Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Comcast vs. FiOS vs. OTA

Starting tomorrow, I'm getting Verizon FiOS internet service (20 mbps down/5 mbps up) for $60.99 a month, that's $8 less than Comcast's lowest internet service (6 mbps down/1 mbps up).
I won't be under a contract either.

Today, I called Verizon FiOS to cancel my 'Triple Play' service after 3 months of constant haggling with them over my monthly bill. Movie packages were being put on my account that I didn't approve and when I was told they would be taken off, they weren't. This month's bill that was supposed to be $168 was $219 and this was the last month I was going to deal with this! I was resigned to the fact that I was only going to get internet access from comcast and go OTA with my tv's. OTA stands for 'Over the Air' and I was going to get local channels in HD and use Hulu or other online services to get programming that local tv doesn't provide. I did it a year ago and was happy with the results.

So I called Verizon and they naturally put me on hold for approximately 30 minutes. Nothing new so far. The time on hold gave me time to think about what life was going to be like going back to Comcast. When someone picked up, I politely told them that I wanted to cancel my account because I wasn't happy with their service. She asked me what could they do to keep me as a customer. I said that one of the things that really bothered me was the contract. I didn't want to be restricted to a contract. The other thing was the quality of the customer service. She said that they're working on customer service, but that she would be able to offer me 'internet only service' without a contract for a flat $60.99 a month. I asked if this was a promotion and she said no. I asked if there was any reason she knew of that would raise my monthly payment and she said no.

This kind of shifted my thinking. I was all ready to have Comcast come in an get rid of Verizon but suddenly, Verizon seemed more attractive simply due to the price difference of their internet connections. Not to mention the speed differences.

So against my better judgement, I'm sticking with Verizon for now. But I did get rid of the TV and phone part of the package and because I did that, I'm breaking the contract and I have to pay $175 which is total BS! In the long run, it is more cost prohibitive for me to pay the early termination fee and only pay $60 a month rather then keeping the service and pay at least $168 a month for the next two years.

Bottom Line facts about your high definition television/broadband internet choices.

