Update: If you are not sure about going to the other side, check out Rogers new offering, the Nextbox 3.0. You can find out more about this product by reading my latest blog here.
If you live in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal or Quebec City and subscribe to other Bell Services you are probably getting inundated with publicity for Fibe TV. For those of you not familiar with it, Fibe TV is an IP (Internet Protocol) based television service that is delivered through your telephone line. Bell started testing the service back in 2006 in limited areas, but it was not until 2010 that it started offering the service to its customers in Montreal and Toronto and more recently to Ottawa and Quebec City. As is the case with most television distribution systems these days, it features a whole home PVR whereby all receivers in a household are connected together in a local network. The network usually consists of a PVR and a series of receivers, the PVR can record programs which can then be accessed by any of the receivers on the network. Other features of the service include:
- Fibe TV On Demand, a video on demand service with thousands of movies and TV shows
- a 14 day electronic program guide which is searchable by title, genre, cast member or keyword
- Picture in picture browsing and channel surfing
- On screen access to apps such as Facebook, Twitter and the Weather Network
- 3D ready
Fibe TV is only available in limited areas of the cities mentioned above; you can find out if it is available in your area from the Bell web site. It should be mentioned that you will have to subscribe to Bell Internet to be eligible to get Fibe TV.
The channels provided are much the same as offered by their satellite service and similiar to cable providers such as Rogers or Videotron. You can view the channel lineups for the different packages at the following site.
As a further incentive to its customers to sign on to this next generation TV service, Bell announced in January that unlimited internet is available as an add-on for $10 per month for its customers who bundle Bell TV, Bell Internet and either Bell Home Phone or Bell Mobility.
I am presently a Rogers subscriber and have not been that happy with its so called “Next Box” technology therefore I am seriously considering switching to the Bell TV service. In addition I presently use Bell as my internet service provider and recently upgraded to Fibe Internet which came with the modem for Fibe TV . Before I do take the plunge I wanted to examine the price deals that are being offered by Bell. I recently received a flyer in the mail that I will examine in more detail in this blog just in case others out there are in a similiar situation.
Installation
This includes installation of a modem, a Whole Home PVR and up to 2 HD receivers. They are assuming that coaxial cables are close to your televisions and therefore the installers will not go into your attic to string cables or fish them through walls to reach your television. According to the Bell website, the installation will take 4-6 hours to complete. The price of the install will vary depending on the length of the contract that you sign. If you do not sign a contract, the price is $249.95, while if you sign a 1 or 2 year contract the price is $149.95 or $49.95 respectively. Rogers charges $50 for the Whole Home installation if you are an existing Digital TV subscriber; as far as I know they do not require you to sign a contract.
Hardware
The heart of the service is the Fibe Internet Connection Hub which is a Sagecom F@st 2864 modem/router. This device allows you to access the Bell Fibe Internet and TV services. This is the gateway device that I have, you can read a review of it in a previous post. The PVR and receivers are manufactured by Motorola, these are models VIP1232 and VP1200. The PVR itself has an internal hard disk that is capable of playing back and managing recordings from any other receiver in your home including pausing and rewinding live TV. It can access and record as many as four programs at the same time, for example you can choose to watch four different live programs on four different TVs at the same time, up to 2 of these can be HD programs. Depending on the model that you get, the PVR can store from 100 to 150 hours of your favourite movies and TV shows. As well, the PVR can support up to 5 additional receivers. There is no rental fee for the HD PVR to new Bell TV subscribers with continued subscription to three Bell services although the device remains the property of Bell. If you are not a subscriber to three services you can purchase or rent the PVR, rental is $15 per month while an outright purchase is $499. The rental fee for each HD receiver is $7 per month while the purchase price is $199. If you do rent the device and keep it for at least 60 months you can keep it for no charge for as long as you are a Bell TV customer.
As a comparison Rogers “Next Box” Whole Home technology utilizes a PVR manufactured by Cisco and offers similiar capabilities. The HD PVR can be purchased for $499 or rented for $25.02 per month or $15.15 per month with an option to purchase it for $1 after 36 months. The simple HD receiver is $319 and can be rented for $13.08 per month or for $7.58 per month with the same purchase option after 36 months.
Apps on you TV
Another unique feature of the Fibe TV service is that you can get access to a number of apps directly on your television. Apps available now include: Galaxie, The Weather Network, Facebook, Twitter, Fibe TV Support, TumbleBooks TV and TSN Extra. You should note that any usage of these apps goes toward your monthly internet usage.
Wrap Up
Hopefully this article will give you a bit more information about Fibe TV and whether it would be good for you. I am still on the fence and have not yet decided to move from Rogers cable.
Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about this next generation TV service and whether you plan on switching.
Source: Wikipedia
gadgetscanada 
I had Bell Expressvu for tv and BellSympaticofor high speed internet i was very happy with both except for losing thes satellite signal in a storm . With storms increasing due to climate change, Bell suggested we switch to Fibe.
Fibe HD service gives a wonderful picture when it is not breaking up into little pixels or freezing for a few seconds and then jumping in again with the action and dialogue at without picking up where it froze. It is like constant little skips.
