Verizon's fiber plans look very nice take a look at
http://www22.verizon.com/fiosforhome/channels/fios/root/package.asp

i'd love to give cox the boot
i know this was deployed in some parts of alexandria, does anyone know the long term rollout plans for the county? i've been seeing verizon trucks all over the place!

I've had a pretty good experience with Cox, the speeds are pretty good IMO. But FTTP is exciting, I pay $35 for 4mbps/512kbps with Cox. Has anyone here used Verizon's DSL service? How are they as an ISP?

i had verizon dsl and it sucked, i'm in alexandria at that test market and the fiber is amazing. completely different support staff too. its like a totally different isp from verizon dsl. i hope the rest of you can get it soon. i hear its supposed to be out in reston soon i think

Does anyone know if Verizon will be requiring phone service through verizon in order to get this service? I just recently dropped verizon for a VoIP solution and so far am VERY happy with it.

Have you had to call 911 yet? We'll see how happy you are then...hopefully your provider for voip has their 911 shit together..

not that verizon doesn't suck but at least their 911 service works all the time...

I use cavalier telephone myself.

Yup, they've got their 911 service shit together. They recommended calling 911 and telling them it is a test and explain to them why I'm testing it. It worked. Even though it works, I still hope I never have to call it again.

Cool, yeah I guess that that is pretty cool, the fact that they let you test it...

I've had crap Cox for 2 years now. 6 service calls.. they still can't get the picture to look right. Digital craps out all the time..

Verizon just finished laying the trunks in my neighbrohood, but no word on a home install schedule yet.

Anyone know if they are going to be offering the DirectTV package over fiber here like they do in other areas.. called something like the "verizon freedom package"..

http://www22.verizon.com/ForYourHome/sas/sas_Freedom.aspx

man that would kick ass..

i have verizon dsl now, getting fios next wednesday for LESS than im paying now for digital subscriber line

verizon is awesome quick for dsl 1.5 down 768 up

good equip im in springfield

30 buck a month i got they phone my tv is dish network

Yeah, Verizon rocks. I got upgraded to 3mbps/768kbps, and its still $30 a month.

Cox was like $40+, and slow as hell. They claim 4mbit, but its shared, so remember all the other whores are stealing your bandwidth.

The pipe coming into the neighborhood is much larger than 4mb... the "cable modem sharing myth" lives on... cox only has this problem in a few areas that are not upgraded...yes you share your "neighborhood hub" but they've made that a virtual non-factor in most areas. All the major companies around here have some problem or another in some area or another, dsl OR cable. It's all about where you are and what works well in that area...

my cox service is as fast as I'll ever need... I can do lots of torrents at a time.

Anyone know when FIOS will be available inside Fairfax city? I live right on the edge of it and would love to get rid of DSL for FIOS. Cable is another alternative but the prices for cable are horrendous especially if you compare them with FIOS. For the same price you get 15 mgps down and 2 up...can't beat that. I'd like to see how the "Cocks" answers to this challenge...especially when Verizon provides Digital TV as well.

Got it a few weeks ago. Very fast and no problems with the service to date. They have three levels - 5 Mbps down/2 Mbps up @ $35/month, 15/2 Mbps @ $45/month, and 30/5 Mbps @ $179/month. I went for the 15 (but I seem to be testing out closer to 30). So far it's been great. Not a huge difference for most uses - the wait is on the remote end most of the time anyway - but definitely noticeable. Downloads crank. They replace your local drop with a fiber run, so even my voice service improved a lot over the old copper drop.

Actually, now that I think about it I did have one problem at first. If the interface box that they install doesn't see a live Ethernet connection, after 5 minutes it drops and you'll have to call them to reset the interface. So, any time you turn off or lose power to your router for more than 5 minutes, you have to call. Pain in the butt when I was moving things around. Hooked up a cheap switch downstairs next to the interface box before it hits my router and that keeps it alive. They're going to get real tired of people calling all the time, so I'd guess they'll fix that one way or another.

Anyway, for the same price as cable/DSL, no question... get it.

install date is tommorrow =)

The link provided is showing prices as $40/$50/$200 for the throughput points previously given... is there a different set of prices for Fairfax, and if so how long are they good for? At $40 I'm not saving anything over Cox... that's what I'm paying now.

