Switched from Shaw to Telus: First Impressions

[wireless]

After being a Shaw tv customer for over 18yrs, I finally bit the bullet and switched to the green team. I have been using the Arris Gateway on Shaw since it came out. Current setup is Optik TV with 4k PVR, and wireless 4K boxes, Pick 6 and Internet 300.

First Impressions:

1. Switching channels is lightning fast compared to the Gateway. No more lag and waiting for channel to switch. Its instantaneous.
2. Setting up recordings on Optik is way easier. Just press record once for a single recording, or twice for series recording. The one thing i find unusual is the recordings start before the show starts, and ends a minute or so after. Not a big deal but a little annoying when u need to skip forward on every show at the beginning just to get to the show. Telus should sync their start times with the networks better.
3. It seems like Telus cheaped out a little on their hardware. No time or channel display on the front of the box. Just a single green dot to show its on, and a wifi symbol on the wireless boxes. It was convenient to have a time display.
4. The remote control has no backlighting. I watch a lot of tv in bed or in low light. Its impossible to tell what buttons are what. They all feel the same. I am frequently pressing the "1" instead of the volume down. Can you use a aftermarket remote like the Harmony or does Telus offer a different remote?
5. When setting up a series recording, it defaults to "new and repeats". There is no master setting so you need to go into every new series recording and change this manually.
6. Three of the four tvs are hardwired via Cat6, and one is on wifi. Even on the second floor and about 45 ft away from the modem, the wifi box gets 4-5 bars all the time. No lag at all.

As for the internet, I have been a Shaw internet customer for most of the last 18yrs, but occasionally switched to Telus if a deal came up. Currently setup with Internet 300/300. Ping is 1, and down/uploads are over 300mbs. I am a gamer and have always had issues with bad ping and speed issues with Shaw internet. In the evenings when everyone is home, the neighborhood gets bogged down and connection speeds drop. I have never had any connection or speed issues with Telus.

Shaw offered pretty much the same pricing as Telus but the deciding factors were:

1. More channels (Pick 6 vs Small tv 5). Way more HD channels and 4k channels
2. Faster Upload speeds. (Shaw 30mbs vs Telus 300mbs)

The two things that scared me from changing to Telus were the long wait times when trying to get technical help. The online chat frequently has a que over 50, and hold times are over an hour. The second thing was the learning curve of using the new hardware and relearning all the channels.

If Shaw had 4K content on Bluesky TV and faster upload speeds, I don't think I would of switched. Their customer service has been top notch and I can always get a hold of someone in less than 20minutes.

Cheers


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