I have the choice of both really.

Since FIOS is relatively new service, how is it?

Would cox be a better choice?

This is for HIGH SPEED INTERNET, not phone or cable.

Uh....FiOS, lol.

You are a retard if you even consider Cox. Their signal quality sucks in most of Fairfax county.

ya, but if you dont get cox then your email wont be @cox.net - which is real fun when you gotta tell people what your email is

Knowing how shitty verizon dsl is, thats why I am not too eager to jump on the FIOS wagon.

but anyways..

I have never had a problem with Cox internet. Phone is another story.

Cox, as with most cable/shared line connections really depends on your neighborhood. If everyone is on, subsequently saturating the neighborhood's connection, you will feel it, if nobody is on, you will be very happy.

FIOS is probably the higher quality connection, but you should do some research on bittorrent + FIOS if you regularly use any bittorrent downloads. Verizon has been known to castrate your Internet connection if you use any Bittorrent.

me > fios > cox > small rodent > feces > you



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2007 12:16PM by MrDoctor.

feces > bittorent

Agreed.


Id go Cox, i have no problems with them. I have had so many problems with Verizon, i refuse to give them any more of my buisness.

I havent had problems with Verizon per se... but.. their DSL blows... hardcore.

my friend says he really likes his fios though

I am that friend, and FIOS rules. Tv signal is better then I have ever seen, and I can download between 4 and 5 megabytes per second, it burns the shit out of cox.

If your verizon dsl is slow it is probably because you are far away from a tower, its not verizon, thats just the way dsl works. I have a friend who lives 100 yards from a tower and his dsl is almost as fast as my fios.

Also if you get tv and fios together they give you a sweet deal, we pay less now than we did to cox and theinternet is several times faster and we have more channels with better picture.

Verizon DSL speed is fine, its the fact that it drops the signal every 30 minutes or so is annoying.

Thats now how dsl works. It works out of the nearest central switching office:

cant get DSL if you live more than 17,000 feet (3.25 miles) from the central switching office. Those are the big-ass usually brick buildings the say Verizon on them and dont really have any visible doors and look old. The three that come to the top of my mind are at the corner of Union Mill and rt 29, in the middle of FFX city across from Hooters and theres one on Braddock rd past mason by the retarded ppl school and the graveyard. If you dont live in those general areas you cant get it.

Flip a coin.

I have had some bad dealings with Verizon.
Never had a problem with COX.

I just spent 45 minutes on the phone with Cox "customer service" and they told me my service was "perfect." The tech told me my modem has not lost a signal in the last 36 hours. Obviously, their diagnostic equipment leaves a lot to be desired. I have had to unplug/restart my modem 3 times in the last day and a half--and they say there has been no signal loss! You can't trust Cox--this experience alone convinces me they are lying to their customers. With all the money I pay each month, you think they could provide better service.

Verizon and their ass hole contractor, Ivy Smith, is installing Fiber in our neighborhood. They are totally tearing our neighborhood up. They are installing 3 foot square boxes right out in the middle of our neighbor's front yard.....right in front of the house....no where near the curb.

Moving this huge box a few feet one way or the other or closer to the curb, would be a bit more appropriate than right in FRONT of the house.

The contractor has the discression to move the box. I know because luckily, I was home when they came to dig in my yard and I managed to "convince" them (by literlly begging) to move it to a better location (where the other phone boxes are located).....NOT on top of the sanitary sewer easment, where they had planned.

My poor neighbor was not so lucky since they were at work trying to make a living. Not only did they install the box in a ridiculous place, they left a big sink hole and buckled their driveway. I was told by the sub-contractor to Ivy Smith that they can use a smaller box that is less conspicuous, but are NOT doing so in my neighborhood. The poor guy that gave me that information, was ripped a new ass-hole by the Verizon and Ivy Smith guys right in front of me.

Both the Verizon sight managers and the contractors for Ivy Smith were arrogant asshole bastards. Pretty much said they could put the box anywhere they wanted in the easement....even right in the middle of the yard in square in front of the the front door. They even told me that they could use the sanitary sewer easement, which I now know they can't.....(after spending a day at the Herrity Building and calling 100 different people at the county. Finally, the line maintenance people were able to give me a little information. Even the engineer of the day at the Herrity building couldn't answer the questions.