Hey pgens, you get a discount if you have Verizon as a local or long distance phone provider. You save about $5. Besides, even if you aren't saving anything over Cox, why stay with Cable? It's slower, less secure, and shared. With FIOS you get a dedicated line, and even the lowest plan is safer and faster than Cable. With the install being free, I don't see why you wouldn't switch over to FIOS.

Plus getting FIOS now will allow you to switch over to Verizon's "soon to release" digital cable TV. The prices are said to be much cheaper than Cox now and ther quality said to be superb.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/2005 09:44AM by asnpcwiz.

asnpcwiz, thanks for th info... if/when I can get the video service with it I'll probably do it. Right now I pay $59 total for lowest teir, cheap-ass video plus broadband. I'm happy with Cox's speed... I'd even take a slight speed hit if I have to if it's cheaper. But I want to dump the landline someday and Verizon doesn't sell naked DSL in this area. That's why I don't have satellite... anything that needs to phone home isn't something I'm going to buy because eventually all I want is the cell phone... no POTS, no VOIP, etc.

Satellite you don't really NEED to phone home. All the phone line is for is so you can order PPV with the remote. You can still order PPV over phone or via the internet and still watch it just fine without the phone line plugged in. Now if you get DirecTV with Tivo....they CLAIM the phone line is used to download programming info..but thats a buncha crap because the programming info comes from the dish. Actually what the phone line is used for with Tivo is to update the software. OTher then that though...a phone line is not needed at all for satellite. If you want the Tivo and still don't want to plug in the phone, don't. Only problem you'll have is the Tivo won't get software updates and it'll bug you once it gets past it's update deadline. Not sure about Dish Network.

He speaks the truth...you don't need the phone line for DTV.

fios is the best thing to happen to NOVA in a long time, if you like ur COX then keep ur COX . i know cox is weak cuz i used it i know verizon dsl is weak cause i am using it. i would say cox is quicker than verizon dsl, the low package, but nowhere near fios.

Yeah what he said!!!

My deal is all I want out of television is netowrks in hi def. I can snag CBS, NBC, SOMETIMES ABC, but not FOX at all, which is teh sux0r during football season. Oh yeah, and the lame-ass public channels out of Manassas. I need a company that can take care of installing a good antenna in my attic and stringing a line down to the basement. If I can get that done I don't care about buying video television service at all... network sporting events are about all the TV I watch. The rest is DVD-based. And I'm not going from the $14/month I pay for basic cable to whatever the fuck they want, $80/month or whatever to just get networks in hi def coming down the cable. Cox makes you buy extended service, plus digital service stuff. No thanks, I'll just build a taller pole for my current antenna.

Got a question about the FIOS. Do you HAVE to use the MSN service? Thats the main thing I hated about verizon. Do you really need to install their software and use their MSN service?

I have verizon DSL now, and I do not use the MSN service. If you know how to configure the router, which most of the time nowadays it's just plug and play, it'll work without using that MSN crap.

I was driving to work today and saw a Verizon FIOS truck in my neighborhood. Just around the corner from my house. I got a woody just thinking about it. Can it be true that it's coming to my neighboorhood? I went to the website and still no luck. Can't wait to get this bad boy installed.

dude.

it usually takes at least personal contact with the technology to give me wood. you are a quick-draw type I take it?

Getting wood, and busting one is a different story my friend ;)...

Lol asnpcwiz....

Very interesting developments. I can't find any deployment info on that site though. Anyone have any clue when they'll deploy between the beltway and Fairfax City?

Not sure. It would be nice if they said when specific areas will be available, but then the company wouldn't be verizon. They NEVER keep people informed of when things will be available. I think they just recently buried the lines for FIOS here in my neighborhood in Centreville.

LOVING IT
LOVING IT

install took 3 1/2 hours

TCP/Web100 Network Diagnostic Tool v5.2.1e
click START to begin
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client to server) . . . . . 1.92Mb/s
running 10s inbound test (server to client) . . . . . . 15.53Mb/s
The slowest link in the end-to-end path is a 10 Mbps Ethernet subnet

click START to re-test

Has anybody seen the FIOS advertising truck that says "It's Coming"

That is the most disproportionate truck I have ever seen. The bed of the truck is about 3 feet wide!

