I ordered rogers home phone but I simply can't get them to show up for there appointement. So far they cancled once and just didn't show up the second time. Now I don't know where I'm at with things....

Just picked up my messages - it looks like they are going to come again on Friday - tried to get them to give me a free month but the persons that calls just does the schedules and does not have any authority to do so. I'll call and complain tomorrow to see where it goes.

How long has it been since you placed the order?

From what I've heard, typical wait times for installs is 3 to 4 weeks.

Mine was installed 11 days after I ordered it (late August). It was originally scheduled for 9 days later, but Bell hadn't transferred my number so it was rescheduled.

I had a fellow show up at my door trying to sell me on the Rogers Home Phone.

He had no idea it was a VOIP service and neither did he know it required a phone terminal to be placed in the home.

It might not have been the VOIP service he was selling. Rogers has two products called "Rogers Home Phone", the VOIP service (http://www.shoprogers.com/store/cable/rhp/default.asp), through Rogers Cable, and a traditional POTS service (http://www.rogerstelecom.ca/english/), through Rogers Telecom, which they acquired when they purchased Call-Net Canada (Sprint Canada). Perhaps he was selling the POTS service, in which case there would be no need for a modem.

I've heard of people going door-to-door as well, vociferously denying that the service is VOIP - but Rogers has said where VOIP is available, they'll be selling VOIP, not the old Spring POTS service. I suspect it's misinformed commission salespeople who are worried that people will be scared of VOIP.

I would suggest with almost certainty that it was the VoIP service. Rogers (and all cable companies for that matter) are really hiding the fact that its VoIP because the consumer mindset is that its a bad thing.

Hence why they call it Digital Home or Digital Phone.

I had considered it was the old sprint service and even gave the guy an out buy asking if Rogers has two forms of phone service available (I know they do, and I also know they are pushing VOIP where applicable).

He said "no," Rogers only has one phone service. Thus, he was not informed or chose not to divulge the information (unlikely).

I went with RHP as I only had Rogers internet lite, and thought there might be a deal. I have had NOTHING but problems.

I chose RHP on the basis that I really have had much frustration with bell, and I thought I would save $$. I rent in a house that was recently renovated and I knew there would be the 55 dollar hook up fee as well as the 60 dollar installation fee from Bell. So I went with Rogers. I was an uninformed consumer, and was not told at any time that in order to have RHP I would need a modem the size of a turtle under my desk. Nor was I made aware of the aforementioned 'battery back up'. I am not so tech savvy.

The main problem it is long distance now to call anywhere. Or, if anyone calls me, it is long distance. Even if I am calling my own phone from my cell sitting right next to it it's LD. I also have problems when I call someone instead of rings I just get static, the phone cuts off, or it says it can not be completed as dialed. Over and over it will say that, then suddenly the number CAN be completed as dialed. I do not have pudgy fingers!

I called and spoke to tech support. I left a report and in total spent about 1hr on the phone with them. 72 hours passed with no reply. I called back to find out there was no report on my file. So I placed another complaint. In 72 hours I recieved no less than 4 phone messages from Rogers assuring me the problem had been fixed, and infact that the problem was BELLs and not theirs.

Of course it's not fixed. I just called and was told AGAIN it's a system access problem and it's BELLS FAULT not theirs and they will have to get Bell to fix it. Well, if I was Ma Bell, I sure as heck wouldn't fix it. But maybe Bell will.

I signed up for the RHP service AFTER Sept 13. I was ASSURED there was no system access fee. I specifically asked about that. We'll see.

I also was told that there was no way for them to prevent all these long distance fees from appearing on my first bill. I will have to call back to have them removed. Their customer service phone line is terrible and slow. Much worse than Bell. Although they are substantially more polite than Bell, they are much less efficient.

I am so annoyed with this service. I should have sucked it up and paid the $110 to have Bell. I do not intend to pay for my first month. If they do not accept this I will have the phone and turtle-sized modem removed.

Wow, I'm certainly sorry to hear about your trouble. RHP and the cable companies are suggesting that there service is as good as Bell but this is evidence they have a ways to go.

Thanks for the post!

