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Review by SeattleMatt See Profile

  • Location: Wilmington, New Castle, DE, USA
  • Cost: $270 per month
  • Install: about 3 days
  • No Cap
HD Content - Kills Comcast
So Far - Not Much
If You Care About HD - FIOS TV is your #1 Choice
Pre Sales Information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

**UPDATE - 6/13/14**

After being back with Comcast for 2 1/2 years - I had to take a look at what I was paying for. I want HD channels - I want HD premium channels - Yes, I want HD. Not On Demand, not on my computer - I mean, I spend all day on a computer for work - why would I want to watch TV on it?

FIOS is the leader in HD when comparing the two MSO's. Just since I came back at the end of March - they've added 5 HD channels - and have capacity for more. They now carry both of the Philly Comcast sports channels in HD. They have beIN Sport in HD - they have Spanish soccer channels in HD. I think you get my point. They have a plan. Comcast - all they care about is X1. They haven't added an HD channel in my area in over 2 years. Yes - TWO years. I could now order MLB Extra Innings again and get all 9 HD channels. The new Quantum TV is excellent. 6 tuners, 1TB of space - and the satellite boxes are all IP based. This is actually a step ahead of the X1 boxes.

Internet side - my employer pays for my monthly service - so right now we're on the 150/65 package. Yes, it's $120/mo as part of our Double Play, but again - not paying for it. Hopefully they bump that up soon based on all the other providers bragging about 300 down plans. And I get that full speed - even wirelessly. As part of my install - they replaced my old ONT from 2007 with a brand new GPON ONT in my basement.

Billing has been perfect as well - and all of the technicians that came to my home - above and beyond professional.
Happy Matt.

**UPDATE - 11/14/11**

Internet remains perfect - 35/35 package cannot be matched by cable.
Phone & Wireless - no issues

TV - As I mentioned 6 months ago, FIOS TV is now severely lacking and behind the competition with HD channels. I lowered the Value for Money rating as a result.

**UPDATE - 5/13/11**

Things continue to roll along - 35/35 internet is stable, fast, and reliable. TV - great PQ - wishing they'd finally get around to adding more HD - as VZ is now trailing most providers. Only thing I'm wishing for at this point.

Also, rolled my VZ Wireless account into the main parent one. 1 bill - 4 services.

**UPDATE - 1/20/10**

Updated today to the Fios Ultimate HD Triple Play package - which includes every channel and 35/35 internet along with home phone. With 3 STB's this will run me around $215 / mo.

Can't complain - as FIOS blows away any other provider in my area.

**UPDATE - 3/26/09**

FIOS TV and Internet continue to blow away the competition. New HD channels this month push the total here to 108. Comcast in Northern DE? 37 total. Yep..seriously.

With the latest firmware release, all DVR issues have been corrected.

If you have a choice of FIOS in your area, it's a total no-brainer.

**UPDATE - 9/25/08**

Well, I gave FIOS TV another try, and signed back up on 8/6/08. Despite the year of horror I had experienced in 2007, based on Comcast's inability to add anything new to this area, I gave Verizon a 2nd chance.

All I can say is WOW. Whatever had caused my prior problems obviously has been fixed, and i've just witnessed 54 new HD channels appear in my guide in the past few weeks. With 20+ more scheduled in the next month or so.

The updated guide is a breath of fresh air - and so far, i'm loving it. Next big date will be 10/16, when this area is to receive the 1.6 software update. Looking forward to streaming shows to my HD box.

**UPDATE - 6/24/08**

Updated to the 20/20 tier. Not bad.

Last result:
19219/17324 Kbps

**UPDATE - 5/20/08**

15/15 tier continues to rock. FIOS Internet cannot be matched in Northern Delaware. I still laugh though reading the TV horror stories in the FIOS TV forum.

**UPDATE - 11/20/07**

Upgraded to the new 15/15 FIOS tier yesterday. Here's the results:

Download Speed: 15462 kbps (1932.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 14112 kbps (1464.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

Awesome. Fios Internet continues to rock.

FIOS TV? Don't get me started. The whole offering is one big cluster-f**k.

**UPDATE - 11/28/06**
It ended up taking 12 days to fix the issue listed below, but now the routing is back to normal, and service levels are back to excellent. I've since given Comcast the boot for telephone - and now have VZ for both phone and internet.

Now, i'm just waiting for TV to roll out in Delaware.

**UPDATE - 11/11/06**

Well, once again, FIOS is having major issues with their backbone and Alter.net routers out of Philadelphia. After taking 2 days to even open a ticket for me, i'm now on Day 3 of the 300% increased latency.

Something happened at exactly 6am on 11/9 to cause this - so obviously some type of routing table change was made.

I love FIOS, don't get me wrong, but these issues cropping up every month or two are getting really annoying. It's almost like I have to babysit the network. I've lowered Tech Support to a 3 - because I was asked "what's the importance of seeing latency go up 300%?" Oh boy.

