I recently changed form Comcast “triple play” to Version FiOS “triple play,” so here are some observations on the differences. To put it in prospective, I am in southern New Jersey, the heart of Comcast land, with fiber optics on the pole, but not into the house. The reason for the change was strictly cost. Verizon gave me a price I couldn’t refuse.
INTERNET: Much faster. Comcast clamed 16 Mbps and tested at 5 Mbps. Verizon clamed 20 Mbps and tested at 20.1 Mbps and they doesn’t slow down large downloads as Comcast did.
TELEPHONE: No problems, but then Comcast had rewired my home, which had Verizon analog before.
TV: I haven’t observed a difference on standard definition TV but on HD Verizon has 1080 resolution, higher than Comcast.
DVD: Here Comcast was a clear winner. They use Scientific Atlanta boxes, which in my opinion are superior to the Motorola boxes that Verizon uses.
ON DEMAND: Cost per movie is more from Verizon and the selection menu is not as easy to use as with Comcast.
The bottom line is that Verizon was equal to or better than Comcast in everything but the DVR. I think I’m in the market for a TiVo, but the cost difference between Verizon and Comcast can pay for it.