I’ve used Bell’s Giga Hub router since Black Friday 2022, and my internet experience has been fantastic. This is the successor to the Home Hub 4000 (the two routers look identical), but the Giga Hub offers support for Wi-Fi 6E, which in theory should make it work better with multiple devices, as long as they also support the new Wi-fi standard.
The Giga Hub was released alongside Bell’s faster 8Gbps speeds in late 2022, and I’ve been testing it with a 1.5Gbps connection. The signal consistently covers my entire house, and in the three months I’ve been using it, I’ve had no complaints. However, I recently tried replacing it with a top-of-the-line TP-Link E2000 (review coming soon), and the process has been a tech nightmare.
However, compared to its predecessors from Bell, the Giga Hub is the company’s best router yet and is modern enough to make most subscribers happy.
Solid value, especially if you can get it for free
A speed test on the Giga Hub lets you measure speeds coming in from the wall.
Bell’s latest router is incredibly easy to use and set up. Mine was bundled into my plan for free as long as I return it when I cancel my service. After signing up, a technician showed up at my house the next week, installed a fibre line, and I was off to the races.
After he left, I downloaded the Bell Wi-Fi app and set my password and network name with ease. There may not be as many advanced options as I wanted in the app, but setting up a network and monitoring who is online is straightforward, and it’s all most people need. If you need to dive deeper into the advanced settings, you can always visit the traditional modem control panel at Bell.ca/mymodem for full access.
My apartment is on the ground floor of an older Toronto house, and the Giga Hub has no issues blanketing my home with Wi-Fi. I can even use it outside on my back porch or in the basement, so the single unit should offer enough coverage for most smaller homes. Bell sells Wi-Fi extenders for $5 per month if you need more coverage. I haven’t tested these, but the telecom giant uses a model from Plume that supports maximum speeds of 1Gbps via ethernet jacks and slower speeds over Wi-Fi.
I haven’t tried the Wi-Fi extender out, but I’d expect that while they increase your Wi-Fi range, your speed will likely decrease slightly when you’re connected to a Plume pod instead of the main router. Reading about them online, people have mixed opinions. Still, for most, I’d recommend starting with just the router, and then if you need more coverage, look for a cheaper wired access point extender before deciding to pay Bell another $5-$15 per month, depending on how large your home is. A few hundred for an access point you own might seem like a significant upfront investment, but the cost of renting pods can snowball over two-three years.
Perhaps my favourite thing about the Giga Hub is the small display on the front. It makes it easy to interact with the router for simple things like resetting it or viewing your password. There’s even a toggle on the router to connect to Bell TV to make that easy for people with an IPTV setup.
Are things too easy
I spent way too much time on a self-imposed tech time out trying to troubleshoot Wi-Fi
While setting up the Giga Hub is easy, I found that most days, my speeds averaged out to around 400-600Mbps instead of the 1.5Gbps I’m paying for. If I jack in with a Cat6 cable, I can get closer to my full speeds out of the single 10gbps ethernet port, but all the other jacks are only 1Gbps. Beyond that, the promise of modern Wi-Fi has me looking to ditch ethernet cables in the Wi-Fi 6 generation.
I’m not complaining because anything over 500mbps is enough for most of my work, web browsing and streaming videos. Still, since I’m paying for more than twice that speed, it would be nice if the Wi-Fi 6E compatible router could get a little closer to the theoretical maximum, especially since most of my devices now support Wi-Fi 6 at least, which should be able to handle gigabit Wi-Fi speeds. I know I’m unlikely to see those, but even hitting more constantly in the 800Mbps-1Gbps range would feel more like I’m getting my money’s worth from my ISP.
Plus, the speed test on the Giga Hub (pictured above) shows that I was getting a potential 1.6Gbps in from my fibre connection so nothing should stop me from having fantastic network speeds.
There’s also the nerd inside me that wants to experiment with different modems to see how fast I can get my Wi-Fi connection. To do this, I attempted to integrate the TP-Link E2000 into my setup and demote the Giga Hub to modem duty. However, that’s not nearly as easy as it sounds. While you can plug another router into the Giga Hub, it won’t disable the Wi-Fi properties of the Bell-provided router/modem combo machine.
