O Canada! → Canadian → Canadian Broadband > Help in find the perfect ISP for me!

Help in find the perfect ISP for me!

I moved from Montreal to Toronto last year so I'm mostly unfamiliar with all of the ISPs that my fellow DSLreport members might appreciate.

Teksavvy was recommended to me previously and though I enjoyed the price when compared to Rogers, the reliability of the cable service wasn't fantastic. I experienced about 8 outages during that timespan and they always seem to happen during the night. I work late and spend most of the night up.

The latest outage I experienced required the visit of a tech. I was informed that due to the firmware of my modem, Rogers would reject any service requests for me. My options were to either spring 120$ for a new modem (when my current one works perfectly) or cancel. I opted to cancel out of principle. The fact that the reliability has been spotty at best pushed me over the edge. It also made me weary of opting to go for Teksavvy's DSL service.

Since Rogers has a stronghold on all cable providers, it appears that my sole other alternative would be DSL. I believe I might have an old ADSL2 modem lying around somewhere that I hope I could use with my future ISP.

Reliability and a high cap (unlimited would be nice) are my highest priorities. High speeds would be nice, but I could live with some slower ones. I was paying 40 + tax for a 25mbps connection and a 300gb cap.

Help? Suggestions, ideas, death threats? lol!

I can't comment on the service in Toronto, but I just moved to Acanac here in Longueuil and it has been a stellar experience thus far. Check out my review for more details.

Ahem....especially if you want DSL.

I've used both Bell and Rogers over the last 17 years. And between the two I've preferred cable broadband over DSL. I finally got fed up with Rogers so I made the move to Start. I must say it was an easy transition, and I've been very happy. I went with the 25/2 unlimited service, and not one issue at all. They also offer DSL f there is a basic service issue in your area with cable ( since Starts's cable offering runs over Rogers infrastructure, in Rogers territory )

I don't specifically only want DSL. I much prefer the convenience of cable due to the fact that I inexplicably only have a single phone jack in my whole house (built 60 years ago) and it's in an out-of-the-way place.

If I could go the cable route without running into any firmware idiocies *&* the service is reliable and I won't run into an outage in the wee hours of the morning once every 1.5 months, I'd definitely prefer cable.

But reliability is what I'm after and I'm also hoping to save myself the cost of an additional modem. I have a Motorola Surfboard SB5121, if it matters. I'm aware it's a DOCSIS 2 modem, but it can handle up to 38 mbps. My connection was rated as 28 mbps and I was getting full speeds.

I recommend Start Communications, I've been using them sing July 2012 for cable internet and never had a single issue or outage. I can't personally say anything about the DSL service from Start as I haven't used it although from what I've read it's on the forum and reviews the service is excellent.

Start's customer service is awesome as well, on the day of my cable activation, I did a self install as I was switching from another cable provider, they called me to ask if everything had switched over properly.

Website: »start.ca/services/highspeed
Forum: »Start Communications
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Opinions expressed are my own, and may or may not reflect those of my employers or any other BCE company or division.

TSI's ADSL2 offerings are the most solid since you can BYOM and not be at the mercy of Bhell/Robbers. Start is also good.

In the short term, stay away from any cable provider and VDSL as they'll continue to have reliability issues until the CRTC filings & modem issues are resolved.

Well, I checked out VMedia (since George replied to this thread) and I see both cble & DSL services being offered.

Can anybody let me know how reliable (in terms of uptime and how consistent the speeds are) the cable and DSL services are?

What about Start?

I also see Contact has a promotion for 15/1 DSL at 30$/month. Can anybody share any reliability info about this?

Sure thing!

»secure.contact.net/infinite-contact

There is a huge thread about them (and this promotion) another msg board but it's about 30+ pages long.

Regarding the outages that you had , how long did they last and how often did you experience them?

When you had to call Start, was it due to service issues of any kind?

The answer is in your name!

There is no ISP called "Strat," but there is one called "Start."

tpia for sure.... avoid bell/rogers.... you still use their lines...

Ugh. I miss a few hours of sleep last night and I can't even get a simple joke? Yikes. lol!

MJB, can you give some examples of TPIA ISPs please? Again, I haven't had the need to explore these options for quite a long time so I'm a bit in the dark right now... which is why I'm asking some rather pedestrian questions.

A TPIA ISP is 3rd party ISP (Indie ISP) that offers internet access through an incumbents cable network, so that would be any IISP that wholesales Rogers, Cogeco, Shaw and Videotron.

Current Rogers TPIA providers;
-TekSavvy
-Start Communications
-Distributel/Acanac
-CIK Telecom

I might be missing one or two but these are IISP's that have their own connection to the Rogers network, there are also a whole bunch of resellers of the above listed providers.
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Opinions expressed are my own, and may or may not reflect those of my employers or any other BCE company or division.

Start. For sure. Super reliable. Humans that understand English answering phones. Fair prices.

It's like the good ol' days all over again.

Mike
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I've picked on Cogeco long enough. Who's next? Any volunteers?

Rogers has a great 45 + tax plan right now for new activations. No contract, 30/3 and 300 gigs. Modem rental included. Activation fees applies of course.

Start all the way. Been with them since january on their 45/4 package, rock solid performance. couldn't comment on customer service, haven't had to call them.

I vote Start too. Been with them since August (moved from Rogers). Only issue I've had is that Rogers cut my line so I was down for 2 days. Great customer service tho.