Thinking of switching to Verizon FIOS...

[Qacer]

I'm thinking of switching to Verizon's FIOS service. However, before I do, I'd like to ask about the TV and newsgroup service.

1.) Does FIOS TV plan on adding Current TV soon? I didn't see it on the list. Aside from some interesting premium international channcels, most of the channel listing seem the same.

2.) Does Verizon have a good newsgroup service? I heard RR just upgraded their news service and increased the retention time.

3.) Are the data rates listed on the FIOS page shared with other users?

4.) What is the quality of FIOS TV compared to Time Warner?

5). I plan on keeping my Vonage line. Will Verizon require me to subscribe to their landline service to get FIOS?

Thanks!

 

[Suture]

I have both FIOS internet and FIOS TV. I've had it since they brought it out here in the D.C./Northern VA area.

1. No idea what that channel is. I don't have it in my area (Fairfax area of VA).
2. Sorry, can't comment on that either. I pay for newsgroups access from NewsHosting.
3. Technically all data pipes are shared, once it gets to a switch at a CO. I hold steady just above 2MB/sec on downloads. It's very fast. I can't remember my upload speed, but it's more than enough -- I run quite a few services from home. I've never experienced any significant bottlenecks.
4. The TV signal is far superior to anything I've ever had (Cox and Dish Network). The SD channels are cleaner, and the HD is great.
5. You do not need Verizon's phone plans to have FIOS TV or internet -- I don't, nor do I plan to ever.

To add some more:

If you have any other questions feel free to PM me. I definitely recommend it. The only downside is the onscreen guide SUCKS. They are working on updating it I've been told; it uses a rather large font so you can only see a few time slots at a time, like 3.

I have their Motorola HD-DVR. It features 2 tuners so I can record something and watch something else. It comes with a 160GB HD. The recording features are what you would expect in regards to setting it up to record specific time slots, only new shows, etc. They have a Widgets feature they're working on also. Currently, only Weather is available, which will show you the current weather and forecast for your area for the next few days. Actually I think their is a local traffic one too, but I can't remember.

 

[Suture]

Forgot to add -- I get a billion Spanish channels. I don't know why. I deleted them.

For $15/month, you can add the Movies and Sports package, which gives you 44 movie channels and a bunch of sports channels. Highly worth it: Stars, Showtime, The Movie Channel, Sundance, etc.

 

[Qacer]

Thanks for the great info! As for the Motorola DVR, are you able to record two shows at once? My current Explorer HD for Time Warner supposedly has this feature. I may have tried it once, but all I know is that most of the shows I've recorded have been put on disk. As for downloading, 2MB = 2 megabytes or 2 megabits?

 

[lozina]

I've used Verizon's newsgroups with FIOS and I can't honestly tell a difference using them from my previous Verizon DSL account. I guess the newsgroup servers are so b usy that you can only get so much bandwidth out of them. Though there have been some rare occassions I can get like 2 o3 MBits / sec using them on off hours.

 

[Quasmo]

I hate you all


<--- just really jealous

 

[KLin]

Originally posted by: Quasmo
I hate you all


<--- just really jealous

QFT :|

 

[tw1164]

I want my FIOS TV!

 

[Danman]

You know what really sucks is that Verizon can't service any other location that other competitors may contractually control. For instance, Bellsouth controls the Orlando area for local phone service. Therefore, Verizon can't offer service to this area so no FiOS for me.

 

[cliftonite]

I have had FIOS for about 6 months now and it has been great. TV isnt available here yet but should be here soon. The newsgroups arent that great (only get around 250 to 300KB down). With newshosting I usually get 2 to 2.5 MB down.

 

[Suture]

Originally posted by: Qacer
Thanks for the great info! As for the Motorola DVR, are you able to record two shows at once? My current Explorer HD for Time Warner supposedly has this feature. I may have tried it once, but all I know is that most of the shows I've recorded have been put on disk. As for downloading, 2MB = 2 megabytes or 2 megabits?

