u/Few-Cap5575

Hi all,

It took me quite a few hours of reading before choosing Oxio, and some work on it after to finally get a good service. Here I'm sharing my experience to help others.

If you are considering Oxio, I recommend taking these steps:

1. Check your infrastructure. If you have Bell Pure Fibre infrastructre, get service from EBOX. If your building has Beanfield, they are probably a better choice. If you have TELUS Fibre lines, start.ca might be best. For Cogeco, Rogers, etc. lines Oxio is likely your best bet. You can ask the building for this info, or simply play around the websites of large telcos such as Bell, Rogers, Cogeco, Beanfield to see who owns your physical lines.
2. Lookup your coverage on Oxio, if you see the same upload/download speeds as Rogers, Cogeco, etc. they are probably using the same lines, and Oxio is going to work. Don't buy just yet...
3. Know the caveats: there are three challenges you'll likely run into with Oxio: A. They are not line owners: this means if a storm hits the physical lines, you'll have to wait for the line owner (e.g. Rogers) to work the issue. B. No phone support: it's gonna be text-based support from very friendly and helpful people but no phone support ever. C. They no longer provide the good Eero pods: if you have a larger place or simply want peace of mind, invest in a good router $50-$150 as a one-time purchase and put the pod they send you aside.
4. Use my referral code to sign up, Seriously! You'll get one month free and I will be rewarded for preparing this step-by-step guide. RVXV2PC https://order.oxio.ca/?referral=RVXV2PC
5. Be frugal! If you are 1-3 people, even 100/30 is very likely enough with the right router, most people buy the best speeds only to lose it over bad equipment. I recommend choosing 100/30 first, if needed, you can always upgrade.
6. If you are not currently living in the place, OR want the service to be activated after your current service ends, choose the option to set your move-in date for activation.
7. Receive the modem and router, check them physically to make sure everything is in order. Here, I strongly suggest you put aside that small pod and get a real dual-band router with fancy antennas!
8. Buy a good Dual Band router (Wifi 6 or above) with good reviews and the features you want (Mesh support, VPN, Parental controls, etc). See this as an investment. I recommend buying it close to the activation date so you can return it to the store if you didn't like it.
9. Connect your line to the modem, and modem to the router (the one you hopefully bought) using WAN. Make sure your modem shows the lights for successfull connection. If modem can't connect to network, you may need a technician visit. Contact support and they will provide dates for a free technician visit right away, although in-person activation is rarely needed.
10. Put modem and router a little bit apart so modem doesn't heat up your router. Make sure they are well ventilated. I recommend putting the router on top of a shelf and modem in another level. I used a three-tier shelf designed for plants. A wooden structure has lower interference with your Wifi than a metal one.
11. In your router, do the following: A. Seprate 2.4 and 5 bands. B. Set QoS with a 10-15 percent buffer below the service you bought. For 100/30 I'd recommend 92/26. Traditional QoS works best if you have work VPNs which mask the type of use. C. Set Wifi 5 band manually to a non-DFS channel on 40 MHz. D. Use a strong password
12. Hard-reset your modem (not router) using a needle for a fresh start.
13. Enjoy your new stable service for half the price big telco were asking for!