Well my promo months are up with Telus Still just over 1 year left on my contract), and turns out paying them out and switching to Shaw is cheaper for me monthly by a significant amount. Telus' biggest sell point when I called to ask what they could do? "We have 290 channels sir, Shaw only has 200"... for which I replied, Shaw has 2x times your internet speeds for less and I stream all my TV show content... they didn't know what to say to that.
So back to finding a router for myself... time to look into whats hot and whats not. Guess not buying Linksys. Figured Netgear might be worth some checking... you guys have any thoughts?
Look into the current ASUS units, believe it or not I am running their latest stock firmware and it isn't bad. (You can also run DD-WRT or Tomato USB variations on several models)
Higher end Dlink soho units also tend to be good.
Ever thought about a soekris (http://soekris.com/products/net6501.html) running pfSense (http://www.pfsense.org/)?
Little pricey though.
Course shaw is bound to give you one of the SMC modems which comes with a 4 port switch and wifi.
All I have to say is that after having experience my parents Optik TV I'd never switch to Telus, I've never seen such a hard to use system designed for the average couch jockey ever.
The remote layout is awful and the on-screen options are lacking, I mean for me it takes me one or two button clicks to search the listings and find all hockey games, on my parent's remote it's a freaking adventure.
They've started writing down channel numbers FFS.
If you go back to shaw make sure you request a bridged mode connection with no wifi and specify you want the Cisco modem. The SMC is a total POS.
They give you want they give you now for the modem. I asked for the Cisco, but they said what ever the tech has is what you get. I insisted but they gave me the same response. I did get a bridge mode one.
Quote from: Tom on January 30, 2013, 02:39:55 PM
Ever thought about a soekris (http://soekris.com/products/net6501.html) running pfSense (http://www.pfsense.org/)?
Little pricey though.
Course shaw is bound to give you one of the SMC modems which comes with a 4 port switch and wifi.
I am going to run my own Router. I don't want to be spending that for basic home services though - thanks for the idea, and keep them coming.
Optik TV's 16:9-optimized menu layout with mini-preview (shows what's on the channel you're thinking of switching to) is much nicer than Shaw's 4:3-optimized menu.
Optik TV's ability to remember the previous channel's last 30 minutes so you can swap to another channel then back and still rewind your show is nice (Shaw's PVR doesn't do this).
Optik's internet is way slower and affected by your TV viewing. This really sucks in a house where there could be six people streaming Youtube and three people watching TV (yes, my kids will do both at once).
Channel count does not make a package good. It's all about the channel content.
I've never really used the search features on either, I've always just remembered what channel numbers I'm interested in. Optik's search took several button pushes compared to Shaw's, although once I learned where it was I could remember the path. My Harmony remote might've helped me a bit as I used both systems with the same remote, so at least the buttons were familiar.
As for routers, which is what this thread is really about I think, I've used DLink almost exclusively at home and they generally worked well. I did find the configuration UI to be somewhat lacking, but I've always gone for cheaper, low-end routers. I have an SMC modem and use it as my router; it gets rebooted every couple of weeks or so as it seems to freeze up after too much use. I want to switch it to bridged mode but then I'd need to buy a new wireless router and am just not there yet. Although I haven't used them, I've read some good reviews of the newest ASUS routers - everyone talks about being able to change the firmware, though, so I'm surprised to hear Lazy's running stock (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utn5UBC5a2o&feature=youtu.be&t=2m46s) (better vid here: http://video.disney.com/watch/tokyo-mater-4bb39d8bf71dea8833003b15).
Thorin OMG hahahaha god damn
As for routers I'm using a D-Link DIR-655, it's okay, nothing fancy. Some decent routing options but nothing to write home about.
The signal / transfer rate of wireless is very good
Quote from: Mr. Analog on January 30, 2013, 02:40:09 PM
The remote layout is awful and the on-screen options are lacking, I mean for me it takes me one or two button clicks to search the listings and find all hockey games, on my parent's remote it's a freaking adventure.
They've started writing down channel numbers FFS.
Amen to that! I finally sat down one day and watched some tutorial videos, discovered how
easystupid it is to remove channels you don't want -- including the HUNDREDS of un-subscribed ones (no easy way of saying "select all that are NO SIGNAL and remove from surfing range"). There's some "categories" feature but it's really weak too.
