Verizon FIOS Review

This past weekend I made the switch from Comcast Cable to Verizon FIOS. I wasn’t expecting any great improvement in any area, it is just tv afterall, and didn’t really receive any- but that might be the biggest compliment I can give, especially when you consider FIOS is saving me 25% a month.

First, a bit about my setup. My roommate and I have three HD TVs, we are both movie buffs so we like a lot of premium channels. Also, since both of us are law students we tend to have a lot of long nights where we miss our favorite shows, so we like a DVR. And of course we need an internet package.

When we first moved to our apartment we had a deal from Comcast where we were paying around $120 per month for all of that. Slowly, over time the bill crept up as Comcast raised rates and our “new customer” deals ended. Last month the bill ballooned to $200. Ridiculous. We were only getting HBO and Showtime and the DVR. I called Comcast to see if they could do anything for me, and the only thing they could offer is throwing in phone service for free as part of a bundle. Um, no thanks.

This is what pushed me to Verizon FIOS. With all the commercials going around, I thought I would at least give it a once over. I have to admit I had almost no trouble with Comcast. Never had an outage, no problems with service. Even their staff at the physical office I visted to switch from Component to HDMI boxes were very nice every time. Rare in this day.

I will say finding out how much a package with Verzion would cost was an ordeal. I called the number on the website, the number on the mailing materials they sent me, and other numbers I found several times. I was always tossed around and never found a satisfactory answer, sometimes disconnected. I worry about how service calls would go in the future, but the one call I have made has eased my mind (more on that later). I eventually went to the website and entered in a bunch of information there. It seems like you have to go through all the motions of signing up for the service without actually clicking “sign me up” to get a quote. A bit too much for the casual inquiry.

After signing up for two HD boxes, one HD DVR, HBO, Showtime, Starz, and all the other random movies channels except cinemax and 20mbps internet, I would up with a bill of only $150- and that is AFTER all the deals run out. I am waiting for the first bill, but it seems like I am getting the DVR free for the first six months and the first month of TV and internet for free. Signing up on the internet also apparently gave me a discount – I guess they save money by not having to hire as many phone reps. We also got MANY new HD channels that aren’t available on Comcast at all, such as ALL the HBOs in HD instead of just the primary HBO channel, and that are extra on Comcast like the NFL network in HD. (the one thing I will miss is AMC in HD which FIOS doesn’t have yet – sorry Mad Men) I did have to sign a year long contract, and like Verizon’s Wireless service, if you leave early you have to pay a cancellation fee.

A sidenote about the debate about who has more HD – cable or Fios. Cable has more “on demand” HD options. These are things that sometimes cost money (new movie releases) or are free (tv shows in HD). Fios has more HD channels. Personally, I think it is more important to have more HD channels – I can record them on the DVR and watch them later. This seems to get around the on demand problem. And if I want to rent a movie, I can do that over xbox live, netflix, or blockbuster depending on your preference.

I signed up and got an install date. This is the hardest part of FIOS. There is an installation process. First you need to make sure your neighborhood has been wired for FIOS. Then you get a classicly huge window (mine was from 8am to 5pm). So, stake out your whole day. And they weren’t kidding. My guy showed up at 11AM and left at 4PM. They have to intsall a box that converts the fiber optic cable into your phone and coax cable that is already in your home. Also, because the fiber optics needs electricity to run, they have to install a battery pack if your power goes out so your phone still works- since it isn’t over copper anymore.

To read about the service follow the link.

After the install was done, I have to say I am quite happy with the package. The DVR we got was a Home Media DVR. It allows us to watch anything recorded on the living room DVR on any cable box in the house. So, if my roommate wants to watch House that he recorded on Sunday, but I want to catch up on reruns of entourage we can both watch at the same time, even in our own rooms. This is great when you are up at 3am but don’t want to wake your housemates up. Also, it avoids fights over what to watch on tv. Also, many of you have probably seen the Directv commercial, with Hellboy, showing how you can program your DVR over the web. Fios allows you to do the same now! I can delete and schedule my DVR from my computer. If you are a verizon wireless customer, you can also use your phone to program your DVR for free also. They should open this up to all cell phones (hello iphone app!) but that is probably asking too much.

The one quirk about the TV is the channel guide. It is definitely a departure from the traditional guide I was used to. I have used Time Warner, Cox and Comcast and all use what I consider a normal guide (think the TV guide channel style). The Fios guide is odd in that the channels cover the entire screen, but the focus is on the center. The guide moves to keep the center the focus instead of the box moving through the guide like on cable. That is complex to explain, but you can see the guide in action here.

As far as the internet goes – the speed is actually the same I was getting from Comcast. The router is interesting in that it houses a wireless router and modem in one box. Cable just gave us a modem and had us buy the router. This is a plus and a negative. It is one box, so you don’t have to worry about two boxes to put somewhere, and you don’t have to go buy one- however you don’t have a choice of brand if you have a quirky network. Installation for internet is interesting. They put a flash drive in your computer and authorize the router. I was concerned they were going to put some crap branded bloatware on my computer based on their website, but there is an option at the end to choose what you want to intall- and you can uncheck the boxes to keep the crap off. Whew.

The night after the installation I notice the TV in the living and my roommates bedroom were fine, but mine was having trouble. I called Verizon and after getting through a couple service menus, got a technician. After a few “turn off the box” and remote resets he scheduled a tech for the next day. What ended up happening was that when the installation took place the tech didn’t securely retighten my line in the splitter. Quick, 10 min fix and he was done. No complaints and not really a problem with the service.

Overall, again the service on almost all counts is the same quality wise. I don’t notice any difference in picture quality. I am still looking for pixelation in fast moving scenes like I had with Comcast HD. However, it is cheaper saving me 25% and giving me more options – more HD channels and more premium channels. If you are looking to switch, make sure you are not expecting a better picture. What you will get is an overwhelming amount of options and a smaller bill – who could complain about that?