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Review by codfish 
member for 2 years, 12 visits, last login: 1 year ago
updated 1 year ago
 Toronto,ON
 $61 per month about 15 days "High speed, stable speeds, price, no UBB" "Modem needs to be configured with customer support, not packaged with line filters as ordered" "Very good, FAST, stable, service on Fibernetics network."
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I switched from Rogers to YAK's "YakPak" for $61 with unlimited internet at 10 Mbps down and phone service with 800 long distance minutes and a host of features in the internet/phone bundle. Rogers internet was good, but kicked me off its home phone to Primus (all-time low for bungled billing and frustration btw) due to my unwillingness to have a self-powered phone modem installed (the power grid in the old part of Toronto has failed twice for days in recent memory). Kind of p'd me off. YAK is offering Fibernetics network in my neighborhood so I thought I'd try it. The price and service could not be better. The promised speed (minus some overhead) is excellent, but is better because Rogers seems to shape its bandwidth. After about 2.5 months I haven't noticed any downtime, or service issues. My only complaints have to do with not receiving the line filters I ordered with the service, which meant spending $5 each on The College/Spadina strip instead of the filters for $1.50 offered by YAK. I received the basic Thomson 1 port modem with the package which arrived as planned. I see all sorts of bad legacy reviews for YAK, but I have been nothing but pleased with the service to date. The price is right--and YAK gives you a free month to try everything out. Customer service is friendly and seems to follow up. By the sounds of it has responded to complaints from the past. If you have the chance to switch to YAK's Fibernetics network, consider my good experience.
After more than 13 months, YAK is still as stable and quick.
However, YAK is no longer YAK:
YAK (AKA Globalive) has seemingly sold its DSL and non-VOIP home phone services to a company called Voice Network Inc. I haven't noticed any difference in service or speed (except for a 5-hour internet and phone outage one day, likely just a coincidence). I confirmed with Voice Network Inc. by phone that my package pricing and services will remain the same, with Fibernetics (purveyors of worldline.ca and freephonline.ca) remaining as the backbone for my DSL service. The new company's CSRs seem to be on the ball, but I've had no real technical issues or meltdowns that needed special attention or troubleshooting. Let's hope the joy continues.
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Review by clwguy
member for 1.1 years, 1 visits, last login: 314 days ago
updated 1.1 years ago
- undisclosed location
- Contract price not specified.
- "Use to be a great company"
- "No longer a great company"
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I used to be a very happy yak customer but moved to an area where service was not available. This month I moved to new digs and was thrilled to find out that yak could provide service to the new area, signed up again and waited with glee for my installation date on the 5th. That evening I called Yak to inquire about my installation and was informed that it hadn't been done. Damn! (Side note: YAK sold their business to another company and was in the 2 week transfer process... tech support automatically goes to the new company that couldn't do squat and I was then redirected back to... YAK... What the F?)) I was then informed that the earliest date they would be able to install was on the 10th. What The F???? My livelihood depends on internet access and that is why I called far in advance to ensure the internet would be on and working when I moved in. Their response to this whole debacle was was basically a shoulder shrug. And that ended my relationship with YAK.
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 Review by Mr_Fix_It
member for 4.2 years, 1226 visits, last login: 88 days ago
updated 1.1 years ago
- Barrie,ON
- $6543 per month
- about 10 days
- "Whats not to like, everything works just as it was advertised. Speeds as advertised 10MB/1MB"
- "Been with them a year now and not one bad thing to say."
- "No contracts, No hidden fees, No Bullshit, CSR's that speak english"
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I have been with Bell, Acanac and Teksavvy. I have been ripped off by them either by DPI(Bell), CSR's that lie(Bell, Acanac & Teksavvy) and most importantly charged for service calls without proof of repairing anything.
