OT: Comcast Digital v. Verizon FIOS (Wooooow!)

**TL24x7** · 06-15-2008, 07:22 AM

I'm curious to know more about Fios. We've been deluged with Verizon ads about Fios but where I live it isn't available yet.

Who has Fios and how would you compare both the TV signal and the internet speed to that of Comcast, assuming of course you've used both.

Also, if you have Fios, where do you live and how long have you had it?

Did you receive any incentive to switch and how do the costs compare?

Thanks for your help.

**festivus** · 06-15-2008, 07:51 AM

Verizon customer service and support is WOEful. I mean truly pitiful. We gave up on Verizon in complete disgust, and I know others who have done the same.

They *will* treat you like crap, first chance they get. Worse than Comcast, by far, and that's really saying something.

We didn't have FIOS in our neighborhood, so I can't speak to the rest of your question.

**purplepoe** · 06-15-2008, 08:40 AM

Well, I cannot speak from personal experience but a few of my friends have switched to Verizon Fios.

The price isn't much different and the customer service is the same as Comcast (bad) and sometimes worse.

Looks like the idea of Verizon coming in and really putting Comast and it's customer service in it's place is not what is happening.

PP

**Mista T** · 06-15-2008, 10:52 AM

I live 9 miles west of Annapolis, 15 miles south of BWI. I switched to FiOS a year ago to take advantage of more powerful internet service, better pricing, more channels (e.g. NFL Network), and its advertised better reliability. Everything was as advertised, except I did not expect the customer service phone system to be so complicated.

The Internet has been great, exceeding my expectations. Contrasted to the Comcast typical monthly or even more frequent long outages, bad equipment, etc of 5 years of Comcast broadband service, I haven't had a single reliability problem with Verizon, 24x7. Moreover, it's more powerful service, noticeable even to a non-geek like me. My Vonage VOIP phone service is now crystal clear at all times, since switching to FiOS. Downloads are faster and watching videos and TV on-line is now smooth, no freezeframes.

I get Internet plus Showtime-STARZ-TMC etc movie package, DVR, two cable boxes, basic service to another 8 TVs, for about $100/month. The good news is 800+ channels. The bad news is also 800+ channels. Overwhelming, with a lot of crapola stuff I'd never watch, including over 50 Mexican channels. The FiOS TV programming guide performs better than Comcast's did. To overcome the problem of 800+ channels, there's a guide option to only display the channels of interest.

I've had to deal with customer service a few times when starting up, and after moving around equipment, and recently after the tornado came by and knocked out the program guide on one of the TVs. Every instance except one, there was resolution over the phone, by the FiOS customer service rep sending a signal to the boxes. The program guide issue required a successful and on-time technician visit, which was by a Verizon employee (as opposed to Comcast subcontractors who often knew little). The customer service line is dumbshit. Unnecessarily complex with menus and submenus. I wonder if they intentionally designed it that way to try to force users to use the FiOS web-site instead of talking over the phone to a human.

My other complaint with Verizon is their switching to all-digital with small conversion boxes. Their process for doing this via self-installation was much more complex than Comcast's was a few years back.

I do miss having Comcast store conveniently up the road a few miles at Benfield Blvd and I-97; Verizon sends parts by FedEx instead.

All three neighbors on our 4 house cul-de-sac have also switched over from Comcast to FiOS.

From my own experiences with the two companies, I can't see how Comcast will be able to remain dominant in Maryland without major upgrades to its service and lower pricing (although we do want to keep the price competition going).

**73doubledown73** · 06-15-2008, 06:54 PM

How 'bout HD? More channels, the same, less?

**Drkraven** · 06-15-2008, 09:25 PM

FIOS Internet BLOWS. I am in Reisterstown/Glyndon. The router they give you is a smoking POS we are on our 3rd one in 2 months. The NAT table fills up and everything comes to a crawl. Customer service is a joke and I am sick and tired of their sales reps banging on my door twice a week at dinner time. I really thing they are equal to Comcrap. You lose power you lose phone, the 8 hr battery backup did not last an hour, and for this they trashed my landscaping.
We still have Direct TV for TV service. My husbands job pays for the FIOS , it is about 50 dollars cheaper then Comcrap. I wish we had never switched.

