Shaw Internet - Magical New Speeds and Lots-o-bandwidth, fickle geeks appeased

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

Does anyone know if uploads count toward the cap as well? I'd imagine that they would, even though uploads are severely throttled as it is.

Yep. The current chart shows uploads, download and totals.

Originally Posted by llama64

Just got of the phone with Shaw...

Their support people had no idea what I was talking about when I asked about a bandwidth meter. Apparently they think it's ok to only inform you that you've gone over AFTER you've gone over.

In order to get a current bandwidth reading you need to call into tech support, get bounced around until you land in the right department and ask them. No utility/service is provided.

Shaw is full of horse####.

Call back and talk to someone else then.

I talked with a friend from Shaw this morning after reading this thread and she confirmed that not only do they have it, but that they are going to be releasing the new version which is easier to read in the near future.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by photon

Yeah so for Netflix, 75GB / 3GB = 25 movies, almost one per day, which seems like a lot to me.

Though if people are using Netflix to replace their TV and some people watch hours and hours of TV per day, it's not hard to see someone running past their cap fairly easily.

And that's not including other Internet usage, but normal web browsing doesn't use much at all, and if you use a lot downloading torrents, you already know you use a lot.

For me, in November I tried seeing if I could live without cable as an experiment when my PVR died. My family's Netflix usage, combined with my internet usage and my offsite backup put me well over (pretty much double) my 125 GB limit.

It was kind of a strange month, because I had just added about 50GB of files to my online backup, and the bulk of them were uploaded in that time. There was also streaming/downloading from other sources to watch the stuff that we lost when then PVR died, so that didn't help.

A normal family, even one with heavy internet use, should never have a problem with bandwidth unless they are using netflix or torrenting. Even then, you just need to be smart about it.

[ma-skis.com]

Originally Posted by Rathji

For me, in November I tried seeing if I could live without cable as an experiment when my PVR died. My family's Netflix usage, combined with my internet usage and my offsite backup put me well over (pretty much double) my 125 GB limit.

The only thing that keeps me from cancelling my cable outright is flames hockey, if there was a way for me to get HD flames without having to pay for basic cable and the HD channels, it'd do it in a heartbeat, most of the channels aren't even looked at anyways.

Pretty much every April (unfortuantely) I end up cancelling my cable until October.

Personally I'd like to see something where rather than phone, cable and internet, you just pay one cost for total bandwidth utilized. For example, is a long distance phone call really something worth charging for specifcally anymore? But I like the simplicity of one bill for one thing rather than all of these packages for different things.

[ma-skis.com]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

How about instead of charging me for internet over usage, you stop charging me for channels 1-200 since I don't think I've watched more than 6 hours of SDTV in the last 12 months.

I think you can go right down to basic cable with shaw, I have 1-22 for my SD channels and none of those special tiers of since my understanding is you have to have some kind of SD channel package, so I think you can at least get rid of 22 - 197 i believe

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by ma-skis.com

I think you can go right down to basic cable with shaw, I have 1-22 for my SD channels and none of those special tiers of since my understanding is you have to have some kind of SD channel package, so I think you can at least get rid of 22 - 197 i believe

This sounds appealing. I watch the HD channels plus an occasional digital add-on channel (Fox Sports, BBC, Aux, for example). All of this is "add-on" content and I could survive quite nicely without all of the rest of it. I'm a pretty light TV watcher to begin with, and I already have more stuff on my PVR than I'll be able to watch in this lifetime.

Has anyone done this? What's the cost work out to?

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by ma-skis.com

I think you can go right down to basic cable with shaw, I have 1-22 for my SD channels and none of those special tiers of since my understanding is you have to have some kind of SD channel package, so I think you can at least get rid of 22 - 197 i believe

I guess for "basic cable" people, channel 200-240 are HD channels, and I watch those all the time.

The problem is, from what I understand, is in order for me to get TSNHD I not only pay $11 for my HD Plus package, but I have to buy tier 3 basic cable, or whatever it is.

That's bulls***, I could care less if I don't get Peachtree TV or Vision or any of that other junk.

Someone more tech saavy than I can probably clarify, but as I understand it, cable works on a pipe system whereby all channels are "in the pipe" so to speak at any given time where as satelite and even TELUS TV (the old one anyway) "fetched" the channel as you click on it.

If this is true, isn't a large amount of the bandwidth coming into my house being consumed by crap I don't even use, how does that make sense?

What's also insane is analog cable apparently takes up nearly as much as HD, which makes me wonder why we don't dump analog all together.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

I guess for "basic cable" people, channel 200-240 are HD channels, and I watch those all the time.

The problem is, from what I understand, is in order for me to get TSNHD I not only pay $11 for my HD Plus package, but I have to buy tier 3 basic cable, or whatever it is.