This means upon the first approach, I had two Wi-Fi networks that I’m pretty sure suffered from a double NAT. This led me down a rabbit hole of other Canadians trying desperately to figure out how to use the Giga Hub as a modem. What initially stumped me was that I thought the Home Hub 4000 and the Giga Hub were the same device. In reality, they look the same, but the internal software features several differences, so many of the more in-depth tutorials that work for the Home Hub 4000 didn’t work with the Giga Hub. As I got further invested in this project, I found out that Bell has mostly updated the Giga Hub to be equal to the Home Hub 4000, but the fact that the two modems look the same but feature slight differences was enough to throw another variable, and a lot of doubts, into my troubleshooting.
The size of the Giga Hub does allow for a large and safe channel for the fibre wire to sit in.
That said, I found some helpful information on a great blog called The IT Nerd, as well as DSL Reports and Reddit.
At this point in my troubleshooting, I’m way past anything I’d recommend non-techie people do. So for most, I’d say live with the Giga Hub. However, it got me wondering why this was so hard. I’d never had issues like this with my previous ISPs (Cogeco and TekSavvy). However, one difference with Bell is that it sells Wi-Fi extension pods, incentivizing it to keep people on its own tech.
This realization refilled my resolve with enough hatred for Bell that I was able to dive back into the man v. machine troubleshooting battle once again. I read through miles of forum posts where Bell reps tell users to DM them for details and hundreds of Reddit threads from people with other brands of routers before I finally decided to give up and call tech support.
The call didn’t go super well.
All night and all day in the corner…
The person was able to give me Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) credentials but couldn’t walk me through setting up my Giga Hub with a third-party router. Instead, they tried to upsell me on a subscription to Bell’s Tech support Experts, which cost $6 per month. This is a huge rip-off, and it’s anti-consumer to hide full tech support behind a paywall, so I left this call more frustrated than when I started. Still, with my credentials in hand, I returned to one of the first Reddit posts I had tried and attempted again, only to fail once more.
This led me back to the internet, where I noticed that other Bell customers mentioned that their PPPoE credentials started with ‘b1.’ So I opened my Bell account in a new tab and found a number that began with b1 under the internet section. It was different than the username I was just given by tech support, but it worked with the new password. The new router seemed to work a little better. I’m still not getting over 1gbps via Wi-Fi, but I’m consistently hitting 700-800 Mbps, so I guess that’s a win for now.
Although no one likes a know-it-all, they dominate the Internet.
The Internet began as a vast repository of information. It quickly became a breeding ground for self-proclaimed experts seeking what most people desire: recognition and money.
Today, anyone with an Internet connection and some typing skills can position themselves, regardless of their education or experience, as a subject matter expert (SME). From relationship advice, career coaching, and health and nutrition tips to citizen journalists practicing pseudo-journalism, the Internet is awash with individuals—Internet talking heads—sharing their “insights,” which are, in large part, essentially educated guesses without the education or experience.
The Internet has become a 24/7/365 sitcom where armchair experts think they’re the star.
Not long ago, years, sometimes decades, of dedicated work and acquiring education in one’s field was once required to be recognized as an expert. The knowledge and opinions of doctors, scientists, historians, et al. were respected due to their education and experience. Today, a social media account and a knack for hyperbole are all it takes to present oneself as an “expert” to achieve Internet fame that can be monetized.
On the Internet, nearly every piece of content is self-serving in some way.
The line between actual expertise and self-professed knowledge has become blurry as an out-of-focus selfie. Inadvertently, social media platforms have created an informal degree program where likes and shares are equivalent to degrees. After reading selective articles, they’ve found via and watching some TikTok videos, a person can post a video claiming they’re an herbal medicine expert. Their new “knowledge,” which their followers will absorb, claims that Panda dung tea—one of the most expensive teas in the world and isn’t what its name implies—cures everything from hypertension to existential crisis. Meanwhile, registered dietitians are shaking their heads, wondering how to compete against all the misinformation their clients are exposed to.
