Electronics

[Montana]

I have an old Verizon modem that is going on the blink. I need faster internet speed for the smart tv I plan to buy.

Is the streaming speed adequate on this device?

[Moonchilde]

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@Montana wrote:

I have an old Verizon modem that is going on the blink. I need faster internet speed for the smart tv I plan to buy.

Is the streaming speed adequate on this device?

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Streaming speed depends upon the plan you buy/your monthly fee and the actual speeds available to you in your house, i.e. where your house sits geographically. Speed can never be guaranteed because there are so many variables. Generally, the more money you pay be per month, the faster the speeds Verizon will give you. The device itself is capable of handling high speed streaming, but it isn't the device that matters, it's the other things.

[Annabellethecat66]

I have Verizon high speed Fios but I'm going to have call and have it boosted.  For some reason my cameras in my rec room downstairs at the far end of house keep going down.

I was told to call Verizon and have them boost the thingy.

[gizmogal]

There's nothing to recommend DSL service any more. The modems are really crummy from an older technology, you need filters on the analog phone lines to split the digital signal in the copper, and streaming capacity is much less than wifi provided from fiber optics through cable or Verizon's own FIOS. Here's a fact:: top speed on any residential DSL is 3-7 Mbps. I'm using wifi from my cable company at 70 Mbps, though I could pay for higher!  FIOS top speed is as much as 200 Mbps. DSL is puny and barely acceptable, but you get what you pay for. Relatively inexpensive yes,  and relatively ineffective yes.  

If you have any other choices for internet service that is fast and reliable, sign up and leave DSL. It's old, is not very smart, and its capacity for streaming at its highest speed is barely adequate, but will never be ideal for the content that is available now, like movies and interactive games online. 

I had DSL for many years and was thrilled to go to "triple play" (phone/Internet/TV) from my cable provider a few years ago. I also worked for Verizon in a technical capacity long enough to know that DSL is no longer a good choice. Move up to more reliable, faster tethnology from Verizon or a cable provider. 

[Montana]

Thanks everyone for your replys.  Your comments are extremely helpful.

Cost is not an issue,  I am concerned with the reliability of the equipment and having reliable customer service.

FIOS is available in my area, but installation seems complicated.  Will Verizon have to dig up my yard?  Also, I was thinking it would be easier to ditch the high speed DSL if I didn't like it. But I don't want outdated technology, so that idea is out. 

In my area Verizon customer service is a real pain. My landline and iPad service is with Verizon and I have not been happy with them.  That is why I am hesitant about FIOS.  

I'm not sure I have this right,  but is it true that Comcast cable lines are shared in neighborhoods and the more people on the Internet, the slower the streaming speed? I certainly don't want that.

My options are Comcast or FIOS.  There seem to be problems with both.  I have to choose.

ETA: I have Comcast - just cable.

[VaBelle35]

I still have Verizon DSL.  I have the basic speed (90 something).

I have a Smart TV.  I don't notice any issues, but I have basic cable and can stream videos I buy from Amazon and never have an issue.

I stream on my Fire tablet with no issues in terms of speed.

Eventually your modem goes.  Just call Verizon and they will replace it for free.  They will try to sell you all kinds of stuff, but basically they will send you a brand new modem for free.

DSL is adequate for me.

We have Fios here and Verizon does everything but come to my door to get me to switch.  But just about everyone in my neighborhood has Fios and they are constantly posting on our website asking if Fios is down as it seems to have a lot of problems with consistency and it happens during important sports games.  LOL

[VaBelle35]

I have basic cable with Comcast as well.  Comcast is a pain to deal with.

We have a new company called Level3 in this area that I'm waiting to hear reviews about.

I'm not interested in switching until Verizon or Comcast force me to switch by making me angry enough.

I would never get all 3 services with one company, though.  Because when it goes out  you have nothing.

I need my landline for work and conference calls.  I cannot stand when people get on 2 hour conference calls with cell phones.  It's like nails on a chalk board.

[gardenman]

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@Montana wrote:

Thanks everyone for your replys.  Your comments are extremely helpful.

Cost is not an issue,  I am concerned with the reliability of the equipment and having reliable customer service.

FIOS is available in my area, but installation seems complicated.  Will Verizon have to dig up my yard?  Also, I was thinking it would be easier to ditch the high speed DSL if I didn't like it. But I don't want outdated technology, so that idea is out. 

In my area Verizon customer service is a real pain. My landline and iPad service is with Verizon and I have not been happy with them.  That is why I am hesitant about FIOS.  

