Fiber Optic Telephone (FIOS)

[Mr Ziffel]

Telephones.

If you have an option to get fios (fiber optic cable) you might consider this..... They told me that when they hooked up the fios to my house, I would still be able to use my old copper telephone lines as a back up. FALSE.

As you know the old system is very reliable during power outages as it has its own low voltage power, as long as you have an old fashoned telephone and not a wireless that has a base that needs electricity. (to be fair fios comes with a battery back up that lasts about 14 hrs)

The other day I called Verizon, and asked them to hook up my old copper telephone line as a second line. They refused and said that they were getting rid of the system.

A few months ago my Fios TV,Internet,and phone all went out at the same time. (not from power outage) I had to wait three days before they sent a tech to fix it. A Verizon worker had bent the fiber optic wires in the junction box downtown over 90 degrees and caused the laser signal to be lost. The technician said , thats all it took.

When I plugged my old phone into the wall jacks nothing worked.

I miss the old telephone system, I could always count on that even when I lost power.
A guy on the internet shows how to make a system from LED lights and a few other things to light your home during a power outage ,using the old style phone jacks in the house. I guess I will never get to do that , but maybe you can.

http://mods-n-hacks.wonderhowto.com/how ... ck-127041/

[lazyuniondriver]

Brilliant lighting solution! Thanks for sharing.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

Your first mistake is living in an area that is served by Verizon. They owned the local phone company (my employer) for a few years, and I never saw another company so intent on taking money from customers while providing so little in return in my life. They did anything they could to make/save money, with absolutely no regard of how it affected the customers they were supposedly serving. In case you could not tell, I did not like them.

[Bob Perry]

In case you could not tell, I did not like them.

Gee I never would have guessed !

All those companies are out of control: We sign on the dotted line, then they hold all the cards !

[Rudi]

This is the primary reason why I will not sole source my telecommunications needs. Learned that decades ago in the Navy where I spent over a decade involved directly in communications. I have the fastest cable available - I get up to 60meg downloads which is more than I really will ever need even when my server is on-line for the family. I have my landline supplied by Bell/Aliant (old NBTel) and refuse to lose that service strictly because of the backup capability.

Bell has/continues to pester me to buy into their FIOS system and I absolutely refuse. It just ain't gonna happen. Thankfully the CRTC still regulates the telecommunications industry up here so they will have to provide twisted pair phone lines at least for the rest of my life. Hopefully it will remain beyond that. Service standards are also regulated as in the minimum that a provider must provide to their customers.

[Mr Ziffel]

I agree with you guys 100%. This phone company stinks. My wife bundled all of our services without consulting yours truly.
I guess we should hook up a CB base station for emergencies .
Siting in this Hurricane/storm right now. Still have power. I did charge up my marine band radio. as well as the two way walkie talkies you can buy at radio shack for camping etc. I have not used my CB radio for years now.

[Rudi]

CB Rigs and Amateur Radio shacks can provide a lot of help during an emergency. Thankfully they don't take a lot of go-go juice. CB is pretty good especially if you are close to a major highway, every trucker in North American has a rig in the cab.

[Dale Shaw]

CB Rigs and Amateur Radio shacks can provide a lot of help during an emergency. Thankfully they don't take a lot of go-go juice. CB is pretty good especially if you are close to a major highway, every trucker in North American has a rig in the cab.

You would be surprised Rudi how many do not. I would not run one when I was driving, for the sole reason that I did not want to learn to speak Navy, or hear about the toothless Lot Lizzards, or the amount of other disgusting and pornographic garbage you can not avoid, especially if you are anywhere near a truck stop.

[Rudi]

Dale:

I know most of the truckers up here have them. We have friends who are truckers and they do use them. They are great in emergencies when cell phone coverage is lost. And yes there is a lot of stuff on the CB bands that are highly offensive. All except the Navy speak ....

