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 Review by Gwellin 
UPDATED: 1.2 years ago
member for 5.4 years, 2141 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Regina,SK
 $40 per month
 about 2 days
 "Quite fast and reliable"
 "Digital cable is too expensive"
 "Internet is fast and cheap-ish"
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I have had very few complaints with Access Communications. One thing I especially like is that if there is a known internet outage in the city (which is not all that common) their Internet Help Line starts with a recorded message giving details and an estimate on the time it will be out.
I was very happy when a few years ago they upgraded their network to 5MBps, which is returning reliable speeds at around 4.3MBps according to the recent speed test I just performed. There is a download cap, last I heard around 70GiB in a 30 day period, but I have only been warned once (didn't cut me off), and have never passed it since.
I first started using it in mid-2003, changed to the light speeds for a year or so, then back to the full package. All the while I have had a good experience. The installation comes quick, just a couple days on first signup, then one day when I moved for them to run additional lines.
My only problem is that their Digital Cable (which I haven't taken the plunge for yet) seems very expensive. Regardless of the package you choose there is an extra monthly rental fee for the digital box, up to $15 if you want HD.
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Review by aaronparks45
UPDATED: 1.5 years ago
member for 1.6 years, 13 visits, last login: 248 days ago
Greensburg,Green,KY
$45 per month
about 2 days
"Smokin Deal, Blistering Fast, No Hassle Install"
"Cant think of any!"
"Best bang for the buck in this area... period."
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6meg for $45, rocksolid 5.7meg or better downloads. Technician arrived on time, exactly as scheduled. Fast, friendly, local, and what a bargain!
Folks, you cant beat the deal in this area. I had 1.5meg through Windstream and it performed as advertised, but for the same price as my now insanely fast cable from Access. And unless you live in downtown Greensburg, you cant get anything faster from Windstream. Oh yea, Windstream blocks the good ports for your downloading pleasure... BOOO! My Access line is wide open 
Access has packages from 512k all the up to 8meg, no matter where you are. You DONT have to have cable TV service either. They are so flexible. I cant really say enough, so heres how the experience went, shouldnt leave any questions for you.
Walked into Access office on Tue, spent 10 minutes browsing packages and speaking to staff. Made our choices, scheduled the install, paid cash upfront to start services.
Technician arrived as scheduled on Thur at 9am. He was very friendly and fast. However, having your own knowledge of internet stuff helps, Im not sure how they handle non-techy type folks. He was here about 15 minutes total, leaving me with 2 TV's on cable, an operational internet connection, a new modem, and my own copy of software. Speed was verified before he left.
Now here I sit, happy as can be, with 6meg service for the same price I was paying for a fraction of the speed.
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Review by biles
UPDATED: 3.1 years ago
member for 7.8 years, 1207 visits, last login: 39 days ago
Regina,SK
$45 per month
"High download and upload speed, Great tech support. 2 static IPs. New modem whenever you want"
"Download cap"
"More customer oriented than the competition. Cap is bad for heavy downloaders."
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$45 a month if you don't have cable. If you are a university student, you can get the same service for $25 a month. Compaired to the competition, this is a great ISP. On average I get 4.5meg for 5 meg service. Pings are around 97ms and upload is around 890kbps of 1meg. If you have a problem, they try to fix the problem asap. I haven't had any service disruptions besides a bad amplifier. They fixed that the day I called.
Followup comments:  
Yeah No
@accesscomm.ca
 from:
Moneyman228
|  I went to Access because of people telling me it's faster...
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Yeah No
@accesscomm.ca
| Re: I went to Access because of people telling me it's faster... I forgot to mention, the entire reasoning behind their bandwidth cap is due to the fact that they are too cheap to install and maintain their own network infrastructure. People like to say they are faster and better than SaskTel, yet Access goes through SaskTel since they are the only company in Saskatchewan who runs and maintains a network infrastructure in the province. The cap from Access is a result of Access trying to cut costs by buying the absolute cheapest and smallest line from SaskTel to run their internet through. Reliability really has nothing to do with Access, if SaskTel is down, Access is down. So the high level of reliability actually comes from SaskTel, and not Access Communications. Another thing worth noting is the fact that You can get the exact same speed line (or faster) from SaskTel for the same price or less. For $9 a month more, you can even go and get yourself a 10 Mbps line from SaskTel, which is twice the speed of Access' fastest line, and there is no upload or download cap... Imagine that.
