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Comcast Triple Play vs. AT&T U-verse vs. Verizon FIOS?
- Thread starter applefan289
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i wonder how many people have used all three so they can make the comparison. If they haven't used all three - then it's just a guess
I have Fios. TV is fine, phone is fine, internet is fine - depending upon the speed plan you use and whether you use it wireless or with an ethernet connection. I have the internet 35/35 plan - WITH wire, it's supposed to be 35 down, 35 up. I have wireless and I get between 18-20 down, and about the same up.
Can't compare with other systems.
I have Fios. TV is fine, phone is fine, internet is fine - depending upon the speed plan you use and whether you use it wireless or with an ethernet connection. I have the internet 35/35 plan - WITH wire, it's supposed to be 35 down, 35 up. I have wireless and I get between 18-20 down, and about the same up.
Can't compare with other systems.
Wow, those are great speeds. I hear FiOS has the best picture quality for TV. Is it anywhere near Blu-ray?
Verizon FiOS hands down.
I've tried Comcast and while they're okay ... I feel that FiOS just has more features (especially on the TV box). Not to mention, they have faster speeds for internet. Comcast isn't bad for what they offer if they can provide the services. They can in some places, and can't in others.
With AT&T, I just feel that they're garbage. Expensive, not as fast internet, etc. I know a lot of people who have problems with AT&T.
I've tried Comcast and while they're okay ... I feel that FiOS just has more features (especially on the TV box). Not to mention, they have faster speeds for internet. Comcast isn't bad for what they offer if they can provide the services. They can in some places, and can't in others.
With AT&T, I just feel that they're garbage. Expensive, not as fast internet, etc. I know a lot of people who have problems with AT&T.
Don't know - I don't have Blu-ray. But the HD, on my TV, is super. Even the standard def is quite good.
One caveat with Verizon (don't know about the others): Tech support sucks the big one. Long waits on phone support (minimum 20 min), and then you are as likely as not to get a tech who doesn't know s****t. Installers don't know s****t either - the guy who installed my system didn't know how to set up anything on the TV - "you're smart, you'll figure it out pretty quick".
With fios are you given a gateway that controls TV, Internet and phone? Or do you just use your own router for wifi and a modem for phone and Internet?
They give you one. But I'm sure you can use your own if you ask/set it up yourself.
Where do you live that you have a choice of all 3?
Typically, you can choose between a cable company and U-Verse or FiOS, since cities are usually either dominated by AT&T or Verizon for landline service, but not both.
Typically, you can choose between a cable company and U-Verse or FiOS, since cities are usually either dominated by AT&T or Verizon for landline service, but not both.
I don't have the choice of all three. I just wanted to start a discussion as to which company offers the best home triple-play services.
From the looks of it, it seems that Verizon has the edge, and at&t is the worst.
HDTV is 720p/1080i @~10mbit* . Blurays are normally 1080p for feature films, so HDTV is getting ~half the resolution at ~half the bitrate. It's 'fine' - fine detail can be decent but there's generally a lot of banding going on. It's a long way off the average quality of current BD releases.
HDTV uses AC3 (lossy), while almost all current bluray releases use lossless audio. IMO it's less of a difference than the video quality.
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FiOs and it's not even close. Had Comcast for 3 years in college and another year afterwards. Had multiple problems, at least 5+ service calls (for those times they couldn't figure it out over the phone after 2+ hours on hold).
Got FiOs and have not looked back. It's true about the video quality being good. It looks amazing compared to the more compressed Comcast feed I was getting. In 2 years I have not had the internet/phone/cable go out even once.
FiOs is right up there with Apple and Amazon for me. A company I like telling people how great they are.
Got FiOs and have not looked back. It's true about the video quality being good. It looks amazing compared to the more compressed Comcast feed I was getting. In 2 years I have not had the internet/phone/cable go out even once.
FiOs is right up there with Apple and Amazon for me. A company I like telling people how great they are.
You need theirs if you are getting TV. For internet only (or even with phone), you don't.
I live in an area north of Dallas. In this area we have Time Warner cable. In the last few years our neighborhood was wired for both u-verse and fios. We already had the bundled cable service and have been very happy with it. At least once a week I get a mailer for u-verse and fios. They are both way more expensive than cable for the same products. I have a lot of neighbors that have switched from cable and it seems like they are always having problems.
I've had Fios for about 2 years now. At the same time I purchased a Panny Plasma, G15.
Recently I've noticed an increase in pixelization and macro blocks in Fios. It is starting to annoy me a bit.
Maybe they have increased the compression to fit few more channels. Not sure.
Recently I've noticed an increase in pixelization and macro blocks in Fios. It is starting to annoy me a bit.
Maybe they have increased the compression to fit few more channels. Not sure.
I notice more compression on FiOS on certain channels (like AMC 
), but otherwise I don't notice too much in the way of artifacts. They supply a modem/router with your internet service, but it's only required if you want to use certain features with your STB. More info here.
Internet speeds are great, but the router's wireless signal strength leaves much to be desired, try to keep no more than one wall between it and anything connecting to it.
I do wish they'd get going with the v1.9 firmware updates for the STB though. It's been almost a year since the beta has finished. I want my eSata port turned on!
Oh, and Verizon's residential website sucks monkey balls.
), but otherwise I don't notice too much in the way of artifacts. They supply a modem/router with your internet service, but it's only required if you want to use certain features with your STB. More info here.Internet speeds are great, but the router's wireless signal strength leaves much to be desired, try to keep no more than one wall between it and anything connecting to it.
I do wish they'd get going with the v1.9 firmware updates for the STB though. It's been almost a year since the beta has finished. I want my eSata port turned on!
Oh, and Verizon's residential website sucks monkey balls.