Verizon FIOS

woodstock

woodstock

Final Approach
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Does anyone have Verizon FIOS service? Adelphia was just bought out by Comcast and not only did my monthly internet bill jump from 58 to 71 dollars, immediately upon the transfer... I now get bumped off much more often that I used to.

Is FIOS any good? They are building it out in my hood and I plan to switch immediately b/c I am really ticked off at Comcast... unless it's garbage that is. How much worse than Comcast could it be, though.
 
Everyone I have ever spoken with about FIOS is ecstatic about it; they taunt me, since I am stuck with AT&T's DSL service (which ain't so bad, really).

Fiber is good!
 
Jump on it as soon as you can get it. Just don't tell us how good the bandwidth is.

You'll also never regret dumping the maroons at Comcast. You're just a "revenue-generating unit" to them.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20070427_Comcasts_profit_soars_80_percent.html

The only caveat I can imagine is the same as for all such services - staying informed on deals to renew when the low teaser rates end in a year or two. Check Verizon FIOS forums at http://broadbandreports.com for the latest scoop.


C'Mon AT&T Uverse!
 
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I have it (Chantilly), I love it, I spend 150 per month for voice, data, TV (three rooms with one shared HD DVR), and that's a good 60/mo LESS than what I paid when I got TV and Internet from Cox and voice only from Verizon.

I've only had to call tech support twice, and both times I got through to a person in less than 20 minutes, and the person knew what he/she was talking about and was able to fix the problem.

I really can't say enough good stuff about it. It will be on my checklist for future moves, I guarantee it.
 
Thanks for the feedback!

Tim, wow, that is great. I pay 245 for all three services currently. Dish is a tad over 100 bucks, but I get ALL the movie channels (do I watch them? not really - pick and choose).

I bet my Dish DVR wouldn't transfer over if I got VZ TV though would it? I've got 500 bucks worth of movies saved on it, so I am loath to get rid of the service. But just combining VZ voice with the internet should save a little bit.
 
woodstock said:
I bet my Dish DVR wouldn't transfer over if I got VZ TV though would it? I've got 500 bucks worth of movies saved on it, so I am loath to get rid of the service. But just combining VZ voice with the internet should save a little bit.
Click to expand...

Nope. You can't use the same equipment. Check on http://www.dbstalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=11 to see how you might go about making sure you can still watch your saved movies after you cancel Dish.


With my DirecTV Tivo DVRs, the secret is to disconnect the sat dish BEFORE you cancel and never let it call in to DirecTV again.
 
The only problem with Verizon is getting them to perform. Customer service stinks. I have several friends in the DC area that told Verizon to cancel service after repeated failures to meet connect appointments and inability to keep services working. FIOS might be different, but in at least one NoVa case they outright lied to the person.

Even the business I'm associated with in DC had problems with Verizon. They missed install promises and deadlines by 2 weeks. We ended up using cellphones and a Sprint wireless card for connectivity for the first 2 weeks. In the end, we told 'em not to install the T1....

YMMV, but don't disconnect any of your old services until you're sure that Verizon is up and running reliably.

For the geeks: Verizon won't let you use your own router - they always want to reach through. That would be a deal-breaker for me.
 
wsuffa said:
For the geeks: Verizon won't let you use your own router - they always want to reach through. That would be a deal-breaker for me.
Click to expand...

I wonder how they would know. You can route, firewall, and NAT on a "PC."

I think what drives this is they have the smarts for QOS (Quality of Service) in the premises router. You need QOS to make video the priority, and to degrade Google and YouTube until they pay up.
 
wsuffa said:
Even the business I'm associated with in DC had problems with Verizon. They missed install promises and deadlines by 2 weeks. We ended up using cellphones and a Sprint wireless card for connectivity for the first 2 weeks. In the end, we told 'em not to install the T1....
Click to expand...

In the world of telecoms and T1 installations missing a T1 install by two weeks isn't that bad. XO Communications was over 3 months late on a T1 install for me.
 
jesse said:
In the world of telecoms and T1 installations missing a T1 install by two weeks isn't that bad. XO Communications was over 3 months late on a T1 install for me.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know. The problem was they missed by 2 weeks for POTS and DSL. POTS is inexcusible.

