how-to block ads
|
»next review in page
 Review by Jan J 
UPDATED: 1 year ago
member for 1 year, 21 visits, last login: 15 days ago
 Montreal,QC
 $26 per month
 about 1 days
 Bell Canada
 "Customer service, cheap prices, speed when they're not putting you on a 56K server, instant order processing"
 "Once you've downloaded more than 100GB, they put you on a VERY UNSTABLE and a VERY slow server for 15 days"
 "Unless you are a lite user or a gamer, I do not recommend this ISP for"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
AVOID THIS ISP AT ALL COST, HERE'S THE MESSAGE I RECEIVED AFTER SENDING A MESSAGE TO LUCAS, AN EX-VIF EMPLOYEE:
If you want support, contact viftech@vif.com, I am no longer an employee of VIF Internet.
(Read: I don't give a flying fuck about people that constantly nag about not reading policies and then wonder why they have issues because they decide to download a complete Housewives season in ultra-high DVD HD resolution in one day).
Cheers,
Lucas.
The original review follows:
I've been a Bell Canada customer for over 4 years, and I must say that I was relieved once I switched to VIF Internet, not only because of its prices but because of its awesome customer service unlike Bell Canada which was the exact opposite.
I've used VIF Internet for a month, with no problems at all, speeds were amazing, like advertised until... we got the second month (November) where I downloaded 15GB in a day (Yes, that's big, but still) and the next day, the speeds dropped suddenly.
I started getting interrupted connections, very frequent timeouts, and my son who plays games has been getting very high response times (lag) in his games.
We were already aware that if we downloaded a high amount of GB, we would be moved to a slower server for 15 days. However, we weren't aware of the "slowness" of the new server, as soon as we were hit by it.
Like I've mentioned earlier, very slow loading times, from 20 seconds to a minute to load a simple page and sometimes even when it's loaded, it's still missing some parts like images, so I have to refresh and wait another minute.
They do not provide any modem/router with any package, so we have to buy a modem/router at our own expenses which is another bad point since it took me almost two weeks to find a modem/router and I found it on NewEgg.ca, very bad for the average user.
The ordering process was instant, just give the bank account number and you're subscribed to VIF Internet and you just have to change the older settings with the newly acquired ones from VIF in your modem configuration page and off you go.
In summary, avoid this ISP if you are a heavy downloader, but if you are a lite user/gamer, go for it.
I now have to wait 15 days so they put me back on the normal server... and that's 15 days of frequent timeouts and speeds slower than 56Kbps!
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of VIF Internet |
 | »next review in page (previous review)
Review by Enkerli
Posted: 1.5 years ago
member for 1.6 years, 3 visits, last login: 1.1 years ago
Laval,QC
$30 per month (month by month)
Bell Canada
"Fast, reliable, easy to setup, can use other modems, no nagging, no contract."
"Could be slightly cheaper."
"Straightforward service, good value."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Value for money:
|
Looked at RadioActif.net, ElectronicBox.net, TekSavvy.com, Acanac.ca, Bell.ca, Videotron.ca, Velcom.com, and Montreal-DSL.com. Most DSL plans were quite similar, apart from Bell which was more expensive.
Go the standard DSL monthly plan: 5Mbps/800kbps at 30$/mo. without a contract (no installation fees).
Order was very straightforward: complete a short form online (including choosing a PPPoE username and password), call to give a credit card number. That's it. No nagging. The delay was reasonable and I had to postpone the setup date because I was moving.
Install was even more straightforward than order: send the PPPoE info to the modem, and that's it.
Didn't get any equipment from Vif. Using a Broadxent.com Broadband Blaster 8012-V and a Belkin.com Wireless G Router (F5D7230-4).
