how-to block ads
|
»next review in page
Review by dgorgan 
UPDATED: 171 days ago
member for 6.9 years, 37 visits, last login: 79 days ago
 Kingston,ON
 $55 per month
 "High speed"
 "Cripplingly low bandwidth caps, Painful billing once caps are exceeded"
 "Avoid Cogeco!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Cogeco has several high-speed packages, but they have recently implemented usage caps and billing on their plans.
The plan I'm currently subscribed to (High Speed Internet Standard) has a ridiculously low cap of 60gb up/down a month. Beyond that, you'll pay $1.50 per gigabyte transferred. There's a stated limit of $30 of charges for usage over the cap, but there are still questions about having service cut off after exceeding the cap.
If my hard drive were to crash, I would need at least 40gb to re-download all the content (Steam purchases) and patches (WoW, Windows security updates) that I have today, and that number is going up. That would block out any use of the streaming video I would want to watch or buying any downloadable software using digital distribution.
Simply put, the transfer cap is too low to keep up with the future of the online marketplace. Avoid Cogeco if you plan on actually using your InterNet connection.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Cogeco Cable |
 | »next review in page (previous review)
 Review by neko
UPDATED: 172 days ago
member for 3.3 years, 534 visits, last login: a few minutes ago
St Catharines,ON
$57 per month (month by month)
 about 7 days
"Fast speed, very reliable uptime."
"Download caps limit your ability to enjoy your fast connection."
"If you watch video podcasts, download TV/Movies then beware of the bandwidth caps on the service."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
[EDIT: June 21st, 2009]
So Cogeco are now instituting overage charges, of around $1.50 per GB, that you go over the low cap of 60Gb per month. And you will be disconnected until the end of the month if you go over that cap, as well as being charged.
I am still so happy that I decided to ditch Cogeco, & go with the best Internet provider in Canada: Teksavvy.
[/EDIT: June 21st, 2009]
I got Cogeco cable installed when I moved into my new apartment a few months ago. I ordered high speed standard which has 10Mbit download speed. I get around 9Mbit actual speed from newsgroups & servers. I am happy with the speed. I had a billing issue, but it was resolved quickly & without incident to my satisfaction. Haven't needed tech support.
I thought I had a fast unlimited connection: I was wrong. Cogeco has implemented bandwidth caps at 60Gb for high speed standard. There is the option to upgrade to a higher speed tier with 16Mbit download speed & a 100Gb download cap, but I find that I do not need 16Mbit speed & 100Gb is way too low a cap, what with the digital media available on the internet, Itunes, Joost, Miro, Audible.com, Azureus Vuze, High Def video podcasts, mefeedia.com, Audiobook downloads, etc.
The only option for more bandwidth is to upgrade to a commercial/business tier, clearly not aimed at residential customers; I think this is ludicrous that there is no higher capped service other than high speed pro, for residential customers.
So if you check your e-mail, surf some websites & don't do much downloading, then Cogeco cable service is fine. If you use new media & download TV shows/Movies from Itunes, Joost, Miro, High Def video podcasts, etc, then you may hit the bandwidth caps.
Followup comments:  metrotitan
join:2008-11-21 | Disconnect? >> And you will be disconnected until the end of the month if you go over that cap
Are you sure about that? | |
| |
neko
All Hail Canada
Premium
join:2006-08-11
canada
 ·Callcentric
 ·Cogeco Cable
·Future Nine Corpor..
 ·TekSavvy Solutions..
| Re: Disconnect? I got that information directly from the users on the Cogeco Forum, discussing the issue; but, yes. That's the policy.
If you go over X amount bandwidth per month, you get shepherded to a web page telling you you have gone over allotted bandwidth, & to call in to customer support.
Even after paying overage charges, you will not be able to get back to normal, & continue downloading lots. You may get 1GB or so just to surf. You option is to either upgrade to a higher tier with higher caps, or accept it.
After the month ends, the meter gets reset, & you are online again.
I would say, go ask in the Cogeco Forum, the users there will give further information on the exact procedure.
--
...virtue gives you heraldry. | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of Cogeco Cable |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by sidewinder74
Posted: 177 days ago
member for 1 year, 4 visits, last login: 168 days ago
Freelton,ON
Contract price not specified.
"Very Fast"
"Bad Customer relation. Charged $12 for 5G over limit (HiSpLite) after 8 years not going over on HiSpeed."
