Review of Tim Hortons Wi-Fi Hotspot in Sault Ste. Marie

I tried the new “free” Tim Hortons Wi-Fi hotspot offering  at the Trunk Road location in Sault Ste Marie on Saturday,  11 Aug 12 around 4:30 pm.  I used a Bell Samsung Galaxy S II.

The handset detected the availability of the hotspot immediately and connected. When I opened the browser application, I was offered two choices: - Tim Hortons Wi-Fi Plus and Free Wi-Fi. The former required a registration process involving a name and email address. There is no additional information on the Tim Hortons’ website but other sources state the registration for each device is a one-time requirement and my handset will be recognized when I try to connect in the future.

I was able to access the Internet immediately by selecting the free option but I am not sure if this is available to all users. The hotspot is supplied by Bell and Bell customers get “free” access to a number of “free” networks. Since the “free” networks are available to all users regardless of their home network, I am not sure what Bell is offering their customers except they claim Bell devices are recognized and no password sign-in is required.

I followed the registration for the Wi-Fi Plus option. This required I get access to my e-mail account to acknowledge receipt of the verification message sent by timhortonsverification@datavalet.com . Once I verified the registration, the connection performed well.

I conducted a number of speed tests using Speedtest.net Mobile on both the Wi-Fi connection and a Bell HSPA+ 3G/4G connection with the following average of five results.

Direction	Wi-Fi	HSPA+ 3G/4G
Download	0.60 Mbps	4.62 Mbps
Upload	0.21 Mbps	3.28 Mbps

I am not sure why the Wi-Fi readings were so slow. It may be the system is still being fine-tuned as the publically announced in-service date is Sep 2012. Also, none of the Sault Ste. Marie outlets are listed as Wi-Fi enabled on the main Tim Hortons’ website.

Noted added 01 Sep 12:  I retested the Wi-Fi speeds today and consistently received around 2 Mbps download and about .60 Mbps upload. 

Nevertheless, the access was sufficient to check e-mail and surf a few websites. I had no problem accessing the International bridge camera to check on traffic tailbacks.  I did not try a VoIP call, but the speeds are very close to the limits for acceptable voice quality although the ping times were low in the 50 ms range.

While the service may not be acceptable to the power user, I feel the service will satisfy the basic needs of most users and save valuable bytes from their data plan cap.

Comments on Data Hubs in East Algoma

I have received a number comments over recent weeks from Bell data hub users in East Algoma that the speeds are slowing down and all the classic signs of network congestion are beginning to manifest themselves.

Whether it is coincidental or not, I noticed this sign along the roadside during a recent visit to Desbarats and St. Joseph Island. 

Bell Cell Sites in North Sault 10 Aug 12

Work on the Bell cell sites north of the Sault is progressing well.

The pictures below show that the actual tower construction at Goulais (Buttermilk) is complete and the work of installing the antennas is proceeding.

At the Heyden (Beaumont) site, the tower base is now visible just above the tree line. I expect to see the full tower finished within weeks.

I have no information as to when the sites will be actually commissioned and service will be available. 

Panorama from Robertson Lake road showing the two cell sites at Goulais (Buttermilk)

 Bell Tower at Goulais (Buttermilk) showing antennas being installed.

Coverage of new towers shown in brown

Bell's Deferral Account Report of 31 Jul 12

The CRTC has released the Bell Deferral Account report submitted by Bell  on 31 Jul 2012 and it is a shocker.

The report completely revamps the schedule and throws out all previous ones, including the barebones version submitted as recently as May 2012 and reported in this blog. The bottom line is Bell states it will not be a position to implement the Deferral Account wireless plan until 31 Aug 2014. It shows 100 Deferral Account locales being activated on that date.

This includes the 5 areas in the Algoma District and means that, barring further changes by Bell, the Deferral Account service implementation is now not scheduled as follows:

Deferral Account Area	Original Date	New Date
Echo Bay	2013	31 Aug 2014
Goulais	2013	31 Aug 2014
SSM -Airport	2012	31 Aug 2014
St. Joseph Island	2013	31 Aug 2014
Wawa	2014	31 Aug 2014

I suspect Bell will proceed with the activation of some new sites in the Goulais and SSM-Airport areas but they will not be part of the Deferral Account program initially and will not be eligible for the special rates until much later, if ever. 

In my simplified interpretation, Bell states the implementation of the HSPA+ wireless solution will be much more complicated than anticipated and it wants to conduct field trials in nine selected locations as shown on this map, all of which happen to be in southern Ontario, before rolling out the technology in all Deferral Account areas.  

You can read the full Bell report  and the Bell schedule as released by the CRTC by following the links.

It is obvious the new proposal is a major disappointment to those living in the Deferral Account areas. The question now becomes one of whether or not the CRTC will accept the Bell plan or force them to somehow speed up the roll-out.  At the Telecom Summit in Toronto on 05 Jun 12, Leonard Katz, Acting Chairman, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission made the following statement concerning Bell  and the Deferral Account program;

“Unfortunately, it's a different story with Bell Canada and Bell Aliant. Nearly two years after we issued our directive, Bell has extended broadband service to only three of its 112 communities.

Broadband service is more and more of a necessity for full participation in the digital economy and in our life as Canadians. The funds were collected over a number of years from Bell subscribers. I urge our friends at Bell to give a higher priority to the needs of the people in these rural and remote communities by accelerating their rollout plans.”

One can hope that the CRTC will continue to press Bell to speed up the implementation. In the cases of the Algoma District areas, I suspect Bell could roll-out DSL quicker and with less effort than the challenges they seem to be facing with the HSPA+ wireless roll-out. A lot depends on whether or not the existing pole-lines could handle the additional cable loads.

I will be doing some follow-up work in this whole Deferral Account arena and will pass-on other observations in due course.

SSM-Airport Deferral Account Site Location

Bell has confirmed the location of the cell site for the Deferral Account installation in the SSM-Airport area. The new location is the result of a public consultation process I reported on last year.

The location is:

Location Address: Tower Location: Coordinates of Tower Center:

57 Des Chênes Drive Pointe Des Chênes Campground N46° 28' 30.26" W84° 31' 24.25"

Bell has not yet announced the implementation schedule for this or any other Deferral Account sites.

Bell previously stated they would deliver the schedule to the CRTC by the end of July 2012. 

Internet Cost Study

The CRTC released a study on 05 Jul 2012 entitled “Price Comparisons of Wireline, Wireless and Internet Services in Canada and with Foreign Jurisdictions”

This study challenges some of the common wisdom espoused in various public forums, news website comments and dedicated websites about the cost of Internet service in Canada.

The report is sure to generate a lot of feedback over the next little while.

Goulais (Buttermilk) Site Upgrade Completed 20 Jun 2012

Tbaytel has confirmed that the site upgrade work at Goulais (Buttermilk) is now complete.  New panel style antennas were added and reoriented and a second carrier added. The second carrier will add greater capacity to the site and help reduce congestion.  There is no need to change user handset or data hub equipment to take advantage of the upgrades. 

If you are anywhere in the coverage area shown on the blog of 13 Jun 12, are  using an external antenna aimed at another site such as Bellevue to Heyden and are having  difficulties with speed and connectivity, you may want to swing you  antenna towards the Goulais (Buttermilk). There is no guarantee the service will improve, but I think it is worth a try.

If anyone notices an improvement (or degradation) in service, please let me know either directly at wlefresne@adnetalgoma.ca or by using the comment section.