a hobby, I couldn’t justify the $100/month it would cost me to get a business internet account, which is usually the only way to get a static IP from Bell or Rogers. To make matters worse, business accounts are usually even more limited on data transfers than consumer accounts. So I’ve been resigned to using dynamic DNS solutions to keep my artofgeek.com domain name properly pointed to my server at home.
Last weekend, I was seeking advice about email server configuration on the ehmac.ca forums and user John Clay was kind enough to respond recommending I switch ISPs to one that doesn’t block mail traffic and offers a static IP. He then mentioned that TekSavvy, a local Ontario DSL ISP offers static IPs for just $4 extra per month.
That sounded too good to be true, but I was definitely intrigued. A quick visit to the TekSavvy Solutions website later, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could get the same speed of DSL service with unlimited bandwidth AND a static IP address for $4 LESS per month than what I was paying Bell. The icing on the cake was that TekSavvy does not shape traffic or block any ports AND, you can use any standard DSL modem to get your connection.
So let me sum up:
- Same speed as my existing Sympatico service.
- Unlimited bandwidth usage.
- Static IP address for hosting my server.
- No port blocking of any kind.
- No traffic shaping or speed limiting (hurray for Bittorrent!).
- Can supply your own modem.
- $4 less per month than what Bell is charging me.
That’s $43.95/month. Wow. Game over. I’m sold. So I called Bell today to cancel my service, followed by a call to TekSavvy to subscribe to their DSL High Speed Internet Unlimited residential service.
Now to be fair, you still have to buy a DSL modem, which TekSavvy charges $100 for, plus $10 for shipping. But here’s where TekSavvy’s open modem policy comes in. A 5 minute Google search, and I found speedtouch.ca that sells the exact same modem TekSavvy was going to sell me (the Thomson SpeedTouch 516) for $50 + $12 for shipping. Bell was charging me a perpetual $2/month to lease my modem, and you have no choice but to buy or lease their modem. So as long as my new DSL modem lasts more than 2.5 years, it’ll pay for itself, and I’ll save an additional $2 per month after that.
So that’s it. With just a bit of hesitation, I took the plunge. My service is scheduled to switch over from Sympatico to TekSavvy on March 18, 2008. There will be a bit of downtime during the switch, but hopefully not more than 6-12 hours. Afterwhich the Art Of Geek website should be even more reliable than it’s ever been. The most common cause for the site being inaccessible has been the dynamic IP changing every time my modem or router had to be rebooted. This will no longer be an issue. To top it all off, I will be free to run my own email server if I want to, and I can look forward to getting my bittorrent files downloaded in record time again. Needless to say, I’m really stoked about the switch.
So if you’re curious about how the switch goes, check back here after March 18. I’ll be sure to update the Art Of Geek blog on how it goes.
Update 1 - 2/21/2008, 1:10 pm: My Thomson SpeedTouch 516 (link to pdf) DSL modem just arrived from speedtouch.ca. I’m all excited to get it set up, unfortunately, I have to wait another 26 days for my service to get cut over…
Entry Filed under: Business, Internet, Networking
15 Comments Add your own
1. VNJ85 | February 20th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Good Luck!
I’ll keep an eye on this blog. I am fed up with rogers, and i dont hear too much good about bell… the speed capping, throttling etc… yeah i dont want any of it. Not to mention the big brand guys like rogers, and bell have ridiculous prices..
Good to see some little guys popping up! wish more would do so… and same for cell phones!
2. madgunde | February 21st, 2008 at 12:04 am
@VNJ85
On top of the ridiculous prices, Rogers and Bell also have a bad habit of offering new subscribers better pricing/deals, but not letting their existing customers know they are eligible for better deals. When I called Sympatico to cancel my DSL service, the rep on the phone suddenly said I was eligible for a bundle discount with my home phone, something they never offered before. Nice how they only offer it to me once I decide to cancel! Sorry Bell, too little, too late.
Rogers and Bell both used to piss me off when they’d cold call me offering months of free service for being such a valued customer, but as soon as I told them I already had their high speed internet, they apologized and said the deal was for new subscribers only. So not only do they look stupid for trying to sell me something I already had from them, but they insult me by first saying I’m such a loyal customer and then withdrawing their “reward”.
3. 5andman | February 27th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Can’t wait for your report after March 18!
4. bluestarz | March 3rd, 2008 at 1:55 am
Wow. I’ve been searching all night for something like this. I currently use the highspeed DSL from Sympatico but paying $53/mo for this is really wearing thin. The bandwidth is unlimited so no extra charges but still if I can cut even $10 off per month it would be great.
Let us know what techsavvy is like. Same speed as highspeed DSL from Sympatico?
