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macroy · Sep 14, 2006, 07:04 PM

I'm moving next month and my house will be in a area serviced by FiOS. Wanted to see if anyone has it, if so - what's your opinion of it? What did you have before?

And I'm guessing for internet access, any cable/dsl modem will work?

Thanks in advance.

C.A.T.S. CEO · Sep 14, 2006, 07:06 PM

My mom used to work for VZ so we will probably get it...

The Godfather · Sep 14, 2006, 07:18 PM

I used to have Brighthouse cable, now I have Verizon FIOS. Both are great, but FIOS is cheaper in my town.

C.A.T.S. CEO · Sep 14, 2006, 07:20 PM

Originally Posted by The Godfather

I used to have Brighthouse cable, now I have Verizon FIOS. Both are great, but FIOS is cheaper in my town.

We use brighthouse and its fine.

NYK Ace · Sep 14, 2006, 07:37 PM

they are installing fios in my apartment building and it should be finished by then end of the year - im pumped especially with the super high speeds it can reach

dreamryche · Sep 14, 2006, 08:21 PM

Originally Posted by NYK Ace

they are installing fios in my apartment building and it should be finished by then end of the year - im pumped especially with the super high speeds it can reach

I haven't been following it but I wasn't expecting it to be in this area this soon. I should check and see about Tonawandas availability.

mdc · Sep 14, 2006, 08:37 PM

Any ideas of the megabytes per second download speed it can get?
My wife and I are moving in November and currently we're on the 10mbs Brighthouse and downloads top out at 1.08megabytes per second.

USB HUB · Sep 14, 2006, 08:59 PM

Verizon has some good packages. For FIOS you have to see if you are in an area that has it installed (it's still being rolled out). DSL you can get 768 kbps, 1.5 mbps or 3.0 mbps.
You would need to check out the web page ...

Scifience · Sep 14, 2006, 09:16 PM

Originally Posted by mdc

Any ideas of the megabytes per second download speed it can get?
My wife and I are moving in November and currently we're on the 10mbs Brighthouse and downloads top out at 1.08megabytes per second.

FiOS is up to 30mbps download. So, three times what you have now. That is for $179.95/month.

You can view the different plans at Verizon - FiOS Data.

I really wish I lived in FiOS territory...sadly, we have Ameritech/SBC/AT&T/whatever it is called now.

NYK Ace · Sep 14, 2006, 10:13 PM

Originally Posted by dreamryche

I haven't been following it but I wasn't expecting it to be in this area this soon. I should check and see about Tonawandas availability.

yea definitely, i live in the south towns but i know verizon has begun pushing it all across buffalo as of late

SSharon · Sep 14, 2006, 10:22 PM

I have been thinking about switching from cablevision in my apt. to FiOS. I am ok with the 8mbps I am getting now, it's the reliability that annoys me.

macroy · Sep 15, 2006, 11:22 AM

Well... I have a choice of FiOS or Comcast.... so I might as well try FiOS. While I like OnDemand, I'm hoping FiOS will have more HD stuff.... And maybe Speed channel as part of their lineup. And well.... Comcast just sucks when the weather gets bad.... but its never their fault.

CYBER PETE · Oct 4, 2006, 08:45 PM

Originally Posted by NYK Ace

yea definitely, i live in the south towns but i know verizon has begun pushing it all across buffalo as of late

I've been trying to find info on FIOS in North Buffalo. I live near Hertel and Parkside. Do you know where I can get any more informaiton on FIOS ETA in my area? How did you know they are pussing fiber across buffalo? Thanks! GO SABRES!

Charles Bouldin · Oct 4, 2006, 09:08 PM

FIOS is great. Fast, stable, it NEVER goes out. The tech support is polite, smart and available 24/7. They give you a free wireless router. I also converted to FIOS TV and am Thank God Almighty, Free At Last from Comcast.

The only thing I miss is OLN, but that only for 23 days in July

. FIOS will never have OLN because it is owned by Comcast.

The on Demand is good, but the selection doesn't seem to add new material as quickly as I would like.

I pay $45 month for a measured 15 mbps (that's megabits/sec) down, and I don't recall what the upload speed is.

All told, it is just much better than Comcast.

