Kensei
join:2008-01-11
| Shaw Saturation & Problems in the Champlain Heights Area
For the past year or so the network performance in the Vancouver Champlain Heights area has been steadily going down hill. The last few months have been extremely bad to the point now where during peak hours the internet quality has been so horrendous that it is SLOWER than dial-up from over 10 years ago! I've been getting over 20% packet loss and latencies of over 3000ms from the very first outside my building hop alone! Trace route polling during peak hours indicate massive packet loss and insanely high latencies from every hop within the shaw network. Even outside of peak hours the performance isn't the greatest but at least somewhat tolerable. During peak it is impossible do anything other than surf static information sites (email, news websites, etc), but certainly not usable for file transfers, data streaming, real-time applications, etc.
What trace route polling also shows, but can't be seen with a snap shot capture, is the horrid packet flow. The packet flow should be so quick and smooth that you can't really follow the number of data packets being sent with the naked eye because the number should be going up too quickly. However, the packet flow is so incredibly slow and inconsistent that I can almost go grab a coffee between one data packet being sent to the next! Yes, it is THAT bad.
I just got off the phone with a shaw tech and he confirmed we have a very bad usage saturation problem in this area. Please, if you live in this area, call in and report this problem so they will raise the priority and properly segment the network in the area to relieve the saturation! This has been going on for far too long. Also, as someone stated in another thread, please call for a refund because this is certainly NOT "high speed".
If you live in this area and don't have high speed internet, please think twice before choosing Shaw until they fix the problem. I for one am strongly considering switching to Telus because of this. I don't have Shaw cable TV so they will lose my business completely once they lose me as a customer. As an IT professional, word gets around very quickly so if Shaw doesn't do anything to keep their customers happy they are going to very quickly lose the business they gained from all their new customers to saturate the area in the first place.
One Extremely Unhappy Customer Representing... Thousands?
Please voice your complaints to Shaw and let's get something done.
Sincerely,
Kensei |
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shawvet
@shawcable.net
| You should at least start with a service call. Have a service tech come out to your home and have a look. That is the first step. If your area does reqire segmentation then it should be competed shortly. Segmenting a fiber node in 2008 is different and easier than 5 years ago. Also do you have a router? Maybe try a friends laptop. Lastley, peak internet usage affects all ISPs, just at differnt locations. |
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Kensei
join:2008-01-11
edit:
January 12th, @07:13AM
| LOL This problem has been going on for over half a year! Don't you think everyone in this area has been there and done that? Service call, done. Techs have come out and even replaced the modem to eliminate it as a possible cause. Do I have a router? LOL OMG you sound just like a Shaw Tier 1 tech rep. Yes I have a router, but connecting directly to the modem on 2 different computers AND a laptop all yield the same results: garbage internet performance. This is far beyond the first step. The problem is NOT on my end and it's been proven. Shaw has copies of all my trace routes yet nothing has been done yet. Peak usage may effect all ISPs but not to the degree where the performance goes below DIAL-UP quality. The severe amount of packet loss and high latencies in this area are not acceptable by any minimum standard in this day and age. If segmenting a fiber node is that easy then I expect this to be resolved shortly.
As an example of how poor the performance is here, it's 4AM in the morning so usage should be at it's lowest. Yet I still get pings that are spiking to 200ms on the first 3 hops within the shaw network here and averaging over 50ms. That is absolutely ridiculous. Those latencies used to be 5-15ms with no packet loss at all times of the day/night, even during peak hours! Only the download speeds would be affected during peak usage. Anyone who knows what they're talking about would not consider this situation as acceptable, but rather, quite far from it. |
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Kensei
join:2008-01-11
| 
This test taken at roughly 4:30AM. The results speak for themselves... horrid. I used to get 3.5-4.7Mbps down and almost 0.8-1Mbps up at any given time during the day, including peak hours. |
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shawguy
@shawcable.net
| where are you doing speed tests that show dial up quality? secondly this is a discussion, dont get so wound up. i have never spoken to you before and needed to find a starting point. also not all techs are created equally. clearly they did not resolve your issue for you, and i regret that. if you would like me to help you i can. i have worked for Rogers/Shaw for 14 years and have held a variety of titles. if you would like me to help you i would very much like you to change your tone. i understand you are frusterated but you have had a chance to vent now lets move forward. if you dont want to then you do have other options. Peace? |
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Kensei
join:2008-01-11
| Alright, moving forward then...
Do you currently work for Shaw, and are in a position to get this area properly segmented to bring the network performance to the smooth, fast, and responsive, state it should be in? If so, that would certainly be greatly appreciated by myself and everyone in the area. |
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pfak
Premium
join:2002-12-29
Canada
 ·Shaw
 ·Novus Entertainmen..
| reply to shawguy
said by shawguy :
where are you doing speed tests that show dial up quality? secondly this is a discussion, dont get so wound up. i have never spoken to you before and needed to find a starting point. also not all techs are created equally. clearly they did not resolve your issue for you, and i regret that. if you would like me to help you i can. i have worked for Rogers/Shaw for 14 years and have held a variety of titles. if you would like me to help you i would very much like you to change your tone. i understand you are frusterated but you have had a chance to vent now lets move forward. if you dont want to then you do have other options. Peace?
If you work for Shaw, why aren't you posting from their company IP range?
More on topic: Champlain Heights slow speeds is an ongoing complaint on DSLR, if you had bothered to search the forum archives (»/nsearch?board···hamplain) for the past couple years.
