OT: Internet connectivity

[James Knott]

Jamon Camisso wrote:
> James Knott wrote:
>> Michael MacLeod wrote:
>>> On 5/9/07, James Knott <james.knott-bJEeYj9oJeDQT0dZR+AlfA at public.gmane.org> wrote:
>>>> JM wrote:
>>>> > hi,
>>>> >
>>>> >    i need suggestion on a good ISP provider in north america
>>>> (reliable and has
>>>> > a god track record)..
>>>>
>>>> That's asking a bit much, isn't it?  ;-)
>>>>
>>>> My ISP is Rogers and I find the service is very good.  It's far better
>>>> than Sympatico.
>>>
>>> I have Sympatico and find it much more reliable than Rogers. Go
>>> figure. Basically, there's no way to know which will be better until
>>> you try them both. Service levels vary so much depending on the area
>>> and infrastructure in your area. Basically, while Rogers may be
>>> terrific in one neighborhood, Sympatico is better in another.
>>>
>>> Also, service levels change as money gets spent on the infrastructure.
>>> Where I live used to have TERRIBLE service from Sympatico. Rogers was
>>> certainly superior. Then Bell ripped out the 30 or 40 year old phone
>>> lines and laid down fiber all over the area. Now I'm with Bell and
>>> it's fantastic. Haven't had a problem for months. Much faster now too.
>>> -- 
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>> As part of my work, I occasionally have to deal with Sympatico, on
>> behalf of business customers.  It is always a problem, as the help
>> desk won't help you, if you can't click on the "Start" button. 
>> Problem is, the equipment that's connected to the ADSL line, is not a
>> desktop computer.  It has no keyboard, monitor or start button.  If
>> you try to escalate to someone who might know what they're talking
>> about, they'll hang up on you.  At least with Rogers, you can
>> escalate and since the help desk is not in India, you have a good
>> chance of communicating.  We don't have the same problems, when the
>> customer is on Primus or Telus.
>
> Teksavvy have helped me with Linux though officially it is
> unsupported. Router or no router too. Price is right for a 5meg
> profile ($29.95), and wherever you can get Sympatico in southern
> Ontario, I think you can get Teksavvy.

The equipment I'm working with isn't running Linux, at least not that
I'm aware of.  It's communications and networking equipment, often
communicating over an ADSL line.  With one customer, the help(?) desk
was so bad that even the customer tried talking to them and she was all
but pulling her hair out in frustration.  We finally got the issue
resolved, when the customer put pressure on the salesman to get the
problem fixed.  Even at that, it took over a month, and 4 site visits by
me, before the system was up.  All of the delay was due to Sympatico
problems.  As I mentioned earlier, I work with a variety of
communications companies, as part of my work and none are anywhere near
as bad as Sympatico.  Even Bell employees I've worked with don't care
much for dealing with Sympatico.
One thing Sympatico has to learn, is that you don't get good help desk,
by outsourcing to India.



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