Alternative Internet Service Providers and Television

[davext]

Hi All,

I was hoping I could get some recommendations on this. I'm moving into a new house in Markham, 9th line and 16th area and I was hoping to take this opportunity to unlatch myself from Rogers. I've heard of Arcanac, Teksavvy, Velcom, and Primus for internet. Any preferences?

Also for TV, what are my alternatives? Should I just get an antenna and see what HD channels I can pick up for free? Any other low cost or borderline legitimate options?


I also need to factor in that I'm on a pretty good Rogers cell phone plan right now and probably going to sign another 3 year contract for the new iphone, so I need to consider bundle pricing discounts.

Thanks!

[gibor]

I'm dealing with similar tasks In the end of October my not bad contract with Rogers customer retention (cable TV + internet) is coming to end. I called then on weekend and they don't want to give me similar package. They advise me to call end of September for probable good packages. Anyway I started to consider alternatives to Rogers. I search several forums and so far the best reviews I read about Teksavvy. The problem that I have to buy modem and pay activation fees.
There is also provider Distributel... my cousin has it for 4 months and likes it, but there toooo many negative reviews on the Web.
For cable TV , if I won't get current discount, I'm thinking to try terk HDTV antenna (heard it's the best one) and different ppl getting from 8 to 20 HD chaneels for free and also I want to connect russian streaming TV that cost just $10/months with 70 channels...
Please let me know if you have more info...

[bayview]

I just cancelled Rogers cable internet and signed up with Teksavvy cable 28 plan which will resume next month? I left because i wanted more bandwidth and faster speed although Rogers counteroffered with a slight increase of my monthly bill by upping me from 6OGB to 300GB at the Express plan. I dont have cable tv nor fixed line. I did not checked out the other smaller providers that you mentioned.

This link shows comments of people who have switched to Teksavvy - not overwhemingly good reviews.

http://www.canadianisp.ca/cgi-bin/is...ments&ispid=50

So far my experinence with Tek has been good but the real test is from hereon as i have signed up and modem is on the way. I am also currently researching on routers that would go well with the modem.

Im sorry i did not address your queries specifically. Hopefully u will find it helpful if you are thinking about Tek.

I

[andrewf]

I'm with acanac. I can't complain too much. My one gripe is that their modem died. I was on the phone for ages to get through to a rep, and they offered to ship a replacement. I stupidly asked if I could pick it up from their office nearby. They said yes, and they would contact me when it was available (they should just have stacks of modems lying around). The next day I said nuts to this and went to Canada Computers and bought a DSL modem for 30 or 40 bucks. I never did hear back from them...

[gibor]

"This link shows comments of people who have switched to Teksavvy - not overwhemingly good reviews." - reviews for Acamac and Distributel even worse... imho most of the posts of the unhappy customers
I'm just wondering if down speed varies significantly among different providers for the same package?

btw, regarding speed.... for my current Rogers cable internet I did test with http://speedtest.net/ and Rogers speed check -> in both cases I got aroung 35 mbps, however when i did the same time test with http://www.bandwidthplace.com/ -> I got only 11 mbps (even repeated it several times -> same numbers).
Could anybody please explain me this huge difference?

[Jim9guitars]

If you want to research your antenna options you can find out all you need to know at this forum http://digitalhome.ca/forum/index.php including a signal map where you enter your address and any other details like antenna height etc., and it generates a graph showing what channels you are most likely to get. There are also a number of very helpful, knowledgeable people willing to answer questions.

[gibor]

If you want to research your antenna options you can find out all you need to know at this forum http://digitalhome.ca/forum/index.php including a signal map where you enter your address and any other details like antenna height etc., and it generates a graph showing what channels you are most likely to get. There are also a number of very helpful, knowledgeable people willing to answer questions.

It's awesome...but I couldn't find "where I enter your address..." , Can you pls give link to this thread?

[Jim9guitars]

It's awesome...but I couldn't find "where I enter your address..." , Can you pls give link to this thread?

I had to ask where that was too, it's right here http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=90

If you post a link of your results to the OTA Reception Results section the experts will give you advice on what type of antenna etc.....

[iherald]

I use teksaavy, first DSL now cable. Good service, and a nice price. I would recommend.

[Toronto.gal]

I use teksaavy, first DSL now cable. Good service, and a nice price. I would recommend.

Have had TekSavvy for a couple of years now & no major complaints thus far, except that I think they used to do upgrades sometimes during the day, but not for a long time now.

Davext: with a simple antenna, I get 18 channels [locals + Americans], which is way more than we need or have time for. My only regret is not having had cancelled cable years ago; what a waste of money it had been since we hardly watched television then & now, except for a few shows/channels.