Verizon Fios vs Spectrum?

[JamVal]

I've been a Verizon Fios (Triple Play, Internet, TV, digital voice phone) customer since Fios was first introduced into our neighborhood about 10 years ago.

I found I can save $20 to $40 per month going with Spectrum (Charter One) depending on which TV channel line up I choose. Either offering is as good as or better than what I currently get with Verizon.

So my questions to those of you that may have had recent experience with both Fios (100/100Mbs) and Spectrum (400/20MBS) is there anything I should be wary of, besides price, in moving from Verizon Fios to Spectrum?

I assume the quality of the TV service will be the same except for some minor differences in channel offerings.

But what about the Spectrum internet service? They have me a little confused about the Modem and Wifi. From what I understand they provide a Modem at no charge and the modem is Wifi capable, but if you want the Wifi turned on, there is a $5 monthly Wifi maintenance fee. Or you can buy your own Modem or Wifi router that you can connect to the Spectrum router and have Wifi service at no extra cost.

Which is the better route to go to avoid the $5 Wifi maintenance fee?:
1. Buy a Wifi router and attach it to the Spectrum Modem (2 pieces of gear) - or -
2. Buy a combination Modem/Wifi router (1 piece of gear)

Initially, for the first month, I will probably pay the $5 Wifi maintenance fee before buying any gear just to make sure I'm satisfied with their overall quality.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[whoaru99]

Never had FIOS, but I do have Spectrum.

I take the included modem and provide my own router/WiFi. I see no point in buying a modem when you do not get a discount for having your own and the ones provided to me have both been recent model DOCSIS 3.1. They are the same modem provided to those who subscribe to the gig package despite that I only subscribe to the 200/10 package.

My actual speeds are 225-230 down and 11.2-11.5 up.

I would get the plain old modem, not a combo. Even if you do not activate the WiFi I would still get just the plain modem if you can. That simplifies things for you. You then don't have to worry about any doubling of firewall settings to screw with your stuff, and no worrying about being sure it's configured properly for bridge mode so that only your firewall/router settings are at play.

 

[David_NC]

I've had Spectrum since it was a beta test in Wilmington, NC, though it was called Roadrunner back then ('99 or so). I've had great reliability from it; I remember that it was the only utility that was working during some of the hurricanes we had back then (I had a UPS on the modem and router). Even when I had a 25/5 connection, it was fast enough for multiple streams of HD. Now, I have a 60/5 (I believe), and we can easily stream HD Netflix on 3-4 devices simultaneously, and browsing is still good.
The only thing I don't like about Spectrum, or any other ISP, is their builtin routers and wi-fi. I bought a cable modem from Amazon that's on the Spectrum approved list and use my own routers and access points for wireless, Sometimes, it seems that an ISP has bad speeds, but it's often the hardware vs the service itself. Also, my service is a bit cheaper not renting a Spectrum modem.

 

[whoaru99]

You must be on some sort of legacy package/buy out area.

They upgraded my 60Mbps service to 100Mbps maybe 2-3 years go at no extra cost, then up to 200Mbps at no extra cost several months ago.

200Mbps is the lowest Spectrum package in my neck of the woods unless you qualify for the 30Mbps Internet Asist program. From 200, you can go up to 400, or to Gig (which you actually get 940Mbps simply due to the limitation of gigabit NICs and protocol).

 

[David_NC]

You must be on some sort of legacy package/buy out area.

They upgraded my 60Mbps service to 100Mbps maybe 2-3 years go at no extra cost, then up to 200Mbps at no extra cost several months ago.

200Mbps is the lowest Spectrum package in my neck of the woods unless you qualify for the 30Mbps Internet Asist program. From 200, you can go up to 400, or to Gig (which you actually get 940Mbps simply due to the limitation of gigabit NICs and protocol).

