Internet

[a_customer]

For the past week or two, Internet connection and speed have been terrible in the eveinings (Ottawa). What causes that and should I give Rogers a call? I could explain it away by saying it is a busy time of day, but it is only a recent phenomenon.

[RogersReggie]

Hi a_customer,

Welcome to the forums.

Your best option is to contact Rogers technical support at 1-888-764-3771 or via Live Chat at http://echat.rogers.com. This way we can do some troubleshooting to determine if there is congestion in your area during those peak times, or if there are other factors in play. If you have a router connected to your computer, you may want to ensure that it is properly secured. It is possible that if it is unsecured, other users in your vicinity could connect to your unsecured network and "piggyback" off of your internet signal, which would cause a drop-off in your speed.

Let us know how it goes.

[a_customer]

Thanks RogersReggie. I have a dumb question. I am renting an SMS modem from Rogers and had them turn off the wireless capability since I am using an Apple product for that. How can I tell if that is secure. For wireless from my router I am using WPA2 security. Is that what you were referring to; the wireless service?

[Salinger]

There is clearly a major issue here.

I noticed my connection slowed to the point where it was just frustrating to visit even simple websites.  For the past week I've been doing several speed tests each night and tracking my results.

I am in the downtown core of Toronto and have Extreme Plus (25Mbps) service.  I have tried the speed tests both wirelessly and with the modem connected directly via cable.  There is no appreciable difference between the two.

The maximum download speed I have been able to attain over the past week, is 8.79Mbps.  The slowest is tonight, Sunday Nov 21, where my test revealed I am at 0.89Mpbs with upload at 0.08Mpbs.  For all intents and purposes, with speeds like that, I have no internet connection at all.

My average of all tests for the week is:  5.19Mbps download, 0.6429Mbps upload.  This, from a service where I'm paying for 25/1 down/up.  I've heard anecdotal evidence both here and through conversation with friends, that everyone is experiencing similar problems.  How can Rogers not acknowledge there is a problem?

In order to participate in the live chat noted, you have to download an ".exe" file which kind of leaves me, as a Mac user, out in the cold.

[RogersAndrew]

Hi Salinger,

In order to investigate your issue further, I would recommend contacting our support agents by phone at 1-888-764-3771 if you only have access to a Mac computer. They'll be able to check your connection strength among other troubleshooting tests and escalate a ticket for you. As you're not able to contact Live Chat Support to obtain the various test results, the agent will likely direct you to perform them and email the data to internetsupport@rci.rogers.com, quoting the ticket number.

[a_customer]

It turns out my SMC rental modem had a problem. I swapped it at a Rogers store and set it up with help from a very pleasant tech support person on the phone. Problem solved. Evening speed is good and consistant now.

[a_customer]

I spoke too soon. I am still having the same bandwidth problem even after swapping the modem. This evening I essentially don't have Internet. Download speeds of 0.86 Mb/s and upload 0.12 Mb/s. I can't do much of anything, certainly not Netflix.

I will have to try my old Motorola Surfboard instead of this rental SMC. I never had problems while using the Motorola.

[a_customer]

Spent almost an hour on the phone with Rogers. They are saying that since I switched from my Motorola modem to a Rogers rental SMC, I can't go back to my old modem with Extreme service. That doesn't make sense since I used my Motorola with Extreme for years. They say I would have to go to Express service. Anyway they couldn't activate my Motorola until I call back tomorrow. That is an hour I'll never get back. And I am in for a tussle with them to get Extreme back with my Motorola modem.

[Chris]

They moved up extreme speeds and moved up express to the old extreme speeds.

The reason you can't use the motorola on extreme is because it is not docsis 3. they only support the smc on docsis 3.

To use the morotola you would be on express because that is the current tier that your modem supports.

It's not that they are switching you to a lower service than you had before they just renamed the service you had before and took the old name for a new service that needs the new modem.

[a_customer]

Yes, you are right. I see that the Express has 10 Mbps, which is what I was getting.