Bell launches new broadband wireless Internet service in rural Kawartha Lakes

It’s the first thing on the minds of people who are considering the possibility of moving to Kawartha Lakes – or any largely rural municipality. ‘How’s the Internet?’
Bell today announced the expansion of its Wireless Home Internet wireless broadband service to more communities in the Kawartha Lakes region and Peterborough County, including Kirkfield, Lindsay and Little Britain.
The new service will be expanded to other parts of the region later in 2019, including Bobcaygeon, Fenelon Falls, Kinmount, and Omemee.
“It’s the number one priority we always hear about as politicians,” says City of Kawartha Lakes Mayor Andy Letham, who attended the press conference in Little Britain along with Councillors Andrew Veale, Pat O’Reilly, Ron Ashmore, and Tracy Richardson.
“People want broadband – this is exciting news,” he said, noting it is important for private enterprise like Bell to step up like they have to try and address these concerns.
Bell Wireless Home Internet is designed to provide affordable broadband access (priced regularly from $69.95 to $79.95 depending on package) — to residents in smaller towns and unserved and underserved rural communities. The 5G-capable technology operates in the 3,500 MHz spectrum band on Bell’s advanced LTE wireless network.
“These speeds are very similar to what I would get at home in the GTA,” says Karen Neave, senior product manager for Bell.
To install Wireless Home Internet, Bell technicians place a small antenna outside a customer’s home that connects to the Bell LTE network. Customers also receive a Bell home hub modem to provide fast Wi-Fi throughout the home. Wireless Home Internet can also be bundled with Bell Satellite TV, offering more than 250 live and on demand channels on tablets, smartphones, laptops and big screens with the Bell Fibe TV app.
The new service will not address the so-called ‘dead zones’ of cell coverage in Kawartha Lakes. However, organizers suggested their colleagues at head office should know about these to address them and encouraged the municipality to get in touch.
It’s one of those stories that is a bit of both, Will. Rural internet is an important topic, so if there is a private sector solution that helps in some way, people want to know about it. Many others are excited to have the option. Not everyone is streaming Netflix for half a day or watching YouTube videos 24/7. There are many people who will find value in this, even with the data caps.
We tried to get this new so called services from Bell.
However, they of course can not get signal from my location, no line of site. We asked if we can get the same plan that they offer through the rocket hub from Bell and they flat out said “no”, although it is exactly the same concept. The only difference is the Sim card is in the satellite dish that they put on the roof of your home.. So, now we continue to pay the outrageous price of $200.00 a month for internet from good old Xplornet.
What you think is “unlimited” from Xplornet…isn’t. It’s unlimited in that after you use your “cap”, yes there’s the old cap word even in it’s LTE fixed service and I think I’ve heard some horror stories of 50 gigs…some 100 gigs. Once the cap is exceeded your throttled “unlimited” to a theoretical 300kbps or thereabouts.
What’s 300k worthy of…pretty much just web browsing and watching a spinning wheel if there’s a hint of video.
Yea so there ya have it, you can’t escape the dread till the coffin is six feet under I guess for most of us late 40 year olds and up. We’ll never see (at least if they keep getting their way) a proper simple internet that works like it should…just simple normal internet.
I am another Xplorenet user that is unhappy. I live in rural Québec and have just been advised of 14% increase over basic rates, starting in Feb. this is bordering on usurious! In addition to a basic fee of $59 for 20 Gb, I am also ripped-off renting an outdated modem (Hughes HT1100) for $7.50 month that I can buy on eBay for $25; plus, I have had to provide my own router
Bell recently put up a new tower within 2 Km of me and I am going to investigate their ‘Turbo-Hub’ option, which I suspect is also available in communities in the Kawartha Lakes area.
Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.
I inquired today about this “wireless to the home” deal and asked if I couldn’t get it, if they would honor at least near the capacity (didnt even ask for a break in price). The retentions guy (who after 4 people I ended up talking to), looked at my current rocket hub account with them and said after looking at my usage I don’t need the “wireless to home” additional data due to my current usage. I told him my current usage is what it is because I don’t have unlimited data and don’t want a $3000. internet bill. He didn’t even get it. Didn’t try to even help me, just a bloody useless excuse of a Bell support person.
Bell denies DSL (and overcharges when they do have it installed, tons and tons of problems, tech after tech that never seems to get it fixed)
Along comes this “new” Wireless Home internet 25 “reasonably priced service for Rural Canadians, who previously had unavailable or unresponsive internet options”
Yes, even after Federal Government made it MANDATORY and paid 10s of millions to ensure the big telecoms (especially Bell) who owns lions share of ALL LINES coast to coast, which THEY collect rent on every @#$ pole per day..so now we have a 100gb pakage not at all “reasonably priced” or the 350gb package, even more overpriced, instead of “passing the savings to consumers” as they rightfully should be doing
(cause DSL lines are much much much more expensive in the long run, then wireless is) they jump the cost of the “wireless” (which still uses wires..LOL)..
IMO the “low” package should be exactly 1/2 the data cap ~150gb, not 100, and not just $10 less after promo ends, but at least $20 less (counting tax in) and the larger 350gb package IMO should be ~$15 less as well, so instead of breaching $90/mth, maybe make it $75 flat (tax included)
$55 for 150gb….$75 for 350gb…that would be “reasonable cost” for RURAL CANADIANS..enough to make Bell 10s of millions in profit per year without a problem, help the little people (such as those of us on very tight and ever shrinking budgets at least have ability to contact outside world.
Bell “doesn’t care much” even though Government no longer considers telecoms “luxury items” but a BASIC NEED for the modern Canada, seems the telecoms themselves are far too fixated on being hundreds of millions in profit, it not, they completely cut the cord for those that need it most..i.e Rural Canadians they “claim” they are trying their best to provide service to…yeh right….
Awful nice when we have a main Fibre trunk line direct across the road from us, Bell refuses to link to the house, refuses to give the slower but more cost freindly DSL and outright blocks access to Cable (as they own the land the lines run over, due to pole rental land locks)
Bell is a toxin in this day and age..far too $$$$$$$$$$$ greedy, less about the “little folks” that ensure their pocket stay $$$$$$$$$$ loaded.
So here we are fast forwarded into March 2020 and COVID-19 Crisis mode is in full swing! Yup it’s massive virus time going on with lock downs and no contact-stay home orders. So Bell and Rogers make announcements to lift the CAPS on pay per use Home Internet subscribers awwww isn’t that special when pretty much those users have unlimited. Guess what happened next! Yup the Home Internet “Hub” users are not included. In their words we still have a mandate to suck the dollars from your wallet you lowly pheasants in the rural *cough pheasantland* of Canada.
So in a Global Crisis they don’t give a rats *rse about us! May the winds of poison blow hard on yours and your little ones…See YA!