If that response was directed to me, I absolutely am on a legacy Spectrum plan that costs $40 per month. They keep pestering me to switch to a Charter plan at increased cost. The last Charter lady who called me looked at my plan and even advised keeping it, as its rate is locked, for some reason.
I see absolutely no need for crazy high speeds in residential internet service. At work, I help our remote workers when they have connectivity issues. It's amazing at how many have 100-300Mbps plans, and get these high speeds, but have issues maintaining a VPN connection to the office and complain that their connections feel sluggish (even when on Ethernet vs wifi). My VPN at home stays connected for days... until I finally disconnect it; it does not drop on its own. At work, we have a 50/50 fiber connection. This supports a facility with up to 100 or so employees, web servers for customer portals, VoIP phones, VPN tunnels to to other locations with lots of traffic, etc. My desktop system generally has multiple RDP windows open, Outlook, and about a dozen or so web pages. That 50/50 connection has never felt sluggish, and downloads and uploads are very fast; it seems any slow speeds are at the source, not us.

 

[JamVal]

Spectrum has been doing a promo in my area for the 400/20Mbps for the same price as their lowest speed 100Mbps. The Modem is free, but if you want Wifi turned on it's $5 per month.
I'm thinking that I can buy a decent WiFi router for about $50; break even after 10 months.

Thanks for the replies, sounds like I'll be satisfied with Spectrum.

Verizon service has been excellent, but they have been ... how should I put it... disingenuous.
The classic case happened at the beginning of my current contract, almost 2 years ago. They offered me a free upgrade to their newest Giga-speed router with the new contract. There was nothing wrong with the router I had, since it was also new, but only 100Mbps, which is fine for me. They had just replaced my old one that was having problems.
I think it was a 'come on' for them to get me to upgrade my internet service to a higher speed if I agreed to take the latest Giga-speed router.
I told them no, I didn't want to deal with the hassle of installing a new router and updating all my device passwords.

Two months into the new contract they hit me with a new monthly 'maintenance fee' on my router. They tell me that although my router is new, it is 'old' technology that they don't want to support anymore so they are charging a maintenance fee on it. So I say, OK, give me that Giga-speed one that you offered me 2 months ago. They say, no, that promotion is over. WTF.
Slowly, but surely they manage to hit me with 'unforseen' taxes, fees, equipment rental increases to the point that I'm paying almost $15 more a month now than I was when they so kindly 'locked' me into a price for 2 years.

 

[whoaru99]

If that response was directed to me, I absolutely am on a legacy Spectrum plan that costs $40 per month. They keep pestering me to switch to a Charter plan at increased cost. The last Charter lady who called me looked at my plan and even advised keeping it, as its rate is locked, for some reason.
I see absolutely no need for crazy high speeds in residential internet service. At work, I help our remote workers when they have connectivity issues. It's amazing at how many have 100-300Mbps plans, and get these high speeds, but have issues maintaining a VPN connection to the office and complain that their connections feel sluggish (even when on Ethernet vs wifi). My VPN at home stays connected for days... until I finally disconnect it; it does not drop on its own. At work, we have a 50/50 fiber connection. This supports a facility with up to 100 or so employees, web servers for customer portals, VoIP phones, VPN tunnels to to other locations with lots of traffic, etc. My desktop system generally has multiple RDP windows open, Outlook, and about a dozen or so web pages. That 50/50 connection has never felt sluggish, and downloads and uploads are very fast; it seems any slow speeds are at the source, not us.

I never had a legacy/buyout so there was nothing for me to stick to it has always been Charter/Spectrum here. 200Mbps costs me the same as 60 did, incremental increases notwithstanding. It's like $54 with the bundle price.

I could downgrade to 60 or maybe 80Mbps DSL but the price is same/similar as Spectrum so it makes no sense pay same and get less. Besides, when I need to download big service packs for some work stuff I bring my laptop home. Downloads are way faster. Big files, poof...done. VPN works fine too for work. I even host my own Open VPN connection for personal use to access certain internal functions on my home network like IP cams without allowing them outside access and having to open ports for their own web servers.