(I know the utility companies have rights in the utility easement, but does the homeowner have any say as to the location IN the easement....especially if it is right in the middle of the yard...not even near the curb or off to the side a little?)

By the way....we got NO notice that they were going to be digging that day. I think they plan it that way, like a hit and run. I have spent 3 days trying to find the right people to complain to at the county or state level, but still no luck.

The county maintains no information on easements other than what is filed along with a deed. In our case, our Toll Brother Deed contained reference to 3 other deeds and those referred me to another 6 deeds. It is a full time job to find the information.

On the Fairfax County website there is a phone number to call Verizon / Ivy Smith, but with the "we can do whatever we want to" attitude, I don't think calling the assholes will help.

I'm going to cancel my Verizon land-line AND cell phone. Screw them and FIOS.

Be aware that they are installing Fiber everywhere. You better be home when they come to your house or GOD knows what you will come home to....and then it will be too late.

My husband says that if FIOS does not fly for Verizon, they will go out of business because they are losing thousands of customers a day. (He is in the telecom business.) With the way they treat their customers, I hope it happens sooner rather than later...the jerks.

WHOA

:)

Id love if Verizon went out of buisness. I would consider paying for another company to put a line in to give me landline phone service. I hate the wireless as well, they find ways to charge you for everything and make it so you have to pay them money to use features on the phones. I would drop them in a second if i could but i am screwed by the 2 year contract.

What i really hate is that my phone just broke and i went to get a new one, and even though it was still under warranty, which i paid to extend, i had to pay for the new phone. And becuase i adjusted my contract by getting a new phone, i had to extend it another 2 years. FU verizon!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2007 03:37PM by KeepOnTruckin.

next time go to best buy and buy a $70 prepaid as a replacement ;-)

I have used Verizon DSL and Fios in addition to having used a Cox cable modem in the past. Both Verizon products (yes, even the lowly DSL) are better, SO MUCH FASTER than the Cox cable modem ever wished it was!

Calls to Cox were nothing but run-around. As soon as Fios became avail., the service was switched! Aside from a SAVINGS of $2.00 per/mo for local tel. TV, and High speed internet, Fios has a MUCH better selection of television stations that Cox EVER offered with thier 120 channel "basic" cable network.

With HUNDREDS of TV channels and the rest for less money, I have zero complaints with the service (had it for OVER A YEAR).

During the initial construction period, Verizon's contractors (Ivy Smith) came in and worked rapidly on placing the handholes and fiber hub boxes around the community. WHile some uptight neighbors swore they would not allow them to pass (through their yards), Verizon's easments are in place to ensure that would not happen. Now that it is all installed and the grass has grown back (imagine that!), there do not seem to be any complaints and I can see that most on the block have taken this service.

For those who worry about this stuff, there is so many other things in life to get upset about. Really.

It has been a better service than we ever had - and we had cable since 1987 and the Media General days...

Goodbye cable tv. Good riddance!

Wouldn't you be upset if they left a sink hole, broken sprinkler pipes, a buckled driveway and a 3X3 foot box in front of your Front Door....and were ass holes about moving the box (which no grass will grow on) a few feet either way?
No problems with using the easement to put the cables, but the disaster that they left was beyond unprofessional. Their attitude about the whole thing was even worse. This ATTITUDE came from Ivy Smith and the Verizon site managers. DICKS!!!

All I can say it that when Verizon comes to your neighborhood, you better be home or no telling what you will come home to.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/18/AR2005101801649.html

You could try putting up a big sign pointing at the box and saying, "Beware - if you get FiOS Verizon will place their box in an inconvienient/inappropriate/unappealing/whatever location" or some such.

Verizon Sucks Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wouldn't you be upset if they left a sink hole,
> broken sprinkler pipes, a buckled driveway and a
> 3X3 foot box in front of your Front Door....and
> were ass holes about moving the box (which no
> grass will grow on) a few feet either way?
> No problems with using the easement to put the
> cables, but the disaster that they left was beyond
> unprofessional. Their attitude about the whole
> thing was even worse. This ATTITUDE came from Ivy
> Smith and the Verizon site managers. DICKS!!!
>
> All I can say it that when Verizon comes to your
> neighborhood, you better be home or no telling
> what you will come home to.

