Bell phones me all the time trying to get me to switch from Rogers to Sympatico. I always tell them the same story: I run servers, Rogers IP addresses change only a few times a year which is perfect for that, and I'm completely satisfied with the performance and service of Rogers.

This time the guy told me that he will give me a real static IP address for free. I agreed to take it with no contract, $19.95/month for the first 3 months, then the price will go up to the usual price if I keep it. He said I just need to phone tech support once I have it hooked up and they will give me my static IP. I kept my Rogers account in case I decided not to keep Bell.

So I hook it all up. The first problem is the spare router I used for it seems to have issues with Firefox. When I access the web based config tool and set everything up, clicking the apply button does nothing! I had to use elinks (text based web browser) to configure it. Now I was able to get on the net but no matter where I tried to go, I was redirected to a Bell activation page. I filled out their forms and it told me to restart the modem or the router to complete the setup. I did that many times and it kept sending me back to the activation page! I called tech support and he said he can't help because I'm using a linksys router, and not using Windows. They will only help if I buy the Bell router for $90. While I was on hold I found out that I could get anywhere on the net if I type the IP, but if I use the DNS name then I get redirected. The guy told me different DNS server addresses to use and it fixed my problem. He continued to blame my router, when it was clearly their DHCP server telling my router the wrong DNS address!

Well anyway, to the real point. Next I asked for him to enable the static IP address that the salesman promised. He said sure, and immediately said 192.168.2.1! Does he think I'm an idiot? 192.168.anything is not a real Internet address, it's for internal networks. I argued with him but he insisted that if I configure my computer or router to use that static IP, then I would be able to access that IP from work and friends houses. I tried it anyway, then ssh'd into a server at work and sure enough it did not work. I phoned back and explained the situation to the next tech support guy. He told me that I cannot have a static IP on the internet!!!!!! I have to have the business plan if I want that. I thanked him, and let him know that I'm going to pack it all up and send it back because the salesman lied to me about getting a static IP for free. The salesmanthat sold me on Sympatico was chatting with me about Java programming, his masters in computer science and Sun Certified Java Programmer exam. Surely he knew what he was talking about when he promised me a static IP.

Now I think less of Bell. I'm brand loyal and have a hard time leaving one company for another (like switching from Rogers to Bell) unless there is a good reason. Bell's lies are reason enough for me to not think twice about switching to Vonage one day or some other long distance provider. I might switch to Vonage just because I'm so angry with companies that lie to make a sale.