 Review by KA3SGM 
member for 7.3 years, 2714 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 1.2 years ago
 West Chester,Chester,PA
 $180 per month- (24 month contract)
 about 14 days "FAST-FAST-FAST. The Internet service is Awsome. Would be better if Verizon stopped the discriminatory speed tiers between states" "Beware of their Sub-Contracted installers with the Ditch Witch. Still have not fixed my fence." "INSIST THEY LEAVE YOUR PHONE LINE ON COPPER--TV Picture Quality IS NOT UP TO PAR, Internet works BETTER than advertised."
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Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)
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Ordered 15/2, I get 15.5 / 1.8 pretty reliably. Still waiting for 20/5 upgrade promised by end of 2005.
Internet installed 9/2005, 2 weeks after order placed. Subcontractor burying conduit made my front yard look like a "Monster Truck Mud Bog Shootout Event!" They took down a section of the fence in my side yard to get the Ditch Witch through, and still have not fixed it
By all means, If you want FiOS with any degree of reliability, insist they they leave your copper connection intact. Don't let them switch their voice service over to fiber.
If your Copper phone connection has not been any problem, follow the old adage, if it ain't broke, don't F' with it.
I have been through 4 FiOS ONT's in 7 months.
Believe me, you really want to keep that Verizon copper phone line, the FioS phone reliability completely sucks.
Once they switch you, they are required by PA law to restore the copper if you request it, but they will fight you tooth an nail to make it ever happen.
But I am keeping my Excellent Fios Internet Service, and problematic, but better than Comcast, Fios TV service. For now..
It's still the best bang for the buck for Internet, and needs some help for Picture Quality for TV, but is still the best deal in town.
FIOS Internet, If it's available to you, Just Do It!!!!
OK, My original Fios Phone+Internet Install was on 9/30/2005. Now moving into FiOS year 3.
This marks my 2 year Anniversary review of having Verizon FiOS service.
From 9/30/2005, my original install date, moving everything on fiber was great, Phone and Internet, until they installed the TV service on 12/08/2006.
Verizon's reps outright lied repeatedly about their 20/5 upgrade coming to me in 10/2005, I am still stuck at 15/2 to this day.
The nightmare began 2 months later, in February 2007, when I completely lost all Fios service.
It took Verizon over a month to restore me to where everything had been before, but I also was forced to loose any prior service credit, and grandfathered pricing in the process.
Since then, the TV service has been an abysmal mess, and the Phone and Internet has greatly suffered from outages during that time period.
Would I recommend Fios to anyone else???
Phone= Ask them to keep the copper first, proceed with fiber optic phone service with caution. Fios phone reliability depends on a battery backup, dead battery=NO phone service.
Internet=Definitely
TV=PROBABLY NEVER AGAIN. Verizon needs to call Comcast and ask them how to be a REAL cable TV provider. (Less the regular price increases though)
UPDATE- 11/2/2007- They installed the 5th ONT today since this past February, and confirmed that there was a bad tap at the street.
That in an underground service vault, which fills with muddy water when it rains heavily.
Might be an answer to much of the service problems I have been having.
I had a 3+ hour outage last night of all Fios services, and that might be the cause.
A Verizon Line crew is supposed to check/replace it next week.
After 9 months of aggravation, it may end up being their Fiber equipment supplier, Corning, that is the root of all the problems I have had....
It makes perfect sense, the same company that made the plate you ate your dinner off tonight, also makes most of the plant equipment for Verizon's FiOS network.
Corning needs to stick with dinnerware, and leave the fiber optic business to another company.
WOW, FiOS has finally become stable here, this on the evening before the new IMG software rollout.
Their billing department still has my account screwed up, I have 2 Wireless lines with Verizon now added to the same bill, a practical Triple-Play if you will, but they are now double billing me on the wireless end.
Thank god I have my 4 most important wireless lines still with T-Mobile.
They still have not provided the 20/5 option that I was promised when I had FiOS installed back in September 2005, so I still rate their pre-sales information as a complete lie.
