Tuesday 17 March 2015

New BWI5 (Deferral Account) Price and Service Structure

It did not take long for Bell to adjust the price and service structure for the Bell Wireless Internet 5 (BWI5), the name of the service provided in the Deferral Account areas.

The major changes are in the hardware, the data caps and the basic costs.

a. The 4G LTE Huawei B882 Turbo Hub replaces the 4G NetGear MBR 1516 Turbo Hub;

b. The new data cap is increased to 40 GB monthly from 20 GB with the option to add an additional 20 GB per month. I received confirmation from Bell that the 20 GB usage insurance will remain at $10.00;

c. The basic service is now $49.95 (plus taxes) per month on a 2 year term, an increase from $41.95. There is no reduction if the user buys the Turbo Hub outright.

As per the usual Bell practise, the new terms are only being offered to new subscribers only. (In Bell-speak, a new subscriber usually means a subscriber who has not had a similar service from Bell within the last 3 months.)

Like the original BWI5 service, this new service is only available on a direct sales basis from Bell Canada at 1-866-668-9104. The local Bell Stores do not handle this product line.

The qualification to receive BWI5 service remains the same i.e. one must live in designated Deferral Account area.


Details can be seen on the Bell Internet Promotions page

23 comments:

  1. Just signed up, very quick and easy, however wanted to let you know with the new equipment there is no outside antenna anymore, per the rep who signed me up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Joey:

      You are correct, the B882 does not have external antenna ports therefore Bell will not provide an external antenna. The unit does have a telephone port instead.

      In my experience with the NetGear unit, homed off the Pins Shores Road tower, the external antenna makes little or no difference to stable operation of the unit. While the antenna does increase the signal strength readings, as long as you are receiving a signal strength in the - 85 dBm range or better (smaller number) the system will work just fine. Increasing the signal strength by means of an external antenna to -60 dBm will not drastically improve the overall performance. It is in fringe reception areas with a -95 dBm to 115 dBm raw signal strength that an external antenna may make a difference.

      Unlike analogue signals which tend to gracefully degrade in response to distance, power and frequency, it is a typical of a digital signal to be in a working state or not in a working state almost instantaneously in response to the same signal criteria.

      In another case, an external antenna might make a difference if the user location is an equal physical or electronic distance from one of more towers. The Turbo Hub may get confused and want to switch site to site which could result in dropped signals and poor speed. (Hint: if you suspect this may be happening to you, use tin foil or copper wire mesh to shield the Turbo hub form one of more of the offending towers.)

      Delete
  2. Really, seriously..lol figures they'd not offer the data to those that just signed up for the previous bwi5 plan. Why does it always have to be complicated for the rural users. Of course I'd like 60 gigs, what are the overage costs?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The overage rates are listed as $4 per GB for both the original plan and this modified one.

      Delete
  3. Was inquiring about this plan just the other day (I was the previous anonymous poster btw), this plan was somewhat grey matter to 2 people I called in to however persistance paid off when I found another person whom had details about this plan. They stated that it was everything as was mentioned above and successfully added the data rate to my existing plan which I took the 40gig and the additional 20gig addon for a total of 59 bucks.
    In essence I'm paying 9 dollars more than my previous plan for 20 gigs extra, that's a great rate for at least myself!

    What I'm still confused about is how these offers are still valid yet even with the included phone number you can reach employees that are unaware that this item for sale exists! We poor rural folk, we're almost allowed to eat at the table at least.

    Once again Hermes you deserve my thanks for providing us with this website and the information provided therein.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tried signing up for the new pricing today but was told it was a special promotional offer only good until March 31 and everyone who was eligible to receive it would have received a letter in the mail.....of course neither I or my neighbours on St Joseph Island have received any correspondence about the deferral program to date!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well I posted the above about not being able to get into the new pricing and service but I wouldn't take no for an answer

      After being told I should have received material and didn't that it was to late I called back in to complain since I have still to date never received any material about this program. I asked for a supervisor and walked them through googling "Bell wireless internet 5" to show them the promotional page and the supervisor said they could see the offer and would update my account. So now I have 60 gigs for $59.95

      Just don't take no for an answer I guess haha.

      So it should still work.

      Delete
  5. I was able to change my rate plan to the new one offered. You just may have to walk the rep through what the service is. It took him a while to find it, but had no issues with him changing my rate plan.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm on it officially as of April 24th, 60 gigs (40 regular and 20 addon for 10 bucks) which is surprisingly nice for us out here now!
    It's taken 25 years for me to achieve this goal wow...I've paid astronomical bills in the past such as the $1200.00 bill to explornet for 20 minutes of service...yes you read correctly and I can go into details of why but in the end...it was a pink slip that I paid through collections of that amount for a whole 20 minutes of service that was sub par.
    Not to mention the years and years of agony with dial up, expressvu's once offered Satellite Internet to the last round with Rogers Hub that was decent however at 120.00 dollars per month for 22 gigs ouch.

