Plenty of choices for speedy Internet service
ELLEN ROSEMAN - The Toronto Star - Sunday October 12
For many people, choosing an Internet service provider boils down to this question: Do you want the telephone company or the cable TV company as your supplier?
Bell Canada has more than a million subscribers to its high-speed Sympatico Internet service in Ontario and Quebec. Rogers Cable has 750,000 high-speed Internet subscribers in Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland.
Both companies charge $44.95 a month for high-speed Internet, with discounts available if you bundle the Internet with television or telephone services.
But you have many more choices if you shop around using a Web site set up to compare Canadian Internet service providers, http://www.canadianisp.com.
Go to the site and search for companies offering high-speed Internet service in Toronto, sending data over the wires used for your telephone connection.
You'll get a choice of 64 providers, 58 of which have monthly rates that are lower than those offered by either Bell or Rogers.
(However, some companies have low introductory rates that last just a few months. You have to find out the regular rate and when it comes into
effect.)
Suppose you're interested in trying Primus Canada's high-speed Internet service, which has a $24.95 introductory rate for the first four months.
As well as technical information, you also get a rating of each service based on user reviews (broken down into categories such as e-mail access and technical support). Primus gets an overall rating of 3.667 out of 5, or "good."
Bob Carrick, an Internet consultant in Ottawa, set up the Canadianisp.com site with Marc Bissonnette in June, 2002.
`I wanted to tell customers that they did have a choice'
Bob Carrick, Ottawa Internet consultant and owner of Canadianisp.com Web site
At the time, Bell had started charging higher prices for those who used more bandwidth. Carrick launched a petition to protest the pricing plan, which was later rescinded.
"That was the start of the site, because I wanted to tell customers that they did have a choice," he says.
About 200 Internet service providers, representing three-quarters of the Canadian market, are listed. They submit and update their own information at no charge.
The Web site gets 700 to 900 people a day looking for Internet providers, or a total of 232,775 searches in the year to date.
Price isn't the only consideration for shoppers. Before signing up, Carrick emphasizes that you should call the company first and ask a number of questions:
Is technical support part of the normal service or an added cost? If you need help, you might not want to pay extra for it.
Is telephone support available via a local call, 800 number or long distance?
What hours is the technical support office open? Many ISPs do not offer 24-hour support, so find out when you can contact them.
Is there a refund for downtime or network outages? "Generally speaking, only commercial accounts have uptime guarantees," he says, "but that doesn't mean you should not expect a certain level of service. Find out exactly what that level will be."
Does the company offer toll-free dial-up numbers if you are on the road? If you travel, this may be important to you. Find out what cities this covers.
Before signing up, Carrick emphasizes that you should call the company first and ask a number of questions
Can multiple users use the same account at the same time? Most ISPs only allow one person to connect at one time with an account.
Does the company support home networks? If you have multiple computers, you can get them online at once by networking. But some ISPs don't support this.
Is a long-term contract required? What are the penalties for breaking it?
Are there limits or caps on bandwidth? If so, what are the charges for additional bandwidth?
Is space for Web pages included?
Does the company offer spam filtering or virus scanning? Does it filter online content for children?
"I'm often asked if these are fly-by-night companies and I say I don't know," Carrick says. "You have to call them yourself and ask how long they've been in business. Check to see how quickly they answer the phone and respond to your messages. Then, go with your gut."
High-speed Internet at $44.95 a month is not your only choice from the two giants (Rogers and Bell). Both now offer a $29.95 monthly service ? Rogers calls it Internet Lite and Bell calls it DSL Basic ? which they claim is up to twice as fast as dial-up service.
In the future, both companies say they plan to offer enhanced Internet content and greater access to help with computer networking.
Next week, we start a new series on student finances by looking at how much it costs to send a child to university or community college.
http://www.torontostar.com/NASApp/c...271&call_pageid=968350072197&col=969048863851
ELLEN ROSEMAN - The Toronto Star - Sunday October 12
For many people, choosing an Internet service provider boils down to this question: Do you want the telephone company or the cable TV company as your supplier?
Bell Canada has more than a million subscribers to its high-speed Sympatico Internet service in Ontario and Quebec. Rogers Cable has 750,000 high-speed Internet subscribers in Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland.
Both companies charge $44.95 a month for high-speed Internet, with discounts available if you bundle the Internet with television or telephone services.
But you have many more choices if you shop around using a Web site set up to compare Canadian Internet service providers, http://www.canadianisp.com.
Go to the site and search for companies offering high-speed Internet service in Toronto, sending data over the wires used for your telephone connection.
You'll get a choice of 64 providers, 58 of which have monthly rates that are lower than those offered by either Bell or Rogers.
(However, some companies have low introductory rates that last just a few months. You have to find out the regular rate and when it comes into
effect.)
Suppose you're interested in trying Primus Canada's high-speed Internet service, which has a $24.95 introductory rate for the first four months.
As well as technical information, you also get a rating of each service based on user reviews (broken down into categories such as e-mail access and technical support). Primus gets an overall rating of 3.667 out of 5, or "good."
Bob Carrick, an Internet consultant in Ottawa, set up the Canadianisp.com site with Marc Bissonnette in June, 2002.
`I wanted to tell customers that they did have a choice'
Bob Carrick, Ottawa Internet consultant and owner of Canadianisp.com Web site
At the time, Bell had started charging higher prices for those who used more bandwidth. Carrick launched a petition to protest the pricing plan, which was later rescinded.
"That was the start of the site, because I wanted to tell customers that they did have a choice," he says.
About 200 Internet service providers, representing three-quarters of the Canadian market, are listed. They submit and update their own information at no charge.
The Web site gets 700 to 900 people a day looking for Internet providers, or a total of 232,775 searches in the year to date.
Price isn't the only consideration for shoppers. Before signing up, Carrick emphasizes that you should call the company first and ask a number of questions:
Is technical support part of the normal service or an added cost? If you need help, you might not want to pay extra for it.
Is telephone support available via a local call, 800 number or long distance?
What hours is the technical support office open? Many ISPs do not offer 24-hour support, so find out when you can contact them.
Is there a refund for downtime or network outages? "Generally speaking, only commercial accounts have uptime guarantees," he says, "but that doesn't mean you should not expect a certain level of service. Find out exactly what that level will be."
Does the company offer toll-free dial-up numbers if you are on the road? If you travel, this may be important to you. Find out what cities this covers.
Before signing up, Carrick emphasizes that you should call the company first and ask a number of questions
Can multiple users use the same account at the same time? Most ISPs only allow one person to connect at one time with an account.
Does the company support home networks? If you have multiple computers, you can get them online at once by networking. But some ISPs don't support this.
Is a long-term contract required? What are the penalties for breaking it?
Are there limits or caps on bandwidth? If so, what are the charges for additional bandwidth?
Is space for Web pages included?
Does the company offer spam filtering or virus scanning? Does it filter online content for children?
"I'm often asked if these are fly-by-night companies and I say I don't know," Carrick says. "You have to call them yourself and ask how long they've been in business. Check to see how quickly they answer the phone and respond to your messages. Then, go with your gut."
High-speed Internet at $44.95 a month is not your only choice from the two giants (Rogers and Bell). Both now offer a $29.95 monthly service ? Rogers calls it Internet Lite and Bell calls it DSL Basic ? which they claim is up to twice as fast as dial-up service.
In the future, both companies say they plan to offer enhanced Internet content and greater access to help with computer networking.
Next week, we start a new series on student finances by looking at how much it costs to send a child to university or community college.
http://www.torontostar.com/NASApp/c...271&call_pageid=968350072197&col=969048863851