**festivus** · 06-15-2008, 10:09 PM

Originally Posted by Drkraven

FIOS Internet BLOWS. I am in Reisterstown/Glyndon. The router they give you is a smoking POS we are on our 3rd one in 2 months.

This was part of our experience as well. Also they flat out failed to show for back to back appointments, for each of which I missed work. One time I waited/navigated phone trees for roughly half an hour, some guy answers the phone at their regular customer service center and, instead of "Customer service, how can I help you? [or whatever]" says "Hello?" then he hangs up.

Comcast has pissed me off too but *nothing* like Verizon.

**Mista T** · 06-16-2008, 08:50 AM

Originally Posted by 73doubledown73

How 'bout HD? More channels, the same, less?

I count 34. This includes the broadcast network channels from both Baltiomore & DC (same evening programming).

**Admin Steve** · 06-16-2008, 09:02 AM

FIOS is not available in Bel Air/Abingdon.

My Comcast bill was getting up there. All I have is Internet, 2 HD boxes, one with DVR. No HBO, Cinemax etc. Bill is $151 per month!!!

I called Comcast and ended up in the 'retention dept'. They cut my bill by $20 and threw in VOIP which I have now with another company. So I saved about $50/month.

Price is fixed for 24 months.

I too have heard nightmares about FIOS and will probably stick with Comcast when it comes down my street.

**RavenScallywag** · 06-16-2008, 09:23 AM

FIOS is supposed to be faster, but I'm still hesitant to go with Verizon for phone AND internet after they left my phone cable cut for nearly two weeks, which was 4 days longer than when they had promised it to be fixed. And that wasn't the first time either, since my parents had their phone line down for a week and a half before someone got out to them. ATROCIOUS customer service, though I think their prices are a little better.

**PurpleRulz** · 06-16-2008, 08:31 PM

This is an interesting and very informative thread. I am one that is tired of the B.S. called Comcast. I have the digital and I am slowly losing channels. At one point, you got all of the HBOs (west and east) and now you only get east.

I am not going to consider any of the Customer Service arguments, because pretty much they are all the same. You will have both good and bad experiences. I also won't consider the door to door salesman complaints, because the Comcast morons stay at my door.

The only two things I care about are price and quality of product. Right now I have Comcast digital with HBO, MAX, SHO, and STARS/ENC along with the sports package (the only reason I even have that is for NFLN). I won't need the sports package with FIOS, because NFLN is on their basic package. That cuts some money there. I still want to keep HBO, MAX, and STARS/ENC if I switch to FIOS. I could take or leave SHO.

Also, do they really rip your front lawn to install FIOS?

What about outages during severe weather?

Pic quality? On Demand feature?

**Mista T** · 06-17-2008, 07:46 AM

Originally Posted by PurpleRulz

do they really rip your front lawn to install FIOS?

Yes ... so did Comcast. I still have an exposed Comcast wire in my front.

Originally Posted by PurpleRulz

What about outages during severe weather?

Never happened to me except for loss of service due to no electricity (But neither did it happen with Comcast).

Originally Posted by PurpleRulz

Pic quality? On Demand feature?

I can't tell any difference in picture quality. On Demand performance is about the same -- I did prefer the Comcast on-screen menu.

-------------

If you go with Verizon, suggest you pressure them into total rewiring, with each TV and the router directly to a single splitter. The voice of experience speaketh.

**ravenfever_com** · 06-17-2008, 07:58 AM

I am sick of both Verizon and Comcast. We live in Carroll County on a farm. Since our house is .5 mile off the main road we can not even get high speed internet via these two companies. However that does not stop them both from sending us junk mail offering the services even when we can not get them.

We had to go satellite as we had no choice. We went with DishNetwork and have been happy so far other then they removed NFLN and made us commit for 2 years to get it back. In fairness they did discount the plan and save us money and added more channels.

However our real problem is Internet service. The satellite service for broadband is not the best yet and is slow to send or upload. We ended up getting Sprint Broadband at a cost of $60 month and the card was $100. It works pretty good however the best we get is about 700-800kbs.

I think that since the utilities use public land for the lines they should be forced to service ALL MARYLANDERS !!! And they should stop sending me ads!