The PVR is free because it is so inferior to Expressvu that nooone would buy it. You have no history of previously searched shows so if you are waiting forsomething like Dexter to start in June as advertised, in order to record it you have to type the name in each time. You can erase one recording in a series or all recordings inthe series but you cannot erase 2 or 3 or 12. Series of the same name may or may not be grouped. The episode number does not show in the tv guide and yet it is the only identifier in the On Demand display making itdifficult to tell if you have missed a show.
Recording options only work for series with episode numbers or names. Something like Nancy Grace cannot be limited to one recording. This is a new glitch since they tried to fix something else but a technician has seen it for himself and that was monrths ago and it is still not fixed. Also, I can record a single episode manually, but not a series.
Tonight I have had no reception for hours. One told me it was my modem. He disconnected me. They are not allowed to call customers back at night when the call is dropped so you will have to sit through about fifteen minutes of ads every time your call is dropped.
Too tired to continue. Will just add that Fibe internet is very slow and gets dropped a lot.
I have had the worst experience ever with Bell Fibe. I switched from Rogers to Bell on December 5th, 2016 and till today; Saturday December 17th, I have been on the phone at least eight times with various technicians, I have had three home visits by Bell Technicians and maybe have had three days of internet. Also they messed up my landline and Itonly started working a few days ago.
The last technician (today) advised that I am too far from the box for the “Good Fibe ” service that I am paying for and that is why the service shuts down. He also advised that he can not fix the problem and other technicians have to attend and Bell will contact me in 48 hours. There goes another weekend without service.
thinking of switching to fibe from rogers have your problems been fixed. fibe is cheaper but my rogers service never fails
Stay away from bell fibe. Lots of interruptions and their techs are incompetent.
Company fail! The past year I’ve had 5 different Technicians come to my house to fix the issue. My internet drops (and has to be rebooted) 3 times daily which means the TV is down as well.
I still haven’t figured out why these technicians haven’t fixed the problem and their representative are unable to tell me as well.
I’ve spent hours on the phone with this company. The worst part was when I spoke with Loyalty department. I ask why I should be paying my bills for a faulty service? They then proceeded to ask me why I don’t just cancel my service. Which is pretty ironic when speaking with the”loyalty” department.
Tech failed, service failed, product failed, customer service (especially the loyalty department) major fail! I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT!
Use to be a Bell customer for TV,internet and home phone…Not anymore…the customer service with this company is none existent. And you have to pay attention to your bills…overcharged so many times,have to argue with customer service…No F***** way…I now have Shawdirect for tv and Cogeco for internet. They are not perfect but don’t have to argue about my bill every month…Good riddance….
We currently have rogers basic cable (now basic digital) and slowly all of the good channels that we used to watch are vanishing without notice, yet our bill stays the same. Today was the last straw with kids channels disappearing. Time to leave rogers behind as everything else is already with bell. I just wish there was a fibe package in between good and better as the price difference is too high – essentially all we need above good is some kids channels like treehouse, family and teletoon. Doubling our current price seems silly.
You could also try Netflix, for $7.99 per month there is a lot of content suitable for children of all ages.
You can drop by any Rogers location and pick up a free analog/digital converter that will restore the channels. Whenever a channel switches to digital only, it drops off of your basic cable. I picked one up for my mother and another for my mother-in-law. They work great.
the analog/digital converter is not Free…you will see about a $4.00 increase in your rogers bill. The box itself is free as in they don’t charge you anything upfront. After….check you bill! Nothing is ever free!
I am not sure if we are talking about the same thing, but I picked up a free “digital adapter” from Rogers so my mother could continue watching her basic package. The picture and sound quality has been awful so she ditched the adapter and continued watching the old way. However with more and more channels dropping out, very unhappily she had to go back to the adapter. One of the major issues is her inability to watch the lobby security camera on channel 59. Rogers told us that the camera transmits in analogue so the only way around it is to get a different type of digital box from Rogers at a low monthly fee of $5.49. And that would still not give her HD quality. Needless to say, I am researching Bell Fibe to see if they are a better option.
this is a late reply but I just changed from Rogers to Bell Fibe because of the same nonsense Paying more for Less. I am very happy with teh Fibe tv
These are all good and useful thoughts and comments. I’m currently completely on Rogers, but I’m really interested in Fibe. I’m dubious about quality coming down a couple of old fashioned paired copper wires. Surely that can’t be as good as a big old fat coaxial cable, can it? Who knows? Not the Fibe salesman who called, that’s for sure.
Yes, I have seen a couple of people comment that the picture quality is not as a good on Fibe compared to cable. The difference would not likely be noticeable to most people.
The quality is horrible not even 720 as far as I’m concerned switched back to satellite and 3rd party internet
The quality is every bit as good as Rogers – perhaps better. I have been very impressed since switching a few weeks ago. The whole-home PVR is great – great interface and very responsive. I am glad I switched.
the wireless speed ranges from 15 Mbps download (rarely) usually in the 2-3 range ,plenty of drop outs .Bell tries to blame my computer ,but I can get 8+ Mbps from my blackberry hotspot & higher speeds in any coffee shop ,restaurant ,Bell always seems to blame your equipment first ,I had to take my TV in to the shop to find out it was ok $100.00 before they came out & replaced the high def box .
Fibe is not fibre optics in most places. Fiber optics stop usually a km or more away. Fibe is a lie.
