Trialing Bell's Turbo Hub
So, I finally took the plunge and went out and got myself a Bell Turbo Hub -- specifically a Netgear MBR1210.
For the past couple of months, my 3 Mbps Xplornet service -- which used to average an acceptable 1.4 Mbps down -- has been averaging well below 1 Mbps. In fact, my irregular, random testing shows that the 30-day average download speed was just 440 Kbps. Not good.
As some of you regular readers are aware, I telecommute about 1-2 times per week. My Xplornet speeds, which used to be higher-than-average during working hours, had slowed to the point where work was becoming impacted. Not good.
A call to Xplornet customer service quickly got me to Tier 2 tech support, but other than offering to re-align my antenna to another tower -- at my expense -- there was nothing they could do supposedly. Not good.
I was also concerned about Xplornet's new 'fair-use' (read, throttling) policy coming into effect March 1. Not good.
I figured if I was going to lay-out $125 for an antenna re-alignment, then it wasn't such a big thing to pay $150 for a turbo hub -- or a Rogers Rocket Hub -- depending on what I decided. And the 'slow' service was 7 Mbps peak (although Bell does say that 2-4 Mbps down is typical). I'd been wanting faster service and couldn't get it from Xplornet.
To top it all off, with Bell's flex-plan, my monthly ISP fees could be lower than the $50 per month I'm currently paying to Xplornet. I'm not an online gamer or Netflix user, so I don't expect to go over the 10 GB monthly limit.
I was concerned about signal strength. I mean, my Xplornet antenna is mounted on an 8-foot mast on my roof, while the turbo hub sits on my desk and an external antenna is optional (and Bell doesn't sell the external antennas). Luckily, Bell has a 14-day, 50MB trial, so I could take the turbo hub home and return it is speeds or signal strength weren't acceptable. Good.
I decided to go with Bell -- instead of Rogers -- because of the trial and because as a Bell home phone, long distance, and TV customer, I could bundle the Internet service into my current Bell plan. I figure if Bell's hub doesn't work out, I can still try Rogers, which has towers closer to my house than Bell.
On my way home from work this afternoon, I stopped by the Bell World store in Barrhaven and picked up a Netgear MBR1210 turbo hub. When I got home, I plugged it in and waited for it to boot -- the quick start guide said booting would take approximately 1 minute, which is approximately what it took. After the hub booted, to my delight, the all-important Signal Quality indicator showed solid blue -- excellent coverage. Good.
I plugged by desktop PC into the hub and started doing some tests. My home-grown download speed tester -- the one that gave the 30-day average of 440 Kbps for Xplornet -- averaged 1.2 Mbps and peaked at 3.2 Mbps. Good.
Twice this evening, I ran download tests on TestMy.net, and got 3.95 and 3.49 Mbps respectively. Good.
I also did some web browsing and email downloading. All noticeably faster than lately with Xplornet. Good.
I'd almost blown my 50 MB trial, so I switched back to Xplornet. For comparison, I ran another TestMy.net download speed test, and Xplornet only managed 335 Kbps -- 10x lower than the Bell turbo hub. Not Good.
Another good point for the Netgear MBR1210 turbo hub: among its advanced features is a built-in traffic meter which can be configured to issue warnings and even disconnect if you go over your monthly download limit. Good.
All in all, my first evening with the Bell turbo hub 7 Mbps (max) service has been quite positive and definitely much better than my Xplornet service has been a while. Your mileage may vary.
-Chris
For the past couple of months, my 3 Mbps Xplornet service -- which used to average an acceptable 1.4 Mbps down -- has been averaging well below 1 Mbps. In fact, my irregular, random testing shows that the 30-day average download speed was just 440 Kbps. Not good.
As some of you regular readers are aware, I telecommute about 1-2 times per week. My Xplornet speeds, which used to be higher-than-average during working hours, had slowed to the point where work was becoming impacted. Not good.
A call to Xplornet customer service quickly got me to Tier 2 tech support, but other than offering to re-align my antenna to another tower -- at my expense -- there was nothing they could do supposedly. Not good.
