I came across a few relatively new, and useful articles discussing current web design trends:

Web 2.0 Design & Layout Trends (Part 1)  via StyleIgnite   How to Destroy the Web 2.0 Look  via Snap2Objects   Best of CSS Design 2007 via Web Designer Wall Most Promising for Web 2008: Open Source Movement via Read/WriteWeb  More Web Design Trends & Cliches  via Modern Life

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About a month ago a Verizon sales rep was going door to door in my neighborhood pitching their FiOS service. After listening to her pitch, I decided to sign up for the $29.99/month offer which includes the installation and first month free. I decided to start with the 5/2Mbps for now but may upgrade to the 15/2Mbps for $10/month more at some point. Not a week later they had a subcontractor out to hook up the fiber cable from the distribution box to my house. They left the fiber that protruded from the ground neatly coiled, with the rest buried very cleanly.

I setup an appointment for this past Friday for a service technician to come and install the ONT. I was given a window of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and was told the installation could take anywhere from four to six hours.

I received a call at about 8:15 from the service technician notifying me that she was about ten to fifteen minutes away from my house. When she arrived she asked to see where my computer was, and where the closest power outlet was in relation to where the ONT would be installed. After that she quickly outlined the steps she would take during the installation:

• Mount the ONT box outside the house
• Setup the ONT Power Supply Unit / Battery Backup Unit
• Run the line inside and install a RJ45 jack
• Setup the router and connect the line to the jack
• Setup the account

She handed me the welcome kit to look through and got to work. Three hours later, everything was done. The only snag came when the phone initially had no dial tone but was quickly rectified with a phone call, a walk to the ONT box.

The ONT ended up being mounted adjacent to the electric meter, the ONT Power Supply Unit was placed just inside the back door in a fairly inconspicuous location, the RJ45 jack installed beside an existing electrical outlet, and the cable lines the baseboards until it reaches the router located on my desk.

At one point during the install I asked the technician what her longest install was. She told me that the installs she has done in the multi-million dollar homes in McLean have taken her the longest, with one taking all of twelve hours.

All in all I was pleased with the entire process and was minimally inconvenienced. I’ve heard the most difficult and sometimes problematic aspect is the activation but mine was a breeze. So now that I’ve ditched Cox and moved on to FiOS, here’s to consistent high speed and lower latency!

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