Cable modem vs Verizon FIOS?

We're currently using a BrightHouse cable modem to connect to the Internet. The connection has been getting rather unreliable, and I'm considering switching to Verizon FIOS.  So I'm looking for any feedback anyone has about experiences pro or con with these services.

With our BrightHouse connection, I've swapped out the modem a couple of times (by schlepping it to the local BrightHouse office and exchanging it). There's no cost involved, but it's a hassle and should not be necessary. I've also changed coax cables a couple of times. What's odd to me is that our cable television feed seems to work almost 100% of the time (we typically will have some minor outages during the hurrican storm season). So I now (again) have a BrightHouse technician scheduled to come to the house and see if they can figure this out.

The fiber connection from Verizon is enticing. For US$50 a month, we can get 20 Mbps down/ 5 Mbps up ...which is about double what we currently have for throughput. I'm trying to verify with Verizon that the wireless router that they say I would have to use will allow me to disable SSID broadcast, use MAC address filtering, and use WPA encryption. The sales folks are quite friendly, but know very little of the technical details ...which is a whole 'nother issue that I'll choose to ignore at the moment :)

So... anyone have any feedback?

I'll continue researching and will post findings and whatever we decide to do. Cheers :)

Comments

[Scott Gentzen]

I've had FiOS internet service for about a year and a half, and I've been on FiOS TV since Jan.

Technical questions first.

They give you a mostly-stock DLink router (I don't have the model nnumber handy...explanation below). The non-stock part is that it has a custom firmware version that allows Verizon to remotely update the firmware... not sure what else. They need to run a program to activate you....I didn't let them run it from my Mac, and the install tech ran it on his instead.

I have a Linksys WRT54G that I prefer to the cheapie DLink. I got the installer guy to give me my PPPoE login information and when he left, I threw the DLink in a drawer and brought the Linksys online and was fine. I don't hide my SSID but I'm running WPA2 and I do MAC filtering. I don't think the DLink had WPA2 but there were a lot of config and filtering options.

(I brought it back to run the TiVO for a while but that's a different story)

When you get FiOS TV, things are a little different. You have to use their Actiontec MI424WR router (an interesting device, actually) because of how the video service works (I can explain that if you want, or it's on my blog somewhere in mid Jan). I don't use the wireless on that router...I hang my WRT54G off of it. Again, no problem.

As for the service, I'm completely satisfied. I get the bandwidth I'm expecting (I got the 5/2 service). It's cheaper than I was paying for cable internet. No outages that I've noticed. I don't use their email servce.

I would recommend checking out what they have to do to install the service. It's a pretty extensive installation and some people might be put off by it. You don't get power from the phone lines, so if you're prone to power outages that might be an issue too.

[jimmy]

FIOS RULES..............I HAD TO REFORMAT MY LAPTOP AND COULDNT GET WIRELESS TO WORK .CALLED VERIZON AND THEY TOLD ME TO HARD WIRE LAPTOP......I DID AND THEY REMOTE THE LAPTOP AND GOT IT WORKING !!!!!!!!!!!..........FIOS RULES ..NO DROP SERVICE. CONSTANT SPEED.....GOOD BYE CABLE

[dave west]

I'm a fios tech in Tampa and our routers will allow wpa and and mac filtering and absolutly you can disable SSID. EVERY publication that I've seen that reports on the cable vs fiber, says go fiber every time. july pc mag is the newest issue i can think of, but try a google review search.Hope this helpsDave

[JudiC]

With FIOS you sign a one year contract, you have a 30 day money back(which Verizon does not tell you unless you ask, plus their website says nothing about this) then if you disconnect service while under contract you pay alot of hidden fees. My neighbors were very disapointed with FIOS, they added hidden fees when installation was completed, crappy cable running from box into house, and when their FIOS box lost service it to over two weeks to have it replaced.I would stick with Brighthouse, they also went back to brighthouse along with the rest of my neighbors.

[Mike]

I run 4 web sites from a dedicated home-based web server. A Verizon tech told me that they block ports 80 and 20 unless I sign up for business class service. Can't run my web sites without those ports being open. My current copper (hard-wired) Verizon phone works without electric power. Their tech told me that I have to have a battery backup for fiber phone service to work during power outages and the battery is good for only 4 hours. I live in Florida and during the storm season we can lose power for days. When I did a side-by-side comparison on price and service (in-home cable repair service is free, Verizon charges) and did a comparison on HDTV quality, band width, speed, etc. I decided to stay with Brighthouse. Although I have signed up to change over to Verizon, I am canceling my order, because I’m within the 30-day cancellation period. I'll let you know if I get hit with any hidden charges. Verizon hasn't made the hook-up yet, so there shouldn't be any charges.