I was also concerned about Xplornet's new 'fair-use' (read, throttling) policy coming into effect March 1. Not good.
I figured if I was going to lay-out $125 for an antenna re-alignment, then it wasn't such a big thing to pay $150 for a turbo hub -- or a Rogers Rocket Hub -- depending on what I decided. And the 'slow' service was 7 Mbps peak (although Bell does say that 2-4 Mbps down is typical). I'd been wanting faster service and couldn't get it from Xplornet.
To top it all off, with Bell's flex-plan, my monthly ISP fees could be lower than the $50 per month I'm currently paying to Xplornet. I'm not an online gamer or Netflix user, so I don't expect to go over the 10 GB monthly limit.
I was concerned about signal strength. I mean, my Xplornet antenna is mounted on an 8-foot mast on my roof, while the turbo hub sits on my desk and an external antenna is optional (and Bell doesn't sell the external antennas). Luckily, Bell has a 14-day, 50MB trial, so I could take the turbo hub home and return it is speeds or signal strength weren't acceptable. Good.
I decided to go with Bell -- instead of Rogers -- because of the trial and because as a Bell home phone, long distance, and TV customer, I could bundle the Internet service into my current Bell plan. I figure if Bell's hub doesn't work out, I can still try Rogers, which has towers closer to my house than Bell.
On my way home from work this afternoon, I stopped by the Bell World store in Barrhaven and picked up a Netgear MBR1210 turbo hub. When I got home, I plugged it in and waited for it to boot -- the quick start guide said booting would take approximately 1 minute, which is approximately what it took. After the hub booted, to my delight, the all-important Signal Quality indicator showed solid blue -- excellent coverage. Good.
I plugged by desktop PC into the hub and started doing some tests. My home-grown download speed tester -- the one that gave the 30-day average of 440 Kbps for Xplornet -- averaged 1.2 Mbps and peaked at 3.2 Mbps. Good.
Twice this evening, I ran download tests on TestMy.net, and got 3.95 and 3.49 Mbps respectively. Good.
I also did some web browsing and email downloading. All noticeably faster than lately with Xplornet. Good.
I'd almost blown my 50 MB trial, so I switched back to Xplornet. For comparison, I ran another TestMy.net download speed test, and Xplornet only managed 335 Kbps -- 10x lower than the Bell turbo hub. Not Good.
Another good point for the Netgear MBR1210 turbo hub: among its advanced features is a built-in traffic meter which can be configured to issue warnings and even disconnect if you go over your monthly download limit. Good.
All in all, my first evening with the Bell turbo hub 7 Mbps (max) service has been quite positive and definitely much better than my Xplornet service has been a while. Your mileage may vary.
-Chris
posted by Chris Spencer at 10:09 pm
35 comments
35 Comments:
Thanks for the information Chris. How has it been in the last week since you've had the service? Specifically in peak times? Also can you please post some latency information (either from speedtest.net or just some ping numbers to google)?
When I had my rogers rocket stick, I found the speeds would drop significantly in the evenings and that the latency was quite variable. I cancelled the service six months ago so I'm curious if anything has changed.
@Andreas,
So far, so good. I worked from home on Monday -- during the freezing rain and snow -- and was simultaneously VoIPing and NetMeeting without issue.
Evenings have been fine. I haven't been online a lot in the evenings thyis week, but when I have, it's been better than with Xplornet.
On Xplornet, I definitely noticed slowdowns starting around 4pm -- I guess coinciding with kids returning home from school.
I just ran a test on speedtest.net -- here are the results: 3.9 Mbps down, 1.4 Mbps up, and 173ms ping.
