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Review by canuck1975 
member for 4.8 years, 49 visits, last login: 1 days ago
lodged 1 days ago
 Toronto,ON
 $50 per month Bell Canada "Customer service, reliability" "No unlimited option at higher speeds" "Great provider with great customer service"
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A great option if you're willing to move. I knocked off a point for the installation as it took a few weeks to solve some problems I had with the installation however Start fully compensated me for the troubles. They have higher pricing than another TPIA provider (you can read the logic on the boards) but they are more stable. I've used both cable & FTTN with Start with the FTTN so far providing a more stable service (as expected). Start puts a lot of emphasis on customer service which is a huge differentiator for them in the market. All-in-all I'm glad I moved.
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 | | Best ISP Been with Start.ca for years. Sales and Support very knowledgeable and caring. Quality of Service has been top notch!!! | |
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Review by Theriex
member for 2.6 years, 623 visits, last login: a few minutes ago
lodged 1 days ago
- Ottawa,ON
- Contract price not specified.
- "Everything about Start is good, speeds are terrific, caps are high, prices are good."
- "No unlimited bandwidth options, price is a little more expensive than Teksavvy, only pre-authorized billing."
- "Excellent IISP, I would highly recommend them to anyone."
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I really haven't had to have any contact with Start.ca after get my internet set up. This is the way it should be. The initial order had some issues as I was bringing my own modem and I guess the support staff got confused. I wish they had unlimited bandwidth options and options to pay your bill yourself instead of pre-authorized payments. Other than that, my speeds have been consistent and my connection has always been up.
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Review by docbill
member for 6.5 years, 162 visits, last login: 3 days ago
updated 2 days ago
- Stoney Creek,ON
- $55 per month
- (month by month)
 about 10 days- "Quality connection, excellent speed"
- "Still has a bandwidth cap, and $0.50/GB overage charge seems abit high"
- "Good alternative to Cogeco"
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I ordered Start Communications advanced cable internet last week. Now about 10 days later I have service. The cable modem arrived Tuesday, I hooked it up myself. Today the cable guy showed up and plugged in the outside line. I was rather surprised to learn the cable guy is not allowed to even touch the equipment. So this is definitely not a good service for someone like my Mother inlaw. But if you are capable of plugging in the cable modem, this is good service for you.
I did a quick speed test, and I got 30/2, which is better than what Start Communications advertises. I went with a rented modem, mainly because my experience has been that cable modems die every 18 months or so. As such, it did not make sense to purchase the modem.
The only downside, is I still think $0.50/GB is too much for an over bandwidth charge. If I consistently used 600 GB per month, it would be cheaper to have two lines than to pay the over charge. Actually, that is exactly what I am doing right now. I still have Bell DSL with bandwidth insurance, and my new Start Communications service. Eventually, when I run out the Bell special I'm on, I'll probably switch the DSL to another company, but I will continue to have two lines. Not just for bandwidth, but more important reliability.
- update 2013-02-25 -
I see that Start has lowed the bandwidth cap from 300 GB to 250 GB. There is no indication as to whether this will impact existing customers. My last bill still said 300 GB. Also I finally figured out why Start Communications bandwidth total does not match mine. Unlike most providers they really do measure in GB as defined by the standards committees as 1,000,000,000 bytes. Most providers measure in GiB but falsely label it as GiB. 1 GiB = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes. My router also does that. Start is right, my router is wrong... But the other thing is in Cogeco land they don't count uploads, just downloads. What this effectively means though, is if you are comparing with say Bell Canada or Cogeco, you need to adjust your numbers. If for example Bell Canada lists your monthly download as 220 GB, you would add 10% to correct this number to 242 GB. That is what Start Communications will measure your download as.
