Goodbye DirecTV, Hello FiOS TV!
– Be Sure to Check Out My Newest Verizon FiOS Update Here –
It’s official. I’m no longer a DirecTV subscriber. Verizon came out and installed Verizon FiOS TV and Internet at my house today. Here’s my initial review of the service.
The two installers arrived at 3:30 pm, which was right in the middle of the 1-5 window Verizon gave. The whole process was done at abour 6:45, which was a little under the 4-6 hour installation time they told me to be prepared for. The installers were very friendly and knowledgable. They had no problems throughout the entire installation.
Here are a few pictures of the Optical Network Terminal (ONT) and battery backup:
For the internet service, they ran a Cat5e cable from the ONT along the outside of my house (hid just underneath the roof overhang) to my office, which connected to the wireless router they provided (D-Link DI-624). They used my existing coax cable, that previously ran to my Comcast Cable modem, to connect to the Network Interface Module (NIM, Model – Motorola NIM100). The NIM is required to access Video-On-Demand and Pay-Per-View shows. Also, I believe the NIM will one day be used to watch DVR recorded shows from any Set Top Box (STB) in the house. This feature is not yet enabled, and I really hope they enable it soon. Here are some pictures of the router and NIM:
The installers told me that the “Cable Out” connection wasn’t enabled. But that’s not true. I connected a small tv in the office to the connection and I was able to access the basic cable channels (about 15 channels).
Now on to the DVR. The DVR STB provided by Verizon is a Motorol DVR QIP6416-1. I was surprised that there was only one RF input. With DirecTV, there was an input for each tuner. This unit is able to record one show and watch another. It comes with a 160GB hard drive. They provided a component cable, but I connected it to my tv with an HDMI cable. Here are some pictures of the unit:
Overall, I’m very impressed with the DVR. My first DVR was an Ultimate TV. The Motorola system is Microsoft based, so it is very similar to what I was used to with that. In comparison to the HD DirecTivo that we were using, I’m much happier with the new Verizon DVR. The DirecTivo was very slow switching from tv to menus. I also really like being able to set up a series to be recorded by pressing record twice in the guide. It was a hassel having to jump through multiple menus in DirecTivo menus and then sitting there waiting for about 45 seconds for it to decide it was ready to go. The Verizon DVR is almost immediate when you press record.
Overall, the Verizon DVR is superior to the HD DirecTivo in almost every way. I liked being able to pause one live show and then change tuners to watch another channel with Tivo. I can do this in theory with my new one by recording two shows, but the functionality of the DirecTivo was a little better. The other way the DirecTivo was better was the look of the guide and the menus. The fonts were easier to read and looked a little more current. The Verizon makes up for it, however, by being able to see a thumbnail of the show you’re watching when you’re in a menu. It’s worth the trade-off. Here are some comparison shots between the two.
The biggest flaw of the DVR is the lack of any sort of Wishlist feature. I assumed it would have one, since UltimateTV had it, but I assumed wrong. I never used it on the DirecTivo though, so I won’t really miss it.
Channel View:
Guide:
Recorded Shows (Now Playing List):
Scheduled Series (Season Pass Manager):
Menu (DirecTV Central):
One menu that DirecTivo doesn’t have is Verizon’s Mini-Guide. Here’s a picture of that:
Overall, I’m very pleased initially. Normally when I buy a new gadget or service, I’ve built it up so much in my mind that I’m somewhat disappointed. That didn’t happen with Verizon FiOS. I’m really happy with the channel selection. The only channel that I know I don’t have anymore is OLN (and I don’t watch NHL games or the Tour de France, so I won’t miss it). They also don’t have the NFL Sunday Ticket or NBA Season Pass (that I know of). So if you’re tied to those, you’ll be let down.
