Verizon showed up as scheduled yesterday and installed my FiOS service.  Fiber to the home is now a reality rather than some future technology that is much talked about but never happens.  The installation was problem free.  I got the “low bandwidth” option…5Mbps incoming; 2Mbps outgoing. 😉

I ran a few speed tests using SpeakEasy and got the following results:

• Vienna, VA to Washington, DC – 5.073 Mbps in/1.791 Mbps out
• Vienna, VA to Los Angeles, CA – 5.073 Mbps in/1.771 Mbps out
• Vienna, VA to Dallas, TX – 5.073 Mbps in/1.785 Mbps out

The interface to FiOS is a bit different than that of the DSL line it replaced…it does not use the PPPOE Protocol common to most DSL service providers.  So it is “connectionless,” i.e., no userid and password required and no connection setup time.  And, none of the overhead one incurs when using PPPOE.

One of the side effects of the new FiOS service is that I now have yet one more perfectly good wireless router that is in need of a home.  I got a new router as part of the FiOS install.  I guess I’ll eventually figure out some use for the old router.

In summary, FiOS is a few dollars more per month than DSL, but so far looks like its well worth it.

And, if you have any interest in seeing what HR’s Homenet looks like now that it is “FiOS-Enabled,” take a look here.