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Canadian ISPs furious about Bell Canada's traffic throttling

arstechnica.com — Canadian DSL resellers learned the hard way this week that Bell Canada now runs traffic-shaping hardware even on the lines it resells.

Who dugg this? Made popular Mar 26, 2008

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  • MAGZine, on 04/22/2008, -2/+194Bell throttling its RESELLERS traffic? This is getting way far out of bounds. If more studios keep putting television shows on BT (like Canada's Next Great Prime Minister), I'm sure the industry will fix itself; and, if it doesn't, some serious action will need to be taken. Rogers, Shaw and Bell are collectively being cheap and shutting out sharing.

    Common' guys, share the sharing. :)
  • Scipio, on 03/26/2008, -3/+127I HATE Bell.....Can I say it again? I HATE Bell
  • 10001110101, on 03/26/2008, -3/+90IMO, Bell is one of the worst companies in Canada. NOTHING is there fault: ***** satellite service? You've got unshielded cables! Internet keeps crashing? It's a problem with YOUR router! (even if you're not running one.) Want to cancel that calling feature on your land line? Customer service will conveniently forget about you asking them to cancel it until you call back a few more times...
    Needless to say, I've only done business with Bell when it's absolutely necessary (ie: when I first moved to Sault Ste. Marie, digital home phone was not available)
  • Ganpachi, on 03/26/2008, -1/+86Yeah, that is what I love about public owned broadcasting.

    CBC puts all shows on BT
    CBC is part of the government
    Bell throttles BT traffic
    therefore, Bell is actively fighting against government distribution of public resources.

    I can't imagine this would fly if it was with any other resource like roads or water.
  • TritonX, on 03/26/2008, -3/+87Hopefully we have the CRTC that is supposed to protect the citizens from media corporation abuses....., ah *****, we are screwed.
  • ryth, on 03/26/2008, -1/+73Too bad that the CRTC has washed their hands of even accepting complaints re: ISPs. See here: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/RapidsCCM/warning.asp?page=i ...

    Apparently the market is now "competitive" so they don't have to monitor it, even though 3 companies control the entire real estate that was built with Canadian taxpayer's money when they were running state-sanctioned monopolies. As demne says -- this is seriously anti-competitive when Bell is a telco and they are throttling Skype. Not to mention that one of the selling points of a lot of these smaller ISPs is that they don't throttle, by Bell imposing their throttling on the re-sellers they are essentially undermining their "competitions" service.
  • demne, on 03/26/2008, -1/+63Time to fight back. Its not just torrents, Skype will/is affected by this. Somewhat anticompetitive from a telco.
  • blinki, on 03/26/2008, -0/+55I've just sent emails to my local MP, minister of heritage and their secretary of state and the competition bureau of canada.
    I'll be sending paper copies of each by mail this evening. Let's speak up and be heard people!!!!!!
  • corlito, on 03/26/2008, -1/+48This needs to be corrected, and now is the time we need to unite. If we cannot win this little battle, which is actually huge, it will truly mean how meaningless we as consumers are in this brand new information age. This age belongs to us. We provide the content that goes on the lines, through uploading or mere interaction such as bloging. We ARE the internet. As such, we set the rules, and WE control the content. If it wasn't for our content, these pipes/internet would mean nothing. Do not punish us or assimilate us into your world of dollars and bottom lines while at the same time profiting from the fruits of our interaction. If everyone is collaborating on this internet, as many of us are, then maybe Bell should pay us so that other people can download our content (weather it is music i created, or a blog someone wrote, or the art my cousins created or wrote) and they (Bell) can make a commission as middle man transport (which they already do).

