Alternatives to Shaw and TELUS

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Alternatives to Shaw and TELUS

Postby Tom Jeffries » Fri Aug 12, 2016 10:07 am

Shaw is too expensive. I hate their service. Suggestions? TELUS?
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Re: CBC Cable 3 off air in Vancouver (on Shaw)

Postby kal » Fri Aug 12, 2016 2:48 pm

What specifically is it that you hate about their service?

A word of caution about Telus plans. The company is very aggressive at courting new customers with promo pricing. In my municipality they even managed to get an exemption from the no-door-to-door solicitation by-law. Imagine that! After the promo pricing it can be quite a shock to people who don't check carefully ahead of time.

Anyone using OTA TV? You can get about six channels here in the lower mainland. There is also a Canadian company (TabloTV.com) that makes a PVR for OTA reception. Of course you are limited to OTA broadcasters, so forget the TSNs and CNNs. And digital/HD OTA reception is an all or nothing technology. You might get a channel but a neighbour down the block might not.

I suggest giving a try of Shaw's $25 plan. By all means pay to add on a CNN (that's what I did). It's actually pretty good. Previously I had every non-pay channel offered by Shaw. I really don't miss the channels I've lost (well, I miss Frame and BC1). Shaw's plan includes the American channels. Telus refuses to include them. The CRTC specification for $25 TV makes the 4+1 American channel optional. Shaw exercised the option. Naturally I cut my bill drastically. I put half of what I saved into upgraded Internet bandwidth.

I subscribe to Netflix but am considering abandoning it as the war against proxy services has made it difficult to watch Netflix Italia and Netflix France (my favourites). A Vancouver Island company, borderlessinternet.com, has been leading quite a charge against geo-blocking. They were pretty much the last proxy service left standing when Netflix ramped up its fight with the proxy companies.
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Re: CBC Cable 3 off air in Vancouver (on Shaw)

Postby Howaboutthat » Fri Aug 12, 2016 8:02 pm

Tom Jeffries wrote:Shaw is too expensive. I hate their service. Suggestions? TELUS?


Someone on here keeps talking about having a Plan B.
Maybe you should listen to that person.
Houston, We're dealing with morons!.
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Re: Alternatives to Shaw and TELUS

Postby jon » Mon Aug 29, 2016 1:31 pm

When I first read Tom's comment, I did a little looking around and quickly realized that getting local TV where OTA (Over The Air) reception isn't feasible does not leave you a lot of choices. In fact, at that time, I could not find anyone but Shaw and TELUS who provide local Edmonton channels to those of us who live in Edmonton.

Yesterday, as I noticed my $117 monthly bill from Shaw, with no TV at all, and the minimum phone and Internet for my needs, I decided to look at my alternatives. Earlier today, while checking out phone and Internet offerings, I finally found someone who seems to provide local TV service: vmedia.ca.

I'm not sure that I would call it a "catch", but you need to switch to their Internet service to get their TV service. Prices seem competitive with the third parties, and the total monthly price is much cheaper than TELUS and Shaw, even factoring in the upfront cost for the Internet modem.

For my own purposes, it is my landline telephone requirements that it seems that only Shaw and TELUS currently provide in my area. My Home Security provider, ADT, requires a true landline, not a public Internet-based equivalent, or I have to install a dedicated cell phone service as backup for my home security system. I also want a landline for its superior reliability, especially during a disaster, and better 911 service.

Were I to make the decision today, I would opt for TELUS for a landline because it is $7 cheaper than Shaw for minimum with Voice Mail. Plus, I am still free to choose Cable or DSL Internet from a third party, as choosing Shaw would leave me only DSL from a third party. For Internet, I would choose vmedia, only because it is the only one (besides Shaw and TELUS) that would allow me to add local TV in the future. My Shaw $117 bill would be replaced by a total bill of $79, plus $150 in up-front costs, which equates to $4/month over 3 years. Total savings: $34/month.