**Bez513** · 06-17-2008, 12:06 PM

I'm also in Carroll County. DSL is not an option. I'm an old Adelphia customer that got scooped up by Comcast. We still have the same crappy menu that Adelphia used just with Comcast colors. We pay about $160 a month for Internet, 1 HD box; 1 DVR box and 1 regular box. No movie stations. It's a total rip off.

We are looking into DirectTV and getting a broadband card.

**ravenfever_com** · 06-17-2008, 01:45 PM

Bez513:

Check out the air cards carefully before you purchase. Trust me on this one, ATT sucks as it is only 128kbs in Carroll County including Westminster. I test ATT, Verizon and Sprint each for 3 days to make sure they worked at my house. Sprint was the hands down winner and I am even using it now to post this message from my laptop in Towson. I average about 700-800kbs with Sprint.

Best of luck!

**HoustonRaven** · 06-17-2008, 01:49 PM

Maybe it's a reginonal thing ....

I had Comcast in Fells Point and hated it. I have Comcast here in Houston and they have been very reasonable with a ton of HD channels.

**Drkraven** · 06-17-2008, 03:19 PM

Comcast is why the FIOS had to hand dig everything in my neighborhood. They stuck their lines anywhere. I can tell you Verizon customer make Comcrap look A++. We had problem before they started digging and where they were putting boxes, because of me needing to get a power chair in and out. They lied as to where the holes were going. The guys that dug the holes were amazing and they did not make a mess. When they put the box in my yard, in the strip between the side walk and curb, all was well until it rained. The box sunk 23 inches after a thunder shower, my son stepped in it and tore up his ankle. I called Verizon, they told me it would take upward of 4 weeks to get some one to "look" at the box. I could not do anything, or I would be libel and charged for it. It had gotten so bad it could swallow a puppy or toddler at this point. I finally went to the main website and started e-mailing pictures or my crater to anyone listed as a CEO and got some one out 3 days later.
When they ran the line to the house, they tore a space about 18 inches wide the length of the yard. There has got to be a better way, but I have yet to find it.

**PurpleRulz** · 06-17-2008, 03:53 PM

Originally Posted by Mista T

Yes ... so did Comcast. I still have an exposed Comcast wire in my front.

Never happened to me except for loss of service due to no electricity (But neither did it happen with Comcast).

I can't tell any difference in picture quality. On Demand performance is about the same -- I did prefer the Comcast on-screen menu.

-------------

If you go with Verizon, suggest you pressure them into total rewiring, with each TV and the router directly to a single splitter. The voice of experience speaketh.

This is good info. Thanks. It does notsound like the damage will be significant. I like the idea of putting the router into a single splitter. Do you have the two way or three way splitter?

Explain the FIOS On Demand Screen. Sorry to bother with all the questions.

**Mista T** · 06-17-2008, 06:46 PM

Originally Posted by PurpleRulz

I like the idea of putting the router into a single splitter. Do you have the two way or three way splitter?

3-way. But when I had the recent service call, the Verizon technician recommended that I rewire using an 8-way splitter. I had added two more HDTVs since I initiated FiOS - he recommended that I run an unsplit line from the 8-way splitter to each HDTV and the router, and avoid splitting the other lines more than once to service the old analog TVs. I will take him up on the suggestion some day -- if I get bored.

Originally Posted by PurpleRulz

Explain the FIOS On Demand Screen.

The FIOS On Demand Screen has a totally useless main screen, with folders which I never use like "Featured", "Favorites", and "Browse". Under Comcast, IIRC the main screen went straight to each network. I could get to e.g. Sopranos in 3 clicks with Comcast, now 4 with Verizon. FiOS On Demand also has some questionable batching of programs. Otherwise, they are similar. Also, it seemed that Comcast Demand responded more quickly ... offsetting that, Comcast had frequent and often extended outages, while FiOS has been outage free since I got it a year ago (knock on wood).

**terpsnoone** · 06-19-2008, 08:16 AM

I have Comcast and my Father has Fios - we both have the exact same TV - Sony LCD 1080P

I do notice on his TV with FIOS that the he gets noticable trails when there is very fast action on the screen - I do not experience that on my TV with Comcast - His picture is beatiful but I definitely noticed the picture not keeping up with fast motion - I noticed on golf swings last week watching the US open.