Rural Ottawa High-Speed Internet Blog

ITBusiness article: Rogers launches Canada's first LTE service

2011-07-13T09:05:00.002-04:00

According to the article, Rogers has rolled-out LTE service in the Ottawa area.

It's looks a little pricey for what you get, compared to Rogers' RocketHub/Stick or Bell's TubroHub/Stick (HSPA+ service). From the article:

The Sierra Wireless modem costs $80 on a three year data plan. The flexible plans start at $45 for 1.5 Gigabytes of data a month and run up to $90 a month for 9 GB of data. The plan automatically shifts subscribers up or down levels depending on their monthly use.

Rogers said customers will see average download speeds of between 12 and 25 Mbps, depending on network congestion and spectrum used.

With RocketHub or TurboHub -- especially with the higher speed SpeedBoost option -- rural home Internet users can get similar performance at a lower price than Rogers' LTE service. The LTE plan seems suitable only if you need high-speed with your mobility plan.

FP article: Rogers to roll out LTE network in Ottawa

2011-06-11T08:36:00.002-04:00

The Financial Post recently publish an article reporting on Rogers' deployment of an LTE network in the Ottawa area. LTE -- Long-Term Evolution -- is next (4th) generation mobile voice and data, and promises to be 6-10x faster than current technologies. The LTE service is apparently available immediately.

I wandered over to Rogers website, and sure enough, the LTE Rocket Stick is being offered in the Ottawa area... with delivery sometime this summer. So it looks like the stick is available for pre-order.

The site doesn't get into performance specifics either, other than to say the service will be significantly faster than current HSPA+ networks (which have download speeds of up to 21 Mbps) and will depend on hardware selected.

LTE Rocket Stick hardware costs are $80 for 3-year contract, and $170 with no contract. No word on monthly service package costs.

Hopefully we can find out more later in the summer.

-Chris

Comparison of Bell and Rogers HSPA networks

2011-05-25T10:06:00.002-04:00

I've just done an impromptu comparative test of Bell's and Rogers' HSPA services (e.g. Bell Turbo Hub vs. Rogers Rocket Stick -- both the 7Mbps peak HSPA service).

Although not exhaustive, I tried to keep things as similar as possible.

The Bell Hub and Rogers Stick were located ~1m apart.
The tests were performed ~30 seconds apart.
All tests were performed using testmy.net's Download SmarTest.

Key differences include:

The Bell Hub was connected through my WinXP PC while the Rogers Stihttp://www2.blogger.com/img/blank.gifck was connected to my Vista laptop.
Rogers are towers are located to the ~2.5km north and ~5km south of my home, while Bell towers are located ~5km east and west of my home.

Bell Turbo Hub test results: 3.3 Mbps down

Rogers Rocket Stick test results: 750Kbps down

Click on the 'results' links to see the test details.

I actually ran a numbers of tests; the above results are typical. I saw Rogers range from 63 Kbps to 1.5 Mbps, while Bell never dropped below 2.5 Mbps.

For this morning anyway, and in my immediate area, Bell was way faster than Rogers.

ElectronicBox offers DSL in Ottawa area

2011-04-02T09:56:00.002-04:00

According to a reader, the ElectronicBox, which has been around since 1997 (in Quebec), now offers high-speed DSL service in the Ottawa area. They also offer telephone services. Their prices and speeds are somewhat lower than competitors, but they offer up and down data limits that are as good or better than their competitors.

Of course, most rural Ottawa customers can't get DSL. If they could, this blog would likely never have been created. But I'm posting it here since I know that some readers are in areas serviced by DSL.

ITWorldCanada: Clement undercuts defence of usage-based billing

2011-03-19T09:06:00.001-04:00

Here's an interesting article from IT World Canada, where Industry Minister Tony Clement weighs-in on usage-based billing (UBB) for independent ISPs.

http://m.itworldcanada.com/story.aspx?id=142632

Trialing Bell's Turbo Hub

2011-02-24T22:09:00.002-05:00

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

Xplornet Fair Access Policy appears to be changing in 2011

2010-12-15T15:44:00.002-05:00

As mentioned by poster FireFox in a comment to my Where is SimplySurf? posting, Xplornet may be making changes to its Fair Access/Traffic Management Policy/ies in early 2011. The changes seem to involve both speed throttling and download caps.

A posting on DSLReports.com provides some info, but I decided to check out what Xplornet has on its website.

I'm an Enhanced Xpress user (3 Mbps down, 3.5 GHz), and when I login to myxplornet, I get the following info on my fair access policy:

Our goal is to ensure that each Xplornet customer receives fair and consistent access to the Internet. A small percentage of customers are responsible for a disproportionate share of data usage on our network. To minimize the impact that heavier users might have on the experience of other Xplornet customers, we have implemented a Fair Access Policy. Our intent with this policy is to affect the fewest customers while helping maintain the best speeds for the majority of customers.

The Fair Access Policy on your service operates only during peak hours (between 8am and 1am local time). During this time, we subject traffic related to applications that are considered non time-sensitive (such as peer-to-peer file sharing, news groups, and online data storage) to a peak transfer speed of 300kbps download and 100kbps upload.

Outside of the Fair Access Policy, the speed you experience on your service is influenced by the design of the equipment. The equipment on your service is designed so that the speed you experience varies on a “per transaction” basis. Each time you begin a new “usage transaction”, such as clicking a link on the web, sending an e-mail, or uploading a file, the initial speed you experience will be the “burst” speed associated with your particular package.

You will continue to experience this burst speed until you reach the “burst limit” for your package. If the transaction isn’t finished when you reach the burst limit, the transaction will be completed at the “Sustained” speed for your package.

Each new usage transaction begins with the burst rate.

During normal web browsing, you will likely find that your transactions are at the burst rate. With larger file downloads/uploads, your transactions will be at a mix of the burst and sustained rates.

They go onto give a table of burst and sustained rates, as well as examples.

For the Xpress service, the throttling info given is:

Down: Burst: Up to 3.0 Mbps, Burst limit: 3.5 MB, Sustained speed: Up to 700 Kbps
Up: Burst: Up to 600 kbps, Burst limit: 600 KB, Sustained speed: Up to 300 Kbps

Basically, for any transaction, once you've downloaded the burst limit at the burst speed, your max speed will be throttled to the sustained speed for the remainder of the transaction.

This is somewhat disturbing. Even though the intention is to throttle heavy users (e.g. people downloading movies or viewing hours of streaming video), the burst limits are so low that they would easily be reached and exceeded in a single transaction.

In the Fair Access Policy that I get, there is no mention of download caps. I'm not sure if caps apply only to satellite users or what.

This all differs from the caps in place by Bell and Rogers, which charge extra if you go over your monthly download cap. Xplornet doesn't seem to be charging extra if you go over-cap, but rather they just slow you down.

Xplornet to provide 4G service

2010-11-23T11:22:00.002-05:00

An announcement on Xplornet's website indicates that it is planning to roll-out a 4G network starting this fall (which I guess means now). They don't indicate where they plan to deploy it first.

I could use more speed/bandwidth. 3 Mbps peak is not cutting it, and for the last week or so, the average download speed has been 0.5 Mbps, anytime of day or night.

High-speed comes to Winchester, Avonmore and Apple Hill

2010-10-01T19:14:00.002-04:00

According to EMC Manotick-Winchester, high-speed is now available in the Winchester, Avonmore and Apple Hill areas. The high-speed service is being supplied by Xplornet.

Read the article for more info.

CRTC OKs $730M rural broadband, urban rebate plan

2010-09-08T19:36:00.002-04:00

The article comes from ITWorldCanada.

"The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications gave approval Tuesday for large phone companies to use $421.9 million set aside in special deferral account funds to bring broadband to 287 rural and remote communities in five provinces in central and western Canada over the next four years."

Click here for the complete article.

Bell Turbo Hub delivers high-speed Internet to rural communities in Québec and Ontario

2010-08-09T14:08:00.002-04:00

Seemingly as an alternative to Rogers Rocket Hub, Bell has come out with the Turbo Hub. I haven't taken a close look at it, except to determine that it's not available at my home, but Bell is claiming PEAK download speeds of 7 Mbps starting at $40 per month for data-only service (tiered model based on total number of gigabytes downloaded each billing period). Voice service option can be added. Turbo Hub can also have a Bell bundle discount.

Here's a couple of links that might be of interest:

Press Release

Current Offer

If anyone has the Turbo Hub, I would be interested in knowing how you like it (or not).

-Chris

Where is SimplySurf?

2010-07-30T07:50:00.002-04:00

Over the last couple of days, I've been told by a couple of people on this blog that SimplySurf no longer appears to be providing wireless service. From comments posted under my Rogers Rocket Hub blog entry, it seems that the company may be out-of-business. After doing a bit of searching on Google, I wasn't able to confirm or deny whether or not SimplySurf was still operational. So I guess at this point, given the comments I've received, it is alleged that SimplySurf is gone.

From 'Firefox',

"...things were fine up until the end of May here, and the one day the towers started dropping off the network to the point where I had no connectivity for 4 or 5 days.

After leaving them [SimplySurf] numerous voice messages, I finally caved and and drove to their office location at lunch to find an emptied out office building with a nasty looking notice from Ottawa hydro stuck in the door. Not good.

Anyways - suffice it to say that I have not been able to contact them over email, phone or fax since the end of May..."

And from 'PA',

"I also live in West Carleton and use SimplySurf. Service is extremely unreliable and support/service is non existent. I can live with the occasional outage, but no service at all is not acceptable. One of my neighbours, who was also using SimplySurf, got feed up and dropped them. Problem is that he couldn’t contact them to tell them he had switched to Xplornet, he just had to cancel the monthly payments..."

If anyone has any other info about SimplySurf, I'm sure readers of this blog would like to hear it.

-Chris

Rogers Rocket Hub

2010-07-13T10:25:00.002-04:00

Someone told me about Rogers Rocket Hub offering, which allows to you to connect up to 10 PCs into a home network and, if you want, add in your home phone as well. There are flexible rate plans based on your data usage and whether or not you want to have voice services as well.

Although the above web page doesn't give maximum download and upload rates, if you poke around on Rogers' mobile Internet site, the maximum speeds seem to be 7.2 Mbps down and 5.7 Mbps up. It's on Rogers' HSPA 3.5G wireless network.

This all looks very good (e.g. faster peak speeds for less than I'm paying now). Does anyone out there have any details on this service? I know a few people have told me that Rogers Rocket stick is quite good, and this offering seems to be built around the same service.

-Chris

Opinions on Mobile Internet

2009-12-29T20:47:00.003-05:00

Does anyone out there have any experience with either Rogers Rocket Mobile Internet Stick or Bell's Mobile Internet (with Turbo Stick).

Both services appear to be widely available in eastern Ontario and western Quebec, starting at $30/month for 500MB download (total).

Readers would be interested in service reliability and speeds in various parts of eastern Ontario and western Quebec, as well as installation and setup, pricing, and customer service incidents.

Let me know.

Harrowsmith article: Our Internet Solution

2009-07-24T12:16:00.002-04:00

The August 2009 issue of Harrowsmith Country Life features an article about the efforts of a Pontiac (Outauais) couple to get high-speed Internet access at their rural property. The article, on pages 36-37 and entitled Our Internet Solution, describes how they erected a tower on their property and got connected with Pioneer Wireless... and presumably shared the access with their neighbours. It's a story of determination and ingenuity, as well as a run-in with a black bear.

The article is not on Harrowsmith's website, but the issue is in news stands until early September, and you can probably find a couple at your local library.

ITWorldCanada: How competitive is Canada in broadband?

2009-07-02T09:23:00.001-04:00

ITWorldCanada recently posted an article about Canada's competitiveness in the broadband Internet market. This is another article that is not specifically related to rural Internet access, but some interesting information nonetheless.

Me and Bell Portable Internet

2009-06-23T21:19:00.002-04:00

I recently received a mailer from Bell Sympatico offering discounts on their various Portable Internet offerings, as well as half-price portable modems ($49 instead of $99). So I decided to check it out. I phoned up Bell Sympatico and asked about it. The rep (Fred?) said that instead of $49.95 per month for the (up to) 3 Mbps service, it would be $34.95 per month, and only $29.95 in a bundle (which I qualified for as a Bell LD and ExpressVu customer) for the first 12 months. And it would be $44.95 per month after 12 months if I wasn't in a bundle. And I had 15 days to return the modem for a full refund if I couldn't get a signal, but I should be able to get a signal.

My 1-year Xplornet contract expired in early June, so I decided to see if Sympatico Portable Internet would work in my rural Ottawa locale.

I visited the Bell World store in Barhaven, bought a modem for $49. First hiccup was that I was informed by the Bell World guy that it would be $34.95 per month in a bundle, and $49.95 per month in a bundle after 12 months. Hmmm.... a $5 discrepancy between the two Bell sources. I decided to check it out anyway, since I would still see significant savings in the first 12 months.

