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119K views 122 replies 46 participants last post by  ZEDnotzee 
#1 ·
Hi, I just wanted some advice, my contract has ended for my Rogers cable tv and of course the discounts I was receiving ended. I have home phone and internet with Bell so they have approached me in the past about Fibe TV. After learning more about this it seems like it offers more that what I would get from Rogers. The whole home PVR in itself is a major plus for me.

I have three tv's two with digital boxes, and one on basic cable(not digital terminal)

Anyway to renew contract for one year, I would get the following from Rogers
- 30% off my cable service (VIP package)
- Of the two digital boxes I currently rent, they would swap one for a free HD PVR.
-Rogers cost/month would be about $68

In contrast Bell offers me the following
- Whole home PVR, with no charge main PVR for 36 months
- I would rent two additional HD PVR (for the same price as the standard digital rogers box $5/month)
- Choice bundle - equivalent channels to Rogers VIP
- Bell cost/ month would be about $66 first year, $79 second year

I've been a cable TV customer of rogers for ages so its hard to switch but honestly it looks like I would get more from Bell if I switch. Does anyone else think the same? ANy good reasons to stick with Rogers?
 
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#2 ·
You can simply tell them what Bell is offering you and give them a chance. Some things to keep in mind:

You have three TVs, so if it's important to you, ask if FibeTV will be able to deliver HD to all three TVs simultaneously. It probably cannot.

I thought analog cable was gone as of today, so you would need a third cable box.

You only mentioned the 1st and 2nd year -- what is the third year from Bell going to cost?

For myself, I'm still waiting for FibeTV to make it out to where I live, but when it does I'm going to give it a long look, and I've told Rogers that. I have a rent-free-for-life HD PVR which, in the past, was always the "deal breaker" (Bell could not sweeten the offer enough to switch). Lately, though, Bell has been very aggressive, and if not for the non-availability of FibeTV I may have switched a couple of months ago. Now I'm on a 2-year with Rogers because the Bell guy could not say for sure that FibeTV will be available in one year.
 
#4 ·
erotavlas, is that a bundle price for Bell? You're saving $2 a month in year one and paying more next year so Rogers would be cheaper longer term.

Also note that Fibe Internet speed has a lower maximum (Fibe 6) if you Fibe TV depending on where you are so something to investigate. See Fibe forum for details on this.
 
#5 ·
@hugh - If you purchase Fibe TV then you must get Fibe Internet, however, the maximum internet bandwidth available to you will be 25Mbs if you buy their Fibe16+ service. This allows you to use all the bandwidth that is not taken up by Fibe TV. So, if you have no TV's running then you will get 25Mbs - the more video streams the less for access to the internet.
(at least, this is my understanding)
 
#6 ·
#7 · (Edited)
Hugh, I read through the thread on your link.
Not sure I follow you...
Lets start with FibeTV - as a pre-req, you must be in an area that offers Fibe 25 for the internet.
You can then get Fibe 6, Fibe 12 or Fibe 16+ with Fibe TV. Each has a bandwidth limit (download) Fibe 6 is 6Mbs, Fibe 12 is 12Mbs and 16+ is "up to 25 Mbs" if you are not using the Fibe TV streams.
See this link - http://fibetv.bell.ca/en/internet/

Upload speeds are usually up to 1Mbs but there is an optional 7Mbs upload speed.
 
#10 ·
Not impressed with the Nextbox - no option to try Fibe

Well after agonizing for weeks on whether to leave Rogers to try Bell Fibe TV I decided to do it. I was offered free PVR and a significat discount on my bill by Bell. After confirming that it was available in my house in Toronto they sent out the tech who said that my house was to far from the node so no fibe for me:( Bell also said that my phone cables were in the ceilings so to get internet they would have to cut open the ceiling. Rogers in the meantime had been trying to woo me back with a free PVR and discounts. After this happened, when I tried to get those discounts they said it had been a third party offering them and they could not match it. They did offer a free PVR for 1 year and 30% off my bill. Also a new modem for free for a year whcih is faster than the old one.
Well the Nextbox 2.0 arrived yesterday and it is just the old Cisco PVR with whole home capability. 500 MB of memory. It took over 5 hours to install and another hole in my wall to separate the internet form the TV cable. I was hoping the guide would be much better but it is not. The font is so small you can hardly read it and it only shows 5 rows of listing at once. Half the TV screen is taken up with info on the show (there is no way to change the appearance of this). The old guide allowed you to use the info button to get more info and the guide screen took up more of the TV. They have added the ability to tape a show for 5 minutes after the hour which is helpful as my old PVR was always cutting off the shows that ran a minute over. I can't comment on the search function as it doesn't work on my machine and I am headed back to the store to replace the PVR to see if that works. Also, you can only record 2 shows at once. With Bell Fibe TV you can record 4 shows at once. With a whole home PVR experience recording 2 shows at once is not enough if multiple TVs are sharing the PVR. You can only record 1 week ahead (with Bell you can record 2 weeks ). The List function has the TV running behind the words which makes it difficult to read. Bell also had facebook on the TV which Rogers does not offer. I am glad to have more recording space and the ability to watch the PVR on another TV but other than that a very disappointing product with not much improvement from the old version. Waiting for Fibe TV to reach my house!
 
