So I got the email today:
"We are very pleased to inform you that FiOS TV is ready in your building and you can place your order today! "
But what exactly does that mean? I know my actual apartment isn't wired for FiOS...I am in a 3 story/3 apartment building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY.
I'm assuming I still have to speak to my landlord about getting FiOS? Because don't the techs still need to attach a box to the outside of the building? Or does "FiOS TV is ready in your building" mean they've already done that, and now all they have to do is put the box in my apartment?
Buildings are usually wired with coax cable to distribute TV signal to diferent rooms. My guess is that Verizon has installed a FIOS fiber optic cable in the basement of your building with some way of attaching ONT units for anyone in your building who wants one.
ONT = Optical Network Termination; this is a medium sized box that has an optical cable as input and coax, CAT5, and twisted pair phone wire as output. Coax cable can carry both TV & Internet signals; the twisted pair is for normal telephone (voice) signals, CAT5 is for Internet only.
If you order FIOS you will get an ONT installed (somewhere) that is hooked up to the coax & phone wires in your apartment. Then you just connect your various devices (router, set top box - both supplied by Veizon) and your telephone (if you want to use Verizon as your phone provider) like you normally would.
Verizon will suggest you get their "Triple Play" package (TV, Internet, phone - which is actually VOIP service), so review their offering carefully becuase it will have a 2-year committment. My opinion is that FIOS is the best Internet service generally avaialable in the US today (excpet for limited availability Google Gigabit); this forum is a good place to get real user feedback about FIOS in general.
In apartments they may install a Multi Dwelling ONT if all fails to get Fiber to the units. This would typically be installed where all the phone lines or cable TV is connected. The MDU would provide a connection to each unit, via coax and or your copper phone line. Try to find out what others have done or if you can, get in touch with the installers or engineering branch. The sales people would probably not know, but it could show up in their system, if you place an order for a self install, but being a new install, it would probably not be allowed, and a tech would need to show up for the install.
Fiber to the unit is the best solution, and then they would install an Optical Network Terminal in your apartment somewhere. This is the best solution, because it allows for future upgrades, if it is a condominium, that is important. Rental unit not so much, and less likely that the landlord would want them pulling fiber to each unit unless it were an easy path. Just my opinions.
Start a new topic or ask questions in the open forum.
