Changes to Shaw's internet bandwidth

[willystyle]

Originally Posted by StylinRed

I'd guess one of the new dual-band ones

like the Cisco/Linksys E4200
Cisco ships dual-band 450Mbps router | Crave - CNET

$160 at bestbuy or it was



and yeah i was planning on ordering a Motorola 6120 from Amazon or something its $82 though + shipp :/

I can't seem to find this locally. I am currently running a G-wireless bridge, so I need something that would work with my existing routers too.

[turbomelon]

Originally Posted by willystyle

What would be a good DD-WRT N-router to pair with the SMC modem?

My WRT54GL cannot handle the 50Mbps throughput.

I recently got 100mbps and torrent/newsgroup and game at the same time. Obviously my WRT54GL couldnt handle it.. nor could this asus POS i bought, so I built a new router using my old computer parts, core 2 duo, 4 gigs of ddr3 40gig ssd 2 network adapters and the PfSense software. I havent bothered with the more advanced features, but now my internet is stable, and so far no downtime at all, was surprisingly easy to setup.

[MikeyStyle]

motorola is no longer producing the sb6120 modem. that's why everyone who's signing up for the newer packages are receiving the smc modems instead

there are rumours that a new modem will be replacing the motorola one.. but there's no eta on when that'll be available

there's no current option to purchase the sb6120 elsewhere and to add it onto your account. if you were lucky enough to obtain the modem, don't return/swap it as you will most likely never get it back

[willystyle]

Originally Posted by turbomelon

I recently got 100mbps and torrent/newsgroup and game at the same time. Obviously my WRT54GL couldnt handle it.. nor could this asus POS i bought, so I built a new router using my old computer parts, core 2 duo, 4 gigs of ddr3 40gig ssd 2 network adapters and the PfSense software. I havent bothered with the more advanced features, but now my internet is stable, and so far no downtime at all, was surprisingly easy to setup.

Yeah I considered building my own router too, but thought it would be too much of a hassle. How "surprisingly easy" was it?

I have several devices that need WiFi, how would a setup like that work?

Do I must have 2 network adapters?

Is it compatible with an existing wireless bridge?

[StylinRed]

Originally Posted by willystyle

I can't seem to find this locally. I am currently running a G-wireless bridge, so I need something that would work with my existing routers too.

futureshop/bestbuy Linksys Max Performance Wireless N Dual Band Router (E4200-CA) : Wireless N Routers - Best Buy Canada
Not on sale anymore though so its pricey... not sure about compatibility with your needs :/

Originally Posted by turbomelon

so I built a new router using my old computer parts

holy shit you built ur own router that just seems insane to me :P
im gonna have to look @ some tutorials maybe it'd be worth trying that instead with some old parts; got any suggestions?

Originally Posted by MikeyStyle

motorola is no longer producing the sb6120 modem. that's why everyone who's signing up for the newer packages are receiving the smc modems instead

you can buy em from the states, new, but places like Amazon wont ship it to Canada

[willystyle]

Originally Posted by StylinRed

futureshop/bestbuy Linksys Max Performance Wireless N Dual Band Router (E4200-CA) : Wireless N Routers - Best Buy Canada
Not on sale anymore though so its pricey... not sure about compatibility with your needs :/



holy shit you built ur own router that just seems insane to me :P
im gonna have to look @ some tutorials maybe it'd be worth trying that instead with some old parts; got any suggestions?



you can buy em from the states, new, but places like Amazon wont ship it to Canada

I am very iffy about the CA version of the E4200, not sure if it can run with DD-WRT and I don't want to spend $200 on a router.

Might go with the "build my own router" method instead, just need to find space to put/hide the damn tower.

[turbomelon]

yeah its actually not as involved as you'd think. What I did was :

• used a cheap small atx case I had lying around,
• get a cheap gigabyte motherboard that supports ddr3 and core2duo
• popped in my old e6600 core2duo processor
• hooked up the power supply ( i used a spare corsair 750w which is overkill)
• installed 4 gigs of ddr3 ram
• used an old ssd 40gig so the system would load up fast in case it has to restart.
• popped in two intel network adapter cards

Note that this created a beast of a router, I use probably 4% of the available memory at max load and 0% processor haha... Oh and to keep temps under control i just installed 2 fans at low speed and a passive heat sink.

