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Review by Anonimuz 
member for 4.4 years, 1440 visits, last login: 1.4 years ago
lodged 2.2 years ago
 canada
 $20 per month "low price, many features" "Not as reliable as POTS - had to self install" "cheap enough to outweigh the cons"
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Since install the ATA has needed to be power-cycled a few times to get service back. ATA limits speed to 7mbps when routed through it. Includes almost all add-ons for no additional price. This is the only alternative to Bell for a home phone in town, and it beats it hands down.
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Review by torch
member for 4 years, 25 visits, last login: 267 days ago
updated 2.6 years ago
- P1H 3J4
- Contract price not specified.
- "Good customer service hours"
- "Don't control infrastructure"
- "Best of available choices"
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DSL and cable are not available in my area. I was stuck with dial-up or satellite until wireless broadband became available through Core Broadband. (a couple of neighbours had satellite -- nothing but problems and very expensive) Core just deals with the "last mile" infrastructure (kind of like Bell does for DSL) but does not provide service to individuals, that has to be purchased through one of two local ISPs. Both have similar pricing, but with subtle differences in things like equipment insurance and seasonal use.
There have been problems, mostly related to growing pains on the system and the use of unregulated spectrum (which is subject to interference from other devices). Vianet's people have always been quick to respond and have long service hours although they do have a tendency to try and blame cordless telephones for system problems. Ok, I can accept that sometimes local interference happens, but not simultaneously to many customers miles apart. (I don't know if they realize we are a small community and people talk to each other -- if a Vianet employee ever reads this: we know you are lying when you tell us "no one else is having any problems" 
To be fair to Vianet, they can't control or even see everything that is going on in Core's network. So often all they can do is put in a ticket with Core and wait for them to respond. However, they do follow up on trouble reports and will call back from time to time to see if it has been resolved.
Pricing: $180 installation charge (minimum -- could be more if additional equipment is required such as tv towers, high-gain antennas, etc.). Includes site survey, but no charge if there is not an adequate signal. $49.99 per month, including $10 equipment rental and insurance (new customers are now $55, but they are honouring the price I signed up for to date, even though the 1 year contract date has passed.)
Bandwidth: up to 3 meg down, 1.5 meg up -- in theory. Realistically 1.5 - 2 meg down, 800k - 1.2 meg up, depending on time of day congestion. This is a limit of the frequency spectrum.
Throttling -- Core has implemented a bit bucket system to relieve congestion. The bucket is reasonably generous -- around 500MB, IIRC, of continuous downloading at the maximum available rate, after which the connection is throttled to about 680k until there has been at least a 15 minute pause to "refill" the bucket. The bucket is continually refilled, so if overall downloading averages less than the refill rate, the bucket never empties and traffic is never throttled. So even throttled, a person could theoretically still download over 200 TB in a month, running 24/7.
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Review by taichan7
member for 7.1 years, 163 visits, last login: 2.1 years ago
lodged 3.2 years ago
- Sudbury,ON
- Contract price not specified.
- "Good Price, Very friendly techs, No Throttling"
- "Infrastructure from house to CO is Bell, Website not updated often enough"
- "Best ISP in sudbury if not Canada"
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I've had Vianet services for Almost 2 years, Till December has been a back up service with very little down time. December i got frustrated with My cableco internet and there throttling and removed it. Called in to get a second DSL account, found out at that moment that they had 15mbit DSL, This was and still isn't listed on the website.
After upgrading the one connection and installing the second it was found out that the internal wiring was not up to par and switched pairs in the house, tested and everything looked good. few days later speeds were way down again, Tech came back out and second pairs went bad switched to the 3rd pair, this happened a 3rd time. Christmas Eve came called in expecting a Tech after Christmas i had the tech here again 2pm the same day, He if i'd mind having a temp line installed so that i would have working internet though the holiday (This was fine with me) After Christmas came to install a new line though the house, after i saw what was going to be required for the install i told him not to waste his time and install a Direct line in the basement from the box, and i ran a Cat5 cable to the basement. After this it was found that the External wiring to the house was bad also, so Bell Tech has to swap the pair and the new ones aren't much better and that is causing some drop issues. Vianet techs installed a Beta system to remove these issues and made me well aware that the system was in beta and may have its own issues.
Techs have always been friendly and quick. One tech was running very late do to a long job and instead of pushing the appointment off a day came at 7pm at night.
Prices for service is $8 + modem rental fee cheaper then Local Cablecom, and only DSL service in Sudbury to be able to provide 15mbit speed.
The original Equipment was 2 Zhone 6211 which was replaced by a single Zhone 6228. They did make me aware wireless was not a supported feature of that modem though vianet (They will trouble shoot customer owned routers though)
Install times was 5 days do to CO setup time. Billing department feels a bit weak. people reading from scripts rather then actually knowing what they're selling, Tech department has been knowledgeably
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Review by DPyro
member for 3.8 years, 20 visits, last login: 173 days ago
updated 3.5 years ago
- Port Sydney,ON
- Contract price not specified.
- "Good customer service, few downtimes"
- "Can only offer up to 5Mbps service for consumers, price could be lower"
- "Great ISP that is reliable, but not quite as competitive."
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We have had Vianet as our ISP since 1997 when we first got 28.8k dial-up. In 2004 DSL was then available after Bell expanded their DSL service. We then upgraded to 5Mbps service from Vianet for $39.99/month. Everything installed fine and we haven't had too many issues with DSL. On the rare occasion that we did, we just had to wait a few hours of downtime and everything was back to normal.
As recently as December 2008 we started to notice a slow internet connection. I contacted Vianet via e-mail and they were very prompt in replying back. The next day I drove into their office to have the modem replaced and speeds have been stable ever since.
Because they are a wholesale ISP they are only able to offer speeds up to 5Mbps unless they have equipment installed at the Bell offices.
Overall the service they provide is great if your tired of the big name ISP messing things up, although it would be great if they could be more competitive price wise.
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