OT: Shaw v telus v other

[Phrazer]

Hate them both! Would say Shaw is the lesser of two evils.

 

[torcidasplit]

not trying to start a debate between the two. i switched over from shaw to telus. i was wondering I will be going on vacation for 3 weeks. is there any way to record all the oiler games on you pvr. i know you can choose a show and it will record every week. if i pick one oiler game on sportsnet and choose record every game will it record the calgary games too. not sure how it works with sports. if anyone has any ideas please let me know. thanx

 

[Seatoo]

Shaw is far far far better than telus. Telus is basically Bell-West. The optik TV is a cheaply made version of Bell's fibe product. It uses your Internet bandwidth so if you have 25mbps don't expect to get that, and their satellite product is literally Bell's satellites providing the signals which brings issues with line of sight to even be able to get it installed at all. Add in 3 year contracts with ETFs of 1200+ and higher if you take the "free gift" (yes they make you pay for it even if you leave for their **** ups)

Their Internet 85% if the time will route through New York to connect to a server in SF or LA which is **** for gaming and makes streaming or downloading from a west coast server a PITA.

Their telephone is ok but expensive if you want any decent LD package. The major + they have over shaw's phone service is that it will work for more than 1-2 hours if the power goes out, and you cannot collect call a shaw number. There is also restrictions on dialing an operator IIRC.


I worked for Bell so I know the horror stories! Shaw is just better and more willing to give deals to existing customers plus has customer service in Canada...

I personally use AppleTV, Netflix + have my wifes old desktop connected to our smart TV for TV, Shaw 50 for Internet and Vonage for our 2 phone lines + efax and it is all around $100 per month. We were paying $175+ with shaw and telus wanted $200 WITH DISCOUNTS.

Canadian telecom companies make some of the greatest profits % wise per customer in the world so **** them all anyways.

 

[The Horvatian One]

I hate my Shaw TV service. watching on delay (where you've paused for a few minutes) its glichy as hell and drives us nuts. The PVR fails to record when it looks like it is. And it will go through phases where the PVR will freeze and reset itself... Drives me nuts!

Optic TV looks awesome. Great reviews froms friends. I got the 1st generation Telus internet tv and it was brutal. when back to Shaw... but since Optic came out.
Using Optic's on screen guides and menu is so cool compared to Shaw.

There is NO comparison to the 2 internet systems tho... Shaw is awesome. Reliable as hell. Had nothing but problems with Telus internet.

As much as I hate the PVR at times... I like the no contract, the channel organization, the HD channels, cost, and are generally just very comfortable with it.

But i will curse the hell outta of it at least once a week and threathen to throw it out the window. I'm hoping its just that i need a new PVR since this one is like 3-4 yrs.. But i want to make sure it is before i go spend another few hundred on a new one and end up with the same issues.

So overall..
Internet - Shaw
TV - Telus Optic, but i'm favoring the devil i don't know vs the one i know.

This is completely false. Telus shares bandwidth with all their products. What does this mean? When watching hockey or anything, you're actually sharing your bandwidth with all Telus products in your house. Meaning even having your phone hooked up causes delays to your TV and net.

Don't believe me? Call in and ask yourself. I had a buddy who lived right next to me who was watching the game the same time I was like, his feed was more than 10 seconds delayed than the Shaw feed.

Certainly their promos are better, but than again I hate contracts so Telus can suck my left nut. Plus they're bleeding money in their TV dept.

 

[Stonz]

This is completely false. Telus shares bandwidth with all their products. What does this mean? When watching hockey or anything, you're actually sharing your bandwidth with all Telus products in your house. Meaning even having your phone hooked up causes delays to your TV and net.

Don't believe me? Call in and ask yourself. I had a buddy who lived right next to me who was watching the game the same time I was like, his feed was more than 10 seconds delayed than the Shaw feed.

Certainly their promos are better, but than again I hate contracts so Telus can suck my left nut. Plus they're bleeding money in their TV dept.

Lots of misinformation here.

The TV feed delay has nothing to do with bandwidth sharing between services.

You don't need to sign a long contract, unless you want the high-end freebies like a tv or tablet etc.

Their TV dept is not bleeding money. It is however taking loads of customers away from Shaw.

 

[DL44]

This is completely false. Telus shares bandwidth with all their products. What does this mean? When watching hockey or anything, you're actually sharing your bandwidth with all Telus products in your house. Meaning even having your phone hooked up causes delays to your TV and net.

