Review by AJ102  - Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Cost: $43 per month (12 month contract)
- Install: about 12 days
Easy switch for cable internet, good price, stable month-to-month pricing
Minimal support, modem extra, up-front 1st+last month deposit, aggressive billing
Good choice for inexpensive cable internet
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Lightspeed has been offering cable internet since 2015 as a reseller of Cipherkey wholesale internet services. They have one of the lowest monthly rates, but a 12-month commitment with a modest $59 early cancellation penalty is required to get that rate. Modem rental is extra ($2.95/mo for an old Hitron CGN modem+router), or you have to buy one or supply your own. The switch to Lightspeed was painless and on time, connection has been reliable, and up/down speed has been steady and always above stated speed. Service is minimal (e.g., no online customer portal), but there when required by telephone or email. They require a 1st+last-month deposit in advance, but there is no installation charge. They bill in advance with an aggressively short payment period of 7 days, always maintaining a 2-month advance.
member for 19 years, 1482 visits, last login: 143 days ago
updated 3.4 years ago
Review by beamer69 - Location: Burnaby, BC, Canada
- Cost: $39 per month (12 month contract)
- Install: about 7 days
Pre-sale info, follow-up after install
Put me on the wrong speed but fixed it
Good value and service
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I decided to try cable so signed up with Lightspeed. First I emailed them to ask some questions and got a prompt reply answering them all.
I filled out the online order form and submitted it. The next day I got a call to confirm my order that included purchasing a modem. They can mail you the modem but I decided to pick it up. Had a little trouble finding their place as GPS put in on the wrong side of the building but nothing I didn’t figure out in 5 minutes. Polite lady gave me my modem and I went home.
Got a call they had setup the install for me and it was I think about 7 days from my order or maybe even less. The install was simple and the Shaw tech dropped by and confirmed it was setup. Shaw doesn’t connect the modem/router they just confirm you are connected so that is your responsibility but it is setupid easy to.
I connected the modem I had bought from them and connected my own router as you only get a modem when you buy it form them. The service worked.
They called in about a day to follow up and confirm everything was OK.
I tested the service and I was only getting about 17/1.75 instead of the 30/5 I should be getting. I waited a week just because I am lazy and it was good enough but got around to calling them.
They answered in a very reasonable time frame of under 10 minutes on a Saturday around 11 AM. I explained my speed problem to the tech and it turned out somehow I had gotten put on their 15 plan instead of the 30. The tech was great once we figured this out and put in the order to change my speed. He said I could call in to get my bill pro-rated but the difference would be only a couple bucks so I said forget about It.
If a company makes a mistake what matters to me is how they handle it. I am very happy with Lightspeed so far and am happy I have changed.
I was with Telus then Teksavvy using DSL and was the 8th beta tester *many* years ago in BC. Went back to Telus then back to Teksavvy again. This is my first time trying cable.
I will update this if anything changes.
Update: I was put on the correct speed in a couple days later. I actually noticed the exact time my speed changed as my internet went down for a couple of minutes. They called me within a few minutes of the speed change to let me know it had been changed.
member for 16.9 years, 944 visits, last login: 1.7 years ago
updated 5.3 years ago
Review by MmmPancakes - Location: T3H
- Cost: $44 per month (12 month contract)
- Install: about 6 days
Fast setup, great price
Reseller, so any potential technical issues you'll get the runaround
Good value for service
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After my Shaw contract was up (150mbps at $50, back to regular price of $100/mo, no thanks), I started browsing for a more permanent option instead of having to play the calling in to ask for discounts or contract bouncing game between Shaw and Telus. Heard good things about Lightspeed on various social media, so I took a shot. I'm familiar with Teksavvy and have used them in both ON and AB, but I fear they've gotten too "big" to actually provide good service now, as I've had several episodes of downtime issues with Teksavvy in the past, so I decided to go with a smaller ISP outfit and see how I do on it.
Signed up last Thursday and was online in less time than promised, no hassle at all given I was already on Shaw and all they had to do was switch the line over. Very good communication from the ISP throughout - I signed up online, got a call the next morning to set everything up - they asked for my modem information (I provided my own modem from my Teksavvy days, the Thomson DCM475), payment, and everything was good to go once I plugged in the modem. I did not cancel my Shaw internet until everything went fine with Lightspeed - and FYI, do NOT cancel your current provider until you're up and running with your new one, even if Lightspeed is just a Shaw reseller.
I'm currently on the 41.95/month "flash sale" deal they offer for 75/7.5mbps (regularly 49.95 I believe), unlimited data cap. Only caveat is you have to stay with them for 12 months otherwise you incur a $50-60 cancellation fee.
Bottom line, very happy so far with the service. Maxing out the advertised speed on my paid Usenet account, as well as being able to live stream IPTV with minimal delay or latency. Don't really game much online these days so I can't speak to ping and such.
member for 16.8 years, 316 visits, last login: 1.1 years ago
updated 5.4 years ago
Review by YVR_II - Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Cost: $45 per month
- Install: about 3 days
- No Cap
Reliable High Speed Service
Poor coordination between sales and installer
Unlimited 75/7.5 for $45.00!