That's bulls***, I could care less if I don't get Peachtree TV or Vision or any of that other junk.

Someone more tech saavy than I can probably clarify, but as I understand it, cable works on a pipe system whereby all channels are "in the pipe" so to speak at any given time where as satelite and even TELUS TV (the old one anyway) "fetched" the channel as you click on it.

If this is true, isn't a large amount of the bandwidth coming into my house being consumed by crap I don't even use, how does that make sense?

What's also insane is analog cable apparently takes up nearly as much as HD, which makes me wonder why we don't dump analog all together.

I could be wrong (or perhaps I got the sales guy of the year when I called), but I don't think you need tier 3 for tsnhd. I have basic with HD plus and the hd sports channels.

It actually works out strangely as I have TSN, TSNHD and SNHD, but not Sportsnet Standard. This normally wouldn't be an issue except that my upstairs tv doesn't have the hd box so I can't watch sportsnetHD on it. That means any game that's on Sportsnet can't be watched upstairs. In order to add this channel, I'd have to pay $16/month extra because of the awesome tiered system.

[Tinordi]

Blame the CRTC for the tiered system. They are against consumers paying for the channels they want because that would mean that most of the Canadian content channels would go under. So they lump them into tiers that you can't avoid.

[Hack&Lube]

Any recommendations for an alternative residential ISP in Calgary that isn't the BS Shaw/Telus/Bell monopoly flavor?

[sclitheroe]

For all the people complaining - are you complaining because you know you are routinely exceeding the existing caps, or know you will exceed the new caps?

[La Flames Fan]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

For all the people complaining - are you complaining because you know you are routinely exceeding the existing caps, or know you will exceed the new caps?

Neither.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

For all the people complaining - are you complaining because you know you are routinely exceeding the existing caps, or know you will exceed the new caps?

I know I am around the 100GB/month provided to me currently on Xtreme which used to be 125GB/month usage. There's a new resident in the house as well which adds to the load.

Also, I am just infuriated by the whole thing and how the CRTC is keeping Canadian telecommunications in the anticompetitive stone-age.

http://www.canadianisp.ca/cgi-bin/ispsearch.cgi shows 40 ISPs available to Calgary, some offering 200GB to unlimited usage for under $40 a month for residential services. Most are in the 6-10 Mbps speeds but I will gladly sacrifice speed for more leeway than Shaw in terms of download limits.

[Prototype]

I think I'm more pissed that I had to find out about this over Calgary Puck, than directly from Shaw themselves.

What is the actual limit they are capping us at?

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Prototype

I think I'm more pissed that I had to find out about this over Calgary Puck, than directly from Shaw themselves.

What is the actual limit they are capping us at?

See 3rd post.

Lite 13GB -> 15GB ($2/GB overages)
High Speed 75GB ($2/GB overages)
Xtreme 125GB -> 100GB ($1/GB overages)
Warp 250GB -> 175GB ($1/GB overages)
Nitro 500GB -> 350GB ($1/GB overages)

[Prototype]

Looks like High Speed is actually getting a bump. According to Shaw.ca, it's only 60G.

[LockedOut]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Any recommendations for an alternative residential ISP in Calgary that isn't the BS Shaw/Telus/Bell monopoly flavor?

I use Teksavvy which uses Telus phone lines. It's $35.95 for 200 GB/month and unlimited for $10 more/month.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

For all the people complaining - are you complaining because you know you are routinely exceeding the existing caps, or know you will exceed the new caps?

I'm complaining because I have no idea how much I actually use and I don't like being capped.

To be honest, right now this doesn't seem like a big deal, but with programs like netflix, appletv and the like getting more traction 60GB doesn't seem like a lot.

And to be clear, I don't use torrents, I do use netflix and itunes.

Also, I don't play a lot of video games but how much bandwidth does playing games like Halo etc... consume?

[Russic]

Starting to wonder if we find a viable alternative if I can get Shaw to bump me up an internet level.

[Tinordi]

The bottom line is that this is arbitrary, regressive and anti-competitive. Arbitrary because download caps aren't really the solution to capacity issues and who picks the GB limits for the various plans and what the overage charges cost? Regressive because in this day and age with falling per unit costs for bandwidth we should be supplying more not less. Regressive because this will stymie innovation in the sector and ultimately reduce peoples' choices for no good reason. And anti-competitive because there are no market forces guiding this action. This is the work of monopolists who see both revenue growth potential from UBB and a way to pre-emptively protect their other business ventures against increasing innovation.

[zamler]

Looking at the Telus page, they show bundles but they want a 3 year contract? I'd like to get away from Shaw but there is no way I'm going to tie myself up for 3 years into something I have no experience with.

Suggestions? I REALLY want to dump Shaw, I have them for everything, phone, Internet, TV.