[kwlug-disc] Waterloo ISPs

Fri Aug 22 17:15:49 EDT 2014

On 14-08-22 02:25 PM, CrankyOldBugger wrote:
> I was put off of VMedia by all of the negative comments on ispreports.com,
> until I realized that all of the ISPs there have their whiners.

More than that. Take a look at each ISP's own forums.

I watched Acanac for a long time - complain, complain, complain. No 
response, no response, no response. Then I heard of vMedia and started 
asking questions. When Khalid asked as you are, I helped point him that 
way. [Smart: Get someone else to be the guinea pig!]

When I poked about vMedia, what little complaints I saw (comparatively 
wise, DSL Reports), I saw response, response, response.

Discern the nature of the complaints. In most all cases they are hookup 
related. Mostly due to Rogers / nothing they can do about. And once 
surpassed, services seems to stay steady - for any reseller. Just don't 
be surprised if install isn't seamless (due to Rogers). [For Khalid it 
was, and he lucked out that he didn't need a tech. It appears that once 
you need a tech., they're Rogers techs and that's when the potential for 
problems appears. He also let the 30 day process happen rather than 
trying to speed it up - also apparently problem-inducing.]

Then discern the nature of any account issues (vs hookup), and the 
customer response time. At least with an account issue you will likely 
have service throughout. (Unless you REALLY get behind, and so probably 
have other / bigger issues on your plate.)

Bear in mind, Acanac uses Distributel's backbone, which is to say, from 
what I've seen only one of the two is in any give area. Even with that, 
compare the frequent "Can't get a human!" complaints present for Acanac, 
less so for Distributel. I don't think for vMedia either, but I don't 
remember with certainty.

Acanac being e-mail only, everything is at least a 2 day response. If 
you forget your order number in the initial ...

> Pricewise, using 60d/10u unlimited as a reference, VMedia is $65, TekSavvy
> is $95, Distributel is $90, Acana is $75.
>
> I asked the TekSavvy rep what was she going to do to keep my business
> (being that I was paying $65 for 28/1), and she said that they can't change
> the prices, but they have "the Zap the Cap feature that when you order a
> plan that is 300 GB, you turn the Zap the Cap on and you can have unlimited
> service for the price of the 300 GB plan. The tool needs to be left on for
> the whole month to have unlimited service for the price of 300 GB. With Zap
> the Cap enabled, your speeds will be reduced to 15 MBPS between 8pm and
> 12am. Outside of the 8pm to 12am window, you will receive your full package
> speed."
>
> 1/4 normal speeds during Prime Time?  What good is that?
>
> So I think I'm going to investigate VMedia some more.  They have the best
> prices, and Khalid seems to like them.
>
>
>
>
> On 22 August 2014 14:07, unsolicited <unsolicited at swiz.ca> wrote:
>
>> You won't get the same PVR from anyone but Rogers. PVR is the Achilles
>> heel.
>>
>> vMedia (now) has PVR in the cloud, and not on all channels. (I checked it
>> out.)
>>
>> For PVR, in the end, you need a local box catching the content, which only
>> Rogers seems to have / tied in to schedule. Never mind vmedia / other
>> boxes, you still need a Rogers <something> to decipher anything but basic
>> cable (for however long it's still available), this other box will have to
>> tell the Rogers box to change channels, and so on. So the WAF will never
>> reach the same bar of ease of use outside of Rogers. [Also, the PVR content
>> won't leave the Rogers box, ever, without some hoop jumping - so you're
>> limited to the box's capacity, although I understand at least some units
>> will take an external hard drive. Which presumably you could rotate. You
>> can externally capture non-digitally, but then you've lost the advantage of
>> the PVR / back into the tell it to change channel, or start manually,
>> problem.]
>>
>> Bear in mind, though - TV and internet are different beasties.
>>
>> vMedia will get you cheaper and out of the no servers permitted
>> restrictions.
>>
>> Thing to evaluate is if you are bundled is the cheaper ISP offset by the
>> loss of TV cost reduction due to bundling? In most cases it is, freeing you
>> from their ISP trap. Too bad more don't do so - Rogers isn't going to
>> change until enough people vote with their feet. And it's just easier, if
>> not cheaper, to just do nothing and go with it.
>>
>> And evaluate whether the channels that matter to you are easily available
>> outside of Rogers. e.g. Netflix or one of the boxes Khalid has mentioned in
>> his threads. And how much complexity for cost savings you can tolerate.
>>
>> For myself, I've concluded vMedia internet is where I want to go (but
>> still haven't taken the time to actually do so), keeping only Rogers TV.
>> (And PayGo, for outstanding positive balance, but then PayGo isn't really
>> well integrated into their rest / no bundling. Unless they can convince you
>> to go to the monthly PayGo plans. Oxymoron?)
>>
>>
>> On 14-08-22 11:48 AM, Jonathan Poole wrote:
>>
>>> You get 2 months free with canadacomputers when you sign up via their
>>> site, and you can buy the vbox from them for the TV Service I
>>> believe.
>>>
>>> I’m so close to switching away from robbers to vmedia, however
>>> convincing the wife that she’ll get the same TV channels and PVR
>>> capabilities maybe more of a challenge that just switching
>>> providers.
>>>
>>> Khalid can you possibly update the list, or me personally on
>>> experience on your first month of service so far?  Any gripes?  Does
>>> anyone have vmedia for TV service?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Aug 22, 2014, at 11:19 AM, Chris Craig <kwlug.org at ciotog.net>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>   I don't have any direct experience with VMedia, but Canada
>>>> Computers has some kind of tie-in, if that means anything:
>>>> http://www.canadacomputers.com/vmedia/
>>>>
>>>> On 22 August 2014 10:04, CrankyOldBugger
>>>> <crankyoldbugger at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I'm thinking of moving from TekSavvy to VMedia.  Does anyone here
>>>>> have any experience with them?
>>>>>
>>>>> Basically my current TS package is $65 for 29d/1u unlimited.
>>>>> It's an older package.  TS will offer 60d/10u unlimited for $95,
>>>>> which is a bit much for me.
>>>>>
>>>>> VMedia, on the other hand, has the same 60d/10u unlimited for
>>>>> $65.  So I could essentially double my down speed and 10x my up
>>>>> speed for the same money.
>>>>>
>>>>> Of course, this sounds too good to be true to me.  So I was
>>>>> wondering if anyone has had any good or bad experiences with this
>>>>> company, or can recommend another local provider that they're
>>>>> happy with?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks!
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________ kwlug-disc
>>>>> mailing list kwlug-disc at kwlug.org
>>>>> http://kwlug.org/mailman/listinfo/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
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>>>
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