Escape the BIG 3?
 

Is there any escape from the BIG 3 service providers: Shaw, Bell, Telus? For TV/Internet. I've been using Shaw for a while but their customer service was crap; their internet disconnects periodically as well. So I finally cut the crap and try Telus for a year since they gave me a steal. Unfortunately, they were WORSE! Limited bandwidth gotta be shared between TV/Internet, meaning slower internet. On top of that, they can't even play TV right, it lags once awhile and becomes pixelated and shit. I had Bell a long time ago as well and it is highly unreliable in bad weather.

:rolleyes:

I gotta say in terms of product Shaw is unbeatable, but it'd be nice to know other options, if any. It would be sweet to get Directv!

curious to know too

Move downtown/some building in north Burnaby and get Novus.

Oh yeah I came across it, but no service in Coquitlam. I may move next year so who knows?

Any internet tv thing in Vancouver? I've heard of it be dunno too much about it.

If you can't escape from them yet, you can play them against each other.

I called Shaw and told them Telus offered me the same service I currently have with them for $25 less a month, but I said I would stick with them if they price matched, which they gladly did. I then called Telus told them I was considering switching and asked if they could beat my Shaw rate by $10 a month if I switched, they did. I then called Shaw back and said I would stay with their service if they beat my new Telus rate by $10 a month, they agreed but sounded pissed. An hours worth of work saved me $550 a year on cable and internet, not bad.

^well played sir!

nice

did something like this, but not on the same day.

That's just nasty lol

well played

move into a building with Fiber Optics if you want reliable everything

lots of new places have it

btw ur telus issue sounds like a crappy install as well as it sounds like ur live in a area that hasn't been upgraded at all


best thing to do is play the companies against each other for sure. I thought a lot of ppl actually do this already?

OP, where in Coquitlam are you? My parents live around the Mundy Park area, and they recently got bumped up to Optik, and they get 12Mb/s downstream. They live right on the edge of the service area, too. Before Optik, they were on regular high-speed, and maxed out at 150KB/s.

i tried to do this and shaw said they dont price match telus because they have a different service and is shittier lol.

but gave me 1 month free internet and $18 off my package. They wouldnt even upgrade up to free extreme because they said telus' extreme is a base speed becuase they have both their TV and internet on the same bandwidth, it's actually close to 4-7mbps. He only gave me 1 month free extreme.

I think they are getting smarter now that so many ppl are doing it haha.

Just curious....which # do you guys call into? Just their regular customer service? Or do they have some kind of "retention department" like cellular companies?

my co-worker swears by novus. i wish they had service outside of the downtown core :(

i would swear by them too if they were offered outside dt as well. just curious, why dont they expand?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you keep phoning for discounts and promos they'll note that in your file and won't provide future promos as readily?

I called Telus and Shaw today and I got offers.

Shaw:
Digital TV - $19.99 for first 6 months ($62.00 after)
High speed Extreme(15.0 mbs) - $19.99 for first 12 months ($57.00 after)
After 1 year = $109.99/month

Telus:
Optik TV & Optik internet(15.0 mbs) - $43.00 for first year + 3 free PVR rentals for first year
After 1 year = $80-$90/month
With Telus you NEED a PVR for each tv if you want cable on them. That's what the rep told me.

Anyone have optik TV? How is it?

i'll have to ask him again, i forgot the reason why. it probably has to do with the cost of expanding.

The advantage of Novus is that they run fiber to the premises. In order to run fiber to houses, they would have to dig up people's lawns, sidewalks, driveways, etc. That would be extremely expensive. Probably an investment they wouldn't see a return on for a long time. Novus isn't a giant corp. like Shaw or Telus; they don't have 1000's of foot soldiers to work for them.

BTW, Novus isn't just in the DT core. The new library where Kingsway and Main intersect is a Novus building, as well as the building above the Honda dealership on 12th ave.

I just got Optik and I must leave this warning: confirm your area's availability and location in relation to their central boxes prior to ordering it. If you're in a bad area, or one that hasn't been upgraded, you will be stuck with 1HD + 2SD feeds, instead of 2HD + 1SD feeds.

As far as internet speed, the highest speeds I've seen have been ~14.4mbps. Slowest has been ~8mbps. 8mbps was with an HD feed going.

I've found over the past few days that Telus fluctuates far more than Shaw in terms of speeds, even from day to day. The only consistent thing I've found has been the upstream speed at 0.86mbps compared to 0.96 that I was getting with Shaw's Extreme-I.

Actual quality of the video feed is the same, but the Telus Optik interface is much nicer than the archaic Shaw guide.

It would be nice if there were more options outside of the DT core or newer buildings, or if Telus put more effort into upgrading their infrastructure in South Vancouver.

They are refering to our old TV service which we no loner sell. You will never see 4-7mb even with the TV maxed out

Its a digital box per TV refereed to as a STB. All STB are HD and you can only get 1 PVR. With a PVR all STB can record and view recordings.

One note is Telus hard drive is 320gb compared to the 160 of Shaw. Which is nice if you are a TV freak.

Just to let you know that out of date. The newest upgrade allows 3HD streams I cant remember how many SD stream and 25mb of internet as well.

From what I hear 70% of the lower mainland will be upgraded by 1st Q.

I actually got the same reply at first but they weren't willing to do anything at all. That's why I swapped.

What are potential "differences" that Shaw would point out about Telus that I should be aware of for comparison Mr.Jay~

:thumbsup:

(If you took the pic in your avatar yourself, you're my hero!)

The secret is, "Thats fucking bullshit, I've paid my bill every month for the last three years and you don't give a fuck to retain my business, I want to speak to your god damn supervisor!! I'm canceling my account, switching to Telus and telling everyone I know how shitty your fucking service was!!".
By the time the Supervisor arrives they'll agree to just about anything.. :thumbsup:

Seriously, I'm a nice person, but no way was I gonna way $109.00 a month to watch TV and check my email.

Novus FTW - the only bragging rights that condo dwellers can claim over house dwellers.

try ota since its free (but of course you'll have less channels) and teksavvy (which is a line leased by telus) but with a 200Gb download limit..all in all you'll save a big bundle...
of course there are going to be some things you have to sacrifice...