Qwest Fiberoptic connection experiences (Boise, Meridian: power lines, to rent, how much)

[MrGrumpy]

I know it's a bit different than the usual questions but I figured this would be as good a place as any to ask. I am curious as to who currently has or has had this service (in the Boise area) which was supposed to have been introduced last summer and if so what your experiences have been with it. First of all I will explain why I am interested.

I have been with Cable One on their 3Mbps connection for the last few years and for the most part it has been great, HOWEVER I have recently started to make quite a bit of use of the netflix instant watching service, which allows you to stream movies/tv series to your PC/TV. The problem that I run into is that since I do use the service quite a bit I don't get through very many episodes or movies in the course of a month before I start getting the dreaded "Your internet connection has slowed. . ." or even worse "Your internet connection has stopped" messages. To my knowledge this is the result of the accursed bandwidth throttling from cable one and it gets very frustrating as you are pretty much screwed for the rest of the month for downloading/streaming anything of size.

So anyways I have the following questions:

1. Does the fiberoptic connection still require me to have a regular phone line service? I know that the regular DSL does but I haven't really been able to get a straight answer on the fiber optic (This is a make or brake deal since I don't have a house phone and have no desire to pay for one)?

2. What are the bandwidth throttling/limitations of the 12Mbps or 20Mbps fiberoptic account? Has anyone here ever used it with the instant watching service from netflix?

3. Is the price listed the final price or are there hidden government fees/taxes on top of it?

Thanks

[MrGrumpy]

Wow, just listen to the crickets.

[Torrie]

LOL! Yeah, doesn't sound like anyone on here has signed up yet. I came across this article for those not aware of the service being offered. I know the Tuscany subdivisions in SE Meridian are wired for it, but I don't know of anyone who's using the service. I'd also be curious to know what anyones experiences might be with this new technology.

Qwest rolls out Boise's fastest home Internet access | KTVB.COM | Idaho News

[LilBob]

MrGrumpy
I will find out more for you as soon I can about the product. I know my ClearWire is max on Speedtest.net at 900k. I've never got 1.3meg or more. I'm looking forward to working with Qwest and signing people up for the service. I had it in Oregon.
LilBob

[MrGrumpy]

I don't know how much it can be trusted but according to qwest you don't actually need an active phone line to be able to use the fiberoptic service. It will cost a few bucks more per month than if you had it bundled but I had already planned on that. If I can get into the service (12Mbps) for less than $55 a month with all fees included then I will probably make the switch.

[MrGrumpy]

Incidentally thanks for the speedtest site. My 3Mbps cable one connection maxed out at 3322k for download and 308k for upload. Of course that is peak performance prior to throttling.

[LilBob]

Mr Grumpy
My 3Mbps tops out at 1.1 for download and 220 for upload. that what I get all the time. As far as price I will know the list on Tuesday and will contact you with their prices and your area on the map.
LilBob

[MrGrumpy]

@lilbob I take it when you did the test you were throttled down? Anyways, I did manage to get the answers to my questions on the qwest forum. You don't need an active phone line to have access to the fiberoptic connection and there isn't any bandwidth throttling unless you are talking about watching 8-9 full-length feature movies per day over the course of a month and then it falls under the excessive use policy. I can't even dream about those kind of limitations with cable one.

[stingraynm]

Just a little side note: I have no actual experience with fiberoptic internet, but there's no fiberoptics in a lot of phone/power lines (if there are in some cities, it's not nationwide by any stretch), so it goes to reason that the high speed they're touting only goes from your house to the telephone line. At that point, DSL would be the fastest line available... a weakest link, if you will.

You'll want to ensure that your area actually has fiberoptic lines running to several distant routers.

[MrGrumpy]

Yeah, they confirmed that over the phone today. Anyways the standalone DSL 12Mb line will run $57 a month in the Boise area with no additional fees. The wired modem is $60 to buy or $5 a month to rent. I will probably make the switch in the next month or two.