 

[whoaru99]

Spectrum has been doing a promo in my area for the 400/20Mbps for the same price as their lowest speed 100Mbps. The Modem is free, but if you want Wifi turned on it's $5 per month.
I'm thinking that I can buy a decent WiFi router for about $50; break even after 10 months.

Thanks for the replies, sounds like I'll be satisfied with Spectrum.

Verizon service has been excellent, but they have been ... how should I put it... disingenuous.
The classic case happened at the beginning of my current contract, almost 2 years ago. They offered me a free upgrade to their newest Giga-speed router with the new contract. There was nothing wrong with the router I had, since it was also new, but only 100Mbps, which is fine for me. They had just replaced my old one that was having problems.
I think it was a 'come on' for them to get me to upgrade my internet service to a higher speed if I agreed to take the latest Giga-speed router.
I told them no, I didn't want to deal with the hassle of installing a new router and updating all my device passwords.

Two months into the new contract they hit me with a new monthly 'maintenance fee' on my router. They tell me that although my router is new, it is 'old' technology that they don't want to support anymore so they are charging a maintenance fee on it. So I say, OK, give me that Giga-speed one that you offered me 2 months ago. They say, no, that promotion is over. WTF.
Slowly, but surely they manage to hit me with 'unforseen' taxes, fees, equipment rental increases to the point that I'm paying almost $15 more a month now than I was when they so kindly 'locked' me into a price for 2 years.

FWIW, there are taxes and fees probably not listed in the price. As well, their new customer promos end too.

It's pretty much the same all around in those regards.

 

[JamVal]

FWIW, there are taxes and fees probably not listed in the price. As well, their new customer promos end too.

It's pretty much the same all around in those regards.

Oh yes, I'm sure they all do it, and they don't have control over tax and gov't fee increases. At least with Spectrum I'm not locked into a contract, no early termination fee like there is with Verizon.

My neighbors have been trying to talk me into dropping the TV and land line phone service and just going with Verizon or Spectrum Internet.
The guy next door put an antenna in his attic crawl space and picks up all our local offerings, then he subscribes to Netflix and Amazon Prime which he says gives him everything he wants. I don't think he gets much of the sports networks though, I might be lost without ESPN/U/2, FoxSports, CBSSports, NBCSports, BTN, NBA etc.

Most of the taxes and fees are associated with TV and Phone service so his savings are significant.

 

[whoaru99]

Oh yeah, cord cutting discussion is right up there with discussion of religion, politics, morals, etc. LOL.

 

[David_NC]

I never had a legacy/buyout so there was nothing for me to stick to it has always been Charter/Spectrum here. 200Mbps costs me the same as 60 did, incremental increases notwithstanding. It's like $54 with the bundle price.

I could downgrade to 60 or maybe 80Mbps DSL but the price is same/similar as Spectrum so it makes no sense pay same and get less. Besides, when I need to download big service packs for some work stuff I bring my laptop home. Downloads are way faster. Big files, poof...done. VPN works fine too for work. I even host my own Open VPN connection for personal use to access certain internal functions on my home network like IP cams without allowing them outside access and having to open ports for their own web servers.

I guess you missed the part in my previous post about how fast and stable multiple users with these plans are (they aren’t).
Besides, my first post was referencing my experiences with the reliability of Spectrum service vs the merits of higher speed. I was also explaining why I have this plan without bundling.

 

[whoaru99]

I guess you missed the part in my previous post about how fast and stable multiple users with these plans are (they aren’t).
Besides, my first post was referencing my experiences with the reliability of Spectrum service vs the merits of higher speed. I was also explaining why I have this plan without bundling.

I didn't miss anything, I don't have any of the problems you describe. Sorry to disappoint you.

And about your contentment with 60Mbps, I'm happy that it suits your needs, but it just doesn't matter to a new Spectrum customer because they won't have an option of a 60Mbps plan even if they felt similarly about speed.

 

[tubed]

Spectrum are thieving rats.
I'm supposed to be receiving 200 mbps but just now speed tested at 112, and I'm hardwired in.
I have a modest bundle that's started off at 89 per month and has nickled and dimed me to 180 per month, in less than two years.