I took the modem home and following the instructions, plugged it into a wall outlet in my home office and waited for it to find a signal. No signal. Put the kids to bed. Came back. Still no signal. Tried the modem in various other rooms in my house. In a couple of rooms, I got 1 bar (out of 5 bars). But the booklet said that I needed a minimum of 2 bars to get reliable service and the more bars, the better. I got 2-3 bars in my guest bedroom, at the opposite end of the house from my home office. The Bell rep did say the tower was due east my house, and the guest bedroom is at the extreme east end of my house, so I guess that made some sense. Unfortunately, I did not really want to run a 70-plus foot network cable from my guest bedroom through the rest of the house to my home office, and my previous experience had shown me that my wireless router could not get a reliable signal between the two extremities (old house, thick walls, some brickwork).

So I packed the modem up, and took it back to the Bell World store for a refund.

So my little experiment wasn't very successful. I may try Rogers Portable Internet; it's the same network (Inukshuk) as Bell's service, but perhaps Rogers uses a different tower in my area.

Does anyone else have any Bell Sympatico Portable Internet experiences to share? Or with Rogers Portable Internet?

CBC: Small ISPs fight ruling that let Bell throttle internet speeds

2009-05-26T12:56:00.002-04:00

Last fall, the CRTC made a controversial ruling allowing Bell Sympatico (and others) to throttle Internet speeds based on content. A group of small ISPs is now seeking to have that ruling overturned based on such grounds Internet freedom, monopolization, consumer costs, and user privacy.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/05/21/tech-bell-isps-internet-throttling.html

CBC Marketplace: Speed Bumps

2009-04-06T21:27:00.003-04:00

On Michael Geist's website, he posts an article with a link to a November 2007 episode of CBC's Marketplace in which they supposedly test the download speeds of various ISPs.

The tests aren't really very scientific, since there are way too many variables just in the way they've set up the tests with the end-users, and the fact that each user only ran one test of one very large (700MB) file. However, there are a few accurate comments sprinkled throughout the exposé which warrant attention. I'd also suggest that if you watch the video, you also read the comments included with Michael Geist's article, since there are also some accurate observations.

The Latest on my Xplornet Service

2009-03-29T21:00:00.002-04:00

As previously mentioned (in my comments of my posting of 'Life with Xplornet: After 5 Months'), I was moved over to Xplornet's 3.5 GHz service (from the 900 MHz service) and the host tower was upgraded in late January, after which time my download speeds improved significantly. Part of the speed increase was due to the fact that Xplornet gave me a free upgrade to the 5Mbps service until the end of February due to all the problems that I had between October and January. However, since the beginning of March, my service has been downgraded to the 3Mbps service, and my download speeds dropped accordingly.

Mostly the speeds are good, but sometimes they're poor; to be fair, sometimes they're super. There's a lot of inconsistency, and some days are better or worse than others. On my 3 Mbps service, I'm averaging 1.2 Mbps download through March, which I think is fairly reasonable; as I've said before, I'm not naive enough to expect 3 Mbps all the time. Looking at the details, I've gotten as low as 11 Kbps (yes, Kbps) and as high as 5.1 Mbps for individual downloads. For average daily downloads, I've gotten as high as 2.3 Mbps and as low as 50.39 Kbps. In other words, my speeds are varyingly fast and slow, and I can only guess at the reason or reasons. It might be traffic patterns (i.e. other users, since the bandwidth is shared), backhaul network congestion, target webserver load, atmospheric interference, etc. I work (for now) in the cellular industry, and these are all valid factors for affecting data rates to your web-enabled cellphone or smartphone (e.g. Blackberry), and they also hold true for fixed wireless service (since most are outside the control of the service provider). The ISP owns or controls very little of your end-to-end Internet connection. Equipment could be a factor, both in-home and out on the network. I try my best to keep my PC patch-current and malware-free. And yes, it could be policies implemented by Xplornet, as some people claim.

Remember, peak rate (i.e. the advertised rate -- you'll note that it always reads 'up to' or 'maximum' regardless of the ISP) is NOT the sustained or average rate, and ISPs don't publish their target sustained rates. They're not going to put a guarantee on down- or upload rates either, because of the variety of factors outside of their control that can impact performance. Mostly, it appears to be best effort. The fact that I'm occasionally experiencing download rates above the maximum for my service implies that Xplornet is not (or at least not always) throttling rates. On eight of 16 days in March on which I ran download tests, I got maximum download rates in excess of 3 Mbps.

If you don't think you're regularly getting appropriate speeds, you should complain (and I don't care who you're ISP is). If you're still not satisfied, complain with your wallet, either by downgrading your service (e.g. why pay for 3 Mbps when you're not even regularly getting 1.5 Mbps?) or by switching ISPs (if you have that option).

PC World Canada article on USB Internet Sticks

2008-12-16T14:43:00.000-05:00

PCWorld.ca recently posted an article entitled 'Take the Internet with you: Canadian carriers offer USB Internet sticks' on their website.

The article basically describes the mobile Internet services available to laptop users (as opposed to smartphone users). Some readers may have heard or seen ads for Rogers Internet Stick; the article covers such services from Rogers, Fido, Bell, and Telus.

These services are different from the portable Internet services offered by Rogers and Bell on their co-developed Inukshuk network. For one, the data plans are more expensive, and two, the download and upload speeds are lower. Rogers and Fido use a GSM network, while Bell and Telus use an EVDO network. However, they are another option for high-speed Internet access for rural users, especially if you want to take your Internet access with you on the road.

Life with Xplornet: After 5 Months

2008-11-13T21:11:00.000-05:00

My last posting on my Xplornet experience was July 3 (see archive), when I had been with Xplornet for 3 weeks following my conversion from Storm. It's now over 4 months later, and the adventure continues. Here's some of the things I've experienced:

In August, Xplornet's email servers were unavailable for a couple of days. No email lost... as far as I could tell.
In September, I had my antenna re-aligned at my own expense, because I had to remove it from my roof in August in order to re-shingle the roof. When I put it back up, it was pretty good, but decided to spend the $100 to get it accurately aligned for the best-possible signal.
In early October (?), Xplornet's email servers were again unavailable for a couple of days. And again, no email appeared to have been lost.
During the October 18-19 weekend, my service went down. I called Xplornet's customer support line. A recorded announcement indicated network problems in many areas, including North Gower (i.e. the tower servicing me). The service was eventually restored around 11am Monday, October 20.
The next day, Tuesday, October 21, my service dropped 6 times during the afternoon, while I was telecommuting. It was still bouncing on Wednesday. I tried calling the custoemr support line, but after ~15 minutes on-hold, I hung-up and sent an email. Long story short, after several email exchanges and phone calls, my writing of a script to repeatedly test my connection using pings and record the results, and three different tier 1 support reps telling me the same thing each time (except for one who also told me the outages were 'momentary' despite the data I had provided), I finally spoke with a tier 2 support rep on the evening of Tuesday, November 4. That rep arranged for a work order to get an on-site visit by a technician; she said someone would call within 4 days to arrange for the visit. On the morning of November 8, the tech called me, dropped by within 3 hours, and replaced my 900 MHz antenna with a 2.5 GHz antenna, which required alignment with a different tower, farther away. (Aside: one thing I've never been clear on is why Xplornet wouldn't point my antenna at the tower, only 2 km up the road, that I used when I was with Storm. Instead, I was originally pointed at a tower 6 km away and now, supposedly off a tower even farther away.) This problem frustrated me because it could have been resolved a lot sooner, but was mishandled by Xplornet's tier 1 support team. Three different people reviewed my case and told me basically the same things, but added little value. They even appeared to have ignored the hours of ping data that I sent them. Since the antenna was replaced, my connection has been stable, even during heavy fog and freezing rain, but the speeds seem slower and appears to stall periodically.

So, June through September were pretty good months on Xplornet, except for the email interruptions. October was a very rough month for me and Xplornet. I'm hoping the next few months will be much better, to make up for it.

-Chris

Monitor Article: Portable Internet

2008-10-30T13:55:00.000-04:00

In the October 2008 issue of Ottawa's own Monitor Magazine, there's a feature article entitled Portable Internet on page 26. The author, Eric Jacksch, tested Rogers Portable Internet service from his own home in Ottawa south and describes his findings, including upload and download speeds.

You can download the full October 2008 issue of Monitor in PDF format by clicking
http://monitor.ca/monitor/PDF/MONITOR_October2008.pdf.

Side note: I'm soooo glad that Monitor has started producing complete online issues (in both PDF and SWF (macromedia flash) formats). I've been having trouble finding the print copies, and although the feature articles used to be available on their webpage, the ads never were.

PCMag article: Why We Need White-Space Broadband

2008-10-23T13:36:00.000-04:00

PC Magazine has published an article about using unlicensed white-space frequencies for high-speed Internet transmissions in rural areas.

In the USA, the government is requiring all TV broadcasters to convert their analog television signals to digital signals. This frees-up all the analog TV channels on VHF (channels 2-13; 54-216 MHz) and UHF (channels 14-83; 470-1002 MHz). These frequency spectrums (white-space) could be used for wireless high-speed Internet access, especially in rural areas where there is not a lot of white-space use to begin with. And because these are lower frequencies, especially the VHF range, the signals can travel much further, which also makes them suitable for rural areas.

I'm not sure how applicable the article is to Canada, since I'm not sure if the Canadian government is going to follow the USA's lead in the matter. If anyone knows for sure, please provide info.

Article: Slow road to high-speed Internet frustrating consultants

2008-10-17T18:10:00.000-04:00

The October 10, 2008 edition of the Manotick/Winchester EMC features a front-page article entitled Slow road to high-speed Internet frustrating consultants. The article describes problems and frustrations associated with gaps in the high-speed coverage in the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry. The counties are looking to access some of the $30 million budgeted by the provincial government to improve rural high-speed access.

Anyone wishing to report gaps in the rural high-speed access within the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry should contact Actionable intelligence at 613-535-2673 or actionable.intelligence@rogers.com.

Bell Sympatico offers high-speed for rural and cottage areas

2008-09-27T08:34:00.000-04:00

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:

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

HiSpeed in West Carleton Update

2008-09-20T08:58:00.000-04:00

Posting on behalf of Sulo out in West Carleton. Sulo provided the update about 10 days ago, but I've been too busy to post it until now. --Chris

I waited patiently for Barrett Xplornet (a full year) to get their act together.

A few weeks ago their installer showed up and stated that they had upgraded the tower and equipment to 3.5.

The upshot was that I would require a 40 foot tower to receive the signal from Carp. $1500 bucks for a new tower and perhaps half that for a used one.

The installers indicated that they had recommended that a repeater be installed at Carp Road (Regional Road 5 and Richardson Side Road) but this was not done.

Based on other tests that they did in the area, it appears that the area bounded by Magee Side Road in the North, Richardson Side Road in the south. William Mooney in the east and Spruce Ridge in the south. This is the same dead area that I indicated in my post from last year.

Needless to say, I was not keen on a tower of this height and could not afford the cost.

So, I went to Rogers and purchased one of their indoor Portable Internet (WiFi) modems ($100) and pointed it at their closest cell tower. Surprise - 5 bars signal strength. Note that Rogers uses Near Line of Sight technology vs. Barrett's Line of Sight technology. The former is very forgiving of the geography (e.g. trees, other obstructions) whereas the latter requires almost a line of sight to the transceiver. Rogers also offers an outdoor modem for those with a more distant location from their cell towers (they don't utilize the cell cell network but mount their Wifi gear on these towers).

I attached the Rogers modem to a Wifi router and now have secure broadband access from anywhere on my grounds.

Woo Hoo!

-Sulo

Xplornet offers discounts for Storm converts

2008-07-15T17:33:00.001-04:00

Today, I received the following message from Xplornet, so I thought I'd pass it along. I am unsure if this discount only applied to Storm subscribers which have already converted, or to future converts as well. If you have any questions about it, I suggest you contact Xplornet directly.

-Chris

Thank you again for becoming an Xplornet customer. We appreciate your business and look forward to providing you with exceptional services, and support that you deserve.

We understand that your transition from Storm to Xplornet may not have been as smooth as it should have. We would like to apologize for this and thank you for your support and patience

Upon further review of our service package offerings, Xplornet is now able to provide you with an even better value. For you, our Xtreme package has been lowered to $49.99 (a $10/month savings) and our Xpress package to $44.99 (a $5/month savings) when a contract is agreed to. This discount will continue even after your contract expires.

If you have previously agreed to a contract on one of these packages, there is no need to contact us as we will automatically update your account with the new pricing. If you are currently not on a contract, and would like to take advantage of the new pricing, please contact us at telesales@xplornet.com.

Again, on behalf of Xplornet, I apologize and thank you for your patience and understanding. We look forward to continuing to serve you in the future.