[Brianna]

I was with a cable company for internet and television. I cannot tell you the frustration that I have had attempting to keep my internet working. I ditched cable after 9 months. Even after they promised me six months of free service and another six at half price. They even sent me a check for $90 as a show of the their good faith!!!

Before cable I had DSL through SBC. I hated it. Constantly had outages but no problem with my phoneline.

I changed to FiOS and have the 15/3 connection. I will have the television installed next Monday. The install was fine. I do have a battery backup for 8 hours and this is simply for home use. I check my speed constantly and am usually getting 17/3.

After everything is said and done I'll be paying a little over $100 for phone/internet and television. I have had a few technical quesitons about how to add filters, set up different computers and change passwords. For the most part the technicians follow a script or scenarios.

WORDS OF ADVICE...1). Be nice. If you're calling them for a problem the last thing you want to do is make them not want to help you.2). Let them know what you've already done to solve your problem. The cure-all with every internet provider is the unplug and re-plug in your modem. Tell them you've done this.3). Ask them technical questions you already know you think someone who can help you should know. If they cannot answer the simple questions request a supervior.4). THIS IS NEW TECHNOLOGY! Give the techs a break. (the iPhone is having all kinds of problems no scenario sheets were created for... same goes for FiOS... different company same problem). FiOS's capabilities are still unknown. Give it time... it can only get better!5). Verizon is tariffed by the government. Their prices are controlled so you won't have a bill at one price and then magically be alerted that your bill has gone up thirty bucks like cable companies can do.

Hope a bit of this helps. I know I probably sound like a commercial. The information is out there. The television is the newest Fiber to hit the streets and as for right now Verizon has made leaps and bounds when it comes to providing FiOS internet service and support.

I say take the leap and try it.Brianna

[shay]

Fios sucks. The color is def a faded look not bright, deep colors like i get with brighthouse. AND i know fios people would argue that. The thing is its new and everyone wants to try new things and everyone things that new is better, well ive seen brighthouse and fios side by side and guess who wins on the color factor..Brighthouse hands down..verizons picture also pixels a lot when your trying to watch a show which is quite annoying. Verizons customer service is horrible. With verizon you have to sign a one year contract and hidden fees. Brighthouse does not!!!

[Giri]

FiOS Internet Rocks.I donot have FiOS TV so I cannot comment on it.Bright house cannot offer any speeds near what FiOS can offer (atleast from what I understand how both Technology works).In FL the lowest tier is 10/2.Next 2 tiers are 20/5 and 50/5.I have 20/5 and consistently get those speeds(around 17-19 Mbps down and 3.8-4.7 Mbps up)

[yukkione]

To those who are excited about this there are things you need to know about Fios and verizon. If you use any phone service such as Vonage you will receive terrible customer service. When you call them, the first thing they ask you is for your phone number. If you do not have a verizon phone then you will likely get shuffled around from rep to rep and put on endless hold. Also they give you the speed but don’t want you to actually use the bandwidth, they traffic shape and will cut you off if they detect torrent traffic, even if it's legitimate. Over a year ago they mis-billed my account; after they caught the mistake my service was restored. (After hours and hours of getting shuffled around and getting disconnected) Then two weeks ago I woke up to check my email and found the service was off again. After several hours on the phone, I finally get told that the billing error had resurfaced; it would most likely take a month for fraud services to resolve the issue. No apologies for the mistake or the terrible service. I had to sign up for RR just to get service back and my home phone working again.

[yukkione]

To those who are excited about this there are things you need to know about Fios and verizon. If you use any phone service such as Vonage you will receive terrible customer service. When you call them, the first thing they ask you is for your phone number. If you do not have a verizon phone then you will likely get shuffled around from rep to rep and put on endless hold. Also they give you the speed but don’t want you to actually use the bandwidth, they traffic shape and will cut you off if they detect torrent traffic, even if it's legitimate. Over a year ago they mis-billed my account; after they caught the mistake my service was restored. (After hours and hours of getting shuffled around and getting disconnected) Then two weeks ago I woke up to check my email and found the service was off again. After several hours on the phone, I finally get told that the billing error had resurfaced; it would most likely take a month for fraud services to resolve the issue. No apologies for the mistake or the terrible service. I had to sign up for RR just to get service back and my home phone working again.