    Regardless, does anyone here notice what their hub has for a cell number? Mine carries a 647-***-**** account area code number. This is a Metro Toronto area code Sim Card. It's kind of odd since I live in the 705 area code. I've looked at a few peoples in my area and they have 705-941-**** codes.
    I don't think it matters since data is local regardless where you are in Canada under Bell's towers but it's somewhat odd.

    ReplyDelete
  7. FYI, the BWI5 signup and hub is now available in store at ATS Bell store on Bruce St in the Soo. Maybe other Bell stores too. Current deal is 0$ for the hub on a 2 yr term.

    ReplyDelete
  8. My Netgear1516 hub which worked fine through the winter started noticeably disconnecting from the Haviland Bay tower on May 3. I called tech support who asked me to reset the hub and the hub never connected again after that. Rec'd 2 replacement hubs, walked through setup with the techs and neither ever connected. Although it was only mentioned as a possibility, the trouble start date seems to have coincided with the enabling of LTE service on the towers. Finally today, May 23, after a dozen tech support calls Levels 1&2, two replacements and two new SIM cards, and some firm language, Bell customer resolution finally coughed up an upgrade deal to the new Huawei hub, which worked right out of the box. Am I the only one who has had the Netgear hub problem?? My advice to Netgear owners - don't reset the hub if it's working - it may not work again! Marty @ HBay.ca

    ReplyDelete
  9. I also had an outage experience with my Netgear Turbo Hub. One minute it was humming along great and then it just dropped the Internet connection and would not re-connect. I did all the normal immediate actions (IA) including a factory reset and still could not get a connection.

    I eventually called Bell tech support. We tried a few things I had not already done. One was removing the Netgear SIM card and inserting my phone SIM card. Bingo - all the appropriate LEDs lit up in the prerequisite manner. It seemed I had a bad SIM card.

    I could not pass traffic as the phone's SIM card was not associated with the data hub but at least the data hub was now recognizing the presence of a SIM card.

    I got a new SIM at the Bell Store (It was free as the system was still under warranty.) However, as noted in the above comment, the Bell Store personnel could not activate my new SIM. I had to do that via telephone with tech support once I installed the new SIM card in the Netgear turbo hub.

    I have not had any problems since. As SIM cards only cost $4.95, I bought another one as a standby; it would cost me more in gas to make a special trip to town if I ever need another one.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Does anyone have any ideas about how to bypass the speed restriction on the Huawei B882 (5 down, 1 up). Bell told me over the phone that the restriction is configured into the device itself. What would happen if the device were jail broken? Ideas?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The service is sold as 5 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up. That is what a user pays for and that is what the vendor delivers.

      I assume you are willing to pay for the increase in speed! Otherwise you are asking for a way to steal service from the vendor.

      Delete
  11. Lastest pricing as of today is $58.95 for 65gigs at the bell stores in town. Called bell direct and they wanted $63.95 for 60 gigs. Both places had free device with 2 year contract.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi ive call bell they has offered for me is $75 for 5gb and $90 for 10gb. And the number ive call is18884662453,1,1,1? Can somene explain to me? Im live border of sault and heyden. Thx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Based on the information you provided, it appears you do not live in a BWI5 (Deferral Account) area. Thus you are being offered the standard Bell data hub service rates.

      I noticed on the Bell Mobility website that they are currently offering an in-store promo which will give you 20 GB for $90.00. The cost of the turbo hub or contract requirements is not mentioned.

      This offer is only available in-store and not over the Internet or direct sales.

      Delete
  13. Thanks for the info. My neighbour somehow he get it for $50 20gb. He saids send me the info but now out of town and family dont know any info. Do i have to sign in anywhere or just waiting when it get here?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I cannot find any service wireless currently being offered in the Heyden area by Bell at the price quoted in your comment i.e. $50 for 20GB.

      Perhaps your neighbour can provide more details about the service he subscribes to upon his return. This may help to track something down.

      Until then, it I just a case of waiting broadband (high speed) Internet coverage improves in your area.

      Delete
    2. Loveshop:

      See my post at: http://adnetinalgoma.blogspot.com/2016/01/new-bwi5-deferral-account-price.html

      This may be what your friend was talking about. You want to see if the Bell store in Station Mall will offer you this plan. Go to the store and not over the phone.

      Delete
  14. Hermes was wondering if you were having the same problem as I am, bell Internet is slow as hell all the time except at midnight, I'm in the kbps all day long I'm on 552E in goulais river and have the net gear router with a external attenna at 78dbm. Do r know why it's so slow my Samsung galaxy s5 with tbaytel gets 5mbs when the bell hub can barley get 1mbs just wondering if I'm not the only one

    ReplyDelete
  15. Have you tried the procedure recommended in this post: -

    http://adnetinalgoma.blogspot.ca/2015/11/bwi5-deferral-account-speed-problems.html

    ReplyDelete