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Review by creed3020 See Profile

  • Location: Kitchener, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $40 per month
  • Install: about 10 days
  • Caps of 150 gigabytes/month
$/Mbps, Exceptional usage limits, DOCSIS3 Modem, and a private Canadian company
Phone queues are beyond acceptable so use another method like DSLR already!
Great ISP working hard for their customers within a completely flawed Canadian regulatory environment
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Pre-Ordering: As a previous TekSavvy DSL customer I have been reading the TS forum here for well over a year so I had a really clear idea of the good and the bad when it comes to TS. I knew that with my move to Toronto that it would be a good time to upgrade myself from DSL to Cable. I am not a crazy downloader but appreciate the high caps so the 300GB plans work perfectly for me.

Ordering: I ordered over the phone and only waited 2 minutes to speak to an agent. They got all if my information recorded correctly and helped me to cancel my DSL. I ordered the TekSavvy Express Cable package with 10Mb download, 512Kb upload, and 300GB usage cap. After I called I forgot to asked one question and had to call back a second time. I wanted my new cable modem (SB6120) sent to my current address and not the new one. This request was handled well and I received the modem 4 business days later.

Installation: I set my activation date for Monday May 2nd as we moved in on the 1st. I received an automated call on the 1st which was awesome because it shows how they are already prepared for my install date. I had the option of rescheduling should I need to which I didn't. I originally choose a setup window of 8AM-11AM and the tech showed up at my place at 8:15AM which was awesome because I could show him around before leaving for work. He cleaned up the outside of the house because there were a million coaxial cables. He did not need to run a new line. I asked him to mark the line as a TPIA line and he said he would, though I was not able to confirm this was actually done as I had to leave.

Post Installation: Later in the day the lights activated correctly on the modem. The receive light lit up blue indicating downstream bonding which is awesome for my 10Mb profile. The service has been working well since activation, however, I have noticed what I believe is some congestion during peak hours, BUT, I want to test with a wired PC instead of over wireless before I make any solid judgement on that aspect of the service. With Speedboost I am seeing over 20Mbps.

I will update again once the first month is over.

UPDATE: I just moved to Kitchener and the install went very well. I was annoyed that Rogers had not upgraded the channel bonding in my area but low and behold on Thursday the connection dropped for a few minutes and we went from 4x1 to 8x2. I am looking forward to the smooth ride and with recent upgrades to the POI speeds are looking excellent.

UPDATE (Nov-25-2012): Speeds during peak periods are getting worse but the real issue is that my local node is overloaded and a D3 modem does not appear to be enough to overcome this. Pings are in excess of 300ms on average and experiencing anywhere from 0-10% packet loss. Line monitor shows this issue as does smoke ping tests. Latency sensitive activities like online gaming and VOIP are not possible at the moment. Technical support is unable to provide a resolution due to crippled Rogers TPIA support.

UPDATE (Jan-2-2013): Issues related to crazy high pings and packet loss have been resolved. The problem has gone away but can be recreated as it was determined the issue is related to software. A Windows service related to cloud backups was hogging upload bandwidth to the point that nothing else was working correctly. The software has been tweaked accordingly and the issue is no longer. Anticipation for the CRTC decision regarding speed matching on Aggregated POIs is going to be a major push/pull factor as higher upload is becoming an absolute requirement. Cable is unable to meet this expectation and VDSL remotes (multiple within 400m of my home) are making VDSL an attractive option.

UPDATE (June 7th 2013): I just moved to a new address in Kitchener and the install went very well. The technician showed up during the window even though I had missed their call which was appreciated. Channel bonding is enabled in my area and I see 8x4 on my DCM475. My signal stats are not as perfect as the previous install but Rogers does have to come back and properly bury the cable they left in my grass. When that changes I'm curious to see what impact it will have on my signal as they have to install a new box as well on the side of the house. I have a home-run from my modem to the pedestal in front of my home.

UPDATE (June 28th 2013): The Kitchener POI has been successfully migrated to APOI and the ATPIA speeds are now available. I requested a change to 25Mbps down and 2Mbps up with the same 300GB of usage as previous. The request took a total of 5 business days between TSI and rCable before it came into effect. Speeds look good and more testing will occur.

