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Review by TypeS See Profile

  • Location: London, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $62 per month
  • Install: about 7 days
Better usage, reasonable pricing, execellent team of staff on the phones and forums.
Rogers still controls the underlying infrastructure used to deliver the service, service tickets go to them.
You won't feel
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I have been a Teksavvy customer since February 2010, after Rogers raised the cap on over-usage charges from $25 to $50. At the time I was paying $99 (with the $25 cap on charges) for 12/1. Back then I could only get Teksavvy's 5/800 DSL package in London, Ontario. I valued being able to use my connection more than having higher speeds. What's the point in speed if you can't use it after reaching a limit (90GB at the time on Rogers Extreme).

Order & Installation (June 2012)
---------------------------------
I moved into a new home at the end of June 2012 and faced the $65 (per service) to move my DSL and phone service with Teksavvy. Since I was going pay at least $65 either way, I thought I may as well cancel the expensive POTS line (I had a Vonage line used for long distance already). Went to a local computer store in London, picked up a Motorola SB6121 and made the call to TekSavvy. Canceled DSL and POTs, ordered the 28/1 cable package on the 300GB limit. I was given 3 potential dates for installation at my new home (Friday/Saturday/Monday). The Rogers cable guy showed up the Monday (a week after I ordered the service) and got me up running after a few hiccups (he had to change a few things at the junction box, at my power panel in the basement and disabled the outlet in my living room). Once I got on the internet, he left and I was up and running and it has been reliable and solid 99.999% of the time I have had it. This tech actually stayed to see connected, hit the internet and conduct a full speed test.

Service Quality
-----------------

In general, I saw speeds of 28Mb/s download and 1Mb/s upload almost all the time (generally 27ish and 0.9). The only times it got slow were due to a routing issue that affect many others (even other ISPs) or local cable network capacity issue to TekSavvy's network . That has since been made better by the by an aggregated connection system. Never experienced latency that weren't caused by my own network. My own router would sometimes require a DHCP release/renew to restore full speeds but this was no fault of TekSavvy's or Rogers'.

I upgraded to 45Mbps download and 4Mbps upload in July 2013 when London got upgrade to the aggregated model of connection between TekSavvy and Rogers and again, full speeds almost all the time.

The only service quality issue was that 4 times I suffered what is called a DHCP outage caused by local node splits done by Rogers to increase local capacity. Although no fault of TekSavvy's, on average I was down 72 hours before getting connectivity. I have a 6GB LTE Rogers plan that I rely on as backup, so it wasn't as disruptive for me as it would be for others.

The Good:
------------

Not ever having to worry about my usage metering with either high usage packages or unlimited.

Very friendly and supportive support staff on the phones and here on the DSLReports forums (TekSavvy Direct Support Forum). Kudos to some of the DSLr team such as Martin, Andre, Elizabeth, Johnathan and Keith, you've all been great on tickets.

The service simply just works and works as it should.

The bad:
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Although not TekSavvy's fault, their reliance on existing infrastructure with incumbent network providers (Rogers, Bell, Telus, Cogeco, etc.) means certain service tickets will need to to those providers. This often increases the ETA on resolution to days (not in all cases).

Some of the ticket requirements for forms from Rogers are seriously onerous and I can see to some who are not tech-savvy (pun totally intended ;]), it can be a nightmare collecting all the information needed.

Since 2010, I've noticed the quality and knowledge of the technical support departed is very mixed. And I can understand that as a company now with 200+ employees, hiring new people with the same skill set and experience in a small place like Chatham can be challenging. For any very technology inclined like myself, the TekSavvy Direct Support forums here on DSLReports has a phenomenal team. And you can even reach the CEO as well.

Modems. Although they don't force you rent a modem, I can't say I agree with not offering it as an option; especially when they've recently been getting sign up in great numbers from the non-technical population. Modem requirements change often and there is no guarantee when a modem will remain current or outdated (technology often becomes out date after just 1 year). You could buy a modem for near $100 and 6 months later it won't be compatible with newer speeds. I think for targeting people looking to save money, spending $100/year on a modem will negate savings. Offering modem rentals could resolve some potentially hairy situations when new speeds come out and modem requirements change. (key word is offer, not forced ;]),

Summary:
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Overall my experience with TekSavvy has been the best I've ever had with any ISP.