Very glad I only have the most basic of channel collections, pretty much evenings watching re-runs of 1990s and 2000s sitcoms, or crime dramas in non-stop reruns like Law & Order [insert suffix here], or movies (got 2 or 3 of the movie channels somehow, lame selection though).
Yay for netflix and the internetz!
Looks like the Shaw Guide is now 16:9 formatted on the Shaw boxes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bDziycni5Fs
I don't use the PVR function of my Telus Optik TV, which is sad I know... but I really don't pause TV shows cause I forget I have the function on the TV. I do with my stored media all the time. Go figure.
I do like the picture in picture and recall picture of the guide on Optik. Guess I'll have to get used to the Shaw one (you know I have NEVER had Shaw cable in all the years I've lived in Edmonton).
This move is completely about Costs btw. Shaw doesn't do contracts, so I can switch back to Telus any time I want. But even sticking with Shaw after there promotion is going to save me over $50 a month in service cost over Telus (even after buying out my contract).
So Asus routers eh... that's two people for that. I'll have to check them out.
LAZY - Does the stock firmware let you do Port Translation with Port Forwards?
Quote from: Darren Dirt on January 30, 2013, 03:32:26 PM
Quote from: Mr. Analog on January 30, 2013, 02:40:09 PM
The remote layout is awful and the on-screen options are lacking, I mean for me it takes me one or two button clicks to search the listings and find all hockey games, on my parent's remote it's a freaking adventure.
They've started writing down channel numbers FFS.
Amen to that! I finally sat down one day and watched some tutorial videos, discovered how easystupid it is to remove channels you don't want -- including the HUNDREDS of un-subscribed ones (no easy way of saying "select all that are NO SIGNAL and remove from surfing range"). There's some "categories" feature but it's really weak too.
Never use stock remotes with anything anymore. All in my Harmony. Always user friendly.
I've heard good things about Asus, Netgear and Buffalo routers as of late. I would not personally recommend Linksys or DLink for routers at this point in time, though its been a long while since I last tried a dlink, but the last three dlink routers I had experience with were absolute crap and at least two of them outright failed, maybe all three. I've had two linksys routers semi recently, one I bought (for much more than it was worth), and the other I got for free. The one I paid for was flaky out of the box, and the free one was just typical cheap consumer router gear (eventually would get unstable after a while, and need a reset).
I would however recommend the fancy UniFi (http://www.ubnt.com/unifi) Wifi APs. I have the Pro, and its durn expensive, but the non pro is reasonable, but doesn't do simultaneous dual band. With the Pro, I get signal at the end of the block. No joke. Useable internet a good couple/few hundred feet away through walls and other buildings.
append: Do you know how many attempts it took to post this before I stopped getting the "other messages were posted" message? >:(
a lot of activity for sure
Yeah, I wouldn't go with D-Link now good lord, as well their driver support is pretty well non-existent which is worrying at times.
My menus are all in 16:9 yeah, the biggest difference I found annoying between Telus and Shaw was the on-screen options, the layout for Shaw are so much nicer, regardless of remote you use with them.
I pause and record TV all the time, if I'm watching the game and someone calls it's so easy to just pause, as well for a lot of mini-series which I'm either too busy to watch or out when they show (Doctor Who usually) I can watch them later at my leisure.
Or when two shows I want to watch are on at the same time :)
I find this very easy on Shaw, I found it somewhat hard to get at some of the features when I was helping my parents set up their Optik TV.
The big advantage they DO have is that they can record a show and watch it on any of their TVs in the house, which is a pretty cool.
I like how the OTA HD, 720p captures on Youtube and various other sites (*cough*bittorrent*cough*) are higher quality than shaw's own channels. Even shaw's HD channels are grainy and blocky.
I really haven't noticed this with either SportsNet or the likes of AMC
CBC HD on the other hand is a joke, a taxpayer subsidized joke.
All of the HD channels they included in my package are a joke. Discovery, HGTV, History, some US networks, local channels, etc. I haven't turned my hd box on in ages.
Hmm, well I watch those channels so infrequently I can't really say. Probably better than the SD feed though.
Quote from: Melbosa on January 30, 2013, 03:34:14 PM
Looks like the Shaw Guide is now 16:9 formatted on the Shaw boxes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bDziycni5Fs
SON OF A B.... So now I have to buy new hardware. The new guide is
way better than the old one. I wonder if they'll do trade-ins.
