# Rogers free speed upgrade!



## Snubnose (Sep 28, 2003)

Seriously, today I was researching other ISPs in Ottawa, simply because I am so fed up wiht Rogers and their port-blocking (basically making Bittorrent unusable, even if you are downloading legal stuff). But then I receive an email from Rogers. To wit:

_Dear valued customer, 

We'd like to share some exciting news about your Internet service. By April 15, we will have increased the speed from 3Mbps to 5Mbps. That's an increase of up to 60% - all at no additional charge to you. 

_Hmm...so I do a quick speed check, and sure enough I'm now pulling down 4.4 megabits per second! But this doesn't solve the port blocking issue...thoughts? Shall I still dump them? 

Snubnose


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## fyrefly (Apr 16, 2005)

AFAIK, Sympatico is doing the same thing - Rogers is just following them to hopefully not lose customers. In Ontario and Quebec, Sympatico High Speed is jumping from 3mbps to 5mbps too.

Sympatico isn't as purely fast as cable, but it's more reliable (IMHO), no download limits and no port blocking.


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## The Great Waka (Nov 26, 2002)

Yup, didn't get the email, but I saw my speed jump. Nice, but I still want my ports back damn it! I want to actually be able to use VNC!


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## madgunde (Mar 10, 2006)

But with Bittorrent, you can use whatever port you want. Just pick any port in the upper range, like 51234, and configure your router and Bittorrent client to use the same port. Your client will report the port to the tracker so other seeders and peers will connect to your computer using the port you specify. Unless Rogers is blocking all unassigned ports, you should be fine. Until you hit the bandwidth limit that is...


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## Puccasaurus (Dec 28, 2003)

Rogers uses traffic shaping to slow down torrents though. You also need to use a client that allows encryption, like Azureus. It makes a big difference!



madgunde said:


> But with Bittorrent, you can use whatever port you want. Just pick any port in the upper range, like 51234, and configure your router and Bittorrent client to use the same port. Your client will report the port to the tracker so other seeders and peers will connect to your computer using the port you specify. Unless Rogers is blocking all unassigned ports, you should be fine. Until you hit the bandwidth limit that is...


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## TornStar (Feb 13, 2006)

Rogers gives me 6 Mbps with 102 GB cap for the same as the 5 Mbps with th 60 GB cap. Also Puccasaurus is right about using a client like Azureus with encryption. Hugh difference


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## NBiBooker (Apr 3, 2004)

I'd say stick with Rogers and folo recommendations noted above for BitTorrent.


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## speckledmind (Jan 12, 2005)

Nice offer.

What did you use to check your Speed ??? and how do you calculatre it ???

I would love to confirm my speed of 5mbs with Synmpatico, and see if it's true.


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## corinthian (Oct 5, 2004)

Just so everyone knows, bell is upgrading everyone to 5mbps, but if you are still in the 3mbps bracket call and ask, they will bump you up to 5mbps ultra service for 6months for free. And when the whole network is 5mbps you can downgrade back to regular HSE.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

The automatic 3Mbps to 5Mbps hasn't been rolled out yet.

But check now, the best way is the "Speed Test" here, bottom right, then choose "Chicago" from the list of cities/servers at left. I don't know why, but the lore is that that test is the most accurate:

*http://www.speakeasy.net*

btw you won't get full 3Mbps unless Sympatico has secretly bumped you to 5 already. No one ever does. Even officially, 2.5 is the best. Here is a test I just did:



> Download Speed: 2459 kbps (307.4 KB/sec transfer rate)
> Upload Speed: 470 kbps (58.8 KB/sec transfer rate)


2459 kbps is almost exactly 2.5Mbps. Some test sites only give something like the 307.4 KB as above, which is the same thing.



UCGrafix said:


> Nice offer.
> 
> What did you use to check your Speed ??? and how do you calculatre it ???
> 
> I would love to confirm my speed of 5mbs with Synmpatico, and see if it's true.


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## satchmo (May 26, 2005)

My Sympatico Hi-speed test nets out at:

2070 kbps Download
657 kbps Upload

Average I suppose.


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## Daktari (Feb 21, 2005)

I'm with rogers in London and I'm getting 4.6Mbps down and 375Kbps up.


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## JPL (Jan 21, 2005)

I just tried it and got 4.7 down and 457 up I'm happy.


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## Kosh (May 27, 2002)

Yep, I got the same email a week ago and checked my connection. 4.7MB down. I'm happy...


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## fyrefly (Apr 16, 2005)

JPL and Kosh - can you tell us what you're using? Without knowing if you're on Rogers or Sympatico, it's hard to gather whether your speeds are good or great. 