I think Shaw really needs to address the issue, either by segmenting the node or kicking abusers off. Why hasn't this been done? |
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Bandito
join:2003-01-23 | reply to Kensei
Ok, my speeds are ok. I'll be the first to bitch about them but I have not been looking at my ping times. I am in the Champlain Heights area. Can you give me some links/references so I can check my speeds? |
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shawvet
@shawcable.net | reply to Kensei
I have moved out of the lower mainland area but continue working for shaw. i will inquire on your area for you. |
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shawvet
@shawcable.net | reply to pfak
i will find out. please change your tone. |
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Kensei
join:2008-01-11
edit:
January 14th, @06:32AM
| reply to Bandito
You can check your download speeds on the "tools" link here at DSLReports.com, the link is up top on each page on their menu bar. To really get a good idea of your connection quality, try the tests at all times of the day/night as well as different days of the week. Of course the problem isn't when things are working "okay" but rather when they are not, which for this area has unfortunately been more often than not lately.
To be honest, I'm not big into downloading, in fact, I hardly download much of anything. However I do very much rely on a smooth, quick, and responsive connection for streaming and real-time applications. So download speeds alone don't necessarily dictate a "good" connection from a poor one. Although, they do often go hand in hand but not always. Unfortunately, the problems I have had over the past couple of months have been greatly affecting my connection in every possible negative way.
I forgot to mention that a really good way to test your connection is by running trace routes. However this requires a little more know-how to understand what you're looking at as well as the results. It's not that difficult though so if you really suspect you have similar problems as I do then I don't mind explaining it to you. Forgive me if you already know all this stuff. |
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Kensei
join:2008-01-11
| reply to shawvet
Even though Shaw has already admitted to there being a problem in this area, whether it be client saturation, network hardware failure, or some combination of such, if you could indeed get some inside information on the matter it would be great. Further, if you could find out when and how Shaw plans to fix the problem(s) in this area it would certainly be greatly appreciated as it is obvious there are many clients here on DSLReports alone who live in this area who have been experiencing such issues for a very long time. As Pfak has mentioned, a search of the forums does indeed show that I am definitely not alone in this situation. |
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pfak
Premium
join:2002-12-29
Canada | reply to shawvet
said by shawvet :
i will find out. please change your tone.
How about you change your tone? |
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shawvet
@shawcable.net | NOOOOOOO how bout you change YOUR tone. so there. |
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shawvet
@shawcable.net | reply to Kensei
I will find out for u |
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shawvet
@shawcable.net
| reply to Kensei
according to my preliminary sources, there are several areas in the lower mainland which need segmentation moreover new fiber must be placed. A bit of background. Telus and Hydro own most underground ducts in the city. Hydro owns all the poles for aerial. Telus and Shaw lease pole space from Hydro. In all areas up untill 2005 Telus owns and maintains and places all fiber in all ducts and manholes.(untill 2005 now Shaw owns and maintains a thrid conduit. Telus in turn leases this space to Shaw, Bell, etc. in several areas we are waiting for Telus to place fiber. Once this fiber is laid it will benifit all companies involved eg. Telus, Bell Shaw, etc.) in areas Shaw owns the duct the necessary fiber is complete. these areas are few as ownership is very recent. will inform when more info gathered. |
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Kensei
join:2008-01-11
| Hmmm... Well we know this area is indeed in dire need of segmentation. But just to clarify, are you saying that this is one of the areas that also does not have "new fiber", or is that something you're still looking into?
Also, if Telus, Shaw, and Bell all share the same fiber backbones, then all other factors being considered, it would explain why the Internet performance of all 3 companies varies depending on which area of the city you happen to live in.
Further, if there is no new fiber laid out in this area, switching to Telus may not necessarily yield noticeably better results unless they don't have a saturation problem. Which they probably don't if so many clients here are actually using Shaw to the extent that there would be such a large saturation/segmentation problem. Hmmm... if Shaw doesn't properly segment this area then switching to Telus might be worth a shot.
Thanks for the background information. Please keep us us further informed with anything you find out. Being left in the dark as a consumer really stinks especially when you're left holding the bag on a product/service that isn't working very well. |
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shawvet
@shawcable.net
| just to clarify-new fiber needs to be placed in order to add new nodes. the current system is segmented as far as it can go. no one shares a backbone, one fiber cable is placed, in that one cable is hundereds of fibers, each company claims a certain number of fibers in that cable. I dont think switching will help either, all ISPs back up at some point, ours just is in a obvious place. |
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jeremychun
join:2006-09-13
Vancouver, BC
| reply to Kensei
same area.. exact same problems.. for more than a year..almost two years..
»Re: Champlain Heights/ Vancouver Area Speeds have Decreased
called many many times.. sent many e-mails.. technician came.. but nothing changed.. getting worse.. worse..
everyday around 12pm, speed is dropping to phone line speed and slower than phone line about 6pm to 1 am..
I also have Telus1.5Mbps line and Rogers internet using same computers. They are way way faster than my Nitro. |
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Bandito
join:2003-01-23
·Shaw
| reply to Kensei
said by Kensei  :Even though Shaw has already admitted to there being a problem in this area. They have?? That's news to me.
FWIW, my internet browsing has never been smooth with Shaw as long as I lived in the Champlain Heights area. Ihave to to give a thumbs up to Telus in that regard. |
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