Somebody get a picture!

DAMN, still nothing! The website has been changed though, pretty pretty pretty nice. This wait is killing me.

Just confirmed service on Bolling Road in fairfax (falls church). One thing I would mention is be careful what devices you hook up to your FIOS - for example many linksys routers although they claim to be 10/100mbps only install a 10mbps WAN port (the port that connects to the internet). What this means is that you are paying for 15mbps service and being bottlenecked by your equipment. The same goes for wireless access points or any other cheapo devices you hook into your home network. Check the port speeds on each port!

Cheers

rstidman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Have you had to call 911 yet? We'll see how happy
> you are then...hopefully your provider for voip
> has their 911 shit together..
>
> not that verizon doesn't suck but at least their
> 911 service works all the time...
>
> I use cavalier telephone myself.


You know, when was the last time you called 911? I've NEVER called 911.

Besides, I have a cell phone.

Stop watching mainstream television, you've been conditioned to think that we live in a drug-infested, crime-ridden world. Or you live in a trailer park where 911 means marriage and family counseling. Get over it. Most people, maybe 99%, will NEVER dial 911.

The "911 argument" is a red herring created by the ILECs (Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers) and other established telecom companies, to try to undermine VoIP. It causes people to question the viability of VoIP and will probably lead to legislation intended to over-expense upstart providers by requiring them to pay for expensive services to link 911 service into their offerings.

Be an informed idiot, like me, not a naive one like everyone else. Don't just adopt the position you read in the paper or newsweek as your own, form your own opinions. Seek out the truth. It liberates you. Really. Try it.

rstidman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The pipe coming into the neighborhood is much
> larger than 4mb... the "cable modem sharing myth"
> lives on... cox only has this problem in a few
> areas that are not upgraded...yes you share your
> "neighborhood hub" but they've made that a virtual
> non-factor in most areas. All the major companies
> around here have some problem or another in some
> area or another, dsl OR cable. It's all about
> where you are and what works well in that area...
>
> my cox service is as fast as I'll ever need... I
> can do lots of torrents at a time.


Absolutely, my cox cable modem is just fine. I can't tell the difference between my home network and the one at my office downtown. Even file downloads are almost the same. But that doesn't mean I don't want it to be faster. Faster is always better. All you can eat, or a la carte? Take the all you can eat, always. This is America!


I think they're running fiber to the trunks. At least a tech support person indicated that one time when I called, but quickly changed the subject when I prodded for more information. So yeah, you might find a small "contention" issue within your own neighborhood, but that shouldn't be any more than what you get on a typical corporate network.

The truth is that they have to pay for the bandwidth on the other end to let everyone out onto the greater internetwork. So they limit costs by throttling everyone a bit. I can't say I blame them. I know we pay tens of thousands for our daily newspaper website's bandwidth. And we're the "second" paper in our city.

ben Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Has anybody seen the FIOS advertising truck that
> says "It's Coming"
>
> That is the most disproportionate truck I have
> ever seen. The bed of the truck is about 3 feet
> wide!
>
> Somebody get a picture!
>
> adytum.net
> don,t dream


Yeah, I saw that truck driving through my neighborhood 2 weeks after global comms stopped digging.

BUT I STILL CAN'T GET FIOS.

alright verizon, you got us worked up. Nice strategy. Just OFFER IT ALREADY!

be prepared for high prices and capped bandwidth limits. you gotta love them. They have the monopoly and will exploit you to no end. whatever... i'll pay for it. xD


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

those fuckers tore up our yard and did a horrible job cleaning up/spreading new grass seed. they coudlnt even fill a damn hole evenly. I live in a hood full of up tight pricks..so needless to say they got a few complaints

RONMEXICO Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> those fuckers tore up our yard and did a horrible
> job cleaning up/spreading new grass seed. they
> coudlnt even fill a damn hole evenly. I live in a
> hood full of up tight pricks..so needless to say
> they got a few complaints

The threw some sod on the holes they dug here, and now there's a trail of dead grass up and down my street where they were digging.