EDIT: Kosh - I'd assume you're on Rogers, now taking a second look at it, since you said you got the e-mail, which was in the OP, an e-mail from Rogers.


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## mycatsnameis (Mar 3, 2000)

Nice to hear that faster speed is coming for Symp customers. I just renewed my contract (they'll easily give you $35 a month in Ontario if you've been with them for a while, I could probably do better but don't like playing hardball). They never mentioned anything about upgrading to 5k though when I asked about teh difference b/w high speed and ultra (which is currently 5k).

I would be more interested in a u/l boost though. Better for the ratio if you know what I mean ... Ultra and standard high speed both have the same u/l speed.


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## kevkwas (Feb 24, 2004)

Mine says,
5698 download,, 406 upload.

I'm with Sasktel High Speed

The Seattle one gives me,,5813 down,,406 up


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## i<3myiBookg4 (Mar 17, 2006)

If you call Rogers for tech support, you might get me on the other end... be nice to me please.


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## mycatsnameis (Mar 3, 2000)

Rogers, Shaw and Cogeco are all listed as bad actors in the Azureus Wiki so if you're having d/l speed problems using their service then encryption (or Sympatico) is your friend.


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## ChilBear (Mar 20, 2005)

Here is the link to the Rogers test site:

www.speedcheck.rogers.com

I called last week and I am not at 5 MB only 3. I will keep watching and testing. I have found speeds over 4 in the early day slowing as the day goes on. I can't wait for 5 as my son is whining about lagging while playing Xbox. Then I have the discussion about dial up speed and his eyes roll back...


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## moonsocket (Apr 1, 2002)

I just switched to Aliant(sympatico). I could only get Rogers to work once at the beginning for Azureus. Aliant is much better for me.


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## Puccasaurus (Dec 28, 2003)

I get 2.84Mbps down, 382kbps up. Shrug...guess they haven't upgraded my area.


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## speckledmind (Jan 12, 2005)

Update.

I use Sympatico Ultra 5 mbs, and get the following numbers 3345kbps in / 607kbps out.

Not being satisfied of my speed, I just finished speaking with a Sympatico representative, and got the following information.
As of now, Quebec residents are in fact switched to 5 mb service at no cost, as for the service in Ontario, he was not at liberty to say.

During the conversation, a few things popped up that could make a big difference in what you get in speed, and the service you pay for.

The speed ratio is based on how far you are from the central, in my case, i am classified as a " 4 ", meaning that the max speed I could get is 4 mbs, so if I do keep my Ultra speed of witch should be bumped to 6 mb, It would give me absolutely nothing, since I am locked at 4 mbs max.

If you use Sympatico, what is your classification number ???
Are you getting what you are paying for ???

My 2 cents

Denis


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## MrVermin (Jul 26, 2002)

I for one am NOT impressed with what Rogers is doing. Even with the speed increases, the "Traffic Shaping" that they are performing on Torrent Packets really does put me in a bind. I use the Torrent specifications for World of Warcraft Updates and what would have taken me about 15 minutes to download an update on a Tuesday now takes me almost two days...XX)

If you want to get around Rogers Traffic Shaping of Torrents, set your listening port in your client to 1720 and then set the Port Forwarding on your Router (if you use one) to Forward that Port to your computer's internal network IP. This will bring the Torrent speeds back up to their full bandwidth...:heybaby:

About Rogers and the 60gb or 100gb caps.... Well let me just say that this is why I am switching to Bell Sympatico by the end of this weekend. That and I am sick and tired of Rogers Support telling me to "Reboot My Computer" everytime I call to tell them that their DNS servers are down.... I just wish one time I called the guy/gal on the other end would tear up the call script and properly troubleshoot the issues...

MrVermin


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## used to be jwoodget (Aug 22, 2002)

Personally, I'm glad Rogers uses traffic shaping. As a user who doesn't download movies, games, etc. I don't think that the 5-10% of people who do should be subsidized by those that don't*. I pay for bandwidth (speed) and never approach the 60 Gb cap. Nor do I get more than 4 Mb/s perhaps due to the fact that cable is shared and I may have a couple of hogs in my locality. Perhaps the way out of this (apart from torrent users switching to Sympatico - good luck), is for another layer of progressive pricing. Afterall, that's how income tax works....

* As movie downloads become more mainstream, then the networks will have to be upgraded. Right now, I doubt it is the legal downloads that are forming the bulk of traffic....


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## MrVermin (Jul 26, 2002)

The issue that bothers me is that I am making use of the Torrent specification in a LEGAL method. That is to download the properly supplied updates to a game I purchased from Blizzard as well as pay a monthly subscription for online gameplay.

