[Light Speed Internet] AB/BC/Shaw Territory - Cable 30 Internet for $32.95/mo, Cable 75 for $39.95/mo

Scote64 wrote: ↑ Lightspeed: Internet 75 for $40/month (12 month initial commitment required, $50 without that), plus $3/month to rent a modem from them
Can-Com: Internet 75 for $50/month, includes modem rental

One plus for Lightspeed is that you'll keep the $40/mo "forever" beyond the first year (according to LS) as long as you are with them and don't change plans. One beef I have with them (which is really minor in the overall scheme of things) is how old-school they are -- there's no portal for me to log into to change credit card info, self-manage my account/services, etc. Doing anything is a phone call. But, I guess the "no frills" aspect translates to lower fees, which I'm good with.

In my case (Cable 30), it was a no-brainer... $32.95/mo, compared to $43-47 for most of the others. I did have one other option available (Nucleus.com) which only really has a presence here in Alberta (fellow Calgarians may remember/be familiar with Nucleus) which has come down to be really competitive with Lightspeed, and while I wanted to support local, the "forever pricing" at LS had me sold. For others in AB, Nucleus.com may be worth a look.

I'm not quite sure how LS is able to lock their prices (granted, the market/advertised price may fluctuate, but they grandfather existing customers to their locked in rate), given that all the other ISPs have had to raise rates in the last few months (due to the Liberal Government tossing the CRTC's rate caps on wholesale internet services, and siding with the big Telcos ... read about it here: https://action.openmedia.org/page/65930/action/1).

ciuvak wrote: ↑ If you are happy with 75, no point in considering Shaw.
But choosing between the other two it's a tough call. Were you planing to rent from Lightspeed?

I think I'm going to try Lightspeed, as they offer a slightly cheaper price for a year. I will rent the modem, as I don't want to buy one initially.

How much time do you get to test the service before you are committed to keeping it? Is there some sort of regulatory period? I know there is with Telus and Shaw.

Does Lightspeed have a referral program?

Scote64 wrote: ↑ I think I'm going to try Lightspeed, as they offer a slightly cheaper price for a year. I will rent the modem, as I don't want to buy one initially.

How much time do you get to test the service before you are committed to keeping it? Is there some sort of regulatory period? I know there is with Telus and Shaw.

Does Lightspeed have a referral program?

Yeah, the $2.95 monthly rental at least doesn't commit you to anything. Their $165 purchased modem (Technicolor TC4400) seems overpriced (with no cheaper alternatives) -- I'd keep my eyes open for used ones on Kijiji and the like, as long as they're on Lightspeed's compatible modem list. The one I have (Hitron CDA-RES) was bought from VMedia for $100 when I signed up with them (and later lowered by VMedia to $50, before it became discontinued).

I think you'd be best served by calling Lightspeed (604-482-1190, or toll free 1-866-798-0906) to ask about a trial/cooling off period. They advertise "no contracts", but the promo pricing requires a "12 month commitment", and I'm not sure how strictly they enforce the commitment. Note this Q/A from their website about the deal:

Q: Are there any conditions for the Flash Sale?
A: While we do not have contracts at Internet Lightspeed, customers who sign-up for our Flash Sale agree to a 12 month commitment to receive the monthly Flash Sale pricing.

Q: If I do not complete the 12 month commitment are there any penalties or fees?
A: We will be charging a $59.95 (plus applicable taxes) one time fee for not completing your 12 month (one continuous year of service) commitment with us.

They do have a referral program. During the sign-up process, if you note the account number of a referrer, both you (referee) and referrer will get a one-time $10 credit.

My switch to Lightspeed went reasonably smoothly.

They billed me first month and last month up front, which many but not all TPIAs do - something to be aware of.

They told me it would be almost 2 weeks before they could schedule an install date with Shaw, so I set my Shaw cancellation for one day after that just to be safe, No install fee, and no visit to my home needed since I was switching directly from Shaw.

Lightspeed wanted $12 more to mail me the modem, but instead I picked it up in person since I was passing near the Lightspeed office in Burnaby anyway. It turned out to be an old Hitron CGN (gen1) modem+router. I was able to substitute it in place of my Shaw modem+router with no issues, since I use my own router for my local net and WiFi. On the morning of the scheduled install date I unplugged the Shaw modem, plugged in the Lightspeed modem, and about 30 minutes later it connected. Running fine ever since.

I mailed the old modem back to Shaw with their printed mailing label, since they aren't accepting equipment returns at the Shaw stores during the pandemic. Canada Post shows the package processed and then "out for delivery" a day later... where it has remained "pending delivery" ever since. Typical CP tracking reliability. I hope Shaw doesn't claim they never got it!