At least when Cox tears our shit up they fix it up so two years later you can hardly tell they'd been there.

ben Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RONMEXICO Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > those fuckers tore up our yard and did a
> horrible
> > job cleaning up/spreading new grass seed.
> they
> > coudlnt even fill a damn hole evenly. I live
> in a
> > hood full of up tight pricks..so needless to
> say
> > they got a few complaints
>
> The threw some sod on the holes they dug here, and
> now there's a trail of dead grass up and down my
> street where they were digging.
>
> At least when Cox tears our shit up they fix it up
> so two years later you can hardly tell they'd been
> there.
>
> adytum.net
> don,t dream


I don't know. They were pretty cool in my neighb. I even saw them walking around picking up random trash on the street one day. They were obviously making a concerted effort at not pissing anyone off. And most of the grass has grown back in now.

they installed the lines infront of my house about 1 month ago, but still nothing on their website saying that i can get it. I called and they said it wasn't availible yet....gayyyyy

I guess Cox is worried about FIOS... they are automatically upping speed for their regular HSI customers from 4Mbps to 5. Then again I'm lucky if I hit 3 so maybe now I'll be able to see what 4 is like.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2005 08:36PM by pgens.

yeah, they tore up my yard and neighborhood too! I was some contracting group called smith co. I have their info. downstairs. the sprinkler system that the guy who lived here before me installed doesn't work anymore. I called and complained and they said that they would reimburse me, but it's still a pain in the ass.

AZ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> yeah, they tore up my yard and neighborhood too!
> I was some contracting group called smith co. I
> have their info. downstairs. the sprinkler system
> that the guy who lived here before me installed
> doesn't work anymore. I called and complained and
> they said that they would reimburse me, but it's
> still a pain in the ass.


Yeah, it's a pain in the ass. But you can't always have things without problems. So you call a repairman, he comes out and gives you a quote. You call smith co, or (maybe and) verizon. Tell them the cost. If you're lucky, they'll set up a PO with your repairman, and he'll come out and fix and then you're all set. Just make sure you don't risk not getting reimbursed. Either have them send you the money, then you hire the repairman and pay him from that, or have them set up payment with the repairman, then at least it's his worry if he doesn't get his money from smith co.

It would be nice if they could minimize problems. But maybe if you had called them beforehand and told them about it, they would have come out and asked you to point out where the PLASTIC pipes for the sprinklers were buried, I'm sure they would have marked it with paint like everything else they want to avoid digging near. They'd have been more careful. They called miss utility, they don't want to break things. But that only locates metal wires and pipes. It's your yard, and they put a door hanger on your door telling you they would be digging, and provided a number. You should have been able to figure out that you should tell them to avoid having your sprinkler damaged. I called them to let them know about a hose I buried from my house out under the brick wall so I could have a hook up outside in my parking area. Because I didn't want them to screw it up. They were cool, I described where it was, and they marked it with orange spray paint in the grass around it the day before they started digging.

Shit happens. progress sometimes isn't perfect, but at least it's progress :)

I'm completely confused about this while Fiber to the premises crap.

Verizon cam by a few weeks ago and trenched my back yard to lay their lines. They had left a huge spool of wire in my back yard, so being the curious type, I snipped a good foot or so off if it with some pruning shears. The cable was a good half inch round but there was no fiber in that bundle at all. It looked to be some type of buried Ethernet cable, as it had essentially 4 twisted pair (orange, orange/white, blue, blue/white... wires) and 2 extra, a red and solid blue I believe (total 10 wires). All were copper. It had a large copper rf shield, as well as a smaller plastic shield.

Where is the Fiber?

From their marketing campaign, I was expecting to see a single small glass/plastic pipe of unlimited potential... not some 10/100mb burried ethernet.

Anyone have any info on this?

Dunno... it could be fiber to an outside box for a group of homes and Cat5 to the houses.

pgens, you're right about the fiber up to the box. That was their published goal when they decided to invest the $4 Billion into the project. Not sure about the box to the house.

