OT: Verizon or Lighthouse Cable

Gary S. Colecchio · August 2011

Oops BRIGHTHOUSE !

**** Touchpad self-corrects when it doesn't recognize something.

I'm going to be commuting from my home in Bonita to Temple Terrace for a while. I'm setting up an apartment near USF and have a choice of cable / internet providers.

Recommendations?

Limey · August 2011

Verizon for internet speed the only way to go

Moondawg · August 2011

Gary, I've been in the telecommunications industry for over 15 years as a contractor and employee doing engineering, design and construction. I have done engineering for both Brighthouse and Verizon and I know both systems inside out. Simply put- Brighthouse is ancient stuff!! Earlier this year I quit doing contractual work for Verizon because they will nickel and dime contractors for whatever they can, but their product is great. Better picture, awesome internet and, well phone is not voice over ip. Go with Verizon, it is 100% fiber optics up to the house and 95% of it is buried. About 15% of Brighthouse's network is fiber optics and the rest is coax with old mechanical fittings that are either gas fit or silicone, besides that- most of their network is overhead. Verizon has some pretty good deals going on right now! Hope this helps..

Glenn.

barrynfla · August 2011

Gary.....I've been happy with Brighthouse for quite a few years. No real problems. I don't know what fishing shows are on Verizon but as long as BH has Glen Pla's Average Angler on channel 47 (or 1147 in HD) I'm not gonna switch.

tokinred · August 2011

Moondawg wrote: »

Gary, I've been in the telecommunications industry for over 15 years as a contractor and employee doing engineering, design and construction. I have done engineering for both Brighthouse and Verizon and I know both systems inside out. Simply put- Brighthouse is ancient stuff!! Earlier this year I quit doing contractual work for Verizon because they will nickel and dime contractors for whatever they can, but their product is great. Better picture, awesome internet and, well phone is not voice over ip. Go with Verizon, it is 100% fiber optics up to the house and 95% of it is buried. About 15% of Brighthouse's network is fiber optics and the rest is coax with old mechanical fittings that are either gas fit or silicone, besides that- most of their network is overhead. Verizon has some pretty good deals going on right now! Hope this helps..

Glenn.

Dang Glenn, you know your stuff. Great info and thanks for sharing. I just got a flyer in my door about some deals they are running. I didn't even think Verizon offered service in my neighborhood. I might just switch if in fact they do.

Gary S. Colecchio · August 2011

Thanks all, especially Glenn for the great advice. And of course there is a dilemma attached. One of the things I looked forward to visiting my Father in law in Largo was Glen Pla's show, which is one of the best and most interesting Fish TV shows in production. That is the only reason that I was considering Brighthouse ( it took me three trys to type that). Verizon FIOS, which I guess is their high bandwidth service is available at the site.

Decisions, decisions ...:banghead

DBRYAN · August 2011

I miss Glenn's show but FIOS has been superb, both in picture and internet.

Moondawg · August 2011

You're welcome Gary. I certainly can understand the programming point of view especially when it has to do with a good fishing show:), I know quite a lot of folks that won't switch simply because of baynews9. A lot of brighthouse's advertising i.e wideband technology is a crock of sh*!. The network is whats called an HFC (hybrid fiber coax) and tops out at 1.0 ghz and 1.2 ghz in some areas. They say that they can control your bandwidth for internet-not possible. If you have 600 homes being fed off of one optical receiver (node) through a coax network and 500 people are online at the same time for example, well, bandwidth is getting eaten up and your internet is slower. Verizon is a FTTP network (fiber to the home) to where you have a dedicated fiber from your house to the central office. You don't share bandwidth with anyone else. That's kind of it in lamen terms. Brighthouse is all hype and false advertising, Verizon is the real deal but again, people get attached to certain programs which is completely understandable. OH, ALSO- BH is paying the FCC fines either each month or every quarter. They are still broadcasting in Analogue when they are supposed to be broadcasting in digital per the FCC. Plug a coax cable from brighthouse into the back of your TV without a set top box and voila you have cable TV. What BH hasn't told their customers is; they are going to have to start broadcasting a digital signal which will in turn require that everyone will have to have a set top box which equals extra charges. i.e Condo's- your home owners association fees cover basic cable, fees go up...

Mackeral Snatcher · August 2011

I switched from Brighthouse to Fios a few months back. When I got the first bill it was $40 more then I was quoted( and no it wasn't that part of a month was prorated), now being a hard head I took all their equipment out and handed it back to them. I paid the amount I was quoted and even wrote PAID IN FULL in th memo line of the check and they are still trying to get the extra $$ out of me:rotflmao good luck with that.

Now to the topic at hand, Fios was great, both TV picture and internet. I just hate being lied to.

wizfisher · August 2011

barrynfla wrote: »

Gary.....I've been happy with Brighthouse for quite a few years. No real problems. I don't know what fishing shows are on Verizon but as long as BH has Glen Pla's Average Angler on channel 47 (or 1147 in HD) I'm not gonna switch.

Doesn't Brighthouse charge for that channel now as part of the sports package?
I know we don't get it anymore and I wish we did, without having to pay extra.

