dslreports logo

Review by nadozza See Profile

  • Location: Hamilton, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $56 per month
  • Install: about 3 days
Great Time to Online, Reliable Service and Outstanding Customer Service
Highly Recommended TPIA Service, Always Active and Great Service
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I ordered a few days before my apartment move in with a modem being sent to my old location.

I've been a member since September of last year and started on the 120/10 package. There was no installation time in my Cogeco owned location, it was just a quick change on their end as far as I understand -- it was transparent to me.

The service worked perfectly but I soon decided it was overkill for what I needed.

When I called to change late at night on a Sunday for a service change they did so no questions asked and were very explicit in how the change would work and when billing would change. About 3 hours later and everything was already changed over to the new speeds.

I've never had a problem with their service and am very happen to have chosen them!

EDIT: Also not to mention the owner and Start support are active and friendly here, they seem to have a really great team together.

member for 6.3 years, 134 visits, last login: 287 days ago
updated 6.1 years ago


Review by cfster88 See Profile

  • Location: Prescott, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $62 per month
Pretty much everything, good company all around
When getting Cable, you have to wait a few days up to a week to get the actual install date(not starts fault)
I would definitely recommend this company
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I've been with Start Communications several times over the past 7 years and they are a great company with friendly and good customer service skills, and are not outsourced

I've primarily used Start for cable internet (cogeco lines) but I have also used it with VDSL. Both services function fairly well, at least at my current location (got the full speeds on both services). Only thing about getting cable internet set up is cogeco is sometimes very slow at responding to connection appointment requests from start when they get backlogged (but this is not starts fault as they have to go through cogeco), So you may have to wait a week or so to find out when they are going to be able to set it up.

All in all I would recommend this company!, had to disconnect my services temporarily because of some non related issues but I plan on going back with them soon.

member for 6.3 years, 13 visits, last login: 5.9 years ago
updated 6.3 years ago


Review by azsune See Profile

  • Location: Pickering, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $77 per month
  • Install: about 5 days
  • No Cap
Stable and speed I pay for
Modem has lag spikes
Worth the Switch
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

After having a bad experience from Bell I finally went for a third party solution. I posted a review on that if your interested. I am doing this review now because it has almost been a whole month with the service.

The order process was not the greatest as you had to pick days and times a week in advance and they'd let you know. Which is understandable as they are using Rogers to install the cable. The installation is a hole in the wall with a wire sticking out of a wall cover. With bell they at least put wall plugs in so I could easily have just the right length of cable. The installation only took about 40 minutes and everything worked right away.

My internet plan is rated at 100/10 and I am getting 107/15 and have tested this at different times during the day and night. The connection has not gone down once(Well I had a power outage XD) and the tech support rating I rated at 5 as I have not had a reason to call them.

The modem they provided Technicolor TC4350 has a bit of a latency issue. While it is lower then bells on average it has these spikes for a fraction of a second once every second. I go from 30 to 50-60 latency for a split second which for most things causes no issues. But the company I work for this causes issues when I connect to one of the servers. It isn't anything major or a reason to switch but it makes doing tasks on that one server not the others a bit of a problem as everything stutters for a split second. But for everyday use I do not notice it and the Monday saved each month makes up for it. Anyways if your looking for a modem just make sure it doesn't have a PUMA6 processor in it.

member for 6.6 years, 116 visits, last login: 2.7 years ago
lodged 6.4 years ago


Review by haar See Profile

  • Location: Mississauga, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $102 per month (month by month)
  • Install: about 14 days
  • No Cap
i get to start.ca using the internet...
The puns! The puns!...
Just start.ca doing it...
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

The “days from order, to online” or install time does not apply, because i already had internet and was waiting for the switch over ... The internet was disconnected 14 days later at midnight, so when i woke up the next morning I swapped the modems (tc4350 for a cda-3) and it worked.

The transfer took 14 days, because you need to give 2 weeks notice... (for the transfer to be free in my case)

I ordered the 250/20 package. I wanted to use the tc4350, so i transferred my internet service... i had no problems with my previous isp, i just wanted to use the tc4350 instead of the cda3-20... of course i now notice that the cda3-20 does Summation of “errors” on your line. in any case I wanted a 32x8 modem so it is moot...that the cda-3 lists “error” totals...

