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Many of my customers have been getting Fios and I have talked with a few of the installation technicians. They are just beginning to install the underground network in my area so I expect it will be available in about a year.
The fiber optic cable is run to your home into a box that can be inside or outside, but is usually outside. The box contains a battery in addition to components that separate the TV, phone, and internet signals. The battery is necessary to insure phone service during a power outage.
Most of the people I have talked with love the Fios. There are more HD channels then anyone else provides. The phone service is good and internet is very fast.
The major complaints about Fios are not with the service itself, but in dealing with the phone company. Installation appointments are not kept. Initial installation problems are handled by less experienced techs. The call center people are not properly trained in the service so they do not have a clear understanding of problems in the field. Eventually the issues get resolved and the customers are happy with the service.
My perception is that Verizon spent a lot of money and is continuing to do so on the Fios service and getting it available to customers. However they need to see a payback and are launching it in areas where customer support is not fully up to speed. The installation technicians I talked with had a few complaints as well. Most of the initial underground installation is done by multiple outside contractors One installs the underground conduit, another pulls the fiber, another terminated the fiber in the street, etc. Apparently no one checked for quality control along the way and if there is a problem the technician who was assigned to install service in someone's house winds up tracing out the whole system and debugging it which leads to the installation taking several hours or even days.
As far as connecting to your home wiring, all they do is connect to whatever existing wiring that you have in the house for phone, TV, or internet. If you want Cat 5 or Cat 6 you would need to install that yourself or have another company do that.
I hope that this helps. I will problably go with Fios when it becomes available as my current cable connection is getting slower and slower.
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