I finally have Verizon FiOS Yaaaaa! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Dee8go · #1 03-12-2009, 02:41 PM

I've been calling Verizon for months now to find out when I can get FiOS, ever since they came through, digging up the neighborhood to lay fiber optic cable. Somebody came by putting door hangers on front doors and I called in and signed up immediately. FINALLY, I can get rid of Cox. Woohoo!

Who else has FiOS?

865sp300e · #2 03-12-2009, 02:46 PM

I have had FIOS for the last 18 months, love it. The wireless works great and the speed is fantastic. Only had one incident, during a lightening storm a circuit board was fried. They fixed it immediately. Installation of FIOS was the first thing I did when I bought my current home. Called in a install order on a Wednesday and it was done on Friday before I moved in.

I have "triple play", Internet, TV, and phone. No comparison to the old verizon DSL at my old house.

Chad300tdt · #3 03-12-2009, 02:56 PM

I have it and love it. I have my home and business landlines, internet and my cell phones all with Verizon. I get a "one bill" discount which saves a decent amount. I'm going to switch to the FIOS tv as well, but I'm not in a hurry since I have DirecTV. It will be nice to eliminate the dish from my roof.

pawoSD · #4 03-12-2009, 03:02 PM

I hate Comcast so much that I dumped my service and went with a local provider's DSL service and don't have TV. (hardly ever watched it anyways) Saves me about $15 a month, and the service is fast and NEVER goes down or slows down. Comcast was horrible. TV would go pixelated all the time, internet connection would slow or fail randomly....

My new provider actually answers the phone with a real person when you call! No waiting! And their office is only 4 miles away! I am quite pleased.

Verizon doesn't seem to be making much of an attempt to get FIOS into Michigan.....At&T is puttering away at getting their "U-verse" going....but thats been slow. I am right in the city and its still not available around here.

However, my DSL has been awesome. I am only 8,800 feet from the central office....so my "potential speed" is about 8.8Mbit/1.8Mbit....but my price cap puts me at 5Mbit/1Mbit....which is plenty fast. My favorite part is the price, and the fact I am using a local company instead of stupid Comcast.

Dee8go · #5 03-12-2009, 03:07 PM

Cox is going to be hurting, at least around here. There's just no comparison!

865sp300e · #6 03-12-2009, 03:13 PM

Verizon is scrambling to install FIOS where demand is high. I used to live in a rural area and I was told it would be a long wait.

One of the best parts when I moved was ditching Comcast, they had a monopoly in the area and took every advantage.

pawoSD · #7 03-12-2009, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 865sp300e

Verizon is scrambling to install FIOS where demand is high. I used to live in a rural area and I was told it would be a long wait.

One of the best parts when I moved was ditching Comcast, they had a monopoly in the area and took every advantage.

Same here, Comcast is the only cable provider in the area, and the only cable internet provider...a true monopoly. The only way out of their clutches is via Dish TV or U-verse if its available.....and DSL (or U-verse)....

In my case just having good DSL is plenty, because there's no shortage of stuff to watch online with hulu....netflix....the list goes on. You can easily spend waaay too much time watching.

G-Benz · #8 03-12-2009, 03:34 PM

Our community was the test market several years ago, so Verizon bent over backwards with all sorts of incentives to get folks to sign up.

It's been five years now and I can count on one hand how many downtime occurrences we've had! Amazing reliability!

The battery backup system is interesting...who actually has the capability to access the internet when the power is down?

Even with the laptop, the wireless access point and primary router is down...

When the tech came by, the first thing he did was dump the old copper-terminal box in favor of the digital optical-to-CAT5 network hub...

Our house was networked at the time of construction. It wasn't really future-proofed, so I don't have a nice clean accomodation for the Verizon gear yet.

But here is the broadband router and media optical-to-coax media unit provided by Verizon.

For those of you who haven't changed yet, Verizon shows up with HD boxes and Monster Cable RGB component cables or HDMI for each TV install!!! SWEET!!!

E150GT · #9 03-12-2009, 03:51 PM

never heard of it

pawoSD · #10 03-12-2009, 04:23 PM

I keep internet for a little while if the power goes down. Plug all your junk into a UPS unit, then you'll have 20-60 mins of power in an outage. I have my PC/DSL/Firewall (router) and Monitor all on a UPS.

Can go a step farther with a standby generator.

The FIOS battery backup is probably to keep your phone working in an outage for a little while. It keeps the interface up.

pj67coll · #11 03-12-2009, 05:27 PM

What is FiOS? Why's it better than cable for internet provision?

- Peter.

Larry Delor · #12 03-12-2009, 08:20 PM

Fiber Optic Service
It is finally bringing us into the 21st Century. Data is delivered digitally via laser light. All of the video signal is sent uncompressed, picture clarity (especially with HD) is unrivaled.
Depending on the package, you can get furiously fast download speeds. Verizon offers over 100HD channels. Many on-demand programs, I think they are in the mid thousands, if not past 10k titles. A lot of free movies, music videos, DIY stuff, health programs, it boggles the mind, honestly.

Some cable company says they have the largest fiber optic network....uh well, maybe between offices/satellite farms....but they do not give you fiber right to your terminal on the side of your house. Another thing they never tell you, is that you are sharing your pipeline with somewhere around 100 other homes, sometimes up to 200 other homes. With fiber, you share your feed fiber with 31 other people at the most (and that is still uncompressed!).

I could go on and on, as to why I think Verizon Fiber Optic Service (FiOS) is superior over anything else out there - but, I work for the company, so I might be a little biased

I think, that what you get for the money, is not just a lot....but a lot, done most excellently!

Oh, and since most of our lines are underground, and are made of glass fiber, the chances of an outage by a fallen utility pole, or lightning strike are greatly reduced - last I saw, Cable companies, were still using metal cable, and are still up on poles.

BoomInTheTrunk · #13 03-12-2009, 08:53 PM

Thinking about getting this but I have one question. Do you need a cable box on ever TV its hooked up to. How much do they charge for each box every month? and one more, They charge for installation so what was the fee?

Larry Delor · #14 03-12-2009, 09:51 PM

I was told, that you don't need a box to hook up, but since the FiOS channels go past 1000, your current TV tuner probably cannot handle it. You would be able to get however many channels your TV can handle.
For now, you need a box for every set. Remember when cable first came out? You had to have a box, because the VHF dial would only go to....what was it? 13?, and the UHF went from 20 to 70?? After a few years, TV's were being advertised as being "cable ready" - they received a coax input, and a tuner that could handle 131 channels (or at least more than what you could get before).
I imagine that down the road, you would be able to buy a TV that is "FiOS ready" - something that can handle not just HD, but several hundred channels...probably 2-3 thousand (my current program guide stops at channel 1951).

I don't know what they charge for each box....the price might vary from state to state as well. Installation charges have changed from the past as well. Right now, in my area, they are offering a $150 rebate, if you sign up for TV, Phone, and Internet - so that should more than off-set any install charges if they have the same deal in your state (one would hope!).

iwrock · #15 03-12-2009, 09:55 PM

Pretty cool. I am waiting for VZW. We currently have surewest fiber, but VZW is cheaper.