Moving House? How to Transfer Internet Services to Your New Home

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how you can transfer your existing internet services to your new home.

Step One: Tell Your ISP That You’re Moving

Do this sooner rather than later. Ideally, you want to give your internet service provider two weeks’ notice so that you can avoid any gaps in service.

Step Two: Find Out If You’re Covered

On the same call where you tell your ISP that you’re moving, they’ll let you know if they cover your new area. If you’re moving relatively close by, that shouldn’t be an issue. But if you’re moving from an urban home to a rural one or moving to a different province, you may not be able to transfer your internet and other bundled services. In that case, you want our other article, How to Set Up Internet Services in Your New Home.

Step Two-and-a-Half: Check Existing Speeds

Ideally, you know your current speed (and maybe even jitter and latency). If you can, find out potential speeds at your new place. There are a few ways to go about this. You can ask about doing a speed test at a model home or condo at your new destination. You can ask your new neighbours. Or you can go on local neighbourhood groups or forums and ask who uses your ISP and what kind of speeds they get. The more information you have, the better off you’ll be.

Step Three: Think About Upgrades & Deals

Moving is a great time to re-examine the bundle you’re getting. Does it offer enough bandwidth? Extras that would be nice to have, such as a home phone? Do you want to fold in more TV service?

And now is a great time to look for a deal. If you’re already on the phone with a rep for an ISP, it doesn’t hurt to ask. If you’ve been loyal for years, why not see if you can get something for that loyalty? Check what deals they’re currently offering and ask if you can get them too, even if they don’t seem like they’d apply. ISPs like retaining customers, after all.

Step Four: Schedule Your Installation

If you schedule before you move in, you’ll walk into an empty house or apartment with a modem and router blinking on the floor. The nice thing about this is there’s nothing to get in the way of installation. The bad thing is you’ll need to hang out and wait for an installer at a time when you’re probably in the middle of packing up your old place.

If you schedule after your move, you’ll have to set up an area ASAP for your modem and router so your installer can access everything.

Step Five: Test Your Speed & Optimize Your Network

Test your speed on your new setup and make sure everything is up to snuff. While you’re at it, look at our guide to optimizing your home networkand make sure you do all that stuff. If there’s a problem, it’s best to jump on it right away. And you might as well get your new network off on the right foot. Why not log in to your router and tinker with your router settings so you get the best possible experience?