I am currently a Westman wave customer but received an offer in the mail to switch to MTS High Speed for $19.95/month bundled. With the discount offered on our cell phone, this would mean I would save $396.00 in the next 12 months and an additional $120.00/year after that. Over the course of 5 years it works out to $876.00 in savings. I have been with Westman for 8 years and am really trying to come up with a reason not to switch (other than the pain in the a** of switching email addresses). Does anyone have any bad/good/similar experiences with switching internet providers?

Call up Westman and see if they'll match the offer.

Is that $19.95 forever or for 6 months or 12 months. Usually there is only a limited time before it jumps back up to around the $45 dollar mark.

It's for 12 months, and then goes up to 44.95 which turns to 39.95 after the 5.00 discount because of the bundled discount.

When MTS TV lands mid sept, the discount will be out of this world!!!  
 

only 6 months  
http://www.mts.ca/portal/site/mts/menuitem.a275cbc6dbb0d4e50e14081031248a0c/?vgnextoid=6b61110e03c1e110VgnVCM1000002a040f0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=5b6ea2e940ed8010VgnVCM1000000408120aRCRD

I never heard it was coming as soon as next month... where did you hear this???  
 
But as soon as MTS TV comes I will be switching and bundling, the savings are huge.  
 
I have been with the Westman on the Ultra Wave for 6 yrs and have not really had any problems other its overpriced at $60+ a month after tax. And it wont bother me one bit to lose my wave email address.  
 
Edited by Tootsie Roll, 2009-08-11 12:21:50

Received a cardboard pop up card in the mail and is absoutely 12 months. I phoned and got all the details to make sure there wasn't a "catch". $19.95 bundled or $24.95 unbundled for the first 12 months. 10 email addresses with a combined 1 Gig of email space. With us bundling it with our cell phone, we save an additional $5.00 a month on the cell phone. Cell phone contract has to be over $20.00 a month to begin with. They offer free virus protection with Zone Alarm, kind of the same as Westman's F-Secure.

I am looking forward to having another choice for television. I admit, I am not expecting any real change in programming, it pretty much is what it is...but the price may be a bonus. I am hoping for some really competetive rates!

I recently switched to westman for phone and internet because I found the service to be severly lacking with MTS. However, if you can save money, sometimes you have to do what is cheaper

Westman bundles as well. You can get phone service, highspeed internet, and their largest tv package for about $125/mth. This is not for 6 or 12 months but an actual price. Westman's internet is also waaay faster.

We switched over to Westman for phone service in June (bundled, saves us about $30/month on our phone bill). One feature we didn't expect is the almost total cessation of "junk" long-distance calls that we used to call-screen. As well, Westman is way quicker than DSL, and you can actually talk to someone when you call!

so Westman phone is not available. I have a Bell account for TV and am happy with it. To replace the equipment I have invested in by switching to Westman TV, I would lose any potential savings by switching to MTS High Speed. I know that Westman claims it's speeds to be so much quicker but is it noticable? We video call with my parents and they are on MTS which works well, so if it is good enough to stream video calling, there can't be that much of a difference for just everyday browsing. Again, still looking for a reason not to switch. Any horror stories with MTS out there that I haven't heard yet?

I found that the major problem with MTS is that if you have a router in your home you have to get rid of it and get an MTS router for about three times the price. what happens is that MTS keeps renewing the IP address of your connection so the router will lose connectivity tot he other computers until it gets reset. I found it a real annoyance and switched to Westman and have not had a problems since.  
For phone service I use Vonage. it is only $20/month for 500 minutes of calling. Incoming calls are free and there are local numbers across the country that allows people to call you toll free. IM me and I can get you a month free if you sign up.

Good to know on the renewed IP addresses. I have a wireless router and it would be a pain to always have to reboot it. That is something I will have to ask MTS about for sure. As far as Vonage, I tried a search to see if my existing number would be available and it is not. Changing email addresses would be a big enough problem never mind a phone number that I've had for 20 years. Think I'll pass for now on that. Thanks anyway.

I have MTS internet and have had for the past two years. I do not have a router from MTS, just a cheap one, and have never had one problem. The only time I have had to reboot was if the power went out due to a thunderstorm and it worked fine afterwords.

Sorry, but respectfully, the information regarding the router issue with MTS is incorrect.  
 
I am on MTS currently, although have been contemplating switching myself.  
 
The problem with the MTS modem is that you need to switch it to "gateway" mode which turns off the router function built into the modem. Once I did that, I was able to use by cheapy D-Link wireless router.  
 
PM me if you like and I will send you details. MTS will also do this for you (instructions), or ask the guys at Cell-Com when you sign up.

Cheeky Chuck said "I found that the major problem with MTS is that if you have a router in your home you have to get rid of it and get an MTS router for about three times the price. what happens is that MTS keeps renewing the IP address of your connection so the router will lose connectivity tot he other computers until it gets reset. I found it a real annoyance and switched to Westman and have not had a problems since.   For phone service I use Vonage. it is only $20/month for 500 minutes of calling. Incoming calls are free and there are local numbers across the country that allows people to call you toll free. IM me and I can get you a month free if you sign up. "

Sure there can be user problems that creep up. However, I did not have to get one a "special" MTS router. Any competent computer user can connect an MTS modem to an off the self modem.

when then rep came to set me up with MTS wireless, he was going to charge me extra because I did not have a MTS router. I told him to go ahead, but he couldn't even figure it out how to do it. Told me if I bought one from mts (which was quite expensive), that he could then do it. I think he also told me if I bought a MTS one and something happened to it, they replace them free? I told him to forget it and a friend came over and had me wireless in under 5 minutes.

