Verizon FIOS!

[curtis]

Verizon FIOS has recently become available in my area, and in an effort to lower my internet access costs and increase speeds, I decided to give it a try.

FIOS is Verizon's new optical network. In the recent months, crews have been working to install the fiber optic cabling all over my area.

I had been watching the progress, and then one of my friends got it installed...so I called to setup an installation.

Currently, I am paying $45/mo for internet service through Adelphia(now Time/Warner). The speeds were pretty good, around 6mb/s download, and 128k/ps upload.

Verizon FIOS was offering 5mbps upload/2mbps upload for $35/mo....looked to me, so I went for it. Then they ran a special for 15mb/s down and 2mb/s for $40. Guess which one I went for. :)

The technician came out yesterday to install...it took 5 hours for all the work to be done. New optical line to the house, which is run into a new phonebox, as well as battery backup for the stuff.

Happy to report.....it is FAST!! Webpages just "pop" up.


dslreports.com speed test result on 2006-08-27 20:23:30 EST:
14992 / 1803
Your download speed : 14992 kbps or 1874 KB/sec.
That is 288.6% better than an average user on verizon.net

Your upload speed : 1803 kbps or 225.3 KB/sec.
That is 113.8% better than an average user on verizon.net

One small glitch. The router that Verizon provides(Actiontec) currently has an incompatibility issue with my AT&T CallVantage VoIP telephone adapter. Apparently, it is a known issue, so I am using my own router.

So I save $5/mo, and get blazing speeds.

Verizon FIOS also offers television service. The pricing looks competitive. The technician told me it looks really good, but in the past weeks they had some problems, so he advised that I wait.

[Quinn]

Nice. From what I've read on TV over Verizons fiber is there will be much more true HD content as they won't have the capacity issues that cable and satellite have.

[curtis]

Nice. From what I've read on TV over Verizons fiber is there will be much more true HD content as they won't have the capacity issues that cable and satellite have.
Yup...just got to get over their teething problems.

My contract time commitment is over with Dish, so I can make the move without penalty. I will give Verizon another month or so to work out the bugs and then have another look.

Interestingly, the technician told me that in the last 12 months, Verizon has lost 5% of their landline phone service to VoIP and cell. They want to push out FIOS to recapture phone customers through their VoIP offerings, as well as new data and TV customers.

[bikeman]

Verizon fiber optic is within a mile of my house. As soon as it's available, I'm switching from Time Warner cable.
Verizon has decided there's more money to be made doing the burbs before the city. :mad:

David

[curtis]

Verizon fiber optic is within a mile of my house. As soon as it's available, I'm switching from Time Warner cable.
Verizon has decided there's more money to be made doing the burbs before the city. :mad:

David
Check the availability often. After they laid the cable, they began offering service in less than a month.

I am going to let the setup run a few more days before cancelling the Adelphia/TW service.

[shane55]

Well... since words can't adequately describe my negative feelings for Comcrap and their miserable excuse for a DVR, I'm looking to FIOS as a viable alternative for my HD-TV pleasure.

It'll be interesting to see how their DVR's pan out as well as their service in general, and image quality in specific.

shane

[curtis]

Well... since words can't adequately describe my negative feelings for Comcrap and their miserable excuse for a DVR, I'm looking to FIOS as a viable alternative for my HD-TV pleasure.

It'll be interesting to see how their DVR's pan out as well as their service in general, and image quality in specific.

shane
To be honest, I have been very happy with DISH, their DVR, and HD content. The issue for me is environmental, I have a HUGE tree partially blocking signals from one of their satellites to my dish, and it just so happens that satellite carries a lot of HD content.

Cutting down the tree isn't really an option, but may be able to trim it a bit.

[shane55]

To be honest, I have been very happy with DISH, their DVR, and HD content. The issue for me is environmental, I have a HUGE tree partially blocking signals from one of their satellites to my dish, and it just so happens that satellite carries a lot of HD content.

Cutting down the tree isn't really an option, but may be able to trim it a bit.
Well... sorry to hear that you have to change service from a well-liked provider. There'll be no love loss between me and Comcrap.

I had DirecTivo. I loved it, but when I went to HD, I wanted a less-compressed signal and no 'start-up' costs.

Thanks for being an early-adopter!!

shane

[curtis]

OK....I have had FIOS internet service for a little over a week with no problems. (knock wood)

After reading about the quality of the FIOS TV picture over cable and satellite, I think I am going to give it a shot.

[bikeman]

After reading about the quality of the FIOS TV picture over cable and satellite, I think I am going to give it a shot.
Let us know when it's up and running. We won't require a detailed report for at least a week. :p

David

[curtis]

Let us know when it's up and running. We won't require a detailed report for at least a week. :p

David
Install is on the afternoon of the 27th.

[shane55]

Install is on the afternoon of the 27th.
Congrats... honestly I don't expect you to get back to us about it until the afternoon of the 28th. ;)

Details!

shane

[curtis]

Just got FIOS TV installed about 2 hours ago...been playing with it ever since. I have had the FIOS internet service for about a month.

Previous services have been Adelphia SD with TiVo, DirecTV SD with DirecTiVo, Adelphia HD with Moxi, and most recently Dish HD with the 942 PVR.

Picturewise, FIOS has all of them beat, except for possibly DirecTV's SD picture. The HD picture is the best I have had on my TV.

So far though, I am not liking the software or remote. I will give it more time though since 2 hours may not be fair for judgement.

[bikeman]

Update needed. Verizon was on my street on Saturday doing prelims for FIOS. They couldn't give me a date for installation but at least it's progressing.

David

[curtis]

Well, I have had the FiOS internet service for a little over a month now and happy to report zero issues(knock wood). It is rock solid and fast.

I have had the TV service for five days. The kids are able to use the DVR to play their shows, so it can't be that bad. No hiccups from the DVR itself, it is doing the job. I think the interface is not as nice as TiVo(my favorite) or Dish, but it works. The remote is not that great, response is kind of slow....not sure if it is the remote or the DVR itself. When I get around to programming my MX-700 hopefully it will improve.

The picture quality is where it really shines. I never had HD from DirecTV, but I did have SD almost two years ago and loved it. SD from FiOS is at least as good as DirecTV. HD is better than Dish and cable...that one is easy to tell.

I was excited about Video On Demand...but I don't see a whole lot on there, but read they are going to offer more. Also, I was told that VOD had HD content, and I don't see any.

So for now, I give it a thumbs up.

[shane55]

Gotta tell you...
When it comes to my area I'm probably going to jump on it. I have Comcrap and while the picture quality is very good, the equipment is beyond horrendous.

I'll leave for FIOS for only that reason... assuming the FIOS DVR is better than the Moto 3412 that I have.

Glad that things are working out for you. Solid is great!

shane

[curtis]

OK....my son just said "Dad, I hate this remote."