No More Cable

I moved to DSL last year, and not without headaches. After I got the connection bugs worked out, I can say it works. Cox cable kept me broke with their constant raising of prices. I am totally with At&t now, and though I hate yahoo crap with a passion (I removed most of it), cable is just a distant nightmare.

FIOS - easily - came with a wireless router with 4 ports.
Speed has never been a problem.
Never had to reset the router, 2 years, maybe longer.
Had DSL for awhile until FIOS came available.
My DSL problem was during thunder storms - it just stopped working.

I’ve had FiOS for internet for a while now. It has not gone down and the speed is good.

Some notes:
If you get a static IP address for your FiOS you will not be able to get the TV over the same connection. Apparently static IP and TV don’t get along very well. They will put in a second connection if you want. This is what I had to do to get the TV. It took them quite a while to figure out how to do this. You see, if you want a second connection you also need a second address. So they had to create a new address in their billing system. It took 3 attempts to get it installed and setup because of all the confusion.

If you get the TV you apparently have to use the router that they give you. If you have two separate connections you don’t have to do that on your Internet connection (I still have their router on the TV line). You also don’t get to take advantage of the “special” deals if you split your connections.

The best thing about the FiOS TV is that I also get Comcast Sportsnet. I live near Philadelphia, the only way to get the baseball games is to get Comcast Sportsnet. (same with the flyers and Sixers). Comcast does not allow satellite to carry their signal but since the FiOS is ground based they must offer it to Verizon.

The Video On Demand is a little weak, but hopefully it will get better (I don’t think they carry enough for VOD).

Lastly, if you get the TV service you *must* also get the fiber telephone service if you want the billing through the phone number. You must setup your account this way in order to take advantage of those special deals. This wouldn’t be bad if they left the copper in place so you can switch to someone else if you aren’t happy. I was originally told that the copper must be removed but since I had such a complicated setup they left it (for now).

FIOS! FIOS! FIOS! You’ll be happy! Very happy!

“nuff said!

I dumped Comcast and went to AT&T fast access DSL which is just as fast as cable and no hassels.And its cheaper too.

Tom

Hey Matt — I hear you about Comcast. The quality, reliability and speed of their high-speed Internet service has really been crap lately. And it only seems to be getting worst.

When I move to my new home in Tulsa, I’ll be going with Cox cable, hopefully with better results. At least it’s a cheaper market out there. I wish that I could get FIOS, but it’s just not available there yet.

Best, Matt W.

Well… I just got fed up with ATT and made the switch to Comcast last month. I’ve used ATT DSL for 7 yrs now and this last year I’ve noticed an increasing worsening support line and reliability. Our DSL would drop several times a day, and several attempts to fix it by ATT - it got worse rather than better. On top of that they dropped “auto pay” and stopped charging my card (yet sent me receipts saying there was nothing I needed to do, because auto pay would take care of it) and then charged me fees on top of it. And since when you sign up for autopay the stop paper billing - I had no idea there was an issue till I got a call from collections! (no courtesy notice - nothing!) I had it with them, it took 2 and a half hours to get a disconnect (only 10 mins on the phone - the rest on hold) I then called up Comcast and within 10 mins total I had signed up for Comcast Internet at the discounted rate and had it installed within 2 days!!! I couldn’t be happier, but then I get consistent speeds around 8mb/s

Nice if there are other alternatives. Comcast only cable provider in my city. DSL is too slow from Quest. No FIOS even discussed here in Bloomington MN.
I am stuck.

FIOS - I’ve had it about 18 months.
Internet speed and reliability has been great. Actiontec router is weakest link - it is needed for TV service because of its ethernet to coax interface, but it is not in my internet path to my home network. I use a DD-WRT Linksys setup with the Actiontec defined in the DMZ so Verizon admins can come in port 4567 to get to their box and don’t know (unless they look at the IP address) that the Actiontec is not directly connected to the ONT. If you are in an area where power failures are common, you will need a UPS for the ONT - the battery they supply is only for the voice service part of the ONT

USE SATELLITE ITS AMAZING

Since you are always asking for comments and/or suggestions, it would be nice if you would share with your readers some of the decisions you make about products you have inquired about. It might help them in deciding on certain products.