And no AMC to watch the beginning of Mad Men Season 3 on the 16th! I at least hope the picture quality is as good as some other SD channels, but I may need to move to a smaller screen to view the series!

and it's such a stylish looking show too! also, don't forget Breaking Bad. those two shows make AMC worthwhile. Forget about their edited, cropped, commercial laden movies.

it's a shame that I can watch these show illegally in far better quality than what I pay for.

Everyone on the Time Warner boards complains about not having HDNet, since it's the greatest thing ever. I'm guilty of it too, but it seems like any time we can't get something, it's so much more valuable to us.

My family is looking for us to switch to to FiOS and I found several resellers like verizon wireless dealers in our area that resell it but I found myfiosguy dot com that is offering some great deals. Has anyone used them? If so, were you happy with the service? they are mentioned several times on sites like fatwallet and slickdeals but I see no mention of them on this site.

thanks in advance for your help:):):):rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

My family is looking for us to switch to to FiOS and I found several resellers like verizon wireless dealers in our area that resell it but I found myfiosguy dot com that is offering some great deals. Has anyone used them? If so, were you happy with the service? they are mentioned several times on sites like fatwallet and slickdeals but I see no mention of them on this site.

thanks in advance for your help:):):):rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Meh, I think I'd stick to the actual Verizon people; a third party co. almost screwed me over.

we're in Virginia near D.C. and YES shows up in the list of channels available as part of the HD package.

Will we really get YES with FiOS?

Yes, but all the Yankees games will be blacked out.

I live in Richmond, and I noticed that Yankee games are not listed on the YES Schedule. I guess because MLB is wanting to sell as many Extra innings packages on air and on line as thy can. Not sure I get the point of carring the channel if the main draw is not available?

BTW: Love the FIOS. Love the wider selection than Comcast! MLB HD and HD Net look great! Dissapointed with The Weather Channel HD though. The weather graphics(maps etc...) are not in wide screen, since they show the continuing wx cities forcast on the side. Our NBC affiliate here does HD wx graphics and it looks reall good!

Everyone on the Time Warner boards complains about not having HDNet, since it's the greatest thing ever. I'm guilty of it too, but it seems like any time we can't get something, it's so much more valuable to us.

I have the same problem! Anyone have closed caption on HDNet? Also I get a lot of meaningless script on some channels (DirecTV). Is that a problem on Verizon, Time Warner, etc.?
Thanks-

Verizon added another 300,000 subs last quarter (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/verizons-second-quarter-profit-declines-72-2009-07-27) bringing total subscribers to 2.5 million, though profits overall were down due to its sagging landline service.

With 2.5 million subscribers, Verizon passes Bright House to become the eighth largest television provider nationally, behind Comcast (24.2 million), DirecTV (18.0 million), Dish (13.6 million), TWC (13 million), Cox (5.3 million), Charter (5.0 million), and Cablevision (3.1 million). At its current pace of 300,000 subscribers per quarter, Verizon will match Cablevision, which has 3.1 million subs, by the end of the year.

100,000 installations per month? That's a business we all should have gotten into!

I have the same problem! Anyone have closed caption on HDNet? Also I get a lot of meaningless script on some channels (DirecTV). Is that a problem on Verizon, Time Warner, etc.?
Thanks-


Both HDNet and HDNet Movies are CC on FiOS

I live in Richmond, and I noticed that Yankee games are not listed on the YES Schedule. I guess because MLB is wanting to sell as many Extra innings packages on air and on line as thy can. Not sure I get the point of carring the channel if the main draw is not available?

You are correct. MLB requires them to show alternate programming for all live games and replays. MLB wants to sell Extra Innings for the live games, and MLB.TV for the replays outside of the markets. The only reason I can think of that Verizon is carrying the "national" channel is that they had to have gotten it for next to nothing. I have seen a few interesting historical shows, and a couple nights ago I saw a Yankees "classic" from this June, so they are allowed to show fairly recent games.
As for MLB's racket, we are in the TV territory for the Nationals and Orioles, and the only place we're allowed to see their games live is on MASN. The only way for us to see MASN is if our cable company carries it (they do), and the only way for the cable company to carry the channel is to place it on a basic package that almost everyone subscribes to.

Is MSG Network available out of market on FiOS (like in Virginia)?