The biggest factor that motivated my to switch was the HD channels. Verizon offers all of the local broadcasts in HD and national HD broadcasts as well. I’m happy to now have TNT HD for NBA games (would’ve been nice to have Thursday night when the Mavs were on). The picture quality for the HD channels is at least as good as DirecTV was, if not slightly better. I haven’t noticed any difference in the standard channels.
The other feature I like a lot is the VOD. There are a BUNCH of free shows in from different categories. I like the sports options they have most. There are also selected music videos available. The movie selection is pretty good too. There are quite a few new movies (new to DVD, that is) available, such as: Batman Begins, Cinderella Man, Madagascar and a lot more available for $3.95. They also have a fairly extensive selection of older movies available for $2.95. Once you choose a movie, you’re able to watch it for up to 24 hours.
You can read more about FiOS TV from Verizon’s website. If you have any questions about the service, please comment and I’ll respond.
—Response to DylanE—
I notice in the screen shots that you are using the “grid guide†for both TiVo and Verizon DVR. Any chance that the Verizon DVR has a guide view closer to the normal TiVO style?
I never knew there was a different guide with Tivo. Maybe it wasn’t available with DirecTivo. If the normal Tivo guide style you’re talking about is the one that lets you view all the upcoming shows on a particular channel in the guide then yes–in at least a similar way. In the guide, if you highlight and select the channel it will show you the upcoming shows on that channel.
– Response to Fred –
2006-1-30 @ 3:01:01 pm
How does the season pass manager handle sports teams with games being on different nights and times? Is it able to do that?
From what I can tell, there is not a season pass type function that will automatically record based on specific criteria. You can seach for the actor/team name, but you have to manually choose to record from the search results.
Popularity: 100% [?]
I’ve noticed, or have not learned yet, that I cannot watch a live show while recording another show. If I want to watch show (a) while recording show (b), I need to record both shows. Is that true or is there something I have not learned yet?
You can disregard my last posting, the installer did not set it up correct so I had to fix it.
Are you able or have you tried to split your FIOS coax cable to run into the FIOS Cable Box and into the Direct Tv DVR? I still have the Direct TV DVR and wanted to see if you tried to use it w/ Fios and if you can split the signal.
Please let me know. Thanks.
Mark
Re: 30-second skip. There’s no button for it on the Verizon-supplied remote control, but when I set-up my Harmony remote — bingo! — there it was. :)
I am in Carrollton, TX and had the FIOS installed. After 28 days I called Verizon and canceled as I found the DVR to be nearly worthless (very buggie software). If you have had a TIVO or DirecTV TIVO unit you will be sadly disappointed. When I went back to DirecTV and they sent me the new DVR that is not TIVO. This is nearly as bad as the FIOS DVR. I reverted to my old DirecTV TIVO DVR and life is good… The dual channel buffer is the feature that I cannot and will not live without. If you use it and are used to using it there is no substitute. After going through several layers of Tech support at DirecTV it seems that TIVO has a patent on the functionality and will not allow other DVR manufacturers the functionality without a little royalty… so, in the immediate future I am tied to my older DVR.
I am have a simple 301 Dish receiver that is exclusively used for a foreign language reception. Can I shoot its output to an input of my VERIZON DVR for recording purposes ?
They said many months ago that this will be enabled one day.
Can you record PPV or OnDemand movies with Verizon Fios to the DVR’s hard drive?
Do you have the ability to extend the recording? On my D*, I can tell the recorder to stop x minutes/hours later. I do this as a matter of routine for football games where the schedule is notoriously shorter than reality.
— Reply by Kevin —
Yes. It’s an option you can choose once you’ve set a program for recording. I do the same thing for all the sporting events I record.
OLN is now VS I believe so you probably have it
i just got my fios tv and was tring to grab the recorded shows off the QIP6416. im doing my usal poking around and see the the stb’s have ip address. has anyone tried getting into them via the network?
I have had Fios for a couple of weeks, have had a lot of issues. The latest is that I can’t get any of my VCRs or DVDs to work. The Verizon hotline is not much help.
