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


No, you're with Bell until they actually switch you over when the hardware is setup.


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


I had to wait two weeks for the appointment. It took about an hour and a half for the cable person to rewire the phone lines and transfer the phone number over.

We're moving to Burnaby, BC and I tried to get Primus (where we have an advantageous LD plan) but they don't service our area, and I couldn't even find Bell's site, and our alarm system company wouldn't hook up to Shaw (cable modem) so we settled on Rogers, and it's about $10/month less than Telus, in the end.

We're doing some renovations right now; should we have the contractor put in an extra electrical outlet for the modem box?

We're moving to Burnaby, BC and I tried to get Primus (where we have an advantageous LD plan) but they don't service our area, and I couldn't even find Bell's site, and our alarm system company wouldn't hook up to Shaw (cable modem) so we settled on Rogers, and it's about $10/month less than Telus, in the end.You can get Rogers home phone outside of their service area?

I believe Rogers now has 3 types of home phone (all marketed by the same confusing name): traditional POTS (ie Sprint Canada), packet cable telephony & most recently "traditional" internet VOIP (http://webstore.rogerstelecom.ca/webstore/jsp/display.do?jsp=/jsp/ips_01.jsp?lang=en). Not sure if all are available in all areas (obviously their packet cable telephony would be limited to their cable TV & internet service areas). It's really confusing.

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.

Have other Rogers Home Phone customers encountered this problem of the Internet and telephone modems in the same location?

I have assumed, should I decide to switch, that since my Rogers cables and Bell wires enter the house at the same location in the basement and the Bell demarcation point is within inches of Rogers cables and an electrical supply, that the telephone modem could be placed out-of-sight and mind in the basement as well.

For what it's worth, Rogers has two cables running into the house: one feeds digital TV signals to two floors and the other feeds the Internet modem in a second floor office.

Had mine since last summer...no probs. I'm with the Sprint side and I get another bill instead of it being combined with my cable and internet and had to call again to get Sprint to give me my 15% disc for bundling with cable & internet(their systems aren't connected).
I was told that Rogers isn't as innovative with their phones as Sprint is trying to be-they have some new service that Rogers doesn't offer (don't know the details). I would look at Sprint's website and see what the diff is to you.
Sandra

Just signed up with RHP. I was with Bell, on their $4.95 "FirstRate Long Distance Plan", with a second number on "Ident-a-Call" (distinctive ring)

Total charges:
19.28 Residence Line
4.95 First Rate Overseas plan (10 c/min 24/7 anywhere in NA, "best" international rates)
4.50 Network charge
0.19 911 Service charge
5.00 Ident-a-call service
2.80 TouchTone service
7.00 Call Answer service
------
43.72 Total bill

Now, with Rogers (as I understand it)
29.95 Line + 1 feature (voice mail)
1.00 All World Plan (5 c/min 24/7 anywhere in NA, "best" international rates)
4.25 Network access fee
4.00 Distinctive Ring
-----
39.20 Total bill
- 15% Smart Bundle discount
-----
33.32 Adjusted total

That's over $10.00 less per month, plus my LD rate is 5 c/min compared to 10 c/min anywhere in NA. Plus, for the first four months I have $10 off.

I call that real savings.

My phone service was to be switched from Rogers Telecom to Home Phone.

A tech. came in about a month ago, spent about, 2 hours on a Saturday, had problems with both modems that he had. At that point I asked him to reschedule as we had to leave. About 2 weeks ago someone called to reschedule, I didn't like the time window and the time I might have to spend with the tech. so I asked to them cancel the Home Phone service. Well, what do you know, yesterday my phone got dis. and I won't have it back until about July 24th. Someone at Rogers screwed up the order. So anyone wanting to switch to Rogers Home Phone, if anything goes wrong during the installation, you could be in for a shocker.

