Fios vs. Cable: Is Verizon Fios better than Comcast?
84Which is really better?
Lately I've ben getting mailers from both Comcast and Verizon trying to get my business. Since my husband is on extended leave I decided to do a little bit of research myself and figure this one out: Which is a better offer Verizon fios or Comcast cable?
Verizon Fios Triple Play Bundle
- Broadband Internet: Very fast speeds both for downloading (pages and videos) and uploading (your photos, etc.). 5-15mb per second downloads, 2mb uploads.
- Fios TV: 100% digital channels, sound, on demand programming, and DVR options.
- Fios Phone Service: Offers unlimited plans as well as voice over IP service. Since Verizon is already my phone company, I would imagine this wouldn't change much.
Comcast Triple Play
- Comcast High-Speed Internet: Offers powerboost, which is supposed to give you speeds f 12 mb per second. Also includes Virus scanner program from McAffee for free.
- Cable TV: Standard channel lineups plus On Demand service, which lets you watch shows on your own schedule (which I find very attractive).
- Phone Service: Comcast Digital Voice looks like a voice over IP service (VOIP for short), which lets you keep your phone number and make unlimited long distance phone calls.
From first glance, the two seem pretty similar. Comcast has a special for $99.99 for all 3 services for 6 months. Verizon Fios offers theirs starting at $94.99.
From reading reviews of both Comcast and Verizon, the concensus seems that both are fairly similar, but Verizon Fios is quite a bit faster for internet access when it comes to "actual" speed, especially for uploading photos and videos, both of which I'm doing more and more of.
I'm still not sure, but I'm leaning more towards Verizon Fios. A lot of people are saying it's a better service from the reviews I read. Either one is better than my current plan, so I'll probably make the switch soon.
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Comments
I agree customer service is not great with Verizon (and most other large coporations), however regarding the speed, the slowest fios package in my area is cheaper and faster than comcast: 10 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up. For about $22 more per month you can even get 20Mbps down AND UP, which blows anything else out of the water.
cable beats verizon anyday.
cable beats verizon anyday.
Folks.. ... What you are seeing marketed now with FiOS data rates are just the beginnings of a much bigger push coming soon. The system already has 50/50 mbps data rate capability built in and could be sold right now. (Look for this offer soon). Much, much faster data rate capability are currently being deployed. Keep in mind with fiber all the way to the customer premise there is no shared bandwith or compression.. it's pure light. The cable companies will have to really struggle in the near future to keep up with FiOS.
my area has 10/2 for 99. or 20/5 for $10 more. Comcast business class can't even touch the mid-level for FiOS. I could even get 50/50 if I could afford it.
Comcast Business Class Internet with PowerBoost makes fast even faster. When needed for large files, you can download at speeds up to 16 Mbps and upload at speeds up to 2 Mbps.Comcast for home download speeds up to 8 Mbps and upload speeds up to 1 Mbps. This is a shared network throughout your neighborhood. An example of this, would be the water pressure dropping in the morning do to people waking up and taking showers, so when everyone gets home from work and jumps on the Comcast internet their network slows down, giving you slower download and upload speeds.FiOS is a dedicated network not shared. The fiber from your house to the Verizon Hub is only for your house. The speed form your house to the Verizon central officeComcast cable wins over Verizon in all categories. Verizon has the absolute worst customer service in the history of large corporations. Their customer service transfers you from one unknowing customer service rep to another, never communicating with each other. The Verizon organization is like a nerve system without a central brain!! But, really broadband speed is the major factor in determing service. I have Comcast, my download speeds are 15000kbps, uploads at 1587 kbps. These cable speeds are faster than the lowest price level of Verizon Fios. So bottom line is that Comcast is cheaper, far better cusomter service and faster kbps for the money! You can check your broadband speeds as www.speakeasy.net
I had FiOS first, than switched to Cable (because of a snazzy on-phone offer), and then (about one hour after the cable tech installed everything) immediately disconnected all the Cable gear and re-connected my FiOS equipment. Not only was the Cable equipment old and clearly refurbished, while my FiOS stuff was all new, but the internet on Cable C-R-A-W-L-E-D in terms of speed. The upload speed was around 3500 kbps while with FiOS I averaged 20,000 kbps.
