| reply to Slamin
Re: Xfinity vs Fios Do you download or stream a lot of content online?
Do you want the best HD picture quality possible?
Do you subscribe to premium movie channels, and consider those very important?
If none of these 3 are important to you, then it's a toss-up and price is probably the main decider at that point. FiOS wins on all 3 above. |
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 ·Comcast
| I heard that FiOS' main advantage is actually the upload speed. Both Comcast and FiOS have great download speed. And as far as premium movie channels, how exactly does FiOS win there?
The picture quality is also another advantage of FiOS. So if FiOS is available in your area, you can look into that. If for whatever reason FiOS doesn't work out for you, Comcast is also a great option. |
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| Because FiOS has 40 premium movie channels in HD, Comcast at best has about half that, and it's dropping in every market because they're removing them for other HD channels. In the Mid-Atlantic, Comcast has no more than 5.
Yes, FiOS does have an upload advantage, but they have a download advantage as well because FiOS won't threaten to shut your internet off after 250GB. |
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Reviews:
·Comcast
| Ok - also, the lack of a data cap for FiOS could change at any time. I remember when AT&T U-verse did not have a data cap, but it was eventually implemented. If FiOS were to ever expand as much as Comcast, they could easily implement data caps to control their huge customer base.
A few other things I heard about FiOS are:
You have to have an extra (paid) set top box in every room to get service. Comcast offers free standard-definition DTAs to receive digital signals for people who don't want to pay an extra fee.
With FiOS, is it true that you have to pay for the electricity wasted from your fiber box (or whatever you call it) on the side of your home?
Also, Comcast has PowerBoost which gives you more bang for your buck as far as downloads go.
FiOS is the better technology but I just wanted to bring up some ideas I had for the thread starter so he/she knows as much as possible about each service. |
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| rumor has it fios is done expanding for at least a year or two.
Just read the news about buffalo and I think Baltimore crying foul because they aren't getting fios. |
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| reply to voipnpots
Not necessarily true. I have not tried it myself, but I understand from friends with MythTV setups that this is only to get encrypted channels.
Powerboost was ok when I had Comcast, but they simply couldn't deliver the regular speeds so the extra few megabits didn't make much of a difference. FIOS has been consistent in delivering the advertised speeds. (NOTE: Our county is a former Adelphia market that is in serious need of upgrade, Comcast has been doing this but it is a painful experience for customers.)
I have the FIOS Extreme HD package with 30/30 internet. For set top boxes, the Multi-room HD DVR and a regular HD box in the bedroom. We went this route because of stability in my area, but also connection speed and price (Currently $117 a month total). I did look at going back to Comcast at the last contract renewal but it would have cost $40 a month more to have much slower internet and no multiroom DVR. Also to get the price they asked I would have had to sign up for their phone service and I'm happy with my VOIP provider.
Picture quality is the best, when we moved from Comcast to DirecTV I thought that was night and day, the move to FIOS put DirecTV to shame. Internet is typically about 30/29 and Comcast doesn't even offer anything close to that where I live and last I checked (July). Price here for Comcast was $160 (does not include tax or fees), and required phone vs. $117 (includes tax) to get Verizon without Phone.
From a reliability stand point, in three years of service it has gone out once for non-weather related reasons. As for the box out back using electricity, I never noticed it on the bill. But that explains why when the power goes out, the net drops. I have the router, voip adapter, and phone on an old ups...I have to ask Verizon about this. I was looking at it the last time the power dropped (1x or 2x a year) and it seems linked to the big battery they attached to our inside wall, but as far as I can tell that is only for the phone line we don't have. When we had Comcast internet this setup kept the phones working.
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