FIOS Internet coming: Would 15/15Mbps be faster than Comcast's 16/2Mbs?

[Wag]

I'm curious about this, because this level of service is fairly equivalent in my area. Would Fios' 15/15 up/down be better than Comcast's 16/2 up/down (not including their Powerboost which gets me up to 24Mbps at times)? I'm talking about for gaming, general downloading, watching streaming media, etc, etc.

 

[drebo]

YOU probably would not notice too much of a difference, but there are people who could make very good use of that 15mbit upstream connection.

 

[NickOlsen8390]

Gaming is going to depend more on latency then speed, If you play on server A. And comcast is peered closer to server a, you will ping better to it, but if fios is peered closer, you will ping better on fios.
As for downloading, once again, the closer your peered the faster the downloads will be. up to your maximum down rate. The comcast might be faster for streaming media because of the power boost, you have 24Mb/s for a few seconds then it slows down. This would make it start to buffer faster.
If you do any file hosting, or web serving, the fios is going to be better.

 

[cmetz]

The answer is market-specific. Different providers' networks are better, or worse, in different regions.

That said, in general, the Verizon FIOS transit network and peering is a whole lot better than Comcast's. Verizon bought MCI, formerly Worldcom, which had bought UUNet - and in doing so, VZ picked up a true tier 1 backbone and some excellent peering. That means that stuff that's not peered directly with VZ's network or Comcat's network will usually be a bit faster on VZ's network. Specific sites might have peering close to one or the other ISP and if those sites are what you care about, you'll need to check that out (ping/traceroute will give you a decent idea).

 

[Wag]

Problem is it's going to be hard to check out short term because FIOS makes you commit to a long-term contract (1yr or more) to get those good competetive prices.

 

[kevnich2]

Yeah but you do have a cancellation period of either 30 or 60 days in which to cancel and not have to pay an ETF.

 

[Cable God]

I wouldn't even consider Crapcast after looking at their shenanigans over the past few years. FIOS is MUCH better than Crapcast, unless you like your ISP snooping in your traffic and throttling your connection because they dislike what you're doing. Dude, just go with FIOS and forget about the others.

 

[jmmtn4aj]

Er.. in the BT community FiOS is absolutely to die for, otherwise no you won't notice any difference.

 

[kevnich2]

As far as new technology and where it's at, FIOS is the new leader for broadband internet for this century in the US. Verizon is taking steps to do what most other telcos should have been doing all along, upgrading infrastructure. I will say this though, most cable infrastructure is very good. Comcast IMO is violating privacy issues with their ISP practices. As far as infrastructure, a lot of the cable networks is 90-95% fiber optics. It's all fiber except for the very last mile going from the neighborhood hub to the house. Once DOCSIS 3 comes out and goes live more, cable speeds will dramatically increase. As far as telcos are concerned, FIOS hopefully will be setting a new bar so that the competition still stays aggressive.

 

[azev]

I have to agree with how great fios service is compared to comcast. I was a comcast customer since when comcast offer cable modems, and a few years ago I switched to FIOS when it is offered at my house.
During the past 2 years, I did not notice any downtime, although some non optimal routing issues occurs from time to time. The one complaint I have is that FIOS seems to only use Cogent as their outbound provider, unless private peer link is available. For those who worked with Tier 1 provider knows that Cogent is not the greatest ISP. Anyway, from my personal experienced is that the FIOS has been able to provide their advertised speed even during peak time. My only complaint is that FIOS fiber installation to the house is a joke... First of all, they are not using conduit when running the fiber from the main fiber conduit to the side of my house, and they only buried it less than 1 ft into the ground. I found out about this the hard way!!!!

 

[Wag]

The reason why I brought this up was because I currently have Comcast and Verizon has been wiring up my Condo complex for FIOS over the last few months. They already ran the cable in my closet and changed the box outside my building, so I suppose it's only a matter of time now.

It will be nice to have an alternative after having Comcast exclusively since '96.

 

[cmetz]

FIOS's existence in your market will force Comcast to improve. You win either way.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: drebo
YOU probably would not notice too much of a difference, but there are people who could make very good use of that 15mbit upstream connection.

Who do I have to kill?

