[scorpion]

Is there anyone on this forum that lives in the Victoria B.C. area that currently has Telus TV? I've probably called them once a week over the past couple of months to see when it will be available and every time I get a different answer. Sometimes I hear that no one has it in the area. Other times I hear that some areas do have it and it will be available in my neighborhood soon. I'm not looking for an exact date but it would be nice to know if it will be anytime soon. If it's not, then I want to switch all my services over to Shaw to give them a try. It just seems like Telus wants to keep everyone hanging.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[CordBay]

Optik TV in Victoria

I have not received any mailings from Telus regards their offerings as some other friends have.
However I put in my phone number to check for availability on the Telus TV site and it came back with:-
Good news Optik TV service is now available.
Based on the information I provided [assume they mean my phone #]
You can watch Telus TV on up to 6 TV's [not!] in your home and you can watch 3 live programmes in HD and 1 in standard definition a the same time.
Of course I don't have the time to watch all they say is available!!
Odd they don't mention the internet part.

Looking at other threads I hope this means I have the 25MBS profile.

I am in the Cord Bay area.
Where are you Steve?
Looking at the telephone poles along the road I now notice large grey boxes at certain intervals with what looks to be fibre optic cable running into them.
I presume the copper to the residences will be connected in them?
The boxes are connected to Hydro supply.
The odd thing is that they must have done all this work in the dead of night as being ex BCTel I would have noticed work going on during the daytime!

I have waited a long,long time for competition here for the local Monopoly who shall not be named.

I have ordered Optik TV for the end of the month,so I hope all will be well with the service as advertised or I shall be severely disappointed.
I can't find anybody locally to tell of service etc etc.

Telus technical info is very sketchy to say the least.
They have nothing on their website pertaining to equipment and it's specifications.
I finally found the maker of the PVR by Googling [Cisco CIS430 IP Set-Top with DVR].
I was interested to see the back of the box regards connections etc.
Can't find any info on the SD box.
On the strength of you being in Victoria prompted me to join the forum as I was just a searcher incognito!

Bryan.

 

[Cockroach]

The normal STB is the 330. PVR is the 430 with a 320 GB drive. Both are labelled "Scientific Atlanta, a Cisco Company" or some such.

Connections in are either co-ax HPNA or ethernet. Outputs are coax, component, composite and HDMI.

 

[ae_collector]

Looking at other threads I hope this means I have the 25MBS profile.

Looking at the telephone poles along the road I now notice large grey boxes at certain intervals with what looks to be fibre optic cable running into them.
I presume the copper to the residences will be connected in them?
The boxes are connected to Hydro supply.

Bryan.

I was just in Victoria last week and noticed the RDAC boxes around downtown so it must be available to some people.

3HD & 1 SD IS the 25 or 26 MEG profile.

2 foot square gray boxes mounted on poles are likely CATV amplifiers, they have been around for years. The RDAC's are light green boxes about 6 feet high sitting on the ground beside the road or sidewalk.

 

[CordBay]

I was just in Victoria last week and noticed the RDAC boxes around downtown so it must be available to some people.

3HD & 1 SD IS the 25 or 26 MEG profile.

2 foot square gray boxes mounted on poles are likely CATV amplifiers, they have been around for years. The RDAC's are light green boxes about 6 feet high sitting on the ground beside the road or sidewalk.

We are totally overhead cabling on Cord Bay Road.The poles are all Hydro owned.
There would be no street level green cabinets except in areas where all utilities are run underground to houses such as in Mattick's wood just up the road or the other way in Broadmead.
So I assume all equipment would be mounted on the poles.
The boxes look very new.
The CATV box that supplies my drop and house,hangs on the messenger near my house and is grey in colour and quite large not like a Telus SAC box.
CATV probably rents space with Telus installed overhead mesenger and cabling who in turn rent from Hydro.
What it boils down to is that I don't know what I should be looking for.
This is of general interest and curiosity as how they can get to me with that profile.
Bryan.

 

[ae_collector]

We are totally overhead cabling on Cord Bay Road.The poles are all Hydro owned.
There would be no street level green cabinets except in areas where all utilities are run underground to houses such as in Mattick's wood just up the road or the other way in Broadmead.
So I assume all equipment would be mounted on the poles.

Bryan.

Not so. 100% aerial served areas can still be cross connected in SAC boxes which are light green coloured and almost always mounted on the ground. There are still a few pole mounted SAC boxes but they are mounted at working height, not messenger height. SAC boxes aren't located to feed every 4 to 10 houses. Hundreds of lines are fed through them so there is usually no more than one per fairly large neighbourhood. These SAC boxes have the RDAC cabinets added to them to supply Telus TV to that area.

CATV in the lower mainland at least used to be "spun" to the Telus messenger along with the Telus cables. Telus pays Hydro or the pole owner a monthly "rent" to be on the poles and I don't think it costs any more if CATV is included so in that case Telus reduces its total rent cost by collecting some rent from Shaw or whoever. It used to be that Telus HAD to place the CATV cable and then Shaw would put in the splitters and amplifiers to complete the job. Since our "New COntract" in 2005 I think that anyone can place the cable but the ywould still pay us rent to be on our messenger.

If the web site says you can get 3 HD and 1 SD, chances are it is correct. I have heard of some older areas being rewired with fibre to the house so maybe that is what is happeneing. They might actually run a fibre drop to your house if you order something like TTV that would use the fibre.

*Telus Installer* in Vancouver Area

 

[Hmmm]

Those grey boxes are most likely CATV power supplies that feed power to the amplifiers mounted on the messenger.

