Plus there’s a whole slew of other minefield terms and conditions including 1, 2 and 3 year contracts.

Here below is an excerpt of Terms:
Limited time promotional offer applicable to customers with Verizon voice service, who order Verizon FiOS Internet 10/2 Mbps, 20/5Mbps or 20/20 Mbps speed package with a one or two year plan ONLINE. Not available with bundle offers or 50/20 Mbps speeds. First month free after bill credit. Normal monthly rates apply for remainder of plan term. Rate may increase after term plan expires. $34.99 activation charge.

Acceptance of Verizon Online Terms of Service required. Verizon Installation required. Installation charge of $79.99 applies to configuration of main computer only for month-to-month packages. Installation of additional computers at additional fee. Minimum systems requirements apply. Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition (SE) and Windows ME (Millennium Edition) with Verizon FiOS Internet not supported by Verizon. Not all features of Verizon FiOS Internet Service with Verizon Yahoo!, AOL or Windows Live are Macintosh compatible. Equipment provided will be new or a fully inspected, tested and warranted return unit. Limited to one router provided at no charge per household per FiOS service, FiOS Internet and/or FiOS TV. If one year plan is cancelled between months 2 and 12, $99 early termination fee may apply, or if two year plan is cancelled between months 2 and 24, $149 early termination fee may apply. Router provided at no charge must be returned or $99.99 equipment fee applies. Month-to-month packages available. CAT5 or higher grade inside wiring or existing RG59/RG6 coaxial cable required. Connection speeds are between your location and Verizon central office serving your location. Actual download and upload speeds will vary based on numerous factors, such as condition of wiring at your location, computer configuration, Internet and network congestion, and speed of website servers you access, among other factors. Available in select areas. Speed and uninterrupted use of service not guaranteed. Current Verizon Online High Speed Internet customers who move to FiOS Internet service will have their Verizon Online High Speed Internet permanently disabled after their FiOS conversion. Additional charges, taxes and terms apply.

HOW MUCH DOWNLOADING DO YOU DO PER MONTH? If its just emails, internet browsing and occasional download here and there, the cable will handle them perfectly well. All this hoopla about FIOS is a marketing driven ploy. Most people won’t utilize it, but the cost factor is quite substantial.
With cable you you have not contracts, no equipment charges and no need to install any proprietary equipment. Did I mention, that you can choose to have the very same speeds: 7, 10, 15, 20.

Think ROI (Return on Investment) and make a decision. Good Luck!

tom,
sarasota, florida

On install day, no one showed, no one called. I had my mobile with me at ALL times. So around 1:30 PM I called Verizon to see what was going on. If something came up, I had a week off to move in and if they needed to come by in a day or two, I was totally cool with that. After about an hour on hold I got in touch with a “state level” dispatcher. That said that there were “no facilities available for my order” and I was called. Nope, I wasn’t called; they did have my cell (which I had with me all of the time) in their records. I wanted them to come out later in the week if possible since I was home. They said that their next available time for me was 4-12-08, which was a day where I was going to a wedding. The next available time after that was at the end of the month, on a work day for me.

Basically because they did not show up, or even notify me with a reason, they put me at the back of the line. I was trying to escalate my request and the support only gave me unreasonable dates and that “no facilities available for my order” BS. I later wanted to get my copper line put back so I could at least get phone service, and after a long wait in hold they gave me the end of the month as a date. Basically I was being run around in circles and being shoved to the end of the line because Verizon screwed up my installation. I was told the only way I could get it sooner is if I “knew an installer who’d do me a favor,” and I was pretty much screwed with the window of time I had to get the service installed. The salesperson fed me a load of bull and the installer didn’t even call me with a reason. I tried to figure out what “no facilities available for my order” meant, and why this was such a problem since I already had the ONT in my house. Half of their work was already done.

The same day, I called a local cable company who installed my phone, internet, and cable the next day. They showed up on time and did the normal pre and post appointment verification. I unplugged the ONT in my house and let the battery go out. Verizon gave me such a lousy customer experience I swore I would never do business with them, and be sure to let other people know about their awful customer service and commitments they setup and do not honor. Verizon screwed up prior when they bought Bell Atlantic, and screwed up our perfectly find DSL service I had around 98/99. My money is going to a competitor, and Verizon won’t see if because they have abysmal customer service. I am certainly interested in fiber optic lines connected to my house, but so long as Verizon is the only provider, I will happily do without.

James
Herndon, VA

As for capacity when many people sign up. I would hope that Verizon stays on top of any issues. Since the network is based on fiber, it should not be difficult to dramatically increase bandwidth if necessary. The limitations are always going to be the expense for equipment at each end of the fibers.

I have to wonder though – when thousands more sign up will it get slower?