Keeping fingers crossed for Top Gear in HD on BBC America soon (new season starts next week). FiOS arrives thursday, wish me luck!

Keeping fingers crossed for Top Gear in HD on BBC America soon (new season starts next week). FiOS arrives thursday, wish me luck!

It doesn't matter if we got BBC-A HD or not, Top Gear isn't filmed in HD and there are no plans to transition it to HD. Only the Polar Special was HD.

MSG HD isn't even available in-market. As long as it's controlled by the Dolans, don't expect anything more than what is expressly required by law.

To reiterate - there are NO plans in 2009 to add BBC-A HD.

Wasn't ION-HD supposed to start today?

To reiterate - there are NO plans in 2009 to add BBC-A HD.

Why aren't they planning to get it? I understand that distribution deals take a long time, but why aren't they making the effort to get a channel like BBC America? I don't understand how Verizon just ignores a channel that they have the capacity to add, and are uninterested in it, even though they found the time to add all of the .TV channels...

...but why aren't they making the effort to get a channel like BBC America?....
How do you know they are not making an effort? Perhaps it doesn't make economic sense for some reason. As for the worthless .TV channels, perhaps they were free for the taking!

If there are no plans to launch the channel in 2009, obviously they aren't making an effort...

I would think the .tv channels were extremely cheap to add. Nobody wanted them, nobody still wants them.

As for BBC America and others it's more complicated. They have to negotiate the rate, what tier to put the channel on etc.

How do you know they are not making an effort? Perhaps it doesn't make economic sense for some reason. As for the worthless .TV channels, perhaps they were free for the taking!



They should be. They're all commercials.

So my first year with FIOS is coming to an end and I gave them a call to sign up again. Now with the price being an additional $10/mo and the fact being that I have to pay for my DVR ($15.95mo- not a multiroom DVR). It will cost me approx $30/mo more for just the triple play package (this is without premium HD channels!). So around $140+ taxes/mo for the standard HD package/cable (25/15), and phone.

I was wondering if this is in line with what people pay for FIOS around the country. I think the rates are pretty outrageous. I was considering adding EPIX when it gets added, but at these rates, who can afford it?

Even at those rates, it's still cheaper than Comcast around here for equivalent non-promotional pricing.

Well, as equivalent as you can get anyways lacking 70% of the HD channels

The movie package also went up $5 to $35. But that's still a bargain and a half compared to all other providers.

Verizon said a few months ago that they're no longer interested in competing on price. They prefer to add value to the service instead, hence the steady flow of new HD channels even after they hit 100 HD channels. From my perspective, it's not that hard to swallow. The Extreme HD triple play actually lowered my bill from my prior Verizon contract, so it was just a matter of time before they recouped that $10 discount I was getting. But if they think it's okay to jack my bill $10-$15 every year, they've got another thing coming.

Still, several years since I switched from Comcast my bill with Verizon is still comparable and the quality of service is without a doubt much better, and I'm subscribed to all premium channels with Verizon instead of just HBO and Showtime with Comcast.

So my first year with FIOS is coming to an end and I gave them a call to sign up again. Now with the price being an additional $10/mo and the fact being that I have to pay for my DVR ($15.95mo- not a multiroom DVR). It will cost me approx $30/mo more for just the triple play package (this is without premium HD channels!). So around $140+ taxes/mo for the standard HD package/cable (25/15), and phone.You might consider dropping down to 15/5, which is unofficially 15/15 in most markets. That should cut at least $10 off your bill.

If you plan to keep Verizon phone service and FiOS Internet anyway, the premium for FiOS TV is very reasonable. The 15/5 tier costs $44.99/mo and the bundle with FiOS HD Extreme adds an extra $40. The 25/15 tier costs $64.99/mo and FiOS HD Extreme adds an extra $30. Even if you throw in your $16 DVR, that is still very competitive.

You're still getting killed with $35-$45 on Verizon phone service, but you're stuck with that unless you want to switch to VoIP.

For example:

Comcast Starter HD Triple play $114.95/month ($129.95/month after 12 months)

Upgrade internet speed to match fios: $10
Upgrade to HD-DVR: $9.95
Add sports entertainment pkg (fios includes these channels with extreme HD): $10.00

That is a $139.94/month promotional one year package. After a year it will go up $15 to $154.94.

