considering switch to fios from cablevision, thoughts please?

1768 Views 10 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Jupiter2, Oct 19, 2007

dubluv

Discussion Starter · Oct 17, 2007

sorry if this has been posted b4, but after i searched for fios, the results were not about if new fios subs were satisfied or impressed or both. i'm currently with cablevision of woodbury (long island, ny), and have been pleased so far with my tivoHD and two S2, and the internet and phone package. i had a fios sales rep stop at my house, and offered a free 19" sharp aquos tv for signing up. i really want to know if anyone who has switched to fios is happy that they did. also, is the picture quality any different? how's the internet svc? phone svc? any regrets? fios has a weird tier structure with HBOHD on a separate tier for an extra charge, i think its $20. they are offering a HD dvr with movie pack for only $20/month, plus there's no charge for on demand movies. the package would cost a bit more than my triple play, but i'm willing to give it a try, but am worried about switching back, and the whole mess with my phone number porting back and forth. fios charges $3 per cable card, and $5 extra per HD box over the $5 SD box charge. i'm realy on the fence about the switch, and maybe i should just wait til they give a bigger tv! :up:

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Generic

· #2 · Oct 17, 2007

Wow, many questions.

Overall, Fios has been a good service. Internet has been rock solid and the tv portion has been good. I saved about $20/month over Directv. HD is much better and SD is somewhat better. I had phone service with Verizon for several years before I decided to drop them and use my cell phone to save some money.

I don't know if Verizon is offering a DVR/Movie combo pack for $20 but if it is from the door to door guy then I would not trust him. He is there to make a sale. HBOHD comes free when you order the HBO package. It is not in a separate tier.

Just to clarify, video on demand is free and the movies are free when you subscribe to a movie package. If you subscribe to HBO then you can watch free HBO VOD movies. PPV VOD are not free.

Receiver rental prices are:
HDDVR- $12.99/mo
HD STB- $9.99/mo
SD STB- $4.99/mo
CableCard- $2.99/mo

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mappler

· #3 · Oct 17, 2007

Switched from DirecTV to FIOS about 3 months ago.

Phone service is great.

Broadband has been fairly good. The ActionTek router "occasionally" goes out to lunch and requires a reboot. This is very rare. Other than that one hiccup, the router is pretty nice.

TV service is fine. HD picture quality is great. SD looks like SD. The latest IMG software for the HD DVR box has severe (missed recordings) bugs. I also have a TivoHD w/ 2 cablecards. So far, this works great. No issues with the install, no issues with it working. (So far = 2 days).

-Matt

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mamosley

· #4 · Oct 17, 2007

dubluv said:
fios has a weird tier structure with HBOHD on a separate tier for an extra charge, i think its $20. they are offering a HD dvr with movie pack for only $20/month, plus there's no charge for on demand movies. the package would cost a bit more than my triple play, but i'm willing to give it a try, but am worried about switching back, and the whole mess with my phone number porting back and forth. fios charges $3 per cable card, and $5 extra per HD box over the $5 SD box charge. i'm realy on the fence about the switch, and maybe i should just wait til they give a bigger tv! :up:

Verizon does not charge extra for hbohd. They have a seperate code to add the hd content for national channels but at the moment do not charge for the 'hd' tier. You get your local hd channels whether or not you have the hd tier on your account. If you are going to get the hd dvr, get it now because verizon will be rolling out a sd dvr which will take the current price point of the hd dvr and the price on the hd dvr will go up a couple of bucks monthly. And like any other new service there will be growing pains so dont expect a fully polished product and service.

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aaronwt

· #5 · Oct 17, 2007

The movie channel tier includes several movie channels, like starz, showtime. etc plus their HD version. A great deal for $13. HBO and Cinemax are very expensive. $15 each or both for around $25. I have the movie package currently and starz HD shows alot of good movies. Once I drop Comcast though I'll also need to pay and get HBO.
I have the 30/5 Internet tier and it has been solid. Even the phone quality is slightly better. The only thing lacking right now from FIOS is no HD On Demand content.

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dubluv

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 17, 2007

thanx for all the replies so far. my son's friend has fios, and he says the HD is comparable to cablevision. so, based on what the expected costs will be, its a wash. fios a bit more, but they don't charge for on demand movies (at least that's what the saleswoman told me). she also didnt tell me till after i signed up that the HD boxes are $5 more than SD. i would need 5, so that really was a deal maker/breaker for me. plus, my tivoHD uses 2 CC's, which will cost me 3.50/month more than cable.

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bkdtv

· #7 · Oct 17, 2007

dubluv said:
thanx for all the replies so far. my son's friend has fios, and he says the HD is comparable to cablevision. so, based on what the expected costs will be, its a wash. fios a bit more, but they don't charge for on demand movies (at least that's what the saleswoman told me). she also didnt tell me till after i signed up that the HD boxes are $5 more than SD. i would need 5, so that really was a deal maker/breaker for me. plus, my tivoHD uses 2 CC's, which will cost me 3.50/month more than cable.

Well, you've got to look at the total cost.

Verizon's main programming package with 200+ digital channels and 20+ HD channels is $42.99/mo. Unless you are on some promo, Cablevision costs significantly more than that.

The Starz/Encore/Showtime/TMC movie package with ~45 movie channels, including three HD movie channels, is $12.99/mo. That's also significantly less than Cablevision.

Two CableCards will add $2.99/mo each, or $5.98/mo.

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twassel

· #8 · Oct 17, 2007

I'm curious as to the answer here too. So far, your question hasn't been answered: compare Cablevision (not DTV) to FIOS. I too have CV of Woodbury; FIOS is not yet available to me, but I've signed up to be notified. I also wonder whether it is worth the trouble to switch--I'd have to change my e-mail address, get used to new channel locations, etc. Cablevision works OK for me, but I'm always interested in alternatives.

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mamosley

· #9 · Oct 17, 2007

Also a note to mention about the on demand. There are a few free programs, then there are subscription vod such as your hbo any anything else you pay for that has vod and then the majority of the movies do have some charge to rent. So if you're expecting everything in vod to be free that is not the case and compared to cable providers you will probably be disappointed with the smaller selection of freebies on the fios.

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dubluv

Discussion Starter · #10 · Oct 18, 2007

twassel said:
I'm curious as to the answer here too. So far, your question hasn't been answered: compare Cablevision (not DTV) to FIOS. I too have CV of Woodbury; FIOS is not yet available to me, but I've signed up to be notified. I also wonder whether it is worth the trouble to switch--I'd have to change my e-mail address, get used to new channel locations, etc. Cablevision works OK for me, but I'm always interested in alternatives.

yep, kinda like the saying, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." i like CV's HD channels, especially equator and gallery, which are not available on fios. also, fios is probably a better HD signal, as i read in another post, but not so much better today that i would switch. plus, i was quoted today, 182.99/month for 4 HD boxes, 1 HD dvr, the movie package, hbo, 20/5 internet, and phone service, with no charge to port my number. i'm paying less with CV, so i dont see a reason to switch right now. maybe in the future, after they get the inevitable bugs worked out, it would be a valid choice.

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Jupiter2

· #11 · Oct 19, 2007

I've had Fios for about a year. The service is fine. I've had a lot of problems with their Multiroom HD DVR (shows don't record for no good reason, video freeze (turn off/on to recover), etc). I decided to dump their DVR for a Tivo HD. I fought with them for a month (numerous phone calls, 3 service calls) to get the cablecards. I'm in business but now I'm fighting pixilation problems with Tivo recordings.

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