2 computers hardwired and one laptop wireless right now so it is important that I don't have issues. It sounds like a setting or something that can quickly fixed the problem so I am not worried about it now. For a savings of $876.00 over the next 5 years I cannot see any disadvantages over switching to MTS. That's $175 a year average savings and it might as well be in my pocket vs. someone elses.

Coopdaddy, can you possibly tell us what rural area you are in? The Wave/MTS debate has so many variables to it, eliminating one of them by knowing where you are may help folks add more depth to this thread.

I'm in Carberry, close to Brandon but not quite close enough for some of the services available in larger centers. I looked more into the vonage phone and it's only available in Wpg and Brandon.

Coopdaddy said "I'm in Carberry, close to Brandon but not quite close enough for some of the services available in larger centers. I looked more into the vonage phone and it's only available in Wpg and Brandon. "

Maybe it's just the way it's worded but I just wanted to make sure you knew Vonage is available anywhere you have an internet connection, but you are correct that only Winnipeg and Brandon numbers are available.

that but I wouldn't want a Brandon number while living in Carberry or it would be long distance for people down the street to call us.

I was a westman customer for years then switched to MTS for the bundle. But guess what! I am back with Westman. MTS service sucks! I think WCG is faster, and they get back to you very quickly when needing help. I had an MTS guy come out after 4 days and I knew more than he did about the problem. don't switch servers. I also switched my phone to WCG and it is also cheaper than MTS. WCG much better!

Coopdaddy said "[Coopdady lives in Carberry]...so Westman phone is not available. Etc. "

I've heard a rumour that WCG could be providing phone service in Carberry as soon as Sept of this year. Might be worth considering before making a decision.  
 
This would obviously include bundle pricing options, and a local Carberry phone number (new or existing).  
 
Edited by Cortez, 2009-08-11 16:11:24

I too have MTS and an SMC router. The only problem I had was once, when the power went out. Got service right away and had it fixed. I also can' wait for MTS tv - I heard November

I much prefer the westman wave service, faster speeds and more reliable, however you definately pay for it, at $44.95 it seems way too expensive. For casual browsing and what not probably the $20 with MTS is the best deal, depends what you want out of I suppose and if you mind the slower speeds. I have heard of others getting it even cheaper than this and having them extend the promotional first year price just by threatening to cancel. Westman on the other hand seem to be pretty set on their prices. I never use the westman/mts email address's, its just easier to get a gmail or hotmail account then it doesn't matter which provider you are on, whether you move out of the area or change providers within the area it just makes sense. All the anti virus software etc.. they offer is just fluff but I guess it makes some people feel better, so it serves it's purpose there.  
 
I changed to Westman home phone as soon as it was available, thats just because I had internet though and the bundled price meant I saved a decent amount. If you have MTS services, MTS home phone is probably much the same price anyway. I find the services practically the same anyway, so this one would differ between people. I tried to change to Vonage when they started to offer Brandon numbers, but they tried for about 3 months to transfer my existing MTS number across and failed. Their customer services was pretty horrible throughout that time and the call quality was pretty bad during that time (using the temporary number they gave me while I waited for the number port). Not only that but their Canadian prices are pretty bad anyway, they need to align them closer to the US pricing to make it worth while.  
 
I am on Bell TV and like it. HD with Westman just seemed like too much $$, i picked up the HD receiver for $50 with Bell, I think Westman are charging somewhere up to $400 for this still - crazy. Again Bell can be pretty flexible on their pricing as long as you are off contract.  
 
As long as the services are the same I will just go with whatevers cheapest, don't really have any loyalty to one or the other. Westman IMO has the better internet so I go with them, which means I also get a better price on phone through them. I find Bell to be a better service at a better price also, at least for what I use it for, so they get my money. MTS TV could change all this depending on what they offer, will be interesting to see.  
 
Edited by JohnK, 2009-08-11 16:57:54

to mts last year the only thing you change is wcg to mts.net

here are my findings right from the website and from friends that have westman and I have MTS.  
 
This is without a cell bundle price. All pricing right from website.  
 
Westman Internet:  
8mb download - 1 up  
$44.95 per month  
 
MTS Internet:  
7mb down - .7 up (speeds confirmed through speedtest at both home and work)  
$44.95 per month  
-MTS also offers 10 hours of dial up service, which is nice when I visit family away from home.  
 
Internet wireless router. MTS was easy to set up at work, no special settings needed on our linksys router at work. At home I asked for a deal as I got a laptop and needed wireless at home. Instead of the $100 (I think) wireless router and setup I was only charged $50 to have a router from MTS and someone to set up desktop and laptop with full sharing between (router to buy was that much alone).  
 
Westman Phone: $39.90  
 
MTS Phone: $40  
 
There is only a few calling features different. For me the extra ones that westman offered I wouldn't use anyway. As for customer service I have only had to call MTS a couple times over the last 9 years and they have been good for me, each to their own.  
 
And another note I just spoke with a lady with mts asking about tv as she lives in Brandon and currently the employees are testing MTS TV and it should be released around the middle of September.  
 
Edited by Evan, 2009-08-11 17:10:02