[Mike 75]

Currently have Optimum for Cable and Internet. Way too expensive for what it is. Looking at both Optimum and Frontier for fiber and going with YouTubeTV for TV. Have had service with both companies in the past, and neither is great, maybe optimum is slightly better but that's not saying much. Anyone have experiences with either provider for fiber, especially with regard to installation and reliability? I'm leaning towards Frontier as its cheaper and I can run it parallel with my current set up if there are any install hiccups, but would go with Optimum if there is a consensus that its better.

The one downside is that I will lose the CT network affiliates as I'm in FFC, but I really only watch them for the local news, and it seems that most of them have apps that allow streaming of their news casts. Anyone have any experience with this? Is it more trouble than its worth? Totally fine if I can only get one or two, as that's all I really need.

[SteveM85]

I recently switched to Verizon 5G Wifi home internet. It's a cube you just plug into the wall and you get Wi-Fi. $30/month for 3 years. No cables into home required, finally thank God. Check for availability in you area.
I stream DirecTV during baseball season for the Yes Network, it also has the local channels. No Channel 12 News though.

[Mike 75]

Essentially no Verizon service at my house (cell service is spotty in general), which I assume is necessary for the 5G service. So I've never really considered it.

[CTlibrarian]

We switched from Frontier DSL (!) to Frontier fiber when it became available in our neighborhood in Southington. There were a few delays in getting connected once we signed up, but once the installer came, he did a great job and we couldn't be happier with the fiber internet. The download speeds are excellent, no more buffering of streaming TV programs and our two teens are thrilled with the speed of things when they are playing video games. My husband uploads a lot of videos from a flash drive to his PC and the fiber has been a godsend for him. It has been extremely reliable for us. In fact I can't think of a day when the internet has been down since we switched (about 2 years ago, maybe a little more probably as the weather was warm...)

We have a digital antenna for local TV channels and then Sling TV plus a few premium streaming services (Netflix, Hulu.) For the most part the digital antenna gives us what we need for local news, sometimes a little wonky if it's really windy out but works ok overall.

[Stylo]

Frontier Fiber was terrible for me.

It wasn’t the speeds. It was the abysmal customer service with any issue. Their hardware frequently required rebooting and would lose connection. Getting replacement equipment was a nightmare. They sent me the wrong hardware and then charged me for it even after I returned it. Getting my money back took many calls and, months later, they just applied it to my bills instead of giving me the money back and said that’s “policy”.

Then, the last straw was I had an outage for *3* days. You can imagine how awkward that would be working from home! Customer service was atrocious. For a full day they didn’t even acknowledge the outage, blaming my router. I have a high end router and don’t use their junk. Finally day 2 they said there’s an outage. How did they not know?

Even canceling was a nightmare. I’ve probably spent a full waking day on calls with those idiots.

I switched to GoNetSpeed and the customer service is night and day so far. As is the equipment (gateway is more reliable and doesn’t look like it’s straight out of the 90’s), and even the fiber installation was way cleaner.

I previously had Optimum cable and was relatively happy. I’d say their customer support is a happy medium between the others. They didn’t offer fiber here when I switched to Frontier, otherwise I would’ve gotten it.

[CTlibrarian]

Wow, Stylo, I'm surprised to hear that your experience with Frontier fiber was the opposite of mine. Frontier was our only option. GoNetSpeed doesn't do underground utilities, which is what my neighborhood has. Interestingly, other folks in Southington who do love GoNetSpeed have lost internet several times (at least according to our local town FB page) while our Frontier fiber has been uber reliable.

[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by Stylo

Frontier Fiber was terrible for me.

It wasn’t the speeds. It was the abysmal customer service with any issue. Their hardware frequently required rebooting and would lose connection. Getting replacement equipment was a nightmare. They sent me the wrong hardware and then charged me for it even after I returned it. Getting my money back took many calls and, months later, they just applied it to my bills instead of giving me the money back and said that’s “policy”.

Then, the last straw was I had an outage for *3* days. You can imagine how awkward that would be working from home! Customer service was atrocious. For a full day they didn’t even acknowledge the outage, blaming my router. I have a high end router and don’t use their junk. Finally day 2 they said there’s an outage. How did they not know?

Even canceling was a nightmare. I’ve probably spent a full waking day on calls with those idiots.

I switched to GoNetSpeed and the customer service is night and day so far. As is the equipment (gateway is more reliable and doesn’t look like it’s straight out of the 90’s), and even the fiber installation was way cleaner.

I previously had Optimum cable and was relatively happy. I’d say their customer support is a happy medium between the others. They didn’t offer fiber here when I switched to Frontier, otherwise I would’ve gotten it.

4 words for you:

Verizon 5G Home Internet.
No contracts, cancel online anytime, just like Netflix.
If there is a service that requires calling a call center for cancellation, I don't do it. Those days are over

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by CTlibrarian

Wow, Stylo, I'm surprised to hear that your experience with Frontier fiber was the opposite of mine. Frontier was our only option. GoNetSpeed doesn't do underground utilities, which is what my neighborhood has. Interestingly, other folks in Southington who do love GoNetSpeed have lost internet several times (at least according to our local town FB page) while our Frontier fiber has been uber reliable.

Hey, Frontier would've been great if there were no reasons to call their customer service. So, so bad.

I've had GNS 3 months and haven't had downtime yet.

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by SteveM85

4 words for you:

Verizon 5G Home Internet.
No contracts, cancel online anytime, just like Netflix.
If there is a service that requires calling a call center for cancellation, I don't do it. Those days are over

Not fast enough for me. I do big file transfers constantly for work, connected to cloud/VPN and Dropbox/Box etc. Fiber upload speed is fantastic for that.

Plus up to 3 TV's running 4K streaming, gaming, etc.

[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by Stylo

Plus up to 3 TV's running 4K streaming, gaming, etc.

Who does large file transfers anymore? that's what Clouds are for
it handles the above plus laptops for work and smartphones concurrently with ease, and when people come over and use the wi-fi. Performs at more than flying colors and outdoors at greater distances to boot.

Cancelling service over the phone has gone the way of the VCR and audio cassette player.