Time Warner vs Fios

[skunkbad]

We have Fios right now, and there aren't a lot of problems, but we don't have a contract anymore, and it seems expensive. After taxes and everything, our monthly bill is ~ $200.00. Our current Fios speed is about 30/30, and Time Warner says they are 100/100.

Time Warner has an attractive price, but in the past have heard that their service sucks, and that most people who have had both services think Fios is better.

Does anyone here have Time Warner right now, and are you happy with it? I work from home on the internet every day, so having crappy internet service isn't an option. We would also be switching our phone and TV service if we go to Time Warner, but need some feedback to make the decision.

[supergimp]

I have TWC. TBH, I'm surprised your Fios performance isn't better. Although Verizon has been loose in what they call "Fios" since they stopped expanding the fiber a few years ago. Everyone I know with Fios gets better speeds than that.

Nonetheless, I can't get Fios and was jealous of those that could until I recently upgraded my TWC. Honestly I dreaded upgrading just because I didn't want to deal with TWC. I was getting 10/1 on a good day. When the new service (tiered at 100, 200 or 300 down) finally attracted me, I had a devil of a time upgrading. I was paying more than a new customer would for 100 down and TV at my current service level and TWC wouldn't do anything other than charge me an additional $50 over my already inflated rate to move to 100. Until I tweeted.

I immediately got a dm and a scheduled call for the next day (Monday). The call came right on time and was offered 200/20 and TV (including HD and HBO) for 134 a month.

Also I use a TiVo settop box and upgraded my box over black friday. I needed a newer cable card and I dreaded that too. Went to the local office, they had a greeter directing people. 10 minutes later I had my cards swapped. Went home and they commissioned it in less than 15 minutes. Not the service I was used to for sure. Pleasantly surprised.

Also I was having issues with signal when it rained (again procrastinated due to TWC avoidance syndrome) and finally gave in. I had a 1-hour appointment window. The guy was exactly on time, calling with ETA. Replaced my line (squirrels were hungry) and verified my service. Again, my experience in the past was usually that I knew more than the technician and that they operated off of a script. This guy realized that I was saavy, commented that I had the modem bridged (he admitted the internal WiFi router they supply is crap) and applauded my setup with some knowledgable geek-talk (I run tri-band WiFi and custom subnets in my house).

I'm not a fanboy yet, but TWC really is trying to modernize and clean up their act. They've even announced that next year they are going to start offering plans without a settop, allowing you to use Roku (they're Roku app is awesome) and mobile.

[Abu Riyah]

I have had FiOS since 2010. I finally got rid of the TV part and never had the phone service, so I've had only Internet for the last year or so at 35Mbps for $80. I was also considering switching to TWC, but decided to stay with FiOS. About two weeks ago, I upgraded to 150Mbps for $110/mo. $30 bucks more for almost 5X the speed plus they gave me their Quantum Gateway router that they otherwise charge $150-200 for. I'm very happy with the upgrade, both the service and the router. I can also upgrade later to 300Mbps without a tech coming out because of the other hardware changes they made as part of the upgrade.

Stay with the triple package if you really need it, but if you want to save some money, my advice is to drop the phone service and get a MagicJack, drop the TV service and install an antenna for local network stuff and pay for a streaming service or two (Netflix/Hulu/Amazon Prime) as needed.

One other reason to stay with FiOS is that the up and down speeds are the same. If you upload big files a lot like I do, that 150Mbps upload speed is very nice. TWC may have similar plans available, but I think you usually get a much slower upload speed on the residential service and have to pay for business class if you want the faster upload speed.

[fishmonger]

You are on one of their old plans. You might be able to get a speed boost with a call. I think it's 75 is the lowest Verizon offers.

On two side notes Verizon sold off all of ca to frontier. If you want to stick with what you have its a good time to lock into a contract. Though your bill is really high. Also twc was also sold to charter.

I would ditch the home phone for ooma.

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[fishmonger]

Oh I would bet a lot that twc isn't 100/100.

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[Marauder2003]

FIOS updated me to 75/75 last year automatically. I was 50/50. Did not even need that speed. You need to contact the retention department. They make deals.

I like FIOS over Dish and TWC because I have yet to lose a channel due to a price pissing match between the channel and the broadcaster.

[m4rty]

TWC flat out sucks for anything....the real issue is that there is a monopoly allowed on cable providers in CA.

[sholling]

Unless you need it for an alarm system there is no reason to keep the FIOS landline. You're also on an old plan because 50/50Mb is cheap now, and being out of contract is costing you $25/mo. I dropped from $200/mo (no land line) to $130 with 50/50Mb internet by dropping down from 75/75Mb, dropping HBO and agreeing to a two-year contract.

[catmman]

Either way you can't loose. Both state of the art technologies.

[71MUSTY]

I love TWC. My basic TWC cable at home is faster then my High speed 75/75 Business Fios at the office. I wish I could get TWC at the Office.

[incredablehefey]

How much speed do you realistically need? TWC provides for ~$60 a month no bundle and my hardware.

[skunkbad]

I actually don't need the speed as much as reliable internet. If the internet is down, I can't work. Do you find TWC to be dependable?

[incredablehefey]

At my house, yes. But im sure dependability is dependent on location and local network.

That last sentence seems broken...

I dont much care for TWC but their internet has been mostly reliable for me. IMO the Achilles heel of TWCs system is their crap hardware. That is why i purchased my own modem and router.

[Iknownot]

TWCable is actually pretty decent for Internet. They recently upped everyone's speeds without charging more. If you get one of their uber bundles they basically give you 200 for free.

From what I have seen, as long as your lines are decent, you will get close to the advertised speeds.

I think TWcable is pretty fair on their internet prices. Their cable and phone pricing and all the incidentals they charge on things like equipment rentals are atrocious, IMO.

Their customer service is actually pretty decent, for a cable company / monopoly type service. I have had much much worse from other Cable companies or AT&T.

We have had TWcable for probably going on 10 years for Internet and it has only gotten better over time with no real increase in pricing. So I can't complain.

[Albs]

Many people often complain about not reaching the speeds they're paying for and I've seen many cases of that due to the modem (lets not mistaken this for a router) they're using.

Don't rent TWC equipment, buy your own.

You will be capped at certain speeds depending on the amount of channels your modem runs.

This is what I noticed for MYSELF, this may not be true for you:

4x = 50
8x = 100
16x = 100+

TWC upgraded me too 200/20, but I'm capped at 100 due to using a 8x channel modem. Realistically, 100 is good enough for my needs, so I never bothered to upgrade my modem to take advantage of the additional speed.

I've had TWC for about 2-3 years and people complain about their crappy internet and customer service. In my opinion, they have great customer service, I call about every 6 months and ask about their promotional deals. I usually end the call with either $5-$10 off my bill for a year or free upgrade. Rather than being hostile on the phone, I sweet talk my way through things. And they've been more reliable for me than I expected.