Fios vs Xfinity

We have been having issues with our internet dropping and our TVs pixelating for several months now. After numerous techs from Xfinity trying to resolve this and replacing all our equipment, we still have issues. The last tech tells me it is in the street side of their service and not in our setup. Just wondering if Fios is any better before making a change.

 

Have several friends telling me they hate Xfinity for these reasons-

 

I can't answer your question directly, but have had no problems with Fios and can affirm they are very responsive. If Xfinity has confirmed the problem is on the street side of their product but has made no effort to fix it, then I think the decision is easy.

 

TL;DR
Fios will always be better than legacy cable.

the long version
Xfinity and Verizon FiOS use two different technologies. Comcast and all cable provider legacy installs use an Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC) distribution where FiOS is 100% fiber.

The way the HFC system works is the signals are delivered over fiber optic cables to the neighborhood. Using an HFC node, the optical signal is split into multiple coax distribution lines. As each line passes a group of homes, usually ranging from 4-12, a distribution tap is placed inline to service the homes. The tap will have a single port for each home. The distribution line will continue down a specifically engineered path that serviced as many as 500 homes when first rolled out over two decades ago, but with the increase in broadband Internet subscribers, the number of homes has decreased to as few as 50, with the average being likely in the 125-250 range. From the tap, a drop line is run to a single demarcation point at your home.

HFC == Node |> Distribution Line --- Tap =< --- Drop ---|- home

The amount of electrical signaling power feeding each line from the node to every home is a sophisticated balancing act to ensure each home has the power it needs without over-powering nor under-powering any single home. This is relatively perfect when the lines are initially constructed, but after decades of changes due to subscriber adds and drops as well as continual hot and cold changes, storms, critters and countless other possible irritations, this balance becomes more and more challenging to manage.

The coax part of the HFC system is a solid copper core. The system uses copper from the node all the way to your set-top box or television. While very well shielded and insulated from external interference, the copper is not immune to all the environmental factors that it is exposed to over the years.

Every element on the periodic table enters a more excited state when heated causing expansion and a less excited state when cooled causing contraction. Thinking of the copper in a 100ft drop of coax cable from the tap to your home, it is very long and very thin. While it will contract inwards from its edges, it will more notably contract from each end point and the longer the run the more it will contract. When it contracts, the connection between each end point and the cable can become compromised and will cause signal disruption. This is well known and is mitigated in a number of ways, however with an unknown number of people, critters and environmental elements adversely impacting each individual component in seemingly minuscule ways, a compounded effect can creep up without any obvious reason.

Outside of anything that happens with the cabling inside the home, the most likely point of any single home's troubles is the drop from the tap to your home. It will usually be the longest single run of copper and is the most exposed to outside factors.

As much troubleshooting inside the home will be done over the phone, without send a tech to the home. When they finally do, the service tech that comes to your home will usually check the drop first as they can do that without entering your home. Replacing the fittings on both ends of the drop is the easiest thing to attempt to resolve your issue, and that was likely done.

From what the tech said, if it's "the street side" of the service and you're the only person being affected, it is likely that the port on the tap that services your home is damaged and that will require the entire tap to be replaced. This is not a fix that will happen quickly and the time it takes to fix will be measured in weeks if not months.

As a comparison, the technology utilized by FiOS is light waves sent over glass encased in a plastic sheath. While it can be fragile, it is not susceptible to any of the issues that copper coax cable is. The only interruptions that fiber deployments typically are when someone cuts the fiber because they didn't call 811 before they were digging.

TL;DR
FiOS will always be better than legacy cable.

There are more and more new deployments of fiber by traditional cable companies. Those also will always be better than legacy cable.

 

Is your signal better? Xfinity replaced their terminal box in my yard last spring with a bigger uglier one that is an eyesore and installed poorly and left razor sharp shards of metal behind.

Since I have FiOS they wouldn't lift a finger to fix it when I called. It really sucks that I am forced to let them install ugly boxes in a shoddy manor. Even the HOA couldn't help. I wish I could remove that easement. Basically my yard is just a utility shed. I have Verizon telephone box, Xfinity cable box and a giant electrical transformer box stuck in my yard. There should be HOA rules on how many utility boxes are stuck in one yard or at least design guidelines like with any other modification to the property.

Oh yeah, FiOS great, Xfinity bad.

 

A PLUS for Xfinity for me. My neighbors have a bundled package and consistently have issues with dropped signals.