TELUS Optik TV Thread

[Rathji]

Think about this for a second:

1. You are assuming that the installer doesnt care about quality enough to make sure that the coax is suitable. This is certainly possible.

2. You are going to tear out all your existing coax, on the suspicion that it might not be suitable.

3. You are going to assume the same installer that you didn't trust to do your install using coax, because he might be lazy, will do a good enough job with your cat5 install that it will be better than your existing coax.

Doesn't seem like the smartest thing to do.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Think about this for a second:

1. You are assuming that the installer doesnt care about quality enough to make sure that the coax is suitable. This is certainly possible.

2. You are going to tear out all your existing coax, on the suspicion that it might not be suitable.

3. You are going to assume the same installer that you didn't trust to do your install using coax, because he might be lazy, will do a good enough job with your cat5 install that it will be better than your existing coax.

Doesn't seem like the smartest thing to do.

So basically I'm screwed with sub par service unless I get a perfect installer assuming my coax isn't good enough. I'm not sure but I don't think it is the best. If the coax is great this is all a moot point.

Now i don't know for sure my coax isn't good enough but it would be easy to pull out.

Point 1 is valid. Good chance he'll sacrifice quality to save himself time and effort. What does teh installer care if I don't get the best signal or internet speed?

Point 2 is moot because it would take a grand total of 30 minutes to pull it all out. I wouldn't have to "tear" it all out. I could just remove it fairly easily.

Point 3 is valid and is the part I don't like. There is no way to ensure a good install. I just have to trust some guy who likely has 5 different appointments that day and will cut corners to get out as soon as possible.

The whole problem I have is that I'm spending a tremendous amount of money on a service and there is absolutely no way to ensure I get good quality. I just have to trust the installer. I know this could be said about any service but it is still frustrating.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

The whole problem I have is that I'm spending a tremendous amount of money on a service and there is absolutely no way to ensure I get good quality. I just have to trust the installer. I know this could be said about any service but it is still frustrating.

Why don't you look at the TV when it is on, to determine if it looks good or not? If it doesn't, then call Telus and get someone sent out to take a look. Baring that, I am sure you could get the signal to noise ratio from the installer (who should have no problems giving ti to you) and then check with someone in the know, like in this thread, to see if it is suitable.

If you have that little faith in the company, perhaps another provider is in your best interest.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Why don't you look at the TV when it is on, to determine if it looks good or not? If it doesn't, then call Telus and get someone sent out to take a look. Baring that, I am sure you could get the signal to noise ratio from the installer (who should have no problems giving ti to you) and then check with someone in the know, like in this thread, to see if it is suitable.

If you have that little faith in the company, perhaps another provider is in your best interest.

That's what Telus said. I'd prefer to just have it done right the first time.

As for your last line: hahahahahahahaha. So I take it you don't have TV if you only deal with providers you have faith in? Also, how does my lack of complete and total faith in the installer somehow translate to having no faith in the entire company?

Tell me you have any faith in Shaw or Bell? Not likely. All these companies suck in one way or another. Telus right now has good prices and a good product.

My experience though is that all installers suck. Never had a good experience.

Shaw has the worst product and programming known to man. Bell I actually like but is expensive and offers pretty much the same programming as Telus with slightly inferior software and hardware.

Telus has good internet, good TV, good hardware and software.

But like all cell, internet, TV providers in Canada we are stuck and have pretty much no good options.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

That's what Telus said. I'd prefer to just have it done right the first time.

As for your last line: hahahahahahahaha. So I take it you don't have TV if you only deal with providers you have faith in? Also, how does my lack of complete and total faith in the installer somehow translate to having no faith in the entire company?

You don't trust the practices Telus has set up to establish a standard of quality that is acceptable.

[Barnes]

In the time you have spent arguing you could have re-wired your house 30 times. Could you just save the rest of us and go do it already? Christ.

[Flash Walken]

Mod edit: Over the line.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Rathji

You don't trust the practices Telus has set up to establish a standard of quality that is acceptable.