Tech support has stabilized, but I still have a semi-regular picture tiling on various FiOS TV channels, so i can't rate them any higher than middle of the road .
The $325/mo cost is for all 4 Verizon services, about $80 is for Verizon Wireless.
My only reason for even considering Verizon for Wireless service is tied to the ON-STAR phone built into my car, that only works with Verizon....
I will follow up this review as conditions warrant.....
*******Review Updated 8/1/2008********
Promised Fios TV HD Channel additions by Spring 2008 have still not happened although it is more than half way through Summer 2008.
Analog Channels have been removed from the TV Lineup, so the Fios TV is now "100% Digital"
Some HD-VOD is available, but the selections are not on par with other providers.
Still experiencing occasional TV picture Tiling and Pixelation.
DVR Firmware Updates still cause occasional freeze-ups and missed recordings.
These problems have been going on for over a year now, I think any expected permanent fix is now a hopeless cause.
Their Telephone Tech Support reps are in need of some serious re-training, and they need to be able to work together with their billing department, something that is seriously flawed with all things Verizon.
Nothing but billing errors almost every month with FiOS TV, but at least I have yet to run across the dreaded problem of being charged for the "supposedly free" Digital TV Adapters.
Phone Bill reached more than $95, so I canceled both Verizon landline phones and took 1 to T-Mobile@Home VoIP(over FiOS Internet) and the other wireless.
Upgraded Fios internet to 20/20 connection speed, but it took 3 weeks to get the upgrade processed, they said it would take less than a few hours, but nothing Verizon says actually happens the way they describe that it will.
Internet speeds are currently around 20.8/ 18, which is fair enough for now, since I don't really need the 20(18) Mbps upload speed, I will likely drop that back to 20/5 to save a few bucks.
The Fios Internet service is the only thing I can seriously praise Verizon for, I really can't remember when they last had a service outage, probably back during one of my earlier review updates over a year ago.
Verizon could stand to Exit the Telephone and TV business and just stick with Internet service.
They could provide IPTV and VoIP over the Internet connection and dump everything else, and that would cure 99% of their tech support and billing issues, but I don't see that ever happening.
$135 for TV(That includes 3 DVR's, 1HD, and 1 SD Box, The Movies&Sports package, and HBO).
$0 for Telephone, because I completely canceled it, and went VoIP.
So, about $155/mo
I will update this when (or if) Verizon ever meets their Promise of 100 HD Channels by 2008 Year end.
Update 8/29/2010:
Well, at least Fios is now generally stable.
Internet is now running roughly 35/28, although I only have the 25/25 service plan.
The Internet speed is universally better than cable, or other sources, it's the best connection in town you could ever find.
Fios TV still has occasional picture and audio dropouts, which seem to be more of the fault of their existent 6426-2 DVR's.
I have had numerous Fios techs at my home in the past, telling me that the problems were caused my TV brand, but it took a Verizon manager to agree first hand that the problems were beyond my home.
The problem was never properly fixed, and I am convinced that Verizon has no desire to care for it's customers.
Verizon never replaced the defective tap across my street, that I am connected to, so heavy rain still fouls up my TV service when I get enough rain to fill the underground vault that the tap is contained in.
More to come, this update will always be a work in progress......
2/29/2012:
Verizon DESTROYED my CREDIT REPORT, WITH A NON-PAYMENT OF ALMOST $500, which I DIDN'T OWE, AND THEY DON'T CARE.
They credited my account back for disputed charges, but still ,consider it delinquent, even though I HAVE NEVER MISSED A PAYMENT.
Their service is very stable, 7 years in, but their customer service is still terrible to the extreme.
VZ Quadruple-Play is a joke, they don't care 1¢ about their customers, I took my cell service back to T-Mobile, who actually provides cell service where I live..
If you actually care about your credit rating, whatever you do, Don't touch them with a 100 Billion-foot Pole.
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