In a previous post, I mentioned how I was changing Internet service providers in an effort to cut those costs by about 50%. It turns out there might be a few complications to my plan. First, it may actually be impossible for the independent ISP to get service to me. The reason for that is because the indie ISP has to rely on Telus to run the proper copper wires used for DSL to my building. I’m almost 100% sure that Telus chose to actually run fiber optic lines to my building for Internet instead of copper because fiber is way faster. Apparently, Telus can apparently refuse to do any more wiring to my building because the fiber is already in place. Without having any copper wires for DSL in my building, the indie ISP won’t be able to provide service to me since Telus won’t let them touch the fiber lines. If this is the case, I’m stuck with Telus if I want to use DSL. If I’m ok with changing over to cable, then I could go that route but I’d have to choose another indie ISP that offers cable Internet.
Now assuming everything goes through fine (which is very uncertain at this point), I unfortunately will have to go through about a six-day period from the new year on where I won’t have in-home Internet access. The new ISP is supposed to hook everything up on or about the sixth of January. I could have made my Telus cancellation date on the same day but I would have been forced to pay an entire month’s worth of access for just those six days. Because I’m cheap, my cancellation date is now on the last day of this month. For those six days, I’ll be forced to use my smartphone’s mobile data and set up a mobile wi-fi hotspot so my tablet and laptop can have Internet access. My main computer, a desktop, will have to go without during that time.
So, things are a bit murky right now. I was told the indie ISP will tell me this week if the changeover can proceed but there’s a good chance I’ll be stuck with Telus again.