Fed up with my connection, should I switch ISPs?

[PowerPigeon]

So here's some background info:

 

Where I live, there are really only two major ISPs: Telus and Shaw. Telus uses ADSL internet, while Shaw uses cable. We've been with Telus for as long as I can remember. We moved into our new house about 3 years ago and stuck with them. Our plan at the time we moved in was 5Mbps down, 1Mbps up. It worked for awhile until we began using more and more bandwidth. Being a household that does not have a TV subscription we stream a lot of video, and when I recently built my computer I have been playing more online games. 5 down just wasn't cutting it anymore, and we were planning to upgrade to 50 down/10 up. It turned out that the fastest speed Telus could offer us was 15/1, I am assuming due to the fact we don't have fibre in our neighbourhood. The new plan worked for a bit, but it is apparent it won't continue to meet our needs.

 

Shaw is the other major ISP, and they use cable internet. They are able to offer us a 50 down/3 up. The downstream is great, but the upstream really isn't and that's what the issue has been lately. I've heard that cable internet is not as reliable as ADSL as it is a shared connection, and I really don't want to be too impacted at peak hours.

 

One last option would be Lightspeed. They're a small ISP in the area, and their website says ADSL is available at our number. They have a 50/10 plan for cheaper than Shaw's 50/3, so it is very appealing. Lightspeed uses the same physical cable as Shaw or Telus, so I am wondering whether 50/10 is actually available to us if Telus can't offer it, I will have to contact Lightspeed. My only big concern with Lightspeed is some people say the customer service isn't great, and they have connection problems sometimes. That's something I think I would be willing to risk if we could get a 50/10 connection. Lightspeed also offers cable internet.

 

I also wonder if maybe it is my local connection on my desktop. I am using a ~$20 USB wireless adapter, so I thought maybe that could be the issue. I don't really think so though, as everyone is impacted when someone is doing something intensive on our network like streaming.

 

And help would be great. Is cable internet really that varied in its speed? Would we be better off waiting to see if Telus adds fibre to our area? Does anyone have experience with Lightspeed? Thanks in advance, and sorry for the long post.

 

Tl;dr: I'm unhappy with my internet connection. I have three choices in ISPs; a major ADSL company, a major cable company, and a small ADSL company. The major ADSL company can't offer us speeds above 15Mbps down, but the small one can offer us up to 50 down/10 up. the cable company can offer us 50/3. What would be my best choice?

 

[dzonidev]

I used to get service from giant ISPs and smaller ISPs. My experience is that smaller ISPs tend to be faster at resolving issues, and cheaper. As for cable and being reliable, it really depends on the ISP. How they built the infrastructure, if they are maintaining it properly, etc..

 

I suggest you checkout Lightspeed but call them, since their site looks like it came from the 90s I wouldn't trust the information. I would request a trial period of 30 days, because if it turns out they are no good, you might want to run before you are stuck with them to 12/24 months with a contract...

[jcanuck73]

I`m in a similar situation as the OP and I`m not to happy about the changes to billing over the bandwidth cap that Telus will start on March 31 2015.I have been looking at Teksavvy as possible alternative to an ISP.

[PowerPigeon]

I used to get service from giant ISPs and smaller ISPs. My experience is that smaller ISPs tend to be faster at resolving issues, and cheaper. As for cable and being reliable, it really depends on the ISP. How they built the infrastructure, if they are maintaining it properly, etc..

 

I suggest you checkout Lightspeed but call them, since their site looks like it came from the 90s I wouldn't trust the information. I would request a trial period of 30 days, because if it turns out they are no good, you might want to run before you are stuck with them to 12/24 months with a contract...

I'll send Lightspeed a message through their contact form on their site first to confirm that they can give us the service we need. A trial would be hard as we would need to invest in a fairly expensive router in order to use their service as currently we only have the one that Telus supplied us with and it won't be compatible with Lightspeed. I'll give the trial a shot.

 

I`m in a similar situation as the OP and I`m not to happy about the changes to billing over the bandwidth cap that Telus will start on March 31 2015.I have been looking at Teksavvy as possible alternative to an ISP.

Ick. Thos bandwidth caps are going to be terrible for us. We've relied on not being charged since we moved in pretty much because we go over our cap every month almost. We're getting stuck with 150GB a month starting around June it seems, and we use almost 200GB or even more most months. All the more reason to switch I guess.

[dzonidev]

I used to get service from giant ISPs and smaller ISPs. My experience is that smaller ISPs tend to be faster at resolving issues, and cheaper. As for cable and being reliable, it really depends on the ISP. How they built the infrastructure, if they are maintaining it properly, etc..

 

I suggest you checkout Lightspeed but call them, since their site looks like it came from the 90s I wouldn't trust the information. I would request a trial period of 30 days, because if it turns out they are no good, you might want to run before you are stuck with them to 12/24 months with a contract...

 

My current ISP (medium sized) said to me, we will give you 30 days trial to cancel the contract and return all our gear if you are not satisfied. Talk to them, insist that they provide their own gear along with the service, pay for a month if needed. Also the quality of the network is really something that the ISPs keep to them selfs. Unless you know someone who works there or someone who has tried figuring out what's what, chances are you will never know what's actually happening and if you will get the service you paid for.

 

If I was choosing, I'd go with Cable rather than ADSL because I have a bad experience with ADSL and it's line quality/speed, now that is here in Serbia where we received digital signal like 3 years ago.... So as Linus says, your mileage may vary.

