Castanet

underscore wrote:Anything technology-wise is horrific both in quality and price in Canada (cell phones, internet, cable, etc)

It reminds me of the days when I had to download a ~10 meg file on a 2400bps modem. Start download, go to bed, wake up, download might be finished. Seems the same thing when I'm doing video uploads to youtube from shaw .

I like how you state shaw as your example, knowing fully that shaw is the best we will have in kelowna for quite some time. Telus is substantially worse if you want to talk about upload speeds.

Move to vancouver and sign up with novus if you're lucky enough to get into one of those buildings.

Until then, be a little more realistic based on our geographical limitations within Canada.

Loed wrote:I like how you state shaw as your example, knowing fully that shaw is the best we will have in kelowna for quite some time. Telus is substantially worse if you want to talk about upload speeds.

Move to vancouver and sign up with novus if you're lucky enough to get into one of those buildings.

Until then, be a little more realistic based on our geographical limitations within Canada.

What do geographical limitations have to do with corporate greed and anti-customer business methods? If they actually want happy customers, an oversubscribed network with horribly pathetic bandwidth limits isn't the way to start. I drive 5 minutes to work and I'm sitting in front of a ~20gbit network, so its not like fiber optic runs in the valley are as elusive as the ogopogo like your post makes it sound.

But yes, Telus is worse.

Update.

Had the Optik installed yesterday. Notes about the experience.

One comment was to watch for an old line from the pole to the building. He checked and was going to reinstall a new on if necessary.

Even the non HD channels are superior to shaws.

While he was checking the outside line he said service would be interrupted for a few minutes. When that happeded there was a detailed list on my tv of what to do to try and rectify the situation, with shaw I always had to call and wait for instructions. Thought that was cool.

for 12 months my internet is $17 opposed to shaws $46, $26 for the following 12 months. we had three computers running yesterday and I didn't notice any problems.

We are saving $40 per month for 12 months and $30 per month for the 12 after to get the same channels except one or two that we didn't watch anyway.

About technical service - The installation tech was awesome and left me his card with his cell phone and said to text him anytime with any questions.

Someone said that you needed a new construction to get Optiks our home is 25 years old. Last night a friend in a new subdivision doesn't have the option to go with optik yet.

I'll let you know the kinks if I find them. Thanks for the input everyone.

livewire wrote:Update.

Had the Optik installed yesterday. Notes about the experience.

One comment was to watch for an old line from the pole to the building. He checked and was going to reinstall a new on if necessary.

Even the non HD channels are superior to shaws.

While he was checking the outside line he said service would be interrupted for a few minutes. When that happeded there was a detailed list on my tv of what to do to try and rectify the situation, with shaw I always had to call and wait for instructions. Thought that was cool.

for 12 months my internet is $17 opposed to shaws $46, $26 for the following 12 months. we had three computers running yesterday and I didn't notice any problems.

We are saving $40 per month for 12 months and $30 per month for the 12 after to get the same channels except one or two that we didn't watch anyway.

About technical service - The installation tech was awesome and left me his card with his cell phone and said to text him anytime with any questions.

Someone said that you needed a new construction to get Optiks our home is 25 years old. Last night a friend in a new subdivision doesn't have the option to go with optik yet.

I'll let you know the kinks if I find them. Thanks for the input everyone.

I think the discussion about new construction required was more along the lines of Telus' own infrastructure in the area and less to do with the actual age of the house.

Oh, and I can record/pause etc from any of the 4 tvs in the house with just one pvr on the main tv, although I think new shaw products may offer the same thing,

If you're only getting internet with Telus, be sure to keep a close eye on your bill.

livewire wrote:Update.

Had the Optik installed yesterday. Notes about the experience.

One comment was to watch for an old line from the pole to the building. He checked and was going to reinstall a new on if necessary.

Even the non HD channels are superior to shaws.

While he was checking the outside line he said service would be interrupted for a few minutes. When that happeded there was a detailed list on my tv of what to do to try and rectify the situation, with shaw I always had to call and wait for instructions. Thought that was cool.

for 12 months my internet is $17 opposed to shaws $46, $26 for the following 12 months. we had three computers running yesterday and I didn't notice any problems.

We are saving $40 per month for 12 months and $30 per month for the 12 after to get the same channels except one or two that we didn't watch anyway.

About technical service - The installation tech was awesome and left me his card with his cell phone and said to text him anytime with any questions.

Someone said that you needed a new construction to get Optiks our home is 25 years old. Last night a friend in a new subdivision doesn't have the option to go with optik yet.

I'll let you know the kinks if I find them. Thanks for the input everyone.

I feel like you're leaving out information here. Is there a contract? Other than that the experience sounds terrific.

Telus = contract, Shaw = no contract.

Nope, no contract. Just the package with rates and for how long they are for.

netfreak wrote:What do geographical limitations have to do with corporate greed and anti-customer business methods? If they actually want happy customers, an oversubscribed network with horribly pathetic bandwidth limits isn't the way to start. I drive 5 minutes to work and I'm sitting in front of a ~20gbit network, so its not like fiber optic runs in the valley are as elusive as the ogopogo like your post makes it sound.

But yes, Telus is worse.

If you don't understand the difference that a population of 1 million people can make to driving forward internet expansion then you're ignorant to the real problem.

Canada's major populations are EXTREMELY spread out and of much lower density than the mecca's you reference in other third world countries. This increases the cost of expansion and installation exponentially, as well as the profit and value in doing so dropping dramatically as well.

You can pretend that this is just meh, but in the world of business it is a good idea to make a profit from your installations within 2-3 years. If not, then it's not worth the installation of such high-end hardware.

I agree that there is some corporate bigotry going on, but it's not nearly as bad as you like to fool yourself into thinking and the places you think are doing significantly better have more than Canada's entire population, stuffed into the land mass of around 60% the size of BC. If you don't think this affects costs/profits then you really need to check it out.

Can you get more than 4 tv's with telus ?

ixler8 wrote:Can you get more than 4 tv's with telus ?

Only with a 2nd account and 2nd line going into the home.
They will sell you more than 4 boxes, but your TV signal will be affected negatively.

We have 5...

Took 4 months before we got a bill from Telus that we could understand and was close to what we were quoted. Customer service is in the Phillapenes. On my second box in six months as well. Don't regret switching just wished I hadn't. Should have put pressure on shaw to lower their price, the only thing that Telus offers that beats shaw.