I still don't see how you think not having 100% trust is equal to zero trust. Like most industries I am not 100% confident in their ability to deliver on their promise. Seems there is a fairly easy solution to ensure I get that service.

Are you saying you've never in your life taken measures to ensure that the product you're paying for is worth it? Or that you care if I do?

I was hoping maybe actual Telus customers could tell me how their service has turned out. Have many people had techs rewire their whole house? Has everyone that switched had a tech that just said the coax was fine? Does anyone have a choppy signal? Instead we're in a debate about my loyalty for Telus. Doesn't make any sense to me why you care how loyal I am to Telus.

Originally Posted by Barnes

In the time you have spent arguing you could have re-wired your house 30 times. Could you just save the rest of us and go do it already? Christ.

I know I've invested hours into this thread. Typing 5 responses is so taxing I'm not sure how I've even gotten this far.

God forbid people use an Optik thread to talk about their Optik service!

You don't have to read it and others don't have to respond if they don't like it. You have chosen to follow this thread. No one forced you to. Don't like it you can leave.

I aksed for an opinion and was provided one. I presented some options that I was thinking of and some feedback I've received directly from Telus.

The time isn't an issue. I'm sure if I want to pull out the coax I'll just go ahead and do it. I was trying to get some semi-informed opinions on how it has turned out with coax.

Telus has told me if my feed is choppy I can complain and they'll rewire it. Not my ideal solution. Nor is pulling out the coax if I don't have to. Not a huge job but I'd rather let Telus do it.

I don't have 100% faith that the Telus installer will rewire my house if he doesn't have to. Telus gave me a similar answer when I asked what the chances are. Psnap has guaranteed that won't happen. I guess we'll see.

[Madman]

I have Optik - had it since it came out....running on coax. Zero problems*.

The installer ran the tests exactly as PsnaP suggested they do and found everything was fine, end of story.

edit - *zero problems with the inside of the house. There was a problem on the outside of the house where the technician missed a part that was supposed to be replaced. A talk, dark and handsome Telus tech came to my house and fixed the problem in seconds.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Madman

I have Optik - had it since it came out....running on coax. Zero problems.

The installer ran the tests exactly as PsnaP suggested they do and found everything was fine, end of story.

Thank you!

That's all I wanted to know. Small sample size but still good to hear.

Anyone else actually get Cat5 rewiring? Have choppy signals with coax?

[PsnaP]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Point 1 is valid. Good chance he'll sacrifice quality to save himself time and effort. What does teh installer care if I don't get the best signal or internet speed?

TELUS has QA inspectors that do random testing on installs. Everything with the install is documented and tested with a remote system. If youre that concerned about your install, I can see if I can get them to dispatch someone I know to do the work.

[THE SCUD]

Cecil, the amount of posts I see from you and the speed at which you go off the rails leads me to believe you need more socializing and potentially some life experiences away from the LCD screen.

Chill out dood.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Telus TV has really lost it's luster to me. so far the box is much worse than what i had with Shaw, the responsiveness is absolutely terrible. most of the time i have to hit a button on the remote twice for it to actually register, and then when it still won't do anything i have to wait 10 seconds for it to finally respond and flash through all of the inputs i was entering. trying to FFW and rewind through a recorded program is the worst for this

i'm definitely going back to Shaw after the 6 month promo is up. their TV isn't perfect but it's better than this and their internet speeds crush Telus' once again

[Rathji]

^

I know this sounds silly, but did you check your remote batteries?

[REDVAN]

The remote response is slow- but it wasn't always this way. I keep hoping the next update will bring back the glory days!

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Rathji

^

I know this sounds silly, but did you check your remote batteries?

it's not the remote. if it was then i wouldn't see that "PVR system is busy, please try again" message. or i wouldn't see it flash through 5 or 6 commands once it finally unfreezes itself

[rd_aaron]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

The remote response is slow- but it wasn't always this way. I keep hoping the next update will bring back the glory days!

Yep, it's not the remote... it's the latest firmware update. It was fine before then. Yes, I hope we return to the glory days with the next update (whenever that is).