How should they be hooked up to the system?
When enabled can you record and play back the TV shows?
What channel do you play them back on?
Any comments would be greatly appreciated
I’ve been debating the FIOS = Satellite switch for a while now. The FIOS ISP is quite nice and although a bit Mac unfriendly at first, I am now getting 15 down and 2 up throughout the house, even on wireless at times.
My D-TV DVR is a series two that I purchased online and had the reseller add a second hard drive. I think I get a couple hundred hours or SD record capacity. I sorely would hate to give that up even though HD recording is not possible. It has not been a big deal overall.
What is a big deal is as one person who comment asked… is the capacity expandable? Either internally or via a USB/FW/NAS type of drive?
Also with the advent of devices like Apple TV and Tivo to Go, it is becoming more and more relevant when making these decisions to not lock into another’s proprietary domain as Verizon/Microsoft prefer. D-TV is not much better with regard to limits, nor is Tivo, but FIOS, though a free install is a major installation process to one’s dwelling.
Anyway Kevin, have you or any of your readers ascertained either from experience, or from Verizon whether these DVR are expandable?
Thanks
~S
Lenny, I already did my poking and got nowhere. The DVR and STBs do get assigned an IP addres via DHCP. Oddly, even after they get an address assigned on the local network, they’re still broadcasting with the 169.254.x.x address as they were before they received their IP. A network scan on the QIP6416-2 shows the following ports open:
TCP 21303
TCP 21306
UDP 68
UDP 5000
UDP 5020
UDP 33795
UDP 48587
I tried connecting to the TCP ports with HTTP, TELNET, FTP and SSH with no response. I too would like to be able to copy recorded shows off to burn to DVD if anyone has figured it out. Best I’ve got for now is to connect your laptop to an output, play on the DVR and record on the laptop but that’s such a waste of time.
Hello..
Thank you for your site. We are considering Fios, but we are on a strict budget. What are the taxes for Fios Internet and Fios TV?
Thank you.
Jeff — I’m sure the taxes vary depending on your location and what equipment you have. My FIOS TV taxes are $8.13. Internet service does not have a separate tax but “taxes and surcharges” on the whole phone/internet are $7.19 in addition to the Federal subscriber line charge of $6.50.
Can you easily record shows from the hard drive out to another DVR recorder to save programs on DVD?
Thanks
— Reply by Kevin —
It would depend on the other DVR. I don’t know of any major brand DVR that has a line in at this point. However, if you have a stand-alone DVD recorder you should have no problems once you get everything hooked up right.
Great stuff. Have enjoyed reading all the responses.
I’ve had DirecTV with TiVo for several years, and haven’t switched to FIOS TV because of the NFL Sunday Ticket, which I’ve had since the late 90s. I’m addicted.
Question: The VZ sales guy told me there was a way to “throttle down” my DirecTV service to the bare bones service – thereby still allowing me to still get the Sunday Ticket (since VZ won’t be offering it), while using VZ FIOS as my primary programming. If I decide to do this, would I have to use my DirecTV DVRs with TiVo to record NFL games through Sunday Ticket? And would I still need to get the VZ DVR service to use for my VZ channels? I assume that the answer is “yes” — that I’d have to have DirecTV with TiVo for the NFL games, and any programming on VZ’s service would be recorded by the VZ DVR.
Has anybody done this, or am I totally crazy? FYI, I set up an installation for FIOS TV for several weeks out, so I can investigate how to/whether I can use both, and what would be required if I did so. I don’t know if it’s worth it to switch over to FIOS, since DirecTV has been fine, I love NFL Sunday Ticket, and really like the TiVo User Interface.
— Reply by Kevin—
I’ve never personally done it, but I imagine that what the rep meant by “throttle down” is do only carry the very basic package plus Sunday Ticket with only one receiver. Your setup would work fine as long as you had enough inputs on your TV or an input selector. Any way you go, you’ll love the improvement in the HD channels. VZ is much better in HD.
