Is anyone using "FCI Broadband" (formerly Futureway) as their ISP?

[cityhunter]

I just want to see if their high speed internet service is any good compared to Rogers or Bell. I subscribed to Futureway high speed internet about 3 years ago when they first started rolling it out, and the experience was pretty awful. No public IP address, more down time than up time, amazingly slow transfer, etc. I cancelled it after one month of use. Now I see that they are offering a special promo deal @ $33.95/month, I am wondering if their service has improved. If anyone is using them, can you tell me if they have any "invisible" cap limit (like Rogers)? What is the download & upload speed like? How good is their service up time? I am on Rogers high speed right now and I only get an average 1.6mbps download rate

[AudiDude]

Tell me the area you are located in and I will tell you all you want to know.

[cityhunter]

I am in the Markham area.

[AudiDude]

Woodbine Cachet, what phase?

[AudiDude]

I am guessing phase 1 or 2 if you had it 3 years ago. Was it a cable modem? Did you have Look or Rogers?

[Theoneandonly]

I am an FCI broadband customer and right now I am very satisfy with the service. Have not experienced any downtime yet and no cap limits so far. I think you have to get their basic phone line in order to get the internet for $33.95, comes out to be $69 after tax. You also get two phone features with this bundle package. If you just get the internet, I think it is $45. I didnt bother signing up for their email but I think they said it is included. There is one concern though, if you use emule/edonkey, I think they are blocking the main port for it, so you will be getting low id all the time. Other than that, the speed is amazing and much better the crappy Rogers.

[AudiDude]

FCI is too scared to cap, they need the business. Rogers owns 20 percent of FCI. The crappiest Rogers service is the stuff carried by FCI on their Fibre to the Curb network. I have the 5Mb service from Rogers and it rips. What and when was your problem with Rogers?

[Theoneandonly]

Just google Rogers sucks and you will find plenty of complaints. Just do a search here and you will find the same types of complaints. If you are not downloading then sure Rogers provide ok service. That being said, just prepare for the worst if you need support from their CSR. I didnt know Rogers own 20% of FCI, I thought they were a private company from the States. Are you sure about that?

FCI is too scared to cap, they need the business. Rogers owns 20 percent of FCI. The crappiest Rogers service is the stuff carried by FCI on their Fibre to the Curb network. I have the 5Mb service from Rogers and it rips. What and when was your problem with Rogers?

[AudiDude]

As an ex-employee I am very sure I know the most of anybody on this forum.

[cityhunter]

I am an FCI broadband customer and right now I am very satisfy with the service. Have not experienced any downtime yet and no cap limits so far. I think you have to get their basic phone line in order to get the internet for $33.95, comes out to be $69 after tax. You also get two phone features with this bundle package. If you just get the internet, I think it is $45. I didnt bother signing up for their email but I think they said it is included. There is one concern though, if you use emule/edonkey, I think they are blocking the main port for it, so you will be getting low id all the time. Other than that, the speed is amazing and much better the crappy Rogers.

Can you tell me what download/upload speed you are getting? I use both BitTorrent and Emule. If FCI are blocking the standard emule port, can I just switch Emule/BitTorrent to use a different port? Thanks.

[AudiDude]

If you guys aren't in the same location, you are not using the same type of equipment and therefore cannot compare. That is why I asked where you are and what phase you are in. Without knowing that, all good intentions aside, the info is useless.

[cityhunter]

Cachet Fairways phase I. They gave me a "fibre optic" cable modem when they first installed it. I cancelled it about 1.5 months later and switched to Rogers, and I am still on Rogers right now.

[Theoneandonly]

I dont think there is a way to change ports as I have looked on the internet and read through forums with no success. If you are really concern about getting high ID on emule, I suggest you go with Bell since they do not have any caps at the moment. As for the equipment and different sites that FCI use, I am not sure about that, but I assume that if you are in a new condo/building, they should have the latest optical wires/cables install (not sure). I think FCI only has DSL and phone service at the moment, at least I know for sure that these are the only services provided in my building. What you can do is try them out for a month or so since there is no install fee if you already have their phone service. If you are using bell for land phone then I think there is a ridiculous $55 to install the phone service. You just have to call them up and ask them.

Can you tell me what download/upload speed you are getting? I use both BitTorrent and Emule. If FCI are blocking the standard emule port, can I just switch Emule/BitTorrent to use a different port? Thanks.

[AudiDude]

That was the Fibre to the home, with Look service on the cable. Phase two is Fibre to the curb which is where Rogers is carried buy FCI equipment. You had a blue cable modem from FCI. We had the CMTS set at 1.8 Mb, and the max setting was best effort. It is still set at 1.8 Mb and the equipment is scheduled to be removed and replaced with a different name brand, so look no more for improvements.

[AudiDude]

I dont think there is a way to change ports as I have looked on the internet and read through forums with no success. If you are really concern about getting high ID on emule, I suggest you go with Bell since they do not have any caps at the moment. As for the equipment and different sites that FCI use, I am not sure about that, but I assume that if you are in a new condo/building, they should have the latest optical wires/cables install (not sure). I think FCI only has DSL and phone service at the moment, at least I know for sure that these are the only services provided in my building. What you can do is try them out for a month or so since there is no install fee if you already have their phone service. If you are using bell for land phone then I think there is a ridiculous $55 to install the phone service. You just have to call them up and ask them.

Unfortunately where this RFDer lives, there is no Bell. FCI had no DSL service then and even if they did, it wouldn't be compatible with the network used in Woodbine cachet.