Don't believe me? Call in and ask yourself. I had a buddy who lived right next to me who was watching the game the same time I was like, his feed was more than 10 seconds delayed than the Shaw feed.

Certainly their promos are better, but than again I hate contracts so Telus can suck my left nut. Plus they're bleeding money in their TV dept.

What exactly is false?
My opinion?
Don't think i stated anything outside of my own experiences...

 

[baxtefer]

I hate my Shaw TV service. watching on delay (where you've paused for a few minutes) its glichy as hell and drives us nuts. The PVR fails to record when it looks like it is. And it will go through phases where the PVR will freeze and reset itself... Drives me nuts!

Optic TV looks awesome. Great reviews froms friends. I got the 1st generation Telus internet tv and it was brutal. when back to Shaw... but since Optic came out.
Using Optic's on screen guides and menu is so cool compared to Shaw.

There is NO comparison to the 2 internet systems tho... Shaw is awesome. Reliable as hell. Had nothing but problems with Telus internet.

As much as I hate the PVR at times... I like the no contract, the channel organization, the HD channels, cost, and are generally just very comfortable with it.

But i will curse the hell outta of it at least once a week and threathen to throw it out the window. I'm hoping its just that i need a new PVR since this one is like 3-4 yrs.. But i want to make sure it is before i go spend another few hundred on a new one and end up with the same issues.

So overall..
Internet - Shaw
TV - Telus Optic, but i'm favoring the devil i don't know vs the one i know.

Sounds like the HD in your PVR is failing. A dying hard drive can lead to things like freezing, random reboots, failed recording, the PVR saying it's 100% full when it's not, etc..
I've had this happen to me twice. Both times, replacing the HD fixed the problem.

 

[Taelin]

Shaw is far far far better than telus. Telus is basically Bell-West. The optik TV is a cheaply made version of Bell's fibe product. It uses your Internet bandwidth so if you have 25mbps don't expect to get that, and their satellite product is literally Bell's satellites providing the signals which brings issues with line of sight to even be able to get it installed at all. Add in 3 year contracts with ETFs of 1200+ and higher if you take the "free gift" (yes they make you pay for it even if you leave for their **** ups)

Their Internet 85% if the time will route through New York to connect to a server in SF or LA which is **** for gaming and makes streaming or downloading from a west coast server a PITA.

Their telephone is ok but expensive if you want any decent LD package. The major + they have over shaw's phone service is that it will work for more than 1-2 hours if the power goes out, and you cannot collect call a shaw number. There is also restrictions on dialing an operator IIRC.


I worked for Bell so I know the horror stories! Shaw is just better and more willing to give deals to existing customers plus has customer service in Canada...

I personally use AppleTV, Netflix + have my wifes old desktop connected to our smart TV for TV, Shaw 50 for Internet and Vonage for our 2 phone lines + efax and it is all around $100 per month. We were paying $175+ with shaw and telus wanted $200 WITH DISCOUNTS.

Canadian telecom companies make some of the greatest profits % wise per customer in the world so **** them all anyways.

This is why I'm not a fan of CRTC...

 

[Toxic0n]

Their Internet 85% if the time will route through New York to connect to a server in SF or LA which is **** for gaming and makes streaming or downloading from a west coast server a PITA.

This is completely false, I get sub 15ms pings to servers in Seattle and Vancouver and max out my bandwith when downloading.
I've had Telus internet and Optik TV for almost 5 years now, ever since Telus TV first came out, before Mediaroom.
Zero issues with the internet this whole time, some minor ones with the TV (growing pains I guess). 25Mbps is plenty fast for me, but for others it may not be. I like being able to use my Xbox as a second tuner in the bedroom. I love the PVR functionality, remote recording, their smartphone apps, etc. Just far more technologically advanced than Shaw.

I would recommend Telus TV except for one thing - Telus has so many billing issues, I've had to call them probably 10 times in the last 5 years about screwing up my bill. Also, they randomly raise the prices on their channel packages. Sure, they put a notice in small print on your bill but it is kinda of shady. Not sure about Shaw, but I don't like it when my bill constantly keeps going up. So I call them every 3-6 months, threaten to cancel, get some freebies, rinse repeat etc. Sometimes they even screw up the freebies and end up charging me for them so I end up having to call back. Horrible billing.

