# What are the best deals for phone, cable and internet?



## Ben

Inspired by a new thread kissing goodbye to Bell, I thought I'd expand the topic a bit to include all 3 essential services. What are the best deals out there for home phone, internet, and TV?

My story:

1. Home Phone: basic line from Bell, $24.26/month after tax. Long distance through YAK 3.5c/min. Total for an average month is somewhere around $30, after tax.

2. We have Cogeco Lite internet, for $34.95/month, or $36.70 after tax. I've thought about calling them for a reduction in rates - anyone have a success story on that topic?

3. Until recently we had basic cable from Cogeco. We've cancelled it, and are now spending much more time at the gym! A lot of popular shows are available to stream on the internet (The Office and Til Debt Do Us Part come to mind). So, $0 for TV.

4. And may as well add cell phone for discussion too!

We therefore spend $66.70/month for 2 services. What's your deal?


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## FrugalTrader

Ben said:


> Inspired by a new thread kissing goodbye to Bell, I thought I'd expand the topic a bit to include all 3 essential services. What are the best deals out there for home phone, internet, and TV?
> 
> My story:
> 
> 1. Home Phone: basic line from Bell, $24.26/month after tax. Long distance through YAK 3.5c/min. Total for an average month is somewhere around $30, after tax.
> 
> 2. We have Cogeco Lite internet, for $34.95/month, or $36.70 after tax. I've thought about calling them for a reduction in rates - anyone have a success story on that topic?
> 
> 3. Until recently we had basic cable from Cogeco. We've cancelled it, and are now spending much more time at the gym! A lot of popular shows are available to stream on the internet (The Office and Til Debt Do Us Part come to mind). So, $0 for TV.
> 
> We therefore spend $66.70/month for 2 out of 3 services. What's your deal?


Great idea for a thread! We bundle 4 services with Rogers which gives us a 15% discount on the total price.

We have:

1. Home telephone with caller ID
2. High Speed Internet Extreme
3. Basic Cable with HD PVR box (HD channels included)
4. Basic emergency cell phone (40 min / month)

$126 included tax for 4 services!


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## CanadianCapitalist

Home Phone: Basic phone from Bell ($25) without any bells and whistles. Long distance with Yak and G3 Telecom (we make a lot of overseas calls to family).

Internet: Currently Bell (around $50). I'm planning on switching to National Capital Freenet ($30 for DSL service in the Ottawa area).

Cable: Basic cable from Rogers. We hardly watch but I'm keeping it as I'm waiting for a sale on a HD box.

Cell phones: Two pre-paid phones from Speakout Wireless.

Ben, I wrote about squeezing Bell for a discount here:

*Money Tip: Just ask for a discount*

It worked until recently, when we got suckered into upgrading to a higher speed ("for the exact same price", said the sales rep and I stupidly agreed).


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## MGL

We've got our services bundled with Aliant. We pay $115 (taxes in) for internet access, basic TV + 1 specialty package, basic cell phone, and home phone.


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## Bullseye

Bell home phone - $30
Bell mid-speed Internet - $25
Cogeco cable - $50
One shared prepaid cell - $8 ($100/year)

I'm a service jumper with my internet. In 2007 I was on a Cogeco promo, then with Acanac last year ($18 taxes in for high speed for first year), and now with Bell for a one year promo.

I was actually happy with Acanac, and would have paid their regular monthly rate, but to get it, you had to prepay a whole year. I refused on principle, and cancelled.


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## Sampson

Out West....

Home phone: $0 (we'll probably add one with Shaw - $19)
Cable: $0 (come on guys - internet tv)
Internet: $40 (-$2 off if we bundle)
Cell phone: $20 - phenomenal Corp. plan

If we had full services, I'd certainly get the bundled packages from Shaw instead of the poor and expensive service we used to get through Telus.

Sounds like the same thing is happening out East, the cable companies are really bringing it to the traditional phone companies.


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## archanfel

Toronto

Cell phone: $75 after tax. 
Home phone: $0 
Cable: $0
Internet: $18.95 + $8 (dry loop) from acanac, tax included.


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## canabiz

We are with Rogers for home/cable and Internet and we are paying $105/month for all 3 services, taxes and discounts in. We also subscribe to 3 different magazines: Maclean's, Canadian Business and Money Sense as part of Rogers Readers' Advantage Program.

I find Rogers services adequate, nothing to complain about. I put the monthly bill on my credit card to earn points so that's another bonus. 

P.S: I had bad experience with Ma Bell before so I am glad I am not the only, judging by articles and comments on Ellen Roseman's site and elsewhere. In addition, I found out today (from an Aeroplan rep) that Bell subscribers no longer earn Aeroplan points. Hope you folks don't have a lot of holdings in BCE ;-)


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## FrugalTrader

Sampson said:


> Out West....
> 
> Home phone: $0 (we'll probably add one with Shaw - $19)
> Cable: $0 (come on guys - internet tv)
> Internet: $40 (-$2 off if we bundle)
> Cell phone: $20 - phenomenal Corp. plan
> 
> If we had full services, I'd certainly get the bundled packages from Shaw instead of the poor and expensive service we used to get through Telus.
> 
> Sounds like the same thing is happening out East, the cable companies are really bringing it to the traditional phone companies.


I don't mean to thread jack, but what sites do you recommend for internet tv?


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## Sampson

I'm mainly just watching the major networks. The Canadian networks have made strides to bring this stuff to the internet (in the US, all major networks have been streaming their programs for a long time).

CBC - http://www.cbc.ca/television/
CTV - http://watch.ctv.ca
Global - http://www.globaltv.com/entertainment/index.html
BNN - http://watch.bnn.ca/
Comedy - http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/

These are all clips, but same day. Once you start watching online, its very liberating, since you can watch in batches, and on your own timeline.


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## Arcaneind

*TekSavvy Rates*

http://www.teksavvy.com

Home Phone: $21.48/mo
- No Contract
- Highly Discounted Features

Long Distance: $0.029/min or $19.95/mo for Unlimited North American Calling
- No Contract

Internet: $29.95/mo for DSL
- Up to 5M/800k (my phone line goes no faster)
- Bandwidth of 200G/mo (I average under 30G)

This company is the darling on dslreports. It's a good site to see some reviews of all the Internet carriers.
http://www.dslreports.com/isplist?c=ca


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## DAvid

Looks like lots of folk do not have all these services, which makes comparisons challenging. It is also clear that the options available to folks differ depending on the market -- it's easy to find competition in large centers, but not in smaller centers, so some companies take the cream, while others actually try to service MORE of the market, at greater costs.


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## JF.