More disturbing are individuals obsessed with evangelizing their beliefs or conspiracy theories. These people write in-depth blog posts, such as Elvis Is Alive and the Moon Landings Were Staged, with links to obscure YouTube videos, websites, social media accounts, and blogs. Regardless of your beliefs, someone or a group on the Internet shares them, thus confirming your beliefs.
Misinformation is the Internet’s currency used to get likes, shares, and engagement; thus, it often spreads like a cosmic joke. Consider the prevalence of clickbait headlines:
You Won’t Believe What Taylor Swift Says About Climate Change!
This Bedtime Drink Melts Belly Fat While You Sleep!
In One Week, I Turned $10 Into $1 Million!
Titles that make outrageous claims are how the content creator gets reads and views, which generates revenue via affiliate marketing, product placement, and pay-per-click (PPC) ads. Clickbait headlines are how you end up watching a TikTok video by a purported nutrition expert adamantly asserting you can lose belly fat while you sleep by drinking, for 14 consecutive days, a concoction of raw eggs, cinnamon, and apple cider vinegar 15 minutes before going to bed.
Our constant search for answers that’ll explain our convoluted world and our desire for shortcuts to success is how Internet talking heads achieve influencer status. Because we tend to seek low-hanging fruits, we listen to those with little experience or knowledge of the topics they discuss yet are astute enough to know what most people want to hear.
There’s a trend, more disturbing than spreading misinformation, that needs to be called out: individuals who’ve never achieved significant wealth or traded stocks giving how-to-make-easy-money advice, the appeal of which is undeniable. Several people I know have lost substantial money by following the “advice” of Internet talking heads.
Anyone on social media claiming to have a foolproof money-making strategy is lying. They wouldn’t be peddling their money-making strategy if they could make easy money.
Successful people tend to be secretive.
Social media companies design their respective algorithms to serve their advertisers—their source of revenue—interest; hence, content from Internet talking heads appears most prominent in your feeds. When a video of a self-professed expert goes viral, likely because it pressed an emotional button, the more people see it, the more engagement it receives, such as likes, shares and comments, creating a cycle akin to a tornado.
Imagine scrolling through your TikTok feed and stumbling upon a “scientist” who claims they can predict the weather using only aluminum foil, copper wire, sea salt and baking soda. You chuckle, but you notice his video got over 7,000 likes, has been shared over 600 times and received over 400 comments. You think to yourself, “Maybe this guy is onto something.” What started as a quest to achieve Internet fame evolved into an Internet-wide belief that weather forecasting can be as easy as DIY crafts.
Since anyone can call themselves “an expert,” you must cultivate critical thinking skills to distinguish genuine expertise from self-professed experts’ self-promoting nonsense. While the absurdity of the Internet can be entertaining, misinformation has serious consequences. The next time you read a headline that sounds too good to be true, it’s probably an Internet talking head making an educated guess; without the education seeking Internet fame, they can monetize.
TORONTO – A new survey says a majority of software engineers and developers feel tight project deadlines can put safety at risk.
Seventy-five per cent of the 1,000 global workers who responded to the survey released Tuesday say pressure to deliver projects on time and on budget could be compromising critical aspects like safety.
The concern is even higher among engineers and developers in North America, with 77 per cent of those surveyed on the continent reporting the urgency of projects could be straining safety.
The study was conducted between July and September by research agency Coleman Parkes and commissioned by BlackBerry Ltd.’s QNX division, which builds connected-car technology.
The results reflect a timeless tug of war engineers and developers grapple with as they balance the need to meet project deadlines with regulations and safety checks that can slow down the process.
Finding that balance is an issue that developers of even the simplest appliances face because of advancements in technology, said John Wall, a senior vice-president at BlackBerry and head of QNX.
“The software is getting more complicated and there is more software whether it’s in a vehicle, robotics, a toaster, you name it… so being able to patch vulnerabilities, to prevent bad actors from doing malicious acts is becoming more and more important,” he said.
The medical, industrial and automotive industries have standardized safety measures and anything they produce undergoes rigorous testing, but that work doesn’t happen overnight. It has to be carried out from the start and then at every step of the development process.
“What makes safety and security difficult is it’s an ongoing thing,” Wall said. “It’s not something where you’ve done it, and you are finished.”
