# DSL Recommendations In GTA



## Hankman (Sep 26, 2003)

My brother is getting the following on his Rogers "Hi-Speed" Cable connection:

Speed
76.9 kilobits per second

Communications 76.9 kilobits per second
Storage 9.4 kilobytes per second
1MB file download 1.8 minutes
Subjective rating Slow

He is really p!$$ed off and so would I. Paying for hi-speed and getting dial-up speed. He is thinking of going DSL but not Bell Sympatico Hi-Speed. Are there any other DSL providers in the GTA that people use and would recommend?

He has called Rogers several times and the customer rep says they know his area has a speed problem and that they have ordered equipment to do upgrades. When this will happen they don't know. They have given him a 50% discount on the bill but this has been going on for 4 months. Before then it had been fast. It was even faster when it was still Shaw. When Rogers took over cable went down hill over time.

I on the other hand have Rogers but I get 2.1 MB which is blazingly fast.

Any recommendations for DSL providers in the GTA?

Thanks
H


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## NetMinder (Dec 15, 2003)

Hankman You've got my curiosity up. I have been a Roger's user in Toronto for close to 3 years. My perception is that the speed has been declining steadily over the past several years, moving back to dial up for big$$$.

Your stats have given me a comparative basis for testing my service. What site do you recommend for testing the line speed/ More specifically what did you use to test your service so i know I have a direct comparison.


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## Sonal (Oct 2, 2003)

There's a logical explanation for the decrease in speed. 

My networking knowledge is rusty, but basically, everyone in a neighbourhood shares one cable connection, so cable internet speed decreases with more users. 

So the more people in your neighbourhood with cable high-speed, the slower it will get.

The upgrade Rogers is talking about is probably something like adding an additional connection, but as more users sign up, it will slow down again. (FYI: Rogers is using the same infrastructure as Shaw, so the management change has nothing to do with it.)

DSL users don't share connection, but DSL slows down based on distance from the point of presense. This is because the type of line used to connect everyone (a lot like phone cable) degrades pretty quickly over distance

BTW, if you go with DSL, every DSL carrier in Ontario resells Bell infrastructure, so the speed should be the same (unless the reseller has imposed its own limits.) Go based on price and service -- there shouldn't be any speed difference.
. 
(My networking prof would be so proud right now.)


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## Max (Sep 26, 2002)

I've bounced back and forth between Symcrapico and Jolly Rogers for the last six or seven years - basically since the hi-speed services went mainstream in Toronto. I've stuck with Rogers for the past four years now and I concur - it seems to be slowly but steadily going the sluggo route. All I have is anecdotal evidence, however, which is pretty unreliable. It just seems to take longer to DL things now... I don't notice it with simple, straightforward site-surfing - it's DL'ing large files where it seems less zippy than it used to be.

I'm in East-central Toronto, just north of the Portlands. I have a Mac pal who's West-central and he just shipped ship and went with Bell... he's thrilled with his decision; he can't believe the speed he's getting. I'm glad for him, and it prompted me to rethink my own situation. Alas, I've done some research and Bell's ADSL locally is slower than what I have... with ADSL, proximity is everything. We're simply too far from 'the juice.'

Too bad there weren't alternate ADSL and cable services operating in the same districts. If I want cable where I am, it has to be Rogers. If the other, Bell's who I call. That sucks in a city of this size. I suppose I could go satellite, but no thanks. It's also a pain to switch around too much.

That said, I'm still happy with Rogers on the whole - the service is far more consistent, with less crests and troughs, than what used to be the norm several years ago when this whole thing was kicking off.


