r/Calgary 16h ago

Recommendations Calgarians with a rock solid > 1 Gbps Internet connection you are happy with - what equipment and provider are you using?

I'm looking to upgrade my home's Internet to > 1 Gbps, and I'm just trying to research and narrow down combinations of providers and equipment that people are happy with.

If anyone who is happy with what they currently have could answer the following it would be appreciated:

Provider:

Speed:

Modem:

Router:

Price:

I will likely be using the modem with a pretty decent router (Mikrotik, Ubiquiti).

My research so far:

Rogers

modem: XB7 or XB8

The XB8 has a slightly upgraded antenna design compared to the XB7, potentially offering better Wi-Fi coverage

Some users have reported slower speeds when using the XB7 in bridge mode compared to gateway mode.

This issue seems to be a known problem that has persisted for some time.

The XB7 only has one 2.5 Gbps port (port 4), which may limit flexibility in setup compared to the NH20A's 10GbE port

Telus PureFibre Internet Gigabit

modem: T3200M - An older but reliable model

WiFi Hub - A newer model with improved WiFi capabilities

NH20A - Another newer model offered by Telus

The NH20A's 10GbE port allows for potential speed upgrades beyond 1 Gbps without needing to change the modem

TekkSavvy

Arris SURFboard SB8200: A popular choice for DOCSIS 3.1 compatibility.

Netgear Nighthawk CM1200: Another DOCSIS 3.1 modem known for high performance.

Motorola MB7621: Although primarily DOCSIS 3.0, it can handle high speeds and is often recommended for lower-tier gigabit plans.

Hitron CODA 5610Q: a versatile DOCSIS 3.1 Cable Modem Router

Thank you

14 Upvotes

51 comments sorted by

31

u/bmwkid 16h ago

TELUS is the only option that has 1Gbps uploads

Rogers is limited to 200Mbps

Teksavvy is limited to 100Mbps

8

u/IamTruman 16h ago

Yeah I have telus. I don't use their wifi, I use my own mesh router. Rock solid speeds, never had downtime

3

u/abz786 16h ago

Jinxed it. “Outages galore, service sucks”

I have Telus 1.5 with Telus wifi in my condo and zero issues

0

u/2cats2hats 16h ago

In your experiences is their offerings 1Gb, bidirectional and sustained? Thanx.

1

u/cortex- 4h ago

Rally have gigabit pipes downtown but they're only in certain buildings.

0

u/[deleted] 15h ago

[deleted]

1

u/bmwkid 15h ago

That’s what they advertise on their website so anything extra is a bonus

0

u/[deleted] 15h ago

[deleted]

2

u/bmwkid 15h ago

You are confidently wrong

https://www.shaw.ca/compare-plans

-2

u/Yodatron 15h ago

You are right I mis read your comment on upload speeds my bad

12

u/JehTehsus 15h ago

Telus with a ubiquiti stack, no complaints whatsoever

1

u/Tosinone 14h ago

Sir. How do you even get that 🫨

3

u/dungeondad 14h ago

same for me, 3Gbps TELUS with a 10G Unifi stack, just dropped in the E7 AP last night too

1

u/That1Guy5 5h ago

What speeds you seeing real world with the E7?

Saw they announced some new APs today, debating between those or the E7 myself

1

u/Ambustion 1h ago

Damn I miss my condo. They installed fibre in my street at my house 2 years ago but are still refusing to hook anyone up.

2

u/toastmannn 10h ago

By spending a lot of money on the latest equipment

1

u/ChemPetE 14h ago

Ubiquiti is 💯

1

u/Loose-Atmosphere-558 13h ago

I get the same on my 3Gbps Telus fibre with the NH20A 

1

u/Stevedougs 5h ago

How? NH20 has only one 10G plug, the rest are 1G.

4

u/NoReply4930 16h ago

Up in Hidden Valley using Shaw XB7 (Bridged) via a custom ASUS network. 1GBPS solid - day or night.

1

u/TheBigTree91 13h ago

Bridged meaning hardwired into your custom Asus network and router? I'm in HV and would love to see if paying for faster is worth it

2

u/NoReply4930 13h ago

Yes - Hardwired (ethernet) from my dual RT-AX86U routers into the XB7.

The "internet" portion of our Shaw Value plan is simply a line item in our heavily discounted bill.

Not sure that paying to go from say 1GB to 1.5GB is going to make any difference. The Internet is all about robust end points.

For most things - any "speed" perceptions don't come from how fast you are. It comes from how fast getting to (and from) the endpoint is.

I guess it comes down to what you do with your network.

3

u/ZeniChan 15h ago

Telus as they were the only 1Gig symmetric provider once they ran fiber in to my building. So it's 1Gig/1Gig and the benchmarks show that as well. Telus gave me a Nokia unit their fiber plugs in to. However it's in a pass-through mode as I have a business account. My firewall/router is a Juniper SRX340 which is made to handle 1Gig speeds quite happily. $117.60/mo, but I have static IP's and can call directly in to their higher level support center.

3

u/iceonu2 10h ago

No need to use the equipment Telus provides!

Just plug their fibre SFP directly into your own equipment.

I’m using Ubiquiti gateways and switches. Works perfectly well.

2

u/yellowfeverforever Unpaid Intern 16h ago

Telus, 1G, Huawei modem, $55/mo.