I

I chose RHP on the basis that I really have had much frustration with bell, and I thought I would save $$. I rent in a house that was recently renovated and I knew there would be the 55 dollar hook up fee as well as the 60 dollar installation fee from Bell.


i'm not sure what exactly you are talking about with a $60.00 connection fee.
there is the standard crtc regulated $55.00 charge for the connection and that includes putting a dmarc back on the building if has been removed during a renovation. it is $79.00 to connect the dmarc to the inside wiring, but you can also have an electrician or a buddy who's good at reading diagrams do that for you. (there is an inside wiring guide around the forum somewhere)

there is nothing that cost $60.00 for connection.
i'd be interested in knowing where you heard that.


nem, who felt the need to clarify.

I've had the Rogers home phone service for over a month, with only minimal problems on day#1. Service has been reliable (only a minor problem with echo on day#1 that was fixed), packaged together with TV/Internet we save a bit of $$. As a standalone service, likely ends up being the same or slightly cheaper than Bell, but if you can package together there is a savings.

I guess because homephonefrustrated rents, the modem has to be inside his apartment? For us, the modem is in the basement beside the fusebox, so very unobtrusive. Modem itself is about twice the size of the Internet modem. Fine if it's in the basement, but I agree, could be a bit of an eyesore in an open area.

I just got the Rogers home phone installed and am not happy with the installation. It was explained to me on the phone that the installation was just extra attachment applied to one phone jack and that when you make calls your phone is rerouted. I thought that sounded pretty simple so I went for it. It took the technician over 3 hours to do the install. He did not end up putting the install where I wanted, in my 2nd bedroom converted to an office, because of some complications. He ended up having to install it in my livingroom. Now I have this huge modem in my living room and a ton of extra cable that needed to be put in to reach the modem. I did not realize the cable had to connect to the modem as well as it was explained to me on the phone that it would just involve an attachment to my jack only. I was also told that they would not have to do anything to the wiring, that it was just a plug in. But he was fiddling around with all my wiring too. I have called Rogers and am waiting to hear back as to if I can get a cleaner install. I am not sure if it is worth paying less to have all this extra messy cabling in my living room. I may end up switching back to Bell and even paying what I have to to do it.

Why dont you try asking if they can move it to the demarcation point where the Bell feed enters the house. They may need to run a cable line to that spot to do it.

I looked at this pretty hard. I've used (in this order, Vonage, Sprint and then back to Sprint landline).

I then moved and decided to go 100% VoIP in the new hourse. If your doing this to save money, then there are only 2 solutions and Rogers or Bell is not one of them.

I'm currently using Vonage for the ~$40/month North America package (that is 100% free North America calling). I very simply plugged it into my cable modem and then, after ensuring that Bell was disconnected from the house at the DEMARC point, I plugged the Vonage PAP into the house wiring (you can do this at any socket). Total setup time was about 5 minutes. Another 5 to create your account online at www.vonage.ca.

It did take Vonage about 3 weeks to move my phone number over from Sprint however they did provide me with a temporary one.

As I work from home, I'm on the phone all day long. There is the very odd glitch in the audio, but it works 99.9% of the time and you get all the phone features you'll ever use.

Primus has a cheaper plan that I might try at some time in the future, but at this point I have no serious problems with Vonage. I keep my PAP and my cable modem plugged into UPS just for some backup in a power failure, but if the power failure is significant and Rogers goes down as well then I will not have any home phone service (until the cell networks die as well). I can live with that at half the price of Bell.

Then, there is always Ham radio. It always gets through!

I have Vonage wired through out the house also, works great!!!

Agreed on the Ham radio....that always works

Leo
VE3ZVD

I had Rogers Home Phone installed today. Everything works fine so far. No problems with my home alarm. The interesting part is that the technician said the telephony modem has to be at the same place as my cable modem. He said that in the near future, my telephony modem will be my cable modem as well.

I asked him about my Motorola modem as I have purchased it with my Extreme subscription. He said he didn't know. It will be interesting to see how they're going to resolve this issue.

Right now, I have two modems in my study. One for data and one for voice.

Ok. I read the thread the great information that is helping me to make a decision to switch to RPH or not. I have a couple of questions though.

1. Expect at least 7 to 11 business days to get connected to RHP, partly because it takes Bell this long to release your current phone number and scheduling issues with the cable guy.

Question - Does this mean you are without a land line phone for these 7 to 11 days?

2. From Homephonefrustration's entry about Long Distance (someone calls you and it is LD). Would I be charged the LD if someone calls me from outside of Ottawa?

3. Uberchuckie - I am too in the Nepean area. How long did it take for you to get switched to RPH?

Tx..... Leo
http://www.sarahandleo.com