For the home phone we use Vonage.ca. The basic plan is 19.99 + taxes which is around 23$/month. You have so many features. The one feature I like best (besides caller id and voicemail) is the one that sends me an email with the voicemail attach. I send it to my work email and 2 more email addresses so I can take my voicemail on any computers.

Also they have SimRing. When my home phone rings, I also ring my cell phone in case I'm not home.

We experienced no lost of service from Vonage but you need to have an high speed internet service (which most people have now). It's very easy to setup (plug-and-play)

And a tip to save money with Vonage, you can refer people. For each account you refer and sign-up with vonage and use the service for 3 months you'll get 2 months free. I already got several months free.

So if you are thinking about signing up with vonage let me know and I'll refer you.

Edit: And I forgot the best part, no long distance for all north america and cheap fee for europe and other.


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## Arcaneind

JF. said:


> For the home phone we use Vonage.ca.


Have they overcome the 911 issues with VOIP? I remember that baby died in Alberta because when they called 911 emergency services were dispatched in Ontario by mistake...

For long distance, I think VOIP cannot be beat right now *but* the 911 issue was a killer for me.


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## nick24

Arcaneind said:


> Have they overcome the 911 issues with VOIP? I remember that baby died in Alberta because when they called 911 emergency services were dispatched in Ontario by mistake...
> 
> For long distance, I think VOIP cannot be beat right now *but* the 911 issue was a killer for me.


This is a common misconception and there aren't any 911 issues per se. I have Vonage, and from what I recall, they make it very explicit when you sign up, on a yearly basis, as well as on their website that 911 works differently from 911 on regular land lines. 

Users are told that the 911 address MUST be their current residential address. For the vast majority of people, the residential address will be the billing address. For some people, however, the billing address may be their office or another location. Given these simple instructions, it's not difficult to get it wrong, but I guess, in the tragic case of the baby in AB, it can go wrong.

As for Vonage itself, at 19.99 a month, it's hard to beat.


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## nick24

FrugalTrader said:


> Great idea for a thread! We bundle 4 services with Rogers which gives us a 15% discount on the total price.
> 
> We have:
> 
> 1. Home telephone with caller ID
> 2. High Speed Internet Extreme
> 3. Basic Cable with HD PVR box (HD channels included)
> 4. Basic emergency cell phone (40 min / month)
> 
> $126 included tax for 4 services!


Are you sure you have Basic Cable? I wanted Basic plus HD and was told that I have to have Extended Cable in order to get HD.

I purchased my own HD box at Xmas for a hundred bucks, so that shaves around $12 off my bill each month.


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## FrugalTrader

nick24 said:


> Are you sure you have Basic Cable? I wanted Basic plus HD and was told that I have to have Extended Cable in order to get HD.
> 
> I purchased my own HD box at Xmas for a hundred bucks, so that shaves around $12 off my bill each month.


Nick, you may want to call them again. You don't need extended cable to get the HD box.


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## nick24

FrugalTrader said:


> Nick, you may want to call them again. You don't need extended cable to get the HD box.


Fraking Rogers! If I had a dollar for every time I've said that, I'd be a millionaire...


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## mfd

Home phone - Bell: $22
Cell - Rogers: free through work
Cable - rogers: $70 includes HD box and channels....no special channels
Internet - Teksavvy: $30

I need to see if I can get this down too $100.


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## ethos1

mfd said:


> Home phone - Bell: $22
> Cell - Rogers: free through work
> Cable - rogers: $70 includes HD box and channels....no special channels
> Internet - Teksavvy: $30
> 
> I need to see if I can get this down to $100.


have you called Rogers and asked them for a bundles deal on combining cable with ultra-lite internet?

With the 'extended basic' package cable (CH 2-99) without HD box should be around $55 combined with ultra-lite with get you in around $78

I pay for those two before tax exactly $78.08


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## Arcaneind

nick24 said:


> This is a common misconception and there aren't any 911 issues per se. I have Vonage, and from what I recall, they make it very explicit when you sign up, on a yearly basis, as well as on their website that 911 works differently from 911 on regular land lines.
> 
> Users are told that the 911 address MUST be their current residential address. For the vast majority of people, the residential address will be the billing address. For some people, however, the billing address may be their office or another location. Given these simple instructions, it's not difficult to get it wrong, but I guess, in the tragic case of the baby in AB, it can go wrong.
> 
> As for Vonage itself, at 19.99 a month, it's hard to beat.


I would consider that a legitimate 911 issue. Simply too many variables that can go wrong. It relies on the subscriber to update info, that the caller is able to articulate where they are in an emergency and faith that the VOIP 911 operator in some unknown call centre (not your local one) knows what is going on (or is even trained).

I'm surprised that the CRTC isn't making the VOIP companies have little flashing red alarms installed if the subscriber is using an IP address that doesn't match the actual address.

Anyway, sorry for hijacking this thread. I'll shut up now. I agree that the price point is very good.


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## Amanda

Cell phone: 26$ 
Basic Cable with HDPVR: 30$
Lite Internet: 20$

All my services are with Rogers.


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## Kalynn12

BC....

Home phone: Don't have one.
Internet: Shaw, $28 a month
Cable: Got rid of it, still get about 6 channels free (weirdly enough includes BNN, CTV news, MTV and some prime time channels)
Cell Phone: Boyfriend's is paid by work and mine is $17.60 ($25 after taxes and fees). Thanks to RFD, includes unlimited calling after 6 pm, 200 day time minutes, 100 text messages, CD, VM, and 100 long distance minutes per month. Gotta love the Telus retention department.


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## mfd

ethos1 said:


> have you called Rogers and asked them for a bundles deal on combining cable with ultra-lite internet?
> 
> With the 'extended basic' package cable (CH 2-99) without HD box should be around $55 combined with ultra-lite with get you in around $78
> 
> I pay for those two before tax exactly $78.08



I usually call my providers once a year to ask about deals that can be applied to my account. 

I'm a heavy internet user so I want a service that provides unlimited connectivity which means ultra lite isn't sufficient enough. 

I currently do subscribe to the HD box and its probably the reason why I pay soo much. The funny part is I rarely watch any cable content in HD ( watch a lot of movies in HD though) so I contemplate if I should still have it. However I definitely need time shifting so that adds to the cost.


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## The_Number

I'm paying about $110 for phone (local + long distance) and high-speed Internet. I've been reading/hearing about how negotiable these prices are on news and financial magazines (mainly from the US), but I wasn't able to negotiate down the price


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## bpither

*Skype Phone Plan*

My wife is Hungarian and we bought a subscription for the World Unlimited [email protected] $27 for three months. This includes 10,000 minutes a month phoning landlines (and cell phones in Canada and the US) in 36 countries ... and she phones for at least 2 hours a day to friends and family in Hungary. What makes this plan great is that it is portable: I can travel to any of the inclusive countries - and we travel a lot to Europe - and use any computer to ring anywhere within the 36 country group. For the use I get it's a steal at 9 bucks a month. I no longer have a landline but a minimalist cell phone plan with all my incoming calls free.

