News, notes, commentaries, and discussions related to high-speed (broadband) Internet access in rural Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and surrounding areas.
This purpose of this weblog is to track news and events related to high-speed (broadband) Internet access in the rural areas of Ottawa and, to a lesser extent, in nearby townships.
posted by Chris Spencer at 8:04 pm
12 comments
I have been really discouraged by Xplornet in the last 6 months and I have been looking for **any** other option. My Xplornet speeds have become so slow I can't use Youtube or vpn into work. They tell me it is due to my garage door opener or my wii :-) I was forced to convert from Storm. With my old Storm account I had 3mbs up and down and it was **very** good service. I contacted Storm and they are planning on rolling out a 10MBS service in the Dwyer Hill area if there is enough interest. IMHO if you want internet that is actually usable and you want to deal with reasonable people, go to http://storm.ca/ovs/. dwyer-hill.ex9z@ncf.ca
posted by Chris Spencer at 10:18 pm
6 comments
said...
From Storm's website http://storm.ca/aboutus/newsreleases/news20120426.php:
"If you are interested in services in this area, please fill out an online expression of interest at: http://www.storm.ca/ovs
In an expansion that will double their regional coverage, Storm will be providing fast and reliable Internet services to rural areas via their industry-leading high-speed wireless network solution. Internet services, with speeds of up to 10Mbps and generous data allowances (100GB per month), will be available in selected areas beginning in the summer of 2012 as Storm builds out and deploys equipment. A number of packages will be available for this new service, allowing Storm clients to choose the option that best meets the needs and budgets of their homes, businesses or organizations. Beyond wireless services, Storm will continue to be able to provide high-speed DSL and Fibre-based Internet services within the more densely populated town and village centers.
In order to support the new network, Storm is opening a regional office in the heart of Chesterville, Ontario. The successful opening of their Perth office last year continues with the Chesterville office, offering close-to-home, personal, customer service to Storms clients. Storms office will bring new jobs to the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry. Office positions will help customers in a one on one setting; providing in-store support, general Internet information, home router sales and set-up, network troubleshooting, in-store service applications, and bill payments, while field teams will be deployed to homes and businesses for network installations and repairs. Chesterville residents interested in the customer service or field technician positions at the new office are asked to submit resumes to hr@storm.ca
We cant wait to expand our high speed coverage and open a new regional support office said Dave Chiswell, CEO of Storm Internet, We have been planning this for over a year and will start deployment and serving customers this summer. Bringing city speeds and pricing outside of city limits has always been a priority for Storm. We look forward to being an important aid in the economic growth of the region.
For more information we encourage potential customer to fill out an online expression of interest at: http://www.storm.ca/ovs or for further questions, please contact Michelle Katz at 613-567-6585 x239. "
James Kayden said...
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said...
This comment about Explornet is pretty consistent with all the other comments I have heard about them. Seems like they can't provide the services they sell, they should live up to expectations or change their sales tactics.
said...
We had satellite with them, which was unuseable. Then wireless, which was barely better. After many visits Xplornet let us off our contract. Luckily we found Bell's 2mps Rural (or portable). It wasn't perfect but we go used to it. The great part was unlimited use!! But as we all know by now both Bell and Rogers discontinued that service. I'm now with crappy Bell Turbo Hub.
Jason The Rural Wireless Guy said...
Hey Chris
I work at a competing company to Xplornet over in Alberta here and I just gotta tell ya that maintaining these rural networks is no easy task! For example: right now it is Sunday and there is a weather warning for southern alberta over on the weather network - it gives me shudders because come Monday morning I have to track down issues and get service men out to repair. Poor signal strength can seem to deteriorate speed (among so many other things) if you don't stay on top of it. I feel for Xplornet (but I still think we do a better job than them anyways :P heh). Cheers!
said...
Any update on this? I am looking at moving out to that area of Ottawa (Fallowfield/Dwyer Hill).
12 Comments:
And, many of us are delivered dial-up speeds by high speed providers on a regular basis. :-(
And at high-speed prices.
