Kelowna internet providers NOT Shaw or Telus

[Woodenhead]

I've been with TekSavvy for 7 years. My only gripe is that I didn't switch sooner. Comparable prices with actual unlimited cap options. (no time constraints, dunno what the other poster was talking about as I don't have any such constraint)

At any rate, check out DSLreports for all sorts of ISP info, reviews, and chatter. (TekSavvy has a big presence in the forums there, too - the CEO is a regular poster)

http://www.dslreports.com/forums/23

[Logitack]

I've been with TekSavvy for 7 years. My only gripe is that I didn't switch sooner. Comparable prices with actual unlimited cap options. (no time constraints, dunno what the other poster was talking about as I don't have any such constraint)

it was taken from teksavvy's web site

you must be "grandfathered" in for "unlimited" usage

[Woodenhead]

[EDIT] The part you highlighted applies to the 300GB data cap package. The Unlimited package is exactly that - unlimited, regardless of time. Items downloaded during this time do not count toward your Bandwidth limit. - where Unlimited has no bandwidth limit at all.

[kandit]

Thanks for all the information everyone. Along with TekSavvy, CanadianISP provided AEBC, Nucleus and Unmetered. They're all around $60/month unlimited instead of the $80/month with a cap that Telus is asking for. I'll contact them and see which is best for me.

[Woodenhead]

Good luck, kandit! The little guys tend to treat their customers great, so you should have a good experience. The only caveat folks making such a switch sometimes run into is the incumbent ISP dragging their feet - it's still them who has to send a tech out, if it's needed, as it's still their lines. After that hurdle's cleared (if it even comes up), it should be smooth sailing.

[jsakaya]

I've been using Uniserve in West Kelowna for about 1 year.

Pros:
ADSL Internet only. Unlimited. 25 Mbps plan.
Tested the speeds and averaged 22-23 Mbps. Not bad.
My bill is 67 $/month after everything.
No contract, no modem rental fee.
In the past year, no significant outages (greater than a few minutes on two occasions).

Cons:
The post above by Woodenhead is spot-on.
"The only caveat folks making such a switch sometimes run into is the incumbent ISP dragging their feet - it's still them who has to send a tech out, if it's needed, as it's still their lines."
Telus owns the lines that Uniserve uses, so it took over two weeks to get installation. Basically Telus technicians never came when scheduled, and the date was pushed back multiple times. I was initially mad at Uniserve until I understood the situation.

Uniserve does not offer the standard 6 month discount at half-price rates.
I've calculated and compared the forecast cost against Telus and Shaw, who do offer the 6 month discount.
After about two years, Uniserve becomes cheaper.

My plan is to stay with them for 1.5 years, then leverage a discount. If successful, Uniserve becomes significantly cheaper.
I think this is a good strategy for people looking at things long-term.

[DANSPEED]

Uniserve wants $44/m for 6/1 unlimited and TekSavvy is $30/m for 6/1 300GB/m (unlimited in BC for now). When I dumped Telus two months ago for TekSavvy they had upped me to $59/m (bundled with the phone) which I guess is Internet 15 but kept me at 6/1! I guess they thought I wouldn't notice. With Telus you have to *bleep* about everything to get any satisfaction and they know most people won't complain. When I told customer support I was seriously thinking about switching they didn't care but when I did cancel my internet Telus offered me 15/1 for $26/m unlimited for one year. No thanks! Telus is sneaky, that $26/m will be $38/m or higher before the year is up -- been there seen that!

Thanks to Woodenhead I'm very happy with TekSavvy!

Telus owns the lines that Uniserve uses, so it took over two weeks to get installation. Basically Telus technicians never came when scheduled, and the date was pushed back multiple times. I was initially mad at Uniserve until I understood the situation.

Same here! TekSavvy said the work order was complete but I still had no internet three days after completion. I was on the phone with TekSavvy for four hours (great tech support) trying different modem/router configurations. In the end it was Telus that either screwed up or just didn't bother making the switch.

[Woodenhead]

The incumbents certainly make it a pain - not always (I was lucky) but sometimes, yeah. I'm happy you guys are doing well with your switch. One of the nicest surprises has always been the support - the few times I've had to call in (or post in their DSLreports direct support forum), it's been a breeze; so much so that I could almost call it a pleasurable experience! haha :]