PaperPusher,
I probably wont matter even if it is to the outside box. if you can get faster than 100Mbs that would be cool and you could upgrade to a 1Gbs outside box. besides, you know they are going to cap your bandwidth at 10Mbs(1.25MB/s) because they can.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

I had FIOS in Springfield VA I then moved across pohick road still in Springfield. Now I cannot get FIOS and have to deal with COX cable again.
I is like hell on earth COX tech are idiots most of them are border jumpers working as contractor in ther own truck.
By the way am I the only person in Fairfax that is tired of all the border jumpers hang out by the 7-11's where is INS why arnt the great useless police of fairfax doing anything. OH I am sorry did I say fairfax has police correction the revenue collectors that wear badges.
Oh yea they would have to come work somewhere like Baltimore or DC or maybe Arlington to be a police officer wouldnt they.
asnPCwiz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Anyone know when FIOS will be available inside
> Fairfax city? I live right on the edge of it and
> would love to get rid of DSL for FIOS. Cable is
> another alternative but the prices for cable are
> horrendous especially if you compare them with
> FIOS. For the same price you get 15 mgps down and
> 2 up...can't beat that. I'd like to see how the
> "Cocks" answers to this challenge...especially
> when Verizon provides Digital TV as well.

Not to doubt your cable snipping skills but...

You most likely didn't see the copper. They bury metal in the ground along with the fiber so they can send a signal down the line to find it while it is buried.

I've had Fios for about 2 years now. They laid down the trunk lines before I moved in. When I called to order they laid down the "local loop" if you will, from the box to a demarc at the back of my house.

Normally they are supposed to convert over the POTS lines to this, but for some reason they didn't on mine. It is fiber right up into the gray dmarc box.

I haven't had the 5 minute disconnect problem mentioned earlier.
I have had one fiber cut last year. They were out to replace it VERY quickly.
I have had one Linksys WRTG die a slow death at one end of this thing. (It would over time get slower and slower, it was the darndest thing) so I went back to using the goofy linksys with proprietary firmware that Verizon gave me.

I'm not too keen to get my phone line ported to Fios just yet. When they do the install they put a UPS there that has the same battery as the smallest APC UPS (not power strips) that you can get. They do this because there is no power over the fios so in a power outage you loose the phone. The UPS is supposed to prevent this (for some unknown period of time).

I'd rather just have my POTS line with current over it.

Then again, maybe that is what they are doing now with the copper that the previous poster saw.

Oh, the service is remarkably good too. It isn't outstanding on its own, but amazing as compared to cox, etc.

Cheers!

Speaking of which, I just had a heck of a post-lunch fiber deployment myself. Man! -§

SomeGuy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm completely confused about this while Fiber to
> the premises crap.
>
> Verizon cam by a few weeks ago and trenched my
> back yard to lay their lines. They had left a
> huge spool of wire in my back yard, so being the
> curious type, I snipped a good foot or so off if
> it with some pruning shears. The cable was a good
> half inch round but there was no fiber in that
> bundle at all. It looked to be some type of
> buried Ethernet cable, as it had essentially 4
> twisted pair (orange, orange/white, blue,
> blue/white... wires) and 2 extra, a red and solid
> blue I believe (total 10 wires). All were copper.
> It had a large copper rf shield, as well as a
> smaller plastic shield.
>
> Where is the Fiber?
>
> From their marketing campaign, I was expecting to
> see a single small glass/plastic pipe of unlimited
> potential... not some 10/100mb burried ethernet.
>
> Anyone have any info on this?
>
___________________________________________________________________________

The spool of wire you saw was nothing more than Buried Service Wire (BSW), and is the cheapest, most durable wire that is avail. for tracing the path of the fiber.

How it works, is this: The BSW is buried alongside the new fiber optic cable so that if needed, the pathway can be traced. This is so when you want to plant a garden, or the county needs to dig up the sewer easements, a call to Miss Utility can be done, and the fiber lines can accurately be located.

The BSW is six pair wire with a bonding conductor (shield) inside the jacket. It doesn't matter if it was a one-conductor strand, as long as there is a metallic path to be traced, they can locate on it.

Verizon is placing fiber optic cables to the house. It is structured like a traditional telephone network would be however, it is done with fiber. Once to the house, it is "converted" back over to the existing home wiring, or new wiring can be placed inside.

