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Verizon FIOS, pretty good?
Al Simmons
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Anyone have any direct experience with the fiber optic internet/TV/phone service from Verizon? I currently have Roadrunner cable and don't have any major problems with it (speeds are as advertised, ping times are pretty good, etc.) My boss has fiber optic service from AT&T a few neighborhoods over from me and he really likes it. When we play Q4 I kid you not he gets ping times on servers that we play on of like 6-8ms and he reports that it is like playing on a LAN all the time.
Anyways, they are offering a 5MBdown/2MBup connection for 40 per month with taxes or 15MBdown/2MBup for 50 per month. (I figure 5MBdown would be plenty since the only time I ever actually see the theoretical max download speed on my existing cable modem of about 6.5MB/sec is when I run a speedtest).
So any negative experiences out there or should I jump on this since it is at no extra cost to what I am already paying for cable?
Anyways, they are offering a 5MBdown/2MBup connection for 40 per month with taxes or 15MBdown/2MBup for 50 per month. (I figure 5MBdown would be plenty since the only time I ever actually see the theoretical max download speed on my existing cable modem of about 6.5MB/sec is when I run a speedtest).
So any negative experiences out there or should I jump on this since it is at no extra cost to what I am already paying for cable?
Al Simmons on
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I got it last week, it is fucking awesome. It really is like playing LAN all the time. The other day I was downloading somthing with bittorrent and it was downloading at close to 800kb/s.
I fucking love this internet connection.
I can't wait until FIOS is available for me.
Damn.
I am extremely happy to be rid of Comcast with its regular modem resets and crap speed.
I had a torrent download at 1.7 to 1.8 MB's per second the other day when the fastest speed I ever got from Comcast was in the 600 kbps range. Seeing a 360MB file come down the pipe in under two minutes was really quite nice.
Oh...I have their 15/2 service and have been using it for about 4 months.
Would be nice but not really practical because to install it they remove the copper to your house and install all sorts of equipment in your house.
Would hate to find out that the thing is buggy as hell 1 month into a 12 month contract.
At home I have 2 computers hardwired along with a PS3 and a laptop on a wireless network. So far I haven't run into big bandwidth issues with my cable, but they do seem to be limiting my upstream speed more and more as time goes on.
Verizon offered a 30MBdown/5MBup but it was way too expensive and overkill for home use imo. (I think it was like 125/month)
Oh. Is installation free or can it be done by yourself?
I just think to the DSL and cable providers here, and even if there wasnt a way to get a free trial (there is), you could always pay for a month, run side by side before you switch for sure.
Well they had a promotion for the first year that was at that price, but I was considering the price point after that for a more fair comparison to the cable. (you sign up for a 12 month contract at -10 bucks per month for the first 12 months then the normal pricing resumes)
So while I will be saving 120 bucks over the first year, the long term price will be roughly the same.
this is pretty good site that covers the install process, funny though they gave me a wireless router with my install
http://www.bricklin.com/fiosinstall.htm
I got the router as well. I had to stop using it though because the wireless reception was so bad. I went back to my Linksys and it has been perfect. I also changed its firmware to DD-WRT for good measure.
I am in a new development, and it turns out they don't even pull copper anymore. It was pre-wired with fiber, and when I went to have my phone service installed, they actually installed a FiOS Optical Network Terminal (ONT).
The other reason was that I needed business service (I host content on my own servers as my hobby), so it was pretty much that, or business cable (in my cast Time-Warner Cable). Business accounts pretty much ANY way you slice it. No one appears to allow hosting in the ToS for "normal" consumer accounts, and some don't offer static IPs with anything but commercial accounts (yes, dynamic DNS can allow you to work around the static IP address issue, but it doesn't obliviate the ToS restrictions, and the traffic I'm carrying *would* get noticed, if only by port). TWC wanted more, for less bandwidth, and they were going to charge an additional $20/mo. for each static IP after the first. I judged this to be mercenary, so I went with Verizon's much better, cheaper, offering (they give you up to 5 static IPs, inclusive).
