Verizon FIOS or Time Warner Cable

i live downtown, have TWC and hate it. Choppy sound, a problem every month, box dies, rebout the system, on and on. And their customer service is the WORST, i mean the WORST.
I stayed home for three appointments with the phone by my side, no one showed and they said they called.. was a nightmare.
I only watch about 2 hours of tv a week so it's nt really important, but i should change.
Will be interested to see how people like FIOS.

TWC is a lot better here than most cable I've experienced throughout the country. The company is sometimes a little tricky to deal with, but they respond to requests eventually, and find a way to provide the service you want at a negotiated price. I highly recommend TWC. FIOS may be good, but it's in very limited roll-out so far.

Im moving soon and have the option of FIOS in my new building. Any love for FIOS in Brooklyn?

TWC has (had?) a bad distribution amplifier in the East Village. After 3 pointless visits by techs who swapped out splitters they finally sent a building tech who confirmed the voltage from the amp was too hot. Roadrunner internet worked better for about 6 months after they seemed to address the problem, then started failing again. When they told me they would only send out the building techs after three visits from the regular techs I canceled the internet service but kept the spotty cable for lack of an alternative. Got Verizon DSL which was slow but at least always worked.

FIOS was an option in my new building and it's been great. TV performance is much better. Wired internet is fantastic (I have the 25 up/down plan) and wireless is good but not always great (I'm still using the stock modem, maybe an upgrade would improve things). Their customer service, however, is horrible. Well-meaning, seemingly intelligent reps take your order and help you plan the installation, only to have the installation techs come in and tell you everything they said was wrong. Scheduling the installation was a nightmare of incompetence. They disconnected my DSL when I still needed it in the old apt even though I was told it wouldn't be interrupted. My FIOS box needed to be replaced within six months. I could go on about how much I hate their customer support, but I didn't like TWC any better.

If you search the threads, you'll find many others with info on the subject.

I've had FIOS in my UES apt for about 1 1/2 years, and in that time I think I've had maybe 1 outage, and only had to do a hard re-set of the set top box a few times, compared to maybe monthly with my TWC. The whole system is pretty zippy, and the on demand offerings are excellent - especially if you have kids b/c Sprout, Disney and Nick have multiple episodes of almost all their shows available (though to be fair, I haven't kept up with TWC and don't know what they are offering on that front these days). Also, depending on the phone you have, you can program your DVR on the cell phone, which is pretty cool. Only downside is that the hard drive on the DVR is quite small, but from what I understand they are soon going to have new set to boxes with bigger hard drives.

I use to pay a phone bill of a Verizon landline in someone else's name. I cannot tell you how difficult it was getting the right person to assist with the account on the phone, or the headaches I had. All utility companies have the potential to frustrate us. Both companies are guilty of poor customer service at times.

Since they don't require long term contracts any more, why not pick one and try it out for a few months. If no good then switch. I had TW and hated them for poor service and long lines. I have RCN for over a year now and no problems. But if you are a big CNBC fan, RCN does not carry the international version of CNBC. Otherwise they are the same.

TWC sucks..once things settle down, im going for fios..hear great things from those who have it

my fios experience (ten days only, but counting) has been excellent so far.
installation was a breeze (took two hours but the guy explained everything),
reception has been great, HD is cool, channel line up is great and the triple
bundle (with very fast internet and home phone) is actually a great deal!!!
plus, they have been very helpful over the phone (had some minor set up
problems with my email account)...

THE BEST PART IS: you can check and program your DVR (i.e. delete old programs
and add new recordings) online and on your iphone!!!

havent been a TWC customer for a few years, but I can say of FIOS... internet speed is excellent. Not sure if they have implemented VOIP yet, but I still have a twisted pair copper phone line - would be nice to see some voip features. As far as TV goes ... I have kids so the free on-demand selections are really outstanding - I dont know if TWC is on par or not. lots of HD channels, lots of ppv on-demand as well. I think the DVR option mentioned above is extra, but all in all our package price is nice.

Not a big fan of the constant selling of movie packages, and other nickel and dime practices, but in general the offering is good.

I had TWC TV and Internet.

* I did not have problems with their customer service.

* TV was ok, but getting all extra premium channels was expensive. Also, the HD channels were freezing semi-regularly. Frequently enough to be annoying. This was happening often when the DVR was recording two HD shows at the same time.

* I also had their wideband Internet service, as the standard upload speed was not enough for me.

Recently, I switched to Verizon FIOS.