Comcast pros:
  1. No contract - On any service, tv or internet. Never thought I'd have to say this but this is a biggy. Read on.
  2. Stable - Once the service is in place, it's sturdy (at least in the Baltimore area).
Comcast cons:
  1. Dealing with their customer service is horrible. It can take up to a week or more for them to come out and respond even if you're completely down. Sometimes, they'll give you an eight hour window of when they will arrive.
  2. Comcast compresses their video signal 3:1. They do this because their 'data pipes' only allow so much data to be transfered at one time. So the thing that get's sacrificed is the quality of video and audio because those are the biggest bandwidth hogs. That great hi def signal that you're getting from Comcast could look three times better. And you can see the difference!
Verizon pros:
  1. Quality Signal - Their video and audion signals are not compressed. What you see coming out of your TV from Verizon FiOS is the best HD signal your going to see. The quality of your TV or your cables will be the bottleneck here. There is a noticeable difference between Verizon's signal and Comcast's compressed signal.
Verizon cons:
  1. Flakey Onscreen menu - Their onscreen menu needs work. While they do have some intuitive controls, they're missing some basic functionality. For example. If I want to just view HD channels, I need to select View HD channels every time I go into the menu. It defaults to viewing all channels and doesn't remember what your last preference was. This is annoying.
  2. Compitency of Techs- I was scheduled to have a tech come out August 1st to do my install of TV, internet and phone. When 4pm rolled around and there was still no sign of Verizon, I called and was told that someone would definitely be out by 6pm that evening. I was moving that day so I had my 75 year old father come over and babysit until they came over. Well they never made it. At 7:3opm, I finally got a hold of a rep and they said they were sorry that they didn't make it out. The next available date they had was August 15th. (15 days of no service, nothing). That should have been my que right then and there to get out while I still had some sanity left. By the way, I was credited $20 for being inconvenienced. WTF is that?! Anyway when they finally came out, the tech didn't have any network cable in his truck to run my connection to my office. Dazed at the lack of remorse from the guy, I let him use my personal stash of cable. Oh yeah, he needed my crimper too.... He told me that during 'the strike', some 'scabs' stole equipment from the work trucks and that's why he didn't have any material. I later found out that there wasn't even a strike, much less 'scabs' swiping stuff from the trucks. It took this technician a day and a half and a visit from his supervisor to come out to get me hooked up. The kicker to that was the previous owners already had FiOS installed in the house. Amazing.
  3. Costomer Service - Their customer service makes Comcast customer service look like a bunch of nuns. This is by far the worst customer service support I have ever dealt with, ever. Seriously, I need to set aside at least 45 minutes when I need to talk to these people because I'm literally on hold for at least a half hour. Then when I finally get a human, I suddenly get transferred and there I sit in another que for 15 minutes. It is incomprehensible that a company can operate like this. I'm learning that it's the growing mentality that these big companies don't need us, rather we need them.
  4. Verizon's Required Router - If you have Verizon Internet and TV, you're required to use their wireless router which is 802.11g. This sucks when I just went out and upgraded my network to gigabit ethernet and 802.11n. You're required to use their router because the STB's (set top boxes) they use have two way communication to Verizon. So the router needs to be able to see them on your network to be able to talk to them. There is a way around it and that's by making your 802.11n router a wireless access point and letting the Verizon router do the DHCP work. It's not bulletproof either because I always get messages saying that another device decided to take the DHCP address that I was using. Not fun.
  5. Verizon's Contract - If you join Verizon and select their "Triple Play" thing deal they have (phone, internet, tv) then you're locked into that contract for two years. If for some reason you decide that you don't need say the phone part of the package and you want to cancel it, you're required to pay a $179 early termination fee. No excuses buddy.
OTA pros:
  1. Freedom! - You don't have to deal with Comcast or Verizon! You are your own man/woman who doesn't have to dread when you see your broadband bill and wonder how bad it's going to be this month.
  2. Savings - By me dropping my tv and phone service, I'm going to be saving $100 a month on my bill by going this route. All I need from Comcast or Verizon is an internet connection and that will run me $60-$70
  3. Uncompressed Signal - Like Verizon, you're getting a pure, unadulterated HD signal. This is actually the purest signal you can get because there are absolutely no 'filters' on the signal before it gets to your tv.
  4. Room to explore - If you're going this route, chances are you have a computer hooked up to it. This allows you to have access to internet based content such as Miro and Hulu to name a few. There is a growing number of services out there to enhance your experience.
OTA cons:
  1. Lack of selection - Because you don't have cable tv, you don't have cable channels. But like I was saying in the pros section, there are more and more services every day to improve your experience if you have a computer hooked up to your tv.

9 comments:

Ran Barton said...

Thank you for the write up. I'm a Verizon customer for phone, Comcast for SD video and IP, and no HD at all (our old Series 2 TiVo doesn't support it, anyway). One day, I will upgrade, and stories like yours are helpful to guide my thinking.

Anonymous said...

Hello !.
You may , perhaps very interested to know how one can collect a huge starting capital .
There is no need to invest much at first. You may begin to receive yields with as small sum of money as 20-100 dollars.

AimTrust is what you haven`t ever dreamt of such a chance to become rich
The company incorporates an offshore structure with advanced asset management technologies in production and delivery of pipes for oil and gas.

Its head office is in Panama with offices around the world.
Do you want to become a happy investor?
That`s your choice That`s what you wish in the long run!

I`m happy and lucky, I started to get income with the help of this company,
and I invite you to do the same. It`s all about how to select a proper partner utilizes your money in a right way - that`s the AimTrust!.
I take now up to 2G every day, and what I started with was a funny sum of 500 bucks!
It`s easy to join , just click this link http://ilytogoka.exactpages.com/orapot.html
and lucky you`re! Let`s take our chance together to feel the smell of real money

Anonymous said...