I've had no problems with the service, and the install went pretty smoothly (mostly because the fiber was already pulled to the house, and the builder had already provided a utility service panel which was of suitable size for the ONT and it's backup battery, and was already wired for power and service to the house.
As previously mentioned, there is no self-install - and installation can take 4 hours or longer, and can sometimes require work on multiple days. Getting the fiber to the house is one possible snag point. The fiber has to be strung from wherever the junction is (could be a pole or utility vault) to the point-of-entry at the house. Might require tearing up your lawn (or your neighbor's lawn). I've read anecdotal reports of nighmares getting that done correctly. My fiber was already pulled into the utility panel, so I didn't experience any of that.
The ONT needs a power outlet, and needs to connect to your phone system somehow (if you're getting phone). It also provides the RJ-45 port for Ethernet (if you're getting IP service), and a standard F-type connection for cable TV. Stringing cable can be a hassle, or easy, and can considerably increase the install time. From what I understand, they make a reasonable attempt to get the wires where they need to go, but don't expect fancy heroic attempts to pull cable through walls, and there is no patch & paint. My home already had structured wiring installed, so again, this part wasn't an issue.
Pretty much was the easiest install the guy had all day (or month, for that matter), but it still did take a couple of hours to complete.
Couple of caveats:
Unlike the conventional POTS (Plain Old Telephone System), the FiOS network is not self-powered. The ONT is connected to a small dedicated UPS, and has about 4 hours of backup time. If your power goes out, any services provided by the ONT are running off that battery. The battery's a pretty standard sealed lead-acid, and after the initial warranty period, the owner is responsible for replacement.
Apparently (and no one could tell me why), FiOS TV is not compatible with Static IP service. I can't imagine why this is so, there shouldn't be any technical reason, but I talked to a number of customer service reps, and they were consistent about this. FiOS TV isn't yet offered in my area, so this wasn't an option for me (and consequently I went with TWC - I'd had Dish in the past, and I wasn't going there ever again). One customer rep indicated that it might be possible that they could offer TV to static IPs by the time they could offer it to my area, but I don't know that was an official stance, or just conjecture.
I've had pretty much zero problems with the service. The free Actiontec MI424WR wireless router is kinda nice, in that it has a very powerful feature-set, but I've been less than satisfied with it's reliablility. I've had the wireless, and occasionally the wired, connections just... eh, stop... for no apparent reason. Power-cycling the router brings everything back to normal. If it happens again, and I get frustrated enough, I'll probably replace it with one of the routers I have that have proven more stable, unless some future firmware update resolves the issue. The install tech indicated that the router wouldn't work with a static IP install, but I found this to be untrue. You can install a static IP address to the WAN interface just fine (it's an advanced configuration option, which is probably why they weren't aware of it, but considering I figured it out in about 15 minutes without resorting to any sort of manual, I weep for their technical prowess). In my case, the interface between the ONT and the house appears to be a completely ordinary Ethernet LAN segment. All I needed was the default route, netmask, DNS servers, and my assigned IP addresses, and I was in business. I have a gig-E switch between the ONT and the two SOHO routers I have on my network. In other words there wasn't any requirement to use the provided Actiontec router, or have any one device connect directly to the ONT.
I'm happy with it. I think it's a good value. Neat technology, too.
What is the technical aspects behind the major performance increase... is it not just piping through your phone line still?
Verizon is rabid in my neighborhood, going door to door begging people to sign up... just curious if I should pay any heed.
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
My only real fear is that, well, their support is total shit. The new tech is better but it's still the same jackasses behind the scenes and manning the phones. If something truly breaks you're almost better off just canceling and getting a new account. Not that you get significantly better support from any other consumer grade ISP. I fear the combination of same worthless support + new technology, though.