**UPDATE - 8/1/06**

Okay, it's now almost 3 months since I signed up for FIOS. Time for an update.

Over this time, connection has not gone down once except for when I lost power 3 times. That would be Delmarva Power's fault, not Verizon.

There have been however 3 occasions where a Verizon router or an Alter.net router (which is owned by Verizon) has died and caused major speed and routing issues. It took 5 days to fix the first one, and 4 for the second. The 3rd was a 2-hour long hiuccup.

I raised my tech-support rating from 3 to 4 as for the times I used the VZ Direct forum here on DSLReports and the times I called on the phone, the responses I received were good - and they knew what i was talking about. None of that, reboot your router crap.

As with any fledgling service, VZ has been ironing out different peering arrangements, etc. For the last few weeks however, it seems they are back on track to perfection.

My only other gripe is that we're still at 15/2 here in Delaware. My install tech told me we'd see the 20/5 upgrade by the end of May. Well, it's August and still no upgrade. I find it a bit unfair that people in NY/NJ/CT are getting higher speeds and paying the same amount of $ for the same service. No matter if it's cable or FIOS, that's a very shady business practice.

***********************************************************************************************
Well,
I decided to finally get set up with FIOS since it just became available in my neighborhood. Signed up on 5/1, installed today, 5/9. I'm the first in my immediate neighborhood to sign on.

Price point is fantastic - $44.95 / month for the 15/2 service, which supposedly will be increased to 20/5 shortly.

You can follow my BBR thread with pics, speed tests, and tracerts here.

»[northeast] FIOS Now Available to JeepMatt in Delaware!

Tech support haven't used, so I just put in a 3. My install tech was fantastic. Great guy - personality, cleanliness, you name it.

All I can say is Comcast really should be worried. I used to be a doubter, but hell, this speed and for less money?? C'mon now... I'll most likely be cancelling my Comcast HSI account within the week.

member for 22.2 years, 9313 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 9.7 years ago

attsbcisgay
join:2003-03-18
Beverly Hills, CA

attsbcisgay

Member

CC is crap

bandwidth capping
It's not invisible.. Use over a 100gb a month
It's byebye we no longer need you.

I hope they go out of business. I never see anyone this stingy. I don't use much bandwidth but i hate it when someone bitch about it.

Chris 313
Because It's Geekier
Premium Member
join:2004-07-18
Houma, LA
·AT&T FTTP
·Comcast XFINITY

Chris 313

Premium Member

You lucky SOB! ^_^

Enjoy that FiOS! Now that you have fiber in your diet, your world will never be the same. Give it about 6 months and check in to see where FiOS TV is at.

I'm so Jealous you lucky SOB!

I'll be moving in about 5 years and I'll be having some Fiber of my own, Vs how it makes my 5000/384 Cable line look in comparison.

Enjoy!
new2fios
join:2006-07-20
Camillus, NY

new2fios

Member

Re: You lucky SOB! ^_^

Are you using the Actiontec router? And if you do is traceroute working correctly?

spewak
R.I.P Dadkins
Premium Member
join:2001-08-07
Elk Grove, CA

spewak

Premium Member

They really asked you.....

"what's the importance of seeing latency go up 300%?"
Wow!
voip_user0
join:2006-06-14
Middletown, CT

voip_user0

Member

Re: They really asked you.....

You are complaining about higher latency time but connection reliability rating is 100%. Surprising!!

gar187er
I DID this for a living
join:2006-06-24
Seattle, WA

gar187er

Member

Re: They really asked you.....

not mention his serivce was garbage for 12 days and he wants phone and TV now over the FIOS...oh this'll be good...

keshavrs
join:2003-12-19
Wilmington, DE

keshavrs

Member

yep

yeah I too have the 15/15 tier. amazing, almost symmetrical throughput. what's so bad about fios tv?

shayes
@50.202.28.x

shayes

Anon

Fraudulent Charges Poor Customer Service

They are a bunch of crooks. They are charging me for service that they claim was done to my cable. I explain to them that the tech never came to my house, never serviced my cable, and I never signed for anything. They stated that because it is in their notes, that the charges are valid. No one can tell me what the notes say. They claimed they called the tech and he stated that he came out to my house and serviced my cable but when i mention that I did not sign anything and that he has nothing with my signature on it, they keep repeating that the charges are valid and they ignore me when i say that I did not sign off on him coming or doing any service. No matter who i speak, the chat line, email, or the phone, they all have the worst customer service. Especially on the phone, it sounds like they pick up bums from the corner and have them be CSRs. They are not professional and not courteous. I am cancelling my cable as soon as my contract ends. They are not professional and they are they are crooks. No evidence of service and no proof provided by the customer that they were there and they still charge you. Never again will i ever use them. I also will never recommend them to anyone. I will always speak badly of them to anyone who asks me or if i hear someone speaking of Verizon.