Besides the PVR being superb picture quality, it is a total headache. We require D A I L Y. resets and often more. Right now it’s dead as a door nail. And service is clumsy. Videotrainings service was always prime!! I will go back soon.
First thing first: The trap with Fibe is there are two types of install: FTTH (Fiber-to-the-home) and FTTN (Fiber to the nod). Problem is the assholes will sell you 15/10 internet (15 Mbps download speed, 10 Mbps upload speed). The latter is usually not important for about 99% of people. However, if you are concerned about it, you should first inquire if they will connect you FTTH or FTTN, as *this* will make a huge difference.
My sector, a year ago, was offered 50/50 internet speed !… Now a year after, Bell has moved its offer to new residences/sectors, so this is no longer available – nor is the FTTH in my sector. Plus I am being told that if I join, I must expect a price increase on November 1st (and the bullet explanation states that this is to ”improve the infrastructures and services”. But reality is: once your area has been scanned and sold to major players, nobody will invest again in that area. So you are condemned to whatever technology they have decided. They will sell you Internet 15/10 that will work at 15/1 and… charge you the big price (and increases) so that you will finance your neibourhood a few blocks further in new condos/houses who will be the ones to benefit from ”infrastructure improvements and better services”.
This is exactely the reason for which I am going to kick them out and go with Videotron.
Hell, they can’t even maintain the FTTN once they get you hooked. We went 10 months with no problems, other than 15/1.5 instead of the 15/10 we are supposed to have. Suddenly everything went down, internet and TV. It took them 6 weeks to figure out the trunk line they installed/repaired 11 months earlier had not been grounded properly. They changed my modem 12 friggin times, because every tech that came knew that was the problem. Two weeks after that, they got it sorted and we got TV and internet back. For two weeks… Now Fibe TV is down again. Two days and they have told me three shelf servers went down at central. So 8 weeks nothing, credit only for tv, not no internet. And now no tv again. Foolish me, i’ve been paying my bills.
I am moving all my services to other providers.
Considering Fibe?? Run, don’t walk, to anyone else. You will experience less stress if you hit yourself in the head with a bat, empty your wallet on the street and set fire to your cash. I will NEVER recommend Bell to anyone, ever.
My husband wanted to switch because of the whole home PVR.. I was against it from the get go. While I was at work, he set it up and now we have bell fibe.. For 2 years. I HATE IT!!! We lose signal at least once a day and it may only go out for a few minutes.. It still goes out. The on demand station offeres very few free options and what they do offer, nobody would ever want to watch!!! And, it isn’t even cheaper than Rogers.. Again, I hate it and can’t wait for my 2 year contract to expire… Only 20 more months 😦
just had Fibe installed, for about a week 6 boxes 15/10 pvr internet etc, cannot say enough about how fast and crisp the service and reception is. Bell has once again regained the CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE OF THE WORLD. What is everyone waiting for. switch now and see what you have not been seeing with other providers. Bravo Bell
You wait. Trouble WILL come soon. Then enjoy their lame service.
They simply don’t have a grip on the technology.
i wish it worked for us, been 5 months and about 7 techs now and still drops. PVR? cannot even get a full hockey game without constant freezes, Constant reboots. I don’t think Bell fibe is ready to be on the market yet, I want my bell satellite dish back
have had fibe for a year or so. despite claims about speed and efficiency it is the least dependable internet service i’ve ever had. the modem has been replaced twice but nothing has improved. moving a few feet away from the modem cuts the connection entirely. many many times i have gotten so angry with bell fibe i wanted to toss the modem out the window. if you are shopping for TV/internet service look anywhere, everywhere else first. fibe sucks..BIGTIME. for the dollar it is THE WORST SERVICE WE’VE EVER HAD. As for TV the PVR settings are so lame we wonder how such dumb shortsighted thinking and frustratingly stupid engineering ever made it to market .
George, thanks for posting review abut Bell Fibe. I too am thinking of switching from Videotron to Bell. On paper, Fibe looks great and worth the switch. However, I recall having switched to Bell previously (lasted about a week). What I got was not what I expected…extra charges, nickel and dime, shows I thought were included were extra..etc. Working with Bell to clear things up was a nightmare! At the end of it all (a week later) I pulled the plug and had the entire new install removed. I swore I would NEVER EVER go back. From the reviews like yours that I have read, it appears Bell has not changed…. suck ’em in with what appears to be great technology and fail to deliver and fail to fix. I fear being sucked in again. Anything that takes a professional 4 to 6 hours to set up promises to be a nightmare to fix if something goes wrong. Been there, done that, got the T shirt. No thanks.
On paper bell fibe sounds great. Their speed monitoring is a brilliant idea to deliver their high-paying customers premium speeds is fantastic.
In practice anytime round 3pm (kids get out of school) or 5pm(adults leave work) it slows down to speeds I can only describe as dial-up-like. I’m talking right down to 2mbps download, 0.5mbps upload and at 500+ms I do NOT advise going with bell.
