Since it’s now in my area, I finally made the move to bundle my phone/TV/internet with FiOS.
What a day. When I placed the order, they warned me on the phone that it would be a four to six hour install procedure. But, when the tech arrived this morning, the first thing he said to me was “I know they tell you on the phone that it’s four to six hours; but, I’m telling you now, this is going to take at least nine hours.”
Oh, boy.
If only he was right.
In the end, it took thirteen hours and fifteen minutes for the install. Yes, it started at 10:30 AM and ended at 11:45 PM.
Man, this is crazy. First there was a problem with the box. Then, there was a problem with the line to the house. Then, we had phone and internet but no TV. Then, we had TV, but, no phone or internet. Needless to say, not a smooth operation.
Somewhere in hour twelve, I said to the installer “If you’re here any longer, I think you and I will be picking out china patterns in the morning.”
Anywho, it’s over now. I’ve already memorized the new channel number for the YES Network. There’s no looking back now.
14 Responses to “13 Hours Later, FiOS-nally!”
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February 2nd, 2008 at 2:49 am
ya same kinda hardache with me the first couple of days, but after that it’s smooth sailing….Just got the free tv in the mail today actually its pretty nice
February 2nd, 2008 at 8:37 am
~~after that it’s smooth sailing~~
Nice to hear. Thanks.
February 2nd, 2008 at 10:40 am
The only glitch in my installation was they had to wait about 15 minutes for someone to wire the backup power box but since their depot is only 5 minutes away it didn’t cause much of a slowdown.
I didn’t go for the Free TV because I didn’t want to pay an extra $10 a month for the box with HD capabilities for a 19″ TV. Instead, I chose to get a gift card from Best Buy (I think it was for $200 or $300). If you prefer the gift card you can select it when you get the note from FIOS telling you to redeem your TV – just log on & you’ll see the option for the card.
I didn’t mind leaving Cablevision a bit and the only “prominent” channels I lost were MSNBC, some Spanish ones, and Cablevision’s local news. Some of the new channels are good but now there’s more bad stations I won’t watch.
Keep in mind that unless you have a separate landline the backup power will only last 6 hours or so if you lose power and can’t use your phones, TV, and computer. My neighbors had that problem with Cablevision and would use cell phones when power was lost. Usually we don’t lose power more than once a year but LIPA had a bad transformer on the block that would blow monthly until they fixed it.
February 2nd, 2008 at 1:09 pm
~~Keep in mind that unless you have a separate landline the backup power will only last 6 hours or so if you lose power and can’t use your phones, TV, and computer.~~
Thanks
February 2nd, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I worded that awkwardly.
If you lose power you have approximately 6 hours of phone service available. The internet and fiber would last that long but you need to have battery backups to keep your TV’s and computers running.
Cordless phones would work as long as they kept their charge and the FIOS backup was still “up”.
I still have one “regular” Verizon phone line not using FIOS so it would be available during a power outage since the phones get their power through the older phone lines.
February 2nd, 2008 at 2:50 pm
I didn’t mind leaving Cablevision a bit and the only “prominent” channels I lost were MSNBC, some Spanish ones, and Cablevision’s local news.
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Funny to see Cablevision’s ads noting that if you go to “telephone tv” you lose the local news channel
I plan on waiting a while after FiOS comes to the hood before switching over (that is if I’m still at my current address)
February 2nd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Cablevision’s 12 is very good for weather and traffic (the news is OK but it’s almost on a continuous loop) but maybe in their ads they’re trying to make a prospective customer think they won’t get channels 2,4,5,7,9, and 11 like happened with Satellite long ago.
I’m out on LI so the weather I get from channel 7 for example is not of much use to me.
February 2nd, 2008 at 7:31 pm
The TV service is a secondary consideration for me personally. Tell me about the INTERNET! Have you done speedtests?
Unlike cable, Verizon doesn’t throttle your traffic depending on what you are doing. I used to download hundreds of gigs at a time non stop over the course of weeks using DSL. I salivate at the prospect of FIOS. Mmmm. Fiber.
Steve: Now that you have such a wonderfully fast connection, you should consider getting a Slingbox. With that, you can stream live TV to your office computer to watch Yankee games. If you have a smartphone, you can watch TV on it as well with the Slingbox. Never miss a Yankee game again! I plan to get one in time for the start of the new season.
February 2nd, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Basura: The commercial focuses on losing Cablevision News12.
I just find it amusing. I get my news, weather & traffic from 1010-WINS
February 2nd, 2008 at 11:40 pm
~~~Tell me about the INTERNET! Have you done speedtests?~~~
Well, considering I was the last person in the US using dail-up when I made the switch, yes, LOL, it’s a lot faster.
February 3rd, 2008 at 4:34 am
>Well, considering I was the last person in the US using
>dail-up when I made the switch, yes, LOL, it’s a lot faster.
Oh, you’re definitely not the last. One of the reasons that yours is the first Yankees site I check — besides your interesting and literate writing, of course — is that it loads quickly over dial-up.
February 3rd, 2008 at 9:15 am
LOL – thanks for the kind words about the blog!
Hey, if not for my kids not being able to use the noggin.com site, I may still be on dial-up!
FWIW, the tech that did the install nearly fell down when he saw I was using dial-up. And, later, when he hooked up my TV, and saw my VCR, he nearly fainted again.
I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the TV that he was looking at was purchased in November of 1990. Still, works, perfect, too. Good job RCA.
February 3rd, 2008 at 9:29 am
I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the TV that he was looking at was purchased in November of 1990. Still, works, perfect, too. Good job RCA.
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My folks still have their console set; a shot from last year
http://rama0929.smugmug.com/photos/103289734-M-1.jpg
Hey, if it works, why throw it out? The money saved could be put to better use
February 3rd, 2008 at 10:24 am
Hey, it’s also an RCA! Model XL-100