Remember that many very impressive online games were able to function at dialup modem speeds. As noted, latency (lag) is the number one issue with games. It sucks to pull the trigger and the target moves fifty feet before your weapon fires.

 

[Puffnstuff]

The fios rollout has forced comcast to deploy docsis3. I asked them today when I could expect to see it in my area, Jax is only the largest city in FL, and they couldn't give me an answer. If fios were available I'd already be a subscriber and comcast would've never been let into the house.

 

[Wag]

Originally posted by: cmetz
FIOS's existence in your market will force Comcast to improve. You win either way.

Unfortunately FIOS has been in my town for quite a while but they were to cheap and lazy to wire up my condo development. It's quite a big job to wire a whole condo development underground- it's all on their dime. The contractors are waaaaay behind schedule too.

I also admit it's quite different to get renters to open up their homes from owners, but once Verizon finally gave the word my condo mgt. threatened to sue for locksmith fees for every owner who refused to open for them.

 

[kevnich2]

I just want the US infrastructure to to get upgraded so that we can actually compete with other countries overseas, I've seen them with over 100mb connections for $30-$50/month. US companies are only out to satisfy themselves, they could care less about their customers. With FIOS coming out, it is forcing other companies to finally buck up and get their infrastructure up to date like they should have a LONG time ago instead of nickel and diming their customers and just pocketing all of the profit.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: kevnich2
I just want the US infrastructure to to get upgraded so that we can actually compete with other countries overseas, I've seen them with over 100mb connections for $30-$50/month. US companies are only out to satisfy themselves, they could care less about their customers. With FIOS coming out, it is forcing other companies to finally buck up and get their infrastructure up to date like they should have a LONG time ago instead of nickel and diming their customers and just pocketing all of the profit.

Not this misinformed stupid shit again. Think before you post.

 

[cmetz]

Wag, check out the dslreports FIOS forum for more info. Short of it is, the legal and physical installation issues on a single family home are pretty straightforward, multi-dwelling units get complicated fast. Many (most?) apartment landlords want a cut of everything and are perfectly happy to hold their tenants hostage for a buck. Even if the landlord is helpful, the physical installation is complex because there aren't really standards about how phone/cable is physically run in MDUs - some buildings make a FIOS installation pretty easy, but many are really not easy to run in. It's a big headache, but VZ has no choice in the long run but to figure it all out.

 

[JackMDS]

In the building that I am in (33 floors and about 300 tenants) the management company refuses to let Verizon install FIOS because the maintenance people think it do much of a mess (the installation).

When I tries to push the point I was told that every body in the building have Cable and can use Time Warner RR.

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: drebo
YOU probably would not notice too much of a difference, but there are people who could make very good use of that 15mbit upstream connection.

Who do I have to kill?

Remember that many very impressive online games were able to function at dialup modem speeds. As noted, latency (lag) is the number one issue with games. It sucks to pull the trigger and the target moves fifty feet before your weapon fires.

brings back memories of Team Fortress Classic on dial-up

 

[Zoomer]

Originally posted by: JackMDS
In the building that I am in (33 floors and about 300 tenants) the management company refuses to let Verizon install FIOS because the maintenance people think it do much of a mess (the installation).

When I tries to push the point I was told that every body in the building have Cable and can use Time Warner RR.

If I were put into such a situation, and there are comparable alternatives, I would move. Or find a good number of people to support such a thing, get their signatures, and present it to the condo board.

Advantages:
Push down prices due to competition
Possibly more choices for TV
More reliable - Fiber is not affected by magnetic fields, water, etc. At least, not as badly as cable
Possibly increased value?

 

[TheKub]

Originally posted by: Wag
(not including their Powerboost which gets me up to 24Mbps at times)?

Isn't the power boost like 30 seconds or something like that.

 

[NicePants42]

I recently switched to FiOS from Optimum (Comcast). I had several problems with comcast's service that you probably haven't experienced (otherwise you would've already switched) but I can definitely say that with FiOS, latencies in general were much lower, and I have 100% of my bandwidth 100% of the time.

I live in a condo, and it was easy to hide the boxes/wires for FiOS in a hall closet. If the fiber is already there, I'd say go for it.