My ISP is giving me faster speed and increased bitcap and NO EXTRA CHARGE!

[Jason]

I just received this email today from Start. Great ISP, now I like them even better!

Dear Jason Wallwork,

Re: Internet service with Start (Account #XXXXXXXX)

We're happy to let you know that your current internet plan has been improved.

Effective February 1, 2017, your speed will increase from 30 Mbps download to 40 Mbps download with 10 Mbps upload at no additional cost. As well, your download limit will increase from 300 GB to unlimited usage.

You can sit back and relax as this change will happen automatically on your next bill.

We have updated almost all of our internet service plans, so if you're looking for more speed please check out www.start.ca to see whats available!

Please note that our service desk may be busier than normal due to the number of customers being updated, so we appreciate your patience if you have any questions about this change. You can also visit our frequently asked questions page, which will be updated as needed over the next few weeks. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates or more information.

Thanks for being with Start.ca, we always appreciate your business.

Sincerely,

Service Desk
519-434-5888 / 1-866-434-5888
Start.ca

In case you're wondering, I pay $62.15 a month including taxes.

[ssfc72]

Nice!
Hopefully they don't pull the old Cogeco trick, where they announce a service improvement and then a few months later also announce an increase in the Rates.

[Jason]

Well, the email says "at no additional cost" so I don't think they're going to raise the rate a few months later. And to be honest, they've done this before, though it was right around when I signed up so I probably never got the email but my bitcap jumped up and I believe my speed did, too. Bob was with Start before me so he'd probably remember. Unlike Cogeco, Start actually wants to keep their customers, I think

[William Park]

That's pretty good.  Here, comparable 30Mbps/5Mbps and Unlimited usage is $79.04 (including tax).

[bobf]

I'd be surprised if Start.ca wasn't available to you where you are, William. I know their rates change dependent on who the 'incumbent' is - ie. I & Jason pay based on Cogeco controlling Peterborough's market; I assume Rogers does Mister- and Mississauga.... Numbers might be different, but presumably equivalent value. 40/10 here, 49.95/mo. plus tax (Jason, you can buy out your DCM476 and reduce your price, should you wish - I did); 50/10 there, for example, 59.95/mo. (probably a little higher - I didn't bother with the real math, but you get the idea)...

And I'd like to think that, like Teksavvy with my VoIP, they're just happy the payments keep a'rolling on in... Bumping us up a notch and eradicating bandwidth caps keeps us in the same game as the new toys that just keep on rolling out (I just found out my sister in Toronto has symmetric 50 Mbps service, with Bell, I believe; Fibe'ish?) Unlike Wind Mobile, who I maintain has f!!ked its customer base with the new AWS3 band and the rollout of LTE service to its customers... What a G-D clusterf!!k. And I'm only gonna say this once - DON'T GET ME STARTED ON Wind (now Freedom) Mobile...!!

[buster]

Checked my speed. See attachment:

[Jason]

Nice! Who are you with that gives you 55 Mbps up, Harry? Is it Bell?

And how much are you paying for it and what's your bitcap?

[buster]

My price is sort of unknown because we have a package that includes phone, tv and fib with Bell. I do know it's cheaper than when I had dsl and Cogeco and phone before. And I don't worry too much about it after I go through the bills for my house insurance, car insurance, rv insurance, house taxes, electric bill, extra health insurance for travel and special medications, food bills, car payments, lcbo bills,  etc, etc.

I think we have 165 gig for downloads. Quite ample.

[Jason]

Ah, you're lucky to get that speed with Bell. Here, meaning where I live, they still have only 5 Mbps max., if you can believe that.

How much does the bundle cost?

[fox]

I second that, Jason. What was available to me from Bell was only slightly better: 10/1. That's why I switched to Cogeco (4x for the same price). And now that I have internet service coming in through cable, I am free to switch to any ISP provider I want.

[Jason]

Not as fast as Harry, but faster than Start promised and before February

[Jason]

Apparently, not only did Start.ca up the speed shortly after the announcement, they also stopped counting bandwidth usage, so the unlimited usage started early. I love Start!!! Seel my screenshot below of my usage for January to date.

[Jason]

If they do start charging more within 6 months, I'll let you guys know. In the meanwhile, to see if Start is available in your area and at what speeds/costs, check:

https://www.start.ca/

[fox]

Wow do you ever download a lot of stuff 

[Jason]

Wow do you ever download a lot of stuff 

Can always count on you to find a criticism that misses the point even if it's a valid one.

We do but we also don't have cable so that includes lots of Netflix (HD tv shows and movies) and YouTube watching and listening to Spotify and online news streaming. And when I download movies I download them in HD so it adds up. And that's for BOTH of us. My wife listens to CBC radio all day long, too and makes an income from being an online designer. It's a 3D world, so lots of HD textures and such. The 29th had a lot of downloading in particular, as I reformatted my desktop so had to re-download my data on Google Drive (about 35+ GB).

If we counted how much your wife probably watches over cable, it'd probably add up, too. Everything is bits now

The part in green is the downloading that is part of the unlimited, which from the 9th is all of it.