Anyhow, I just felt compelled to save people from the same terrible service I've been stuck with for the past few months. Thankfully I'm done with Access at the end of the month. For people who say that the average internet user doesn't need more than 70 GB per month, all I have to say is that with a 256Kbps line, you can actually manage to get 79GB per month... So if you're one of those "average" internet users, all you really need is 256Kbps, and not a 5 Mbps... So in light of that, why cap the faster lines, as the people who subscribe to it are obviously intending to use it... Otherwise everyone would just get a 256Kbps line, since they all provide the same amount of throughput at the end of the month anyway.... Just a thought, but one that should save a lot of people time, money, and frustration dealing with an amateur company. | |
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Monopoly guy
@accesscomm.ca
|  Re: I went to Access because of people telling me it's faster...
FYI..access comm has their own fiber optic line that leads into the city ( AND NO SATILITES ITS A HARD LINE)..and they pay AT&T or another one of the networking giants who OWN the internet and are the ones selling the bandwidth and UPLOAD costs more then DLOAD hense the reason we dont get 10 up 10 down..and honestly with your lil bandwidth usage statement..are u at home 24hours a day always downloading? 70 gigs is ezily 70+ movies...there is not enuf days in the month.. o btw..try to host a online game with sasktel..U CANT as they dont even assign u your own static ip..and NO they are nvr down at the same time..unless the POWER goes out..do some reasearch b4 posting your fabricated and assumed evidence. | |
| | | | DaMizZa
join:2007-08-02
1 edit | Re: I went to Access because of people telling me it's faster... As far as the bandwidth statement, does it matter if I am at home to download? Does what I download matter? Does the time of day that I download matter?
That depends, with Access it does. With SaskTel it doesn't.
SaskTel also offers Static IPs, weird.
SaskTel doesn't try to hide their business practices from the general public. Access does. Nowhere, in any ad or even online do they even make mention of their Cap policy. Even if you read through all the fine print when you first sign up, it makes no mention of it.
Bottom line is, why pay the same amount, in some cases more, for less service? Would it make more sense to pay $5 for a 5lb bag of potatoes at one place, when you can pay $5 for a 20lb bag of potatoes at another? The difference in that analogy may seem exageratted, but in reality it's much worse. Like I said, at 5 Mbps, you should get 1500+ GB per month of throughput. With SaskTel, you do, with Access, you get 70 GB.
So I mean, yeah, some people seem religious towards Access, and that's their choice, I'm not trying to change their minds.. But what I am trying to do is let people know what they're getting into when they sign up for Access, because Access doesn't.
So stay with your Access internet, limited to the throughput of approx. 256 Kbps, regardless of whether you have 5 MBps or 10 Mbps, that's totally cool with me. I'm just saying for people who haven't tried either yet, for the same price or less, you can go with SaskTel who will give you the full 1.5 Mbps, 5 Mbps, or 10 Mbps that you pay for, without limits on throughput.
Just out of curiosity, I just want to know how you justify Access being a better ISP... Cause I just don't see it at all, and I'm sure many people can agree with that.
Hosting a game server? Sure hope you don't get capped, or that server will be pretty empty thanks to some extreme lag caused by a throttled connection.. As long as you have Access that is.
For the record, SaskTel doesn't get a choice, a lot of competitors use SaskTel's network. Not by choice of course, but see SaskTel faces a disadvantage in terms of competition due to more restrictions and regulations from an organization called the CRTC, which forces them to let these competitors use their network. Even with these restrictions placed upon them, Access still doesn't seem able to compete with the level of service. Once they get rid of their cap non-sense, then maybe they could be considered a decent alternative, but until then, it's pretty much a no-brainer.
And while it can be argued that SaskTel is a Crown Corp and has unlimited funding from the government, just realize that SaskTel has not received any government money in over 80 years... They actually give the government money (Which helps keep your taxes in Saskatchewan lower), and at the same time put in an exponentially larger amount of money than Access back into local communities through sponsorships and donations... So really, better service, better community, and more government income that isn't out of your pockets, does it really sound so terrible? | |
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UknowNothing
@accesscomm.ca
| Re: I went to Access because of people telling me it's faster... Read the back of your contract. At no time does Access offer "unlimited bandwidth" regardless of what you think. They offer "unlimited connectivity." Which means you are free to surf the web 24/7/365. Just because you are downloading more than 70GB of illegal pirated movies, games, software..and obviously you are if you are using that much bandwidth, doesn't mean that they need to allow you to do that. Most companies have a cap, some may be higher than others. Access does NOT use any of Sasktel's service in Regina. Don't go slandering a company before you know the facts, and it's quite obvious that you do not. Maybe Sasktel can dump 600 Million (taxpayers) dollars to improve their system. Access does a great job on ALOT less than that. With 600 Million dollars Access could provide cable to the entire provence for years... | |
| omega1682
join:2003-03-07
Regina, SK
| access Access has just recently introduced a new service. Access Xtreme Internet. The speeds are 10mb down and 1mb up. I just signed up and it is only $10 more dollars then the 5 meg line. I am very excited and this is awesome.
