Which ISP is better: Shaw or Telus?

[Buzzard]

Just curious for an update on the telus vs shaw debate. I'm wondering about telus simply to pick up the free Dell as a second pc for my daughter. I've been with Shaw almost since day one with no problems. We have Shaw phone too with no problems. If I switch though, I'll save a few bux a month, plus end up with a second computer.

[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by Buzzard

Just curious for an update on the telus vs shaw debate. I'm wondering about telus simply to pick up the free Dell as a second pc for my daughter. I've been with Shaw almost since day one with no problems. We have Shaw phone too with no problems. If I switch though, I'll save a few bux a month, plus end up with a second computer.

On Telus you will be on a contract, pay for service calls and get a slower speed/less reliable inet...but if you think all that is worth a crappy Dell then go for it.

[Buzzard]

Originally Posted by kipperfan

On Telus you will be on a contract, pay for service calls and get a slower speed/less reliable inet...but if you think all that is worth a crappy Dell then go for it.

Thankyou for your very well thought out response. Hopefully there is a few more details out there than that. As you may have read in my post, the "crappy" Dell would be for my 7 year old daughter, so the price for that alone would be right in spite of it's crappiness.

[Antithesis]

Not only will you be on a contract you'll be on a three-year contract ... and that computer is not anything special. I'd suggest it might be more worthwhile for you to just go to a used computer place and buy her something from there, if the "free" computer is the motivating factor here for you.

[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by Buzzard

Thankyou for your very well thought out response. Hopefully there is a few more details out there than that. As you may have read in my post, the "crappy" Dell would be for my 7 year old daughter, so the price for that alone would be right in spite of it's crappiness.

It nots about well thought out....its about having worked in the industry and having people complain to me about how they got sucked into Telus for the free stuff only to expierence bad service, pay for service calls and not be able to escape for 3 years...take my oppinion, ignore it, its your call but ask yourself this question....If Telus has such good service why are they giving away free stuff to make you sign up?

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by kipperfan

On Telus you will be on a contract, pay for service calls and get a slower speed/less reliable inet...but if you think all that is worth a crappy Dell then go for it.

I've been on Telus for 5 years, only once needed a service call and there was no charge (and they replaced the modem for free).

[Buzzard]

Point taken.

Strictly looking at it as an outsider though, I'd be more inclined to look at the free stuff as competing for my business, as opposed to them needing to do it in order to compete. As I say, thats looking at it as an uninformed outsider .

[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

I've been on Telus for 5 years, only once needed a service call and there was no charge (and they replaced the modem for free).

If it is strictly a modem failure they will replace for you, as they should, but any other problem including line issues you will have to foot the bill for them to come out and make it right.

[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by Buzzard

Point taken.

Strictly looking at it as an outsider though, I'd be more inclined to look at the free stuff as competing for my business, as opposed to them needing to do it in order to compete. As I say, thats looking at it as an uninformed outsider .

Sure that makes sense. But the fact is as of last May Shaw had more of the market share when looking at Calgary inet customers and I dont think that has changed.

So you would have to ask yourself why, after Telus has been giving away free Ipods, Pc's and other stuff for years why Shaw would have more customers when giving away nothing...the anwser is Telus is nothing but a hassle as an ISP and their product is not comparable to Shaw's.

This being said I have no vested intrest in this debate, I no longer work for Shaw, but have had both ISP's and have been educated on the upsides and downsides of both...quite honestly like a poster above has said get a cheap PC from Future shop or buy used and save yourself a lot of hassle.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by photon

Actually Shaw's increased their limits, 60GB / month on normal and 100GB / month on I-Extreme. Before they used to have no published limit on their bandwidth for their normal package (i.e. they would cut you off at some random number, usually between 20-30GB).

Tick, tick, tick, tick....

That's the sound of my harddrive as I increase the number of torrents from queued to started.

Shaw all the way. I would switch to Telus for a huge Samsung TV, a Jeep Wrangler, and a Mac Pro.

