Verizon has pretty much gotten rid of their 2-year contracts, but the prices that they advertise are still guaranteed to stay the same for a year. Usually, you can expect your bill to go up when that year is over.
Verizon Fios does have a coverage map on their website, but like pretty much all fiber optic services it's almost all major cities with availability. Thankfully, companies are expanding their services constantly and the networks are growing every year.
If someone does not use the internet heavily and doesn't need the highest bandwidth available, the Fios Internet 50/50 plan is the most affordable option that Verizon Fios offers. The plan includes a 50 Mbps bandwidth ad the great upload speeds that Verizon offers. It's a pretty reasonable price for high-speed internet from one of the nation's best-rated networks.
If a higher bandwidth is needed for streaming, gaming, and downloading large files Verizon offers the Fios Internet 300/300 service plan. 50 Mbps may be enough bandwidth for one person to stream Netflix or whatever other streaming services they prefer but if there are multiple people connected to the service the bandwidth is used up very quickly. This is why some people consider Verizon Fios to be among the best options for internet service providers for streaming and gaming in the United States.
Related: Verizon Wireless Review
Fortunately, there are no early termination fees with Verizon anymore if the plan is only for the internet. This is because they no longer require a contract in this case. If the service isn't what a customer expected or they just need to cancel it for any reason at all, they don't have to pay hundreds of dollars to end their service.
With Verizon Fios, there is really only one major fee to consider when deciding on internet service. This is the installation fee, or "setup charge" as Verizon calls it. The price is $99.99 and it is only charged when a service is newly activated. Sometimes like most services, if the customer asks the right way or gets a particularly generous customer service representative, they will waive this fee. It doesn't hurt to ask, so if someone is setting up a new internet service with Verizon Fios, they may as well go ahead and try.
In addition to the setup fee, there is also a $10 monthly charge to rent one of Verizon's routers. This fee is almost unavoidable no matter what internet service provider someone goes with unless they just happen to have a compatible router already. The router is also available for purchase directly from Verizon. Verizon charges $149 if a customer decides to buy the router upfront so they do not have to pay the fee monthly. If they are planning on sticking with Verizon Fios for 15 months or more, it will save the customer money in the long-run. Buying the router also prevents the hassle of having to return it at the end of the service.
Matching upload and download speeds are only available with fiber optic services. This should be a pretty big deal to everyone, and not just Verizon who talks about this aspect a lot. Media sharing and file uploading are considerably faster than almost any other internet service provider. This is something that content providers will see a lot of benefit from.
Most internet service providers advertise their speed with an important "up to" disclaimer. This is because it is rather rare to actually be getting the advertised service speeds. The actual speeds are going to vary a considerable amount depending on how congested the network is and other factors like problems with the network and interference.
Verizon Fios is different from most other internet service providers in that they were shown to deliver upload and download speeds that were higher than the ones that they advertise to their customers, according to the most recent Measuring Broadband America report from the FCC. 6 to 11 percent higher than the speeds Verizon Fios advertises. Running an internet speed test without being disappointed is a regular occurrence with Verizon Fios. These numbers are not the same for all fiber optic internet service providers. In fact, the same report showed that Frontier only delivered a speed of 87% of the speed that they advertised. Verizon just goes above and beyond what is expected from their service by the customer.
There are no data caps with Verizon Fios, none at all. The advertised speed comes with unlimited data and that will make a lot of people very happy. Almost all other providers cap their customers' data and even the plans that offer the highest data caps can be frustrating and interfere with speeds and prices. If someone wants to stream shows from 10 computer at once all month long, they wouldn't have to worry about their speeds being throttled. Even a house full of gamers won't be a problem for Verizon Fios.
A great network is nothing without great customer service and Verizon is killing it in both departments. For the last three years, Verizon has been rated the top internet service provider by the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Their score in 2017 was 71, much better than the average of 64 for the rest of the industry. The lowest score in the United States was 56 and held by Mediacom, which is a far cry from Verizon's score.
Verizon's support site is well-designed and easy to use with a responsive staff on the chat. Their representatives were very helpful and able to answer questions that the customer asked. The customer service representatives on the support line are helpful and friendly as well with a pleasant demeanor towards the customers. In the past, customers have had issues with Verizon not keeping good track of the conversations that took place which made follow-up calls more difficult. It isn't known if this is still a problem, but it is something some customers may want to consider. Either way, it is important to take notes whenever you speak to a customer representative of any company.
Related: Internet Provider Comparison
It's going to take awhile for installation. While some newer homes are already set up for fiber optic internet, this is pretty rare so installation can take up to 6 hours. If a home happens to be wired for fiops already, the process will probably take from about 2.5 to 4 hours from start to finish. This isn't just an exaggeration to give the installers some extra time to get the job done, the process just takes awhile to finish. It's important to finish the checklist that the company provides to prepare the home for installation, it might not save hours of time but it can speed the process up a little bit at least.
In the end, Verizon Fios provides reliable internet service at fast speeds. It may not be the most inexpensive service available but the numbers don't lie and it's one of the best ISPs available. Verizon Fios is consistently fast and reliable with good customer service. It may be a little bit more expensive than some providers, but they make up for it with quality.