I hope this helps paint a better picture of the technology that is out there. I have "seen the light" and love it! Esp. the Sleuth Channel ;-)

RONMEXICO Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> those fuckers tore up our yard and did a horrible
> job cleaning up/spreading new grass seed. they
> coudlnt even fill a damn hole evenly. I live in a
> hood full of up tight pricks..so needless to say
> they got a few complaints

_________________________________________________________

Rather than complain on the internet, why not discuss the issue with the foreman overseeing the work?

When the contractor "moled" under my Mothers driveway, it hit (an unforseen) rock, shooting the mole upwards and into her driveway, cracking it.

Thanks to FIOS, she got a new 14x20 section of her concrete driveway replaced.

-fiber was laid on my street in late Feb.
-got a flyer in the mail in May and and Pre-ordered the 15/2 internet
-install in late July/Agust hopefully

is fios is ashburn/lansdowne area yet??

I got FiOS around September and I like it.

I have all three FiOS things: Phone, Television, and Internet.

Resident2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> is fios is ashburn/lansdowne area yet??

Lol. Some Fios sales people came to my door today. They said that it would only be 90 dollars a month to get tv, fone, wireless, and internet from verizon. I said hey i already get my phone from you for 60 a month, and i get everything else from cox. cox is $40 month for close to 5 mbps while you want to sell me this shitty 768 kbps dsl or 2 mbps fios fiber optic. i live 17,800 ft from the central office so my speed will be down the pooper. Let me consider it. (slam door shut)

KeepOnTruckin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lol. Some Fios sales people came to my door today.
> They said that it would only be 90 dollars a month
> to get tv, fone, wireless, and internet from
> verizon. I said hey i already get my phone from
> you for 60 a month, and i get everything else from
> cox. cox is $40 month for close to 5 mbps while
> you want to sell me this shitty 768 kbps dsl or 2
> mbps fios fiber optic. i live 17,800 ft from the
> central office so my speed will be down the
> pooper. Let me consider it. (slam door shut)

_________________________________________________________________

When a relative of mine ordered Fios, she did a line-by-line comaro.

She had Verizon telephone (Message rate service, only features were caller ID and Call waiting). She had Cox cable tv and internet modem service as well (basic cable, I think it was about 120 analog channels).

Anyways, after a line-by-line comparo., she now saves $2.00 per month by having Fios 5Mb service (which is "real" vs. the cable company and its claims/slowdowns). Her telephone is now over the fiber network, along with several hundred TV channels.

While most of the TV stations are not watched, there were many more features gained in that switch.

I wish I could get Fios at my house. I would dump my cable tv in a heartbeat for that station line-up!

yeah, sometimes i lose speed b/c of high traffic, but the same thing is bound to happen once everyone gets fios. its not too much of a loss for me. plus you can buy premium or whatever from cox and get up to 15 mbps i think.

\and is fios tv HDtv? I know cox has it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/04/2007 09:37AM by KeepOnTruckin.

KeepOnTruckin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> yeah, sometimes i lose speed b/c of high traffic,
> but the same thing is bound to happen once
> everyone gets fios. its not too much of a loss
> for me. plus you can buy premium or whatever from
> cox and get up to 15 mbps i think.



_________________________________________________________________________

The loss is not true w. Fios as it is with cable modems.

Speeds of 5Mb, 15Mb, and 30Mb are avail. from the Fios service

http://www22.verizon.com/content/consumerfios/packages+and+prices/packages+and+prices.htm



Fios general info site: http://www22.verizon.com/content/ConsumerFios

Resident2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Resident2 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > is fios is ashburn/lansdowne area yet??

Resident2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Resident2 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Resident2 Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > is fios is ashburn/lansdowne area yet??

________________________________________________________________

No idea if it is on your block - a great deal of that area has it though.

If you have beige cabinets about 2 ft wide and 4 ft tall in your community, then the hubs have been installed. If you have handholes with Verizon on the lids, those are typically for Fios. Esp. the green ones, though some are stone colored.

In the link I put above, you can enter your tel. # and check availability.