Even with the recent increases, my bill is cheaper then the promotional limited time offers Shaw keeps sending me. Does Shaw really think I'll pay $120+ a month for their basic internet, HD package and home phone for 6 months and 150+ afterwards? Who the **** needs a home phone anyway? I'm paying around 70 a month with Telus for the 25Mbps internet and basic HD + 3 channel packs (sports, entertainment, movies)

From price and usability perspective, Telus is far superior. However, I hear that Shaw has better customer service.
I'm just waiting until I can get Novus so I can tell them both to shove it.

 

[Finkle is Einhorn]

From price and usability perspective, Telus is far superior. However, I hear that Shaw has better customer service.
I'm just waiting until I can get Novus so I can tell them both to shove it.

Eh...I thought the same way until I moved downtown and signed up with Novus. The internet was down approximately 50% of the time for the week I had it before I switched back to Shaw. Mind you, this was a few years ago, so maybe they've rectified the situation.

 

[Solidius]

I'm happy that this thread came up because my mom is thinking of switching us from Telus to a new ISP.

* No need for bundles (Internet only)
* I live in the Mount Pleasant area
* Not looking to pay an arm and a leg but good bandwidth is a must (the three of us at home plus our tenant all use internet pretty heavily)
* We paid $50 for our last plan (Telus high speed turbo internet; I think that's Telus Internet 25)

Can anyone point me in the right direction? Is TekSavvy worth a shot?

 

[Win One Before I Die]

Telus is absolute garbage internet service. Shaw blows them out of the water. It depends on your location though.

 

[Bubbles]

You aren't by chance living in a high-rise condo? Because Novus may be available and it's light years better than Shaw or Telus.

 

[The Cowboy Poet]

Shaw... and it ain't even close. Plus you get WHL hockey games!! That was a great plus during the lockout.

 

[SaucyNavel]

We switched from Telus to Shaw about 2 years ago and haven't looked back.

( TV, Phone and Internet )

Shaw gave us great prices for a better product and that is even before the 6 month discount.

 

[EpochLink]

You aren't by chance living in a high-rise condo? Because Novus may be available and it's light years better than Shaw or Telus.

THIS.

Novus is great

 

[RandV]

Yeah I'm using Novus for the basic TV package, great price if you just want to see the Canuck games and a few standard TV shows. I suppose I should look at it for internet too but living with the missus the internet bill is her domain and she has some loyalty to Telus after working there for a number of years. Usually don't have any problems with it, works well enough and outages are few and far between.

 

[gongshowmonkey]

Yeah I'm using Novus for the basic TV package, great price if you just want to see the Canuck games and a few standard TV shows. I suppose I should look at it for internet too but living with the missus the internet bill is her domain and she has some loyalty to Telus after working there for a number of years. Usually don't have any problems with it, works well enough and outages are few and far between.

I have Novus for TV and Internet.
The internet is by far the fastest and most reliable I have ever experienced.

 

[Solidius]

You aren't by chance living in a high-rise condo? Because Novus may be available and it's light years better than Shaw or Telus.

I don't live in a high-rise. I'm on the second floor of a four-floor apartment. Does that matter or are we picking apart semantics?

 

[gongshowmonkey]

I don't live in a high-rise. I'm on the second floor of a four-floor apartment. Does that matter or are we picking apart semantics?

Novus is only available in certain areas, and newer high rises that have been built.

 

[RandV]

Novus is only available in certain areas, and newer high rises that have been built.

Yeah it's worthwhile checking in with them to see if it's available where you live. Definitely a bitter option than Shaw or Telus, but very limited by area.

 

[The Horvatian One]

Lots of misinformation here.

The TV feed delay has nothing to do with bandwidth sharing between services.

You don't need to sign a long contract, unless you want the high-end freebies like a tv or tablet etc.

Their TV dept is not bleeding money. It is however taking loads of customers away from Shaw.

It does indeed actually I worked for Telus and it does share bandwidth with their other services. Why else do you think they do not guarantee their internet speeds? I have had customers who currently have Telus right now who specifically say they have delays in their own house. I'd be glad to provide links if you really require me too. Yes you have to sign a long term contract for their TV.

http://telus.com/content/great-deals/

 

[The Horvatian One]

This is completely false, I get sub 15ms pings to servers in Seattle and Vancouver and max out my bandwith when downloading.
I've had Telus internet and Optik TV for almost 5 years now, ever since Telus TV first came out, before Mediaroom.
Zero issues with the internet this whole time, some minor ones with the TV (growing pains I guess). 25Mbps is plenty fast for me, but for others it may not be. I like being able to use my Xbox as a second tuner in the bedroom. I love the PVR functionality, remote recording, their smartphone apps, etc. Just far more technologically advanced than Shaw.