 

[David_NC]

I didn't miss anything, I don't have any of the problems you describe. Sorry to disappoint you.

And about your contentment with 60Mbps, I'm happy that it suits your needs, but it just doesn't matter to a new Spectrum customer because they won't have an option of a 60Mbps plan even if they felt similarly about speed.

Sigh... let's keep in mind that I was initially responding to the OP re Spectrum's reliability and performance. Again, it was not telling the OP to get a plan that he can't get. LOL


My download speeds weren't as high as usual, with all he streaming going on here, but my upload was really nice, and the ping is ideal. High latency is what I've noticed with many of the higher speed packages that makes them feel sluggish. I'm not claiming that the speeds aren't possible, but the all in one modem-router-access point units do not typically provide the performance... especially latency and weak wifi. Perhaps this all in one unit is the cause of sluggishness / poor performance.

 

[whoaru99]

Spectrum are thieving rats.
I'm supposed to be receiving 200 mbps but just now speed tested at 112, and I'm hardwired in.
I have a modest bundle that's started off at 89 per month and has nickled and dimed me to 180 per month, in less than two years.

I suggest you call Spectrum and get that sorted out. My 200Mbps service consistently runs >10% over with single-digit ping times.

OTOH, could be something on your end too. Hard to say for sure. A while back my Internet speed went way down. Thought maybe Spectrum.was having some issues but it was the ethernet cable between the modem and router. Identified that when I went to the basement to connect directly to the modem and speed went back to normal.

Far as prices, yeah, base rates have gone up incrementally (nickels and dimes) but your situation appears probably that a promotional rate expired.

You can call in and ask for a lower rate, which probably won't happen, then threaten to quit if they don't lower the rate. Sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. They seem to have tightened up on that in that few years.

 

[whoaru99]

Sigh...

We're on the same page about that.

 

[David_NC]

I’ve called customer service before and asked for the retention department, though not with Spectrum. I then get a person who can give me what I’m requesting, which is always reasonable. One lady I talked to laughed and commented that I didn’t mess around with the CS people. This was with AT&T, and she matched, then beat, the Verizon plan I was comparing to my current AT&T plan.
The point is that it generally doesn’t hurt to ask, as long as you’re asking the appropriate individuals. The frontline CS reps really can’t do anything much, if at all, for things like this.

 

[JamVal]

I didn't miss anything, I don't have any of the problems you describe. Sorry to disappoint you.

And about your contentment with 60Mbps, I'm happy that it suits your needs, but it just doesn't matter to a new Spectrum customer because they won't have an option of a 60Mbps plan even if they felt similarly about speed.

Just to clarify, Spectrum in my area offers 3 speeds; 100Mbps, 400Mbps, 940Mbps.
Their current promotion is 400Mbps at the same price as 100Mbps, locked in for 2 years, so why not take it. Now at the end of the 2nd year there may be a difference. And depending on the price difference I wouldn't have a problem dropping down to 100Mbps, that's what I've had and it suits me fine. On the other hand, I sense that Spectrum is phasing out the 100Mbps, so in 2 years I suspect 400 will be the entry level speed.

 

[whoaru99]

Spectrum has been raising the previous 100Mbps base plan to 200Mbps as the base speed over the last year or so. Some areas lag but from what I understand by end of this year the footprint is supposed have all lagging 60 and 100 areas up to 200Mbps base speed.

Of course, one only gets that if they have a Spectrum plan. Those on grandfathered plans don't get the speed upgrade unless they change to a Spectrum plan as David_NC described.

 

[bryblob]

I know different areas have different base speeds, but in MN the base speed is 200 Mbps like Whoaru99 said, and goes to 1 Gbps. You really need a docsis 3.1 modem if you don't have one. They are backward compatible with docsis 3.0 and has the ability to adapt to a different level of modulation based on network conditions. I never liked the gateway modems, I would get a 3.1 modem and get the best router you can afford.