Welcome to the self-proclaimed
Rural Ottawa High-Speed Internet Blog. High-speed Internet access is virtually
ubiquitous in the urban and suburban areas of Ottawa, but when I started this blog in 2005, only about 60% of the
rural areas of Ottawa have coverage.
However, even for rural citizens, high-speed Internet access is becoming as necessary as telephone service.
Happily, high-speed coverage for rural Ottawa has increased significantly, and not only is coverage
reportedly
above 90%, many rural residents and businesses now have more than one choice of high-speed ISP.
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.
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Looking for info on OmniTec Wireless
Has anyone had any dealings with or heard anything about
OmniTec Wireless? One of my readers was asking about it. Please post a comment to this posting if you have any info to share about OmniTec.
37 Comments:
I am also interested in more information, we are currently with Bell but the service is so slow we are looking at wireless alternative and keeping the DSL as a backup.
Xplornet seems to be the only other provider in my area, but they constantly over subscribe their towers/canopy/backhaul. At least the transfer amount is better now at 175 gig makes it a viable option.
I asked them if/when they would be expanding their coverage to the south/west of Ottawa (Ashton Area) and they responded with Summer 2015. I also have a co-worker who is within their currently defined service area (rural Kanata North) and he has been trying to get an install done now for several weeks but they have yet to come out or give him a date.
Last week, I exchanged a bunch of e-mails with someone from the company (owner?).
According to his calculations (my elevation, elevation of his antenna, etc.), I should be able to get a decent throughput (around 33 mbps or so).
Of course, we have to see about those darn trees on my property.
We have to schedule a visit/installation and are waiting for the weather to be a bit better (not so cold).
André
OmniTec will be coming soon (mid-April 2015) to do a site survey at my deepwoods home in the Carp Hills. Zia Khan of OmniTec says their line-of-sight tower is off Campeau Drive.
I had Zia out this past Sunday to check for connectivity at my Stonecrest Rd property, but unfortunately they could not get a signal at all (trees). He said they are working at putting up another tower in Carp, and will get back to me when it is ready.
Ditto for me.
I might be the Carp person he was referring to.
I am off David Manchester, and Zia came over on Saturday and tried to get a signal.
Darn trees! The are too high, and I only have a bungalow.
He told me that they were working on something to try to get me connected and that I hear from them soon.
Have been waiting for high speed internet for 12 years or so, and I can wait a bit longer.
André
Zia just left my home after being unable to get a signal from the tower, which is situated atop one of the three tall apartments buildings at the corner of Kanata + Campeau. Too many trees on our property in the Carp Hills. We will stick with Xplornet's satellite access: 80 GB for about $100/month.
So do they seem legit? Is there anyone who is an actual customer? Seems to good to be true.
Update? Anyone get on this service?
Update? Anyone get on this service?
Update? Anyone get on this service?
Howdy,
Alas, Zia could not get a signal from my house either. Something about those darn trees. We tried everything we could think of, but no cigar.
According to Zia's calculations, I should have been able to get a signal, but there are a lot of tall trees between my house and his antenna.
Moving on, I contacted Storm Internet, even though they coverage map does not include my area (they used to be our ISP before Explornet became the 'preferred' internet provider for the city of Ottawa for a short time).
A company in the area (PlayValue) has a tall tower on their land and is using Storm for their high speed internet and VOIP.
They (Storm) believe that I should be able to get a signal, but it will cost me dearly to put a tower up (70 foot tall at least, self-supporting with a concrete base).
The good part is that, if I cannot get a signal, they will dismantle the tower and it won't cost me anything (but I will have a nice concrete block on my property).
André
P.S. Someone mentioned that Bell put some fiber along Richardson Sideroad a couple of years ago. I call Bell (damn, they are frustrating) and they cannot tell me what the Fibe plans are for this area , whether we are talking 2 years from now, 6 months or tomorrow.
Omnitec's coverage map has just expanded to the West. I'm going to contact them for a site survey.
http://www.omnitecwireless.com/#!cover/c1rhn
Is OmniTEC still in business? I emailed them a few days ago but haven't received a reply. I've also tried calling their toll free number and continually get cut off or left with no option other than leaving a voicemail.
I've been trying to reach them for a month now, and have been unsuccessful. Not a good sign. I guess I'll stick with Xplornet.
Hi,
Have not heard from Zia in a few days either. I know that he is expanding and is busy going around the area.
As I could not go with Zia (too many tall trees between his antenna and my house), I had to put a tower (72 feet and it was not cheap) on my property to be able to use one of Storm's antenna near the Diefunbunker.
André
I've been a happy Omnitec customer since July (it's October now). OmiTEC Wireless came and did the install, putting their equipment on a silo on the farm next door to us. We had no line-of-sight from our backyard (huge trees) but the silo next door worked out great. I am located on the South-West side of Ottawa, not quite in Richmond.
Speeds are incredibly good compared to our previous Wind Mobile data stick (I had Xplornet for about a month last year before I gave up on it) and the connection is very reliable. No random down-times like we had with Wind, or even the Bell Portable Internet we had previously. We get fairly consistent 8M down, 2M up service.
We can actually watch Netflix and talk on our VOIP phone at the same time, which makes my wife very happy. Much cheaper than a Rogers Data stick, and can't beat the unlimited data.
I read this blog back in June when we were first looking for information on Omnitec, so I'm happy to report back that I'm a happy customer and have no problems recommending them to my neighbors or anybody else.
Nevin
I originally found this blog post many months ago when I first moved to the area (July), and to my disappointment there wasn't much information here, or anywhere for that matter, in regards to the quality of service provided by OmniTEC Wireless.