I'll update this post if I find any other possibilities.
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Re: Alternatives to Shaw and TELUS

Postby Tom Jeffries » Mon Aug 29, 2016 3:10 pm

Thanks, Jon.
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Re: Alternatives to Shaw and TELUS

Postby Mike Cleaver » Mon Aug 29, 2016 4:59 pm

What works for me is Shaw's 25 dollar plan plus a movie package for a total of 32 dollars tax in a month.
I have a Telus land line for dedicated phone service and Internet from Teksavvy.
The phone line is 26 bucks tax in and Teksavvy is 49 bucks tax in for 15/1 with a 300gb cap but unlimited downloads overnight from 12am - 8am Eastern.
We have two cell phone accounts, both pay as you go but with different carriers used for messaging only.
We use desktop computers and tablets at home and use Hangouts for LD calls.
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Re: Alternatives to Shaw and TELUS

Postby Neumann Sennheiser » Mon Aug 29, 2016 6:06 pm

Free use of WiFi included in my rent of the house.
I pay 16 a month for access to HBO.
Piggy-back legally on a relative's Netflix account and stream all that and everything else available for free (like PBS) through an AppleTV device that purchased refurbished from Best Buy for 40 bucks.
I have more than I have time to watch for less than 20 bucks per month.
The only sports I have an interest in is Seahawk's football so with the season about to start, I'll do what I've done for the last two years and catch the games at the local favorite sports bar which is really a lot more fun than sitting at home anyway.
"You don't know man! I was in radio man! I've seen things you wouldn't believe!"
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Re: Alternatives to Shaw and TELUS

Postby kal » Mon Aug 29, 2016 11:01 pm

Here in the Vancouver area my bill is as follows:

Telus landline: $20/month
Shaw Internet 60: $95/month but switching to Internet 150 at $80/month (2-y commitment)
Shaw basic TV: $25/month
TV add-on: CNN/BBC/MSNBC $6/month

Other add-ons: Netflix, Google Music, Deezer Music

Had a VPN service (Witopia) but Netflix has been pretty good at blocking all the VPNs. Waiting to see if BorderlessInternet.com in Nanaimo can once again get around the Netflix blocks. Otherwise use free TunnelBear VPN to get to my Pandora account.

Car add-on: Sirius XM: $5/month.

Have tried OTA. 5-6 channels but too much fiddling.

Shaw service has been pretty good over the many years I've had it (since it was Rogers actually).
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Re: Alternatives to Shaw and TELUS

Postby kal » Fri Sep 02, 2016 2:38 pm

Shaw appears to have a winner in its WideOpen Internet 150 plan. Shaw stores in the Vancouver area have signs that they are out of the Hitron modems used for this service.
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Re: Alternatives to Shaw and TELUS

Postby jon » Fri Sep 02, 2016 9:03 pm

Here's a switch: on 150Mbps Internet, you need (to get a decent price) a 2 year contract at Shaw, but no contract with TELUS!

Here are the details.

TELUS:
150Mbps Download
150Mbps Upload
1TB per month data
includes Wi-Fi modem rental
$80/month in a bundle or $85/month all alone, with price subject to change without notice
if you are new to TELUS for Internet, $42/month for the first three months
BUT only in areas served by TELUS fibre on to your premises

Shaw:
150Mbps Download
15Mbps Upload
1TB per month data
includes Wi-Fi modem rental
$79.90/month on a two year contract, then $135/month after that
The contract requires you have at least Internet 15 for the life of the contract, or pay $15/month on remaining months to break the contract
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Re: Alternatives to Shaw and TELUS

Postby kal » Sat Sep 03, 2016 12:12 am

That's new information Jon. Thanks for posting this. When I last checked the Telus fibre offering here was around 120/50 so this is a jump upwards, and the price appears to have been lowered to match the Shaw pricing. I'm in the only Greater Vancouver suburb with Telus fibre. I can't even get Telus fibfre at my Vancouver workplace. The limit there is still 50 megabit.

It's going to be quite a fight between these two companies.