 

[ae_collector]

Those grey boxes are most likely CATV power supplies that feed power to the amplifiers mounted on the messenger.

About 2' X 2' square and maybe 18" deep, usually mounted to the pole just below the messenger. The type around here have a red power light underneath and when the box needs some sort of attention (batteries in it for power failures) the light flashes.

 

[scorpion]

Wow.....a lot of what you guys are talking about sure did go right over my head. Though I think I'm slowly learning what you're talking about.

Bryan - I'm currently living in the Quadra/McKenzie area. I've seen those light green boxes that you guys were mentioning around the neighborhood.....including one right across the street. There were some guys working on it about 2 months ago and feeding what looked like fiber optic cables into it. These guys weren't Telus workers but their truck logo said something about telecommunications services. These are the same trucks I've seen scattered across Victoria the past couple of months. So I'm assuming the neighborhood it all wired but just not active yet. Just like you, I can't wait either for a little bit of competition in the TV arena. There are a lot of things I like about Shaw but then there are a lot of things I hate. The same goes with Telus. In the end all I want is some great TV just like people in the east enjoy.

 

[CordBay]

Not so. 100% aerial served areas can still be cross connected in SAC boxes which are light green coloured and almost always mounted on the ground. There are still a few pole mounted SAC boxes but they are mounted at working height, not messenger height. SAC boxes aren't located to feed every 4 to 10 houses. Hundreds of lines are fed through them so there is usually no more than one per fairly large neighbourhood. These SAC boxes have the RDAC cabinets added to them to supply Telus TV to that area.

CATV in the lower mainland at least used to be "spun" to the Telus messenger along with the Telus cables. Telus pays Hydro or the pole owner a monthly "rent" to be on the poles and I don't think it costs any more if CATV is included so in that case Telus reduces its total rent cost by collecting some rent from Shaw or whoever. It used to be that Telus HAD to place the CATV cable and then Shaw would put in the splitters and amplifiers to complete the job. Since our "New COntract" in 2005 I think that anyone can place the cable but the ywould still pay us rent to be on our messenger.

If the web site says you can get 3 HD and 1 SD, chances are it is correct. I have heard of some older areas being rewired with fibre to the house so maybe that is what is happeneing. They might actually run a fibre drop to your house if you order something like TTV that would use the fibre.

*Telus Installer* in Vancouver Area

Thanks for all the info.Appreciate any I/we can get.
I will have to take a walk along Cord Bay Road to see if I can see the boxes.
Would love to have fibre to the house.Just like Japan and Hong Kong.
I have ordered the total bundle,phone,internet and OPTIK TV [TTV]
Glad to see that one of "us" is here.
Last thing I did at BCTel [dating myself] was the fibre for the 1994 Commonwealth Games.
Lastly why did Telus use a German word OPTIK for their system name.
Translated from Collin's German dictionary it is OPTICS.

Bryan

 

[Cockroach]

^^^^
So the name is trade markable. That's why you have all these funny made-up names (such as branded drug names, services such as Accenture newer car names such as Infiniti, Acura and Lexus). AT&T calls their IPTV product U-verse.

 

[ae_collector]

And of course "Optik" implies "fed by Fibre Optic" which at least part of every Optik TV circuit is now.

Cordbay - I sent you a Private Message (PM).

 

[CordBay]

And of course "Optik" implies "fed by Fibre Optic" which at least part of every Optik TV circuit is now.

Cordbay - I sent you a Private Message (PM).

Thanks ae_collector.
I sent three messages in reply to you and i'm still not sure if they went.
Did you receive?
Can't find sent message part in the messages page.
Sent one to "beekas" also.
Bryan.

 

[ae_collector]

Yup, got them tonight (and replied) when I signed back on.

 

[gwydionjhr]

I'm a few blocks away from Quadra/Mackenzie and I can only get the 15mb/1HD level of service. When I called Telus, the girl on the phone said there are upgrades scheduled for parts of Victoria in September. I'll check back again then to see if things have changed.

 

[scorpion]

I don't know.....maybe I'm just being impatient for better television. It just bothers me that all of the Telus trucks in Victoria are advertising Telus TV (Optik TV). I guess it would be better if they also said "coming soon" or something like that. Optik TV just sounds better than what I currently have. Oh well, it's going to be torture but I'll wait.

 

[One Bit Wonder]

Scorpion,
My brother lives in Langford and was supposed to get the Telus sat install but they installed Optik (IPTV?) instead. I don't know exactly what he got but he loves it.
The news release I read in the spring said they will be upgrading victoria services in the fall so I was surprised to hear they started earlier.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents

 

[santaclarakid]

I have an appointment for optik install august 25.
Just go to telus.com, go to optik, put in your phone number, get validated,
then call their customer service. Most of Victoria is ready to go, but they are
only processing customers who call. I did recieve in the mail however, a telus
ad announcing Optik, and giving me a transaction number to get a 3 month
discount. This was 2 days after I had ordered Optik.

 

[CordBay]

De-moted to 2 HD only

Just checked up on my profile and I see that I have been de-moted from 3 live programmes in HD and 1 in SD plus up to 6 TV"s in the home to 2 live HD programmes and 1 SD plus the 6.
I suppose it means the MBS will be reduced also. Pity.
Usually only one TV at a time will be watched unless there are rare visitors watching the other.

Awaiting Santaclarakids who is in my general area,to report on instal and general impressions of the Optik TV.
He gets his five or so days before me.

 

[Longmayirun]

Does anyone know whether it is available in the East Sooke area? When I check online it says no but then it also say none in Victoria - so call me confused. Also, is there any reason why I have to have one of their other services? Don't really want to give up my phone/internet service I have with another provider.