So, $140 /month for FIOS doesn't seem so bad in comparison because you get far more.

bfdtv: Actually, if anything I like the higher bandwidth- not something I'd give up willingly (I wish they'd go higher). And since I only have 1 HDTV they took away $6 charge for the multiroom DVR (which I was getting for free anyways).

I guess it's just the cost of the DVR (and taxes and fees) that's killing me here. There really is no way around it (unless I buy my own of course, and that is just an outlay I cannot afford)- FIOS obviously knows this, and we're stuck with them. Let us hope they at least roll out the DVRs with the larger harddrives soon.

I think I'm planning on getting a HTPC with Windows 7 media center and a dual tuner cablecard TV tuner before the end of this year.

Tivo doesn't appeal to me because I feel they are just as guilty as the service providers as far as being stagnant. Tivo has spent the last two years suing people and running around trying to ink service deals with various parties rather than trying to make a better product.

Windows 7 media center seems to be about the most feature complete and capable DVR solution out there, I can stream content to any computer in the house easily, and I don't have to pay monthly for anything other than the cablecard that goes in it.

Tivo doesn't appeal to me because I feel they are just as guilty as the service providers as far as being stagnant. Tivo has spent the last two years suing people and running around trying to ink service deals with various parties rather than trying to make a better product.I wonder what TiVo did with the $121 million (http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=TIVO&annual) spent on R&D over the past two years? I suspect we'll see the result of that in early 2010.

If all you want is added capacity, Verizon will deploy Cisco DVRs late this year or early next. These are expected to double the existing capacity (i.e. 320GB) and include support for external drive expansion.

Any idea what they will do for existing customers? Will it be a free upgrade or will we need to pay a fee? What have they done in the past?

Oh boy, I hope they clean up the CSR department before they're ready to roll out the Cisco DVRs to existing customers, or you're going to open another can of discontent among existing users.

I wonder what TiVo did with the $121 million (http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=TIVO&annual) spent on in R&D over the past two years? I suspect we'll see the result of that in early 2010.

If all you want is added capacity, Verizon will deploy Cisco DVRs late this year or early next. These are expected to double the existing capacity (i.e. 320GB) and include support for external drive expansion.

320 gig is still an insult when 1tb drives can be bought at a brick and mortar store for under $100. I could see accepting 320 gb if they shrunk the size of the HD-DVR down to DTC700 levels and were using a 2.5" drive, but for a full size box it's crazy. 1/3rd the capacity for 1/2 the price, no thanks. I'm also betting "expansion" features will only be enabled for home media DVRs which is $5 /month extra.

Tivo usually releases new product in September. Since they have shown nothing off so far this year, I'm betting September 2009 will come and go without anything significant (maybe a bump in storage for the base HD model?) Following their current release schedule, I wouldn't expect to see a Series 4 until September of '10. Also, Tivo seems to be focusing on Tru2Way for series 4 and FIOS isn't going to implement Tru2Way. It will remain to be seen if the Series 4 can be used without Tru2Way or if maybe they will produce a product specifically for FIOS.

The main sticker for me is paying the monthly fee for the guide data and I'm sure as hell not going to pay $399 for a lifetime sub on 3 year old hardware at this point.

The bottom line is, Tivo's current product line doesn't do much for me and waiting a year isn't an option.

any updates on ion hd in philly area vho 8

I think the rates are pretty outrageous. I was considering adding EPIX when it gets added, but at these rates, who can afford it?

Are you serious? I just got Fios triple play. I'm spending $60 less that what I previously paid for internet, phone (with unlimited long distance), and TV, and I'm getting so much more TV. And given the quality of Fios TV and the incredible internet speed, Fios is a bargain.

I've read many of your posts where you indicated your financial situation and that you can't afford everything you'd like to have. Sorry about that , but I'm beginning to get the impression that you blame the companies for not having products and services you can afford instead of realizing it's your own financial situation that is the limiting factor.

If Fios is so outrageous in it's pricing, go back to cable/Dish/DirecTV and you should be much happier.

The bottom line is, Tivo's current product line doesn't do much for me and waiting a year isn't an option.

Have you considered the Moxi? I have both the Verizon Motorola box and the Tivo XL. Both have advantages and disadvantages over each other. I may give the Moxi a try.

