Hi

I'm in BC/North Van and just wondered if anyone has experience using anyone else for internet/phone services other than Telus/Shaw.

Has anyone used Surf Internet/IAAK Technologies who seem to be a small start up based in Coquitlam? I'm thinking to give them a try. I can easily live without TV and am happy to have VOIP. I know Vonage offers VOIP (I used this at work), but just wanted to ask what, if anything, people have tried apart from the big two.

Thanks!

S

where you you be mostly calling ?

Local and UK mainly.

Thanks.

S

Internet:

A Vancouver-based friend has just gone with Teksavvy after being with Telus for many years (and getting increasinly pee'd off with overage charges on an apparently laughable bandwidth cap).

TS resell cable and DSL in Vancouver (as here in my part of Ontario) so the speed etc should be basically the same as the incumbents. They really shine on bandwidth caps and pricing (including for unlimited, which is still a very good deal - we don't get through the 400Gb/month on our capped plan).

VOIP/Phone:

I use voip.ms for telephony - I have a second line as a callback line for cheap international calls using my mobile (which has unlimited domestic calls); and I can use the softphone app on my smartphone while I'm away to dial "from" my regular home number. It took ~3 hours of work (over a couple of weeks) on my part, to port my old number and get everything configured.

For all landline calls (including ~3-4 hours/month to the UK, and quite a bit to the US and a few calls elsewhere abroad) I end up having to top up $25 US every 3-4 months.

voip.ms needs a little bit of work on your part to get it set up, but it's so much more flexible than the products sold by the usual providers.

For example, I can have a UK number for a couple of bucks more and then I think $1/month, which I could give out to people back home to call me, and it just comes through as normal to my handset.
You can do this for pretty much any country (and even specify which area code you want your number to be based in).

I also maintain my own number blocking list, to keep known spam callers out of our lives. This is done online, I just log in to my account and add the number to the list, can choose if they get a busy tone, recorded message saying line is busy/unavailable, hang up on them immediately, etc.

there are quite a few options, but i have a cell for unlimited canada wide calling and an app on it so i can call the UK for as little as 1c per 2 minutes, rate varies, that's cheaper than any landline but the cell itself is a smart phone and obviously you'll have to go with a carrier at varying rates unless your totally against a cell phone ?
If you have a tablet with blue tooth that app may work on that too so no need for a cell.

Thank you very much both of you! Very helpful! I will check out your suggestions. I'm not against a cell phone. It's more that we like to have a particular number for all of us to use that's different from our mobiles (for which we have quite limited plans on Virginmobile). I won't start on the price of cell phone plans here ...

I also resent Telus/Shaw telling me what fantastic deals they are giving me when it just seems so ridiculous in terms of service/speed plus incredibly expensive (yes, I know ... I shouldn't compare to the UK, but it's hard not to). And just being presented with a load of channels on the TV that you don't want while for the one or two that you do, it's (of course) extra. The TV comes bundled in so it's no cheaper without etc. etc. I could go on ... but I won't.

Thanks once again!

S

You should check other threads for free TV through the internet, I'm close to kicking my cable into touch myself.
Wind supposedly has a good deal but their data is I think at best 3G not LTE but if you're not a big data user on a cell ?
The app I use for cheap international calls is called Rebtel. It uses my unlimited Canada wide calls to connect (it can use data too) and blue tooth works with it so when I was trucking or driving my car I can talk to family in the UK on hands free unlike a few others where you have to hold the phone to your rear because for some reason you can't use blue tooth.
It can be set to intercept incoming international calls too.

voip.ms or skype

Thank you all.

I will look into all these options. I'd never heard of most of the suggestions you've all given me, except skype.

voip.ms looks a little complicated ...

S

Also with Rebtel it copies your contact list phone numbers, you can check the call rate for anywhere in the world before you dial in different currencies.

This is an excellent introduction to setting up voip.ms

Thank you both so much!

S

I was inspired by this thread to investigate changing our provider from Shaw (internet speeds not great at the moment, and it's expensive). I was very tempted by TekSavvy, although slightly less so now as I've just tried phoning them and far too many menus and ended up getting cut off ... anyway....). but then I remembered that what I do really like about Shaw is its Shaw Go Wifi. All 5 of us in the family get so much free wifi when out and about (in surrey, delta and Vancouver) that it allows us to have lower-than-otherwise data plans on our phones.
A telus rep said they had the same, but as far as I can see their hotspots are few and far between.
It seems to me that that alone will keep me with Shaw (although I'm now trying to find a cheaper tv option). Any thoughts? Any alternatives?

Yes my family feel the same way about Shaw Go Wifi and would rather we didn't change. However, as the bill payer, I shall investigage the options!

I also think Shaw internet speeds are slow (we have 'internet 25'). Am I imagining this? Is it a lot slower than Virgin Media in the UK?

Shaw's got me on some kind of 2 year deal with no lock in and it's $106 I think before tax for basic TV, internet 25 and the landline. They tell me this is "good". Since I can't find a cheaper deal without a 3 year lock in, I suspect it is "good" (among the options which are few).

I'd like to go over to Vonage on the phone: this is $9.99 for six months then $32.99 thereafter (but free long distance/international calls), but I tried negotiating something with Shaw and Telus to pay for internet/TV only but the price goes up so it's not worth it. They've got you and it's difficult to do anything about it.

Someone posted a very good youtube spoof clip about Canadian telecomms (sp?) providers on F/B. But it's got some taboo language in it so I won't post it here!

S

You get what you pay for like most things in life. We get above 100mbps but you have to pay for it. As you say you are linked into a package and all sorts of things can influence local speeds. We just use the internet through Shaw and stream- no tv contract needed and cells through Telus via work