Internet: What are your speeds?

[89coupe]

Originally posted by theken
if she records a whole bunch at one time telus is no good for that. IE if you are watching tv you can only record 2 others, or however many boxes you have i believe. I don't see this being a problem for anybody though

Exactly, Shaw can record 6 shows at once.

[RX-7_TWINTURBO]

shaw50, had issues a while back, but after a call to tech support they switched some filters on the cable hub outside and it's been solid ever since.

[Boostn]

Shaw 100

[speedog]

Originally posted by 89coupe
Exactly, Shaw can record 6 shows at once.

Can view/record 5HD channels on the TELUS Internet 50 plan we just got, seems adequate for our household.

[speedog]

So far in this poll (and it's early on), 90% of TELUS DSL/FTTH users appear to get more in DL/UL speeds than the stated maximums while barely over 50% of Shaw users are reporting the same - will be interesting to see if this changes as time goes on and more people participate in this poll.

One other thing I've noticed is the much slower UL speeds for Shaw users - not that UL speeds are all that important to most people but I am left wondering if that is the result of the type of design/infrastructure that Shaw is using as opposed to TELUS? How does Shaw get into the home - is it still all coax or do they use FTTH anywhere? If it's coax, then is that the contributing factor?

It's hazy, but my training from decades ago suggests to me that a coax cable just can not offer up the same 2-way throughput that a fiber can and either DL or UL has to be sacrificed for the other to be faster/more robust. Possibly there are some more up to date experts on here that could chime in.

[firebane]

Originally posted by speedog
So far in this poll (and it's early on), 90% of TELUS DSL/FTTH users appear to get more in DL/UL speeds than the stated maximums while barely over 50% of Shaw users are reporting the same - will be interesting to see if this changes as time goes on and more people participate in this poll.

One other thing I've noticed is the much slower UL speeds for Shaw users - not that UL speeds are all that important to most people but I am left wondering if that is the result of the type of design/infrastructure that Shaw is using as opposed to TELUS? How does Shaw get into the home - is it still all coax or do they use FTTH anywhere? If it's coax, then is that the contributing factor?

It's hazy, but my training from decades ago suggests to me that a coax cable just can not offer up the same 2-way throughput that a fiber can and either DL or UL has to be sacrificed for the other to be faster/more robust. Possibly there are some more up to date experts on here that could chime in.

Shaw is all coax from my understanding except the few areas that Shaw has FTTH setup. I know there was a test area in the NE for awhile but I don't know how far that went.

[speedog]

Originally posted by firebane
Shaw is all coax from my understanding except the few areas that Shaw has FTTH setup. I know there was a test area in the NE for awhile but I don't know how far that went.

So with respect to COAX, the haziness is disappearing a bit - it all has to do with frequencies in COAX and (correct me if I am wrong) COAX is still just an analog interface into one's home, correct? If it is indeed analog, then there a lot more design restrictions that come into play and part of that would explain the generally low UL speeds that Shaw people are showing. Techno geeks, please chime in here.

[stevelou]

Man my shaw is shit. I have the 50 bundle and am lucky to get 25 mbs dl and 5 or 6 mbs up. Called Shaw and they say that is somewhat normal, or the last time I spoke with them they said Auburn bay is in need of an upgrade..... Might be worth jumping ships to Telus if they can't figure it out.

[killramos]

My shaw 50 always tests above my 50 mbps limit, averages probably 52. I don't torrent anything so my upload is pretty inconsequential to me but has never felt slow.

Plenty to run multiple HD netflix or Xbox Video streams in the house, download Xbox One games while having dinner etc.

I live in a pretty dense neighborhood to. I am not pleased with my pricing so i might give them a courtesy call that I am considering switching later this summer to see what they are willing to do for me.

as for PVRing i don't use the Arris system ( hate the interface) but as far as i can tell i can record 2 streams for every DVR box I have if I so cared. I only have 1 DVR in the house ( media room) since i usually use the others for background noise/music or watching the news.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by speedog
So far in this poll (and it's early on), 90% of TELUS DSL/FTTH users appear to get more in DL/UL speeds than the stated maximums while barely over 50% of Shaw users are reporting the same - will be interesting to see if this changes as time goes on and more people participate in this poll.

There are also twice as many Shaw users as Telus so far, better sample maybe.

[rage2]

Originally posted by speedog
One other thing I've noticed is the much slower UL speeds for Shaw users - not that UL speeds are all that important to most people but I am left wondering if that is the result of the type of design/infrastructure that Shaw is using as opposed to TELUS? How does Shaw get into the home - is it still all coax or do they use FTTH anywhere? If it's coax, then is that the contributing factor?

