Fios vs. Comcast (internet & TV)

[STRONGBADF1]

We have Verizon DSL and Comcast digital cable TV in the SE PA area about 45min north west of Philadelphia.

My wife has gone back to school on-line and has to have a reliable Internet connection so her assignments are summited on-time. Verizion DSL goes out every time there is a thunder storm. (which lately has been often) I'm wondering if the Fios service would do the same??? I know form my parents and work that Comcast rarely gos down in the same situations.

The second half of my question has to do with both companies TV services. We don't have HD TV's yet but it would be an excuse to upgrade I guess because of the combined TV/Internet packages being offered and a DVR is long overdue. (The only reason we don't have HD TV's is our CRT TV's all still work great. Bad excuse for a member of this forum...)

OK lets have at it...
SBF1

 

[whateverman]

If you can get FiOS, get it now. You won't be disappointed. I got it almost two weeks ago and it is amazing. It has been 100% reliable with absolutely no problems at all. I wouldn't imagine that it would go out during a thunderstorm unless the power went out. The cables aren't up on poles but they are buried so you don't have to worry about damage/interference.

I got the FiOS TV premier and 20Mbps/5Mbps internet bundle, i'm paying about $120 a month with one HD DVR. There are so many channels and they just added a bunch of new HD channels on the 20th. Definitely check out the lineup if you are interested.

I was talking to the installation guy and I told him I have a regular standard CRT T.V. in my bedroom and if I could hook it up to cable without having to buy a DVR. He said I would but since FiOS is completely digital (no analog channels, I think) I would need one of those digital converter boxes but you can get a coupon from the government and pay almost nothing.

I have personally heard and read nothing but bad things about Comcast. They cap their internet and block some things. Verizon doesn't cap at all and they allow you full access to anything. They don't care whether you download/upload 5MB a month or 500GB a month. I was able to max out my connection on a torrent (2.5MB/s).

So get FiOS man, even if you price out both and find that FiOS is a bit more, it's definitely worth it. Plus if you order online, you get the first month free for both internet and T.V., and I think the HD DVR is free for the first 12 months.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Anyone else have an opinion???

 

[northreign]

I've had Comcast and Speakeasy DSL. Got rid of both for FIOS.

With Comcast there has always be connection issues most likely between the router and modem. Always having to power cycle the modem was a pain. Plus, there have been outages in the past. Just not good but better than DSL except for...

Speakeasy is my favorite. They work with the phone company, in our case Verizon, and make sure from the pole to the house is done 100% correctly and is a top of the line install. With just Verizon there are specific things that don't get done - Speakeasy makes them. Then they send a Covad specialist to finish setting up inside. And the best tech support ever. Can't recall any outages. Course, their speeds were lacking and so then there's...

FIOS. The fast low ping high quality connection. Thus far we've not had any internet outages that I can recall in about 1 and 1/2 years. The internet is smooth and fast. The router/modem-in-one is nice. Verizon had horrendous tech support until this year. Lately they seem better and things seem to get resolved more easily.

One side note with FIOS: Fact or fiction but if you have FIOS installed and you have Comcast tv then the Comcast tv may start to have problems. It happened to us. Comcast tried to fix it but couldn't. FIOS tv is nicer anyways. Clearer higher quality picture.

 

[korgoth]

comcast is bad,

id go with fios. 20mbps damn thats pretty fast. i wish i could get that

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Thanks everyone!

Keep the thoughts comming.

SBF1

 

[Biggiesized]

Go with FiOS for sure. They offer the best picture quality (they simply pass along the signal from the networks rather than re-compressing it like cable and satellite providers) and a ton of HD channels. In some markets, they already offer over 100 HD channels like satellite. Other markets are catching up but should have at least 50+ HD channels to start with. The bottom line, however, is that you don't have to compromise picture quality over channel quantity. It's the best of both worlds.

 

[dorokusai]

StrongBadF1 - It's still centrally hubbed but far less suceptible to those kinds of outages. We run redundant switches but wireline is by design, different.

I work for Verizon Wireless(NetOps) in my real life and was super happy with FIOS....but the wife, not so much. The picture quality was absolutely superior to Comcast but we were so used to the previous channel lineup, it was a PITA to recall navigation. Plus, the programming in WDC sans control box(Cable Only)....REALLY stinks and once we lost The Food Network in the kitchen....all hell broke loose. Not really, but you get the idea.