Kindest regards,
Allison Lenehan
Chief Marketing Officer

Highspeed Fixed Wireless coming to Kingston Area

2008-07-07T14:56:00.000-04:00

This ITWorldCanada article is a little outside the Ottawa area, but I'm posting it here mainly as a general interest article on what is happening in other nearby areas.

http://www.itworldcanada.com/Mobile/ViewArticle.aspx?title=&id=idgml-5aec0a47-ccfd-465d-afca-2d2b6f965e26&format=Print

My Xplornet Update: after 3 weeks

2008-07-03T21:03:00.000-04:00

It's now been 3 weeks since I was converted from Storm's wireless internet service to Xplornet's wireless internet service. My last posting generated a lot of comments, so I thought I'd post a follow-up.

During the last 3 weeks, my Xplornet experience has had highs and lows. Here's a summary:

My first attempt at technical support was using email to request a second email address. This was resolved within 2 business days.
My second attempt at getting technical from Xplornet was via phone. I was on-hold for 10-15 minutes without talking to anyone. I hung up.
Attempt #3 was also by phone. My internet service had been down for 6 hours, so I called to see what was up (or not up). I was on-hold for 10-15 minutes, then got a tier 1 techie who me ran through her script, which involved disconnecting my router, messing with my PC's config, and several reboots, none of which resolved the issue. She transferred me to tier 2 support, where I was placed on-hold for another 15 minutes or so. During this time, I power-cycled both my router and the Xplornet modem, and got connectivity. So I hung up.
Another email to technical support was also responded to within 48 hours, although the answer was useless. I was complaining about intermittent connection drops and stalls (which affected my connectivity and thus my productivity while I was connected to my customer's network), and the guy said I had to call them while it was happening. Given the short duration of the problems, and the long on-hold times of Xplornet's tech support, I've so far declined to call them on it.
The latest call to technical support was very interesting. I was only on-hold for a couple of minutes when I got to talk to someone who didn't even attempt to walk me through a script. I was complaining that my 5 Mbps service had been giving sustained speeds of 400-900 Kbps, which made it worse than the sustained rates I was getting on my 3 Mbps Storm service. The guy checked a few things, put me on-hold for a minute, and then came back to tell me that the tower servicing my radio didn't support 5 Mbps. This struck me as odd, so I asked him why this wasn't identified once my radio was installed and they knew what tower would be providing service; he didn't know the answer. What he did do was set my service to 3 Mbps and credit the difference back to my account. BTW, my radio is pointed at the tower behind the city of Ottawa's client services centre on Roger Stevens Drive in North Gower.
A funny thing is that reducing my service to 3 Mbps seems to have resolved the intermittent problems that I had experienced, and I actually got a higher sustained download rate of ~1.2 Mbps. Today, I was logged into a customer's network for ~7 hours without any connectivity problems from my end, and the VoIP call that I had going simultaneously for ~7 hours only experienced one short stutter (which is a vast improvement in the quality of the same VoIP client's calls over Storm's network).
You might have noticed that we've had a lot of heavy rain and fog in Ottawa lately. The Xplornet service seems stable enough in bad weather, comparable to Storm.

My overall grade for Xplornet so far is 6.5/10, mostly because of problems and delays that I've had with their tech support. The wait times are too long, and I was disappointed with the "5 Mbps on a 3 Mbps tower" scenario. At this point, I'm going to stay with Xplornet but am glad that I've only signed a one-year contract. A friend of mine in Carp has had Xplornet 3 Mbps service for several months now, and says he likes the service.

My Storm-to-Xplornet Conversion

2008-06-14T08:27:00.000-04:00

About 3 weeks ago, Xplornet contacted me to see if I wanted to convert to their wireless service, since they had bought Storm's wireless business and I was a Storm wireless customer. I decided to go with Xplornet, and chose their Xtreme 5Mbps (peak) service; I had 3Mbps (peak) with Storm, which was typically ~1 Mbps sustained/average, and wanted something faster for my heavy telecommuting activities

On Wednesday, June 11, Xplornet again called to say that they would have a technician in the area the next day, and if it would be okay for him to remove the Storm gear and install the Xplornet gear. I agreed, and was informed that the tech would be at my house around 2pm.

The next day (Thursday), the Xplornet technician showed up ~3:30pm (not significantly later compared to some utility companies). It took him a couple of hours to complete the removal and installation.

The first thing I noticed was that the new antenna was pointed south-west (at the North Gower client services centre tower) instead of north (to the repeater atop a silo at Acredale Farm). Storm has told me on a couple of occasions that they could not get a strong enough signal from the NGCSC tower; I guess that the Xplornet gear on the tower is either positioned higher on the tower, and/or it's different gear.

I then fired-up my PC and started some testing. I immediately noticed that the downloads were faster with Xplornet than with Storm. A couple of download tests (using testmy.net) I ran over the first 24 hours indicated average speeds in the 4Mbps range; not bad for a 5Mbps service.

I requested an additional email address on Thursday. It's now Saturday, and other than an automated email response stating that my request had been received, I have not heard anything back from Xplornet. Hopefully, I will get a response within the next business day or two.

CBC: Bell Sued Over InternetThrottling

2008-06-03T09:51:00.000-04:00

Although not specifically related to high-speed Internet access in the rural Ottawa area, the ramifications of this law suit could have a broad impact, which could possibly affect the discrepancies between advertised (peak or burst) speeds and sustained speeds (which are often less than 50% of the peak speed). My 2 cents.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/06/02/tech-quebec.html

Barrett Xplore Inc. Buys Storm Internet Services wireless operations

2008-03-31T22:33:00.000-04:00

I was notified by email from Barry Williams, president of Storm Internet Services and by comment posting from Tony that Storm's wireless business has been bought by Barrett Xplore, a.k.a. Xplornet. The contents of the email which I (and presumably all Storm wireless customers) received are given below.

Storm Internet Services and Barrett Xplore Inc. (www.xplornet.com), through its Xplornet brand, are pleased to announce that Xplornet will now be the service provider for Storm's wireless Internet services
customers. Barrett Xplore is Canada's largest and fastest growing wireless Internet Service Provider (ISP), with tens of thousands of subscribers across the country.

Xplornet offers both fixed wireless and satellite high-speed Internet services, enabling Xplornet to reach virtually every single Canadian. We are confident that you will be pleased and impressed with Xplornet's service offering.

Some benefits of Xplornet are:

24/7/365 technical support
Guaranteed rates: your rate will be protected for the duration of your contract
No additional download volume fees
All customers receive 2 Gig of storage with Xplornet email accounts

The process of moving each customer to Xplornet's service is expected to take a few months. Xplornet will contact each Storm customer individually starting in April 2008 to begin this transition process. Customers will be grouped by area served and package type in order to
coordinate the appropriate equipment changes/upgrades and to answer any questions you might have about Xplornet services. Rest assured that this is being done over a period of time to ensure that each customer is handled with the great concern and care that Xplornet prides themselves on providing.

Until the time that you are contacted by Xplornet and converted to their equipment and service packages, you will continue to contact Storm for all technical, billing, questions and problems. Storm will also be billing you during this period.

When you are contacted by Xplornet they will be happy to answer any questions that you have concerning this conversion.

Kindest Regards,

Barry Williams
President
Storm Internet Services

HiSpeed in West Carleton Update

2008-03-31T22:10:00.000-04:00

I am posting this West Carleton HiSpeed Internet update at the request of Sulo Viherjoki, the author. I have made only minor changes/additions. --Chris

The winter is almost over (touch wood!) and thought I'd give you and your readers an update about what has happened in my neck of the woods since December 2007. I have received responses from some of your readers on my original posting.

There is nothing new to report on from Xplornet and my friends/politicians at city hall.

No new news to report from Sympatico Unplugged or Xplornet either.

However, Rogers has a cell tower within viewing range of my living room window and it supports Rogers Portable Internet. To my knowledge, the only subscriber is the property owner on which the tower is located. He (a mutual friend) was unaware until I told him that Rogers had Wireless internet on this tower. This tower is located on the south side of Richardson Side Road, mid way between the intersections of David Manchester Road and Spruce Ride Road.

Note that although the Rogers website shows only limited access from this tower, their coverage map may be overly pessimistic. This is after talking to their staff at the Rogers Centrum Kanata location. Since they have both an inside and outside installable modem available, I am optimistic that I will be able to get a signal. I have to wait till the snowbanks around my house are gone though!

In addition, I would like to share with you and your readers that the current issue (April 2008 - No. 199) of Harrowsmith Country Life has an article on Rural Internet Options ("High Speed in Cow Country"). The 2 highlights of the article IMHO are:

1.) All of Nunavut now has high-speed, and

[Chris' note: While this may be true, my understanding is that most of the high-speed is satellite based.]

2.) a small startup homebrew operation near Woodstock, Ontario is offering wireless service for a one time connect/install fee of $99 and monthly charges of $29. They were able to do this in most cases by partnering with local farmers to install their equipment on silos, rather than building expensive expensive towers from the ground up.

[Chris' note: The now-defunct Arryba Communications tried to do something similar. In the fact, the tower that services my home is mounted on a silo about 2 kilometres up the road. I think some other small ISPs in the area (Northwind?) are doing something similar as well, but I could be wrong. In any case, I think co-op ISPs are an excellent grass-roots means of getting high-speed to rural areas; I considered do it myself.]

Sulo Viherjoki

City Responds to West Carleton Posting

2007-12-19T21:06:00.000-05:00

In response to an earlier posting on this blog entitled "Internet Hi-Speed (Broadband) Access in West Carleton", Chris Cope, Economic Development Consultant for the City of Ottawa, has requested that I post the following message.

As subject matter expert on the City's Broadband initiative, I'd like to respond to a number of recent enquiries and expand a bit on the objectives of the City’s broadband initiative. I hope that you will post this to your blog so that everyone can learn about the City's process and the reason that we are confident in, and excited to be announcing that "every house in Rural Ottawa now has access to high speed."

Right up front, I want to confirm that the City continues to work with Xplornet to assess today's fixed wireless coverage to determine if additional coverage is required. The process is well underway and will continue throughout the term of the City's contract with Xplornet. Although so far, the focus has been on the gaps designated by the City as having no service, many other areas are covered as well.

Some areas in West Carleton are heavily forested in every direction. In that context, one of the features that makes these neighbourhoods so wonderful, also limits broadband connectivity. The physics of radio frequency propagation (and not any plan to force customers toward satellite service) works against these locations regardless of tower heights. Cell phone coverage is spotty in West Carleton as well, as everyone knows, but that technology uses licensed radio spectrum which by nature, has a much greater ability of dealing with topography and foliage issues because of both frequency and significantly higher signal power.

High-speed or "broadband" Internet is not a utility that is provided by the City, but rather a communication service that is provided by independent private companies. Since 2003, the City has worked with virtually all of these companies, but they have increasingly indicated that there is no business case to spend money on infrastructure to extend their services beyond the larger villages and other populated areas. Where population is sparse, their investment would not provide a reasonable business return on investment even if everyone signed up for the service. This resulted in a situation where by fall 2006, about 40% of rural Ottawa had no access to any form of high-speed Internet and people living in these gap areas were unable to enjoy increasingly media-rich Internet sites and services using dial-up. The situation in West Carleton was even worse, where about two thirds of the homes in the Ward were unable to access any form of broadband.

The City wanted everyone to be able to have high-speed and set out to find a way that would cause one or more companies to accelerate their plans to extend their high-speed service to previously un-serviced areas. The private/public (P3) partnership with Barrett Xplore inc. (Xplornet) does just that, by providing a suite of high-speed services to the areas previously without service. We are delighted to be in a position to say that now everyone in rural Ottawa has access to some form of high-speed service and at prices that are similar to service offerings in urban Ottawa.

Xplornet offers a variety of services and although they are concentrating on their wireless service, they also offer a group of satellite high-speed options. There are up to 5 wireless packages varying from varying from $29.99 to $59.99 per month with corresponding download speeds between 300 Kbps to 5.0 Mbps. Not all wireless services are available in all areas however, and because Xplornet uses line-of-sight technology for their fixed wireless system there will be some rural Ottawa residents, especially those that live in heavily forested areas or where topography works at odds to a strong signal, who cannot receive fixed wireless service. That's why Ottawa and Xplornet are offering state-of-the-art satellite broadband to ensure everyone has access to high-speed.

There are 4 satellite packages available for consumers with speeds varying from 512 Kbps to 2.0 Mbps at prices ranging from $49.99 to $179.99 per month. The basic installation fee for satellite is an "all-in" fee of $199 on a 3-year contract. This compares to elsewhere in Canada where the same installation is $399 for equipment plus the cost of labour resulting in a total cost of $600 to $900.

For comparison, one of the major telephone companies in Ottawa offers high-speed service in the City's urban area at $49 per month although they too have smaller and larger packages. Their wireless service is $55 per month. Similarly, a local cable company offers their most popular Internet on Cable service at $52.95 per month (plus $3 per month modem rental or $99.95 modem purchase plus taxes) although they too have several other packages including a light version at $32.95 Monthly Service Fee (plus $3 per month modem rental or $99.95 modem purchase plus taxes).