I've read many of your posts where you indicated your financial situation and that you can't afford everything you'd like to have. Sorry about that , but I'm beginning to get the impression that you blame the companies for not having products and services you can afford instead of realizing it's your own financial situation that is the limiting factor.

If Fios is so outrageous in it's pricing, go back to cable/Dish/DirecTV and you should be much happier.Ah, I knew someone was going to post this. "If you don't like it go away". So it's not OK for me to voice my dislike in essentially being nickled and dimed to death over cable service ? Sure FIOS is better than the alternative, but believe me I'm not the only one who feels this way.

So please don't give me that "go away if you don't like it" line. I've said more nice things than bad about FIOS, but if there's something bad about it, I'm going to voice my opinion.

FYI, to answer a question I asked earlier, there is a beta available of Media Manager for Mac for FiOS DVR customers. You have to register at https://www36.verizon.com/MM/Protected/TestTrack/SignIn.aspx for access to the beta.

any updates on ion hd in philly area vho 8

Low-

From what VZ Mark mentioned over on DSL Reports, Ion HD should be rolled out to applicable areas in Q1 2010.

Yes, they did just roll it out to the NYC area over the past few weeks - however it's behind other channels on the 2009 plans for the rest of the country.

I'm also betting "expansion" features will only be enabled for home media DVRs which is $5 /month extra.
Not so sure about this. External storage enabling is really a firmware thing. Not saying they can't do it because they can, but it just seems stupid to limit the access of esata/usb port to only those ppl signed up for home media dvr. if they do that, it will definitely tick me off.

My computer upgraded my Media Manager this morning. What was the upgrade about?

Doesn't anyone have any info on ION-HD (VHO-8)?

Did you read three posts above yours...JeepMatt?

My computer upgraded my Media Manager this morning. What was the upgrade about?

Likely due to the fact that the Media Manager and remote scheduling of the DVR are now free to everyone, not just multi-room dvr users.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/FiOS-Broadens-MultiRoom-FiOS-Functionality-103903

That's pretty nice, it gives me hope that storage expansion options won't be tied to higher tier DVR service.

In reference to Moxi, I've been considering it. Things I've read indicate it may not be a totally mature product though. We'll see.

Ah, I knew someone was going to post this. "If you don't like it go away". So it's not OK for me to voice my dislike in essentially being nickled and dimed to death over cable service ? Sure FIOS is better than the alternative, but believe me I'm not the only one who feels this way.

So please don't give me that "go away if you don't like it" line. I've said more nice things than bad about FIOS, but if there's something bad about it, I'm going to voice my opinion.

The response you got was very tame compared to the response I got on the next gen tivo thread for expressing my opinions. As with nearly all internet forums there are some pretty disagreeable folks who post here.

Did you read three posts above yours...JeepMatt?

Now I did!

I wonder what TiVo did with the $121 million (http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=TIVO&annual) spent on R&D over the past two years? I suspect we'll see the result of that in early 2010.

If all you want is added capacity, Verizon will deploy Cisco DVRs late this year or early next. These are expected to double the existing capacity (i.e. 320GB) and include support for external drive expansion.

It would be sweet to get the expandability and the larger internal capacity. On the Tivo front, getting a Moca capable Tivo would take it a huge step into the FIOS back yard, removing future compatibility issues. May be a pipe dream, but...

FiOS was installed today, I'm noticing that on some of the HD channels i'm getting small bars on right and left side of programs. I had this on a Discovery HD program a bit earlier.

I'm set for 720p output, and to stretch non-HD content.

Are the bars normal? Can they be removed? I didn't have them with DirectTV HD content.

Thanks!

SO let me get this straight: no MSNBC HD, no CBS College Sports HD, no BBC AMerica HD, and none of the Turner stations in HD any time soon. WHat the hell's wrong with Verizon? I want answers now!!!

SO let me get this straight: no MSNBC HD, no CBS College Sports HD, no BBC AMerica HD, and none of the Turner stations in HD any time soon. WHat the hell's wrong with Verizon? I want answers now!!!
BBC-Am HD was just launched & no provider yet offers it.
The Rainbow HD's (AMC, IFC, WE, FUSE ect ..).. Are rumored to be added in the next 30 to 90 days, along with "some other" additional HD's as well...., hopefully the E! & G4 comcasts...
My guess is most of whatever major HD's aren't added between 9/1-12/31 will be added the 1st half of '10...