I also ran a few pings to Google, CBC, and NRC:
>ping www.google.com
Pinging www.l.google.com [72.14.204.104] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 72.14.204.104: bytes=32 time=675ms TTL=49
Reply from 72.14.204.104: bytes=32 time=284ms TTL=49
Reply from 72.14.204.104: bytes=32 time=263ms TTL=49
Reply from 72.14.204.104: bytes=32 time=261ms TTL=49
Ping statistics for 72.14.204.104:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 261ms, Maximum = 675ms, Average = 370ms
>ping www.cbc.ca
Pinging a1849.gc.akamai.net [67.69.197.66] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 67.69.197.66: bytes=32 time=57ms TTL=54
Reply from 67.69.197.66: bytes=32 time=56ms TTL=54
Reply from 67.69.197.66: bytes=32 time=65ms TTL=54
Reply from 67.69.197.66: bytes=32 time=54ms TTL=54
Ping statistics for 67.69.197.66:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 54ms, Maximum = 65ms, Average = 58ms
>ping www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Pinging S00326.cisti.nrc.ca [132.246.11.112] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 132.246.11.112: bytes=32 time=71ms TTL=239
Reply from 132.246.11.112: bytes=32 time=80ms TTL=239
Reply from 132.246.11.112: bytes=32 time=79ms TTL=239
Reply from 132.246.11.112: bytes=32 time=78ms TTL=239
Ping statistics for 132.246.11.112:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 71ms, Maximum = 80ms, Average = 77ms
I don't play online games, so really low latency isn't a big concern for me.
I hope this provides the answers to your questions.
--Chris
I also just ran ping tests on pingtest.net:
here are the results.
--Chris
Hi Chris, so happy to see you still keep your site alive! :)
Wanted to know how the Bell Turbo Hub has been working out, particularly during "peak" periods?
I just brought one home and am at 30 MB of my trial limit. It seems decent and smokes the crappy performance I've come to know from Xplornet ever since we were forced from Storm.
My Xplornet service is currently dead, knocked out in a storm two weeks ago (oh the irony...). My installation has about 100 feet of buried cable that was added during the Storm migration. It's fried, and Xplornet says they won't pay for it, even though they're the reason it's there.
Happily I've discovered we now have options such as Bell and Rogers hubs that are faster, have no maintenance footprint, and are portable(!). Even though it'll cost me more per month, I'm ready to switch and give this fixed-based LoS wireless stuff the heave-ho..., it's a dead-end tech in my opinion, and after suffering through the Arryba / Storm / Xplornet saga for years, I've had enough. I expect Xplornet's customer base here will collapse within a year.
So, any more feedback on Bell's Turbo Hub?
Related question, any recommendations on a good host for domain name registration, email accounts, and web space with FTP access? (since Bell service doesn't included any). I will need to transfer my domain name and email addresses.
Thanks much! :)
KyleDJ
@KyleDJ et al:
I've had the Bell Turbo Hub (NetGear) since late February, so almost 2 months at the time of this posting.
I don't do a lot of streaming video or movie downloads or any serious online gaming, so my monthly combined up- and downloads are in the 5-6 GB range so far. So I've got a fair bit of room before I hit that expen$ive 10GB threshold.
I've also run a few download tests, using testmy.net, and am seeing ~3.4 Mbps down on my 7 Mbps peak service. All good, as far as I'm concerned, especially since Bell has stated 2-4 Mbps average (or was it 2-3 Mbps avg?). Whatever.
Bottom-line is how it works for me, which, so far, has been great. For example, I was working from home today, and had a VoIP call and an online meeting going at the same time, and my wife was downloading stuff on her PC, also at the same time, and everything was smooth.
I'm happy with the Bell Turbo Hub service.
BTW, if you can't get anywhere with Xplornet tech support, ask to speak with a customer appreciation rep (or whatever they call it). They may fix that cable et al for free if you threaten to leave. Just a thought.
-Chris
Thanks Chris, appreciate the feedback, and certainly that it appears to be good news! :)
Yes Bell's website currently quotes 2-4 Mbps average on the 7.2 Mbps peak service, and 3.5-8 Mbps average on the 21 Mbps peak service (which requires an extra $10/month and assumes it's available in your area).
Unfortunately my 5+ Mbps days with Storm are long gone ever since being pushed onto Xplornet, so at the moment anything over 2 Mbps sounds good to me! In my quick Turbo Hub tests today I was seeing 3-4 Mbps. Upload was a bit pokey though at 0.5 Mbps at best.
