Going with Verizon Fiber Optic / Fios

[larryinnewyork]

Good morning all,

I've had Verizon DSL (1 Mbps) for 15 years now and it's been good enough for what I need.
Yea, I have to wait some times.

For 3 years now, Verizon has been wanting me to switch over to their Fiber Optic.
They don't want to maintain the 'copper' wires anymore.

I just received a letter from Verizon saying;
"your Verizon services will be suspended on or after December 14, 2016".

Well, I held out for as long as I could, but you have to change with the times.
The new service will be 50/50 Mbps
My reason for holding out was to save $20. per Month (over the long run).

My concerns:
1.) Battery Backup (to use the telephone) is an 'option'
I don't have a cell phone and during a power outage, it would come in handy to communicate with
the Electric Company for updates.
I don't like the fact that the battery pack consists of 12 'D' size batteries.
I would like to see them use (1) wet-cell Battery.
I'll ask the Installer when he's here.
Right now I'm not going with Battery Backup.

2.) 2-Year Agreement .... OR .... No Annual Contract.
I choose NO Annual Contract because it was less expensive.
1-12 Months @ 49.99 per Month
13-24 Months @ 69.99 per Month

2-Year Agreement was:
1-12 Months @ 69.99
13-24 Months @ 84.99

I'II be watching for any price increases. I'm sure they'll be coming.

Question: Anybody recently have Verizon Fios installed and was disappointed in the installation.
Any things I should watch out for ? ? ?
I have a 2'x3' board in the basement where ALL Internet & Phone components will go.

This is my 'thinking project' for the weekend.
All comments are welcome.

 

[demarpaint]

Good luck, they suck, but the other choices weren't any better so we stuck with them. lol Make sure they change everything out and replace it with new. Around here they try and use old wiring etc. to make their installation easier.

 

[racer12306]

I had FiOS at our last house.

No issues on install in 2009. It was a SLA battery for the backup. It still only lasted several hours, not days.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I'd want a cell phone if for no other reason than mechanical breakdown on the road with the car.

I wish I could get DSL or FIOS where I will be moving. Unfortunately, will still be stuck with Time Warner and their poor quality of service.

Verizon is just a typical big company when it comes to customer service, but at least their quality of service (product) is significantly better than Time Warner.

You always have the option of putting the FIOS device on a UPS - you can get some pretty big UPSs that should run the FIOS device for quite some time.

 

[JTK]

I know a bunch of people with it and the only thing they complain about is the bill.

 

[Brybo86]

Can you get comcast/time Warner out there?

I pay $19.99 for 10mb downstream and 2mb upstream. No extra tax or fees. $19.99

It runs Netflix perfectly fine.

Only time I notice the speed is if I'm downloading huge file.

At that point if I dont want to wait I'll tether to my phone which has 40mbs down and unlimited data.