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This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Well, I have the Bell Turbo Hub service and it's been so bad lately that we've started using dial-up again. I'm buying a directional yagi antenna in hopes to help the incoming signal. On the very light brighter side the dial-up connection I have is free. I've stopped paying a few years ago but it dial-up still connects. I called the company about a year ago to make sure they weren't billing me through a credit card I might have lost track of but they couldn't find my account. :-)
Nonny on June 11: Just had a Wilson antenna installed for my Hub and the difference is like night & day. Now have a stable connection, no more DNS errors. At present,the installation is temporary, permanent to be done later in the week a with heavier-duty cable, thus will be even better signal strength. Check the Bell site for approved antenna installers in your area.
After enduring the W35 for 17 months, I talked Bell into swapping it for the Netgear or they'd be losing me as a customer. Even without the external antenna, there was a big improvement.
Now if Bell would only do something about their data prices/caps for the Hub ;(
I agree with Anonymous w.r.t. the Yagi antenna. I finally installed the one that I bought a month ago. I have the Netgear MBR1210 Bell Turbohub.
Today, with the internal antenna, the signal strength was -103 dBm. Once I connected the Yagi and pointed it in the general direction of the tower (~7km NNW), signal strength improved to -87 dBm. I re-enabled the internal antenna and the sig strength was -93 dBm, and then I once again enabled the Yagi, and sig strength was -87 dBm.
Your improvement may vary. I cannot get my Yagi high enough to clear the 60-foot maples on my property aqnd the wooded lot next door, and I'm not sure what impact such foliage has on signal strength. Also, it is overcast and raining today. The walls of my 150-year-old house are ~12 inches thick.
I bought my Yagi antenna through a 3rd party company on amazon.ca. AFAIK, it is a Wilson Yagi.
I should point out that an increase of 6 dBm (from -93 to -87 dBm) may not seem like a lot, but it's HUGE, given that a 3 dBm increase represents a doubling (2x) of signal strength. So, a 6 dBM increase is a 400% improvement in signal strength.
Conversely, a 3 dBm reduction is signal strength is equivalent to dividing the power in half.
Initial euphoria has subsided somewhat :<. From -85 & -87, now holding at -91, but still more consistent connection than internal antenna, have only had DNS late afternoon. TestMyNet results vary wildly.
I read that pines soak up signals like a sponge, don't know about maples, tho. My neighbour tells me he loses his vehicle's Sirius radio when he turns into his heavily pine-treed yard. With deciduous trees, you should expect some improvement once the leaves drop.
Today, in the bright sunshine, I'm getting -83 dBm. Same maples. :-) Maybe now that the leaves aren't covered with rain drops, it's allowing more signal to get through (less dispersion).
I just read an interesting article -- perhaps written by an end-user -- which echos a lot of what I've been observing. Check out:
http://www.adnetalgoma.ca/HSPA%20Hardware%2017Jan%2012.pdf
When I had xplornet fixed wireless (on unlicensed 900MHz band), it was slow but unlimited data. When that service failed due to interference (possibly from Hydro One smartmeter???), no one would but the effort into diagnosing the actual problem. I switched to a Bell Turbo Hub. The change in speed was dramatic and the connection is good all the time, but I quickly discovered my usage exceeded the 3G/month data cap in about 5 days. So no more using youtube like a TV. 3G is fine for email and facebook and web surfing, but forget video streaming when the over use charges add up at $15/GB.
I still keep my National Capital Freenet dial up account active for wireless outages, but so far with 5 months of the Bell service I haven't needed it.
Xplornet is now offering a 4G fix in Almonte with basic packages that include 50GB. I've heard it is working fine, but I'm now locked in to a 3 Year contract with Bell.
If anyone knows how to break a cell contract without the $400 penalty I'd really like to hear about it, IMD.bh9z at ncf.ca
thanks, David
I switched to a Bell Turbo Hub. The change in speed was dramatic and the connection is good all the time, but I quickly discovered my usage exceeded the 3G/month data cap in about 5 days. So no more using youtube like a TV. 3G is fine for email and facebook and web surfing.
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