Shaw Broadband 50
Posted by Admin in Reviews on Nov 20th, 2011 | 7 comments
To my surprise out of the blue I received a call from Shaw, not to up-sell me on a more expensive cable/phone/internet package but an offer to increase my internet speed by 7 times and add free cable for one year at a lower price than I was currently paying for internet & phone.
Earlier this year I chose to cancel my cable TV due to lack of use and a chance to save some money over the summer months.
The new high-speed internet promotion was Shaw’s Broadband 50 with advertised speeds up to 50 Mbps download and monthly included data of 400 GB.
It basically boiled down to:
Internet
High-Speed (7.5 Mbps Down, 512 Kbps up, 125 GB/Month)
to Broadband 50 (50 Mbps Down, 3 Mbps up, 400 GB/Month)
+New Cisco DPC 3825 cable modem free
Cable TV
No Cable
to Personal TV, 3 tiers of digital cable (w/ 12 HD channels)
+New Motorola DCT700 digital cable set-top free
Phone
No change, Home Phone Basic
Two days later I received a scheduled visit from a Shaw tech on a Saturday to install the new Cisco DPC3825 cable modem and new Motorola DCT700 digital cable box. After a quick 15 minute install I have download speeds just under 50 Mbps and digital cable TV.
I re-activated my Pace HD PVR set-top box for the HDTV in living room and setup the new Motorola DCT700 in the computer room to provide cable TV to my PC using an external AMD TV Wonder 650 combo tuner.
Despite the advertised 50 Mbps I honestly didn’t think I would get numbers close to that. Here are the benchmark speed test results before and after the upgrade to Shaw Broadband 50.
Before Upgrade (Shaw High-Speed, Motorola SURFboard SB5102)
Despite having the High-Speed package with a speed of 7.5 Mbps I was able to get a download speed over 21 Mbps, closer to the Extreme speeds.
After Upgrade (Shaw Broadband 50, Cisco DPC3825 Modem direct to PC)
After Upgrade (Shaw Broadband 50, Cisco DPC3825 Modem to D-Link DIR-655 to PC)
By default the Cisco DPC3825 is setup to act as a modem and wireless router. I tried disabling both Wi-Fi and DHCP on the modem to allow my DIR-655 to handle these features, but no luck. After reading the online forums I discovered that I needed to call Shaw and have tech support disable these modem features, referred to as bridge mode. After an 1 hour 45 minute call (1 & 1/2 of that on hold), mission accomplished.
My initial feedback is very positive. I will give my final assessment after 2-3 weeks of having the Shaw Broadband 50.
7 Responses to “ “Shaw Broadband 50”
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Would you mind sharing the H/W and F/W version of your 655? I’m using the same router with DPC3825 on BB50 too and was able to get a consistent 44-46mbps, but once I put the 655 in between, it drops to 30-34mbps. (DPC3825′s router function has been disabled already)
Hardware Version: A4
Firmware Version: 1.35NA, 2010/11/12
I looked through my router setting and didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary that had been enabled or disabled.
A quick update… the TV offer expired which caused a large increase to my monthly bill so I decided to cancel my entire TV & home phone package and just keep the BB50 and my mobile as my only telephone.
I really haven’t missed the cable TV a whole lot, especially with the NHL lock out.
I’m in Vancouver BC. What you paying for BB50 now?
I think on it’s own BB50 is around $75. I recently signed up (again) for cable TV and it’s bundled with my internet. The BB50 is costing me around $65 a month (on Vancouver Island)
Man you are a cheap f***er.
I prefer frugal, but thanks