Shaw Mobile Quality of Service - Compared to Telus/Rogers/Bell

Sith
Grasshopper

Hi there, for those that have signed up, how does Shaw's quality of service, compare to Telus/Rogers/Bell?

By service, I am referring to the network mostly. Is it equal, close or lacking, compared to the more established providers above.

I notice that the pricing is really touted to be the sell point but some forums have posted issues with connectivity, etc. 

Thanks. 

 

88 Replies

-- I signed-up on the 2nd day that it became available. I...

mdk
Legendary Grand Master

@Sith -- I signed-up on the 2nd day that it became available. I have had no issues -- clear voice on my iPhone. No problems when it switches between the "Shaw" cellular network and the "Nationwide" (roaming on Telus/Bell/Rogers towers), or switches back. Via SMS, Shaw has offered me 2 GB per month of cellular-data for $15.  But, with over 100 thousand Shaw Go WiFi access points, I have not yet needed to pay for "data". Of course, I live in a metropolitan area, not in a rural area. Shaw's support via telephone and online-chat has exceeded my expectations.

Note: I have never worked for Shaw, nor ever have been employed by Shaw.  I have been a consumer of Shaw Internet since "day one" when it was offered in my area -- at the time, I got "Internet 5", with later free upgrades to "Internet 7.5" and "Internet 10".

 

 

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So far I’ve been extremely happy with Shaw Mobile. I swi...

Spatch
Grasshopper

@Sith @—So far I’ve been extremely happy with Shaw Mobile.  I switched my three teenage children to the By The Gig plan from Freedom back in August when it first rolled out.  Then when Shaw Mobile introduced the $25 per month plan in October for Fibre+ Gig internet customers (which I am) I switched both my wife and I from Rogers, and upgraded my teenagers’ accounts as well.  So I have five lines on the $25 plan and no complaints from any user.  

I’m in Mission BC, right at the edge of the Shaw Mobile network coverage area, and connectivity is always strong.  Relative to Rogers, my previous provider, I’m finding Shaw Mobile has stronger coverage in my area. I think the bottom line is to determine how often you travel out of the Shaw network.  If you’re generally mostly in the Shaw network on a day to day basis, I would suggest you seriously consider Shaw Mobile as an option.  Personally I’m usually in their network area and don’t venture into the Nationwide zone often, so I’ve been very happy with the coverage, service, connectivity, and of course pricing.
Your mileage may vary, but that’s been my experience so far. 

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I switched from Rogers to ShawMobile in August 2020. In g...

jim1147com
Grasshopper

I switched from Rogers to ShawMobile in August 2020.

In general, the signal levels appear to be lower than for Rogers' in many areas around the lower mainland, but provide adequate coverage in most urban areas. However, we live in North-East Coquitlam and the signal levels here are weather and very location dependent. vary by huge amounts, from about -70dBm (Strong signal - Very infrequent) to <-115dBm (Very weak unusable signal - very common), averaging approximately -105dBm (Intermittent and barely usable) .

Part of the problem appears to be Shaw's tower locations and spacing. My most common connection is about 10 KM away, even though there are closer towers, ranging from 300 to 5000 metres. Also, since the signal is so weak, it is only the lowest frequency 700MHz, 3G signal which gets through.

In this location, I depend almost entirely upon Wi-Fi calling.

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Which phone are you using?

rstra
Grand Master

@jim1147com Which phone are you using?

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-- since the signal is so weak, it is only the lowest fre...

mdk
Legendary Grand Master

@jim1147com -- since the signal is so weak, it is only the lowest frequency 700MHz, 3G signal which gets through.

Does your mobile-phone always stay connected to the "Shaw" towers?

Some phones should "roam" (at no extra cost to any Shaw Mobile customer) onto the "Nationwide" network, because Shaw has contracts with Bell/Telus/Rogers for roaming onto those networks. Does your phone "roam"?

 

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Customer service with Shaw is VERY poor! There are VERY l...

woja
Grasshopper

Customer service with Shaw is VERY poor! There are VERY long waits to speak to an agent. My phone number was changed with an agent then I was unable to login to pay my bill resulting in another long phone wait for an agent who was very difficult to understand. My contract will not be renewed when it expires! (Bell answers more quickly and Telus services are as good as Shaw.)

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I've been very unhappy with QoS for calls and texting

metatation
Grasshopper

I've been very unhappy with QoS for making calls and sending texts. Calls often fail to complete, often take 30 seconds before I hear it ring after placing a call, sms messages frequently fail to send and need to be retried. I never had a single problem like this when using Telus or Bell. I've been using Shaw Mobile since black friday and am seriously regretting that decision. 

I had a separate issue when I received my first bill a couple weeks ago they instantly cut my service off because I had "exceeded my credit" even though this was my first bill and it wasn't due until end of Dec:

Screen Shot 2020-12-29 at 1.21.24 PM.png

Not exactly a nice "welcome to Shaw mobile"!

Service wasn't restored until after spending hours with shaw support. This has been unbelievably frustrating and poor quality service. I was initially so excited to switch over and now I have a lot of regret.

OMG, I just received a phone call while writing this and the call was dropped three times before I just gave up and switched to my home phone (which is scheduled to be canceled in a week!). 

My advice to run, don't walk, away from this until there is evidence that they've fixed their service problems. So much for being a loyal shaw customer for the past 25 years. I'll still use them for internet since they are the only game in my area and service has been reliable, but Shaw Mobile is clearly not ready for prime time.

 

Michael

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-- logon to Shaw Mobile to view what "chargeable" service...

mdk
Legendary Grand Master

@metatation -- logon to Shaw Mobile to view what "chargeable" services (data? long-distance outside of Canada?) that you consumed. Sending/receiving text-messages is zero-charged, as is telephone usage. Have you given Shaw your credit-card information, for automatic billing?

 

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I had incurred no charges except for the one-time setup f...

metatation
Grasshopper

I had incurred no charges except for the one-time setup fees for 5 phones from a couple weeks before - the total was around $400. Imagine my delight of having my service for 5 phones suspended in the middle of the night without even having a chance to rectify the situation. I hadn't had the chance to setup credit card info as I'd never received a bill from them before. Service was suspended before my first bill was even due for payment because of bugs in their billing system.

As mentioned, I spent quite a bit of time sorting this out with a few different support people and they agreed it was a flaw in there system and told me to pay the bill to resume service. Apparently my loyalty of 25 years as a Shaw customer and a perfect credit rating isn't considered by their system.

Anyway, this is getting away from the main point of my original message which is: a) Shaw mobile calls/texting fail all the time, b) their billing system is hostile, c) their support people don't care.

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