I only watch cable TV at home when I am ironing, and then it's more like "listening." My flatscreen computer monitor is larger and nicer than my small, more-than-a-decade-old CRT TV, and I also have a nice sound system attached to it; my cheap-o TV is monophone. If I don't feel like sitting at my desktop, I sit in an easy chair and watch my movie on my netbook and listen through a pair of headphones. I wanted FIOS for the "blazing fast" Internet, not TV, which I don't really care about. I watch DVDs or Netflix and Hulu on my computer. When I watch a game, it's usually at someone else's house.
If they reduce Internet speeds, there really will be no point for me in having FIOS. Last year, we were talking hopefully of Google Fiber on this list, and now we're talking about going back to DSL speeds? I should have known all along: "Frontier" in American English is synonymous with "backwoods." (No offense to list members who actually live in the woods, but I must say, whenever I visit friends or family who live in the woods, I am usually pretty underwhelmed by their Internet connection. It's an adventure to hike three miles down a rural West Virginia highway dodging unleashed, un-fenced and potentially rabid hounds to check my e-mail once-in-awhile, but I wouldn't want to have to do it every day. The only option at my aunt & uncle's cabin was satellite Internet, which performed so poorly that they cancelled it. Now I go to the Cathedral Cafe in Fayetteville to get online when visiting them. The Internet speed is acceptable, and the pancakes are delicious!) A few months ago, I signed this West Virginia broadband petition: http://www.westvirginia.com/. I commented "If I am permitted the analogy to other mountainous states, West Virginia is choosing whether be the Switzerland of the USA, or its Afghanistan." I guess we know now which path Indiana is choosing... On Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 1:00 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > Send Fwlug mailing list submissions to > [email protected] > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://fortwaynelug.org/mailman/listinfo/fwlug_fortwaynelug.org > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > [email protected] > > You can reach the person managing the list at > [email protected] > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Fwlug digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Frontier Ditching FIOS TV (Rob Ludwick) > 2. Re: Frontier Ditching FIOS TV (Christer Watson) > 3. Re: Frontier Ditching FIOS TV (Rob Ludwick) > 4. Re: Frontier Ditching FIOS TV (Shirona A. Gunawardhana) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 14:25:04 -0500 > From: Rob Ludwick <[email protected]> > To: Fort Wayne Linux Users Group <[email protected]> > Subject: [fwlug] Frontier Ditching FIOS TV > Message-ID: <1295724304.5070.42.camel@joel> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" > > Did anyone else get the notice that Frontier TV was going up $30 per > month? That happened after they said last year: "Nothing will > change for FIOS customers.... Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha." (Maniacal > laughter added by me for dramatic effect). > > However, if you move to DirectTV you get 1) a Free 32" TV and 2) Free > DirecTV for the rest of the year. I'm sure the equipment fees are > similar. > > The good news is they basically broke the contractual agreement I had > with them, meaning I don't have to pay the ETF anymore. The bad news > is that this seems like a step backwards for Fort Wayne, since it > removes the highest quality delivery of service. > > My understanding is that they are going to push DSL (!) instead of FIOS > internet too. This means that FIOS internet may be next on the chopping > block. > > A couple of questions for the LUG. > > Is Comcast still compressing the heck out of HD signals to give a less > than stellar HD signal? (Do you care?) > > How's DirectTV or Dish Satellite service for HD these days? > > And who has cut the cable and gone with hulu/netflix completely now? > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 21:36:45 -0500 > From: Christer Watson <[email protected]> > To: Fort Wayne Linux Users Group <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [fwlug] Frontier Ditching FIOS TV > Message-ID: > <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > Could someone explain to me why they might be doing this? They paid > all this money for a fiber optic network. In what business model does > it make sense to then not use it? Can they really stay in business > selling DSL speeds?! > > btw, I live without cable and haven't had too many problems. The two > biggest are: > 1) some shows you have to resign yourself to watching a year late on > DVD/Netflix (e.g. boardwalk empire, true blood, etc.) > 2) some sports you just won't get (e.g. Monday Night Football,...) > > If those aren't deal-breakers, give it a try. > > Cheers, > > --Christer > > On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 2:25 PM, Rob Ludwick <[email protected]> wrote: > > Did anyone else get the notice that Frontier TV was going up $30 per > > month? ?That happened after they said last year: "Nothing will > > change for FIOS customers.... ?Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha." ?(Maniacal > > laughter added by me for dramatic effect). > > > > However, if you move to DirectTV you get 1) a Free 32" TV and 2) Free > > DirecTV for the rest of the year. I'm sure the equipment fees are > > similar. > > > > The good news is they basically broke the contractual agreement I had > > with them, meaning I don't have to pay the ETF anymore. ? The bad news > > is that this seems like a step backwards for Fort Wayne, since it > > removes the highest quality delivery of service. > > > > My understanding is that they are going to push DSL (!) instead of FIOS > > internet too. ?This means that FIOS internet may be next on the chopping > > block. > > > > A couple of questions for the LUG. > > > > Is Comcast still compressing the heck out of HD signals to give a less > > than stellar HD signal? ?(Do you care?) > > > > How's DirectTV or Dish Satellite service for HD these days? > > > > And who has cut the cable and gone with hulu/netflix completely now? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Fwlug mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://fortwaynelug.org/mailman/listinfo/fwlug_fortwaynelug.org > > > > This is a public list and all posts are archived publicly. Please keep > this in mind before posting. > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 22:33:28 -0500 > From: Rob Ludwick <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [fwlug] Frontier Ditching FIOS TV > Message-ID: <1295753608.5697.41.camel@joel> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" > > I think it's worse than that. > > My understanding was that the telco's had to provide competitor access > on copper based service. Verizon secured regulation/approval to prevent > FIOS from being a conduit for third party services. > > The second the copper is hooked back up, a person in Fort Wayne can hook > up using this company: > http://xymmetrix.com/services/internet_access.html > > And suddenly it makes no sense to keep Frontier. > > BTW, the letter said that TV rates were going up. They neglected to say > it was staying the same for those on contract with triple play services. > The Frontier rep apologized for the confusion on the phone today. So it > turns out I'm good until 2012. > > On Sat, 2011-01-22 at 21:36 -0500, Christer Watson wrote: > > Could someone explain to me why they might be doing this? They paid > > all this money for a fiber optic network. In what business model does > > it make sense to then not use it? Can they really stay in business > > selling DSL speeds?! > > > > btw, I live without cable and haven't had too many problems. The two > > biggest are: > > 1) some shows you have to resign yourself to watching a year late on > > DVD/Netflix (e.g. boardwalk empire, true blood, etc.) > > 2) some sports you just won't get (e.g. Monday Night Football,...) > > > > If those aren't deal-breakers, give it a try. > > > > Cheers, > > > > --Christer > > > > On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 2:25 PM, Rob Ludwick <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Did anyone else get the notice that Frontier TV was going up $30 per > > > month? That happened after they said last year: "Nothing will > > > change for FIOS customers.... Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha." (Maniacal > > > laughter added by me for dramatic effect). > > > > > > However, if you move to DirectTV you get 1) a Free 32" TV and 2) Free > > > DirecTV for the rest of the year. I'm sure the equipment fees are > > > similar. > > > > > > The good news is they basically broke the contractual agreement I had > > > with them, meaning I don't have to pay the ETF anymore. The bad news > > > is that this seems like a step backwards for Fort Wayne, since it > > > removes the highest quality delivery of service. > > > > > > My understanding is that they are going to push DSL (!) instead of FIOS > > > internet too. This means that FIOS internet may be next on the > chopping > > > block. > > > > > > A couple of questions for the LUG. > > > > > > Is Comcast still compressing the heck out of HD signals to give a less > > > than stellar HD signal? (Do you care?) > > > > > > How's DirectTV or Dish Satellite service for HD these days? > > > > > > And who has cut the cable and gone with hulu/netflix completely now? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Fwlug mailing list > > > [email protected] > > > http://fortwaynelug.org/mailman/listinfo/fwlug_fortwaynelug.org > > > > > > This is a public list and all posts are archived publicly. Please keep > this in mind before posting. > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Fwlug mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://fortwaynelug.org/mailman/listinfo/fwlug_fortwaynelug.org > > > > This is a public list and all posts are archived publicly. Please keep > this in mind before posting. > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 4 > Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 22:59:29 -0500 > From: "Shirona A. Gunawardhana" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]>, "'Fort Wayne Linux Users Group'" > <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [fwlug] Frontier Ditching FIOS TV > Message-ID: <000301cbbab1$ef1f6160$cd5e2420$@com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Frontier cannot get the same volume discounts Verizon, Comcast, Dish, > Direct, Cox gets from channel providers. Most channel providers increased > their prices recently. FIOS TV is only 7% of their revenue in this market. > Frontier is going to lose $9 to $32 per every customer who has FIOS TV and > it will be very hard for them to explain this to their share holders. > So cutting a deal with Direct TV and recommending (forcing) them to all > current subscribers at worst will land them some profit. Remember IBM > struggling with PC/laptop, x86 processors (AMD) and printer (Lexmark) > business? IBM after letting go of these are doing much better as a company. > I use Comcast for internet and Dish for TV. I tried all 3 FIOS services > when > it first came out and their billing and customers service drove me bonkers. > Shirona > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] > On Behalf Of Christer Watson > Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2011 9:37 PM > To: Fort Wayne Linux Users Group > Subject: Re: [fwlug] Frontier Ditching FIOS TV > > Could someone explain to me why they might be doing this? They paid > all this money for a fiber optic network. In what business model does > it make sense to then not use it? Can they really stay in business > selling DSL speeds?! > > btw, I live without cable and haven't had too many problems. The two > biggest are: > 1) some shows you have to resign yourself to watching a year late on > DVD/Netflix (e.g. boardwalk empire, true blood, etc.) > 2) some sports you just won't get (e.g. Monday Night Football,...) > > If those aren't deal-breakers, give it a try. > > Cheers, > > --Christer > > On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 2:25 PM, Rob Ludwick <[email protected]> wrote: > > Did anyone else get the notice that Frontier TV was going up $30 per > > month? ?That happened after they said last year: "Nothing will > > change for FIOS customers.... ?Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha." ?(Maniacal > > laughter added by me for dramatic effect). > > > > However, if you move to DirectTV you get 1) a Free 32" TV and 2) Free > > DirecTV for the rest of the year. I'm sure the equipment fees are > > similar. > > > > The good news is they basically broke the contractual agreement I had > > with them, meaning I don't have to pay the ETF anymore. ? The bad news > > is that this seems like a step backwards for Fort Wayne, since it > > removes the highest quality delivery of service. > > > > My understanding is that they are going to push DSL (!) instead of FIOS > > internet too. ?This means that FIOS internet may be next on the chopping > > block. > > > > A couple of questions for the LUG. > > > > Is Comcast still compressing the heck out of HD signals to give a less > > than stellar HD signal? ?(Do you care?) > > > > How's DirectTV or Dish Satellite service for HD these days? > > > > And who has cut the cable and gone with hulu/netflix completely now? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Fwlug mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://fortwaynelug.org/mailman/listinfo/fwlug_fortwaynelug.org > > > > This is a public list and all posts are archived publicly. Please keep > this in mind before posting. > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Fwlug mailing list > [email protected] > http://fortwaynelug.org/mailman/listinfo/fwlug_fortwaynelug.org > > This is a public list and all posts are archived publicly. Please keep this > in mind before posting. > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Fwlug mailing list > [email protected] > http://fortwaynelug.org/mailman/listinfo/fwlug_fortwaynelug.org > > This is a public list and all posts are archived publicly. Please keep this > in mind before posting. > > > End of Fwlug Digest, Vol 61, Issue 12 > ************************************* >
_______________________________________________ Fwlug mailing list [email protected] http://fortwaynelug.org/mailman/listinfo/fwlug_fortwaynelug.org This is a public list and all posts are archived publicly. Please keep this in mind before posting.
