Can you beat Verizon?

[classicman]

Originally Posted by tw

For service performed without anyone being home.

Electrical clay is perfectly good moisture protection. Normally, electrical clay is black. Clay is rarely applied 'pretty'. A better clay seal is a lump to make a moisture resistant barrier.

Of course, better installations also use a drip loop before entering a box or building.

It just looks like crap and is on the front of the house visible to the street

[glatt]

I have another related question and seek advice from anyone who feels qualified. Our new service offers caller ID, which we never had, plus our current 900MHZ analog cordless phone has sticky buttons, so we want to get a new cordless phone with a caller ID display.

I'm curious if I have to look for a certain frequency phone to avoid interference with the wireless router. I looked at the wireless router for information on the frequency it uses, but could find none. The router is a Verizon branded MI424WR router. 2 Is there a specific frequency phone I should be looking for? I tried a Google search but can't find anything.

I love our current 900 MHZ analog Panasonic cordless phone, but its life is almost over.

[classicman]

I do not think so, but I am not positive - I have a Panasonic KX-TG5632 5.8ghz and no problems with interference.

[dar512]

According to MS:

If you have cordless phones or other wireless electronics in your home, your computer might not be able to "hear" your router over the noise from the other wireless devices. To quiet the noise, avoid wireless electronics that use the 2.4GHz frequency. Instead, look for cordless phones that use the 5.8GHz or 900MHz frequencies.

[tw]

Originally Posted by glatt

I'm curious if I have to look for a certain frequency phone to avoid interference with the wireless router. I looked at the wireless router for information on the frequency it uses, but could find none.

The frequencies are FCC assigned and per industry standards. 802.11G uses 2.4 Ghz which is also used by so many if not most electronics wireless devices (including portable phones, Bluetooth, and even remote weather monitors). That frequency is also used by microwave ovens.

What frequency will you router use? Well, negotiations determine that. If router and computer are 802.11N, then both may use 5 Ghz. Or may use 2.4 Ghz.

Problem is so few channels in so few ISM bands shared by so many wireless devices. Good news. All those devices are designed to use same frequency and work fine.

What is important? Waste no time with nonsense such as 'five bars'. Useful information is in numbers such as signal to noise ratios measured in dBs. Many other devices on the same frequency simply reduce that S/N ratio. Only then does anyone really know whether the device is and will be reliable.

Your father used his portable to measure signal strength? Then what were the dB numbers? Again, '5 bars' is one or two steps above useless.

[dar512]

I'm not big on clone threads but this thread could have been titled Cellular Dreamin'.

[Flint]

Ha! You're not big on them, but still, you're thinkin' of 'em. And having to tell us about 'em. Sucker.

[dar512]

The extra threads slow down my speed-reading of the cellar. The only clone thread I ever started had a reason for existing of it's own, so I didn't feel badly about that.

[Clodfobble]

Verizon shows their academic prowess:

[glatt]

Originally Posted by tw

No cable TV on the FIOS installation?

Originally Posted by glatt

Nope. Not for us. We have a rooftop antenna.

We are seriously contemplating getting the FIOS TV now. We've had just internet and phone for a few years, and the low price has crept up over time, and they are now charging as much for that bundle of two as they would for the bundle of three, including the TV. They have an offer now where if we sign up for TV too, they will send us a $300 gift card. Just have to sign a 2 year contract. I assume this is to keep us from looking at Xfinity/Comcast's low prices.

Anyway, we're inclined to go for it, except I don't know exactly what it will mean. Do they just run a coaxial cable from the router (which has a coaxial tv output) and flip a switch at their home base to send us the TV, or is there already a scrambled signal coming from that coaxial output, and they will just give us a set top box to descramble it?

I'm not too keen on a set top box and yet another remote. We've also got a subscription-free DVR that records content from our rooftop antenna while also passing a signal through to the TV. I wonder if that will work with the FIOS TV. If there is a set top box, I imagine the DVR won't work any more to record one show while we watch another. Actually, I imagine the DVR won't work at all for programming shows. We would have to be there to tune the set top box to the show and then start the DVR. And that misses the point of a DVR entirely.

We don't really want the FIOS TV so much, although it will be nice to have for the winter Olympics. It's just hard to turn down $300. I also don't want to get tricked into paying extra for a Verizon DVR or set top box. I'd only do this if we can switch over for free and also get the $300 gift card.

What's the FIOS TV setup like at the TV end?

[Happy Monkey]

You won't be able to use your DVR for FIOS programming, but if it works now, I don't see any reason it won't continue to work for antenna programs, as long as you have a way to switch between it and your FIOS box on your TV. So you can watch your FIOS while recording an on-air program on your DVR.

You may not be able to record FIOS unless you get a FIOS DVR, though.

[glatt]

So does there have to be a set top box for FIOS TV? The TV's digital tuner can't see the FIOS signal without a box to help it?

[Undertoad]

This is true although you can theoretically get "cable cards" to work with TiVos and whatnot.

[Stormieweather]

I have FIOS and I love it. Prior to Fios, I had DSL and prior to that, plain-jane cable internet. As a gamer who requires uninterrupted internet access, it rocks.

I did nothing to prepare for install. Actually, I rented the house partly because Verizon said Fios was available for the address. Turns out they missed the 4 houses on my block (2 on each side of the street). After trying to weasle out of providing it, they sent a team out and put a line in under the 4 lane highway next to the house. They had to put new wires in the house and it didn't cost me a dime. We have wireless on all computers except my main box (there are 3 other desktops and 2 laptops). Once, the router pooped out on us, and verizon sent us a new one within 2 days.

I don't use the phone service, but it doesn't cost any more to have it than it would to not have it, so the single phone we have sits there, unplugged. I guess if the cell phones go kaput, we can always use the land line.

The cable is nice because we DVR shows we like and then watch them at our convenience. That way, we don't feel we are at the television's mercy. I pay $10 a month for the DVR, and one set top box is included. The other TV's have only basic boxes (no charge), but they don't come with the on demand menu or being able to watch recorded shows.

The whole thing is not the cheapest service there is, but I've had the cheapest and this is better, by far.

[glatt]

Yeah, it's looking like I have to rent some sort of a set top box for around $10-$20 a month to get the TV service. This makes me less excited about this package deal. I couldn't turn it down when the price was the same and they were giving me $300, but if the price is $20 more each month, then that's no deal.

I like the internet and phone though. FiOS is good stuff.