Lake Waseosa Ratepayers' Association

After ignoring our requests for years and telling us that there were not enough people around here to warrant the expense, Bell has finally installed the required hardware to provide DSL service to the Lake Waseosa area.

This opens up a number of options for high speed internet. "High speed" is a relative term, of course, and no matter what any provider says, the actual speed is dependent largely on the distance of copper wire between you and the switching equipment (known as a "DSLAM"). If you are physically near the DSLAM you can see d/l speeds as high as 5MB and u/l speeds as high as 800MB. Those speeds will drop off to dial-up rates by approximately 4.5 to 5 km of wire.

Bell of course is promoting their Sympatico service (and naturally won't tell you about the other options). Sympatico service may make sense for some. They do have a "light" package with a 2GB/month cap and limited speeds of "up to 2mb" for $35.90 per month (incl. $3.95 per month modem rental fee), plus approximately $80 installation and activation fees.

Their basic true DSL package comes with a 25GB per month cap for $45.90 (incl. 3.95 modem rental fee) per month, plus $80 in installation and activation fees.

If you use more than your cap, you face some hefty surcharges, so you might consider Sympatico's "Usage Insurance Plan" for $5 per month, which brings the total up to 65GB per month. Otherwise they charge $2 per gig over your allotted cap. Also, Bell is famous for throttling bandwidth during the day.

Note that the prices quoted above may differ from their advertisements. Bell does often offer deals and incentives to bundle Sympatico with their other services, such as satellite TV, cell phone service and/or long distance packages. They also offer discounted rates for up to one year for certain new customers. Read the fine print carefully!

Sympatico is not the only DSL provider. Bell doesn't like to admit it, but the CRTC requires them to provide equal access to other ISPs once the equipment is there. Here are some alternatives:

Vianet offers the same service as Sympatico (they actually use Bell's Nexxia system) for $39.99 per month, but with no monthly cap. This includes the modem rental, but Vianet's modem is a basic model, not a wireless router like the one Bell usually supplies, so you will have to provide your own router if you need to connect more than one computer or connect wirelessly. Vianet's throttling policy mirrors Bell, since they use the same system. Vianet notes that this applies to any company using Bell's system. Vianet also notes that they were part of the coalition that fought Bell at the CRTC. However, we note that they are not a part of the current consortium.  At the moment, they have no installation or activation fees.

Surenet is offering the same DSL service for $42.99 per month, including a basic modem rental, with the caveat that payment is secured by credit card, pre-authorized cheque ro similer. For monthly payments, they charge 48.99 NOT including a modem. They have no monthly usage cap and no throttling policy (although they may end up at the mercy of Bell depending on the outcome of Bell's CRTC appeal). Surenet has no setup or activation fees.

Teksavvy is probably one of the best known independent ISPs and offers DSL service for $31.95 per month with a 200GB monthly cap, but no modem. They also offer an unlimited package for $39.95 per month. They offer a variety of Speedtouch modems for sale, from basic modems to wireless router/modems but pricing is considerably more than at www.speedtouch.ca. There is no activation or installation fees and the service is monthly and Teksavvy is one of the big hitters opposing Bell at the CRTC over throttling. If you are a techie, you might be interested to know that Teksavvy is already offering IPv6 addressing, on a beta-test basis.

Acanac offers unlimited DSL for only $24.95 per month -- but that is only if you sign up for a 12 month contract. Monthly service is $39.95. That said, they do offer a 30 day money-back guarantee, so if the service doesn't work reliably at your location, you are not on the hook for the year. The price does not include a modem, but they do offer a basic modem for purchase at $49.95. They too have been, and continue to be, active in fighting Bell at the CRTC.

IMPORTANT NOTES TO EXISTING WIRELESS INTERNET CUSTOMERS:

1. You have a contract with your existing provider -- minimum 1 year for full-time residents, 2 year for seasonal. Read your contract carefully before cancelling the service, as you may be liable to pay the remainder of the contract and will have to give notice in the proscribed manner in any event.

2. We have advised Core Broadband of this development. They had previously promised to upgrade the service in this area to relieve some of the congestion. We are hopeful that this will inspire them to accelerate the process!

3. DSL upload (sending) speeds are actually slower than what you are used to -- about 1/2 the speed. DSL download (receiving) speeds may or may not be faster than wireless, depending how close to highway 11 you are -- or rather, your wires are.

4. Anyone who had problems with dial-up connectivity (hang-ups, etc) will probably have problems with DSL. It uses the same copper lines.

We will keep you posted as and when new information becomes available.