Today the FCC surprised a lot of consumers by fining Verizon Wireless $1.25 million dollars for violating an agreement it made when it purchased additional spectrum from the government that it uses for it’s LTE (4G) network. Under the terms of that deal Verizon agreed that it would not limit consumers choices on how to use that data. Last year Verizon started blocking access to tethering apps. These apps allow users to turn their phones in
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When it comes to cell phones I’ve pretty much been living in the middle ground of technology. I outgrew the most basic phones the various providers offer. I now demand certain minimal basics like easy text messaging, comprehensive contact lists, some access to games, etc. Verizon has been a decent provider for me in that regard. Their phones haven’t been the most cutting-edge but certainly more than good enough. However, I’ve n
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Okay, so FiOS has been working out quite well but today I got some disturbing news. We noticed that over the last couple of days that our main phone number (yes, I still have regular phones) was a bit quiet. I then called ViaTalk about it (they’re our VoIP provider) and they informed me that Verizon, on their own, went ahead and just ported my phone number over for their phone service—a service I hadn’t ordered and don’t want.
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…ing phone number over to a VOIP service there’s a paperwork process that has to take place. In a few minutes I’d finished all the forms and immediately got a couple e-mails telling me I was signed up. Within about 10 minutes my entire process was complete including the shipping out of my phone adapter (which I’m still waiting to arrive so I can’t be sure yet that the adapter actually shipped when they claim it did). This s
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Comcast is now feeling the competition from Verizon with respect to it’s FiOS service. So much so, in fact, that they’ve now put together another FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) campaign directed at it. Many years ago when I switched from Comcast to DirecTV I wrote about it for a few publications and lamented that Comcast chose to go down this path instead of improving their own product. Back then they were telling consumers all sorts
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I had a recent experience (as in this past weekend) that I thought I’d put a note up about as I doubt I’m alone. It involves my mother who reads this blog so if this comes off as insulting in any manner it’s not intended and you have my apology in advance (though I should probably already know better that if you have to apologize in advance then perhaps I should stop here but…..) I always enjoy technology even when it doe
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In January 2009 I signed up for FiOS TV and Internet service (but not phone service) with the last post about my troubled experiences here. Things improved slightly during the last 18 months, or more accurately, I adjusted my expectations down a bit. The DVR is still just terrible. The biggest issue is that it’s hardly a DVR during the new TV season. The hard drive is so small that there’s not enough room to leave recordings on it fo
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After well over a decade as both a Comcast (Internet and very limited TV services) and DirecTV customer I’ve been contemplating changes. Comcast has been on my list for a long time. I left their TV service for DirecTV 15 years ago because I felt like I was always paying more and getting less with them. For a brief period Comcast’s Internet service was great but they also charged a premium. Then, over time, it started to degrade. Thin
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…t messaging can be done either through clicking a contact or by clicking the Messaging icon. Everything about text messaging is pretty standard fare. You get a rolling history of each thread. Be aware that Verizon still has a 160 character “limit” on messages. If you send anything longer it gets broken up into multiple messages. This can result in some messages appearing on the other end out of order (one of the problems with Verizon&
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So it’s now been a couple of days since FiOS went in. A couple of observations have emerged: 1. The DVR needs major work to get into the same realm as the DirecTV DVR’s. DirecTV actively interfaces with their own customer base via sources like DBSTalk to get not only direct feedback but to openly test continually updated DVR’s. As a result the same DVR’s that have been out for years are now dramatically improved over the
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