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of VIF Internet |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by En Enfer
Posted: 1.6 years ago
member for 6.3 years, 2657 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Montreal,QC
$30 per month
Bell Canada
"Tech Support and value"
"THROTTLING and routing issues"
"Good average ISP"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
I'm with VIF since summer 2002 when I flushed AEI Internet (they were disconnecting me regulary to obtain "stats"), and VIF welcomed me instantly. Back then it was 35$/month for 3Mbit or 30$/month if you pay the whole year in advance, and all traffic was going through Cogent (and QIX/TORIX) with peer1 backup (normally took 15 minutes everytime to get it started), and it was truly unlimited. I used my own modem and they were fine with it.
Nowadays, price is 30$/month for 5Mbit or 29$/month for the whole year in advance, dry loop is offered, they peer with Bell Canada and Peer1 (QIX/TORIX are still being used), and they are throttling since the last 2 years. They also advertise unlimited with a fine print reference to a Soft cap of 100Gb (both ways). They won't charge for going over, cut you off or call you, but anyone going over this limit will be switched to their secondary slow server.
A few years ago, they had monthly problems where their upstream provider (Cogent) gets cut off at 2am and we had to wait until 8am the next day to get service back. Those days are (or seems to be) gone now.
Traceroutes to some destinations uses Bell Canada's network, which normally goes down to Chicago before going anywhere else, which is a bad thing.
Their website is bilingual and easy to use. The online timer counts bandwidth used and your shows login history.
Technical support is helpful, they do not read a script and doesn't take customers for idiots (like Bell or AEI).
If you don't mind throttled service and use less than 100Gb per month, VIF is a good provider. They are located downtown Montreal.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of VIF Internet |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by netester
Posted: 1.6 years ago
member for 1.6 years, 3 visits, last login: 1.6 years ago
undisclosed location
$33 per month
Bell Canada
"service clientele"
"Bandwith - price"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
Hi ,
Is there anyboy who is living in Rosemont near St Leonard and having VIF Adsl? If so please let me know if the service is good in this area., what is the maximum bandwith they give? True 5mb or less?
Also need info about VOIP with VIF.
Your answers are welcome. Let me know.
Thanksm
Followup comments:  VIF_Lucas
join:2004-09-04
Beaconsfield, QC
| Question, not review... I guess this would rather belong in the VIF forums, located here: »VIF Internet
And just to answer the question, generally speaking it's not possible to determine the speed that's attainable at a certain location, even if you know people in the same "area". The speed of your line is directly dependant on the distance in copper wire between the location where you want service at, and the bell CO (Central Office).
The only way you would have to know the average speed is to know someone that is at the same address (in the same building) or within 1 or 2 houses to the left or right. Even someone across the street is not a good indication. | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of VIF Internet |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by xgmranti
UPDATED: 2 years ago
member for 4 years, 76 visits, last login: 2 days ago
Almonte,ON
$29 per month
about 5 days
Bell Canada
"Good speeds, cheapest ISP out there"
"Softcap"
"Great if you're a light user"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
Had these guys a few years back to replace Storm Internet. They had a nasty 10GB cap up/down so I decided it was time to switch. (2006)
As far as I can remember they were a pretty decent ISP. Their website was well layed out and ordering by phone wasn't too bad, besides a bit of a thick English (based in Quebec).
They did have minor outages but you were warned two weeks ahead of time and the downtime occurred between 2-4am.
They had occasional reliability problems but again nothing serious and never lasting more then a few hours.
The biggest downside was the softcap at 100GB. Once you hit that limit, regardless of 101GB a month or 500GB a month, you are moved to a secondary network. Web browsing slows to a crawl (near dialup speeds).
I wouldn't consider myself a super user, but occasionally I do pass the 100GB threshold. Spending three weeks on the secondary network was enough to make me drop them.
For decent service, as long as your a lite user, with a price that can't be beat, try VIF.
Note: I scored them neutral for Tech Support since I never had to call in.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of VIF Internet |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by Dave Lewis
Posted: 2 years ago
member for 5.6 years, 264 visits, last login: 1.3 years ago
Nepean,ON
 Business customer
$212 per month
about 12 days
Bell Canada
"Very knowledgeable Staff, Especially the Owner, easy to work with."