I have be told my equipment was the problem.(Acanac & Teksavvy)
I have been told that my phone lines were the problem.(Acanac & Teksavvy)
I have been told that there is nothing wrong with the ISP equipment and it was an issue on my end.(Acanac & Teksavvy)
When Teksavvy CUT OFF MY INTERNET WITHOUT WARNING numerous times because of a so called billing issue on an internet account that was paid for an ENTIRE YEAR. You heard me correctly they CUT OFF my internet that had been PREPAID for an entire year without warning because I refused to pay a $100 dollar service that was bogus. Extorting money for a service call that didn't fix anything and you bill me 5 months later without any proof of service. The entire issue was on your equipment and you even admitted it in your own forums that there was a problem with your blade server crashing.
FUCK YOU TEKSAVVY !!
I made a call to Yak who was able to connect me IMMEDIATELY and get me back online within minutes and port over my phone number and long distance with only one simple phone call and NO transfer fees.
I now have a 10mb internet connection that is perfect and I am using the same equipment that both Acanac & Teksavvy said was the problem.
Amazing that my problems disappeared simply by switching to a company that has their own equipment and doesn't make excuse's blaming their competition.
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Review by Mr_Fix_It
member for 4.2 years, 1226 visits, last login: 88 days ago
lodged 1.2 years ago
- Barrie,ON
- Contract price not specified.
- "Whats not to like, Everthing works just as it should !!!"
- "Haven't really had any bad experience yet....but I will update if I do."
- "Worth every penny ! Works without any major disruptions. I have been a customer for over a year now and recommend Yak to all."
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Here is a post I made that has everything you need to know regarding my Yak DSL (excellant) connection & Home phone.
»Best combination for Internet & Phone !!!
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Review by Drake76
member for 1.5 years, 18 visits, last login: 1.1 years ago
lodged 1.4 years ago
- Waterloo,ON
- $45 per month
- about 10 days
- "Equipment shipped promptly. Tech showed up, everything worked A-ok!"
- "Calling and speaking to support staff with heavy French accents (like Africa French)"
- "You get what you pay for"
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Decided to go with Yak as I had painted myself into a corner. Cable was not an option and the other DSL companies were not offering the same speeds.
I called on a weekend and set up an account. For some reason, I required a credit check. I was promptly called first thing in the morning that following Monday. I was told someone would be calling me shortly to set up an install time.
A few days went by and I heard nothing, so I called Yak. I was told someone would call me any minute now. At least that is what I thought I was told. The fellow I spoke to had a very heavy accent and was difficult to understand.
Another day went by and I called again. I was told this time that it takes between 6-8 business days for someone to call to set up an install date. This person also had a very heavy accent. He was suggesting the first two people were wrong. I tend to believe they were all wrong and none of them understand Yak's system for installing hardware.
Another day went by and my modem showed up in the mail. I had no warning this was coming, and it was never discussed. Within a day I received a call and had the install date confirmed. The following week the technician would show up some time between 8am and 5pm. I let the lady know that was crazy and she could narrow the time down to a window of a few hours. I was told they could do between noon and 4. I said ok.
At 3pm, the tech showed up. He appears to know his stuff. He gave me a free telephone jack filter as none were shipped with my modem. He tested my line and found that I had 9.1mb down and 1.1mb up. He finished hooking me up and I was in business.
I have tried speedtest.net and found they are reporting my speed to be 5.2mb down and 0.81 mb up. Not sure why there is a discrepancy.
For the time since it was installed it has been a solid connection with no issues. So far so good.
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Review by crt
member for 2.1 years, 62 visits, last login: 17 days ago
updated 1.6 years ago
- Kitchener,ON
- $65 per month
- about 7 days
- "Unlimited bandwidth, fair pricing bundle with home phone"
- "Terrible speeds and customer service"
- "Do not sign up with Yak"
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Package: 10/1 on Fibernetics and home phone
I was able to get a special bundle offer from Yak, includes home phone and internet. The unlimited bandwidth is what attracted me the most, though. Unfortunately, the speeds are just terrible - below is the BEST speeds I've ever managed on a TP-LINK 8616 modem.
»www.speedtest.net/result/1184671118.png
When I called in to get some answers, their tech support was completely worthless. Switching to TekSavvy cable ASAP.