And we're close to the underground fiber, too.
 
mikea said:
I wonder how they would know. You can route, firewall, and NAT on a "PC."

I think what drives this is they have the smarts for QOS (Quality of Service) in the premises router. You need QOS to make video the priority, and to degrade Google and YouTube until they pay up.
Click to expand...

The premises router also provides IP service to the TV set-top boxes. If you get voice/data only, you can use your own router. If you get TV/DVR/VOD, you need theirs. That said, I've had no problems getting in, changing the password, and locking out the remote management. If they need remote access I'll give it to them at the time.

In 10 cases of friends/neighbors getting FIOS, only one had an issue, in the Peoples Republic of Vienna, and that was due to weather causing the street fiber install to be behind schedule. Once he got the service, he was very happy.
 
woodstock said:
Does anyone have Verizon FIOS service? Adelphia was just bought out by Comcast and not only did my monthly internet bill jump from 58 to 71 dollars, immediately upon the transfer... I now get bumped off much more often that I used to.

Is FIOS any good? They are building it out in my hood and I plan to switch immediately b/c I am really ticked off at Comcast... unless it's garbage that is. How much worse than Comcast could it be, though.
Click to expand...


Lets put it this way:

Comcast has this attitude that they are better than all, and refuse to market based on their competetors (one or 2 DSL ads, and that was about it).

But just before I left, we were being trained to prepare for the onslaught of FIOS calls. I've done a lot of research into FIOS, and it makes me very happy to see that level of service coming at that low of a price.

I think you're gonna love it.
 
wsuffa said:
For the geeks: Verizon won't let you use your own router - they always want to reach through. That would be a deal-breaker for me.
Click to expand...

Verizon's policy is the same as most ISPs regarding routers: They don't provide support for the use of their service through a 3rd party router.

If you use a router and experience trouble, expect the first words to be "Ok, lets try connecting directly to your computer." If it works, you're SOL until you call the company that supports the router (hint, most charge or provide no support).

But they don't specifically prohibit the use of a router with their service.
 
SkyHog said:
Lets put it this way:

Comcast has this attitude that they are better than all, and refuse to market based on their competetors (one or 2 DSL ads, and that was about it).

But just before I left, we were being trained to prepare for the onslaught of FIOS calls. I've done a lot of research into FIOS, and it makes me very happy to see that level of service coming at that low of a price.

I think you're gonna love it.
Click to expand...

when I called Comcast today to complain about the fact that I was bumped off the internet yet again, AND, "why did your prices go up 25% in one month - was it because you bought Adelphia and are now a monopoly" (using the term loosely) the poor CSR didn't have anything to say. She just said "Comcast raised prices across the board, they gave us no reason".

I then asked "since your prices spiked, have you noticed a large dropoff in customers" and she said "no".

I said, hmm, "I guess because out here all we get is Comcast. I got notice a few days ago that Verizon is coming in with their new service, I bet that will do the trick. hallelujah" She pretty much just ignored what I said and to her credit helped me get the internet back up and running.

I hope people leave Comcast in droves once the neighborhood is done.
 
Every six months, I make a call to Charter and threaten to move my service elsewhere even if all I have are DSL and satellite available. I'm offered a discount each time. This last one dropped internet by $10/mo and increased me from 3 to 5gb service. It also took $20/mo off the cable TV bill.

Even with those, I still pay $92/mo with taxes. If only there was another cable competitor!
 
KennyFlys said:
Every six months, I make a call to Charter and threaten to move my service elsewhere even if all I have are DSL and satellite available. I'm offered a discount each time. This last one dropped internet by $10/mo and increased me from 3 to 5gb service. It also took $20/mo off the cable TV bill.

Even with those, I still pay $92/mo with taxes. If only there was another cable competitor!
Click to expand...

They want customers who'll pay whatever they'll squeeze them to. Most sheeple just pay whatever the bill is. As the OPEC guy said in the 1970s, "We need to squeeze the golden goose as much as possible without killing it."

They discuss that on the DBS forums. It costs them over $200 to get a new customer. It costs almost nothing to keep one, so they'll happily give you part of the $200 to stay where you are.
 
Anyone know if Illinois Bell, SBC, AT&T or whatever they are called this week will be offering FTTH service in this century?
Bueller, Bueller?

I am hoping to get on to the WiMAX trial later this year with Sprint. That should be fun. NLOS highspeed mobile data connectivity.
 