One annoying aspect to dealing with Telus: the company refuses to promote, or even acknowledge its $25 TV plan and it will not include the five American networks in that plan (unlike Shaw).
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Re: Alternatives to Shaw and TELUS

Postby jon » Sat Sep 03, 2016 7:44 am

kal wrote:One annoying aspect to dealing with Telus: the company refuses to promote, or even acknowledge its $25 TV plan and it will not include the five American networks in that plan (unlike Shaw).

If you want cheap TV, VMedia offers TheSkinny for $17.95. Go to http://www.vmedia.ca/en/tv and click BC on the right of the top menu bar.

You must have VMedia Internet, which mean Cable in B.C. Maximum is 120/10 for $124.95/month.

My point, however, is that you can mix and match and often do better than one-stop shopping. In your case, for example, you could go TELUS for phone and Internet, and Shaw for TV.
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Re: Alternatives to Shaw and TELUS

Postby tuned » Sat Sep 03, 2016 8:14 am

$135 bucks a month for internet no matter how fast is outrageous. Cable is dying and so now they are ripping us off big time for internet access. Part of the reason cable is dying is because the same crooks that rip us off for internet now also own all the cable channels where they jacked up the number of ads exponentially. The only people that benefit from any of it are the shareholders of Shaw, Rogers and Telus. The internet has become a utility and should be regulated as such. Imagine if Rogers, Shaw or Telus controlled your electricity or your water.
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Re: Alternatives to Shaw and TELUS

Postby jon » Sat Sep 03, 2016 8:33 am

I think that, historically, Regulated Monopolies have worked well in this country during periods when they were actively ("heavily"?) regulated with the consumer in mind.

In the case of the Internet, it is really the two "wires" (telephone and cable TV) that enter your home that are the utility that needs to be regulated as the monopoly that it is. I feel that the CRTC has been much too slow on that front. Often Decades too slow, as in how long it took them to get third parties affordable access to cable TV coax. I have not looked in detail at the pricing these third parties get from TELUS, Shaw and the rest, but it seems to be working somewhat as there are certainly enough third parties offering DSL and Cable Internet on those TELUS and Shaw-owned "wires" into your home.

The key area that is not yet open and where the CRTC is currently dragging their feet is Fibre. They seem to have swallowed the argument that the Fibre networks won't get built unless the guys who build them have exclusive access for a significant period of time after. It is as if the CRTC is confusing telcos and cable companies with large drug companies who spend billions developing a new miracle drug that won't provide them with any income once generics are allowed. Third parties don't get on the Shaw and TELUS infrastructures for free; they pay prices that still provide nice profits for Shaw and TELUS.
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Re: Alternatives to Shaw and TELUS

Postby tuned » Sat Sep 03, 2016 11:13 am

The CRTC is nothing but a handmaiden to Rogers, Telus etc. Every once in a while they have to throw the peasants a bone but make no mistake, the CRTC is not there for your benefit.
Even why they try to do something for consumers they screw it up. A prime is example is when they got involved in cel phone contracts. Prior to the bureaucrats getting get their fat fingers into the pie I was able to buy US roaming from Rogers for ten bucks a month. For that fee I was able to "roam like home" and use my data bucket in either Canada or the US without an extra charges. People that didn't sign up for it got royally hosed when they crossed the border but that was their own fault. The CRTC "took action" and guess what? They made things worse. My ten dollar option disappeared and it changed to a mess of "travel packs" and finally the biggest rip off of all "roam like home" or should I say, get "hosed just like at home". I have to give them credit for having the balls to advertise and promote it like they were doing customers a favor. WIND came along and I managed to get an even better deal which I still have although I'm sure my plan is on life support now that Shaw owns them. I will give the CRTC credit for trying to bring some competition into the cel phone industry but their efforts on the internet side are woefully inadequate. The skinny bundle is a prime example of much clout the CRTC doesn't have. Telus has basically told them to pound salt on it. They could have forced the cable co's to include the US channels when they damn well know that's a large reason that people buy cable in the first place. So why didn't they? I'm not holding my breath that "pick and pay" will be any more of a win for consumers. Besides it's really too little too late. The cable "channel" business is dying since no one under 30 is remotely interested in their "product" or a free TV for that matter.
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