[Debbie D]

Stick with your Brighthouse.. up here in Long Island NY we have Cablevision/Optimum Online.. I 100% agree the FIOS picture on the TV is NOT better.. it is dark and pixlelly (is that a word?) The install tech kept telling me it will be fine tonight when real HD is being broadcast, that at 1p there is no real HD content.. We had a Scientific Atlantic DVR and it was great.. now we have something else.. I dont even know what it is because I got no manuals or any paperwork.. The remote is atrocious.. the TV guide on the TV is horrible in comparison.. the record feature is aggrivating at a minimum to be polite.. the sreach feature on the TV is aweful.. the navigation on the DVR is annoying as anything I can think of.. the internet is NOT faster - I work from home, online all day, and I know.. it is NOT faster. I called VZ tech to ask where online is the TVguide so I can search for a program.. he said there isn't one.. well with OPT I could search, FAST for up to 10 days hence and program from a printed list so I didnt miss any of my favorites.. while I agrued with him there has to be a TV listing online, I found it.. it didn't work.. the point is the tech didnt even know it was there.. and where he took me took some where around 5 or 6 pages deep and it wasn't even there.. he took me to the channel lineup.. when I specifically said the TV guide listings

Another tech call they cou;d not help me at all with setting up the outgoing SMTP when my incoing is not VZ's I said I don't know how many times I do not want or plan to ever use the VZ address as I own several domains and my mails go there.. I just need the outgoing info.. I finally did some googling and figured it out myself.

My install was Sept 26th.. last night, (23rd of Oct) I finally tell my husband I think I want to go back.. he says he hates the FIOS TV also and go for it.. now the fun begins..

Since it is past 6p I can't call the billing dept at Verizon, but I call and within 2 minutes I am speaking to an Optonline rep in the billing dept.

She very carefully explained my options and looked to see the first available install date.. was happy to make an appoiintment even if I had to cancel it, I declined..

9a today 10/24, I call verizon to discuss the disconnect and I am told I have to disconnect TODAY or TOMORROW or I will incur charges.. I ask if we can make this happen next Saturday and she says NO. OK I will have to call Optonline and I will call you back I said. This call between the hold time, the press 1 for this nonsense.. took almost 45 minutes.

I call Opt again and a different rep answered again within 2 minutes and I tell Kevin my story and beg him to see if I can get an install today or tomorrow.. We discuss the fact that it will take up to 5 days for the pone to get ported over (I dont even want a land line from verizon any more) and he promises me he will check with his supervisor about this and how to deal with it.. He placed me on hold to see about an appointment and came back to apologize that it could not be today, it had to be tomorrow.. fine thats fine.. I agreed. About the phone... by law they can't shut it off.. but it's sticky with the porting and disconnect from VZ and connect at OPT.. Kevin promised to keep on eye on my account to see when it went active then we would take care of the phone change.. In all this he kept lowering the prices.. from 109.90/month for 1 yr for the triple play down to 96.10 for 2 years.. All in all I was on the phone with Kevin for about 1/2 hour.. got everything settled and I am happy.. Until..

I call verizon back.. after all the press one crap.. I get disconnected after being told I have to wait 9 minutes for a live human. Go thru the paces again, now its 12 minutes.. I put the phone on speaker and do some work.. finally I get a human and I of course have to be connected to someone else about the disconnect, but not until after I tell this chick my life story.. oh at that point she says.. let me switch you to that dept.. humm I thought the first thing I said after hello is I want to disconnect.. why did I have to tell her who why when etc etc??? Hold again.. speaker phone again.. damn now the battery on the protable is running low, I have to switch phones.. finally at least 20 minutes have past and I have to tell this huamn my life story again.. I inisit I do not want it disconnected today, I want it done tomorrow.. she got huffy and put me on hold and came back and confirmed it will be disconnected (TV and internet) TOMORROW, THURS 10/25. There is absolutely NO discussion about giving them back all their equipment.. none.. she didnt say, why should I ask?? Its their stuff if they want it...

So now it is 1p and I am pretty pleased with myself, still annoyed, but happy about the decision and I am working away, watching CNN (the Calif fires) when the TV goes out.. SOB's... their TOMORROW obviously means 10 minutes.. I try fliping some channels, go in the other room to try that TV, flip some of those channels and nothing.. I get the guide, but other than that black.. SOB's shut me off.. I'm annoyed, but I can live without the TV today.. I have the net and my DVR redorded stuff and I'll live thru it.. back to work and it's about 10 minutes later when I hear my email program doing the ding warning thing.. and I realize they shut the internet off also..

So now I have to call VZ AGAIN to see why they shut me off NOW instead of tomorrow.. and I am getting nothing but runaround, of course after being on hold for 1/2 a life time.. I said never mind forget it I have my aircard and I'll use that and hung up..

So now I go back and check the DVR and they made it so I can see all the programs I recorded, but can NOT watch any of them.. none of them.. not available.. whats up with that?? I thought the shows were recorded on the hard drive in the unit?? they have that much control?? No thanks.. good riddence..

I actually had to converse with my husband tonight :) it was a nice experience..

To sum.. VZ tech sucks, VZ FIOS is not better than cable, it is not faster, their interactive TV guide is not shinier. it sucks.. all of it.. stick with your bright house.. call them and tell them VZ is wooing you over and they will drop your price..

