Shaw Internet and Home Phone complaint and rant thread

[jasonbyers7]

My Shaw home phone as of yesterday is acting up. (Past 2yrs no issues)
I can hear the person on the other end just fine, but I sound like a robot or just a bunch of garbly digital noise.
My internet is just fine.
I used a wired phone just to make sure it wasn't the cordless and same result.
I also rebooted my phone terminal and no change.
I went online to shaw's webpage under support. I was able to "chat" in an online window with Shaw customer support.
The guy asked me to check the connections and also plug a phone into telephone port 1 to test.
Same results, they are sending a tech next Monday.

Has anyone else had a similar issue??

[57]

Not sure if you're aware, but Shaw had a fire recently and they may be recovering from that or switchovers to different/new equipment may cause glitches.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=155063

[jasonbyers7]

Their were 2 Shaw trucks in my neighbourhood yesterday. I talk to one of the techs and they were tracking down the problem as everyone was being affected.
I checked in the evening and my phone was back to normal.

[hwy19man]

Anybody having phone problems right now in the Victoria area? Local calling is having problems but long distance is working. Very strange, phoning the operator, I was told that they are aware of the problem but do not know the source of it.

[Nighthawk 1]

Originally Posted by hwy19man

Anybody having phone problems right now in the Victoria area? Local calling is having problems but long distance is working. Very strange, phoning the operator, I was told that they are aware of the problem but do not know the source of it.

Having problems as well. I did the concierge chat and was told a switch was out of order and they were repairing it. I just had a spam call and tried to block it using the last number call block feature and it said I did not have the capability for my phone---so obviously problems continue.

[ssbtech]

Shaw is now marking thread reply emails from DHC as "Shaw Suspected Junk Email"

[envirogeek]

I've already sent an Email to tech support asking if this relates to the launch of their new discussion group.

When I've got some time and I'm in the mood to be read a script I'll contact Shaw by Chat.

[Kritiker]

Shaw's junk mail filter has marked some of Shaw's own promo messages to me as junk. This happened after the third or fourth identical (or near identical?) message.

Remember Hanlon's (Heinlein's) Razor (and the original quotes by Göthe and Napoleon),

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

I'd guess Shaw's junk mail filter is following some rule(s) and the messages to which you refer are just getting caught.

It also produces other false positives as well as false negatives. That's why I only let Shaw's filter mark the junk instead of simply deleting it.

[GamerGuy]

Wait, Shaw spam is a false positive? Sounds like it's working as intended.

[dijikul]

Below is a letter I've just submitted to the Step 1 contact address on Shaw's Customer Service Advocacy page. It outlines the technical details I've gathered in troubleshooting speeds not as advertised after switching from Broadband 50 to Broadband 100.

As per Shaw's Compare Packages page, Broadband 50 offers up to 5 meg up while Broadband 100 offers up to 10. Shaw advertises these as theoretical maximums, based on regular usage of shared network infrastructure. To understand what's been discovered, you must first understand the cable modem boot process:

Stage 1: When you boot up a cable modem, it starts scanning for different downstream channels from the CMTS (Cable Modem Termination System). After locking in the downstream frequencies, it scans and registers the upstream frequencies.

Stage 2: The cable modem then sends a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DCHP) request to the CMTS located at your ISP. If successful, the service provider’s CMTS gives the cable modem an IP address.

Stage 3: After getting an IP address from the ISP, the cable modem gets onfiguration files via TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol). The configuration files contain services you are allowed to access like IPTV and your Internet access speeds.

Shaw installation technicians have access to something called RSC Tools that allows them to check the configuration settings pushed from the TFTP Server to a modem based on a lookup on it's MAC address.

Here's what my modems RSC Tools lookup looked like on Broadband 100.

Here's the letter I just wrote to Shaw's Resolution team:

I just moved, and in doing so upgraded from Broadband 50 to the Broadband 100 for the double potential upload speed, as per your advertising here: http://shaw.ca/Internet/Compare-Plans/

I was impressed by the ability to have the installer arrive not 2 hours after we moved in- I had the modem ready and he got me excited when he showed me his signal meter reading almost no interference from our neighbors, due to the fact that our entire complex is a free-Telus complex, and we get complete Telus service free for one year as part of our move in package.

I _choose_ to pay almost $1000 for the next year of internet, when I could have internet for free from Telus, because I appreciate the customer service and technical advantage Shaw offers. My decision to upgrade to Broadband 100 was based completely on upload capacity, and when I was only seeing 4.8 Mbps, I was concerned, and asked a friend of mine who's a Shaw installer to take a peek to see if he could do.

