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Rogers Internet Express Speed

17K views 16 replies 4 participants last post by  57 
#1 ·
Thinking of switching to Rogers Express Internet (getting a good offer is the ONLY reason), they claim up to 25mbps download (not concerned about upload speed)........in general can I expect speeds close to this or what determines Rogers speed?
 
#2 ·
Rogers' provisioning of the modem determines the download speed. Although there are the occasional areas that are bandwidth limited, most people with Rogers get the speed they pay for, especially if they don't subscribe to the highest speed available (which you won't). I get 25 mbps on Express all the time, plus some initial higher speeds due to Rogers SpeedBoost. I also get the 2 mbps up. Most people have similar experiences.

You need to purchase or rent their DOCSIS3 modem though and some people find the router functionality pretty poor for wireless distribution through a larger home. I have my modem bridged to my Airport Extreme and do not use the Rogers router functionality.

Here's the DOCSIS3 thread - check out the last few pages.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=145997

Here's a recent test:

 
#4 ·
Talked to a clueless CSR who suggested that my Express package only included 10Mb download and 256Kb upload! After explaining to him that I was looking right at the Rogers website that states that Express has 30Mb/2Mb speeds, he talked to someone who explained that my modem doesn't handle the higher speeds. Okay, so I asked what I need to look for if I buy a new modem, to which he replied I should buy the latest one from Rogers. After a bit of teeth-pulling, he finally suggested that I need a DOCSYS 3.0 (I think mine is 2.0) cable modem. Off to eBay I go...
 
#6 ·
Talked to a clueless CSR who suggested that my Express package only included 10Mb download and 256Kb upload!...
The CSR is not clueless. If you have a DOCSIS 2.0 modem you're on a grandfathered express package which only includes 10mbps download speed and 60GB of usage. With a DOCSIS 3.0 modem you can get the in market plan which includes 25mbps download speed but Rogers will not activate a non Rogers DOCSIS 3.0 modem.
 
#7 ·
Rogers should be able to tell me *exactly* what I have. The initial explanation I got mentioned nothing about modem technology. The CSR told me the speed I experienced was due to my previous agreement. Interestingly, after speaking to the CSR, my tested speed went DOWN from 28M/0.5M to 16M/0.5M. My modem was obviously new enough to suppport 28M download speeds. Presumably, it should also support 2M upload speeds. I am going to hold off changing my modem. I've read other posts from people who experienced no increase in speed after updating their modems.

At the very least, the CSR should have tools to detect the hardware version of my modem, especially if, as you suggest, they are custom for Rogers. If technical support can't do at least that, you gotta wonder.
 
#8 ·
I don't see anything wrong with their explanation. You're on the grandfathered express package, "previous agreement" is an appropriate way to describe that. CSRs are trained to explain everything in laymen's terms. Using words like DOCSIS is not what they should be doing anyways.

Your speeds can fluctuate a lot due to speedboost. You're testing higher than 10mbps due to the speedboost, but the amount you get boosted to, if any is dependent on available bandwidth at the moment.
 
#9 ·
I don't see anything wrong with their explanation. You're on the grandfathered express package, "previous agreement" is an appropriate way to describe that. CSRs are trained to explain everything in laymen's terms. Using words like DOCSIS is not what they should be doing anyways.
They should be trained to solve my problem, which is basically that, for $52/month, a new customer gets 28Mb/2Mb speeds, while I am getting (or was getting) 28Mb/0.5Mb speeds. I - like any reasonable person - want what a new customer would get for the same price. If I need a new modem, then tell me.

What I don't want to hear is, "well, that's what you get under your old agreement".

BTW, I've been a Rogers customer for over 30 years. I guess loyalty buys you zip with them.
 
#10 ·
As has been discussed many times in this forum, new customers often get promotions to draw them in. In this case, however, you're able to get the same deal as the new customer for internet, provided you purchase/rent the new modem, just like they do.

All long term Rogers customers know this. Check out the following pricing thread and learn how to negotiate.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=158786

If I need a new modem, then tell me.
They did, as you already indicated in post 4. So, they told you you were on an old plan, getting the speeds of that older plan and need a new modem for the latest speeds. I honestly don't know what more you want, especially from someone making minimum wage or close to it.
 
#11 ·
They did, as you already indicated in post 4. So, they told you you were on an old plan, getting the speeds of that older plan and need a new modem for the latest speeds. I honestly don't know what more you want, especially from someone making minimum wage or close to it.
I want Rogers to study how T-Mobile does business and emulate them - especially their website and customer support. When my 1-year discount for committing to remain a customer expires, I want them to let me know...not make me ask if the deal was still in effect and THEN say "oh, you can have 10% off...no commitment required". When I ask why my MyRogers account doesn't load the info for my primary PayGo number for the past 9 months, I don't want to hear that the CSR managed to reset my account from My5 to something else - because they don't offer My5 any more.

And, of course, if new Express customers are getting 28M/2M plus 80Gb, while I'm getting 28M(apparently 16M after talking to CSR)/0.5M and 60Gb, I want the same. This is how business should be done.
 
#15 ·
You're testing at 28 with speedboost which is normal. As 57 said you'll need to download a large file and measure the sustained download speed.

Also, when the 25/2 launched, a lot of clueless reps simply swapped the modems on the account but didn't migrate the customer from the grandfathered express to the new express resulting in zero change in speed.
 
#14 ·
The only way to properly test download speed is to download a large file and calculate the mbps based on filesize and time. If you never download large files, then Rogers Speedboost will show a fairly fast download on any of the speedtest sites since they are fairly short duration. You also won't get the 2 mbps upload with your old modem, but that may not matter to you.

There are very few people who don't get the advertized speed as discussed in post 2 of this thread and in various Rogers speed threads. Almost any time anyone complains about not getting the advertized speed it's because they're using a wireless connection to the router, which depending on location, distance can show slower speed. This is not a Rogers speed to the home issue.

Do you need a new modem (or the new speed that comes with it)? Well that's up to you. Some people are perfectly happy with Lite, while others want more than Ultimate... It's your demands (and wallet) that dictate what service you require.
 
#16 ·
I'm on Express and should be getting 25/2. I just downloaded a large map file for my Garmin GPS. It was 5 GB, which should have taken 27 minutes. I was able to download the file in 23 minutes which is 15% faster. Usually the download window showed around 3.2 MB/s, but on several occasions during the download that lasted for about 20-30 seconds each, I got 6.0, 8.2 and 11.3 MB/s - not sure why that happened but I'm glad of it.

Speedtest.net just showed 27.4/2.3 - I sometimes get faster results on Speedtest as indicated in post 2.

Needless to say, I'm pleased with these results, especially at 1-2PM on a weekday.
 
#17 ·
I test my speeds about once a month and Express has been rock solid since my last post 1.5 years ago. Last week I noticed some strange behaviour with the internet so I ran another test. Instead of getting my usual 25-35 down and 2 up, the download was fine, but upload was only about 0.2-0.5. I pay for 25/2. This went on for a few days and I rebooted my modem/router (bridged) without any effect. I called and they tested the line to my home. They said I was losing packets and so were my neighbours. They put in a work order and a few days later my upload speeds were back to where they should be. I can bet that my neighbours never called - they don't when there are TV issues either. :rolleyes:

I know there are a lot of complaints about a lot of things with Rogers, but I can't complain about the Express service, or the technical service I just had...

(For the first few seconds of any download I typically get over 100 mbps down due to SpeedBoost)
 
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