Is Verizon FiOS Internet Really Faster Than DSL?

I've been a subscriber to high-speed internet service pretty much since it first became available. At first, I got a cable modem with internet service from Comcast, but I quickly became frustrated with the frequent service outages and the highly variable download speeds. I did some research, and I found out that DSL internet service was supposedly much more reliable than cable internet. I decided to make the switch from Comcast high speed internet to Verizon DSL, and I was very pleased. Although the upload and download speeds seemed just a bit slower with DSL, the reliability and dependability of the connection made the trade-off well worth it. For several years, I had Verizon DSL internet service and I was very pleased. Then recently, I moved to a different city where Verizon FiOS internet service was available.

Verizon FiOS internet service is carried by a fiber optic line to your house, as opposed to DSL which travels over traditional telephone lines. When I called Verizon to transfer my internet service to my new home, the representative told me that Verizon FiOS would offer me a much faster internet connection than DSL. The FiOS service was only about $5 more per month than DSL, so I decided to give it a try, even though I didn't really think it would be much faster than DSL. The technician came to my new home and installed a fiber optic cable, and within a few hours my Verizon FiOS internet was up and running.

The very first time I opened the web browser on my computer, I was impressed. Even though my DSL service always seemed fast, I could definitely tell that loading new websites and switching between sites went considerably faster with my FiOS connection. When I was watching videos on YouTube or other websites, I noticed that there was practically no buffer time and the video began playing immediately, which was a big advantage over DSL. But I really saw the speed difference between DSL and FiOS the first time I had to download a large file. A 21 megabyte application took just 10 seconds to download to my computer. The same download would have taken at least 5 minutes (but probably longer) over my DSL connection.

I have been using FiOS internet service for a few weeks now, and I can safely say that FiOS is indeed considerably faster than Verizon DSL. The amount of time I save with the faster internet connection more than makes up for the $5/month price difference. If you live in an area where Verizon FiOS is offered, I would highly recommend the internet service. It's as fast as cable and as reliable as DSL, truly giving the consumer the best of both worlds with their high speed internet connection. For more information about Verizon FiOS, or to see if the service is offered in your area, visit the Verizon website listed in the resources section of this article.