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 | | Worst internet ever Yak is the worst internet service I have ever seen. The speed is terrible and their customer support in too rude. They are just stealing people by telling them you will get unlimited download capacity at acceptable speed but with the speed they offer you won't be able to do anything online and they keep saying your home is too far from the tower which they didn't see when I registered with them or in the first few months. | |
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 Review by dsoegiarto
member for 3.1 years, 179 visits, last login: 103 days ago
updated 1.9 years ago
- Vanier,ON
- $59 per month
- about 12 days
- "unlimited internet. good bundle price. reliable connection. very good speed."
- "bad install coordination."
- "aside from the worst install coordination ive ever seen, if you're happy with the speed, then it's great."
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Coming from Rogers, and having experiences with Bell and Cogeco, the unlimited, no usage-billing high-speed internet is a lifesaver - if you can call it high at all.
If you have no issue with your current provider regarding the monthly limit or usage, then I recommend not going through the painful transition.
To be correct in terms of the installation scoring, the order and install co-ordination is actually pretty good. It's the execution that was bad.
After promising they would notify me when a technician is ready, they didn't.
After confirming that a technician will come over to look into some problems, nobody came.
After sending me the modem package, they completely forgot any DSL filter.
Even between installation team, sales, and tech support, there seems to be zero communication.
Bottom line, the installation was almost a nightmare.
***SEE UPDATE BELOW*** To top things off, the speed they were advertising was 10Mb. During the pre-sales discussion they mentioned due to my location, I'm only accessible to 5Mb. Once the net start flowing, I'm getting 2.7Mb max. Line quality was at 3Mb down. I'm not a happy camper.
Now, all said and done, the support and quality (well i had to buy my own filter for $3 instead of having them to send me one with $10 shipping fee) of both the internet and phone was really good. The net doesn't drop the past few nights and the calls are crystal clear. Line quality was solid with low latency. I can check my billing online and they charge me exactly what they would - which is a far cry from Rogers.
All in all, if you're looking for an unlimited connection with a good price and a phone, you should check Yak out.
If you don't care about monthly billing and very particular with how fast you can download, then look elsewhere - especially if you're expecting a decent install process.
Ah, and the modem they sent me was a SpeedTouch 516 v6. Pretty nifty little thing.
******** UPDATE JUNE 2011 ******
After a troublesome install, they bumped my speed to the 7mb profile, then dropped it to 6mb a week after. I have been enjoying a full, stable, speedy 6Mb download the last 7-8 months.
I've updated this review to reflect higher rating, fairly good service, but definitely worth-the-penny product. Plus, no contract is nice.
I would recommend Yak to anyone looking for a stable unlimited good price DSL in KW area.
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 Review by BryceS
member for 5.6 years, 2297 visits, last login: 4 days ago
updated 2.1 years ago
- Waterloo,ON
- $53 per month
- "The service is very fast during summer and Sept-Apri is 1-4mbps"
- "Yak took about 3 1/2 weeks to get it installed properly."
- "If it works then you are getting great value for the money."
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I ordered Yak Communication's 10mbps service that is available in Waterloo, ON due to Yak using a local CLEC (Fibernetics) DSLAMs instead of the ILEC (Bell Canada) DSLAMs to provide ADSL2+ service.
The major problem with getting the service installed was getting Yak to place my DSL line on Fibernetics equipment instead of Bell Canada. This took 3 1/2 weeks to complete and had no DSL service for over a week.
Once the service was up and running at the start of the 2nd week of May everything ran smoothly. I was surprised that my 10mbps service is actually 18mbps due to my close proximity to the central office.
The monthly price of $53.00 including HST provides great value for the money.
The price breakdown is $36.95 + $9.95 (Dry Loop) + $6.10 (13% Tax)
There are occasional PPPOE dropouts, which cause me to be without internet for a few minutes every couple of weeks, but besides that the service has been stellar.
No contract, no throttling, no download cap.
This service is severely oversold and when school is in it is very congested and the service sucks.
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Review by drewread
member for 2.1 years, 4 visits, last login: 2.1 years ago
lodged 2.1 years ago
- Kitchener,ON
- $60 per month
- about 50 days
- "Price"
- "Product, Speed, Execution"
- "If you are happy where you are - take their retention offer."