"Looking for job and new provider"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
After loosing my job in March, they offered me HiSpeedLite for $20. with 10 gig cap. Today the called and said I was still getting Hi speed standard and would immediately switch me to Hi speed Lite (10 gig cap). Immediately got an email saying I was over my limit and would charge me $12. Since it was their mistake that I was still on high speed, I was unknowingly up to 15 Gigs. After paying $55 per month for over 7 years, and never going more than half their allowed limit, they will ding me for 5 Gig over the limit. No explaining would change their mind. Why should I pay for their mistakes. I could see it if I was always close to their limit, but that wasn't the case. Nice way to treat a steady customer. They should go after the abusers....
Followup comments: 
jeisenberg
New Year's Eve
join:2001-07-06
Windsor, ON
·Cogeco Cable
·Cogeco Voip
| I wish you good luck on the job front I'm sorry to hear about your job loss. And the bonehead move by Cogeco really is the icing on the cake. I've been a Cogeco "fan boy" for more than 10 years, since I've been very satisfied with their products and support.
But lately, their price increases are testing my loyalty. I don't worry about caps, but their pricing is really not very friendly lately, and I'm considering a move myself.
I wish you all the best. | |
| | sidewinder74
join:2008-11-20
Freelton, ON
·Cogeco Cable
| Re: I wish you good luck on the job front Thanks, just signed up with Teksavvy. Quick delivery of modem, fast phone help. Not blazingly fast, but at $29.95 for 200 gigs, it's fast enough! Getting close to 3Megs upload. Surprisingly, I just got called back to work. Didn't expect that till at least December. | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of Cogeco Cable |
| »next review in page (previous review)
 Review by drewis
Posted: 178 days ago
member for 3.2 years, 208 visits, last login: 41 days ago
Hamilton,ON
$79 per month
"Speed"
"Everything else: Price, traffic throttling, bitcaps that are outrageous if you do anything other than check email. etc etc"
"No value - Look for Teksavvy DSL or anything but Bell or Cogeco - youll be glad you did."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
They have decent support, but I have heard that went downhill recently too. Complete crap with bitcaps and traffic shaping. Worst value ever. If you are lucky enough to get good speeds with Cogeco, that's all youll get and you will just hit your cap faster.
Go with Teksavvy they are the most knowledgeable ISP ive ever encountered.
By the way, I was a 11 year customer, stuck with them through the worst times they had - no connection - poor speed city wide - not once did I ever recieve a credit....
Anyways bottom line, go somewhere else if you can.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Cogeco Cable |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by boredguy
UPDATED: 185 days ago
member for 7.8 years, 2850 visits, last login: a few hours ago
St Catharines,ON
$47 per month
"Fast"
"tech support by phone is pretty bad, occasional network problems, torrent upload capped, overages"
"Good company that's gone downhill, switching to DSL"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Been with Cogeco since they first came to St. Catharines. While there had been a small period of time where the connection was very iffy i was very happy with them till about 2 years ago. All of a sudden torrent upload was capped. 6 months after that they started suspending for going over a pretty small cap. Now they're going to start charging for overage. With that i'm switching to Teksavvy.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Cogeco Cable |
| »next review in page (previous review)
 Review by Nighthawk
UPDATED: 185 days ago
member for 3.2 years, 519 visits, last login: 4 days ago
Welland,ON
$69 per month (12 month contract)
about 7 days
"When it works it works great."
"Lately all I can get out of my Pro (16 Meg/1Meg) connection is 1-2 Meg at the max."
"7 months with the same problem and they still haven't fixed it and now I am being told that I will have to wait another 5 month"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
Why pay for the 16 meg connection when all you get is 1-2 meg. I have been dealing with tech support for 7 months now and still no luck. To me it just looks like they have too many customers on my segment and it needs to be split.
Just as an update. My VOIP phone is now dropping its connection about 4 times a day, my HD Cable is intermittent and my Internet is now down to 1.2 meg or NOTHING!!!! I have had Cogeco techs here about 15-20 times now and still no fix. All I get told is to be patient and they will soon fix the overload node in Welland. It has been 7 months with this problem how patient can I be!!!!
I am so frustrated and just need them to help me. I have been with Cogeco for 10 years and have been very happy with them and thier support staff until now. Does anyone have any suggestions that might help?
Well they came and replaced my modem for the thrid time and once again my connection keeps dropping and my Internet is even slower. I am running the latest hardware (so no Win98 here boys) and everything with the hardware and bandwidth worked fine until February.