Some people are disappointed to learn that their home is not in a location where wireless service is available, but satellite service while a little more expensive is a tremendous improvement over dial-up. To give you a sense of this, here's a quote from Suzanne Bird, who operates a business from her home and is a recent satellite customer. Ms. Bird lives in a neighbourhood in West Carleton called the Pinery, which has beautiful tall trees:

"As a "mum-preneur" balancing being a mom and operating my own business, I was having serious difficulty making the business work effectively in rural Ottawa. Why? Because like most businesses, photography is becoming more and more reliant on the internet - being able to send and receive images electronically instead of couriering or driving hard copies to clients around Ottawa. A rural business like mine was at a huge disadvantage because dial-up Internet made sending large files simply impossible.

I was at an impasse. The only way to balance rural living, family care and business was with high-speed Internet. Now that I have Xplornet using a satellite system my business has fundamentally changed. The gap between myself and photographers in urban Ottawa has closed, and I'm experiencing both growth in business, and more time at home. There's no question in my mind that business in rural Ottawa will expand, and the rural Ottawa lifestyle will get even better than it was before."

It is important to note too, that should Xplornet's fixed wireless service become available at a later date to residents in areas not presently served by wireless, Xplornet will install the new wireless service and remove the satellite service at no additional cost. People should also know that Xplornet has a 30-day risk free guarantee. If they end up going ahead with the satellite service, they have 30 days to kick tires and if during that time they want to cancel, Xplornet will cancel the contract, come and remove the equipment and give them back their money. Xplornet is committed to having only satisfied customers and this seems to me to be an excellent way of ensuring this.

I hope this information is informative. I would encourage anyone with additional questions to follow up with me directly.

Chris Cope
Economic Development Consultant
Economic and Environmental Sustainability Branch
Email: Chris.Cope@ottawa.ca
(613) 580-2424 ext. 28991

OBJ article: Hydro Ottawa to sell off telecom business

2007-12-08T09:53:00.000-05:00

The Ottawa Business Journal published an article called 'Hydro Ottawa to sell off telecom business' on Friday, December 7, 2007.

Although Telecom Ottawa provides service mainly in metro Ottawa, I mention in this blog simply because Telecom Ottawa also provides the fibre-optic internet backbone used by many ISPs in the area, including rural Ottawa. Thus, the article is at least indirectly relevant to this blog.

The Packet article: Get connected: Broadband internet comes to rural Ottawa

2007-12-08T09:36:00.000-05:00

The Friday, December 7, 2007 edition of The Packet contains an article on page 5 entitled 'Get connected: Broadband internet comes to rural Ottawa'. The article basically is basically high-level information about Xplornet's deployment of fixed wireless and satellite high-speed internet service in the rural Ottawa and adjacent areas, plus some background history on the City's rural high-speed internet initiative.

For the most part, there is nothing important in the article that hasn't been covered previously on this blog. The main item of interest is the accompanying graphic, which shows a map of Xplornet's fixed wireless coverage. The map shows solid, blanket fixed wireless coverage for all of Ottawa outside the urban core, except for the south west corner of the City limits, i.e. Burritt's Rapids area. It also shows Xplornet's fixed wireless coverage extending well south of Kemptville along the 416 corridor. Everything else on the map is indicated to be covered by Xplornet's satellite service. The fixed wireless coverage indicated on the map paints a more thorough coverage than readers and contacts from West Carleton are reporting, so there appears to be a discrepancy somewhere.

The article also gives the following contact info, which except for the phone number, have also been previously published on this blog (and appear in the right margin of the main page).

The Packet is a free community newspaper serving South Ottawa, Richmond, Kemptville, and Merrickville. The afore-mentioned article does not appear to be available online, nor does The Packet appear to have any online presence.

Internet Hi-Speed (Broadband) Access in West Carleton

2007-12-06T22:44:00.000-05:00

I received the following email from a reader, who requested that I post it on my blog. It is addressed to his fellow residents in West Carleton. I have not edited the content.

-Chris

Hi Neighbour:

You have read in the press that Ottawa city council has provided taxpayer funding to a private sector firm to provide competitive internet access to rural areas which the current ISPs (Internet Service Providers) are not servicing.

The contract was awarded to Barrett Xplornet ( http://www.xplornet.com ). You may even have received one of their brochures in your mailbox in the last 2 or 3 months.

Our local councilor had the following information posted:

http://www.ward5eli.com/content.php?doc=79

The current status is that Barrett committed to having their service up and running by October 31, 2007, with free installation (as opposed to a competitors $400 installation charge in this area). Due to delays this offer was extended to November 12th, which has now expired.

After discussions with the players/stakeholders (our city councilor, city bureaucrats, local dealer installers and the service provider (Barrett), I have come to these conclusions:

1. Barrett cannot provide reliable service in an area approximating and bounded by March Road on the north, Spruce Ridge on the west, William Mooney on the east and Richardson Side Road on the south. This is an area of 2K by 6K (about 12 square kilometers).

2. While some of you in this area may currently have:

i) hispeed access to Barrett due to favorable topography (access is line of sight dependent), but if it is marginal now, then the service will degrade as the trees continue to grow.

ii) access to a previously defunct ISP being serviced by a tower at the corner of David Manchester & Richardson, this service is not guaranteed to continue. In addition, the ISP servicing this tower was charging a $400 installation fee.

3. The tactic of Barrett and the city is to try and steer you to their satellite service. This is unacceptable for financial, practical and operation reasons. The cost is higher and there are delays in bouncing the signal 25,000 miles up and back down again. There may also be obstructions to your view of the satellite.

Real estate agents have told me access to Hi-Speed (Broadband) is a prerequisite to selling your property, so even if you are currently satisfied with your dialup connection or do not currently access the internet, access to Hi-Speed is in your interests.

If this issue is of concern to you, I urge you to contact the following players/stakeholders:

Councilor: Eli.El-Chantiry@ottawa.ca

City Bureaucrat: Chris.Cope@ottawa.ca

Barrett: BillM@BarrettXplore.com, JackieK@BarrettXplore.com, lenm@BarrettXplore.com, LeslieC@BarrettXplore.com

Why am I not providing my name and address/email?

1. There is no other information that I can provide.

2. If this issue is of concern to you, I want you to get the information directly from the guys in charge.

3. Well OK, if you really want to contact me: definnbaker@yahoo.com

Rogers Portable Internet availability tool

2007-12-05T13:24:00.000-05:00

I just noticed this, and thought I'd pass it on. Rogers has recently improved their Portable Internet Availability Tool.

Previously, it would ask you for your postal code, and for some of us rural folks, that can be a big area and the service availability would thus be indeterminant.

The new version (and I'm not sure how long it's been this way) will ask you for your address or the nearest intersection, and it will display a colour-coded map which will indicate if you can use an indoor modem or if you will have to get an outdoor modem installed. Even if the search tool cannot find your address or intersection, you can simply select your home city from the MapControl widgit, and then drag the resulting map to your neighbourhood to see what, if any, Portable Internet service is available to you.

Portable Internet (standard) has peak advertised speeds of 1.5 Mbps down and 256 Kbps up (~26x dial-up down and 4x dial-up up). The lite version, Rogers Portable Internet Basic, has peak download speeds of 256 Kbps (4x dial-up); no upload speed posted.
Please refer to the above links or go to Rogers main site for more details.

Xplornet's Burst and Sustain Rates: Fair Access Policy

2007-11-21T21:44:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I asked Chris Cope of ORCNet if he could review a comment left by an anonymous poster on November 2. The comment was in regard to Xplornet's sustained and burst download speeds.

Today, I received a response from Chris. He had forwarded my email onto to people at Barrett Xplore, who provided the response below. Posted with permission.

Hi Chris,

I asked Barrett Xplore Inc. (BXI) to provide an answer to the question you received. Here is their response and please feel free to post it on your blog.

Fair Access Policy

BXI manages subscriber usage by implementing a burst and sustained model. This approach ensures that every subscriber receives a quality Internet experience on a shared network. Our competitive intelligence of our industry category would indicate that all sustainable and reputable service providers implement some type of similar procedure. Instead of limiting the amount of throughput usage during an hour, day or month, our bandwidth control is implemented on a per transaction basis. A transaction could be the click of a mouse on a web site that downloaded a new page or a download or upload of a music file or any other similar transactions. When a customer initiates a transaction, the initial speed of the data transfer is determined by the burst speed of the service package. Once a volume threshold is reached during that transaction, the data transfer rate changes to the sustained speed setting. Once the transaction is completed, the system immediately reverts to the burst mode.

During normal web browsing, the system would always be operating at the burst rate. The only difference would be with larger file downloads where initial data transfer would be at the burst rate and then, depending on the size of the file, the remaining portion would be downloaded at the sustained rate. The next transaction would in turn commence at the full burst rate.

BXI does not publish specific package configurations as it is competitive information that allows us to differentiate ourselves and consistently offer quality services to all our users. Most ISP’s do not publish their settings as they become unique features of each provider.

The Fair Access Policy (FAP) approach is further described on our Website in the Legal section.

Chris Cope
Economic Development Consultant
Economic and Environmental Sustainability Branch

ORCNet: High-speed Internet service is now available to everyone in rural Ottawa

2007-11-19T20:45:00.000-05:00

A letter from Chris Cope, Executive Director ORCnet:

I am delighted to announce to the members of the ORCnet mailing list that your wait for high-speed Internet service is over. Xplornet, a division of Barrett Xplore, in partnership with the City of Ottawa, is excited to announce that high-speed Internet service is now available to every home and business in rural Ottawa.

Xplornet high-speed Internet service

* Fast, with speeds up to 5.0 Mbps (185 times faster than dial up)
* Affordable, starting from just $29.99 per month
* 30-day money-back guarantee
* No phone line required
* Serviced by local dealers
* Free 24/7/365 technical support

You are invited to attend one of the following events to help us celebrate the launch of high-speed Internet service for everyone in Ottawa. Also, you will be able to get more information about Xplornet, and if you wish, to sign up to this service with a special offer. I hope I will see you at one of these events Christopher.

Monday, November 26
Canadian Golf & Country Club, 7842 Highway 7
7 to 9 p.m.

Wednesday, November 28
Greely Community Centre, Hall B, 1448 Meadow Dr.
7 to 9 p.m.

Thursday, November 29
Pierce's Corners Hall, 3048 Pierce Rd.
7 to 9 p.m.

Friday, November 30
West Carleton Community Complex, 5670 Carp Rd.
7 to 9 p.m.

For more information on high-speed Internet service, visit xplornet.com or call 1-866-841-6001 or feel free to contact me.

Chris Cope
Executive Director ORCnet
Email: Chris.Cope@ottawa.ca
(613) 580-2424 ext. 28991

QSat Technologies providing one-way satellite Internet service

2007-10-06T13:55:00.000-04:00

QSat, a Quebec company, was brought to my attention this week as a company providing one-way satellite
Internet access in the area. One-way satellite uses a satellite link to receive information,
but uses a phone line and modem to upload sent information. This service seems very similar to the
one-way satellite Internet service that Bell Canada used to provide
through ExpressVu, and which it cancelled in 2005. QSat seems to have improved its offering over that of Bell's old offering, in that it supports v.92 modems on the uplink and it is significantly cheaper than Bell's cancelled service. It is unclear if QSat acts as ISP or just provides the infrastructure; Bell's service required a separate ISP.

While it is my opinion that one-way satellite Internet access is inferior to two-way satellite access, the price of QSat's service may be more in line with household budgets than two-way satellite, which tends to be somewhat more expensive.

PCWorld.ca article: Canadian Internet Service Landscape

2007-10-02T22:24:00.000-04:00

Here's a link to an interesting article posted on PCWorld.ca about internet services in Canada. It's not really specific to rural access or to Ottawa, but somewhat applicable nonetheless. It is good to know what is typical Internet service in Canada, if only to know what you can reasonably expect in rural areas.

Xplornet Fixed Wireless Review

2007-09-20T20:44:00.000-04:00

The following posting came via email from Chris K. near Osgoode, and is posted here with his written permission (note: edited for content and URLs).

I live on 2nd Line Road and I have resisted the urge to go with Ripnet or Storm and Arryba never was able to get a good enough signal at my house.

Well in August Xplornet put one of their antennas on a local farmer's silo! Not only that it was almost right across the street from me (basically the antenna is about 1.5kms south of Dalmeny Road between 2nd Line Road and Stagecoach). So when I got back from holidays I signed up with Xplornet.

I have to say that so far this has been a mostly pleasant experience. Xplornet uses Digital City for their installations and they were very prompt. Also, Xplornet has refreshingly good tech support--you talk to a real live human being very quickly and I have never been routed to an off-shore call centre--plus the technicians seem to know what they are talking about. One weird thing is that the installers use Cat 5 cable, but they aren't allowed to cut the cable or use shorter lengths, they they looped up about 40ft of cable and left it tied up outside my house.

