[MaxPower]

My business has been using Bell's ADSL service now for about 1 1/2 years. During that time, the service has not been reliable with the connection dropping constantly.

The problem is more common during the summer months when the temperatures reach 30° or above, but it is not limited to just that reason. Basically it is poor syncronization with the C.O.

I am told the reason I am not syncing, is because of my distance to the C.O. - 5.6km away!!! Why would Bell sell me a service saying it is available in my area when this is clearly not the case?

I am constantly on the phone reporting the troubles, and instead of receiving 3 MB service, they have bumped me down to 750k to maintain some type of stability.

I am looking for an alternative solution, but cable isn't available in my area, and a T1 connection is far too expensive for the amount of users on the network (9).

So the call goes out to the ehMac community: does anyone know of a viable alternative solution to my curent ADSL woes that can offer me with a static IP and is connected 24/7?

 

[Klaatu]

If Look is available in your area I have great service with it now.

When I first switched in May I had 2 problems

1) They had limited Mac instructions but their tech support was able to determine I needed to change my MTU settings and that solve all my connection problems

2) I originally had their wireless service which provided me with a constant 1500 kbps of download speed. When I originally switched the speed went down to 1000 kbps (which they advertised) and well below 500 kbps in the evening. But by early June they did an upgrade and I'm now getting a solid 1500 kbps

So now I have good and constant speed, no service interruptions, no disconnections, no download caps, and a monthly fee that's cheaper then anyone else. What more could you want?

 

[MaxPower]

Wasn't Look in trouble a while back??

I had a wiresess WDSL connection prior to bell's service and they were even worse than Bell. I'm a little skeptical when it comes to a wireless/line of sight technology mainly because I've been screwed in the past and I'm still dealing with the reprocussions.

What can you tell me about the technology that would put my mind at ease. How is their relaibility? Support? Do they guarantee the speed/connection? What is their upload speed like? Do they offer business solutions?

Don't get me wrong though, the possibility of an alternative like Look is intreiguing and I very well might consider it, but I have to be sure that this is an avenue that I am going to take. Thanks for the reply Klaatu.

 

[Klaatu]

Wasn't Look in trouble a while back??

Very much so. About 2 years ago they had to file for bankruptcy protection. But they pulled themselves out of the fire by paring down their operations, reducing their overhead, and within a remarkable 6 months they were in the black.

What got them into trouble was they had a flood of residence sales for their tv service. Look had a deal whereby they supplied all the equipment for free, so when the flood came they couldn't keep up with demand. That's why they refused new residence orders for awhile. Things have been back to normal for over a year now -- but I was already a customer and it never affected me.

Their wireless service was excellent. Rock-solid 1500 kbps every day. The catch was I had the "Classic" version which used a 56k modem and my phone line -- so I had the weird arrangement of high-speed downloads but 56k uploads, and my phone was tied up.

I tried to get Ultrafast Deluxe -- downloads and uploads are wireless, thus increasing upload speed and frees up the phone -- but, if I recall, it was primarily available for businesses and particular residential areas (of which I wasn't in).

If you qualify (right area, line-of-sight) it's excellent and economical. Their web site can provide more details about business options.

In the 3 years I had their wireless I experienced about 2 or 3 service interruptions -- none in the last year. Oddly they usually happened on the Saturday of a long weekend so the problem often wasn't corrected until Tuesday morning. Their key tech people obviously never worked weekends.

And, from time-to-time, I had to reset the modem to get a connection. But that wouldn't be applicable for their Deluxe service, which I would recommend.

 

[insertclevername]

Even if look line of sight doesn't work out, you could always try thier DSL. A friend of mine has the Look Ultrafast DSL Extreme (3 mbps). It seems to be quite reliable and definetly much faster than 3mbps sympatico he used to have.

 

[Klaatu]

Even if look line of sight doesn't work out, you could always try thier DSL

Indeed, that would be my recommendation too for the following reasons:

1) Approximately same price
2) No dish to install
3) Available anywhere in Ontario and Quebec (limited areas for wireless)

My dsl modem is tucked away somewhere behind my desk and I never have to fuzz with connections (something I still getting used to). Like one of the sayings goes "Always on. Always fast."

 

[MaxPower]

I'm on DSL now. And like I said, I am too far away from the Central Office.

Even though it is Look or whomever, the lines are still rented from Bell, so I am still physically too far away from the C.O.

Besides, after looking into Look a bit more the upload speeds are too slow for the amount of traffic I have going through the network.

 

[Klaatu]

Even though it is Look or whomever, the lines are still rented from Bell...

True, but for some reason there is a speed difference. A friend of mine lives in the same neighbourhood. She spends more money for Sympatico and rarely gets above 500 kbps whereas I get 3 times that (don't know about upload). Can anyone else explain how this is possible?

 

[dcyyz]

if it's worth it to you, find a provider that offers service level agreement (SLA). usually, you will need at least a business class contract to get a SLA. expect to pay anywhere from $80-200/mth. the better plans will offer static IP addresses vs. pppoe/dhcp.

 

[MaxPower]

I have a bussiness SLA. However, the agreement states that they will have us up and running within 24 hrs. It does not guarantee that we will receive 3 MB service.

We also have static IP's and are paying around $230 per month.