As of today, Rogers has officially shut down the Shaw WiFi hotspot network, cutting off public access to thousands of once-free internet access points across Western Canada. This marks the end of a service that had been a staple for Shaw customers—and later, Freedom Mobile users—for over a decade.
Originally branded as ‘ShawOpen,’ the hotspots gave users free Wi-Fi in busy areas like malls, cafes, and transit hubs, especially at a time when mobile data was limited and expensive.
Phones would auto-connect to these hotspots, saving customers from using their small monthly data buckets. When Rogers bought Shaw in 2023, the network was rebranded as ‘RogersOpen’—but problems started soon after. Many users said the hotspots became unreliable or stopped working altogether, according to reports online.
Now, Rogers has pulled the plug entirely, citing a “dramatic” drop in usage. The move also impacts Freedom Mobile users, who had continued to access the hotspot network despite now being owned by Quebecor’s Videotron.
Freedom confirmed to customers that hotspot access is ending and is instead promoting its newer, faster 5G+ network. The company says its rollout of 3800 MHz spectrum in B.C., Alberta, and Ontario now offers speeds over 1 Gbps—compared to the 100 Mbps cap on the old Shaw WiFi.
For users who relied on these hotspots—especially in places with poor cell service—the shutdown may mean weaker indoor coverage. Reddit users have already noted problems in underground areas and older buildings where Wi-Fi used to fill in the gaps.
Rogers says it still offers free public Wi-Fi at over 20,000 locations across Western Canada, but the days of seamless, free mobile internet access through ShawOpen are officially over. To ease the transition, Rogers is giving 3GB of bonus data to customers on its Basic BYOD plan—one last nod to a service that defined early mobile connectivity in Western Canada.
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RIP Shaw Passpoint!
This sale should have never happened.
Indeed, I'm a trades person and spoke to some shaw staff in the field and it was a hostile take over which negatively impacted many shaw employees who were also not happy about the sale.
Shaw go was supplementing poor cell service in our rural town. The funny thing is we had better service with 3g now service is worse on 5g.
Did we not get told the merger would lead to better service and lower rates? How is that working out?
I'm a little confused. Last week I tried to connect to ShawOpen, and received a splash page saying it was changing to RogersOpen, and I should reconnect to that. Which I did, and it worked fine. Is ShawOpen not now replaced by RogersOpen?
PS I was wondering where that 3GB of bonus data came from
Oh, I have an update to this. I was out again, and found that RogersOpen had changed to RogersGuest. A little googling shows that RogersGuest is available to everyone (not just Rogers customers, it does not require authentication), but it has a quota of 5GB data per month. Looks like RogersOpen is dead as of June 21.
Telus also is doing the same shut down. Their #Telus hotspots were far less common but they announced their shutdown first and Rogers is the follower. I have business location customers who hosted both versions and get all the notices. We are supposed to unplug them and recycle the radios and modems. Both networks have not upgraded any of the equipment so they are now very old and out of support models in many cases.
Its because everything Roger's touches. It goes to crap Roger's been bankrupt once or twice now so