FiOS Tops PC Mag ISP Service & Reliability SurveyComcast, Charter once again bring up the rear... 06:47PM Thursday Sep 17 2009 by Karl Bodetags: business · cable · consumers · Verizon Online DSL · Verizon FIOS Digital VoicePC Magazine has released their annual ISP Service & Reliability Survey (see story and actual results). The survey ranks broadband carriers on a scale of 1-10 in categories such as service setup, service speed, added fees, connection reliability, customer support and technical service, and repair frequency and quality.. According to PC Magazine readers, Verizon FiOS took top honors, with an overall score of 8.7 (luckily for Verizon, PC Magazine didn't rank carriers based on billing accuracy). The next closest competitors were Cablevision and Cox, who scored 7.8 and 7.8 respectively. As is usually the case with consumer surveys, Comcast and Charter Communications brought up the rear with respective scores of 6.9 and 6.5.
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Squirrelly
join:2000-10-24
Harrisburg, PA | Guide Fix the damn guide data and it would be perfect. | |
|  | nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD
 ·Comcast
| Re: Guide said by Squirrelly  :Fix the damn guide data and it would be perfect. that's TV
hope they make it better by the time I get FIOS (soon, soon  ) | |
| | Budman1018
join:2003-04-14
Camp Hill, PA | I guess they did not read my horror story with the FIOS install at my office. If the lazy Comcast salesman would have called me back I would have ripped the FIOS ONT out myself. | |
| tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Floral Park, NY
| entry level, kaching! Sure, at $70 a pop for entry level stand-alone.. why wouldn't it be? FTTP is an expensive service, although they've boosted the download and upload from 15/2 to 25/15, you get hosed for a few more dollars. Now let's do the math people:
10 megabits at $20 price difference.. that's $2 a megabit download
13 megabits at $20 price difference (upload).. that's $1.54 per megabit more
** price not including any discounts, bundling, or other (i'm leaving the cable company) broadband rebates. | |
| | jjeffeory
join:2002-12-04
USA | Re: entry level, kaching! I have U-verse 18/2, and it is cheaper than Fios, but not as nice.... The TV portion is $99. For new customers it's $109. The image quality is not nearly as good as Fios. Eh, I think Fios is an okay value, but the service itself is wonderful. | |
| | iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO | DSLExtreme has a 10/2 tier for $40, cheaper than cable 'round these parts. | |
| | JPL
Premium
join:2007-04-04
West Chester, PA
 ·Verizon FIOS
| said by tmc8080 :Sure, at $70 a pop for entry level stand-alone.. why wouldn't it be? FTTP is an expensive service, although they've boosted the download and upload from 15/2 to 25/15, you get hosed for a few more dollars. Now let's do the math people: 10 megabits at $20 price difference.. that's $2 a megabit download 13 megabits at $20 price difference (upload).. that's $1.54 per megabit more ** price not including any discounts, bundling, or other (i'm leaving the cable company) broadband rebates. Actually... I think you need to check your math. $70 for entry stand-alone? Um... no:
»www22.verizon.com/Residential/Fi···lans.htm
Entry price, for stand-alone, if you're not a Verizon phone customer: $55 for 15/5 service. If you're a phone customer (note - this isn't a bundle price - you just get an automatic discount if you happen to also be a Verizon phone custmoer), it's $5 cheaper. | |
| | rebus9
join:2002-03-26
Tampa Bay
·Verizon FIOS
·RoadRunner Cable
1 edit | said by tmc8080 :Sure, at $70 a pop for entry level stand-alone.. why wouldn't it be? FTTP is an expensive service, Speaking as someone who turned up new FIOS service last month......
My "entry level" service is $49.99 (not a teaser rate) and my speed tests results are consistently 25/15.
Compare that with 7/512 Road Runner service at $47.95 and 7.1/768 Verizon DSL at $42.99.