[Chris]

I don't know if you've made your decision yet, but FiOS kicks the living daylights out of the old, antiquated cable service. It's hilarious going over to my friends' houses with cable: once we turned the TV on, nothing happened. A few minutes later, it finally came on, in all of it's pixilated glory. Not to mention the numerous other occasions of having service outages, and Optimum Autos failing with errors...The internet is atrocious; Cablevision advertises 15/3 and they are lucky to get 9/2, if even that. When we had FiOS (I'm living somewhere else, hopefully to get FiOS again) and the 10/2 package, we would get a consistent rate of at least 10/2, sometimes even peaking higher. Try getting that with cable! By the way, the Scientific Atlanta boxes from Cablevision also have old, slow, and ugly looking gray channel guides with old station logos. FiOS rolled out a new program guide a few months ago, look here for an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUdZcpfXuX4Leaps and bounds better than cable's.Everyone may have their own individual problems, whether they personally don't like the service or there is a technical issue, that's a different story.Here's a story from Lance Ulanoff of PC Magazine: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2071448,00.aspReally, there's no reason to stick with old cable service when you can get something much newer and much more advanced.

[Kathy]

We need some advise. We currently have All three services with Optimum (Internet, phone and TV) We pay a base of $160.00 a month(including surcharges and taxes) for 5 boxes in the house. I have heard so much about Verizon Fios and we are scheduled to have an install on the 29th of this month and I am worried 1) will all my wireless laptops and computers work (we have linksys) 2) Verizon is notorious for surcharges. They promise all kinds of discounted rates then hit you with all those extras and before you know it you have a $300 bill. Can anyone out there tell me the true cost of all of this?

[Deedee]

I live in Va Beach, Virginia and Verizon charges us $ 199.00 per month plus taxes and other fees. We have 3 boxes and the movie channels (Starz).

Verizon is not all it's cracked up to be. My new computer is slower than when I had cavalier.

[Ryan C.]

Whatever you do. Do not get Fios. The HD picture stinks. Also, their TV network is not compatible with samsing or LG TVs. Guess what.... i have a Samsung a Sony and an LG. The Hd alone stinks.... then .... with the compatability issue... the picture is all grainy, flashy and gross. Indoor football looks like a game at Lambeau in the winter. Brutal.

Screw Fios, they are liars. They told me that i would get analog channels. i only get 4 American channels and 12 spanish language channels. When i had cablevision i could watch TV in my kitchen without a cable box. Now, i put on the radio for the weather.

As for the internet. I am on my third router. What a POS. Actiontec makes them and you cannot change the settings. (SSID ETC). The tech came to my house and implored that i do not touch the routers ever again if i want the service to work. The service continues to drop at an absurd pace. I plug and Unplug my router 10 times a night. Hell no to Fios!! They are atrocious and the customer service is a joke. 45 automated questions prior to my reaching an agent.

I hate to say this.... but stick with cablevision. Its much more reliable and the HD looks 45X better than garbage fios and their horsecrap fiber.

[Virginia F]

If you want multiple headaches and HORRIBLE customer service with hidden costs in your billing, go with Verizon. I switched from BrightHouse Network to Verizon on Aug 20th and hated it .. had nothing but trouble, my phone was out half the time and their tv lineup was bad, so I called on Sept 4th to cancel, they switched me around to many reps, on the phone over 2 hours and still could not get cancelled. I have later discovered that their cancellation dept is outsourced as well as their tech services. Meanwhile, I call again on 9/7/07 to make sure it is cancelled and find that the order is in, so I ask about the equiptment and was told they would send out directions for returning it. Fine, but since I still felt uneasy, I went to their site and followed up with an email from their form box. I should have captured the screen because they claim they never received a cancellation and since I did not have a confirmation number, there was no cancellation. My bill is now $463 for a little over 2 weeks of service. Finally, I found the acknowledgement letter sent from their Ecenter with a message tracking number and called them again. They then admitted they received the notice but since it did not go to the cancellation dept and I did not have the required confirmation number, the service was still running whether I was using it or not. I am still trying to straigten out the bill and no one will talk to me, they have now said they will turn the whole thing over to collections. Also, they have a 30 day cancellation period without penalty that they do not tell you about, but I called them when I was first going to order the service and ask them about it, and they said yes. Now, the $149 cancellation fee has been added to my bill because I did not get a confirmation number on my cacellation. Trust me ... you do not want to do business with Verizon. The whole experience was a mess. In that 2 and half week period I had at least 5 service calls.