I'm not sure I have this right,  but is it true that Comcast cable lines are shared in neighborhoods and the more people on the Internet, the slower the streaming speed? I certainly don't want that.

My options are Comcast or FIOS.  There seem to be problems with both.  I have to choose.

ETA: I have Comcast - just cable.

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You're lucky you have options. I had Verizon DSL until May 2016 and it was okay, but locally any thunderstorm within about thirty miles would make it unreliable. I switched everything to Comcast (my only alternative) and that's been fine. I've had no real issues with them. There are FIOS lines literally right across the street form me, but I live about a mile and a half outside their FIOS service and despite the lines running right by my house, they won't let us have FIOS here. 

On my old Verizon DSL I would get between 4-7 mbps download and that was generally okay for streaming. Comcast right now (I just ran a speed test) is giving me 127.50 mbps download and 11.87 mbps upload. That's much better. (My overall bill is also lower having combined my cable, phone and Internet services.)

Now with 4-7 mbps I would use an ethernet cable to get the best speed. If you use wifi you're going to lose a good bit of that speed. With speeds of over 100 mbps the wifi works fine for most streaming. Oddly enough though even with speeds of over 100 mbps my Kindle Fire Stick will occasionally say there's not enough bandwidth.

As to sharing bandwidth with neighbors with Comcast, yes that's true. And it's even worse than you think as Comcast advertises millions of hot spots. What they don't openly tell you is that your gateway inside your house, using your power, is one of the their hotspots. Each of their gateways has two routers in them, one for you and one for their hot spots and that hot spot is free to any other Comcast internet subscriber. If you live someplace where a lot of people are within range (near a park for example) your internet could be shared with dozens/hundreds of people. I have my smartphone set up to use the Comcast hotspots and it gets wifi notifications frequently as I'm driving through various neighborhoods. If you have a neighbor who also has Comcast they can set some of their devices to use the Comcast hotspot from your service rather than their own gateway potentially giving them more bandwidth. Comcast insists this sharing of gateways doesn't affect consumer's speeds since the two devices are separate but in the same box, but who knows. If you really insist they can disable the hotspot function on your gateway, but they prefer not to. You can also exploit this and set some of your devices to use the hotspot instead of your own internet if you wished to do so.

[Montana]

@gardenman, so if you had a choice, it would be FIOS?

[gardenman]

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@Montana wrote:

@gardenman, so if you had a choice, it would be FIOS?

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That's a good question. If you'd asked me that 18 months ago I'd have said, yes, but I've had no real issues with Comcast since moving everything to them in May of 2016. (Despite the FIOS lines being run right by my front door Verizon won't hook us up. They sent me a mailer the other day offering service comparable to what I have now for $79.99 a month and would even pay my Comcast ETF, but when I checked they said that service wasn't available here.) Comcast's service around here has been very reliable and good. The speed they're giving me now (120+ mbps) is great, there's been absolutely no real interruption in my service. Their new X-1 TV service is fine. The phones work fine.

I think I would be more inclined to shop by price between the two to get the best deal. If you've got both of them servicing your area then you're in what's called a challenger market where you'll get the lowest possible price and the best possible deals. That's good for you. Get the best price you can for as long as you can then when that deal is expiring threaten to go to the other one, or go to the other one if they give you a better deal.

Just be careful with any deal. Nearly all of the prices you're quoted will exclude equipment and you'll want the prices for the equipment. Also ask if there are disconnect fees down the road should you switch providers. They may exclude "taxes and other fees" from any quote and if they do, be careful. Those "taxes and other fees" may add up to a significant amount. If one's including them and one's not, it's a warning sign.

I tend to think that cable TV and internet are two of the best values out there these days. Cable TV gives you literally 24 hours of news and entertainment a day and when you look at what it costs to attend one sporting event/show/movie and see the amount of those you get included with your cable bill, that cable bill suddenly looks liek a bargain. Just parking alone at most sporting events these days cost $20 or more. The LA Chargers reportedly charge $100 just for parking. Add in the cost of the tickets, refreshments, gas to get to and from the event and you're pretty much even with even the highest cable bill. If you buy a newspaper each day to stay informed on what's happening you end up spending qute a bit and are getting older news. On cable you typically have access to multiple news channels that are constantly updated. Subscribe to a weekly sports publication like Sports Illustrated or the Sporting News and you pay a significant amount each month to get old sporting news while cable TV gives you access to many up to the minute sports shows.