Canadian Broadband → Re: Start Communications - new TPIA Rogers/Cogeco

I have Start 30Mbps plan in Cogeco area. Vonage works well for me, haven't had an issue in 6 months. I am not sure if I live in a busy neighbourhood, but my speedtest is almost always high even during peak times. Ping is about 20ms.

Well…my take on Daves question “So exactly WHY is START not worth it ?”

START's 30 plan still costs less ($55 Net vs $70 Net, modem rental included, open rate, no bundles) and has more GB of monthly usage (250 vs 175) than GOUGEco.
- Well..for me probably like most: I have basic Cogeco cable so cost for Ultimate 30 is 61$ and there is no modem rental fee. Cogeco is 175Gb and Start 250Gb now..at 400Gb when it launched it was appealing. Cogeco has a fast network with low latency but Start’s latency seems much higher which can be an issue for users like me that are VIOP and VPN heavy users? Not sure of impact here…just observation on latency rates.

START's UBB rate is HALF of GOUGEco's per GB.

- Not an issue as I have not intent of paying either an overage fee.

START has a usage meter which stays available (at least it has for ME), and needs no login.

- Definitely more convenient on Start than logging in. But not much value add as logging in takes less than a minute to check account.

START has a CEO who stays available on DSLR.

- Yes..much appreciated what Rocca does.

And START has NO problem sending correspondence to external email addresses, unlike Cogeco.

- Have no idea what you are referring to here; been with cogeco for approx 15 years never had a problem with email?

So exactly WHY is START not worth it ?

- Well…this will need to be on a case by case basis for each person’s scenario…for someone like me it comes down to 6$ less for 75Gb of extra cap space? Too me not worth it! Sorry Dave and Rocca!

 
If you have been with Cogeco for all of 15 years, then that has to be for good reasons, and must count for something.

For that alone, I change my original position - you SHOULD think twice before changing, even if to the 400 GB plan which START first offered.

Also because of your long tenure with them, you likely use a Cogeco email address as your primary email anyway, so you would not have been exposed to, nor have noticed what so many others of us have, about Cogeco refusing to send notifications to external (non-Cogeco) email addresses, and their forwarding emails from Cogeco to elsewhere not working properly either.

And your Cogeco modem is not free - it is only included, and if it was extra, your base rate would be lower, more like how START does things.

Your bundle discount is good, but not fair to make part of the calculations, if to compare apples to apples.

I sincerely hope that you never exceed your monthly usage cap, nor get tired of checking to be sure that you do not exceed it.

Latency : Being near Cogeco HQ prob'ly does give you very low latency.

Just how low is it ?

Mine with START in Eastern Ontario is around 20ms, and my VoIP seems fine.

And I agree that each of us may have different priorities.

I even lowered my plan when START brought out the Feb revisions, from a 300 cap (grandfathered) to a 150 cap, same 20 Mbps speed, as I was not using near even the 150 GB.

Saved me $10 net per month.

Many folks would/could not have been in a position to do that.

When START's next plans are offered, I will give them due consideration, as I'm sure will yourself and everyone else.

Cheers !

Just to point out that GOUGCo Ultimate 30 (Bundled) is $61.95 +Tax witch is $70.

Start.ca's Advanced Cable Internet 30 Mbps is $49.95 + $5 Modem rental + Tax = $62.09

thats $7.91 savings a month and no bundle crap to deal with.

Teksavvy just released prices for Cogeco in case people didn't see it. Damn that's high.

They are also considering (toying with the idea of) throttling.

Yeah, Marc said he had no choice but to "be creative"

I guess this can also be called innovative, stimulating and imaginative.

Which is what Acanac is doing.

no no.. our main packages would never be throttled..

I meant, if ever we have the ability to give an individual that option.. i.e. each could decided that for themselves via our customer portal or something like that... we might look at that if it made any sense.

it's not an option right now though.

Opt-in demand-based traffic management could make unlimited a much more palatable option for everyone involved.

»[Cable] NEW RATES - Rogers

Sorry Start... Looks like I won't be switching after all. I get an extra 50GB for the same price. Also have the option of getting unlimited.

Is it free to change speeds with Start?

In most cases yes, ie not on DSL moving between technologies (ie ADSL to VDSL), but for cable all speed tiers, yes no charges.

You may be able to get an extra 50GB with TekSavvy but you won't be able to get the new faster speeds until they migrate over to the APOIs.

So it says people have been posting in this thread.. But I can't see the new posts?

ya i noticed that too.. i'm thinking this thread was broken and one of the mods fixed it.

 
The 4th new post makes each page appear.

Or you can edit the URL to increase the number at the end of the address.