Verizon FIOS or Time Warner Cable

mpsrenovations: about 12 months ago

Keep in mind with FIOS your going to need a landing point to store the big box and a grounded outlet for it.
You may want to hide it in the closet and get a wifi phone. (if anyone still uses landline phone) ;-)

Best,

VIcky Caprini
vicky@mpsrenovations.com
www.mpsrenovations.com
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Truth: about 12 months ago

Riversider: He gives out free passes to the local movie theater?! lol!

I think the FIOS marketing people actually came into the building and asked the idiot super if they could do the table set-up. He may or may not have cleared it with the moronic managing agent (somebody receives a check). They were in the lobby 3 weekends.

When we got a few pages of minutes produced in discovery, I saw that the condo board of idiots seems to have discussed it as if they didn't know about it in advance. The minutes stated that "No representatives from Verizon or any other company may set up a marketing table in the lobby without board permission."
This is after they had set up in the lobby 3 times. All day. Cookies, flashlights, keychains.

Riversider: about 12 months ago

Truth, all the guys set up those tables, I've been through three different tv/internet providers over the past decade, and they all did the table with the tchotchke. On Long Island my brother tells me the cable operator, who apparently doesn't have the best technology, gives out free movie passes.

lorenzonyc: about 12 months ago

I would switch to Fios if they had an ipad app that gave you streaming TV. There is something neat about having TWC on an ipad that you can walk around the house with, watching live TV. If it were not for that, I would switch. (If Fios has come out with their app - please let me know!)

sippelmc: about 12 months ago

My experience has been that in TWC buildings and TWC/FIOS buildings, TWC offers heavily discounted packages that are not otherwise available in buildings without FIOS. I'm very glad my building has FIOS; love it. I do know that TWC has a special rate (like 49.99 for triple play) negotiated for our building's residents, and I'm sure Verizon's presence helped on price.

GraffitiGrammarian: about 12 months ago

I just had a big fight with TWC, with a very good outcome for me.

Like the OP of this thread, I was getting very choppy internet connections, couldn't stream video or audio, and would often get outages.

And it turns out FiOS is not available in my neighborhood (Inwood). So the only other high-speed Internet option was clear.com, which is basically a smart phone provider, and is only wireless, or Dish Satellite, which is a lot more expensive.

So I decided to have it out with Time Warner. They had already visited my apartment three times but never fixed the problem.

My friend pumped me up for it. He said, the FCC rules make TWC OBLIGATED to provide me with a clear Internet signal, and you go tell them that you demand they provide it!

So I did. I had to endure a horrible 45-minutes phone call with one of the underling customer service reps, who assured me that from what she could see on her end, my signal was stronger than average, and who wanted to discuss with me which websites I frequent. ("Are you going on YouTube a lot? The problems on that site are with YouTube, not with us.")

But finally, after literally screaming at this girl, I got a supervisor on the phone. (You have to scream a lot. A little bit of screaming doesn't do anything with these folks.) She in turn got a technician on the phone and he said he could see that one of my signals was way off , and they sent a service guy to my apartment THE NEXT DAY.

He looked at the cable coming out of the wall and said one of the wires inside had been connected incorrectly. He re-wired it and my service was magically fixed!

He also went outside and found the connection box for the cables, and it was in bad shape -- cover ripped off, pigeons roosting inside, etc.

So he filled out a work order to have the outside box cleaned up and covered.

So if you are having trouble with TWC, I would say -- go get 'em! Don't let them off the hook! Stand your ground, outlast the frontline idiots and demand you get a clear signal!!!

Truth: about 12 months ago

Riversider: When Verizon comes into a building-- they really come into it.
They set up a big table in my lobby and gave out keychains and other FIOS chahtkas.

Truth: about 12 months ago

downtown : Yes, I noticed that changing the channel takes several seconds to switch over.
I didn't mention it because my friends are already talking about an intervention for my HGTV/ ghost shows addiction.
I do love T.V. I don't listen to music every day but I watch t.v. and I don't like to watch shows on the computer.

columbiacounty: about 12 months ago

so...according to you, TWC sets prices building to building?