You must be still connected to a Rogers network, cause only Rogers shares its bandwidth with the neighbourhood….not Bell
True, but only ROGERS shares its bandwidth and I had ROGERS it is like that every day between 3:00PM and 5:00PM. So I switched to Bell yesterday and they will install it in two days! I am excited I cancelled Cable as well, I hope this goes well!:)😶😃
Okay youfolks Esp #smotsucg must realize that ya some time stuff happens ive had Fibe for nearly a year and the internet is beyond great. getting 80/30 for my speed , cause ya i was willing to not be cheap and buy the better product. The tv service only problem it had was a slight error from one wireless reciever to the main PVR and all i had to do was unplug the two recivers and presto all good. If your only willing to get the 5/1 guess what you will get what you pay for. If your willing to get the BMW of internet and TV thats what you will get. IF all your willing to spend is for a small lemon then dont complain when stuff happens
Hi all. I’m a former Bell Fibe TV subscriber and think that it is very competitive and a great service overall, if it’s the right fit for you. It certainly has its flaws and benefits.
My dilemma while subscribed to Fibe TV was having TV tied directly to a DSL home gateway router that does not perform well, especially in a condo setting downtown Toronto with a lot of competing wireless signals. Like the guide on most TV boxes, any ISP’s modem/ router “Gateways” have horrendous interfaces. So, not only could I not get the full 50/10 internet speeds, I had to deal with Bell’s under-performing Sagemcom modem/ wireless router to setup my home network correctly (basic port forwarding, ip reservations, etc) and have spotty/ dropped exceptionally bad wireless reception for all of my devices in my small apartment no less. The only way around this is to use your own router. Mine is a simultaneous 2.4/ 5 Ghz router that auto chooses the best signal, a huge bonus with all wireless signals in my building. Thing is I couldn’t use it. You can’t really “bridge” or adjust settings on Bell’s router to use your own router properly without impacting the TV service, which means, losing TV service. As great as Fibe TV can be, this was a deal breaker. Bell Fibe Internet returned to being fantastic after cancelling Bell Fibe TV and using my own router with the Sagemcom properly setup for doing so.
Other Bell Fibe thoughts: Using it seemed laggy, especially so on non-primary TV’s with the secondary receivers. If two or more video streams were going (watching and/ or recording), things really slowed down in the user experience department. On the plus side, the receiver boxes on secondary TVs are now wireless so you don’t have to run coax or network cables from the Sagemcom gateway. Also related to this, the hit to internet speeds while more than one stream was in use was very noticeable. Trying to get work done while shows were recording or someone else watching TV wasn’t a great experience. I’m sure this will improve down the road.
Customer service with Bell has been great in the sales department and good in the tech department. It has been horrific in the billing department, especially when trying to resolve multiple billing errors, which will happen. Just wait until promos end, you add new promos or change receivers. It is a soul sucking experience. In the customer retention department, I found my friends and colleagues getting much better deals through rogers when promos ended, which also contributed to my decision to cancel. My parents are with Bell TV still and it’s not worth them switching to Fibe TV given the great bundle deals that they get with Bell TV after two years. Bundle deals with Fibe are more expensive, especially when promos are done.
The main Fibe TV selling feature of the whole home PVR for me is moot, given Rogers’ addition of Nextbox 3. With the Nextbox 3 PVR, I believe that you can record up to 8 HD shows at once, rather than 3 HD and 1 SD shows with Fibe. You can pause and start shows or watch shows from the main Nextbox PVR in other rooms. This adds to my point that these services are now extremely competitive and that you can’t go wrong either way if one works better for you.
At the end of the day, the only real benefit of Fibe TV is choice for TV service. For my needs, it just wasn’t the right solution.
I think both services are very competitive. But did want to mention that you cannot select betweenFTTH ( FIBRE TO THE HOME) or
FTTN
(FIBRE TO THE NODE).
You either kive in an area where fibre was laid directly to the side of your house
( most new build projects within planned area since 2013 have this, not all) or you live in an area where it was run to the node in your neighbourhood, and delivered to your house via twisted pair copper (phone line). I think both companies have their pros and cons and when promotions run out most customers end up paying through the nose. Simple solution to that would be yo call your provider on a regular basis and see what promotions you qualify for. I dont know of any company that pays customer service reps to call all their clients and ask them to pay less.
As with anything, read and understand each service before you choose, and make sure you choose what is right for you. And a large majority of the population still lives in an area where their max speed will be 5mbs down (usually about 3.64) and 1mbs upload (usually about 500 to 750 kbps) and they manage perfectly fine. Most services like netflix or games will work fine. If you are an avid gamer and download on a lot of devices simultaneously this would not suffice.
Important thing to remember is be fair with what you expect….. too many people expect the best tv service, the best, highest speed internet and no charge phone service for next to nothing. This is obviously unreasonable. If you are a heavy user of internet and tv you will pay more and that is reasonable.
We’ve had Bell Fibe for almost 2 years now and are very happy with the service. The internet download speed is usually twice what our package promises and the tv is sharp and more reliable than when we had satellite (weather could cause problems). We have 3 HD tvs (3 boxes) and 7 laptops, tablets and smart phones and the network keeps up well with all these devices. Since we have a new house, we have FTTH (fibre to the home). The only problem we’ve had was the reaction time of the tv remotes slowed down but resetting our boxes and modem solved the problem. We’ve had great service from Bell, much better than Rogers. Rogers kept cutting our cable for no reason. Once was when someone in another city moved who happened to have the same last name – different street, different city but somehow Rogers messed it up. After we moved into a new house, they cut our cable 3 times in a week since the previous owner had ordered a disconnect and they hadn’t processed our new order properly even though we had been paying for it for a month.
