FIOS opinions?

[Wil]

Verizon just added FIOS to my area of South Jersey. I had a couple of guys walking around teh neighborhood yesterday pitching it. When the 6 month "special" is over, the monthly price is about the same as what I pay for comcast now (Internet/phone/cable/HD). The sales guy told me that Comcast Sportsnet is part of their package so I would not miss any Flyers/Phillies games. The kids programming seems to be as good if not better than Comcast (I have 3, 10 and under - so that factors in).

I am really thinking about making the switch, but I would appreciate any thoughts and opinions from anyone who has had Comcast and switched over to FIOS! Thanks!

Wil

 

[Irishfl]

Well if your into HD, then fios is the way to go, with over 100 HD channels. Comcast will take years to catch up on that front.

"All" Phillies/flyers/sixers games is not true. Yes they have CSN, and you will see almost all, but fios does not have the comcast network, which is of course the overflow channel for Philly sports. How many depends. The Phillies usually only have 1 or 2 games scheduled, but if the Flyers and sixers make the playoffs, and run deep they're on the comcast network almost everynight during April.

Anyway I plan on switching when I can, because of all the HD.

 

[Bill_W]

More HD on Verizon than Comcast. During a power outage, I think Fios phone will last better. When you lose power, the Comcast amplifiers in your neighborhood are not working which leads to a cable "outage" until the Comcast truck shows up with a generator and an extension cord to restore cable for your ETMA to give you phone service again.

 

[Jul]

"All" Phillies/flyers/sixers games is not true. Yes they have CSN, and you will see almost all, but fios does not have the comcast network, which is of course the overflow channel for Philly sports. How many depends. The Phillies usually only have 1 or 2 games scheduled, but if the Flyers and sixers make the playoffs, and run deep they're on the comcast network almost every night during April.

The comcast Network needs to be on all cable systems in the Philadelphia market including FIOS. It don't make any sense that this channel is on comcast systems only. Look at what they say at this link: http://www.csnphilly.com/pages/inner_09/comcast_faq

I don’t have Comcast Cable, how can I get The Comcast Network?
The Comcast Network is available to any cable system within the Network’s territory [roughly defined as the Greater Philadelphia area, including Eastern & Central PA, South NJ and Delaware, subject to league rules and restrictions]. Please contact your cable provider and request the network be added to your lineup.

 

[WCAUTVNBC10]

None of the other cable networks share their networks so why should they? RCN has RCN8, Service Electric Cable has TV2 and FiOS is launching their network to compete with Cablevision's News12. These networks are all owned and operated by their respective providers and you don't see people bitching about not being able to get these channels. There's no requirement that these networks be distributed to other systems and there shouldn't be. Comcast has apparently made The Comcast Network available to it's competitors but apparently no one wants to bite on it because it would directly compete with their own network.

 

[digidan]

I have FiOS in wonderful Mercer County, NJ where we get Philly and NY locals, CSN Philly and NY RSNs all in HD (except MSG, SD only). I had Cablevision and DirecTV, and dropped them both for FiOS.

The upside: Internet is faster than anything I've ever seen, HD picture quality is second to none, even the SD channels are fantastic (anyone with DirecTV knows how crappy the SD channels look there). Lots of HD channels with lots more room to add more than Comcast.

The Downside: The DVR boxes needs much improvement. It can only record 20 hours of HD, and no option to add an external hard drive as of yet. Surfing the channel guide is not easy on the eyes, it's not widescreen, only 4:3, but a new widescreen channel guide is in the works. All the grids are just crammed and jammed together top-to-bottom, left-to-right, the program info is often incomplete or flat out incorrect, though the on-screen the graphics are sharp and channel logos are always up to date. There is a widespread issue with the picture randomly blacking out for a second or two, I have that issue here. Verizon has yet to come up with a fix for that. On Demand content could be beefed up, Comcast has FiOS beat on that one.

Those issues aside, I think FiOS is way ahead of Comcast, and any service provider almost every way. It's still a work in progress, but it has a lot of room to grow.

 

[knight]

agree with digidan...but then if the guide is one of the worst things...things could be (as are) worse at Comcrap.
I don't watch much on-demand but have heard Comcrap has more. Not a selling point for me.\
I would like a larger drive as HD chews up the memory fast...but we get by.
Watch for deals. I was able to get my Multi-room HD Receiver free (regularly 12/mo) for the 1st year! Then I bundled my FiOS internet and TV together and got faster internet and more HD channels!
Outages...well I have had FiOS for a year and yet to have 1. Had an issue with my router and rather than blame me (a Comcrap trait) it was replaced after a 5 minute phone call.
Had DirecTV and liked it....Had Dish Network and liked it....Had Comcrap and hated it. Never going back.

 

[Wil]

Thank you folks for the info & shared opinions. It looks like it may be time for a change.