Internet and TV Bundles

[scat19]

Good Day,

Currently I have High Speed Enhanced Internet from Telus. That's it, thats all.

I have a cell phone from Rogers.

I do not have TV (hehe, I have 4 free channels), and no home phone.

To get telus TV I need to get a home phone. I don't want a home phone, nor need one.

What do you guys have? I have a nice home theatre setup (HTPC, HD, all that crap) and kind of want t.v now I'm spending more time at home to save on going out so much.

Telus Internet/TV/Homephone will be bundled for 71 dollars a month.

Advise/Discuss? TIA

[r0g3r]

get shaw.

you'll prolly get 1 month free preview and you'll have much better choice.

plus if you get their HD box, you'll get some HD channels for free, or the HDplus for like 9$ more.

oh also, switching to shaw from telus, im sure they'll get you some good deals. I'd switch for internet too, shaw is definitely faster.

I don't know all the prices on hand but if you call the customer service @ shaw, they'lll set yu up.

[Boat]

Shaw is pretty much no contest. I've checked other competitors speeds and prices.. Shaw was way faster, and this was before they did the upgrade.

[smc]

with a 2 year contract I could get telus high speed internet and their basic tv (including hd terminal rental) for around 50, shaw is over 100.

People seem to think shaw internet is better. But what about the TV? There is no contract to worry about, but Shaw seems a lot more expensive.

[GQBalla]

get shaw definitely and bundle with tv and internet.

no need to get the phone unless you really want it

[Ntense_SpecV]

I have shaw xtreme I internet & Power Boost, HD TV (HD+ and Movie Central Package), Home Phone with the long distance plan...all in is 185.xx a month. It's not cheap but it's the HD TV that really adds to the cost. Before I upgraded to HD it was 158.xx per month.

[em2ab]

I download at 1.5 megs per second on Shaw, plus they don't block uploading on port 80 like Telus does. Great for running a simple web server.

[mazdavirgin]

Originally posted by smc
with a 2 year contract I could get telus high speed internet and their basic tv (including hd terminal rental) for around 50, shaw is over 100.

People seem to think shaw internet is better. But what about the TV? There is no contract to worry about, but Shaw seems a lot more expensive.

Telus tv is crap not to mention their retarded PVR that only has a single tuner so you can't even watch another channel while recording on the blasted thing...

[narou]

yah fuck telus! They are trash

[smc]

The concensus seems to stick with shaw internet.

For the TV if you don't get a PVR is telus that bad? They are much less expensive (since HD receiver is included in contract).

[slick2404]

does shaw have a retentions department like rogers? we are moving and have to get services transfered, wondering if maybe they can hook up a better deal

[z24_wheels]

I have Telus TV with no PVR. It absolutely blows. The boxes reset themselves each night, and they take 15 mins or so to patch the firmware each time. So when you get home from work, first thing you have to do is cycle the power on each box.

The remotes are buggy, streams are glitchy, and the HD gets expensive as you add each theme pack.

I can't wait for my telus contract to lapse so I can go back to shaw.

[ballah]

i ve had bell sat, shaw and now i have telus for internet, phone and tv...

i really like telus tv because they do update your digital box (so you know you are always up to date)... i like the set-up of the guide and options that the telus box offers...

shaw and bell don t let you know when new hardware comes out...

i found that shaw internet sucked because it went down a lot.. i had shaw for a couple of years in two different homes and the internet went down basically every 3-4 days.... telus internet rarely goes down may be once every 2-3 months tops....

phone, is the same regardless of provider.... shaw will keep your phone number and if you decide to leave shaw for another phone provider, shaw won t release your number for over weeks....

i m tryin out one of those ACN video phones.. the phone itself is really cool and has tons of options.... it comes with unlimited long distance in canada and the US.... but i m skepitcal of leaving telus to go to ACN due to pass issues this company had....

[em2ab]

Originally posted by mazdavirgin


Telus tv is crap not to mention their retarded PVR that only has a single tuner so you can't even watch another channel while recording on the blasted thing...
You could just buy another device with 2 tuners.

[mazdavirgin]

Originally posted by em2ab

You could just buy another device with 2 tuners.

Where can I find said mythical device? Telus only sells set-top boxes with a single tuner. It is not like they allow just any box on their network either...

