DSL Upgrade Service

[regan]

I am on DSL 6. Looking to upgrade to 15/1. I had Bell 25/10 previously installed when I moved to this location in July. My line maxes out at about 13/1 says the installer from bell.

I decided to downgrade my DSL service and also switch to vmedia. Love the service so far tv and Internet. They sent an installer from bell for some reason to do this switch. Did not enter my house, but we chatted at the door and he said that if I wanted to upgrade my line speed later it could easily be done remotely by their call center by clicking a button. I said , can we do it now? He said no that I would have to update my account first. I said ok and decided that I would try the 6MB first. (I know this to be possible for Providers like vmedia as I also had this adjusted by my office ISP AKN directly without intervention from Bell)

Love that you got TLC up and running as promised. I am looking forward to the new PVR feature, and ios guide. To get ready for pvr I decided I need to upgrade my DSL to max 13/1 setting so I tried to upgrade a couple of weeks ago. I called the call center and they said I would have to pay $100 to upgrade my service. I said $100 to click a button seems a bit steep. I was informed that I had no choice and no recourse, I asked that the operator check into it to confirm, and she said she would contact me after the weekend. Still waiting several weeks later.

I understand having to pay if you had to "roll a truck", but to click a button $100 seems like robbery. I just want to pay you more money for more of your fine service. But I can't reconcile this charge with the facts on the ground.

I would like to pay you more money for an upgraded service, all that is required is s click of a button. Please let me know how I can do it without feeling sick.

[iptvnoob]

I also feel the same way. I was planning on upgrading from 25/10 to 50/10 but the $100 fee I noticed when going through with the change soured the deal. Charging a $100 to pay the company more money in the long term is just illogical and has actively prevented (at least two) customers from upgrading their service.

If it is "out of Vmedia's hands" (as I suspect that's the explanation will be) there should be some discussion of maybe some sort of rebate or other incentive to bring the cost down to something reasonable.

[Hacksaw2085]

I'm in the same boat. I have 25/2 and want 30/5 but I'd have to get a new modem (the one I have is a year old ), maybe even an install fee for all I know.

[regan]

It is Vmedia's requirements that are changing to require higher speeds to use all of Vmedia's TV services. When I signed up, there was no mention that the upcoming PVR feature would require higher speeds, all I heard about was a "cloud based PVR" which would not require additional speed. My requirements are not changing. My service is being made obsolete by the upcoming PVR system which requires 3MB for TV, 3MB for PVR, which means based on the 5MB speedtest I just did, I'm about 1MB short.

I don't need a new modem. I don't need a truck to come to my house. I just want to continue to benefit from all of Vmedia's wonderful features like everyone else, and I am being forced to pay the excessive charge to be able to do so. It seems that nobody can be bothered to click a button unless I agree to the terms of this $100 button click extortion. I left Bell to get away from this type of extortion, I thought I was moving to the good guys...


Note:
If there is a logical reason for a tech to come to my house, I'd gladly fork over the money to pay the technician. But I know for a fact, it I am a button click away from higher speeds. About 8 months ago, I had a tech from AKN (Advance Knowledge Networks) flipping my line speeds over the phone to find the best speed for our office. This line speed management should be IN vmedia's hands. If VMedia's agreement with Bell does not allow this, and indeed specifies that you pay $100 to change line speeds as seems to be the claim, then there is something terribly wrong with your agreement with Bell. This should be addressed immediately as Vmedia is looking as bad as Bell, as a result of Bell's crappy policies and service being applied to Vmedia's customers through excessive charges.

[alexb]

It seems that nobody can be bothered to click a button unless I agree to the terms of this $100 button click extortion. I left Bell to get away from this type of extortion, I thought I was moving to the good guys...

My guess is that it's Bell charging VMedia this fee and they're just passing it on to you. Changing speeds is only $10 on cable.

[coolspot]

I signed up for the 6mbps plan, if I wanted to goto 10mbps or 15mbps, I assume I have to pay $100.00?!

Would a workaround to be to cancel my vMedia account and setup net new? That would cheaper no?

