FiOS vs. DirecTV vs. Comcast

[ChaOConnor]

I'm moving into a new home and finally have the option of getting FiOS or DirecTV. I've been using Comcast for the past year and don't like it due to cost and available services, but it does offer one advantage...
Comcast
+ Can plug cable direct into 2250 and get QAM
- Cost seems higher than others
- Throttled Internet...

DirecTV / FiOS
+ Tons of HD
- Need a box & HD-PVR
- 2250 is pretty much useless, right?

So what have you experienced, which offers the best price for service? Maybe it's worth ditching the 2250 and in which case, what's better, FiOS or DirecTV? I realize that's subjective, but I'm looking for opinions.

Thanks!

[HelenWeathers]

I don't know where you live, but the 2250 is flawless for OTA ATSC channels. Where I live I can get all of my major networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) via uhf/vhf rabbit ears. I did get an omnidirectional outdoor antenna so I didn't have the occasional dropped signal on NBC. Try it with rabbit ears and see what kind of reception you get.

I went with DirecTV and the HD-PVR (in fact I have 2xDirecTV+HD-PVRs) for additional national HiDef networks. Dish network receivers with the R5000 mod are another option to consider.

With QAM you are at the mercy of your cable company as to what channels you will get in unencripted form.

[mikesm]

Hey, if you can get FIOS you should. Many markets put out a lot of stuff in clearQAM, and the Moto boxes are modifiable for R5000 operation.

[Polypro]

Just went DirecTV here (boonies). Choice Extra through a (believe it or not) direct mail solicitation...$24/mo for the first year with 2 HD receivers. I needed rock solid reliability, so I went with the Paterson Tech serial cable with Monoprice (Sayba) USB>Serial converters...works great. If you're not an absolute resolution stickler, the HD stations through S-Video look pretty good. I've got an HD-PVR coming from Dell, but may just stick to one instead of getting a second...S-Vid aint too bad. I pull in OTA ATSC with 2 HDHomerun's. The DirecTV setup went way smoother than I thought it would...kudos to Sage and serial changing.

P

[reggie14]

I'll be the dissenting voice here...

I know people have had various problems with Comcast. But, I've had it for quite a while now and I really just have good things to say. My internet connection is tremendously fast:

(and yes, my real-world speeds top out close to that), I've never experienced problems with their policies (in general, I support caps/throttles when they're reasonable), the price is reasonable, and TV is fine for my needs. The locals are available as unencrypted QAM, and I was able to get a firewire cable box allowing me to tune most of the non-premium HD channels. Strangely, I can't watch HistoryChannelHD, but I can get pretty much all the other non-premiums, including ESPN.

FiOS isn't available in my area, but it might be relatively soon. If it wasn't for the firewire cable box I would probably try it. But, I don't see a particularly good reason to go with satellite. Sure it might be a little cheaper, but then getting Internet service is going to be a little more expensive.

[Olias]

We've got DirecTV and I'm happy with it, but the wife would rather have cable. DirecTV and (U-verse I'm told) don't get local weather on the 8's from the Weather channel.
In our previous home we had cable and my wife got hooked on the Weather channel and the local weather report on it.

Been trying to get her to use a local weather sub channel on OTA, but "it's just not the same".

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by Olias

We've got DirecTV and I'm happy with it, but the wife would rather have cable. DirecTV and (U-verse I'm told) don't get local weather on the 8's from the Weather channel.
In our previous home we had cable and my wife got hooked on the Weather channel and the local weather report on it.

Been trying to get her to use a local weather sub channel on OTA, but "it's just not the same".

We went with Dish Network, but my wife complained about losing the "true weather channel"...Luckily I was able to get her to the OTA weather sub channels and she stopped complaining.

I run a combination of QAM and Satellite. Luckily because I still receive my internet access via my Cable modem, and so all of my locals are still available via Clear QAM. It is a beautiful combination.

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by reggie14

I'll be the dissenting voice here...

I know people have had various problems with Comcast. But, I've had it for quite a while now and I really just have good things to say. My internet connection is tremendously fast:

(and yes, my real-world speeds top out close to that), I've never experienced problems with their policies (in general, I support caps/throttles when they're reasonable), the price is reasonable, and TV is fine for my needs. The locals are available as unencrypted QAM, and I was able to get a firewire cable box allowing me to tune most of the non-premium HD channels. Strangely, I can't watch HistoryChannelHD, but I can get pretty much all the other non-premiums, including ESPN.

FiOS isn't available in my area, but it might be relatively soon. If it wasn't for the firewire cable box I would probably try it. But, I don't see a particularly good reason to go with satellite. Sure it might be a little cheaper, but then getting Internet service is going to be a little more expensive.

You are correct, that comcast isn't as bad as some would claim. I have their service and enjoy it a lot and would never movfe to something from AT&T like DSL and Uverse. However, FIOS has a bunch of advantages over comcast.

The Internet service from FIOS is VERY fast and engineered well, and you can't even buy a service like the FIOS 20 Mbps symmetric product. Also, don't forget that Comcast transcodes 3 HD channels to fit in only 2 HD channels worth of spectrum - this has a very significant impact on video quality.

So while I like Comcast in general, there is absolutely no question that FIOS is the better product, in both Internet and Video, and probably phone service too.

[mayamaniac]

I just switched from Time Warner Cable to Verizon FiOS for about a month now, and so far, it's been worth it. One of the major concerns was how will it affect my SageTV system. After some reading on the forum, I found out that a few people got it working.

You can tune clear QAM with FiOS, so you can get all the unencrypter SD and local HD channels. This works well for my HDHR.

The speed is awesome, especially on the upload side (think Placeshifter). Here's my speed test:


And best of all, the price is cheaper than what I was paying for cable TV and internet, about $40/month cheaper. I also get more HD channels than cable, like twice as many.

[TallMomof2]

I was one of the first FIOS subscribers in my area before TV was available. The price and speed were what sold me. DH expenses the internet connection (we both work from home but he's the one with the expense account) and over the years we've gone from $500+ per month for ISDN to less than $40 per month for lightning fast FIOS. 18 months after we switched to FIOS internet the TV product was finally available. We moved from Dish to FIOS and haven't regretted it.

What's really nice about FIOS is that we pay less today then when we first signed up because of the restructuring of the packages. And we get a heckuva lot more HD channels.

The cable alternative was Adelphia now Comcast. We tried the Adelphia cable modem free for a month when it first came out but the techs could never get it to work for more than a couple of hours. Adelphia was the absolute worst cable company. I know very few people around here who stuck it out and now have Comcast. It's either FIOS or satellite.