Telus Internet Blitz-Comparing Internet Providers

As it seems it is that time of year when one of the internet providers throughout Canada, Telus, has been making a push to move people from the other internet providers. I have personally received mailers and a number of clients have been asking about the switch and whether or not it is a good idea.

I hope this post will shed some light on things for you.

Since the push at this time seems to be with Telus wanting your business, I will start by stating what they are using as reasons to switch:

• Faster Speeds:  Although they can push out very fast speeds, the truth is they are using Shaw's own Fiber Optic Lines in most cases, at least up and down the Okanagan Valley. So the truth is either internet provider can provide "the fastest" services but choose to still throttle most to about 150 mbps (down) and about half that amount for uploads, even though the fiber is two-way, technically there is really no other reason to throttle the upload other than to limit the amount of bandwidth each home receives so that more of the fiber channel is available for more people.  What you forget is when you bundle the service of internet with your television, this too is using the same internet so your bandwidth will become compromised as you watch those high definition movies.   The good news for those on the Telus High-Speed, and I'm only referring to those that are top-tier, the data is generally 'unlimited' although in most cases they will place the *asterisk next to that so that they can choose to throttle those that may abuse this.  With Shaw, the top-tier people generally have a very high, per-month data plan, such as 1TB per month which you would should have troubles reaching.
• Less Expensive-saving you money over all:  This is argueable as in most cases in order to actually save you money in the long run, you would have to sign up for a long term contract and by long-term I mean more than 1 year.  The fact that you would sign a 2 year contract, thinking you will save money in the end, is probably not true since you can't decide within those 2 years, to jump ship and go to the other guys because you will be stuck paying out the contract.  The truth is, IF YOU ARE THINKING OF SWITCHING, get something in writing BEFORE you commit and then contact your existing internet provider and let them know you received the call from "the other guys" and they are selling their services at the said price (let them know what they are offering) and odds are your existing provider will not only match it but sweeten the deal, making sure you stick around.. just don't get taken in by them saying they will sweeten the deal and then have you sign in to a 2 year contract.. 1 year is okay in my opinion but NEVER go for more than that.

I can use my own experience here.. I have been with SHAW for 20 years (and even worked for them for almost as long before that) but I also had Telus before that--back in the dial up days and then ADSL before Shaw's high-speed came along.  Many times Telus would try to get me to come back but they simply couldn't match the internet speeds that Shaw was offering. Technically this was because they had 'broadband' which is coaxial cable to each home, whereas the phone company had twisted pair (phone line) so they had the ADSL (digital service line) through the existing phone line which would provide close-to broadband.. but then along came Fiber Optic Cable and not just to the end of your street but right to your home and once this happened, these internet providers were able to provide not only internet, but television and land-line phone services all in one bundle. The thing is they still decide to throttle this data service so that more homes can enjoy faster speeds.  If you were to compare North America to other Nations like Sweden or Japan, you would quickly learn that we are far behind, even though Canada still claims the title of 'most cabled country in the world', it lacks the physical speed of internet services by a landslide. 

What people don't realize is that 100 mbps is still very slow but if you have to have any sort of speed, I should think most homes should have nothing less than 100 mbps since the average home has at least two internet devices (computer and tablet), plus at least 1 cell phone (smart phone meaning it too is an internet device) therefore at any one time, those three devices are using some of that internet bandwidth. Now toss in the two tv sets you have in your home and you are now up to 5.  That tablet, laptop and cell phone are also wireless which means your internet router is not only provided wired connections to the internet but is also broadcasting (sending and receiving) the internet signal to whomever is connecting to it.  Hosting a party with 10 or more people that you have shared your internet wifi code with means your internet data rate just shot through the roof for the length of time all those devices are connected.  If you think of your internet router and the total speed you are paying for is like your garden hose distributing water to 5 sprinkler heads then you can imaging in order for any sort of water to be distributed evenly to all sprinklers, the water pressure is going to need to be substantial enough. This is the same for your internet.  This is why I have been using SHAW for as many years as I have.. because they still continue to provide the most steady, reliable throughput I require.  In the twenty or so years I have been with Shaw, I have only lost internet for a total of 3 times that I can recall, and each of these times it was off for less than a few hours.  I certainly can't say the same for Telus as I know many of my clients are on Telus and I am typically the first or second phone call when there is no internet.

So am I pushing SHAW? No way!  I'm just not pushing TELUS.. simply because they have a telephone/mailer push on where they are going to try and sell you the moon.. don't always believe it.. and most definitely don't sign in for any long term contract or gimmick where you will get a 'free big screen tv" or "laptop computer" for signing up .. note you can buy a new laptop for less than $400 and same for an High Def TV.

Whichever internet provider you are currently with, get all the information you can from this new provider before you decide to switch and then call your current internet provider and be open and honest about things.. even butter them up if you must, stating how great they have been all these years, and say how sad it will be to have to leave them, but the simple fact is you have a better deal with company "x" and this is what they are offering... odds are you will be pleasantly surprised that your existing internet provider will not only match but will give you an even better deal.

By the way, GIGABIT Service is now becoming available which is 1000 mbps so forget about the measly 100 mbps .. GIGABIT is where it is at.. I have been using GIGABIT when in the USA and would seriously never go back to anything else... 

One final note.. if you do decide to switch and you have been using the internet provider's email services   (ie:  whatever@shaw.ca   or whatever@telus.net) you will lose your email account immediately upon disconnection of services therefore you should be sure to get yourself a gmail account if you haven't already done so..

If you still have questions or want a second opinion of what that internet sales staff are selling you, contact me and I might be able to help.