The Xplornet wireless service uses the Motorola Canopy products which seems to be a robust platform. Installation was free (with a 3 year commitment) and the prices are good with no limits on downloads. For me performance has varied quite a bit since I got the service from outstanding to pretty mediocre--I guess this is normal on shared bandwidth. Most of the time I can measure 2-4 Mb transfer rates using speedtest.net (uploads are pretty consistent and under 400kbps). When things are not going well, I sometimes get speeds of 500-900kbps (this has actually only happened twice), but it's still broadband so I guess I shouldn't complain. Ping times are acceptable for most things.

After 2 years without high speed internet I am pretty darn thrilled to be back in the saddle.

Next step is to get VOIP up and running so I can ditch bell! (My phone lines are the worst I have ever seen).

-Chris K.

ORCnet Meeting on Wednesday night

2007-09-18T10:50:00.000-04:00

ORCnet will be hosting an information meeting tomorrow night:

Len McGinn, District Sales Manager for Barrett Xplore, will be updating everyone on the latest status of the Rural Ottawa network build including maps and tower locations. Len replaces Bill MacDonald for this presentation, and with his regional knowledge, he is an ideal position to provide very Ottawa-centric information. In addition giving us the latest on the roll-out, Len will also be discussing how to become a Community Champion and promote broadband in your community - and make money at the same time. Len will be on-hand to answer questions, sign-up customers and even do simple location assessment to see where you or your friend's locations fit
in the network.

Date & Time: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 at 7:00 PM
Location: Alfred Taylor Recreation Centre, 2300 Community Way, North Gower

Agenda

Introduction, Chris Cope
Welcome and background, Councillor Glenn Brooks [Rideau-Goulbourn]
Update on Xplornet rural broadband, Len McGinn, Barrett Xplore Inc.
Discussion of "Community Champions" Learn how you can help accelerate
the rollout of this new broadband service in your community.
Questions & Answers

ORCnet Update - Upcoming Meetings

2007-09-13T21:15:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I received the following email from Chris Cope of ORCnet:

I wanted to everyone on the ORCnet (Ottawa's Rural Communities Network) mailing list to be aware of several upcoming events related to broadband in rural Ottawa. These meetings provide an excellent opportunity to get up-to-date information about progress on the broadband roll out, directly from the people who are building the network.

1. ORCnet Meeting
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date & Time: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 at 7:00 PM
Location: Alfred Taylor Recreation Centre
2300 Community Way, North Gower

OF INTEREST: We would like to invite all members of Ottawa's Rural Communities Network (ORCnet) and anyone interested in rural broadband to attend a general meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to provide and update on the activities of ORCnet since the last meeting and in particular to invite Bill MacDonald to provide an update on current progress and expected completion of the Public-Private-Partnership (P3) between Xplornet (Barrett Xplore Inc.) and the City of Ottawa, to deploy broadband to all remaining coverage gaps in rural Ottawa. In addition to providing progress details, MacDonald will talk about pricing, how to sign up and the role of community champions.