My beef with FIOS comes fromt eh fact they lied to us about NBA TV HD and CBS College Sports HD. Both were promised by the company to be added. Yet neither were. I don't know if there was a dispute that ultimately derailed both channels. But whatever their reason is, I don't buy it one bit. Again, I apologize for being the perennial mad man on this board. But I swear that Verizon better give all of us these channels soon or I'll keep calling them out and switch to another network. I did this already with COX Communications and may do the same for FIOS.

NBA TV HD and Team HD (for NBA League Pass) are still coming in time for the NBA season, last was reported here and on DSL Reports.

Got the info on NBA TVHD - Thanks Matt. Still, I'll be crossing my fingers until it's officially in the lineup. As for CBS College Sports in HD, what is Verizon's problem? It was supposed to be coming and now it's not.

posts deleted

question [forgive me if already asked & answered several times]

FIOS is finally coming to my street: the rest of my town has had it for a couple of years now: they promise before the end of the year

I have been satisfied with Comcast internet and DirectV HD [have several HR21 Pro receivers] I am happy with both

A couple of years ago I would have jumped at getting FIOS but now I wonder if it is worth the effort of switching?

I would gladly switch from Comcast Internet, but DirecTV has been great for me

[B]my main concern is the best quality HD

Thanks for any helpful comments :)

FiOS was installed today, I'm noticing that on some of the HD channels i'm getting small bars on right and left side of programs. I had this on a Discovery HD program a bit earlier.

I'm set for 720p output, and to stretch non-HD content.

Are the bars normal? Can they be removed? I didn't have them with DirectTV HD content.

Thanks!

you're seeing SD programming that hasn't been stretched or upconverted to widescreen.

the bars(pillarboxing) are normal & can't be removed-part of the signal.

doesn't matter if the STB is set to 1080i or 720p.

FiOS was installed today, I'm noticing that on some of the HD channels i'm getting small bars on right and left side of programs. I had this on a Discovery HD program a bit earlier.

I'm set for 720p output, and to stretch non-HD content.

Are the bars normal? Can they be removed? I didn't have them with DirectTV HD content.

Thanks!

You should've had them with Discovery Channel (and TLC, Science Channel, Animal Planet, etc.) on DirecTV, as they are native to the picture. When Discovery is not broadcasting true HD content, they zoom SD content to fill (almost all of) the screen. It makes it easy to tell when Discovery is airing true HD material, as it will fill your entire screen. Unfortunately, because Discovery is cramming so many channels onto the transponder for delivery to providers, the picture quality isn't much different.

question [forgive me if already asked & answered several times]

FIOS is finally coming to my street: the rest of my town has had it for a couple of years now: they promise before the end of the year

I have been satisfied with Comcast internet and DirectV HD [have several HR21 Pro receivers] I am happy with both

A couple of years ago I would have jumped at getting FIOS but now I wonder if it is worth the effort of switching?

I would gladly switch from Comcast Internet, but DirecTV has been great for me

[B]my main concern is the best quality HD

Thanks for any helpful comments :)

Mark, I have Comcast and Fios and can tell you Fios is head and shoulders above Comcast for both Quantity and Quality, at least for me. I can't comment on D* since I don't have it but most people who have made the switch from one or the other seem to be quite happy if you follow this thread at all.

Mark, I have Comcast and Fios and can tell you Fios is head and shoulders above Comcast for both Quantity and Quality, at least for me. I can't comment on D* since I don't have it but most people who have made the switch from one or the other seem to be quite happy if you follow this thread at all.

ditto. I've had FIOS for 10 months now and am totally loving the 122 HD channels compared with the approx. 30 Comcast STILL has in this area. Picture quality is stellar - no compression like w/Comcast.

We switched yesterday from DirectTV for TV, Verizon for voice, and Comcast internet to FiOS for everything. We had two DirecTV DVRs (an new HD DVR and an older TiVo HD unit).

We're happy so far. Internet speeds are much faster, installation was pretty painless, and video quality/quantity (especially of HD) is as good if not better. We get a lot of the local channels that previously required an antenna (ABC/NCB/CBS sub-channels, PBS, local access, etc.)