#11 ·
LOL I forgot I posted this, I'm still with Rogers and was searching the web for the Netbox 2.0 vs Bell Fibe TV and found my old post. :p

At the time last year Rogers didn't have the netbox so I renewed for the year with them to get the free HD PVR and one standard def. PVR.

But now since I already have Bell home phone plus Fibe 12 internet, those bundle deals they have look decent. Plus they might throw in some discounts for being a long time customer. We will see when my rogers contract is up.

Mean while I recently had Rogers upgrade my HD PVR guide software and its an improvement - Search is way better. However I still like Bell's guide and setup better. I don't know maybe I just like the color blue better than the red and black :p
 
#12 ·
New home buyer looking for TV Provider information

Hi everyone.

First off let me apologize in case I am posting this in the incorrect section of DHF.

I am about to move into my first home and have been bombarded with a number of e-mails from various TV/Internet providers seemingly eager to snatch me up as a new customer and take my hard earned $$. Before I make the decision on which provider I want to go with I was just curious if anyone had any helpful information for a rookie such as myself.

I have been contacted by both Rogers and Bell regarding service.

I am eligible for Fibe TV/Internet which certainly interests me because I like the product. The package I was offered is as follows:
- Fibe 50/50(175Gb) internet free for 6 months
- Modem included
- Fibe TV "the Best" TV package and a free HDPVR after 6 months the discounted rate is as you quoted below at $85.95/month. HDPVR remains free.
- 2 months free movie network and super channel
- No install fee and no contract

This seems like a decent deal to me but I am wary of any hidden fees I might encounter after my 6 month period concludes. The fine print on the Bell site for "The Best Package" says "For months 1-6, ($103.95/mo. thereafter).
in a TV, Internet, and Home phone bundle".......but I wasn't planning on getting a home phone, I have a Bell cell phone.

My other option was to get a Rogers HD receiver and go with TekSavvy High Speed DSL 6.

Sorry for the inundation of information but I'm certainly a rookie when it comes to this stuff. Any tips or information would certainly be appreciated.

Thank you very much.
 
#13 ·
I think a little more info would be useful to give you the best advice. Where are you going to live? Have you looked at OTA for television. Lots of folks are very happy with OTA + Netflix/itunes. You can save a ton of money. IMO, it is only worthwhile for those who live close enough to the border to pick up a good number of US stations (I'm not one of them).

Also, double check the prices for Teksavvy if you don't have a home phone number. You might end up paying an extra "dry loop" fee.

Mark
 
#14 ·
Rogers really needs to quickly come out with an IPTV solution complete with APPS and a Network PVR. Rogers should partner with Netflix in some way. It's obvious where the industry is going. Their hardware is somewhat outdated even though they tout it otherwise. I will give Rogers credit providing their live tv app and remote thru an I-Pad where you can schedule your recordings.
 
#16 ·
Smallmj: I'm living about an hour north of Toronto. I'm not entirely sold on the OTA services based on my prior experience with how poor the signal could be.
Thank you for the heads up on the possible dry loop fee with tekSavvy. I will look into that.

Mcibus: Do you prefer Fibe simply because of the additional recordings you can program. How has customer service been for you? I will admit I am leaning more towards Fibe as I think the guide and overall user experience is second to none.

Thanks again for the helpful tips!
 
#17 ·
@CW86
I can only comment on my own experience with Fibe TV others may differer from mine.

For customer service I find it quite good. The catch is depending on what your asking for and time of day you
ll either get CSR here in Canada or CSR in the Philippians which I find there English quite good and understandable.

I know anything to do with Billing your CSR will be here in Canada.
Your programing your CSR may be here in Canada or it may be in the Philippians depending on time of day and how busy they are.

PQ I find to be quite superior then on Rogers and thats coming from someone who has a visual disability.

The receivers are excellent vary quite.

As for apps,computer. iPhone related stuff that part I can't really answer as I'm not that skilled in that area.

True the Bells Fibe receive can't display call display, but the last time I had the Nextbox receiver from Rogers it couldn't do it either. Not sure if still like that or not.

As for programing I find it cheaper with Bell

IE I have 3 ethnic services it only cost me $17.50/month for those 3 channels. With Rogers it would cost me $35/month.

Now true it all depends on your viewing preferences, but having a wife who's Francophone(i don't really speak French( and kids that are bilingual Bell has more French services then Rogers, they catch here is you would think Rogers would add more French channels at least here in Ottawa considering the cities make of English & French & bilingual pop?

Like I said I'm only going by my own experience with Fibe and I like it quite abit as well as their Internet.Others my differer from my own experience.