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Ordered the YAK PAK for KW area ("10mb" fibernetics and home phone).
Before signup:
-Was told that if I kept my Sympatico subscription there would be no downtime.
-Was told that I "should be able to expect speeds very close to 10Mbps, as you are extremely close to our central office"
After signup:
-After finally getting the phone line switched over after 10 days, I was still on the Sympatico internet. After a call to support they told me they needed me to cancel Sympatico before they could hook up the Fibernetics - 30+ days later Bell finally got around to disconnecting me (there was some tom-foolery on bells part there I'm sure,. but YAK was certinaly no hope during this time...) 3 days later I am hooked up to fibernetics.
-noticed max speeds of 3.6MB/s using speedtest.net to Toronto. Called YAK and the NEW story is that in my area only 3MB connection is possible. This is atricious, and I will be going to the BBB with this issue. The YAK story is that they only offer "up to" 10MB connection, so if you have any connection at all then they are covered.
Pre-sales stories are completely different than the stories you will get once you are signed up - BEWARE!
Some think that they are highly oversold, I think that they are a bunch of scammers.
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Review by nbinont
member for 2.1 years, 393 visits, last login: 4 days ago
lodged 2.1 years ago
- Waterloo,ON
- $35 per month
- "tech support is eager to help"
- "advertises good services, but can't deliver"
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Signed up with Yak's 10Mbit DSL plan in Waterloo in Feb 2010. (10Mbit is through Fibernetics.)
They sent me the ADSL2+ modem promptly, and had someone come connect the dry loop the day after I got the modem. Setup co-ordination and pre-sales info was really good. I have not seen setup this smooth in a long time - excellent work Yak!
Based on my location and line SNR, I should be able to get a ~18Mbit connection. I only ordered a 10Mbit connection, so there should have been no problems. In fact the DSL Sync rate came through at 10Mbit, no CRC errors, and no line drops.
Unfortunately this is where the compliments end. My download rate rarely exceeded 3Mbit, often degrading to 1.5Mbit during peak times.
I know it's not my line, because I previously got a stable 5Mbit connection from another provider. I also know it's not the modem, because I swapped out their modem for the one from the other provider, and it had the same problematic behaviour (good sync rates, bad data throughput). To illustrate even more clearly that It wasn't the line - once, and only once, at 4am on a Sunday morning, I did receive the expected 10Mbit, but by mid-day, the connection was as bad as ever.
Spent entirely too long on the phone trying to troubleshoot the problem with Yak's tech support. They were very helpful and tried just about everything to fix the problem. They were confused that my sync rates were good, but data throughput was poor. This is a classic indication that the problem is with their backhaul link, but they didn't make this connection, and were unable to check whether this was the problem when I prompted them. (Though they did indicate there was an upgrade scheduled at some time).
After about 3 weeks of troubleshooting without success, I finally gave up and cancelled. Unfortunately they just can't provide the service they advertise.
Cancellation was a nightmare, and I had to phone multiple times over 3 weeks before they would cancel the service, and they still wanted me to pay ~$135 for the experience. Eventually sorted the problem out with a strongly worded letter to their complaints department - I paid the majority of the bill, but got to keep the modem.
It's sad that they can't provide the service they advertise. Would have been a good if they could.
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| | Customer service don't seem to know their own offering I emailed them to know if they offered their phone service in my area. They replied "Yes". When I ordered the service they finally replied they did not have service in my area. | |
| | gogu
join:2009-10-06
Kitchener, ON | Re: Customer service don't seem to know their own offering i was told i would be eligible for a promotion before signing up, during sign up, until the bill came in.. it was double. their reply was sorry.
they promoted 800min North American minutes free, the minutes ended up on the bill.
Had the same problem with speed, as mentioned above... .5MB-2MB max..
billing was a nightmare, received 2 bills, both with multiple errors on them.. still trying to clen it up after 2 months...
Both phone and internet has been cancelled....
Good effort, poor service. billing is a total nightmare..
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