Verizon FiOS fiber-optic Internet service: a first look
Posted by Tom Moertel Tue, 15 Nov 2005 19:23:00 GMT
Recently I had Verizon’s fiber-optic service “FiOS” installed at my home. The installation process took about a half day and involved placing the following boxes around my house:
- optical network terminal (ONT, installed outside of house)
- battery backup unit (BBU, installed in basement)
- power adapter (plugged into household electrical outlet)
The ONT was installed next to my old POTS junction box:
The ONT acts like a miniature central office. To my house it provides four POTS lines for voice service and one 10/100 Mbps Ethernet port for data service. The ONT accepts a single fiber-optic cable that connects all of these services back to Verizon’s central office.
As part of the installation process, Verizon moved my POTS lines from copper over to the ONT’s POTS interfaces. Verizon wanted to remove my copper-based service altogether, but I forbade them from doing so because I have non-Verizon business lines that I want to keep on copper, which competitive carriers can use to offer me service. (Verizon is not required to share its fiber cables with competitive carriers.)
If you look closely at the ONT, you’ll see that it also is capable of handling video service:
(At present Pennsylvania’s cable-franchise laws prevent Verizon from offering video service, but I’m sure Verizon’s lobbyists are working to change that situation.)
Unlike copper wires, fiber-optic cables do not carry power. The ONT, therefore, must be powered from my home’s electrical service. If the power goes out, the battery backup unit (BBU) will supply power for the ONT’s voice services for about four hours.
VoIP users beware: When the household power fails, the ONT’s data services will be dropped immediately in order to conserve the BBU’s battery. This seems pretty lame to me, but Verizon confirmed this behavior when I called them to ask about it. If you need data service during a power failure, make sure your ONT is powered via a UPS under your control.
To provide data service to my house, the installer ran a CAT-5 cable from the ONT’s 10/100 Ethernet port into my house, where it plugs into a D-Link 4-port “Ethernet Broadband Router,” provided by Verizon for free. Although the provided router has NAT and firewall features, I placed a Linux-based firewall between it and the rest of my home network as an added precaution.
I have been using the service for several days now, and here is my verdict:
It’s just broadband.
Practically speaking, I can’t tell any difference between FiOS and my Adelphia cable-modem service. I ordered 5-Mbps service from both providers, and both services provide about 5 Mbps down, which is faster than fast enough for me. The FiOS service has slightly lower latency – I can ping www.google.com in about 9 ms – and that’s a nice plus.
The big benefit of FiOS is competition: Verizon’s price is about $10/month less than Adelphia’s. When I called Adelphia to cancel my service, their representative attempted to change my mind by offering me a 3-month promotional discount and trying to sell me extra television channels.
I passed.
readers
So after having Fios for awhile, are you glad you made the switch? I am considering switching from Adelphia to Verizon’s plan w/ the 15.0mbps downstream speed,,,I am an average user, my company pays for the plan, will I see a big difference in speed?
Thanks!
Dan, I didn’t notice any sizable speed increase when I moved from Adelphia’s 5-Mbps service to Verizon’s 5-Mbps service, both of which I consider to be in the “more-than-fast-enough” category of broadband. Verizon’s latency was a bit lower, but Adelphia’s was low to begin with.
Once you get above 1 Mbps or so on your to-home pipe, no additional bandwidth is going to provide relevant surfing benefits. The pages will load as fast as the servers can push them. On most popular sites, server-side issues become the limiting factors.
Now, for downloads, it’s a different story. If you pull down large files from the iTunes music store or other services that have tons of server-side bandwidth, you will notice speed benefits when you increase your to-home pipe. I’m willing to bet that Verizon’s 15-Mbps service will really speed up large-file downloads. If you download big files often, get the fatter pipe.
Bottom line: Am I glad I switched to Fios? Yes, but mainly because it is less expensive than Adelphia’s comparable broadband service.
Fios 5/2 is still better than cable because you are not sharing the network and its cheaper, so yes do it.
15 mbps down and 2 mbps blows the cable companies out of the water.
