COVID-19: Customer Installs, Essential Services and Faster Uploads

16. April 2020 Internet Support 0
COVID-19: Customer Installs, Essential Services and Faster Uploads

While making plans to protect our customers and installers from the spread of the coronavirus, Skyway West is doing its utmost to prioritize providers of Essential Services. We are also helping customers temporarily increase the speed of their office internet to accommodate remote workers. These are the steps we’re taking:

  • Establish protection protocols for installers and customers
  • Prioritize Essential Services for both Sales and Support
  • Increase upload speeds for ADSL, Cable and Purefibre
  • Install Dedicated Fibre in less than 10 days in many downtown locations
  • Temporarily Upgrade Dedicated Fibre

1. Protecting Customers and Installers
Skyway, Telus and Shaw are all taking extra measures to protect our installers. Telus and Shaw no longer allow their ADSL, PureFibre and Cable installers to enter your premises and are limiting Service Calls to essential cases (a service permanently offline, for example). Telus and Shaw can complete most installs without entering your suite and Skyway’s installers will complete the install.

Skyway is sterilizing all devices we send and cleaning our shipping boxes with a bleach spray. Our installers are taking extra measures to sanitize their hands, sanitize our equipment after installing and maintain physical distancing. We ask our customers to be responsible for sanitizing before and after our installer leaves. 

Our Fibre providers (Telus, Shaw, Bell, Zayo and Urban Fibre) will still enter your premises to install Dedicated Fibre.

2. Essential Services
The BC government has designated Skyway West an Essential Service provider because Internet services are critical to the functioning of businesses and the communities they serve. Our Support and Sales are prioritizing customers who also provide Essential Services as defined by the BC government here. If you provide an Essential Service, please inform Support or Sales when you contact us for assistance.

3. Faster Upload
Some companies whose remote users require logging in to internal servers are discovering that their office Internet connection doesn’t have enough upload speed to meet demands. These clients may be eligible for a speed upgrade. The fastest ADSL, Cable and PureFibre services available are ADSL 150/25 Mbps, Cable 1000/125 Mbps and PureFibre 1000/1000 Mbps. It is also possible to bond multiple ADSL services. Please contact sales@skywaywest.com to see if you qualify.

4. Dedicated Fibre Installs and Temporary Upgrades
New Dedicated Fibre installs normally take from ten to 60 business days, depending on the provider and whether the building is connected to our provider’s network. We can install Dedicated Fibre in under ten days for the 150 buildings we connect to in the corridor between Coal Harbour (West Pender St and Jervis St), Vancouver, Gastown and the Downtown Eastside (Princess Ave and Powell St). Speeds range from 100 to 10,000 Mbps.

Increasing the speed of an existing Dedicated Fibre normally takes from 10 to 20 business days depending on whether a faster port is required. Most 100 Mbps services use a 100 Mbps port and can therefore take 20 business days to upgrade above 100 Mbps. Services faster than 100 Mbps use a 1000 Mbps port so can take 10 business days to increase up to 1000 Mbps. 

Some Dedicated Fibre providers are allowing temporary upgrades without an early termination charge. The upgrade is processed as a “1-year minimum term” but with 45 days notice can be downgraded to the original service. Please contact sales@skywaywest.com for more information.