Can you beat Verizon?
 

OK, I've been on hold for 12 min to ask Verizon a question, but I bet I can get the answer here faster.

My wife just ordered FIOS internet with the phone bundled with it. No TV. Didn't know you could do that.

Will our old phones and existing copper phone lines within the house work with this service, or do I have to buy new VIOP phones and pull CAT5 cables all through the house to get phones to work?

The link they gave her for getting started talked about having an available 3 prong outlet by the new service entrance, and they say they won't snake wiring through the house, but they don't talk about if my old phones will work.

Can you beat Verizon with an answer?

Crap. They answered it. But it took them like 16 minutes.

What's the answer?

My old phones will work. They somehow convert the fiber optic signals back into regular old phone signals inside my house. All I have to provide is an available un-switched grounded outlet near the service entrance.

Sorry, it hasn't been 18 minutes yet.

They install these three things and then hook everything up to them. Somehow. But I was worried when I saw that they wouldn't fish CAT5 wiring. Who said anything about CAT5 wiring? That must mean if you have multiple PCs throughout the house and you want to network them.

It's the same method they use for phone-over-cable; they just unhook your external phone connection from the LEC and connect it to the modem, which then plugs either into the cable network (in my case) or the FIOS network.
Don't bother fishing cat-5; go for gigabit wireless (802.11n). Much less hassle.

ETA: sorry I didn't see your post in time! I certainly could have answered it.

It will all work and you will love it.

Question:

Why not the TV? That's the main selling point of fiber optic/FIOS. I'd love to get FIOS for the TV offerings but it hasn't made it out this far yet.

The graphic said they will install CAT5. But if you do network your computers together, I'd go with CAT6. I just ditched my wireless 802.11g wireless network for a hardwire network. I had an Apple Airport, which is good hardware, but it skips too much and I worry about security. I can see all my neighbors SSIDs so I know they can see mine. But, lucky for me, the previous owner installed network jacks all over the house so I really don't need wireless.

Can you beat Verizon? No, but I would sure like to.

They tore up our neighborhood for it over a year ago and we still do not have FIOS available.

Yes, Mr. Glatt. We are thanking you for your call and would like for you to know that we would certainly be happy for you to beat us, and we appreciate your patience in this matter. Would you like to be beating us with a stick or just with your hands?

.....or better still, why not upgrade the beating to our full service GPS package with the special oojimaflip phone, which is almost free after a mail-in rebate...

I don't know, but let me get a baseball bat... I'll certainly give it the old college try.

Smarter is to prepare for their installation. All networking, TV cable, phone, etc must enter and meet at a common service entrance with the fuse box. Simply prewire your Cat5 or Cat 6 cables to that point or where the WiFi router will be located (see below). If necessary, reroute all existing phones and cable TV wires to that point.

Install an AC receptacle on the box best with its own circuit breaker. Reserve an area on the wall to mount those Verizon boxes. Locate someplace (ie in the basement ceiling in the joists) where the WiFi router can have a mostly unobstructed transmission to the rest of the house. If not adjacent to the breaker box, then wire an AC receptacle for the Wifi that connects to the same above dedicated circuit.

Best is to install a separate duplex plug so that an existing receptacle is still available for other temporary equipment use such as a light to see and service the breaker box. And again, dedicated (separate) breaker because the system is essential for human safety.

Then get Fios installed.

FIOS is what AT&T wanted to do when was run by incompetent bean counters who basically sold off $130billion of defective networks to Comcast for only $75billion. Yes, AT&T executives were that dumb.

FIOS is not about TV. Fios is about any and all communication on one connection. Verizon refused to do it until innovation forced their hand. 3rd generation cell phones meant Verizon was completely out of the landline business. Copper wire terminated in circuit switched computers could not do what cell phones (ie Qualcomm) were about to do.

Once FIOS is installed, then you and future homeowners can never have copper wire service again. Appreciate the commitment.

Verizon and Comcast are creating a monopoly. They got the 1996 Communication Act revised so that nobody else can use their wires. To make sure no other company (ie Cavalier Telephone) can use their existing copper, they creates a rule that copper wire must be terminated permanently when FIOS is installed. It is the classic Coke and Pepsi monopoly so that prices are all but guarantees high and make it too expensive for competitors who might arise with superior service.