As for the other garbage that is on CB Radio -- that is one of the reasons I did not renew my XM49 licence. Since I have a Ham License I no longer need a CB ticket Tune em out. I like to be able to have multiple backups. I am hoping Em will get me a portable all mode all band rig for the Honda. That way we both can DX while the other drives. (hands free vox switches are great for that).

[JackF]

Bob Perry stated:
All those companies are out of control: We sign on the dotted line, then they hold all the cards !

Amen to that!!!

Rudi stated:
I get up to 60meg downloads

If I had internet connection that fast I could start my Cub remotely everytime I download something.

[Rudi]

I got an email from Rogers my ISP. We now have Ultimate Tier - 150Mbps downloads .... that will blow FIOS out of the water

I found this while checking on FIOS Transmission Speeds - Which is Better, Cable or DSL

FIOS. Recently, starting in 2004, Verizon has began the first large scale deployment of fiber optic service (“FIOS”). By using fiber optic (glass) cables to transfer data via pulses of light [instead of copper or coax cable] at, well, the speed of light. FIOS is capable of very high transmission speeds. FTTP (Fiber to the Premises) service can range in speed from 5 to 50 Mbps downstream and 2 to 5 Mbps upstream, subject to conditions, of course. But it’s not available everywhere, at least yet. And it still connects to the copper wiring in your home, slowing the transmission somewhat.

Even my relatively slow 60mbps is faster than FIOS. FIOS may get better in the future but considering the premium that they want for FIOS and the sluggish transmission speeds I am definitely not leaving Rogers for the foreseeable future

[JackF]

Rudi,
This is a picture I took last summer after a Fiber Optic cable was buried hoping we would get high speed internet. My telephone company will not give a date when it will be connected, until then we are connected to the telephone (copper) lines to the right in the photo …..Yes the telephone post is leaning in the distance as most are leading to my house, but they have been like that for 30 years.

We have a new cell phone tower as you can see with 3G connection, but you can only use 5GB per month or pay extra.

In the U.S. the cities get the priority for communications and rural areas are forgotten about.

[DanR]

John, you need to go back to work for the phone company. Think of all the money you could make selling that copper wire that you replaced with fiber optics cable.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

John, you need to go back to work for the phone company. Think of all the money you could make selling that copper wire that you replaced with fiber optics cable.

That is a quick way to get fired, if any of the copper is removed the contractors get it. However, any that is buried is normally left in place as the cost to remove is much higher than the value of the cable. Telephone cables contain very little wire in them, most of it is insulation.

.......
In the U.S. the cities get the priority for communications and rural areas are forgotten about.
........

Wire line providers are regulated utilities and are required to provide the same quality service to all customers in their service area at the same cost regardless of whether they are in an isolated rural area or a large city. Cell phone companies spend several million dollars a year lobbying legislators to make sure they do not become regulated and have to meet the same requirements. By doing that they can pick and choose where they want to provide service. As a side note, vertical services such as internet, are not regulated even though they are provided by wire line companies, so there is a lot of latitude as to what they do and what they charge there.

[JackF]

John *.?-!.* cub owner stated:
Wire line providers are regulated utilities and are required to provide the same quality service to all customers in their service area at the same cost regardless of whether they are in an isolated rural area or a large city…..vertical services such as internet, are not regulated even though they are provided by wire line companies….

I should have had my facts together before I made that blanket statement. The only landline service I have is data which is internet for me; the service is getting better as time goes on. The internet is a tool I need to run things around here and the cost for my internet service is on the high side compared to advertisements’ on prices of completive services, but it’s the only company in town.

I’m forced to have mobile commutations and the service provider I have is very dependable unless I’m in remote Idaho, low areas of Montana and Wyoming which can be expected.
I tried internet with the Cell phone Company and I always went over my allocation on data and that cost is overwhelming.

John wrote:
Cell phone companies spend several million dollars a year lobbying legislators.....

Jack states; along with insurance companies, oil companies, defence companies, pharmaceutical companies ect.ect.ect.