DSL Stability

[pmcd]

I had Bell Fibe TV at 50mb/s for a long time and it was very stable. Switched to Rogers cable and TV with speeds of 150 mb/s which is very stable but way overkill for my needs. The appeal of Vmedia for me is to get away from the receivers both Bell and Rogers use. They are kind of slow and clunky and in any case I can never find anything. Too many channels.

Is the DSL from Vmedia as stable as the one from Bell? I would be interested in the 50mb/s package.

If I were to try the system and rent everything then there would be these deposits ( $200 or so). If after a month I wanted to stay then could I buy the equipment? What about leaving after a month? I assume one would have to ship back everything or can they be dropped off? Who pays for the shipping back?

It's all very tricky because we actually watch very few channels. News, Food, TMN. That's pretty well it ( and Crave TV when we had Bell - that was good as is Shomi with Rogers). Commercials have really made most TV unappealing for me and I'd rather pay more to avoid them.

The bottom line is that VMedia's appeal for us is not price ( in fact your pricing is not lower). It is more of a freedom issue. But stable internet is a must. As stable as a Bell Fibe with Bell.

Finally, are the internet settings flexible with VMedia. Can I use whatever DNS servers I want or must everything come from VMedia?

[Chipster]

I have DSL 15/1 with VMedia and I am very satisfied with its stability. My DSL runs over the Bell infrastructure. I work from home on average 1-2 days/week.

I use OpenDNS Parental Controls and so yes, the service is DNS flexible.

[jdrom]

DSL has been generally stable for the past while now, they had some issues with their authentication servers and prior to that some congestion issues. I've had solid up time since April though, so now we're at 1.5 months and hopefully it continues. I still think VMedia's routing is a bit lacking compared to other providers, they don't have a lot of upstream providers. If you could live without TV, there's better Internet options out there.

If you are getting a good deal with Bell/Rogers, I'd personally stay with that. The TV quality is significantly better and more reliable. I've tried both VMedia and their major IPTV competitor, and both have left me dissatisfied by the picture quality and the fact that some days it simply won't work or the audio will be out of sync.

All that being said, you should try it for yourself. I don't think VMedia has any free trial option, so you'll have to absorb the installation fees and the cost of 1 month of service but I think the deposits are refundable.

I ran VMedia's TV alongside my Rogers for about 3 months before cancelling. I've kept their Internet service though since it remains one of the cheapest unlimited connections.

[pmcd]

Thank you for the DNS and TV quality information. I would imagine the new Vbox would provide a far better TV experience. I am very tempted to try Vmedia at the same time as keeping Rogers. Great idea. They do seem to have a one month free TV (premium) offer, but not Internet. It's just the very high installation and equipment startup costs that are stopping me from trying this. Basically sounds like a $200 test.

We aren't into sports so I suspect the picture quality would be fine. Not working or out of sync would not be good though. The price we pay Rogers is significantly lower than anything Vmedia offers, except for the lowest speeds and that includes premium movie channels. The thing is I really don't care for the cable PVR and receiver and I would prefer not seeing 500 channels. Having a media player as the box just seems neater. When we had Bell Fibe the reception was excellent but the boxes were similar to Rogers. Something from the 1980's.

Too bad both IPTV services are not quite there yet. One more reason for them to offer trial offers.

As far as Internet offerings go, the cost of unlimited connections is comparable to those from Rogers/Bell provided you have other services with them. In addition Rogers offers far faster speeds at similar pricing. Too bad you couldn't just subscribe to VMedia's TV.

[MattVMedia]

Hi pmcd,

We do offer a 15 Day 'Trial and Money Back' guarantee on our TV service and VBox, so you can try out the terrific VMedia experience in your own home. The 15 day trial period starts once your installation has been completed.

We would hate to see you go, but If you wish to cancel, you may do so within those trial 15 days. You will receive a full refund for TV service and VBox hardware once the VBox is returned in its original packaging.

Please note that the trial extends to TV service and the VBox, it does not include internet installation and service fees.