Agenda
~~~~~~
a. Introduction, Chris Cope
b. Welcome and background, Councillor Glenn Brooks [Rideau-Goulbourn]
c. Update on Xplornet rural broadband, Bill MacDonald, Barrett Xplore Inc.
d. Discussion of "Community Champions" Learn how you can help accelerate
the rollout of this new broadband service in your community.
e. Questions & Answers

2. Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee Meeting (ARAC)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date & Time: Thursday, September 13, 2007 at 7:00 PM
Location: West Carleton-March Ward - Huntley
Community Association Mess Hall
2240 Craig Side Road, Carp

OF INTEREST: This meeting will provide an opportunity to learn about progress and expected completion of the Public-Private-Partnership (P3) between Xplornet (Barrett Xplore Inc.) and the City of Ottawa, to deploy broadband to all remaining coverage gaps in rural Ottawa. Bill MacDonald of Barrett Xplore Inc. and Chris Cope will provide a verbal presentation "Update On Rural Broadband Services In Rural Ottawa."

Complete Agenda available at:
http://ottawa.ca/cgi-bin/docs.pl?Elist=8415〈=en

3. Community Day at the West Carleton Community Complex
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Date & Time: Saturday, September 15, 9 am to 3 pm
Official Opening Ceremony at noon.
Location: West Carleton Community Complex, 5670 Carp Road

Join neighbours and friends for a day of fun, food and fabulous prizes, and celebrate the Grand Opening of the new Sensplex Arena and West Carleton Community Complex (formerly Kinburn Client Service Centre). Have fun with Spartacat 11 am to noon.

OF INTEREST: I will be joining Xplornet representatives and we plan to be on hand throughout the event. We'll have maps, brochures and up-to-date information about the Public-Private-Partnership (P3) between Xplornet (Barrett Xplore Inc.) and the City of Ottawa, to deploy broadband to all remaining coverage gaps in rural Ottawa.

Please feel free to share this email with others who may be interested.

Chris Cope
ORCnet Executive Director
Email: Chris.Cope@ottawa.ca
(613) 580-2424 ext. 28991

ORCnet Update - City's Partnership with Barrett Xplore to Complete Rural Broadband

2007-07-28T08:35:00.000-04:00

On Thursday, July 26, I received this email from Chris Cope of OrcNet. In it, Chris provides a general update on the state of rural Ottawa Internet affairs, including an update on XplorNet's deployment across the region. For example, 11 of XplorNet's 30 tower sites should be active by the end of July, with the remaining 19 active within two months.

I obtained Chris' written permission to post the message on this blog.

I wanted to bring you up to date on progress on our broadband project. "In a nutshell Christopher, things are progressing very well."

As you may already know, on March 28, 2007, Ottawa City Council approved Barrett Xplore Inc. as the preferred private-sector partner to complete rural broadband coverage in Ottawa. Then, at a meeting of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee on 14 June 2007 the formal agreement with Barrett was signed. The proposed project will involve innovative wireless technology, designed to achieve the target 100 per cent coverage of the remaining gaps in broadband coverage in rural Ottawa.

Barrett Xplore will use two technologies to deliver 100% rural broadband coverage - fixed wireless and satellite. Barrett Xplore will rely mostly on fixed wireless systems, where a tower beams a signal to and from a receiver mounted on the consumer's property. But, in cases where topography or foliage makes this impossible (estimated to be less than 5% of rural households), a small satellite dish - 67 cm - will be used to deliver satellite broadband service to those hard to reach consumers.

Although the majority of Barrett's transmitters will be located on existing towers or other tall vertical structures, there is a need for several new ones. These are being installed over the next two months. The locations for new towers have already been chosen, being careful to minimize impact on the community while providing the best possible coverage. The towers are between 30 meters and 45 meters high. In comparison, many of the towers that cellular telephone companies use are much higher at 75 to 90 meters high. Barrett Xplore has tried hard to make use of existing towers, even silos, and more than half of the required sites will not require construction of a new tower.

The costs to the consumer will be very close to that of urban Internet service providers, but will depend somewhat on whether a resident can use fixed wireless, or will require a satellite installation. Fixed wireless packages start at $29.99 per month. Basic installation costs for the wireless service are $149 with a two-year contract and $99 with a three-year contract. Barrett Xplore will offer a heavily reduced fixed rate of $199 to cover the costs of satellite installation for the few customers who will require that service. Satellite packages start at $49.99 per month.

Barrett Xplore has an extensive dealer network across Canada and many of these dealers are located in or near Ottawa. Some of you may have already heard from them and those who haven't likely will soon. So far however, marketing has been targeted at a few homes that are within range of transmission nodes that are already operational. Most of these are on existing structures such as silos and existing towers and this pre-launch marketing is intended only to put a little load on the system as testing progresses. If you are not among those who have been contacted, or if you think the information you have received doesn't yet seem to coincide with what you've been told about the Ottawa project, I would ask that you be patient for the next few weeks as Barrett completes the technical deployment of its network and readies its marketing to be ready to accept sign-ups in the quantities that we anticipate.

Barrett has recently distributed direct mail pieces detailing their introductory offer to customers living in areas serviced by live sites. Over the next few weeks, all households within the City of Ottawa limits will receive that information. By the end of July, 11 out of 30 sites will be available to customers. The remaining 19 will come online, subject to site approval, over the next two months. Customers living in areas where service is not currently available will be given the opportunity to "pre-sign" so they can take advantage of the introductory offer, which expires August 31st.

For detailed information and dealer contact information, customers should visit www.xplornet.com and click on the Ottawa link. For those without Internet access, call 1-866-841-6001. The City of Ottawa's website is another useful resource: www.ottawa.ca/rural.

Please feel free to contact me directly should you need additional information. If this bulletin has been forwarded to you, and I do welcome this; and if you would like me to add your name to our email list to receive future bulletins on the rollout of the project directly, please send me an email providing your email address, street address and telephone number.

Chris Cope
Executive Director ORCnet
Email: Chris.Cope@ottawa.ca
(613) 580-2424 ext. 28991

This e-mail originates from the City of Ottawa e-mail system. Any
distribution, use or copying of this e-mail or the information it
contains by other than the intended recipient(s) is unauthorized.
If you are not the intended recipient, please notify me at the
telephone number shown above or by return e-mail and delete this
communication and any copy immediately. Thank you.

XplorNet flyer

2007-07-26T13:02:00.000-04:00

I received an XplorNet flyer in today's snail-mail. I suspect that everyone with a Kars postal code (KOA 2E0) got one.

The flyer is advertising a grand opening special of $0 for hardware and installation; I suspect this is with a 3-year contract, which XplorNet has been advertising on it's website for a while. The flyer is also advertising a 30-day money-back guarantee, and free StarChoice satellite with all connections, but details are not provided.

The contact info on the flyer is DigitalCity at 1-800-868-1602 or 1727A St. Laurent Blvd., Ottawa.

I know that XplorNet has also been active out in the Almonte/Carp/West Carleton areas.

Latest Happenings

2007-07-16T21:58:00.000-04:00

Xplornet is active in my area. Late last week, I received a phone from someone at Xplornet. They were following up on my early inquests about service in my area (e.g. the hinterland between Manotick and Kars). All fine and good, except for the fact that I hadn't inquired into Xplornet since getting fixed wireless from Arryba (and Storm) about 21 months ago. Better late than never, I guess, and at least they (Xplornet) appear to be making good on their stated plans to blanket rural Ottawa with high-speed access by summer's end.

The rumour mill has Xplornet erecting towers and seeking out farmers' silos and other tall buildings throughout rural Ottawa. I have no info on exact locations and already-active coverage areas. If you have any info, please post.

Has anyone out there recently gotten hooked-up with Xplornet? If so, please post your comments. Do you have wireless or satellite? Were you happy with the installation and sign-up process? Are you happy with the service to-date?

OttawaStart: City signs contract with Barrett Xplore - 100% rural broadband coverage by end of summer

2007-06-28T07:34:00.000-04:00

According to an OttawaStart article dated June 16, the City has completed negotiations with XplorNet, and 100% of rural Ottawa should have broadband access by summer's end.

The article repeats the claim that only 5% of rural homes will need satellite access and that the rest will be able to have fixed wireless access. Fixed wireless packages start at $29.99 per month, with basic installation costs of $149 with a two-year contract and $99 with a three-year contract. Satellite packages start at $49.99 per month, with a significantly reduced installation of $199.

Click here to find out more.

See also the City of Ottawa's Rural Connections page.

ORCnet Update - Rural High-Speed Internet Service - Coming Summer 2007

2007-06-08T11:19:00.000-04:00

On June 1, I received the following newsletter from Chris Cope of ORCnet:

It has been a while since my last ORCnet bulletin, and although most major milestones in the project are expected later in the summer, I wanted send out a quick update now. I am delighted to report that steady progress has been made since the City of Ottawa named Barrett Xplore as its preferred private sector partner to deliver high-speed Internet to rural Ottawa, on March 28, 2007. Much of this has been behind the scenes as Barrett Xplore and City staff have been hard at work fine-tuning the final network design needed to deliver broadband at affordable rates.

Once the formal partnership agreement with Barrett Xplore and the City is finalized in mid-June we will be busy with preparations for a successful roll out this summer. By this fall residents will finally receive access to this much-needed service.

For Ottawa, Barrett Xplore will use two technologies to deliver 100% rural broadband coverage - fixed wireless and satellite. Barrett Xplore will rely mostly on fixed wireless systems, where a tower beams a signal to and from a receiver mounted on the consumer's property. But, in cases where topography or foliage makes this impossible (estimated to be less than 5% of rural households), a small satellite dish - 67 cm - will be used to deliver satellite broadband service to those hard to reach consumers.

The needed fixed wireless towers are being installed over the next few weeks. The locations for new towers were chosen very carefully to minimize impact on the community. The towers are between 30 meters and 45 meters high. In comparison many of the towers that cellular telephone companies use are much higher at 75 to 90 meters high. Barrett Xplore has tried hard to make use of existing towers, even silos, and more than half of the required sites will not require construction of a new tower.

The costs to the consumer will be very close to that of urban Internet service providers, but will depend somewhat on whether a resident can use fixed wireless, or will require a satellite installation. Fixed wireless packages start at $29.99 per month. Basic installation costs for the wireless service are $149 with a two-year contract and $99 with a three-year contract. Barrett Xplore will offer a heavily reduced fixed rate of $199 to cover the costs of satellite installation for the few customers who will require that service. Satellite packages start at $49.99 per month.

If you are interested in learning more, visit Ottawa.ca/rural. If you want to sign-up for this new service, visit www.xplornet.com and click the Ottawa link for detailed information. Barrett Xplore will be in touch to provide updates and installation information. Your friends and colleagues without Internet access, can call Xplornet at 1-866-841-6001.

Chris Cope
ORCnet Coordinator

Digital Home article: Inukshuk Wireless coverage Area expanded

2007-05-01T23:24:00.000-04:00

In early April, Digital Home posted an article entitled Inukshuk Wireless coverage Area expanded. Among other things, the article lists areas in Ontario, many in the Ottawa region, into which Rogers' and Bell's Inukshuk wireless network has expanded.

Rogers offer Inukshuk service under it's Portable Internet offering, while Bell markets its Inukshuk service as Sympatico Unplugged. Both services have been discussed in other postings in this blog.

XplorNet Webpage For Rural Ottawa Deployment

2007-04-18T21:58:00.000-04:00

A reader has informed me that XplorNet has set up a webpage with information about their deployment in the rural Ottawa area, in light of their recent winning of a $750,000 grant from the City:

http://www.xplornet.com/ottawa/?lang=EN

Ottawa Citizen: Rogers expands portable internet service

2007-04-06T08:10:00.000-04:00

I'm slow to read the paper...

According to an article entitled "Rogers expands wireless high-speed service" on page D3 of the Saturday, March 31, 2007 edition of the Ottawa Citizen, Rogers has expanded the coverage area of its Portable Internet service in 13 rural Ottawa areas, including:

Baskins Beach
Bearbrook
Carsonby
Constance Bay
Dirleton
Dunrobin
Kilmaurs
Manotick (Long Island)
Notre Dame des Champs
Ramsayville
Richmond
Torwood Estates
Woodlawn

Check Rogers' Portable Internet website and/or contact Rogers to confirm coverage at your location.

From the info in the article, this sounds like an expansion of the Portable Internet service and not the Outdoor Modem service mentioned in my April 3 posting below.

If you are an Ottawa Citizen 7-day subscriber, you can view the complete article on-line.

Bell WiMAX in Home service

2007-04-03T21:38:00.000-04:00

Bell is now offering WiMAX in Home high-speed Internet service, which seems to be somewhat similar to Rogers' Outdoor Modem offering mentioned in an earlier posting. Like Rogers' service, it uses an outdoor, house-mounted wireless modem to provide the service.

Bell's WiMAX service is a little different than Rogers Outdoor Modem service, though.

Bell installs the outdoor modem for you.
Bell's top speed is advertised as 2 Mbps, compared to Rogers' 1.5 Mbps... for approximately the same monthly price.
Bell includes 10 hours of dial-up access per month (presumably in case the WiMAX service is down for any reason).
Bell offers more email accounts than the Rogers service.

You can check availability in your area at the Bell Sympatico Unplugged Service Availability Check page.

I checked for my home address, and WiMAX in Home is reportedly available. It also appears to be available in parts of Carp, and probably other areas around rural Ottawa and surroundings.

Call me cynical, but given the recent developments concerning XplorNet, I'm beginning to think that Rogers and Bell are simply trying to grab as many subscribers as possible before XplorNet ramps up. Nothing like a little competition to light a fire under peoples' (and companies') butts.

New Rogers Portable Internet Site and News

2007-04-03T18:54:00.000-04:00

Rogers Portable Internet service has a new website, and according to it, service may already be available in many parts of rural Ottawa through the use of an outdoor modem.

I checked the Kars postal code using the online form provided on the webpage, and service is reportedly available in the area using an outdoor modem. As well, the reader who notified me of the new website said that he can also get service near Ashton if he uses an outdoor modem.

The downsides of using an outdoor modem appear to be two-fold:

It's not portable, as it mounts to th exterior of your house, a pole, etc. For portability, you will need to also get the portable modem.
The outdoor modem costs 2.5x that of the portable modem; the outdoor modem costs $249.95 (at the time of writing this blog entry), whereas the portable modem costs $99.95

However, to anyone in real need (or want) of high-speed access, these points are probably mimor.

The outdoor modem is a non-LOS (non-line-of-sight) wireless modem, and you have to install it yourself (Rogers does provide a 30-page installation guide). Rogers is claiming speeds comparable to DSL or cable, with two packages available (a 128 Kbps package and a 1.5 Mbps package).

Please consult the referenced website for more and up-to-date info.

Ottawa Business Journal article on City-XplorNet Partnership

2007-04-02T22:16:00.000-04:00

Today, the Ottawa Business Journal published an article discussing the potential impacts of the City's decision to fund Barrett Xplore (XplorNet) $750,000 so that it can close the gaps in high-speed Internet access in rural Ottawa. Other, local service providers, such as Storm Internet, are concerned about the unfair competitive advantage that the funding will give XplorNet.

Rural Affairs Committee Chooses XplorNet

2007-03-23T21:25:00.000-04:00

The City of Ottawa's Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee has adopted the report which recommends choosing XplorNet (i.e. Barrett Xplore Inc.; BXI) as its partner in completing the high-speed Internet coverage of rural Ottawa. The report was approved by the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee yesterday, and goes to full Council on Wednesday (March 28) for what is expected to be final approval to begin negotiations with XplorNet.

According to the report, the Committee had three ISPs to choose from: XplorNet, Storm Internet and Inukshuk Wireless Inc (i.e. Bell's Sympatico Unplugged and Rogers' Portable Internet). XplorNet was seen as the best option, and the City will be contributing $750,000 to the project, pending final approval.

One negative thing the report does mention is that 275-475 homes or businesses still may have to use two-way high-speed satellite access (also available from XplorNet), even after the project is completed. This may be one of the keys to partnering with XplorNet, since their satellite Internet service virtually guarentees 100% rural coverage, and (IIRC) neither Storm nor Bell/Rogers can provide such coverage. It will be interesting to see how many homes will actually fall into the satellite gap, once the project is completed. The report estimates that XplorNet will be able to provide fixed wireless service to 95% of the remaining 40% of rural Ottawa currently unserviced by broadband; so when the project is completed, ~98% of rural Ottawa will have broadband access via wireline (e.g. DSL, cable) or wireless services. That's pretty respectable, and reasonable, coverage.

