Faster upload speeds?

[viper_crazy]

It has eluded me for some time now why shaw doesn't give you faster upload speeds.  I know all about DOCSIS, blah blah blah.  My current plan is 300/15. As someone who does a lot of video uploading, faster speeds would help cut down wasted time.

DOCSIS 3.0 (released in 2006) supports speeds up to 1Gbps download and up to 200Mbps upload.
DOCSIS 3.1 (released in 2013) - up to 10Gbps down, up to 2Gbps up
DOCSIS 4.0 (released in 2017) - Up to 10Gbps down, up to 6Gbps up

So why does Shaw not offer higher upload speeds when the technology they employ is designed for faster speeds? I understand there's a price for the "latest" technology, but why has Shaw (and actually most Canadian companies selling access to technology) lag behind?

Lastly, there will be some one who will mention switching to Telus, but Telus sucks in Calgary. I was a YUGE Telus internet subscriber (swore by them to all my friends, etc) before I moved to Calgary from BC and not sure why, but Shaw has it nailed down in this city. I've even lived in multiple communities and even friends who have switched to Telus can't wait to switch back to Shaw. My landlord upstairs even switched to Telus last month for a week before he canceled and sent back the equipment, so Telus is not an option.

[rstra · Accepted solution]

The upstream band on an HFC network is limited to low frequencies, so there is significant network upgrades that need to take place to take full advantage of DOCSIS 3.1.

[mdk]

@viper_crazy -- My current plan is 300/15.

For "residential" customers, Shaw offers 600/20, and "Fibre+ Gig" at 1000/25.

For "business" customers, Shaw offers HERE, Fibre+ SmartWiFi 600/100 and Fibre+ SmartWiFi Gigabit/125.

[rickatk]

As a consumer I am quite happy with the performance of my fibre +gig. Not to take away from your requirements, seems to me you are probably best to get a business plan. Speaking about Telus, I took advantage of a 1 month trial offered by a Shaw rep, back in the late nineties. I was hooked up to a Telus ADSL connection still the time. The tech put a Shaw @Home  in place next to my Telus ADSL modem, I never looked back. Not to take anything away from Telus, I like Telus Mobility, but I found Shaw to be consistently very good and stable in three different houses. ADSL was never very good and friends have been Luke warm on Telus Internet/TV. The theoretical Docsis speeds are impressive and I am sure Shaw will increase the upload portion in time. Much like  the download speeds.

[viper_crazy]

Ah, that was the missing puzzle piece.  I guess it goes back to my other question of why a lot of Canadian companies don't seem to keep up with technology.  I understand there's an expense, but in my mind it makes sense to keep up with the times. Just my perspective.  Thanks.

[viper_crazy]

I've considered that but a business account is not feasible for me. Besides that, I monitor and log my download speeds and I have never seen my download speeds ever come close to 225, let alone the 300 I'm paying for, so spending extra money on a speed that I will never ever see with my "normal" use only to get faster upstream is a waste of money.

All well. I don't like Telus around my area so I guess I'm stuck with it.  Thanks for your reply.

[mdk]

@viper_crazy -- I have never seen my download speeds ever come close to 225, let alone the 300 I'm paying for

When measuring via the Shaw SpeedTest (and verified by the "Performance" tab within Windows Task Manager) I have been getting 300+ Mbps -- exactly what I am paying for.

For me, to get 300+ Mbps requires an Ethernet connection (not WiFi), and a 3.0 Ghz (per CPU) processor. On my laptop, with just 1.6 Ghz per CPU, I don't get close to 300, even via an Ethernet cable.

I recommend that you contact Shaw (currently, online-chat is given priority over telephone), and get them to remotely logon to your cable-modem, to view its internal statistics.

[rstra]

You are correct, the customer demand and the need to grow subscribers will force cable companies to take full advantage of DOCSIS 3.1. Here is an article that describes what is involved in return band upgrades.

https://www.commscope.com/globalassets/digizuite/1729-enabling-5-85-mhz-return-projects-final.pdf?ut...

[viper_crazy]

@mdk My apologies. I didn't explain that correctly. Speedtest/benchmarking is one thing. I get around 320Mbps when using speedtest.net and Shaw's speedtest, so Shaw isn't throttling speeds. A lot of other companies/servers throttle speeds. Microsoft, for example, I've never seen North of ~230 when downloading Xbox games and updates. General browsing rarely hits 10Mbps tops, even with ad/graphics heavy sites. Zoom meetings use a max of 5Mbps that I've seen so far and these meetings regularly have upwards of 50 participants with 75% of participants streaming their video feed. YouTube seems to top out at 75Mbps streaming at 4K. So, if all the other sites and servers I usually connect to rarely ever peak at the 300Mbps I'm paying for, then there's really no point in paying for anything higher when the majority of sites have a speed cap.

I have an Octacore processor, 2.6GHz with wired ethernet.

[viper_crazy]

Interesting insight, @rstraThank you.