Fios vs. Xfinity

Anyone have any strong opinions?  Our contract with Fios has expired.  I'm inclined to sign my wife up as a new Fios customer with essentially our existing services (but better internet) since it's astoundingly cheaper than renewing (and Verizon won't budge), but as long as I'm exploring that disruption, I figure I'd explore a new service altogether.

We switched to Fios after a couple of years of Comcast.  The most notable difference is between the On Demand interactive menu.  Fios is terrible.  Comcast let you sort things by date of release, reviews, popularity etc.  Fios menu is virtually useless. 

If customer service is important to you, I'd avoid Comcast. Their package would have to exponentially better to choose them over Fios. IMO. 

ElizMcCord said:

If customer service is important to you, I'd avoid Comcast. Their package would have to exponentially better to choose them over Fios. IMO. 

I have to disagree with this, based on very recent experience.  Since the merger with xfinity, Comcast's customer service has done a complete turnaround and has been a pleasure to deal with lately.  Their customer service center on Rt. 22 is clean, spacious and filled with people eager to help.  They used to be miserable to deal with and their customer service centers were run like an old Soviet bureaucracy.  I'm glad to say that's no longer the case.

FIOS, on the other hand, has been an absolute nightmare, and only responds when you start trashing them on Twitter (true!).

Thanks all, and interesting.  And I must agree with @bub about the Fios on demand interface - it's awful.  I'll post here the ultimate resolution but am leaning toward a new Fios account, since it is cheaper than xfinity with better internet.  

Another point about Verizon cust. svc. - the new account for the identical services is almost $100 cheaper per month (and avoids the $90 one-time equipment upgrade) than renewing but their agents are unable to do anything to mitigate that.  In addition, the new account would require a technician to "install" with an estimated length of installation being 4 hours.  So once again, rather than avoiding this cost to them and all the associated new account set-up costs and account closing costs, they'd prefer to stick it to a loyal customer.

Despise FIOS Tv -- the interface, functionality, and remote capabilities are neanderthal compared to Comcast.  (though FIOS internet is superb).  I hate it, but probably not enough to go through the hassle of switching to Comcast.

If you want a landline.  I had a lot of problems with the comcast phone line --only worked sporadically.

I had FIOS in Maplewood and had only one technical problem in 8 years that was resolved quickly (needed a new battery).  However, their customer service was horrendous and I fought with them constantly -- all about billing.

I now have Comcast/Xfinity and had nothing but technical problems from Day 1.  It is the worst cable service I've ever experienced.  It was so bad in my whole neighborhood last year that by the time they finally took us seriously, it reached the corporate office -- and we all got 2 free months of service as an apology.

My development is now being "wired" for FIOS, and I will gladly switch the minute they announce they're "live".

mumstheword said:

I had FIOS in Maplewood and had only one technical problem in 8 years that was resolved quickly (needed a new battery).  However, their customer service was horrendous and I fought with them constantly -- all about billing.

I now have Comcast/Xfinity and had nothing but technical problems from Day 1.  It is the worst cable service I've ever experienced.  It was so bad in my whole neighborhood last year that by the time they finally took us seriously, it reached the corporate office -- and we all got 2 free months of service as an apology.

My development is now being "wired" for FIOS, and I will gladly switch the minute they announce they're "live".

Comcast was our only option for cable when/where we lived in PA. They were, without doubt, the worst utility I've ever had to deal with in my life. If they were the only option now, I would very seriously consider just relying on my iPhone and do without cable/internet altogether. 

So I went with Fios.  The technician was quite confused and skeptical about the "install" but proceeded anyway.  But like I said, we now have much better internet and new equipment for the same TV service as before with a much cheaper price per month.  So I guess in 2 years we'll have to get "new service" in my name...

I just spent some time at a friends house with xfinity...had a lot of problems with the wifi.

I absolutely love the new Xfinity remote that lets you talk to it to find shows.  Even on Netflix.  

We are in South Orange and have been using Optimum for cable and internet. I am very happy with it and would not change to Fios. Their customer service is pretty good and we have few problems. It's not cheap but I'll be it's no more expensive than Fios after the promotional price expires.I'm guessing that Fios' internet speed is probably better though.