At time of this writing I am no longer a TekSavvy internet customer (I do have a business hosting service with them) due to some very circumstantial reasons, but I still love TekSavvy as a company. You can't go wrong with them.



member for 11.2 years, 4240 visits, last login: 2 days ago
updated 9.8 years ago


TSILiz
Premium Member
join:2012-08-20

TSILiz

Premium Member

Response

Thanks for taking the time to write this! Awesome to hear. If you ever have any issues or concerns feel free to contact us anytime.

Cheers,
Liz
allensutedja
join:2013-02-01

allensutedja

Member

$25 restocking Fee for my properly working fine modem

I have almost the same experience just now. I called teksavvy arround jan 25,2013 because my internet is not working. then they do trouble shooting over the phone tried to fix it.but it didnt work also.so they sent out rogers technician.The tecnician came on 30 jan 2013 and he tested his own modem then his modem worked like a charm.and also he said the problem is with teksavvy. then i called teksaavy again right after that.the lady told me that they will send replacement modem for me and asked me to send back my defective modem cause they told me the problem was my modem. then she said " once we receive your modem we will test it then if its working properly we have to charge you $25 for restocking fee"
they will charge $25 restocking fee me for a modem that they suspect defective but if turn out working properly, they will charge me restocking fee. which is not even my fault!! and what if the modem working properly but they will say the modem is defective then charge me still cause i dont know the truth.

what i dont understand is what they do that. plus my modem is still under warranty.not even a month yet.

TypeS
join:2012-12-17
London, ON

TypeS

Member

Re: $25 restocking Fee for my properly working fine modem

Try posting in theTekSavvy Direct Forums and see if maybe TSI Andre, Martin or JonF can be of better assistance before you are forced to send the modem back.
derridada
join:2013-02-17
London, ON

derridada

Member

switch Rogers -> teksavvy

Thanks for this insightful review. Great piece! Now I'm even more convinced to change.

I'm determined to make the switch from Rogers to Teksavvy too, from extreme plus cable, since they again changed their pricing, and I am constantly over the download cap and 'upgrading' to fiber (or 'extreme super plus ultra turbo cable' or whatever they call it) is just too costly and raises the cap only marginally. Since I'm streaming everything now, I can just cancel cable and take it all (phone and internat) to Teksavvy.

My question though: what was your experience like cancelling with Rogers? What cancellation fees did you face? I also reckon I'll get a lot of resistance from Rogers in making the change - I just want to know what I'll be up against...

TypeS
join:2012-12-17
London, ON

TypeS

Member

Re: switch Rogers -> teksavvy

said by derridada:

Thanks for this insightful review. Great piece! Now I'm even more convinced to change.

I'm determined to make the switch from Rogers to Teksavvy too, from extreme plus cable, since they again changed their pricing, and I am constantly over the download cap and 'upgrading' to fiber (or 'extreme super plus ultra turbo cable' or whatever they call it) is just too costly and raises the cap only marginally. Since I'm streaming everything now, I can just cancel cable and take it all (phone and internat) to Teksavvy.

My question though: what was your experience like cancelling with Rogers? What cancellation fees did you face? I also reckon I'll get a lot of resistance from Rogers in making the change - I just want to know what I'll be up against...

I don't quite remember how cancelling with Rogers went, I had their services for 2 years already at my last residence. So I was not on any contract. I called, confirmed cancellation dates. I went from Cable to DSL (in 2011). So the transition was easier. My cancel date with Rogers was much later than my activation date with TekSavvy. If you're not on contract, you'll face no cancellation fees. You will be offered deal after deal from rentions. I hear they are offering 35/3 with 200GB of data for $45, or they were. If you;re going from cable to cable, you may experience some downtime a day or two since the modem will need to be provisioned on their network.

I highly suggest making a post on their Direct Support Forums. They are very informative and attentive in responding to posts. I also recommend you buy the Thompson/Technicolor DCM476 modem from them, you'll save $20 on activation and it the best supported modem right now to get to future proof yourself.

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

TSI Ashleigh

Premium Member

Update!!

Thank you for the update!!!

It is great to hear the DHCP issue has subsided for you in recent months.

There are many different ways you can get in contact with us for online support. We can be reached through DSLr direct forum, Twitter, Facebook, email (support@teksavvy.com) and Teksavvy forum. We watch all of these channels and are more than happy to assist with any issue or question you may have.

Please keep us updated on your services!

TSI-Ashleigh