I've been using it for a year.


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## canabiz

Ma Bell has bought Virgin Mobile Canada (VMC). I have enjoyed a Pay-as-you-go phone with VMC for almost 2 years, paying $20 + taxes/month with no System Access Fee and none of that crap but I think the pricing will change...I will consider moving to Koodo or one of the smaller outlets or even to Rogers. 

Not a big Bell customer here.


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## CanadianCapitalist

If you want pre-paid, I can't recommend Speak Out Wireless (from 7-11 stores) highly enough. We have two phones for almost a year now and no problems. The biggest surprise: they have great customer service. Runs off the Rogers network, so no issues there either. 

*Speak Out Wireless: Another Virgin Mobile Alternative*


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## DrStan

nick24 said:


> This is a common misconception and there aren't any 911 issues per se. I have Vonage, and from what I recall, they make it very explicit when you sign up, on a yearly basis, as well as on their website that 911 works differently from 911 on regular land lines.
> 
> Users are told that the 911 address MUST be their current residential address. For the vast majority of people, the residential address will be the billing address. For some people, however, the billing address may be their office or another location. Given these simple instructions, it's not difficult to get it wrong, but I guess, in the tragic case of the baby in AB, it can go wrong.
> 
> As for Vonage itself, at 19.99 a month, it's hard to beat.


I have Vonage as well and I'm generally pleased with it; except for a short delay some times when speaking. A minor annoyance to save a lot of money compared to our previous Bell arrangement. 

The 911 service should be fine, but it's important to ensure they have your current address on file. If you move and don't update your address, they can't know where the 911 call is coming from and may dispatch to the wrong place. The disclaimers and warnings are very obvious when signing up. I also think it's imperative to have a cell phone backup. Internet and power outages do happen, and leave you phoneless if you have VOIP.


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## canabiz

For the folks using Vonage, do you find it beneficial to upgrade your Internet package to a higher level ? 

I am currently using Rogers High-Speed Lite, it is adequate for us who mostly surf around, check email, watch some streaming movies with the occasional torrent downloads. I have done a bit of research and it looks like High-Speed Express will do a lot of wonders for Vonage, or any other VoIP package for that matter.

In addition, do you find it useful to upgrade your phone sets to 5.8Ghz ? Our main phone is a Panasonic 5.8Ghz and the quality is impeccable. The rest is a bunch of VTech 2.4Ghz and they leave a lot to be desired for. It could be because of interference with our wireless router so I will upgrade them anyway...just wondering if it makes difference for VoIP ?


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## nick24

I have Rogers Express and 5.8Ghz phones. Unfortunately, that's all I have had since I've been on Vonage, so I can't offer any comparisons. The call quality is more affected by what Rogers are doing behind the scenes as part of their traffic management rather than anything else.


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## canabiz

A simple 10 minute phone call to Rogers cancellation/retention department is all that I need to have my landline phone bill slashed by 50% each month for the next 12 month.

They decide to waive the $5.95 System Access Fee as well as knock $10 off the regular price for the next 12 months so I will be paying $19.95 and continue to enjoy the 15% bundle discount with 2 other services (Internet and Cable).

I was very polite and straight to the point when I told the Rogers rep that I am being bombarded with offers from VoIP phone companies which can slash my monthly phone bill in half. She was quick to offer me a similar deal, noting the current economic climate as a primary reason for those offers ;-)

As an FYI, she also offers me Rogers High Speed Express for $34.95 for the next 6 months, which is actually less than what I am currently paying for Rogers High Speed Lite. I will talk to the wife and see if she wants to be on board, it will go up to $46.95 after the promotion and I don't know if there is any fee to *downgrade* but certainly every little bit helps.

Look like I am not joining the VoIP bandwagon anytime soon!


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## canabiz

Amanda said:


> Cell phone: 26$
> Basic Cable with HDPVR: 30$
> Lite Internet: 20$
> 
> All my services are with Rogers.


Amanda, for the Lite Internet, is that a grand-fathered plan or do you have some heavy discount to go with it ?

Rogers Ultra-Lite is $25.99/month and Lite is $35.99/month. We are currently using Lite but I would like to knock the price down to about $20-$25/month taxes in.

I am doing research on this and Acanac is a DSL provider that charge $20/month for 5 Mbps. Sound like a pretty good deal until I read stories about technical support and billing issues with them so I am still gathering more information.


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## moneytech

1. home phone $10/Month - people line http://www.peopleline.net/pstelco/homeline.htm

2. High Speed internet $29.99/month - same as shaw high speed, I am also using my purchased shaw cable modem since its usable with cybersurf http://www2.cia.com/products/highspeed.html 

3. Cable TV - $0 - we watch online or use indoor antennae plus with the money we saved from paying $40+ for cable TV we just buy the full season DVDs/blurays of the show we really like. 


4. prepaid phone, speakout 7-11. $100 for $0.20/min, expiry of 365 days, free caller id, free to check voice mail from landline and you can roll over your balance for another 365 days by re-charging with $25 every year. We use our voip people line phone most of the time and use our CP very rarely.


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## Ben

moneytech said:


> 3. Cable TV - $0 - we watch online or use indoor antennae plus with the money we saved from paying $40+ for cable TV we just buy the full season DVDs/blurays of the show we really like.
> QUOTE]
> 
> I've been thinking about OTA for TV. What's your experience with "bunny ears" these days, and/or the higher end models that mount outdoors? Is indoor bunny ears still doable with transition to HD? I have a CRT TV, 4 years old.
> 
> I'm a Luddite with technology, never really caught my interest, but I like the thought of picking up a few channels over the air for free (currently have canceled cable.).


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## Arcaneind

Ben said:


> I've been thinking about OTA for TV. What's your experience with "bunny ears" these days, and/or the higher end models that mount outdoors? Is indoor bunny ears still doable with transition to HD? I have a CRT TV, 4 years old.
> 
> I'm a Luddite with technology, never really caught my interest, but I like the thought of picking up a few channels over the air for free (currently have cancelled cable.).


I've heard good things about OTA HDTV but it really depends on where you are. I can't get hardly anything where I live. Just Google it and you will find a bunch of channel listings. TigerDirect.ca has a bunch of antennae all under $200.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/content/view/3665/283/


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## CharlieD

*Magicjack*

One of my phones is a Magicjack; it plugs into any of my computers and looks like a memory stick. I paid $40 for the first year, which includes the Magicjack itself. I also pre-paid $60 for 5 years so after this initial year it will cost me only $12 a year! Unfortunately, they don't have area codes in Canada yet so I only use it for the unlimited free long distance in N.A. Is the quality as good as my landline? -- no, but it's OK, and at $43 a month with Rogers for my landline, I am hoping to lose the landline one of these days.... 

