[wplug] FiOS questions

[Patrick Weber]

I have had FIOS since it was first offered in my area (around 3 years?).  Overall I have been very pleased with the service.

I have a bundle TV and Internet.  The only "taxes and fees" that show up on my bill are for my set-top-boxes (which you wouldn't have if you don't have TV service), state sales tax, and a video franchising fee.  I believe these are all associated with the video service only, and not the internet service.  Regardless they are small (~$6/mo total).

Verizon installs a fiber box somewhere on the outside of your house or in your basement/garage.  Mine is in my garage.  This converts the fiber to coax.  You will also receive a cable modem/wireless router to connect your PC to.  You can disable the wireless function if you want.  There are 4 ports on mine for wired connection.  Your existing PC NIC would most likely work fine with the router provided.

You will have a dynamic IP, but I use www.dyndns.com to give me a static hostname (it's free), and the provided router can be set up to automatically update this service.  It works very nice.

I don't know exactly what their rules are for web hosting etc. but I have not had any port blocking problems.  I use SSH and some basic web hosting ports for personal use and have not run into any problem.

The router isn't the greatest, but you do have reasonable port management options.

I have occasionally used bittorent (I admit...) without problem.  Again, I don't know what their policy is.  I haven't used it enough to see what happens with large amounts of uploading though.

Overall I've been pleased.  They have a FIOS support center in Pittsburgh and I know a few of the techs there, they are reasonably competent and helpful.  Installation takes a few hours since they have to mount the box on your house.   If you are renting this could be a problem... call your landlord first.

My biggest gripe with Verizon is that every time your contract runs out they automatically bump you to whatever the existing rate is for the service you have, so you have to be pro-active about making sure you always have the best deal/bundle offer available.

Hope that was helpful.

Regards,
Pat


________________________________
From: Zachary Uram <netrek at gmail.com>
To: General user list <wplug at wplug.org>
Sent: Friday, June 17, 2011 10:50 AM
Subject: [wplug] FiOS questions

Does anyone here run Verizon FiOS? If so do you have a positive or
negative experience overall? Does FiOS let you run your own web
server, game server, teamspeak server, IRC server? Do you get a static
IP or a dynamic one that constantly changes? I am interested in the
15Mb/5Mb plan for $49.99/month. It says there are taxes and fees
applicable as well. Just how much are these fees per month? I did live
chat with a FiOS rep., but they seemed to just give formulaic answers
and I really didn't get my questions answered. Right now I have
Speakeasy (Megapath) DSL and it is direct connection to my desktop
machine (static IP too) so I have no router. The Verizon rep. said I
need a wireless router and a wireless NIC, Verizon has promotion where
they give you a wireless router. This doesn't help me because I don't
trust wireless security (even WPA2 has been cracked) and I don't want
to buy a wireless NIC. Is there anyway I can have FiOS just connect
directly to my (wired) NIC? Here is what she said:

Archer(23:53:23): When you sign up for FiOS Internet, you'll receive a
wireless router at no cost that will provide firewall protection and a
fast, reliable connection to multiple computers.That means everyone in
your household with a wireless-enabled computer will be able to use
FiOS Internet when and where they want to, as long as they?re inside
the router?s signal area.
Archer(23:53:30): The wireless router allows you to connect up to 4
computers through the four wired ports, and/or up to ten additional
computers without wires.

This $49.99/mo price is a promotion so it's only good for one year. I
asked her what the price would be after that and she had no clue. Does
anyone know? She said:

Archer(23:47:44): We do not have any details on the future prices and
offers; however, Verizon will notify you at least 30 days prior with
the exact prices and offers.

Also what is Verizon's attitude towards bittorenting? Would this be
blocked and would I then need a router that does port forwarding?

I pay $55/mo now, but I only get 1.5Mb/384Kb, so having 15Mb/5Mb for
only $5 more seems too good to pass up!

Another question I had was how long it takes from the day I order
service until it is finally up and running? I live in Carrick so I
don't know if they already have fiber in here and just need to run a
secondary line to our building. She couldn't answer this question
either!

Thanks for any info.

-- 
Zach
http://www.fidei.org
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