Quote from: Thorin on January 30, 2013, 03:53:14 PM
Quote from: Melbosa on January 30, 2013, 03:34:14 PM
Looks like the Shaw Guide is now 16:9 formatted on the Shaw boxes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bDziycni5Fs
SON OF A B.... So now I have to buy new hardware. The new guide is way better than the old one. I wonder if they'll do trade-ins.
Hmm... If I wait long enough, my current in-field PVR will be upgraded to it: https://community.shaw.ca/message/4232#4232
Sounds like there are a few problems with the new HD Guide, like shows not getting recorded or lagging when watching: https://community.shaw.ca/thread/2798
So what do you think of this Router: http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX37448
Seems to be getting good reviews around the web. I'm thinking no need for a AC standard Wireless yet, as I would need 2 to even see the transfer speeds (running one in bridge mode) as there aren't any network devices on AC yet. Also all my stuff in the house is wired that needs good speed, so N will be enough for my wireless needs.
I probably won't need 3rd party firmware, but having the option is always nice.
I always like reading negative reviews: http://www.amazon.com/RT-AC66U-Dual-Band-Wireless-AC1750-Gigabit-Router/product-reviews/B008ABOJKS/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_one?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar&showViewpoints=0
"Works great when it works"
Sounds like some hardware quality issues.
Quote from: Melbosa on January 30, 2013, 03:34:14 PM
So Asus routers eh... that's two people for that. I'll have to check them out.
LAZY - Does the stock firmware let you do Port Translation with Port Forwards?
On the current firmware yes you can translate a one external port to another internally.
There are also some torrent and NAS options in the current firmware but I don't use them.
Not that secure but PPTP VPN is also available in the current stock firmware for remote access.
Stock includes the follow features I used to use 3rd party firmware for:
- basic QoS
- dyndns.org support (ip change only not 30 day expiry protection)
- static DHCP
- port forwarding / mapping
Only minor issue is you can't map port 80 externally because it is reserved for the router. This may be a problem so I mention it.
If you can afford it I would suggest trying to get a dual radio unit as N performance is really hampered in mixed G and N environments .
Quote from: Melbosa on January 30, 2013, 04:13:46 PM
So what do you think of this Router: http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX37448
"Separate and Secure Wi-Fi Network via Guest Network Access
The RT-N66U supports up to three wireless networks over the 2.4 GHz band and three over the 5 GHz band, so it can protect computers from any unauthorized access, hacking and virus attacks. The parental control allows you to set up your kids' computer access times."
HOLY COW that would be useful at my house, as I'm constantly adding new MAC addresses to the whitelist as my kids bring friends over with devices that want wifi access.
Quote from: Lazybones on January 30, 2013, 04:36:16 PM
Quote from: Melbosa on January 30, 2013, 03:34:14 PM
So Asus routers eh... that's two people for that. I'll have to check them out.
LAZY - Does the stock firmware let you do Port Translation with Port Forwards?
On the current firmware yes you can translate a one external port to another internally.
There are also some torrent and NAS options in the current firmware but I don't use them.
Not that secure but PPTP VPN is also available in the current stock firmware for remote access.
Stock includes the follow features I used to use 3rd party firmware for:
- basic QoS
- dyndns.org support (ip change only not 30 day expiry protection)
- static DHCP
- port forwarding / mapping
Only minor issue is you can't map port 80 externally because it is reserved for the router. This may be a problem so I mention it.
If you can afford it I would suggest trying to get a dual radio unit as N performance is really hampered in mixed G and N environments .
Have to agree with that. Using my G/N SSID vs my N only SSID, my phone and tablet see 30-50% higher speeds with N only. Oddly the signal strength is lower, but I don't think its low enough to matter, and may just be a quirk of android's signal strength meter.
Ya the rt-66u has good reviews
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/31841-asus-rt-ac66u-80211ac-dual-band-wireless-ac1750-gigabit-router-reviewed
I have the older and cheaper rt-16n I believe they use the same firmware, I haven't checked out all the features since many changes over firmware updates
I can confirm that my RT-N16 appears to have all the same features and I just noticed something new that I had not seen before... It looks like t he iPhone / Android app remote storage function not only works with directly connected USB storage but it can also allow access to SAMBA shares..
- Parental control feature is basically a time of day filter for a given device MAC address.