I bought my first cell phone a couple of months ago at the local 7-11. It was $90 for a Nokia and the Speak-up rate is $100 for 500 minutes, good for one year and roll-overable. It's come in handy a few times but mostly I use it as an FM radio when I walk the dog  That's a pretty good cell phone deal I think, but I don't know if I got the best one--anyone do any better for pay as you go?

Rogers: $38 a month for Internet.

My Rogers cable recently became included in my rent (100% of the building had to do it or we would not get the discount) and works out to about $30 a month for a pretty decent cable package. I do use it. I watch Turner Classic movies (no commercials) and save myself the $1000 a year I was spending on DVD rentals before I started getting serious about my LOC debt.


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## markievicz

I guess we're the only people with Primus. Home phone + internet is about 80 bucks a month, with taxes. This includes unlimited calling across the US and Canada, which is key for us, since a lot of our family and friends are in the States. Plus they give us airmiles, which we use for our magazine subscriptions. We use discounted phone cards and our office phones to call our home countries (Ireland & Bangladesh).

Cellphones are Rogers and expensed to our employers. The bills are huge, but most of that is work-related. I've been using unlocked European razrs from NYC for ages now, so don't get phones from Rogers.

Basic cable is about 40 bucks a month from Rogers. I'm considering that because cost/hour is probably very high, especially outside of baseball season. Wish we had boxee or something in Canada.

In NY I remember paying $11/mo at one point for basic cable!


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## habsfan93

First post!

I've been with Rogers for home phone, cable and internet for about 2 years now and have been extremely satisfied with the service. The prices are great but only once you call them and negotiate better rates. Their regular prices are horrendous. I also have a cell phone with Koodo.

Total cost (before tax):

Rogers Home Phone (Basic Line + 1 feature): $19.99/month + ~$0.50 for 911, etc. 
($10/month discount and I got Rogers to waive their $6 system access fee permanently)

Rogers Express High-Speed Internet: $37.50/month
(20% off/month and I took advantage of a deal last year where they were basically giving away free modems, so I no longer have to pay for modem rental)

Rogers Basic Cable with Digital PVR: $30/month
(Regular price for the cable but we have the PVR free for two years)

Koodo Cell Phone: $20/month flat with no extra fees for 100 daytime mins, unlimited evenings and weekends, and 50 text messages.


Total Cost: $107.50 + tax for 4 services


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## sneeker

i have bell home phone right now and it seems like i'm really getting ripped off compared to you guys!!! 

we pay $9.95 for 1,000 minutes to anywhere in NA which we do not use whatsoever. so, i call the yukon sometimes and other ontario numbers the rest of the time, so very little long distance. 

i just got off the phone with them and they said that just having a long distance plan costs $5.95 plus the plan ($15.90 for me). do i have to have this $5.95 charge to use YAK? i think YAK is the best thing for me to do to save on my Long Distance but i want to make sure i don't completely lose the long distance capability from my home phone.

Thanks!!!


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## stinsont

How did you get Rogers to drop the system access fee??


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## drh

I'm curious what folks are paying for the Rogers VIP HD cable package? I've spoken to Rogers retentions department about lowering this rate, but have been informed that this is as low as they can go.

Currently we are paying $63 a month just for the HD Digital VIP package. Was anyone else able to negotiate a better rate?


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## CanadianCapitalist

sneeker said:


> i have bell home phone right now and it seems like i'm really getting ripped off compared to you guys!!!
> 
> we pay $9.95 for 1,000 minutes to anywhere in NA which we do not use whatsoever. so, i call the yukon sometimes and other ontario numbers the rest of the time, so very little long distance.
> 
> i just got off the phone with them and they said that just having a long distance plan costs $5.95 plus the plan ($15.90 for me). do i have to have this $5.95 charge to use YAK? i think YAK is the best thing for me to do to save on my Long Distance but i want to make sure i don't completely lose the long distance capability from my home phone.
> 
> Thanks!!!


I think you have much cheaper alternatives if you don't use the entire 1,000 minute block. At Yak, Canada long distance, I believe is 3 cents a minute. I think they also have an all-you-can-eat plan but you'll have to check their website. http://www.yak.ca

Let us know where your research leads you.


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## Ben

CanadianCapitalist said:


> I think you have much cheaper alternatives if you don't use the entire 1,000 minute block. At Yak, Canada long distance, I believe is 3 cents a minute. I think they also have an all-you-can-eat plan but you'll have to check their website. http://www.yak.ca
> 
> Let us know where your research leads you.


My experience with YAK:

At YAK, LD within Canada is 5c/min if you use the 7-digit access number. If you sign up with them (no contract) so that all your LD is automatically handled by them without an access #, the cost is 3.5c/min. We have the latter option (hassle-free), and the the cost is $5-7/month for our LD use. If LD use is significantly higher, then a bundled plan might be better for some people. YAK seems to have pretty competitive rates overseas as well, although I don't personally have any experience with this.

There are probably better rates even than 3.5c/min, but for our LD use, we'd be saving only pennies.

We have the basic Bell line, which totals $21.26 after tax, if memory serves. The system access fee ($5.95?), goes the way of the dodo bird.


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## brad

As a heavy user of international long-distance (US and overseas), I'm pretty happy with my Vonage account. I pay $54/month, but that gets me unlimited calls to the US and most of Europe, plus I have a local "virtual" number in Washington DC so my clients down there can call me in Montreal for the price of a local phone call. I make my Vonage calls on a regular phone; you don't have to go through a computer (although there's a gizmo that goes between your phone and the DSL or cable modem or router). 

I use the Vonage line for my home office and also for any personal long-distance calls. I have friends in Ireland and England, and my girlfriend is from France, so she can talk for hours to her family there every week without any concern about the bill. All my family is in the US, so the same goes there. I like the idea of a flat rate per month with unlimited calls, as you don't have to keep track of your time and I find I'm a lot more wiling to pick up the phone and call people than I used to be.


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## habsfan93

stinsont said:


> How did you get Rogers to drop the system access fee??