Pretty much build a small cheap computer with no graphics card, or sound card
then hook up an external sata CD drive, burn the pfsense image boot off the cd drive, it'll walk you thru the steps, just hook up your WAN and LAN network cables hit the corresponding button. It'll auto configure.. then it'll do some other stuff install to your harddrive just customize.. then hit enter for everything.. it'll do the configuration stuff again
then it should be up and running
from there
you can just hook a computer up to it and login to your new beast router which should have a web interface similar to the consumer grade stuff and configure it like you would a normal router.

Willystyle, I used 2 network adapters one for LAN one for WAN, but those were Intel ones, maybe theres something else out there I dunno haha.. as for being compatible with a wireless bridge at my place I have another wireless router and this router is just a simple wired one, but I'm sure it should support a wireless bridge. I only did a really quick setup so didn't get much into the more complex things.

[skholla]

Build an Untangle box and then reconfigure your existing wireless router to act as a wireless access point and wired network switch.

Multi-functional Firewall Software - Open Source Content Filter & Spam Filter | Untangle.com
Posted via RS Mobile

[mauricetan]

Originally Posted by turbomelon

I recently got 100mbps and torrent/newsgroup and game at the same time. Obviously my WRT54GL couldnt handle it.. nor could this asus POS i bought, so I built a new router using my old computer parts, core 2 duo, 4 gigs of ddr3 40gig ssd 2 network adapters and the PfSense software. I havent bothered with the more advanced features, but now my internet is stable, and so far no downtime at all, was surprisingly easy to setup.

OMG! thats super fast! how much are you paying for everything? im assuming you also have shaw tv and phone bundled with your internet...

[turbomelon]

Right now I'm paying about $109 a month, which isn't that cheap as I don't have any connections, but I opted out of shaw phone and got the plan personalizer basic + sports1. So I have a bunch of sports channels in HD and the SD channels under 30, Food Network, HGTV and History, in both SD and HD ( I forgot the channel numbers for the HD equivalents of CBS, CNN etc. ).

I was paying $113 a month before as I had 160 ish channels with shaw extreme, but I don't watch much tv these days and if I really want to catch a show I could just download it.

I recall the 100 mbps 500gig limit is about $69 a month. But the limits don't really matter right now as they're not going to be implementing their quasi-UBB plan until Feb next year.

[mauricetan]

Originally Posted by turbomelon

Right now I'm paying about $109 a month, which isn't that cheap as I don't have any connections, but I opted out of shaw phone and got the plan personalizer basic + sports1. So I have a bunch of sports channels in HD and the SD channels under 30, Food Network, HGTV and History, in both SD and HD ( I forgot the channel numbers for the HD equivalents of CBS, CNN etc. ).

I was paying $113 a month before as I had 160 ish channels with shaw extreme, but I don't watch much tv these days and if I really want to catch a show I could just download it.

I recall the 100 mbps 500gig limit is about $69 a month. But the limits don't really matter right now as they're not going to be implementing their quasi-UBB plan until Feb next year.

Thats a pretty good price.. im paying like a little bit more for my optik tv + optik highspeed turbo + home phone.. the optik tv right now is still on promotion so we have 9 theme packs included.. but once the promotion is done i might just go back to the basic one so its cheaper too and HOPEFULLY... telus would have 50 and 100mbps plans for optik tv internet and i hope they would have unlmited bandwidth included soon.. i was surprise to see shaw step up pretty fast... when optik tv was introduced.. their extreme was only at 15mbps.. then they made it to 25mbps to be at par with the highspeed turbo of optik and now they offer 50 and 100mbps...pretty good strategy! Im really hoping that telus would do the same and make it also a little more affordable.. internet should be cheaper!

[willystyle]

If you guys really want to cut down on cost of your monthly cable bill, why not switch your phone line to VOIP?