- There are URL and Port service blocking features in general... note that URL blocking does not work on HTTPS
- there are key word filtering features as well (does not work on HTTPS or sites with HTTP compression enabled)
- Even on the single radio RT-N16 I have the guest access SSID option.
-- Guest access SSID can be open or have its own encryption / password settings
-- Guest access SSID has a option to allow or not allow access to the intranet
-- Guest access SSID has the option to limit TIME of guest connections (not sure how that is enforced but the option is there)
My only complaint with the "current" ASUS firmware is that I can't label my STATIC DHCP entries... so they are a little harder to track... The "Old" ASUS firmware had a lot of annoying things in it but the current UI is nice and clean, and even includes live bandwidth graphs if you want to look at them.
Well I am now on the Shaw... Internet speeds are about 41 to 43 down, almost 3x that of what my Telus was. UP is 2.7 consistently, so that's 2.7x faster than what I had.
The new Shaw TV works just like the Telus TV, so it took a while to setup. The new guide on Shaw is faster to respond and cycle channels than the Telus guide was. It also is customizable to 3 styles: Full Screen, Half Screen with Channel Picture, 1/8 Screen overlay of current TV show. It also has the mini guide at the bottom of the TV (if you wish to change channels with the D Pad buttons).
The phone just works, as I expected it did previously.
Hope you don't suffer any of those reported problems with the new guide. Yeah, the speeds are a fair bit faster. Did you go with Broadband 50? I've been wondering if I should someday switch to Broadband 250, make everything five times faster than three times faster than Telus. Yes, fifteen times faster.
I did get Broadband 50... but that is the theoretical speed they advertise. Not at any client site, nor my own connection, have I seen close to that.
We've used the 250s at Frag last year... we couldn't even get close as we overloaded the node we were on in Leduc. Best speeds we could hope for was 150 per modem; we had 4 modems.
Quote from: Melbosa on February 05, 2013, 03:45:52 PM
I did get Broadband 50... but that is the theoretical speed they advertise. Not at any client site, nor my own connection, have I seen close to that.
We've used the 250s at Frag last year... we couldn't even get close as we overloaded the node we were on in Leduc. Best speeds we could hope for was 150 per modem; we had 4 modems.
Hm, I can see close to 50mbps on my connection. upstream I get about 2.6-2.8 depending (I throttle upstream to about 2.6, so I tend not to see any more than that). I think I've seen 48mbps? Usually I think 45mbps is a good number though. The speed they advertise includes overhead, so you're not ever going to see 50mbps unless you count raw bits transferring over the docsis connection.
just now: (http://www.speedtest.net/result/2488849219.png)
Try it again during peak hours.
Quote from: Mr. Analog on February 05, 2013, 04:06:39 PM
Try it again during peak hours.
Will do ;)
But I don't think it'll get much slower. maybe a couple mbps.
Although I cannot attest to to specific download speeds during peak hours, I can say that I have downloaded the latest episode of a one-hour show (well, 46 minutes or whatever without commercials) in less time than it took me to eat supper. Find download, two minutes, start download, one minute, eat supper, ten minutes, move file to correct place, two minutes, watch show, laugh, stop caring about exact download speeds. At 250 that download might be down to three minutes, not giving me enough time to eat supper...
just now (with my router QoS dissabled because it reserves some of the bandwidth)
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/2488876733.png) (http://www.speedtest.net)
If you are looking for fast downloads there really isn't much point going to higher plans because finding a source or even an aggregated source that can fill a 25Mbit or 50Mbit + connection is REALLY Rare... When you are sharing the connection at home with other users it makes more sense for concurrent use however.
Upload speed and CAP is the true comparison factor for accounts as it makes BIG differences in interactive applications or if you upload to cloud services.
Upload matters BIG TIME to:
- dropbox / Picasa / any online storage service
- Remote desktop (can consume up to 128Kbits/sec)
- VPN
- VoIP (needs to always be free bandwidth in both directions)
- Video sharing / Plex servers viewed remotely
- Moderate impact on P2P (generally allowing a good number of upload slots and bandwidth helps in the Tit for tat calculation or just your RATIO in general on some trackers)
Yeah, the main benefit when going to a higher shaw plan is the higher upload. Some lucky people in edmonton and st. albert already get the 50/5mbps plan, sadly out here where everyone is super cheap, not everyone has switched over to digital cable yet, so they can't reallocate the bandwidth to the internet and hd channels. so all we get is 50/3mbps.
