School me on Verizon Fios

[That Guy]

my parents switched from cox to fios and switched back... for them (springfield va) it didn't add anything and the internet wasn't any faster, but the weird channel line up (ie instead of 1-102, it was 103, 527, 1024, 634, etc) and a few missing channels they liked killed it for them.

the installation can be a bit of a pain too, but the actual tv quality/speed, etc wasn't an issue... it was the little things they weren't used to and the fact that it didn't seem very different from what cox offered for less.

[mredskins]

So FiOS was finally available in my area this month (look back to my OP ate). It was all dug in but they didn't offer it until now.

So I have had it now for a few weeks. I will have to say at least for me it has been a improvement over Comcast. The on demand service is light years ahead of Comcast. I pay roughly about $20 less a month then Comcast and they gave me a $500 gift card for signing a two year contract.

I will miss my DC Fox though (I live near B-more)! =(

The internet seems a bit faster then Comcast as well. My files seem to download very quickly now and I have zero streaming issues.

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by mredskins

So FiOS was finally available in my area this month (look back to my OP ate). It was all dug in but they didn't offer it until now.

So I have had it now for a few weeks. I will have to say at least for me it has been a improvement over Comcast. The on demand service is light years ahead of Comcast. I pay roughly about $20 less a month then Comcast and they gave me a $500 gift card for signing a two year contract.

I will miss my DC Fox though (I live near B-more)! =(

The internet seems a bit faster then Comcast as well. My files seem to download very quickly now and I have zero streaming issues.

I live in Howard Co. and I get DC and Baltimore channels.

[mredskins]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

I live in Howard Co. and I get DC and Baltimore channels.

On FiOS? I live in Harford County. I got both those on Comcast not FiOS.

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by mredskins

On FiOS? I live in Harford County. I got both those on Comcast not FiOS.

Yup, on FiOS. It is the main reason I switched. DirecTV only gave me Baltimore channels. Although, I think living in Harford Co. I can see why they would give you just Baltimore channels.

[mredskins]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

Yup, on FiOS. It is the main reason I switched. DirecTV only gave me Baltimore channels. Although, I think living in Harford Co. I can see why they would give you just Baltimore channels.

Yeah but the odd part is Comcast has both DC and B-more Fox in Harford County; they must have the exclusive right to do so.

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by mredskins

Yeah but the odd part is Comcast has both DC and B-more Fox in Harford County; they must have the exclusive right to do so.

That's weird. Have you called FiOS about it?

[mredskins]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

That's weird. Have you called FiOS about it?

Yeah, they had a big neighborhood sign up in my area and when I was there I talked to a servce rep manager and she said yes that is true and they were unable to secure it. A few folks dropped out of line when i brought it up.


It usually pans out to a few games a year if that. Actually it never came into to play last year but I was blacked out a few times when the Skins were on CBS and the Ravens were playing.

I always have a few plan B's. One is my older neighbor who will never switch from Comcast becasue he is old and well old people don't like change. He is a Skins fan and invites me over for nearly every game. Second I can literally walk to several bars that have the ticket. And my worst case scenario is just to watch the Red Zone.

Right now though I have two small children so even if I got every game watching every game is not a reality either. The last thing my 4 year old wants to do on a nice Sunday September afternoon is sit in the house and watch football; quiet frankly neither do I.

[BDBohnzie]

Glad you are digging FiOS. Since in my neighborhood, Comcast is the only player in town for internet (either that or dial up. No DSL, no FiOS), I'm about ready to scale back Comcast to just internet and basic cable and start doing more streaming via Netflix/Hulu/Amazon/etc. I'm going to invest in either Roku or Apple TV boxes. I'm just sick and tired of paying the amount of money I'm paying and not getting a whole helluva lot in return.

I've got my 2 daughters (and wife for that matter) trained that Sundays in the Fall are football Sundays. They know Daddy gets to watch football all day (even at dinner), and even got my wife to start enjoying the Sunday Night game no matter who's playing. Granted if it's nice out, I'll take the girls out after a 1pm Skins game. Because you're right, if it's nice Sunday afternoon, gotta get outside even if it's just for a little bit.

