How much are you paying for Verizon Fios? (rental, house)

[persnicketygal]

I've been down this research path before, I know ... when I was looking into bundling TV/internet/phone.

I then decided that my DirecTV was fine (even though it was getting expensive: I'm up to $87 for "Choice Xtra Classic" -- no sports/HBO/any pay-per-views, etc. -- for 2 TVs, one with a DVR). And I thought I could get by just fine with my "standard" high-speed internet thru Verizon.

But now I want to get a Roku for streaming movies, and my internet speed probably won't cut it (without a lot of buffering interruptions): I'm at only 0.78 Mbps for downloading; Roku requires a minimum of 1.2.

My NEW question for you folks:

Other than Fios, Verizon also offers "enhanced" high-speed internet options -- of these speeds: 1.1-3, 3.1-7, or 7.1-15.

Does anybody here have the "enhanced"? (not the Fios)

Is it worth it? Or is Fios really the only way to go (we do have it in my neighborhood).

I've just heard and read some things about Verizon really racking up a lot of fees that make their advertised offers look like bait-and-switch.

Also, what has been your experience with their installation service? Not necessarily them coming when they say they will (we all know service people don't really do that anymore) -- but were they able to work through any special situation you may have had?

I know that enhanced and Fios require a special router, and I'm worried that I won't be able to use the Apple Airport Express wireless gizmo that I currently use in the house (for using the laptop elsewhere in the house or printing wirelessly).

The big bottom-line question: How much are you paying for anything beyond basic high-speed (like what I have now), and what are you getting for it?

Obviously I'm still confused as to what I REALLY need just to stream movies and use the laptop wirelessly versus what Verizon will try to sell me.

[gammann]

I can't speak to the non-FIOS stuff, as I have FIOS TriplePlay pkg. The router that you get with FIOS, generally you get it for free, will allow you to still use your Airport Express. You would just connect it to the router they provide. You could turn off the Wifi on the FiOS router if you do not wish to use it.

This site had a lot of good info on it, mostly FiOS related, Verizon Online FiOS FAQ | DSLReports.com, ISP Information

You can also post in their forum, if you don't get the answers here, Verizon Fiber Optics forum | DSLReports.com, ISP Information

As for my FiOS install, everything went fine and was up and running in no time. The problem I had, was I tried to port my phone number from my old house to my new one. That caused about a month of no phone service and repeated calls for them to finally decide they couldn't do it. I then spent about 6 months getting my bill fixed.

FiOS product is great, but the customer service sucks.

Their product offerings can be quite confusing, and it seems like you can come up with an infinite amount of pricing depending on how you select your services.

But as far as bait and switch, it's really no different than any other provider. They offer you some discounts up front, for a 2 year agreement, and when the 2 yrs is up your price either goes up, or you call them up and re-up your agreement for more discounts. Some discounts (dvrs, movie channels) are for a shorter than 2 year period.

[Gekkota]

I signed up for the no contract Triple Play for $99/month...which actually turns out to be $115/month when all the taxes and dvr rental is included. I have kind of an enhanced basic cable (no HBO, sports, etc.) and the regular speed Internet. You should take a look at whether you really need a faster Internet for the streaming--when I researched it, it seemed like what they offer should be fast enough for streaming.

The installation went fine except the installer "already used the last HDMI cable" so he connected the TV with a component cable. He said I could call and order an HDMI cable. I did, and they sent me one pretty quickly.

I really have a disdain for cable companies in general, so I would say Fios is no worse than any other. I have never had any other cable in Virginia--only out of state--so I don't know how they rate in comparison with other cable providers here.

[chicagotodc]

Try loading Hulu on a laptop. If you can watch it there, you can watch it on a roku.

[Cmorrow]

For just Fios internet we are paying $75/month. We also have Dish Network which is $92/month with HBO, 1 DVR (records 2 shows at once) that does 2 TVs. My husband just canceled Dish yesterday because by going with Verizon he says we'll save $30/month, the DVR will record 3 shows and it will connect to 3 tvs.

[gammann]

Originally Posted by Cmorrow

the DVR will record 3 shows and it will connect to 3 tvs.

Unless you are using a 3rd party DVR, the VZ DVRs will not record 3 shows at the same time. They can record two while you are watching another already recorded show.

If by connecting to 3 TVs you are talking about 1 'Home Media' DVR that you can use on 3 TVs, it's sort of correct. But you will still need set top boxes on your other TVs to stream from the DVR. And I believe you can only stream 1 HD show at a time, or 2 SD shows.

[peanutrach]

We pay about $145/month. We get cable (with three cable boxes, one of which being a DVR), phone and Internet. We just got a new package and our Internet got bumped up to second fasted Internet speed but we never had a problem before. We had free HBO, Cinemax, etc. for the first year but just got bumped off that (but we never watched those channels anyway). Overall, we are happy with the service.

We used to have DirectTV but we don't like how the satellite looks on the house.

[snowdenscold]

We started out with just Internet (I think it was 15 down / 5 up - could have been higher) at $55/mo. Later we added TV (comes in HD) for $20 a month more (although more like 27 after state/local taxes). We ended up getting DVR free for a year, plus we got movie channels for 3 months.

Once the DVR deal expires though, we may get rid of TV again altogether.

[7 VII 7]

I will be paying right under $150 a month including fees and taxes

25/25 Internet
HD Extreme TV Plan
Unlimited Digital Voice
1 HD Set-Top Box
1 Multi-Room HD DVR Box

That was the promotional deal that we locked in for 2 years. Pretty good IMO

[jnojr]

I get TV and Internet (no HBO or anything, I think 20 Mb/s) for ~$108 per month.