I signed up for the 75/7.5 plan with Lightspeed. Speed test consistently gives 80/8 at all times of day.

I've yet to see how well Lightspeed's billing and payment works. They have no online customer portal. They email an invoice monthly, and you can pay by online bill payment with your bank. If you want to pay by credit card, you must either pre-authorize automatic monthly withdrawals from your credit card, or call them and have them process the payment manually every month.

I haven't had any problems or needed any tech support, but a couple of questions I had for tech support were answered by email within a day.

Scote64 wrote: ↑ My switch to Lightspeed went reasonably smoothly.

They billed me first month and last month up front, which many but not all TPIAs do - something to be aware of.

I signed up for the 75/7.5 plan with Lightspeed. Speed test consistently gives 80/8 at all times of day.

I've yet to see how well Lightspeed's billing and payment works.

Glad your switchover went smoothly! Don't be surprised when they bill you on Nov 1 -- it'll be a small amount (basically pro-rated for a few days in October). See the 4th bullet in the original post for a description of my experience. So going forward, you're always fully pre-paid for the month ahead, as well as the last month (i.e. so in your case, you've fully paid for Nov plus your last month, and on Nov 1 you'll be billed for your Oct service). It's a weird way of doing things, but it's what it is...

I'm on the 30/5.0 plan (now grandfathered), and consistently get 35/5.0, so it seems the extra ~5 Mbps download bandwidth is their "thing", which is nice; my previous provider was generally ~5 Mbps lower, and if I was lucky, I'd achieve the rate I was paying for.

Charging of my CC (which they have on file) and the e-mailing of the invoice is like clockwork on the first of every month, between 8:30 and 9:30am PT. I wanted to change to a different credit card (extra cashback for "recurring" category), but figured it's more effort than its worth with LS, and not sure if their transactions get classified as pre-authorized. So, I've just left it with my regular "everyday" credit card...

CalgaryBen wrote: ↑ I'm on the 30/5.0 plan (now grandfathered), and consistently get 35/5.0, so it seems the extra ~5 Mbps download bandwidth is their "thing", which is nice; my previous provider was generally ~5 Mbps lower, and if I was lucky, I'd achieve the rate I was paying for.

It may be more to do with the cable service in your area. Shaw at my address has consistently given me a little extra speed in recent years, for example 180 on 150 service, 320 on 300 service, and most recently 120 on 100 service. Now I usually get around 82 on 75 service with Lightspeed.

Scote64 wrote: ↑ It may be more to do with the cable service in your area. Shaw at my address has consistently given me a little extra speed in recent years, for example 180 on 150 service, 320 on 300 service, and most recently 120 on 100 service. Now I usually get around 82 on 75 service with Lightspeed.

Well, at my current address/location, I was on VMedia on the 25/2.5 plan, and I generally got around 20 Mbps download speeds (occasionally getting 25). Without moving, and keeping the same modem, I switched to Lightspeed on the 30/5.0 plan, and consistently getting 35 Mbps down! I was on Shaw before all of that, but can't remember what plan or what kind of speeds I was getting (was probably 50 or 75, at the time).

I can't say I'm impressed with the billing practices of Lightspeed.

- They want immediate up-front payment for first and last month of service before they will schedule an install, and they keep that that money as a retainer for as long as you have service with them.

- Their first invoice includes a credit for partial month for the previous month paid in advance, but the credit amount is short and they can't explain it (they don't know what their software formula is).

- They bill in advance at the start of each month, and consider payment late if it isn't made on or before that date (i.e., you have zero days to pay). They send an automated "late" notice threatening suspension after 7 days. That's poor practice compared to Telus or Shaw, who also bill in advance, but at least those companies give you a month to pay.

Lightspeed advances the billing date to the start of the month for their convenience instead of keeping it on the actual start of service date like Telus or Shaw, so they are always holding 2 months more payment in advance than Telus or Shaw - something to consider if they ever go out of business like Suntel, another Cipherkey (AEBC) reseller (bc-suntel-networks-1765003/11/).

CalgaryBen wrote: ↑ In case anybody is looking for a cheap no-frills Cable Internet provider in Shaw-covered areas

Thanks OP! I was holding out for a cheap Shaw plan this year ... only to find that the deals are only being offered to current customers. And the entry plans with the major companies are all garbage, so I made the jump!

I am happy with the $40 / 75Mbps price. Getting set up was up was bit of a pain with delays over Christmas (I was previously using Fibre, so I needed to wait until my coax lines were connected) but their customer service personnel have been excellent.
Now that I'm all set up, everything is working as advertised.

A small referral credit from OP also makes things a little sweeter!