Hope this helps.

ffxn8v Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Resident2 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Resident2 Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Resident2 Wrote:
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > > -----
> > > > is fios is ashburn/lansdowne area yet??
>
> __________________________________________________
> ______________
>
> No idea if it is on your block - a great deal of
> that area has it though.
>
> If you have beige cabinets about 2 ft wide and 4
> ft tall in your community, then the hubs have been
> installed. If you have handholes with Verizon on
> the lids, those are typically for Fios. Esp. the
> green ones, though some are stone colored.
>
> In the link I put above, you can enter your tel. #
> and check availability.
>
> Hope this helps.


I am looking to move into those areas soon thats is why. no number to check

KeepOnTruckin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> and is fios tv HDtv? I know cox has it.

Yes, it is.

will someone please give me the name and/or phone # of the door to door guys that are contracting from verizon to do the direct sales here in ffx. - not verizons #

ffxn8v Wrote:

> The spool of wire you saw was nothing more than
> Buried Service Wire (BSW), and is the cheapest,
> most durable wire that is avail. for tracing the
> path of the fiber.

I think that yellow wire that the gas company uses to trace their lines (which are plastic--you will see the end of this yellow wire right next to your gas meter) is probably much cheaper than 5-pair buried service wire.

KeepOnTruckin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> yeah, sometimes i lose speed b/c of high traffic,
> but the same thing is bound to happen once
> everyone gets fios. its not too much of a loss
> for me. plus you can buy premium or whatever from
> cox and get up to 15 mbps i think.

a) no, you wont be slowed down due to traffic because it's a dedicated line, unlike cox which works on a hub based system. hubs = packet collision = slow down.

b) i have had cox's 15mbps service on their 6 month trial deal... IT IS NOT FASTER AT ALL.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Gravis Wrote:

> a) no, you wont be slowed down due to traffic
> because it's a dedicated line, unlike cox which
> works on a hub based system. hubs = packet
> collision = slow down.


If I recall correctly, DOCSIS uses timeslots to transmit data, therefore there are no collisions. The CMTS tells the cablemodem when it can transmit, and the cablemodem only transmits then.

... Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If I recall correctly, DOCSIS uses timeslots to
> transmit data, therefore there are no collisions.
> The CMTS tells the cablemodem when it can
> transmit, and the cablemodem only transmits then.

thanks for the info, always good to know more about the system. however, on a hub, you are still sharing bandwidth unlike with fiber. saturated hub = slow network.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

I'm assuming that when you go from COX to FIOS, your cable modem is worthless. How much is a FIOS modem? Does verizon give you one for free when you sign up?

Umm... While it is true that cable modems may share the same cable that doesn't mean you are sharing the same bandwidth as a "regular network card."

Cable modems use a variety of channels\freqs to send data. Cable modems compete with traffic on those channels such as ATM setups.

Cable modems work a lot like those cheap VHF radios people use to talk with there kids. If the radio channel has somebody else on it you can change the channel and find a clearer or unused channel. But, cable modems do the channel selecting automatically.

That's true. Also, the cable company can segment the "coax" part of the "hybrid fiber/coax" network into smaller sections to further increase bandwidth.

In any event, the issues I've had with my cablemodem have nothing to do with bandwidth and everything to do with poor outside plant maintenance by Comcast. Verizon has the same problem howerver, observe how often you see pedestals with all the wires hanging out and the cover is nowhere to be found.... I never used to see that.

Incidentally, the statement you made, 'While it is true that cable modems may share the same cable that doesn't mean you are sharing the same bandwidth as a "regular network card."'

is an example of the difference between a "broadband" network (using the "technical" definition here, not the "mass-media/consumer" definition of "any high speed connection") and a "baseband" network.

A CATV network is broadband. It is divided into channels. More than one device can be transmitting on the network at the same time, on different channels.

A 100baseT network is baseband. It is NOT divided into channels. Only one device can transmit on the network at a time. Incidentally, this is where the "BASE" in 10BaseT and 100BaseT come from. Baseband.

If you go way back to the late 80s/early 90s IBM used to have two different kinds of network products intended for the education market. One they called "Broadband" and it used a cable TV infrastructure to network computers. Sort of an early cablemodem. I don't know that much about it other than that. There was also a 10Broad36 Ethernet standard which is outlined here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10BROAD36 --I'm not sure if this is exactly the same as the IBM "Broadband" networking product, but it is the same idea. Neither of these ever really caught on due to the expense.