My only recommendation for cable users switching to FIOS is to go with 15/2, comparable price, 5 times greater service. Just wait for the tv when it comes through FIOS!!!!!!!!!!!
For me, FIOS has been much more reliable than Comcast.
I got FOIS in Aug, 2005. I monitor uptime with a program that hits yahoo every minute and sends me an email if it misses 3 in a row or when my IP address changes. I have received very few emails regarding 3 missed pings.
I’m looking to upgrade to FIOS this summer. Just curious—the Verizon website implies that you need a supported Windows or Mac box (I run SUSE 10.0). Were you able to simply plug your linux box into the router they give you, setup your ethernet interface, and you were in business? Is DHCP enabled or do you use a static IP?
Pete, before I ordered FiOS, I called up Verizon and stated my terms:
I then asked if Verizon’s FiOS could meet my terms. The Verizon representative said yes and even inserted my terms into the over-the-phone agreement she read to me when she confirmed my order.
When the installer came to my house, I made sure that he was aware of the unusual terms of my agreement. He said, no problem, as long as I was willing to handle the networking setup of my own computers, he was cool with the situation. He then installed the D-Link router and made sure it was connecting back to the central office.
Yes. After the installer plugged in the D-Link box, I used a laptop running Fedora Core Linux to verify that the D-Link was handing out IP addresses via DHCP on its LAN ports and that I could connect to the Internet. Satisfied, I thanked the installer, and he went merrily upon his way.
Later, I installed a Linux-based firewall between the D-Link and my home network. At that time I used the D-Link’s administrative interface to set up a static LAN IP address for the firewall. And that setup has been running fine ever since.
In sum, the D-Link takes care of the interface between any Ethernet LAN and the Internet. No magic software or weird configuration is needed.
Tom, Thanks for the info. I notice Verizon has now gone to an Actiontec wireless router—at least that’s what they say on their website. Hopefully, this will be just as easy to install/use as your D-Link. Thanks again.
Has anyone placed a linux box in the position of their wireless router? Is the wireless router obtaining it’s IP address from Verizon via DHCP or PPPoE. ToS not withstanding, I’d like to be able to run a webserver (family use) and some game servers, and have control of my own interfaces/firewall. I’m aware of the ability of the routers to forward ports, but don’t want to use that unless necessary. Thanks
Scott, I’m not working for verizon, and I don’t have a photographic memory, however I don’t believe your allowed to run any server of any kind using consumer fois…. I think it’s a breach in the user agreement cuz it eats up everyone elses bandwith
I’ve got a couple of quick questions I hope you can answer. After my umpteenth fight with Comcast/Time Warner about low bandwidth/poor service (especially upload speed)I’ve decided to look at Verizon FIOS for my Internet provider.
The following are my concerns:
I already have a network installed that uses a Linksys Router (WRT54GS) that connects to the cable modem. If Verizon includes a router with their install can I hook the existing router to their router and have service?
I have a PC on my existing network that has a static IP address that is set up for port forwarding. Will I be able to use this through the existing router and new router?
Can I get them to just run a cat5 cable to my existing router instead of using their router?
Will I need to run a cat5 cable from the existing router for the install or will the tech run the cable?
I’ve tried calling Verizon sales and I don’t trust the salesperson to tell the truth. I had a few problems with them years ago when I had my DSL through them.
I want to get rid of Comcast/Time Warner but I don’t want more problems than I already have.
I talked with a guy that had it installed and he said that he had problems with the internet connection staying up.
Thanks
Tim, you ask a lot of questions, some of which I can answer.
You ought to be able to put your WRT54GS between your LAN and Verizon’s router, but you might need to fiddle with its initial configuration to make sure that its LAN and WAN addresses make sense for being behind Verizon’s router. (It’s “WAN” is going to be Verizon’s router’s LAN.)
At the time of writing, I don’t think Residential FiOS offers static IP addresses, so you’re out of luck on that count.