I just got the fios.. and seem to have it mostly figured out.. However do you know if there is a way to set default settings for the DVR so that i dont always have to tell it to save 5 shows or first run only? i know on tivo you could tell it how it should normally record. Right now, the process of going back and forth between the options for every series recording is pretty cumbersome. any help is appreciated.
— Reply by Kevin —
I don’t know of any way to change the defaults for all shows. I usually just set each show individually, which isn’t a big deal to me because I usually want to keep different amounts of all the shows I record.
Thanks for the detailed review! I recently switched from Dish Network to FiOS. Hopefully the new interface coming out will resolve a lot of the usability issues (When compared to TiVO). I wrote a detailed review as well on Verizon FiOS TV http://www.defefx.com/verizon-fios-tv/ Let me know what you think.
Thanks.
I currently have a DirecTivo. I don’t want to give up my TIVO features, is it possible to get FIOS but buy the TIVO separately and use it with the FIOS service? Do you know which TIVO series I would need to purchase?
—Reply by Kevin—
I’m pretty sure any version of TiVo will work with FiOS. I don’t have one so I can’t confirm for sure, but I think any version will work.
great review ! i wanted to switch to fios . because the only reason i have a home phone . is because my directv dvr has to be connected to a live phone line . with fios i do not need a phone line .
i had doubts about the picture quality . the directv picture quality is fantastic . for me it is all about the picture . your review and othe comments have helped me make my decision to switch fios . thank you .
I used to have Directv before, recently switched to Fios tv and internet. I see that they have connected one of the cables coming out from the previous Directv dish into the Verizon box outside my house (like the one in the 2nd pic on this page). Do you know why they need this Directv feed into Fios tv? I was told all the channels are 100% coming from fiber optic cables (i.e Fios router).
Overall I want to thank you for this article.
A few comments: Since you originally posted this, there are HD Tivo units, such as the Series 3 HD and the TivoHD. This pretty much cleans up the lack of a great DVR cablebox by FiOS.
Overall I’ve been pleased with teh quality of their service since I switched from Comcast. I have to say that dealing with Verizon FiOS TV tech support is much more enjoyable. I’ve got 1 Tivo Series3 unit with 2 cable cards, and 2 Tivo Series2 units with Verizon STBs.
I’ve using a more industrial type firewall with an NIM100 to allow the STBs to get all of their guide data (not needed with the cable cards).
The Tivo Series 3 and the TivoHD both work GREAT with FiOS!
You can get Cable Cards from FiOS without issue, as they, and all cable vendor are required by law to give them to you.
I’d also add that anyone out there that has a network enabled STB or Tivo or network enabled DirectTV unit can add NIM100s to their cable system in order to provide internet connections to their equipment. This eliminates the need for phone lines for the newer ethernet enabled devices. (Verizon STBs have NIMs built into them, and Tivos can use wireless or wired ethernet…)
Question: I also have DirecTV’s Ultimate TV but with a
Sony unit. It is an excellent component and I am having
a hard time giving up it’s functionality for either Fios
or Directv’s HD equipment. I have heard horror stories
about DirecTV’s HD DVR units. One question I have is
FIOS’s DVR ability to start watching a recorded program
before the program is totally recorded and having the recording continue? Currently I am able to start watching
a recorded football game 1 hour into the game and fast forwarding thru the commercials all while the Sony unit is still recording the rest of the game. Can FIOS do this?
—Kevin’s Reply—
Yes, you can start watching recorded programs while it is still recording. Verizon recently updated the DVR software, so the interface looks a lot better now.
Hello,
I just got Fios installed and it appears I have the same DVR model as you do. In addition to the DVR, I have Sony DVD Recorder. Now, I’m attempting to connect my DVR to my DVD to record at will. Can you please provide any information that can assist me with getting this resolved. It would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.
