problems sending e-mails/uploading

[Denise]

i would point my hairy monkey finger at telus (they suck to begin with even in metro areas....or so i'm told)....their local ISP demarc might have some issues (the local hub for all their connectivity...basically wherever that phone number you dial to dial up actually sits at)....of course getting an ISP to admit fault is like pulling the teeth from a bobcat while it's awake...

I did a bit more research today and called a few neighbours. EVERYONE is having the same problem. Everyone figured it was their own computer and may or may not have told Telus. Since I have the same problem in town, I will try to find a few more people who may be having the problem and get them to phone in as well.

Monkey, what is an ISP demarc? The phone number we call is local - probably centered in Valleyview itself (no grey boxes at the end of my 7 1/2 mile long "street"). If everyone who calls 524- etc. to dial in is having the problem, maybe I can get the town to contact Telus and get some action that way. I know the mayor, so may have some pull that way. (There are some advantages to living in rural land.) Any other ideas on what may help to get a big company to listen to a lowly customer?

I have checked into the satellite option. Stupidly expensive and what I find frustrating is that it shouldn't be needed. What I had prior to May 12th was slow but good enough for all that I do. So what has changed and why won't they listen????? Grump, grump, grump.

[ClayB]

I hope you can get someone to listen to you Denise. That would be so frustrating.

We have satalite internet and has a lot of advantages over dial up. It is faster most of the time. It doesn't tie up your phone line. You can have more than one computer online (a big advantage if you have a few teenagers that need to be on MSN all the time)

It also has disadvantages. You are limited to the amount of bandwidth (uploading and downloading) you are allowed and they dont tell you that, you need to read the small print! You can buy higher packages and need to have biggest one if you have kids that download a lot of music or a movie or two. Once you reach your max bandwidth for the month, they slow you down to a speed that makes dial up seem fast. They also threaten to shut you off completly. We pay around $90 a month and it's really stupid as you said. You also loose connection when it rains or snows and sometimes for no reason at all. Seems like with technology these days, there should be better options for us that live in the boonies.

[TwinOaks]

Reading the problems listed, and having a little bit of knowlege about phone services, my thought is that Telus' PBX is severely outdated. Or, basically, the place where all the calls go is so old and technologically old that it's doing the best it can. I'd almost bet money that collectively, local bandwidth has greatly increased. Your area isn't alone, as a guy named Jerry(friend of a friend of a family member) is going all over the country and tearing out the old systems and installing new ones for the various phone companies. In some places, the removed equipment was a few decades old and still the vital comm link for entire communities. Sounds like your area, yes? Have you seen the commercial for a computer server system where there's a great big room and just one little computer, and a guy says "hey, where'd all the servers go!?!?" , the next guy says, "They're all right here." (pointing to a new and itty bitty box on the floor) It's kinda like that.

Of course, there is another option that noone has mentioned- Check and see if there's a competitor to Telus that is looking to expand. You'd probably need your political contacts to actually make those calls, but it's worth a shot.

Good luck in your endeavors.

Edited July 4, 2008 by TwinOaks

[Beaverslayer]

Denise, I'd say until Shaw Cable installs service way up north, you are going to never get rid of this problem. Telus has grown so much over the last few years, they have most likely just put places like you on the far back burner for any upgrades. Here in Calgary it takes 7 to 10 days just to get someone from Telus to come out and fix the phone lines, so we told them to cancel everything, and now it's all Shaw Cable.

I have a good friend that lives in Wembly, and he's just given up with the internet all together, as it was just way to much time waiting for a page to load, said you could almost fire up the barbie, cook steak to medium well, and still have to wait a minute or two before it loaded.

As mentioned, until Shaw gets there, I would think your best bet is the satelite, but can the expense be justified by the needs?

Good luck.

Ken

[Denise]

The frustrating thing is that it WAS working much better before May 12th, but something happened to make it not work, at least as far as uploading goes. I did some more checking last night. If I dial the local number, I can't send a 100kb e-mail. If I dial in using the (long distance to me) number from Grande Prairie (largest closest city of 100,000 or so), I can't send a 100kb e-mail. But if I dial in using the Edmonton access number - 800 kb email sent, no problem. And yes, this is repeatable. So the whole Peace Country or maybe even all of the north of Alberta is like this. The cities, which have access to high speed, work well. The areas that have no options and are a monopoly for Telus, don't. Says a lot about the company. If ANYBODY else ever gets out here, Telus will not have a customer left as I have yet to meet one person with something good to say about them. I now have the federal Telecommunications complaint line number, and I can easily find out the number for a few newspapers or TV stations. Maybe that would get some action???

[dsenette]

I now have the federal Telecommunications complaint line number, and I can easily find out the number for a few newspapers or TV stations. Maybe that would get some action???

make sure you upload any recordings of the TV coverage....i'm pretty sure if you got a big enough stink stirred up you could get some pretty good coverage..

also if there are any town hall meetings coming up (or if you can get the mayor to call one) you might be able to get the whole town in an uproar...most of them are probably in the same place you started and assume that they're the only ones having the issue....if anyone's taken their PCs in for repair and paid for it because of this issue they could probably even sue telus...

[Denise]

In case anyone is interested, I did call the Edmonton Global TV Troubleshooter line, and found out that they actually have an employee designated as the Telus complaint person!! since they get so many complaints about Telus. That was about 3 weeks ago. One week ago I heard back from Global and today I heard back from Telus themselves, via the Global contact - a "higher level technical support" person who I have repeatedly been told does not exist.

Actually, the problem was resolved about 1 1/2 weeks ago by this very person. It was a router in Grande Prairie (which does the whole of the Peace Country, anything north and west of Edmonton, about 1/4 of the land mass of Alberta) which was causing the problem. He told me he figured it out by dealing with a lady in northern Alberta. Later in the conversation he revealed that the way she had reached him was by knowing someone high up in the company and it came down from there. So... there you have it. The only way to get past the front line people in Telus is to know an executive in the company or go to the media. Or contact me. I have his direct phone number and e-mail address and he told me if any neighbours were pulling out their hair trying to deal with Telus, to give them the number and address. So if anyone has problems with dial up service from Telus - let me know and I will GLADLY pass on the information on how to connect to a human being in Canada.

[Beaverslayer]

Denise, this little statement makes Canada sound a bit backwoods, if ya know what I mean...."let me know and I will GLADLY pass on the information on how to connect to a human being in Canada." ...LOL

I actually have the contact information for a couple of Extra Terestrials if they are needed.

Glad to hear you got the problem fixed.

Ken

[Denise]

I should modify it to say "to a human being at Telus in Canada". I think they are harder to find and definitely harder to pin down than an Extra Terestrial...