Hopefully they can. It was a random call I got which surp...

[gordon1111]

Hopefully they can. It was a random call I got which surprised me as I had 12 months left. 

[rstra]

@gordon1111 

Ya, those outbound sales people sometimes have better deals than the regular customer care folks.

[mdk]

@rstra -- see if they will bump me up from 300

Of course, they will. The only questions are whether the price will increase, and which cable-modem they will rent to you.

Note that any bump-up in speed means a discount if you add Shaw Mobile service.

The "$0/month" Shaw Mobile fee requires Shaw's 1.5 Gbps service.  At the 1.0 Gbps level, there will be a monthly fee for Shaw Mobile.  Shaw's "promotion" of $0/month for any Internet speed is no longer available.

[rstra]

@mdk 

You think they will give me a Hitron if I get bumped up from 300? 😀😀😀

I should have noted in my post “…if the will bump me up from 300, for no extra charge” But I thought that was implied, since Gordon got offered upgrades for no extra charge. 

Shaw Mobile, been there, done that, will never do it again. 

[mdk]

@rstra -- You think they will give me a Hitron if I get bumped up from 300? 

No, for 2 reasons:

1. Shaw does not "give" you any hardware; you are "renting" the cable-modem;
2. The Hitron is limited to about 300 Mbps. Shaw will demand that you return the Hitron, after you rent a cable-modem that is capable of higher speeds, such as the XB6 or the XB7, or Shaw will charge you a "non-returned equipment" fee, if you do not return it.

Yes, "tone" and "humor" cannot easily be expressed in a non-verbal, non-physical, response to what may have been intended as a wise-crack or as a jibe or as being satirical type of message.

Note that Shaw has told me that I need not return an older "end-of-life" cable-modem that no longer can be provisioned on their network.  I responsibly took it to the local "electronics-recycling end-of-life" location.

> Shaw Mobile, been there, done that, will never do it again. 

If the Shaw/Rogers deal completes, you may never get another chance to do it. The proposal is to merge Freedom Mobile and Shaw Mobile, and then sell the package to some other company, in order to please the Canadian regulators who worry about concentration in the ownership of such businesses.

[rstra]

@mdk 

I thought the 😀😀😀 would help, but, oh well.

[rickatk]

If the Shaw/Rogers deal completes, you may never get another chance to do it. The proposal is to merge Freedom Mobile and Shaw Mobile, and then sell the package to some other company, in order to please the Canadian regulators who worry about concentration in the ownership of such businesses.

@mdk thanks for the kinder gentler explanation about the cel phone part as it relates to the main merger. Much better than the rage responses over at Reddit. 

[rstra]

I believe that the merger will go through, but either way, Freedom will be sold. Shaw can’t afford to continue to expand and also upgrade their existing equipment to 5G. Shaw is in a tough spot, the future of internet and TV to the home is 5G and they cannot build out a network to remain competitive.

[mdk]

@rstra -- [Shaw]  cannot build out a network to remain competitive.

Interesting.  Will Shaw absorb their costs for building-out a 5G network, or will they pass those costs to their subscribers?

Given that Shaw already has 99% fibre-optic cable on their network, how expensive would it be to buy 5G devices that connect to the existing fibre-optic network (one device every 100 feet on a residential street) ?

Some older online articles [2019] imply speeds from 300 Mbps to 1000 Mbps.  Aren't we there already?

Inside the home, the 5G receiver would need to be on a window-sill, to get the strongest signal, and that receiver would have to broadcast 5G (or 5 Ghz?) to all your wireless-equipped devices. Of course, the receiver could have Ethernet ports, to connect to your desktop computer, or to your TV.

In rural areas that already have Shaw fiber along the roads, and "last-mile" coaxial into the farm-house, would there be any benefit to switch that "last-mile" to 5G ?

[rstra]

@mdk 

5G uses 28 and 39GHz, I am not sure if Shaw owns any of that at spectrum, they did sit out the last auction. So, it is more than just swapping out the existing equipment.

Like a phone, the 5G gateway wouldn’t need to sit in a window sill, likely just installed where the traditional modem gets installed and include the same features. 5G to the home would allow companies like Rogers to sell internet to customers without running cable to the house, putting wireline companies at risk.

Verzizon and T-Mobile are two companies that are already doing 5G to the home, some interesting articles available.