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by BDBohnzie

Glad you are digging FiOS. Since in my neighborhood, Comcast is the only player in town for internet (either that or dial up. No DSL, no FiOS), I'm about ready to scale back Comcast to just internet and basic cable and start doing more streaming via Netflix/Hulu/Amazon/etc. I'm going to invest in either Roku or Apple TV boxes. I'm just sick and tired of paying the amount of money I'm paying and not getting a whole helluva lot in return.

I've got my 2 daughters (and wife for that matter) trained that Sundays in the Fall are football Sundays. They know Daddy gets to watch football all day (even at dinner), and even got my wife to start enjoying the Sunday Night game no matter who's playing. Granted if it's nice out, I'll take the girls out after a 1pm Skins game. Because you're right, if it's nice Sunday afternoon, gotta get outside even if it's just for a little bit.

If you're planning on increasing your usage due to Netflix and Hulu I would recommend getting their business class. With 4 people streaming movies all month you're at risk to go over their 250 GB residential limit. Business customers on the other hand have no limit. Plus if you're a residential customer and they find you going over 250GB "X amount of times" they'll ban you for a year and they won't give you the option to switch to business class.

Comcast is evil but unfortunately for a lot of people they're the only game in town.

[los panda]

i haven't had any problems with verizon or their service. i had no problem with comcast. it's not available in my hood. i use verizon just for interwebs at $25/month. i'm still able to access xfinity tv online with my old account from comcast. home phone is out of the question, anyone i want to call me can call my cell. i use skype to make unlimited long distance calls to us/canada at $3/month

[mredskins]

Originally Posted by BDBohnzie

Glad you are digging FiOS. Since in my neighborhood, Comcast is the only player in town for internet (either that or dial up. No DSL, no FiOS), I'm about ready to scale back Comcast to just internet and basic cable and start doing more streaming via Netflix/Hulu/Amazon/etc. I'm going to invest in either Roku or Apple TV boxes. I'm just sick and tired of paying the amount of money I'm paying and not getting a whole helluva lot in return.

I've got my 2 daughters (and wife for that matter) trained that Sundays in the Fall are football Sundays. They know Daddy gets to watch football all day (even at dinner), and even got my wife to start enjoying the Sunday Night game no matter who's playing. Granted if it's nice out, I'll take the girls out after a 1pm Skins game. Because you're right, if it's nice Sunday afternoon, gotta get outside even if it's just for a little bit.

I have an another cost model for just that!

The kicker is live sports; I love my baseball, hockey and basketball too much. I would lose a lot of that if I went this route.

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by mredskins

I have an another cost model for just that!

The kicker is live sports; I love my baseball, hockey and basketball too much. I would lose a lot of that if I went this route.

I've been watching online. My Dad likes to get Extra Innings but he's also gotten the online package in the past. Center Ice is nice because it has a better frame rate then anything online but Hockey Streams is much cheaper and actually offers a better frame rate and overall picture then Gamecenter for the NHL.

[mredskins]

Originally Posted by Dirtbag59

I've been watching online. My Dad likes to get Extra Innings but he's also gotten the online package in the past. Center Ice is nice because it has a better frame rate then anything online but Hockey Streams is much cheaper and actually offers a better frame rate and overall picture then Gamecenter for the NHL.

Interesting, I will check it out.

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by mredskins

Interesting, I will check it out.

Yeah, it's surprisingly good. Hate to sound like a commercial but theres no long term contracts, you can sign up for as little as $7.99 a day, $18.99 a month, or $99 a year. You can also freeze the account to save time remaining on the membership. It's not an official NHL operation though rather it's run by a few guys out of Amsterdam. They've been around long enough though where it's been deemed legitimate. At the very least I can vouch for them.

I got Gamecenter because they had a PS3 app but the framerate was like 24 FPS, which for hockey is unacceptable so I canceled before the end of the 5 day grace period. Hockeystreams is closer to 30. Maybe 28 to 29 but still much smoother.