UPDATE (Feb. 4th 2014): I started to notice a trend in my cable modem signal stats through the Fall of 2013. These continue to get worse and eventually the downstream signal was out of spec. I was not losing sync or seeing degraded speeds so I continued to monitor. In January 2014 it reached a point where I felt some preventative maintenance was a good idea. I logged a Technical Support ticket with TSI and they clearly saw the problem. I completed all of the testing requested and Rogers sent a technician to the house. A -6db attenuator was attached to the modem directly. This brought the downstream power levels back into specification and they remain there today. All in all a good experience with TSI Technical Support and the incumbent.

UPDATE (June 8th 2015): Another year later and the service continues on rock solid as always, and signal levels are excellent. Speeds are consistent regardless the time of the day and usage tier for us is perfect. I would rather the top end speed then endless usage, as the overnight unlimited period more than makes up for a low cap when intelligently scheduling large download activity.

member for 17.9 years, 2351 visits, last login: 35 days ago
updated 8.7 years ago


JenSuisUn
Premium Member
join:2006-02-23
Chatham, ON

JenSuisUn

Premium Member

Node congestion

Sorry to hear about this. I see we had opened a ticket, but no updates seem to have been pushed back to Rogers. So I've updated Rogers as well as your »/forum ··· avdirect thread.

Martin

TeksavvyUSER
@teksavvy.com

TeksavvyUSER

Anon

Comment from a Teksavvy USER

i am using CABLE broadband from TEKSAVVY. The 20mbps package.

I can tell you it's the biggest shit I ever used in my hole life.

ROGERS in my opinion is much more reliable speed and service.

For 5$ different I prefer pay it and shut my mouth.

The evening and week end I get maximum dial up 56k speed. Sometime 100k is lucky. Sometime so slow the pictures not appear on the web page. Instead there is red X appear...

My laptop stay frozen for several minutes because too slow broadband connection.

TekSASHIT CAN BURN TO HELL THOSE BASTARD.

TSI Andre
Premium Member
join:2008-06-03
Chatham, ON

TSI Andre

Premium Member

Re: Comment from a Teksavvy USER

Hello,

I noticed that you posted a very similar message on Twitter.

If you would like us to help you, can you please post in the direct forum with your account info.

Thank you,

Andre

gajego1
join:2007-02-15
Canada

gajego1 to TeksavvyUSER

Member

to TeksavvyUSER
Oh, I was going to switch from DSL to Cable... Is TS Cable it that bad? What Modem do you have?

TSI Andy
Premium Member
join:2012-11-22
Chatham, ON

TSI Andy

Premium Member

Re: Comment from a Teksavvy USER

said by gajego1:

Oh, I was going to switch from DSL to Cable... Is TS Cable it that bad? What Modem do you have?

Hello gajego,

We apologize for the misunderstanding with the above comment, there was a misunderstanding with that customer and we worked to resolve their issue the best we could.

If you would like to post here in the »/forum ··· avdirect we can see which cable speeds are available to you.

Martin

TSI Ashleigh
Premium Member
join:2013-02-24
Chatham, ON

TSI Ashleigh

Premium Member

Review

Hello Chris,

Thanks for the updated post!!! Happy to hear your enjoying the new updated speeds and also enjoying your TekSavvy service. If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions as you know we can be reached through the Direct Forum »/forum ··· avdirect and are always happy to help!

Thanks again for the great update!! Please keep us posted on your TekSavvy journey!

Thanks again

TSI Alan
Premium Member
join:2012-11-22
Chatham, ON

TSI Alan

Premium Member

Thank You For Your Review!

Hello,

Thank you for your review update. Good to hear the signal issue was resolved for you in a timely manner.

Let us know if there is anything else we can assist you with!

Regards,

TSI Andre
Premium Member
join:2008-06-03
Chatham, ON

TSI Andre

Premium Member

Thanks

Thanks for updating your review. As always, don't hesitate to reach out to us if you need any help.

Andre