My FIOS experience
Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 10:59 am
Thought I'd share some insights I have gained. Got FIOS 11 days ago, and after working through a few problems (explained below) one persisted:
My QIP6416 DVR box in the Family Room kept locking up about every 8-12 hours (frozen at a particular time, unresponsive to any command (Remote or Front Panel) until unplugged and re-plugged in). Initially, the tech replaced the box - it happened again. I swapped it with another 6416 in the house and the replaced box locked up (whereas the NEW box did not.) So the problem was associated with the location in my house rather than the box itself. The tech came out and replaced a bunch of coax connectors and splitters, but the problem remained. I bypassed the in-wall coax cable completely and just ran a temporary coax line from the last splitter through the hallways to the box and voila - all is well - so I have to replace a run of coax (this week's project). Lesson learned - your home wiring must be able to handle data rates for this service.
Here's the long story version:
A sort of general informational/cautionary note about FIOS. Make sure you read the fine print before the installer comes out. I believe that every locality has its own idiosyncracies, but for Northern Virginia:
(1) They will run exactly ONE line for you in the course of the installation, and that is from the OMT (Optical <something> Terminal) to the location you choose for your router (either coax or CAT5e - you and the installer determine what's best for you);
(2) They will install up to 3 TV boxes (any flavor you choose) but they must use EXISTING coax cabling. If they have to run coax for you, that's extra $$$.
(3) They WILL transfer your telephone service from copper wire to FIOS (tapping into your existing home phone wiring). They will not run any internal phone wiring for you free of charge.
That said, your pre-existing wiring/cabling/connectors and splitters must all be up to the capability of handling the FIOS bandwidth. My relatively older house has miles of criss-crossing coax and phone lines that were there before I moved in and although they were adequate for my copper wire phones, DSL and Cox Cable service, they proved no match for FIOS. After installation, we have spent the last 10 days chasing various ghosts (and eliminating them). Amongst the problems found:
(1) unused runs of phone wires act as antennas and introduce significant hiss into the phone line. We ended up disconnecting a fair number of "lame duck" phone wires throughout the house to get noise-free service;
(2) Coax splitters should be minimized and must be capable of passing up to 1000MHz (many older ones only go up to 600 or 900 MHz);
(3) The connectors on your COAX cabling have to be firmly attached and not under strain.
Fortunately, our guy was very helpful in tracing these problems and helping to resolve them. He replaced splitters, removed unnecessary wiring and in general was very helpful in accomodating my requirements/questions. All during normal service calls and at no charge. (I still have to install a run of Coax myself to the family room, because the existing line introduces glitches that lock up the cable box).
Bottom line: The FIOS service is GREAT! PQ FAR exceeds Cox and Dish. Download speeds are awesome! I just love it. (I'll also say that using Google Chrome instead of Internet Explorer has GREATLY increased webpage loading speeds on ALL of the computers in our home! I heartily recommend giving it a try.)
My QIP6416 DVR box in the Family Room kept locking up about every 8-12 hours (frozen at a particular time, unresponsive to any command (Remote or Front Panel) until unplugged and re-plugged in). Initially, the tech replaced the box - it happened again. I swapped it with another 6416 in the house and the replaced box locked up (whereas the NEW box did not.) So the problem was associated with the location in my house rather than the box itself. The tech came out and replaced a bunch of coax connectors and splitters, but the problem remained. I bypassed the in-wall coax cable completely and just ran a temporary coax line from the last splitter through the hallways to the box and voila - all is well - so I have to replace a run of coax (this week's project). Lesson learned - your home wiring must be able to handle data rates for this service.
Here's the long story version:
A sort of general informational/cautionary note about FIOS. Make sure you read the fine print before the installer comes out. I believe that every locality has its own idiosyncracies, but for Northern Virginia:
(1) They will run exactly ONE line for you in the course of the installation, and that is from the OMT (Optical <something> Terminal) to the location you choose for your router (either coax or CAT5e - you and the installer determine what's best for you);
(2) They will install up to 3 TV boxes (any flavor you choose) but they must use EXISTING coax cabling. If they have to run coax for you, that's extra $$$.
(3) They WILL transfer your telephone service from copper wire to FIOS (tapping into your existing home phone wiring). They will not run any internal phone wiring for you free of charge.
That said, your pre-existing wiring/cabling/connectors and splitters must all be up to the capability of handling the FIOS bandwidth. My relatively older house has miles of criss-crossing coax and phone lines that were there before I moved in and although they were adequate for my copper wire phones, DSL and Cox Cable service, they proved no match for FIOS. After installation, we have spent the last 10 days chasing various ghosts (and eliminating them). Amongst the problems found:
(1) unused runs of phone wires act as antennas and introduce significant hiss into the phone line. We ended up disconnecting a fair number of "lame duck" phone wires throughout the house to get noise-free service;
(2) Coax splitters should be minimized and must be capable of passing up to 1000MHz (many older ones only go up to 600 or 900 MHz);
(3) The connectors on your COAX cabling have to be firmly attached and not under strain.
Fortunately, our guy was very helpful in tracing these problems and helping to resolve them. He replaced splitters, removed unnecessary wiring and in general was very helpful in accomodating my requirements/questions. All during normal service calls and at no charge. (I still have to install a run of Coax myself to the family room, because the existing line introduces glitches that lock up the cable box).
Bottom line: The FIOS service is GREAT! PQ FAR exceeds Cox and Dish. Download speeds are awesome! I just love it. (I'll also say that using Google Chrome instead of Internet Explorer has GREATLY increased webpage loading speeds on ALL of the computers in our home! I heartily recommend giving it a try.)