I have fibe tv at home. it is great. first of all the internet is fast and tv is very clear. no black screen when changed channel.
I am currently with Rogers and am serious unsatisfied with the TV service and the customer and technical support. They sent me two of those CISCO digital adapters, neither of which worked, and then they started to drop stations that I am paying for. When I call Rogers for support the biggest challenge is to find someone that can take their job seriously and speak/communicate in clear English. They are all very good at repeating themselves and cannot answer questions. Rogers you deserve the low customer service ratings on JD Powers!
I switch my mobile phone service from Rogers back to Bell and am looking to move another TV service. I am considering Bell Fibe TV. I am quite technically competent when it comes to computers and networks; I work in that part of IT. When I chat with their customer service people some of them are complete idiots and seriously desperate to sell. Most of their staff are struggling with the English language and also seems to be very good a repeating their sale pitch instead of answering questions.
In the end it seems that they all consider all customers as uneducated and technology incompetent. I would love a chance to have a coffee, one on one, to the BCE VP responsible for customer service.
I really feel sorry for the people who fall for the advertising. They have NO idea what they are getting into with Bell. With Bell, you are promised a rate for a given package of programming. When the bills come in, you find that you have been way overbilled. That’s when the fun starts.
Your information/complaint/inquiry will NOT be recorded by anyone, ever, so that you are forced to recount your whole problem to every single Bell agent you talk to, and there will be many, I guarantee it. You WILL be on hold for literally hours, and speak to a person who has NO record of your previous conversations with Bell, however many of those conversations there may be.
Each agent you talk to will GUARANTEE that the problem has been resolved, then you get the next (even higher) bill and it starts all over again. Be prepared to wait on hold for most of your evenings every billing cycle. The agents are told to promise you anything to close out your call.
In my case, the package I ordered was advertised on the Bell sales website, and I had that webpage open WHILE I WAS PLACING THE ORDER, and I demanded a guarantee that each line item of the package was included AS PER THE ADVERTISEMENT, and that the total bill, including programming, fees, taxes, “free” installation, EVERYTHING would be $139 per month. I told the sales rep that I had had billing issues with Bell in the past, and if my first bill was more than that, I would cancel ALL services immediately, with no exceptions. I was guaranteed that the bottom line of my bill would be $139 each and every month INCLUDING THE FIRST MONTH.
First bill comes in at $180, 4 pages of indecipherable gibberish, with multiple redirects from page 2 to page 4 to page 1 to page 2 to page 3… unbelievable. I get on the phone , wait on hold for a half hour, get an agent finally, I direct them to the ad for my package which distinctly shows the package as being inclusive, yet my bill shows the line items all being charged for. I point this glaring oversight out to the agent and the reply is “The website is outdated, my system shows you being charged for services you obviously ordered, just pay it.”
I had had enough and I insisted that all services were cancelled immediately. That’s when the fun really started.
After about 4 hours over multiple phone calls/hour long hold times/disconnects/no agents EVER having access to previous call notes, I finally got them to agree to send me a box to return the HD PVR. Upon receipt of the PVR box, I packaged the PVR precisely as directed, and sent it to them insured and registered, which somebody at BELL signed for. End of Story….NOT!!!
4 – Yes, 4 Months later i get a nasty letter from Bell demanding the $600 for the non-returned PVR. I did the call/hold/explain the whole story from scratch thing again, and told the person on the phone that I was holding in my hand the receipt of delivery of the box to them and if they wanted to pursue the matter further I would gladly see them in court, delivery receipt in hand. I then terminated the call and from that point I resolved NEVER to have any communication with Bell Canada again. Bell Canada screwed me for about 2 bills. and lost tens of thousands of future business from me. Smart……. Worst experience in my entire business life. You have been warned.
Got a call from Bell and fell for the telemarketers gimmicks and promises of a better future with Bell. Placed an order with Bell in August and finally got an installer in Mid Nov. Wrong order details, dug up lawn, and no respite. This was escalated to some Senior Manager named Oliver who was a real tool. Not helpful or the least bit worried about loosing a potential customer. I am going to remain with Rogers. Rogers may be getting bait expensive but are always willing to price match and have great customer service given that I have been with them for 11 years. Bell sucks and one wonders how they remain in business!
You shouldn’t place blame on bell as a hole for the issue you had. Every company has a few bad apples they also have alot of good apples. Unfortunately you got the bad apples. I am a bell tech. And I do every install like I’m installing it for my mom. Bell’s fibe tv & internet is an excellent service, has far more pros than cons compared to any other cable company.
I’m considering switching to Bell but am concerned about the fact there is a CTV radio tower and TV station on my street. Do you think this will cause problems with my Fibe TV reception/internet ?
There should be no inference.
Wanted to give my 2 cents.
I was with Rogers for 7 years, and 7 months ago switched to Bell (Fibe TV, Fiber Internet, home phone). The switched “caused” minor disturbances and a new learning pattern for the 4 of us in the house – learning the Bell channels were the hardest – but we got accustomed to it.
