Anyone switch to FIOS and then come back?

Try this forum:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=617635

I switched to FIOS back in February. It has taken me until now to finally get my long distance phone service switched from AT&T to Verizon. My internet has been intermittent and has gotten steadily worse (although I seem to be the exception to the rule when it comes to FIOS internet based on the raves I hear about it). My cell phone service is hit or miss depending on where I am (I get lousy reception at my home but it improves considerably when I get closer to the main roads). The shining light in all of this has been my FIOS TV. The only reason I would ever consider switching back to DirecTV is if Verizon doesn't live up to their promise of adding more HD channels to the lineup. I've been trying to find out if and when this is going to happen and everyone I've talked to at Verizon is totally clueless. The drones they hired to run the kiosk at the local mall head straight for the nearest computer terminal so they can look it up on the internet whenever I ask them a question.

 

I have been a Verizon customer for more then 5 years. I have been on FIOS for about 2 years. I have never had my Internet Connection go down and it is fast. Last Decemember I went on FIOS TV. It is great too. The picture is great and they
offer more HD channels then anyone in my area. They offer more local channels in HD then DIRECTV including 3 PBS stations and all of the sub channels.

HD Broadcast
800 KOCE DT
801 FOX — KTTV HD
802 CBS — KCBS HD
803 My KCOP HD
804 NBC — KNBC HD
805 CW — KTLA HD
807 ABC — KABC HD
808 PBS — KCET HD
809 KCAL HD
HD National
825 TNT HD
826 ESPN HD
827 ESPN 2 HD
828 NFL Network HD
829 Fox Sports Net West HD
830 Fox Sports Net
Prime Ticket HD
833 HD Net
834 HD Net Movies
835 Universal HD
836 Discovery HD
837 Wealth TV HD
838 National Geographic
839 MTV HD
840 Food Network HD
841 HGTV HD
845 Lifetime Movie Network HD
HD Premium
851 HBO HD
852 Cinemax HD
853 Showtime HD
854 TMC HD
855 Starz HD

860 NBC Weather Plus
863 KCET DT
865 The Tube Music Network
870 KOCE 2
871 KOCE 3
874 KLCS DT2
875 KLCS Create

 

I see you are in the Los Angles Market. This is important to note as all these channels aren't available in all markets.

 

Advertisements

How do you like their DVR? In your opinion, is it better than the HR20?

 

Over the years I have had the DIRECTV 10-250, and several Motorola DVRs including the MOXI Box. The 10-250 is with out a doubt the most unrelilable consumer product I have ever owned. I had it replaced 7 times for various reasons and the HDMI port has never woked for more then a few weeks. I have been on DIRECTV, Adelphia, Time Warner, and now I am on Verizon FIOS. The DVR works great. It has only missed recording a scheduled program 2 times in the 10 months I have had it. The user interface is great and easy to use.

 

FIOS is wiring my block at this very moment, but I was told that it would be a few months before it can be installed in houses. And the house I'm in is being sold and I don't know if I'll be here that long.

 

I would bet that you always get the wrong order at McDonalds too? To counter your point, my HR10-250, did miss a recording once, oh wait, the power was off. My point you ask, you seem to have had bad luck, and are willing readily point it out, others of us have had no problems at all. To be honest, I did have the Fox audio issue, but that was hardly a D issue, TiVo was unprepared for a device that only Fox inserted in the stream. I will continue to be content with my HR10-250, until it's wheels fall off. Just my 2 cents.

 

I called Verizon last Friday about my internet problem and they sent out a tech the same day. He replaced both the router and ONT and polished the end of the fiber cable to make sure it was clean. So far I haven't experienced a single dropout with my internet so it looks like my problem has finally been resolved. Interestingly enough, when I called Verizon tech support they were able to check the internet logs on my account and verify that I had been experiencing frequent dropouts with my service.

 

You should read the forums more closely there are many complaints with the HR10-250 being a buggy DVR. The HDMI was a big issue for almost everyone who got the first batch. And before the 6.x update it was the slowest interface of any DVR. Since the 6.x update my HR10-250 acts like a beta product, reboots, short recordings, audio dropouts and green screens. And don't blame my DVR as every co-worker and neighbor I know has one has the exact same issues.

 

I've had many HDTivos and have rarely experienced the problems that many have reported. Considering that each time an upgrade is installed the new kernel and OS are placed in partitions isolated from the existing partitions, my guess would be that there's a hardware issue with a lot of the HDTivos out there that's causing the problem (i.e., drives getting ready to go bad, for instance).

I've taken the 6.3x update naturally and also performed it manually with 100% success on numerous HDTivos. The only thing we tend to hear is when someone has a problem and rarely when the update is successful. I did have the audio dropout issue when 6.3 first came out, but so did everyone else on the planet. I stuck with 3.1.5f for many months in order to avoid the issues that others were reporting. When I finally did switch over to 6.3c everything worked fine from that point forward.

 

I tried FIOS TV for 3 weeks. It's really good, but I wasn't wild about their DVRs. I have 3 Directivos which work great and I am not ready to buy a Series 3 Tivo at this time. I will probably go back to FIOS TV when I get a HDTV, but until then I'll stick with the Directivos. BTW, FIOS internet rocks!

 

That was only my experience, just an observation, I've had basically zero issues that I have not caused myself. I do read the forums, here and elsewhere, and yes I do agree that the HR10-250 has had it's issues. But I just cannot agree that every co-worker and neighbor you have has a completely junk unit. There must be a commonality.

 

I've been with FIOS internet a few years now and it's been perfect.

I've been on FIOS-TV since January-ish and it has been awesome.

They are in the process of rolling out a software UPDATE for their DVRs, called the IMG... Here's a preview of it: http://promo.verizon.com/img/

It looks pretty cool, but I'm still going to go with a TivoHD (with a cablecard) in my main theater room soon...I just like the Tivo FF+REW speed and other features of Tivo more than any other DVR I've ever tried. I'll stick with the FIOS-DVRs in the other rooms, at least until Tivo gets MRV working with HD content (if ever).

-h

edit: Added link to FIOS software Update preview.

 

I'm using FiOS with a 750Gb TivoHD (94 hours HD capacity). Works great.

The SD and HD picture quality on FiOS is far superior to DirecTV. Furthermore, there's no need to trade quantity for quality with FiOS, since they're just about the only provider out there with more available capacity than DirecTV.

No worries about SDV with FiOS either. They have no plans for it.

 

I can't stand Brazil nuts.

Oh, am I in the wrong thread? FIOS you say? Sorry.

 

Man I can not wait for fios. I talked to a guy taking measurements on my street for fios. I just wonder how long it will take for them to start and once it is in how long to order. Anyone have a time line on how it went for your street.

 

Once they finish running the fiber in the street or above street it takes a 4 to 6 weeks before everything is up and running.. I saw a guy 3 weeks before checking all the cables.. FIOS is the best!

 

In my area they laid the fiber in 1+ year ago. Then about 7 months ago they came through announcing FiOS Internet & telephone so we signed up for that. Unfortunately, we still do not have the ability to get FiOS TV. Just asked the installers about 1 month ago (here providing a neighbor with FiOS Internet) and they claim Verizon is still setting up the appropriate equipment at the central office.