What is FOIS?

I know what VOIP is but not heard of FOIS.
 
Greebo said:
What is FOIS?
Click to expand...

It's "FIOS", Chuck, not "FOIS". FIOS = FIber Optic Service. Verizon runs a fiber optic thread to your house and supplies you telephone, internet, and TV through it.

They're laying cable in our town now and are supposed to light the service in the fall. Going to be interesting.

Elizabeth, the only complication I've heard of is that you need to have an AC outlet somewhere near the NID (the box on the wall where the phone service enters your house). Copper phone lines are powered by the phone exchange. With fiber optic you need to supply some power at your end to decode and/or transmit those 1's and 0's. The presence of power outlets can be a challenge in some old buildings.

Regards,
Joe
 
We switched to Verizon FIOS a few months ago. We love it. We're only getting TV and Phone at this point because my wife likes to watch on-demand stuff a lot and Verizons on-demand content is still a little lacking.

I look forward to the day that Verizon offers better on-demand content so I can call Comcast and tell them to bite me.
 
smigaldi said:
Anyone know if Illinois Bell, SBC, AT&T or whatever they are called this week will be offering FTTH service in this century?
Bueller, Bueller?

I am hoping to get on to the WiMAX trial later this year with Sprint. That should be fun. NLOS highspeed mobile data connectivity.
Click to expand...

SBC / AT&T has claimed that they intend to have fiber to near the home and deliver the "last mile" through copper, via higher-speed DSL. You can see the beginnings of the roll-out of this technology in their "U-Verse" product www.att.com/uverse

Jury's out as to how well it will work, and I can't say because it's not yet available in my 'hood. Ironically enough, they got all done with an install at my parents' house, it was up and running and my sister said it seemed to work quite well. Then my mom found out that the Tennis Channel was not available, and made them tear it all out. Fo' real.

My personal opinion: it won't be nearly as good. Our best hope, at this point, is TXU (the power company), which is installing fiber all over the place on their poles. They are not saying what it's for, but it ain't much of a leap...
 
smigaldi said:
Anyone know if Illinois Bell, SBC, AT&T or whatever they are called this week will be offering FTTH service in this century?
Bueller, Bueller?

I am hoping to get on to the WiMAX trial later this year with Sprint. That should be fun. NLOS highspeed mobile data connectivity.
Click to expand...

Yep. "AT&T Uverse." It's in a handful of towns but will be rolling out heavily over the next few years.

It's not FTTH. The fiber goes to the neighborhood DSLAM. What comes to the home is 6 DSL circuits over the existing copper lines.

SBC/AT&T made the decision to avoid the cost of running all that fiber to the home. Even without that it's a $6 billion investment.

I think Verizon has customers a little closer to together in the east so it may be a little easier for them to run fiber to the home.

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=5838
https://uverse1.att.com/launchAMSS.do

User site:
http://www.uverseusers.com/
 
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SCCutler said:
Simultaneous posts...

...Mike, the Uverse service is "FATTH" (Fiber Almost To The Home); the actual signal / data to the home is via DSL, not fiber, with the DSLAM in a box in the immediate area, to allow for adequate speeds.
Click to expand...

Yep. What I said. :D

Don't jump in so fast when I'm still thinking and editing. :rolleyes:
 
Nick,

I already run my own router at the end of a DSL line with a group of static IPs. Actually, I run multiple routers, but that's a different story. Once I got SBC trained (as in, I got them to give me the direct number to the Data Services desk & got my account flagged as an exec with a major corporation in town, going around the first-line Yahoos, things have been fine. Even the time they had a bad card in their RBACK3 router.).

UVerse is in San Antonio. It is, so far, getting its rear kicked by TWC. Content issues, mostly, including lack of high-def. There is no substantial price difference, and I've seen no indication that it's held the price increases from TWC to a minimum.

We also have a third provider, Grande Communications, which has been overbuilding the other systems in the area. Grande's done OK - but not great, and they seem to be the most flexible of the three. It's not easy to overcome the entrenched TWC and SBC service in SBC's home town.
 
Oh I thought fois was liver. :p

Sorry bout the typo - hmm - just out of curiosity (because I've sworn off of Verizon), what does FIOS service generally run these days?
 
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