[FishPoo]

Originally posted by mazdavirgin


Where can I find said mythical device? Telus only sells set-top boxes with a single tuner. It is not like they allow just any box on their network either...

I think there's actually a workaround for that so you can watch one show while recording another.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=100987


When your show is taping on channel X, go to PVR recordings. Select the show that is currently taping. It will start to play from the beginning. Hit guide and use your arrows to scroll to another channel and hit ok. You should see it in the preview screen. Hit exit to exit the guide and your new channel will be on screen but your old show is still taping. If you go back into your first show on PVR recordings you will see that it keeps taping the first show without interruption!!!

I have Telus TV but have experienced sound stutters if using 1080 and dolby digital sound on HD channels. What's the point of HD if I can't have the best sound and video quality? Dropping the video to 720 or the sound to stereo seems to minimize that problem. The stupid tv box also needs to be cycled at least once a week for the firmware updates it seems and it takes about 10 minutes.

Telus internet caps out at about 350 kb/sec. And for my bundle, it came out to around $97.

After 1 year, my contract expires this month, I decided to switch to Shaw because they sent me a mailer with a pretty good offer, Telus retention though offered me a free PVR and $20 internet to stay.

Otherwise I have had no issues with Telus Internet, TV or Phone. The price is definitely cheaper at Telus by about 20% and as I haven't had Shaw at my place yet, I don't how much better it will be, but I'm expecting some speed improvements on the internet and hopefully better quality on the tv.

[mazdavirgin]

Originally posted by FishPoo
I think there's actually a workaround for that so you can watch one show while recording another.
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=100987


Yeah that doesn't work with two HD channels though and it is a hack/work around. Not something I am expecting to have to do to get the PVR to work unlike a VCR. It does not work in the sense that dual tuners can record two shows either.


Originally posted by ballah

i really like telus tv because they do update your digital box (so you know you are always up to date)... i like the set-up of the guide and options that the telus box offers...


The updates for all the other carriers are automatic as well. You don't need to update your Bell/Startchoice/Shaw receivers. They all self update when the provider chooses to update them. I don't see the advantage of disrupting your customers weekly with updates that require the user to power cycle their boxes... That is a bug not a feature.

[smc]

What about bell TV, how does it compare to the other options?

[Ed the SOHC]

IMO for internet you need to go cable... whether that's Shaw or a reseller of Shaw (cybersuf) - It's just quicker than Telus DSL (I've had DSL)

For TV, I've tried Bell and Shaw. With Bell I liked their time shifting. I didn't like the bad signal during thunder showers. With Shaw I don't like the sound issues they have on HD channel. This has been an issue for years and still hasn't been resolved.

In the end I would stick with Shaw because you can bundle the internet, cable, phone - save some bucks and only get one bill for 3 services (I hate getting mail).

[Sdeibert]

Originally posted by Ed the SOHC
IMO for internet you need to go cable... whether that's Shaw or a reseller of Shaw (cybersuf) - It's just quicker than Telus DSL (I've had DSL)

For TV, I've tried Bell and Shaw. With Bell I liked their time shifting. I didn't like the bad signal during thunder showers. With Shaw I don't like the sound issues they have on HD channel. This has been an issue for years and still hasn't been resolved.

In the end I would stick with Shaw because you can bundle the internet, cable, phone - save some bucks and only get one bill for 3 services (I hate getting mail).

I agree mostly but i just don't care for Shaw TV... there guide is not very appealing or sorted as well as Bell's. Plus i can't stand there annoying Guide time shift deal...!!!! If it's 5 min before the hour or half-hour the guide will move ahead to the hour or half-hour, so if it's 10:58am the guide will already be at 11:00am. That and the channel order can't be changed ascending or descending.

Bell's do suck in weather your guaranteed to lose signal, but the picture and sound quality seems better then shaw.

[rumeo]

Bell has a lot more HD Channels

[SOAB]

i'm had bell tv now for a few years and i've only had it go down maybe 2 times and that was only for like 20 minutes total, if that. storm, snow, rain, it doesn't matter. mine rarely goes down.

[smc]

If I want to view tune channels and record on my PC with a tuner card. Is shaw the only way to go?

I don't think this can be done with Bell unless they transmit unencrypted clear QAM. Otherwise the signal would have to go through a box first which would make tuning (changing channels) with the computer impossible.

Thnx