Verizon boosts FiOS uploads to match downloads

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By PETER SVENSSON

NEW YORK (AP) — Verizon is boosting the upload speeds of nearly all its FiOS connections to match the download speeds, vastly shortening the time it takes for subscribers to send videos and back up their files online.

Starting Monday, all new subscribers will get "symmetrical" connections. The cheapest plan will deliver 25 megabits per second up and down, an increase from 15 megabits down and 5 megabits up.

Current subscribers will see their upload speeds raised over the coming months, product manager Fowler Abercrombie said. He expects that 95 percent of Verizon customers will see higher speeds. For the rest, fully symmetrical speeds may not be possible for technical reasons.

With the speed increase, Verizon Communications Inc. is taking advantage of a technical ability that its all-fiber FiOS network has. Rival offerings from cable companies, for the most part, can't match that because cables were originally designed to send video to homes, not the other way around. Cable upload speeds top out at about 35 megabits per second, while Verizon's top tier now offers 500 megabits per second.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140721/us-tec-verizon-fios-01cef072b4.html

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FILE - In this March 13, 2009, file photo, Todd Torbert, a Verizon cable splicing technician, works to connect the glass fibers to the Verizon FiOS fiber network in Rockville, Md. Verizon is boosting the upload speeds of nearly all its FiOS connections to match the download speeds, vastly shortening the time it takes for subscribers to upload videos and back up their files online, the company announced Monday, July 21, 2014. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

[Orrex]

1. FIOS is the future

When we were first looking to switch to highspeed internet in late 2007, we called Verizon to ask about FIOS availability and were told that it would be available in our area "in the very near future."

When, fed up with Comcast, I called Verizon a month ago to ask about FIOS availability, I was told that it will be available in our area "in the very near future."


Go on with your bad self, Verizon.

[sharp_stick]

2. That's funny but true

I used to check every couple of months to see when we could look into it. Now I check ever year or so and it remains the same, in the very near future.

If only I aged at the rate that Fios is moving into our neighborhood.

[vdogg]

3. As far as I know

Verizon has abandoned expanding fios in favor of wireless (a stupid idea). While wireless speeds are good now the ping rates are unacceptable if you like to play online games (think multiplayer fps). Hopefully with Google Fiber coming out they will reevaluate their decision.

[Little Star]

4. Just upgraded to Verizon Fios Quantum....

and love it for the DVR capabilities. It's a new service so there are a few glitches but their tech service guarantees those glitches will be worked out very soon. It's pricey but I watch quite a bit of tv so for me it's worth it.

[RufusTFirefly]

5. Wow! "News" that reads just like a press release

Pretty soon we'll be getting all our news from government spokespeople and corporate PR flacks. We don't need no stinkin' journalists.

[woo me with science]

8. +1 Have you ever noticed how many of the "shows" on TV now are actually advertisements?

There are full feature hours, for example, about all the various Disney parks, marketed as though that were "entertainment" rather than a commercial.

And the commercial content of the regular networks is being shamelessly increased. It's now become regular practice for some networks to show three half-hour sitcoms in a two-hour block of programming, instead of the four episodes that used to fit in that time. They fill the rest of the time with ads.

The latest news is that ads are on the way to our refrigerators.

Google wants to serve ads on 'refrigerators, car dashboards, thermostats'
http://www.cnet.com/news/googles-next-ad-spot-your-refrigerator/

[RufusTFirefly]

9. I don't have a working TV

Now you know why.

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. Not only do they break for commercials

but they run little banner or spot ads when the actual show is playing.
The visible screen size has been shrinking more and more.
At least 2 or more things are onscreen to compete for attention, esp during sports shows.
Then we wonder why there are so many more "Attention Deficit" problems.

[onehandle]

6. Just moved from a neighborhood where I could get FiOS to a Comcast only place.

In the two years we had FiOS, our Internet went down twice, for a total of three hours.

In the six months we've been on Comcast, our Internet has gone down a dozen times, for a total of 36 hours.

And it's about 60% of the speed for the same amount of money.


I only dealt with customer service at FiOS twice: Once to cut on service. Once to cut off service.
They were pleasant, professional, knowledgeable, and agreeable.

I've had to deal with Comcast customer service several times in these six months. They were surly, unhappy, unhelpful, and thousands of miles away, routed through several undersea cables, communication nodes, etc. They had names like 'Nathaniel' and 'Stacy' (actually Devansh and Pranav). Could barely hear them/understand them.


Dear Lord, Please deliver me back to FiOS as soon as you see fit.

Amen.

[NickB79]

7. And here I sit, only 30 miles from downtown St. Paul, with fucking DSL at 2.0 down/0.2 up!

And unless I want to pay out the nose for satellite Internet (which isn't all that much faster), it's my only option for internet. No cable down here for us.

At least once a WEEK we have our internet either go out entirely, or slow to a crawl. We have Frontier on speed-dial at this point.

Last night, my wife was on the phone with them for 1.5 HOURS, as a tech tried to remote-access our computer and update the modem's firmware. He was blown away by how long it was taking to download the patches. I was in the background yelling "Who's fault is that?!?"

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. We have Frontier dsl...

and luckily have few problems, even tho we too have little choice, here out in the boonies.
Too slow and unreliable for streaming, but that is not a problem for us, we are happy with the NO limits on how much we download.

Downside..apparently there is ONE cable/line into town for the phones and internet.
You would be amazed how many times road work has accidentally severed that cable.
and when that happens, banks, stores etc. go dead.