I eventually dropped it because of that but kept the internet service. My experience with Comcast is fairly positive over the past 7 years. I've had nothing in regards to the TOS that was abnormal aside from perhaps the scheduling delay of service calls.

FIOS was pretty pain free but I wish they would solicite a better router than the Actiontec. Well, then again, who doesn't have a router story these days. I also had some HDMI problems with some early Motorola boxes...not a huge issue and it was easily resolved.

P.S. I don't work in sales, barely get a discount on anything since I'm a field rat...so save the PM's

Mark
Polk Audio CS

 

[STRONGBADF1]

StrongBadF1 - It's still centrally hubbed but far less suceptible to those kinds of outages. We run redundant switches but wireline is by design, different.

I work for Verizon Wireless(NetOps) in my real life and was super happy with FIOS....but the wife, not so much. The picture quality was absolutely superior to Comcast but we were so used to the previous channel lineup, it was a PITA to recall navigation. Plus, the programming in WDC sans control box(Cable Only)....REALLY stinks and once we lost The Food Network in the kitchen....all hell broke loose. Not really, but you get the idea.

I eventually dropped it because of that but kept the internet service. My experience with Comcast is fairly positive over the past 7 years. I've had nothing in regards to the TOS that was abnormal aside from perhaps the scheduling delay of service calls.

FIOS was pretty pain free but I wish they would solicite a better router than the Actiontec. Well, then again, who doesn't have a router story these days. I also had some HDMI problems with some early Motorola boxes...not a huge issue and it was easily resolved.

P.S. I don't work in sales, barely get a discount on anything since I'm a field rat...so save the PM's

Mark
Polk Audio CS

Hi Mark,

So the Fios internet service is more reliable than their DSL?

The other issue with the DSL is that internet explorers "spinning blue ring" just spins and spins at times for no apparent reason...I was told by a friend that the problem was either the modem/router or the service in my area since both my desk top and her laptop both have the problem.

Fios sounds like what I want as long as it's as reliable as comcast.

SBF1

 

[Midcow2]

Imho

Hi Mark,

So the Fios internet service is more reliable than their DSL?

The other issue with the DSL is that internet explorers "spinning blue ring" just spins and spins at times for no apparent reason...I was told by a friend that the problem was either the modem/router or the service in my area since both my desk top and her laptop both have the problem.

Fios sounds like what I want as long as it's as reliable as comcast.

SBF1

Okay here are a lot of opinions (IMHO)

It sounds like Verizon has got thier act together on FiOS. We have AT&T uVerse in our area at it has had some glitches. Also, at least with AT&T's implementation there were some bandwidth restrictions, you can only record and receive one HD channel at a time and you can only have a single DVR ( proabably not an issue for 95% of people), so if you have several receivers may be a problem.

I am currently using DishNetwork HD with four receivers (one 622 DVR, one 722 DVR) and two HD TV.s It is awesome PQ but it does go out temporarily in heavy rain. Fiber optic ( or Comcast cable) should not be affected by the rain.

Concerning your DSL it should not go out during the rain, mine never does. I have the AT&T Pro DSL 3 meg download, 512 kbps upload. It is extremely relaible and fast via wireless 802.11 router.

Comcast or for that matter any cable has very low PQ. The only benefit that Comcast has is you can hook up as many basic TVs as you want for not additional cost and it doesn't fail during rain.

If Verizon is providing your DSL and also your FiOS and if the DSL isn't always available then your might also have FiOS availabiltiy problems. Comcast broadband Internet would be reliable.

Good Luck!

 

[dorokusai]

Hi Mark,

So the Fios internet service is more reliable than their DSL?

I believe fiber optics to be far more reliable and smarter than copper. You can only band-aid aging infrastructure so much. You have no idea how many times your phone cable has been spliced over the years.

Please go with whomever works best for you and I'm just offering an opinion. You might check out www.dslreports.com and find your local area for more area specific comments on service.

The big thing that I know Verizon didn't prepare for was the subscriber volume. The CS and support for troubles has been run pretty thin and probably still is depending on your area.

Mark
Polk Audio CS