There were somethings that were not great – we can only view 3 HD shows at any time, so if you are recording 2 HD shows, only 1 TV can be viewed – try that we 2 teenage girls in the house!!! But the phone, and internet were as good as (to me the internet service was better – more consistent speeds and much more reliable – the phone, no difference)
About a month ago, I decided I am switching back to Rogers, called, got a great deal, and they came about a week after and its all installed!! – GREAT.!
From that point on, we realized how BADLY we miss Bell – better TV quality (I mean it, no BS), the internet is driving me crazy – never had these buffering issues, and the channels that I loved on Rogers, I cannot stand – they make no sense where things are located – you have to learn where every channel you like watching is located.
So, about 10 days ago, I switched everything back to Bell. Great price, and we cannot wait to get our service back to Bell.
As far as customer service etc – in both of these giants, it all depends on who you get on the phone, any issue can be resolved, be patient, don’t be rude, explain yourself, know what you want and drive to that. I have had great customer service from Rogers, and also Bell, and then HORRIBLE service from Rogers (specifically my cell phone), and not so bad from Bell (as yet).
So hopefully that answers peoples questions as far as quality, service etc – I really like Bell’s Fibe, and only switched to Rogers because I thought the grass was greener from my 7 years with them, but as I had these 2 services so close, and so recent, I got a really good idea of what is what!
Good luck on your choices, I am sure you will not be unhappy with either service.
I just switched from. Rogers and installed fiber tv, 15/10 Internet, bell phone.
The Rogers cable tv is noticeably sharper…not much….but it is sharper. I have both for a few days….but surprised considering the Fibe hype. We get our Bell tv from a Fibe node a few blocks away. The Internet works out to 9/9. Phone is fine. The tv Fibe instructions are in a small very challenging to read type and remote hard to read for us older types. But the killer is the tv is not as sharp.
Bell fibe tv is a waste of time I had it as many of my friends it is extremely laggy and slows down my internet as I have my shows recording changed back to bell satellite TV after a long process with their horrible customer service I will never switch again I love my bell satellite TV and I get crave tv and on demand right on my tv just like fibe
We lost reception one night this week and called the support line. After 3 1/2 hours with uninformed ladies in the Philippines reading directions off of a monitor we managed to get reception back for everything except one TV. The next day a Canadian technician came, waited until I arrived home and corrected the fault quit easily. Apparently losing reception usually can be rectified by a soft reboot (i.e. unplugging each item and then replugging them all up again) – not the hard reboot directed by the ladies in the Philippines which threw everything out of sync.
Technicians here in Canada are first rate but I am not impressed with the service you have to first endure that is supplied by “so-called” technicians reading prompts off a monitor in a far off land that have no real knowledge of the system.
Marilyn
Bell has outsourced and gone too far…I just placed my 23rd call to report my speed is no where near what I pay for
Ask to speak with a supervisor…no luck
Ask to speak to a Canadian rep…h No
Every call is as if it is the first call
Just want to get the service I pay for
Bye bye Bell
I hate Bell. I terminated my phone service after 30 years of them monopolizing the market, and now they have installed a HUGE electrical panel for their Fibe subscribers in the area directly in front of my house. I live in a so-called “heritage” zone in old Lachine, where residents must adhere to strict codes regarding the exterior of their homes and properties in order to comply with aesthetic standards. I must pay good money for special permits for any renovations, yet Bell can come into the neighbourhood and feel free to add to the mess we already have along our streets, ie wires galore, transformers, etc. I have complained to both Bell and the city of Lachine, but my hopes are not high that I’ll be successful in reversing the decision to install a large ugly panel which will likely affect my property value. Like I said, I hate Bell.
OK so I am now back on the fence . I moved to the city from the country. we had star choice and tech savvy. both good choices. now I have rogers for 3 years, we have a whole home pvr. 2.0 with two small receivers up stairs and two digital boxes on our other two TV’s. problem is we have a poor connection between one box and the pvr. it can’t see the pvr. rogers said it was because we moved the location of or TV from the living room to the family room. and for a tech to come out would cost 50.00 or more. nope not paying it. I would go back to tech savvy but rogers has matched their price. and throttles their service. I just miss the great service you get from tech savvy. when I called with a problem.
Fibe is now available in our town brooklin Ont. my neighbor has put it in and is very happy. they have had it a week. I am just not sure what to do. I would put in a 3.0 box so we can at least watch tv. when the kids are recording 2 pvr shows. at the same time. I also want to watch hockey and rogers controls that avenue. Signed confused and if it isn’t broke should I fix it?
I also heard good things about Fibe. Bundling Fibe TV and Internet, Bell might get you a good deal. Might be worth giving it a try.
try Fibe it is awesome
if i just watch tv with bell fibe no recording no apps how much internet usage is being used
As far as I know using just Fibe TV should not use any internet.
As far as I know you do not use any of your internet unless you go to Neflix which is available with Fibe
Very disappointed just received fibve TV today hate it was told we wouldn’t l loss previous channels which we had for over thirty years with Roger Will definitely be switching back to Rogers TV very very soon the sales rep made us believe we would have the same channels when we switched what a joke had to order some that were removed and bell charged us for them.Would never ever recommend Bell Fibve TV
I have Bell Fibe and I’ve had it for almost two years. I love it! There are still times that I find myself staring at the TV because the picture is so clear and vibrant. I wouldn’t give up my Fibe to save $100 a month, no joke. I have two very expensive smart HD TVs and I want the best I can get out of them, and that’s Fibe.