I find connecting peer-to-peer with Swedish users, there's always spare upload on their end. Keep in mind Sweden has easy access to 100/100 plans (yup, same speed both directions).
As for people connected, well, it's not unheard of in this house to have four Youtube streams going for everyone to watch their shows, plus downloads, plus my work connection, plus plus plus all the other things that grind up bandwidth. I used to really notice it on Telus if we were taping one HD stream and watching another, any work uploads or downloads would drop down to very slow (well, still faster than dialup).
Quote from: Thorin on February 05, 2013, 05:26:29 PM
I find connecting peer-to-peer with Swedish users, there's always spare upload on their end. Keep in mind Sweden has easy access to 100/100 plans (yup, same speed both directions).
As for people connected, well, it's not unheard of in this house to have four Youtube streams going for everyone to watch their shows, plus downloads, plus my work connection, plus plus plus all the other things that grind up bandwidth. I used to really notice it on Telus if we were taping one HD stream and watching another, any work uploads or downloads would drop down to very slow (well, still faster than dialup).
Shaw 50 should be enough for those uses easy but you probably need some QoS to prevent a single system from consuming all of the upload bandwidth.
Also regardless of the connection havinnmore than one BitTorrent client on the network can cause problems. Using a client like Transmission or Deluge on a central computer can really help since you can set some reasonable caps on it. QoS per IP or MAC can also work to limit P2P so there isn't saturation.
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/2489067012.png)
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/2489069030.png)
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/2489070379.png)
Here are results from various sites in Edmonton. So I got up there which is nice to see!
I find the terabyte server is the fastest and most consistent server in the area. Telus's is probably the worst. 4web isn't too bad.
I am surprised how high your ping times to the Edmonton servers are.
This is low believe it or not. A couple years ago you were lucky to get below 80ms. Then a bunch of people brought up the issue when they were doing the customer outreach stuff, and the latency dropped to 40-60ms.
In my case, its almost always caused by one of the first shaw routers.
root@lisa:/home/moose# traceroute google.ca -n
traceroute to google.ca (74.125.141.94), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
1 192.168.1.1 0.227 ms 0.379 ms 0.418 ms
2 * * *
3 64.59.185.117 20.294 ms 21.306 ms 22.273 ms
4 66.163.70.38 17.799 ms 18.764 ms 18.760 ms
5 66.163.78.181 35.290 ms 36.256 ms 36.246 ms
6 66.163.76.134 40.901 ms 41.776 ms 41.728 ms
7 72.14.195.246 37.352 ms 26.947 ms 26.996 ms
8 66.249.94.214 28.011 ms 66.249.94.212 29.453 ms 66.249.94.214 28.437 ms
9 66.249.94.197 47.289 ms 66.249.94.199 27.854 ms 66.249.94.197 34.207 ms
10 216.239.46.208 40.146 ms 40.282 ms 37.968 ms
11 64.233.174.127 37.938 ms 64.233.174.125 39.851 ms 64.233.174.99 35.162 ms
12 * * *
13 74.125.141.94 38.224 ms 34.544 ms 34.842 ms
append: everything from #2 through #6 is shaw.
Yeah it has to do with the convergence of Videotron and Shaw infrastructure and the "work" that has been put in over the years as the city has grown. Pretty much the city is one large Patch Job!
For kicks I changed my test server to the Edmonton terrabyte server
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/2489459609.png) (http://www.speedtest.net)
I get better ping times?
You know that song you get when Mario dies in Super Mario Bros 3?
That's what my connection sounds like
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/2489542422.png)
http://youtu.be/ILD89dywYC8
Mr. A, you're still around double what Telus gives. you could always redo yor package and get Broadband 50...
Oddly enough I don't mind this, I mean transfer typically peaks at 2 m/s on the best torrents / game downloads and I don't really suffer for it.
Just compared to everyone else LOL
Quote from: Lazybones on February 06, 2013, 12:04:52 AM
For kicks I changed my test server to the Edmonton terrabyte server
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/2489459609.png) (http://www.speedtest.net)
I get better ping times?
20ms or more of my ping times is on the very first shaw gateway. It's kindof silly, but it always seems to be that way. I don't know what they do with their local nodes. They probably oversubscribe the local nodes by a wide margin, and overload the routers.