I live in the Ottawa region, moved to a new apartment decided to go with RHP. It took about 12 phone calls and 3 appointments to get someone to show up, more than 4 weeks, and that was just for the phone. I had an equally frustrating time getting my cable and internet 'turned on'. It's an apartment building, all they had to do was flick a switch in the basement. Very frustrating. So finally the home phone is installed, I get the two separate bills, and it only works in one of the 4 phone jacks in the apartment. fine, I can deal. Then one day while I'm at work, my girl friend answers the door to a rogers salesmen. He wanted us to combine our bills, so being the smart cookie that she is she asked all the questions, 'why?, what will it cost us, what do you have to do?' They said 'nothing', just have someone come and 'inspect our phone line' She asked specifically if they needed to use a modem or if it would go throught the cable now, the answer was 'no'. So they show up a few weeks later, I'm home, the guy comes in and starts asking her where the cable comes in. Whoa.. what? why? ... Well I have this modem to hook up your phone. Needless to say after discussion with the technician.. who was actually nice. We turned him away.. and we're canceling this 'bill combining option'. They wanted to stick this modem in our dining room, and because our buzz for the front door is through our phone, we would have to have a second phone line, just for that. So we told him to cancel it. So since then we've been getting phone messages from an automated rogers call system telling us to call them back and reschedule our appointment. I'm not about to call them back and wait on the phone for another hour to talk to someone just to tell them we don't want their damned modem, when they lied to us flat out in the first place.
We're looking to move into a new house soon, and Rogers will be the last place I look for Cable/Internet/Phone. Their service is horrible, and try speaking to someone who can do anything about it. HA! Everyone who answers the phone does have 'the power' to do anything, except screw you over more.

-my two cents, use them as you see fit.

hobb3s

Be careful that they don't totally disconnect you phone service cause that's what happened to me when I told that I would not like to switch from Rogers Telecom to Roger Home Phone

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.
I'm a telco technician. If the person who wired your house from the beginning did a proper job, then the rogers tech would NOT have to be fiddling with the inside wiring. You should be happy he didnt charge you EXTRA for what he did, as its not HIS fault the wiring may have been problematic. Basically, the rogers home phone is basically think of it as a Bell Central Office, now the bell wires come in to your house, so the rogers modem comes into your house through the cable line, and it has to somehow interface with your existing phone jacks. if you already have phone jacks connected through bell, the rogers Tech has to also disconnect it even though youve probaly cancelled your bell line, he has to disconnect the wiring from bells d-marc just incase so it doesnt hamper with the signal.

Now, you can install the DPS modem anywhere, my preference is the basement where the cable wires enter the house at the panel and patch it into the house D-Marcation. your house may not have had a point of demarcation, so he had to make one from an existing jack.

Be very careful when switching from one type to the other. I had the phone service from Sprint which Rogers had taken over. Signed up for a switch to the Rogers Telecom where they have to install the Modem. changed my mind because the switch was taking too long. They disconnected my service when I told them I would like to stay with the original service, by mistake. It will be 2 weeks before I get my original number and phone service back.

10.5 years with Bell - no outages
1.5 year with Sprint/Rogers - two outages of 14 days and 1 day

Maybe Rogers should just stay in the cable business.(and get rid of J.P. in the process too)

I work for Rogers Cable, and in most cases especially in newer areas everything we need for the install is @ the electrical panel, just need to tap into the cable/inside phone wiring/and 1 electrical outlet, if everything is there it should take 20mins if everything goes smoothly.

Now it some of the older homes, where say the bell comes in on one side of your house and cable on the otherside...this sometimes gets more complex...we usually have to find a place where there is a cable outlet/phone jack/electrical all together in a bedroom or something...and if there is an alarm, we have to wire it properly for that..which can take more time...


now if there isn't a place like i mentioned above..we have to find a cable outlet or phone..and drill a hole outside and run a wire to the main cable box outside your house or phone demarc point depending on which u tap into inside the house....

lastly, I believe RHP (rogers home phone) is a good product if done correctly, I go to peoples houses to many time where a contractor went in a screwed things up, some of them are good, but lots of them do rushed jobs and cause future problems, which makes rogers as a whole look bad... this problem is getting taken care of...

but most people i talk to are happy with the system... when its installed correctly...

Yeah I agree, I'm a technician too ,and have travelled to customers houses and appartments. I like to see nice clean installations. I've also noticed a lot of customers dont bother to tuck away their DPS modem, but rather keep it on the living room floor out in the open, For christs sake, your going to have home phone in your house for a long time to come, you might as well dress up the wiring a little neater, heck, make a shelf or soemthing to place the equiptment after its installed. thats NOT rogers responsibility, its YOURS.