Also, you can’t get techsavvy right away? How does this switching over work? I was thinking of setting up techsavvy and then canceling Sympatico afterward so I don’t lose internet connection at all. Thanks for any help you can provide.
daboys1215@sympatico.ca
5. bluestarz | March 3rd, 2008 at 2:02 am
Just to add, my uncle signed up with a service called inter.net. Anyone heard of them? They talk about free modem rental with a year contract. Not sure I like the contract commitment. Anyone have any opinions?
6. madgunde | March 3rd, 2008 at 10:39 am
@bluestarz
Because Sympatico and Teksavvy both use the same pipe, you can’t have both active at the same time, so Teksavvy can’t switch on their DSL service until Bell shuts theirs off. More accurately, Bell is switching your DSL connection over from their own Sympatico network over onto Teksavvy’s, since no matter who’s DSL service you go with, Bell is still in charge of the cabling to your home.
That being said, I suspect that Bell only tells people it takes 30 days to out-order your service so they can squeeze a few extra bucks and have a chance to try and change your mind with a followup call from their customer retention department (which I did get a few days after I called). I heard that if I was insistent, I could have had Bell disconnect my DSL sooner, but I don’t mind having to wait. It gave my wife a bit of time to switch her sympatico email accounts over before they stop working.
7. bluestarz | March 3rd, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Thanks for the reply. I had suspected something like that since we all have to deal with the almighty Bell. In any case, I am still very much interested in your assessment of the Techsavvy service so I will be checking back in a few weeks. Thanks again. Very helpful info
8. LandZen | March 7th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Just to let you guys know that you can get a lot more information about teksavvy on the forum of http://www.dslreports.com. Some techs from teksavvy will even help you if you need so on that forum. Today was my switch date and i didn’t feel any down time yet.
9. mallory | March 7th, 2008 at 11:50 am
I recently told Bell that I was cancelling their services as well - I was told that it would take 30 days, making my cut off date March 22, 2008. However, yesterday evening as I was surfing the Internet, Bell decided that they would end my services about 15 days early! In any other circumstance I would be happy to be rid of Bell early, but my new Internet service provider isn’t planning on setting up my new connection until March 22nd… So now I’m SOL for Internet for at least 5 business days… I should have known Bell would find one last way to piss me off!
10. Art Of Geek » We&hellip | March 18th, 2008 at 10:50 am
[...] that couldn’t have gone any smoother. For those that have just tuned in, we migrated Internet service providers this morning. I’m happy to report that the migration went smoothly and without issue. [...]
11. BlackMacX | April 21st, 2008 at 10:06 am
I’m taking the plunge with TekSavvy.
12. CanMan | May 31st, 2008 at 9:35 am
I wonder hows your account with TechSavvy is , in light of the fact that Bell is also shaping traffic of third party suppliers like TechSavvy ?
13. madgunde | May 31st, 2008 at 11:18 am
@CanMan
Unfortunately, my file sharing traffic is now throttled just like it was on Bell, during peak hours, to a maximum of 30KB/s down speed. Everything else though is as fast as I should expect.
14. Marc | June 13th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Forget about throttling on Peer to Peer applications, I can’t even get Bell Symptatico to deliver the speed I contracted for. They downgraded my service without my consent and continue to bill me at the higher rate!
I have a connection of 440KBps while I pay for 2MBps. AFter 5 calls and a billing representative that tells her own tech services guy “Yes, he’s paying for 2MBps” right on the phone with me…the problem is still not fixed. They forget, have “backlogs” technicians not there… you name it they have an excuse.
Mention you want to upgrade to a more expensive package and curiously, that can be done right away.
Bell is a company that just puts people on commission to sell as much as junk as they can, knowing that they can make it very difficult for the customer to cancel. It is unquestionably the most unscrupulous company of any kind I’ve dealt with. It is a true disgrace for Canada.
The poor techies they hire in India are there because the pathetic company is so poorly managed they can’t find enough people to deal with their own complaints. These tech people at call centres are there primarily as sales agents. They can’t fix anything because they have no control of the infrastructure. They just listen to clients and make promises about having problems fixed.
It is not unusual at all for Sympatico customers to be overcharged and the management does not see this as a problem. The management needs to do some jail time.
15. Rebel | September 10th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Same here! Same problem!! Found happiness with Teksavvy, my contract with Sympatico expired on time!
Unlimited speed is becoming too expensive with Sympatico!
When Bell started their new pricing scheme, you had to pay extra maximum fee of $30 to get unlimited quota.
Too many disadvantages!
Contract , everything ISP should allow no-contract and free to cancel if you do not like their service.
Throttling bittorrent as reason of load balancing BS
Price
No wonder everyone try to get rid of Sympatico ISP when they can and some count their days for their contract to expire so they can switch to other ISP. It was a big mistake I did but never again going back!
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