The order and transfer went smoothly. Start.ca phoned me to clear up I few issues with the transfer... i had forgot to set a cancel date with the other ISP for transfer.
i ordered a tc4350 32x8 modem (the only reason i transferred in case you have read my previous review of the other ISP)

...three months in and no complaints... (the doom and gloom i was expecting because it is cable, does not exist) cable has proven itself to be a lot better today compared to my memories of rogers cable 2002-2009... well at least on the 250/20 plan...)
BTW, the speedtest number is for a buffer bloat score of a+... if a limit the dslreports test to 242 is a recipe for a buffer bloat score score of a+.

member for 22.8 years, 1152 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 6.4 years ago


Review by Terrific See Profile

  • Location: Cobourg, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $50 per month
  • Install: about 5 days
  • No Cap
  • Telco party Bell Canada
Great Install - Activation was within days of receiving Modem
$10.00 extra per month for 'Unlimited', when that really means unlimited 8am-2am. ; 2am to 8am is free for everyone.
Good ISP for the VALUE. Miles ahead of Incumbent Telco/CableCo.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Basic Setup is vanilla. Hook up lan cable to Modem.

WiFi networking with Secure Passwords and Modern protocols. This is a challenge.

** E-mail with User Selectable is initially not changeable, but Web Access to E-mail portal allows for Change (Subject to Memory Verification).

VOIP Setup and Networking with Servers and Firewalls in a Home Environment, and a Streaming Video box.... now we are getting interesting.

So far Humpty Dumpty is holding up with bubble gum and binder twine, but it is working. Was a Bhell Customer for over 25 years, but moving the call centers off-shore was the final straw. Good Riddance Bhell.

One minor hickup is with DNS and Delay times. At times the DNS Server from start.ca gets congested, and the network does not pass DNS on a faster priority than the regular traffic. This is probably the Incumbent Last Mile Provider, but not sure on the setup for DNS after it leaves the CableCo hardware. (Assume All traffic is monitored 24/7/365).

update:2017 still great provider.

member for 15.7 years, 82 visits, last login: 6.5 years ago
updated 6.6 years ago


rocca
Start.ca
Premium Member
join:2008-11-16
London, ON

rocca

Premium Member

Clarification

Hi, thanks for the review. Just for clarification, the Unlimited is unlimited all the time, not just 8am to 8pm. If you're having congestion or performance issues with DNS please contact our service team and we'd be happy to assist. Thanks.

Terrific
join:2008-07-09
Cobourg, ON

Terrific

Member

Re: Clarification

....the unlimited is 24 hr; however, the Limited Customers have no limit caps 2AM to 8AM 7 days a week.

as per this:

"As a bonus we have an unlimited usage window for all our listed plans that runs between 2am and 8am every day and can be used to schedule some serious free downloading. Additionally, uploading never counts against your usage with us."

So the revised downside is "unlimited is from 8AM to 2AM. compared to regular plans".

I don't know how to modify the original review, sorry.

rocca
Start.ca
Premium Member
join:2008-11-16
London, ON

rocca

Premium Member

Re: Clarification

Ah, I understand what you're saying. Thanks.

Review by singpolyma See Profile

  • Location: Kitchener, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $58 per month (month by month)
  • Install: about 7 days
Easy to understand pricing, great support, solid service.
No
Great value, would recommend
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Ordered cable Internet, advertised at $50/month -- ordered modem from them (bought it from them, after confirming that modems come unlocked) end of one week and late the next week it was working already.

I goofed up my router settings and got slower speeds on the first day, but when I called support they picked up right away and helped me find the problem, even though it was all my own fault!

I got the Hitron CDA3 modem. Worked right from the start with no extra configuration from me.

The availability of IPv6 service is a huge bonus for me also!

member for 6.8 years, 14 visits, last login: 6.3 years ago
updated 6.7 years ago


Review by Mike2009 See Profile

  • Location: Ottawa, ON
  • Cost: $67 per month
  • Install: about 5 days
  • Telco party Bell Canada
Very reliable 50/10 VDSL2 connection
Nothing so far
How an internet connection should be
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Moved to Start in January 2017 and all is perfect. Have not needed to contact support as my line is flawless. Install was really a non event as I already had POTS splitter installed from a few years ago so Bell tech just rang the doorbell and said I was good to go. Using my trusty old Huawei HG modem bridged and my TP-Link Archer C7. Very reliable and inexpensive setup.

