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Bell Internet, originally and frequently still called Sympatico, is the
residential A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residen ...
Internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...
(ISP) division of
BCE Inc. BCE Inc., formerly Bell Canada Enterprises Inc., is a publicly traded Canadian holding company for Bell Canada, which includes telecommunications providers and various mass media assets under its subsidiary Bell Media Inc. Founded through a c ...
As of May 3, 2012, Bell Internet had over 3 million subscribers in
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
and
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, making it the largest ISP in Canada.


History


1990s: Early years

Sympatico was launched on November 29, 1995. Originally a national service operated jointly by Canada's incumbent local exchange carriers and operational run as a content portal by MediaLinx , the companies other than Bell (including
Aliant Bell Aliant is a brand name used by Bell Canada for telecommunications services in Atlantic Canada. Prior to 2015, Bell Aliant Inc. (formerly Aliant Inc.) was a separate company providing telecom services in the Atlantic provinces and a few ot ...
) have since retreated to their own brands.


2000s: Value-added services and rebranding

Starting in Summer 2003, Sympatico tried to differentiate its service from its competitors by adding
value-added service A value-added service (VAS) is a popular telecommunications industry{{cite web, url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/11/prweb11284640.htm, title=Global Mobile Value Added Services (VAS) Market: Worldwide Industry Share, Investment Trends, Growth, ...
s. This meant the launch of Radial Point's (formerly Zero Knowledge) suite of
antivirus Antivirus software (abbreviated to AV software), also known as anti-malware, is a computer program used to prevent, detect, and remove malware. Antivirus software was originally developed to detect and remove computer viruses, hence the name. ...
,
firewall Firewall may refer to: * Firewall (computing), a technological barrier designed to prevent unauthorized or unwanted communications between computer networks or hosts * Firewall (construction), a barrier inside a building, designed to limit the spre ...
and
anti-spyware Spyware (a portmanteau for spying software) is software with malicious behaviour that aims to gather information about a person or organization and send it to another entity in a way that harms the user—for example, by violating their privac ...
services. Although a fee was originally required, this is no longer the case, as Bell now provides the service at no extra charge for DSL customers. In 2004, Sympatico added a wireless modem-router hardware upgrade and Microsoft's
MSN Premium MSN Dial-up is an Internet service provider operated by Microsoft in the United States and formerly also in several other countries. Originally named The Microsoft Network, it debuted as a proprietary online service on August 24, 1995, to coinci ...
software to its portfolio. In Summer 2007, Sympatico packaged its Security suite and wireless home networking modem together with its high speed offering as Sympatico Total Internet. Bell Sympatico changed its name to Bell Internet on August 8, 2008, in conjunction with the
Today Just Got Better Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in t ...
rebranding Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors ...
. Bell subsidiaries
NorthernTel NorthernTel LP (formerly Northern Telephone Limited or NTL) is a telephone company in Ontario, Canada. NorthernTel began in April 1905 in New Liskeard, Ontario, as the Temiskaming Telephone Company. It grew by buying other regional telephone prov ...
,
Télébec Télébec LP is a telephone company located in the province of Quebec in Canada. It serves various sectors like the James Bay territory area, the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, parts of central and southern Quebec and parts of the Outaouais regio ...
and Northwestel continue to brand their Internet services as Sympatico, and users receive an @ntl.sympatico.ca, @tlb.sympatico.ca, or @sympatico.ca email address, respectively.


2010s: Lower caps and faster speeds

On January 3, 2012, customer advocacy blog Stop The Cap! reported that Bell lowered its bandwidth caps in
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
and
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
by 10 GB for all new activations of its Fibe services, except for the Fibe 25 plan in Ontario which was lowered by 25 GB instead and Fibe 6 and 7 which remain unchanged. In May 2012, Bell launched new fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) plans and simplified its slower DSL plans. FTTH regions can now download and upload at symmetric speeds of up to 175 Mbit/s. The previous changes for lower bandwidth caps were reverted for the new Fibe 15/1 and Fibe 25/7 plans. The Fibe 5/1 plan replaced the older Essential, Essential Plus, Fibe 6 and Fibe 7 plans. The bandwidth cap for Fibe 5/1, however, was lowered from 25 GB to 15 GB. The Fibe 50/50 FTTH plan was removed from Bell's website by February 2013. In its place, a Fibe 50/10 FTTN plan was made available for the first time. During that same month, usage caps for the 15/10, 25/10 and 50/10 plans were lowered by 15, 25 and 75 GB respectively. February also saw the addition of an unlimited Internet usage add-on for Bell Internet. It costs $30/month and can be added to any residential plan. Those who subscribe to telephony (
Bell Mobility Bell Mobility Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator, wireless network operator and the division of Bell Canada which offers wireless services across Canada. It operates networks using LTE (telecommunication), LTE and Evolved HSPA, HSPA+ on i ...
or Bell Home Phone) and residential television ( Bell Satellite TV or
Bell Fibe TV Bell Fibe TV is an IP-based television service offered by Bell Canada in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is bundled with a FTTN or FTTH Bell Internet service, and uses the Mediaroom platform. Bell Fibe TV officially launched on Septem ...
) from Bell can obtain a $20/month discount on the unlimited Internet usage add-on.


