Internet Usage

Keith Tedford

Keith Tedford

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How many GB of data would a couple use in a month. We use ours quite a bit in the evening in lieu of a TV and my wife does a lot of genealogy research as well. We haven't been happy with our present provider with equipment problems and poor service. Any recommendations on good providers at reasonable rates. I could just about cash in on it period and walk away.....Just about.
 
I use about 25 - 40 GB per month but I download quite large files. As far as providers go, our only choice here in the country is xplornet. I have a signal picker-upper-thingy mounted on my roof that picks a signal up from a broadcast tower a few miles away. They are typical... great when you don't have any problems.... ..... but that may just be the xplornet dealer service here.... One thing I will say is the signal is dependable, albeit not the fastest.... I'm sure there are some technogeekies out there that can answer you a lot better....lol...
 
Rruuff Day said:
I use about 25 - 40 GB per month but I download quite large files. As far as providers go, our only choice here in the country is xplornet. I have a signal picker-upper-thingy mounted on my roof that picks a signal up from a broadcast tower a few miles away. They are typical... great when you don't have any problems.... ..... but that may just be the xplornet dealer service here.... One thing I will say is the signal is dependable, albeit not the fastest.... I'm sure there are some technogeekies out there that can answer you a lot better....lol...
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Thanks. I'm no techie either and it can be frustrating. Phone up the provider and they start talking in their lingo that might as well be ancient Hebrew. The provider hasn't been very helpful. Their equipment that they supplied has had problems. The Bell lines themselves coming down our road has had problems. I have their VOIP phone service and we never have a complete call without breakups along the line. About the only good thing that I can say about the provider is that they are inexpensive in their pricing.
 
Keith Tedford said:
Thanks. I'm no techie either and it can be frustrating. Phone up the provider and they start talking in their lingo that might as well be ancient Hebrew. The provider hasn't been very helpful. Their equipment that they supplied has had problems. The Bell lines themselves coming down our road has had problems. I have their VOIP phone service and we never have a complete call without breakups along the line. About the only good thing that I can say about the provider is that they are inexpensive in their pricing.
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Who's your provider Keith? You mention bell lines, is it bell or a reseller? Do you have any choices in your area?
 
Keith, my son uses Techsavvy (sp?) and he swears by them. Cheaper than Bell and while they use the Bell system they have excellent customer service, unlike Bell. If you are interested I will get the contact information for them. I think they are out of the Guelph area.
 
Nik said:
Who's your provider Keith? You mention bell lines, is it bell or a reseller? Do you have any choices in your area?
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Who's your provider Keith? You mention bell lines, is it bell or a reseller? Do you have any choices in your area?[/QUOTE]

We're with Nexicom in Millbrook, Ont. Twice the problems were with the Bell lines not with the provider. I've heard the Tech Savvy is good but know nothing about them.
 
Keith Tedford said:
We're with Nexicom in Millbrook, Ont. Twice the problems were with the Bell lines not with the provider. I've heard the Tech Savvy is good but know nothing about them.
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Teksavvy is pretty good but all resellers are at the mercy of Bell (if they use Bell lines) or Rogers/Shaw etc if they use those. Do you have any cable providers in your area i.e. Rogers, Shaw, Cogeco i.e. non-Bell? If you do you have some choices.
 
Keith Tedford said:
A guy was telling me a little about Tek Savvy as well. Seemed to think that they were good too, and not too expensive.
I'll have to check into cable providers too. I do see guys working on lines and they are not bell guys. Thanks.
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Definitely check cable, if Bell lines are degraded, too far from the CO or their infrastructure is not well maintained you will have exact same issues with any Bell reseller. I've had this problem before at my old house. Only solution was to switch to Rogers (or equivalent cable provider/reseller).

As for usage, for what you're describing under 100GB per month is perfectly acceptable. If you stream, download lots or backup stuff online you may go over but it's purely down to what your use case. I think first step is to figure out a better provider then I'm sure we can help you figure out the plan. There are also lots of little apps you can install that will track your usage not to mention your reseller/provider typically has an online portal where you can check this.
 
Nik, some good information. I am not sure about where Keith is but in the "north" we have few options because we have no cable providers in the area. We get TV from satellite from Bell, which I will admit we have very few problems with.

