No FiOS in 2006, maybe 2007

We're getting the new home media dvr, which is supposed to be able to stream recordings all around the house. They also rolled out their 2.0 media guide this summer so I read, you can get a view of it on Verizons webiste. https://www22.verizon.com/Residential/FiOSTV/MediaGuide/MediaGuide.htm

Looks really good, we shall soon see!

 

So what's the cost per month? Better than Comcast? We really don't have a problem with Comcast, EXCEPT for their high prices.....so looking to cut costs for cable

 

I can tell you, I got the triple freedom (phone + TV + internet)

I have 20/5 internet, landline phone, and 1 HD-DVR, 1 SD STB, a cablecard, and it looks like my bill will run about $135 a month. I was paying that much before the price increase for comcast for internet (much slower) and TV.

The bundle price (before taxes and boxes/cablecards) for this package is $109.99 per month.

-B

 

Verizon's website specifically states: "Verizon does not support the Apple Airport wireless router."

From googling around, it sounds like Verizon won't (or can't) help setup the Airports, but it is possible to make them work.

I think it's worth it if it really saves me $30-$40 per month.



(from http://www22.verizon.com/content/consumerfios/system+requirements/system+requirements.htm -- Macintosh tab)

 

Yeah it does say that. Wow, donno. I figure it would work with any router. Try checking over a DSL Reports (www.dslreports.com) in the Verizon fiber optics section. Its a huge forum, I'm sure someone has to have tried getting it to work.

 

The easy thing to do then is just turn off the wireless on the Verizon router, and put the Airport in bridge mode (doesn't hand out IP address, and sends everything between the wire and wireless).

You'll be good to go.

TVL

 

If you have had a TiVo be prepared to be frustrated w/ this DVR. It does some things ok, but it took about 2 days for the family to ask when we were getting a TiVo into the loop again.

The drive in the box is crappy/slow. So it's not uncommon for content to pixelate and some times to skip for a second or two. Especially if it's recording while you're watching something, and if you record two things at once, it's not uncommon that the recordings have these issues saved (ie-the whole stream never makes it to disk). Streaming to other boxes is also hit or miss. Atleast 50% of the time it puts up a window saying it's lost contact w/ the "hub", and "check your network". Behind the window the show is still running, but as soon as you accept the window, it stops the show and you have to start over from the beginning. I've also had to pull power on the box twice because it just flaked out to the point it needed a reboot. (it's also been nice enough to reboot itself while watching and then failed to finish a recording)

The guide data they have is also sorta low quality, it's missed a few TV shows because it doesn't actually have the episode details, so it assumes it's the same episode every week, and never records it again.

It does have a nice UI to tell you have much space is left, and it does have a 1 hour spool of live TV which is nice.

Unless there's a major software update, when the year of the box for free is up, I'll be returning their DVR since I don't want to pay for it's performance.

I have put a TiVo HD (w/ upgraded drive) in as our main box, and they do offer M-Cards, so it only needs one card to support recording two channels at once. The picture and sound quality are great, so the problems we see with the Vz DVR and STBs is clearly their hardware/software, since the TiVo never has those issues.

TVL

 

WOW - that doesn't sound good. We have our DVR from Comcast and never had any problems at all. In fact the only thing I don't like from Comcast are their prices and not having as many HD channels. As I said in an earlier post - we'll wait a bit to see if they can get the bugs out before we sign up.

 

That's what I figured. If I understand it correctly, I need to do this:

Fios cable connected to G router (Verizon's router) via WAN port
G router connected to N router (my Airport Extreme) via LAN port
Turn off DHCP server (want DHCP client) and NAT on N router

I still haven't scheduled the FiOS installation. I have to figure out which day would work best for me. It will be hard to work from home while they are installing -- I won't have internet access for at least part of that time!

 

Those of you who have forsaken Comcast for FIOS, does Comcast let you keep your e-mail address for a period of time after you close your account? My wife is resisting switching because she doesn't want the hassle of changing e-mail addresses again.
--- John B.