member for 15.2 years, 6432 visits, last login: 1 day ago
updated 6.7 years ago







Review by sauga_1 See Profile

  • Location: Mississauga, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $50 per month
  • Install: about 5 days
Great customer service, great attitude, good knowledge about the service
nothing
go with it, you wont be disappointed
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I had been rogers for almost 12 years and recently they increased my internet price 76$ / month. I decided to call rogers and see if they offer me something similar to start. after spending almost 30 minutes with retention what they offer me is free modem for a year and also I have to give them a 30 days notice, so i end up paying $76.
I called start, my call was picked up quickly and was talking to csr within a minute. I placed my order and book the activation for next month. my order was complete with in 3 minutes and i was told that i will get the modem in the mail. after two days. i was charged $50 for the first month + modem rental. after a week i decided to change my activation date from 8 to 1st of the month. i called start and again within few minutes my activation date was changed.
The good thing was start offered me a 8 days of free internet because of my activation date changed by me. have you ever get this kind of good service from any company. at least me (NO).
on activation date i plugged my modem and waited for half an hour and I have internet. same day i got a call from start asking about the internet activation and problem if i have any. I told them all is good. I have tested the speed and i am getting exactly the advertised speed.
I am really very happy with the service and i might switch to unlimited package.
Keep it up Start and other companies should learn from Start also.

UPDATE (June 24):

Its been 5 months and the service is great. no down time at all. I have tested my service at different times and I am getting constant 24.6 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload. I have already referred two friend to start and they are also very happy with the service.
very satisfied with the service

UPDATE (Feb 2, 2015)

I have completed my first year with Start communication, so far not a single down time, speed as advertised and constant 24.4 - 24.7 Mbps any time of day.
very happy with the service. Thanks Start!! keep up the good work.

UPDATE (May 10, 2017)

I have completed my three years in Feb this year and decided to update my review. nothing to complain, rock solid service, i have changed my package to unlimited and bought my modem from Start. I am getting advertised speed at any time of the day.
Thanks Start communication for great service and peace of mind.

member for 10.1 years, 170 visits, last login: 5.4 years ago
updated 6.8 years ago


Start Sam
join:2014-01-21
London, ON

Start Sam

Member

Welcome Aboard!

Hello sauga_1,

Glad to hear your interactions with our sales team have been been pleasant and that the service has been successfully activated. Welcome aboard!

If you ever have concerns or issues, please do contact us.

Review by empl9715 See Profile

  • Location: undisclosed location
  • Cost: $42 per month
  • Install: about 6 days
  • Caps of 300 gigabytes/month
stable, support
no FR support
very good
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

The reason I selected Start was one of the best routings and stable speed to a couple of UK and France IPTV servers compared to other ISPs, even videotron and bell performed worse.

Sign up required couple extra steps on my end, as they don't advertise in QC officially, so I checked availability on other TPIA's website, anyway they all use same network.

Install (DSL 15/1) was scheduled on the beginning of the month and they did a proper prorata and moved couple $$ as a credit towards next billing cycle (equal to 2 days of service). Got a call back confirming install was successful.

Several months later I switched to 25/10 plan. Customer support accepted order, asked useful questions about my modem(ADSL to VDSL switch) and scheduled bell tech as requested. Again all billing was done correctly without errors. As usual got a call back confirming switch was successful.

This month I called to cancel. I asked for ASAP disconnect, in was the 10th of the month, couple days later got a call back informing that reimbursement check is out. Got 2/3rd of the month reimbursed as promised.

Overall service quality was very good. During 18 months of subscription only once I had a "time out" for 12 hours, but it was likely a bell issue. Also couple times I found my internet loading pages slowly but simple PPPOE restart fixed it.

member for 6.9 years, 1 visits, last login: 211 days ago
lodged 6.9 years ago


Review by marka See Profile

  • Location: Fergus, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $79 per month (month by month)
  • No Cap
Support, speeds, service
None
Great value for money, competitive plans, excellent support
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I have been with Start.ca since March, 2012. When I signed up they were one of the few Cogeco resellers available in my area and from the start I always received full speeds and excellent service. I have recommended friends and coworkers to Start and will continue to do so.

Any issues I had have always been from things beyond Start's control, like a routing issue in the US for gaming that was experienced by many providers. The only call I have made to Start was with an issue where I found I had no internet connection and that turned out to be an issue caused by someone cutting multiple cable lines while digging in my neighbourhood, Start was going to send a technician to resolve the issue but a few hours later a new line was strung to my house and I cancelled the tech call as service was back.

When I called to upgrade my plan to a higher speed they immediately sent out a new modem (I am renting the modem for $5/month) and I was working immediately after swapping it out. Any automatic plan changes have always been improvements at no cost, from speed improvements to going from 300 GB/month to 400 GB/month to unlimited.

member for 14 years, 1286 visits, last login: 5.6 years ago
lodged 6.9 years ago