No comparison. FiOS is the best. TV is crystal clearer as well.
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Its Verizon who should be sued for their incessant fios commercials. As a matter of fact, Ive called cablevision asking them to pull all fios commercials off the air. This is the same big bad pots company that wanted to have voip rates increased and one of the companies being sued for wiretapping us. Their fios commercials are misleading because in no way, shape or form is fios internet better than cable. I get 30mbps cable and verizon cant match that. Even if they could, I have serious ethical and privacy issues with them. Anyone interested in democracy should NEVER choose Verizon.
Comcast are the ones with the misleading ads. "bigger fiber network" is a misleading load of crap, because the fiber doesn't go to your home; you still get antique cable technology. In terms of capacity of the hardware being used -- If DSL is a straw, and Cable is a garden hose, then FiOS is the Amazon River.
I work for Verizon Business and Have Comcast at home because I can't get FIOS yet and DSL is too slow, but Comcast internet is no comparison to VZ FIOS. If I'm working at home in the middle of the day I'm alright but as soon as the kids come home my internet connection gets so slow it's ridiculous. If you hate VZ because of customer service I understand. It's a big company and most large service companies have challenges with customer service, but unless you have actually used FIOS you won't know the difference. Just ask the people that have actually switched which one is better?
I currently have BOTH installed in my home. I plan on canceling FIOS. It has a higher top speed for downloading/uploading large files, but the latency sucks. I've done a side by side comparison with my slingbox and the cable wins every time. Same router, same equipment etc. Cable is better but I'm not sure why as it clocks a slower top speed. Hope that helps.
I have comcast and its absolutely terrible. For instance for the past 2 weeks the internet shuts down randomly then reboots but no signal (im running a belkin wireless g enchanced router). I called the comcast customer service and the girl not only spoke to me like i had no clue what a modem looked like but she then said that the router all of a sudden can mess up which is a load of bullshit because the router has been used for a year and this is the first time its doing this. So then after a few days what do i see?? a comcast truck going to every house on my street throughout the day working on the cable boxes. Comcast in New Jersey is a joke, my dad has had their service since the 80s before cablevision and optimum obviously so the monopoly they established in the 80s stuck until now. Fios is indeed better and as for customer service who the hell cares because customer service for Comcast sucks in my area and may be better in the Philly area or else where. So to base the Customer service for YOUR home town is dumb. My uncle has Fios in Scotch Plains and said the customer service is amazing and the speed of internet is beyond imagination.
Comcast sucks!!!
Seems most people posting here fall into three categories: 1) cable customers who can't get FIOS or live in high-speed cable areas, 2) former and/or disgruntled cable customers, or 3) paranoid about big brother and wiretapping. For those of you that are happy with cable, stay with cable. no one is forcing you away from cable. For those of us who have had cable & FIOS... seeing is believing with FIOS! When it comes to customer service, there are bad representatives for every company. And about that wiretapping lawsuit... that was a government operation. Why would Verizon want to hear your personal conversation?
As a single mom and a computer geek, I looked at switching from Comcast to Verizon during a recent move. In Pittsburgh, Comcast has the "Triple Play" available for $99, plus $9.95 to get extended basic channels (with Disney) or $114 after taxes. That's about $35 for each service. Now, Verizon is offering the same bundle to us (they are new to the area) for $159.99 plus a $29.99 install. Even if the internet connection is faster and the TV service is better, is it $60 better? But these Verizon prices force us to sign a 12-mo CONTRACT. Comcast allows us to cancel service at any time, without penalty. After the Comcast 1-year promo, these services will jump from $99 to $139.99, but that's still $20 cheaper than Verizon. And Verizon wants me home for 8 hours babysitting their tech to install it. Comcast can do it in about 1.5 hours! The only disadvantage I see to staying with Comcast is that our phone number looks weird in the phone book because Verizon already owns the local exchanges. Comcast's numbers are foreign to the schools and pizza shops. They always ask me, "Is that a cell number?" I'll deal with the weird landline number to save $60 per month!
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kevin says:
5 months ago
ok, your wrong.. not to say your dumb or anything, but comcast offers triple play for $99, and fios is $99.99 for all three, and verison's service is horrid, also comcast is 6 mbps, and fios is 5 mbps. therefore comcast is better.