___________________________________________________________

If you speak as nicely as you type on this forum, I can see where you got nowhere. Geezzzz.

Before the 1970's, olks had utility poles in their front yards, some in the back. Growing up, I had one in my yard and often had day-dreams on climbing those. Ahh, the innocence...

We all hated the eyesores the myriad of wires left above us and began to lobby for lines to be buried. Local govt. reacted and new pole runs are not allowed.

BUT, you still need a point to connect to the facilities, whether telephone, cable, or power. Those are the boxes above ground.


So what we now have, is the lesser of the (perceived) two-evils..

Now, what I am hearing from you is your whining about the matter and you probably put your foot own and you and your neighbors begayelling. Good for you. It is healthy to challenge and maybe something could come from that, right?

But I bet you were not an easy-speaking person with the demands. Your behavior seems to point that way.


It seems you did not speak to the right person. A sub-contractor is PAID to do a job as it is drafted. They do not make changes. No contractor would in any field. Unless you spoke with a field engineer or their boss, I doubt your message got to the right person.

Now that is not to say that someone along the way couldn't have acted as your advocate. But again, with the tone you have here, if you were even a bit close to that in your yard as you pounded your chest and told them "how it was," then I bet they simply walked away.

I have no bad feelings from the crew that cracked the driveway during the bore they performed under our driveway. They paid for a new concrete slab, 16ftx30ft. No problem!!!


Good luck - and try smiling :~)

I have a few questions about FIOS Broadband for those who have the service or are familiar with it...

Background: I'm considering this current FIOS package for $99/mo. that combines their broadband, telephone and cell service and am hoping to keep DirecTV. FIOS contractors already dug a trench in my backyard a year ago feeding PVC tubing underground to my home from a large transformer box located in the common area behind the homes on my cul-de-sac.

(1) Can you have FIOS and DirecTV simultaneously?

(2) If yes, do they share the same coax line (or is it fiber optic similar to a phone line?) or does FIOS require a new line?

(3) If new lines are required, will Verizon (or an affiliated contractor) install new outlets in whatever location or rooms in my home that I'd like?

(4) I understand that FIOS has a wireless router that comes standard with installation. Is this router sufficient for use on a typical 3-level home, and on occassion, outdoors (i.e.: deck / patio)?

(5) Is it necessary to enlist help from the Geek Squad (or similar outfit) to supplement any system operation (install of security/firewall, customizing settings, etc.) work done by Verizon?

Thanks in advance for any advice. -§

Not sure why you would want to keep DIrect TV with the choice if the Fios lineup, but hey - it IS your choice.

Fios, or FTTP service (FTTP= Fiber to the premises, or home) is coax for video after that and your copper lines in the house are re-terminated to work with the new service in the new box.

The router works fine in a larger than avg. 3 lev. home for me. Their tech spent six hours doing the video/phone/pc install and I did not need any other technicians from other companies to come help us. They did add one line with wiring to the area the computer (router) sits. It was included for us.

I hope this helps.

Thank you for the input. I'm planning to keep DirecTV because I just had an HD dish installed about a month ago with 3 new receivers and I'm on a new 2-yr. contract. I like the service I get for what I pay (and also since I only watch TV maybe 5-10 hours per week), but seems the same HD package FIOS offers is much more pricey.

I'm not sure I was clear in my previous questions, but will I need a new coax wall outlet for FIOS broadband internet when my current coax outlet is used for DirecTV? Also, when they add another line (in a new room, for example) I assume they add an additional outlet snaked from the outside through the drywall by creating a new hole, then covering it up with a new coax wall plate? I'm thinking I'd like to have two new rooms wired if they can do this, even with the wireless router option. -§

Fios does not use coax for its internet wiring. That is reserved for slower, out-dated cable services, LOL


A run of Cat5 wiring was pulled from the box to the den where the computer sits.


I hope this helps and yes, your explanation for the TV dish makes sense.