[Angelia K]

I have read the previous comments and let me say that I have experienced everyone of those negative things. I begin my relationship turbulent with Verizon in March 07.Phase 1. Installation. I have Vongage (great service) so Verizon treats me like I have the plague (started with the tech who came for initial installation) I had a brand new house, built 3 weeks prior to installation, when I had them come in. I paid extra to have all the communication in my house run to one area (phone, cable, etc.) and place behind a nice panel. The tech removed my phone patch panel, cut the wires to my phone line and extra cable lines and place Verizon equip. in my panel box. To top it off, the TV and internet did not work when he left, he said that since it was late he had to go home and would return tomorrow....Lies. I had to call a supervisor and have someone else come out 2 days later and I told them that if they did not have someone fix the mess that the 1st tech made of my customized panel box I was suing them for the 2000 it cost to get it done. It got fixed.Phase 2. Billing. Verizon promised that the bill would be $99 for everything...but that does not included needing a box for every TV in your house. We down sized to 3 boxes. It also did not include any movie/premium channels. All said and don I pay 176.00 before taxes and fees!!!! It took them 2 1/2 months to get my first bill and they were separate (when TV & Internet were supposed to be billed together), so I got double billed in one area (TV) and all the credit was applied to the internet. I took 12 phone calls and 2 months to straighten that out. The wait times on the phone is crazy. Once the smoke cleared my account had a credit of 675.00. This was to carry me thru October (2 1/2 month credit). Cool right. Wrong, Verizon raised the rate on me in Aug/Sept., so I ended up loosing the extra 1/2 month.Phase 3. Picture Quality. We have a Sony, Pansonic, Olevia (no name) HD TVs (LCD & DLP). We often experience the picture pixling or it just freezes up and we must change the channel to get it to un-freeze. We have had techs out on several occasions, not much changes. We just live with it. Too much of a hassel to get someone out here. The support services has gotten worse over the months, not better.Phase 4. Internet. When it works the speeds are excellent. When it works. But some times (at least 8-10 times weekly the service just stops) you must either wait for it to come back, reboot the router or both.My family ad I are looking into going back to bright-house, if nothing else the customer service was better. I hate to think about what it will be like to cancel my service...I do not have a contract with them, we got in before contracts were required. Hope this helps some one.

[Michael A.]

Verizon Fios: blows cable away, I think half of you people work for the cable company. I have had it for over one year, that's TV,Internet & phone with 44 movie channels & 3 boxes-monthly cost-$139.00As for hi-def TV cable can't cut the cake. See the whole thing is bandwidth verizon has unlimited were as cable reached it's max. So when all the kids go on the internet on cable everyone gets a drop in speed, the same with cable TV the more people that are watching the same channel-guess what happens. Get the facts the top reviewers in the country state that Verizon Fios: blows cable away. And I never a verizon fios outage in over one year except for electrical outages.

[jb]

I have phoned I have written this company... it is insulated against any and all attempts to have meaningful contacts to resolve any issues. If you have Time Warner Cable or Cablevision or DirectTV or Dish Network... KEEP IT you are better off... I have tried all but Dish Network but a friend is very satisfied with the price and quality of the image... I can live with any of the other services (especially cable) but not FIOS. firstly the picture quality was not visibly better... same as cable. The FIOS internet ...VS. and the Verizon DSL is

just as fast for web browsing (I have both Macs...always fast and the best and PCs... always a good bit slower whether FIOS or DSL) Yes FIOS is somewhat faster on downloads but unless unless you are an iTunes junkie... who downloads all the time... mostly you surf and Blog and e-Mail (and $17.99 for DSL vs. about $50 (or more) for FIOS is a waste of money. Now the Verizon Freedom Phone service through the large FIOS box now permanently screwed to the outside of my garage wall (I thank you and my religious wooden shingles thank you ... well now they are holy holy holy.... thanks a lot!!) .. my old phone service with Verizon was fine... this new FIOS BOX phone service has all sorts of crackle and pops in the line and an annoying low rhythmic rumble....(proximity to electrical service??) If you look at the bright side this is a plus... this way you will only make very important calls... you know like my house is on fire.... All of that disaster is nearly meaningless... YOU CAN'T BELIEVE HOW BAD THE FIOS TV IS they take 4 hours to drill holes in your garage and attach several electrical devices and backs ups... which you have to bear the energy cost on....for what... for nothing beneficial. the man and his drill works right next to the main breaker and LIPA electrical service to your entire home... if they miss with the drill you are without electricity.. no big deal right??