- update 2013-05-22 -
Cogeco has really put the squeeze on with bandwidth charges to third party providers. Initially Start had hands down better rates. Now for the 12 month rate is a toss-up. Start and Cogeco both have about the same rate for the first 12 months. Start has a lower cap 200 GB v.s. 275 GB, but Start has an non-metered time period from 2-8 AM. I personally almost never use that internet during that time, if I was not familiar with Cogeco's reputation, under the current plans I would probably go for Cogeco for 12 months and then switch to Start if Cogeco did not agree to extend the promotional rate. Fortunately, I am grandfathered with an old plan, so I don't have to make that choice. But for someone who does, I would still recommend Start.ca over Cogeco. Even if you have to pay a bit more for going over bandwidth, it is worth it not to have to deal with Cogeco. And when you factor in the cost of switching after a year, you probably won't save a significant amount of money.
If you need reliability, go with Start.ca cable.
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 Review by Shyte
member for 11.2 years, 3460 visits, last login: a few hours ago
lodged 8 days ago
- NF, ON
- $49 per month
- about 30 days
- "Swtich over from Cogeco was easy and painless. So far speed and service has been rock solid."
- "none"
- "Cheaper then Cogeco and get more. Its a no brainer."
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Switched over from Cogeco after being a long time customer (@home days). When I called Cogeco to ask for a break on my monthly bill, she basically laughed at me and said since I didn't bundle there was nothing they could do for me. I decided right there I was cancelling even tho I would need to change my email address everywhere that I've had forever. Was paying $69.50 after tax with cogeco for the turbo 20 (20/2) and now I'm paying $57 with Start on the 30/2 package. Higher download speed, more cap, unlimited downloads from 2-8am and in my area they currently don't count upload against my cap. Thank you cogeco for treating a long time customer like this, you are saving me $12.50 a month and getting a better service. I will never go back.
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 Review by WiFi
member for 10.9 years, 257 visits, last login: 16 days ago
updated 16 days ago
- NiagaraFalls
- $30 per month
- about 30 days
- "Everything!"
- "Nothing!"
- "Gold Star Service, Excellent pricing"
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Excellent customer and technical support. Great pricing. I gave 30days notice of cancellation to incumbent provider and everything came together exactly as they said.
Monthly recurring charges are by auto credit card or bank withrawl. They also accept debit for initial payment, however, their system does not accept all debit cards.
I do weekly speed tests and the results always exceed the advertised rates, something the incumbent could never provide.
I now save over $200/y and get more for less!
I have referred a few friends already. Everyone is very pleased with the gold star service ans saving money, something very rare today. This company understands customers AND what service is!
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 Review by dillyhammer
member for 3.3 years, 1013 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 17 days ago
- Hamilton,ON
- $73 per month
- "Just like the good old days."
- "Sorry, can't find anything bad yet"
- "Nicely done. I'm happy. :)"
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Jan 10, 2013
Online order processed today at 1:30PM. Ordered the 30/2 Pro Cable package. Confirmation email was immediate, first payment of $129.89 (month 1 plus modem plus install + tax) taken in realtime. Got them on my CC and I'm a little nervous about that, but they'll get the benefit of the doubt based on positive feedback on DSLr.
Got the confirmation call about 8PM that night, and a follow up email shortly thereafter. Install date set for Jan 17, 8am - 5pm window.
Got the confirmation email about a half hour later stating the equipment was shipped XPressPost, with a tracking number. As of 10am Jan 11, tracking number not in Canada Post's system, so I guess the number has been dispensed but the item not physically shipped (scanned at an outlet). Probably go out this morning.
Modem received Monday morning. Canada Post left it inside the front door, but our carrier knows us well.
Jan 17, 2013
Cogeco tech just left. Great guy. I had a clear path to the modem set out for him, hole already there from the previous setup, he was in and out of here in 10 minutes flat. About 10 minutes after he left the modem synced up.
Later in the evening I got a courtesy call from Start to ensure that the install went as planned and that I was all hooked up and satisfied with both the service and the install process. Check, and check. Nice finishing touch.
Zoom zoom.
(Note, FYI, the upload speed is as advertised, a shade over 2mbps, the speedtest image is with QOS enabled.)