Okay I am confused still. Of the services offered by Rogers, which one is most reliable?

Two of them are called Rogers Home Phone, which one do I want?

Also is there a setup fee involved for getting this service into my apartment?

Thanks

I want a service similar or closest to Bell or Telus.

Okay I am confused still. Two of them are called Rogers Home Phone, which one do I want?
I want a service similar or closest to Bell or Telus.

One service is what used to be Sprint. Uses Bell line to the CO then goes on Rogers network. =Telephony technology. No entrance to your apartment required.

The other service is "cable" voice over IP. They have to install a modem and attach to a cable outlet and telephone jack in your apartment. Can be messy depending on location of jacks.

Both services let you keep your existing phone number.

You'll have to check with Rogers about installation cost.

One service is what used to be Sprint. Uses Bell line to the CO then goes on Rogers network. =Telephony technology. No entrance to your apartment required.

The other service is "cable" voice over IP. They have to install a modem and attach to a cable outlet and telephone jack in your apartment. Can be messy depending on location of jacks.

Both services let you keep your existing phone number.

You'll have to check with Rogers about installation cost.

How does the IP voice traffic get from Rogers to the PSTN? Do they use 3rd-party IECs as do other VoIP providers?

It's ~$65 to get a Roger's tech to come out to do wiring if you ever need to get your Digital Home Phone service disconnected and wired such that you can get Bell Canada service again.

As in one of the other threads, there's the traditional home phone service which is simply Roger's Telecom (formerly Sprint Canada) but now Roger's Cable renting lines from Bell. There's no guarantee that you'll be able to get the service in your area even though Bell offers service because Bell needs to release lines to Rogers. Basically, if you ever hear there are issues with facilities @ the wire center, you'll know that Bell and Rogers are still in the process of negotiating the turn-over of circuits. All you can do is keep your fingers crossed on this. I would have to say that Roger's renting the lines from Bell is the better quality of service than Digital and VoIP if you're a person that wants to avoide hassles.

I had Bell for 5 years, then Sprint for 2.5 years (then Sprint was bought by Rogers). I never had serious issues with either aside from Billing. Basically since Sprint is running on Bell lines, you have theoretically the same service.

There are limitations with Roger's Home Phone service (digital, that is). On the FAQ site they detail issues with dial-up modems and "some devices". There are no exact details as to what, but it's probably their way of playing it safe.

I haven't found tech support all that helpful when trying to get details regarding the digital service but that is probably just growing pains; stuff that should be straightened up before going live with their service offering. I figure they were losing ground to Bell as a result of TTM (time to market) so they jumped in with Digital and VoIP asap!!!

Great thread, and very informative. here's my dilemma. I live in a 15 story apt, and have Bell. But as of a couple weeks ago, I was having problems receiving calls. The phone would ring once, for well less than a second. Just enough to be audible, and when I would pick up, i'd get dialtone. People called me on my cell to ask what was up, as when they called, they were immediately disconnected. I called Bell tech, and they instructed me to "take my phone, and search out my demarc point, which could be anywhere. from outside, to a room in the basement. There connect your phone and see if it works". Needless to say, I was speechless. I asked incredulously whether I even HAD access to the Demarc point, and they assured me I did. They also said it MAY be a $75 charge if it was a problem on my end, and no charge if not. They also tried to sell me on their $5 a month wire maintenance plan. The problem has seemed to rectify itself, but it still occurs sporadically. What gives ?

Now, question. What, and where is my demarc point? And am I able to access it?

The demarc (demarcation) point is the location where the Bell owned lines end and the lines owned by the property owner begins. Usually, for a house, it would be at the wall where the Bell lines enter the house. In a newer apartment, there is usually a "pull box" located just above the floor near where the electrical panel is.

You can tell it's the demarc point when you see the little box that splices the Bell lines into your house phone lines.

Technically, Bell is only responsible for the lines and equipment on their side of the demarc. Lines and equipment on the inside is your own responsibility, with the exception of any equipment you lease from Bell.