The Waterloo, Ont.-based business found 90 per cent of its survey respondents reported that organizations are prioritizing safety.
However, when asked about why safety may not be a priority for their organization, 46 per cent of those surveyed answered cost pressures and 35 per cent said a lack of resources.
That doesn’t surprise Wall. Delays have become rampant in the development of tech, and in some cases, stand to push back the launch of vehicle lines by two years, he said.
“We have to make sure that people don’t compromise on safety and security to be able to get products out quicker,” he said.
“What we don’t want to see is people cutting corners and creating unsafe situations.”
The survey also took a peek at security breaches, which have hit major companies like London Drugs, Indigo Books & Music, Giant Tiger and Ticketmaster in recent years.
About 40 per cent of the survey’s respondents said they have encountered a security breach in their employer’s operating system. Those breaches resulted in major impacts for 27 per cent of respondents, moderate impacts for 42 per cent and minor impacts for 27 per cent.
“There are vulnerabilities all the time and this is what makes the job very difficult because when you ship the software, presumably the software has no security vulnerabilities, but things get discovered after the fact,” Wall said.
Security issues, he added, have really come to the forefront of the problems developers face, so “really without security, you have no safety.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.
As online shoppers hunt for bargains offered by Amazon during its annual fall sale this week, cybersecurity researchers are warning Canadians to beware of an influx of scammers posing as the tech giant.
In the 30 days leading up to Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, taking place Tuesday and Wednesday, there were more than 1,000 newly registered Amazon-related web domains, according to Check Point Software Technologies, a company that offers cybersecurity solutions.
The company said it deemed 88 per cent of those domains malicious or suspicious, suggesting they could have been set up by scammers to prey on vulnerable consumers. One in every 54 newly created Amazon-related domain included the phrase “Amazon Prime.”
“They’re almost indiscernible from the real Amazon domain,” said Robert Falzon, head of engineering at Check Point in Canada.
“With all these domains registered that look so similar, it’s tricking a lot of people. And that’s the whole intent here.”
Falzon said Check Point Research sees an uptick in attempted scams around big online shopping days throughout the year, including Prime Days.
Scams often come in the form of phishing emails, which are deceptive messages that appear to be from a reputable source in attempt to steal sensitive information.
In this case, he said scammers posing as Amazon commonly offer “outrageous” deals that appear to be associated with Prime Days, in order to trick recipients into clicking on a malicious link.
The cybersecurity firm said it has identified and blocked 100 unique Amazon Prime-themed scam emails targeting organizations and consumers over the past two weeks.
Scammers also target Prime members with unsolicited calls, claiming urgent account issues and requesting payment information.
“It’s like Christmas for them,” said Falzon.
“People expect there to be significant savings on Prime Day, so they’re not shocked that they see something of significant value. Usually, the old adage applies: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
Amazon’s website lists a number of red flags that it recommends customers watch for to identify a potential impersonation scam.
Those include false urgency, requests for personal information, or indications that the sender prefers to complete the purchase outside of the Amazon website or mobile app.
Scammers may also request that customers exclusively pay with gift cards, a claim code or PIN. Any notifications about an order or delivery for an unexpected item should also raise alarm bells, the company says.
“During busy shopping moments, we tend to see a rise in impersonation scams reported by customers,” said Amazon spokeswoman Octavia Roufogalis in a statement.
“We will continue to invest in protecting consumers and educating the public on scam avoidance. We encourage consumers to report suspected scams to us so that we can protect their accounts and refer bad actors to law enforcement to help keep consumers safe.”
Falzon added that these scams are more successful than people might think.
As of June 30, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre said there had been $284 million lost to fraud so far this year, affecting 15,941 victims.
But Falzon said many incidents go unreported, as some Canadians who are targeted do not know how or where to flag a scam, or may choose not to out of embarrassment.
Check Point recommends Amazon customers take precautions while shopping on Prime Days, including by checking URLs carefully, creating strong passwords on their accounts, and avoiding personal information being shared such as their birthday or social security number.
The cybersecurity company said consumers should also look for “https” at the beginning of a website URL, which indicates a secure connection, and use credit cards rather than debit cards for online shopping, which offer better protection and less liability if stolen.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.
