 Review by wifi4milez 
Posted: 15 days ago
member for 5.2 years, 2011 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 New York,New York,NY
 $50 per month (12 month contract)
 about 30 days
 "Good connection, low ping times"
 "Horrible back end with regards to billing and rates"
 "FIOS is honestly not any better than cable, the "speed" difference is not noticeable at all."
| Pre Sales Information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
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Some people wont like this review, but it needs to be said. FIOS is a decent internet service, but its not the amazing product some think it is. The reality is that the internet isnt noticeably "faster" on a 20/5 FIOS connection than it is on a 5/512k cable connection. In fact, many home devices cant even handle the increased speed FIOS provides so its pointless in that regard. Unless you are constantly downloading files via P2P, I would suggest only switching to FIOS if you get a really good deal.
Followup comments:  
keyboards
join:2001-02-14
Doylestown, PA
 ·Verizon FIOS
 ·Comcast
| Speed is Internet server limited Actually, most home computers can easily handle the speed (assuming a 100 Mb NIC and running Verizon's optimizer to set a few parameters). The problem is that there are very few Internet sites that can support the FiOS available speeds. I was able to download the whole XP SP-3 ISO (350+ MB) in just a few minutes because Microsoft's site supported the speed (and was done at an off hour so it wasn't overly busy).
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REMEMBER: Stupidity should be painful !! | |
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Ignite
Premium,VIP
join:2004-03-18
UK
clubs: | Re: Speed is Internet server limited Ah ok. My last 3 routers were all capable of over 20Mbit, even my venerable old Buffalo. | |
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Zero
join:2009-07-01
Collegeville, PA
| 20/5 vs. 5/512k I can't say that I fully agree with your comparison. If you have multiple internet users then you're going to see a difference between those 20/5 and 5/512k connections. I do agree that the switch from cable to FiOS is not nearly as noticeable between to switch to cable from DSL.
However, even if its only a single user on that 20/5 connection you should still be able to notice faster download transfers compared to a 5/512k cable connection. You won't see a difference in web browsing, email, and simple internet tasks from cable because a 5/512k cable connection is adequate of bandwidth for those kinds of simple tasks.
With any downloads/uploads or other bandwidth intensive activities you will see the increase in speed and less transfer time with that 20/5 connection - if the server can support those speeds. | |
| | | | | davidplatt
join:2003-02-13
Herndon, VA
1 edit | Re: 20/5 vs. 5/512k Well I certainly don't agree. There is a huge, noticable difference in speed with FiOS over cable.
I had a 15/2 cable connection from Cox and when I switched to FiOS at 30/5 (now 30/10) there was a gigantic difference. Especially using remote desktop from my office to my home PC or from my home PC to my office.
When I am remoted into my work pc, it's like I was in the office. Not so when I had cable. | |
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wifi4milez
Big Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY
·Verizon FIOS
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·RoadRunner Cable
 ·BroadVoice
| Re: 20/5 vs. 5/512k said by davidplatt :Well I certainly don't agree. There is a huge, noticable difference in speed with FiOS over cable. I had a 15/2 cable connection from Cox and when I switched to FiOS at 30/5 (now 30/10) there was a gigantic difference. Especially using remote desktop from my office to my home PC or from my home PC to my office. When I am remoted into my work pc, it's like I was in the office. Not so when I had cable. You are confusing a few things about RDC and the public internet. Unless you are running some sort of high bandwidth streaming media program (or CAD program) via remote desktop the bandwidth difference shouldnt make a difference. More than likely the FIOS connection had lower ping times to the remote machine. This could be something as simple as both machines being on Verizons network for example.
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"If it's to be a bloodbath, let it be now. Appeasement is not the answer."
-Ronald Reagan-
»www.theadvocates.org/quizp/index.html
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Zero
join:2009-07-01
Collegeville, PA
| said by wifi4milez :First, as I mentioned in my review, unless you are doing a lot of P2P the average user wont notice any difference at all. Almost any download in general, large or small, should benefit from faster speeds on any connection - not just FiOS. It should transfer quicker and take less time period. With a small download it may not be too obvious but it will complete sooner than on a slower connection.
said by wifi4milez :Second, you are correct about the remote server needing to be able to support high bandwidth (which most dont) Generally speaking however, even having multiple computers/users wont reveal the difference between cable and FIOS unless all of the users are downloading video (or other large files) at the same time. Popular and active servers tend to have more bandwidth available to meet the demand and typically those are the sites that users will visit. Unless the user is communicating with a less popular server then they probably will be able to use their extra bandwidth.
As I stated before, web surfing and email won't see any difference. If that's what you call "average user" then you're correct.
Also, it takes just one user doing a large download/upload that's using up the majority of the bandwidth to affect everyone else on the same connection. Even simple web surfing users would see their pages start to load slightly slower depending on QoS and how badly the connection is being maxed out. | |
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rexbinary
Mod King
Premium
join:2005-01-26
Plano, TX
·Verizon FIOS
1 edit | Usage It depends on your usage model.
I move a lot of data. For instance I purchase most all software online, especially huge games that average around 8GB+ in size. I get my full 25MB download speed with FiOS from all the product sites I use, such as Steam, Fileplanet, Impulse, etc. My bandwidth saves a ton of time.
So I see no issues locally or on the backend, I get my full speed on all computers from all the sites I go to all the time.
If you just browse the web and check email, yes just about any broadband will work for you.
So yes there is a huge difference between cable speeds and FiOS speed, you usage model doesn't take advantage of your new speed.
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Verizon FiOS subscriber since 2005 | Mac owner since 1990 | Fedora user since 2006 | CentOS user since 2007 | "Anyone who is unwilling to learn is entitled to absolutely nothing." - graysonf | EDIT: I seldom post without an edit. | |
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The_ANoN
@verizon.net
| Wow.. What do you do online? Just check email? There's a huge difference between 5/512k and 20/5 (I have 25/15).. My HD movies on Netflix load up MUCH faster, I can DL game demos on Xbox Live MUCH faster. I dled a 1GB file in 7-8 mins. I dont think that would happen on a 5/512k cable connection. | |
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