NYK Ace · Oct 5, 2006, 08:51 PM

Originally Posted by CYBER PETE

I've been trying to find info on FIOS in North Buffalo. I live near Hertel and Parkside. Do you know where I can get any more informaiton on FIOS ETA in my area? How did you know they are pussing fiber across buffalo? Thanks! GO SABRES!

well they just installed the wires in my apartment building and i see them slowly working their way down union rd (in west seneca). plus the verizon building in west seneca has a big "FIOS is COMING!" sign out in front. Ive seen them working all across buffalo though but from what ive heard the roll out is slow, but at least they are working on it!

i signed up on verizonfios.com for updates when i can get it actually installed in my area

bowwowman · Oct 5, 2006, 08:59 PM

Originally Posted by mdc

currently we're on the 10mbs Brighthouse and downloads top out at 1.08megabytes per second.

Then either you are getting ripped off bigtime or have serious connection issues..........how much are you paying anyways ?

I'm on a supposed 6mbs RoadRunner cable line, and most of my downloads average around 4-5 mbs, for $39/month......

jaydon34 · Oct 5, 2006, 09:49 PM

FIOS is on long island but not in my area yet. But man I wish I had it.

Spliffdaddy · Oct 5, 2006, 09:59 PM

I had Verizon FiOS in Tampa. Never had an outage for the entire 6 months I was there. Download speeds were *good*, but not outstanding. Maybe the cable service I used to have was exceptional - because the fiber wasn't much faster. Upload bandwidth over FiOS didn't appear to be throttled. Outbound was just as fast as inbound. I used to download Bit Torrent movies in about 2 hours. So, maybe 500MB in 2 hours..whatever speed that works out to be.

dreamryche · Oct 6, 2006, 03:13 AM

Originally Posted by bowwowman

Then either you are getting ripped off bigtime or have serious connection issues..........how much are you paying anyways ?.

Actually, if he's on a 10 megabit max connection and he's getting downloads at over a megabyte per second, he's getting over 8 megabits. Most people will never hit their max bandwith, at least not for any notable length of time...so 80% sustained isn't too bad.

macroy · Oct 31, 2006, 11:01 AM

Originally Posted by Charles Bouldin

FIOS is great. Fast, stable, it NEVER goes out. The tech support is polite, smart and available 24/7. They give you a free wireless router. I also converted to FIOS TV and am Thank God Almighty, Free At Last from Comcast.

The only thing I miss is OLN, but that only for 23 days in July

. FIOS will never have OLN because it is owned by Comcast.

The on Demand is good, but the selection doesn't seem to add new material as quickly as I would like.

I pay $45 month for a measured 15 mbps (that's megabits/sec) down, and I don't recall what the upload speed is.

All told, it is just much better than Comcast.

Charles - you using the Verizon provided equipment? I like to use my own routers and stuff... but the guy wasn't sure if that was possible (something about the TV uses the Internet connection as well to pass program requests and stuff). They're down there installing it now... so I guess we'll see. But hoping maybe you have some insights.

Paco500 · Oct 31, 2006, 02:18 PM

Former Fios user- TV, phone and internet.

Very satisfied will all aspects of the service, with the exception of the HD DVR- but after TiVo, everything else pretty much blows.

zwiebel_ · Oct 31, 2006, 03:07 PM

I've got Surewest, $49/month for 10mbps up/down. Very satisfied.

keyboard150 · Nov 18, 2006, 11:06 AM

Fiber is different from cable, which is why you will receive equal (or close to) speeds with your up and downloads.

Cable operates on copper cabling, with some possible fiber in between networks, but a network is only as good as it's slowest medium.
Fiber is capable of sending and receiving data at a much higher rate, and is also capable of much higher bandwidth. (if there is even such a thing with fiber? correct me?) As well, because of the use of light rather than copper to transmit information, FIOS will by its nature be a much more reliable service.

Charles Bouldin · Nov 19, 2006, 06:16 AM

Originally Posted by macroy

Charles - you using the Verizon provided equipment? I like to use my own routers and stuff... but the guy wasn't sure if that was possible (something about the TV uses the Internet connection as well to pass program requests and stuff). They're down there installing it now... so I guess we'll see. But hoping maybe you have some insights.

They told me I had to use the Verizon router. That thing is a monster, the width and length of a shoebox and half as thick, easiy twice the size of most wireless routers. However, it is some amalgam of a router and TV server, as it has connections in use that are both coax and ethernet. Seems to work fine as router, and I have a Linksys router with DHCP turned off acting as a second wireless access point on a roaming network, and it all seems to work fine.

I continue to think FIOS is the best internet/TV service available. I've upgraded to an HDTV and the picture quality is just astonishing.

I agree with an earlier poster that the Verizon DVR is only so-so. It's okay, but doesn't have a very large capacity, and it has no 30 second skip button, so you have to manually fast forward through commercials. Annoying, but not a deal breaker.