On the details of the local installation, I’m not sure how it will play out. I suspect it varies from tech to tech. The safest bet would be to let the tech set up the typical “Verizon install” and then convert it into your preferred configuration. If the tech is cool, he or she might help you set it up your way, but I wouldn’t count on it.
I haven’t had any significant problems with FiOS. For the thirteen months I’ve been using it, the FiOS service has been considerably more reliable than was my previous cable-modem service, which was Adelphia (now Comcast).
Tom
Thanks for getting back with me. I’m hoping I can set up a static IP address on the router so that I can allow port forwarding. Since i don’t have a D-link router, or whatever they’re using now with the install, I don’t know what the router will allow the end user to do.
Also, I want them to route the Cat5 to my office. I don’t care if they run it outside the house or not but I would rather have the router in my office than on the other end of the house.
One other questions I was reading that Verizon is changing over to DHCP instead of PPPoE. Have you heard anything about this?
Thakns for the info and your time.
Tim, as I wrote in my previous post, I do not believe that Verizon will let you have a static-IP address with residential FiOS service. It’s not a matter of configuring the router. If Verizon won’t assign you a static, public address, nothing you can do on your side of the network will change that fact. Even if you force the local router to use a static address, Verizon’s upstream routers won’t know anything about your change and will therefore not route packets for you.
Regarding running cable to your office, I suspect that Verizon’s installers will do it, but you should verify this claim before you place an order.
Regarding PPPoE vs. DHCP, I think you’re confusing things. PPPoE is a transport-layer protocol that includes address discovery for both ends of the point-to-point connection; DHCP is a protocol for hosts on a network to discover configuration information. From the perspective of your LAN, FiOS looks like an Ethernet segment. As is typical on such segments, your PC (or intermediate router) will discover its IP address on the LAN via DHCP. Verizon’s router may communicate with Verizon’s upstream routers via PPPoE, but your LAN is completely isolated from that part of packet transport. If Verizon does dump PPPoE in favor of straight IP-over-Ethernet on its upstream segments, you won’t notice much on your end. Maybe latency will drop a wee bit and fewer packets will need to be fragmented, but, again, you probably won’t notice the effects of such changes.
Tom
Thakns again for your time and patience. I guess I’m confused. I currently have Comcast and they don’t have staic IP addresses however, I have a static IP address setup on the router side note the Internet side. I have DHCP setup on the router and one of the PC’s on my network has a static IP address asigned on the router side so that I can use port forwarding on that PC. The other three PCs have their IP adresses assigned dynamically just the one PC has it’s address static.
Example:
PC1 DHCP PC2 DHCP PC3 DHCP PC4 192.168.1.205
This has been working on my Comcast account. I was wondering if this would work on the Verizon account.
One other quick question, if I connect one port out of the D-link router to the input (WAN) connection on the linksys router will I have to disable DHCP on the linksys?
Thanks
Tim,
On the LAN side – that is, on your house network – you can do whatever you want. So you can assign yourself static IP addresses from your LAN’s address block.
Regarding your second question, you’ll probably want to leave your Linksys router’s DHCP service on because it will hand out addresses to the devices on your home network.
Tom
Thanks again for answering all my questions. I’m going to switch over to FIOS after the holidays. I don’t think they can get the job done before Christmas.
Anything you can think of that I should look out for during the install would be appreciated.
Thanks for your time and all the help.
Tim
Hi guys,
I just had Verizon’s FiOS installed last week, primarily a price decision, as I really don’t need the extra upload speed.
While the latency and transfer speeds are fine, here’s what I’m experiencing:
1) Viewing videos on YouTube, they stutter. Small hick-ups where the video pauses, while the buffer refills/catches up. Happens on other video sites as well.
2) Some games I play seem to not like the stuttering (high latency spikes?) and subsequently crash or go into other bad behavior.
I haven’t canceled my cable modem service, and am able to simply switch back and forth between the two services when these problems occur. Every time these problems go away when I switch back to my cable service.
Together, I’m still not sure if these warrant canceling the service and going back to Time-Warner (former Adelphia). I’m not a heavy gamer, and maybe spend an 1/2 hour/week watching online videos/clips.
