Optimum Online or FiOS? [Archive] - RonFez.net Messageboard

sr71blackbird

11-04-2006, 01:47 PM

I have had Optimum Online for years, and hadnt really had many problems (but did have a few) with the service.  Verizon now has FiOS, which is comparable.  A guy in my office was telling us he switched and has his TV, phone and computer hooked up with FiOS and he says it is "faster" because it is fiber optic.  I wanted to ask if anyone else on here is using FiOS and if they find it to be faster than cable or if they have any problems with it?

Grendel_Kahn

11-04-2006, 02:14 PM

I work for Time Warner Cable ( staten island) and Roadrunner is (
more or less) the same as Optimum.  As far as FiOS goes, don't
believe everything you read.  Cable is fiber optic to the pole and
from the pole to your house is regular RG6 Coaxial
cable.    For right now FiOs is faster based on
lack of people on their bandwidth.  The best way to describe it is
to imagine a 3 lane highway with all cars going 50mph.  A new
lanes opens and everyone starts doing 70 in it.  Eventually all
the cars even out at 60mph.  The reason for this analogy is 
when FiOS launches large, all the people that take up our
bandwidth  ( gamers, fileshareers {heavy}) will all switch,
thereby upping our band as well.  SO in the end if there are no
service issues there is no real reason to switch.  What may be
faster now will slow down noticably later on.Hope it helps.

PaulF

11-04-2006, 04:27 PM

It's comparable speed wise -- Optimum has been upping their speeds because of the competition. FIOS is supposed to be more consistent to the stated speed than OptimumThe real issue is that it is more likely that the speed at which websites, download sites, etc are able to deliver the information to you is lower than what you can potentially accept. My connection tests out depending on location of test site anywhere from 4mbps to 9mbps on Optimum, with an upload speed of about 1.8mbps.6mpbs is equivalent to about 750KB/s download. I rarely see as high as 500KB/s, and that is if I am downloading from Microsoft or some other large corp with a lot of bandwidth.Go here <a href="http://speakeasy.net/speedtest/">http://speakeasy.net/speedtest/</a> to test your connection. Try different cities to see how distance and load have an affect on actual speeds.So far, none of my clients who have been able to get FIOS have had any complaints.

furie

11-04-2006, 04:39 PM

i'm pleased with Optimum

sr71blackbird

11-04-2006, 04:46 PM

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback.  I noticed when I got Optimum that it was blinding fast compared to dial up back in the day, but now, it seems to draaaaaag, and I assumed like you said that it is because of the huge amount of traffic on it now thats slowing things down.  FiOS ads I have seen and from what the guy at work tells me is cheaper right now than cable. Now wiat, from what you wrote above, is it "fiber optic" all through their network (for FiOS), or just from the pole to my house?  Or is it coaxle from the pole to the house?  Im confused..lol   

This message was edited by sr71blackbird on 11-4-06 @ 8:47 PM

LordJezo

11-06-2006, 08:51 AM

I would kill for FiOS.A friend has it down in Va and it sounds perfect.  Cheaper rates than cable, better TV selection than cable, faster internet than cable, and it's not cable, which is reason enough to go to it.I just hate the cable companies so I am a bit biased, but it seems like everyone who has FiOS loves it and would never go back to the pain and suffering that the cable companies bring.

Davios

11-06-2006, 09:16 AM

I was actually considering switching to FiOS from Direct TV. Does anyone know if it carries YES, because I know that there are issues with Cable.

CofyCrakCocaine

11-07-2006, 05:41 AM

Optimum always made me happy in terms of internet performance. I hate my cable company because of the fact that it refused to broadcast the Tour De France while Lance Armstrong was winning consecutive titles, and the refusal to broadcast a whole season of the Yankees a few years ago.

jgold

11-10-2006, 04:08 AM

I consider myself and expect with the tech part and the customer service part and verizon hasn't changed a bit. Its still the same old phone company that doesnt care about if the customer experience is pleasant or horrible and words will make everything fine. The system is not well executed but it works inspite of its poor product and backbone design. If you have SD service only it will blow the socks off of your cable proformace but the HD is the same the diffence is that the fiber has the capacity to have all the channels in hd where cable has a max of 90- 100/ Cable has no plans to invest that much money to provide fiber to the home so they are in a strange place as they can exist ok for the moment but they are not posistioned well for the future. So choose your own poison the phone company lack of program content and their really lousy attitude or the cable company that really wants your business has faster internet connection speed and but poorer sd picture quality, Not an easy one to pick

Dan 'Hampton

11-10-2006, 05:47 AM

I would feel sick knowing that Dolan will keep raising rates to pay off the horrible decisions he's done with the Knicks.  That being said when I lived in LI I never once paid for Cablevision thanks to my landlords.

furie

11-13-2006, 02:51 PM

LordJezo wrote: I would kill for FiOS.A friend has it down in Va and it sounds perfect. Cheaper rates than cable, better TV selection than cable, faster internet than cable, and it's not cable, which is reason enough to go to it.I just hate the cable companies so I am a bit biased, but it seems like everyone who has FiOS loves it and would never go back to the pain and suffering that the cable companies bring. 

A verizon guy came to my house today. FiOS just started in my area. The rates seems to be just about the same for what i have.

no real reason to switch.