What he found when he logged into his RSC Tools was that while I was paying for potential 10 Mbps upload, my modem had it's Upstream Provisioned Primary Bit Rate set to 5,120,000 by the policy pushed by the Docsis server.
I've contacted technical support several times and they ask me to perform speed tests without acknowledging that there's a configuration limitation being pushed to the modem itself -- insisting I connect directly to the modem, circumventing the router, in which both times I've played along to jump through the escalation hoops, the connection wasn't re-established in time to re-connect the chat session, increasing frustration because of having to start over and talk to a different support rep. Each time, their scripted response completely deflects the issue I'm trying to describe, due to them not having access to the RSC Tools interface, so they can't see what I've seen -- That the docsis server's policy for Broadband 100 is not configured to support the 10 Mbps advertised on your website.

One technical support representative was informative enough to explain that, because the Broadband 250 wasn't yet available in my area, the capacity for the neighborhood hub wasn't supportive of the 10 Mbps upstream. While this might be true, I thought, ok, so 5 Mbps is the upload limit, so I'll downgrade to tbe Broadband 50 if it's not possible for 10 Meg up -- it's a reason I dont understand, but it's a reason, and it acknowledged my concern.

On my third contact to support, after having to almost fight with the technical service rep to insist that speed testing directly connected to the modem without the router in the way wouldn't make any difference based on the 'Upstream Provisioned Primary Bit Rate' (as per the RSC Tools page), I finally managed to convince him to just change my plan back to the BB 50.

Low and behold, my Upstream Provisioned Primary Bit Rate is now set to 3,072,000...


There are three scenarios that make sense here.

One is that someone didn't adjust the Docsis Policy configurations properly when Marketing decided to advertise 10 meg service.
The second, is that the web designer didn't read his instructions properly. I don't believe this, because web devs are an an attentive-to-detail-oriented bunch, but it's possible..
The third is that Shaw's deceiving potentially hundreds of thousands of customers in Calgary.


I'd really like for the first to be true, and I'd really like for someone to be able to acknowledge that there's actually something wrong here, because the technical support staff aren't, and when I get internet for free anyways, I'm having a really hard time finding peace of mind throwing almost a thousand dollars per year to a company that's lying to me....



I just moved, and in doing so upgraded from Broadband 50 to the Broadband 100 for the double potential upload speed, as per your advertising here: http://shaw.ca/Internet/Compare-Plans/

I was impressed by the ability to have the installer arrive not 2 hours after we moved in- I had the modem ready and he got me excited when he showed me his signal meter reading almost no interference from our neighbors, due to the fact that our entire complex is a free-Telus complex, and we get complete Telus service free for one year as part of our move in package.

I _choose_ to pay almost $1000 for the next year of internet, when I could have internet for free from Telus, because I appreciate the customer service and technical advantage Shaw offers. My decision to upgrade to Broadband 100 was based completely on upload capacity, and when I was only seeing 4.8 Mbps, I was concerned, and asked a friend of mine who's a Shaw installer to take a peek to see if he could do.

What he found when he logged into his RSC Tools was that while I was paying for potential 10 Mbps upload, my modem had it's Upstream Provisioned Primary Bit Rate set to 5,120,000 by the policy pushed by the Docsis server.
I've contacted technical support several times and they ask me to perform speed tests without acknowledging that there's a configuration limitation being pushed to the modem itself -- insisting I connect directly to the modem, circumventing the router, in which both times I've played along to jump through the escalation hoops, the connection wasn't re-established in time to re-connect the chat session, increasing frustration because of having to start over and talk to a different support rep. Each time, their scripted response completely deflects the issue I'm trying to describe, due to them not having access to the RSC Tools interface, so they can't see what I've seen -- That the docsis server's policy for Broadband 100 is not configured to support the 10 Mbps advertised on your website.

One technical support representative was informative enough to explain that, because the Broadband 250 wasn't yet available in my area, the capacity for the neighborhood hub wasn't supportive of the 10 Mbps upstream. While this might be true, I thought, ok, so 5 Mbps is the upload limit, so I'll downgrade to tbe Broadband 50 if it's not possible for 10 Meg up -- it's a reason I dont understand, but it's a reason, and it acknowledged my concern.

On my third contact to support, after having to almost fight with the technical service rep to insist that speed testing directly connected to the modem without the router in the way wouldn't make any difference based on the 'Upstream Provisioned Primary Bit Rate' (as per the RSC Tools page), I finally managed to convince him to just change my plan back to the BB 50.

