[kwlug-disc] Cable internet providers

[Paul Gallaway]

On Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 11:12 PM, unsolicited <unsolicited at swiz.ca> wrote:
> IIRC (year or two back), Acanac was starved to be able to add more
> subscribers in this area because the reseller side of the Grand Crest Place
> / Kitchener facility was maxed out.
[...]
> Rogers eventually built out more capacity - Acanac was able to then accept
> more subscribers.

This happened to me too. By the time I was ready to sign up with
3rd-party modem in hand purchased from Canada Computers, they (Acanac
and Teksavvy [Distributel?]) were no longer accepting new hookups.
Took a few months to clear up in my neighbourhood but was
significantly longer in other KW neighbourhoods based on what I read
on DSLreports at the time.

I have had one issue that required support. This was a nightmare that
took days to be resolved. I emailed Acanac support, Acanac support
emailed Rogers, Rogers emails response to Acanac support, Acanac
Support emails update to me. This continued a couple iterations for
tests of my equipment. Why not use carrier pigeons? From my reading,
this is how Rogers handles all third-party internet provider's
requests: email. Others have stated in this discussion that Acanac has
poor support, but I think the real issue is that all TPIA resellers
are given poor support due to the way Rogers administrates the access.
More people at Acanac would not resolve the Rogers bottleneck above. A
friendly voice on the phone might make someone feel better, but
there's moving Rogers faster. At one time there was a 'fixer' on the
Acanac forums (handle 'ferg', I think), who could check in on the
status of your support ticket for you and get you more frequent
updates. He was most helpful, but phoning in to yell at someone
doesn't happen.

My support issue occurred because when I signed up with Acanac, I had
basic cable TV (analogue, no cable boxes). Maybe a year later, a
couple months of being satisfied with my antenna install and MythTV
performance, I cut basic cable. When I talked to Rogers I asked them
to clearly note my TPIA in the file. Sure thing they said. Eight
months or so later, someone is doing due-diligence in my neighbourhood
and cuts me off. Going back further, I was not tagged locally as a
TPIA location because I was a Rogers cable subscriber, and Rogers
deemed it unnecessary to send someone out to place the tag when I
signed up. I cannot believe that Rogers does not have a list of
third-party access addresses.

Step 1: Acanac gives Rogers my info.
Step 2: Rogers opens the gate for my router to communicate on the network.
Step 3: Rogers throws out the Post-It Note that some support person
wrote my address on and then they forget about me!?

Come-on! They use the same technicians for both Rogers customers and
TIPA resellers. I understand using real world tags on the hardware. I
just cannot/will not believe there is no list that Rogers could
provide their techs to reference before doing disconnects. At best
Rogers is acting incompetent. At worst they are acting spiteful to
their competitor's customers, just because the can. Rather than
pushing me back to Rogers, the experience drove me further from
wanting to ever return to that company.

Other than the blip in service above, no complaints about Acanac.