IBM also had a "baseband" networking product that used standard twisted pair daisy-chained from machine to machine. I believe it ran at 1mbps and I last saw it in use at Osbourn Park High School about 12 years ago. It was a proprietary IBM network not compatible with anything else. It was their "cheaper" alternative to Token-Ring. In 1995 however regular ISA 16-bit 10-meg ethernet cards were down to $50 each and 10 times as fast so by then IBM's "baseband" was a solution looking for a problem.

Speaking of Token-Ring, I last saw that in use a couple years ago at Potomac Mills Mall in a store. It was connected to (surprise) an IBM cash register.

this conversation reminds me that recently, congress had the definition of broadband networks changed to 2mbps as opposed to the earlier 128mbps (ISDN for those who know) as everyone and their mom was claiming to be broadband when the service really sucked. i think verizon had to stop advertising their DSL connections as broadband because of this as it's 768kbps. while it's retarded that the definition is made by law, if it wasnt, you can bet dialup would be advertised as broadband.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Just because they can resegment the cable network doesn't mean they actually do... Timeslots, channels, etc. can only handle so much. I had Cox for a while, and they were good. Then about 6 months before I switched to FIOS they started going downhill fast. Getting slower and slower.

I love my FIOS. I have internet and TV (I also use VoIP, but through an independant service, not Verizon's shitty "deal"). On most websites you're not going to notice too much of a difference, because you are limited by network congestion between the Verizon network and whatever site you're going to. Often download sites limit bandwidth as well. However, if you get to a site that can dish out the bandwidth, watch out.

Usually I'm happy when I download things at about 130 KB/s (byte, not bit). That's the usual limit of "broadband" service, even though mathematically it should be much higher. However, a couple of weeks ago, I downloaded a CD image (.iso file) from a server up in Ashburn at 1300 KB/s. While downloading another .iso at 130, and pulling down a third over bittorrent. I'd like to see that anywhere on Cox's network!

Meanwhile, the basic FIOS service is now 20 Mb/s, even though they originally sold it to us as 15 Mb/s (at least here in Centreville, and many other areas that have had it for more than a year or two).

Just read that when Verizon installs FIOS, they remove the copper wire from your home, meaning you can never go back to a regular phone. WTF? Anyone know this?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070708/ap_on_bi_ge/verizon_cutting_copper;_ylt=AiE_L9Mnd9xbwtSnIA21PQwDW7oF

Copper removed from your home?



No. That is bad information.



What does happen, is the buried service wire that was used to feed your house (or aerial service wire in some places) is disconnected or removed. The copper network, otherwise remains in place.

The copper wire INSIDE your house is still emplyed in the FIOS service for your phone.


That is the reality of it all.

anagogue Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
I had Cox
> for a while, and they were good. Then about 6
> months before I switched to FIOS they started
> going downhill fast. Getting slower and slower.

I had one of the Comcast idiots try to tell me that the reason my cablemodem's transmit power goes up from 45dBmV to 50dBmV or more (sometimes maxing out at 61dBmV) is because more people are using the internet.

I told that Comcast idiot that the reason my cablemodem's transmit power goes up is because there's a problem with the outside plant and to escalate it to a line tech.

I've had slow performance before and it was definitely caused by an outside plant problem (which Comcast has yet to actually fix--they "band-aided" it with a lower value tap and then they bypassed a piece of bad underground hardline with RG6 run along the ground--which works until someone trips over it or it gets cut with a mower). I graphed the transmit power over a 24-hour period and it was bouncing all over the chart.

I popped open one of the pedestals and looked where the RG6 was connected and right below it was the cut-off stub of the hardline. I touched the end of it and it was dry--underground cable is supposed to be flooded (with a waterproof compound that's sticky)--I wonder if they accidentally cabled this neighborhood with aerial cable..would explain a bit.

just to be clear, when yall say pedestal, ya mean the tall rectangular boxes that are verizon right

Could say Verizon on it, could say nothing on it, could be for cable TV, they're all pedestals. Or "peds". They aren't necessarily tall, the cable TV ones are often not more than 2 feet tall.