    I am setting the tone here, the next thing we need to do before we even think about making another comment is links to pages and outlets of Canadian government to send the emails. We need this information on the next post. You reading this, get started, lets fix this NOW literally.
  • mizike, on 03/26/2008, -1/+46teksavvy customer here (they're awesome btw, $30 / month, no contract, no download limits)....I was just about to call them and ask them what's been up with their generally amazing service....now it turns out that I don't have to as Bell has still found a way to ***** me even though i'm no longer their customer....thanks Bell!!!, I was beginning to forget how much I hate you...
  • SilverBlade2k, on 03/26/2008, -0/+43Throttle the speeds? the ISP's should then "Throttle" their payments to Bell..
  • freezerburn666, on 03/26/2008, -0/+37bell and rogers both throttling p2p traffic now... and it seems theres no escaping it. both companies can suck my d*ck
  • nekochan, on 03/26/2008, -0/+27"it's your router" is just what tech support guys tell you when they wish they weren't at work.
  • inactive, on 03/26/2008, -3/+28Oh yes. That won't justify their case for bandwidth throttling at all.
    That's like burning down a building to protest new arson laws.
  • lengau, on 03/26/2008, -0/+21It's not okay to throttle anyone's traffic. However, these resellers are probably paying by the byte (more likely per GB, but that's irrelevant), so this could well violate their contracts.
    Additionally, wouldn't this be anticompetitive?
  • jlhoben, on 03/26/2008, -1/+22Another blow to the free internet. Thanks corporate pigs.
  • yabos, on 03/26/2008, -0/+21Heavy users are leaving bell for their competitors who offer reasonable bandwidth caps and no throttleing so bell can't compete. Instead they just make the resellers as ***** as they are.
  • vancanucksfan, on 03/26/2008, -0/+21bell is such a piece of ***** company. they offered unlimited EVDO for aircards for $75 a month. A month or two after people started using their service, bell started cancelling their accounts for excessive usage,which was a little over a GIG of data. The best part, the customer had to spend over $300 for the aircard and now it is a useless doorstop. I mean, 1gig these days is nothing. Maybe if it was 1998 1 gig would be fine, BUT its ***** 2008.
  • SilverRocket, on 03/26/2008, -0/+20Though the CRTC does not handle Internet complaints, the CCTS does:
    http://www.ccts-cprst.ca/ots/cf/ExistingComplaintF ...
  • martinherrera, on 03/26/2008, -6/+26they should stage a bandwidth revolt and organize a day where every user on their network tries to download tons of files all at the same time. Watch that network grind to a halt
  • blinki, on 03/26/2008, -0/+19Seriously, this is incredibly important for our CULTURE as a whole, nobody seems to be understanding the gravity of the situation. They're trying to stop the shift in media from their control to open control and they want their piece of the pie.
  • BinaryFragger, on 03/26/2008, -0/+17Typical responses from Bell support if your DSL stops working:

    * your computer has a virus
    * your router is faulty
    * your phone line cable is too long

    They'll say anything to put the blame on your equipment instead of looking into the problem on their end.
    When my DSL was connecting at 1.5Mbps instead of 3.0Mbps, I had to call several times before they finally checked out my profile (turns out my profile was incorrectly setup). I kept getting "1.5 is still pretty fast" or "how do you know you're not getting our advertised speed" as replies.
  • Wardvark, on 03/26/2008, -0/+17The CRTC decided not to regulate the internet in the late 90s. There is no protection from this, but call your MPs anyway. And ditch Bell and Rogers and tell them why you are leaving. It is too bad in Canada we really have no competition.

    I switched from Bell to Teksavvy at the beginning of the year, the service is about the same only cheaper and the bandwidth cap is more than three times the amount bell offers.
  • SilverRocket, on 03/26/2008, -0/+17Bell has just starting throttling PSP/Playstation net traffic as well. Thanks Bell!!
  • swean, on 03/26/2008, -0/+16Bell Canada sucks balls. I have had THE ***** service by them.
  • inactive, on 03/26/2008, -0/+16dont worry they will sign you up for a free trial of their lame gaming service without asking, then start charging you $20 a month.
  • ethamajin, on 03/26/2008, -0/+15so so true, Bell will not take responsability for anything and their customer service is awful. The only way to get anything at all out of them is to send an email with some hefty language.
  • spect3r, on 03/26/2008, -0/+15I hate the BELL Beavers EVEN MORE!! !RAAAAAAAAAWRRR
  • spix44, on 03/26/2008, -0/+15I'm in Toronto and use BT for large business data transfers. If this is the future direction for Canada's so-called "tech-city", I would not be surprised to see jobs go the same way the manufacturing sector in this province has... For some this is bigger than downloading pre'd movies at the highest speed possible. We are dependent on unfettered access to the bandwidth we paid for and are actually counting on further growth in the bandwidth capacity in the future. Bottom line is, if you cant get that here, businesses will go somewhere they can.
  • radarbeam, on 03/26/2008, -0/+14Too true mate. It took me over 1 hour to just cancel my caller ID with Bell last year. What a nightmare.
  • Topher06, on 03/26/2008, -0/+14This pisses me off because I specifically subscribed to a 3rd party ISP to get around Roger's and Bell's bandwidth throttling, which they not only perform on P2P services but I found on lot of other content and services. They are just trying to reduce usage so they can get away with not putting money into infrastructure to improve the quality of service while demand for faster broadband increases.
    The communications companies in Canada seriously need to be bitch slapped, but the impotent CRTC which is supposed to govern Canadian communications and protect consumers of these services is pretty much just living in the pockets of big business. If Rogers or Bell say jump, the CRTC asks how high! The Tier 1 communications companies in Canada are raping consumers by charging excessively for lower quality services (compared to other countries) and they are bullying smaller 3rd party companies that were supposedly allowed to compete with the Tier 1 companies into forcing them to charge the same amount of money and provide the same lousy quality of service. I am sure if Canadian ISP's go to the CRTC with complaints about Bell, they CRTC will just turn a deaf ear while stuffing their pockets with money from Bell.
  • macbookpromat, on 03/26/2008, -0/+14They are telco Nazis, what's not to hate.
  • Giorgioman, on 03/26/2008, -1/+15I know this is not constructive but: I really hate bell and I'm switching as soon as I move. Stupid ***** company - their customer service is the most frustrating thing ever!
  • JettaMan, on 03/26/2008, -0/+13The CRTC should be abolished. It does nothing except slow down progress and limit consumer choice.
  • BoneheadFarker, on 03/26/2008, -1/+14Bell owns the DSL network, Rogers owns the cable network. You will never get away from Bell or Rogers. I'm on Execulink, which leases the DSL lines off Bell, and I've noticed lately that I'm getting throttled. Until the CBC starts getting majorly involved, you will be at the mercy of Bell and Rogers...
  • robfis, on 03/26/2008, -0/+13http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/3598/belladqq0. ...