I have an expensive smart tv. Whenever I watch Netflix on it with my Rogers Internet, it often cuts out and I have to go back out and reconnect to the Internet. Rogers told me I needed a better modem so I got their 5G. Only a slight improvement. Also, sometimes when watching certain channels, the voice and lips don’t match. Does anybody have the same problems with Fibe? Finally I have been told Rogers cable is 1080i but Fibe is 1080p. Any truth to this?
We’ve had Bell Fibe for 3 years now and are very happy with the service. Netflix works fine on Fibe. We haven’t experienced any problems with voice and video not matching. We did have problems with this when we had Rogers in our previous house. We’re in a newly built house so we have fiber cable right to the junction box in our house. I’ve got a friend who lives in an older neighbourhood and didn’t get fiber cable right to his house. He did have some issues and the setup didn’t seem to work quite as well. If it’s possible, try to get fiber cable right to your house.
Just came across this blog..quite good comments here. I have Rogers cable and Bell Internet and home phone. Both just jacked up the pricing, so gonna ditch one and probably go for bundling 3 services with one provider. So trying to decide who to go with. Had some poor customer service from Bell recently, so I am pissed off with them from that point of view. The agent lied to me..a total no no. Plus trying to convince me to take fibe tv.
So I’m going to call Rogers and see what they have to offer on all 3 services. Hope I will get some better customer service than did with Bell. I am in northwest Brampton.
Our internet hasn’t been working since June 10th but I actually only found out on June 15th. I called Rogers and they told me that the account had been suspended because the address had been used to attempt to hack into rogers. They asked me what type of router we had and I told them it was a D-link router. They told me that there is a strong history of people using these routers to do this. I explained to them that there is no possible way that an 88 year old woman would be able to do this particularly since there is no computer hooked to the internet at the address on a daily basis. We only use it when the we or her grandkids visit which is at least three to four times a week but even then we don’t always use it. They claim they called her on June 10th but reviewing the list of messages revealed no message nor did my mom recall getting a call. She would have called me because she calls me about everything (including when the rabbits were eating her lettuce in the garden!). Rogers told me that their manager would call me back the next day. No call. I researched Bell and spoke to them. I have decided to switch over to Bell. My mom has a land line so as a bundle it is a huge cost savings: $119 for three months then $132 per month there after (internet, TV and phone); compared to Rogers at $123 per month plus Bell at $54 per month for (internet, TV and phone). Not only that, Rogers did not have the courtesy to call me back to discuss the problem (although they did restart the internet for me on the initial call) nor to discuss any financial refund for the period during which we didn’t have the internet. Moving to Bell after 25 years!
Fibe has got to be the absolute worst when it comes to user interface. The program guide is a joke and as for the power saving options I really enjoy having my tv turn off in the middle of a program. Other then that its a damn site better the sat tv or dealing with the crooks at rogers but thats all its got going for it
Had bell satellite but was disappointed in losing service whenever there was wind, rain or snow. I investigated Fibe and called bell to ask questions.
They promised the servicemen would take down the satellite dish, they promised fibe would be cheaper, and they promised I’d have all the same channels.
Servicemen refused to take down the dish, Fibe is considerably more expensive and I did not have all the same channels.
In addition, the box loses connection with my tv regularly. I used to have to reboot once a week. Now I have to reboot daily. Bell told me to buy a new cord (they wouldn’t provide one even though I’d had Fibe only a few months). I bought an expensive new cord and it had no effect.
Sound quality is also poor compared to the satellite.
The PVR is inferior to the satellite PVR. Someone else has explained that in a comment so I won’t elaborate.
It is NOT WIRELESS. After taking the plunge to get it I find out that they had to drill holes in my floor and I CANNOT MOVE MY TV to different rooms. Apparently only secondary tvs can be made wireless and mobile at an additional expense. Moreover, they didn’t leave enough slack for me to even move it around within the room.
At least I don’t lose service due to weather.
Lol sounds like you got scammed also I went back to bell satellite never an issue it has to be a really bad storm for it to go out I have had it for 9 years now and will never switch back to fibe tv
Bell door to door sales representatives lie through their teeth to get you to take their promotions(which was not honoured). I have switched everything over to Rogers.
Bell fibe tv is the worst tv service ever!! I feel bad for their installers who make next to no money also they try to look like a great company but they are not!!
Wow, reading all these comments has really made me wonder what to take: Bell Fibe or Rogers? I’ve had decent service with Rogers over the years, but I’m interested in getting a 1080p picture with Fibe. Sometimes I think the Rogers cable toggles back and forth between 720p and 1080p, sometimes on the same show. Is that possible? Really hate the idea of totally switching over, because it always seems to introduce an unstable period of shoddy service until the kinks are worked out. Still sitting on the fence. Frustrated!
Picture quality is there. Random dots once in a while and not worth acall to tech support. My bill went from 115$ for the 1st year including movie package to TMN and HBO to 176$ without movie package. That increase happened within 2 years. Bye Bye Bell.
