Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Not asking them to bend over backwards for me. You just think that. We did have major damage here if you need to know. We are very lucky we are still able to be here for now. Many people are much worse off. Neighbor lost everything. Not able to live in their place at all. After 1 month of no electricity,heat and everything that goes with it (you sound like you had no problems) I was finally trying to get all the comforts of home back if need to live here until rest of work is done. TV was all I was able to have. Watching TV in the cold...fun!! No floors,walls. Still the alternatives for temporary housing were not much better being in my personal position.
I had no power, heat or hot water for 9 days. Not easy when you have kids and pets to deal with and its 48 degrees in the house at night and you still have to get up to go to work at 5:30am.
Anything that runs on poles outside and uses wire is subject to damage. CV and Verizon share poles with LIPA. Pole goes down everything goes out. Anything made of metal (i.e. cable wire) that gets salt water needs to be replaced.
Dont expect FIOS to be your savior. Ask anyone in NYC who has FIOS after Sandy what it was like. They are still fixing things now.
Pec, I expected longer from what was advised and was a little suspicious when the installer said my outside lines didn't look too bad (figured he was looking for a shortcut) but we walked around and he showed me exactly what he thought was worth keeping and what had to change. Most of the current inside coax to the actual TVs stayed but they definitely run a new line to the house and into the house to hook up the FIOS box. Unlike cable, FIOS has inside and outside boxes that get hooked up. Much more intrusive than the old wire only but like I said, they look impressive and if you have a basement (I don't) it's a non-issue. Here's what he did:
1. Went a few blocks away to the pole that feeds my house and did something.
2. Ran a new feed from my backyard power pole to the house. Disconnected and removed 2 old low hanging wires that turned out to be Verizon wires. Bonus there already as I hated those low wires, especially in the summer when the leaves grew in around them.
3. Installed outside box next to electric meter. Big old thing but looks impressive.
4. Installed inside box, power supply and new phone jack (old CV phone was plugged into modem, Verizon voice phone goes into jack w/ backup power supply). Flush to the wall like I asked and very neatly done.
5. Capped off all old CV connections and splitters (said legally HE cannot remove the CV stuff). Installed new splitters and wires where necessary.
6. Hooked up set top boxes and remotes. Installed a free IR extender in my bedroom for the remote so the box could go in a less foolish place than we had the cable box (big plus). Gave me free HDMI cables (nice).
7. Carted away all garbage, said thanks and politely and adamantly refused a tip.
Was a nice guy and we gabbed a lot and it took about 4-5 hrs. He said it was a fairly easy job as things were not as bad as I described. Without the gabbing he probably would have been done in 4 hrs.
As for the installation. I'd give the whole experience an A or A- and from a cranky cynic like me that's a heckuva grade.
I just had the same experience with my installation with FIOS service it was grate When cable vision did theirs a few years ago two young kids that had little training or experience did a messy job and had to come back a couple times before they got it right.
6 months later and I'm staying with FIOS despite constant calls from Cablevision. The guy who's been caling me lately is professional and really making a good offer. The problem is, they lost me after transferring me to 2 of 3 different wannabe gangbangers when I initially called to cancel, in addition to sending a contractor who looked fresh out of jail the first time we had CV installed in our former residence. CV problem is that they don't give a Moderator cut: language about you until you cancel. All of their perks are geared towards new customers or those dumping them. Maybe make the people you have NOW happy?
FIOS on demand is better than cablevision as are their boxes and DVR.
Cablevision needs to take some of its MASSIVE profits and massive advertising budget, and put it back into their service, equipment, and hiring professionals to work for them.
The Dolans may have to wait a year or 2 before they purchase their next jet, but I think they can survive.
Last edited by nancy thereader; 01-16-2013 at 09:20 AM..
Me and 3 of my neighbors were the only ones on our block after SANDY hit who had TV and Phone service while the power was out. Partly because we had generators but also because we had FIOS My other neighbor had FiOS switched back to cable and had nothing while I was enjoying my On Demand. Needless to say hes going back to FiOS
Me and 3 of my neighbors were the only ones on our block after SANDY hit who had TV and Phone service while the power was out. Partly because we had generators but also because we had FIOS My other neighbor had FiOS switched back to cable and had nothing while I was enjoying my On Demand. Needless to say hes going back to FiOS
My TV picture has not froze once sense switching from optimum to FIOS good riddance to cablevision and the HD picture is super
In fairness I've had Fios do some weird stuttering/strobey type things for a second or two, but it's nothing compared to Cablevisions boxes freezing for 5 minutes for no apparent reason.
Also, didn't mention earlier, the DVR we got from FIOS seems to hold about 10 times as much as the one we turned into Cablevision. My son records everything under the sun and the DVR still has 60% capacity left. I used to have to delete things from Cablevisions DVR every day, and if you recorded multiple HD shows it would fill up in a hurry. I've heard that they have new boxes, but again...never offerred to me until I cancelled them.
In fairness I've had Fios do some weird stuttering/strobey type things for a second or two, but it's nothing compared to Cablevisions boxes freezing for 5 minutes for no apparent reason.
Also, didn't mention earlier, the DVR we got from FIOS seems to hold about 10 times as much as the one we turned into Cablevision. My son records everything under the son and the DVR still has 60% capacity left. I used to have to delete things from Cablevisions DVR every day, and if you recorded multiple HD shows it would fill up in a hurry. I've heard that they have new boxes, but again...never offerred to me until I cancelled them.
So far liking FIOS, but it's not that much better. Just another utility. Picture quality is a tad better. I do have an issue where the remote/changing channels freezes up. SO much for that "oh channel switching is much faster." It's a lot faster but go too fast and it freezes and has to catch up. Cable was slow but at least it wasn't computer glitchy while trying to be fast. Just sayin'.
Also, does anyone have fios phone and find they have to dial 516 to make local calls? Is there a setting that can be changed somewhere. I have to call them anyhoo but thought i'd ask.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My other neighbor had FiOS switched back to cable and had nothing while I was enjoying my On Demand. Needless to say hes going back to FiOS
