Internet providers in Fairfax

[Natthapol]

Originally Posted by jillybean720

We have previously had Comcast and then Verizon DSL (when we had DishNetwork for tv). We now have Verizon FiOS and hope to never have to switch! The service has been consistent (we had WAY more random outages with Comcast), the speed is great (we stream things like Netflix daily), and they have various tiers of speeds to choose from if you need to upgrade/downgrade, depending on your needs. Actual customer service does suck, but it was awful with Comcast, too, so...six of one, half a dozen of the other. At least with Verizon, I almost never actually NEED their customer service because things work so much better.

I've never used DishNet, so can't comment on that specifically.

As for Verizon tv service, they offer multiple different packages. We currently have a "Triple Play" package of internet, phone, and tv that includes lots of HD channels, but no premium channels, and we pay a total of $116 per month (including taxes/fees, set top box rentals, two DVRs); this is the price we locked into for the first two years. It will go up after that two-year contract expires.

That said, we're actually going to drop everything but the internet service when our contract is up. We'll switch to a cheap VoIP home phone service (NetTalk, Obihai + GoogleVoice, something like that) and rely on just Netflix, Hulu, and streaming for tv/movies.

I wanted to drop everything but internet too but have to wait until Breaking Bad is over!

[Yankeesfan]

I live in Fairfax County and Verizon FIOS has been great. Cox internet was horrendously bad.

[mayhurst]

Thank you for such great responses to my inquiry, I really appreciate all who took the time to contribute. We've decided to give Verizon FiOS a try. Hopefully, we can get it in place before school starts or soon thereafter; my kids had a horrible time getting through some of their homework since nothing "streams" over our DSL line.

[mayhurst]

After going online to look at the FiOS options in more depth, I have one more question...
Is 50/25 Mbps enough or is it worth the extra $20/month the first year to get 75/35 Mbps? Also, how much to prices jump after the first year?

[jmking]

Originally Posted by mayhurst

After going online to look at the FiOS options in more depth, I have one more question...
Is 50/25 Mbps enough or is it worth the extra $20/month the first year to get 75/35 Mbps? Also, how much to prices jump after the first year?

If they are not downloading huge video files and such I would not opt for the 75/35. It seems now in the cable world, although there seems to be more competition, they very much act like monopolies. Bundling and 1-2 contracts are the norm, like cell phones in which I do not like at all. When those contracts are up your rates will climb substantially, forcing you into unending contracts. Several years ago I used Cox cable and did not like their product and switched to Fios. Like I mentioned in my earlier post the customer service is horrendous, the likes of which I've never encountered before except with large insurance and banking institutes perhaps.

[jillybean720]

Originally Posted by mayhurst

After going online to look at the FiOS options in more depth, I have one more question...
Is 50/25 Mbps enough or is it worth the extra $20/month the first year to get 75/35 Mbps? Also, how much to prices jump after the first year?

We have the lower tier speed and do just fine with streaming in HD. I would suggest signing up for the lower tier. Don't worry - if it isn't fast enough for you, Verizon will kindly accept your money if you need to upgrade your service later Downgrading would be more of a challenge than upgrading.

[NovaOne]

Cox quality must depend on the location. They have been great for me.

I generally dislike Verizon because they over charge and have policies that are in place for the sole purpose of extracting as much money as possible. I am a business owner, I understand that it's fair to try and earn more profit - heck I do it on a daily basis. But Verizon's tactics are abusive and I guess I just refuse to give my business to a company like that.

One good thing about Verizon is that their service is often the best in the business, whether it's cell phones, or Internet. I've got to give credit where credit is due - their products and services are the best in the business.

[jmking]

Originally Posted by NovaOne

Cox quality must depend on the location. They have been great for me.

I generally dislike Verizon because they over charge and have policies that are in place for the sole purpose of extracting as much money as possible. I am a business owner, I understand that it's fair to try and earn more profit - heck I do it on a daily basis. But Verizon's tactics are abusive and I guess I just refuse to give my business to a company like that.

One good thing about Verizon is that their service is often the best in the business, whether it's cell phones, or Internet. I've got to give credit where credit is due - their products and services are the best in the business.

I agree. Watch your wallet. My wife and I just sold our home and are renting only a mile from our old home temporally. All I asked of verizon was to transfer our services to the new address. In the two months sense I've moved I have easily received $1000 in charges from them and have talked to them on the phone for at least 4 hours in 2 two hour stretches. They have billed us using two different accounts, two different names using six boxes and not credited for returned boxes. The rental is prewired. Our bill is usually $160 a month=land based phone, internet, TV.

[nuhusky11]

had fios 50/25 in fairfax. was able to run one kindle, two laptops, two iphones, IP phone and an xbox without loss of speed.

[jillybean720]

Originally Posted by NovaOne

Cox quality must depend on the location. They have been great for me.

I generally dislike Verizon because they over charge and have policies that are in place for the sole purpose of extracting as much money as possible. I am a business owner, I understand that it's fair to try and earn more profit - heck I do it on a daily basis. But Verizon's tactics are abusive and I guess I just refuse to give my business to a company like that.

One good thing about Verizon is that their service is often the best in the business, whether it's cell phones, or Internet. I've got to give credit where credit is due - their products and services are the best in the business.

I just assume they are ALL out for money. I have never used Cox (it's never been an option), but one of the issues I had with Comcast is that our bill started creeping up - it actually increased every month for four months in a row. It took countless phone calls and time wasted trying to explain the issue and get answers before I finally just gave up and switched to a different service provider.

With Verizon, we're on a two-year triple play deal, so I know it will go up in price after those two years. However, we moved during our first year, and they actually restarted our two years from when we moved to the new address, so we're getting that low intro plan rate for nearly three years instead of two.