How much should I be paying on my Rogers Cell Phone bill?

I was never a fan of satellite (had it for 4 years). I'm talking about FibeTV. It's already available in some parts of Ottawa (just not where I am, right now).

wprager wrote:I was never a fan of satellite (had it for 4 years). I'm talking about FibeTV. It's already available in some parts of Ottawa (just not where I am, right now).

Their website can't tell me if it's available, it just sits there and does nothing when I enter my address, I am guessing that's a no.

I only need TV for sports. Netflix >> TV

I haven't seen any HD shows on Netflix yet, but I'm guessing the b/w consumption is 4x as much as SD. I'd be over my quota before the second week was over.

I still like the bulk of my TV over cable. I just wish they didn't charge so damn much.

Netflix claims HD is up to 2.3 GB/hour

Hoags wrote:Netflix claims HD is up to 2.3 GB/hour

It *could be* but I think it's a lot closer to 1 than it is to 2.3 overall.

I've touted them before, but I use TekSavvy for both home phone and internet (they have DSL and Cable options). My home phone is less than $30 with caller ID, and my internet is less than $40 for DSL + 300GB/month.

Both these services run through Bell's network, but you never have to deal with Bell. Also, the tech support at TekSavvy seems to be useful and based in Toronto.

http://teksavvy.com/en/default.asp

To me, the most appealing thing is the 300GB/month bandwith cap. I download quite a bit, and we use Netflix, and I've never gone over 200GB/month.

Hoags wrote:

wprager wrote:I was never a fan of satellite (had it for 4 years). I'm talking about FibeTV. It's already available in some parts of Ottawa (just not where I am, right now).

Their website can't tell me if it's available, it just sits there and does nothing when I enter my address, I am guessing that's a no.

I only need TV for sports. Netflix >> TV

I agree with you. I never had to time rent every movie when they first came out so I'll never run out of things to watch on there. To be honest I let my satellite go because I couldn't afford it anymore. Now that I can afford it again, I don't miss it enough to want it back. I basically use that money for my RV payments.

I do want to get a nice setup for over the air TV though. Best picture I've ever seen.

Yeah, if there was a convenient way to get live HD sports on my TV without cable, I'd drop Rogers in a second. After the Stanley Cup Final, I may just cancel my cable for the summer and see how that goes.

tim1_2 wrote:I've touted them before, but I use TekSavvy for both home phone and internet (they have DSL and Cable options). My home phone is less than $30 with caller ID, and my internet is less than $40 for DSL + 300GB/month.

Both these services run through Bell's network, but you never have to deal with Bell. Also, the tech support at TekSavvy seems to be useful and based in Toronto.

http://teksavvy.com/en/default.asp

To me, the most appealing thing is the 300GB/month bandwith cap. I download quite a bit, and we use Netflix, and I've never gone over 200GB/month.

Yeah Teksavvy is what I am going to go with, I was going to switch months ago but I heard their support is awful now and switching is a pain in the Donkey. Plus I am not sure what will happen with UBB, they might have to adopt the same draconian policies as Rogers if the CRTC passes it.

Teksavvy cable is available in my area so I'd probably go with that. Rogers has me at 60GB and it's ridiculous that I have to worry about going over if I use Netflix. Without Netflix I am fine as we don't D/L much but what's the point of broadband if you can't really use it ?

Netflix is getting better plus I can watch upstairs on a tablet etc.

shabbs wrote:The key with Rogers is to call in and complain and ask to be escalated to their Retentions group. That group has the authority to provide discounts and offer good deals. It's a pain in the Donkey process but it does work.

Yep, I even went to the trouble of cancelling and switching to another provider. Then I went back to Telus who now gives me HDTV with a PVR and 3 digital boxes, 15MB internet and home phone for less than $100 a month. I have $20 in lifetime loyalty discounts as well as free rentals on most of the equipment.

The key to getting a better price from any of these companies is two-fold. Don't have a contract and be prepared to walk away.

shabbs wrote:The key with Rogers is to call in and complain and ask to be escalated to their Retentions group. That group has the authority to provide discounts and offer good deals. It's a pain in the Donkey process but it does work.

Interesting.

Please tell me that there's nothing really new for you here. Being firm and prepared to walk away are key points. As much as I wanted to leave Rogers they had me with the rent-free PVR (which now is not such a big deal) and the fact that I didn't want to go back to satellite. I keep saying this, I know, but when FibeTV finally makes it out to Kanata I will finally have a valid option.

wprager wrote:Please tell me that there's nothing really new for you here. Being firm and prepared to walk away are key points. As much as I wanted to leave Rogers they had me with the rent-free PVR (which now is not such a big deal) and the fact that I didn't want to go back to satellite. I keep saying this, I know, but when FibeTV finally makes it out to Kanata I will finally have a valid option.

Yes. Bring on the Fibe internet and TV.

tim1_2 wrote:
Yes. Bring on the Fibe internet and TV.

Too bad it's not available in my area, I'd love an alternative to Robbers that I could leave to.

Just don't jump without looking. One thing with FibeTV is if you don't have FTTH (and most people won't -- my house is only 5 years old and I'm pretty sure it's still copper from the curb/whatever). With copper, the max b/w available is very limited by the distance to the CO or to wherever there *is* fibre. Typically you have two lines coming in so they can bond them to double the b/w. Your internet speed *will* depend on how much TV you are consuming, and you may be limited to 1-2 HD channels simultaneously. Mind you, with cable, my PVR has two tuners so I'm limited to 2 (plus another one upstairs, but I hardly use that); but that does not reduce my internet speed. If you are limited to 2 simultaneous HD programs make sure you get the west coast feeds so you don't have any conflicts in recording shows. If they charge extra ask them to drop that charge.

Yeah, the term "Fibe" is very misleading and has been a topic of discussion everywhere. It's fiber-optic inside Bell's network. But, to your home, it's still the same old phone line like your DSL service was and your dial up service before that.

And that Rogers commercial with the guy running around turning off all the TVs so his internet isn't slow is not too far off the mark in that TV watching can impact your network speed.

Some more info: http://www.digitalhome.ca/2011/12/myth-bell-fibe-tv-is-fiber-to-the-home/

So, be careful, don't get sold on the buzz words and do your research.

To be fair, that blog almost sounds a little biased. In order to make sure people don't jump in on uninformed assumptions, he may be overcompensating a bit. Most of my issues with d/l speeds have nothing to do with my actual connection. There are lots of speed bumps in the network (including ones implemented on purpose -- deep packet inspection and the ensuing throttling of P2P traffic). Having more fibre in your network will have a positive effect on your overall internet speed. And if you don't have a large family then the competition for the b/w is probably not an issue (I think I just talked myself out of switching -- three laptops, two desktops, 6 people worth of TV watching/recording -- might be worth it to switch just to get Robbers to beg and plead to get me back).

shabbs wrote:Yeah, the term "Fibe" is very misleading and has been a topic of discussion everywhere. It's fiber-optic inside Bell's network. But, to your home, it's still the same old phone line like your DSL service was and your dial up service before that.

And that Rogers commercial with the guy running around turning off all the TVs so his internet isn't slow is not too far off the mark in that TV watching can impact your network speed.

Some more info: http://www.digitalhome.ca/2011/12/myth-bell-fibe-tv-is-fiber-to-the-home/

So, be careful, don't get sold on the buzz words and do your research.

Sofonabishtes.