It's hazy, but my training from decades ago suggests to me that a coax cable just can not offer up the same 2-way throughput that a fiber can and either DL or UL has to be sacrificed for the other to be faster/more robust. Possibly there are some more up to date experts on here that could chime in.

Shaw just dedicates less channels for upstream and uses the room for more downstream channels, hence they can only offer lower upstream than Telus. Just a balancing act. It also doesn't help that upstream channels carry half the bandwidth of downstream channels, making things worse. That's a DOCSIS limitation.

Originally posted by firebane
Shaw is all coax from my understanding except the few areas that Shaw has FTTH setup. I know there was a test area in the NE for awhile but I don't know how far that went.

There's only 1 residential area that has Shaw FTTH, because an exec lives there. Somewhere out by the Elbow Valley Discovery Ridge area.

[speedog]

Originally posted by GTS4tw
There are also twice as many Shaw users as Telus so far, better sample maybe.

Maybe, maybe not. current numbers as of this post are 59% of Shaw users getting consistent faster then stated maximums while 91.6% of TELUS users are getting consistent faster then stated maximums. Now I realize this is still a very sample and it is early on, but that still seems to be quite a spread - will be interesting to see where the numbers go as more people hopefully fill out the poll.

On a side note with respect to PVR's, can I assume that with Shaw that each television gets a PVR that is capable of 2 HD channels (watched/recording combined)? If that's true, then do you need 3 PVR's to get 6 HD channels? Also if that's true, can a television located in one room access PVR content on a different PVR with Shaw? Just trying to under stand how Shaw is set up.

Also, can a Shaw subscriber set up their PVR to record something from anywhere that subscriber has internet access - with TELUS, I can be at my parent's place in High River watching a show and get my PVR in Calgary to record that show via an app on my Android device? I believe I can also go on-line - does Shaw offer remote PVR handling?

With respect to PVR's again, with TELUS you get one PVR that can be accessed from any television set. I can be downstairs and be watching a different recorded show that's on my PVR (located upstairs) or be watching the same recorded show that someone might be watching upstairs at the same time. Each TELUS remote TV box can control the central PVR independently and all at the same time. Hell, I can control what's being watched on the television through the man PVR box with my Android - have had some giggles screwing around with my kids with this one (Android device has to be connected to our local Wifi is the only caveat here).

[rage2]

Originally posted by speedog

Maybe, maybe not. current numbers as of this post are 59% of Shaw users getting consistent faster then stated maximums while 91.6% of TELUS users are getting consistent faster then stated maximums. Now I realize this is still a very sample and it is early on, but that still seems to be quite a spread - will be interesting to see where the numbers go as more people hopefully fill out the poll.

On a side note with respect to PVR's, can I assume that with Shaw that each television gets a PVR that is capable of 2 HD channels (watched/recording combined)? If that's true, then do you need 3 PVR's to get 6 HD channels? Also if that's true, can a television located in one room access PVR content on a different PVR with Shaw? Just trying to under stand how Shaw is set up.

Also, can a Shaw subscriber set up their PVR to record something from anywhere that subscriber has internet access - with TELUS, I can be at my parent's place in High River watching a show and get my PVR in Calgary to record that show via an app on my Android device? I believe I can also go on-line - does Shaw offer remote PVR handling?

With respect to PVR's again, with TELUS you get one PVR that can be accessed from any television set. I can be downstairs and be watching a different recorded show that's on my PVR (located upstairs) or be watching the same recorded show that someone might be watching upstairs at the same time. Each TELUS remote TV box can control the central PVR independently and all at the same time. Hell, I can control what's being watched on the television through the man PVR box with my Android - have had some giggles screwing around with my kids with this one (Android device has to be connected to our local Wifi is the only caveat here).

Is this a Telus Marketing Q&A session? haha

I don't subscribe to Shaw for TV, but you can have as many DVR's in the home as you like. That's one way to skin the cat. The other way is to use gateway, where the main PVR box can record 6 channels at once, and each connected "viewing" box accesses that central DVR for everything.

Shaw technically doesn't have a limitation on how many HD streams you can watch at one time. That's because with Cable, every single channel is coming down the cable simultaneously. With Telus, there's a limitation, because the data coming down is only sent on demand through a fixed size pipe to the home, which also shares your internet data. Watch more TV streams, less bandwidth for internet. Pretty much the opposite restriction of cable modem sharing nodes for internet.