* Customer service is worse than TWC. Not that it annoys me much (did not have to rely on them for anything else than the scheduling appointments), but in all interactions I could notice that the representatives were not as well trained.

* TV is great. Pretty much everything that TWC offers, in much lower price. Also no freezing of HD channels. The only complaint is the very low capacity of their HD DVR. To I bought a Tivo, and I am now a happy camper. (Ordering the cablecard for the TIVO from Verizon Fios was a nightmare though. They tried to charge $79 for the visit, and the technician who came was clueless. I had to instruct him how to figure out the problem by searching internet forums while he was doing the installation.)

* The 35/35 Internet is fantastic. I can now easily upload big photo collections to Flickr/Picasa, without blocking the internet connection. Also, significantly cheaper than the $99/mon for the TWC wideband.

The total monthly fees with TWC were approximately $200/month. For the same services, I am now paying $130/mon to Verizon FIOS.

I can't speak for TWC, but completely agree with tenemental about FIOS customer service. First, their website is horrible - maybe the worst I've ever seen (this sounds like hyperbole, but it's really unacceptable in 2010 for a major company to be this bad). I wanted to remove my HBO package, but the site only allows you to add packages and channels, not remove them. Second, I wanted to upgrade my internet speed, but they don't allow you to do so unless you re-up with a full bundle contract. The good news is I don't think we're very far away from something like Boxee or Apple TV disrupting cable tv to the point that we can get virtually the same programming through the internet alone. But if you need all this stuff now and are somewhat technology-averse, FIOS is probably the way to go.

TWC sucks! As soon as I move good bye TWC. I am not too keen on Verizon either so will be trying RCN :-)

rcn... have fun with that.

FIOS- and I work for DIRECTV......

I am paying 40% less for FIOS then TW. With FIOS, you have 1 DVR box and you can watch the shows on that box on other TV's. The internet has been great too. They also have great triple and quad play discounts.

RCN is a SH*T SHOW. Very small company, not as many channels.

Time Warner cable has the NY1 channel which is a good channel in NYC.

I am having hell just signing in to my Verizon account. They can not even combine a .net and .com domain without screwing it up. I can not sign into my account on line to pay my bill they said it would be fixed a week ago, it is still not fixed. That means that I have to pay my bill by phone. VERIZON SUCKS!!!!!!!!

I live in Brooklyn and switched from TWC to FIOS at the first opportunity (earlier this summer). I dropped landline phone service altogether, but find the internet speed and reliability is leaps and bounds above TWC - which was spotty at best. The tv takes some getting used to, especially after all those years of TWC, but it was worth it.

Okay take it from a tech savvy nerd... The FIOS internet I'm using has a theoretical speed off 25Mb/s. That translates to a little over 3 MegaBytes per second when you download, stream video, etc. Compared to time warner internet, which offers 10MB/s or about 1.25 MegaBytes per second. This speed however is also dependent on the amount of cable subscribers in your area, so in reality you'll probably only get half of that 1.25MB/s. I've had both, and FIOS is by faaar the service you want. I'm not sure about customer service since I've never had to call; I've never had one outage in 2 years of FIOS use. If you care about fast internet and hate waiting for youtube videos, remotely connect to your work over the internet, value the porn streaming sites, etc.... use FIOS. You'll notice right off the bat how ridiculously archaic cable internet is once you use FIOS. Here's the result of a speed test on my FIOS connection. Go to www.speedtest.net and try it for yourself. I guarantee you if you're using cable, you'll get 1/3 the result I obtained. And to top it off Verizon service is Cheaper!?? Trust me, use FIOS.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/986556666.png

fios is awesome and streams netflix with no disruptions. internet is great, hd tv much crisper(make sure to use a hdmi cable)

I just switched to FIOS. I agree with KeithB. I have to admit that I do not miss the audio and video problems I had with Time Warner, not to mention the very slow internet. I do, however, miss my NY1 -- but I will get over as long as I continue receiving a strong signal.

"If you care about fast internet and hate waiting for youtube videos, remotely connect to your work over the internet, value the porn streaming sites, etc"

this is why I love these forums..it covers all types out there..no one is left out

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

Way to kill a discussion.

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.

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?

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?

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.

sirvogey, what did you lower? fios or twc?

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Go with FiOS. Be happier.

"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.

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

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.

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.

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

Sirvogey did you google caonima before replying?

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

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!

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

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

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

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

What ports are FIOS blocking on your service?

>do multiple A/B testing?

Sophisticated!

"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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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!!!

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.

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!)

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.

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.

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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