If you’re thinking of switching to FIOS in the Seattle area, here’s some feedback from one of my clients who recently had FIOS installed at his home in the Redmond area right near Microsoft. I thought it would be helpful to share, since so many people are curious about it.
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“Fios is actually working really well now. We had an initial snafu with the installation where basically it got installed into a switched outlet, and we didn’t realize. So every time we’d shut off the lights in the garage our TV and internet would go out. The package we got is $119/mo. (w/o taxes) and it includes unlimited domestic calls, not sure if it includes Canada or not, tons and tons of channels including over 80 HD ones, and super fast internet that I’ve been happy with so far.
We use the streaming Netflix service through the Xbox 360, and up until we got Fios we weren’t able to watch any of the streams as HD. Now any of them that have HD enabled stream as HD. It’s actually a bit cheaper than what we were paying before and we have more functionality (we had Comcast with Boost), but recently Comcast has released a $99/mo plan for similar services. However, I am now convinced that Fios internet is more reliably fast.
A couple gotchas that aren’t clear from the marketing material:
The bundled deal doesn’t include any set top box. They cost $6/mo to rent one that doesn’t support HD, or $20/mo to rent one that does support HD (and is a DVR). However, you can also get cable cards instead for $3/mo, so if you have something like a TiVo HD it’s better to choose that option. In addition, the sales rep will tell you they don’t have M-series cards, but that’s incorrect. We have an M-series card now. The M-series allows you to use multiple tuners, where as the old cards only allow a single tuner.
By default Verizon will actually remove the copper line coming into your house. It’s not clear why they do this outside of the fact that they are legally required to lease that line to competitors where as they don’t have the same restriction with their fiber optic cable. That means that reverting to your old phone service or changing carriers is more difficult since you would need to get the line replaced (this shouldn’t affect internet or TV).”
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Hope this is helpful to anyone who might be installing FIOS soon in the Seattle or Eastside areas.
I thought I’d post this because a client of mine was robbed recently after hiring someone off of Craiglist to do some work on her home.
First, for the record, let me just say that I love Craigslist – I post my listings on there, I buy things on there, and overall I’m big on online buying – my last 4 computers came from eBay.
However, there are some things to keep in mind that can help you have a safer experience when you hire from Craigslist.
- Make sure you get real, valid contact information from the person you hire.
My friend communicated with the guy she hired mainly by email. The phone number she got was for his ex-girlfriend’s beauty salon, and always went to voicemail.
Chances are if this person has sleazed out in the past he or she won’t have any, and won’t go to the trouble to try to create fake ones.
- Don’t let your guard down.
It’s amazing how quickly we can get used to people coming in and out of our homes, using our spare keys, etc. The person my friend hired caught on to the fact that she often left her back door open for one of her pets who has mobility problems.
- Watch for clues to bad behavior.
When my friend described this person to the police (after she came home to find her home robbed, electronics and personal items gone, including birthday packages full of clothes for her two-year old - can you imagine?) she told them he had really bad teeth. The police just nodded and said, “Oh, meth-mouth.”
Methamphetamine use rots people’s teeth - I think heroin does the same thing.
For the record, I have to point out that this person was never tracked down or convicted of committing this crime, so there’s always the chance he didn’t do it. But it did happen right after he was fired and he didn’t respond to emails about the robbery, so it doesn’t look good.
Anyway, I know there are plenty of good contractors on Craigslist, and also plenty of upstanding workers who have bad teeth. I just wanted to pass on to you some tips that would have helped prevent my client from being robbed. Hire carefully!
Brrr, it’s cold out there!
I sent out a list of cold weather tips to my clients and then realized that my own exterior faucet still had the hose hooked up to it and wasn’t wrapped. (Yes, it was frozen, but I was able to thaw it out.) Typical. 
Anyway, this is just a reminder, make sure you’ve unhooked your hoses from exterior faucets and done something to insulate them. You can buy styrofoam covers, however word on the street (OK, my office) is that the stores are pretty much out of those, so you can do what I did and wrap the faucet with a towel covered with a plastic bag.
Here’s a link to more cold weather faucet tips.
(I’m the comment asking why you shouldn’t thaw a pipe with a hair dryer, which is exactly what I did. Anyone know why it’s not recommended?)
