Going back to Shaw from Telus

[Mr. Analog]

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.

[Tom]

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.

[Mr. Analog]

Hmm, well I watch those channels so infrequently I can't really say. Probably better than the SD feed though.

[Thorin]

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.

[Thorin]

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

[Thorin]

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

[Melbosa]

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.

[Mr. Analog]

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.

[Lazybones]

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 .

[Thorin]

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.

[Tom]

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.

[Lazybones]

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

[Lazybones]

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.

[Melbosa]

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.

[Thorin]

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.