First Impressions Of FiOS
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So today is my first day with FiOS. Since the builders of this development built this house as “fiber ready” from the start, the Verizon installer found everything needed very easily as the line was already about a foot from the area where the outside box was to go - sweet. The installation went smoothly and even though I am surprised by Verizon’s choice to issues routers with WEP by default with their router, WPA2 is available once you are setup and underway. You simply need to select it yourself from the router UI.
One area of disappointment is the continued reliance of Windows software to setup the connection - thankfully I had my Windows box unpacked already in anticipation of this. But short of that, I can not express just how much better, cooler and just plain FASTER this is than my old Comcast connection. Subscribing to connection rate of 20-up and 20-down, I am blown away at how responsive and more productive I am able to be with this as my connection is no longer coming to a screeching halt during the middle of the day. This is largely why I opted against bothering with a cable based business class connection instead of going with fiber.
As for the provided Actiontec router, I am still feeling my way around with it. At first I figured I might be looking into doing a daisy chain as I preferred my old router for wireless access. However as I use this one, it appears that I am not need to. Perhaps I need to get enough PCs running at the same time in order to really see how much it takes to heat this puppy up? Time will tell I suppose.
Do I recommend FiOS in areas where it is available? Oh my, oh yes, oh yes I do and with great excitement. If Verizon is able to get this launched into more areas, keep their eye on the ball with regard to consistent speeds without throttling their users, cable could be in real trouble. As for alleged privacy issues, I have no problems here. Besides if I was concerned, I would simply using my HotSpot VPN access which has proven to be fast enough for my needs anyway. Besides, being as my banking and email access are all encrypted anyway, I really am not all that concerned about it anyway.
On a slightly unrelated note, if you are finding that comments are not happening for you - we are aware of it and are working on it. Sorry for any inconvenience.
5 Comments
Loren
September 19th, 2008
at 4:51pm
I agree with your comments about FiOs and had almost exactly the same reaction to the Actiontec router, but I currently have seven computers and three printers, all wireless except one, being managed by it with no complaints. It very rarely drops the connection. If there is a downside I find it does not have the range that I had with a pre N router.
Loren
Raymond Combs
September 19th, 2008
at 5:19pm
But what is the price as compared to cable? I understand that you writers can “charge it off” to business, but what about us regular people that have to pay for it?
George
September 19th, 2008
at 7:25pm
are they running coax cable from the ground to your router or ethernet cable?
Matt Hartley
September 21st, 2008
at 8:01pm
Raymond: The package I opted for is compatible in value to Comcast Business Class. I think it is cheaper though as business class is pretty pricey. Without phone service, my plan is about $70 - again, more than most people need. 20 up and down is really fast, but I use a lot of upstream bandwidth for work and video streaming.
For most cable users, going with the $47-57 plan is tons of speed as it is CONSISTENT, not fast one day and crap the next. So is cable cheaper? Possibly, area depending. Are they throttling your bandwidth? You bet they are.
Matt Hartley
September 21st, 2008
at 8:06pm
George: Gave this a lot of thought, after looking at my pros and cons, I decided on coax due pre-existing cable being available. Again, for my own needs, I simply did not need to go CAT5 myself, but could have otherwise if needed.
Loren: Good to hear, hopefully I can continue with this router once I get the rest of the network setup.