[Cecil Terwilliger]

It has only been a few days but here are my thoughts coming over from Bell. All comparisons are to Bell.

As you can see there are more complaints than positives but I'm sure I'll see some more positives and frankly even my complaints aren't major ones. Just observations on how I preferred Bell in some areas.

The good:

I really like the menu style. Bell uses bright blue and gray and I wasn't a fan. I also like the PIP even when browsing the guide. It they can get the menu to actually respond it'll be great.

The box is smaller.

The price is far superior. Since Bell doesn't offer internet there is no way to bundle and save money.

Minor positives for programming. HistoryHD and MovietimeHD. Didn't get those with Bell.

The same:

Picture quality, sound aren't better or worse. Pretty much the same which is good.

The bad(ish):

None of the things I don't like are bad enough for me to switch but they have already caused some annoyance.

The menu is slow and unresponsive. Bell was ultra quick. Based on the post above this is a recent change and maybe will be fixed in the next update.

I can only create one guide. On Bell I could have up to 6 different guides. Movies, sports, HD etc. Not only that but it would automatically have All chan, All subs, All HD menus built in. Then I could make another 3 or 4 custom ones (and do it much quicker than with Telus because the Telus menu is so goddamn slow)

The only thing that I actually hate is the channel order. Bell was amazing. In SD and HD it went CBC, CTV, Global, City all together arranged by time zone. Maritimes was 199-208, TO was 210-215, Sask wsa 215-220 and so on (I'm guessing at the exact channels but you get the point. Made it so easy to find programming.) Forgot to set PVR for a program? No biggie I can check the Van channel. On Telus it is so much harder to do that.

Telus is one giant cluster#### when it comes to channel order. With Telus even HBO channels are not next to each other, WTF?

On that note, not enough timeshifted channels. On Bell I think I got an extra CBCHD and also got Comedy East and West, Showcase East and West.

I miss my dual tuner. I used to basically have 2 streams on my TV. I could switch instantaneously between them. Pause one, swith over and watch the second feed. Let the first one sit for half hour, switch back and not watch any commercials.

Worked great when watching sports because I could pause the game, switch to a show or movie during intermission and if when I switched back I intermission was over it was no big deal. All of this was done without actually recording any programs. Bell automatically auto-records up to an hour so I can rewind at any time.

With Telus I'm constantly using the previous channel button. This means if I turn it back from intermission too late, I've missed it and can't rewind. (if there is a way to do what I did with Bell I'm unaware.)

VOD isn't in HD. This isn't a big deal because Bell didn't even have free VOD.

VOD movie rentals can't be PVR'd. Minor annoyance but there was no such restriction with Bell. I could save a movie for months or years.


Totally unrelated but my internet is a very nice speed. Better than Shaw. But that has nothing to do with Bell.

[Madman]

Could you not just push Record on your first show and then switch to your second show? That's all I do.

Oh, how was your installer?

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Madman

Could you not just push Record on your first show and then switch to your second show? That's all I do.

Oh, how was your installer?

That works for sporting events and stuff but I had actually made a habbit of it even just on regular nights so that surf and never actually watch any commercials. I don't like having to record a bunch of stuff then delete it all the time. Especially for 30 minute programs.

For example, I'll often watch a movie on Showcase action, History etc and not want to watch commercials. So I'll pause it then surf on the other feed. Come back after about half an hour and then be able to skip commercials. It isn't a huge inconvenience but I did prefer it on Bell.


I wasn't there for the install and we've had a few problems since but Telus has been pretty helpful. The installer did some follow up and is looking at the issue. The guy at Telus offered a rewire but I told him to hold off as I'm not sure if the problem is systematic yet.

On several TVs I'm getting some lag and freezing not all the time but enough to have me worried. I had a recording I was wacthing just straight up freeze the other night. Also having some issues with the wireless network. My wired PC is fine but the mac is brutally slow.

Telus tech guy is actually showed up at my house to follow up and has been keeping in touch to monitor the issues.