Hi !.
might , probably curious to know how one can make real money .
There is no initial capital needed You may begin to receive yields with as small sum of money as 20-100 dollars.

AimTrust is what you haven`t ever dreamt of such a chance to become rich
The company represents an offshore structure with advanced asset management technologies in production and delivery of pipes for oil and gas.

Its head office is in Panama with affiliates around the world.
Do you want to become an affluent person?
That`s your chance That`s what you wish in the long run!

I`m happy and lucky, I started to take up income with the help of this company,
and I invite you to do the same. It`s all about how to select a proper partner who uses your funds in a right way - that`s AimTrust!.
I make 2G daily, and my first investment was 500 dollars only!
It`s easy to get involved , just click this link http://roxukojeqi.arcadepages.com/zulojyq.html
and lucky you`re! Let`s take this option together to get rid of nastiness of the life

Anonymous said...

Hello !.
might , perhaps very interested to know how one can make real money .
There is no need to invest much at first. You may begin to receive yields with as small sum of money as 20-100 dollars.

AimTrust is what you thought of all the time
The company represents an offshore structure with advanced asset management technologies in production and delivery of pipes for oil and gas.

It is based in Panama with offices around the world.
Do you want to become a happy investor?
That`s your chance That`s what you really need!

I`m happy and lucky, I started to get real money with the help of this company,
and I invite you to do the same. It`s all about how to select a proper partner utilizes your money in a right way - that`s AimTrust!.
I earn US$2,000 per day, and my first investment was 500 dollars only!
It`s easy to start , just click this link http://yhurerajyj.o-f.com/ygepuxa.html
and lucky you`re! Let`s take our chance together to get rid of nastiness of the life

Anonymous said...

Good day, sun shines!
There have were times of hardship when I felt unhappy missing knowledge about opportunities of getting high yields on investments. I was a dump and downright pessimistic person.
I have never thought that there weren't any need in large starting capital.
Nowadays, I feel good, I started to get real money.
It's all about how to choose a proper partner who utilizes your money in a right way - that is incorporate it in real deals, parts and divides the profit with me.

You can ask, if there are such firms? I'm obliged to answer the truth, YES, there are. Please be informed of one of them:
http://theblogmoney.com

Anonymous said...

Hello!
You may probably be very interested to know how one can make real money on investments.
There is no need to invest much at first.
You may commense to get income with a sum that usually is spent
on daily food, that's 20-100 dollars.
I have been participating in one project for several years,
and I'll be glad to share my secrets at my blog.

Please visit blog and send me private message to get the info.

P.S. I make 1000-2000 per day now.

[url=http://theinvestblog.com] Online investment blog[/url]

Anonymous said...

Hi!
You may probably be very interested to know how one can make real money on investments.
There is no initial capital needed.
You may begin to get income with a sum that usually goes
for daily food, that's 20-100 dollars.
I have been participating in one project for several years,
and I'll be glad to let you know my secrets at my blog.

Please visit my pages and send me private message to get the info.

P.S. I earn 1000-2000 per daily now.

http://theinvestblog.com [url=http://theinvestblog.com]Online Investment Blog[/url]

Anonymous said...

Glad to greet you, ladies and gentlemen!

For sure you didn’t here about me yet,
my name is Peter.
Generally I’m a venturesome analyst. for a long time I’m keen on online-casino and poker.
Not long time ago I started my own blog, where I describe my virtual adventures.
Probably, it will be interesting for you to read my notes.
Please visit my web site. http://allbestcasino.com I’ll be interested on your opinion..

Anonymous said...

Glad to materialize here. Good day or night everybody!

Sure, you’ve heard about me, because my fame is running in front of me,
friends call me Nikolas.
Generally I’m a venturesome analyst. recently I take a great interest in online-casino and poker.
Not long time ago I started my own blog, where I describe my virtual adventures.
Probably, it will be interesting for you to read my notes.
Please visit my web site. http://allbestcasino.com I’ll be interested on your opinion..