I would recommend Telus TV except for one thing - Telus has so many billing issues, I've had to call them probably 10 times in the last 5 years about screwing up my bill. Also, they randomly raise the prices on their channel packages. Sure, they put a notice in small print on your bill but it is kinda of shady. Not sure about Shaw, but I don't like it when my bill constantly keeps going up. So I call them every 3-6 months, threaten to cancel, get some freebies, rinse repeat etc. Sometimes they even screw up the freebies and end up charging me for them so I end up having to call back. Horrible billing.

Even with the recent increases, my bill is cheaper then the promotional limited time offers Shaw keeps sending me. Does Shaw really think I'll pay $120+ a month for their basic internet, HD package and home phone for 6 months and 150+ afterwards? Who the **** needs a home phone anyway? I'm paying around 70 a month with Telus for the 25Mbps internet and basic HD + 3 channel packs (sports, entertainment, movies)

From price and usability perspective, Telus is far superior. However, I hear that Shaw has better customer service.
I'm just waiting until I can get Novus so I can tell them both to shove it.

I'll address the bolded

1. Certainly Telus has better apps currently, their UI for their menu is second to none. I personally like it. With that being said, I have heard they are developing apps when I called in. They do have a VOD app now.

2. Again, addressing Telus' internet speed, when you sign up for their service they DO NOT guarantee their speeds. What do I mean? http://www.telus.com/content/internet/

Notice 'Upto to 25mbps' where as other providers don't state the word 'upto' since it is a dedicated bandwidth service which it should be with all service providers. Obviously if you don't download a lot you don't have much to worry about.

Oh and let us not forget about this....http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r27784992-BC-TELUS-High-Speed-Turbo-25-Usage-being-reduced-50- (Telus slashes customers bandwidth in HALF without letting existing customers know unless they were signed up through E-Billing.) Yes, this is a huge deal considering if you're streaming a 720P movie / 1080P through Netflix, it might be able to get you through the first couple of weeks, but just be wary if they charge extra o your bill.

3. http://www.shaw.ca/bundles/ I'm not sure what kind of promotions you're getting but both those prices you have listed are regular prices.

4. If you're upset with Telus, you can tell them that you're getting offered a real good deal from a competitor and I almost guarantee they will match. They'll just make you sign a contract for them to match.

5. You don't need to take a home phone if you don't want too, you can just tell them you want the TV and Internet with any provider...that is your right.

 

[Uhmkay]

I switched from Shaw to Telus about 18 months ago and have had no issues. I get twice as many HD channels as I was getting with Shaw, and am still paying about $30 less than what I was paying, and my internet download speeds are miles faster than what I was getting with Shaw.

Having said that, I do have a questions. Has anyone lived on campus at UBC recently? I've decided to go back to school next year and am seriously considering living on campus (all year) and was wondering how their internet speeds were there? I don't know if I should think that it should be really bad because maybe UBC would cheap out on it for res students... or if it should be really good.

The reason I ask is that the primary reason I'd be moving to live on Campus was to be closer to school, save money on rent, tv, internet and parking.

If the internet service is so bad that I'd just end up wanting to pay for my own it might change my mind... lol.

 

[The Horvatian One]

I switched from Shaw to Telus about 18 months ago and have had no issues. I get twice as many HD channels as I was getting with Shaw, and am still paying about $30 less than what I was paying, and my internet download speeds are miles faster than what I was getting with Shaw.

Having said that, I do have a questions. Has anyone lived on campus at UBC recently? I've decided to go back to school next year and am seriously considering living on campus (all year) and was wondering how their internet speeds were there? I don't know if I should think that it should be really bad because maybe UBC would cheap out on it for res students... or if it should be really good.

The reason I ask is that the primary reason I'd be moving to live on Campus was to be closer to school, save money on rent, tv, internet and parking.

If the internet service is so bad that I'd just end up wanting to pay for my own it might change my mind... lol.

If you are planning to go back to school, I believe between Telus and Shaw, Shaw is the only company who offers student promos as of right now (Someone can correct me if I'm wrong!) Don't know why Telus hasn't tapped into that market yet...though I will say that the student offer that Shaw has is far better than some of their bundles.