Sympatico's High Speed Internet
- Thread starter ice_dog
- Start date
high speed
Ice Dog:
In the 3 yrs I have sympatico I have only had one interuption when my modem died. I suggest you talk to Tech support.
416-310-surf
Ice Dog:
In the 3 yrs I have sympatico I have only had one interuption when my modem died. I suggest you talk to Tech support.
416-310-surf
Ice-
Having the same problems. I don't think I'm too far from the relay station (pretty close to downtown) but I have not been able to get any DSL connection through the modem. They keep telling me it's all the other things on the line, but they don't seem to hear me when I tell them that this is a line with only one jack that has a fax machine and sympatico on it.
Waited around for 5 hours (12-5) on Saturday for a service call that never happened (apparently he showed 5 minutes after I had to leave at 5:30). I've told them if they are not at my place at 9:00 this morning they can send someone to pick up the sympatico (and my cell phone for that matter) and I'll find some otherway of doing this. Although I'm not sure if Rogers is any better, Bell has just been terible for service.
Having the same problems. I don't think I'm too far from the relay station (pretty close to downtown) but I have not been able to get any DSL connection through the modem. They keep telling me it's all the other things on the line, but they don't seem to hear me when I tell them that this is a line with only one jack that has a fax machine and sympatico on it.
Waited around for 5 hours (12-5) on Saturday for a service call that never happened (apparently he showed 5 minutes after I had to leave at 5:30). I've told them if they are not at my place at 9:00 this morning they can send someone to pick up the sympatico (and my cell phone for that matter) and I'll find some otherway of doing this. Although I'm not sure if Rogers is any better, Bell has just been terible for service.
The technology behind Sympatico's high speed service can only run over analog phone lines for short distances (~1 mile). After that they are converted to digital and there is little or no chance of losing data.
The tricky part is that analog stretch known as the "golden mile". It all depends on the quality of the wires in your house/apartment and in your neighbourhood as well as every switch and panel along the way. If you are near the end of that golden mile then you are not going to get the same performance as someone who lives right at the analog/digital conversion point. Also, any device plugged into any phone jack sharing that line can cause noise on the line that can affect performance.
If you want to maximize your performance:
1) Reduce the length of the phone cable from the jack to the modem and avoid the use of extension cables
2) Remove any splitters on the line.
3) If you must have something else on the line then plug it into the modem's "out" jack rather than using a splitter.
4) Put one of Bell provided phone line filters on the line that the modem is on.
5) Tighten the wires in all your phone jacks and at the control panel where the phone lines enters your house.
The tricky part is that analog stretch known as the "golden mile". It all depends on the quality of the wires in your house/apartment and in your neighbourhood as well as every switch and panel along the way. If you are near the end of that golden mile then you are not going to get the same performance as someone who lives right at the analog/digital conversion point. Also, any device plugged into any phone jack sharing that line can cause noise on the line that can affect performance.
If you want to maximize your performance:
1) Reduce the length of the phone cable from the jack to the modem and avoid the use of extension cables
2) Remove any splitters on the line.
3) If you must have something else on the line then plug it into the modem's "out" jack rather than using a splitter.
4) Put one of Bell provided phone line filters on the line that the modem is on.
5) Tighten the wires in all your phone jacks and at the control panel where the phone lines enters your house.
I find if you call the 416 310 SURF number they're pretty decent at nailing problems. In my 4 years on Sympatico High Speed (and now Ultra High Speed) I've only been down twice. Once was when I upgraded my computer and needed to reconfig some stuff for the new OS. The second time happened for about 30 minutes last month when they had some sort of network problem in my area.
Other than that, it's been smooth sailing all along. One thing that does make a big difference with Sympatico though is the modem. I was using the Nortel modem for the longest time. Then I upgraded to the Alcatel modem. When I did that, my throughput jumped noticably.
Other than that, it's been smooth sailing all along. One thing that does make a big difference with Sympatico though is the modem. I was using the Nortel modem for the longest time. Then I upgraded to the Alcatel modem. When I did that, my throughput jumped noticably.