[PowerPigeon]

My current ISP (medium sized) said to me, we will give you 30 days trial to cancel the contract and return all our gear if you are not satisfied. Talk to them, insist that they provide their own gear along with the service, pay for a month if needed. Also the quality of the network is really something that the ISPs keep to them selfs. Unless you know someone who works there or someone who has tried figuring out what's what, chances are you will never know what's actually happening and if you will get the service you paid for.

 

If I was choosing, I'd go with Cable rather than ADSL because I have a bad experience with ADSL and it's line quality/speed, now that is here in Serbia where we received digital signal like 3 years ago.... So as Linus says, your mileage may vary.

The cable ISP (Shaw) has a 60/3 plan. Would up to 3Mbps up be okay for online gaming?

[PowerPigeon]

Quick update: I discovered Teksavvy and have sent them a message regarding a trial period. I've heard back already and they are "happy to see what they can offer," so that sounds good. I will need to discuss with the rest of the household before I respond.

 

I think, if we can get a trial, that Teksavvy is the best choice as they have a 25/5 plan compared to Lightspeed's 25/3. Lightspeed still has a 50/10 plan, whereas Teksavvy maxes out at 25/5 so I will also contact Lightspeed.

[dzonidev]

Okay so, 3 or 5 Mbps don't make too much difference in gaming (correct me if I'm wrong). The important thing is the latency. Most ISPs here offer upload like 2-3Mbps on 100Mbps download speeds, and people use them without any issues. Since this a household and you stream a lot of content, go for the higher download speeds.

[PowerPigeon]

Okay so, 3 or 5 Mbps don't make too much difference in gaming (correct me if I'm wrong). The important thing is the latency. Most ISPs here offer upload like 2-3Mbps on 100Mbps download speeds, and people use them without any issues. Since this a household and you stream a lot of content, go for the higher download speeds.

Alright so I heard back from Teksavvy and they don't offer DSL in our area.

 

I really don't want to deal with the variability of cable. I'll wait to hear back from Lightspeed and then I'll try investing in a Powerline for my desktop and see if that makes a difference.

[Gullerback]

I'm in the same boat, We have telus and a local cable company (altho they offer 10/2, 20/2, and 50/2).   Telus we have 3 down 0.8 up,  they haven't upgraded speeds in this area in 12 years.  100GB cap and our average useage (according to them is 177 to 200gb a month).  Then they started this UBB bull**** and that was that.  I'm already in the proccess of switching to local cable.   Its 20/5 unlimited and it has slowdowns on peak hours but i'll gladly take some slow down to using crap telus.

 

 

I mulled over dslreports the other day for a bit and there seems to be a mass exodus of people leaving Telus.  I see the greater majority going towards Teksavvy 

[PowerPigeon]

I'm in the same boat, We have telus and a local cable company (altho they offer 10/2, 20/2, and 50/2).   Telus we have 3 down 0.8 up,  they haven't upgraded speeds in this area in 12 years.  100GB cap and our average useage (according to them is 177 to 200gb a month).  Then they started this UBB bull**** and that was that.  I'm already in the proccess of switching to local cable.   Its 20/5 unlimited and it has slowdowns on peak hours but i'll gladly take some slow down to using crap telus.

 

 

I mulled over dslreports the other day for a bit and there seems to be a mass exodus of people leaving Telus.  I see the greater majority going towards Teksavvy 

Maybe we should just bite the bullet and switch to cable then. It doesn't seem like the DSL is any good in our neighbourhood. If we want good speeds we're just gonna have to deal with slowdowns.

[Gullerback]

Maybe we should just bite the bullet and switch to cable then. It doesn't seem like the DSL is any good in our neighbourhood. If we want good speeds we're just gonna have to deal with slowdowns.

 

I hear ya, I've already setup my appointment.  Soon as cable is installed i'm cancelling.  Regardless of the outcome i don't think i'll ever go back to Telus 

[dzonidev]

Maybe we should just bite the bullet and switch to cable then. It doesn't seem like the DSL is any good in our neighbourhood. If we want good speeds we're just gonna have to deal with slowdowns.

 

Cable is very popular and a lot of people use it. If it was that bad or unreliable heads would roll somewhere. I think in the US the quality of the distribution system is probably much better than here. Where an ISP diggs up a 100Mbps line to the converter box and then connects 8 clients with 25Mbps speeds, you get where I'm going with this...

[PowerPigeon]

Cable is very popular and a lot of people use it. If it was that bad or unreliable heads would roll somewhere. I think in the US the quality of the distribution system is probably much better than here. Where an ISP diggs up a 100Mbps line to the converter box and then connects 8 clients with 25Mbps speeds, you get where I'm going with this...

I'm worried that's how we're set up here. I guess the only way to find out is to try.

[dzonidev]

I'm worried that's how we're set up here. I guess the only way to find out is to try.

 

Someone must be informed about the network there.

[Elliott Game]

The cable ISP (Shaw) has a 60/3 plan. Would up to 3Mbps up be okay for online gaming?

3Mbps, I only get 16 down and 0.75 up and I'm gaming just fine

[Brawhammer]

It fully depends. Phone all the companies up in your area and get quotes on speeds and prices. Make sure to take down employee numbers, You will need that incase they provide a lower speed than you were quoted.

 

Generally the speed you get at the moment is likely the best you can get elsewhere, Things like house wiring, wiring to your street all count.

 

If you can, get a neighbour to run a speedtest and compare results. Best way to determine if its possibly your house or if they are screwing you over.