FIOS TV review from an old Comcast subscriber

[Eton Rifles]

Re: FIOS TV review from an old Comcast subscriber

This reminds me, I think maybe like last month I thought I read a new law was enacted that said cable boxes have to be sold in public and not just rented. Did anybody else here this?

[ODogg]

Re: FIOS TV review from an old Comcast subscriber

Isn't the bundle the 5/2 internet? I have the 15/2 internet....otherwise it is a pretty good deal. Plus, while part of the issue about needing the boxes is paying for them one problem is we currently have the TV in the bedroom on a chest of drawers. The TV barely fits on there and there's no room for a box, unless it's on top of the TV, which would look like crap.

Thanks for the reminder on the bundle though....I'll have to check that out in Sept. after they change the guide.

I have the bundle, it's for 5/2 but you just pay $10 more for 15/2 is all.

[ODogg]

Re: FIOS TV review from an old Comcast subscriber

i heard they cut the old cable line to your house if you get FIOS installed... is that true? I still get the cheapest comcast tv package (local channels plus basic cable) for $15/mo, and don't want to be forced to a higher priced package with FIOS.

it's not true they cut the cable line, they aren't allowed to do anything to the comcast wiring. they do cut the old verizon copper line if you get their internet phone, but you can tell them not to in case you want to go back to the old type of phone.

p.s. - i can't find that $99 bundle either, maybe that promotion is over, i'd call the local verizon office to be sure though.

[ODogg]

Re: FIOS TV review from an old Comcast subscriber

Hey all, just an update - I just found another HUGE bonus (well for me anyways)!!! The CW comes through in HD! I don't watch much CW but I do love Smallville and Supernatural. In Comcast the CW channel did not come through in HD. This is great news. If I'd known this before switching I would probably have switched sooner.

[ODogg]

Re: FIOS TV review from an old Comcast subscriber

Just a note - i'm updating this as the new guide was released today in Richmond!

Now as for the issues I have with the guide, there are a few that need to be noted here. First of all there is no easy way to skip ahead by multiple hours or an entire day like Comcast has. This is annoying to me because if it's 8pm on a Monday I usually bring up the guide and then like to flip ahead to 8pm Tuesday and see what's on, then do the same for Wednesday, etc. On FIOS the only way to do this is to hold down the forward scroll button and wait...then wait....then wait some more.

You can now skip forward hours very quickly with the new guide. You can also skip forward and back an entire day by using the FF and REW buttons on the remote

The second big annoyance is that there is no PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN feature in the guide. So if you like to flip thru a whole page of listings up or down you cannot do so. I called FIOS and they assured me both of these issues are known and they plan to add the go forward a day, page up and page down features to their new guide which is going to be released in September.

This too has been fixed and you now use the CHAN + and - buttons to page up and page down in the guide, very nice! Also, on another issue, the lag when you press the skip FORWARD button on a recorded program is now 100% gone, it's completely instant when you press forward, 100x better than Comcast and just how it should be.....

In closing I give the service an A- compared to Comcast's rating of a C+. I can't give FIOS an A+ until they fix the skip ahead a day, page up/page down, allow us to choose our own colors for our guide and fix the lag on the SKIP AHEAD button.

I can now safely give Verizon FIOS TV an A+ rating. I can't think of anything else they could really improve upon now but if they do I'll change the rating to be A++ I guess

[jmw1137]

Re: FIOS TV review from an old Comcast subscriber

Just got an ad the other day in the mail for the bundle for $99. Looked good except the 2 year contract. Not sure I like having a contract for my phone, cable & internet. I'll have to think about it...but I'm at least considering it.

[ODogg]

Re: FIOS TV review from an old Comcast subscriber

Just got an ad the other day in the mail for the bundle for $99. Looked good except the 2 year contract. Not sure I like having a contract for my phone, cable & internet. I'll have to think about it...but I'm at least considering it.

The buyout is $150 in case you're wondering, so it's not a huge deal to get out of it. I don't think you'd want to anyways to be honest.

[LetsGoBucs]

Re: FIOS TV review from an old Comcast subscriber

Just a note - i'm updating this as the new guide was released today in Richmond!

This is great news. I can't wait until mine is updated. I got a flyer in the mail about an update coming, and I was VERY excited about it. Reading your comments has me even more excited (or about as excited as one can be regarding the guide on their TV).

[ac11367]

Re: FIOS TV review from an old Comcast subscriber

Gameplay on Xbox Live is fantastic, I've never noticed one hiccup playing football (a notoriously finicky application to play online) since I've begun playing. Also, the router page is extremely nice looking, easy to use and very elegant overall (best router page setup I've ever seen).

That would be the biggest draw for me whenever FIOS becomes available in my area. I wonder, if you have FIOS and you're playing against someone with a regular cable connection, would your gaming experience become "degraded" to his level of connection?