"Slightly pricy for what I’m getting, BUT that is Bell’s DSL Sync Issue not VIF’s. No Bad Points with VIF"
"Worth every penny."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
When I went to VIF, they were the middle of the road cost wise. At the time I had a horrible experience with IStop, and VIF were very quick to reply to questions about their service, and accommodated every request I had. I ended up ordering the 6meg Bridged Connection (no pppoe). The install went smoothly on VIF's side. Had some hiccups with Bell not moving my PVC from my old provider to VIF. The thing that impresses me the most is that they are very candid with their outages. If you ask and it was their fault they will tell you (although the outages in general are few and far between). Most ISP's I've seen fail to admit when it was their issue.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of VIF Internet |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by BreYers
UPDATED: 2.6 years ago
member for 2.8 years, 1 visits, last login: 2.6 years ago
Montreal,QC
$35 per month
"Easy subscription, no hassle billing, good service... at first..."
"Technical service and big network problem since end of 2006..."
"Not at the monent, go see somewhere else!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
I subscribed almost two or three years ago and it was amazing! In the first two years, the only moment I had to called them was to give them the number of my new credit card! this was the good years...
I tried to joined them by email to know why we are not able as user to modify the propreties of a file on their FTP server (so I can use a PHP script) and they never wanted to explain to me how they say they support PHP and we are not able as user to modify propreties of a file on their FTP server to enable a PHP script?!?!?! If you don't know, get someone who know!!!
Also, my connection problem started in the autumn of 2006... Speed was getting amazingly slow in the evening! I did say a thing at first, but after a couple of weeks i started wondering « WTF! ». There was a problem with and OC3 line they said and it was going to be fix soon... It was fix at the end of December. it went well for a couple of days, but only for a couple of days... The service is completly horrible since the last couple of months... its amazing! I can donwload at 400 k/s from their server, but I get between 5-15 k/s from other domain than Vif.com!?!?!
I considere now switching to another ISP and this why I came here in the first place... to get information on other ISP in the Montreal area!
if you thing about subscribing to Vif.com... wait... not now... to much problems...
****************update on April 4th 2007***************
Good Lord! I have been (***bad word***) by Vif.com for over a year now! They have lower their monthly fee to 29.95 instead of 34.95 but they never made the adjustement to my bill. A customer representative told me he can modify my present bill, but for all the past bill there is nothing they can do.
12 x 5$ = 60$ = two month of service
I'm probably not the only one in this case, there must be a lot of customer in the same case than me...
Good Lord!
Followup comments: 
VIFSUKS
@stssystems.org
| very bad connection / not recommended I had VIF Internet for one year 2006-2007. Every evening from 18:00 to 01:00 in the morning the speed dramatically decreases. Becomes almost like dialUp, 100-200K. Looks that this guys are too greedy, and they took more clients than the server can support. Called them many times, they are giving some stupid reasoning, Ex: its because in the evening temperature outside is lower than during the day time.....what kind of crap?!!! | |
|
bad vif bell
@vif.net
| re: vif Package 5 Mbps, 800 kbps
But I only get 600 kbps yes not even 1 mbps dl, and 220 kbps ul that is under the conditions where all phones are unplugged, with phones plugged I get a little under.
They should charge me intermediate "high speed". I complained numerous times, but they say it's because you live too far from Bell's CO. yeah 5 km is too far, at work the distance is 9 km, and I get real 5 Mbps, 800 kbps upload. | |
|
Taska
@videotron.ca
| Any Good Ones I noticed the slow-down, too. When I signed up in 2005, everything was fine and I just called them a few times when I upgraded my machine. Tech support was supportive. But I've noticed not only the slow speed, but other technical problems like intermittent service. Tech support is not as supportive as before because I often hear things like "you've got to talk to Microsoft, it's not our problem..."
Have you guys found a better ISP in the 514 area? I used to have Sympatico and hated it... | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of VIF Internet |
|
|
VIF Internet
·