I'd say FTTH is significantly cheaper per megabit than plain old cable internet and DSL. | |
| | | ssavoy
join:2007-08-16
Shavertown, PA | Re: entry level, kaching! Our DSL connection is $44.99, 2.2mb down, 300kb up. Welcome to the New Frontier. | |
| | Eek2121
Lovin Verizon FIOS
join:2002-10-12
Flanders, NJ
| Hi,
My FIOS is $47.00 for 20/20 (with triple play.) I pay no equipment fee. My friend has comcast cable, $42.95/mo, $5.00 modem fee. In other words, he pays $0.95/mo more then me for a way crappier connection. My bill averages $130/mo, but thats with HBO, Showtime, etc. I'd hardly call that expensive. | |
| | 
dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
| said by tmc8080 :Sure, at $70 a pop for entry level stand-alone.. why wouldn't it be? FTTP is an expensive service, although they've boosted the download and upload from 15/2 to 25/15, you get hosed for a few more dollars. Now let's do the math people: 10 megabits at $20 price difference.. that's $2 a megabit download 13 megabits at $20 price difference (upload).. that's $1.54 per megabit more ** price not including any discounts, bundling, or other (i'm leaving the cable company) broadband rebates. Well i don't see anyone other than cablevision[avail only in 3 states] offering 15mb upload so for 95% of the people the price point is moot.
--
When I gez aju zavateh na nalechoo more new yonooz tonigh molinigh - Ken Lee | |
| | | tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Floral Park, NY
1 edit | Re: entry level, kaching! said by dvd536 :said by tmc8080 :Sure, at $70 a pop for entry level stand-alone.. why wouldn't it be? FTTP is an expensive service, although they've boosted the download and upload from 15/2 to 25/15, you get hosed for a few more dollars. Now let's do the math people: 10 megabits at $20 price difference.. that's $2 a megabit download 13 megabits at $20 price difference (upload).. that's $1.54 per megabit more ** price not including any discounts, bundling, or other (i'm leaving the cable company) broadband rebates. Well i don't see anyone other than cablevision[avail only in 3 states] offering 15mb upload so for 95% of the people the price point is moot. Apparently, the price & speeds offered may depend upon your ZIP CODE and any old grandfathered previous plans/prices you may continue to have... The above typically applies to NY metro. Since your local duopoly competitors outside this region don't care to offer better priced service/deployments, Verizon will only oblige the competition as much as it has to, and not more. This is a common refrain in the state of brodband competition, as mentioned in quite a number of threads.
One would in times past argue that since there isn't the same amount of fiber distributed throughout the country as there is in the notheast, that the cost of getting customers to the broadband backbone costs somewhat more was true, but every major city in the USA (served by AT&T or Verizon uverse or fios) should have adequate bandwidth to offer 50/50 to every customer who wants & can afford it... whether that speed is offered by the local telco or cableco is another story. | |
| | | | | majortom1029
join:2006-10-19
Lindenhurst, NY | hmm This survey would never get cablevision top ranking since verizon prob has tripple the service area and prob tripple the amount of customers . | |
| | waiting4fios
join:2005-04-08
Howell, NJ | Re: hmm Actually, last year cablevision had more internet subscribers than Verizon FiOS (not counting DSL) Verizon still would beat cablevision | |
| gatchel
join:2000-11-28
16465
| So far so good...bye comcast Just got FIOS this past Monday and so far so good.
$80/month for Unlimited Phone and 15/5 which is actually more like 20/20.
Bye Bye Comcast for good. I should have recorded the phone conversation with their retention dept. It was gratifying and very amusing to hear the "We have been doing IP Voice longer than Verizon" and "Verizon uses coax too" BS they were trying to sling. | |
| jammmin
join:2000-12-14
Upper Marlboro, MD
| FIOS is the best I have had FIOS internet for over a year(20/5) and it is the best internet service I have ever had.
Not once has the service been down in over a year. Speed is consistently fast(day or night) and downloads are a snap.
Had Comcast before. Never a week went by without loss of service. Flaky modem and speed slowdowns every evening from 6-10pm.
I would highly recommend FIOS to anyone. | |
| 
xdeadhead
220, 221, Whatever It Takes.
Premium
join:2000-11-08
Mechanicsburg, PA
·Verizon FIOS
·Comcast
1 edit | love it i recently bundled my a la carte landline, tv, and internet and went from the 20/20 plan to the 25/15 plan. the speed has been a consistent 26/26 and im even saving 40 bucks a month. yeah they have billing issues, but that speed is insane and my utorrent is burning up my external storage. i do have some audio sync issues at times, but i still think people should get it if they can! | |
| 
IM1811
join:2001-08-20
Haverstraw, NY
·Verizon FIOS
| Has VZ gotten a handle on Fios Billing? Since when has 'billing accuracy' become a basis for service and reliability? Could it be Karl that they have actually managed to get a handle on the billing issue?