My question: is anybody else experiencing this?
Thanks for posting all of your experiences with Fiber Optic Service. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities just approved Verizon to offer services here (finally). If nothing else, it will make more choices available and increase competition.
deesine
I just got FIOS this past week and have been very satisfied with the thru-put. I’ve not experienced the problems you’re reporting. In fact I get much better thru-put on FIOS than I ever did on Comcast cable. That was one of the reasons I switched. Also, I had experienced so many problems with Comcast that I had to switch. I was told it was my system and there was nothing they could do. I’m not experiencing any problems with FIOS.
Without insulting your intelligence, did you happen to run the optimizing program that is on the Verizon site? This may help with some of your problems.
Just a thought…..
deesine said 394 days later:
Hi guys,
I just had Verizon’s FiOS installed last week, primarily a price decision, as I really don’t need the extra upload speed.
While the latency and transfer speeds are fine, here’s what I’m experiencing:
1) Viewing videos on YouTube, they stutter. Small hick-ups where the video pauses, while the buffer refills/catches up. Happens on other video sites as well.
2) Some games I play seem to not like the stuttering (high latency spikes?) and subsequently crash or go into other bad behavior.
I haven’t canceled my cable modem service, and am able to simply switch back and forth between the two services when these problems occur. Every time these problems go away when I switch back to my cable service.
Together, I’m still not sure if these warrant canceling the service and going back to Time-Warner (former Adelphia). I’m not a heavy gamer, and maybe spend an 1/2 hour/week watching online videos/clips.
My question: is anybody else experiencing this?
Yes i am i thought it was just me
“If Verizon won’t assign you a static, public address, nothing you can do on your side of the network will change that fact.”
Tom, I know what you’re saying but there is still a way around it. It’s definitely not for everyone, but it has worked for me for many years.
You set up a relay machine at work, a colo or some other friendly site with fast connectivity, arrange to have a block of the colo’s IP address space routed to the relay, and configure the relay to forward packets to this block over a tunnel to your home router. Your home router sets up the tunnel so that the relay machine can always get your inbound traffic to you, even if your ISP-assigned address changes. Your home router also tunnels your outbound traffic to the relay to avoid your ISP’s ingress filtering. To the world, it looks as if your home network is physically located at the colo.
A good optimization is to route locally originated traffic (web surfing, etc) direct to its destination, avoiding the tunnel. You need the tunnel only to let outside sites connect to computers on your network, or for applications that can’t otherwise tolerate NATs.
Ideally you’d also use IPSEC to encrypt the tunnel so that your ISP sees only an opaque packet stream between the relay machine and your home router. They can count packets or bytes, but that’s it —they can’t tell where the real endpoints are, or even tell that you’re tunneling. My ISP sells me a pipe, and it’s really none of their business what I put in it.
Wow, you definitely have something wrong with your setup of FIOS if you are only getting 5mbs download speeds. I get over 20mbs without any trouble with FIOS. Maybe at some point on your LAN you have a connection running only at 10mbs instead of 100mbs. It just makes no sense at all for you to be getting only 5mbs with FIOS.
I had Comcast prior to my switch and I cannot be happier with FIOS. Even the TV looks clearer and they don’t have all the Ads on the TV Guide popping up every time you change the channel. My internet upload speed with FIOS is faster then my previous Comcast download speeds.
Best of all, I don’t have to deal with the Comcast “usage police” anymore. Comcast has those silly caps on their monthly usage and they play all sorts of other games that make me happy to be rid of them.
Anyway, add up your local/long distance monthly bill and your Cable TV and ISP bill and if they are over $108 then you should definitely take a look at what that package will cost you with FIOS. I paid over $200 a month on average for those three services and now I pay $108 (for a much better service). Note that these prices will probably vary, but I think you will be surprised to discover that you save money by switching too (some of you at least).
DANA, there’s nothing wrong with my network. 5 Mbps down is exactly what I expect from FiOS because I’m on the 5/2 plan. For me, there’s no point in paying for a faster plan because so few sites can reliably push content at higher speeds. Why pay to speed up only the few sites that can? For me, the diminishing returns aren’t worth it.
