Some Help for Shaw Customers

[Tannah]

So a few things here
I do know a few things that might help The Shaw Customers out. As I've had it out a couple times.
speedtest.shaw.ca and http://www.terago.ca/speed-test/ are the only sites I have found that they will recognize for speed tests.
Shaw seems to try to keep you speed at slowest just above the pack below it, so Their Broadband 50 pack should not go any slower than the top speed of highspeed 20. But they will never guarantee any speeds that are off the Shaw network

The other thing I know you can do with Shaw is if you and your neighbours all go and speak up about issues Shaw will recognize its not a one off problem and attempt to fix it. In the end that's what I had to do a few years ago. Great service ever since.

For the Shaw remote its possible to set it up so the Shaw Atlas remote to turn everything on and off http://www.urcsupport.com/index.php?mso_id=454

Shaw EXO VS Telus Optik, well the first thing you have to remember is "Optik" and "Exo" are branding, "Optik" has nothing to do with Optical which it infers its just branding.

[StraitTalk]

Well, that was random information. Just wanted to point out as I've been through this already with Shaw, they don't guarantee you'll get the exact speed you're "paying for" as in, if you're signed up for their Broadband 100, they will do their best to get you as close to 100 as possible, but they won't guarantee 100.

I went through this with them a while back and at first I was confused as to why I was paying for Broadband 50 and for the most part getting between 20-35mb/s and much higher during off times and having looked into the way internet is sold to customers, I get it now, I just convinced myself I was paying for 50, explicitly, and nothing slower, nothing faster.

But having made some changes to my setup I do consistently get faster speeds now and I certainly never feel like my internet is slow, which honestly all numbers aside is what I am paying for.

Too many people out there on wireless who think that wired and wireless are the same performance wise, methinks.

[Woodenhead]

When it comes to advertised speeds, Canadian industry practice is to advertise the maximum or "up to" speeds for customers, rather than minimum or actual speeds that customers typically obtain. :-s

[LoneWolf_53]

When it comes to advertized speeds it's been my experience that with ADSL you actually get them, regardless the time of day, whereas with Shaw you only get them at around 3am and even then the "up to" part of the advertized speed statement still plays a huge role.

[Tannah]

StraitTalk, Yea this started off in a different thread, then I decided to make it its own thread.

LoneWolf_53 I find the things that affect ADSL are, how close are you to the Telus switching office, and what services you are subscribed to. I have never seen TV cause problems with the Internet before Telus brought out their TV.
I had one customer that had a large family that had nothing but headaches with Telus. In the end he cancelled took the 2 year cancellation fee. Then went to Shaw. He has 3 HD TV's 5 computers, 2 gaming consoles and everyone has a cellphone.6 people in the house 3 kids. All somewhat tech savvy. Telus was horrible for them. But since they signed up with Shaw no real issues. That they have told me about.

I've found that if your getting really slow averages on Shaw there is normally something wrong. Since Shaw last came out and restrung the wire from the house to the pole and upgraded the node I don't often see the net slow down or at-least I don't notice it. Never have issues with the TV causing problems with the internet.

I guess the moral is there are problems of both sides of the fence.

[StraitTalk]

When it comes to advertized speeds it's been my experience that with ADSL you actually get them, regardless the time of day, whereas with Shaw you only get them at around 3am and even then the "up to" part of the advertized speed statement still plays a huge role.

Yes, with ADSL you will consistently get about 3-5mbps at any time of the day or in some cases low teens. I've just finished troubleshooting two of my friends networks in their homes in anticipation for Diablo 3 and found that both of them were suffering because of their ADSL connections. They both signed up with an unspecified cable company and are now running through coax rather than useless twisted pair and are laughing.

I used to be a big fan of ADSL but man after you've fixed a few homes and took the time to understand the differences between twisted pair and coax, you will never go back. It's scary that it's even still acceptable if you ask me. Don't get me wrong, Telus can get their internet speeds up real high, but once it get's into the home there is some sort of breakdown. I think the fastest I've seen is about 30mbps in very special circumstances. Apparently they're starting to offer 50mbps in some places with FTTD. A far cry from the best, but certainly more than enough for 95% of people.

Seems to be a hot topic as of late on the forums. I like it because I truthfully know a lot about it.

Now if unspecified cable company could just fix their bloody horrible saturation issues, I would be a happy camper.

[Loed]

The other thing many(most) people seem to ignore is the in-house network as well.

The vast majority of consumer routers cannot handle speeds above 50mbps to more than one user. They just do not have the switching capabilities.

