FiOS is Here…

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.

FiOS isn’t Coming

I got a phone call from Verizon today around 11:15 AM informing me that my FiOS installation scheduled for today has been cancelled.  It has been rescheduled for 3 January 2007.

This is the fourth time Verizon has rescheduled…a textbook example on how not to increase customer satisfaction.

FiOS is Coming

Tomorrow, Verizon is supposed to show up here sometime between 8 AM and 5 PM to install their FiOS Internet Service.  The fiber optic link will replace my existing copper ADSL link, which I’ve had since 1998.

FiOS is Coming

FIOS is Coming

After months of negotiations and haggling, the Town Council and Verizon finally reached agreement on the terms and conditions for deployment of FiOS throughout the town. So, for the past couple of weeks, Verizon has been busy stringing fiber-optic cable around the town.

Verizon’s FiOS offers a bundled package of services (phone, Internet and TV), as does Cox Comunications, who holds the town’s existing Cable TV franchise. It will be interesting to see what pricing structure Verizon will offer to encourage Cox’s existinig customers to switch. Cox has had a monopoly on the Cable TV service for a number of year now. Maybe a little competition will be a good thing.

I’ve had Verizon’s DSL service since February of 1999 and it has been very reliable. I consistently get the best case speeds (3Mbps incoming, 768Kbps outgoing) and outages have been few and far between. Verizon is planning on offering existing DSL subscribers an incentive to switch to FiOS, so I will probably opt to do so. The basic FIOS package offers best case speeds of 5Mbps incoming and 2Mbps outgoing, so I’ll get a llittle performance boost in the process.

Disconnected

BTFU by Verizon…

Verizon inadvertantly disconnected my DSL service a couple of days ago. After three or four hours on the phone with various levels of technical support and customer care people, finally got it straightened out. Turns out Verizon has to process me as a “new” subscriber to get my DSL service turned back up. So, no DSL until around 3 December or so. In meantime, I’ll have to make do with a plain old 56K modem to connect to the Internet.