Model of Sony DVD SLV-D37OP
— Kevin’s Reply —
I don’t have one, so I don’t know this for sure, but I think DVD recorders work about the same as a VCR. You have to record in real-time. So you would need to hook up the cable of your choice (composite/component etc.) from the output of the DVR to the input of the DVD recorder. Check the user manual that came with your recorder for specifics.
I have DVR and two standard rooms and one HG room. The standard rooms can’t see DVR
— Kevin’s Reply —
You’ll only be able to view the DVR from the standard receivers if you pay the extra $7 per month for the Home Media DVR (or something like that).
Great review. I have DTV and have been debating whether to switch to FiOS. This review is very thorough and has answered a lot of my questions.
I can’t record anything on my VCR now that I have FIOS. Is my VCR now just an antique or is there a way to do this that I (and the service tech I talked to on the phone) can’t figure out? This is the best info I’ve ever seen on FIOS. Thanks for your willingngess to share.
— Kevin’s Reply —
I personally haven’t hooked up a VCR to my TV in about four years, so I really don’t know from experience. I’ve always assumed that you could hook up the composite outputs (the red, white, and yellow connections) to the VCR inputs and record. Hopefully that will work for you.
Kevin,
You are truly insane.
But don’t worry, so am I.
Sincerely,
Josue.
PS: I got an Alvarez guitar.
All that work to hook up the Fios TV, and all you watch is Fox News from your screen caps?
What a waste of the fiber optics.
i have fios, but I can play my dvr's and video but can not record. I have called the Recorder mfg, Fios and each one states i can hook it up. I have a New Viox HD 720p TV. Its a shame, but FIOS states I need there recorder but at $250 a year I could buy a new one. Do they make a DVR Recorder that can work with FIOS and not the Verizon one. FIOS states only theres can be used. Its a shame that I can not buy one with paying FIOS. Any suggestions on what would work. Really hate to buy a new recorder but I like to record music and play it in my car (even a show).
TY
Verizon doesn't like to promote this, but you can use a cable card enabled Tivo with their service. You'll have to pay a monthly fee for each cable card you use (2 tuners = 2 cable cards), but it works out to about the same cost over a 2 year period. My brother and sister both bought Tivo HD DVRs and use it with their Fios service. They're both really happy with the setup the have.
Here's the tivo they bought: http://bit.ly/JBi4
I love our FIOS service even more…now that we have a TiVo unit. The Motorola unit that Verizon uses is garbage. We gladly sacrificed the loss of our On Demand option for a DVR that functions consistently, doesn't reset itself for no particular reason, and has better auto-record options. If Verizon will update and improve their DVR, they've really got the best thing going with the Fiber-optic cable signal.
FiOS really change how we watch TV you should check out their offers…it's 2009 and they have more things to offer.
Hi Kevin. Thanks for such an elaborate description. It has helped. One thing that was not too clear for me was the recording on the DVR. Do you know if this DVR will record automatically every week/day the program (episode) chosen. I currently have Cox Cable and with them when I want to record a program, I go into the guide select the program I want to record and then it gives me the option of recording one episode or recording all (if I click record all – it then gives me several options on whether I want to record all episodes or first run episodes and so on). Typically I like to choose first run and then I don't have to manually select the program that I want every week. It automatically sets it up for me every week. Thank you!
Hi Bertha,
Thanks for your question. Fios has released a new version of the DVR in the past couple years, so this review is out-of-date now. But to answer your question, yes, their DVR does have the option you are asking about.
Good luck!
Kevin
Is it just me or is the post not showing up? It looks like all of it is missing on my screen?
Haha. Nice try. It’s working just fine and I removed your link.
You may want to check out DirecTV again…. many of my neighbors have fios and switched back to direcTV. New, bigger dish, practically everything’s HD, far superior picture (not that fios is bad, but satelite is better!). Just sayin’….
Thanks for the feedback. I’ve dropped cable all together for now. I’ll look at my options if I ever decide to get it again.