    the ironing is delicious.
  • CrazedLeper, on 03/26/2008, -1/+13Bell Canada: "Terror. Now shut up--unless you're a terrorist..."
  • smacksaw, on 03/26/2008, -0/+11When you vote Liberal or NDP in the next election, you can contact the Conservative in your riding and tell them why they lost your vote. I'd make net neutrality a no-compromise issue. I bet you the Greens would support it.
  • julienbh, on 03/26/2008, -1/+11Bell y donnent un service pourri, y chargent plus cher qu'ailleurs pis y disent toujours que c'est pas leur faute.
    BOYCOTT !
    That was for all the Quebecers (including me) that are tired of them and switched to another company. Thanks.
  • justice7, on 03/26/2008, -3/+13I hate the cell companies in canada even more

    Bell, Rogers and Telus .. are all garbage money hungry bottom feeding douche bag companies. They nickel and dime everyone to death and make you call in to correct false charges on a monthly basis.

    Virgin Mobile is FAR superior to those three, but its still a cellphone company with hands in your pocket HANDS IN YOUR POCKET.
  • Chebsi, on 03/26/2008, -0/+10Yeah, Bell seems to be throttling torrents at certain times of day... It's really annoying. They also have horrible service, it takes multiple calls to cancel a feature. I've called/chatted with service dozens of times about that $10 security suite crap with logs of previous calls... at least now they're paying it all back. They also never informed me at all about a new bandwidth limit when I signed up for unlimited bandwidth years ago and ended up with a huge bill one month.

    PLUS their website is a horrible mess and very difficult to navigate through to the important stuff.
  • Emachine, on 03/26/2008, -0/+10Isn't it pretty ***** obvious that bandwidth usage is only increasing with time?
    ISPs should be upgrading their networks to meet the new demands, not throttling traffic.
  • smacksaw, on 03/26/2008, -1/+11I ogree.
  • Waiting2awake, on 03/26/2008, -0/+10Lets do it anyway eh? It may work, but you are probably right it might not. But even if it doesn't they will know why we start showing up AT their local offices won't they?

    And if that doesn't work? What does that really tell us?
  • TritonX, on 03/26/2008, -5/+14Internet access should be nationalized and offered free of charge to everyone. It has now became an essential part of our lifes and future communications will rely entirely on it. I know the government rarely does thing the right way, but I see no other way for the future of our network, because sooner or later BCE and co. will try to charge us and control every bits that goes through the pipes.
  • Chaoticfist, on 03/26/2008, -3/+12I like it. Anyone want to seriously set a date? I am thinking maybe next Saterday 2 pm (top hours) Bring the network to grinding crash. Of course we would need someone like torrent freak to spread the plan of attack to other people.
  • AndreiOttawa, on 03/26/2008, -0/+9For a few months a couple years back I was "fortunate" to work for Bell Sympatico tech support. "Unlimited" bandwidth was the main selling point for their top plans as other ISPs (Rogers, in particular) have a cap with extra charges if you exceed it. Now it's becoming clear why Bell can easily afford it while competition can't.

    By the way, article mentions that Rogers throttles torrent traffic. I've been using Rogers for a couple of years and had problems at the beginning. Once I switched to uTorrent (was using Azureus initially) and started changing ports on a regular basis, problem went away. I'm getting good speeds now (up-to 700KB/s).
  • bbhh, on 03/26/2008, -0/+9I've actually dealt with all the major telecom companies just as a consumer and here are my rankings based on pure annoyance from their customer service. starting with the worst: telus, bell, rogers, shaw. there is a huge gap between the annoyance of bell and rogers, shaw is almost fine- they SEEM like they actually want you to get good service.
  • goodkidyo, on 03/26/2008, -0/+9A few years back i cancelled my cellphone with them.. Just recently cancelled home phone as well. Honestly..
    For such a giant in their field, Hell Canada doesn't seem to want to do much for their clients. It always felt as though all of their customer service was to avoid issues not create a friendly communicative environment. You call.. you put in your phone number, wait about 10 minutes then someone asks for your phone number again.. They apply additions to packages without asking. Obviously they need to make money but it's just ridiculous.. endless crap.
    When i say this.. I say it to the few suits who set the pace in the company, not it's employees who work hard and know that they work for a ***** bunch of clunts: You suck
  • Verdanic, on 03/26/2008, -0/+9Bell does not have support. They offer a support manual, and as a bonus, will have somebody on the other side of the planet read it to you in a manner that forces you to ask them to repeat every sentence three times.

    Bell does not have support, that's all there is to it. I have never in my life encountered a worse ***** system.
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