15 replies to this topic

[slinkyo]

I'm thinking of goin with Telus. Has anyone here switched from Shaw to Telus TV lately. What do you think so far-cost, service, quality?

[sebberry]

digitalhome.ca has some very active threads discussing both Shaw and Telus services and hardware.

I can only really give you an opinion on Shaw as that's who I'm with. Both systems have their pros/cons.

[bluefox]

Anyone I know who's had Telus Optik so far has complained that their internet speeds drop dramatically when someone is watching TV at the same time. I don't think this happens for everyone, but in areas where the infrastructure can't support the bandwidth drain I can see why this would happen. It's simple math.

Not to mention the name Optik is misleading, as there is very little actual fibre-optic network installed in BC and 95% of Optik customers are still getting their TV and internet services through ADSL...

On the flipside, if you're getting cable (even digital) through Shaw, you're using 40-year-old technology that hasn't seen much improvement over the years.

[Mike K.]

I switched from Telus back to Shaw.

Telus customer service was horrible and Optik TV had repeated issues. So much so, in fact, that when I finally had had enough the Telus rep allowed me to walk after less than a year into my 3 year contract.

I also found the Optik PVR to be too loud for my preference (hard drive turned on too often and buzzed/whined at a pitch that I found annoying and distracting).

[slinkyo]

Thanks!

[Mike K.]

Those of you on Shaw will see your bill increase this month for the second time in about a year.

[Nparker]

Those of you on Shaw will see your bill increase this month for the second time in about a year.

I am a Telus sucker....err customer...and my bill went up by over 10% this month. Well above inflation. The bottom line: Canadians are ripped off by whichever entity we "choose". Damned if we do and damned if we don't.

[stormy]

Those of you on Shaw will see your bill increase this month for the second time in about a year.

Yes, from $151 to $165.

[lanforod]

I'm currently at about 40/mo for internet and basic TV from Telus. Promo 1 year deal signed on after a knock on the door. Will be canceling the 'free' TV part of the promo when it expires, as Netflix and other streaming options have suited our needs enough that we rarely watch the live TV. Just need to get GameCentre and a VPN for hockey.

 

Telus doesn't seem to monitor or at least enforce download limits, as I'm regularly at well over 100 GB / mo., even though I have a fairly low tier Internet plan.

[Mike K.]

Oh they monitor alright. Something tells me they might just be playing nice until the promo period is over.

[lanforod]

Oh they monitor alright. Something tells me they might just be playing nice until the promo period is over.

Everything I could find about Telus and data caps is that they don't enforce them. One possible reason was that they couldn't differentiate between the TV traffic and Internet traffic using their current Actiontec router gateways.

[LocalMom]

I love hearing about other people's experiences and more importantly their rates with Telus and/or Shaw. Obviously for comparison and trying to help everyone get the best deal they can.

 

We dropped regular cable (with Bell Expressvu) almost 2 years ago; we have Broadband 50 with Shaw, along with their home phone. For television, we use an Apple TV to watch mostly Netflix (Canada and US) and other 'apps' via the Apple TV [if we didn't these other apps (where we can get a LOT of current shows, just the day AFTER they aired) I'd be back with a provider for regular shows fersure], and our home library of movies / television shows we have transferred from DVD to .m4v format on our home NAS. Now if we were huge sports-watching fans, this setup wouldn't work - but it works for our kids, and ourselves. For the *few* shows we cannot get in the above setup, we buy it through iTunes (mostly HBO and AMC shows).

 

If we *do* go the regular cable way again, we want the setup where there is one PVR in the home with portals at each television that can access the same PVR. I know Shaw has this (Gateway system) - and Telus might too (Optik?)?!

Edited by LocalMom, 20 March 2014 - 09:27 PM.

[jonny]

I've had Telus for a few years now. Our internet was really spotty with Shaw...they said it was because we are in a townhouse complex and share a main line with the other units??? I have no idea if that's true, but that's what they told me. A Shaw IT guy actually told me Telus would be better because their lines were dedicated to each unit.

 

We pay about $120.00 a month - approximately $50/month for internet and $70/month for cable. We don't have a super fancy package, but have all the HD sports channels, AMC, as well as a few Discovery and National Geographic channels so that's all I really care about.

 

The Optik system has one PVR which you can access from multiple digital boxes. This is a great feature where you can watch a movie you recorded in the bedroom or living room. The Optik on demand system is really good, IMO. There are quite a few TV shows that are available through there, and new movies seem to be available immediately upon the DVD release date. TV shows don't cost anything additional, and HD movies are about $6/rental.

 

The internet is OK. The router Telus gives you is awful, but speeds are much more consistent for us than with Shaw. We have a pretty light package, but it's fast enough to stream HD content online and we don't really download that many massive files so a super quick download rate isn't all that critical.

 

I have dealt with customer service on several occasions and they have been fine.

[Matt R.]

We have shaw internet at our house on salt spring, high speed 50. Clean, quick, always on. No phone, no cable, we download or stream everything we could ever possibly want. Video is native or converted to mp4 and we can stream it to the PS3 to watch on the big screen, or watch netflix with the same console. Often will just watch a tv episode on a tablet and call it a day.

We have shaw internet at our house in Victoria, too. A townhouse at that, and no problems at all with the 'sharing' aspect. No home phone or cable there either.

My wife and I have cel plans with telus though, which we find very reasonable.

We have shaw Business 100 at the shop, ridiculous. So fast. When we took over we immediately dumped telus for phone service, shaw came in and wrangled our PBX, took care of split lines for the ATM and fax, just dialled everything in. We use shaw for music in the front of house and have secure wifi for our customers at $10/month. We have shaw EXO service at the ferry terminal too, another plus.

Service with shaw has always been fantastic for me, and it's been a long time. Remember shaw@home? I do. Service sells, and shaw has kept me happy and loyal for a long time. $30 /month for a home phone though? Forget it.

Shaw also received some infrastructure money a couple of years ago to upgrade services to rural communities, and salt spring benefitted a lot from that.

Matt.

[lanforod]

 

The internet is OK. The router Telus gives you is awful, but speeds are much more consistent for us than with Shaw. We have a pretty light package, but it's fast enough to stream HD content online and we don't really download that many massive files so a super quick download rate isn't all that critical.

 

Yes, the router is really lousy, especially the WiFi. I turned it off a couple months ago, and use WiFi on a great Asus RT AC68 router instead, just using the Telus Actiontec as a gateway to the Internet.

The dedicated line thing has certainly made a difference. If you're in a low traffic area, Shaw is better overall, but in a higher traffic, much better to have your own line.

[jonny]

Telus has killed off the Speed channel....aaaaaargh!