Hardware

When Bell started its DSL Internet service, then known as Sympatico, it simply offered one DSL modem, the Nortel
1-Meg Modem The 1-Meg Modem in telecommunications was a DSL modem created by Nortel which conforms to the ADSL Lite standard. The 1-Meg Modem was the first xDSL modem to gain approval and registration under FCC Part 68 Rules. Technical details The 1-Meg Mod ...
, which connected to only one computer. Later, it added more models with
routing Routing is the process of selecting a path for traffic in a network or between or across multiple networks. Broadly, routing is performed in many types of networks, including circuit-switched networks, such as the public switched telephone netw ...
and wireless LAN capabilities built-in, eliminating the need to purchase additional hardware. Customers previously had to pay extra for such capabilities. Today, both of these features are standard in both all-in-one devices Bell lends to its customers. Standard DSL customers must rent Bell's 2Wire 2701HG-G device, which can create
802.11g IEEE 802.11g-2003 or 802.11g is an amendment to the IEEE 802.11 specification that operates in the 2.4 GHz microwave band. The standard has extended throughput to up to 54 Mbit/s using the same 20 MHz bandwidth as 802.11b uses to achieve 11 Mbit/ ...
wireless access point. VDSL customers consist of any service with more than 1 Mbit/s of upload speed, and they must rent the Cellpipe router 802.11n-capable device instead, which also bundles a superior DSL modem. # The SpeedStream 5200 is a basic, legacy device, distributed during the early 2000s, providing an
RJ45 A modular connector is a type of electrical connector for cords and cables of electronic devices and appliances, such as in computer networking, telecommunication equipment, and audio headsets. Modular connectors were originally developed for ...
or a USB port for connectivity. # The SpeedStream 6520 is a wireless-capable, legacy device, distributed during the mid-2000s, # The back of the SpeedStream 6520. Four RJ45 ports, one USB port and
802.11g IEEE 802.11g-2003 or 802.11g is an amendment to the IEEE 802.11 specification that operates in the 2.4 GHz microwave band. The standard has extended throughput to up to 54 Mbit/s using the same 20 MHz bandwidth as 802.11b uses to achieve 11 Mbit/ ...
wireless LAN
antenna Antenna ( antennas or antennae) may refer to: Science and engineering * Antenna (radio), also known as an aerial, a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic (e.g., TV or radio) waves * Antennae Galaxies, the name of two collid ...
for connectivity can be seen. # The 2Wire 2701HG-G is Bell's current device for standard DSL customers, distributed since 2009. It provides four RJ45 ports and 802.11g wireless LAN for connectivity, but omits the previously available USB port. # The Cellpipe 7130 has the same ports as the 2Wire, but also adds ports for a wireless antenna, a console or fiber. (No longer being distributed) # The Sagemcom F@st 2864 (marketed as the ″Bell Connection Hub″) was used for ADSL/VDSL and FTTH customers, distributed 2010 to June 2014. It provides one WAN port for FTTH, an RJ11 jack for VDSL connection, four GigE LAN ports, an HPNA connector, 802.11b/g/n wireless LAN for connectivity and 2 USB ports. # The Sagemcom F@st 4350 (Marketed as the "Home Hub 1000") is Bell's current device, since June 2014, for internet only customers subscribing to 15/10 or higher and issued on both ADSL/VDSL and FTTH. It provides one WAN port for FTTH, an RJ11 jack for VDSL connection, four GigE LAN ports, 802.11b/g/n (2.4 GHz) wireless LAN for connectivity and 2 USB ports. # The Sagemcom F@st 5250 (Marketed as the "Home Hub 2000") is Bell's current device, since June 2014, for internet and
Fibe TV Bell Fibe TV is an IP-based television service offered by Bell Canada in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is bundled with a FTTN or FTTH Bell Internet service, and uses the Mediaroom platform. Bell Fibe TV officially launched on Septem ...
customers issued on both ADSL/VDSL and FTTH. It provides one WAN port for FTTH, two grey RJ11 jack for VDSL connection (pair bonding capable), two green RJ11 jacks for VoIP (not currently used), four GigE LAN ports, 802.11b/g/n (2.4 GHz) and 802.11a/n/ac (5 GHz) wireless LAN for connectivity and 2 USB ports. As of November 2021, the Home Hub 4000 is Bell's newest modem, for Internet and Fibe TV customers on different types of Plans.


Services

While Bell Internet mostly sells
digital subscriber line Digital subscriber line (DSL; originally digital subscriber loop) is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric di ...
(DSL) service, they also offer
dial-up Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telepho ...
service to businesses and grandfathered residential customers. This legacy technology uses a
telephone modem A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by modulating one or more ca ...
to provide Internet access.


Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)

Bell's
digital subscriber line Digital subscriber line (DSL; originally digital subscriber loop) is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric di ...
(DSL) services are based on ADSL, ADSL2+ and VDSL2 technology. The main differences in both equipments vary from the speed of signal, its length and its ability to overcome the noise of a phone line. Except for very few grandfathered customers, Bell has monthly data transfer limits for all of their tiered Internet services. Both downloads and uploads count towards the limit. The following Bell Internet services are only available in
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
and
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, and availability varies by region. Fibe services can only be used where fibre-to-the-neighbourhood (FTTN) technology is deployed. This currently includes urban
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...
, Montreal,
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
and Toronto as well as most major cities around GTA. Non-FTTN regions offer two plans: Bell Internet and Bell Internet Plus. Bell has simplified its DSL lineup to offer only two traditional plans and five FTTN plans.


Fibre To The Home (FTTH)

Bell Fibe Bell Fibe TV is an IP-based television service offered by Bell Canada in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is bundled with a FTTN or FTTH Bell Internet service, and uses the Mediaroom platform. Bell Fibe TV officially launched on Septe ...
Internet (FTTH) services are offered by Bell in select regions of Ontario and Quebec. Bell guarantees that the FTTH download and upload speeds advertised will be delivered to the Bell equipment. Bell Fibe Internet is offered at the following speeds: 25/25 Mbit/s, 50/50 Mbit/s, 150/150 Mbit/s, 500/500 Mbit/s, 1 Gbit/s/750 Mbit/s, 1.5 Gbit/s/940 Mbit/s, and 3/3 Gbit/s. Bell Aliant offers a similar but different Fibe service under the same branding to certain areas in
Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...
.


Dry DSL

Naked DSL, commonly known as dry DSL in Canada, consists of a DSL service without a traditional home phone service. Bell does not charge any additional fees for dry DSL service; previously, there was a charge of $4 per month. Bell charges resellers a monthly fee ranging from $7.25 to $25.10 and a one-time activation fee for dry DSL service. Although Bell still attributes a phone number to a dry DSL line, it cannot be used for phone calls. When one attempts to call a dry DSL phone number, they receive the following message: "The number you are calling cannot receive incoming calls. This is a recording." The message is then repeated in French.


McAfee Security

Since April 11, 2013, Bell offers McAfee Security on all of its current Internet plans.


Add-ons

These are services offered by Bell Internet in addition to DSL or FTTH services, either for free or at additional costs: * ''PC Care'', an optional computer technical support service with a monthly fee. * ''Usage Insurance'', which increases the monthly bandwidth cap with one or multiple blocks of 25GB, or provides unlimited Internet usage for a fee. * ''Unlimited Internet Usage'' * ''Wireless Home Networking''


Legacy services

Bell previously offered Portable Internet and Rural Internet services in select rural regions, similarly to what Rogers Communications offered. These services used the Inukshuk Wireless network. Bell is discontinuing these offerings. Customers are encouraged to use
Bell Mobility Bell Mobility Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator, wireless network operator and the division of Bell Canada which offers wireless services across Canada. It operates networks using LTE (telecommunication), LTE and Evolved HSPA, HSPA+ on i ...
Internet services instead, which generally offer a much lower bandwidth cap. Bell Entertainment was a bundle offer which included
Bell Fibe TV Bell Fibe TV is an IP-based television service offered by Bell Canada in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is bundled with a FTTN or FTTH Bell Internet service, and uses the Mediaroom platform. Bell Fibe TV officially launched on Septem ...
service and 25 Mbit/s "Fibe" DSL. It was only available in some parts of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). Customers can now add any DSL Internet plan to their Fibe TV service. Despite being an IPTV service, Bell does not charge usage-based billing for Bell Fibe TV. ''Personal Vault'' was a
backup In information technology, a backup, or data backup is a copy of computer data taken and stored elsewhere so that it may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form, referring to the process of doing so, is "back up", w ...
service, available nationwide both for customers and non-customers. While
inMusic inMusic (formerly known as Sympatico/MSN Music) was a Canadian music news portal and an online music store. The music store had over 2 million tracks in English and French from various genres. Samples of 30 seconds for each song were offered at n ...
remains available as a music news portal, both the online music store and subscription service were discontinued.


See also

*
Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in t ...
*
Cogeco Cogeco Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications and media company. Its corporate offices are located at 1 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec. The company is structured into three strategic business units (SBU); Cogeco Connexion, Breezeline ( ...
* Net Neutrality *
Rogers Internet Rogers Hi-Speed Internet is a broadband Internet service provider in Canada, owned by Rogers Communications. Rogers previously operated under the brand names Rogers@Home, Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet, WAVE, and Road Runner in Newfoundland. It ...
* TekSavvy * List of internet service providers in Canada


References


External links

*
Bell Internet SupportBell Sympatico review by dslreports.com (cited in many sites)Provincial protection agency report (Section in French)
{{Canadian ISP Bell Canada Internet service providers of Canada 1995 establishments in Canada Telecommunications companies established in 1995