Broadband 100 customer here, I couldn't for the life of me squeeze out more then 35-40mbps during peak hours(5pm-8pm crowded residential apartment area). I also noticed that horrible response time(ping) once multiple clients went online. I have more than too many spare parts lying around so I bundled some together into a pfsense box and low and behold now having too much power I was easily capping the line during testing and suddenly multiple clients didn't mean crushingly low response times.

This is why they always ask you to power cycle your router/modems. It clears everything down to near bare-bones and gives full priority to your machine, then it shows the peak capabilities of that unit and lets them know where the issues may lie further down the line.

As always, if you're not satisfied phone it in. Don't complain, report!! This is an important and integral part of the customer service industry. Just think, when someone comes up to you and the first thing they have to say is a big complaint, how are you going to feel? You may think it is their job, but you are incorrect. Their job is to help make the company money, which in turn means to help make you(the customer) happy. Come to them with a valid, researched issue and they will be far more likely to speed it down the line. Don't bitch and moan and threaten to discontinue services. Most intelligent reps just shut off their brain and go into "yes mode" when people do that. If you are polite and understanding that the world doesn't revolve around you and that sometimes, things just happen, then you are far more likely to get the service you require and have a much more enjoyable time doing so.

[StraitTalk]

Their job is to help make the company money, which in turn means to help make you(the customer) happy. Come to them with a valid, researched issue and they will be far more likely to speed it down the line. Don't bitch and moan and threaten to discontinue services. Most intelligent reps just shut off their brain and go into "yes mode" when people do that. If you are polite and understanding that the world doesn't revolve around you and that sometimes, things just happen, then you are far more likely to get the service you require and have a much more enjoyable time doing so.

Too true.

[xlauvawke]

Their job is to help make the company money, which in turn means to help make you(the customer) happy. Come to them with a valid, researched issue and they will be far more likely to speed it down the line. Don't bitch and moan and threaten to discontinue services. Most intelligent reps just shut off their brain and go into "yes mode" when people do that. If you are polite and understanding that the world doesn't revolve around you and that sometimes, things just happen, then you are far more likely to get the service you require and have a much more enjoyable time doing so.

as somebody who worked in tech support i can't agree with the last couple lines more.

[grouch3k]

I DREAM of speeds like 20 on Broadband 50. My service has been deteriorating steadily for months. After several service calls they finally admitted I was on a saturated node. I was paying for BB 100 and was averaging 20 by their measurement. They offered a pro-rated refund and suggested I change my service to BB 50 till node work was done. Unbelievably, as soon as I did this my average dropped to 10 !
I continued to complain and they continued to dilute the node even more. Currently the only TOD I have ANY service is between 3 and 6 AM. And at speeds of 5 Mbps or less. The rest of the time it is so slow and sporadic that it useless for anything more than plain text email.
There is a large new 100 plus home development in my neighbourhood just starting to be occupied. I have threatened to distribute flyers there informing the new residents of the state of affairs before they order their new telecom services. Maybe that will get some action.

[StraitTalk]

I DREAM of speeds like 20 on Broadband 50. My service has been deteriorating steadily for months. After several service calls they finally admitted I was on a saturated node. I was paying for BB 100 and was averaging 20 by their measurement. They offered a pro-rated refund and suggested I change my service to BB 50 till node work was done. Unbelievably, as soon as I did this my average dropped to 10 !
I continued to complain and they continued to dilute the node even more. Currently the only TOD I have ANY service is between 3 and 6 AM. And at speeds of 5 Mbps or less. The rest of the time it is so slow and sporadic that it useless for anything more than plain text email.
There is a large new 100 plus home development in my neighbourhood just starting to be occupied. I have threatened to distribute flyers there informing the new residents of the state of affairs before they order their new telecom services. Maybe that will get some action.

Or you could just cancel your internet service altogether? If they have a problem in your area, and have admitted so, I would personally be leaving that company until they get their crap together.

How are you testing your speeds? If you're testing them through a router or especially on WiFi your results are not going to be great.

Shaw is notorious for saturated nodes going unchecked for months and even years.

[LoneWolf_53]

The vast majority of consumer routers cannot handle speeds above 50mbps to more than one user. They just do not have the switching capabilities.

What's your preference for a home router, say with 6 items connected to it? (3 wired, 3 wireless)

I'm using a Netgear WNR2000.

[Loed]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320062&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3891137&SID=rewrite

I've had great luck with this router in heavy usage, lower user applications. It's a very demand ready router for consumer usage.

A little pricey but not too bad.

http://www.mikrotik.com/

These guys are slowly pushing out more and more consumer friendly units. If you are at all tech savvy and willing to read up for a little while before installation you cannot go wrong with a mikrotik router. Powerful, robust and affordable for how strong they are.