It's saving me $30 per month without Shaw. You get a free phone line and a number. I paid $75.. $50 for configuration file for my ATA, and $25 to transfer my existing number, my line is free for life.

Check it out.

Free Phone Line - Phone Service

/SPAM

turbomelon, your build is waaay too much of an overkill just for a basic home router. I was thinking of using a really old 1.6GHz CPU for it. lol

[turbomelon]

yeah haha its definately overkill, but I had all the parts just laying around from my old computer, so just needed to pop it into a smaller case and make use of it. Hopefully it'll last for a long long time.

Since I got about 4 high powered rigs concurrently downloading/gaming brothers haha I wanted to make sure that my in house equipment wouldn't be a limiting factor .

[!MiKrofT]

Originally Posted by turbomelon

yeah its actually not as involved as you'd think. What I did was :

• used a cheap small atx case I had lying around,
• get a cheap gigabyte motherboard that supports ddr3 and core2duo
• popped in my old e6600 core2duo processor
• hooked up the power supply ( i used a spare corsair 750w which is overkill)
• installed 4 gigs of ddr3 ram
• used an old ssd 40gig so the system would load up fast in case it has to restart.
• popped in two intel network adapter cards

Note that this created a beast of a router, I use probably 4% of the available memory at max load and 0% processor haha... Oh and to keep temps under control i just installed 2 fans at low speed and a passive heat sink.

Pretty much build a small cheap computer with no graphics card, or sound card
then hook up an external sata CD drive, burn the pfsense image boot off the cd drive, it'll walk you thru the steps, just hook up your WAN and LAN network cables hit the corresponding button. It'll auto configure.. then it'll do some other stuff install to your harddrive just customize.. then hit enter for everything.. it'll do the configuration stuff again
then it should be up and running
from there
you can just hook a computer up to it and login to your new beast router which should have a web interface similar to the consumer grade stuff and configure it like you would a normal router.

Willystyle, I used 2 network adapters one for LAN one for WAN, but those were Intel ones, maybe theres something else out there I dunno haha.. as for being compatible with a wireless bridge at my place I have another wireless router and this router is just a simple wired one, but I'm sure it should support a wireless bridge. I only did a really quick setup so didn't get much into the more complex things.

pfsense is too complicated/confusing for the average user. I've been having good results deploying Endian Community Firewall.

[willystyle]

Has anyone used SmoothWall? Been hearing great things about it.

[MikeyStyle]

Originally Posted by StylinRed

you can buy em from the states, new, but places like Amazon wont ship it to Canada

the only problem with buying from a non-authorized shaw retail location is that they won't add the modem to your account

the equipment must be in shaw's inventory list or you won't be able to use it

Originally Posted by mauricetan

i was surprise to see shaw step up pretty fast... when optik tv was introduced.. their extreme was only at 15mbps.. then they made it to 25mbps to be at par with the highspeed turbo of optik and now they offer 50 and 100mbps...pretty good strategy! Im really hoping that telus would do the same and make it also a little more affordable.. internet should be cheaper!

shaw's already planning to go up to 250 Mbps download and 15 Mbps upload in the near future

[mauricetan]

Originally Posted by willystyle

If you guys really want to cut down on cost of your monthly cable bill, why not switch your phone line to VOIP?

It's saving me $30 per month without Shaw. You get a free phone line and a number. I paid $75.. $50 for configuration file for my ATA, and $25 to transfer my existing number, my line is free for life.

Check it out.

Free Phone Line - Phone Service

/SPAM

turbomelon, your build is waaay too much of an overkill just for a basic home router. I was thinking of using a really old 1.6GHz CPU for it. lol

Thanks for the info! Hows the service? so you only paid $75 in total and its already freephone for life? So the phone has to be connected to the router since its a voip?

Originally Posted by MikeyStyle

the only problem with buying from a non-authorized shaw retail location is that they won't add the modem to your account

the equipment must be in shaw's inventory list or you won't be able to use it


shaw's already planning to go up to 250 Mbps download and 15 Mbps upload in the near future

Ya.. i saw the phase II for shaw and offering it up to 250mbps!

so basically turbomelon will be getting 250mbps when phase II gets completed since the 100mbps will become 250mbps on phase II? Is that right?

