Avenger's Question Thread
Avenger
Enthusiast - Level 3

I apologize if I have questions that may have been already answered on this board but I just thought it would be easier if I have a question thread for myself instead of digging up ancient threads, so....I'd appreciate it if anyone can help me on the following

- Is it true FiOS owners can't go back to DSL? I'm expecting a yes but I've been getting mixed answers lately.

- Can all current DSL users get the greatest DSL plan (The Turbo Plan) which is 7.1 mbps, because I've read somewhere that any DSL user who qualifies for FiOS can get DSL plan 1 and 2 but CAN'T get the 3rd highest plan.

- Any other FiOS user having problems with the location of the router? Apparently just because of the location of my telephone box outside of my house my router has to be FAR away from my computer to get a good signal, due to the fact the power unit inside of my house has to be a few feet from the ONT outside of my house, and the router is connected to the power unit. I actually can't believe that there CAN'T be a long distance between the telephone box and the ONT. 

Re: Avenger's Question Thread
Avenger
Enthusiast - Level 3

If it helps I'll mention that my computer's in the basement and the location of the ONT+telephone box is at the middle level. All I wanted was for the wires between the ONT and the telephone box to be longer so that the ONT can be on the other side of my house (and on a lower level) which would make the power unit + router and the bottom level as well, where my computer is. This will create a better signal since I used to have a wireless router for dsl and the signal strength was "Excellent". Where the new router is now, it's "Poor".

I was also wondering it it's possible to edit posts since I wasn't to put ^that in the first post.

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Re: Avenger's Question Thread
Provider7
Contributor - Level 3

One of the biggest issues with the location of the Ont is Grounding.  That is the reason the installer has to place it within 20 ft of your power main.  As for the location of the router, it can be placed anywhere, including next to your computer. 

Is your router fed by coax? or by cat5 (ethernet)?

Do you have FioS Tv?

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Re: Avenger's Question Thread
mattheww50
Contributor - Level 2

You cannot have both DSL and FIOS at the same time (This appears to an internal issue with Verizon), and as long as you keep your landline connection copper, there is no reason you cannot can go back to DSL, but once the copper wire connection between you and the exchange is gone, the ability to go back to DSL is also gone. No Copper wire, NO DSL...

My landline is still copper, but I do have FiOS TV and Internet. My ONT was never provisioned for telephone, and the phone wires from the ONT box are in place, but were never connected to the terminal block. This does cause some headaches for support because it also means your telephone and FiOS accounts are not automatically connected to each other.

Re: Avenger's Question Thread
cjacobs001
Contributor - Level 3

my .02

Q "- Is it true FiOS owners can't go back to DSL?    "

A-   -->> It IS possible;  the copper wire coming to your house is not 'removed', it is just disconnected, and so needs only to be reconnected, then Verizon can re-open your copper telephone account and DSL. There are no regulations saying that you cannot switch back, nor that your phone company cannot do it.

    HOWEVER, part of the decision to bring fiber optics to the house is that, in the long run, fiber optics is cheaper to maintain and lasts longer than copper wire, which also means lower costs for the consumer;  Further, Verizon makes a considerable investment with each account to bring fiber to the house;  if a customer then says, "I changed my mind and want to go back to copper" it is still cheaper for the company to make every effort to fix whatever it is that makes the customer think they want to go back, because, eventually ANYWAYS, every household will have fiber optics to be "modern", to have the same as everyone else, to utilize the technological advances happening in our world.   SO, you would be told 'no way', most likely, by 9 of the first 10 people you talked to at the company when asking to switch back.    BUT, money is money and in today's economy, if you are persistent, you could get it done.  Every company is struggling to keep cash flow.  The first 3 or 4 levels of contact, though, would not be able to get it done for you. 

Q -  " Can all current DSL users get the greatest DSL plan (The Turbo Plan) which is 7.1 mbps, because I've read somewhere that any DSL user who qualifies for FiOS can get DSL plan 1 and 2 but CAN'T get the 3rd highest plan."

A -   I don't know anything about their DSL Plans.   Probably their websites contain the info you seek, though.

Q - "- Any other FiOS user having problems with the location of the router? Apparently just because of the location of my telephone box outside of my house my router has to be FAR away from my computer to get a good signal, due to the fact the power unit inside of my house has to be a few feet from the ONT outside of my house, and the router is connected to the power unit. I actually can't believe that there CAN'T be a long distance between the telephone box and the ONT."

A -   ummm   that sounds confusing to me, but, I already saw an earlier response about the grounding issue and that is the biggest factor in determining location of the ONT;  then the greator costs that would be involved to place the ONT elsewhere on\in the house come into play (NOTE:  the fiber line basically has to follow the same path to your house as the existing copper [ both come from the same locality - the phone company - and have to be strung to your house ] and there are things like city\county\state permits and rights of way, etc., etc, that will all be applicable in each case.)   if the line comes right up to the location where your telepphone and power junction boxes are, but you want it placed on the other side of the house, the costs involved to the installers are always greator, especially if you also want the 'look' to be aesthetically pleasing {no cable showing as it runs accross your roof or the front of your house, etc.}, SO, the ONT placement issue is pretty much a dead horse.        Then the placement of the router; well, your post, as I read it, states "Apparently just because of the location of my telephone box outside of my house my router has to be FAR away from my computer to get a good signal, . . " but that is not true.   As is already posted, you can place the router anywhere in the house.    It can be right inside the wall from where the ONT is placed outside, or anywhere else in the house that you have a connection at.  If your data is coming in via the coax connection only, the only requirement for placement of the router is that you need a coax connection to plug into your router.    You can use your router wirelessly for your internet connection or you can run ethernet cable from your router to any location in your house where your computer is located.      if your data is brought in via ethernet cable, an ethernet cable must run either to built-in cableing in your house to be distributed around to all your rooms, where you would plug into from your router in that room, OR Verizon can run a short wire inside the room inside the wall where the ONT is placed, or a CAT5e or CAT6 cable can be run on the outside of your house to any location and a hole drilled through your wall to bring the cable into that room.  BUT VERIZON DOES NOT SNAKE THE CABLE through your inside walls.  The risk of damaging other things is too great (the wall, the baseboards, the carpet, the tile, electric wires, pipes in the walls, etc), but you can pay someone else to run such wire inside your house.