Really I have two complaints so far:
- I find the DirectTV interface to be easier to use, especially the TiVo
- We initially set up our house with a Media Center DVR in the family room, and two connected STBs (standard for an old TV, and an HD for our master bedroom). While being able to record on one DVR and watch on any TV was nice, we really missed having DVR functions in our MBR.

We just switched our configuration to two separate, stand-alone DVRs and one standard STB. We lose the media center DVR, but it's worth it to us to gain DVR functionality in a 2nd room.

Here's my pro's and cons versus DirecTV:

Pros:
- start to finish only took about 2 hours
- getting about 20 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up with the 25/15 package
- Saving about $700 a year in the first year, $500 a year after that
- unlimited voice
- free on-demand video
- fairly responsive menu system (but not as user friendly as TiVo and DirectDVR)
- replaced my cable modem and WLAN router with a single box
- now get ESPN 360 and Palladia HD, as well as many local channels

Cons:
- with home media DVR, have to record on the single DVR, can't initiate recording from other STBs, can't pause/ff regular TV from other STBs
- 20 hours of HD or 80 hours of SD sucks
- Apple Mac didn't want to connect to the WLAN router until I entered $ in front of the WEP password - had flaky wireless until I upgraded the firmware on the ActionTec home router
- ugly battery backup box had to be mounted inside my house near the termination point for the fiber cable (unfortunately we don't have a MDF in the house, so it's sitting in my living room).
- phone is now on battery backup (8 hours) in case of power outage

Hope this helps.

I think the DVR storage size is everyone's #1 complaint with Fios right now. Otherwise love the service but 20 hours of HD size goes quickly

@imref: you shouldn't be using WEP. It's better than nothing but it's very weak and easily broken with widely available tools. Use WPA(2). I'm pretty sure your router supports it.

We switched yesterday from DirectTV for TV, Verizon for voice, and Comcast internet to FiOS for everything. We had two DirecTV DVRs (an new HD DVR and an older TiVo HD unit).

We're happy so far. Internet speeds are much faster, installation was pretty painless, and video quality/quantity (especially of HD) is as good if not better. We get a lot of the local channels that previously required an antenna (ABC/NCB/CBS sub-channels, PBS, local access, etc.)

Really I have two complaints so far:
- I find the DirectTV interface to be easier to use, especially the TiVo
- We initially set up our house with a Media Center DVR in the family room, and two connected STBs (standard for an old TV, and an HD for our master bedroom). While being able to record on one DVR and watch on any TV was nice, we really missed having DVR functions in our MBR.

We just switched our configuration to two separate, stand-alone DVRs and one standard STB. We lose the media center DVR, but it's worth it to us to gain DVR functionality in a 2nd room.

Here's my pro's and cons versus DirecTV:

Pros:
- start to finish only took about 2 hours
- getting about 20 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up with the 25/15 package
- Saving about $700 a year in the first year, $500 a year after that
- unlimited voice
- free on-demand video
- fairly responsive menu system (but not as user friendly as TiVo and DirectDVR)
- replaced my cable modem and WLAN router with a single box
- now get ESPN 360 and Palladia HD, as well as many local channels

Cons:
- with home media DVR, have to record on the single DVR, can't initiate recording from other STBs, can't pause/ff regular TV from other STBs
- 20 hours of HD or 80 hours of SD sucks
- Apple Mac didn't want to connect to the WLAN router until I entered $ in front of the WEP password - had flaky wireless until I upgraded the firmware on the ActionTec home router
- ugly battery backup box had to be mounted inside my house near the termination point for the fiber cable (unfortunately we don't have a MDF in the house, so it's sitting in my living room).
- phone is now on battery backup (8 hours) in case of power outage

Hope this helps.

When the FIOS unit goes into battery backup, it goes into a power save mode giving you phone only. I put a UPS in front of the FIOS battery backup unit, another UPS on my main DVR, and a smaller one on my wireless router.
Now when I have a power failure, the DVR keeps recording, and I have internet available for my laptops. This also keeps the DVR from rebooting on short power hits. Since mine is a TIVO, reboot is a long process. If you don't disable the beepers in the UPS units, it will drive you crazy when the power goes out. I haven't done that yet, but its high on my list.