My son was on Bell Internet as well and your correct that even though he is with Tek Savvy there are a couple of benefits. First he gets unlimited internet for considerably less cost, they do not have TV reception so anything they watch is internet based. However where his provider really shines is customer service. You can be on the phone with Bell literally for hours and get no solution:Banghead:, although I think their service has improved somewhat, that is not the case with Tek Savvy. They are on it right away and they keep him informed of what is going on. He swears by them.

It was not that long ago that we were on dial up with Bell. They kept taking our line and giving it to someone who needed a land line. Then they would argue that this could not happen. Frustrating to be sure. This I guess is because of degradation of lines and the lack of circuits.
 
Black 03 Z06 said:
Nik, some good information. I am not sure about where Keith is but in the "north" we have few options because we have no cable providers in the area. We get TV from satellite from Bell, which I will admit we have very few problems with.

My son was on Bell Internet as well and your correct that even though he is with Tek Savvy there are a couple of benefits. First he gets unlimited internet for considerably less cost, they do not have TV reception so anything they watch is internet based. However where his provider really shines is customer service. You can be on the phone with Bell literally for hours and get no solution:Banghead:, although I think their service has improved somewhat, that is not the case with Tek Savvy. They are on it right away and they keep him informed of what is going on. He swears by them.

It was not that long ago that we were on dial up with Bell. They kept taking our line and giving it to someone who needed a land line. Then they would argue that this could not happen. Frustrating to be sure. This I guess is because of degradation of lines and the lack of circuits.
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I know the North you speak of Murray, drove up there once or twice, bears, seals, land icebergs, last couple of Leafs fans were to be found there. I know the price you pay for spectacular views and longer lives is limited internet options :)

Another really good reseller (better than Tek Savvy in my opinion) is Start Communications (www.start.ca). They resell cable and Bell services, much smaller footprint than TekSavvy and even better support.
 
Nik, we don't mind the bears, seals and land icebergs but we draw the line at Leafs Fans. Shot the last two last year. There are some people who are now on the bandwagon to have them reintroduced to the area.:Biggrin:

Never heard of Start Communications before so thanks for that.:thumbs:

By the way, if All Flash has a tie for MOTM does he get two banners? One guy but some great shots. Deserves the banner in my opinion although I heard Somebuddy may launch a procedural challenge.:Lurk5:
 
Techsavvy or any of the re-sellers will use the existing telcos lines to provide service, if yourissue is with the infrastructure in your area you may not get improved service if the re seller uses the same facilities for your connection. If you know that you are on DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) or on a Cable modem, you could ask say Teksavvy (if you opt to go with them) if they offer both technologies and opt for the one you are not presently using. That might help with the issues you are having.. Traditionally cable offered higher bandwidth over coax but with fibre to the neighbourhood that is no longer the case.

As for bandwidth you should be able to ask your supplier for your monthly usage, then you will have a better idea of whether you need more or less. 20-30GB should be enough for most but if you stream content from the web then you might need more. I use 70-100GB per month streaming tv shows/movies/sports/ LOGGING ONTO THIS CORVETTE FORUM.
 
Nik said:
I hit 3TB last month. Jokes on you Rogers unlimited lol.
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Wow, that is a ton. I thought I was a heavy user averaging about 340GB month. I have unlimited with Start.ca . I like them, they're out of London, Ont and have great service.

If your shopping around for a new provider, check out DSL Reports, They have a dedicated sub section dedicated to Canadian Providers. Here you can read the praises and the warts of all the providers.
 
smackYYZ said:
Wow, that is a ton. I thought I was a heavy user averaging about 340GB month. I have unlimited with Start.ca . I like them, they're out of London, Ont and have great service.

If your shopping around for a new provider, check out DSL Reports, They have a dedicated sub section dedicated to Canadian Providers. Here you can read the praises and the warts of all the providers.
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I was also with Start and they were fantastic when I had cause to call them, pickup within 3 rings by a person is unheard of in this day and age (and scary) but unfortunately when you move up to the bigger/heavier consumption tiers none of the resellers are competitive. Rogers/Bell have a pretty hefty monopoly on service availability and price when you want more than 100 down/10up. Incumbents are squeezing the little guys out of business nicely. Having said that it's a totally different experience for folks living in more competitive areas in big cities vs. elsewhere.
 
Is that what is referred to as a "byte"?
 
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