Eggsuckindog · August 2011

FIOS - no doubt - the problem with billing is ****'es that don't do what THEY are supposed to do and fill out the discount program info - as they are instructed too and therefore do not get it - then whine

I might still be able to get $100 off too, I'll check

fiber to the door don't get much better - I want to come see you someday in TT, although ain't no easy way to get there from anywhere

I got over Glenn pretty fast

johnD · August 2011

I have brighthouse I like the "sunday night fish fry" with Glenn Pla and Capt.Bill...FIOS has WFN...FIOS is not available where I'm at and was told it wouldn't be for a long time...If you get brighthouse get the outdoor channel and sportsman channel added for $5..Tough choice, Gary.

Mackeral Snatcher · August 2011

Matt, 47 is part of their main lineup with no extra charge...........at least here in Tampa.
They might be trying to get a couple of extra $$ out of you guys over in Poke:shrug

gasparilla · August 2011

I live in Polk County, and don't have the choice to switch (yet).

Two thoughts:
1. I work in Communications as well, and Glenn said it all perfectly.

2. I have no issues with Brighthouse at home.

I think a lot of it will depend on your usage and expectations.

Good luck.

Mango Man · August 2011

Gary, we'll have to get together when you're up here. :thumbsup

I have no choice but to have Brighthouse, but if I could switch I'd go to Verizon in a heartbeat.

AT least 1-2 times a week I have to reboot the system because the service (tv) just stops. I still have issues with getting some of the HD channels, yet they tell me the system is working fine. :blahblah

I am not concerned about the channels other than our local government channel and getting football, and some fishing shows. .

johnD · August 2011

47 or 1147 HD is no charge.There is a extra charge of $5 for outdoor channel and sportsman channel here in poke county..

oh , and if you request a promo deal , it will be cheaper , and they will let you know after 12 months when its almost up so you can ask for the same deal for another 12 months.

DBRYAN · August 2011

Another issue is that it seems that BightHouse compresses it's signal causing "pixelation" during action scenes. If you have a small TV it's not so bad, but I have a 55" set and having my football looking like cubes didn't work too well for me.

FishaHallic · August 2011

I am very happy with my Brighthouse, no problems at all. HD looks great, I like bay news 9 and yes the average angler but best of all I just like there service. When I call about issues I actually speak to some one here in my local area (not India). I have lived in other parts of the country and have had several different cable companies and by far I think Brighthouse is best. I never had Verizon for my cable so I can't compare.

Good luck

johnD · August 2011

FIOS also has one a hell of a selection of pay per view HD movies.

ozona79 · August 2011

Verizon has the faster internet, and FIOS is great, but they messed up my bill 8 months in a row to some extent, before they went too far and charged me $300 for a month of internet and cable. They said "somehow" my package came un-bundled. Whaterver. I will never use Verizon anything again. It was a nightmare to get that fixed.

I now have just brighthouse high speed internet. You can watch any TV program online for $10 a month. Cable is a waste. I have never had any lag in load with the brighthouse $50 a month plan, and I don't spend $100 additional on cable.

My .02

Stay away from Verizon, only b/c their service and billing are terrible.

Mackeral Snatcher · August 2011

This is the email I sent them yesterday after again getting an auto response from my last email:

I have attempted to call and it is very tiresome trying to get a live person on the line. Knowing that if i was to continue with this I would just get someone who is going to tell me that "your records reflect an amount due" so I am asking (again)for someone in authority to please contact me by phone so we can clear this up.
After two months of trying to get this resolved I don't think that is to much to ask.
Thank you

Then they send back another email exactly the same so I wrote:

Please reread my email from earlier today. I would like someone from your office to contact me by phone. I do not feel that I should have to go to all that trouble to get help with a bill your company messed up on.
I feel like I am:banghead

DoubleAction · August 2011

I moved to a new house in Pinellas and had the option of going to FIOS or Brighthouse. After some internet research and my own experience with Verizon's predatory land line phone billing issues, I went with Brighthouse. It was cheaper with many more standard HD channels (at least the ones I like) than Fios. Fios is probably better from a picture and internet speed perspective but you will pay extra for it and have to potentially deal with billing issues. I thought I would test the waters with Brighthouse first before committing to an unbreakable 2 year Fios contract. Brighthouse is ok, but not great. I have a good cable picture with many HD channels. On occasion I get a little pixilation on some channels. Seems kind of random. I also stream Netflix with a direct wire connection to the TV. Usually it is a good high quality signal but occasionally it jumps up and down on the quality scale which is the one irritation that may make me switch to FIOS. Not sure if it is a cable or Netflix issue so not ready to point any fingers quite yet. Again, very random, no real ryhme or reason. Internet download speed is good enough for me. I have the standard internet package and it is faster than what I used to have (Knology). Knology also would occasionly switch up and down on the picture quality but it seemed to happen less often and I was connected wirelessly. The random speed drops are a real problem on Netflix streaming, and I will have to weight whether I am ready to spend $50 or more a month to get Fios and deal with their zombie support departments.

