Dumped DISH 622 and went with FIOS !!!

[andrews777]

How is their "skip" feature on the DVR? I love the jump ahead 30 seconds from Dish and I would hate to have to fast forward instead. That takes a lot more mental focus.

Though I still have to wait for them to start service in my area. The cable was laid several months ago, but I am still stuck with DSL.

Brad

 

[stck4evr]

Just a warning, when you go FIOS, they cut off (retire) your copper lines, so you're sort of stuck - you can't go back to normal phone line or DSL after that... Not a big deal if you think you'll love FIOS forever...

Verizon copper cutoff worries some users, small rivals - USATODAY.com

 

[bpickell]

I like the skip feature. You can also fast forward if you want to, it's all in personal preference. The skip is a lot faster and smoother than it is on Dish though I will hand it to them on that.

Yeah once they laid the fiber in my back yard, I still had to wait about 9 months before I could order the high speed internet and then had to wait another year and a half before I could get TV. But I am extremely happy with the TV service, not so much the guide, but I will probably get used to it unless they actually fix it.

 

[andrews777]

So they do have a skip ahead function?

I see no reason to go back to DSL.

Whether I go with the TV service is uncertain, but the Internet access is pretty much a no-brainer. 15M is worth the extra $10-15 per month.

Telling me I can't go back is like telling me I can no longer have my ISDN line.

Brad

 

[8bitbytes]

So they do have a skip ahead function?

I see no reason to go back to DSL.

Whether I go with the TV service is uncertain, but the Internet access is pretty much a no-brainer. 15M is worth the extra $10-15 per month.

Telling me I can't go back is like telling me I can no longer have my ISDN line.

Brad

Once your copper line is turned off, that means no phone except FiOS either.

 

[garlandtxuser]

Once your copper line is turned off, that means no phone except FiOS either.

They don't remove the copper from the pole to the house. Switching back is as easy as wrapping a coupe of wires around a pole. Though, why would you want standard POTS when you can have Vonage, or one of the other packages, which is much cheaper and has many more features than plain old telephone service. Think the 15meg is a deal, look into Voip.

 

[8bitbytes]

They don't remove the copper from the pole to the house. Switching back is as easy as wrapping a coupe of wires around a pole. Though, why would you want standard POTS when you can have Vonage, or one of the other packages, which is much cheaper and has many more features than plain old telephone service. Think the 15meg is a deal, look into Voip.

You are correct, the copper is not physically removed, HOWEVER, your pair is turned off at the remote office and when Verizon gets a whole remote office shut down, they turn off the loops going to the office. The copper wire is there, but it's useless and nobody can run a signal over it. Unless they buy the infrastructure from Verizon.

 

[andrews777]

I will decide what to do about the phone soon it appears. A Verizon guy had a sign by his truck (at the end of my alley) today saying, "Ask me about Fios," so I did. He said it would probably be setup in about 3 weeks! I can hardly wait.

They are offering a Triple-Play for $99 (he claimed it was only for those "in the know", but that announcing it was perfectly fine for someplace like here). The problem with that is that it only includes the 5/2 option and I definitely want the 15/2 one! I wish the 30/2 was more affordable ($149 is out of my range) so I could go with that. Their phone is unlikely to be more than what I pay now.

With Dish adding "IP phone home" soon, I may be able to use that if I decide to stay with Dish as well. Right now, I need a line for my dual 522 receivers to "phone home" for my SkyAngel-only service. (That will be going away sometime in the near future from what it sounds like.)

Brad

 

[Ncc1701]

With fios tv you don't need the ota, it includes HD locals already.

But yes your figures look correct. I'm saving about 20 - 25 bucks a month as well, and I don't subscribe to any movie channels.

.

The Movie pack at $12.99/month includes Showtime HD , TMC HD and STARZ HD. Plus gives you access to all the VOD content from each of them. Thats a darn good deal!

 

[andrews777]

I was told by a CSR today that it is $109.99 for the Triple Play option (Phone, TV and 15/2 Internet).

I think that is very close to what I am paying now for DSL and phone, so I will almost certainly be going for that when it is available (~3 weeks).

Paying $20/month for a media center DVR is annoying, but I will probably go for that and 2 other remote tuners.

Brad

 

[bpickell]

I didn't opt for the Media Center DVR, just simply because I didn't see the need to spend an extra 8 bucks a month just so I can have slide shows on my TV. I'm sure there are other features, but none that I really honestly care about.

 

[andrews777]

I like the ability to watch recorded shows on the other boxes in the house (up to 2 at a time). You can't initiate recordings remotely, but you can watch them. The storage space does seem limited, at 20 hours of HD, but I will see how that works.

Brad

 

[jgantert]

1. The program guide always shows all channels, no way to display just what you subscribe to.

2. Due to number 1) I set up favorites to be just what I subscribe to. Well the only way to get all favorites to show up, is to scroll all the way to the bottom of the list and then scroll all the way back to the top again. Then and only then will all of the channels show up that you have chosen for favorites.

FYI, after being recently upgraded to the new guide, I have the exact same behavior.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Ill be moving into an area with Fios in Jan and kinda interested. Im tired of OTA on Dish for my locals but love everything else about Dish. Other than losing some new HD channels added to Dish, Im a little leary of the Fios dvr. 18 hours of HD recording? Come on. Do they offer ext hdd's?

Thanks

 

[jgantert]

No external storage on the FiOS DVR. You can use TiVO HD with it tho, and just get two cable cards (or one cable card if your local FiOS uses MCARDS -- mine does not).

-John

 

[dlsnyder]

Just found out that my neighborhood is getting Verizon fiber laid in the next week, so I thought I would start checking out FiOS. One thing I might have missed... from the last post above it sounds like FiOS sends all the signals to your house by fiber optic but then they have some sort of adapter at your house that converts the signals to their more conventional counterparts? So you can use your same old telephone plugged in to the same old jacks, and the FiOS TV signals go through your home on coax and are compatible with standard cable TV technology?

 

[jgantert]

That's how it works. There's a box outside your house and one inside as well. It contains battery backup, and converts the fiber outside to Coax (for TV), phone and CAT5 (for internet). I think new installs don't use CAT5, but just run internet over the Coax like your existing cable company does. They use all the existing wiring in your house, and run new as needed. I had a CATV wire re-run because the signal quality wasn't good enough.

For TV, you need a box on each TV. The only channels you can get with a Cable Ready TV are the ones under 50.

-John

 

[dlsnyder]

I have done a lot of research since my post last night, as I kind of obsess over stuff like this, wanting to learn as much as possible. Looks to me like the best combination would be using Tivo S3s and cable cards (or cable card if it is the M card). From what I have read elsewhere the VOD is not much to write home about, and my family and I only rarely purchase PPV.

That being said, I really like the setup I have now (a 622 in dual mode and a 508), and the programming that Dish offers. Verizon's prices are about the same as Dish's when you figure in equipment costs and the addition of the movie pack (since Verizon doesn't give you Encore in their top tier like Dish does). I will not be in a hurry to switch when they finally complete the buildout.

 

[andrews777]

Did you factor in any savings by having Internet and Cable together? Since they also have my home phone I will be getting all 3 for about the price I was paying for Dish with the Top 180 plan before I downgraded a while back. I figure I am ahead even considering I just bought 2 TivoHD units.

 

[jgantert]

Make sure you add in the monthly TiVo costs as well.

I'm thinking about switching from FiOS to DISH, but I'm unsure about the 18 month comitment, since we are considering moving soon.

-John