Hi Folks…
Is it only me, or are other high-end FiOS customers completely dissatisfied with their “Gigabit” (or anything faster than about 100MB) service from Verizon FiOS ?
I have been an early adopter for years and typically try to implement technology often before it’s fully cooked and maybe that’s what’s going on in my situation, but I am wildly frustrated by Verizon’s bald-faced lies about the performance of my home network.
I am paying for, and have been told by Verizon, that I am getting Gigabit (one thousand, million bits of data per second) delivered to my home and I can prove about five different ways that they ear only delivering about 25% of that speed, BUT THEY CONTINUE TO CHARGE ME FULL RATE REGARDLESS. Now in my opinion, actually in fact, this is no different than going to the deli counter and ordering one pound of cheese and discovering when you get home, that THEY ONLY GAVE YOU ¼ POUND BUT CHARGED YOU FOR THE POUND. AND, they do it month after month after month after month…
Here is the simple truth, for those of you considering higher speeds from Verizon FiOS:
- DO NOT buy anything over about 400MB. That seems to be the realistic top speed that they can deliver, ever, on a really good day, in clear weather, at midnight, on a Sunday. On average, they deliver about 250MB up and 125MB down usually.
- DO NOT fall for the ads telling you that you need to buy the new G3100 router and new G3200 extender… your existing G1100 Quantum Gateway router and ActionTec WCB6200Q extender can and will work JUST FINE for any available speeds that Verizon currently offers (even though they can’t deliver anything near gigabit to your home). This alone is over $700 of unnecessary equipment that they gladly tell you to buy if you want gigabit service.
- DO NOT allow Verizon to tell you that their test alone is the only way to check speeds between your router and the Verizon head end… this is like your new car dealer telling you that the car THEY just sold you gets 100 miles to the gallon, even though every other measure and the cost of the fuel that you are putting into it shows that you are only getting 25 miles to the gallon.
- DO NOT fall for Verizon’s nonsense about, “we are delivering gigabit to your router (WHICH THEY ARE NOT), but your device and/or your WiFi equipment is only capable of ‘X-MB’ per second (whatever sub-standard speed they are delivering at that moment).” Again, it’s like, “…the car you just bought has an engine that will go 100 MPH, but the crummy tires you own will only let you go 25 MPH.”
Gigabit from Verizon is a pure fallacy. Go ahead and try ANY off the accepted speed tests available to the consumer, other than Verizon’s “in-house” test (gee, no chance they are cooking the numbers on that test, eh?)…
NONE of them show speeds anywhere near 1 gigabit per second. If Verizon is only able to deliver a trickle of the promised speed, please put me on a metered connection and I will gladly pay for whatever I consume, but don’t charge me full rate for a speed which has NEVER, EVER been delivered. For the record, I have spent hours (in double digits) trying to work around the double-talk and lies that you get on the phone when you call Verizon during their current 8 by 5 coverage if you get through and if they decide to answer.
Is there anyone else out there experiencing this kind of terrible customer service and pure fantasy from Verizon representatives ? I can’t fault the individuals on the 800 number, they are only delivering the information and lies that management has pushed onto them, but management should be ashamed and held responsible for this nonsense.
Lastly, I am a stone-cold idiot. I went ahead and bought the new G3100 router and G3200 extender. $700 unnecessary down the drain. THAT said, who decided that it would be a great idea to deliver this new, state-of-the-art telecommunications equipment IN WHITE !!!?!??!?! What piece of audio/video, computing, or telco gear in the last 20 years or more comes in WHITE !?!?!? Hello… 1982 !! It sticks out like a sore thumb if you decide NOT to hide it in a closet and further degrade your 200MB “GIGABIT” service. It looks like hell !!! I almost immediately masked mine off and rattle canned it flat black (I’m sure they’ll tell me it degrades the signal!). Now it looks beautiful and blends right in with everything else !! Below is what it should have looked like RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX, DIRECTLY FROM THE MANUFACTURER !!

If you are having similar issues, I’d love to hear from you in a reply. This, assuming that Verizon doesn’t censor my post, or block it entirely. If they do, I am going to go to the media or somewhere until I get someone’s attention.
Good luck to you all !!
Dave.