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## tizerfish (Jun 8, 2002)

Heres a list of Isp's in Canada,

Http://www.canadianisp.com

also, i use Aei.ca internet, after bell finding a short in my line my internet works perfect







at 180k a sec


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## MACSPECTRUM (Oct 31, 2002)

i recently switched from rogers hi-speed to http://www.mycybernet.net/
they are a Bell ADSL reseller but they have excellent support and pricing is very good
they have some great intro. prices
best to buy the adsl modem so that you can then move to a different isp if and when there is a better deal
their email / web hosing package is now about 1/5 of what i was paying before with my "other web hosting" (not rogers) service
their service is very steady and reliable and they even send you an email when service is going to be down for scheduled maintenance
excellent people to deal with
i went thru several ISPs before i found these guys
ask for Cheval 416.410.2180


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## Hankman (Sep 26, 2003)

Netminder,

The sites I use to test line speed are:
http://www.bandwidthspeedtest.com/speedtest/ 
http://www.speedtest.newtel.com/ 
http://www.toast.net/performance/ 

The NewTel one uses Java to run the test just so you know.

Rogers has just not been keeping up to date with my brother's area. It wasn't like it was a gradual decrease in speed. The speed significantly dropped about 4 months ago and they didn't do anything. They took over from Shaw and should have done whatever was necessary but they just waited. It's not like they didn't there would be a high demand for hi-speed access since it is a residential area. Apparently they knew about the problem and never bothered to let people who were affected know. Only if you called and complained did they do anything to reimburse you.

I should have been more detailed in what my brother is looking for. Specifically I have heard that Sympatico has a very bad newsserver, Rogers is better. Do any other DSL providers in the GTA have a decent newssever?

He is looking at Pathway ( http://www.pathcom.com )as their price is $10 cheaper/month than Bell and you can buy the modem from them and not pay a monthly rental charge. Any comments on Pathway?

Just as an example of the difference in speed, this is my Rogers connection:

1.9 megabits per second 
Communications 1.9 megabits per second
Storage 235.6 kilobytes per second
1MB file download 4.3 seconds
Subjective rating Great

I get 1.9 megabits per second versus 76.9 kilobits per second for my brother. I can understand slowdown due to increased users but his speed is ridiculous.


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## Hankman (Sep 26, 2003)

Thanks guys. I will pass this on to my brother.


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## The Great Waka (Nov 26, 2002)

Macspectrum, I was thinking about dropping Rogers myself and go to a cheaper DSL. How are these people with filters? I remember I had Bell's DSL when it first came out, and the filters I had to put on my phones were ridiculous, and I would still get interference. That and the speed was slow. I've been on Rogers now for something like 4 years. Has the DSL improved, or is it just my location that I'm not a good candidate for it?


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## insertclevername (Apr 8, 2003)

I switched to www.Look.ca a little while ago..and havent looked back..always good speeds...and cheaper than Sympatico/Rogers too.


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## MACSPECTRUM (Oct 31, 2002)

hankman asked;


> Macspectrum, I was thinking about dropping Rogers myself and go to a cheaper DSL. How are these people with filters?


yes, i have filters on both my phones
$20 at Radio Shack
OR
mycybernet includes one if you go with their modem
rogers peaks at better speed for now, but i am in this for the long haul

i would NEVER EVER use Bell sympatico
choose a reseller and get better service


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## The Great Waka (Nov 26, 2002)

Ok, I'll definitely look into them. Two questions though to anyone: 1) What is PPPoE and how does it differ from TCP/IP? and 2) Is there any difference for me between having a static IP (as I do now) and not having one? I'm not running any servers or anything.


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## MACSPECTRUM (Oct 31, 2002)

> 1) What is PPPoE and how does it differ from TCP/IP? and 2) Is there any difference for me between having a static IP (as I do now) and not having one?


1. PPPoE is just PPP over Ethernet - an old dial up type of standard. Standard practice in ADSL. Non-PPPoE costs more money.

2. static IP address is good if you have any sort of server.
the ISP i recommended offers static IP addresses.


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## Hankman (Sep 26, 2003)

Well after several calls to Rogers they finally sent a tech over. The very first thing he did was pull a new cable modem from the truck and install it. My brother now gets 2.5 MB which is a very very fast connection.

