Are slow speeds in evenings still a problem?

[#1]

Hi All,

I'm in the NYC area.  Two years ago I tried FiOS and saw an extreme slow down (5 MB/s when I paid for 50) in internet speeds every evening.  Customer support kept on giving me the run around.  I knew the problem was that peering/interconnection points were over capacity when everyone got home after work and started streaming video.  Needless to say, I cancelled within the first 30 days.

I am thinking about giving FiOS another chance since I've heard they have signed peering agreements with other carriers over the past year.  Yet, when I go on forums such as this one I always see people complaining about evening slowdowns and then being lied to by customer support.  Am I crazy to give Verizon another chance?  I notice now that they've also cut the cancellation period from 30 days down to 15 if you sign a 2-year agreement.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

[#2]

This is absolutely still a problem, at least where I am in Southern California. Every night at some point my speed drops to around 20-25% of the bandwidth I'm paying for. I've also had to switch to a third party DNS server because Verizon's seems very sluggish most of the time when browsing.

I've had the service for a couple weeks now, and it's terrible during prime evening hours when everyone is using their connection. Unable to stream video or download anything at a reasonable speed until the congestion clears up after 11:30PM-12AM. 

[#3]

If I were you, I wouldn't give FIOS another chance.  They are a very suspect company

[#4]

Different people have different experiences.

I have been with Verizon for 7+ years and have not experienced any major issues.

I don't seem to see the Internet issues some have seen.

Don't stream a lot of video, but do Netflix or other services occasionally with nothing other than a rare issue.

But as always, YMMV.

[#5]

Really depends on your area and what equipment you're going through.

In the Buffalo market, FiOS users see no issues at all. The service is consistent and doesn't slow down. 300Mbps clocks 300Mbps.

DSL users in the same market see hit or miss performance. My DSL is one of the "Works well" circuits. Many others are on overloaded DSLAMs, or are on overloaded inter-CO or Aggregate links, and thus see below 3Mbps at night.

[#6]

1. Verizon knows about this issue, once they upgraded users to 75mbps and 100mbps it over loaded local Data hubs during peak hours.
2. Verizon hasn't done anything because it's waiting for Frontier to take care of it.
3. Some hubs have started getting upgraded but most of us won't until Frontier takes over.
4. $$$$$ over customer service

[#7]

As others have said, its all area-dependant. 

Here in Pittsburgh I have never once seen anyone get less than the full bandwidth that they purchased. My 100 Mbps means I get 100 Mbps.