Advice for switching to Cable Internet?

[teleguitar]

This is called the 'Anyone But Robbers' thread. But, has to be Cable Internet. I know from reading here and DSL Reports that Teksavvy has decent connection with their DSL service. Apparently, Bhell doesn't want to tip the apple cart.... maybe they're a bit more scared of CRTC than Robbers? Anyway, the problem with DSL is the dry loop fee.

Seriously, I just want to figure out the best situation and route here.

I want a DOCSIS 3.0 modem, preferably. Although, I noticed on the Teksavvy site, that you can only get the 28Mb speed with Docsis 3.0 modems? Did I read that, correctly and accurately? What's the deal there?

Since DSL Reports is having MAJOR server trouble at the moment, I'm not sure if I can obtain exact info from Teksavvy experts but hopefully someone can chime in here. :)

It needs to be available in Southern Ontario. I read that Teksavvy was having connection issues in some places but maybe that issue is now sorted out?

The cheapest I could find is Teksavvy modem + activation + 1st mth prepaid = $220 +? This is a bit insane to me so tell me how is that justified? I'm not sure what to do. Activation being $65 seems like a rip-off and if Robbers is forcing that amount, then Teksavvy should sue for anti-competitive business practices or something?

I thought to get a DCM 476 modem since it's also $99 but then that's a lot of money. The only other idea I had was to buy the modem and then get the internet service the next month or buy a cheap, used, dcm 425 for now.

Any other ideas? I have reasons for wanting to switch my cable internet (it's 3rd party but of course, still Rogers hardware/infrastructure).

[kellymisty]

Can't answer about Teksavvy or Rogers, but we switched recently to cable internet from Bell dsl. We are in Cogeco land, and went with Start Communications. (http://www.start.ca/) Ours was a new installation, so a Cogeco technician spent about an hour at our place, locating lines, and drilling a hole through the brick wall to run the line into the house, which, in my opinion, justified the $50 installation fee. At present, we are renting ($5 a month) the docsis 2.0 modem from Start, as the docsis 3.0 modem they use is in short supply. Without first checking with the service providers, I would not recommend purchasing a modem in advance.

Start Communications also provides service in Rogers areas. However, right now, the top speed offered is 16 mbps down and 1 mpbs up - 300 gb. cap for $49.95 a month. They waive installation fee if you already have cable service. They offer the docsis 2.0 modem for $69.95. So their start-up costs may be a little lower than Teksavvy's, if it is available to you and if you can live with the speed.

Our experience with Start has been good from the beginning - great communication, consistent speed, excellent customer service. So far, they don't promise what they can't deliver.

[willdacanucker]

Just a consideration. Depending where you are, you may not be able to get cable due to stop sells. I also took into consideration the dry loop fee when making my decision to drop Rogers. I still decided to go with Teksavvy 25/7 dsl service. I am so glad I did. I am paying $5 a month less than I was with robbers, but the quality of internet service I have now, utterly blows robbers out of the water. I live downtown and the cable speeds were at best half my "up to" speed. Even worse, when 5pm rolled around and everyone in my area saturated robbers infrastructure, the speed would crawl. On the weekends, forget about it. I was LUCKY to get a full 3mbs and I was on the "up to 30mbs" plan. I averaged around 12-17 mbs when it was off peak time. Now, I average 19-25mbs. Just wanted to add my 2 pence on why I decided to pay the dry loop fee.

[slomo]

Depending where you live, you may or may not be able to get cable through Teksavvy in Rogers area, because many areas in GTA are in 'stop sell' order due to too many subscribers. I was lucky enough to live in the area where there was no stop sell, so I could get in. Why do you want to move to Teksavvy, are you paying a lot more now? I was paying $70+ for Sympatico grandfathered 6 mbps and am quite happy when I switch to Tek cable and get 3 times that bandwidth for almost half the monthly price. I was so happy I also switch my voice line to Voip a month later.

[teleguitar]

I'm pretty sure Teksavvy is an option. It was last time I talked to them. It's just that their startup cost is so expensive. They have one of the most expensive activation charges. Also, not having a modem makes the startup cost expensive as well. I might have a docsis 2.0 modem if it can be unlocked but I don't really want to use it as it's one of the older Motorola. Anytime there's some problem, I'd be thinking 'I wonder if it could be the modem.'

Start Communications doesn't look too bad. But, their prices (at least for 28Mb) is a little high - higher than Teksavvy. But, I think they're more flexible about activation charges.

I looked at this:

http://www.canadianisp.ca/cgi-bin/ispsearch.cgi?f=Search&p=ON

Acanac and Distributel didn't look like decent choices, unfortunately. Velcom almost looked like a good alternative. I guess I wasn't surprised that there were a number of alternatives but not very good ones. Still no real competition. There's 3rd party choices but none do anything different.

Anyway, it's Rogers that provides the cable internet in my area.