Who knows, but one thing is for sure. In the New York Metro area, most people I know are dropping cable and switching to Fios quicker than they can say 'when can I have Fios?'
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»www.bartgordon.net | |
| | 
Archivis
Your Daddy
Premium
join:2001-11-26
Earth
·Verizon FIOS
| Re: Has VZ gotten a handle on Fios Billing? said by IM1811 :Since when has 'billing accuracy' become a basis for service and reliability? Could it be Karl that they have actually managed to get a handle on the billing issue? Who knows, but one thing is for sure. In the New York Metro area, most people I know are dropping cable and switching to Fios quicker than they can say 'when can I have Fios?' Their customer service is the worst, but hell, their technology is so solid, I only had to call them once because of a move. Not once since then.
--
'A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.' -Thomas Jefferson - | |
| 
FastiBook
join:2003-01-08
Newtown, PA
·Verizon FIOS
1 edit | Solid. Absolutely rock solid since 2005. We had a glitch recently which resulted in a swift equipment refit to our house, new ONT, new power supply & power management system (battery backup dealie). It was caused by very wild storms which produced excessive lightning approximately 10 days apart, which caused the power to flicker, go off entirely, flick off then on etc, not good for 4 year old sensitive networking equipment.
New stuff is the absolute latest of everything, ONT is much smaller, PMU, PSU easier to interpret, new backup battery & spare and all free of charge.
- A
--
LETS GO METS! | |
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dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
| Naturally its going to be on top when you give your subs what all the other greed machines don't want to.
-
My only gripe about fios: its not available here.
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When I gez aju zavateh na nalechoo more new yonooz tonigh molinigh - Ken Lee | |
| | 
cypherstream
Looking forward to the future of things.
Premium,MVM
join:2004-12-02
Reading, PA
clubs:
1 edit | Re: Naturally Hey we both have the same gripe!
It's not available here either. Rumor is that they won't even START to assess our area until 2012. You know how long it takes to build a new system from blueprinting to construction to going live? Yeah we won't see it in awhile. I'll most likely move out of this area by then. Comcast knows this too. This is why there's no reason for them to upgrade our area to all digital for more HD channels or DOCSIS 3.0. They look at it like, why should they spend the money in an area where there's no competition and we have nowhere comparable to turn to? | |
| 
Rick
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-06
Waterbury, CT
clubs: 
| Sorry but... I put about zero credibility into PC Magazines "survey" results.
Not because fios isn't a good product..i've never had it myself to say one way or the other but people on this site do generally like it...but because first..you're talking about a product that has a LOT less customers than a company like Comcast has AND the results are heavily slanted because many of those fios customers probably were cable customers who were enticed for one reason or the other to switch. And so..you're talking overall about a group of customers who have every reason in the world to have voted positively in favor of fios versus very seasoned customers that the cable companies have had for many years and even decades now.
Personally..given all that..I would have been surprised to not have seen the gap in this survey.
It's like taking a lot of one companies unhappy customers..moving them to another company and then saying ok now....rank these two providers.
The statistics are simply wrong..and heavily slanted towards favoring fios.
--
The Coyote captured the RR! Roadrunner Rick is now Comcastic! | |
| | 
jmn1207
Premium
join:2000-07-19
Reston, VA
·Verizon FIOS
| Re: Sorry but... There may be some merit in your claims with regards to the overall results, but the ratings of the speed and reliability sections of the survey are telling. The scores were overwhelmingly better than everyone else. Nobody was even close to FiOS in this area. Like most other FiOS customers, I find the service to be fast, and it's consistently fast. | |
| | moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| said by Rick :I put about zero credibility into PC Magazines "survey" results. Not because fios isn't a good product..i've never had it myself to say one way or the other but people on this site do generally like it...but because first..you're talking about a product that has a LOT less customers than a company like Comcast has AND the results are heavily slanted because many of those fios customers probably were cable customers who were enticed for one reason or the other to switch. And so..you're talking overall about a group of customers who have every reason in the world to have voted positively in favor of fios versus very seasoned customers that the cable companies have had for many years and even decades now. Personally..given all that..I would have been surprised to not have seen the gap in this survey. It's like taking a lot of one companies unhappy customers..moving them to another company and then saying ok now....rank these two providers. The statistics are simply wrong..and heavily slanted towards favoring fios. You have to ask then why were all those people so unhappy with their cable provider in the first place.