The 10 GB threshold is a concern for me, as I sometime step over it. But it's doable. In a pinch I have 6 GB of paid usage on the iPhone that I can tether through, since I almost never use it. Slow yes, but maybe I can use it for any large downloads like software updates, and let it run overnight. (Wow, just like the 2400 bps days! ;D )
I've been dealing with an Xplornet special rep ("RFP Liaison") for 2 years now due to all the problems here. I just finished sending an email off to them again about the latest saga, and that I'm now looking at other options. I half expect (hope?) that I'll be staying on Turbo Hub by the end of the week.
Or you gathering any regular speed stats from the Turbo Hub? Would love to see how the download / upload speeds change based on time of day (network load).
Thanks again! :)
KyleDJ
Does anyone know if storm and ripnet still service the south end of ottawa?
Xplornet service here is absymal, even at 1AM. We are only a few KM from the tower, heck the Xplornet store is closer than the tower.
Tired of crappy service, but our family of 3 users would blow through Bell's $10 limit.
Cheers for any help, thanks!
-Simon
Chris, first let me add a huge thanks for keeping this Blog alive. I can't count how many times I have referenced it over the years.
I too have been suffering Xplornet-itis since the Storm takeover, and am wondering if the Bell turbo hub might be the solution that will finally set me free.
Do you and Kyle have any further updates on your Turbo Hub experiences? Are your down/upload speeds remaining consistent still?
Mobile signal is a little variable within my house. Does anyone know if you can get an external antenna for the Bell system? I saw a comment somewhere that said this was not available from Bell, but I'm waiting to hear from my mobility rep right now.
I have a family of 5 users, so am a little concerned about the GB thresholds, but one step at a time... Currently I'm trying to figure out how to calculate our typical usage from the various devices in our house.
Thanks,
ian
I chose the Rogers Rocket Hub over the Bell Turbo Hub for a few reasons that may be of interest to others. When I committed I was only interested in the hub for data purposes only – so I didn't evaluate voice package options into my decision. Also, at the time of signing the contract, the only modem offered was the Ericsson W35 for both Rogers and Bell so specs/performance didn't factor into my decision either.
Three reasons for choosing Rogers over Bell: First, Rogers Flex rate data plan is less expensive than Bell's (Rogers: $35-3Gb, $45-5Gb, $60-10Gb v.s. Bell's $45-3Gb, $55-5Gb and $70-10Gb). Secondly, the overage fee on the Rogers flex plan is $10/Gb ($5/Gb when I signed on for 2yrs) where as Bell's is $0.015/Mb (or $15.36/Gb) a big consideration if you plan on or anticipate going over 10Gb/month. Third, since I can't predict the future but had to commit to a 2yr contract, the "out" on the Rogers contract was less onerous than Bell's. Rogers termination fees if canceled during the 2yr contract would be the greater of $25 or $5/month till end of term to a maximum of $100 - So, at minimum $25 and at most $100 to cancel with Rogers during the contract term. The Bell "out" requires the greater of $100 or $20/month till end of term to a maximum of $400 – So, at minimum $100 and at most $400 to cancel with Bell.
I have Bell home phone, Long Distance and Bell TV but even with the bundling discount I still decided to go with Rogers based on the reasons above. If I'm still with Rogers at the end of the term I can at least pit the two against one another for the best non-contract price as I can use the Ericsson modem on either network (just swap sim cards).
@Simon: Sorry for the delay in responding -- it's been a hectic couple of weeks.
AFAIK, Storm doesn't have any residential customers in Ottawa any longer, but you may want to check with them to confirm.
RipNet should still be servicing the south end; I have several south end contacts with RipNet email addresses.
-Chris
@Spudson1:
Bell Turbo hub has been pretty consistent for me of the last 2.5 months. No complaints. Even when the signal strength is showing weak (yellow), I still get decent speeds.