Riversider: about 12 months ago

Time Warner lost a lot of business to Verizon. When Verizon would come into a building, Time Warner would threaten to raise prices, and then would only negotiate after you pulled your unit and put in FIOS.

downtown1234: about 12 months ago

One other thing - with cable, it seems like changing channels takes forever. When I push the up/down button on Fios, the next channel is there almost instantly. I will never go back to cable.

sippelmc: about 12 months ago

I had our building guy patch in to the electric in the closet light socket on the ceiling. He ran some wiring down through a conduit and made an outlet for the FIOS to plug in to the wall. It took about 2 hours for him to do and was well done(no hanging wires, everything looked clean).

inonada: about 12 months ago

KW, I'm not sure how you'd resolve the power issue and getting the fiber into your closet, but it all distributes through your CATV wiring from there. Even if not, it's very easy to set up Wifi for your desktops.

As everyone has said, FIOS is better hands down. No flaky internet, no brain-dead DVR, but equally-crappy customer service.

Al_Assad: about 12 months ago

"Time Warner for customer service and content."

Is it opposites day? TWC's customer service couldn't be worse. As for content, they are the ONLY major cable provider in the US (out of 8) that doesn't carry the NFL network. 'nuff said.

huntersburg: about 12 months ago

>do multiple A/B testing?

Sophisticated!

deanc: about 12 months ago

@RE_GURU sure but can you run a server from your home on FIOS?

What ports are FIOS blocking on your service?

columbiacounty: about 12 months ago

so you have both and do multiple A/B testing?

Riversider: about 12 months ago

Fios also wins on picture quality and the ability to deliver land line through standard connectors.

Riversider: about 12 months ago

FIOS for speed and reliability.
Time Warner for customer service and content.

ClintonBuyer: about 12 months ago

I moved from a FiOS bldg. to a bldg. which, in practice, only allows TWC. The difference is obvious: FiOS is far superior in every way (choppy picture, breaks in sound, poor customer service, etc.). And, wow, the Internet is noticeably slower w/ TWC! It's no faster than DSL!

Also, TWC does everything in their power to discourage people from using Tivo (while FiOS worked seamlessly w/ it). Clearly, they want us to spend money on their DVR. It is pretty petty that TWC only provides program info for channels up to 99. When I complained, they sent me a letter explaining how TWC provides cutting edge technology and that I need to use their DVR if I want the complete programming info.

Also, most programs are marked "copy protected," which prevents us from using Tivo's portable features. I don't think I have seen such blatant greed!

Lanzz: about 12 months ago

FIOS is much more reliable, and the performance is better. No decision to make here - go with FIOS.

huntersburg: about 12 months ago

Sirvogey did you google caonima before replying?

sirvogey: about 12 months ago

caonima -- got TWC to come down on my current rate

Al_Assad: about 12 months ago

Verizon customer service far better, the content is slightly better, and it is (for the time being, anyway) a good bit cheaper. TWC has the worst service, slovenly techs, outdated technology, and is expensive. Sort of a no-brainer.

Truth: about 12 months ago

I have a no shoes rule in my apt and I have gotten various repair people to take off their shoes but I was going through T.V. withdrawal and I got careless.

huntersburg: about 12 months ago

What a surprise, NYCMatt has little booties in his apartment.

NYCMatt: about 12 months ago

"the Time Warner installer left a grease stain on my 6k rug from ABC Carpet."

I never let any workers into my home with shoes. They have to remove them. If they balk, I have on hand those little throwaway booties they can put on over their shoes.

saiyar1: about 12 months ago

Go with FiOS. Be happier.

Truth: about 12 months ago

the Time Warner installer left a grease stain on my 6k rug from ABC Carpet.

Time Warner sends automated calls to customers to ask them to rate the service after the employee leaves.
I wasn't happy about it but they called while I was watching Ghost Hunters so I just let it go. It took them so long to send somebody to hook it up.

