Hello,
This is a strange question, perhaps (but perhaps not, depending on the answer), so bear with me as I explain. I am a perfectly satisfied, happy FIOS customer, and cannot see why anyone in my area (Northern Virginia) would pay the same or more for inherently worse Internet connectivity (meaning any other ISP than Verizon). I plan to move in to my girlfriend's house in a few months, and want to move my service there; she currently has Comcast, I believe.
She is very anti-wireless because she has sensitivity to EMF. I assured her that FIOS uses fiber-optic cables to transmit data via light waves to an Optical Network Terminal outside my house, which then transmits the data to/from my gateway via an Ethernet cable. I explained that there is no wireless component anywhere (in fact as far from wireless as can be, since it is not only wired but fiber-optic). I explained that the only way any wireless activity would exist is if I enabled the 802.11 functionality on my gateway, which I would not do in her house.
However, she insists that a Verizon technician who came to her house when she was shopping for an ISP claimed that there is some kind of wireless signal transmitting out from the hardware Verizon installs, presumably meaning from the ONT (she is not very technical, so she did not ask for specifics). Apparently, this technician was very positive on this point, that there is wireless transmission occuring from the hardware (to a Verizon server, perhaps?), which cannot be disabled.
I told her that this did not make any sense, and that's when I explained how the connection works, as I understood it. She refuses to let me move my service to her house, because of this alleged wireless signal that is part of the basic functionality of the FIOS service.
My question is, does anyone know anything about this? I want to prove to her that this is wrong, so I can keep my Verizon FIOS service when I move. However, she did not just dream this up, but heard it from an installation technician who went to her house. When my ONT was installed, I watched and asked questions because I am interested in these things, and that friendly technician never said the slightest thing about a wireless signal coming from the ONT or elsewhere. Why would the technician tell my girlfriend that there is a wireless signal, and where/why would this happen? What purpose would it serve, if it does exist?
I hope someone can help elucidate this murky matter, because no amount of explaining by me will change my girlfriend's mind about this. She needs to hear it from someone else with technical understanding of how the installation/hardware works. If this is nonsense, please tell me! If it is really true, then I would love to know. The only thing I can think of is that there is some kind of phone-home wireless signal, but I have never heard anything about this before.
Thank you so much for your help! I'm sorry for the long post, but I had to provide the context for the question to make any sense.
Thanks,
G