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TV Box

Somebody knows how to rid of Fios TV box? I have 4, and +taxes it becomes around $35.96 only for renting, I feel I got trap, this boxes made in China should cost not more than the price I pay montly for rent. Somebody Knows if we are able to own it? Verizon makes money two ways, providing the service and renting the equipment, that I find unfair.

I have Fios TV since March 2011, almost 7 years, and this boxes never were changed, if you rent for 7 years at the current price the cost would be $3,020.64 , nobody said nothing, and Verizon is very happy. I wonder if a Federal Consumer Affairs could do something, or our politicians could keep an eye of this kind of services.

Any information please, it will be helpful.

Comments

CRobGauth

No provider allows you to purchase their box. Keep in mind that you are not only paying for box, you get free replacements if it fails, customer support and software upgrades.

Your only other option is to buy a device like TiVo. You still have a monthly charge for cable card.

-SteveD-

TiVO may be an option. However, I have been using the Roku Streaming Stick+ for my other TVs. I'm not able to DVR but I am able to access all of the channels that I subscribe to on FIOS, the picture quality is great (4K in some instance) plus get more channels that are streamed from the Internet. There is some setup involved for those FIOS channels but it's nothing more than accessing the channel, saying your with FIOS, getting a code (on your pc or phone), and then the channel is active. The Streaming Stick+ (sell around $70) also has a voice feature on the remote that can be handy. Not an ad for Roku... I found this as I was recently dropping Comcast, switching to FIOS, and trying my best to cut the cord. 🙂

Jverna

Hi, I've had FIOS longer. Overall pleased. Your boxes are old, probably sluggish. You can call and tell them you are aware of newer boxes. You do receive new though most often refurbished boxes when yours breakdown and tech support for lesser issues. Neither will happen if you even if it were possible to purchase the set-top box. No company provide service for items purchased through another company. If they did you would pay dearly and I don't know that I would trust him to be honest even if about a simple repair.

Now if you decide to change your boxes make sure to tell them you do not want new services or the rep will try to talk you into upgrading your services. You may even be quoted a lower price but ask what it will cost once the promotions wear off. Be advised that you will have to return the units that you have by 30 days or you will be billed for the full price. If you live near an equipment store I recommend that you drop them off and get a written receipt. Verify that the serial numbers all match. I tend to take photographs for my own records until everything is cleared. you may use the box that Verizon will send for mailing which by the way it includes prepaid postage. I recommend that you take it to the Postal Service or UPS, have them scan it, and get your mailing receipt. I've never had any problems but I'd rather be safe than be charged for antiquated set-top boxes. If you update your DVR note that you will lose your current recordings. I am sure that some savvy person can tell you how to save your recorded content but the Verizon rep will tell you that it is not possible. If you have a DVR you can upload things like your favorite channels and your regularly scheduled series.

I keep Verizon because where I live I have only one other choice. And no matter the rebranding I still recall how frequently I lost service even when there was no rain, wind, snow, etc. That company thing to lose service if someone sneezed. Only once have I lost Verizon residential service for a sustained amounts of time and that was when electricity to our region was knocked out due to a derecho which is a straight line tornado. I've had many friends who have left Verizon because of the price yet returned because of the quality. I've also not yet identified a streaming service that has the channels I prefer to watch which tend to not be the major networks the majority of the time.

It is frustrating that Verizon ups the rates for existing and long-term customers every two years. I tend to go head-to-head with them to overcome that unfair increase. For the time being, I have one extra your box than I prefer that it is in my 84-year-old mother's bedroom so when she visits she wants for nothing including her favorite TV channels. Eventually, one of my much younger relatives will visit and will tell me about options for streaming even if it means combining a couple of devices in order to have access to my favorite channels. I will then make a move.

I do not expect the FCC or politicians to get involved and if they do it will not be on the side of the consumers. As it stands there is a chance that net neutrality will end meaning iSPs will be able to slow down streaming from other sites. I believe that I recently read something about a suit for possible suit because Verizon customers do not actually need set-top boxes, however, I think that is only true if you want to access your local channels.

Good luck. You have one more box than do I but I can definitely feel your pain.

CRobGauth

Verizon's newest boxes are about a 4 year old design. But I believe people are mainly getting new hardware not refurbished. I find them to be pretty responsive.

All providers give new customers better deals than existing customers. Idea is that once they have a customer, most won't bother to leave.

Yes, streaming is gaining. But unless you pay a streaming service, you won't be able to see shows at the same time they are on the cable channel. And a large number of channels have only very limited content unless you have a cable or streaming service account.

CharlesY1

Tivo is an option. A few years back, we purchaed a Tivo Roamio and three extra Tivo room pods (not sure what they're actually called, but they're like little pods), and got rid of three of the Fios boxes for the cost of one per month cable card. The pods replaced the three Verizon boxes. We pay a yearly fee for the Roamio Tivo subscription, and the pods' lifetime subscription was included in their purchase. I think we're ahead by now, even after keeping the one full-featured Fios box (you don't need to keep it, it just gives you the on-demand and is hooked up separately to the TV). Cost doesn't matter so much as the outstanding Tivo interface and remote setup - wickedly superior to the Verizon maze of confusing up-sell menus, blaring up-sell advertising, poor remote performance, and limited pause potential for the on-demand choices. This reminds me - gotta get rid of that last Fios box, not really using it.

CharlesY1

To add more detail about the Tivo Roamio DVR, not the current model but similar to current. Big capacity. With your FIOS subscription, all the FIOS including HDO channels are routed through the Tivo interface on the Roamio and that very same interface is available in any room with TV that has the pod connected to the Roamio through your Moca regular cable wiring. You don't need to pay for extra full recording DVRs - you just need the one + the pod(s). So your Starz, HBO channels are available through Tivo. Now, if you want to go without the Fios DVR - you can pipe the HBO through HBOGo, same Starz with StarzPlay and a Chromecast, and Hulu/Amazon Prime/YouTube/Pandora can also be connected to the Tivo (piped through "Apps"). This is really slick. You sign in once on HBOGo, for example, using your Fios and it is piped independently of the Fios Set top box. There may be a few like Cinemax, Showtime, which are not yet supported for independent piping through the Tivo apps but you can use Chromecast to sign in with your Fios id at the premium's website and then sling it to the other TV. But the clincher for us (and one reason we just dropped the Ultimate package) was that you can now get premiums through Amazon Prime connected through the Tivo. No need to pay for all that extra content not needed for times not needed. On the other hand, have upgraded the internet speed to 150 mbs.

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