[speedog]

Originally posted by rage2
Shaw just dedicates less channels for upstream and uses the room for more downstream channels, hence they can only offer lower upstream than Telus. Just a balancing act. It also doesn't help that upstream channels carry half the bandwidth of downstream channels, making things worse. That's a DOCSIS limitation.

Interesting to know although I suspect upload speeds really aren't an issue for the majority of people.

So is the solution to increased and/or consistent DL and UL speeds just to reduce the number of subscribers per neighborhood node? Also if that is the case, can upload speeds be increased if the number of subscribers per node is decreased or are upload speeds still going to be considerably slower due to the DOCSIS limitations? Put it this way, if your COAX connection was the only one between your home and the node (not shared with any other subscribers) and that node did not have any upstream capacity issues, could you get increased UL speeds?

[killramos]

Originally posted by speedog

Maybe, maybe not. current numbers as of this post are 59% of Shaw users getting consistent faster then stated maximums while 91.6% of TELUS users are getting consistent faster then stated maximums. Now I realize this is still a very sample and it is early on, but that still seems to be quite a spread - will be interesting to see where the numbers go as more people hopefully fill out the poll.

On a side note with respect to PVR's, can I assume that with Shaw that each television gets a PVR that is capable of 2 HD channels (watched/recording combined)? If that's true, then do you need 3 PVR's to get 6 HD channels? Also if that's true, can a television located in one room access PVR content on a different PVR with Shaw? Just trying to under stand how Shaw is set up.

Also, can a Shaw subscriber set up their PVR to record something from anywhere that subscriber has internet access - with TELUS, I can be at my parent's place in High River watching a show and get my PVR in Calgary to record that show via an app on my Android device? I believe I can also go on-line - does Shaw offer remote PVR handling?

With respect to PVR's again, with TELUS you get one PVR that can be accessed from any television set. I can be downstairs and be watching a different recorded show that's on my PVR (located upstairs) or be watching the same recorded show that someone might be watching upstairs at the same time. Each TELUS remote TV box can control the central PVR independently and all at the same time. Hell, I can control what's being watched on the television through the man PVR box with my Android - have had some giggles screwing around with my kids with this one (Android device has to be connected to our local Wifi is the only caveat here).

Shaw has 2 different systems each with different features restrictions etc.

http://www.shaw.ca/television/equipment/

You seem to have quite a hate on for shaw based on your pointed questions?

I can similarly ask questions about how Does your telus service allow you to watch tv in 5 rooms without compromising your ability to download at top speed?

or otherwise does your telus service allow you to ___ Insert proprietary shaw feature here___?

[benyl]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak

Plus I get to pay mine on my credit card, so I get a little kickback on it. Shaw and Telus refuse to do this.

TELUS takes my money from my AMEX just fine. If not, I haven't been paying them for 3.5 years.

[benyl]

Originally posted by rage2

There's only 1 residential area that has Shaw FTTH, because an exec lives there. Somewhere out by the Elbow Valley Discovery Ridge area.

Pinebrook. The ring road will go right through it. lol

[killramos]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak

Plus I get to pay mine on my credit card, so I get a little kickback on it. Shaw and Telus refuse to do this.

Thats so weird because for some reason Shaw shows up on my Visa statement every month...

[rage2]

Originally posted by speedog
Interesting to know although I suspect upload speeds really aren't an issue for the majority of people.

So is the solution to increased and/or consistent DL and UL speeds just to reduce the number of subscribers per neighborhood node? Also if that is the case, can upload speeds be increased if the number of subscribers per node is decreased or are upload speeds still going to be considerably slower due to the DOCSIS limitations? Put it this way, if your COAX connection was the only one between your home and the node (not shared with any other subscribers) and that node did not have any upstream capacity issues, could you get increased UL speeds?

Split a node into 2 and you've doubled the bandwidth. Then you can assign fewer channels for downstream (if there's room), more channels for upstream, and you've got more upload. It's just more inefficient use of a channel when using it for upstream, because it only moves half the data, but it's a balancing act depending on the usage patterns of the node. Of course, majority of the people don't care about upload, so it's not a focus that Shaw needs to make.

More ways to get more bandwidth, kill off remaining analog channels (not sure how many are left). That opens up a huge amount of channels for data/TV. Does anyone still use the analog channels these days? Each analog SD channel can pack in 8 digital SD or 2 digital HD (for everyone in the node), or around 40mbit of downstream (shared with the node), or 20mbit of upstream (shared with the node). Note that you can't have a channel do upstream and downstream at the same time.