HBox

11-13-2006, 03:00 PM

I can't wait to switch from Cablevision, and that has nothing to do with their internet service which is stellar, but I am so fed up with their expensive, crappy TV service. Verizon will also be offering TV service in most FioS areas, so you will be able to get your phone, cable and intenet all from one company while also having a landline. So if you go that route you will probably get a discount like the cable companies do.I just fucking hate Cablevision. Their internet service is the only reason we still use them.

docgoblin

11-13-2006, 03:31 PM

I went with Verizon DSL about four or five years ago when Cablevision was becoming so full of themselves as the only TV/internet game in town (here on Long Island) that they just raised their rates at will and offered nothing extra in return. Now that there are other options for both TV and internet, as well as Verizon rolling out the 3-play (phone, internet, TV), cablevision has started offering more for your money. Too little too late as far as i'm concerned. I've been on the FiOS internet and phone service for a year now and I love it. They'll be getting the TV service here in a few months (Cablevision is fighting them tooth-and-nail to try and stop Verizon from horning in on their monopoly, which is delaying the TV rollouts but they are losing all the lawsuits. It's just buying them time at this point). As far as the internet service is concerned; I love it! I'm on the 5MB down/2MB up package. Obviously you never see those kind of numbers in practical application as you're always at the mercy of the server on the other end. However, I've always been showing 4.95MB down and 1.95 up during speed tests, never having a drop-off, which I can't ever say for Cable, even when I was one of the first Optimum customers in my town over 8 or 9 years ago.

furie

06-11-2007, 03:58 PM

HBox

06-11-2007, 04:04 PM

Well, next Saturday I'm switching over to Fios. Why you might ask? well they made me a deal. It'll work out to $20/month less than my current Cablevison package and they're giving me a $100 gift card. the only hang up is that since i have an optonline email that'll have to switch.

my only question is, will the phone be voip or standard (copper line) phone service. anyone know?

I think you can keep the standard phone line if you ask but if they offered you a deal its probably voip. It's cheaper for them. They do have a battery backup so you can use it during a power outage. I don't know exactly how that works however.

spoon

06-11-2007, 04:15 PM

HBox

06-11-2007, 04:24 PM

Great info people, keep it coming.

One question on the tv part of fios. Isn't it the same programming as Directv? And do they then carry the NFL and NHL packages? I was under the impression the signal was downloaded from a sat and linked to homes via fios (fiber optic) cable.

It's not the same as DirecTV so they won't have the NFL package. They have channel lineups on their website. If they aren't available in your area you can look at a lineup for somewhere close to you to get an idea of what they have.

MHasegawa

06-11-2007, 05:40 PM

fios tv seems really lacking compared to IO.

JPMNICK

06-11-2007, 05:42 PM

Just based on internet, you get more for your Money with FIOS. The upload speed is much faster, which means you will be able to upload pictures, files, or backups to websites faster.

I am not so sure on the TV aspect of it, but if it were available for me, I would switch to FIOS over optonline which I have now.

CofyCrakCocaine

06-11-2007, 05:48 PM

I know this helps NOBODY but I love optonline and cannot imagine needing anything faster than this until every download file is half a gigabyte. My girlfriend reminds me how much SUCK i've put up with in the 90's and early part of 2000's by refusing to upgrade her internet from 56k modem. If FiOS is cheaper and better and not a pain in the ass to have, then sure. I'll ante up.

furie

06-11-2007, 06:00 PM

fios tv seems really lacking compared to IO.

it seems much the same to me...

who6489

06-11-2007, 06:18 PM

I worked for Cablevision in NJ for years, and now for Time Warner in NC. It's all the same. Everything everyone has brought up is true. The more that get it, the slower it gets. Kinda like the Lincoln Tunnel at rush hour. If you go online at 5AM you'll zip along. If you go on at 5PM, it'll take longer.
Here's a good way to speed up your connection. For WindowsXP (not sure if it's the same for Vista)

START - SETTINGS - CONTROL PANEL - NETWORK CONNECTIONS - right click on "Local Area Connection" - click "Repair", wait a few seconds, click "Close"

Basically, it's a modem DRANO, it cleans out the ethernet "pipe"

You can do it as many times as you want & it works almost every time. Just make sure to have your browser closed. Works better that way.

And as always... clean out cookies, temp internet files and history in your INTERNET OPTIONS (also in CONTROL PANEL)

This also works for DSL
:wink:

furie

06-11-2007, 06:30 PM

does the fiber optic to the house rather than coaxel cable affect speed?

empulse

06-11-2007, 07:11 PM

Comcast and Verizon had to put this to bed in court recently in a dispute over Advertising:

Which is faster?

Right now cable is faster (typically). But Cable will top out @ (I may be wrong here on the exact numbers) 300Mbit Vs. Verizon's fiber optic which will top out @ 3M Terabytes. If Verizon turned the speed all the way up (and just because fiber can carry more than copper) it works out to verizon being 100x faster.

Also 90% of cable systems are NOT running any fiber at all. The trunk coming to you local cable ISP may be fiber, but I doubt it. They certainly aren't running it on the grid. So from office to your house.. is copper.

Right now, I would say I have less problems with cable, I have verizon right now, and it sucks. I keep having bandwidth issues (games - real time, lag horribly.) Plus service is symmetrical so if you get 512Kb down, you get 512Kb upstream as well. But you won't realize you miss cables 3-6mbps downstream until you don't have it.

Verizon is just rolling this system out, I would hold off on hitching my wagon the the "New" thing till it is shown to be reliable.