[kwlug disc.] Atria WiFi as ISP

[unsolicited]

Insurance Squared Inc. wrote, On 02/05/2008 3:53 PM:
> The last company I would ever do business with is Atria.  It's all the 
> beauracracy of the old ontario hydro government organization prettied up 
> as a 'real' business.  Lipstick on a pig.
> 
> I was paying them thousands a month and it took me months and a ton of 
> paperwork just to get another half dozen IP addresses - and even then 
> they were trying to deny me because they didn't like my intended use of 
> them (no technical reason, they were making business decisions about my 
> business).  That's a bit of a rant, but think about what your reaction 
> would be if your doing webhosting and asked for a couple more IP's and 
> got that as a response :).
> 
> The short answer is they're overpriced with horrible service and 
> bandwith that's not as good as what can be found elsewhere.  Stick to 
> Bell or Rogers if you can.

Interesting. My experience has been the reverse. I would never do 
business with Bell. Good experience with Atria. Copper.

I expect the true answer is depends where you are (what's available), 
and what you need.

> Kareem Shehata wrote:
>> Has anyone here used Atria's WiFi service to replace "traditional" 
>> broadband
>> connections (DSL/Cable)?  I'll be moving into a new apartment this month,
>> and I'm rather anxious to avoid paying the Bell Canada Tax, and have had
>> very bad service with Rogers in the past.  Can you just use a "normal"
>> wireless router with Atria to give access to wired machines?

Careful of your pricing / plans. Last time I looked, 'home' wireless, 
and K-W roaming wireless were 2 different beasties.

In theory, wireless will do you, but you'll never get the bandwidth 
you expect. e.g. If you're downloading iso's or movies, you won't be 
happy. And because of the encryption, you'll always get less 
throughput than the specs. Whether it be encryption, or the regular 
time out, or the regular 'please sign in' requests.

Check your available bandwidth in your area first. i.e. Some places 
along university you might get 1Mbps. Some places along King you might 
only get 128Kbps.