NullProg's Journal: Verizon FIOS

I had Verizon FIOS installed last Thursday.

FIOS is excellent.

We have the HD channels, but only one TV in the house supports HD.
I'm most impressed with the video on demand features. I can watch my (HBO/CineMAX/Starz) movies anytime of the day. My wife loves live features with the free DVR. FEAR net channels are available under the VOD menu (My wife and I are horror freaks).

I'm getting download speeds of 480-512k per second but can't find anything good to download :(

My son says his WoW (World of Warcraft) isn't any faster, but youtube videos play fullscreen now without skipping or any missing frames.

The Trendnet card in the Linux laptop works flawlessly with the WAP Verizon gave me. Our new Nintendo Wii connected with no problems.

Next I need to probe/hack into my LAN. All the cable boxes (Motorola) showed up on my network (192.168.1.102 to 106).

The WAP they gave me is much nicer than my Trendnet WAP. It has all sorts of configuration/Security/Logging options. I haven't checked out all the settings or the signal strength yet.

A Nmap probe from work I launched against my network shows no response/no open ports with the default Verizon settings. You can't get into the WAP Admin screen from the wireless side (A security plus). The default admin/passwords on the WAP had to be changed (Admin/password1).

I'm saving about $30 a month with FIOS (48 month contract). Before I had Premium cable + DSL + Phone and only the master bedroom TV had premium content. Now all the TVs (Four) can view premium channels based on ratings.

My only complaints so far....

- Verizon insisted on Internet Explorer to register for the free mailboxes even though the sales Rep. said our browser didn't matter (I think its due to the Yahoo/MSN/AOL bundling). I really don't care because I get to keep my two .gte.net mailboxes.

- I can't block the Adult listings in the Video On Demand guide. Even though the channels are locked and can't be viewed, the kids can still browse the Adult listings (Debbie does Dallas, Lusty Lesbians etc.).

- I still haven't received my free LCD TV my wife insisted on getting. I'm supposed to be getting a voucher.

Enjoy,