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Telus TV - Vancouver British Columbia

UPDATE: You may have noticed Telus has been really pushing Telus TV. You must be really confident about their service now. This is the first real big push, so you know Telus is proud of their Telus TV now...

Telus TV Nuts and Bolts:

During that first night with Telus TV, I learned some important issues that you need to understand. This will help you if you make that call to Telus and sign up for Telus TV. It's very important to know what exactly you are able to get in your area or home or building. You need to understand before you make that first call into Telus about a Telus TV and bundle.

I will try to keep this easy to understand. Bandwidth is the important word when it comes to Telus TV and your Telus bundle with internet. It's like a tap. Telus opens up the tap giving you the proper amount of bandwidth for what you sign up for. What I didn't know when I signed onto Telus TV, is the limit on bandwidth into my home. For most people bandwidth and the amount of bandwidth required for Telus TV and Telus internet is confusing. Basically there is a 7 MB profile and 15 MB profile. If you have HD channels with your Telus TV, then you will get the 15 MB profile into your home.

The issue for me was, that I didn't sign up for a HD TV channel pack with Telus TV. I don't own an HD TV, so why would I get those channels? As a result, when I signed onto Telus TV, I was given only 7 MB of bandwidth into my home. Here is the breakdown:

• Each Standard definition SD TV will use 2.5 - 3.0 MB of bandwidth, but let's say 3.0 MB per television for Telus TV.
• Internet will use 1.5 MB or 3.0 MB of bandwidth. At the time of writing this Telus TV review, the fastest Telus internet speed you can sign up for is 3.0 MB if you have Telus TV.

My setup for Telus TV: 2 Standard definition SD televisions = 3 MB + 3 MB = 6 MB of bandwidth used. Of course, this means that if both televisions are on, then I will use 6 MB of bandwidth. Are you good at math? If I'm using 6 MB for television, and I'm only getting 7 MB of bandwidth into my house, how much bandwidth do I have left for my Telus internet? Yes! I only have 1 MB of bandwidth to power my internet. The correct answer really is, that you end up with a really angry me!

Backtrack to my original call to Telus to setup my Telus TV and bundle. I was so excited to be getting 3.0 MB internet speed which was double from the 1.5 MB speed that I had for years. Well, that first night of Telus TV not only did I NOT get my 3.0 MB speed which I signed on for, but my internet speed was SLOWER than what I had before getting my Telus TV. Of course Telus can argue that my internet speed really is 3.0 MB, but I would have to turn off one of my televisions to get that 3.0 MB speed.

I think my frustration was justified. I felt ripped off that I was not properly informed by the Telus TV representatives. It was a huge issue and leaving that out of the call to Telus seemed intentional on their part. They certainly could have mentioned the issue around limited bandwidth and that my internet speed would be dependent on how many televisions I had on at one time. Fact is, they didn't. The only thing Telus mentioned to me was that issue about the PVR limitation that you can't record and watch a different channel at the same time. Go figure.

So as you can see, if you don't sign up for a High Definition channel pack with Telus TV, you are given only 7.0 MB of bandwidth to your home. But the bigger news is that if you get the high definition channels, or at least $5 worth of them, you will be bumped from a 7.0 MB profile to a 15.0 MB profile. As I said before, Telus can open up the tap and give you that extra bandwidth. Well, hopefully in your situation they can because not everyone can get High Definition channels in their area. How bad is that news? Well, I'm not 100% certain so you need to ask first whether you can get the 15.0 MB profile. PERIOD. Forget about whether or not you can even get the High Definition channels, simply ask in a worst case scenario that you can get a 15.0 MB profile EVEN IF HD CHANNELS ARE NOT AVAILABLE WHERE YOU LIVE. You need to make a note of this before you call into Telus inquiring about a Telus TV bundle with internet. Trust me, you want the answer to this question before committing to Telus bundles. From what I know, you might be able to get the 15 MB profile to your home even though you can't get HD channels. As I've read, Telus doesn't encourage giving people 15 MB bandwidth if they are not getting HD channels. Force the issue with them. Unfortunately, when I called in, some Telus reps were confused about what the 15 MB profile is. Just tell them you want the 15 MB profile if they want your money!

So in my situation, I might be able to get more than enough bandwidth to my home so that my internet speed would be 100% independant of my televisions being on or off. After more reading, I realize that I think you know why this is important. This is the only way you can ensure that your internet speed remains constant in your home.

This isn't all bad news and this story does end on a happy note. You have to keep reading! Anyways, remember this all happened on my first night of having Telus TV. I learned a lot that first night after reading various forums online about Telus TV. I still needed to call them the next day and vent my frustrations and see if I could get out of this mess. I was frustrated to the point that I didn't care how much it would cost me to get out of my 3 year contract.

Continue Reading My Telus TV Review - Page 6 - My Happy Fat Wallet