SunnyD: about 12 months ago

TWC stinks! However, FIOS is not available in my location. I live in Downtown Manhattan. What the heck?!

kylewest: about 12 months ago

I'd try FIOS but the problem is this: I finished a reno 3 years ago during which we buried all wires in the walls. I don't want to now start stapling wires to the mouldings. We have those CATV outlets in the walls and use them for our internet connections with TWC. The other thing is that the FIOS connection needs power. I don't have power in the entry closets to plug the equipment into. And I don't want the equipment sitting out somewhere else with the wires all over. Not sure how to resolve it all if we were to go FIOS. It's really my husband's dep't anyway, though.

oazani: about 12 months ago

I had TWC for years, Lived in three different locations in Brooklyn, and in ALL locations, the internet was slow. Actually, I shouldn't say slow, it was patchy. I even paid for the high speed option, and when it worked, it seemed fast, but it seemed to cut in/out a lot, so the TWC speed test registered high speeds, but any extended use basically made it hell to work with. I called customer service a million times, they sent out technicians who did nothing after taking half days from work. Towards the end of my service with TWC, the cable tv was just as patchy as the internet. Insanely frustrating and the customer service was horrible.
Run, do not walk to FIOS. Everyone I know that has made the jump from TWC to FIOS loves it. Also, it is cheaper. After taxes and wierd fees, my bill feels a bit less then $50 cheaper then TWC and I basically have the same package then I did before.I have had it for a month now, and the internet alone in a different experiance. I feel like I got new computers, it is that good! Installation was not a breeze as some other posts suggested, and it was a bit more elaborate then TWC's installation and almost took a whole day, but I own a house vs the apartments that I once lived in, so perhaps that has something to do with it. The customer service seems professional, but nothing to complain about with them, so it might be a hard thing to rate from my perspective.
The only thing that absolutley sucks, and was an almost game changer was that we lost NY1. NY1 is one of the best channels, and we watch it religiously in the morning for quick news, weather, traffic. Verizon has FIOS 1 is basically, a ghetto version of NY1. But honestly, I watch ten minutes of NY1 a day, I spend hours on the internet, so for me, its a no brainer.

lovetocook: about 12 months ago

Our building on UWS only has choice of TW or RCN. I have had RCN for two years now and use to have FIOS in NJ. No experience with TW. Loved FIOS but don't know how it is in the city. As for RCN, we've had no problems with them at all so I can't speak about customer service. The internet works great, tv works well and other than wrong numbers we've had no problem with the phone service. Compared to FIOS, they're expensive but unfortunately FIOS is not an option for us at this time.

caonima: about 12 months ago

sirvogey, what did you lower? fios or twc?

sirvogey: about 12 months ago

Thanks. That is what I am trying to figure out.

I was already on a promotion that lowered my rate $28/mnth. They took another $7 off.

huntersburg: about 12 months ago

You rent the box from both FIOS and TWC.

Traditional phone company model is you pay for service call if it's a problem in your apartment with YOUR equipment, and otherwise if it's in your apartment with THEIR equipment, they pay, or if it's out of the apartment then they pay.

How much did you get for a rate reduction?

sirvogey: about 12 months ago

FIOS has been rolled out through many parts of the city at this point, and just reached my building. I called TWC and they agreed to lower my rate, but not before they explained a number of reasons to choose TWC. The most compelling, at least to me, was that in the event of an issue with FIOS the customer is charged for a technician to come fix things if there is a problem and that the customer is responsible for the cost of replacing a box. Is this accurate? Has this been an issue for anyone?

dugweb: about 17 months ago

well i just did the above speed test here in los angeles, ca and the result was 21mb/s upload and 6mb/s download for verizon fios, that blows the TWC speed od 1.5mb/s upload and 535mb/s download for a cheaper cost, way cheaper...and way more channels.

columbiacounty: about 2 years ago

Way to kill a discussion.

Riversider: about 2 years ago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-TA57L0kuc