Re: Avenger's Question Thread
Avenger
Enthusiast - Level 3

Wow...thanks a lot guys for all of that. I am somewhat glad now to know that I can go back to DSL, and from what I've heard Verizon doesn't yank the copper out anymore. They just disable it but...what gets me is that Verizon is willing/unwilling to give you back the DSL? Why have I heard some recently say that if you try hard enough you can get them to give you back DSL lol? I think it's either yes or no and I've talked to them many times and they said no 😕 What kind of company does that...

As for the 3rd DSL plan a verizon representative confirmed over the phone that the 3rd plan is only for those who live in areas where FiOS isn't available (yet). **bleep**! I would've loved it 😞

To answer someone's question the wireless router is connected by a coax cable to the power unit. What other way could it be connected?

I know that I can have technicians run wires through walls and such but I didn't pay for FiOS + other services just to get a "good" router signal. I was told by the technician that the only option left was I have to get a coax cable extender so that the router can be closer to the wireless adapter on my computer. The problem is how it will look running through the kitchen and down the stairs >.> but I'll probably end up doing this anyway...

About the ONT, I thought that the important thing was whatever IT is connected to is STILL connected to it regardless of how far it is. The distance would be about 30 ft...and it doesn't really make an effect on the appearance of my house because I looked at the wires and they were pretty unnoticable...

What truly pisses me off is the fact that on Verizon's website where the installation setup is described in detail, it claimed you can have the ONT placed wherever you prefer! It said NOTHING about it having to be in a certain location and nothing about additional costs for doing this! Lame.

The thing is, without the inside wiring and whatnot for FiOS service in my house, FiOS, for me, will not be like DSL where you just have to find the nearest phone outlet and plug in your modem + router. For me, it's right in my kitchen and I use internet whenever I'm down in the basement lol...to be honest though, had I known about this 100% beforehand I would not have gone through with it. I feel a bit of regret.

So the only thing left for me to do is get that coax cable and get that router closer to my computer and 360...or I could drop FiOS altogether, except that'll anger my oldest brother because he loves internet :p.

Once again, thanks for the replies. I kinda expected this will be ignored.

Re: Avenger's Question Thread
Telcoguru
Master - Level 1
It is preferred that the ONT be within 20ft from the electric meter otherwise an 8ft ground rod has to be place at the ONT and connected with 10 gauge ground wire. Then the ground rod has to be bonded with 6 gauge ground wire all the way back to the electric meter ground.
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Re: Avenger's Question Thread
Provider7
Contributor - Level 3

Hi Avenger,

I run into this alot doing installs.  Sometimes the options aren't as bad as they seem.  In essence the reason your considering going back in time to Dsl is the router location?

Fios routers can be fed by Cat5 ethernet or Coax, but this is not your solution I believe.  If your in the basement, are the ceilings open?  Do you have any of the televisions in the basement?  Does any of the coax run through the basement?  If any of this applies, you can split the coax with a splitter, run one to the tv and the other to your router.

Personally if it were me, I would do anything possible to keep the Fios Internet, it's more reliable and by all means faster.

The last option you mentioned earlier is to buy a wi-fi extender. The work great for some people...However not for everyone,  I believe Radio Shack carries one that screws into the antennna port of your router.

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Re: Avenger's Question Thread
Avenger
Enthusiast - Level 3

The only reason I would go back to DSL is the cost but 15$ more per month means that I'm just going to have to save vending machine money and I agree it's faster. 😛

I understand the installation thing better now and know that the typical installation includes in-home wiring so that you can have the router wherever you want it to be. I don't have CAT5 wiring in my house, it's coax everywhere, and I spoke with a technician on the phone and they said since the technician did not do the wiring in my house (what the heck was he thinking...it's the typical thing according to the installation demo) and if he knew anything about signal strength he should know placing the router in the kitchen when my computer is all the way down here in the basement is not smart, so the ONT location isn't the issue after all. Glad to know that.

So all there's left to do is the wiring and I'm good to go. It would be nice if Verizon created a FiOS-lite in the future for those who want to pay a little less than 40 a month. 😛

Re: Avenger's Question Thread
Provider7
Contributor - Level 3

@Avenger wrote:

So all there's left to do is the wiring and I'm good to go. It would be nice if Verizon created a FiOS-lite in the future for those who want to pay a little less than 40 a month. 😛


That's funny...Fios LIte 🙂  DId you make arrangements with Verizon to do it or are you going to do it?

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