3rd Party Internet Providers

[infinit]

Hi guys, I have done quite extensive research and didn’t come up with any solid results… I am shopping for internet provider in Calgary, AB that would be cheaper than Telus and with no major hiccups. Currently I pay $68 for Telus very basic internet plan. I know some of you will say call loyalty department and negotiate but I have tried that, they don’t seem to budge and I am done with them. My internet needs are pretty basic, I am pretty illiterate in technology and have no idea what even some terms mean…. I don’t download anything and don’t stream anything. Basically it’s for browsing internet, online shopping, watching youtube at most and listening to music through youtube too. I don’t even know what my current internet speed is. From what I have researched here, using speedtest.net, my current one shows the following: 5 ms ping, download 2.89Mbps, upload 10.12 Mbps. I am not even sure whether these numbers are good or bad but they are enough for me. I do need reliability as I would not be happy to be without internet for a day or so. If it comes to worst, I can use internet from my phone hotspot that is unlimited while my provider has temporary internet issue. I am so illiterate that I don’t even know what type of internet is there, I just need one that you don’t need to connect any wires to your laptop but be able to browse it anywhere in the house and on my backyard. I can follow instructions pretty good and was able to fix other things with tech support over the phone.

I have researched 3^rd parties for Calgary, AB and it looks like the choice narrows down to the following:

TechSavvy $30/monthly + $100 modem + $10 shipping + $40 dry loop activation + $10/dry loop monthly + $50 activation fee. Current promotion: no activation and no dry loop activation - $89. So it will work out to upfront pay: $110 plus monthly: $40 x 12 = $480.

Lightspeed $30/monthly + $130 modem + $12 shipping. Then it’s not clear $15.00 set-up fee or the $4.95 per month network access fee. Not sure why it says OR?

Can Com $25/m free modem rental. The website doesn’t list any other pricing which is odd…

Does anybody have any experience with any of these providers specifically in Calgary area. Does the internet work on a regular basis? The only positive thing about Telus, I have been with them for 6 years and not a single time I had any issues with internet being not available so cannot imagine otherwise…..I did read a lot of negative reviews practically on all 3^rd party providers but not specifically for Calgary area.

Will appreciate your input so I will make next move.

[everton4]

The folks at TekSavvy are good. Solid service. I would recommend them.

[lilo0003]

Not in Calgary but we made the switch to Tek Savvy in March and have only 1 outage, with our past provider (cable) that was pretty much a weekly occurrence. The price is also much better than what we had been paying.