36 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

Funny thing is some Shaw accounts had no problems, others couldn't connect to all sorts of sites.

You'd think Shaw would post something on their website so individuals wouldn't have to call tech support only to hear a pre-recorded message about how valiantly techies were working on the problem. What is this, 1998?

[sebberry]

support.shaw.ca did have a small note about some service problems.

It appears to have been a problem with routing packets over 1496 bytes in size. My router was set to limit this to 1100 so I never had any problems. Others reporting setting the MTU value in their router's configuration pages to something less than 1496 resolved their issues.

[Sparky]

support.shaw.ca did have a small note about some service problems.

It appears to have been a problem with routing packets over 1496 bytes in size. My router was set to limit this to 1100 so I never had any problems. Others reporting setting the MTU value in their router's configuration pages to something less than 1496 resolved their issues.

Thanks for making that crystal clear.

[James Bay walker]

Shaw is implementing wifi hotspots throughout the CRD that will be free of charge for existing Shaw customers.
.... Shaw's system will likely be much more robust and profound than the patchwork of wifi connections currently available.

Typical bid by a monopoly to dominate the market imo, by driving out the competition.

As if Shaw did not already rake in enough money (though, powered rabbit ears are making an inroad on their bread & butter cable service, what with digital TV signals being crystal clear even for ground level homes).

jbw

[sebberry]

Thanks for making that crystal clear.

It's what I do.

[Mike K.]

Typical bid by a monopoly to dominate the market imo, by driving out the competition.

As if Shaw did not already rake in enough money (though, powered rabbit ears are making an inroad on their bread & butter cable service, what with digital TV signals being crystal clear even for ground level homes).

jbw

The WiFi program is in response to the cellphone industry more than anything else. With the cell carriers offering data sticks, Shaw decided to launch the Open network when they cancelled their cell plans.

To be honest it doesn't cost them much to setup as the infrastructure is already available through any commercial internet client. Open just allows Shaw customers to tap into wireless router signals.

[James Bay walker]

With the cell carriers offering data sticks, Shaw decided to launch the Open network when they cancelled their cell plans.

I'm 'old school', remembering the days when Rogers/Shaw was a cablevision company only, and long before they extended their tentacles into providing internet access services in competition with the phone company's 'dial-up' and subsequent broadband offerings.

Shaw's recently started providing 'Shaw home phone' (going head to head with Telus), and any time now I'm expecting Shaw to announce it's ready to angle for a piece of the cellphone industry pie. By having financial clout provided by being a regional monopoly of home cablevision service, I see Shaw as an expanding force to be reckoned with.

jbw

ps. Cable free for well over ten years as I'd rather rely on amplified rabbit ears, especially with crystal clear digital broadcast signals -- good for 3-8 channels at ground level, 40+ channels once you're up 20 stories or so. And sometimes the offerings are more interesting than Shaw's cable lineup. But somewhat regretting the bygone era where every few years you could get a totally 'free trial' of local cablevision (it made for a nice 'chance of pace').

pps. Just now I'm enjoying my cellphone provider's "home phone" alternative to Telus, at a $20+/month savings over Telus' new 'basic' rate structure (unlimited local usage, deep discounted long distance rate plan, just took acquiring a one-time $30 'receiver' which I paid for using my cellphone loyalty points, no installation/hookup fee).

[Jason-L]

I'm 'old school', remembering the days when Rogers/Shaw was a cablevision company only, and long before they extended their tentacles into providing internet access services in competition with the phone company's 'dial-up' and subsequent broadband offerings.

As an early adopter of Shaw's broadband, I have to say it wasn't competing with the phone company's dial-up offerings, but rather the many small dialup providers who were piggy-backing on the phone lines. Shaw was just taking advantage of the extra "room" on their cable infrastructure, so offering broadband didn't require much more investment.

Shaw's recently started providing 'Shaw home phone' (going head to head with Telus), and any time now I'm expecting Shaw to announce it's ready to angle for a piece of the cellphone industry pie. By having financial clout provided by being a regional monopoly of home cablevision service, I see Shaw as an expanding force to be reckoned with.

I'd be surprised to see Shaw hop into the cell market. The home phone offering (first available in 2005, so I'm not sure if nearly a decade old counts as 'recently') using VOIP, and basically is an extension of their internet service.

[Mike K.]

Shaw backed out of the cellphone market but decided to launch the Open network to compete with data sticks, and in the words of a Shaw marketing rep, to give consumers less incentive to purchase large data plans that are literally pure gravy for telcos.

The company still owns spectrum but will likely sell it when the time is right.

[patrick venton]

Everyone has a fire wall , Everyone could open their WiFi up and all could be conversant... Except for control freaks.... If Starbucks and Safeway can open their WiFi. why cant everyone... exceptions , paranoids.... with all due respect...

[Mike K.]

Well, it's not that simple. There can be substantial costs involved with opening a proper wifi hotspot.

[lanforod]

Everyone has a fire wall , Everyone could open their WiFi up and all could be conversant... Except for control freaks.... If Starbucks and Safeway can open their WiFi. why cant everyone... exceptions , paranoids.... with all due respect...

Bad idea for personal home wifi gateways. The only smart way would be for the newer routers that allow for a separate VPN that is open to the public (and bandwidth limited).
Just opening a standard single VPN wireless router to full traffic is asking for trouble, it is kind of like leaving your front door unlocked and a sign on your front lawn advertising that your front door is unlocked! Software firewalls are helpful but not good enough.

[arfenarf]

Everyone has a fire wall , Everyone could open their WiFi up and all could be conversant... Except for control freaks.... If Starbucks and Safeway can open their WiFi. why cant everyone... exceptions , paranoids.... with all due respect...

Are you seriously this clueless? Organizations offering public wifi keep those networks a very, very, very long way from anything they care about. The wifi is being offered as a customer draw and is an expense that must be balanced against the potential revenue.

Stick to something you know something about, like municipal water service.

Oh.

Never mind.

[jonny]

It needs to be pointed out that Shaw isn’t a monopoly anymore. Telus now offers comparable home cable and internet services. I think the Shaw Open WiFi strategy is a good one in terms of providing a huge and relatively cheap expansion of service to their existing home internet client base, which Telus has been poaching to varying degrees of success over the past several years.

[James Bay walker]

It needs to be pointed out that Shaw isn’t a monopoly anymore. Telus now offers comparable home cable and internet services.

Interesting (I'd heard the term 'Optik TV' a few times earlier, but had not associated it with cable TV services).

As pricey as Shaw's cablevision though. $50 installation, 'basic' cable (I was unable to find a 'channel lineup'; oops! found it) is $44/month; plus taxes, so say, about $6,000 per decade, maybe $4,600 per decade if you have other Telus services. (about 300 times more costly than my amplified rabbit ears, but a wider selection of channels / brain candy)

jbw

ps. I assume the mandatory 'PVR' add-on is sorta like a VCR, only it uses a harddrive instead of VHS or SVHS tapes.

[sdwright.vic]

Are you seriously this clueless? Organizations offering public wifi keep those networks a very, very, very long way from anything they care about. The wifi is being offered as a customer draw and is an expense that must be balanced against the potential revenue.

Stick to something you know something about, like municipal water service.

Oh.

Never mind.

I don't think Shaw is charging business for becoming a hotspot. Its a win win for both of them.

[arfenarf]

I don't think Shaw is charging business for becoming a hotspot. Its a win win for both of them.

True enough and I should have been more precise.

It's an effective gambit. I'm sticking with Shaw as my ISP because it basically gets me out of buying a data plan for my kid's phone. She can pick up Shaw Open in enough places that it's good enough for her.