Apparently the upgrades they have been doing make certain models of cable modems incompatible. They have not advertised this as everyone would want a new one. The tech was surprised at the modem speed my brother was getting since he is in charge of the area and had not heard of people getting speeds that low.

So Rogers has kept another customer for now. My brother was all ready to go to Bell Sympatico next week as soon as Bell finished doing upgrades in his area.

So keep calling Rogers if you are having speed problems and ask for a tech to come in person. They know more than the phone support technician.


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## yoyo (Aug 3, 2003)

Hankman do you know the name and model of the replaced modem?


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## Hankman (Sep 26, 2003)

The original was a Motorola cable modem. 

The replacement is a Scientific-Atlanta Webstar DPX2100 Series Cable Modem.

If you are having speed problems make sure you call every week and get a credit from them. Ask them to send a tech and see if he replaces your modem.

Good luck.


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## avalonian (Jun 26, 2003)

I used magma and their tech support was friendly and 24/7. They're Ottawa-based but have started an office up in Toronto recently.


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## Timothy J (Jun 4, 2003)

I have been using Sympatico for 5 years and I'm very happy. I've only experienced a handful of down days over the 5 years. When I moved 2 years ago I called Bell and transferred my account to the new address and when I hooked up my gear in the new condo my high speed internet did not work. I called Sympatico and they sent a tech guy over and he checked out my phone line and wall jacks and then ran a test to see how far away from the server my phone line was. The test revealled that I was over 10 miles from the server for my phone line. Even though I'm in the downtown core of Toronto this can happen. Due to the way phone lines have been layed and transferred over the years of growth in the city lines can go back and forth on the same street before they get to a server.
So the only solution offered to me was to try another brand of modem (Alcatel) that works on a very weak signal. If it does not work I was informed I would have to cancel with Bell and find another provider. Well...it works just fine. Your supposed to be only 4 or 5 miles in line distance away from a Bell server and I'm over 10 miles away in actual phone line distance and it works. I don't get the full actual highest speeds possible, but here are my test results from BANDWIDTHSPEEDTEST.

First tests done with Safari:
Safari Test #1:
Speed

1.3 megabits per second
Communications 1.3 megabits per second
Storage 163.2 kilobytes per second
1MB file download 6.3 seconds
Subjective rating Good

Safari Test #2:
Speed

1.4 megabits per second
Communications 1.4 megabits per second
Storage 166.2 kilobytes per second
1MB file download 6.2 seconds
Subjective rating Good

FROM SPEEDTESTNEWTEL:

Safari Test #1:
** Speed 930(down)/315(up) kbps **
(At least 18 times faster than a 56k modem)
Finish.

Safari Test #2:
** Speed 959(down)/314(up) kbps **
(At least 19 times faster than a 56k modem)
Finish.

Decided to try test with Microsoft Internet Explorer:
** Speed 1016(down)/325(up) kbps **
(At least 20 times faster than a 56k modem)
Finish.

And then I used Camino for this test:
** Speed 1063(down)/323(up) kbps **
(At least 21 times faster than a 56k modem)
Finish.

Using iCab:
** Speed 1279(down)/325(up) kbps **
(At least 25 times faster than a 56k modem)
Finish.

Using Mozilla:
]** Speed 1115(down)/325(up) kbps **
(At least 22 times faster than a 56k modem)
Finish.

Using OmniWeb beta:
** Speed 1094(down)/325(up) kbps **
(At least 21 times faster than a 56k modem)
Finish.

And now with Netscape 7.1:
** Speed 1261(down)/325(up) kbps **
(At least 25 times faster than a 56k modem)
Finish.

Lots of different results. Looks like iCab is slightly faster than Netscape for my G5 1.6 mHz aluminum powermac.


Here is a link to the top 100 fastest DSL servers in the world:
DSLREPORTS

[ February 07, 2004, 06:20 AM: Message edited by: Timothy J ]


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