It will also be interesting to see if Bell/Rogers rise to the competition and continue the deployment of their portable/unplugged Internet services in the area, or will the fact that they are not the City's Preferred Partner result in the them retreating back into the suburbs to continue their battle against each other.

Another question I have is who will finally pick up Arryba's network, which Storm has been operating since Arryba's demise last fall? From my myopic view, I can see either Storm or XplorNet buying up Arryba's former network. Time will tell in this matter, as in all things.

Horizon Technologies provides wi-fi in Carleton Place

2007-03-20T21:15:00.000-04:00

It's just come to my attention that Horizon Technologies provides fixed wireless high-speed Internet access in the Carleton Place area. It appears that their website has not be updated since summer 2006. I don't know any more about them than is on their website, but if someone else knows anything more, please share.

Rural Affairs Council To Recommend XplorNet

2007-03-19T20:53:00.000-04:00

I've received word that the City's Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee is planning to recommend XplorNet (a.k.a. Barrett Xplore Inc.) as "preferred partner in a Public-Private Partnership (P3) to complete broadband coverage in rural Ottawa" at the upcoming March 22 meeting.

The agenda also reportedly states that the Committee will further recommend that Council "authorize the Deputy City Manager of Planning, Transit, and the Environment, to finalize negotiations and conclude and execute all necessary agreements with Barrett Xplore Inc. for the design, construction, financing and operation of the required broadband infrastructure and service delivery in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Request for Proposals (RFP), the proposal submitted, the subsequent negotiations between the parties, and the framework set out in this report."

As well, I just checked XplorNet's website for the first time in several months and found that they are now providing high-speed fixed wireless Internet access (in addition to two-way satellite service) in the Kars area (i.e. K0A 2E0). Interested parties may want to check XplorNet's website to see if their own postal neighbourhoods are covered, or contact XplorNet directly.

High-Speed Internet in Rural Renfrew County

2007-03-03T19:01:00.000-05:00

Another reader of my First Line Road High-Speed Internet Project website just informed me that GoZoom provides fixed wireless high-speed Internet access in rural Renfrew Country. See their website for more details.

New Tower Being Erected In Osgoode?

2007-03-03T18:54:00.000-05:00

A reader of my First Line Road High-Speed Internet Project website just informed me that there appears to be a new communications tower being erected in or near Osgoode, on River Road just a few kilometres south of Hurst Marina. The reader suspects it's either a cell tower or a wireless Internet tower, but doesn't know any more than that.

If anyone out there's has any info on this tower, please let me know.

NorthWind Wireless Website

2007-01-09T21:30:00.000-05:00

I was just made aware of NorthWind Wireless' website. Up to this point, I just had a phone number for the company. The website includes information on coverage areas and package prices. If you live along the Ottawa River in the Constance Bay area, NorthWind may be servicing your area.

Bell Sympatico Unplugged Expansion

2007-01-04T17:08:00.000-05:00

It appears that the Bell Sympatico Unplugged service will be expanding across many parts of the country, including Ontario and specifically the Ottawa area. The web page referenced above indicates a timeframe of April/May of 2007 for expansion into rural Ottawa including the following areas:

Baskins Beach
Carsonby
Constance Bay
Dunrobin
Fallowfield
Long Island (Manotick)
Ramsayville
Richmond
Watterson Corners
Woodlawn

The above list is subject to change, and reflects contents at the time of writing this post. Please refer to the referenced web page for up-to-date info.

Many thanks to an anonymous reader for providing this info.

Speedtest.net

2006-12-21T17:44:00.000-05:00

This doesn't really have much to do with rural Ottawa high-speed Internet access, but some readers may find it useful.

If you're looking to test the upload and download speeds of your Internet connection (of any type), check out Speedtest.net. Unlike other download speed test sites, Speedtest.net lets you choose a server that is physically close (or not) to where your are located. It also tests upload speeds, which is something other test sites don't often do or do only as a separate test.

XplorNet Wireless High-Speed available in Rural Ottawa?

2006-12-18T23:14:00.000-05:00

I was checking out the XplorNet website today and discovered that they now provide fixed wireless high-speed Internet service at least in the Kars area. I clicked on their For Your Home link, entered my postal code (K0A 2E0, which is the code for all of Kars) and was informed that in addition to several satellite services (most of which I already knew about), they are now providing several fixed wireless high-speed service options in the area, at prices comparable to DSL, cable, and other fixed wireless services.

They're currently offering four package with prices ranging from $29.99 - $59.99 per month for speeds from 300 Kbps to 5.0 Mbps. The Zoom package is $39.99 per month for speeds up to 1.5 Mbps and 2 email accounts. All packages offered free installation if a 3-year contract was signed.

I'm not sure how much of rural Ottawa is covered by XplorNet's fixed wireless high-speed services, but it may be worth checking out. If anyone finds out anything more on XplorNet's availability, please let me know.

Look Communications For Sale

2006-12-10T07:54:00.000-05:00

According to a Globe and Mail article, unprofitable Look Communications is up for sale. Companies such as BCE Inc., Rogers, and Telus appear interested in purchasing the company.

Look does provide television and wireless Internet service in the Ottawa area, reportedly from a transmitter atop Camp Fortune.

City of Ottawa Update On Completing Broadband Coverage In Rural Ottawa

2006-12-06T21:06:00.000-05:00

Things have been somewhat quiet on the rural high-speed front lately... and/or I've been a little busier than usual. In any case, someone at the City of Ottawa's Rural Affairs Office noticed my earlier posting on the City's rural broadband report, and provided the following additional info (which I've taken my sweet time in posting below):

City Council have directed staff to move forward with a "public-private partnership" (P3) to ensure broadband access in 100% of rural Ottawa, as per the council minutes posted on the blog.

It is believed that the current 60% coverage in the rural areas is all that will occur if the market is left to its own devices, since most villages and other areas of concentrated population now have broadband - it is mostly areas that don't have significant concentrations of dwellings that are un-served or underserved.

The City has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) asking for submissions from private providers on plans to ensure 100% coverage as per above.

The City will provide financial incentives to assist with infrastructure costs to make the start up financially worthwhile. Respondents to the RFP will be scored on the amount of assistance they request (i.e. the lower the better), and various other subjective variables. The RFP will be technology neutral.

The Request for Proposal is currently on MERX (government tender site) at the following location. Note: to see the actual RFP document, it must be ordered from MERX for a fee.

The City hopes to have a partner selected, contract signed, and approval from Council to proceed in March. There will also be a marketing plan to ensure citizens are aware of the initiative and know how to take advantage of the service as well as consultations with rural stakeholders to ensure we are on the right track.

The private partner will operate the service going forward - the city's involvement will be to provide assistance with the start-up costs and to monitor and ensure the provider is fulfilling their obligations. There will be performance measurements in the agreement to ensure success.

The goal is to have affordable broadband service available in all rural parts of the city of Ottawa by Q4 2007, subject to negotiations with the partner.

For further information, citizens can contact the Rural Affairs Office at the City of Ottawa at RuralAffairs@ottawa.ca

City of Ottawa Report: Completing Broadband Coverage In Rural Ottawa

2006-10-03T10:21:00.000-04:00

Here's the City of Ottawa staff report went before Council on Wednesday, September 27. It was previously endorsed already by the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee and the Corporate Services Committee:

http://www.ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/citycouncil/occ/2006/09-27/csedc/ACS2006-PGM-ECO-0018.htm

I have not yet had a chance to read the full report, but the proposed maps look promising. Also, it is my understanding, based on subsequent media releases and articles, that the $1 million budget was approved, so I guess the whole project was also approved.

ITBusiness.ca: Ottawa earmarks $1 million for high-speed Internet rollout

2006-10-03T10:16:00.000-04:00

Here's a link to an article from ITBusiness.ca which deals with a City of Ottawa project to ensure all of rural Ottawa has high-speed access by fall 2007.

http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=40773

Media Release: City Delivers Broadband to Every Rural Address

2006-10-01T08:30:00.000-04:00

Hmmm, it must be an election year. Still, this is a great sign for rural Internet in Ottawa.

For immediate release:

September 28, 2006

City Delivers Broadband to Every Rural Address

Ottawa - City Council has approved a $1-million funding contribution to speed up the delivery of broadband access to all parts of rural Ottawa. The City will move forward with a private-public partnership (P3) to develop the broadband infrastructure needed to reach every rural home, farm and business by fall 2007.

"As Mayor of Canada’s farming capital, I’m proud that we will soon be delivering high-speed Internet service to every rural door and community in Ottawa," said Mayor Bob Chiarelli. "This is important for farmers, small businesses and families in all our rural communities."

In addition, broadband has proven economic benefits for farms and businesses, allowing them to make better marketing decisions, access on-line production records and do research before making new purchases.

"Expanding broadband to every rural address was a key priority identified at last fall’s Rural Summit," said West Carleton Councillor Eli El-Chantiry. "With full access to broadband rural residents will benefit from on-line learning, distance medicine, tele-commuting and much more."

Before 2003, broadband was only available to about 2 per cent of rural residents and businesses in the Ottawa area. Great progress has been made as a result of grass-roots community efforts sponsored by the Ottawa Rural Communities Network (ORCnet), an organization supported by the City and devoted to expanding broadband service in rural areas.

To date, about 60 per cent of rural Ottawa has access to broadband Internet service. This includes most of the villages and communities where service providers could more easily provide the necessary infrastructure. With further investment through an innovative P3 approach the necessary delivery programs and communications towers can be put in place to fill all the gaps currently not serviced. The project is expected to cost up to $3 million, with the City contributing up to $1 million and the private sector partner contributing the remaining capital investment.

- 30 -

For more information:

Media contact

613-580-2450

Public inquiries

3-1-1

Arryba Mail Server Unavailable

2006-09-18T11:17:00.000-04:00

By now, former Arryba Communications customers may have noticed that they are not able to send or receive email from their Arryba email accounts. The mail server appears to have been down since at least Saturday (Sept. 16) morning, and is still down at the time of writing this posting.

Since Storm Internet is taking over many of Arryba's former customers, I gave Storm customer service a call to see if they had any control over the Arryba mail server: they don't.

However, since I already had an application submitted for my service to be transferred from Arryba to Storm, the tech support person at Storm immediately setup Storm.ca email addresses for my wife and I. I thought that this was excellent customer service for someone who wasn't quite yet an official Storm customer. Obviously, without control over Arryba's mail server, any missing mail will most likely stay missing, but at least this minimizes lost mail and provides new email service.

Update: Arryba-to-Storm Transition

2006-09-13T10:01:00.000-04:00

For those of you who have applied to transition your high-speed wireless Internet access service from Arryba Communications to Storm Internet (as I have), here is what I have found out to-date:

Storm is currently providing service to Arryba's (former) customers for free, until such time as the transition is completed.
For Arryba customers wishing to transition to Storm's service, there will be a one-time admin fee of $75... so maybe the current service is not so free. Oh well.
Monthly service fees will be $40 for service of up to 3 Mbps download (i.e. faster than Arryba).
For customers with Arryba equipment on-site, Storm is offering a service & maintenance option of $10 per month. Depending on how the bankruptcy process handles Arryba, this may change.
Storm appears to be planning to complete the transition of Arryba customers by the end of September.

For more information, please contact Storm Internet at (613) 567-6585.

globeandmail.com: Rogers Portable Internet

2006-09-05T20:59:00.000-04:00

Here's a link to a July 17, 2006 article in the Global and Mail that reviewed Rogers Portable Internet:

globeandmail.com : Rogers Portable Internet

Otawa Business Journal: Rural broadband tops 60%, now comes hard part

2006-09-05T16:14:00.000-04:00

On Monday, September 4, the Ottawa Business Journal published an article about the state and future of high-speed Internet access in rural Ottawa.

Among other things, it mentions Arryba's recent demise, and lists companies like Storm Internet, SimplySurf, and NorthWind Wireless as active ISPs.

It also mentions the recent arrival of Affiliated Rural Broadband Network Systems Inc. in the Ottawa area. My understanding is that the former CEO of Arryba is involved in ARBNS.

Arryba High-Speed Internet Feed to Halt Soon

2006-08-28T14:35:00.000-04:00

I've just received an email from Steve Schauland of Arryba Communicatons, stating that the high-speed Internet feed which delivers service to Arryba's network will be shutting down by the end of this week.

For Arryba subscribers looking for alternative Internet access, especially high-speed access, consider:

Storm Internet is taking on applications from current Arryba customers. Clients can now connect to https://www.storm.ca/app-wireless.html to sign up. In the comments section, mark down that you are a current arryba client.
Other providers out there include 295.ca, Ripnet Internet and Northwind Wireless.

One Arryba subscriber contacted Storm customer service, which informed him that Internet
service will continue to Arryba customers as long as they have signed up at the website;
someone from Storm will be contacting them.

There is no more billing from Arryba Communications Inc. The only new billing you should have is with the new ISP you sign with. I am not sure what is happening with subscribers who signed 1-, 2-, or 3-year contracts with Arryba.

NO ONE should be attempting to take or seize the subscriber units from Arryba Communications either.

Digital Home Canada - Wireless Internet Showdown: Rogers or Bell?

2006-08-24T21:23:00.000-04:00

The following online article provides background and comparative information on Bell Sympatico Unplugged and Rogers Portable Internet services, both of which use the non-line-of-sight Inukshuk Wireless network:

Digital Home Canada - Wireless Internet Showdown: Rogers or Bell?

Inukshuk Wireless is equally owned by Bell Canada and Rogers Communications. The Inukshuk Wireless network is intended to leverage both Bell's and Rogers' existing cellular network towers, although the Inukshuk network is neither cellular nor wi-fi based.

More on Arryba

2006-08-23T21:23:00.000-04:00

This evening, I received both an email and a telephone call from the COO of Arryba, Steve Schauland, informing me that all Arryba customers should now have service restored (as of 3:30pm EDT), thanks in large part to Storm Internet.

Also, Storm Internet is working to provide current Arryba subscribers with the opportunity to have continued high-speed Internet services. To signup with Storm, please visit the following link:

https://www.storm.ca/app-wireless.html

In the additional comments section, please indicate that you are a current Arryba client as there is a special arrangement being made for all existing Arryba clients.

There are a number of other postings on Arryba's website, which I strongly recommend that all Arryba customers read.

CBC News: Storm hoping to buy Arryba's internet service

2006-08-23T16:29:00.000-04:00

Last evening (Tuesday, August 22), CBC News posted a news article about Storm Internet's plans to purchase Arryba Communications. See:

Storm hoping to buy Arryba's internet service

Ottawa Citizen: Storm takes on Arryba Internet customers

2006-08-22T22:10:00.000-04:00

On page C3 (Business section) of today's edition, the Ottawa Citizen published an article entitled Storm takes on Arryba Internet customers by Kristin Goff.

"Storm Communications Inc. hopes to take over high-speed Internet service for approximately 350 customers of Arryba Communications in rural eastern Ontario, after the company halted operations."

I think the key word in the above statement is hopes.

At the present time, the article is only available on-line to registered Citizen 7-day subscribers, but may unlock to non-subscribers at a later time. A few excerpts of interest include:

"'We're going to take a run at taking them over,' said Barry Williams, president and CEO of Storm..."

and

"Mr. Williams ... said the process of restoring service to the 100 or so Arryba customers who have lost it, is not tecnhically difficult or time consuming.

'The hard part is managing 350 clients and them set up ... and, of course, I'm not sure what the process is for the trustees,' who will oversee the sale of the company's (Arryba's) assets, he said."