Resetting the modem doesn't help but thanks for all of your suggestions. You are a great group!
Randy
Followup comments: 
Truthiness
@cgocable.net
| speeds I am in the same boat. My Internet Pro speeds are about 4 megs. Been dealing with Tech Support for 5 months and still unable to solve problem. They always refer it to "Maintenance" which is Slowgeco code word for "F*** You!"
Selling a product that you cannot deliver is CONSUMER FRAUD. | |
| | 
zippythezipp
join:2001-10-21
Canada
| Re: speeds said by Truthiness :
I am in the same boat. My Internet Pro speeds are about 4 megs. Been dealing with Tech Support for 5 months and still unable to solve problem. They always refer it to "Maintenance" which is Slowgeco code word for "F*** You!"
Selling a product that you cannot deliver is CONSUMER FRAUD.
Well I hope your bit about "Maintenance" is not true; as I've just been told that "Maintenance" is going to fix my problem ( not internet) over the next 5 business days. This is after I called waiting 10 business days for the first "Maintenance" call. It's a good thing I'm pretty patient. | |
| | |
zippythezipp
join:2001-10-21
Canada | Re: speeds Well maintenance did come out and my problem is pretty well rectified. VOD is a bit testy, but works. | |
| | | |
Nighthawk
When you look above, all worries depart.
Premium
join:2006-09-24
Welland, ON |  Re: speeds
| |
| | | | |
zippythezipp
join:2001-10-21
Canada | Re: speeds Short lived for me. Worse than ever now. No VOD, and missing many channels. I'm pretty well fed up.  | |
| |
ladyspiritsky
@cgocable.net
| The speed does suck where I am as well. Cogeco needs to upgrade their wiring or nodes before it gets a faster speed. I can only get up to 7kbps and up to 2mgbs at a time now. I think when they put in the digital phones is where we lost our speed to the internet. The phones take up baud speed. They say it doesnt but it makes sense that the phones do. I am very dissatisfied with Cogeco now. Its slow and the service sucks. We have had a slower service since Feb 2007. And still no improvements. Its nice that they give us a credit but when is it going to get fixed?? | |
| 
Last Parade
One of the Brightest Stars
join:2002-10-07
Port Colborne, ON | yes They promise speeds "up to" whatever. They could promise speeds up to 90MB/sec and still be OK legally. | |
|
Truthiness
@cgocable.net | promised speed Pepsi, I could promise to sell you a new Mercedes and deliver a rusty old Buick and that would be alright with you? | |
| |
Last Parade
One of the Brightest Stars
join:2002-10-07
Port Colborne, ON | Re: promised speed no? why the hell would that be alright with me? what does this have to do with anything? please stay on topic. | |
|
fantrais
@cogeco.com | issues with pro serv. have u tried swapping the modem? i was at one time experiencing the similar issue and i swapped the modem, so far that has resolved the issue for me.
cheers! | |
|
GT in Cornwall
@cgocable.net
|  Slow speeds with Internet Pro solved
| |
|
fgsdfawd
@cgocable.net
| Modem Speeds It's likely just your area, which sucks for you, because that means no quick fix. I get 9 megs on my 10 line, even if it is prone to the usual slowgeco drop now and again. Many of these problems can also have quite a bit to do with your hardware. Look into configuring your router if you have one and make sure to reset them frequently, as well as your modem, if you notice slowdowns. There is the TCP limit thing he mentioned.. but you could just upgrade to a better version of windows, it's not entirely a money making scheme... besides what even runs on 98 now? | |
|
UNSATISFIED
@cgocable.net
| Cogeco Internet I would definately reccomend against cogeco, especially for anyone who does more than just email and internet. It continuously disconnects, and is utterly unstable. I cant download a 3 minute download because the connection doesnt last long enough. If im lucky, on good days it takes 10 minutes, but this makes it impossible for online gaming and downloading. And its overpriced.
DONT GET COGECO! | |
|
Never
@cgocable.net
| Do Not get Cogeco! At least have a look at the alternatives. Acanac is much cheaper for DSL, Skype in/out would solve your phone issues (it's as unreliable as Slogeco- so you'll feel at home), and you can get 2000 sat channels for free, get an adapter and run it to your TV.
I mean, what's the difference? Lousy products with lousy service compared, why not go the cheaper way? At least you'll know WHY it's unreliable! And you'll have a few bucks spare to put on your cell phone and rent a movie!
