[griffin145]

I just switched my digital cable and phone from Cogeco to Bell. I wasn't happy with Cogeco's service.


When I tried to switch my internet, Fibe wasn't available.

It now is.

What I want to know from people with experience with both is how do they compare?

Speeds? reliability? throttling?Price?

 

[griffin145]

anyone?

 

[Moe948]

I recently switched from Cogeco 14 mbps service to Bell 6 mbps service. It is significantly cheaper, obviously, but I am having several problems. With the modem they gave me, I had connection dropping several times. They sent a new one today, and there have been no dropped connections so far. I have installed filters at the required spots so that shouldn't be an issue.

The main problem, however, is that webpages take a long time to load. This was never an issue with cogeco, and it shouldn't be an issue with a 6 mbps connection. They take a long time to load, or they show that the internet is not connected. Not always, but very often. If I refresh the webpage a few times they show up.

The funny thing is that internet does not get disconnected while the pages don't load, because some of the times while pages have not loaded, I have been downloading files and the downloads still keep going (and for the tech people, no the downloads don't "stop and "resume" because the file size keeps increasing, i.e. the file is still downloading).

OTOH, cogeco prices are kind of high and their bandwidth policy is of ridiculous. This is also my experience with Bell so far and some people have had much better experience.

 

[profets]

Sure, Cogeco's prices are high and bandwidth limits suck, but Bell's options aren't any better. Fibe 6 (incl 25GB) is same price as Cogeco's 7mbps (incl 30GB) and Fibe 12 (incl 50GB) is same price as Cogeco's 14mbps (incld 60GB).

I've used DSL and cable in several areas, and never really have been able to get very fast DSL (4-5mbps at the most). It was usually stable though. At the end of the day, i've experienced reliable connections from cogeco & bell, as well as throttling, and prices are pretty much similar.

 

[Moe948]

Are you sure Fibe 12 (50GB limit) costs the same as Cogeco's Standard High speed (14 mbps / 60GB)? i.e. the prices if we have no bundles and the contract period is over? Because that's quite f'ed up.

OTOH, what I like about Bell is that at least you can bring your bandwidth limit up by 40GB by paying only $5. Cogeco has no such option.

Edit: From what I can see, Fibe 12 is $51.95 and Cogeco High speed standard is $56.95. $5 difference - and for those $5, you can increase your bandwidth limit to 90 GB with Bell. I don't know about you, but the difference in speed between 12 mbps and 14 mbps is quite negligable. The difference between 90GB and 60GB limit, though, is quite significant.

 

[profets]

Ohh, was told without contract/promotion that Cogeco is 52/month, thats the number I was going by.

It is nice that Bell gives you option to buy that bandwidth "insurance".

Though in my opinion its crazy to go with any of these ISPs with these high prices and crazy bandwidth limits.

 

[Moe948]

TekSavvy is definitely the better option. Most people have said good things about Bell Fibe so I tried it out. Though my experience in the first few days has been far from satisfactory. Even with the new modem, I had connection dropped yesterday.

 

[U]

The main problem, however, is that webpages take a long time to load. This was never an issue with cogeco, and it shouldn't be an issue with a 6 mbps connection. They take a long time to load, or they show that the internet is not connected. Not always, but very often. If I refresh the webpage a few times they show up.

Sounds like a DNS problem... Are you sure you switched to Bell's DNS and not kept the old Cogeco ones configured? You can also try other DNS just for the hell of it (like Google's at 8.8.8.8) to see if it makes a difference or other Bell DNS IPs.

 

[Moe948]

It's set to obtain them automatically. Both in the router webmenu (I am using Bell's modem/router combo) and in the local PC's local area connection settings.