dslreports logo

Review by nbinont See Profile

  • Location: Waterloo, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $35 per month
tech support is eager to help
advertises good services, but can't deliver
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Signed up with Yak's 10Mbit DSL plan in Waterloo in Feb 2010. (10Mbit is through Fibernetics.)

They sent me the ADSL2+ modem promptly, and had someone come connect the dry loop the day after I got the modem. Setup co-ordination and pre-sales info was really good. I have not seen setup this smooth in a long time - excellent work Yak!

Based on my location and line SNR, I should be able to get a ~18Mbit connection. I only ordered a 10Mbit connection, so there should have been no problems. In fact the DSL Sync rate came through at 10Mbit, no CRC errors, and no line drops.

Unfortunately this is where the compliments end. My download rate rarely exceeded 3Mbit, often degrading to 1.5Mbit during peak times.

I know it's not my line, because I previously got a stable 5Mbit connection from another provider. I also know it's not the modem, because I swapped out their modem for the one from the other provider, and it had the same problematic behaviour (good sync rates, bad data throughput). To illustrate even more clearly that It wasn't the line - once, and only once, at 4am on a Sunday morning, I did receive the expected 10Mbit, but by mid-day, the connection was as bad as ever.

Spent entirely too long on the phone trying to troubleshoot the problem with Yak's tech support. They were very helpful and tried just about everything to fix the problem. They were confused that my sync rates were good, but data throughput was poor. This is a classic indication that the problem is with their backhaul link, but they didn't make this connection, and were unable to check whether this was the problem when I prompted them. (Though they did indicate there was an upgrade scheduled at some time).

After about 3 weeks of troubleshooting without success, I finally gave up and cancelled. Unfortunately they just can't provide the service they advertise.

Cancellation was a nightmare, and I had to phone multiple times over 3 weeks before they would cancel the service, and they still wanted me to pay ~$135 for the experience. Eventually sorted the problem out with a strongly worded letter to their complaints department - I paid the majority of the bill, but got to keep the modem.

It's sad that they can't provide the service they advertise. Would have been a good if they could.

member for 13 years, 947 visits, last login: 3.7 years ago
lodged 12.9 years ago


callopsitte6
join:2010-05-22
Hawkesbury, ON

callopsitte6

Member

Customer service don't seem to know their own offering

I emailed them to know if they offered their phone service in my area. They replied "Yes". When I ordered the service they finally replied they did not have service in my area.
gogu
join:2009-10-06
Kitchener, ON

gogu

Member

Re: Customer service don't seem to know their own offering

i was told i would be eligible for a promotion before signing up, during sign up, until the bill came in.. it was double. their reply was sorry.

they promoted 800min North American minutes free, the minutes ended up on the bill.
Had the same problem with speed, as mentioned above... .5MB-2MB max..
billing was a nightmare, received 2 bills, both with multiple errors on them.. still trying to clen it up after 2 months...
Both phone and internet has been cancelled....
Good effort, poor service. billing is a total nightmare..