[mythtv-users] Comcast vs. FIOS, ease of mythtv integration?

[Jarod Wilson]

On Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 1:25 PM, Jeff Artz <jeffa.myth at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 11:46 AM, Eric Sharkey <eric at lisaneric.org> wrote:
>>
>> So, a few years back Verizon made FIOS available in my area and
>> they've been marketing it heavily, but I chose to stick with Comcast
>> due to the fact that they didn't block ports on the internet connect
>> and that there were a wide variety of channels available without a set
>> top box which I could get either on analog cable or through clear QAM.
>>  Fast forward to today and Comcast has consistently worked to reduce
>> the ease of use of their service to the point where I no longer see
>> any advantage to sticking with them.
>>
>> Is Verizon any better?  What's the general feel for people on this
>> list?  Is firewire capture from Verizon STB's any more reliable than
>> with Comcast?
>>
>> I really would like a solution that just works with the same
>> reliability I once had with my PVR-150 and HDHR to get a recording
>> that I can be reasonably confident will actually happen (and record in
>> its entirety) when I schedule it and be watchable, including support
>> for closed captions, preferably in HD when available.
>>
>> Eric
>
> I've had FiOS Internet for the better part of 5 years now, but just recently
> switched from Dish Network SD to FiOS TV HD.  (The TV service
> wasn't available when I first got FiOS Internet!)
> I do not capture via firewire however as I have two HD-PVRs.  I change
> channels via firewire using the 6200ch program on the wiki.
> As far as Clear QAM is concerned, I did a scan and found that I got about
> 1/2 of the locals I can get via ATSC OTA, plus a boatload of 'local'
> government/public channels.   Since I could get more 'locals' with my
> roof-top antenna, and the 'government' channels didn't interest me, I chose
> to use the HDHR for ATSC instead.
> As a side note, I think I read that FiOS carries the first 50 channels in
> analog as well, but I haven't tried tuning anything to see if there is
> anything worthwhile in that range...  (Plus I'm spoiled by HD now!!!  Analog
> SD would be a major step down!)

I've had FiOS TV for 2-3 years now. Initially, they carried a few
analog channels, but *only* the OTA channels, and they have since
dumped even those, its purely digital. They did give me free DTA
thingies I happily use with mythtv, but that was a special deal,
offered when they cut out analog entirely.

> BTW: Typically the cable companies have to re-compress HD channels in order
> to be able to fit more channels in the limited bandwidth they have available
> on Cable.  FiOS has much more bandwidth, and doesn't re-compress the
> original HD signal, so their HD is absolutely stunning!
> Oh, and there do not seem to be any blocked ports on my FiOS internet
> service now...  Which is a nice bonus.  (as is the 35/35 data rates that
> comes with the Extreme HD package I subscribe to!)

My 20/20 service that I've had even longer than FiOS TV has never ever
been blocked, but then, I have a business package w/static IPs and the
EULA explicitly permits running servers.

-- 
Jarod Wilson
jarod at wilsonet.com