With my only alternative being Xplornet (and probably Storm - which from their website has very similar pricing), I decided to chance it.
As another user said, phoning their number really only give you the option to leave a voicemail. Sketchy, but I tried calling back another day at a different time and got the same result... so I left a message. I got a call back within a few days and then a site visit not too long after that.
First site visit was a bust, the tech couldn't get a signal to their base. He contacts me a few days later and wants to come back to try getting a signal again with some different equipment. 'Lo and behold, we can get signal from my rooftop (albeit quite weak).
After many weeks of going back and forth I finally decided to get a used 40ft bracketed tower (the ones you typically mount an antenna on). I'm all about DIY so it took me another few weeks to get the tower, and put it up.
Long story short, I've been enjoying highspeed internet from OmniTEC Wireless since October 7th (I'm located near Donald B. and Diamondview). And so far I have no complaints!
I'd rate my experience with the tech and the weeks leading up to my installation a solid 10/10. He was professional and eager to make sure I was still working towards signing up with him.
I haven't completed my first billing cycle yet, but I'd rate the internet service a 10/10 as well. It has been up every time I go to use it, it has enabled me to do work from home, and so far speed tests indicate that it hasn't fallen more than 2MBps (download) below my package (I admit my tower isn't the greatest install, she shakes a wee bit near the very top when the wind gets up). But yeah, I'm getting a consistent 4-5MBps download and 1-1.5MBps upload. Watching a 1080p video on YouTube is no problem...
Lastly, based on the many encounters and exchanges I've had with the rep from OmniTEC, I am extremely confident that if I ever have an issue it will be dealt with quickly and to my satisfaction... there's a really awesome guy leading this company!
Cheers!
I am curious where the tower is, is it along Franktown Road?
Have you had any issues with your service?
Been a while since any new posts. I looking it them too. Any comments?
Gave them a call on Saturday, they were closed, One of the partners called me back on Sunday.
Taking the plunge getting a site check out, hoping for the best, right now I am tethering to my cell, but have to watch for my usage, cus the overage is a killer.
@WebDog - how did it go? Wondering how the site visit went.
@Mark - Had a call, but no visit. I think I have to pay up the fees before any visits are made. But with all the bad experiences I had with other providers, I have grown very weary of paying up front.
@WebDog - Unless things have changed recently, I do not believe that Zia charges for a visit to see if you can get a signal. If he comes over and finds that you can get a strong enough signal, you would then have to pay for the installation and setup. At least, that is my understanding.
I know that he is quite busy right now, and is expanding. I would suggest sending him another e-mail or calling the number that is on the web site.
André (not yet a customer of Omnitec)
Got a call back, trying to get him to check if it would work for me this week.
I'm moving to carp in 2 weeks (near the cheshire cat pub) and am looking into ISP. Rogers and Bell both offered me a stick. It seems like my other options are Storm, Northwind, and I will try to contact Omnitec to see if they will come and survey the property. Storm chrges 50$ to come and see if there is signal, and northwind is free. anyone have any thoughts or insight, they would be greatly appreciated!
@A.F. Give TechSaavy a call to see first
Thanks @Webdog!
@webdog- techsaavy does not service the area.
seems my options primarily satelite internet- xplornet, storm, possibly northwind wireless and omnitech
I am open to anyone's thoughts/feedback.
Well in my case still waiting after Zia from Onmitec, I guess they are so small that they have 1 guy doing the testing and install. I guess I have to wait some more… bumper
@A.F. & @WebDog
Cannot comment on Bell's stick. I used to have Rogers' modem (cell tower), it was bloody slow, and expensive. At the time, it was the only thing available.
A co-worker has Xplornet and the speed is nowhere near the "up to 25 mbps" they advertise. They can watch the occasional Netflix movie but the speed really fluctuates.
On my way home today (I was a passenger in the car), I was looking at the 3 buildings near the Centrum mall. Zia's antenna is on one of the towers and it seems to have a line of site to the area around the pub. So, you should be able to get a signal ... if he gets back to you (he is a small provider, after all). And no, I am still not one of his customers.
North of the Cheshire pub (about 200 metres or so on Carp road), someone has a tower with an antenna on it. You could inquire as to who they use for their Internet connection (maybe Storm???).
Also, we recently (this morning) saw a new sign on David Manchester (between Falcon Brook Road and Old Almonte road). Someone got a mobile tower installed (on a trailer, and with guy wires), and there is a sign that says "Northwind wireless: Now available in your area". It looks as if it could be an 80 or 90 foot tower. It would not be surprising if it was a repeater tower.
André
Thanks very much, @AndreSastre!
And @Webdog
Very helpful information and feedback, I really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts, this is all quite new to me and having input is helpful!
Update! Zia replied to my recent email, they are having difficulties with a tower on McCordick. So they are falling behind.
I try to get him to call me for more info.
I will keep you posted.
a quick update- Zia came out to my house and took one look around and said that the trees are too high. We're now with rogers mobile wireless. the connection is fast but its quite expensive. i contacted bell again and apparently bell fibe is a few houses down on an adjacent street, so heres hoping it comes to my home soon.
Hi all,
We are moving to north-west of Carleton Place this weekend. I emailed OmniTEC via their website and was in contact with Zia right away. Our new place has a 50-60ft tower in place, so Zia was asking if we would consider being a hub for the local area - a discount is offered, not sure how much yet. They plan to be on site to do the site survey next week. We are only about 4.5 km from CP, so should be able to get a decent signal I hope. Will update later.
Mark
Alas....no signal at my location. :-(
Mark
Sad to say, I am giving up, I love giving my business to the small companies, Just not getting anywhere.
No call backs, no emails, :-(
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