Discussions

We are switching from WMC to Mts/bell  
what are peoples thoughts on the two?? Not sure i wanna switch

my view is..... said "We are switching from WMC to Mts/bell   what are peoples thoughts on the two?? Not sure i wanna switch "

Westman is local, Bell doesn't need our money.  
We had MTS back in the day and it was fine but ultimately switched back to Westman because they're local. Read to many bad things about Bell as a whole to ever wanna give them my money.  
 
Westman has pretty good support when you need it and doesn't usually take more then 10 minutes to speak with someone, when I was with MTS minimum wait times were 30 - 45 minutes. Can't speak for Bell.

Years ago I switched to MTS because they were offering me a better deal. I told Westman I'd be back. I never did as I preferred MTS. I have hardly ever waited more than 10-15 minutes to talk to someone, I've always gotten someone right away. There was a while where I was having severe issues with my wi-fi and called a lot to get it fixed until finally they sent someone out and figured out I was on the same channel as my neighbour. It's been working well ever since

I’ve had both, and as far as TV service goes MTS is the better option.

I had Mts(prior to bell takeover) and now have westman. I think I preferred mts TV, I find westman slow to respond to remote input at times. But otherwise have had zero issues in the time we have had it.  
 
Not sure what/if there was changes since the bell takeover but if none then I vote mts.  
 
I know you never asked about internet but often these go hand in hand since most people get both from same service provider, in which case I prefer westman. I've had zero issues in the couple years I've had westman internet whereas with mts I felt like there was random periods throughout the day frequent enough it was a nuisance and only ever got resolved for short periods before having to talk to someone on phone or having a service person come out.

Nothing has really changed for the customer except things say Bell in front of MTS now. Internally things have changed but not what a customer sees.  
 
The upgrades to TV service and wireless were all planned with MTS anyways so not much has changed that MTS wasn't already working on. Bell maybe got things pushed through faster than MTS could have done though.

BELL MTS. Ask for the 6 month $30 promo (basic and six channel packages)  
 
Even after the promo ends, you still get a lot more channels for way cheaper than WESTMAN.  
 
Go with BELL MTS

I have dealt with both companies and prefer MTS. I have never had to wait longer than 10 minutes and they are always curtious and solve the problem. Much prefer MTS TV and have had no problem with internet ever.

We have Westman cable and at least once a year we receive a call from Bell/MTS offering us a promo deal to switch - we have been told by the service rep and installer that they cannot use the existing cable and outlet boxes from Westman so they have to drill holes in our finished basement ceiling and install their cable and outlets - also told us that this is somewhat of a guessing game as to where to drill the holes so there will definitely be holes in the basement ceiling and upstairs rooms that I will need to patch and repaint. We have a few friends that switched and they were livid at the amount of repair work they had to do after the installation.  
 
So, we'll never switch - not worth the promo savings considering all the repair work I may have to do. And we've been quite satisfied with the service from Westman.

BELL MTS never had to do any repairs when they added cable to my tv. I don't think this happens to everyone

Don't switch to Bell Satellite whatever you do. We did after receiving a call about a promotion. They lied like a board sidewalk and you had better read the fine print. They also offered free installation yet tried to charge over 100 for mileage,etc. Bell TV sucks and you end up on a 2 year contract that they don't tell you about either. Terrible channels and upgrade is more than Shaw. Will be switching back asap.

We switched to Westman about three months ago, and I 100% regret it. Tivo is unreliable, and just causes aggravation. MTS is FAR superior in our opinion, and we will be switching back.

I come at this with a bias, because I have always liked Westman for a few reasons (one being the $80 cheque in December. If i'm paying for telco services anyway, may as well get a kickback).  
 
None the less, Westman has always stood out in my main area of comparison, which is broadband. Once all external wifi issues were sorted (interference), it has always been more reliable on an ongoing basis. Where speed tests on the BellMTS broadband side were consistently all over the place, Westman is consistently right on the edge of the high end. Any time of day. Telus is faster, but obviously (it's unthrottled LTE).  
 
