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Shaw Expands 100Mbps Availability
$249.95 (Canadian) per month with 200GB cap
According to an announcement this morning by Canadian cable operator Shaw, the company is expanding the availability of their 100Mbps downstream, 5Mbps upstream "High-Speed Nitro" tier into Saskatchewan. Though the Shaw press release brags about braving a bad economy to offer "more value" for consumers, the 100Mbps offering is for now largely marketing fodder -- given it's unlikely that anyone facing financial struggles will be able to afford the tier's $249.95 per month Canadian ($204 U.S.) price tag. The "value" of the offering is also suspect, given the tier comes with a 200GB cap the company's website insists is "perfect for those who have multiple home computers and perform a variety of media-intensive activities at the same time."
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TigerLord

join:2002-06-09
Canada

TigerLord

What a cload of crap

249.95$ for a 200GB cap?

"More value" for your money. People who can afford will not be morons, this is so insulting.

ztmike
Mark for moderation
Premium Member
join:2001-08-02
La Porte, IN

ztmike

Premium Member

Re: What a cload of crap

Its no better than Comcasts Extreme tier with a cap of 250GB.
NeoandGeo
join:2003-05-10
Harrison, TN

NeoandGeo

Member

Re: What a cload of crap

It is no better. It's actually worse. Much worse.

This is insulting and pathetic on so many levels.

jadebangle
Premium Member
join:2007-05-22
00000

jadebangle to ztmike

Premium Member

to ztmike
said by ztmike:

Its no better than Comcasts Extreme tier with a cap of 250GB.
I would just go with comcast or att
The cap really stinks
murky
Premium Member
join:2000-09-12
Sault Ste Marie, ON

murky to TigerLord

Premium Member

to TigerLord
It may be insulting to you but since I could never afford the service that part of Shaw's statement is irrelevant.
What is relevant as a home user is this part of the release:
"In addition to High-Speed Nitro, Shaw High Speed, currently offered at 5 megabytes per second (Mbps), will be bumped to 7.5 Mbps with PowerBoostTM, a feature that provides a 5 to 20-second burst of speed that makes downloading files and webpage's even faster; and High-Speed Xtreme-I, currently offered at 10 Mbps, will be upgraded to 15Mbps with PowerBoost."
I commented that I hadn't seen the change as of yesterday and find that it has been implemented today
Mustafa7
join:2006-10-04

Mustafa7 to TigerLord

Member

to TigerLord
A couple of things how many servers are actually going to be able to give you those speeds?

Shaw also has 10Mbs and lower packages that most people can barely get half those speeds especially during prime times. This is from my own experience testing my computer and some of my neighbors (east end of town) and my sisters and some others on the west end of town. So what’s the guarantee that you would actually get those speeds unless you had your own personal node or one with few people on it?

I guess it looks good on commercials.

adisor19
join:2004-10-11

adisor19

Member

Ewww

This is disturbing actually. If i'm not mistaking, they also throttle bit torrent as well so not only is it called to 200GB but it's also gonna be dog slow to transfer files.

Adi

pnjunction
Teksavvy Extreme
Premium Member
join:2008-01-24
Toronto, ON

pnjunction

Premium Member

Re: Ewww

So pretty much I'm no better off than with my 5MB (unthrottled) DSL and 200GB cap for 30$/month. You don't need 100mbps to load web pages or watch Youtube videos.

jadebangle
Premium Member
join:2007-05-22
00000

jadebangle

Premium Member

Re: Ewww

said by pnjunction:

So pretty much I'm no better off than with my 5MB (unthrottled) DSL and 200GB cap for 30$/month. You don't need 100mbps to load web pages or watch Youtube videos.
I totally agree but a few user here who are pro cap or love cap think its good for all of us
They would love 100mbps with 200gb cap and 1 dollar per gb over that!

Frank
Premium Member
join:2000-11-03
somewhere

1 recommendation

Frank

Premium Member

the scary part is

Hardly anybody will sign up for this horrible plan and then some tool in their marketing dept will use it as 'proof' that nobody wants higher speed internet when in reality the only reason nobody signs up for it is because it has a horrible pricepoint and a horrendous cap.

andyb
Premium Member
join:2003-05-29
SW Ontario

andyb

Premium Member

Re: the scary part is

said by Frank:

Hardly anybody will sign up for this horrible plan and then some tool in their marketing dept will use it as 'proof' that nobody wants higher speed internet when in reality the only reason nobody signs up for it is because it has a horrible pricepoint and a horrendous cap.
That about sums it up nicely.

Qlinky
@rogers.com

Qlinky

Anon

wtf

what a universally dumb idea, like really? I don't understand how these people run a business with shit like this.

i feel sick where is the barf bucket

IWould
@207.253.158.x

IWould

Anon

I 'd take it

My 5meg dsl is throttled too.
Pricepoint issue? Where?
$40/5meg = $8/meg
$250/100meg = $2.5/meg
Especially important for me is the upload @ 5 meg.
Yes, I'm not the average user, and wouldn't reach the 200g limit anyway, so the caps do not bother me.
NeoandGeo
join:2003-05-10
Harrison, TN

NeoandGeo

Member

Re: I 'd take it

Yes it's a better price, but it's nearly worthless since they cap you. There really is no need for 100Mbps if you're not hitting 200GB a month.
Philbo
join:2009-02-03
Whitby, ON

Philbo to IWould

Member

to IWould
Hey, good luck finding an upstream server that will send you something anywhere near that speed. This is marketing bullshit.

