JMS Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 Here are the choices... Cable offers good internet speed, OK prices, and good TV. The advantage of cable service is that coper lines which carry cable are subject to laws which require COMCASt or whoever ownes the coper to allow other companies to compete on their networks starting in the next couple of years. When they built the networks originally they were granted a limited monopoly for 8-10 years. Well those limited monopolies are about to expire. When the competion hits expect the prices to drop significantly just like phone serviec dropped after the deregulations of the 80's. Anybody remember $1.25 per minute for long distance? FIOS offers the state of the art internet access, currently excellent prices, and good TV reception too ( HD, digitial.. etc ). In the current FIOS offering they are actually only offering a fraction of the internet bandwidth and speed that's availible through the technology. They are doing this because what they are offering now is still better than what cable can provide and because they plan to offer the improved bandwidth and speed in the future as for pay packages once they've locked you into their networks. The negative for FIOS is that unlike cable networks which are on coper cables, there are no laws governing FIOS networks. Thus if a company builds a FIOS network, they own it for ever. They will never have to allow competion on their netowrk. So going into the future expect for prices to go up and services to be a compromise. Or, once they have you, expect them to take you for granted because you will have no options but to continue with them. Direct TV is simpler. The TV reception is pretty good, except if their is a storm, or if the wind is blowing, or if your antena falls down. The antena's are generally pretty ugly, and depending upon the orientation of your home and how well you supervise the installer; you can have that ugly antenna being promently displayed visible from the front of your home. That's one of my pet peves, you might not care about it. The other negative about Direct TV is that they don't offer internet service. So if you go the Direct TV route, your still shopping for a decent internet connection. For me, that's a show stopper. Bottom line is FIOS is far superior to cable currently. Problem is cable costs are just going to get lower as competion is introduced. FIOS which is cheap now; will just be getting more expensive because they've outmanuvered the marketplace and have figured out a way to eliminate future competion. Direct TV is just half a solution and isn't really in the running. Expect them to go bankrupt in the next hald decade as FIOS and Cable start to battle for the market place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slacky McSlackAss Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 Let me know how your installs go with FIOS because I am really pushing for that. I know its available in my neighborhood, a VZ rep went door to door after it was installed letting people know.I hear you born a skins fan and I read your thread which is what sparked this one. I haven't heard too many good things about satellite so I'm sort of moving away from it. Weve had FIOS for almost a year now i think, not at home much so dont know exactly, but i was there for the installation. The guy who did it was totally clueless. The main reason for our switch was HD, as FIOS was only asking 9.95 for channells while DirecTV wanted 13 i think. anyways, i asked the guy if he was hooking it up HD, and hes like yeah. he finishes up and leaves. none the less, i look back there and the hd port is empty. the idiot somehow thought component was HD!!!! So i called FIOS up and they came with the new cables. well, the guy has the wrong sizes of them, so he leaves and says hell drop em off in the mailbox. 2 weeks pass and nothing. call FIOS up again, and finally a guy who knows what hes doing shows up, installs everything perfectly and havent had an issue since. Infact, we recently got an extension on our house and they were nice enough to set up a new FIOS line leading to the extension so we could put a TV up there. I highly suggest FIOS if your gonna make the switch. NFL network in HD is a great great thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GibbsFactor Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 I live off of Franconia and FIOS isn't available yet. I'm stuck with Cox. It's okay, but I want to upgrade badly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herrmag Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 I live in Rosslyn, and still no FIOS. I'll take anything over Comcast's inferior customer service. I admit, the internet and/or cable television hasn't gone out in a long time, but there was a good 6 month period where I would lose my internet connection every other day. I still have a bad taste in my mouth over them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huly Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 Verizon already has my phone and internet so why not TV too since it will be FIOS and it is cheaper than my Dish Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coooleeey Posted December 11, 2006 Author Share Posted December 11, 2006 From what I read here I am planning on FIOS. What do I have to lose? Its cheaper and the service should be better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbooma Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 Regarding FIOS if you do not have HD you only need to spend 3.95 for the box, and if you only want the basic 30+ channels then you can have it connected directly to the tv. You only need the 9.99 box or 13.99 box if you have HD and want the built in DVR, which is way cheapier then comcast, cox or anyone else. For those with regular phone in the house and have broadband I highly recommend going with vonage, it is $16.95 a month and most likely everyone here uses their cell phones more then their main line, with Vonage you do not have to the outrageous taxes like you do with a major carrier. The nice thing about FIOS is you also have the option to what download speed you want if you only need 5 mb (which the majority here could live with) it is 34 a month, if you want 15 mb(which cable companies are not even close too) it is 44 a month. However I am still waiting for them to fix what they did, at least I will be able to get a lot of free stuff for all of this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeHateIggles Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 For those with regular phone in the house and have broadband I highly recommend going with vonage, it is $16.95 a month and most likely everyone here uses their cell phones more then their main line, with Vonage you do not have to the outrageous taxes like you do with a major carrier.The nice thing about FIOS is you also have the option to what download speed you want if you only need 5 mb (which the majority here could live with) it is 34 a month, if you want 15 mb(which cable companies are not even close too) it is 44 a month. My thoughts exactly. Just dropped Verizon as my phone provider (no FIOS available yet) and signed up with Vonage. So far so good. My Verizon bill for local/long distance was around $60!? Hell I don't even use the phone. Hate to see what it would have been with long distance. I had FIOS internet at my old house...Loved it. It was up 100% of the time as far as I know. Started with the 5mb/2mb plan and they increased it to 10/2 for free (I think comcast up there basic plan to compete) Can't wait for them to run the lines for FIOS in my new location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coooleeey Posted January 10, 2007 Author Share Posted January 10, 2007 I signed up for Verizon FIOS yesterday. They are coming to install it at my house on January 24th. I'll break down the charges in case anyone is interested. 136.91 per month for the first six months 151.91 after that My package includes: Telephone, Call waiting, caller ID, Voicemail, unlimited local calling 15mb/2mb Internet, they provide a wireless router Two TV boxes. One standard, one HD DVR. Let me know if you have any questions. jbooma, did you get up and running? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinfan2k Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 right now, i think im paying 30 bucks for a landline phone line, would i be better to change to vonage.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DButz65 Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 right now, i think im paying 30 bucks for a landline phone line, would i be better to change to vonage.. Maybe, if your house doesnt have a alarm, If it does your alarm panel my not be able to communicate with the vonage line making it worthless. The newer alarms comming out work with VOIP , but most of the older models do not. A alternative is to get a alarm.com account and transmitter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 So you haven't had trouble changing b/t channels or service interruptions? What about a grainy picture? Have you had someone on the internet messing around while watching TV?Sorry to grill you We've had someone on the phone and Internet at the same time while I watch a game in HD and everything works fine. Not one problem yet (knock on wood). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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