the young salesman who went door to door told me my ACTIVATION COSTS (ABOUT $50) and would be reimbursed either through a $200 gift certificate at Best Buy or they would give me a Sharp HD TV... my choice of bonus... that will be 5 months ago in March 2008 ... and they just about don't acknowledge I even exist as a customer when it comes to a bonus... THEY DO however ACKNOWLEDGE THAT I AM TO PAY FOR FIOS SERVICE MONTHLY. Originally, the the young door to door salesman (who has nothing except a name tag...a sales ledger and a laminated photocopy of the basic channel lineup... which you can't keep... there is no proof or paperwork provided about the sign up bonus ... just his big mouth.. be smart .... slam the door in his face!). He told me that my cost for 2 years would be $94 a month. Plus $10 for the 2 extras boxes I ordered. My bills have been out of sight for the past several months about $162 for February.... $270 for January .... and $140 for December (APPARENTLY before they really got the "SIR CHARGE" BALL FULLY ROLLING)... unlike Vonage Phone service or Cable phone service... you have about $35 dollars in extra FCC line charge etc. etc... taxes minimum each month. Now as to the FIOS picture... because it is optics as opposed to good old copper cable... there are momentary lapses... in picture and sound delivery because of the either tinny Motorola cable box can't keep up with the optic cable or the optic cable has small imperfections along the route.. which cause sound to break up (words to be lost) and pictures to glitch out (as if you had a defect or scratch on a DVD

you were watching.) This almost never happens with cable.

NOW I HAVE SAVED THE BEST TO THE LAST... AND BELIEVE ME... YOU BETTER BE READING THIS FAR!!!!. Effective April 2008 FIOS TV WILL BE ELIMINATING ALL THE BASIC BROADCAST CHANNELS AND EVERY OTHER CHANNEL FROM THEIR TV SYSTEM UNLESS YOU HAVE A BOX.. that's RIGHT THE 40 CHANNELS I GET ON ALL MY TVS DVD RECORDERS VCR HDTV DIGITAL SETS...AS WELL AS THE OLDER ANALOGUE TV SETS .... GET WILL ALL BE ELIMINATED ...3 months AFTER I signed up and THEY PROMISED ME I WOULD HAVE THEM...THIS SEEMS TO VIOLATE THE VERY CONTRACTS WE FIOS SUBSCRIBERS SIGNED... I WOULD HOPE IT OPENS UP A CLASS ACTION AGAINST THEM. Every set whether new HDTV or not will not work without a stinking little energy wasting hot to the touch Motorola box... they won't even display what channel you are one... and gets hot as hell to fry an egg on... I currently have to turn my Motorola 2500 box and the 6200 box off at night because they get so hot during the day of usage...(and it is WINTER IN NY STATE !!!!) ... you can't even keep your hand on top of the 6200... (I can only imagine what a hazard they will present in July!!!). If you are unlucky enough to have a Motorola 6416 HD/DVR unit that box is so hot it can almost replace your Ronco Chicken Fryer.... the 80 gig hard drive is constantly grinding away and the fan always on to dissipate the heat but it is nearly useless.. except for the motor noises it makes. Unlucky friend of mine has one and his rental rate has gone up from $12.99 a month to over $15.99 now a month... just since Nov 2007 to February 2008 !!!! How do you spell RIP OFF... oh yeah V-E-R-I-Z-O-N and the hard drive FREQUENTLY JAMS OR DOES NOT RECORD when it is more than half full. Yes Sir. Now Every TV set will need a frying energy sucking hot cable box so that will be ....6 boxes for 6 sets in my home and each box is drawing energy. Friends three of my TV sets are less than a year old.... two are less than 3 months old ... yet they are incompatible with Verizon starting in April 2008. A new 32 inch HDTV Sony Bravia ... no good... a new 27 inch Samsung HDTV no good...a 12 month old 37 inch Sylvania HDTV no good... according to the new rules laid down by Verizon.,,, all will need boxes in order to get even a local channel. KNOW THAT BEFORE YOU ARE AN IDIOT LIKE ME AND SIGN UP.

Oh yes, all the Motorola boxes (every make and model) work on the same remote control signal... so if your are watching something on ABC and want to DVD record something on CBS at the same time you are screwed.... the same remote controls all 6 boxes... it will shut every box off and change every channel... god help you if you push one of the 38 incorrect buttons in the dark or by accident. it is over... recording screwed. Don't think for one second you can switch over during a commercial on ABC to see how your show on CBS is recording... YOU JUST CHANGED THE CHANNEL ON BOTH BOXES... OR SHUT BOTH BOXES OFF ...and you screwed up the DVD of the show you were recording... nice... really smart folks at Verizon. Remember these stupid little Motorola VT 700 boxes don't even have a CLOCK or LED channel display to know where you are actually on.

P.S. It should go without saying I NEVER order Pay-Per-View ...or any Verizon On Demand services ...I have only the basic channels USA TNT Turner Classic Movies etc.... no HBO or even Encore or Starz. Oh yes.. more good news... starting in April 2008 ... I am going to have to re-cable most of my house when I switch back to Cablevision Basic TV services for under $15 bucks a month... so I can provide non-box service to 4 older TVs and 3 DVD recorders and 3 VCR... and also basic TV to my 3 New HDTV sets for PBS Local News and Network broadcasts.. at times when I don't need Cable stations (USA whatever) and want to cool down my 3 boxes...