I said pretty pretty please 

Seriously though, I just called in to negotiate better rates on all my services. I had read on RedFlagDeals that people had been getting Rogers to drop the SAF, so when I talked to Rogers, I started rhyming off their competitors prices and I talked about how other companies didn't charge an SAF and how I personally knew several people who have had Rogers drop the SAF fee in the past for them, permanently. The girl went away for a minute, and came back saying sure I can get rid of that fee for you. Its just all negotiation. If you call, and they offer you prices you don't think are good enough, just say thanks for your time, but I'm going to go talk to Bell about switching my service and hang up. Call Rogers back in a week or two and try again. I had to call twice before I got the deals I wanted.

P.S. The people at Rogers you want to talk to is the Customer Relations department. The first people you talk to when you call (Customer Service) - they are useless and won't do anything for you. You need to get them to transfer you to Customer Relations. You can do this several ways...
1) Tell them you want to talk to someone about cancelling your service. 
2) When they first answer, tell them you were just on the line with Customer Relations and you got disconnected, can they please reconnect you. This avoids them trying to half-heartedly convince you that cancelling is a bad idea. I usually do this one, it gives me the smallest headache.
3) Just flat out ask for Customer Relations for whatever reason you want (you have a complaint to file, etc.)


----------



## stinsont

habsfan93 said:


> I said pretty pretty please
> 
> Seriously though, I just called in to negotiate better rates on all my services. I had read on RedFlagDeals that people had been getting Rogers to drop the SAF, so when I talked to Rogers, I started rhyming off their competitors prices and I talked about how other companies didn't charge an SAF and how I personally knew several people who have had Rogers drop the SAF fee in the past for them, permanently. The girl went away for a minute, and came back saying sure I can get rid of that fee for you. Its just all negotiation. If you call, and they offer you prices you don't think are good enough, just say thanks for your time, but I'm going to go talk to Bell about switching my service and hang up. Call Rogers back in a week or two and try again. I had to call twice before I got the deals I wanted.
> 
> P.S. The people at Rogers you want to talk to is the Customer Relations department. The first people you talk to when you call (Customer Service) - they are useless and won't do anything for you. You need to get them to transfer you to Customer Relations. You can do this several ways...
> 1) Tell them you want to talk to someone about cancelling your service.
> 2) When they first answer, tell them you were just on the line with Customer Relations and you got disconnected, can they please reconnect you. This avoids them trying to half-heartedly convince you that cancelling is a bad idea. I usually do this one, it gives me the smallest headache.
> 3) Just flat out ask for Customer Relations for whatever reason you want (you have a complaint to file, etc.)


Great tip. I will give that a try. I *HATE* the system access fee, total BS charge.


----------



## brad

My cellphone contract with Telus expires in August, and I'm trying to figure out what to do next....I'd love to have some advice.

Here's my situation:

1. I'm a VERY infrequent cellphone user. I typically make two or three calls a month when I'm at home. My cellphone stays turned off most of the time.

2. The exception to the above is when I'm traveling, and most of my travel is in the U.S. on business. I also travel to Europe every couple of years and it would be handy to have a phone there (with a local SIM card).

Item #1 above would suggest that I'm a good candidate for a pay-as-you-go phone, but most pay-as-you-go carriers such as 7-11 and Petro Canada don't offer roaming in the United States. 

Item #2 indicates that I should get an unlocked GSM phone so I can put in a local pay-as-you-go SIM card when traveling in Europe.

GSM pretty much limits me to Fido or Rogers. I'm leaning toward Fido because they are cheaper (no system access fees), although not quite as cheap as they seem because if you want basic necessities like voicemail you have to pay extra. 

Any suggestions for what I should do? I currently have a $20/month plan with Telus, but when you add on the system access fee, voicemail, and taxes I'm paying more like $35/month, which means my two local calls a month cost me more than $15 each. That sucks


----------



## ethos1

brad said:


> My cellphone contract with Telus expires in August, and I'm trying to figure out what to do next....I'd love to have some advice.
> 
> 
> Any suggestions for what I should do? I currently have a $20/month plan with Telus, but when you add on the system access fee, voicemail, and taxes I'm paying more like $35/month, which means my two local calls a month cost me more than $15 each. That sucks


have you looked at

http://www.fido.ca/web/content/whyfido/fido_always_by_your_side


----------



## brad

ethos1 said:


> have you looked at
> 
> http://www.fido.ca/web/content/whyfido/fido_always_by_your_side


Yep, that's why I said above that I'm leaning toward Fido.  But I'm interested to hear any other suggestions as well to be sure I'm not missing an even better deal.


----------



## ethos1

brad said:


> Yep, that's why I said above that I'm leaning toward Fido.  But I'm interested to hear any other suggestions as well to be sure I'm not missing an even better deal.


koodo is the other. With them you get a basic plan with a 'my five' add-on if you're a frequent user

Service area and call or blank spot quality is also an important consideration 

http://koodomobile.com/en/on/about.shtml

http://koodomobile.com/en/on/index.shtml#

pass on Rogers


----------



## canadianbanks

Sampson said:


> I'm mainly just watching the major networks. The Canadian networks have made strides to bring this stuff to the internet (in the US, all major networks have been streaming their programs for a long time).
> 
> CBC - http://www.cbc.ca/television/
> CTV - http://watch.ctv.ca
> Global - http://www.globaltv.com/entertainment/index.html
> BNN - http://watch.bnn.ca/
> Comedy - http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/
> 
> These are all clips, but same day. Once you start watching online, its very liberating, since you can watch in batches, and on your own timeline.


Thanks for the link. I didn't know BNN is already online, and that's great!


----------



## lb71

Ellen Roseman has an article in today's Star about a Rogers and Bell price war.



> Bell and Rogers are waging a war for your business – and you can gain by playing off one telecom giant against the other.


----------



## ashby corner

Rogers (internet and too many channels and cell phone): 180. (taxes in). Highspeed must be 50. Cell phone is probably 40. Which means 90 a month on Cable? Holy crap.
Land phone: 80.

Moving on Friday. Gotta get my life organized!


----------



## JFish

*Acanac*

I just subscribed to Acanac for high-speed internet & land phone:

High-speed internet: $28/month (all-in)
Land phone with free North American long distance: $9.99/month (all-in)

The phone is through soft-VOIP, so I needed to purchase an ATA (a device that plugs into the modem that allows you to plug your phone into it)... which cost an additional one time $80.

I've been extremely pleased with them so far!


----------



## dotnet_nerd

canabiz said:


> For the folks using Vonage, do you find it beneficial to upgrade your Internet package to a higher level ?
> 
> I am currently using Rogers High-Speed Lite, it is adequate for us who mostly surf around, check email, watch some streaming movies with the occasional torrent downloads. I have done a bit of research and it looks like High-Speed Express will do a lot of wonders for Vonage, or any other VoIP package for that matter.
> 
> In addition, do you find it useful to upgrade your phone sets to 5.8Ghz ? Our main phone is a Panasonic 5.8Ghz and the quality is impeccable. The rest is a bunch of VTech 2.4Ghz and they leave a lot to be desired for. It could be because of interference with our wireless router so I will upgrade them anyway...just wondering if it makes difference for VoIP ?


