Is there a inexpensive internet provider out there

[GordonH]

Just throwing this question out there:
Reliable inexpensive unlimited internet providers in central Okanagan.

Does this even exist north of the border.

[kelownman]

This has been talked about before in other threads so i won't repeat it other than giving links to what I have said before

viewtopic.php?f=98&t=41259&p=2134894&hi ... m#p2134894

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=73358&p=2206010&hi ... m#p2206010

[Even Steven]

Net Zero still in business.

https://store.netzero.net/account/showS ... =nz-dialup

[TylerM4]

I use lightspeed internet (they piggyback on Telus or Shaw infrastructure) www.lightspeed.ca

Pretty happy with it. It's essentially the same as Telus or Shaw but you call different people when you have problems. It was even a shaw tech who showed up to turn on the connection. About 1/2 the price of the same service from Shaw tho.

The only downside is that you don't get the in-home technical support. Shaw will attend, but only to confirm that the connection to your home is good. Any problem within the home, they won't send someone to help. This extends to initial setup of your modem, etc. They'll help you over the phone, but that's it. I'm pretty tech savvy, so it hasn't been a problem for me. Might not be something you'd want for your grandmother tho.

[BC Landlord]

I use lightspeed internet (they piggyback on Telus or Shaw infrastructure) http://www.lightspeed.ca

Pretty happy with it. It's essentially the same as Telus or Shaw but you call different people when you have problems. It was even a shaw tech who showed up to turn on the connection. About 1/2 the price of the same service from Shaw tho.

The only downside is that you don't get the in-home technical support. Shaw will attend, but only to confirm that the connection to your home is good. Any problem within the home, they won't send someone to help. This extends to initial setup of your modem, etc. They'll help you over the phone, but that's it. I'm pretty tech savvy, so it hasn't been a problem for me. Might not be something you'd want for your grandmother tho.

I would second this. They use Shaw's network in my area (Summerland). The best bang for your buck. Most of the time, I get speeds in excess of what I paid for.

[DANSPEED]

I use lightspeed internet (they piggyback on Telus or Shaw infrastructure) http://www.lightspeed.ca

Pretty happy with it. It's essentially the same as Telus or Shaw but you call different people when you have problems. It was even a shaw tech who showed up to turn on the connection. About 1/2 the price of the same service from Shaw tho.

The only downside is that you don't get the in-home technical support. Shaw will attend, but only to confirm that the connection to your home is good. Any problem within the home, they won't send someone to help. This extends to initial setup of your modem, etc. They'll help you over the phone, but that's it. I'm pretty tech savvy, so it hasn't been a problem for me. Might not be something you'd want for your grandmother tho.

I would second this. They use Shaw's network in my area (Summerland). The best bang for your buck. Most of the time, I get speeds in excess of what I paid for.

They say "No big price increases." ... Has your monthly rate stayed the same since signing up? Do you have the phone with them as well? They're certainly much cheaper than Teksavvy. Reviews are mostly positive apart from some complaining about confusing bills and poor customer support.

[Bsuds]

Reviews are mostly positive apart from some complaining about confusing bills and poor customer support.

That seems to be an issue with most providers.

[TylerM4]

They say "No big price increases." ... Has your monthly rate stayed the same since signing up? Do you have the phone with them as well? They're certainly much cheaper than Teksavvy. Reviews are mostly positive apart from some complaining about confusing bills and poor customer support.

I think I'm pushing 3 years now. Price has not changed a cent. We do not have the phone service, just the internet.

The billing was a little confusing at 1st. The billing interval is weird and they want to bill everyone at the same time of the month regardless of when you sign up. So it can appear like you've been billed extra as they shift your invoice dates around. After the 1st few months that passed, and the monthly bill itself isn't really confusing if you ask me. It's actually quite simple, no extra fees or any surprises.

I found their over the phone customer support pretty good. But I wasn't expecting much and didn't need a lot of help. I knew exactly what I needed them to do and how to communicate it. As someone who's used to having to talk someone through the 1st 6 steps in their script before I can actually express what I want/need, I found it refreshing to be able to "cut right to the chase" with a tech who isn't robotically following a troubleshooting script. You do get the feeling they only have 1 person working the customer support desk tho and I'm sure that people who need more help would find it inferior. As I mentioned above- they won't dispatch someone to your home for example.

[DANSPEED]

I think I'm pushing 3 years now. Price has not changed a cent. We do not have the phone service, just the internet.

The billing was a little confusing at 1st. The billing interval is weird and they want to bill everyone at the same time of the month regardless of when you sign up. So it can appear like you've been billed extra as they shift your invoice dates around. After the 1st few months that passed, and the monthly bill itself isn't really confusing if you ask me. It's actually quite simple, no extra fees or any surprises.