Hpower
join:2000-06-08
Canyon Country, CA

Hpower

Member

Lame

The cap just kills it. I hit 200gb cap so easily with my 10mbps connection, pfft.
Expand your moderator at work

hayabusa3303
Over 200 mph
Premium Member
join:2005-06-29
Florence, SC

hayabusa3303

Premium Member

One more useless product

subject says all.

RARPSL
join:1999-12-08
Suffern, NY

RARPSL

Member

Can 5Mbs up SUPPORT 100Mbs Down?

There is a need for an Uplink stream to support your downloading (sending ACKs, etc. to say "It Got Here - Send More Packets" and "Resend Packets that did not get here successfully"). Depending on how you are set up, a slow Uplink can throttle the downlink if the ratio is to large. The maximum ACHIEVABLE download speed is based on the upload speed as well as latency between the two nodes and a number of other factors. To get full download speed, the request for more packets must arrive soon enough to keep the sender going at full speed.

Jake1234
@verizon.net

Jake1234

Anon

If the contain caps

They should just list them as the average sustained speed + peak speed.

So this is a ~600kbit connection with a 100mbit burst down and 5mbit burst up for $204/month.

What's amazing is you can easily hit the cap on the 5mbit connection let alone the 100mbit!

Joy...I'll stick with my 20mbit/20mbit connection with no caps for $65.
33358088 (banned)
join:2008-09-23

33358088 (banned)

Member

lets talk abou tthe capacity a second

100megabit unlimited = 31.6 Terabytes a month
200GB means that you will reach that in 4.7 hrs of use

do you want ot pay 249$ for 4.7 hrs of net time. AND
with teksavvy
a 5 megabit unlimited account means i get 31 days of use and can get around 1.5-1.6 TB

7-8 times the value at ONE FIFTH THE COST.
COME ON SHAW, pretty lame nice try.

Fox McCloud
Crazy like a fox.
join:2006-07-23

Fox McCloud

Member

Re: lets talk abou tthe capacity a second

said by 33358088:

do you want ot pay 249$ for 4.7 hrs of net time.
this argument is used so often and is so fallacious it's not even funny. Yes, you can, in theory hit the cap in 4.7 hours, but the average Internet user and even many power-users will not.

You're paying for 100 megabits down (and 5 megabits up) with a 200GB cap; don't read into it any more than that...I don't like the low cap for that high of a speed either, but I'm sure that this speed tier will be quite nice for a lot of people who have the money for it....there's plenty out there who don't use anywhere near that amount of usage in a month, but want the speed.

I'll use myself as an example (and no, I"m not claiming to be the typical user OR someone who downloads incessantly). I have a 10 megabit connection, yet I use less than 100GB in a month's time; I have it for the speed and nothing else.

Yes, I'm aware you can hit a cap faster with higher speed, but I'm merely pointing out a fallacious argument that gets used over and over and over again.
praetoralpha
join:2005-08-06
Pittsburgh, PA

praetoralpha to 33358088

Member

to 33358088
and also lets talk about the fact that someone is probably not going to get 100megs down, much less for 4.7 hours straight.

hobojobo
@telus.net

hobojobo to 33358088

Anon

to 33358088
Ya teksavvy is the only way to go if you want to use your internet connection. 200gigs is a joke but i guess bad PR is better then none.

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536

Premium Member

5mbps up?

meh

wriley
I'M Sick Of Fixing Your Computer.
Premium Member
join:2001-08-30
Edmonton, AB

wriley

Premium Member

I wouldnt Worry too much about the caps.

I go over 200 gb every month with a regular plan and shaw never does a thing. The only time they call you to give you a verbal warning is if you more than double the cap for multiple months in a row.
ErikRP
join:2004-11-06
Winnipeg, MB

ErikRP

Member

Re: I wouldnt Worry too much about the caps.

I guarantee you will get noticed on this plan if you go over. Guar-an-tee.

It will be like the car that drives by a cop at 110 km/h and gets ignored. Fly by at 200 km/h and see how fast you get noticed. At 100 Mbps people won't be going over their cap by a bit.

jadebangle
Premium Member
join:2007-05-22
00000

jadebangle

Premium Member

Re: I wouldnt Worry too much about the caps.

said by ErikRP:

I guarantee you will get noticed on this plan if you go over. Guar-an-tee.

It will be like the car that drives by a cop at 110 km/h and gets ignored. Fly by at 200 km/h and see how fast you get noticed. At 100 Mbps people won't be going over their cap by a bit.
What he mean is that its not really enforced so it must be like you got to be on their top ten heavy user list
jadebangle

jadebangle to wriley

Premium Member

to wriley
said by wriley:

I go over 200 gb every month with a regular plan and shaw never does a thing. The only time they call you to give you a verbal warning is if you more than double the cap for multiple months in a row.
200gb is nothing
Try 1TB,2tb or 3tb a month
You are not a power user. You are an internet junky just like some are. I am not saying that most are
I am saying that 40-50 percent of user are broadband addicted meaning they use a lot of bandwidth for fun for enjoying and just for the sake of using a lot of bandwidth

wriley
I'M Sick Of Fixing Your Computer.
Premium Member
join:2001-08-30
Edmonton, AB

wriley

Premium Member

Re: I wouldnt Worry too much about the caps.

What I mean is if they let a regular user hit 200 to 300 gb without penalty I know that they will let users of this plan go at least a TB without calling them.

When I worked for shaw we would only call the top 10 offenders (regular only, buisness and higher tiers were omited from the warnings)and it would be nothing more than a warning.