I have Vonage here in Toronto on Rogers hi-speed. I had trouble with my old Linksys router. Dropped calls, echo, etc.

I switched to a new router, the D-Link DIR625. It has a new feature called QoS which stands for "Quality of Service". Basically, it's packet prioritization to optimize voice bandwidth. This helped a lot.

I find the Vonage forums useful too
http://www.vonage-forum.com/


----------



## kenwood

cell phone: pay as you go, 7-11 speakout wireless
internet: acana, 20/month for the first year, 30 after


----------



## Andrew

Cable + Internet + Cell Phone all through Rogers for $120 a month.


----------



## high octane

I use voip.ms and I couldnt be happier

$1.49 per month and $.01 per min or flat rate $4.95

Vonage is better than landline but its still way overpriced and full of gimicks imo


----------



## cashinstinct

Cable (Illico Tele-max, for 1 Digital + unlimited regular cable plugs) + Internet (High speed 30 gigs download limit, student special price) with Videotron - 85$ including tax by month

Cellphone with Telus - $34.09 by month including SAF,911 and taxes ($17.50 basic plan 200 minutes, unlimited incomings, nights 6pm-7am and weekends, call-in-display, VM 3 messages + $5 extra for 5 friends unlimited local)

Quite happy with the price I am paying for the 3 services total +- 120$


----------



## brad

I switched from Telus to Fido, and while the price is right I'm having my doubts about the service.

Despite signing up for online billing, I received my first bill in the post the other day, with the $2 charge slapped on for paper invoices. The first bill also included another $35 activation fee; I already paid $35 when I activated my account a few weeks ago. I tried calling their customer service number to get these charges removed, but it only gives you menus of automated replies; there's no way to talk to a real person even if you select the "technical support" option. I ended up having to send in an email request; we'll see if anyone gets back to me.


----------



## canabiz

brad said:


> I switched from Telus to Fido, and while the price is right I'm having my doubts about the service.
> 
> Despite signing up for online billing, I received my first bill in the post the other day, with the $2 charge slapped on for paper invoices. The first bill also included another $35 activation fee; I already paid $35 when I activated my account a few weeks ago. I tried calling their customer service number to get these charges removed, but it only gives you menus of automated replies; there's no way to talk to a real person even if you select the "technical support" option. I ended up having to send in an email request; we'll see if anyone gets back to me.


brad, you may want to bring your bills/receipts to a shopping mall and get somebody at one of those Fido phone booth to have a look for you. They may not able to resolve the problems for you directly because they are there to sell you phones and plans but they can connect to the billling/customer service department faster than the average customers.

I tried this a few times before where I played dumb and asked the Telus booth rep to *resolve* my issues. Sometimes they could, sometimes they couldn't but they always tried to get somebody on the phone for you and you can work things out right there and then.

Btw, Fido allows you to get the bundle discount if you have other Rogers services so Fido is definitely the way to go for iPhone.


----------



## carverman

*Looking for the best deals on cell phone/internet/tv*

I'm currently with Bell (all 3 services) and fed up with their additional charges
and the fact that they ripped $159 from my CC back in September and to date
don't want to refund the overcharge, even though I've made several phone
calls to them and the last one "assured they would have a "check in the mail"
about 2 weeks ago. I'm a Nortel retiree on a declining pension due to the
bankruptcy and I can't afford to have my pension money tied up for 2 months
now with excuses.

Currently I'm paying 41.70 for cell phone, but last month because of the 1-888
numbers to Bell Skydish on the $159 overcharge that their bill indicated credit
then 'credit reversed" on the same bill..I was put on hold for 20 minutes while
the service person at the other end went to find out what to do and that call
along with some others to them pushed me over the 200 min a month contract
time..now they had the nerve to charge me .20c a minute for overtime usuage
and tell me "too bad..everyone charges the same".

I am so mad at Bell now for keeping my money, that I want to cancell all
services with them and find another service provider for all 3 services.
(I was with Rogers previously) and thinking of going back, but I'm
wondering if there are any better deals out there. Currently I'm around $113
a month for Basic TV, cell and portable internet.

Thanks
carverman


----------



## kcowan

I find the Digital Home Canada has the best forums for discussing alternatives. There has never been more choices than the present and so evaluating all your options can be daunting!


----------



## Jungle

I go through retentions with Rogers. You can also do the same with Bell. This is where you call and pretend you're canceling all your services and mention that you are going to the competitor for their deal at $____ dollars. Tell them you are giving 30 days notice so if they call your bluff, you are not canceling your services for nothing. 

As mentioned in this post, (which can be found in this thread ), I was able to get basic home phone, internet lite and VIP cable (tier 2 ) all in for $92.XX/ month. But this deal was offered through retentions, as I told them I was leaving. 

Here is a retention (or loyalty thread) on RFD discussing the current offers from Bell. I read briefly over it and there seems to be some good deals.

In regards to your posts, I would like to say that cell phones are big money wasters. They are very expensive. If you are able to, (don't know your situation but you said you're retired?), a basic home phone and pay-as-you-go cell phone for emergency use can save you a lot of money. I suggest the 7-11 speakout wireless for cell phone, it's the only company I know where you can buy a $25 phone card at $0.25 cents/minute and expires 365 days. Runs on Roger's network. I don't think you can get any cheaper than that phone. Also you could go OTA (over the air) for TV any pay nothing. Not sure what signals are like in Ottawa. That could save a lot of money. But I don't know if you want to make a change in your habits or use. 

Hope that helps.


----------



## carverman

Jungle said:


> I go through retentions with Rogers. You can also do the same with Bell. This is where you call and pretend you're canceling all your services and mention that you are going to the competitor for their deal at $____ dollars. Tell them you are giving 30 days notice so if they call your bluff, you are not canceling your services for nothing.
> 
> As mentioned in this post, (which can be found in this thread ), I was able to get basic home phone, internet lite and VIP cable (tier 2 ) all in for $92.XX/ month. But this deal was offered through retentions, as I told them I was leaving.
> 
> Here is a retention (or loyalty thread) on RFD discussing the current offers from Bell. I read briefly over it and there seems to be some good deals.
> 
> Please explain a bit more about retentions. When I call Bell and mention that I'm month to month and
> looking at another service provider for cell/internet..they tell me.."well this is our best deal"...
> like I should be so lucky to have them as a service provider.
> 
> In regards to your posts, I would like to say that cell phones are big money wasters. They are very expensive. If you are able to, (don't know your situation but you said you're retired?), a basic home phone and pay-as-you-go cell phone for emergency use can save you a lot of money. I suggest the 7-11 speakout wireless for cell phone, it's the only company I know where you can buy a $25 phone card at $0.25 cents/minute and expires 365 days. Runs on Roger's network. I don't think you can get any cheaper than that phone. Also you could go OTA (over the air) for TV any pay nothing. Not sure what signals are like in Ottawa. That could save a lot of money. But I don't know if you want to make a change in your habits or use.
> 
> Hope that helps.