As for the other 3 VT 700 Motorola cable boxes ...which arrived yesterday (and which won't activate... wait till you see the set of instructions Verizon sends you to self-activate these new April Fools Day 2008 boxes by yourself.. good-luck.) ... Verizon can place these somewhere conveniently to their robust anatomy. So that will push my monthly cable up to about $160.

Oh, I forgot to mention how bad their FIOS on screen guide is... it is bad... and very jittery...it can skip 10 channels ahead and you won't be able to go back very easy... my wife CAN'T GO BACK at all ..she gave up... it is possible... but you have to me a maestro of the remote and also have a bit of luck... your fall back position is to get the guide on each channel one channel at a time... when "Sir Jitters" Guide is in use !!! NICE !!! By the time you have done that the show you wanted to see is already on 10 minutes!

We have to keep our Internet TV guides listing set to Cablevision set up because none of the regular TV listings

AOL, MSN, YAHOO you name it... NONE OF THE REGULAR WEB TV LISTINGS BOTHER TO GIVE YOU THE FIOS CABLE LINE UP... CHECK IT OUT.. perhaps that was THEIR hint not to go with Verizon FIOS? Don't be part of a small minority that is getting screwed with FIOS. Just because I was stupid don't means you have to be as well. Yes, I am locked into a 2 year contract with tremendous penalties if I try to discontinue FIOS service...(my local cable does not do that)... the story never ends.. but my letter does.... good-bye. And here for all these years I thought Cablevision stank... it may have a slightly moldy smell....but wait till you smell the (Metaphorical) rot called FIOS TV.

PPS: My wife just walked in from work... she told me the house was cold... sure enough it is..

I had turned off my 6200 cable box and Sylvania HDTV late last night when I went to bed...and by God I forgot to turn them on (I have these units on outlet switches... so I don't have to unplug them) . Going to power them up now to watch Judge Judy .. have a hot cup of tea ....and enjoy my Verizon FIOS TV Fireplace.

[James]

I called Verizon FIOS to order phone, internet, and cable prior to my move in. My Consumer Order Summary was dated 3-28-08, and the scheduled installation date was 4-7-08. I reviewed the e-mail and all looked well. I move into my new house and install date comes. They setup an 8 AM-noon window. I already had the Optical Network Terminal unit (ONT) in my house, so I figured this would be cake for them. I am a Sys Admin at an ISP, so the internet stuff I could do myself with ease.

On install day, no one showed, no one called. I had my mobile with me at ALL times. So around 1:30 PM I called Verizon to see what was going on. If something came up, I had a week off to move in and if they needed to come by in a day or two, I was totally cool with that. After about an hour on hold I got in touch with a “state level” dispatcher. That said that there were “no facilities available for my order” and I was called. Nope, I wasn’t called; they did have my cell (which I had with me all of the time) in their records. I wanted them to come out later in the week if possible since I was home. They said that their next available time for me was 4-12-08, which was a day where I was going to a wedding. The next available time after that was at the end of the month, on a work day for me.

Basically because they did not show up, or even notify me with a reason, they put me at the back of the line. I was trying to escalate my request and the support only gave me unreasonable dates and that “no facilities available for my order” BS. I later wanted to get my copper line put back so I could at least get phone service, and after a long wait in hold they gave me the end of the month as a date. Basically I was being run around in circles and being shoved to the end of the line because Verizon screwed up my installation. I was told the only way I could get it sooner is if I “knew an installer who’d do me a favor,” and I was pretty much screwed with the window of time I had to get the service installed. The salesperson fed me a load of bull and the installer didn’t even call me with a reason. I tried to figure out what “no facilities available for my order” meant, and why this was such a problem since I already had the ONT in my house. Half of their work was already done.

The same day, I called a local cable company who installed my phone, internet, and cable the next day. They showed up on time and did the normal pre and post appointment verification. I unplugged the ONT in my house and let the battery go out. Verizon gave me such a lousy customer experience I swore I would never do business with them, and be sure to let other people know about their awful customer service and commitments they setup and do not honor. Verizon screwed up prior when they bought Bell Atlantic, and screwed up our perfectly find DSL service I had around 98/99. My money is going to a competitor, and Verizon won’t see it because they have abysmal customer service. I am certainly interested in fiber optic lines connected to my house, but so long as Verizon is the only provider, I will happily do without.