CBC Radio: Speedy internet service for rural Ottawa

2006-08-22T15:50:00.000-04:00

Today, the Ottawa Morning show on CBC RadioOne (91.5 FM in the Ottawa area) aired an interview with Chris Cope of the city's ORCNet project where he discusses current and future high-speed access in rural Ottawa, and in particular touches on recent events concerning Arryba Communications and Storm Internet.

An audio clip of the interview can be heard on the link below (requires RealPlayer):

http://cbc.ca/ottawa/media/audio/ottawamorning/20060822TOPA22.ram
(6 mins 36 secs)

Arryba Update: Storm

2006-08-20T23:13:00.000-04:00

As mentioned in my updated posting below, Arryba has updated its web site several times over the last few days, with today (Aug 20) being the latest and most interesting update. In the posting, Arryba states that its existing clients will be transferred to another ISP in the next two weeks, and that contact info will be forthcoming.

The posting also states that Storm Internet is working to restore service for affected Arryba clients (presumably those in Greely, Metcalfe, & Vernon). Arryba further directs potential new clients towards Storm as well.

Chris' Comments:

As an Arryba subscriber specifically and a rural high-speed Internet observer generally, I am paying close attention to all things Arryba right now.

Over the past week or so, I'd heard Arryba and Storm discussed in the same sentence on several occasions, and several people involved in those conversations suggested that Storm taking over Arryba would be good. Storm has been around for 10 years, and is an ISP which provides access services using a number of mediums, including fixed wireless, as well as providing web hosting services. (Some people even suggested that Arryba and Storm use the same wireless gear/technology, but I've yet to see that confirmed and from my own experience that does not appear to be the case.) Such longevity and depth and breadth of products suggests somewhat deeper pockets than a recent start-up like Arryba might have, especially given that Arryba's CEO evidentally left under a cloud.

If Storm does end up taking over Arryba, then Arryba's former clients may be in for a moderate pricing surprise, as Storm's current price point for residential service is $40 per month for 3Mbps service, plus an additional $10 per month for modem rental; until recently, Arryba had included modem rental in its base rates. On the upside, for Arryba subscribers left without service for most of August, it is worth noting that Storm's service includes 5 hours of dial-up access per month.

Rural Broadband in West Carleton

2006-08-18T22:07:00.000-04:00

For those of you in the West Carleton area who are looking for high-speed Internet access, check out Steve Buchko's Rural Broadband site for a bunch of useful info.

New Blog Name

2006-08-17T11:28:00.000-04:00

For about a year now, my focus on high-speed Internet access has broadened beyond my own neighbourhood of First Line & Century Roads to the virtually whole of rural Ottawa and the area just outside the city limits, especially in the south and west. Thus, I've decided to change the name of this blog from the First Line Road High-Speed Internet Blog to the:

Rural Ottawa High-Speed Internet Blog.

Where's Arryba?

2006-08-14T15:07:00.000-04:00

Over the past two weeks, I gotten numerous reports from neighbours, collegues, and other Arryba subscribers that Arryba is not responding to customer emails or calls or even new customer enquiries. In fact, Arryba's voice mailboxes are all full, and no one appears to be answering the phone, even during normal business hours. These observations by others align with my own personal findings since August 1.

On its own, this is all very worrisome. But couple it together with the still unrepaired lightning damage in the Greely/Metcalfe area, and frequently-interrupted service in the Kars/Manotick area, and one has to wonder about what's happening at Arryba.

If anyone knows anything more, please post a comment here. If I find out more, I will update this posting.

August 15 Update:

From a couple of sources, I've been able to find out the following info concerning Arryba:

Lightning damage in the Greely/Metcalfe area was more extensive and expensive than Arryba first thought. They are trying to arrange to replace/repair this equipment. Customers left without service will not be charged/billed. Arryba will continue to provide service where equipment is functioning.

August 17 Update:

My sources tell me that Arryba is intending to file (or has already filed) for bankruptcy protection, as it attempts to restructure.

August 20 Update:

Arryba is showing signs of life... or at least its website is. On its main page, there are three new messages dated August 17, August 17, and August 20. The first message states that updates will be posted in the next few days. The second message offers an explanation and apology, and lists some dial-up options. The third message states that Arryba is in transition and that existing clients will likely be transferred to another ISP in the comping weeks, and that Arryba is currently working with Storm Internet to get services restored.

Rogers: Portable Internet

2006-08-11T10:48:00.000-04:00

Rogers is now offering a wireless high-speed Interenet service which it calls Portable Internet. The service is available in Ottawa/Gatineau, as well as other areas of Ontario and various other provinces. At the time of writing this entry, Rogers offered one service level:

1.5 Mbps download and 256 Kbps upload for $49.95/month

The service also requires the one-time purchase of a wireless modem for of $99.95* plus taxes. Rogers is also currently providing a special promotional offer for subscribers who sign a 12-month contract.

Here's a link to a July 17, 2006 Globe and Mail article on Rogers Portable Internet:

Rogers Portable Internet

Bell Canada: Fixed Wireless Highspeed Internet Access

2006-08-09T22:05:00.000-04:00

Bell Canada Sympatico is now offering a fixed wireless highspeed Internet access service which it calls Sympatico High Speed Unplugged. The service is available in Ottawa/Gatineau, as well as other areas of Ontario and various other provinces. At the time of writing this entry, two service packages are offered:

512Kbps download and 128Kbps upload for $45/month
3Mbps download and 384 Kbps upload for $60/month

Both packages require the purchase of a wireless modem, for $114 including S&H.

Service is rolling out, and Bell claims that "Sympatico High Speed Unplugged will reach more than two-thirds of Canadians in less than three years". This may help many rural Ottawans who are still without highspeed access.

Chris' Comment: It's about time! I suspect that Bell may be pulling double-duty on its cellular towers, so I would think that the service will eventually be available anywhere Bell provides digital cell phone service.

SimplySurf Increased Coverage

2006-08-08T16:28:00.000-04:00

SimplySurf has increased their coverage of West Carleton in recent months. According to their web page, they now offer service in Eagle Creek, Cedar Ridge Estates, Corkery Road, Manion Road, Manion Heights, Constance Lake, Corkery Woods, & Spruce Woods.

Arryba: Lightning Affects Enniskerry and Metcalfe Service

2006-08-08T16:24:00.000-04:00

On the evening of July 31st, 2006 lightning damaged a main junction point that feeds Osgoode (Enniskerry) and the Metcalfe Gold Course area. It is expected to be back up and functional on August 2, 2006. The damage was extensive and will be taking more time than usual to repair.

10-digit Dialing is Coming to 613 Area Code

2006-06-13T22:05:00.000-04:00

We'll soon have to dial all ten digits even when making a local (i.e. non-long-distance) call within the 613 area code.

Starting June 17, 2006, you will hear a recorded message if you only dial 7-digits for a local call. Ten-digit dialing will be mandatory on October 21, 2006.

The significance of 10-digit dialing in rural Ottawa Internet access is that it will affect dial-up Internet users, who probably have 7-digit dial-up numbers programmed into their modem dialers. These dial-up access numbers will need to be updated on the users' PCs to include the 613 area code.

For more info, see Eastern Ontario 613.

Netscape Accelerated Dial-Up Service Hits 19x

2006-06-13T21:41:00.000-04:00

Netscape's Accelerated Dial-up Internet Service is now claiming speeds of up to 19x regular (unaccelerated) dial-up, for $18.95 CDN per month (same as before). I think that if you use certificate number 1797672 in the online form, you will get one month's service free.

The limitations of web acceleration remain unchanged (secure sites, streaming audio & video, and VPNs remain unaccelerated). So it remains a service for those not wishing to spend the extra cash to get true high-speed service or for those who do not yet live in an area where true high-speed Internet service is available.

Arryba: New Towers in Carp

2006-02-23T13:13:00.000-05:00

From Arryba's website:

"Ottawa , Ontario, Canada , Dec 16, 2005. Arryba Communications Inc. is pleased to announce the successful setup of a new point of presence (POP) in Carp. This first setup is located at the Diefenbunker and was successfully setup and completed by the Dec 15, 2005 deadline Arryba Communications gave to the community. A second tower located by the Richardson Side Road, was also completed and operational by the same date. In addition, 2 new sites, one in Kinburn and one at the Canadian Golf and Country Club are expected to be up and running in March 2006."

Chris Spencer's First Line Road High-Speed Internet Project page has moved (again)

2006-01-15T14:23:00.000-05:00

Chris Spencer's First Line Road High-Speed Internet Project page has moved to http://www.geocities.com/cspencer66/high-speed/. Users should update their bookmarks accordingly.

The move was desirable because I did not like how the ads were being displayed on my GeoCities Canada webspace. The ads are displayed in a cleaner/better fashion at GeoCities. The ads are mandatory, since the webspace is being provided for free. Appropriately, the ads are context-dependent, chosen by GeoCities/Yahoo based on the content of each page; they are also somewhat USA-centric.

Visitors to the old site will be automatically redirected to the new site. The redirection on the old site will remain for the foreseeable future.

-Chris

Ottawa Business Journal article on Rural High-Speed

2005-11-30T20:39:00.000-05:00

On November 14, 2005, the Ottawa Business Journal published an article on the status of high-speed Internet access in the rural areas in and around Ottawa. The article can be viewed here.

Arryba acquires AccessTNG

2005-11-14T11:00:00.000-05:00

On November 10, 2005, Arryba Communications, which provides high-speed fixed-wireless Internet access to rural Ottawa including the First Line Road area, has acquired AccessTNG Inc. Among other areas, AccessTNG provided high-speed fixed-wireless Internet access in the Osgoode, Manotick south (Carleton Golf & Yacht Club area), and Vernon. There's no word yet on how this will affect high-speed access availability in Ottawa south, but I will keep readers posted. Arryba already provides service in Osgoode and Vernon.

Tracking High-Speed Access Around Rural Ottawa

2005-11-14T10:52:00.000-05:00

Now that almost all of First Line Road & Century Road East (Waterson Corners) have access to one or more forms of high-speed Internet access, I am planning to expand the scope of this blog as well as my First Line Road High-Speed Internet Project page to include news and information about high-speed access in other areas of rural Ottawa. I may even include some areas immediately outside the Ottawa city limits, such as Kemptville, Carleton Place, and Almonte.

If you have any relevant leads or information, please let me know.

Arryba Communications -- Open House

2005-10-24T15:32:00.000-04:00

Here are the important parts of an email that I recently received from ORCnet:

Some great news! Here's another important milestone in the effort to make high-speed Internet available to all residents in the City of Ottawa.

Arryba Communications Inc. has launched a new wireless broadband service in the southeastern area of the city with plans to expand quickly to other rural areas in Ottawa. Already they have 7 nodes up and are aggressively seeking to bring high-speed Internet to other communities throughout rural Ottawa.

Arryba is planning an Open house on the first of November I hope you can come. Here are the details:

- Arryba Communications Inc. Open House
- Tuesday, November 1, drop-in 3:00 to 8:00 pm, official ribbon cutting 7:00 pm
- Vernon Community Centre, 7950 Lawrence Street, Vernon

Drop by the Vernon Community Centre on November 1st to see live demonstrations of just how fast Arryba's Internet service really is and verify if it is (or will be) available in your area. Ask questions, have a snack, and enter to win a variety of cool door prizes for the whole family.

Here is some additional information about the company:

Launched in southern rural Ottawa earlier this year, Arryba is an innovative provider of high speed and high bandwidth communication services. The company primarily uses wireless technologies to bring high speed internet to a growing list of small communities outside the economic reach of main-line telephone and cable companies. Arryba is not just an Internet service provider. The company also offers a suite of broadband services such as long distance calling plans, e-fax, VivaVault(r) (data back-up and recovery), SmartFarm(r) (instant access to targeted services such as weather and crop reports, etc. that connect farmers everywhere), tele-education and tele-medicine.

To find out more about Arryba and their services, visit www.arryba.com or call 1-888-203-0411.

I have high-speed!

2005-10-24T15:22:00.000-04:00

Today (October 22, 2005), Arryba Communications installed their fixed wireless high-speed Internet service at my home. A crew of three showed up, quickly determined that they could get a single from the tower at First Line & Century Roads, installed the tripod, mast, and antenna, ran cable from the antenna to my office, and configued and tested my PC. The whole process took less than 2 hours.

I've done some quick tests. I've sent emails, connected to my work (Nortel) via VPN, surfed the web, banked online, updated some anti-spyware apps, and ran a couple of download speed tests. All in all, I would have to say that I'm quite happy with the service and the speed. (Aside: average results from my three test at http://www.testmy.net was 763 Kbps, which is a little slower than expected. It is still much faster than dial-up -- 23x faster than the 32 Kbps that I normally get with dial-up -- and Arryba did warn me of some latency, which they are working to reduce. When I had DSL in Kanata, I often wasn't seeing speeds over 700 Kbps. )

I am not yet setup with my Arryba email addresses or webspace, but I expect that will happen sometime next week. (Let's face it, they installed on a Saturday and finished up about 5pm.)

Arryba also informed me that they had just installed service at other homes further south on First Line. If you have recently gotten high-speed service (and haven't already told me so), please let me know. Despite my having high-speed, I'm planning on maintaining my high-speed neighbourhood watch until high-speed Internet service is available throughout the area.

If you signed-up with Arryba but do not yet have service, then you will probably have it shortly. Steve Shauland, CTO of Arryba, informed me that they've been working 7 days a week to meet the demands for their service throughout Ottawa south. I think the fact that they installed a couple of homes on First Line on a Saturday is testment to that.

October 24, 2005:

I've optimized my PC for 'cable modem' using SpeedGuide.net's free TCPOptimizer (I selected the default Cable modem options -- which adjusted my WinXP registry settings as per SpeedGuide's Windows 2000/XP Registry Tweaks), and repeated by download tests using http://www.testmy.net's SmartTest. I'm now seeing average download rates of 1.8+ Mbps. Previously, my PC had been optimized for dial-up. Caveat: I'm not sure if Arryba has done anything at their end; I plan to do some more testing in the next few days and weeks.

Arryba Updates

2005-09-15T16:10:00.000-04:00

Arryba Communications has re-forecast the activation date for their First Line/Century Road tower to Monday, September 19. They have been busily activating several towers in the Osgoode and Metcalfe areas, but the First Line site seems to have fallen by the way-side. I followed-up with Arryba, who informed me that they had been having trouble with the main link to the First Line/Century Road tower, which have recently (within the past day or so) been resolved. At this point, they are on-target for a Monday activation. Stay tuned.

September 21 Update:

Arryba's webpage now indicates that the First Line/Century Road site will be fully activated today (September 21). Furthermore, the page indicates that the Metcalfe G&CC site is now operational. As of late last night, this same page was still indicating that both sites were still scheduled for alignment and activation on September 19.

I've also recently noticed that the Acredale Farms silo being used by Arryba now has a small dish up near the previously-installed antenna mast.

Things are moving. Keep your fingers crossed!

September 23 Update:

At 1:28pm, I received an email from Arryba that was reportedly sent via the First Line/Century Road tower. So it appears that they are in the final stages of activating the neighbourhood's tower.

I will post again once I know more. Once the site is operational, I will also send an email to my list of interested people. Stay tuned.

October 9 Update:

I've received an email from Arryba indicating that the First Line/Century Road site is now fully functional. Installations will reportedly begin this coming week.

At the time of writing this blog entry, the Arryba - Area Maps web page was not updated to show that the First Line/Centruy Road site was fully functional. Hopefully, this is just a small delay on their part.

Also, I noticed an article on page 18 of the October 7, 2005 edition of The Packet about Arryba's efforts to bring high-speed wireless Internet access to the south Ottawa areas. The article was entitled, "Arryba Brings High Speed Internet Service to Rural Ottawa".

October 16 Update:

Arryba has contacted me about scheduling my service installation. Tentatively, the date of installation is scheduled for Saturday, October 22 (i.e. next Saturday). I will post again once the installation has been completed (hopefully that with Arryba's non-line-of-site technology, I can get a clear signal despite the big maples and cedars on the north side of my property).

XplorNet Availability

2005-09-06T09:32:00.000-04:00

XplorNet's two-way Ka-band highs-peed satellite Internet service is now available in the area. At least one household has the service installed, and they appear to be happy with both the installation and the service itself. Please see my website for testimonials.