Joined
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6 Posts
Hi All,
Longtime fan. First time poster.
I've used Surf Internet in Vancouver for 4 years and besides their reasonably terrible customer service, never had any issues with them. That was until two weeks ago...
Suddenly I was no longer able to access my local computers from the internet. This is something I've been doing years (web server, Plex, VNC, security cameras etc.) I spent a number of hours troubleshooting things on my end and finally concluded that it was an issue with Surf and not on my end.
Contacted Surf and (when they finally called me back) was given a story about a new firewall being setup on their end for my security. That day external connections magically started working again and I brushed the whole thing off.
One day later and external connections were once again blocked. Called again. Waited for a call-back then asked to talk to a manager. When they finally called me, I was given the same story about firewall and security upgrades. Fine with me but I need to be able to connect to my computers externally. I was then told I'd need to pay $5 a month more for a static IP address.
I argued with the manager for 10 minutes telling him paying $5 and month for a service I already had was ridiculous for two reasons:
1) This "improved security" was never communicated to me. Thus causing me to spend several hours of my own time trying to sort out the problem.
2) I should not have to pay more for a feature that I already had. Being able to connect back to my network from the internet is a fundamental feature of how the internet works.
Anyone with their own firewall knows that its super easy to add a single IP to a DMZ and that charging $5 / month for this service is totally ridiculous.
In the end they offered me two months of free static IP (colour me not impressed). I took the offer but told them flat-out that I'd be taking my business elsewhere. What's stopping them charging me for other internet features that I already have in the future?
To me the whole thing reeks of bait-and-switch and honestly seems borderline illegal. Its clear that the reason they haven't communicated this to their customers is that they didn't want publicity around the change.
Anyway, I hope this helps other Surf customers who might be out there and wondering why they can't connect back from outside their network.
Longtime fan. First time poster.
I've used Surf Internet in Vancouver for 4 years and besides their reasonably terrible customer service, never had any issues with them. That was until two weeks ago...
Suddenly I was no longer able to access my local computers from the internet. This is something I've been doing years (web server, Plex, VNC, security cameras etc.) I spent a number of hours troubleshooting things on my end and finally concluded that it was an issue with Surf and not on my end.
Contacted Surf and (when they finally called me back) was given a story about a new firewall being setup on their end for my security. That day external connections magically started working again and I brushed the whole thing off.
One day later and external connections were once again blocked. Called again. Waited for a call-back then asked to talk to a manager. When they finally called me, I was given the same story about firewall and security upgrades. Fine with me but I need to be able to connect to my computers externally. I was then told I'd need to pay $5 a month more for a static IP address.
I argued with the manager for 10 minutes telling him paying $5 and month for a service I already had was ridiculous for two reasons:
1) This "improved security" was never communicated to me. Thus causing me to spend several hours of my own time trying to sort out the problem.
2) I should not have to pay more for a feature that I already had. Being able to connect back to my network from the internet is a fundamental feature of how the internet works.
Anyone with their own firewall knows that its super easy to add a single IP to a DMZ and that charging $5 / month for this service is totally ridiculous.
In the end they offered me two months of free static IP (colour me not impressed). I took the offer but told them flat-out that I'd be taking my business elsewhere. What's stopping them charging me for other internet features that I already have in the future?
To me the whole thing reeks of bait-and-switch and honestly seems borderline illegal. Its clear that the reason they haven't communicated this to their customers is that they didn't want publicity around the change.
Anyway, I hope this helps other Surf customers who might be out there and wondering why they can't connect back from outside their network.
