Shaw has tagged this as having a solution because a techn...

[ponderer]

Shaw has tagged this as having a solution because a technician is coming to check signal strength.That is not a solution although it may be a step toward a solution.  All of my tests, checks and observations (plus the other people with the same problem and the fact that the problem is worst during peak viewing hours) suggest that this is not a local problem but a system problem.  Simply, I suspect that Shaw's system is not up to the demands being made on it.  If the technician's visit this Friday solves the problem (or even identifies it), then I will post it.

[June6]

Do you have any more information about this issue?  I live in the same area, and am having the same problem of bad tv pixellation in the evening.  Thanks!

[ponderer]

I posted a new item regarding the outcome of this, but in short, the tech replaced some outdated front-end Shaw devices (splitter entering the house, amplifier inside the terminal box and power source) and tested the signal strength coming in vs at the PVR. There was negligible loss because we have direct runs of "smart" cable to each PVR.  He said that should solve the pixellation and sound problems, and if it did not then the problem is in the signal arriving at the house.  Whether that is the cable leading to our house or further up the line would have to be determined.  Another resident a couple of hundred metres away had a similar result - their home cables and connectors tested out fine, but they still are experiencing picture and sound problems.  The tech suspected that Shaw might have issues that should be looked at.  Unfortunately, I did not get his name or contact point to let him know the outcome and there has been no follow-up from Shaw.  Several other owners have technicians coming so we will see if there is any concrete action by Shaw on its distribution problems. I don't hold out much hope.  A couple of weeks ago we paid to get Shaw to install a replacement PVR as our 12 year old Motorola had ceased to respond to either of the remotes although they worked fine with our other PVR.  Shaw could not get it to work, so came back a week later with a different PVR (same model, also refurbished). That one would not link up either, but a day or so later they found that it was a programming error when they deleted the old PVR and registered the "new" one. Now the problem is that the new PVR will not "jump" forward 30 seconds :(instead it freezes and you have to restart "play" on that recording),  nor will it fast forward properly.  At "2 arrows" FF speed it performs for a second or two, then reverts.  At 3 arrows, it reverts immediately to "Play".  I rebooted the device last night and it worked OK then, but it has started doing the same today and had to be rebooted.  Unless Shaw gets this fixed soon we and probably a half dozen others will be moving to a different cable provider, or to a streaming service that a couple of neighbours have recently switched to.  It is one thing for Shaw to have technical problems with their signal distribution (because the problem is not at our home or our neighbour's home, according to Shaw) but something else again when their management systems cannot or will not respond.  Evening TV has been unwatchable for about 3 weeks now, so something has to happen soon.

Forget the "Community" forum and try to get a technician appointment, although there seems to be 1 - 1 1/2 week wait for that.  Good luck, whatever you do.

[ponderer]

Poorly.

The Technician changed out Shaw's outdated splitter, amplifier and power source at the entrance box and tested the signal strength at the PVR vs incoming from the street. He said it was excellent (should be, it is 10 year old smart cable with direct runs from the entrance box to each PVR - no splitters anywhere in the house) and that should fix my problem.  If it did not, then the problem would be the signal coming from Shaw, and as he was aware that a neighbour a couple hundred metres away had the same situation (tested fine, but still getting pixellation and sound drop-outs) then the problem must be the Shaw signal and it might need to be looked into.  I thought he did a proper job, but we still cannot watch TV on most channels in most of prime time.

I have not heard anything from Shaw since and am now tied up with a "new" PVR from Shaw installed a couple of weeks ago that does not fast forward. Pressing the 30-second "jump" button would stop the play and leave a black screen.  Then we have to select the recording and "play" all over again. Pressing fast forward would play back at "2-arrows" speed for a second or so, then revert to play speed.  Moving the fast forward to "3-arrows" caused immediate return to "play" speed.  I rebooted the device last night and it would then perform correctly, until prime time tonight when it started the same thing again.  I rebooted again, and now it jumps and fast forwards appropriately.  (Our second PVR which we have had for a couple of years is fine.)  I know that this "new" PVR (a Motorola, but supposedly identical to the Arris) is actually refurbished, but what is the reason for this to occur?  This "new" PVR is actually the second one in as many weeks as Shaw could not get the first one to connect, so brought a second one a week later, which also would not connect until someone discovered an error, apparently in deleting the old PVR in such a way that did not allow the new one to connect.

[June6]

My TV is working perfectly tonight, no pixellation at all, for the first time in several weeks.  I had called the problem into Shaw yesterday, and was told there was a minor problem to be fixed in my area (so minor it wasn't listed on their outage page).  He thought it would be fixed in 4 to 6 days. I told him I'd call back in 6 days if it still wasn't working and he gave me a case number.  So I guess they fixed something on the Shaw system side, hopefully everyone's is now working.

[ponderer]

Same here.  A neighbour down the cul-de-sac said that when she went out today there was a Shaw boom truck at the end of the cul-de-sac so they must have fixed it.  Amazing! So many of us with faulty equipment in our homes and they were able to solve our problems remotely. (LOL)

It seems that the problem may have been that no one took seriously the complaint that it was the Shaw signal that was the problem instead of our splitters, cables and PVRs.  Kudos to whoever at Shaw realized that they needed to check their own equipment - finally!

[ponderer · Accepted solution]

The problem likely was solved when the Shaw truck did work at the junction box for local area service midway between the Heron and Chickadee entrances on Matheson, but on the East side of the street. On Nov. 15, one of our residents had spoken (the last of many calls) with another Shaw service rep on the phone and said Shaw needed to red-flag the area because of the number of residents with the same unresolved problem, and the rep agreed.  Apparently that worked as the truck was there on the 16th so at least three upcoming service appointments can now be cancelled.  Nearly two weeks of complaints and obfuscation and no usable TV service in the evening and the problem solved with a brief repair to Shaw's distribution facilities.

[SusanaQ]

I have had the same issue, live in East Van, and have had 5 technicians since January who cannot resolve the problem.  I've resolved that Shaw cannot fix it and I'm about to switch to Telus.  No choice.

[mdk]

@SusanaQ -- you posted the same comment in another thread. Please see my reply in that thread.

To repeat, it could be a Shaw problem between your house and the nearest telephone-pole, or maybe up-and-down your street, affecting multiple neighbours of yours. Ask them if they have Shaw, and if they have problems.

[ponderer]

MDK's suggestion is probably bang-on. Check with your neighbours and coordinate if they also have problems. We got no results from multiple people calling Shaw multiple times until someone reached a tech or manager who recognized that with all of these complaints in the same area, then it was probably a systems problem and the solution was not for all of us to get the Blue Curve box after all, or a new line to our house, but for Shaw to replace some of their distribution system equipment, which was incapable to handling the user volume in the neighbourhood.