Low and behold, my Upstream Provisioned Primary Bit Rate is now set to 3,072,000...


There are three scenarios that make sense here.

One is that someone didn't adjust the Docsis Policy configurations properly when Marketing decided to advertise 10 meg service.
The second, is that the web designer didn't read his instructions properly. I don't believe this, because web devs are an an attentive-to-detail-oriented bunch, but it's possible..
The third is that Shaw's deceiving potentially hundreds of thousands of customers in Calgary.


I'd really like for the first to be true, and I'd really like for someone to be able to acknowledge that there's actually something wrong here, because the technical support staff aren't, and when I get internet for free anyways, I'm having a really hard time finding peace of mind throwing almost a thousand dollars per year to a company that's lying to me....


I eagerly look forward to the day when we're not limited by bandwidth, and I'd like to help Shaw in this quest, but I'd like to do so with peace of mind. I sincerely appreciate someone with the technical capacity helping me find this peace of mind and fixing what I hope to be a configuration oversight.


Sincerely, thank you.


~ Named Signature - Shaw customer of over a decade (intermittent account history, but supporter and advocate, both in the personal and professional life)

After downgrading to the Broadband 50, here's the RSC Tools lookup results on my cable modem's MAC address.



I await Shaw's response, and I solicit feedback from anyone with a similar experience or offer of support in assistance towards resolution of this matter. I will update this post with Shaw's response.

[dijikul]

First response, received not long after submitting the letter.

[Windego]

I had a tech out a couple ago due to intermittent problems. In any case after asking the question myself to the tech he was straight forward that the upgrade wasn't complete and for now uploads on bb100 were limited to 5mbits not the advertised 10. I too went through the hoops with 2 phone tech support people (completely useless and clearly reading from a script) the day before I had the tech out to my house. The tech also stated he didn't know when the upgrades would be complete so that we would receive advertised speeds. If you check the website the caveat is "Up to 10mbps" so yeah that's their fallback until they finally finish this upgrade, even though its been a year I've been paying for BB100 and still nothing above 5mbit.

[tux]

I can confirm that 50/3 and 100/5 are the speeds for BB50 and BB100 in most areas. According to information supplied by Shaw last year, these are the "Phase I" upload speeds for BB50 and BB100.

Once Shaw completes the Digital Network Upgrade in your area and launches BB250, you will be able to receive the "Phase II" upload speeds of 5 and 10 Mbps for BB50 and BB100 (and 15 Mbps for BB250). The original completion date for Phase II was originally supposed to be August 2012, but it seems to have been pushed back indefinitely nearly everywhere, and nobody seems to know when any area will be upgraded. However, your upload speeds are definitely in line with the speeds offered in Phase I areas, and you have no chance of getting faster uploads until Phase II, when BB250 launches in your area.

[mpinheir]

The SHAW tech will visit me today.

I ordered BB100 last year and they were unable to deliver more than 60 Mbps and indicated that there was a congestion in my area in Calgary.

Their "solution" was to downgrade me to 50 Mbps but I never got anything close to that according to speed speedtest.net and SHAW's speed test.

I called again last week and asked to be upgraded to 100 Mbps and got nothing above 75 Mbps and they said a TECH will come to see me today as I should be getting download speeds between 90 Mbps and 110 Mbps.

Can somebody explain to me why SHAW indicate that speedtest.net is not a valid test for their service?

Also, SHAW test results indicate I am running at 75 Mbps for download and SPEETEST.NET tells me I am running at no more than 30 Mbps to servers in Calgary.

Thoughts?

thank you!

marcelo

[Jetranger]

As has been discussed many times in the different speed threads, any given moment can provide 'poor' results and that doesn't mean you have a bad connection. You can use Speedtest.net and as long as you get just one result in the 90s, your connection is fine. You need to find a server that consistently provides good results; that's the key.

Any given server you are trying to connect to can have a better or worse connection than you have and that can change from moment to moment depending on traffic volume on the net, to or from the server you are connecting to or many other factors that change moment to moment.

I look for servers that are located further away. That way you know your test is more likely to be providing a more accurate measure of your connection to the WWW rather than just your local portion of it.

Shaw's speedtest just tests the connection between your home and their equipment. You would think that they would have a 'good' connection to the WWW but I was able to find an overloaded rack that I was connected to and they had to schedule an equipment change on a weekend as it would affect a commercial customer to do the work. If I had just been testing to speedtest.shaw.ca, I would have thought my connection was fine but when I wasn't able to watch low res video clips from nascar.com, I knew there was a bigger problem.