Thanks for your reply. Because my pension is being reduced due to Nortel's
bankruptcy and underfunded pension fund, I have to find ways to start
saving on services starting in 2011. I like the convenience of having a cell
phone because I can take it with me and being disabled, I can call CAA
from my vehicle to change a tire or emergency tow, as well as being
accessible during the summer months at a trailer park. 

I have found that WIND.ca seems to be offering the best deal on cell/phone
internet for 6 months at least and still reasonable after the promotion
expires. I may go with them, as they dont charge system access fees ($8.95)
and $12 for voice mail like Bell. I can get by without voice mail as I have
dropped it now out of frustration on Bells charging me air time to call Bell TV
on a billing issue that has taken almost 2 months to straighten out.

The cheapest rate at Wind is $7.50 a month for cell phone (100 mins included)
within their home zones like Ottawa. If I have to make a call outside the
home zone,t hen it's 25c a minute (including LD). Bell won't give me a 
monthly plan unless I go prepaid with them. Wind will allow me to use
my existing cell number with them.


----------



## RQRFLR

*Telus*

Home Phone (call answer + 4c/min LD): $20
Highspeed Internet (no restrictions): $15
Basic Digital TV: $15
TOTAL: $50/mo

I just renegotiated my terms today for another year (for the past year I've paid $45/mo). NO CONTRACT. They had tried to jack things up to $80/mo, so I said I wanted to cancel everything but Internet... said I didn't need my home phone and I could get by on Netflix for $8/mo. They folded immediately, it was hilarious.


----------



## carverman

RQRFLR said:


> Home Phone (call answer + 4c/min LD): $20
> Highspeed Internet (no restrictions): $15
> Basic Digital TV: $15
> TOTAL: $50/mo
> 
> I just renegotiated my terms today for another year (for the past year I've paid $45/mo). NO CONTRACT. They had tried to jack things up to $80/mo, so I said I wanted to cancel everything but Internet... said I didn't need my home phone and I could get by on Netflix for $8/mo. They folded immediately, it was hilarious.


Who are "they"? I've cancelled my Bell internet and cell phone service
and went over to Wind. Saving over $40 a month with them currently,
but still stuck with Bell on the TV service (Basic TV and they still are
charging me $42.44 a month with taxes and that is going up $10 more
a month at the end of this month, when the "free H-D receiver promotion
is over....I want to get off Bell as soon as I can, but because I'm not
going into the second year of the contract, I get get out without paying
at least $150 in penalties..(3 months of service), so I have to stick it
out this year..but next year...I'm going to try Shaw..or whatever the
cheapest sat tv-cable rate is at the time. 

I've had a couple of of billing overcharge issues with Bell. so I'm never
going back to them again.


----------



## Ben

RQRFLR said:


> Home Phone (call answer + 4c/min LD): $20
> Highspeed Internet (no restrictions): $15
> Basic Digital TV: $15
> TOTAL: $50/mo
> 
> I just renegotiated my terms today for another year (for the past year I've paid $45/mo). NO CONTRACT. They had tried to jack things up to $80/mo, so I said I wanted to cancel everything but Internet... said I didn't need my home phone and I could get by on Netflix for $8/mo. They folded immediately, it was hilarious.


Who is the service provider?


----------



## carverman

canabiz said:


> Ma Bell has bought Virgin Mobile Canada (VMC).


Well let's hope that the "Big three" don't continue with the idea of buying out
their competition, and then force us to go back to system access charges.
$9.95 a month!

Looking for future deals/promotions on satellite or cable tv...so far haven't found any.
They all pretty much charge the same for the basic tv channel package.


----------



## ddkay

So you get an idea of what services area available here and what I use of them, I'll say that I'm currently living alone in downtown Toronto.

Best deals for me:
Cable television - cancelled it, everything you need is on the internet (some of my family disagrees though)
voip.ms Home Phone - 2 lines (1 flat-rate, 1 per minute) - $5.94

Why my nose is still bleeding:
Bell Fibe25 Internet - 25/7Mbps 75GB usage limit - averaging $130/month with overages (contract expired but I don't know where else to go, I use a lot of upload for online backups)
Robbers Wireless - "retentions plan": 200Mins, MY5+5, 1GB data - $63/month (contract expires September 2011, considering Mobilicity unlimited local $25 plan plus the $10 data addon)


----------



## m3s

ddkay said:


> Best deals for me:
> Cable television - cancelled it, everything you need is on the internet (some of my family disagrees though)
> voip.ms Home Phone - 2 lines (1 flat-rate, 1 per minute) - $5.94


+1

Voip.ms as well for me. Works great and I don't remember the last time I topped up the acct with a $20. It also works on my choice of mobile SIP program for cell phone and I love .wav format voicemail to my gmail

The internet is on demand and much better than watching TV commercials all day imo. Its potential may never materialize though as telcos know they make more profit with cable

I also pay $25/month for 3G data which I use to tether my laptop on the road


----------



## 424GME

*Rural Sask*

Reading all these posts really depresses me.

I am getting raped in rural Saskatchewan.


----------



## HaroldCrump

424GME said:


> Reading all these posts really depresses me.
> I am getting raped in rural Saskatchewan.


But I bet you are getting a sweet deal on your car insurance in SK.
_We_ are getting raped for insurance here in ONT.


----------



## canabiz

ddkay said:


> So you get an idea of what services area available here and what I use of them, I'll say that I'm currently living alone in downtown Toronto.
> 
> Best deals for me:
> *Cable television - cancelled it, everything you need is on the internet (some of my family disagrees though)*
> voip.ms Home Phone - 2 lines (1 flat-rate, 1 per minute) - $5.94
> 
> Why my nose is still bleeding:
> Bell Fibe25 Internet - 25/7Mbps 75GB usage limit - averaging $130/month with overages (contract expired but I don't know where else to go, I use a lot of upload for online backups)
> Robbers Wireless - "retentions plan": 200Mins, MY5+5, 1GB data - $63/month (contract expires September 2011, considering Mobilicity unlimited local $25 plan plus the $10 data addon)


With the recent CRTC ruling that ISP can now charge customers on a pay-per-use basis, are you folks at all concerned about the download limit and additional costs incurred when you go over said limit?