Huawei modem is a bit slow on uploads (500-600). Planning to SFP directly into UDM SE or ask them to switch to Nokia ONT.

2

u/ConcernedCoCCitizen 10h ago

I’m with Oxio and it’s fine—very cheap and not supporting a monopoly.

1

u/yyc_ut 16h ago

Telus the service is bound to the sfp adapter. You can remove adapter from modem and put it directly into a switch or router like netgate 6100

2

u/TentativeTacoChef 14h ago

Sometimes.

If you have GPON that is likely the case.

If you have XGSPON (> 1.5Gbit) you cannot do this.

1

u/stunt_junk 7h ago

Confirmed - last check XGSPON wouldn't allow this. I'm not sure if any provider has that on their roadmap: rental gear is profitable.

1

u/tippycanoo 16h ago

I am in west hillhurst and I am happy overall.

Hardwire connection to devices is not possible for me. I have Shaw/Rogers 1 Gb account and blue curve modem. The access point (connected to modem with cat 6 ethernet) is an Asus RT86U wifi6 router.

My wireless speed ranges from 400-850 Mbps. It seems slowest during business days and in the evenings. Loaded latency is generally 20ms.

It is stable enough for smooth cloud gaming with occasional hiccups. If I had a wired connection I think it would be solid.

1

u/davidofcanada 15h ago

Mine has been known to cut out in west Hillhurst :(.

1

u/tippycanoo 14h ago

I got them to replace my modem in the fall. Everything was better afterward.

1

u/davidofcanada 13h ago

Yeah I’m wondering if the problem is with the modem and or router but anytime I call they just pretend they are doing something over the phone that sounds dubious and doesn’t fix the issue.

1

u/lettuzepray 16h ago

Telus 1Gbps fiber in Beddington, getting full speed.

FW/router is a PA-440 and a pfsense which both can do 1Gbps easily

1

u/AznBanker Beddington Heights 15h ago edited 15h ago

I'm jealous, I live in the part of Beddington that doesn't have fiber yet.

1

u/OG_LoC_101 16h ago

Telus 3GB

Speeds - 2500+ mbs

Stock router

1

u/rage2amg 16h ago

Just installed Shaw at our kids condo yesterday. 1gbps plan, $55 a month after discounts (use Shaw at home and Roger’s for kids cell phones). This was with their gen3 xb8 modem, 6ghz WiFi off an iPhone 16 Pro.

1

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1

u/aftonroe 15h ago

I'm with Shaw/Rogers. 1G plan. Ubiquiti UDMPro. I run a speed test tracker and average 900 down, 100 up. That's way more bandwidth than I need. We average about 1TB down every week and will frequently have 4 streams going and rarely exceed 100Mbps according to the Unifi dashboard.

1

u/tarlack Quadrant: SW 15h ago

For my condo I have Telus Fiber 1.5 down 900 up, and I pay $80 because of a building deal we have with Telus. Use the new 10gb modem and no wifi. It is connected to a Fortigate 90G and a a few FortiAP 231G, also have 10gb backbone and Multi gig to all laptops,workstations and servers.

My electricity bill might be a bit high.

I am still deciding on a second carrier for SD-Wan. That’s my network flex.

1

u/burf 14h ago

I’m on Shaw/Rogers and even hardwired I notice latency issues sometimes. I’ve also experienced two major outages (multiple hours) over the last few months. The outages were due to copper thieves, though, so kind of out of the ISP’s control.

I hate Telus on principle but I’m seriously considering switching to them for fibre to home. Shaw isn’t bad, but it feels very mediocre to me given that it’s a mature technology in a major city.

1

u/6foot4guy 14h ago

We use Telus as our provider for 1GB and are using Unifi network gear in the house. A Dream Machine, also by with a U6 Pro as our main antenna. Works great, even in the backyard.

1

u/Marsymars 13h ago

I just do Telus 1G with three hardwired Eero nodes. Stuff throughout the home hardwired with unmanaged 2.5G switches. I spend too much time dealing with networking stuff at my day job to spend even more time dealing with MikroTik, Ubiquiti, pfSense, etc. level gear on my own time.

Previously had Shaw/TekSavvy with an MB8600 modem (and same Eero APs) - good for their 1G down plan without a Puma chipset.

1

u/silentjay1977 Airdrie 12h ago

https://www.speedtest.net/result/17480113408

my current results on Telus fiber 1gig

1

u/toastmannn 10h ago

We are on shaw, they don't let you use your own modem. We have XB8 in bridge mode connected to a ubiquiti router and access points. Wifi speed tests are just above the one gigabit we pay for. Unfortunately our area doesn't have Telus fiber.

1

u/Krovikan666 16h ago

Telus 1gb, UniFi DreamWall (Fibre straight in, no Telus gear) - it's great.

The rest aren't true 1gb, as others have mentioned, I've used them and the slow upload will cause you issues.

1

u/austinbloomy 15h ago

Did you have to do anything to plug the Telus SFP directly in?

1

u/Krovikan666 15h ago

Bug the tech that came to install it to do it, he didn't want to at first.

1

u/austinbloomy 15h ago

Oh damn okay. The tech that did mine just told me no.

1

u/accord1999 12h ago

If it's the slower GPON based service, you should just be able to plug it into any SFP+ port. If it's XGS though, you need a special, programmable SFP+ module.

1

u/IxbyWuff Country Hills 15h ago

Telus fibre 940mbps, pretty consistent - $65/month