PVR works #1. They charged me an extra month for the 2nd receiver while my subscription had ended. I paid an extra 8.02$. Not worth fighting although I did ask Bell why they had charge me that fee. The answer they gave me did not satisfied me. I paid the 8.02$. Bye bye Bell. So long… I still have another 35-40 years to go so it’s a long period without revenu from me.
Internet : 25mbps dl/ul as promise
Phone : way too expensive. It was cheeper to not use it and subscribe to another services with all options included (voicemail, callerid, long distance,…)
In the end, cheaper to go the Rogers and Videotron way…
Started service 21 June, hasn’t worked properly since the original install. Now on our 3rd master box, 4 service calls, no more than 6 hours without some sort of failure/interruption…they said they were ‘sorry’…bye bye Bell.
I changed from Rogers to Bell Fibe mostly because I was paying but channels kept dropping out of my package.When I asked Rogers to do something and keep the cost as per the previous year since i had been with them when they were Shaw in Ontario ( almost 27 yrs) the gentleman said he could not. I had the 2 x Nex 3.0 PVRS ( crapppy boxes that pixeled a lot plus i could not watch and record more than one show at a time and one was noisy)and 2 regular digital boxes plus VIP package and my mobile.Next day I called Bell as i also had internet and phone with them and i got the Better package plus the PVR and 3 other receivers
I am saving 30.00 a month for 2 yrs , that includes my Sat TV up North as well as another mobile
I love the pictures and the guide I have been told that coming up to the end of the 2 yrs I should call in as there are always promotions.At least now I can read the guide and not need a magnifying glass as i did for the Rogers box. I also do not have to stay 1 hr plus as i did on the phone to Rogers when i called and still got poor service.
Funny thing is that the day after Bell asked Rogers to release my account, Rogers called me to offer me the exact thing I had requested so that I could stay. I declined. I have not had any problems yet and we passed 3 months and I really enjoy being able to see my recorded shows on any TV.
I have had bell internet and fibe tv for about 10 days. Wifi looses connection and cannot reconnect on a number of my devices. Fibe tv has not worked multiple times and customer support is horrible.
I was a loyal Bell customer for 34 years until I switched to Fibe. Regular outages for days on end, bizarre feedback from the technicians who told me wireless doesn’t work when it rains and the reason for my regular loss of service was because of steel walls in my home. My house is 8 years old and there are no steel walls in it. One technician came and replaced the boxes, said he had no idea what the issue was, of course, nothing was resolved. Sundays seem to be a regular day for outages, recently Fibe was gone for an entire weekend and came back late Monday night. When I called for the more than 20th time about issues with Bell in the past 1.5 years, I cancelled the service and was told I would have to pay $75 to cancel a service that never worked. I spoke with countless loyalty people and they all held fast, their contract is rock solid and you cannot get out of the penalty no matter if they deliver any service or not. I voiced my issues on their web site and a rep said she understood my point and waived the fee. I was told I would receive boxes in the mail to return the equipment, I just received two labels only, no packing boxes. It’s my responsibility and cost to provide packing boxes and material that will get the equipment back to them safely. Between the purchase of two boxes, packing material, brown paper and tape, it’s now about $30 to return equipment that never worked. The best part of this saga is Bell knows Fibe won’t work in certain areas, but they continue to sell the product and when you try to switch to another provider they nail you with the penalty and charges to return their equipment. Quite the no lose scenario they have going! I am now a happy Rogers customer and moved my TV, internet and phone.
Do yourselves a favor…..keep your money in your pockets and put up an over-the-air HD antenna, the HD reception is second to none, you’ll pick up all of the local networks including any nearby American networks, there will be NO provider forced advertising, no sensor of American networks, no Canadian networks dubbed in where an American network’s program is broadcast at the same time as the Canadian network.
It’s just like 40 years ago before cable tv came along and started charging you for what you did not have to pay for, only difference is…. now it’s all in HD
We had Fibe installed when we moved into our newly-built house in July 2012. The service has been great – no outages and fantastic picture quality. Guess it depends where you live but Fibe in our area is great.
The only advantage of Bell Fibe is the ability to locate your TV anywhere in the house. The system architecture and controls are inadequate, cumbersome and user unfriendly. On line assistance is dismal.
I’ve had Fibe installed since the summer of 2012 and it’s been great! With satellite we used to have problems with snow accumulating on the dish. Fibe has been very reliable and has great picture quality.
We had Bell Alient installed two years ago (Customers service was based out of Canada , great service , internet and TV was amazing and no contracts!) Then Bell Canada bought them out and all hell broke loose! Customer service is based out of India , internet was still amazing , tv and Pvr equipment that was installed was slow , buggy and unresponsive ! Not to mention that when we decided to go back to cable we were informed that we were in a contract for two years ..
Just switched from Rogers to Bell Fine. Was so excited to get the best service to my 4k TV. Was I wrong.. if you have a great quality TV you will notice a considerable difference in picture quality. All the negative reasons that Bell tells you about Rogers is false. Telling me that Rogers only delivers 720. If that’s the case, Rogers 720 is way better than Fibe. I am so disappointed with my picture quality now from Bell. Now I have to wait 2 years before I can get Rogers back. Its gonna be a painfully 2 years of poor quality TV.