I haven't tried to record two shows at once, sorry. I rarely watched TV before this; although I do find myself watching more TV now, I only record Battlestar Galactica and some NFL games really so I haven't had the opportunity to attempt recording 2 shows at once.

And yes, 2MB = megabytes per second on the download speeds.

 

[Lotheron]

Originally posted by: cliftonite
I have had FIOS for about 6 months now and it has been great. TV isnt available here yet but should be here soon. The newsgroups arent that great (only get around 250 to 300KB down). With newshosting I usually get 2 to 2.5 MB down.

I get the full 6Mbit down from Roadrunner with my Cable Modem now... I wouldn't see any reason to switch personally.

 

[Suture]

Originally posted by: Slashur

Originally posted by: cliftonite
I have had FIOS for about 6 months now and it has been great. TV isnt available here yet but should be here soon. The newsgroups arent that great (only get around 250 to 300KB down). With newshosting I usually get 2 to 2.5 MB down.

I get the full 6Mbit down from Roadrunner with my Cable Modem now... I wouldn't see any reason to switch personally.

Not to discount Roadrunner, but we are talking megabytes, not megabits in regards to FIOS. In megabits, my connection is 15mbps on downstream.

It was easy for me to switch. I had the choice of DSL (which I hate, long story), Cox -- which is completely overpriced, or FIOS when it came out. The FIOS was even cheaper than Cox. Made it easy to make a decision.

 

[ScottFern]

Why can't Verizon bring FIOS to the Chicagoland area?

 

[mryellow2]

If you're going to be using the newsgroup thing heavily I'd recommend using one of the major news services. The access from Verizon isn't bad but I can rarely even cap out my 1.5mbit dsl line with the packaged service using multiple connections

 

[Jeeebus]

Originally posted by: Suture
I have both FIOS internet and FIOS TV. I've had it since they brought it out here in the D.C./Northern VA area.

Our installation is finally coming up on Jan 8. Falls Church FTW!

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: ScottFern
Why can't Verizon bring FIOS to the Chicagoland area?

IIRC, they don't own any of the lines in that area. AT&T is responsible for the Chicago area and they have been putting up their own Fiber lines, though, I don't know if it has hit Chicago yet.

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: ScottFern
Why can't Verizon bring FIOS to the Chicagoland area?

at least FIOS isn't in your area and just not available to you

or the guy who watched verizon run a line down the opposite direction of him

 

[Qacer]

As for newsgroups, I've actually subscribed to Giganews since last year. Only recently did I hear about RR's news server upgrade. I figured I can used my Giganews and RR account in conjunction to get faster downloads.

Also, has anyone tried the FIOS TV Multi-room DVR? I'm curious whether it can support two HDTV broadcast and record programs simultaneously from different TVs.

One more thing, how long do I have to wait for Verizon to send out their installation crew? I'm thinking of scheduling an appointment on a Saturday in the 1st week of February.

 

[Jeraden]

I find newsgroups through FIOS great, no complaint about speed. It doesn't reach the full 15mbps, but still extremely fast. Definitely faster than DSL, just be sure to use multiple connnections to maximize it.

 

[ebaycj]

Originally posted by: ScottFern
Why can't Verizon bring FIOS to the Chicagoland area?

Who cares, I'm in chicago and my comcast is uncapped (I did nothing illegal, it just was like that one day). Been like that for months now. 32mbit download FTW!

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: ebaycj

Originally posted by: ScottFern
Why can't Verizon bring FIOS to the Chicagoland area?

Who cares, I'm in chicago and my comcast is uncapped (I did nothing illegal, it just was like that one day). Been like that for months now. 32mbit download FTW!

who cares? everyone else who isn't uncapped. you're in a slim ass minority. out of curiosity, what's the uncapped upload speed?

 

[brandonbull]

Originally posted by: Jeraden
I find newsgroups through FIOS great, no complaint about speed. It doesn't reach the full 15mbps, but still extremely fast. Definitely faster than DSL, just be sure to use multiple connnections to maximize it.

I just switched from Brighthouse. I've done a few speed tests and get about 13/1.8 on the 15/2 internet package.