Just got fios

[shipwrecked]

So after 8 yrs or so of dealing with cablevision and pixels,slow comp,green screen and the list goes on,we recently had Fios installed...lemme tell you-in a word-WOW Now I finally understand why we bought a high def tv.I can see the grain on footballs,the grass on the feild,the facail hair on Megan fox's face,ok so maybe the last comment not so much of a gd thing.Anyhow,Fios has soo much more to offer,watching on demands,reading the newspaper,checking current weather temps,ordering from restuarants,checking out local places to do see and watch.My comp has a 2 second delay(this in itself was terrific)it used to be such a slow connection it was like dial up without the ringtone...I guess its the lil things that can make a person happy

 

[trivan]

Just beware, when your battery backup goes dead you will be with out telephone service. I was out for 1 week with no electric during Irene. I might have them revert me back to copper for phone service.

But yes fios rocks.

 

[9supratt4]

I have FIOS for my business and I love it!! When I moved into the apartment, FIOS is not yet available and I'm stuck with Cablevision/Optimum....it SUCKS!!! Anyone here work for Verizon?? Get the lines installed so I can switch ASAP!!

 

[Tazmaniancowboy]

Good luck with it, everybody loves it when they first get it and then over half of the people I have talked to about it went back to cable for one reason or another

Trivan brings up a good point, but it is almost the same for probably 3/4 of todays people have that problem. Many have voice over internet or if you are not that much into technology many have cordless phones that do not work with power out anyway.

 

[AJ1080]

Welcome to the club. It really is that much better.

I have 35 mbps down/up, every movie channel, and the phone for cheaper than what comcast was charging. Also, I have not had one bit of delay or pixelation.

The best part was that after my 2 years was up, I called them up they just gave me a discount. No more haggling with comcast. They should take notes.

 

[Fish Brain]

I only have TV & Internet but I Luv my Fios!

 

[dastrader]

Fios is a million times better than everything else. I have had it for 4 years and not a single problem and love it!!!!

 

[mnat]

I have had all three over the past three years and I loved Fios over all of them. I started with cabelvision in my oldest apartment had it for 18 months. Then I switched to Fios in my past apartment for 13 months and loved it. I don't have a land line either so just TV and Internet for all places. The internet is very fast and the TV is amazing. I just moved again and Fios was not available in my area so I had to go with comcast. The TV service is a joke compared to Fios, the only thing that might be a tiny bit better is the on demand. The internet is on par with Fios, so no real complaints there, but boy do I hate the TV service.

 

[shipwrecked]

I do have the triple play,even thgh I didnt want/need a phone but with this package they offered-it was cheaper than not getting it.I found out about the battery after the fact(amazing what isnt told to you:read the fine fine print)What I am imagining is that this cool little wall pack glass incased laser beam can eventually do like-imagine being on vaca and watching videos of yr home anywhere/everywhere,or hec eventually being able to raise and lower the temp while away.Probly not far from giving the big name security companys a run for the $$.. or better yet being able to monitor yr tank while yr away

 

[falconut]

My parents have had it for a while and love it. I keep looking every so often, but it's not in my area. I switched from Direct TV about 1-1/2 years ago to the Comcast triple play. The Comcast HD DVR really does suck though. The Direct TV one worked perfect, but the Comcast one just flat out doesn't work good most of the time. Now that they switched to their Xfinity software, wow, it's even worse. I'll still keep checking to see if they ever come in my area. I'm also glad to hear they will work the price after the promo times up.

 

[MadReefer]

I too have FIOS and never had any issues with TV, phone or Internet. They do suck when it comes to customer service. Bounce around from one person to another.

 

[Fish Brain]

Because most of the fiber optics are run underground, they are not as susceptible to getting knocked out by falling trees and branches. During the hurricane, my neighbors with Comcast were without TV and Internet for 4 days. My Fios didn't miss a beat! My wife and I watched movies on demand, Netflix and a few shows on the DVR all day Sunday and Monday.

 

[Jcurry@wesketch]

Verizon is coming Saturday to hook mine up. What questions should I ask him/her? Anything I should look out for?

 

[downbeach]

Fios isn't available here yet, but I'm looking forward to it. I was wondering, if your house is prewired for cable, how do you get the signal to your individual tv's? Or do you have to rewire the house too?

 

[mnat]

One other reason Fios is MUCH better than Comcast:

Comcast will only setup your Internet without the wireless router. You then have to call and order it from them AFTER they install the wire. After being sent to a facility in Brick that did not have them, I had to wait to get one by mail. After almost an hour on hold with two seperate companies I threw my hands up and called a friend to come over and install it. With Fios, when they leave the house everything is tested and running.

When i called Fios to see if they had service in my area they said their mandate was to get %90 of the state......by 2020. They said that once it is in your area they will go door to door or you can sign up on their website with your e-mail and you will get notified when it is in your area.