I can tell you, in my case, Comcast had a habit of having their computer system hang up on people when a problem was big and then when they instructed you to "call back later" they denied there ever was a problem.
They also had a habit of moving the local digital channels every 2 to 3 weeks and had to have my TV rescan those channels everytime. Not to mention, some CSR told me I shouldn't get the HD locals without a digital box.
Cable companies were the only wired TV game in town for so long, they took customer satisfaction for granted and are now paying the price. They were in my neighborhood a couple of days ago peddling their offerings with their usual low price for a year on a 2 year commitment. | |
| | tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Floral Park, NY
1 edit | said by Rick :I put about zero credibility into PC It's like taking a lot of one companies unhappy customers..moving them to another company and then saying ok now....rank these two providers. The statistics are simply wrong..and heavily slanted towards favoring fios. But.. isn't that what competition is supposed to do?
Sure, as dysfunctional, cherry picked and screwed up a company as Verizon is.. it's hard not to stumble into market share when the other company does so bad for so many for so long... in a once monopoly geographic region. And, this only comes on the heels of telcos grabbing millions of Voice (over IP) telephone lines from telcos...and by it's nature broaband customers (a market they ceeded to the cable industry from 1995-2003) so it was in their best interest to get something competitive or slowly watch their business die off, residential AND commerical. | |
| | 
cdru
Go Colts
Premium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
| So how do you recommend comparing a new ISP then? Should they just not include new guys because they are new? In some of the early deployment areas, FiOS has been around for nearly 4 years. I'd say that's long enough for the honeymoon phase to be over with.
said by Rick :I put about zero credibility into PC Magazines "survey" results. Not because fios isn't a good product..i've never had it myself to say one way or the other but people on this site do generally like it...but because first..you're talking about a product that has a LOT less customers than a company like Comcast has Yes they have fewer customers as compared to Comcast. But the numbers for Verizon DSL are only slightly below is most of the other critical categories except in the speed, reliability, and technical support columns, all of which can be accounted for by newer technology and less infrastructure aging. Verizon size wise would a better comparison to Cox or Charter. But none the less, Verizon FiOS competes with Comcast in many markets. Their results can't be dismissed any more then Comcast's marketing and management dismissing the threat of FiOS.
AND the results are heavily slanted because many of those fios customers probably were cable customers who were enticed for one reason or the other to switch. And cable companies don't entice customers back, or from the local DSL provider(s)?
It's like taking a lot of one companies unhappy customers..moving them to another company and then saying ok now....rank these two providers. IF that happened that could skew the FiOS results higher. However the former provider that lost the unhappy customers also should have befitted from the unhappy customer ratings not bringing down their average.
Even if you exclude Verizon, Comcast still scores at the bottom, below average in all the meaningful categories aside from speed, which they were only average. Instead of trying trying to improve Comcast by bringing down or excluding FiOS, maybe Comcast should try improving their service. | |
| old_wiz_60
join:2005-06-03
Bedford, MA
·Verizon FIOS
| FIOS is reliable here I've had FIOS for 2 years now, a triple play package; phone, TV, and Internet. I have had short outages on the TV, but only specific channels, which is probably not a FIOS problem. I've had to reboot the router a few times when things got clogged up. Overall it's had excellent reliability.
But don't get me started on billing issues. (Insert unprintable rant here). | |
| zerog
join:2002-02-10
Dallas, TX
·Verizon FIOS
2 edits |  thumbs up to fios internet
Of all of my residential broadband experiences, fios wins by several miles, hands down. I dont know anything about the pc mag survey, but for me the #1 indicator is reliability of the connection. In my experience, fios has had amazing stability and uptime, rivaling (and seemingly beating) business connections like T1/T3, etc. The price and speed have always been reasonable. I have a grandfathered 5/2 connection (that is always 5/2) for ~$43/mo, which hasnt changed since I signed up. I dont have any other tv or voice services from vz or time-warner.
I am an advanced technical user, and my only experience with verizon fios support was rather pleasant with quick response and a fairly knowledgable staff (local to USA also!). The issue turned out to be on my end (I inadvertantly disabled the wan connection on the router thru upnp from windows - bad design - doh!), which leads me to my only complaint: dissatisfaction with the actiontec router, with no real alternatives (even though never got fios tv, the tech insisted upon running coax to my router). For now I wish I could run DD-WRT or some other custom firmware on the actiontec, but it is running very stable, so I will leave it alone. | |
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