I am not a heavy Internet user or downloader or anything but I routinely reach my 60GB Rogers limit on any given month. I can't imagine how things will be for folks who now rely on the Internet to watch their favorite TV shows or other programming that they would watch on their TV in the past.

Your thoughts on this?


----------



## K-133

canabiz said:


> With the recent CRTC ruling that ISP can now charge customers on a pay-per-use basis, are you folks at all concerned about the download limit and additional costs incurred when you go over said limit?
> 
> I am not a heavy Internet user or downloader or anything but I routinely reach my 60GB Rogers limit on any given month. I can't imagine how things will be for folks who now rely on the Internet to watch their favorite TV shows or other programming that they would watch on their TV in the past.
> 
> Your thoughts on this?


I will not be going back to cable - I enjoy my (very legal) IPTV programming. I am slightly concerned of the increased costs however, it will still cost me less than Internet + Cable.

The CRTC and the Canadian stakeholders they represent are crooks. Given time, foreign investors will find their way in and 'make them hurt' - just like they are now in the cellphone industry.


----------



## bill.k

*Cable*

New guy here. I ditched my cable a couple of years ago and put up a digital t.v antenna. Cost me approx. 300 bucks for everything (including an old style rotor). Recieve 17 channels. For internet and phone I have Distributel which includes unlimited internet usage and phone is unlimited Ontario long distance. I need the unlimited internet as my three "kids" (all over 18) are on the web all day and night.


----------



## canabiz

Another vote for VoIP.ms as I recently switched to that after spending many years (and coins) with Primus then Rogers for home phone.

It took a bit of time to set it up (we have a rather unique config with VPN for work and my wife's VoIP phone/router to call South Korea free of charge) but it's all worth it.

I just called Rogers to cancel home phone and it feels great. I may switch to Teksavvy for Internet once my contract with Rogers is up. I still have basic cable with Rogers and may keep it around for my football games! Gotta have some entertainment, after all.


----------



## m3s

VoIP.ms is a life saver for me now. I have it on my desktop softphone and running on a smartphone app. I could get a device to plug in a POTS phone, but the iPhone has a significantly better mic/speaker than any phone. Seeing as I often can't answer a phone at work, I get .wav format voice mail in my email that I can listen to anywhere (for free) without those annoying voice mail systems

I have a local number in a few provinces, and without it I couldn't maintain Cdn cc accts (they verify your home number) nor could I call Cdn 1-800 numbers etc from Europe


----------



## Kim

I looked Voip up and I am pretty sure I am not able to get it as I live in a rural area and use satellite for internet access and if the clouds aren't just right I don't get service and even when I do it's mediocre - I am that far off the grid!

Anyway we have had satellite TV service with BELL for 9 or 10 yrs now. The equipment is wearing out as TV signal is sketchy when it's windy or rainy or snowy. Which this spring summer seems to be the normal weather so I decided to cancel the TV for the summer. Big leap as I have never been without television. I hope my children won't hold it against me when they get older.

So I phoned Bell to cancel and the very interesting sales lady explained that I would lose my long standing relationship with them if I cancelled altogether and that I was better off just to have the service put on *vacation*. 

I said "OK" to go along and she explained "That since the equipment was so old she could give me free, by signing 2 yr contract, ( those things annoy me errrr - making it *not* free ) an HD PVR. 

I said " You can see I have been a good customer for years and I have never had to sign a contract before I would rather not sign"

She replied" Oh no - I have no power over the contracts - they are controlled by the computers and in order to put these offers thorugh the computer must have a signed contract". 

To which I replied " Uh huh"??

She also said "That by agreeing to just go on vacation they would give me a new dish and cables to go with my HD PVR but I would have to have them installed now and not in the fall and that they would charge me $100 deposit and once I came back form "vacation" the $100 would be reimbursed to my account".

I asked her what it would cost to be on "vacation"? She said "$15 / mth but I'll cover it for you".....huh? OK? 

Then she says " I'll give you $20 off / month for 12 months, starting when your vacation is over". Okay dokey I'm game but what's the catch I'm thinking. 

Then she states that she can also from the magic hat give me a $40 credit for what I don't even know. By then I was feeling a bit apprehensive about all this credit / discount / new equipment she was talking about. 

And before I could ask to just call back - she says "Why don't you think about it for a day or two and just call back with what you would like to do". Was she reading my mind?

Any thoughts???? I am not signing a contract - no matter. I don't think I need an HD PVR - we are basic TV watchers. Are they trying to dupe me into something?

And please have leniency on my writing, Language Arts was never a good class for me.


----------



## I'm Howard

Show me the money.

I am paying $190 for Satellite, Internet, Land Line with Long Distance in North America.

We do not have Cell Phones nor do we have access to FIDO or similar.

North Central Ontario, two hours from TO.


----------



## Kim

Do you have cable to your home I'm Howard? We don't have cables this far out. So I think my only option is Bell or StarChoice??


----------



## Guigz

Kim, the only reason Bell is being "reasonable" is that they know they are screwing you left, front and center. I would tell them to go screw themselves if I were you.

I have had really bad experiences before with Bell which may be tainting my view of things. I would be very very very wary of signing a contract with their "promises" of reimbursing in the future.

Did you record the conversation? After you sign the contract, can you prove that they agreed to refund you? 

Maybe they will conveniently "lose" your file and you wont be able to prove that they agreed to refund you. I kid you not, this is what happened to me with my Internet connection!

In my opinion, once you sign the contract, they got you by the balls and they will smack you with all they got if you try to leave them.

----- edit------

As you can see, even after years (I cancelled every Bell service that I had a few years ago) this is still a touchy subject for me.


----------



## Kim

Yeah Guigz I feel the same way about this company - I am not going to sign any contracts - in this day and age there is enough competition it shouldn't be an issue! 

Still I live very far out. I just phoned Techsavvy to to see if I qualified for any of their services and they only have DSL out here in AB and when I gave them my phone # they explained I was too far out for them to reach! 

So I Think Telus has me cornered on the phone and internet and although I will check with local tech store I think my only choices on TV are Bell or Starchoice ( are they still going?) 

I always get suspicious when they start offering free this and that BUT still want your signature on a contract....the recording of phone conversations drives me nuts too. I always feel like starting off every converstaion with big business with the statement "This conversation is being recorded for quality control".


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## kcowan

Kim said:


> I think my only choices on TV are Bell or Starchoice ( are they still going?)


They are now called Shaw Direct. You can often negotiate good deals by letting them know you are considering Bell and Telus Optix. You will not sign a contract. We have one account and we get the service in West Vancouver and PV Mexico.


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