I do not have a high-gain antenna for my Hub, and AFAIK, Bell doesn't sell them, but they can provide you with a list of suitable models. I've seen number for sale on eBay (caveat emptor).
I too have a family of five, and so far, haven't used more than 6 GB per month. n.b. We don't download movies.
-Chris
I live in Dunrobin. Last October I purchased the Ericsson Turbo Hub from Bell. It was a disaster. I went through 4 until I wrote a scathing letter and they took back the Ericsson and gave the Netgear. All was fine - i.e. reliable, fast (green signal on Signal Quality indicator which = Good coverage) UNTIL April 1st, 2011. Since then it has been an yellow light = minimal coverage) very intermittent ability to connect and when we finally do connect the speeds are SLOW. My neighbor has a turbo stick and less ability to connect. Anyone else having problems?
Chris,
I described my recent and ongoing difficulties with Bell's Turbo hub. I am trying to determine options and make a decision. I finally got some info from Bell... I have no idea why the service tanked, but am being told that there are hardware improvements to be made to tower but may take 3 - 6 months. It is possible to be released from my 2 year contract. I contacted Rogers and there is no cable out here - just their Turbo Hub. Pricing is very similar to Bell. However I have no idea if their reception here would be any better. I wrote to Northwinds, but have been unimpressed by their lack of response. Xplornet is the other possibility but reading this blog has raised serious concerns there. I can ask neighbors - we were all with Simplysurf until it disappeared and then some went with Xplornet and I went with Bell since all our other services are with Bell.
I would appreciate any comments or suggestions that could be made.
@Lois Anne:
Yeah, sounds like you're in tough spot -- stay with the devil you know or go with the devil you don't.
The Ericsson W35 hub seems to have been problematic, based on what I've read, but I have no direct experience with it; I've always had the Netgear MBR1210 hub.
I have now tested both Bell Turbo Hub and Rogers Rocket Stick (for work-at-home use) and in my area, they both perform about the same. I have Bell towers several kilometres to the east and west of my house, and Rogers towers several kilometres to the north and south -- I'm almost smack-dab in the middle.
Signal strength varies a fair bit, and lately, I'm wondering if the new leaves on the trees are playing a role in weakening the signals. I had much better signal strength overall when the trees were leaf-less, but there could be other things at play here too.
Generally speaking, in my opinion, Bell & Rogers Turbo/Rocket service will likely overall be faster than Xplornet. If Northwinds isn't returning your calls, then you can't really consider them as an alternative.
But, obviously, performance at your specific area may differ.
BTW, everyone is always planning system upgrades.
This is free advice -- take it for what it's worth. I hope it helps.
-Chris
Found your blog while googling. Just moved out to the Panmure area north / west of Carp.
Tried Xplornet I'm two weeks into my 30-day trial it is sad. Average transfer speeds are 80kb/s, but at peak times I can barely load a webpage.
Got a Rogers Rocket hub sent to my door, it's way faster 3MBs even at peak times. Too bad it's so expensive!
I like the unlimited aspect of Xplornet and I actually managed in 2 weeks to download close to 15gig through them, but when you need it, it is useless. Had the techs out twice I have perfect signal, I'm sure they are either congested or capping me but won't admit why when I do a speed test I get 0.14Mbps Yup, just barely double a 56Kbps modem... sad.
@Wing:
Yeah, Xplornet caps. If you search around on their website, you'll find their capping policy. IIRC, myself and others have posted snippets of their capping policy on this blog as well.
And yeah, the low up+down data limit on the Rogers and Bell HSPA (Stick/Hub) packages seem to be the main disadvantage.
We are trying to get this Netgear turbo hub to gain any signal, but so far nothing. We got a green light once. Purchased a Yagi antenna and have not seen any improvement. We are wondering if maybe there is something wrong with the antenna receptor on this hub. We are in a heavy coverage zone according to Bell (for whatever that's worth). We tried the unit in the city and it worked perfectly but can't get anything out here. Any thoughts on this? We are in a town called Val-des-Monts, right on the border of Gatineau QC and about 20 mins from Ottawa.