The service is atrocious. You can't get service UNLESS you owe them money. They misrepresent products. They misrepresent pricing policies. They do not tell you about the "extras" that they send without telling you that it's another couple $$$ on your bill (eg. Movie bundle "bonus" magazine is actually $2 monthly).
And my 'hi-speed broadband" is actually low-width, extremely slow, and by the test they sent me to 90% slower downloads, 73% slower uploads than the rest of the world. Do they fix it? No.
But, God forbid you should be late on your bill!
Basically, it's time for a class-action suit. Check your past bills and see if you can't find things you don't recall ordering.
BTW, for the few who don't know this, Cogeco buys their VOIP and internet products from Bell, it's all resold and all available for you to get at wholesale prices yourself. So, why bother with the frustration of getting charged for the 3 other hands in the middle before it gets to you? | |
|
MicrosTech
@cgocable.ca
| Cogeco internet and voip Ive had internet from cogeco and it worked just fine untill last month. I called the phone support center and they send me a tech one day later. He changed the exterior wire witch had been damadge by squirel. since then it run superfast.
10 on 10 for Cogeco | |
|
help1234
@cogeco.com | slow speed you have packet loss at the modem - Call Cogeco and ask for more testing - a service call may be required. | |
|
obsurv
@cgocable.net
| speeds.... Cogeco brought out an mailing today claiming they would charge for excess usage starting April 1st. Today is the 15th. They were "excited" to offer an step up to the internet lite basic package. It would give you 3x the download speed and 2x the Usage. On two tests the speed has increased, but I foolishly upgrading two months ago to the "Standard" which would definitely give me the speed I need. It did for a day, they argued and then offered to send out a tech 5 days later and like many of us have said they treat you like you are an newbie/idiot. I cancelled the standard and am going to try the upgraded internet lite and see how long it lasts. Like Bell Canada of the old days, many of us have no choice but to use Cogeco and that pisses me off
Speed Test #70210918 by dslreports.com
Run: 2009-04-15 19:34:19 EST
Download: 2859 (Kbps)
Upload: 288 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 349.1 down 35.2 up
Tested by server: 7 java
User: 2 @ dslreports.com
User's DNS: cgocable.net
Compared to the average of 385 tests from cgocable.net:
* download is 54% worse, upload is 44% worse
Like I said; this is faster than the basic lite version; I just hope it lasts
(P.S. While talking to a tech and trying to determine my usage to date we found out their server can't even open the page under my account) | |
| |
drewis
Premium
join:2006-09-04
Hamilton, ON | Re: speeds.... if you can get it, switch to Teksavvy.
thats all im going to say. | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of Cogeco Cable |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by ell
Posted: 186 days ago
member for 2.9 years, 164 visits, last login: 117 days ago
Kingston,ON
$55 per month
"Speed"
"Cost and 60GB CAP!!"
"Looking for another ISP!! (can't afford anymore)"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
1st. Charging Overages 2nd. Cogeco Raises Rates. I can't afford to see at the end of each
month how much I'm getting charged. Cogeco has a great service but now over priced and with a low 60GB cap and 10mb speed you can hit your 60GB cap very fast. so I think after 9 or 10 years with cogeco it's time to go DSL THANKS!
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Cogeco Cable |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by Phorkster
UPDATED: 188 days ago
member for 5.4 years, 803 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Windsor,ON
$50 per month
"Fast"
"60GB Cap + Overage charges."
"Seem to raise rates every quarter or so and now with overages has fallen to the bottom of the heap."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
Stay Away if you can.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Cogeco Cable |
| »next review in page (previous review)
 Review by David_T
UPDATED: 188 days ago
member for 3.2 years, 185 visits, last login: 7 days ago
Oakville,ON
$59 per month
about 5 days
"Decent speeds during non-peak hours, Good Tech Support"
"Expensive, Peak Hour Congestion, Insanely low bandwidth caps and *grumble* Throttling..."
"Not worth the money at all anymore."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
So far I'm moderately happy with the service. When it was first installed, it was great, super fast speeds, great connection. But as the months passed, it seems it just kept getting worse and worse. Now about 3 months later, I can't seem to go an hour without loosing my connection. When gaming online I'm suffering packet loss and high pings.
When the service is working fully (No packet or connection loss) It's great, with a constant speed, unfortunately, it's not working fully as frequently as it should be.
Installation was great. Took the tech about 10 minutes to get it installed, I was up and running about 2 minutes after the installation.