Telus should step up with their optik tv internet too! Hopefully they do it asap! i want a minimum of 50mbps download and 10-15mbps upload and unlimited bandwidth.. i wonder if vdsl2 can handle those kinds of speeds...

[willystyle]

Originally Posted by mauricetan

Thanks for the info! Hows the service? so you only paid $75 in total and its already freephone for life? So the phone has to be connected to the router since its a voip?

Service has been great. I pay a one-time fee of $50 to purchase their configuration file for your ATA, and another $25 to transfer your phone number from your existing telephone provider, and I purchased an ATA (Linksys PAP2T-NA.. from NCIX.. cost was $50).. Total cost was about $125 to switch my services. A one-time fee, and I don't have to worry about paying phone bill again. It's unlimited Canada calling by the way.

Basically, your cordless/corded phone is connected to a ATA adapter (with 2 lines, if you purchase the PAP2T-NA), and the ATA is connected to your router. Change a few settings in your ATA adapter and your router (QOS). Voila, it's up.

In my opinion, it's much better than traditional landline, cause you can track everything online (call logs, voicemail messages, call forwarding, etc). It comes with free call display too.

Ya.. i saw the phase II for shaw and offering it up to 250mbps!

so basically turbomelon will be getting 250mbps when phase II gets completed since the 100mbps will become 250mbps on phase II? Is that right?

Telus should step up with their optik tv internet too! Hopefully they do it asap! i want a minimum of 50mbps download and 10-15mbps upload and unlimited bandwidth.. i wonder if vdsl2 can handle those kinds of speeds...

Yeah the 100mbps will automatically be switched to 250mbps down in Phase II. In my opinion, Telus doesn't have the infrastructure in place to achieve the internet speed that Shaw can provide to their customers. Not anytime soon.

Here's why, the technology that Telus uses for their Optik TV is shit. Most of the bandwidth is consolidated for IPTV. They can barely squeeze enough bandwidth for their television users, so it's not much left for their internet users.

Take a look at the HD channels on Telus's Optik TV, it's worse of that of Shaw's HD cause they need to compress their data so much to provide their television service; therefore, the picture and sound quality suffers tremendously. They barely have enough bandwidth to sufficiently provide "HD" content to their televison base customers. Forget internet users.

[JesseBlue]

I just use our cell phone with unlimited incoming and talkatone for outgoing when connected to a wifi...total cost $25/ mnth

[striderblade]

Hmm if you get bumped up to phase II do you still pay the same price now? Or More after you get bumped up?

[striderblade]

BTW anyone else shaw is slow as shit right now or is it just me? Rupert 22 to 29th ave area.

[EmOne]

Originally Posted by striderblade

BTW anyone else shaw is slow as shit right now or is it just me? Rupert 22 to 29th ave area.

my internet went down at 1am last night and was down for the whole night.
My speed has been slow as shit today. I cant even watch youtube videos. WTF

[!MiKrofT]

Originally Posted by willystyle

Has anyone used SmoothWall? Been hearing great things about it.

I don't recommend. I had stability issues with it on a 40 device network I setup. As well you have to download a lot of third party plugins to do the things you want. Give endian a try. Its much more refined and based off the same sources. Untangled is decent but requires a decent amount of resources to run well.

[striderblade]

Originally Posted by EmOne

my internet went down at 1am last night and was down for the whole night.
My speed has been slow as shit today. I cant even watch youtube videos. WTF

Dude same shit happened to me last night too. I'm getting pretty much the same speed as you when i ran a speedtest. Rebooted the modem couple of times and still the same shit. Maybe i should call in and start bitching.

[EmOne]

Originally Posted by striderblade

Dude same shit happened to me last night too. I'm getting pretty much the same speed as you when i ran a speedtest. Rebooted the modem couple of times and still the same shit. Maybe i should call in and start bitching.

Im near knight and kingsway.
If my speed doesn't return to normal tomorrow I am going to call in and raise hell. Im sick and tired of shaws bullshit.
My friend has telus optic for $15 a month and never has any issues.
I am paying $40