Astound → [Need Info] thinking of switching to fios

I need some opinions please.

Fios just came to our neighborhood this year and now I am starting to compare my current rcn bundle with fios. I really like using tivo now that I have experienced it. That said, I will really not save anything if I have to buy my own Tivo box. With fios I will get more Premium and HD Channels plus 50/50 internet that is locked in for 2 years. I have 50/8 with RCN that I got only as a promotion, so it might go back to 25/4 early next year.

Is it enough reason to switch?

Oh and I am from Queens, NY, if you need to know.

I do have a question on this forum about buying equipment, but so far laying out huge bucks to buy equipment seems like a bad idea. Within two years there is quantum leaps in capability and they are not very reliable. It seems like your equipment will end up on the heap with your VCR's before long.

I end up watching about equal DVR and VOD shows. But the VOD is often irritating. I often fall asleep in a show, and if I want to see the rest of it, the lack of fast forward is a nuisance. I wouldn't mind so much if I had to watch the commercials again, but I can't fast forward through the show.

So I don't think I would switch to VERIZON FIOS even if I could (it's not available where I live).

It seems that VERIZON understands the only true difference is those insanely fast upload speeds. Hence the nonstop irritating advertisements. But I just don't upload that much stuff.

I have FiOS in Redondo Beach, and RCN at my Parents' house in Skokie, IL. In both places I have TiVo Roamios and TiVo minis that are owned by me. If I had a choice, I'd take FiOS over RCN in a heartbeat. In the 5 years I have had FiOS I have had no problems vs. losing my connection every few months with RCN. In addition with services like Dropbox, iCloud and Google Drive, upload speed matters much more to me, so 50/50 or (in my case 75/75) matters a lot.

Finally, I like owning my own gear, I have found that I have paid less than I would to lease it and have the ability to easily switch providers (in Skokie between RCN and Comcast) without losing my content.

Can you be specific? Do you simply rent the cable card? Do you have any problems? What equipment do you own?

Well I finally decided to switch, as the deal is too good to pass up and might not get it when I need it. I'll be using the $400 GC I'll be getting for a Tivo Roamio. I just need one as I use the Tivo Desktop to transfer my shows to my Ipod for commuting. So all in all, I am just using less than $50 out of pocket for this switch for 2 years.

I just want to add, I am happy with my RCN service, if they offer more competitive pricing specially for costumers like me that has been with them for 10 years I believe, I might have stayed. I gave them a chance and called them twice before to get a better price for my bundle, but they said I already have all the discounts they can offer. And I can see that they did through my bill, but it isn't enough to compare to what I will be getting now with fios.

I've been keeping an eye on all the deals Fios had for the last 4 months and I think the one they have now is the best, that's why I had to decide.

I would be curious if you could spell out details. RCN has always been the price leader in the Lehigh Valley, especially if you like Tivo. I would figure you would be paying for Fios equipment and again for TiVo equipment (or does FIOS have M-Cards like Cable).

FIOS is an option for only a small percentage of the Valley, and it is not an option for me, so it is more academic curiousity.

TiVo HD came out in Sept 2006, Premiere came out in Aug 2010 with the Roamio coming out three years later in Aug 2013. And there are always software problems for new models so you are looking at a new DVR every 3 1/2 years. You also don't factor in that a 3 year old TiVo with lifetime is worth $300-$400 resale. Many Premiere users simply sold their Premiere and bought a Roamio. As for DVRs being reliable they are usually as reliable as the hard drive. For a fee ($50) TiVo will replace your DVR with a refurbished one.

I currently own a Premiere 2TB (upgraded from 300GB) in my bedroom with a RCN Q in my living room connected via MOCA. I've no idea how much my lease is on the RCN Q as it's part of an internet/cable/phone package. The RCN Cable Card fee for my Premiere is $2/mo. I also bought for my parents a Roamio Plus and four minis replacing five FIOS non-DVR boxes @ $8.95 each. So their cable bill went down $40/mo ($45 - $5 FIOS Cable card fee) and they also now have a DVR.

As for your VOD problem I would just subscribe to Netflix which has no commercials but the ability to REW/FF. The app is already supplied with TiVo. There are so many shows I never would have enjoyed if it weren't for Netflix. "Breaking Bad" is a perfect example of a show that alone was worth the price of Netflix for a year. YMMV

I am also from Queens. FIOS is coming to many building in my area.
RCN should be more flexible...

Hi!
I was dreaming about FILS for few years, and one day I found it available in my Forest Hills! It was holiday for me!
My promotional service came to the end with RCN and next morning I ordered it.
After 2 days(!!!) tech came to my apartment to install it.
Installation was very smooth! I asked him to configure RJ45 for me, not coax and he did it without comments.
I'm using my Sonicwall 210 and was able to configure everything without problems. TV service worked great.
Problems started when I tried to use professional services, like VPN, FTP, SCTP.
IT was crazy slow, not more than 300-400kb.
From the same destination servers thru my hotspot from VZ I had 5-6Mb.
After tracing everything I found problem with traffic shaping and contacted VZ FIOS.
Answer shocked me: to use this professional services, I have to have FIOS pro account.
Difference in the price you can see on their website.
So, 10 days later I came back to RCN.
2 my coworkers had exactly same problem and went back to cable services.
So, before you switching, check your needs.

Good luck!

I just want to know as to what the advantages would be with RJ45 rather than coax? And when you say RJ45 does that mean they connect their cable boxes via RJ45 as well? I'm thinking maybe I can do that to connect my PC in a different room instead of using wirelless.

Problems started when I tried to use professional services, like VPN, FTP, SCTP.

I have simple needs.

Advantage of RJ45 is using my own Sonicwall router. VZ's Actiontec was plugged in to my router and coax was running from Actiontec to cable boxes. After switching you will be in big trouble, if your income based on professional services. As I said earlier, I had to switch back to RCN cable and very happy with it until this minute.

You must have coaxial run to modem and main TiVo box. So ideally it is one main coaxial from street to two way splitter to Modem and main TiVo.

There are advantages with either system. If you have coaxial cable running to the secondary TV's you have the option of using a PREVIEW instead of a MINI. A preview has it's own tuner, but a mini uses one on the base unit. If you have too many secondary TV's then a 4 tuner ($25) TiVo may not be enough to watch live TV on several televisions and at the same time record more shows. You will have to upgrade to a 6 tuner ($40) TiVo.

On the other hand if he runs CAT-6 with RJ45 connectors than you always have the option of unplugging the MINI/TV and plugging in a computer. If your wireless is too busy or your signal has trouble getting through the walls, this option is good.

Sometimes people have too many splits in their coaxial or they have the older thinner RG-59 coaxial. In this case you may be getting a poor signal. I must have pulled out a thousand feet (no exaggeration) of RG-59 that had been laid down over 35 years and went in all kinds of crazy directions sapping the signal.

I thought, we were talking about FIOS.

Having the same thoughts. Fios is available in Astoria! Whoohoo!

This topic has been closed. Reason: run its course