Verizon FIOS question. & How to change phone companies and save the same number?

Question

I am considering Verizon FIOS and need help, preferably from people that have dealt with FIOS. I'm looking at the triple play option, Phone (landline), TV, and Internet.

Right now I have verizon DSL, AT&T phone, and no tv service just local.

At home their are 3 wireless computers and my PS3 using the bandwidth. So, more speed than DSL would be good. I pay for internet and my mother pay for phone together is 100 about.

What kind of router do I use? Can I connect wirelessly with FIOS? How many TV can use their service, their are two 1080i sets and the rest are analog tvs.

And how do I change phone services and keep the original number?

But most importantly, for those using FIOS does verizon raise the price down the road? I can't get a straight answer about that one.

Answer 1

I've had FiOS now for about 3 years; The whole installation process was rather painless. The 1st year, I only had the Internet service (as FiOS TV was not yet available here). The discount you get with the triple-play package makes it very enticing, but what will/is keeping me is the quality. Here's my experiences and thoughts on the various services.

Internet: I currently have 20 Mbps down (coming into my house) by 5 Mbps up (going out). That's up from the original 15 Mbps/2 Mbps service I had due to equipment upgrades Verizon did.  I got the upgrade at no additional cost or contract extension (although I did have to call and request it; it was not automatic). If you have a fast site as your source - Nvidia.com comes to mind as they make large game demos available often - I really can see 20 Mbps (2.5-2.6 MBps - bytes not bits) sustained downloads. I can download a CD's worth of data in under 5 minutes. Additionally, my ping times (latency) is very low. Not a big deal for browsing the Internet so much as it is to play online games on remote servers.

You will get a wireless router with your Internet installation. The brand & model varies over time. Mine was a D-Link 624. I believe they use ActionTec now. Technically, since what you get is a standard Ethernet connection out of the FiOS equipment, any router will work. (I actually use a Linux router/firewall myself, but that's not for the weak of heart.)

Phone: You should be able to request your current phone number be transferred to the FiOS service. This is known as wireline (as opposed to wireless) local number portability (wireline LNP). There is some information about that here: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/num...

The phone service is .. well. phone service. There's nothing special about it, IMO, There is one caveat, however. As part of going to FiOS, Verizon disconnected the copper lines that run to my house. That copper line has probably been released and used for another customer, so I essentially have no copper-based service any more. This is not a problem unless you want to switch back for some reason. Since I have no copper provisioned, I doubt that I could be a customer of any DSL ISP or competitive phone company until a copper line could be re-provisioned. Copper lines are scarce where I live and can take weeks to get provisioned.

FiOS TV (aka FiOS Video Service): FiOS TV is nothing short of incredible if you have an HD TV to view it on. The bigger the better. I was a DirectTV subscriber (for several years) prior to getting FiOS TV. I was simply floored by how much better the FiOS TV looks on the same equipment. The channels are so much clearer - especially the HD channels, but even the SD channels are better. Like DirectTV (and cable), each TV requires a set-top box (STB). HD TVs need an HD STB or HD DVR to view HD content.

I have the "premier" package with local channels. Not HBO or Cinemax. If you go to http://www22.verizon.com/content/FiOSTV/... and put in your zip code, you can see what you would get with that. There has been a couple price increases in the FiOS TV rates, but they are still cheaper than DirectTV was for me and way cheaper than cable (in my area).

One recommendation I have is if you decide you want a (an HD) DVR to record shows, ditch the Verizon DVR and buy a TiVo HD DVR outright. The Verizon HD DVR (by Motorola) is buggy (i.e., crashes while recording shows and loses content) and much less intuitive to use. Verizon will rent you a pair of cablecards (they are required offer them to by law) at $4-5 each/month. Two cards are needed the two tuners in the TiVo DVR so you can watch live TV and record at the same time (or record two shows at once). The TiVO service costs about $12/month, but that plus the cable cards totals to less than the multi-room DVR I was renting from Verizon. It pays for itself in about a year. Loosing the headaches and cursing from dealing with the Verizon DVR: priceless. The TiVo Desktop software for my computer lets me watch recorded shows off the DVR. It doesn't let me program the DVR though. (There is a web interface with TiVo's site that does.)

Physical: What you will get is a fiber line run from the nearest junction to your house. There, it is connected to a Optical Network Terminal (ONT) that will be mounted to the side of the house. Mine is about a foot square. From there, they will punch a hole through to where they can mount the battery back-up unit (BBU). It's the same idea as a UPS for your computer and will be plugged in somewhere (nearby) in your house. Your TV (coax line), telephone (copper), and Internet (RJ-45 Ethernet) all come from the ONT. They may come into your house through the same hole the BBU line runs or whatever makes the installation simpler. In my case, the Internet runs through next to the BBU, the TV coax runs along the house and into the attic (where my DirectTV coax already was),.and the copper phone line run around the side of my house to the original telephone demarcation box. The BBU provides about 8 hours of wireline phone if the power is out. The Internet is also on BBU for at least 10-15 minutes. It could be longer, but that's the limit of how long my computer lasts on it's UPS.

Bottom line is I pretty much love everything about my FiOS service as I have it now. The FiOS Motorola DVR is trash, so I replaced it with a TiVo HD DVR. Other than that, I really have no complaints. As a whole, it's been very reliable and very high quality.