Right out of the box it has been a disappointment. I was kind of excited for a new tech toy to play with and wound up shaking my head at the design decisions Shaw made.
There are only 2 ethernet ports. The other two were converted to phone jacks *that are not even enabled.* They also do not allow you to choose customer DNS settings. Which breaks VPNs. Removing DNS settings is anti consumer and anti privacy.
If you game you want to be on wired. Wireless is not good enough for serious or competitive gaming.
After wasting 6ish hours of my life with one tech leaving on hold for over an hour I have decided to return the BlueCurve Modem. After ordering a gigabit ethernet switch to compensate for the lack of ports.
If they could promise to fix the DNS settings option in an update I would have kept it.
I'm boggled how they made these decisions that would have cost significant extra cost to implement. 4 ethernet ports and custom DNS is so standard it would cost extra to do anything non standard like remove custom DNS and make 2 of the ports Phone Jacks. If you want a phone jack it comes in addition to the 4 ethernet ports.
Who ever at Shaw made those choices needs to be barred from making these kind of decisions in the future. Those 2 choices alone will have anyone tech savvy and knowledgeable about networking upset and return the Gateway.
The manager I spoke to that trains people on the new Blue Curve completely agreed with me and said they had a similar reaction when they first saw the ports. Like even the Managers at Shaw realize how counterproductive those choices are.
Shaw can not return the 6 hours I lost that they could have prevented by honestly and accurately advertising BlueCurve. If they had told me it only had two ethernet ports and no DNS settings I would have never gone for BlueCurve.
If you tell me it is "Future Proof" I expect 4 ethernet ports and DNS settings. A regression is not "Future Proof" by any means or definition.
There are also many reports about speed and other issues. Which I never got that far because of the lack of custom DNS settings. Also they don't really tell you the pods are limited to 75 mbps and you won't get full speed on the wifi pods if you have 150, 300, or 600.
We all know they took away DNS Settings because if you 1.1.1.1 or Google DNS they can no longer monitor your traffic. I find their choice in this matter offensive, insecure, and unethical. We have the right to use the DNS of our own choosing. It is unethical to force us to use Shaw's DNS service. I did not agree to only use Shaw's DNS when I signed up and they have no reasonable or ethical ground to enforce the use of their DNS.
They need to get out of their Ivory Towers and stop being disconnected with the needs and wants of their customers. We need 4 ethernet ports minimum and custom DNS settings.
If you want to try BlueCurve you better be ready for only 2 ethernet ports, no DNS settings, and more surprises. The only value in it is the promotion they are offering. If you are a gamer and/or an advanced networker you will not be happy with the BlueCurve Gateway.
Also while I'm at it the Hitron is terrible and forgets settings constantly. Choose Technicolor or Cisco. Yes, you can ask for a specific brand or model.
If you do go for BlueCurve ask for the Technicolor model and avoid the two Arris models. The Arris models have widespread reports of buggines and poor functionality. The Technicolor model has been reported to work best of the three BlueCurve Gateway models.
If you go for Internet 600 Shaw only lets you use BlueCurve even though technically the Cisco Modem can do 600. I had to go back down to the Grandfathered 300 and lose the 600 promo to return the BlueCurve package. Their system is programed to not accept the Cisco at 600 even though it can do it.
The instant they give back the ability to choose your DNS Service and not be spied on by Shaw I'll go to BlueCurve again.
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