For Rogers to slow down my access to my legally supplied updates really "irks" me 

On top of that, when I call to complain about my slow speeds with thesse game updates, the Rogers tech has the nerve to tell me to get the update from a PAY FOR DOWNLOAD game site....... I already pay a monthly fee in order to play the game and get free updates, why should I also have to pay for the privilage to download the updates when my ISP blocks my ability to get them...:-(

I say tptptptp to Rogers....

MrVermin

Sorry for turning this into a Rogers Bitch session, I am just tired from a full night of working :baby:


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## ChilBear (Mar 20, 2005)

April 16 update. Speed boost in Scarborough now at 4.6 MB from under 3 last week. Consecutive tests gets a slower speed but all are higher than the 3MB cap previous.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

This is one of the reasons I use Sympatico: it doesn't matter what my neighbours are doing with respect to downloading.




used to be jwoodget said:


> Personally, I'm glad Rogers uses traffic shaping. As a user who doesn't download movies, games, etc. I don't think that the 5-10% of people who do should be subsidized by those that don't*. I pay for bandwidth (speed) and never approach the 60 Gb cap. Nor do I get more than 4 Mb/s perhaps due to the fact that cable is shared and I may have a couple of hogs in my locality. Perhaps the way out of this (apart from torrent users switching to Sympatico - good luck), is for another layer of progressive pricing. Afterall, that's how income tax works....
> 
> * As movie downloads become more mainstream, then the networks will have to be upgraded. Right now, I doubt it is the legal downloads that are forming the bulk of traffic....


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## JPL (Jan 21, 2005)

Sorry fyrefly I'm on rogers with a hub and router


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## sim.all (Jul 17, 2005)

Let's compare some rough speed.
Download the following file
http://wsidecar.apple.com/cgi-bin/n...orm=osx&method=sa/MacOSXUpdCombo10.4.6PPC.dmg

Then tell yourn provider, your region, your speed (average) and your (approximative) time for downloading the file. You may include a screenshot to prove/show your speed.

I start

Videotron in the Montréal area.
My speed was 1.20 MB/s
It took me about 2 mins 10 seconds to complete the download.
Screenshot


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## MACSPECTRUM (Oct 31, 2002)

and here i sit with my $1,000 2 way satellite system paying $90 / month for 1 mbps down and 256 kbps up (rarely coming close to those maximums) and tech. support that is non-existant except to tell me to "run their speed tests and submit results"
a system that tolerates rain less than my cat does

I pine, yes pine, for the days of Rogers hi-speed
i'd even take bell sympatico at this point in time, but as per Bell's plans; "you're not even on the radar for 2006"

I find it really silly that people complain about 60 GB bit caps when I am forced to live with a 4 GB

since moving away from the city, this is the first time I have said this; "Damn city folk"
:baby: tptptptp :baby:


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## adb_ii (Jan 10, 2005)

Puccasaurus said:


> Rogers uses traffic shaping to slow down torrents though. You also need to use a client that allows encryption, like Azureus. It makes a big difference!


are there any other clients than azureus for macs that use the encryption? perhaps something not slow to load/ugly/resource hog/java?


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## modsuperstar (Nov 23, 2004)

adb_ii said:


> are there any other clients than azureus for macs that use the encryption? perhaps something not slow to load/ugly/resource hog/java?


I agree with that. That's why I don't use Azeurus. I use bits on wheels, but again with the Rogers shinanigans it's pretty slow. I'll have to swap to Azeurus just because of the encryption, though I'll do so begrudgingly.


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## MrVermin (Jul 26, 2002)

MACSPECTRUM said:


> and here i sit with my $1,000 2 way satellite system paying $90 / month for 1 mbps down and 256 kbps up (rarely coming close to those maximums) and tech. support that is non-existant except to tell me to "run their speed tests and submit results"
> a system that tolerates rain less than my cat does
> 
> I pine, yes pine, for the days of Rogers hi-speed
> ...


My grand-mother is in the same situation out in northern BC. She does not have Cable for TV nor will Bell run a line to her place. She has to use a Cell Phone for daily use. Only difference is that she can't afford the cost of internet over satellite, so she is for the most part unreachable :-(

Oh well, we all have to live with our choices of where to live.....

MrVermin


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## tonybeak (Mar 4, 2005)

Download Speed: 8432 kbps (1054 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 916 kbps (114.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

I don't understand how ACI can pull of these speeds... You would think Rogers would keep up with a small town ISP.