[alexb]

I signed up for the 6mbps plan, if I wanted to goto 10mbps or 15mbps, I assume I have to pay $100.00?!

Would a workaround to be to cancel my vMedia account and setup net new? That would cheaper no?

You'd probably have to pay the installation fee again.

[Sarum]

I signed up for the 6mbps plan, if I wanted to goto 10mbps or 15mbps, I assume I have to pay $100.00?!

Would a workaround to be to cancel my vMedia account and setup net new? That would cheaper no?

from Vmedia FAQ on the main page:
Cable - Can I change my speed plan after I have signed up?
Yes, you can change your cable plan to a higher or lower speed plan that is available. There is a one time $10.00 fee to make a change to your cable plan.

[alexb]

from Vmedia FAQ on the main page:
Cable - Can I change my speed plan after I have signed up?
Yes, you can change your cable plan to a higher or lower speed plan that is available. There is a one time $10.00 fee to make a change to your cable plan.

That's for cable, not DSL.

[coolspot]

Sarum, we're talking about the insane DSL upgrade fee. So if I cancel, I can just resign up under the new speed plan right?

[jdrom]

Speaking from a technology perspective, 6, 10 and 15 Mbps DSL are all offered via ADSL and shouldn't require anything but a click of a button, so moving between those speeds should effectively be free. Likewise, 25 and 50 Mbps are offered via VDSL, so switching between these should also be free.

The only place I can understand a charge is upgrading from ADSL to VDSL, that does potentially require a technician to visit.

From what I gather, VMedia has the ability to change any customer's line profile, which is all these upgrades would entail. Not sure why Bell would need to be involved, unless it's some weird term in the contracts. That being said, all the other IISPs only charge $50 for installation, not $100. So there's definitely something different with the VMedia and Bell agreement.

[Sarum]

the big fees come when u go from DSL 15 to DSL 25 and above...
as far as i know it's $10 to go from 6mb to 15mb.. or from 25 mb up to max 50mb connection

the reason for this is because 6-15mb is ADSL,, 25 and up is VDSL
not only do u need a VDSL modem above 15mb but a Bell sevice guy needs to come out and switch it on and test the line.. VDSL travels along different pipes that are normally turned off.. so they will need to come out and turn them on.. (he could probably do it at the hub, but i think they need to test it 100% at your home.

-btw sagcom and smartrg and new vmedia branded 5262 modem are switchable.. but not older vmedia branded 5363 ASDL modem

having the bell guy come out is where they charge $100... all of it goes to bell.. nothing to vmedia
and speaking from past experience bell will charge u whenever they can.

i had a 15mb service from vmedia put in a couple months ago from a 5mb Bell connection.. no need for Bell guy to come out... but they scheduled an appointment anyways and charged me $100 service fee.. then they didnt show up at the appointment... because they didnt need to.. i went from an ADSL 5mb to an ADSL 15mb.. so there was nothing to test.. yet i still got charged and waited around for 4 hours!!

[Sarum]

maybe their web pos is not setup for upgrading... did you try calling their sales dept and talk to live person?
i wouldn't think there would be a charge if bell doesn't need to come out

[leshka]

Speaking from a technology perspective, 6, 10 and 15 Mbps DSL are all offered via ADSL and shouldn't require anything but a click of a button, so moving between those speeds should effectively be free. Likewise, 25 and 50 Mbps are offered via VDSL, so switching between these should also be free.

The only place I can understand a charge is upgrading from ADSL to VDSL, that does potentially require a technician to visit.

From what I gather, VMedia has the ability to change any customer's line profile, which is all these upgrades would entail. Not sure why Bell would need to be involved, unless it's some weird term in the contracts. That being said, all the other IISPs only charge $50 for installation, not $100. So there's definitely something different with the VMedia and Bell agreement.

DSL6 is a different setup then FTTN. If you have FTTN 10 and want to switch to FTTN 15 the change speed fee is $25. However when it comes to replacing ADSL (Bell calls it old technology) with FTTN they charge us a $90+ change fee.

[leshka]

But the fee would be same.