fios
The Verizon Fios Story
**UPDATE we are one of 8 customers in the Silver Spring area out of the same central office that have disconnect problems that cannot be cured and suffer intermittent outages. The outside box has been replaced, the router has been replaced 4 times, and we STILL suffer outages.***
We had DSL from Verizon and were relatively happy. But two very active
computer users in the household, one with Skype video connected nieces
and nephews, argued for maybe a faster, bigger tube.
So we were the first ones on our block to sign up for FIOS as soon as the optical thread became available. I argued for the full package, phone, TV, Internet. I was overrulled. Only Internet. Ah well, I could live with Dish Network for a while longer. We ordered the Verizon Fios Internet basic package.
Big mistake- the tubes became clogged very quickly. That evening, Fios went down. What could it be, must be something- we'll check it in the morning. Sure enough, we rebooted the router next morning according to the instructions of the automated Verizon lady and it came back in a little bit. It went down again. I called.
Our first service visit, how fondly I recall. He increased to loops on the pole outside, said the light couldn't go around the bends. It made sense. When the wind blew, it would cause the cable loops to momentarily tighten and we would lose signal.
Another serviceman was back later that week, in between we had replaced the router, he replaced the router we had just replaced, the outside box and introduced us to 'Moca'.
While the Fios was quick, when it operated, something called the MOCA (mocha?)-which the installers explained to me as an acronym for Multimedia, Something, Something, did not always recognize our little Internet node. We quickly became a clogged urinal on the pipes. Rebooting the router might work, or it might interfere with the natural operation of the Moca.
Fios would work fine, and then go down, come up 45 minutes later then go down 15 minutes or 2 hours later, randomly throughout the day. Like copy machines- if you really needed it- it would go down. It became impossible to do research, update websites, check on job operations on distant mainframes, or even surf the web.
We are not even talking about watching a YouTube screamer here- we are talking about visiting Google or Wikipedia was a crapshoot. But, wait a random amount of time and the web will come back up. And it will stay up for a random amount of time. Really need it? Checking on an e-bay auction final? It's down. Need to leave for an appointment? Up and fast.
So two weeks after they started- Verizon is still not sure exactly what is wrong, they think that the 'order' is wrong, and of course the 'Moca' but they have replaced the router 3 times, the outside box once, troubleshot the inside cable (all 15 feet of it, installed by them) twice, sent 3 service men Saturdays, Sundays, and weekdays (25 of their manhours, 30+ of mine), done a host of network truobleshooting, and still can't find the problem beyond the Moca, possibly.
The Verizon inside people claim it's the physical install, the installers and outside plant people claim it's the Moca, and while the inside network people see our little node tripping alarms, they still can't (or won't) do anything about it.
Now a word about the phone service, when we ordered and installed Fios they switched out our copper for that fiber. It has worked flawlessly. But thank God we didn't order the TV, without TV or computer, I'd have gone postal.
In the time it took me to write this the web went from being down to being up, I read 2 paragraphs on 1 news site, called up another site, and it didn't even finish loading the pictures before Fios went down again. How long will it be down? It appears to be anybody's guess. That was a short cycle-usually it stays up longer to lull you into thinking that you can actually get some work done.
So we were the first ones on our block to sign up for FIOS as soon as the optical thread became available. I argued for the full package, phone, TV, Internet. I was overrulled. Only Internet. Ah well, I could live with Dish Network for a while longer. We ordered the Verizon Fios Internet basic package.
Big mistake- the tubes became clogged very quickly. That evening, Fios went down. What could it be, must be something- we'll check it in the morning. Sure enough, we rebooted the router next morning according to the instructions of the automated Verizon lady and it came back in a little bit. It went down again. I called.
Our first service visit, how fondly I recall. He increased to loops on the pole outside, said the light couldn't go around the bends. It made sense. When the wind blew, it would cause the cable loops to momentarily tighten and we would lose signal.
Another serviceman was back later that week, in between we had replaced the router, he replaced the router we had just replaced, the outside box and introduced us to 'Moca'.
While the Fios was quick, when it operated, something called the MOCA (mocha?)-which the installers explained to me as an acronym for Multimedia, Something, Something, did not always recognize our little Internet node. We quickly became a clogged urinal on the pipes. Rebooting the router might work, or it might interfere with the natural operation of the Moca.
Fios would work fine, and then go down, come up 45 minutes later then go down 15 minutes or 2 hours later, randomly throughout the day. Like copy machines- if you really needed it- it would go down. It became impossible to do research, update websites, check on job operations on distant mainframes, or even surf the web.
We are not even talking about watching a YouTube screamer here- we are talking about visiting Google or Wikipedia was a crapshoot. But, wait a random amount of time and the web will come back up. And it will stay up for a random amount of time. Really need it? Checking on an e-bay auction final? It's down. Need to leave for an appointment? Up and fast.
So two weeks after they started- Verizon is still not sure exactly what is wrong, they think that the 'order' is wrong, and of course the 'Moca' but they have replaced the router 3 times, the outside box once, troubleshot the inside cable (all 15 feet of it, installed by them) twice, sent 3 service men Saturdays, Sundays, and weekdays (25 of their manhours, 30+ of mine), done a host of network truobleshooting, and still can't find the problem beyond the Moca, possibly.
The Verizon inside people claim it's the physical install, the installers and outside plant people claim it's the Moca, and while the inside network people see our little node tripping alarms, they still can't (or won't) do anything about it.
Now a word about the phone service, when we ordered and installed Fios they switched out our copper for that fiber. It has worked flawlessly. But thank God we didn't order the TV, without TV or computer, I'd have gone postal.
In the time it took me to write this the web went from being down to being up, I read 2 paragraphs on 1 news site, called up another site, and it didn't even finish loading the pictures before Fios went down again. How long will it be down? It appears to be anybody's guess. That was a short cycle-usually it stays up longer to lull you into thinking that you can actually get some work done.
