From: lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca   
      
   On Sun, 06 Jul 2025 14:34:38 +0000, Sylvain Robitaille wrote:   
      
   > On 2025-07-05, Lew Pitcher wrote:   
   >   
   >> Here, in Canada, you either deal with one of the "Big Three" ISPs   
   >> (Bell Canada, Rogers Telecommunications, or Telus Telecommunications)   
   >> or you deal with a small ISP.   
   >   
   > Slight clarification: "... or you deal with a small ISP that   
   > ultimately resells service from one of the "Big Three" ISPs ..."   
   > You're effectively limitted by what the big three offer in your area.   
      
   Exactly. Where I live, Bell offers VDSL and FTTC, but only if you   
   use their consumer-oriented ISP services. Even then, they /only/ offer   
   FTTC with a signed ISP contract (probably, because they actually have   
   to run fibre to the demarcation point, and install a fibre-to-ethernet   
   converter). So, for me, VDSL and FTTC are out, because Bell restricts   
   what you can do with or on their internet connection, and costs a lot   
   more than my current ISP.   
      
   I already have a "cable tv" run to my home, and /could/ switch to   
   DOCSYS; my ISP rents network space on Rogers DOCSYS network, making   
   this possible. In fact, I probably will, at some point, move to   
   DOCSYS. But, while I gain some theoretical bandwidth with DOCSYS,   
   I would be competing for that bandwidth with everyone else on the   
   same DOCSYS segment, and paying a higher price for it.   
      
   Telus, as I said, has no physical network in my neighbourhood, leaving   
   it out of the running completely.   
      
   > There are regionally also some bigger service providers (Videotron   
   > in Quebec, Eastlink in the maritimes, Shaw in the prairies, though   
   > Shaw are now part of Rogers ...)   
   >   
   >> The smaller ISPs (of which I have been with the biggest for about   
   >> 20 years) offer ASDL2+, DOCSYS (cable), and FTTC, but over the   
   >> lines rented from the big 3.   
   >   
   > We may be with the same "smaller" ISP (mine is based in Chatham,   
   > Ontario; yours?)   
      
   The same one, I think. They are good, and (apparently) the largest   
   "small" ISP in Canada. Plus, they continually advocate, both   
   publicly and politically, for a more reasonable telecommunications   
   landscape in Canada, something that we desperately need here.   
      
   >  I discovered about two years ago that their   
   > ability to offer certain services is highly dependent on which of   
   > the big-three's service they're reselling in a given location.   
   >   
   > When I was in suburban Montreal (in a neighborhood orginally developped   
   > in 1957), we had (resold) ADSL (and later variants, I believe that   
   > went up to VDSL2) from them for at least 2 decades, with a static   
   > IP address, a proper PTR record in their DNS for our address, and   
   > (effectively) no restrictions[*] on how we used the service.   
   >   
   > [*] "effectively no restrictions" being defined as "there was nothing   
   > even mildly questionable about how we used our service."  We ran our   
   > own DNS, mail, and web services; not much else.  The ISP did not give   
   > us any grief about any of this, nor did they ever question whether   
   > we were competent to manage these services.   
      
   That's been my experience also. I run 4 (personal) websites, an email   
   server, and a VPN (to extend my LAN to remote systems), and my ISP   
   hasn't complained one bit. Originally, I checked with them prior   
   to moving to their service, and they were cool with it all, with   
   the provision that they reserved the right to disconnect me if I   
   /didn't/ manage my services properly.   
      
      
   > I have since moved to a (neighborhood originally developped in 1992,   
   > in a) much smaller city in Atlantic Canada, where the only service   
   > the same smaller ISP is able to provide is (resold) DOCSYS; no static   
   > IP and no inbound port 53 (these restrictions imposed by Rogers, not   
   > the smaller ISP); We had to come up with work-arounds, which we did,   
   > but it really was enough to make me try to find a different option.   
   > FTTC is probably also available here (though I don't think resold   
   > from the same smaller ISP), but that's certainly not going to improve   
   > things for my purposes.  We went with workarounds, which seem to be   
   > working well enough for now.   
   >   
   >> I've been on ADSL (in one form or another) for over 20 years ...   
   >   
   > I miss ADSL-VDSL2 from this smaller ISP, and I'd love to see it come   
   > to this neighborhood, but the service I have now is good enough ...   
   >   
   >> ... as the service is cheap, stable, and fast enough for my needs, I   
   >> haven't seen the need to change.   
   >   
   > If you ever do consider changing, be very careful about whether you'll   
   > be able to get the same "ancillary services" as you're able to get now.   
   > Apparently these depend largely on the larger provider whose service is   
   > being resold.  Discuss in detail with the potential new ISP ...   
   >   
   > Is that worth about two cents?  ;-)   
      
   Quite more than 2 cents, Sylvain. :-) Thanks for the feedback   
      
   Luck be with you   
   --   
   Lew Pitcher   
   "In Skills We Trust"   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)