Compared to Bell and Rogers, Acanac offers an unbeatable price for high speed DSL Internet connection. Until early 2010, Acanac offered unlimited 5.0 Mbps high speed Internet for only $18.95 per month. The price included taxes and modem rental. Later, the price increased to $24.95 a month for the same service. As of June 2011, the price have gone up to $28.95 per month. Still, it is a very decent price for unlimited service. We have been using Acanac for 1 year now and here is our review.
Speed:
Acanac uses Bell telephone lines to provide DSL service. They are basically a reseller for Bell. Their DSL download speed is upto 5.0 mbps. The closer you are to a Bell central office the higher the download speed will be. We tested from two locations, one gave an average speed range between 4.0 to 4.3 mbps and the other consistently gave a speed rating no higher than 1.5 mbps.
Reliability:
Over one year, we did not face a single hour of downtime. However, several colleagues of ours who use their residential service had many hours of downtime over 1 year of service. According to Acanac, the downtime was caused by the users’ modems. There have been complaints about actual downtime as well which was not caused by modem settings. The bottom line is, if Bell is experiencing difficulties with their lines then you will also face downtime.
Customer Support:
We did not require any customer support over the year however, as per complaints received from other subscribers, the support could be improved. Often, support agents did not have adequate knowledge of the problems or did not provide full attention to the customers. The waiting time is also unreasonable. Because of the low price being paid, this type of service is expected.
Few Things to Note:
You will have to pay for 1 year up front. The price of the service increases significantly after 1 year. You will have to contact their billing department to cancel your service before renewal. A $50 deposit for modem is required during signup process. Modem deposit is no longer refunded after service expiration.
I was with Acanac for their introductory low price- very good for one year. Never having had DSL, I did not realize until 6 months in that I was only getting 1/2 the speed or less than I should have been getting. That was not their or Bell’s fault but it was frustrating.
I ended up hauling my tower computer and CRT monitor to the basement once to diagnose the problem where the lines enter the house (demarcation point) , when I first contacted Acanac and 3 times after that point. Initially I found a dirty connection in my wiring and tried to head off a service call- Acanac did not respond within 12 hours or more so I tried to save Bell a service call on my property by calling them direct. Initially spoke to Toronto then spent a frustrating 1/2 hour in India trying to explain the concept of a reseller and that of trying to save Bell a pointless call. I failed. Bell came- fixed a problem that may or may not have been outside the house, and left a note.
As I mentioned, 3 times in the following 6 months I had more trouble with slow lines. Tested OK at the demarcation point each time. One ticket at Acanac was ignored but the problem was fixed in a few days. The other two problems lasted a couple of days once and over a week on the other; I didn’t bother reporting them.
All those problems were technical, with the outside wiring, except the first which was my house wiring. The introductory price is very good but I could not see spending full price for service that had a questionable history. I went back to unlimited dial-up; I have unlimited high speed at work.
I wanted to add that when I did get a person on the line at Acanac, they were very friendly and helpful, especially when it came to returning the modem. Some other companies make you purchase it.
Stay away from Acanac!!!
Acanac is not willing to cancel my service after auto renewing the service for another year without any notifications.
Acanac did not send me a notification before the renewal
Acanac did not send me an invoice before or even after renewing the contract. I found out the renewal through credit card statement.
Now, I am trying to cancel the service and they are not willing to cancel. Cancellation has to be done through email. They will reply to my email after two days and asking me for more details. It has been 4 weeks since I officially requested to cancel the service.
Here is one of the email from Acanac and it is NOT clear how much they are going to charge me:
———————————————————————————
Dear Client,
For cancellation we charge on a monthly basis.
Please confirm so we can update your account.
Thank you,
Natasha P
Acanac Inc.
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To speak to the billing department at Acanac, call 1-866-355-4326. It’s a direct line. I only had it given to me after I thretened to sue them and after I made an official complaint to the gvt.
ACANAC SUCKS M*F*******
I checked the availability in my area and then disconnected my rogers internet and when I sign up for Acanac and submitted all payment info I received email that internet is not available in my area.
They think people are crazy and they literally playing with them.
Now I have disconnected my old internet and these A$$holes says its not available, whf it is.
They are sucky company M*F*******
STAY AWAY FROM ACANAC! This company is doing business in dishonest practice.
I ordered a Motorola modem on Aug. They shipped me a Huawei product. I refused to accept Huawei modem. I have to write endless emails to Acanac before they respond.
Though they eventually agree to refund me the modem cost but hold me responsbile for postage fee and tax charges.
Can you believe that? I ordered a Motorola modem and get shipped a Huawei product. I have to pay for postage charges for a modem I never ordered.
If you do not want to be cheated like a fool by Acanac, STAY AWAY FROM ACANAC
DON’T EVER CONSIDER TO SUBSCRIBE FOR ACANAC unless you have time and energy to fight with Acanac!
Acanac te vends un service, mais la veille on cancelle
remboursement partiel apprès une mise en demeure
plus de 6 mois avant de rembourser
aucun service
ne rembourse pas les frais qu’ils t’ont occasionné
pas de réponse
on se foue du client