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Lightspeed uses the Shaw network so it's quite reliable, and a whole lot cheaper than going direct. My cable connection is often running 85Mbs - sometimes, not often but sometimes drops to 44Mbs. I have been with Lightspeed for 3 years, started with 15/2.5 service, uncapped at $39.09 (inclusive) p/m. Last year I noticed that Lightspeed had a special offer of higher speed. They upgraded me - no hassle! I just needed a new modem ($85.00). My new rate is $44.75 (inclusive) p/m, uncapped.
member for 6 years, 233 visits, last login: 4.4 years ago
lodged 6 years ago
 heezus
join:2017-03-13
Surrey, BC |
heezus
Member
2018-Apr-2 12:52 am
Lightspeed promoHas your price changed or is it always going to remain until you cancel | |
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heezus
Member
2018-Aug-29 5:45 am
Re: Lightspeed promoIt hasnt changed | |
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Review by sphexi8 - Location: Victoria, BC, Canada
- Cost: $55 per month
- Install: about 14 days
- No Cap
Stable connection, good speeds, excellent price
Poor/no support, active transfer was done incorrectly
When it's up and running it's totally fine, but God help you if you need to get in touch with them
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I was on TSI previously, and had a several month long issue with latency and throughput being bad. I did extensive testing from my side showing that it was something on their network, opened tickets with them and the only response was to go through basic troubleshooting over and over, with no actual resolution.
I switched to Lightspeed as a direct result, as I'd be able to get more than twice the speed I had on TSI for about $5 more a month (still unlimited), and funny enough the lag/latency issues have completely gone away. The speed is pretty solid, even during what I assume are peak times I don't see any issues with it so I'm completely happy there.
The setup was a bit of a gong show. I submitted an online form on their site which included collecting billing information, and then received a callback from a sales person. As I was already on a Shaw serviced reseller this is an "active transfer" meaning just having Shaw switch my connection on their side to a different reseller. The sales person gave me the rundown on this, and told me to call TSI and ask for a specific cancel date with them. Also a support person would be contacting me after they sent me a temporary use modem (since I couldn't use the existing one until TSI released it) to go through the transfer process again.
I did as asked and even sent a follow up email in response to my setup confirmation, telling Lightspeed the date I had given TSI per their instructions. I got the follow up call from the support person a few days before the supposed transfer, he told me a totally different date than what I was asked to setup for. I told him there would be an issue here, as I had been told to setup x date, and he's now telling me they'll try to activate me on y date (basically two days before that), it obviously won't work. He said there'd be no issue and not to worry.
Obviously on the date he gave me nothing happened, and then two days later TSI cancelled my service and I was without Internet. I had to sit on hold for over an hour to get through to Lightspeed (they don't respond to emails btw), to be told that it can take upwards of 7 to 10 days for a transfer to go through with Shaw, completely new information. I told him that I did as they instructed in order to avoid downtime, so they needed to reach out to Shaw to try and speed this up, he really didn't care and said this was fine and it would probably maybe be only the next day. I told him if it wasn't the next day then I'd simply call Shaw myself and let them set me up with their service, and I'd be issuing a chargeback against Lightspeed due to a failure to provide the service on the date specified in their email to me, which I am within my rights as a consumer to do.
Next day the Internet did connect and has been fine since then.
No issues until I got the invoice/bill this month, which says in it to send then a cheque for payment. Note I entered my card data on their site and they billed me for the setup/transfer and a first month/deposit (stuff that wasn't clearly explained BTW), so they clearly have that on file. I immediately replied to the billing team asking them if this would be auto charged as well, or if there's a place I can go online to make a payment, since there's nothing on their site anywhere that documents how to pay them. I waited 10 days (today) and no response at all so far, and I haven't seen a charge on my card, so I assume that the only method of payment is mailing cheques to them?
Bottom line, the service itself is fine, and as far as speeds go and stability I'm happier than I was with TSI. It's very obviously a barebones situation over there though, there's either no response ever to requests for information or help or it's incredibly delayed, and if you try calling you'll be on hold for over an hour every time. I'm totally fine with this if it's a setup and forget it sort of situation, if my card ends up being auto billed then we're all good here, but I can't even get an answer on that so who knows at this point.
member for 21.6 years, 152 visits, last login: 6.4 years ago
lodged 6.4 years ago
Review by tlhingan_ - Location: g1q1q9
- Cost Contract price not specified.
 Telus
Not the Telco
PPPoE through the TelCo's network
Good alternative
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I was fed up with dealing with the TelCo (Telus) and was looking for an alternative. Lightspeed Internet is a reseller of DSL and Cable internet (I use DSL) and I've been with them for a few years now. I started out on the 6 Mbit plan, later upgraded to the 15 Mbit plan and am now on the 25 Mbit plan. I was able to use my old DSL modems from the TelCo up to speeds of 15 Mbit, but the new plan required me to purchase a $100 VDSL modem. I'm happy with the upgrade.
The biggest benefit of dealing with a smaller ISP like Lightspeed is that they're friendly, not like the big telecoms where the quality of your service entirely depends on which troll answers the phone. I've had to deal with a few technical or billing glitches over the years and they were able to resolve things quickly.
The one caveat though, is that you are not dealing with "the owner of the last mile." Their service is PPPoE, meaning they are delivering your internet service to you through someone else's physical network (Telus, in my case). Therefore, sometimes a Telus glitch will impact the quality of the service you are receiving from Lightspeed. Most often, this occurs when Telus is upgrading their infrastructure. Since you will not be a Telus client, your "connection profile" will not get updated so you will lose your internet connection. Just a quick call to Lightspeed and they'll request Telus to apply the profile update, and you're back online.
member for 11.2 years, 158 visits, last login: 2.8 years ago
updated 7.1 years ago
Telus