The MTS TV user interface is much easier to use, I won't deny that. It was easier to use than the prism gateway, and it's WAY easier to use than Tivo. That is one drawback. A big one if you have older people in the house (trust me on this lol).  
 
None the less, my preference is obvious, and likely always will be. Particularly with the Bell track record. Not to mention calling everything they offer "Fibe". Last I checked with even the Bell rep in the store, this city is still mostly served on copper!

I've ditched cable for services like Netflix, and have VOIP for phone service, so all I need is internet. I've been with MTS since they first introduced cable in Brandon. At the time, the switch was made because Westman's internet was unreliable at best with lower speeds than MTS.  
 
Fast forward to today, and I have nothing but problems with Bell/MTS internet. Even Netflix buffers or degrades resolution because of slow speed. The fastest speed I can get in my home with MTS is 50Mbs with 5Mbs upload. My son live-streams games and the upload speed is much too slow. On average, I see anywhere from 6-30Mbs using various speed tests. I've given up calling to complain because they just tell me I have too many wifi devices in my house. Like all of them are on and using data at once...  
 
The only thing keeping with Bell/MTS is my daughter's cell phone. Her data is tied to my internet package. Once her contract is up, I'm back with Westman.

Shebear said "I still think the bell/mts buyout merge thingy was a mistake. It was nice having a local MB owned company that was here for a long time. Too bad Brandon doesnt make its own good station like when they had ckx, with news tv shows etc like it used to years ago. I've noticed Westman made some changes and hope they dont go along the lines of Bell. If net keeps going up Ill just have to cancel and use free wifi or get a ph/data package on prepaid. I dont like contracts lol Marriage one was good enough Are bell/mts and Westman the only intown internet choices? "

Besides mobile data, you could likely get something like xplornet or Netset. But that comes with a whole list of other issues.

There is no contest in my mind. Westman has always given me great service and a great product. They are local, which I love to support, but they are also friendly to deal with every time I’ve called in - which hasn’t been often, as they provide a good product, that works!  
 
I also would not hesitate to support them because of all of the community support they do. They show up at so many community and charity events, which I think speaks volumes about the kind of company you are dealing with.

I'm going to add a bit from my previous post. But way too late to edit.  
 
Like I said I've had both, and MTS TV is a much better product than what Westman provides. I have heard Westman internet is a much better service than what MTS provides.  
 
So you have to decide which you want, better TV or better internet. And if you've got an MTS cell you can bundle all 3 products to get a discounted rate.  
 
Also MTS offers their total internet package which gives you unlimited data on your cell phone. That combined with the bundle (although total internet slashes your bundle value to $10ish per month) and the better TV service are why we stick with MTS.

Bell Mts no longer offers Total Internet. That was discountiued about 2 months ago. If you have it now, you are grandfathered to it. You are also able to upgrade your internet speeds (Fibe 50 the highedt on TI) and can still upgrade your wireless devices and keep total internet.  
 
If you put your internet on temp disconnect or disconnect the internet altogether, you will lose total inernet and not be able to get it back.  
 
Big mistake on Bell MTS i think! I love my total internet

Bell MTS used to have a product called Total Internet. You would pay one price for your home internet and your cell phone data (instead of your internet bill and then cell data). Example (and my pricing is off) $65 for home interbet and cell data plus $40 for you cell phone minutes.

Well that sucks. I'm well past being due for a new phone, guess I'll need to see what my options are I guess.

Bell MTS was not working and they could not fix it. I was not getting any service for a couple months with the change over. Customer services is like we don't care. Bill kept going up and up. I only have basic Westman now but on One Year promotion for package deal. Saving money for one year. Instilation was free and no rrepairs to my home were needed.  
I was long time MTS user.

I honestly don't understand why people think that Bell buying MTS has anything to do with the physical cables and equipment. There has quite honestly been nothing change just because Bell bought MTS aside from the name basically.  
 
Its still the same employees, same vehicles, same equipment, just different name and different, much larger source of funding for upgrades and improvements.