[KG]

Re: FIOS TV review from an old Comcast subscriber

FIOS is pretty money...plus they have the NFL channell in HD....huge huge bonus...

only problem i have now is that they dont have NBATv

[ODogg]

Re: FIOS TV review from an old Comcast subscriber

I'm glad you revived this, I have had one HUGE negative I need to bring up. For the love of all that is holy, when you sign up for FIOS DO NOT GIVE THEM A CREDIT CARD. For any reason, whatsover. No matter WHAT they say!! My rep told me since I had no Verizon telephone they had to have a card simply to secure my account. I have since found out 100x over from various sources in Verizon that this is false. If you get the package deal of phone, internet and tv they should use your new telephone number to secure the account. If they get a credit card you can expect to see some fees charged to it. Large fees, especially when you get your first bill.

Yesterday Verizon processed a $255.78 charge on my bank account, despite repeated assurances they would not. It has caused me major money problems as it is money unaccounted for. Also, the real kick in the head is I only owe them $33.00 due to credits for all the hassle I went through on my install. So if they had just charged that to my card then not as big of a deal. $255.78 is a big deal, especially when I"m about to go on vacation next week. So now I'm having to call all these people and deal with the red tape of getting them to credit my card. It's been a nightmare!!!!!

Now if they charge my card again next month the bank has advised my only recourse is to cancel my credit card and get a new card. Which will entail updating all the other companies for which I use this credit card for. Which is going to really stink!

So yeah, a major issue for me, but if you all learn from my mistakes and do not give them a card you should be loving you some FIOS!!

[Double Eights]

Re: FIOS TV review from an old Comcast subscriber

I'm glad you revived this, I have had one HUGE negative I need to bring up. For the love of all that is holy, when you sign up for FIOS DO NOT GIVE THEM A CREDIT CARD. For any reason, whatsover. No matter WHAT they say!! My rep told me since I had no Verizon telephone they had to have a card simply to secure my account. I have since found out 100x over from various sources in Verizon that this is false. If you get the package deal of phone, internet and tv they should use your new telephone number to secure the account. If they get a credit card you can expect to see some fees charged to it. Large fees, especially when you get your first bill.

Yesterday Verizon processed a $255.78 charge on my bank account, despite repeated assurances they would not. It has caused me major money problems as it is money unaccounted for. Also, the real kick in the head is I only owe them $33.00 due to credits for all the hassle I went through on my install. So if they had just charged that to my card then not as big of a deal. $255.78 is a big deal, especially when I"m about to go on vacation next week. So now I'm having to call all these people and deal with the red tape of getting them to credit my card. It's been a nightmare!!!!!

Now if they charge my card again next month the bank has advised my only recourse is to cancel my credit card and get a new card. Which will entail updating all the other companies for which I use this credit card for. Which is going to really stink!

So yeah, a major issue for me, but if you all learn from my mistakes and do not give them a card you should be loving you some FIOS!!

How is it legal for them to charge your card without notifying you? Do you even know what the charges are for?

Also, I am considering switching to FIOS(internet/tv/phone), however I had one quick question. For the $99 deal, which is better; DirectTV or Verizon FIOS TV? I really want NFL Sunday Ticket, so I am leaning towards DirecTV, but I'd like to hear some thoughts.

[ODogg]

Re: FIOS TV review from an old Comcast subscriber

How is it legal for them to charge your card without notifying you? Do you even know what the charges are for?

Also, I am considering switching to FIOS(internet/tv/phone), however I had one quick question. For the $99 deal, which is better; DirectTV or Verizon FIOS TV? I really want NFL Sunday Ticket, so I am leaning towards DirecTV, but I'd like to hear some thoughts.

I don't believe it is legal. In fact my bank wants me to call it fraud and remove the charges, cut up the card and they send me another card. If they charge it again that is exactly what I intend to do. I'm just hoping they can get it straight so I don't have to go to those lengths.

Did you know you can get DirecTV through FIOS? They offer it as an add-on. You don't get a satellite installation when you do it, the feed comes through FIOS. You could always get FIOS TV with DirecTV. Then after the season just change it over to FIOS TV and drop the DirecTV portion of it. I almost did that (and yes I confirmed you can get Sunday Ticket this way) but then decided I could just go to the bar to watch whatever Cowboys games aren't on TV, I didn't want to spend that much on Sunday Ticket.

[Pared]

Re: FIOS TV review from an old Comcast subscriber

Did they state what the charges were for? That's completely wrong...

[ODogg]

Re: FIOS TV review from an old Comcast subscriber

Did they state what the charges were for? That's completely wrong...

The charges were my original bill for my first month, but like I said, they gave me $222.78 in credit so it should have only been $33.00 at most charged. And even then, I was 100% clear NOTHING was to be charged to that card, and certainly not monthly recurring charges, which is what this is. I was madder than a Republican at Woodstock yesterday.