Re: rogers vs sympatico
Yes, Rogers is faster, but when things went wrong, I waited for hours to get through. And in their wisdom, the message on their phone says, "for faster service, check out our website for troubleshooting problems".
Excuse me? How the heck am I suppose to check out your website if I can get a connection to start with?!!
That's my feeling as well. Have tried both services and by far, Sympatico was consistently more stable.fridrikk said:I left Rogers for Sympatico and have never looked back. Rogers, in my opinion, was, and still is, way worse than Sympatico ever will be. I never got a single reponse til I pulled a few strings and even then service was horrible.
What I lost on line speed I have more than made up in terms of service reliability and yes, Sympatico does answer their emails!
Yes, Rogers is faster, but when things went wrong, I waited for hours to get through. And in their wisdom, the message on their phone says, "for faster service, check out our website for troubleshooting problems".
Excuse me? How the heck am I suppose to check out your website if I can get a connection to start with?!!
I am with Sympatico for 2 years and don't have too much problems.
They removed the download limit couple months ago.
I believe it is more to do with your area. Also, you might want to consider upgrading to window XP. It is because other windows users need to make the connection with the sympatico connection software which is crap.
They removed the download limit couple months ago.
I believe it is more to do with your area. Also, you might want to consider upgrading to window XP. It is because other windows users need to make the connection with the sympatico connection software which is crap.
ADSL and or what is commonly called DSL lines (digital suscriber line) is dependant on a threshold of 18000 feet from the digital equiptment used by bell. Since it is a multiplexed signal, along woth your POTS (plain ordinary tepephone servive) line, The condition od the copper to your Network interface is important.
What Bell has been doing is selling this service in tiers and in some instances they can only promise the lower speep based on the conditions. As for the DROPPING of connection you need to look to the quality of the jack, the patch cord and for goodness sake that 10 doallrs 10/100 card they provided.
You can do little yourself to check these conditions beyond the NIC card (10/100). Only Bell will provided free service checks so you need to live with them or consider the Cable Moden thing.
What Bell has been doing is selling this service in tiers and in some instances they can only promise the lower speep based on the conditions. As for the DROPPING of connection you need to look to the quality of the jack, the patch cord and for goodness sake that 10 doallrs 10/100 card they provided.
You can do little yourself to check these conditions beyond the NIC card (10/100). Only Bell will provided free service checks so you need to live with them or consider the Cable Moden thing.
Sympatico recently improved their high speed service from 1.0 meg to 1.5 meg for all of their customers, how ever if you have a Nortel modem you will not be able to take advantage of the speed increase.
If you want the increased speed you’ll have to phone customer service at 310-surf and tell them you want to replace your Nortel modem for one of the new Alcatel modem.
It should take about 3-5 business days for you to receive the new modem
If you want the increased speed you’ll have to phone customer service at 310-surf and tell them you want to replace your Nortel modem for one of the new Alcatel modem.
It should take about 3-5 business days for you to receive the new modem
Is Sympatico on a network?
I recently had to switch from Bell to a local high speed provider - Futureway Communications. Bell did not offer service in the condo that we moved into. I've been having a lot of problems with my high speed and have spent many hours talking to tech support - or should I say being talked to. They revealed that all subscribers to Futureway in my building are pooled on a network - much like Rogers. He tried t convince me that all high speed providers operate on a pool network basis - but my understanding was that only Rogers did and that Bell was not.
Who is right? In any event, I had enough of Futureway and will be switching to Rogers within the week.
I recently had to switch from Bell to a local high speed provider - Futureway Communications. Bell did not offer service in the condo that we moved into. I've been having a lot of problems with my high speed and have spent many hours talking to tech support - or should I say being talked to. They revealed that all subscribers to Futureway in my building are pooled on a network - much like Rogers. He tried t convince me that all high speed providers operate on a pool network basis - but my understanding was that only Rogers did and that Bell was not.
Who is right? In any event, I had enough of Futureway and will be switching to Rogers within the week.