[photon]

My friend has been trying to quit Telus Internet for a while now.. they keep sending him bills for a service that was supposed to be disconnected months ago, and then send him letters threatening to disconnect a service he's trying to get rid of!

While I don't hold any illusions that Shaw is this awesome company, they're a lot better than Telus IMO. Plus the speeds are much better (that's not important to everyone though).

[boobaloo]

We've been with shaw 3 times, and the speed's ok until everyone comes home from work and turns their computers on. Then you may as well have dial-up. How many people complaining about Telus have their basic and/or long distance service with them? You really can't blame them for not providing good service to customers with no loyalty. We've kept all our phone service with them as well as the internet and have received nothing but great service from them in return. And the connection has been nothing but steady since we got it. With 2 computers hooked up to it. Yeah, it may cost a little more for the phone service, but you get what you pay for.

[photon]

Originally Posted by boobaloo

We've been with shaw 3 times, and the speed's ok until everyone comes home from work and turns their computers on. Then you may as well have dial-up. How many people complaining about Telus have their basic and/or long distance service with them? You really can't blame them for not providing good service to customers with no loyalty. We've kept all our phone service with them as well as the internet and have received nothing but great service from them in return. And the connection has been nothing but steady since we got it. With 2 computers hooked up to it. Yeah, it may cost a little more for the phone service, but you get what you pay for.

The whole shared bandwidth myth is just that; a myth. Everyone shares bandwidth, it's just a function of where the internet tubes join.

And yes you can blame them for not providing service to customers with "no loyalty"! What kind of crap is that? So to expect the service that is paid for I have to be loyal too? They have no loyalty to their customers, they'll offer new customers much better deals than existing ones. So why should I have loyalty? Companies that give me good service get my loyalty; Telus has demonstrated dozens if not hundreds of times to me they do not deserve my business.

In reality 90% of customers from either Telus or Shaw have flawless, uninterrupted service. It boils down to who you've had a good customer service experience with, and what your needs are. Need lots of bandwidth, Shaw. Used to be if you wanted unlimited transfer, Telus was the way to go, though I believe they've changed that now.

[Fire]

Just saw this on the Shaw web-site: Shaw High-Speed Nitro http://www.shaw.ca/en-ca/ProductsSer...ighSpeedNitro/
Up to 25Mb, 150 GB limit, but $99.95 per month.

You must be a big time downloader to make this purchase worth it.

Has anyone tried it?

[Buzzard]

Originally Posted by kipperfan

Sure that makes sense. But the fact is as of last May Shaw had more of the market share when looking at Calgary inet customers and I dont think that has changed.

So you would have to ask yourself why, after Telus has been giving away free Ipods, Pc's and other stuff for years why Shaw would have more customers when giving away nothing...the anwser is Telus is nothing but a hassle as an ISP and their product is not comparable to Shaw's.

This being said I have no vested intrest in this debate, I no longer work for Shaw, but have had both ISP's and have been educated on the upsides and downsides of both...quite honestly like a poster above has said get a cheap PC from Future shop or buy used and save yourself a lot of hassle.

Yup...I'm pretty convinced now. After hearing the telus complaints here, and problems the neighbors have had with telus, I think I'll stay with Shaw. I've had absolutley zero problems with internet and phone service so no sense switching for all they're offering. I'm also reminded of some of the hassles with telus we had when using their phone service. I do remember paying for any kind of service call, unless it was their problem.

I was unaware they've been giving stuff previous to the Dell. I thought this was a new offer to compete with Shaw. A tricky way to get business, as it obviously did get my attention, but as someone mentioned, for all a cheap pc is worth these days, better off buying one. Now, if they were offering a 52 inch Sharp LCD....the dark side may look pretty bright !!

[habernac]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

I've been on Telus for 5 years, only once needed a service call and there was no charge (and they replaced the modem for free).

I had line issues at my new house last year, service call didn't cost anything, they fixed the noise on my line, gave me a dedicated line for my modem AND replaced the modem. No charge. I've had zero issues with Telus.