Update May 8th, 2013
I decided to stick with Start Communications in my move back to Toronto. I wanted an overlap of services so the install was a bit tricky. I arranged both the cancellation of my Hamilton service (Cogeco) and the installation of my Toronto service (Rogers) 2 weeks in advance. The catch was I wanted the new modem shipped to my current address, not the new one. Start made the arrangement and it all went off without a hitch.
Come install date, May 3, Rogers dude shows up right at 11am. He asked if I have Rogers TV services. I said no, the TV guy is suppose to come from 11-3 also. So, he calls Rogers and tells them he's there, might as well do both. Well holy shit. Somebody that knows what he's doing and takes a little pride ion his work. Dude pulls out the nest and dead shithawk (pigeon) from the Rogers cupboard, zip zip, up we go to the apartment. 15 minutes later the Nextbox is running, TV installed, and the cable modem is synced, giving me 45/4 through my new router, which I had already configured (rt-n66u + shibby tomato). Connection is consistent and stable.
Happy happy.
»Start Communications
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Review by DSA
member for 27 days, 33 visits, last login: a few hours ago
lodged 19 days ago
- Brantford,ON
- Contract price not specified.
- "Steady as a rock"
- "Payment method"
- "Excellent company to deal with"
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Ok so I have been a customer of Start since January 2013. I had looked at rogers but what they were offering was no where near acceptable, both cap and price wise. I am on their 45/4 cable package for $59.95 a month, after being with start for a few months I feel that switching from Teksavvy DSL is the best move I could have made. The order and install process was painless, Customer service seems very knowledgeable. Every now and then I will do a speed test and I am getting what I pay for, all in all this has been as good as it gets and down time has been nill. If their is a down side it is the payment method, I would like to get my bills emailed to me and pay them via online banking but that is not a option. I would recommend Start to anyone looking for a ISP.
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 Review by Matty632nm
member for 10.2 years, 2282 visits, last login: 1 days ago
lodged 22 days ago
- North York,ON
- Contract price not specified.
- "Fast Docsis 3.0 service with a reasonable cap"
- "none, so far after one day"
- "Exponentially better than Rogers and Cogeco"
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I signed up for Start Communications in the Don Mills area with the Pro Package of 45 Mbps down and 4 Mbps up and 300 GB cap. After one day I am pleasantly surprised and here is a speed test I first performed:
»speedtest.net/result/2682031366.png
I was shocked to see it above the advertised download speed 
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Review by Nortron
member for 66 days, 48 visits, last login: 2 days ago
lodged 31 days ago
- Cornwall,ON
- $50 per month
- about 3 days
- "Perfect!"
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There's nothing bad to say about Start Communications!
Had their Cable service for a couple month's now, and never had an issue! Cheaper then Cogeco, and double the speed, how can you go wrong???
One thing to also note, the CEO is VERY active on multiple different sites (This one included), answering questions, helping people out with problems, etc. How many companies do that anymore? Only Start! Have you ever seen the CEO of Cogeco or Bell on the forums helping people out, NOPE....
Highly Recommended!!!
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Review by jack man
member for 2.1 years, 858 visits, last login: 1 days ago
updated 38 days ago
- New Hamburg,ON
- $73 per month
- "Quick, Fast, Friendly"
- "Relies on Incumbent’s Network"
- "Fast Stable Connection"
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I am on the 45/4/Cable package in a Rogers area.
The install/transfer from Rogers went smoothly. I plugged in the DCM476 modem they shipped me on the activation date and the it was up and running.
Speeds are good and the increased transfer cap (compared to Rogers) is great.
I did consider moving back to TekSavvy but at the time I joined Start, Tek was not offering cable service in my area and I can only get the basic 6M DSL. I think that they are now offering ATPIA cable in my area but I am very happy with the service and speeds on Start so I see no need to change.
The only issues I have had are several recent slowdowns which seem to have been caused by Rogers ATPIA equipment malfunctions. But even in these slowdowns, my connection did not completely fail and I could continue working.
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