I found their over the phone customer support pretty good. But I wasn't expecting much and didn't need a lot of help. I knew exactly what I needed them to do and how to communicate it. As someone who's used to having to talk someone through the 1st 6 steps in their script before I can actually express what I want/need, I found it refreshing to be able to "cut right to the chase" with a tech who isn't robotically following a troubleshooting script. You do get the feeling they only have 1 person working the customer support desk tho and I'm sure that people who need more help would find it inferior. As I mentioned above- they won't dispatch someone to your home for example.

Thanks! Lightspeed currently offers a Home Cable 30 service (30 Mbps/2.5 Mbps) for $32.95/m. More reviews I read said Lightspeed "throttles the heck out of you." Lightspeeds Terms of Service (section Service Limitations, Performance and Availability, subsection 29) says they deploy traffic management policies to a minimum of 1 Mbps downstream and 256 Kbps upstream per customer when "excessive network congestion ... or anything that may impact the overall customer experience" is exceeded allowing activities such as general Internet browsing, email or VoIP service to continue. From my experience Teksavvy has never implemented any traffic management policies, at least not on my plan. I don't mind the odd slow time but if Lightspeeds going to throttle me from 30 Mbps down to 1 Mbps during peak hours I'm better off staying with Teksavvy.

Have you noticed much throttling?

[TylerM4]

A lot of people move to Lightspeed because they advertise "no download limits". I suspect this is who they're targeting.

Same package I have. With non-wireless modem rental, taxes, etc I pay $41/month. I've never noticed any throttling, but I'm honestly not a huge bandwidth user either. My monthly bandwidth is probably in the 200-300GB/month range. I went with them for the price not for the lack of a download limit.

[DANSPEED]

I switched to Lightspeed! ... Goodbye Telus and Teksavvy!

The switch was easy. Basically plug and play. Sales and customer support are very friendly. Tech support is knowledgeable. I rented the modem but had to buy the Grandstream ATA. The only thing I miss with Telus is Call Control. First day and I got scam calls! ... Speeds are great. I get around 15% above advertised. I've noticed no throttling so far. Tech support told me they don't throttle but do implement "traffic management policies in emergencies." The invoices are confusing. There's negative charges and new charges, I don't know if I owe money or have credit! I do know I'm getting 6x the speed and saving $25.55/m!

[GordonH]

I switched to Lightspeed! ... Goodbye Telus and Teksavvy!

The switch was easy. Basically plug and play. Sales and customer support are very friendly. Tech support is knowledgeable. I rented the modem but had to buy the Grandstream ATA. The only thing I miss with Telus is Call Control. First day and I got scam calls! ... Speeds are great. I get around 15% above advertised. I've noticed no throttling so far. Tech support told me they don't throttle but do implement "traffic management policies in emergencies." The invoices are confusing. There's negative charges and new charges, I don't know if I owe money or have credit! I do know I'm getting 6x the speed and saving $25.55/m!

Sounds good maybe it’s time for a change myself.

[DANSPEED]

Just to add, canceling was easy too. I ported my phone number (a $29.95 one time fee) so that instantly terminated my Telus account. I had to call Teksavvy to cancel. I thought they'd make me an offer to stay but they just asked why I was canceling. One thing I found interesting is, if I do a speed test at speedtest.net it shows I'm connected to Cipherkey Exchange Corp. Looking on their site they're an ISP wholesaler ...

CipherKey has expanded operations as a ‘buying group’ where independent ISP‘s benefit from consolidated purchasing power on incumbent networks. CipherKey ISP Partners are guaranteed affordable and competitive access to wholesale internet, TV and IP transit services.

I don't know how it all works. I'm saving money while getting a better service so I'm happy!

[TylerM4]

I don't know how it all works. I'm saving money while getting a better service so I'm happy!

Glad you're enjoying the experience so far! I'd have felt really bad if you were unhappy!

The invoices will get much more simple after the 1st few months. I don't fully understand why they do it that way, but when I asked it was something about wanting to get all customers on same billing cycles and to move to "paying one month in advance" so that the bill they send you in March is actually for April's internet.

And yes, I see the same results when I do my speed test - Cypherkey. Tho I never bothered to research it - thanks for sharing!

[BC Landlord]

They say "No big price increases." ... Has your monthly rate stayed the same since signing up? Do you have the phone with them as well? They're certainly much cheaper than Teksavvy. Reviews are mostly positive apart from some complaining about confusing bills and poor customer support.

No price change that I could notice since I bought their service, and it's been almost two years now. So far, they had only one outage (rather speed crippling) last year for a couple of days, but that was due to some major cable damage to a landslide somewhere. Shaw customers were not speared from that as well. I also have a phone line with Lightspeed. Other than that last year's event, it's been working good. The thing is, I am not on any plan, so I can leave them on a short (a month) notice, should they start acting up.