Eggsuckindog · August 2011

Since we have had Fios for awhile and our discount package was over I checked to see if we could switch back to BH on there package - saved $2 by the time they got done adding what I actually had for equipment.

Never had a billing issue but tech support is nice - most stuff they can do remotely and otherwise I can get a tech without an issue - troubleshooting is quite advanced

Tyson Brown · August 2011

I have Brighthouse for TV and FiOS for internet. Brighthouse basic cable is included in the HOA dues, but their **upload speed** is bad compared to what FiOS offers. I do a lot of remote work and transfer files to and from my server at work, so having 25 Mbps **both ways** is very helpful.

I've had :banghead billing experiences with Brighthouse. They seem to screw up things if you ever try to switch your service or equipment. After they get it fixed, it's no longer a problem.

beach_trade · August 2011

Nick I stream Netflix all the time wirelessly thru my Wii and the picture is consistently perfect. Never an issue with Fios.

slapshot · August 2011

Mackeral Snatcher wrote: »

I switched from Brighthouse to Fios a few months back. When I got the first bill it was $40 more then I was quoted( and no it wasn't that part of a month was prorated), now being a hard head I took all their equipment out and handed it back to them. I paid the amount I was quoted and even wrote PAID IN FULL in th memo line of the check and they are still trying to get the extra $$ out of me:rotflmao good luck with that.

Now to the topic at hand, Fios was great, both TV picture and internet. I just hate being lied to.

Speed-wise, I'd go to Fios, but this is the very reason I am very reluctant to go back to Verizon. I've had too many bad customer service issues with them. My biggest complaints with BH is slower internet and cable boxes that need to be reset often after they just lock up. I do get some pixelation on HD channels, but it isn't too bad.

johnD · September 2011

Brighthouse Tampa bay added WFN HD (world wide fishing network) today I was flipping and noticed it..I guess it comes with the sports pack ($4.99)...B/C its right next to the sportsman channel and outdoor channel.Now of they bring on the NFL network I'll be satisfied.

Moondawg · September 2011

DoubleAction wrote: »

I moved to a new house in Pinellas and had the option of going to FIOS or Brighthouse. After some internet research and my own experience with Verizon's predatory land line phone billing issues, I went with Brighthouse. It was cheaper with many more standard HD channels (at least the ones I like) than Fios. Fios is probably better from a picture and internet speed perspective but you will pay extra for it and have to potentially deal with billing issues. I thought I would test the waters with Brighthouse first before committing to an unbreakable 2 year Fios contract. Brighthouse is ok, but not great. I have a good cable picture with many HD channels. On occasion I get a little pixilation on some channels. Seems kind of random. I also stream Netflix with a direct wire connection to the TV. Usually it is a good high quality signal but occasionally it jumps up and down on the quality scale which is the one irritation that may make me switch to FIOS. Not sure if it is a cable or Netflix issue so not ready to point any fingers quite yet. Again, very random, no real ryhme or reason. Internet download speed is good enough for me. I have the standard internet package and it is faster than what I used to have (Knology). Knology also would occasionly switch up and down on the picture quality but it seemed to happen less often and I was connected wirelessly. The random speed drops are a real problem on Netflix streaming, and I will have to weight whether I am ready to spend $50 or more a month to get Fios and deal with their zombie support departments.

The pixelation you are referring to has probably nothing to do with Netflix, it's more to do with BH and you will even find this in some of their digital channels either HD or non-HD channels. It's due to what's called 'carrier to noise ratio' (CNR), what it boils down to is the fact that BH is mostly a coax network that requires the signal to be amplified over and over again which causes distortion levels to increase and leaving you with a less than perfect signal. I designed a huge chunk of Knology's network (formerly GTE americast) and BH and Knology are actually the same structured network except that BH runs at a higher bandwidth. It's still nothing to Fios, if you can gamble with possibly being one of the few that has billing issues then Fios is the way to go. There is strictly no comparison.

Gary S. Colecchio · October 2011

OK. I went w/ FIOS.

I am a long time Comcast customer, and I must say that FIOS is heads and hands better in product design,delivery quality and customer service over Xfinity.

When they said they were going to come over and install the system, I thought that they were going to plug in the box and leave. They showed up on time and spent about an hour doing the system install, setting up my laptop, phone, tablet,and TV, even setting up my remote and the guide system. Then they walked me through the menu system including the widgets which include a really neat 411 location and mapping service.

As for content it's mostly HD and I get WFN which almost makes up for no Glen Pla.

It's great.

So thanks to everyone for your help.:thumbsup

Eggsuckindog · October 2011

Told you LOL, they keep adding speed and goodies too - don't forget to sign the bundling agreement the tech probably had you do it - the picture difference was most notable for me on the big screen and it was a big difference.

BeachTyme · October 2011

Rooted 4G Droid (HTC) phone on Verizon wireless service = No land based Inet provider needed.

Trust me on this one, I use it every week when I stay in north PCounty for work. Couple that with Netflix (UGHH) or Hulu Plus and you'll wonder if network based providers are getting a little nervous these days.

[Post from a Rooted 4G Thunderbolt on VZW]

OT: Verizon or Lighthouse Cable

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