I was the first to get FIOS internet installed in my neighborhood. I have 3 pcs in my office with my HP workstation as my main PC with another desktop and laptop. I currently have optimum. After FIOS was installed, I did not see any faster access to websites. The contrary was true. I would go to a website. the pc would hang. I would try to download an attachment, the PC would hang. I got so tired of doing ctrl-alt-del, I could scream. I called verizon tech support. He told me this was an internet explorer problem. He told me to call Microsoft. I told the tech, I will uninstall verizon software, disconnect from the FIOS modem and determine if I was having the same problem with optimum. I did not have any problems with optimum. I have complained so much that verizon sent 2 field managers down to see me and asked me to work with their tech. FIOS is suppose to be better but for me it is not. I trade futures with real time charts on four screens. I was hoping FIOS would be “lightning fast”. Not for me. My FIOS trial lasted 2 days and I went back to optimum. I have verizon treo with broadband and have dsl at my other business location and I love it but this FIOS leaves alot to be desired. Also, the FIOS customer support is terrible. They all need to be brought up to speed on their product and help to the customer. They say all the right phrases about wanting to help the customer but the customer service did not execute. If the problems I have experienced are the norm rather than the exception, verizon will be in big trouble.
Anthony, I have been a Verizon fios tech for over 3 years now but personally I’ve worked with computers for over 15 years, and I have not experienced anything like what you’re experiencing. I tend to think that the reason you are experiencing this problem would more than likely be casued by your ISP’s Optimun software not being compatible with Verizon’s software, the issue could be having more then one firewall, antivirus, or spyware software loaded through either ISP’s software. I happened to come across an article that totaly contradicts your claim and although it primarily focus toward Macs, is also addresses Windows based PCs, please copy and paste this URL to your browser and go to this web page, I think you might find the information useful. He might be using MACs but he also verified his claim with pc’s running Windows. http://www.reelsmart.com/2006/02/10/verizon-fios-installed-macintosh-compatible-and-fast/
It is true that you will not the speed increase when a webpage opens. However, if you download any large files or watch streaming video or do a combination of all at the same time (like me;) ) then you will see a dramatic increase in speed.
Most people that I come across want the copper lines taken down during the installation. One guy told me that “technology is meant to go forward, not in reverse. I am not going back.”. I suspect that most people want the copper left up because want an escape route in case the fiber doesnt work out. Once they see what the fiber is all about, that becomes passe.
A word on the software that Tom is so recalcitrant about installing. The software is important for setting up your email accounts with Verizon and for running the tcp/ip optimizer so that your computer runs at top speed. If an extra email account means nothing to you AND you can tweak your own internal settings then skipping the software D/L is no big deal.
And finally for Tim or anyone else getting an installation I offer you the following:
First and foremost let me say that I do NOT, directly or indirectly, speak for Verizon. The suggestions that I offer should be taken as helpful hints between friends to maximize your FiOS installation experience.
1) Technicians call ahead before their arrival. It is helpful if you answer the phone! Sounds simple right? For some maybe, but for others this seems to be a real challenge.
2) Contain your excitement when they arrive by NOT going out to meet them at their truck. Often there is some paperwork that needs to be filled out, and components to be gathered. Nothing gets you off on the wrong foot faster than interrupting someone trying to get things together with “are you here to install my FiOS?”. Trust me that nobody is trying to make you wait any longer than you absolutely have to.
3) Trying to give a Gratuity before work begins is not sincere appreciation but rather an attempt at a bribe. Trust me that the technician knows how important this is to you and MOST will do everything in their power to make it the best it can be for you. The installers are generally high end and the most experienced technicians from a given garage.
