u/Know4EverMore — 7 days ago
r/bell
▲ 16 r/bell
Bell upgraded me from 1.5 Gbps to 3 Gbps — can I request a free modem upgrade?
Hi everyone,
Bell recently upgraded my internet plan from 1.5 Gbps to 3 Gbps, but I'm still using the same modem that I had before the upgrade.
Would it be reasonable to contact Bell and ask them to replace it with their newer modem at no charge? I'm wondering if the older modem might limit performance or if Bell typically provides updated hardware when customers move to higher-speed plans.
Has anyone successfully received a free modem upgrade in a similar situation? If so, what was your experience?
Thanks!
u/Johnkiiii — 7 days ago
Bell runs 7 km of fibre under the ocean to connect two remote Nova Scotia islands ( Big Tancook and Little Tancook Islands)
Bell has completed a new fibre Internet connection to Big Tancook and Little Tancook Islands in Nova Scotia.
The project connects roughly 184 homes and businesses directly to Bell’s fibre network.
Getting there required:
• About 7 km of submarine fibre cable
• Another 8 km of fibre infrastructure on the islands
• Specialized marine deployment from the Blandford area
Residents previously relied mainly on fixed wireless and satellite Internet.
The project was delivered with the Government of Nova Scotia and Build Nova Scotia through the Internet for Nova Scotia Initiative.
The province says the broader program has now brought reliable high-speed Internet access to nearly 100% of Nova Scotians, with the remaining locations mostly in geographically difficult areas.
This project is the only one under the provincial initiative that required an undersea fibre deployment.
Sources:
https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/bell-brings-fibre-internet-to-big-and-little-tancook-islands-816925157.html
https://news.novascotia.ca/en/2026/08/06/undersea-cabling-project-bring-fibre-internet-tancook-islands
The province said in August that this was the final phase of the South Shore project area and that fewer than 500 underserved locations remained province-wide at the time.
u/Planhub-ca — 8 days ago
North Towers: a free map of Canadian cell sites on iPhone, Android and the web. No ads. Not now, not later.
We are North Towers, an independent project. We built an app that maps cell sites across Canada using public ISED data. Today we are launching on iPhone/iPad, Android and the web at the same time.
Free on every platform. No ads. No subscription. No locked features. (There is an optional "Supporter" tip. It only adds a badge.)
We are not linked to Rogers, Bell, Telus or ISED.
Website: https://northtowers.ca · Full guide with screenshots: https://northtowers.ca/guide/
We fix the data
ISED's public data is messy: wrong frequencies, missing network IDs, duplicates, odd heights. Fixing it is the heart of North Towers.
- 656,402 cells corrected or cleaned up
- 139,146 cells flagged for review
- Frequencies checked against ISED spectrum licences
- Missing PLMNs filled in, duplicates merged, equipment names cleaned up
We never change ISED's database, and the original value is always one tap away. If we can't confirm something, we flag it. We don't guess.
Details: https://northtowers.ca/data-quality/
On all platforms
- Map of every site, coloured by carrier, with antenna directions
- Site → Band → Cell: frequencies, bandwidth, technology
- Antenna diagrams and original ISED records
- Filters by carrier, PLMN, band, technology and frequency
- Microwave links and 6 GHz stations
- Insights to compare carriers by region
- Favourites with notes and tags
iPhone & iPad (TestFlight)
See the site your iPhone is connected to. iPhone doesn't let apps read cell info, so we found another way:
- Tap one button.
- We match your Cell ID and TAC to a site in our database.
- The map draws a line to that site and shows the real direction of the antenna serving you.
- A card shows your technology, band and bandwidth.
- Off by default. The reading stays on your phone.
As far as we know, no other iPhone app does this. See how it works: https://northtowers.ca/guide/#connected
Also: Look Around, 3D maps, offline database, iCloud sync.
TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/xPDve6WX
The App Store version is waiting for Apple's review.
Android (closed beta)
Native app with Material 3 and Google Maps. It reads your serving cell straight from your phone and finds the matching site. Works with more than one SIM. Android 9+.
https://northtowers.ca/android/
Coming soon: the Signal tab (still in progress)
- Live RSRP, RSRQ and SINR for LTE and 5G NR, with a 60-second chart
- 5G NSA anchor and neighbour cells
- Record a drive or walk, then export as CSV or JSONL
- Replay your drive on the map, coloured by signal, with the site you were on
- Recordings stay on your phone
To join: email contact@northtowers.ca with your Google Play email.
After 14 days of closed testing, we will open a public beta.
Web App
No install, no account. Works on any computer, tablet or phone, and always has the latest data.
More: https://northtowers.ca/web/
A note from us
This is a big project for a small independent team of two, and we are launching three platforms at once. You will find bugs.
Our promise: we read every piece of feedback and we act fast.
- Email contact@northtowers.ca
- Bugs and ideas: https://github.com/maigougou/NorthTowers/issues
Let's make this community better, together. Thanks!
Michael & Kevin
u/NorthTowers — 7 days ago