I recently switched from Gateway to Bluesky. I really liked the tuner buffering with Gateway. I could watch multiple channels, switch back a forth between them and rewind what I missed. This fantastic and useful feature doesn’t appear to be available with Bluesky. I thought Bluesky was a newer system that moving forward not backwards. Is this a ploy to try and get us to watch more commercials?
Hey parka,
Thank you for reaching out, your feedback is appreciated! BlueSky TV is a different TV experience when compared to the Gateway. I can understand how the change may be frustrating but it is an expected feature. For shows that you are looking to swap back and forth with, I will recommend setting a recording for them so you don't miss a thing. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Cheers,
Tony | Community Mod.
OMG.........I don't know where to start, and I've finally after 35 years lost my patience........ but hope this helps Shaw and all of us out ! I have been both a Shaw client for over 35 years and also with the competition (Telus) from time to time.I am very advanced and Tech Savvy and unfortunately Shaw, my favorite content provider continues to go downhill quickly since 2016.I am worried!!! For them and their loyal clients such as me.
Regarding this thread, I was an original Shaw GATEWAY subscriber from about 2013 up until 2018 when I unfortunately upgraded to Shaw BLUESKY TV.
While Bluesky has some great features, Gateway in 2018 was just way way way better from a user point of view. (Although I hear now even Gateway has been changed for the worse as well.) And Blusky features have not been improved on as I can see since Jan 2018
Bluesky Advantages:
-Search is by voice. (fantastic)
-Smart PVR User Interface knowing when a show is watched and marking it as such.
-4k ability. (Hey is the gateway able to do this yet?)
-Quieter Boxes, hey because there is no MAIN box like on Gateway. (Yet the newer Gateway boxes were not so bad.)
Gateway Advantages: (Oh god I miss ALL OF THESE SO MUCH!!!)
-Pause on one TV and Pickup in another room without having to Record.
-30 minute rewind on two LAST channels flipping back and forth without having to record.
-Fast Forward and Rewind being very smooth and accurate and not all over the place and way too choppy like Bluesky. (Which sucks with FF and RW)
-Frame by frame fast forward!! Yes, movies like the Excorcist directors cut where a split second demon screen comes on, You can NEVER view anything FRAME by FRAME in Bluesky. Just Terrible. This is one of my biggest gripes !!! Only on the Gateway which was excellent at FRAME BY FRAME.
-Gateway in 2018 had COLOR CODED menu items to distinguise between Movies, Sports, Children etc. God I miss this. The Bluesky User Interface menu guide is just terrible looking, and response time !!! (But now I hear even the new Gateway had done away with the color coding!!!...........SHAW..........WHAT IS GOING ON?? Do you even try or listen to features or what clients want ??
-While unplugging the Bluesky box helps fast forward and rewind choppyness temporarily, this must be done daily !!! (So annoying after many service callouts still remains.)
-Gateway Guide did not need resetting every day to 'Free to Me'. Bluesky looses the guide setting daily making for constantly having to push way more keys to get what you want.
-Gatway did not do this mistake. The Bluskey Guide is not accurate! I get channels but they are not on free to me and also I pay for channels that do not appear on Free to me !!
-Gateway did not do this mistake..........I never want Low def channels showing, yet Free to me on Blusky shows all the low def without a way to filter them out.
So sorry folks........while this cowboy has been a Shaw lifer......(despite them being pricier than the competition.) I am ready to jump ship. On top of the lack of attention to what clients want, the customer service-lines have gone over the years from an average of 20 minutes per call to 5 calls of 40 minutes each. Yes, I hate to say it, as I was sooooooo loyal, but I have just had it and will start looking for better options for my media provider. Sorry Shaw, I really really want to love you still. Lost patience finally.
Good luck to you all.
