Searchmont HSPA Upgrade Reported - Now Confirmed

This report is now confirmed by Tbaytel staff in Thunder Bay and the local SSM Tbaytel agent - The Brick. 

An Anonymous respondent submitted the following report on Tuesday, 29 Nov 11 under  the CRTC Broadband Report Issued blog.

Searchmont's HSPA upgrade is coming online today. The wireless canopy speed tests show an increase rates at my home today after the majority of the infrastructure was put in place yesterday.

I have not been able to receive independent confirmation but I do know that Tbaytel had a scheduled a work outage for an equipment upgrade on the Bellevue/Searchmont link on Monday, 28 Nov 11. Therefore, I believe the report to be accurate.

CRTC Broadband Report Issued

The CRTC issued its Broadband Report dated November 2011 The statistics cited are for the year 2010.

I think some of the cited statistics are going to make you cry or laugh or sit back in awe!

HSPA Data Hub Survey and Speed Issues

I continue to receive reports about the large fluctuations in the data throughput speeds being experienced by users of HSPA data hubs. This appears to be occurring across all vendors and across all the various hardware equipment. In some cases, the Internet connectivity is so bad, the service becomes unusable.

In an attempt to shed some light on the issue I produced a short personal background paper explaining some of the issues and set up a short survey of users’ experiences.

I ask HSPA data hub users to respond to the survey as it might help to get a better understanding of the problem as viewed from a user perspective and perhaps identify potential problem areas in the Algoma District . The survey is completely anonymous. Please pass the information about the survey on to other data hub users you may know.
Click here to take survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HXX5KK3
Thanks

Bell Mobility Moving Into North Sault?

It appears that the long rumoured moves by Bell Mobility into the North Sault area is preceding apace. A notice of Public Consult was published on 04 Nov 11 for a site near Heyden on the Beaumont Mobile Home Park property.

I have reports that there is new tower a few hundred metres to the east of the Tbaytel Goulais (Buttermilk) tower location that is reported also to be a Bell site.

Seasonal Data Hub Usage Information (Updated Information Added)

Addtional information added I am on a month-to-month plan with the Rogers data hub; I bought it outright without a contract.
I recently asked Rogers if they had some kind of plan for persons who only needed or wanted the data hub on a seasonal basis such as summer residents or snowbirds who went south for the winter. I received the following reply from Rogers: - “In regards to your recent inquiry, unfortunately we are unable to temporarily suspend wireless service.”
It appears the sole Rogers option if you own a data hub and want seasonal access only is to cancel the service and sign-up again when the service is required. It looks as if users on a Rogers’ contract are out of luck.
There is currently a $35.00 activation fee associated with the data hub. Although I have heard that this has been waived in some cases, I would factor it into my cost analysis. It seems one would be need to be away for at least two billing cycles (months) to make the trouble worthwhile.
While I can’t confirm it, I suspect the other two carriers serving the Algoma District have similar policies. If anyone has additional information, let me know and I will post it.
Addtional information added.It looks like a Tbaytel insider took me up on my offer to  post additional information; see comment below from Anonymous. He reports that the Tbaytel policy on seasonal service for month-to-month users is cost and hassle free. Sounds good for the North Sault and North Algoma seasonal residents.