Direct TV and Fios have an overlap in frequency usage therefore, you can't use the same coax cable for both services. An outlet that requires a tech to run coax to your TV will be billed at $55 per outlet, and keep in mind that officially Verizon Fios Tech's don't fish walls, but occasionally you may find someone who can accomodate you.
You get a four port wirelsss router with the installation. Reception varies based on how your home is configured, but a router placed in mid floor, should be able to extend to the top and basement.
You get one free computer connected with the installation. Any additional lines and computers are billed at $89.
There are several versions of ONT's (Optical Network Terminals) out there. The 611 is used mainly for businesses and supports up to 4 four lines, but requires a cat5 line for internet. The newer 612 ONT's support 2 phone lines, but you can either have data on coax or cat5 to the router.

FIOS.......used in Europe. US lagging behind.....NO MORE COPPER WIRES....

How about older neighborhoods with overhead utilities? Will the FIOS stuff be overhead too?

Do they have easments to dig up your yard in an overhead utilities neighborhood? I wouldn't think so....but I'm no lawyer.


I was driving through the neighborhood near Fairfax Villa Elementary today and they were tearing the shit out of peoples' yards. That would piss me off...especially if I didn't want FIOS.

duh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How about older neighborhoods with overhead
> utilities? Will the FIOS stuff be overhead too?
>
>
> Do they have easments to dig up your yard in an
> overhead utilities neighborhood? I wouldn't think
> so....but I'm no lawyer.
>
>
> I was driving through the neighborhood near
> Fairfax Villa Elementary today and they were
> tearing the shit out of peoples' yards. That
> would piss me off...especially if I didn't want
> FIOS.

___________________________________________________________________

In older "Aerial" neighborhoods, yes, it typically goes on the strands. It generally remains aerial.

In newer "buried" neighborhoods, it is indeed buried.


For recorded easements, check your plat records. Not a survey when you bought your home, the ACTUAL records. The county has them, if you don't.

Phil...I currently have Cox cable and look forward to upgrading to FIOS as soon as it is available in my neighborhood (they appear to be burying cable in Middleridge, but stopped on John Ayres at Fairfax Club Estates). Will Verizon just use my existing coax, or do they run new coax? The current cable wiring in my house is a mess and I would like to start from scratch. Is this something that I could do myself to prepare? We are going to be finishing our basement in the next 4-6 weeks and would like to have all the wiring ready to go. What type of cable should I purchase?

Well, I got FIOS.

Wireless all over the house, works great. Average speed 14850 down

if your doing up your basement,run the cable now before you put up the drywall, so you don't have to fish it. Run CAt-6 ethernet cable and terminate it with jacks in wall where you think you'd like to have computers and at a central panel in your utility room.

Lester, when I finished my basement, I drew a set of plans and had them bid by three contractors - only one understood what I was after...

Anyways, I have been in enough basements to say they have almost ALL had drawbacks.

Drywall ceilings are bad for leaks, replacing, running wire, etc.

I used 2x2 beveled tiles w/ recessed can lamps in zones.

Also used crown moulding - ever see crow moulding in a basement?? I hadn't, until this one!

Next came the 1/2" tounge&groove wainscot. I added a chair rail ledge (3" out) around so I would always have a place to set my drink ;-)

On the center pole for the beam, one is inside a "HVAC closet right to thewall edge. The other, which would have been in the middle of the room is done to match the side walls with the wood detail. I also have power and telephone wired there.

There are 3 or 4 CATV pulls. I think one on each wall...

The drop ceiling tiles are easy to replace, should I ever get a leak or need access, etc.


I hope this is helpful - even if slightly off topic.

COX has been a huge headache for us. They came our 6 different times to try and fix our fuzzy/crappy picture-but never helped at all. Then some "higher up" guy in the maintanence team came and decided that he needed to dig up our yard and install a new cable. Only the installation was executred poorly, and they had to re-install the cable again!

Cox Sucks Cox, and that aint no lie..

I'm thinking about getting direct tv...My dude has it, and except for severe weather, it is always working...

FIOS is heads and shoulders better than Cox.

So, does this mean that I should run Cat-6 to each TV and computer location? The basement walls are finished and we have a suspended (2x4) ceiling which are having replaced with drywall and recessed fixtures.

I like the crown moulding and chair rail with a place for drinks, bu I am not sure that I am going to to with the wainscoting (not really our style).

Lester Burnham Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So, does this mean that I should run Cat-6 to each
> TV and computer location? The basement walls are
> finished and we have a suspended (2x4) ceiling
> which are having replaced with drywall and
> recessed fixtures.
>
> I like the crown moulding and chair rail with a
> place for drinks, bu I am not sure that I am going
> to to with the wainscoting (not really our style).