If you rent your receivers its way cheaper then Rogers

PVR $13.??/month Bell
PVR $25/month Rogers
 
#21 ·
Well I went ahead and signed up with Fibe. I really like the service so decided to switch from Rogers.

As an owner in a new development they have a 6 month free deal going on.
I got the Fibe 50/50(175GB) internet package at $49.95/month. Free installation and modem
"The Best" TV package with 1 free HDPVR, 2 months free movie package (I will downgrade to "The Better" TV package just before my 6 month period expires).

The only thing I will be paying for in this 6 month period is the rental of an additional HDPVR.

Thanks very much for all of the information everyone. Certainly made it easier for me to decide.
 
#23 ·
While the Bell Fibe PVR may be able to record 4 shows, how many HD feeds can it record, simultaneously? Also, if you are recording the max HD streams, how does that affect your internet access?

In my case I am still with Rogers as Fibe TV has not gotten to my neighborhood yet. They say "this year" and my Rogers contract runs out in January. Sounds almost perfect.

From what I know, the Bell PVR is better (not sure about reliability, but the ability to record more simultaneous shows, larger drive, better UI). Is there a possibility of segregating shows -- e.g. the stuff the kids record is in a different folder from what we record? Is there a way to password protect a show at scheduling time (on the Rogers PVR I can only protect it after it's been recorded -- almost totally useless).

Price-wise, I am not sure that Bell is any better than Rogers, to tell you the truth. Sure, you get a great deal for the first 6 months and maybe a 2-year contract with bundling discounts, but eventually the prices become very similar.
 
#25 ·
While the Bell Fibe PVR may be able to record 4 shows, how many HD feeds can it record, simultaneously? Also, if you are recording the max HD streams, how does that affect your internet access?
It can record and/or watch live 3 HD shows and 1 SD show simultaneously.

In the past, your internet would slow down if you were recording or watching TV. However, Bell has now changed their policy and they will only allow you to sign up for an internet tiers that won't result in a degradation in speed due to TV viewing. As a result the maximum speed you can get will vary based on your line conditions and your area. It can range anywhere from 15/10 to 50/10, but there will be no slow downs as the modem is overprovisioned to compensate for the TV streams.
 
#24 ·
@CW86,

Where do you live? I checked their bundle prices for another area in Ottawa where they *do* have Fibe TV (just enter a different postal code) and the pricing I see is this:

$170/month for the "Better" TV package, with 25/10/100 internet and home phone.

You quoted $103.95/month for "Better" TV and 50/50/175, with home phone. That's a pretty significant difference. Are you telling me we are getting screwed over in Ottawa even more? Probably because we can't get much OTA.
 
#26 ·
I'm thinking of switching to Bell, for the ability to record more than 2 programs at once, but mainly because of something that nobody has really mentioned here, other than the thinnest mention of the issue - and that is that the GUI on the Nextbox 2.0 with Rogers is the BIGGEST STEAMING PILE OF FECES I've ever seen in any software/firmware on ANY electric device or computer product I've EVER seen. And I've seen A LOT.

I used to have the previous firmware on my PVR - it was called SARA - and it did most things very well and VERY quickly. The new GUI and TV guide offers a bunch of new features - BUT IT LEAVES OUT A DOZEN ESSENTIAL features that the old firmware offered - and that I used and loved. For example, the new guide doesn't allow you to use slow motion or frame by frame, and you can't record just part of a program, and you can't FF in 15 minute increments at the touch of a button, or skip to the last 5 minutes of a program, or stop recording and delete a program in one step if you decide the program is not interesting.

And worse, much worse - this stupid new Nextbox 2.0 GUI seems to have BEEN DESIGNED BY COMPLETE AND UTTER MORONS. It's like they gave the job to engineers who have NEVER used a PVR. They have just made astonishingly stupid design decisions in the way they set up the guide, and it is SLOW AS MOLASSES and it STILL has a BUNCH OF BUGS and things that will irritate the heck out of you every day.

Can you tell I'm PEEVED? --- end of rant ---
 
#27 ·
^^^ I switched from Rogers to Bell Fibe last year and am much happier with Bell. Just be aware that (unless I'm missing something) Fibe doesn't offer any of the features you mention either.
 
#29 ·
No, Bell has technology in place to restrict your internet speed to whatever you pay for even though your line is overprovisioned to compensate for TV traffic.

Also depending on your neighbourhood, you may be forced to downgrade to 15/10 in order to get Fibe TV.
 
#32 ·
It's really frustrating that I still can't get the answer to the simple question: when Bell FibeTV is available in my area in six months' time, what tier of service will be available to me? The chat agents are clueless -- every single time they've thanked me for being a loyal Bell customer, even though before you start a chat you must select from a pulldown list what services you have (and I have none). Then they tell me I I can get ADL and satellite for now (after I tell them that my Rogers contract expires in January, just when FibeTV is coming).

Also, saw the fine print that the $10 to get unlimited download is only available if you have three services; $30 otherwise.
 
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