Bell Sympatico offers high-speed for rural and cottage areas
I was just looking around Bell's website for anything new and internet-related, and found a service that I had not seen before: Bell's WiMax In-Home 2Mbps service, which offers up to 2 Mbps download and up to 256 Kbps upload for $50 per month ($45 per month when bundled).
From Bell's webpage:
A complete list of communities covered by the Bell WiMax In-Home service can be found at:
http://www.bell.ca/shopping/popups/personal/internet/BellWiMAXcoveragearea_en.html
Then main difference (besides data rates) between this service and Bell's other WiMax Internet services is that the other services are portable (using a plug-in-anywhere wireless modem) while the In-Home service has the wireless modem professionally mounted on the building's exterior.
I checked my phone number, and the service is not available in my area of Manotick/Kars, which means it might not be rural enough, given that the webpage states that it's service for areas not previously covered and my area is covered by Bell's WiMax Unplugged - 3Mbps service.
Over the years since I've started tracking rural high-speed Internet access, I've has many inquiries about high-speed access in the really rural areas outside of rural Ottawa. For those people, this service may be worth checking out. I suspect that this is an extension of Bell's and Rogers' Inukshuk WiMax network, which places the WiMax antennas on existing cell towers. If Bell Mobility cell phones can get service at your home, especially outdoors, then there's probably a very good chance that you can get this high-speed wireless Internet service.
This also may be a re-branding of Bell's Unplugged service, since I recall seeing offers for the exterior modem before, but it seems that the data rates offered has dropped to 2 Mbps. The lower peak speed might be due to the longer distances involved from the cell tower to the subscriber's house for more rural areas.
For a comparison of Bell's wireless (WiMax) internet services, see:
http://www.bell.ca/shopping/PrsShpInt_Int_Chart_WiMax.page
From Bell's webpage:
High speed Internet for rural areas and cottage country.
- Innovative high speed Internet access that's available in areas not previously served.
- Available in 178 cities across Canada and continually expanding!
- Professional installation of the required modem by a Bell technician.
- Download your favourite songs and videos at speeds up to 35x faster than dial-up.
A complete list of communities covered by the Bell WiMax In-Home service can be found at:
http://www.bell.ca/shopping/popups/personal/internet/BellWiMAXcoveragearea_en.html
Then main difference (besides data rates) between this service and Bell's other WiMax Internet services is that the other services are portable (using a plug-in-anywhere wireless modem) while the In-Home service has the wireless modem professionally mounted on the building's exterior.
I checked my phone number, and the service is not available in my area of Manotick/Kars, which means it might not be rural enough, given that the webpage states that it's service for areas not previously covered and my area is covered by Bell's WiMax Unplugged - 3Mbps service.
Over the years since I've started tracking rural high-speed Internet access, I've has many inquiries about high-speed access in the really rural areas outside of rural Ottawa. For those people, this service may be worth checking out. I suspect that this is an extension of Bell's and Rogers' Inukshuk WiMax network, which places the WiMax antennas on existing cell towers. If Bell Mobility cell phones can get service at your home, especially outdoors, then there's probably a very good chance that you can get this high-speed wireless Internet service.
This also may be a re-branding of Bell's Unplugged service, since I recall seeing offers for the exterior modem before, but it seems that the data rates offered has dropped to 2 Mbps. The lower peak speed might be due to the longer distances involved from the cell tower to the subscriber's house for more rural areas.
For a comparison of Bell's wireless (WiMax) internet services, see:
http://www.bell.ca/shopping/PrsShpInt_Int_Chart_WiMax.page
posted by Chris Spencer at 8:34 am
5 comments
5 Comments:
I wonder how it compares to xplornet re speed and reliability? I am on the xplornet 3m service but only get 600 to 2,400 kbs.
@Anonymous:
I just ran 3 speed tests (on testmy.net using 1MB download) and I got 0.6 - 2.2 Mbps, which surprised me since I don't usually get more than 1.4 Mbps. For the upload, I got about 225 Kbps. Still pretty reasonable given that I have Xplornet's 3 Mbps Xpress service (up to 3 Mbps down and up to 600 Kbps up). Anyway, it's all fast enough for what I need (I'm a telecommuter with a lot of email downloads, VoIPing, and NetMeeting).
That said, the Bell WiMax In-Home rural service is up to 2 Mbps download, whereas Xplornet's service is up to 3 Mbps down. Bell's rural service is up to 256 Kbps up, whereas Xplornet says 600 Kbps peak on the upload. So I would expect Bell's WiMax In-Home service to be slower overall than Xplornet's 3 Mbps Xpress. I would expect Bell's 3 Mbps Unplugged service to be somewhat slower on the upload than Xplornet's 3 Mbps Xpress service, and Bell's WiMax In-Home rural service might be more like Xplornet's 1.5 Mbps Zoom offering.
@Everyone:
Remember, there are a lot of factors which influence the average/actual data rates on an Internet connection, and many, such as environment and how users are on the network at a given instant, are beyond the ISP's control. That's why ISPs always say things like 'up to X Mbps' because they can't guarantee that you'll always get the maximum data rate. With wireless access, environment is certainly a factor. Some things, like fair-use policies, are within the ISP's control but these are supposedly implemented to ensure a handful of power users don't overload the network and prevent other users from having an 'acceptable Internet experience'.
My rule of thumb is that is you're consistently getting 1/3 - 1/2 the advertised peak speed, then you're doing well.
If anyone out there has any experience with Bell or Rogers wireless high-speed services, please let us know.
I am an installer for both Bell Wimax and Xplornet, and there is a Bell Wimax tower right in Manotick. I have also done Bell installs in Kars with quite good success....Xplornet towers are now being equipped with 3.5 technology, allowing those who could not get a shot with the older Canopy system ( 900mhz and 2.4ghz radios) another chance, as the 3.5 is a dedicated frequency immune to the interference issues that plagued the Canopy system...both Bell and Xplornet will work for some and not others, as tower locations are varied widely...I have had very, very few service calls on these Motorola systems, and only one faulty modem. Bell and Xplornet use identical equipment, different only in that it communicates only with it's own towers...it works beautifully! Good luck to all of you in your online or soon-to-be online experience!
Just east of Ashton, Bell Wimax.
Often almost unusable.
Bell confirmed that service is heavily oversold.
Alternative is Xplornet, but installers screw around by not installing modem correct right away to ensure more work later.
$450 cancellation penalty makes Xplornet too aggressive and unacceptable.
High speed in Ottawa just sucks, because the companies just hate their customers from head office to service guys in the field.
Frustrated as hell.
Not sure about this provider, the high speed internet I am using is Acanac, haven't faced any problem with them so far.
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