Well, after three and a half months of terrible service (sometimes I tried 25 times to get on the net) we finally gave up on Bell Turbo Hub.
What happened was NorthWind took over the old Simply Surf network here in Dunrobin. A neighbor tried Xplornet but lost signal after 20 days, and NorthWind contacted them. So I sent another email and down the driveway they came. The receiver on the roof is new - they use the same D-link as SimplySurf and service so far has been fast and excellent. $150 installation, no limit, $49.95 (more expensive than Bell, BUT we ow have access.
Because of our file of difficulties, Bell is letting us out of contract with no penalties....
I'm in Masset, BC,(Haida Gwaii)and decided on the Bell Turbo Hub.
The local "broadband" internet companies acquire service from GwaiiTel through Telus hardware over microwave link connecting the island with the mainland. The data rate for broadband internet users is slow and getting anything over 1.6 Mbps download is unlikely. Something like 1997 home ADSL if you remember that. I figured going with Telus or one of its partners would skip over any issues with middlemen.
Broadband internet and mobile internet are not the same beasts and the Turbo Hub's 10 GB cap at $70 is unnecessary. To get more data, I'd have to buy two Turbo Hubs for a potential of 20 GB (10 GB + 10 GB) but that is another matter.
In Masset the Telus tower is a few kilometers away from my home. My Turbo Hub in the best position in the house and received a signal level of "-77" which I am assuming is -77 dBm. Several speed tests averaged about 1.5 Mbps down and 1.0 Mbps up, usable but not good for on-line gaming. I got a directional yagi from RF Connections http://www.rfconnectionshop.com/proddetail.asp?prod=RF_NETGEARADAPT&review=all
fast shipping and no problems. After connecting the external antenna to the hub and pointing it at the Telus cell tower, my signal level increased to "-55" and I assumed an increase of 27 dB or 400 times better signal level. Several speed tests now average about 3.1 Mbps down and 1.0 Mbps up, essentially doubling the data rate I care about. The external antenna at least in this area I'd recommend. A good resource for finding where the cell towers are is here: http://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html
Yeah, the signal strength e.g. -77, -55, etc., is in dBm.
You're getting better signal strength than me here in rural Ottawa. Last check, I was getting -88. I had a small antenna connected, but it must have gotten damaged, as the signal strength dropped to -97 or lower. I've been thinking about getting the yagi antenna, but right now, everything seems fine with my Hub.
--Chris
I'm in the Sierra Woods area using the W35. Lately, connection has been abysmal. The past two days, connection has been intermittent, at times, completely dead. I've reported the problem to Bell but so far, it's getting worse rather than better!
I can't wait 'til August 2012 when I'm out of my contract for this useless POS.
@Anonymous in Sierra Woods...
The Ericsson W35 reportedly has lots of problems, which may be the main reason that Bell no longer offers it and have replaced it with the NetGear MBR1210.
-Chris
I, and if you Google, many others, found out the hard way about the W35 and Bell's refusal to replace a lemon (the W35) with something that works (NetGear). I've now been told by Bell to UNPLUG my W35 when I'm not using it as it's lately been completely losing the connection (overheating?)! I don't know whether to laugh or cry. They've offered me 50% off my next two months' bill as a consolation prize.
I may be moving to the North Augusta area (outside of Brockville, Ontario) and I am just wondering if there is anyone who lives in that area who uses the Netgear Turbo Hub from Bell and what their experience with it has been?
As far as I can tell I would be within a 10km range of the tower and on the bell coverage map it is listed as "4G HSPA+ — up to 21 Mbps (expected average download speeds of 3.5-8 Mbps)"....but how accurate that is I don't know.
Hi Chris, I'm upgrading my aunt's service from dialup next week (Ottawa area) and was considering the MBR1210; I was happy to come across your blog! However, I've been reading a lot of complaints that speeds are great for the first few weeks/months (during the trial period) but then they drop off quite significantly after that or are almost completely unusable during peak periods. Since you've had this service since Feb, I was wondering if now, in Nov, you would still recommend it for someone who is primarily a daytime user? Thanks for any help in advance!