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## MrVermin (Jul 26, 2002)

modsuperstar said:


> I agree with that. That's why I don't use Azeurus. I use bits on wheels, but again with the Rogers shinanigans it's pretty slow. I'll have to swap to Azeurus just because of the encryption, though I'll do so begrudgingly.


You do not have to use the Encryption in the Torrent client, just set the Listening Port to 1720 and then use the Port Forwarding feature on your Router to forward that Port to your computer's internal IP address. This will speed up Torrent downloads on ANY client without the use of Encryption....

MrVermin


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## failteband (Dec 21, 2004)

*Upload/dpwnload Speed*

 I'm using Rogers with an iMac G5 intel and getting 4.89mbps download and 811 kbps upload using the Rogers speed test.


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## Loafer (Jan 7, 2004)

With the speakeasy speed tester I'm only pulling in 1422kbps on Bell Hi-Speed.
Now correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that just totally **** ????


******edit********

friggin' Bell are scamsters!
I've been paying for hi-speed and they have me down as basic!!!
I'm on the phone to them now.....I am so so so pissed right now


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## mycatsnameis (Mar 3, 2000)

MrVermin said:


> You do not have to use the Encryption in the Torrent client, just set the Listening Port to 1720 and then use the Port Forwarding feature on your Router to forward that Port to your computer's internal IP address. This will speed up Torrent downloads on ANY client without the use of Encryption....
> 
> MrVermin


This is not correct as I understand traffic shaping. None of the BT clients recommend using a standard port. Switching ports simply avoids the simplest ISP defense (port blocking). Traffic shaping monitors the traffic on all ports, determines whether it is BT related and then attenuates speed (hence the problem articulated above with reduced speeds for any torrent as the shaping algorithms have no way of determining legit from otherwise ...).


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## mycatsnameis (Mar 3, 2000)

Loafer said:


> With the speakeasy speed tester I'm only pulling in 1422kbps on Bell Hi-Speed.
> Now correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that just totally **** ????
> 
> 
> ...


Not necessarily, if you read through the rest of the thread you would see that your Bell speed depends on how far you are form teh hub. In my experience you can also end up with wide variations in speed test results from day to day, hour to hour or even second to second. I'm sure this is related to traffic as I usually seem to get the worst results during peak hours. Call Bell, ask them what your rating is but you might was to check your speed in the wee hours of the morning as well ...


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## oldgrumpy (Aug 22, 2005)

I'm in Orleans/Ottawa. Just checked an I'm getting 970 kps on download and 277 upload. thanks Rogers.


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## adb_ii (Jan 10, 2005)

chose to switch back to azureus...
with using encryption and port 50001 and forwarding it on my airport i'm reaching some ridiculously high speeds considering i'm on wireless...very cool!

speed tests on rogers are as follows:

4677downstream
624upstream

it varied a lot, but this is the last one i did before i got bored 
i wonder what i'd get if i was hard-wired...


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## mycatsnameis (Mar 3, 2000)

adb_ii said:


> chose to switch back to azureus...
> with using encryption and port 50001 and forwarding it on my airport i'm reaching some ridiculously high speeds considering i'm on wireless...very cool!
> 
> speed tests on rogers are as follows:
> ...


Btw, wireless is not a bottle neck for a cable or DSL connection. 54g should be able to handle anything a typical home connection can throw at it (i.e. rated at 54 Mbps, real world with full connection = ~22Mbps, even half strength at ~11Mbps still far above the 5Mbps that a high speed connection functions at). You shouldn't notice much/any slow down with your internet connection over wireless vs. wried from a router. Computer to computer over a wired network (with 100 or 1000baseT) it's very slow however.


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## Myrddin Emrys (May 24, 2005)

Speed tests depend on how clean the path to the server running the test.

Rogers just gave me:

Download Speed: 5.74 Mbps down
Upload Speed: 793 Kbps (99K) up,

Speak Easy just game me:
Download Speed: 5617 kbps (702.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 763 kbps (95.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

I signed on with Rogers (Hi-Speed Internet Extreme) for a DL speed of 6 Mbps and 800 Kbps UL speed.

With Roger now advertising the speeds of the Hi-Speed Internet Express at 5 Mbps instead of 3 Mbps, etc. I want to know why I have not received a bump in bandwidth along the same lines as the Hi-Speed Internet Express.

My bit/bandwidth cap has just increased from 60 Gigs to 100 GB but I hope that is not all I am going to get increased.

Considering that I don't use my connection for 'naughty' things I do want to get my money's worth; however, in this world of 'pick the monopoly' to get screwed by it is all just fun and games. 

Just my 2 cents.


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