[jdrom]

Basically sounds like a $200 test.

Agreed, I actually bought the VBox from Canada Computer for $80 if I recall, and that included 3 months free of Premium Basic. I went with 50/10 VDSL, so $100 Bell installation and I bought the SmartRG modem at the time for another $100. I had read all the reviews and such at the time, but figured I'd form my own opinions and eat the $280 (+tax) "trial fee" since ultimately it could of escaped me from Rogers. Sadly, didn't live up to my expectations, but I still recommend people try it for themselves.

Their competitor has a 30-day free trial and I took advantage of that too, actually had both VMedia and that setup side-by-side along with Rogers. It was a good experiment for sure and gave me the best possible scenario to make a decision. One thing I can say for certain, the demo's found in Canada Computer stores never did the service justice. Not sure if VM has fixed that or not, this was a year ago.

I still check these forums to see if there's any word of improvements on the picture quality front since all I'd need to do is add the TV Service back to my account as I have active VMedia Internet still. Sadly, I only see people complaining about the TV being out of sync on a nearly daily basis. Hopefully they figure out how to prevent that from happening soon.

[pmcd]

Hi pmcd,

We do offer a 15 Day 'Trial and Money Back' guarantee on our TV service and VBox, so you can try out the terrific VMedia experience in your own home. The 15 day trial period starts once your installation has been completed.

We would hate to see you go, but If you wish to cancel, you may do so within those trial 15 days. You will receive a full refund for TV service and VBox hardware once the VBox is returned in its original packaging.

Please note that the trial extends to TV service and the VBox, it does not include internet installation and service fees.

Does one have to get this directly from you? So there would be shipping both ways should the service not be what we need? In addition, I assume one can't use our current internet provider (Rogers) but would have to order DSL? We currently have the 100 Mbps speed from Rogers which I notice you provide only with a ton of channels. The ideal would be as few TV channels as possible since we don't care for ads, TMN+ TMN Encore, Crave TV, Food, News. The idea of 100 channels is what we want to get away from!

It's so tempting but having two internet providers is a hard sell. Can the VBox be used as a media player without having VMedia?

Philip

[sradonic]

Does one have to get this directly from you? So there would be shipping both ways should the service not be what we need? In addition, I assume one can't use our current internet provider (Rogers) but would have to order DSL? We currently have the 100 Mbps speed from Rogers which I notice you provide only with a ton of channels. The ideal would be as few TV channels as possible since we don't care for ads, TMN+ TMN Encore, Crave TV, Food, News. The idea of 100 channels is what we want to get away from!

It's so tempting but having two internet providers is a hard sell. Can the VBox be used as a media player without having VMedia?

Philip

You have a few options : 1. you can have rogers and bell type connection at the same time or 2. Rogers and vMedia cable too at the same time [ i have a few clients set up that way because they are with rogers alarms, so they have 2 cable feeds in the home ]
as for equipment you can buy from Canada computers, they have a great return policy..
hope these tips help.

[pmcd]

@jdrom

Do you find the DSL reliable now? Similar to Bell? There is also that Dry Loop charge as well as the modem and installation ( typically waived by Bell and Rogers).

The problem is the internet costs from Rogers and Bell are now similar to third party costs assuming you have other products with them. It is a real mess as frankly I never watch TV that has ads and my wife only looks at the Food and News networks ( other than our TMN, Netflix, etc...). So we only want 10 channels at most with 8 of those being premium (no ads). The Rogers/Bell bundles give you these at a very low price ( not the advertised price) but they have these PVR's and receivers from the 1980's or earlier and of course they pad everything with hundreds of unwanted channels. Just terrible. Love the idea of a media player as the front end.

Sounds like you had quite the experiment going! It's almost worth the $300!

Philip

[jdrom]

The last time I was with Bell was easily 10 years ago with 3Mbps DSL, so I can't really comment. Like I said, I still find VMedia has some weird routing issues from time to time where sites are not accessible, but I'm able to get to them via my rCable connection from another TPIA provider. Speed and actual line stability has been fine though.