4) Plan ahead! There is going to be a new router put in by your computer and CAT 5e wire run from the ONT to a data jack next to your computer. Please clean up around your computer. NOTHING is worse than working in an area so covered in dust bunnies that you know that nobody has vaccuumed for a while. Also FiOS requires electricity. Look around close to where your existing phone box (NID) is located and see if there is an outlet somewhere close to it. This is where the tech is most likely to mount your new ONT. Once you find the outlet, make sure the technician has easy access to it without having to clean anything off. If the outlet is already occupied with your washer and dryer, then invest the five bucks for a power strip. It is also a good idea to prep your computer for the new service by dumping temp internet files and defragging before the tech arrives so that it is running at its peak performance.
5) During the installation. Most techs I know do NOT care if you stand over their shoulder or choose to go do something else while they work. Try to pick one and stick with it. If you choose to go elesewhere make sure you are readily available in case there is a question for you. If you choose to stay with the technician, silence is golden. Questions are fine, but should be asked BEFORE the work commences. Of course you may think of one as you are going along and that is fine. What drives techs to drink is when they are peppered with a never-ending stream of inane questions while they are trying to work. The work is in some places requires meticulous attention to details that just cannot be properly given if you interrupt the work by asking if this service is really faster than the local cable company. Also if you stay with the technician, be helpful. Often times the tech can use a paper towel or something cold to drink (esp. if he has been at it a while or its an especially difficult wire run). Use your best judgment on this one, but dont be afraid to offer a drink or a rag or whatever if you think it will help. Even if he does not take you up on it, the tech will be grateful that you had the prescence of mind to offer.
6) Dont panic if everything doesnt click on the first shot. Test everything before the technician leaves and know that if something isnt just the way you want it, then it can be made that way. One call to the Fiber Solutions Center fixes 99 % of the problems on the first shot.
Have a website that is hosted on Go-Daddy and have Verizon Fios Residential Service. All I want to do is to take care of the problem of not being able to update my admin panel thru my home fios. It hangs up and shuts down.
I am not a tech person so I would need a step by step with what to do to change a port or whatever will fix this problem
I ordered fios over three weeks ago with an expected install date of last wednesday… and they botched it. no phones, no internet and no fax at my law office and no install date in sight. BUYER BEWARE!!!!!!!!!
I ordered fios bundle package abouta month ago and finally was ready today for them to come install the tv and phone. I already have the fios 15mbps service and did not have any problems it works great. I read other blog sites with verizon techs writing about how to clean around the tvs and basment for easy installation for them, so I did that all night yesterday. However I waited 4 hours and no one came so I checked my e-mail to do some work and found a e-mail from verizon dated today jan 24th. I can’t believe that this happened because I took off of work today just to get this thing installed and the least they could have done is to call yesterday or e-mail me yesterday. I am very dissappointed about this. also I called a verizon tech last week just to make sure that they were going to come today!!!! I understand what lawyer was talking about now. My fios install date is now more than a month away and that means no phone or tv for another month!!!!
I had FIOS installed in NJ on 11/14/2007. I’m still resolving billing issues every month after four billing cycles and haven’t recieved the free TV offer or notification. The FIOS itself-phone, TV and internet is great. The support both billing and technical is horrible. It takes forever to get thru the voice mail hell and then your put in que for as long as an hour or told to call back because their too busy. You have to hope you never have a problem because it takes months to resove and if you need a dispatche you may wait days. In NJ you don’t get MSNBC and the guide leaves a lot to be desired. Unless the support improves I’m going back to the cable company after my contract expires.
I’m starting to work for the FiOS project here at Verizon… I’ll be taking your calls… But yah this service is great. Though i know noone that would need it the internet is being serviced at 50mbps and can go up to 500mbps! and the Video sevice is awsome. Though the “Hiper real color” they’re trying to pawn off on you is a bunch off bull they do have services that the cable company dosn’t like Kare’oke and international TV like local chanels from Japan. Telephone has beter sound but no faster cause sound is sound no way to speed it up. But the plans are nice too a bundle of internet, POTS, cable and cell phone is only 250 a month wile my old cell phone bill alone was that much.
Why is the wirelss range so HORRIBLE with the actiontec router… can’t they do something about this?
PS – I called and the rep said they only gaurantee the range to 14 feet… my room is bigger than 14 feet!