Good news everybody!

Tom · May 25, 2011, 09:52:44 PM

No really, it is good news. Shaw has announced their new internet plans and pricing going forward. As well as how they are going to get there.

http://shaw.ca/newpackages/?WT.mc_id=C995A2047S98

That's the new plans. The Phase 1 plans will roll out on June 7th.

As for the Phase 2 plans, those depend on network upgrades. They are killing analog cable above "basic cable". Which frees up a large portion of their bandwidth, and will be appropriating a lot of it for the new 100/250mb plans.

Lazybones · May 25, 2011, 10:28:02 PM

WTF those limits and speeds kinda make sense! Note that the 1Mbit plan is unlimited hehe

Mr. Analog · May 26, 2011, 12:18:25 AM

I'm confused, where's the evil part???

Tom · May 26, 2011, 01:24:09 AM

Quote from: Mr. Analog on May 26, 2011, 12:18:25 AM
I'm confused, where's the evil part???

Thats the funny part. Shaw identifies itself as non evil. They were quite surprised at the backlash, and have tried to correct the mistakes they were making by following the eastern canadian/american ISPs.

Sadly they haven't completely fixed everything. You'll notice that you can't currently get the new Broadband plans without TV. There is just no option to NOT get TV with them.

Lazybones · May 26, 2011, 01:29:19 AM

Quote from: Tom on May 26, 2011, 01:24:09 AM
Sadly they haven't completely fixed everything. You'll notice that you can't currently get the new Broadband plans without TV. There is just no option to NOT get TV with them.

I noticed that, and the price / speed do not line up with the current plans that they are upping the limits on...

however the Phase 2 upload speeds are really impressive, and if you think about it the top plan 250 Mbps/15 Mbps/unlimited is actually impressive if you have ever had to try and price out a connection with upload speeds that high.

Unlimited

Mr. Analog · May 26, 2011, 07:44:31 AM

Hopefully it is actually unlimited and not "unlimited" (as in an arbitrarily high-sounding number that actually isn't that high at all)

Tom · May 26, 2011, 12:05:31 PM

Quote from: Mr. Analog on May 26, 2011, 07:44:31 AM
Hopefully it is actually unlimited and not "unlimited" (as in an arbitrarily high-sounding number that actually isn't that high at all)

Is that arbitrarily high limit you're thinking of anywhere near the 1TB limit on the plan before the unlimited one?

Thorin · May 26, 2011, 12:42:05 PM

They still need to get rid of bandwidth caps, and simply charge people for throughput speed. They're three fourths of the way there now, just need to take that last step. Unlimited for all, pay for speed.

The prices seem pretty high, though. Expect that with the bigger packages you'll be paying in the range of $200 to $300 for Cable, Phone, and Internet bundled. If you truly get the advertised speeds, that's okay because you won't need the bigger packages to get the speed you're getting today. But if they don't manage to actually make, say, the Broadband 50 package twice as fast as the current Extreme package, then it's just good money thrown after bad.

Tom · May 26, 2011, 12:46:09 PM

I really wish they had the option of Bare Broadband 50. Then it should only be like $60-70 and I can deal with that. $89 is a wee much. And I really don't care about thier digital TV service since I can't record a damn thing on it with my own PVR.

Thorin · May 26, 2011, 01:19:59 PM

The Future is the Shaw Gateway.

It allows you to pause a live TV stream on one TV and start it on another. We've got Telus TV, which allows that, and it works very well. The big difference between Telus TV and Shaw Gateway will be the number of live streams you can have coming in - Telus TV advertises that you can have three streams coming in (two HD, although in our area the network is old and we only get one), whereas Shaw Gateway is advertised as capable of six streams (all HD) at the same time.

The idea of "streams" really threw me at first, being used to the old concept of all channels on a single cable and your local device tunes to the correct frequency. With Telus TV and Shaw Gateway, it's basically IPTV, so you just get the programming on the channel you're watching (or recording) sent to your house.

Tom · May 26, 2011, 01:29:05 PM

Eh. I don't want and can't afford to pay for regular TV without being able to use my existing PVR. I deffintely can't afford the full cost of the gateway or home portal's, or even the added rental fee on top of the internet+tv charges.

Not gunna happen. Also, shaw still does all of its Digital TV and VoD/MovieClub stuff over QAM/Digital cable. It has no immediate plans for IPTV. I'm betting the Total Home Portal connects to the Gateway via coax, and streams a single digital signal over that. The Gateway may have wifi support and 4 Ethernet ports, but the portals themselves don't have ethernet. So the only way they can connect is over Wifi or Coax afaik. And I really doubt Wifi G has enough bandwidth for 6 HD video streams. Heck even 2-3 would be pushing it.

Mr. Analog · May 26, 2011, 01:37:47 PM

I think this is an interim step toward a new VOD service (one that doesn't suck ass, that is).

Cable companies have been fools letting Netflix dominate so far and with the closing of the largest national movie rental company (Blockbuster is DONE) now is the time to get a piece of the action.

Melbosa · May 26, 2011, 01:43:51 PM

IPTV through Telus is fantastic IMO. And I still HATE Telus!

/spit

You have no idea how much it hurts to say Telus and Fantastic in the same sentence. Going to go throw-up now.

Mr. Analog · May 26, 2011, 01:48:33 PM

You must now make a pilgrimage to 104 St and 104 Ave and genuflect in front of the sign of the ancients -> http://www.flickr.com/photos/50096214@N04/4756359897/

For ye are lost! LOST!!

Tom · May 26, 2011, 01:58:59 PM

Quote from: Mr. Analog on May 26, 2011, 01:37:47 PM
I think this is an interim step toward a new VOD service (one that doesn't suck ass, that is).

Cable companies have been fools letting Netflix dominate so far and with the closing of the largest national movie rental company (Blockbuster is DONE) now is the time to get a piece of the action.

They talked about thier new MovieClub service a bit. Its starting with 200 movies, including as many first run movies as they can get thier hands on. They also expect to get thier hands on a bunch of new and classic tv shows, depending on being able to make 'reasonable' deals with the tv studios.

Bassically it'll have newer movies than netflix, and get them sooner. But it's limited to a fixed 200 number, apparently something the studios and disributor insisted on. As new movies becom available, older ones will cycle off, depending on the 'window' they got a given movie for.