Stick with cable or move to fibre?

[Cerapus]

I'm current on the VMedia cable 45 Mbps plan. Most of the time speed is great, but it can bog down a bit in the evening. I received the offer to switch to fibre. If I switch, my downstream speed drops to 25 Mbps, but would it be more consistent? We have 5 heavy internet users in our house and I'm concerned about bandwidth.

[gflogic]

I think 25 Mbps is a little on the low side with 5 'heavy' users in the household. I guess if you could define 'heavy' that would help (do they watch Netflix, videos on YouTube, do they download large files often, will the TV service be on?)

[Cerapus]

There's generally 2 users that will be streaming video at any given time. The rest is general web surfing, some file downloads, etc. If the cable was consistently coming through at 25 Mbps it wouldn't be an issue, but at times we drop to 10-12 Mbps. Then things start to slow down.

[Cerapus]

Bump... Maybe someone from VMedia could weigh in on this?

[agovereau]

I'd stick with cable personally, they are offering a 100mb service in May

[MattVMedia]

Hi Cerapus,

If one of your primary concerns is fluctuation of speed during peak hours, it is true that DSL can be less susceptible to this behavior. If you find that 25mbps does the job and is adequate for your needs, in terms of performance, it may beneficial to consider moving to FTTN.

[Cerapus]

If I switched to fibre and it doesn't work out, what are the implications of switching back?

[MattVMedia]

Hi,

Your current cable service would be disconnected, so switching back would be considered a new installation and there would be an installation fee involved. Also, you would need to take an in-market cable plan, as your current plan is grandfathered and no longer available. This is definitely something to be considered if you are thinking about making the switch.

If you go through our forums, I think you will find that our DSL service is generally very stable, and problems which do arise are typically resolved quickly and effectively.

[Cerapus]

Will you be coming out with something faster than 25 Mbps?

[MattVMedia]

We offer FTTN speeds up to 50mbps. When sending out our Fibre promotion, we pre-screened addresses to determine what was available to each of our customers at their specific residence. If you seeing 25mbps as the highest plan available when using the link in the email, that would be the maximum supported FTTN speed in your area presently.

If you made the switch to 25mbps, and your area happens to be upgraded 50mbps becomes available in the future, you would be able to switch and use the same modem, as well as continue not incurring dry loop fees.

[Cerapus]

Got it. Thanks very much for the info.

[Sicaire]

We offer FTTN speeds up to 50mbps. When sending out our Fibre promotion, we pre-screened addresses to determine what was available to each of our customers at their specific residence. If you seeing 25mbps as the highest plan available when using the link in the email, that would be the maximum supported FTTN speed in your area presently.

If you made the switch to 25mbps, and your area happens to be upgraded 50mbps becomes available in the future, you would be able to switch and use the same modem, as well as continue not incurring dry loop fees.

Hi Matt, I got the offer email of FTTN 25, but when I check with the Bell website for availability I can apparently get FTTN 50. Or does Vmedia has a different arrangement by areas?
If I send you my account details via PM can you double check?
Also concerning the modem swap can I get the VDSL modem first and wait until the setup is done for Fiber in order to return the Cable Modem?
This will allow for continuity of service. If not this is not ideal.
Cheers,

[MattVMedia]

Hi,

Yes, please PM me your account number and let us look into this for you and confirm service availability. You will by default have a slight overlap in cable and DSL Service if you take this offer, so you are not required to send your modem back immediately.

[BladeZX]

I am on FTTN 50 with VMedia since October 2014 and for the most part the speeds are very good. I mostly get 50 down and 10 up. During primetime I stays in the 40s down. It is always 10 up

Will there be anything higher than FTTN 50 offered in the future?

[MattVMedia]

Hi,

Currently, we are only able to offer FTTN speeds up to 50mbps. This is part of the current CRTC wholesale framework. Should this change in the future and additional speeds are made available, we will certainly offer them.