If they can fix my connection drop and packet loss issues, then I'll be a happy camper.
Update: As of July 14th, I am now with TekSavvy. Problems with my speeds continued, and I frequently saw drops to nearly 3Mbps during peak hours. I no longer had any packet loss issues however. The constant price increases were certainly not welcomed either (was originally paying $39/mo, now paying $59/mo). The constant throttling also pushed me over the edge.
It's not nearly worth the green in my opinion.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Cogeco Cable |
| »next page (previous review)
Review by Gruesome
UPDATED: 190 days ago
member for 2.1 years, 280 visits, last login: 1 days ago
Milton,ON
$47 per month
"Consistently solid Download speeds(Except Torrents)"
"Low Cap and extremely pricey for what you get,"
"Found someone else with 300GB cap for $39.85 , better for needs(edit)"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I've liked Cogeco's service but I always review my spending whether it's Cable my cell or telephone etc. I've found them to be too pricey and their 60 GB Cap can be annoying some months. They never used to bother me with it until recently. What I find confusing is there approach in a world where caps should be rising to provide better access to online media, Caps are now being enforced even more rigidly.
We are now able to stream HD over the Internet, perhaps they find this a threat to their own business model.
The question for Cogeco is an easy one and the same one for all Internet Service providers
The Future is higher bandwidth and higher data volume
How will you meet this demand before someone else lures away your clients
Look at France as an example
Trying TekSavvy now to see if it will meet my needs, $20 cheaper with unlimited download
Gruesome
Review this today and I have finally left Cogeco, the new pricing scheme is nothing short of ludicrous and clear penalty for downloading over your cap.
The future of Internet in Canada looks grim with this kind of vision.
I've lowered my package with Teksavvy to just the basic 200 GB download for 29.95 a month and went with their phone service as well
Teksavvy works well for me but be warned you can only expect 5MB download not the 10 or 16 that Cogeco offers
Followup comments: dazium
join:2007-02-24
Windsor, ON
| your right Teksavvy is on the right path, although their speeds are slower;but that's because they use bell copper, unfortunately they are at the hands of bell, occasionally bell provisions the line at 7-8 MB.
Teksavvy is the leader in the fight with the CRTC and Bell.
if you read the TSI forum you see there are many people who regularly post. Most if not all of the posters are well educated on the CRTC tariffs. this is in part of the CEO and the very knowledgeable tech support. this is not a TSI plug.
MY experiences with TSI has been nothing but good compared to bell. but I digress.
the problem with Cogeco, the speeds are great and consistent but the caps are unreasonable. between a few hours of youtube and well other video sites its easy to eat bandwidth, not to mention p2p such as bit torrent. In my opinion Cogeco needs to wake up, they seem to be going backwards in their thinking, while the rest of the world is upping bandwidth they are holding to the standards of yesteryear. If they are able to offer higher speeds and soon to be higher then 16 MB\S then their caps should reflect that, at the moment they are rolling out 25 MB\S, which is unknown to the general public yet!
SO far the connection which i subscribe for gets cut off almost every month 1 maybe 2 days before the end of the month, Cogeco should take the path that TSI is paving and up their bandwidth to something actually competitive for the price.
The problem is there are not enough consumers who are aware enough to realize that they are being fleeced.
A fiber provider called Donobi recently acquired by Sitestar in the U.S offers truly high speed for about the same as Cogeco's standard package.
The question is why cant Canadian providers provide the same service as other countries.
all in all I am happy with Cogeco right now but that's only because I am too far from the CO to get TSI. | |
| |
CableGuy50MBits
@cgocable.net
| Re: your right Actully Cogeco is rolling out 50MBit to the door for starters very soon, and the CRTC is the reason for all the caps, no company can do anything unless the crtc says so, and so if cogeco wants to up the cap, then the crtc asks bell if that would hurt their financial state(which they hurt already) and then the crtc says no. And don't forget Bell enforced there cap for years, with a $8.95 per GB over. And Cogeco just up their limits to 60 from 15 GB just over a year ago. Thank the CRTC for all the tech lingering. It took 5 years of fighting to get the Cable companys to even be able to offer phone, because of the crtc and the ever crying Bell canada. | |
| | | Gruesome
join:2007-10-18
Milton, ON | Re: your right The CRTC does not impose or enforce caps
I currently have a 200 GB cap on my new DSL connection | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of Cogeco Cable |
|
|
(28)
(21)
(49)
(14)