I have a Gateway (still in a box) waiting my changeover from a DCX3400 (can't transfer what's saved). What I want to know is will the Gateway carry the new HD channels that Bluesky carries? Or to get them will I be stuck having to change to Bluesky? The drawbacks listed by Madmike look to be too much. Also, as an old ShawFriends customer, I got replacement boxes when my old Pace+Externder etc burned out, That's how I have the 3400 (& now the Gateway). It works fine but I sure miss the 125 gigs of storage (now only 25 gigs as Shaw wouldn't replace my dead Extender). Also, if I did replace the Gateway with Bluesky, are there additional costs?
@Madmike oh no, don't leave us! Thank you for taking the time in writing such detailed feedback. I will certainly pass this along to our product team to improve the BlueSky TV experience. I understand the frustrations with long waits, we are working hard to make sure everyone is helped as soon as possible. If there is anything else I can do to help, please let me know.
@DXER I haven't heard of any plans for the Gateway to carry new HD channels at this time. In order to enjoy the new channels, you will need to upgrade to BlueSky TV. If you upgrade to BlueSky TV, it will be on a 2-year value plan (not the same as the replacement program) but you can renew every 2 years for it to be rent-free. Again, it will depend on your needs and which features you are looking for. Let me know if you have more questions.
I am in full agreement with the comments above and below. Blue Sky is a downgrade from Gateway.
The replay button is useless most of the time. If you leave one channel to check another and then go back you cannot rewind or even pause it.
The FF and RW controls are really not controls are they. They are wildly erratic.
Shaw should be ashamed of this system.
Hell of a choice. So-so box with HD & voice control or decent button-only box with no new HD. Pause, skip & replay are quite important functions. Other offers out there include full HD, good boxes, wireless. But you gotta switch. What happened to the promise of the systemwide upgrade and the promise of more HD? That took ages, then nothing. Now it's satellites going MPEG 4, again all HD. But non-Bluesky gets what? Nothing again. To get Bluesky, is rewiring needed? Or is it plug and play? So many questions.
Hi Shaw-tony, hey after all this time I never knew that someone responded. Thanks and hope you are safe during the whole Covid-19 thing.
Yes we are home all the time now!!!! And as such.........
My update is that unfortunately nothing has changed from my OMG post above, not a single noticeable thing since I wrote early October, 2019.
The most annoying on my list above is the dreaded FF as it always overshoots or undershoots and is always choppy unless I unplug and replug back in. This fix only lasts a couple of hours and frankly I am sick of getting on my knees and behind my equipment. Still cant FF frame by frame either.
I did speak to someone in support who did offer a couple of perks which while I do so appreciate, neither me or more importantly my wife are satisfied overall with BlueSky despite being patient and waiting much time for a significant firmware/software update.
Nothing personal, but coupled with the fact that that our building now has Fibre Optic the comp is offering at rates that would save us $40 per month.........I just see no other choice than to do the change. The price may be one thing, but its the experience that matters most for me, and I really miss my old Gateway.
If you are aware of Shaw doing a major upgrade to firmware/software please do let me know as this could be the only thing to retain me.
Good luck and be safe out there.
@DXER wrote:I have a Gateway (still in a box) waiting my changeover from a DCX3400 (can't transfer what's saved). What I want to know is will the Gateway carry the new HD channels that Bluesky carries? Or to get them will I be stuck having to change to Bluesky? The drawbacks listed by Madmike look to be too much. Also, as an old ShawFriends customer, I got replacement boxes when my old Pace+Externder etc burned out, That's how I have the 3400 (& now the Gateway). It works fine but I sure miss the 125 gigs of storage (now only 25 gigs as Shaw wouldn't replace my dead Extender). Also, if I did replace the Gateway with Bluesky, are there additional costs?
Personal opinion here...if you are upgrading from a trusty classic tuner, skip the Gateway and go right to BlueCurve. That really is the platform of the future. Wired or wireless, BlueCurve is all about Internet TV(IPTV). Gateway, while it has some good features is old technology not destined to stay around much longer. BlueCurve is quite new and features are being added all the time.
About Rew and FF: I find the system on Blue Sky pretty good. X1-X4 and lightening works just fine. Cloud PVR works works great with my wireless TV player setup. No hard drives to worry about.