FiOS Here I Come!

Matt,

I have had the 20/20 Fios since Jan 1 of this year. Fios is unbelievably fast and has been extremely reliable since it was installed. The Actiontec router that Verizon provides is actually a fairly substantial device with more than enough power.

The big issue with the Verizon branded Actiontec router is a very small (1k) NAT table. One could say it was an oversight, but the firmware has not been updated in more than six months. It’s obvious now that Verizon put it there to slow down P2P downloaders.

If you run CAT5 cable between the location of the ONT and your router prior to installation, the installer can have the ethernet port on the ONT turned on. This will allow you to use your own router instead of the supplied Actiontec. If you get the FIOS TV then the only thing you’ll need to do is plug the Actiontec into your own router and then plug coax into the Actiontec. This will provide IP service to all of the installed cable boxes for VOD and Channel Guide info.

I wish you luck. I too was in the same boat and was completely fed up with Comcast. I warn you now that Verizon does have some shortcomings. Their billing department needs to get their act together. The majority of complaints I have heard from new FIOS customers is problems with their bills. It has taken me nearly six months to straighten out most of my issues. Although I’m not happy with the customer service I received, I am happy enough with the FIOS service that I’ll attribute these problems to growing pains. I assume that over the next six months many of these issues will be resolved and new customers will have a far better experience.

Thanks for the link to AskTheAdmin.com and I have to say I LOVE my FIOS over any cable modem - any day!

I’ve used Comcast’s cable internet for several years now. When they first bought out AT&T in my local market they were pretty decent and the only real alternative for high speed internet. Recently, however, as my neighborhood has become more and more congested the speeds offered by Comcast and the speeds provided in the real world grew further and further apart. Not only was it like going back towards dialup, but the cost would increase regularly as well. Last fall I switched to FiOS (15/2 is the fastest offered in my area). The FiOS install was not very complicated, but traveling through the maze of multiple computers that Verizon tracks orders with proved frustrating and they even failed to show up for the initial install date, blaming it on a glitch. They managed to switch me over from my prior phone company, but had to do the FiOS install a week later which created billing issues that took two months to straighten out. That being said - FiOS is FAST! I am not a gamer, but I do download Linux ISOs both as straight downloads and using a bittorrent client. I’ve not encountered any NAT issues with torrents. My DL speeds of ~1950 KB/sec for the last 8.04 Ubuntu ISO are fairly representative of what I’m getting from quality servers. Speed tests using the Speakeasy Chicago server indicate ~15300 kpps downstream and 1830 kbps upstream. That blows away anything Comcast ever provided by a factor of 3x. I’m very happy with FiOS, but a bit concerned as to what effect the recent purchase of Verizon by Fairpoint here in the Northeast might have on service. So far so good.

I have used FiOS for maybe a year. II is great. It was so new at the time that the installers didn’t know how to install it. (They didn’t know what a static IP address was.) I sent the Verizon router back and used my own (Belkin wireless N router, Linksys wireless - N Access point - I heat up the whole yard and then some). A modem of sorts is not necessary. I installed the system myself with the help from Verizon, tech, services, person who was very knowledgeable. It is pretty simple to install. FiOS is Fast. Very seldom does it slow up. Once I had my bank account site blacklisted. When I called Verizon they denied any problem, but by some miraculous happening the site came up right after the phone call. I have an ‘unlimited’ email provider and I send some large files without any problems except to AOL and the likes. Videos are not jumpy. Right now, FiOS is the way to go.

I had FiOS installed in February, after Verizon rescheduled the install two times. I was using Comcast for 5 years before that.

The installer was a nice guy but not particularly knowledgeable about FiOS or networking in general.

I can see an increase in speed over Comcast, but I still don’t get anywhere near the 15 Mb I am supposed to be paying for. As a Delaware Network Support specialist, I am constantly downloading programs, patches, service packs and such. I would say that with Comcast I would typically see download speeds around 360 Kbs. With FiOS it may run around 450 Kbs and from time to time go up to about 600 Kbs… but never any faster then that.

Yet, I agree that the biggest disappointment is the router.

If I am buying into a new technology (consumer wise), and I am paying a premium price to get a connection that is as fast as is available, why oh why does Verizon think I would be happy with their crappy router. I guess I can grudgingly understand their offering only 802.11b/g wireless since the N spec isn’t yet set in stone, but would Gigabit switch ports be asking too much? I think not !

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I have had both comcast and fios at my house at different times. As far as TV goes Comcast is a much better option.

For the internet
FIOS 20/20 Never got close to those speeds using verizons speed test with the tech on the phone. said was i was seeing is normal It was about 13mb down and 10up.

The fios wireless router is junk. signal degrades after about 15 ft. Need to chain a real router to it. They also close off many ports that are open on comcast, like 80.

Comcast
Got the BLAST 16mb down Have to say i have gotten WAY more that 16MB down at times. As for up its is usually about 10mb, but this is a shared network so the speed is variable. If you want to get on the internet on an NFL sunday afternoon. Dont bother, all the fantasy football nuts are downloading thier latest stats. In this case FIOS was much faster.

I am toying with the idea of having both connected and getting the strengths of both.

Hope it helps.