Television, Internet and Home Phone Providers

[Berger_4_]

I just moved into a condo in Calgary, and I'd like to know who's giving the best deal, and what the providers are like to deal with...I don't want anything stupidly expensive, but I download and surf the internet quite a bit. I don't think that we'll get a huge tv package, and all we want is the most basic of home phone services.

So, who's the best? Shaw? Bell? Telus? Gimme some tips si vous plait!

[ken0042]

Here's my order of preference:

Price:
Telus
Shaw
Bell (and Bell doesn't offer home phone or normal internet.)

TV Quality
Bell
Shaw
Etch-a-sketch
Telus

Internet Quality
Shaw
Telus

If price is the the big thing for you- go with Telus. The Internet is fine for me even after downgrading from Shaw. All I do is surf and email.

The big thing to get a deal is bundle Phone and Internet, and then after you sign up let them bombard you with "Get our TV for 25¢ per month" requests. This applies to both Shaw and Telus.

You may hear stories about customer service- having had all 3 they all suck big time. Shaw is generally better- but their last stunt was what made me kick them to the curb for good.

[jammies]

Originally Posted by ken0042

TV Quality
Bell
Shaw
Etch-a-sketch
Telus

A friend of mine switched to Telus TV (despite my telling her I heard it was, indeed, a step below Etch-a-sketch) and it actually doesn't look all that bad anymore. I didn't notice any more compression than I get with Shaw, although she didn't get the HD package for her HDTV for some unfathomable reason so I wasn't able to compare anything other than SD signal. The big thing for her was price - she saved about $25 a month over what she was paying to Shaw for tv/net service before.

[yads]

Price wise, Shaw phone lite is a pretty good deal.

[You Need a Thneed]

^And shaw digital phone basic is even cheaper, and still a good deal, if you don't use any of the fancy features anyway.

We have digital cable, high speed internet, and digital phone basic through shaw (with added voicemail and call display), and our payments for all of that together is about $120 a month.

And I've thought Shaw's customer service is pretty good, better than other services I've had to deal with.

[Berger_4_]

Thanks so far guys. We're still using somebody else's internet, and I'm all for keeping on with this as long as I can, but my roommate isn't a huge fan, so we've gotta track something down haha.

One question about cable (never had it before, just satellite). Basically, how's it work? How do people come and install it at your place? Do they just run it through the co-ax cable that's already in the house?