 

[Fish Brain]

Verizon is coming Saturday to hook mine up. What questions should I ask him/her? Anything I should look out for?

Ask him: Are you done yet!?

 

[Fish Brain]

Fios isn't available here yet, but I'm looking forward to it. I was wondering, if your house is prewired for cable, how do you get the signal to your individual tv's? Or do you have to rewire the house too?

There is a signal converter that get installed inside and needs a 110v power source. There is also a box outside to store the spool of extra fiber optic that they run from the line to your house.

They can use your existing coaxial cables and splitters but if they are RG-59 you will want to upgrade to RG-6.

 

[SirFragalot]

I checked and Fios is not available in my area yet. I dumped the package I had with Comcast after recently putting an indoor HDTV antenna up. I get all the stations that Philly transmits. Most of which in HD quality that is better than Comcast's HD quality. I get all the major networks in HD....CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX and others for free. Sure, i miss the Discovery, History and others that I watched but most of those shows can be watched online. (I hook the laptop up to the TV) So I now just pay for Comcast internet and basically get everything.

 

[TanksNStuff]

I don't mean to start an argument or anything, but everyone I have talked to that got FIOS wishes they never got it. When my cousin first got it a few years ago, he had to call me over to help the installer figure out how to get their internet working because he didn't really know what he was doing. Their service didn't even work for like the first week or so after they got it installed. Granted this is when FIOS first got to this area, but at that time I was quite happy I had my Cable! A few others that I know also had similar stories with bad service compared to cable. I'm really surprised to hear all the good comments from you all about FIOS.

Personally, I have the Comcast Xfinity triple play (tv, phone, internet) and I don't have any complaints at all. We don't even use the phone, but the bundle was cheaper so we got it. Not sure what the rates are for FIOS, but we pay around $235 per month for tv, phone, internet... and we have 3 HD/DVR converters and 2 "digital" converters. If we wanted to, we could record 5 different shows at the same time between the 3 DVR's. I'd like to hear what a comparative triple play FIOS monthly rate would be... just to see if I'm getting a good deal or getting ripped.

Two of our DVRs have 2 tuners so we can record 2 channels at the same time (which we do quite often) on them. When I watch a ballgame on the big screen HDTV, I feel like I'm right there on the field. Granted, our older HDTV isn't as crisp, but I'd say that's likely due to the TV quality, not the cable.

My internet is much faster now with the Xfinity "Blast". When I first got the XF Triple Play package, I didn't notice any speed improvement with my internet. When I called a tech out for service, he immediately let me know the reason was due to my older wireless router. He still did a bunch of testing on all of our connections to test signal strength just in case, but he highly recommended upgrading the router. My old router was a 802.11g, and he recommended I upgrade to an 802.11n. Well, I bought a new router for about $35 and let me tell you there was an amazing difference. Not only did our wireless signal get faster, but my hardwired PC (that's right next to the cable modem) was about twice as fast!

The reason I mention this is because I'm betting that most of the people who say the cable internet is slow are probably still using the old "g" routers. If you invest in a newer wireless "n" router, you're going to see a big improvement too.

Anyway, not trying to start a war or anything. But before I read this thread I never wanted to even consider switching to FIOS. Now I'm intrigued to hear more about it, especially from those who switched. If it's cheaper and the TV experience is really that much better like some of you have mentioned... I might look into it if/when it comes to my town.

 

[AJ1080]

Hey Tanks, I agree that I heard some bad stories in the beggining when Fios first came out. I really havn't heard any recently.

Just as a comparison, I am paying 200-205 a month with 2 HD box's and one of the real cheapo boxes for a room Im never in. I have every movie channel(starz, hbo, cinemax, shotime, epix, redzone, etc.) My internet speed is 35mbps up and 35mbps down and I also have the phone. Heres the kicker though, because my wifes cell phone is verizon, I could combine everything on 1 bill and that is included in the $200 a month.

Hardware can definatly affect performance but the Im assuming that the increase in your speed was due to new hardware, not the new wireless N. The reason for this is wireless G runs at 54mbps, while N is around 100mbps. Verizon and comcast are both runnning around 20-30 mbps depending on the plan.

Heres the real problem with Fios, truth is, the phone company spent so much money when they implemented it I believe they over extended themselves a little. There losing so much money every day because people are getting rid of there standard POTS lines. Knowing some people that work for Verizon, they openly admit that Fios is now on the back burner and they are not pushing it out as aggresive as they were when it first came out. It seems that their 4g network is their top priority and I've even heard some rumors theres a test bed in Texas that is testing out 4G to the house. I could be wrong on that as it is just hear say but it wouldnt surpise me, knowing that 4g can get upto 1gbps for a stationary building.