__________________________________________________________________

The wainscoting matched our family room woodwork so it makes it feel less like a basement (for us).

I would keep the drop ceiling. Seriously.

We went with 2x2 panels and they are beveled and dimesinal - they drop down vs. sitting in the grid. It looks great, allows future access, and keeps it QUIET down there. drywall ceilings will not quiet like the panels and if you ever have a leak...


I do not believe for Fios, cat6 wiring is placed. I can check the wiring tomorrow if you like.

The crown moulding really gives a nice detail. the chair rail caps, I pussed through the router table myself, as I milled them in my basement. Not hard to do, just time consuming.


It turned out sweet!

Lester Burnham Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So, does this mean that I should run Cat-6 to each
> TV and computer location?

when rewiring my house, we installed wall jacks with phone, cat6 and coax (tv). they all go on a single mount so it's no problem. i recommend it because if you choose to move a computer or something, you dont have to worry about wiring.

---

to everyone saying just use wireless, know this, no matter how "secure" you think you make your router, I can access your network and thus your computer without having to be very close to your house. wireless security is a joke (yes, even with the new encryption protocols).


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

agreed.

You get an outlet cover that has a place for each type of jack.

ffxn8v Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> We went with 2x2 panels and they are beveled and
> dimesinal - they drop down vs. sitting in the
> grid. It looks great, allows future access, and
> keeps it QUIET down there. drywall ceilings will
> not quiet like the panels and if you ever have a
> leak...

Is there a way that we could touch base about this offline? I understand what you are saying, but would like to hear/see more before moving forward either direction. All that I know is we HATE the current ceiling which just looks cheap, especially with fluorescent lighting.

Lester, I stayed away from fluorescent lights, just for the reason that they are so industrial. The can lamps are the same as my family room with the exception they were "new construction" models vs. remodel cans.

I could maybe post a picture or two - is that what you were thinking??

ffxn8v Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lester, I stayed away from fluorescent lights,
> just for the reason that they are so industrial.
> The can lamps are the same as my family room with
> the exception they were "new construction" models
> vs. remodel cans.
>
> I could maybe post a picture or two - is that what
> you were thinking??

That would probably work since I am still not sure that I see this as much different from what I have right now and we really hate the look. I figure that I will gain 4-6" of ceiling height if I replace the suspended ceiling with a finished one, but I appreciate what you say about access in case of a water leak, etc. I know that you can use the new construction cans since you are starting with open joists.

Is this a project that you did yourself, or did you have a contractor? Do you know how the cost compared to a finished ceiling? I think that the suspended grids require some skill in order to get everything the same height and I would royally screw this up.

I used a contractor for that -I know my limitations.

He set a laser up and ensured the grid was true.

It is only about 2" off the joists above. I really lost no space and the flexability it left me is great.

It helped with running power wires for feeding ourdoor lights and for sccess to hose valves for the water bibs outside - otherwise I would have access ports. Ugly.

The cost was not bad. I think it was close to the same, as the drywall finish work wasn't needed.

What does the transition look like going from the grid to the wall with the crown moulding? I think that it would look sharp with two finished surfaces, but having a hard time picturing what yours looks like.

Also, did you need to find a specialist for the ceiling, or should this be a fairly simple job?

I have had both in the past. I think it really depends on what you want the high speed internet for. I had 50/25 from cox and 75/75 from FIOS for reference.

I'll give you my case; I use high speed internet to play online games on ps4 and xbox1. If you do some internet searches you'll find FIOS is terrible for this 9im sure there are places that there are exceptions). During peak hours (approx. 8-12pm est), the lag makes MMO games nearly unplayable. They put a cap on bandwidth and you share that with customers around you. I've experience up to 5 sec of just frozen screen. With cox I haven't experienced any of those issues. If you play MMOs online there are services that can improve your game play but as of yet nothing for consoles (without routing cables all over the place and configuring your internet to go through your pc to your console)

Now, that being said if your doing anything else, FIOS is better. The d/l's are faster and I personally like the TV better (I used directTV with cox internet) and even MMOs work fine during none peak hours.

Thanks for your input, but OP passed away seven years ago, much like this thread.