how-to block ads
|
Yeah No
@accesscomm.ca
 from:
Moneyman228 
|  I went to Access because of people telling me it's faster...
But honestly, it's been nothing but headache after headache with this ISP. They claim to be professional, yet they have yet to do their own cable drop in the city, they simply mooch off pre-existing network infrastructure laid by SaskTel, and then they least the smallest possible bandwidth in order to cut costs as bad as they can. Then they advertise a 5 Mbps line, of which you are only allowed to freely use 4.5% of, as they impose an unadvertised limit of 70 GB per 30 day period, including upload and download. If you do the math, a 5 Mbps line should theorically give you 1500+ GB of throughput per month, yet you are allowed to use 70 GB, approx. 4.5% of what you are paying for. Their Technical Support is amateur at best, and they really don't care about complaints, or even concerns put forth by customers. Of all cable companies, they are probably the most unsecure, as it's easy to go and capture packets (downstream only, but still, that's a huge security hole) from anyone who shares the same pipe as you. Honestly, for the price, Access Communications is a distant 2nd rate to SaskTel in Saskatchewan. Just so everyone doesn't think I'm being bias, I'm currently subscribed to Access, and I'm counting down the days till I switch back. | |
Yeah No
@accesscomm.ca
| I forgot to mention, the entire reasoning behind their bandwidth cap is due to the fact that they are too cheap to install and maintain their own network infrastructure. People like to say they are faster and better than SaskTel, yet Access goes through SaskTel since they are the only company in Saskatchewan who runs and maintains a network infrastructure in the province. The cap from Access is a result of Access trying to cut costs by buying the absolute cheapest and smallest line from SaskTel to run their internet through. Reliability really has nothing to do with Access, if SaskTel is down, Access is down. So the high level of reliability actually comes from SaskTel, and not Access Communications. Another thing worth noting is the fact that You can get the exact same speed line (or faster) from SaskTel for the same price or less. For $9 a month more, you can even go and get yourself a 10 Mbps line from SaskTel, which is twice the speed of Access' fastest line, and there is no upload or download cap... Imagine that.
Anyhow, I just felt compelled to save people from the same terrible service I've been stuck with for the past few months. Thankfully I'm done with Access at the end of the month. For people who say that the average internet user doesn't need more than 70 GB per month, all I have to say is that with a 256Kbps line, you can actually manage to get 79GB per month... So if you're one of those "average" internet users, all you really need is 256Kbps, and not a 5 Mbps... So in light of that, why cap the faster lines, as the people who subscribe to it are obviously intending to use it... Otherwise everyone would just get a 256Kbps line, since they all provide the same amount of throughput at the end of the month anyway.... Just a thought, but one that should save a lot of people time, money, and frustration dealing with an amateur company. | |
Monopoly guy
@accesscomm.ca
|  lmao..u think sasktel would allow another company to use thier connections and compete with them..go to jail..do not pass go.
FYI..access comm has their own fiber optic line that leads into the city ( AND NO SATILITES ITS A HARD LINE)..and they pay AT&T or another one of the networking giants who OWN the internet and are the ones selling the bandwidth and UPLOAD costs more then DLOAD hense the reason we dont get 10 up 10 down..and honestly with your lil bandwidth usage statement..are u at home 24hours a day always downloading? 70 gigs is ezily 70+ movies...there is not enuf days in the month.. o btw..try to host a online game with sasktel..U CANT as they dont even assign u your own static ip..and NO they are nvr down at the same time..unless the POWER goes out..do some reasearch b4 posting your fabricated and assumed evidence. | |
DaMizZa
join:2007-08-02
1 edit | As far as the bandwidth statement, does it matter if I am at home to download? Does what I download matter? Does the time of day that I download matter?
That depends, with Access it does. With SaskTel it doesn't.
SaskTel also offers Static IPs, weird.
SaskTel doesn't try to hide their business practices from the general public. Access does. Nowhere, in any ad or even online do they even make mention of their Cap policy. Even if you read through all the fine print when you first sign up, it makes no mention of it.
Bottom line is, why pay the same amount, in some cases more, for less service? Would it make more sense to pay $5 for a 5lb bag of potatoes at one place, when you can pay $5 for a 20lb bag of potatoes at another? The difference in that analogy may seem exageratted, but in reality it's much worse. Like I said, at 5 Mbps, you should get 1500+ GB per month of throughput. With SaskTel, you do, with Access, you get 70 GB.
So I mean, yeah, some people seem religious towards Access, and that's their choice, I'm not trying to change their minds.. But what I am trying to do is let people know what they're getting into when they sign up for Access, because Access doesn't.
So stay with your Access internet, limited to the throughput of approx. 256 Kbps, regardless of whether you have 5 MBps or 10 Mbps, that's totally cool with me. I'm just saying for people who haven't tried either yet, for the same price or less, you can go with SaskTel who will give you the full 1.5 Mbps, 5 Mbps, or 10 Mbps that you pay for, without limits on throughput.
Just out of curiosity, I just want to know how you justify Access being a better ISP... Cause I just don't see it at all, and I'm sure many people can agree with that.
Hosting a game server? Sure hope you don't get capped, or that server will be pretty empty thanks to some extreme lag caused by a throttled connection.. As long as you have Access that is.
For the record, SaskTel doesn't get a choice, a lot of competitors use SaskTel's network. Not by choice of course, but see SaskTel faces a disadvantage in terms of competition due to more restrictions and regulations from an organization called the CRTC, which forces them to let these competitors use their network. Even with these restrictions placed upon them, Access still doesn't seem able to compete with the level of service. Once they get rid of their cap non-sense, then maybe they could be considered a decent alternative, but until then, it's pretty much a no-brainer.
And while it can be argued that SaskTel is a Crown Corp and has unlimited funding from the government, just realize that SaskTel has not received any government money in over 80 years... They actually give the government money (Which helps keep your taxes in Saskatchewan lower), and at the same time put in an exponentially larger amount of money than Access back into local communities through sponsorships and donations... So really, better service, better community, and more government income that isn't out of your pockets, does it really sound so terrible? | |
UknowNothing
@accesscomm.ca
| Read the back of your contract. At no time does Access offer "unlimited bandwidth" regardless of what you think. They offer "unlimited connectivity." Which means you are free to surf the web 24/7/365. Just because you are downloading more than 70GB of illegal pirated movies, games, software..and obviously you are if you are using that much bandwidth, doesn't mean that they need to allow you to do that. Most companies have a cap, some may be higher than others. Access does NOT use any of Sasktel's service in Regina. Don't go slandering a company before you know the facts, and it's quite obvious that you do not. Maybe Sasktel can dump 600 Million (taxpayers) dollars to improve their system. Access does a great job on ALOT less than that. With 600 Million dollars Access could provide cable to the entire provence for years... | |
| Forums » comments on review of Access Communications | | |
|
