I have been a TekSavvy high speed cable Internet user (residential service) since 2008. Over the years, I have gained much insight into the company and it is time that I write a thorough review so consumers can make an informed decision when signing up for their services. I am not affiliated with TekSavvy in any way, so you are getting an honest TekSavvy Internet Review from a user who has been with the company for over 10 years.
The first thing that comes to mind when choosing an Internet Service Provider is reliability. Is the company reliable? Is there excessive downtime? Over the last 10 years, I have seen great improvement in service reliability from TekSavvy. Between 2008 and 2014, there were intermittent service outages on a regular basis. I used to live in an apartment building at the time. What would happen was that all of a sudden my modem would show that there is no Internet connection. I would have to reset the modem and wait between 5 to 30 minutes before the connection would resume.
Sometimes, the service would be down for several hours. This was a common problem back then and the tech support technician identified the problem to be with heavy Internet usage in my building. Well, the wiring in the building was quite old and it made sense. On a positive note, TekSavvy offered bill credits for the time lost in downtime.
I moved out of the apartment in 2015 and moved to a new place. Since then, the problem has been virtually eliminated. Between 2015 and 2018, I faced two instance of service outages. One lasted for about 4 hours and the other about a few minutes.
Overall, I am pleased with the current level of reliable service that TekSavvy provides. One thing I have learned is that if you live in an apartment or house which has old cable wiring, you may notice issues with their service.
I have been on several speed packages over the years. Currently settled on 25 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload. Overall, TekSavvy delivers the speed it promises. However, there are moments (on rare occasions), when the speed is not as great. A reboot of the modem helps during those times. Again, the speed depends on various factors including your location and the type of wiring in your dwelling.
When I was in the apartment, I used to get terrible speed in my living room. TekSavvy sent in a technician to check on the issue and he noticed that my living room had low speed wiring while my bedroom had a better connection. So, I plugged in the modem in the bedroom and was getting the full speed. When I moved out, the same thing happened in the house. I had 3 locations where I could plugin the modem and 2 of the locations provided full speed whereas one had poor performance.
So, trying out various point of connections will definitely help. Here is a snapshot of a speed test I performed recently for the purpose of this article.
Based on the results above, you can see that I am receiving the full 25 Mbps promised for download and 2 Mbps for upload. I carry out speed tests on a regular basis to check my service status and 99.5% of the time, I get the same results.
Over the last 10 years, I had to contact TekSavvy through phone and email for various types of support. The support is based in Canada, so you don’t have to deal with individuals who have difficulty communicating. Technical service is available 24/7 while billing and sales have slightly shorter time frames.
When it comes to phone support, the feature I like is their call back service. So, instead of waiting on the line, they call you when it’s your turn. The hold time for tech support is not that long. Depends on what time of the day you are calling. I never had to wait more than 30 minutes to talk to a technician.
Email support is a bit slower but someone does get back to you. It is better that you call and talk to someone to resolve issues immediately.
The customer service reps are quite friendly and well trained. If you have issues, they will gladly credit you for the lost duration of the service.
The reason why I went with TekSavvy in the first place is because of their low price. Unlike other services that lure you with an initial 12 month offer, TekSavvy provides service without a contract. So, you can opt out at any time.
On average, you will be saving atleast 40% to 50% per month compared to the big players like Rogers and Bell. For example, if you are looking to get a 30 Mbps cable Internet in Ontario with Rogers, you will be paying $77.99 per month compared to $46.95 per month with TekSavvy. Guess what, TekSavvy uses Rogers network anyways, so you don’t miss out on the performance.
If you are a high bandwidth Internet user, consider going for unlimited packages which are still way cheaper than the big guys.
In conclusion, I recommend TekSavvy to everyone looking to have affordable and reliable Internet service for home and business.
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I have been with TekSavvy for around a decade since moving to Canada. They had always been reliable, knowledgeable and had excellent customer service.
However in December I was splitting up with my then partner in life and moving to another town. I called their sales line and spoke to one of their agents about moving the existing service to my then partner, ordering the service at the new location, buying a spare modem for the new location in case of trouble (I work full time from home and have to have a reliable connection) and having the hardware shipped to the old location and not the new as I would still be there for a couple of weeks before moving.
Fairly simple if not completely straightforward, but certainly not an edge case.
I had to call back four or five times because the original agent clearly didn't grasp what the hell I was asking for and completely messed up the order. Each time I called back till the final time the agents I was speaking to clearly had no clue what I was asking for, the notes on the account were clearly entered incorrectly and I had to repeat myself, start from scratch and explain the whole situation over and again.
I eventually had on hand one 'loaner' modem from TekSavvy and one further modem that I bought with the express wish that it be the backup device for the new location on hand.
I arrived at the new location and settled in. I did call in to see if I could test my backup modem and was told that due to MAC address locking that would not be possible without switching out to it permanently. I added a second backup modem to the account that I had landed on Kijiji and I was told that all three MAC addresses were on file as being listed for this address.
Cue now. Something is going wrong with the 'loaner' modem so I call into the tech support for my ISP and I ask for them to switch out the MAC address for the backup. They tell me they do not have the serial number or MAC address on file for the backup device they sold me for this address. I give them the details and am informed that...
This modem will not work at this address. It is out of specification for the local provider.
I express astonishment that they would sell me a device that will not function on my line and I am informed that the agent that I spoke to back in December sold me this modem under the impression that I wanted it for the old address. Something I was express about on that call.
I was further told that they could not refund me for their mistake as it had been seven months before their mistake was noticed which made it MY mistake. I was repeatedly told that this was MY mistake that they had sold me a device that is not fit for purpose or task and will not function as intended.
I then spoke to a supervisor and was told that if they pull the original call or calls (as I said there were four or five calls back in December to try to sort out the mess the original agent had left...) that they could perhaps issue me a partial credit if it was determined to have been their mistake. Further that this was my fault and that I should have tested the device within a month. Something that I would have done had I not been hog tied by the MAC address lock. The supervisor did not accept this as a reason for me not being able to test it until it was necessary to switch out to the device they had sold me that I asked for specifically for the connection at my new address.
I then spoke a manager who tells me the same thing. I express incredulity that, though this is their mistake, though they sold me an item that is not suitable to task, that they have caused me untold stress back in December in the original five or so calls to sort out one order and today trying to still sort out their mess, they will not issue a full refund on the device that is not suitable to task and not fit for purpose.
I expressed my dissatisfaction in clear terms, refuting every point they made, including several times having to point out, again, that this was their mistake, not mine, and that they are refusing to accept responsibility or fault for the situation or circumstances. That I will absolutely walk away based on how they have and are treating me. That their level of customer service has gone from exemplary to appalling and that they are losing a customer over a trivial matter that is their mistake.
I went on to express to them that if they don't change their policies and allow more flexibility in edge cases, improve their customer service and training at at least the three levels that I dealt with that day, that more customers would either walk away or be turned away by bad word of mouth. That I would absolutely be intending to share details of my experience in the past months with them and that I would be moving my service away from them in the very near future based on their egregious behaviour.
Bottom line.
TekSavvy have become just another ISP. They no longer care about the customer. They do not admit to their mistakes and when they make them they will take not the slightest responsibility for them.
Under these circumstances I can no longer recommend anyone use this companies services. They are not the cheapest or the fastest available and there are other companies who offer better value for money. The only value proposition they had was customer service which no longer exists.
I am walking away. I don't need the stress of dealing with TekSavvy.