I was actually in the Canada Computers near Yonge/Eglinton this week and decided to look at the VMedia setup there, still really poor picture quality with tons of compression/pixellation. I'm guessing they must still have these stores running on 6Mbps lines.

Judging by your usage, I would suggest you just get a Chromecast. It'll do Netflix, Crave/Shomi, and Hulu. I suspect TMN will be supported shortly as well. Stick with whatever Rogers package you have since it sounds like your getting a good deal already. Actually, I'd recommend the XBOX One as well since you can plug your Rogers STB into it and the guide is much more fluid (my current setup). Likewise, it has TMN GO and Netflix apps as well, I'd imagine Shomi/Crave will come to it eventually too.

[pmcd]

Judging by your usage, I would suggest you just get a Chromecast. It'll do Netflix, Crave/Shomi, and Hulu. I suspect TMN will be supported shortly as well. Stick with whatever Rogers package you have since it sounds like your getting a good deal already. Actually, I'd recommend the XBOX One as well since you can plug your Rogers STB into it and the guide is much more fluid (my current setup). Likewise, it has TMN GO and Netflix apps as well, I'd imagine Shomi/Crave will come to it eventually too.

Well I have media players coming out of my ears Had a rooted ChromeCast which was neat but I prefer a real remote rather than using a smart device.

I get TMN Go on a Samsung Blu-Ray player and Shome on an Apple TV so I rarely turn on the cable receiver. I was unaware that the Xbox One would provide a guide in Canada. I would far prefer it to the Rogers' box. Can you use Kinnect? I don't suppose the XBox can replace the Rogers receiver?

The video situation at home is out of control with a zillion media players, Rogers, etc ... with none doing it all. My Fire TV comes close though. I was hoping that the VBox could replace most of the media players and double as the very occasional TV station access. I can't seem to just buy a VBox without getting the TV service.

We are getting a very good deal with Rogers though it has not been painless. It's not really about cost at this point but getting a logical video solution. VMedia seems so appealing, at least in principle.

Have to look into the XBox though am not a gamer.

Finally, is your VBox able to view Netflix on a TV via HDMI? Thought there were DRM issues and boxes had to be certified ( same with Hulu, Amazon, etc ...)?

[pmcd]

You have a few options : 1. you can have rogers and bell type connection at the same time or 2. Rogers and vMedia cable too at the same time [ i have a few clients set up that way because they are with rogers alarms, so they have 2 cable feeds in the home ]
as for equipment you can buy from Canada computers, they have a great return policy..
hope these tips help.

Thank you. The two cable internet approach would be feasible and far cheaper, at least for testing. Will head over and see if I can get a new VBox at Canada Computers. It's been a while since I have bought there. I don't recall them having a flexible return policy for open boxes.

[jdrom]

I was unaware that the Xbox One would provide a guide in Canada. I would far prefer it to the Rogers' box. Can you use Kinnect? I don't suppose the XBox can replace the Rogers receiver?

Yes, with the XB1 it has full support for Rogers. I think VMedia is in there too now actually. It's able to send IR commands to the STB without trouble and you can use Kinect to voice control (http://support.xbox.com/en-CA/xbox-o...-tv-with-voice). It has a "trending" shows on the main dashboard too so you know whats on. Sadly, it cannot be the STB in itself, that only works if you use OTA (which is now supported via a $99 USB TV Tuner). If you use OTA, it also becomes a PVR.

The VBox is nothing more than an Android Media Player that you can readily pickup, I believe it's a derivative of the MyGica ATV 1200. I surely wouldn't recommend it for your usage though, the storage and performance is pretty limited. Netflix only runs in SD on it too. (comments based on dual-core VBox, I have not used/seen their quad-core one)

The NVIDIA Shield TV that just came out today may be worth checking out. It's running Android TV. At least it has some power behind it so you should be able to do everything on it.