Like many of you out there, I am always looking for a good deal. So, when we moved out to Washington, DC, I spent a lot of time debating how I was going to acquire internet, television and phone. This decision is much like deciding which pill to take….the blue one or the red one; and the decision can end up bad if you don’t know what you’re dealing with. Going with a traditional provider like Cox, Comcast, Time Warner has its pluses and minuses, but then again, so does going ad hoc with Skype, Vonage, MagicJack, Over-the-air (OTA) antenna, etc. Little did I know, the FIOS hardware that was already installed in my home, backed by one heck of a deal, made the decision too good to pass up. Again, I was sucked into the big service provider for the trifecta.

The area we live in is wired for Verizon’s FIOS service. This is the first time I’ve had FIOS and I have to say I’ve loved it from the point of order to the actual use of their services. I decided to go with Internet, Phone and Cable (no movie channels and 25 Mbps [Up/Down] for internet) and still ended up saving about $50 over my previous Time Warner package with slower internet and far less HD channels. I am using cable cards for my TiVo HDs, which required quite a bit of explaining to Verizon on the difference between single-stream and multi-stream cable cards. However, cable cards saved me about $20 a month by not having additional DVR boxes, but this does limit the full capabilities of FIOS (Streaming between boxes, on-demand content, etc…). All in all, I’m paying just a bit over $100 for all three services with no service contract.

Installation went very smooth despite some coaching on the Cable Card setup for my TiVos. Our service rep was incredibly professional and cared about the quality of work. In fact, he cleaned up the previous install because he didn’t like how it looked. The install can take all day, depending on what they need to hookup. Our house already had the backup battery box and junction box, so it only took a couple of hours, but I’ve heard it can entail digging up the yard to run some cable….this would be a worse-case scenario. Our installation tech was actually from the Boston area on temporary duty here in DC to help cover the workload. It has got to be tough to leave the wife and kids behind, but Verizon is taking good care of him here.

What are the services like? I absolutely love the quality of HD and the speed of the internet. Instantly, I could tell a major difference in HD quality over Time Warner. No more pixelating, no more blurs, no more cable cutting out every other day. The picture looks great, the sound is awesome and I have a ton of HD channels to choose from. No more tuning adaptors, no more calls to ask why the cable is out….just peace and harmony. The internet is very fast and the service comes with a wireless router, so the entire house is Wi-Fi ready. I was able to add other wireless extenders for the TiVos, Blu-Ray and other network enabled devices.

Overall, I am very pleased with my Verizon FIOS service and I cannot say enough about their customer service. I am not a big advocate for sticking with major cable companies and paying all kinds of money for sub-par service, but I may have found an exception. The only shortfall with FIOS is the availability in many markets. The area needs to be wired for fiber-optic, so that presents some challenges in certain rural and smaller cities. But, if you find yourself in an area where you do have the ability to acquire FIOS, I recommend giving them a call or visiting them online to check out what they can offer you. And don’t ever forget….you can always ask for a deal or new-subscriber discount. Never underestimate the value of asking for a deal. You won’t get one if you don’t ask.

For more information about Verizon FIOS service visit them at www.verizon.com