Sasktel sucks. Access is the way to go. | |
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justaguy_sk
@accesscomm.ca
| Increased 10MPS Service Available
For me - I was an Access guy until this latest crap. Looking into Sasktel, as the 70GB cap doesn't work with my current volounteer work with developing and testing software in my spare time for major companies around the world. Without people like myself, you wouldnt have Adaware, Mozilla, and other software programs that benefit the user community as a whole.
Wake up Access before you find someone else muscling in on your customers and see your base of customers leave for a real Internet provider. | |
| robert_sk
join:2007-09-07
Regina, SK
1 edit | Access throttling cap raised to 100 points/month Access Communications has recently changed their "throttling candidate" cap from 70GB to 100 points/month. The points system works on WHEN you download, not how much you download, so if you schedule your large downloads for early in the morning/late at night, you will almost never hit the 100 point limit. | |
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Review by saskjohnny
Posted: 4.3 years ago
member for 4.3 years, 20 visits, last login: 1.9 years ago
Yorkton,SK
$27 per month
about 3 days
"Always Free Service Calls. Consistent Speeds. Always Right Near Advertised Speeds."
"Superior Company! Customer Service Is Stunning! Speeds Are Awesome."
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Access has been one of the best companies I have ever done business with. They are always very fast to answer questions. Dealing with any line issues has been a suprisingly pleasant experience. I one had an issue that caused me to lose cable/internet and they arrived 15 minutes after I called on a Friday evening! (Turned out to be a simple connection that had to be replaced.. For a total fix time of 5 minutes or so).
I've always seen very consistent speed tests using broadbandreports.com, regardless of time of day. (Even though I am always told that in general cable users experience slower service the more people on-line in the neighborhood, etc).
Others have posted comments about a bandwidth limit of 70 Gigs. While I will admit that I never realized there was a limit, which probably should be noted more clearly... I don't think that realistically average users will be affected by this limit. It's actually pretty high. General Internet use is not going to come close to that limit. I believe that the people affected by numbers like that are mostly those that are downloading music/movies. (Though I am sure there are some out there that download tons of shareware, etc or something too). I once downloaded movies (a practice I have since stopped).. They were an average of 700megs. It would take downloading 100 movies a month at that rate to hit the limit. For music, I see a high average being 5 meg per song (usually less it seems though). That would require (unless I miscalculated) 14,000 song downloads. Now, it's just my opinion, but I think that 99% of LEGITIMATE downloaders aren't going to hit these numbers. (The 1% that does is going to be either spending a ton of money at iTunes or is a software developer downloading huge amounts of development kits or something!)
Again, the download limit should be advertised, however, at those numbers it's going to be very unusual for people to hit it that are downloading legitimate items. (My opinion)
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Review by omega1682
Posted: 4.5 years ago
member for 6.7 years, 296 visits, last login: 32 days ago
Regina,SK
$51 per month
"Very Fast Download and Upload speeds"
"Cap you at 70 Gigs per month"
"Great Overall"
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I have used Access Communnications for 4 years now and I have been very happy with their service to date. They are very reliable with their connection and their customer service is above all the rest.
They sometimes have to do maitenance, but this is only 15 mins at a time, is during the late hours of the night (3:00am-3:15am) and they e-mail you each time it is about to be done.
Their advertised speed of 5 megs dowload and 1 meg upload is rarlely below what is advertised.
The only problem I have is that they "Cap" your monthly usage. If you use more then 70 gigabytes per month of data... both upload and download combined, then they will "downgrade" you to a lower speed. (high speed lite, high speed ultra-lite)
All in all I would reccomend Access Communications to everyone I know.... as they have never let me down.
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Review by hrobins
Posted: 5.2 years ago
member for 9.1 years, 2435 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Regina,SK
$45 per month
about 7 days
"Quick Install Time"
"They cap you"
"Good for people who can't get DSL, but can get Access"
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Called in for install and was able to get up and going within seven days.
With the recent upgrade to 5meg/1meg tier, makes your internet connection rock.
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Access Communications
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