JamesHerndon, VA

[Will]

Well, I have an EXTREMELY crazy story. First of all, at the end of the day, I love the Fios TV and Internet service, so let's make that clear. Now, the nightmare. My wife and I came into some hard times, and neglected to pay our bill for a few months. This wound up turning into a $600.00 (and some change) bill. My TV service was turned off, and rightfully so. We finally get back on our feet some, and I decided that I would try and pay the bill. I call Verizon to do so. I'm on the phone 1 1/2 hours waiting and being bounced around because they had my phone number screwed up. I was finally told that I would have to pay the full amount to get it turned back on (TV). I didn't have 600.00 to throw, but I had half. So I decided to pay $350, go without TV for another week, and pay the balance a week later. So I get transferred to someone else, and the Verizon CSR now tells me that I have a ZERO balance. Now I'm confused. Mind you, I was TRYING TO PAY THEM!! They give me a confirmation number and CUT MY TV back on! Of course, I didn't dispute it...who would...I TRIED TO PAY, RIGHT? By now I'm thinking "this is my lucky day." 4 days later, the TV goes off again. I call to find out what's up. I'm on the phone another hour! They say my service is suspended for non-pay(which is why I tried to pay them) Verizon can't find my balance...they say "Sir, you have a $60.00 credit." Your service will be back on in three hours. Didn't happen. I call back, stay on the phone for yet another hour, and they finally find my balance of $618.00. Now at this point, I feel that they should take a lot less, because it was their mistake. So I call back yet again. I go through another series of being bounced from one dept. to another, this time 2 AND A HALF HOURS! All of the people I talked to agreed that I shouldn't have to pay the full amount, but they kept bouncing me to different departments. Now I'm pissed. I FINALLY get to the right dept., (FIOS Financial services) and they say "Pay $377 and your service will be back on in 3 hours." I finally win, right? WRONG! MY cell phone loses signal as I am about to pay!!!!!!(sounds like I'm making this up, right?). I wanted to FIGHT at this point. So I call back again today (tues. May 6, 2008) and get back to the payment. I actually pay the $377 and again am told my service will be on in 3 hours. Didn't happen (yet again) .I call back, get bounced around for ANOTHER HOUR AND A HALF, and NO ONE CAN HELP ME, even though the payment has posted!!!!! As I type this long and seemingly ficticious post, my tv is still off! After these roller-coaster couple of weeks and more than SEVEN (7) HOURS TOTAL BEING BOUNCED AROUND ON THE PHONE, if I don't see video on my screen tomorrow, I'll just have to go with a dish! SCREW VERIZON CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD DOGGIT! (I don't cuss)

[BDR]

Our FIOS service has been abysmal too.

1) Installation dragged on for two weeks with missed appointments, etc., plus a 30-foot trench in the front yard (although the order said to dig in the back).

2) After a year, service is about 99.8% reliable. When it goes out, we often (not always) lose our phone too. We've replaced the router, the power supply, the ONT.

3) When I call, about half of my calls get dropped at the Verizon office, even when I call from my Cingular cell phone. Even the calls *from* Verizon (the automated ones to keep me off the phone queue) get dropped.

4) We switched to this from TWC for $$$ and speed, but we immediately discovered blocked ports which meant moving services off the home computers. This was definitely not advertised up front.

5) Service appointments get missed. They show up a day late, a day early, whenever.

6) Off course, the phone support guys always tell you to "reboot your computer" (which one? there are five!). I guess I understand this. But as a warning, be careful about their standard troubleshooting scripts that will cost you re-config time.

7) I pretty much hate the Actiontec router. Among other things, its browser interface only works reliably with MSIE. It also doesn't offer a complete set of encryption options. And it can't be configured to do bridging.

8) For some reason, they set up the ONT/router to connect by coax, vs. Ethernet. During one of the service calls, I talked the tech into switching this.

One "floor manager" suggested that there might be a problem with "the wiring." What wiring? It's fiber to the (presumably new) ONT, and then a set of new wires from there into our router. Everything else is wireless.

I imagine the service is different in different regions. I'm in the desert near Palm Springs. My impression is the company is understaffed here, especially for Internet needs, and the corporate systems need an overhaul.

[duh]

when your cable guy is there make sure the upstream is less than a 55 and downstream is no lower that a neg 5 and you cable modem should be fine!!! ps.. your cable system has been using fiber since the late 80's...look up HFC

[duh]

when your cable guy is there make sure the upstream is less than a 55 and downstream is no lower that a neg 5 and you cable modem should be fine!!! ps.. your cable system has been using fiber since the late 80's...look up HFC

[KB]

I've had Fios for about a month and a half now and will never go back to cable unless I move away from a fios area. To all of the reviews saying the pic is worse: Fios DOES NOT COMPRESS any signal...it is straight from the source. You get what they get, and I have had no issues with picture quality. It sounds like some of you work for the cable company or need a new tv! There is also a difference between Fiber to node and Fiber to the premisis (FTTP), so look that up duh.

I will agree that customer service can be an issue with VZ, but I have found that if I am freindly and patient, they are as well. I do not have a verizon phone or a VZ cell phone, so out the door goes that theory. I just specify to them that I have no VZ phone and provide my contact number (the two times I had to call, neither was a problem...ps both calls were to change my package, not for problems).