@Anonymous: My speeds - up and down - have generally been good. I play online games, and also work from home (email, VoIP, netmeetings) without issue. I just now ran a test; average download was 2.1 Mbps with a peak of 3.7 Mbps. I have the 7 Mbps service, which Bell advises has 2-4 Mbps typical, so all good.
I did have some problems which I think were related to the external antenna I attached when my signal strength dropped off; the antenna got damaged somehow and caused my signal strength to drop even more and thus drop my connection. But I detached the external antenna in August and have had no problems since.
Speeds will in part depend on signal strength (and network traffic) and signal strnegth can vary by location and environmental conditions. For example, Rogers Rocket Stick gets terrible speeds at my home, but Bell's Turbo Hub is 10x better. Your mileage may vary.
The whole trial thing is a bit wishy-washy, since Bell's trial period is mostly usage-based -- 50 MB -- not time-based (they give you 2 weeks to use 50 MB, which of course you can use in about an hour without even trying really hard).
I checked Rogers website yesterday, and their subscription prices were better than Bell's.
Bottom-line: Trial one. If you're not satisfied, return it and try the other.
--Chris
Hi Chris, thanks for the response (I posted about upgrading my aunt's service to the MBR1210). I had some fantastic news after speaking to Bell; phoneline-based high speed internet (Fibe, no less) is being expanded into the Ottawa valley and will be available in my aunt's area (Upper Dwyer Hill Road/Panmure Road) in March 2012! This will definitely be affecting a lot of other people so I thought I'd share. You have to call Bell to check the availability for your address though, checking it yourself on their website won't tell you. It's about bloody well time regular high speed came to the country!
Hi Anonymous,
I called Bell to inquire about Fibe and phone line based internet. They absolutely denied that Fibe was coming anywhere near Upper Dwyer Hill Road/Panmure Road.
They said that beside dial-up, their turbo hub was the only alternative.
I might have talked to the wrong bell employee...
not so good in russel so far, basically getting less than 100k upload speeds far too often, at times its simimlar to what i got with my novotel stick but so far, its not an improvement over the stick, im disappointed, hoping that when i get moving about its going to show its mettle
@CEO,
It could depend on which tower you're hub/stick is homing to. At my home, my TurboHub is averaging ~2Mbps, but the Rogers RocketStick (that my work provides to me) gets only a few hundred Kbps. As far as I know, after talking with Bell and looking around my area, the TurboHub and the RocketStick home to different towers.
--Chris
im going to to to a nearby arena and test the hub because i know exactly the speeds i was getting there withmy novotel stick, the other thing i wondered about was how is it that I cant find a single review of this product on the internet? reviews for electrinic gadgets spout like weeds on the internet, but nothing here?
I live just off of Richardson Side Road which is off of Carp Rd. They have 'installed' the thick fibre optic telephone lines all the way down Richardson. Does anyone know if they will be hooking up the subdivisions just off of Richardson or will it be a case of 'so close yet so far'? Bell people won't tell me anything.
this is the inflatable ceo writing - ive worked with the hub a lot more and it is indeed better than the bell stick i was using, im impressed, i would recommend it, however, as previous posters have said, im sure there are areas, depending on topography and tower location, perhaps results wont be uniform everywhere
Hi, I used to be with storm and we were pushed off to xplornet, had a lot of problems with signals due to trees etc, they don't have proper tower locations in my area, which is between Vars and Limoges on a rural road. I have now opted to try the wymax which I paid installation fee for 3 year contract with xplornet 20gig limit with 3.50 for passing my limit per gig. Am getting up to 3mbps today after the morning installation, seems ok trying it for 30 days, different system apparently and different towers upload is 500 and download 3mbps or close.
i havent tried this, but a pretty bright friend of mind suggested laying the hub on its back, pointing to the sky with no obstructions, and he claims to get better reception, there has to be nothing above the hub with a clear view to the sky, he says,
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