@imref: you shouldn't be using WEP. It's better than nothing but it's very weak and easily broken with widely available tools. Use WPA(2). I'm pretty sure your router supports it.

thanks - you are absolutely correct, the default configuration is WEP, but WPA and WPA2 are supported.

The problem with the key happens regardless of the encryption method, you still need the $ in front of the key for Macs. I will be switching to WPA now that everything appears to be stable.

I really wish they would set people up with WPA2 by default. WEP is so hilariously insecure.

I did a wireless survey from my house the other day. I don't use the Actiontech for my wireless, I actually have the wireless radio turned off and I'm using my own wireless router in access point mode since my Actiontech is in the basement and I have my wireless router at the center of my house. The firmware I'm using on my router gives me a list of all other wireless routers it can see and gives a link to look up their manufacturer based off of their ID. Of the 5 wireless networks I could see, they were all Actiontech. I think Comcast has been fully eliminated from my street.

They were all setup with WEP though :(.

I'm not sure continuing to discuss WLAN issues is appropriate, but I had continued wireless LAN connectivity issues with my Mac yesterday. The Mac would drop the connection, and when it came back up, it wouldn't get an IP address. the only solution was to reboot the Mac. I checked the firmware on the brand-new ActionTec and found it was 20.8.0, but that there was an update to 20.9.0 available. I downloaded it and did the install, and so far, haven't had any further wireless issues.

I'm in IT, so I'm comfortable with this sort of thing, but it's worrying that Joe Home User would have to figure this out on their own.

We switched yesterday from DirectTV for TV, Verizon for voice, and Comcast internet to FiOS for everything. We had two DirecTV DVRs (an new HD DVR and an older TiVo HD unit).

We're happy so far. Internet speeds are much faster, installation was pretty painless, and video quality/quantity (especially of HD) is as good if not better. We get a lot of the local channels that previously required an antenna (ABC/NCB/CBS sub-channels, PBS, local access, etc.)

Really I have two complaints so far:
- I find the DirectTV interface to be easier to use, especially the TiVo
- We initially set up our house with a Media Center DVR in the family room, and two connected STBs (standard for an old TV, and an HD for our master bedroom). While being able to record on one DVR and watch on any TV was nice, we really missed having DVR functions in our MBR.


FYI
The tivoHD works wonderfully with FIOS. I have two of them. Also here all channels are unencrypted. That means downloads to my PC at the click of a button or on a schedule. The also MRV to each other. A refurb TivoHD with full warranty can be had from tivo for 199 and a 1 Tb drive for 100. replacement of the internal drive could be done by a blind monkey with instructs on tivo community forums.

FYI
The tivoHD works wonderfully with FIOS. I have two of them. Also here all channels are unencrypted. That means downloads to my PC at the click of a button or on a schedule. The also MRV to each other. A refurb TivoHD with full warranty can be had from tivo for 199 and a 1 Tb drive for 100. replacement of the internal drive could be done by a blind monkey with instructs on tivo community forums.

Last I heard, those blind monkeys were hard to come by. Oh well! :D

FYI
A refurb TivoHD with full warranty can be had from tivo for 199 and a 1 Tb drive for 100. replacement of the internal drive could be done by a blind monkey with instructs on tivo community forums.

These two items seem to be in conflict with each other unless I'm missing some sort of specific Tivo policy of excluding end user replacement of hard drives from their warranty policy (which seems doubtful since they have the extender option).

There doesn't seem to be much point in getting a Tivo with a warranty if you are going to turn around and rip it open to replace the hard drive.

These two items seem to be in conflict with each other unless I'm missing some sort of specific Tivo policy of excluding end user replacement of hard drives from their warranty policy (which seems doubtful since they have the extender option).

There doesn't seem to be much point in getting a Tivo with a warranty if you are going to turn around and rip it open to replace the hard drive.He can always add an external drive that doesnt violate anything.

For me Id rather upgrade the internal drive. I dont really care about their warranty. When these things fail its usually the hard drive anyway. In my particular case though, since the channels are unencrypted I could have not replaced anything and simply setup a download schedule on the PC making hard drive space on the Tivo irrelevant since programs can be transferred back and forth. IMO the Tivo desktop software rocks, really slick and the files translate to mpg format automatically as they transfer.

FYI
The tivoHD works wonderfully with FIOS. I have two of them. Also here all channels are unencrypted. That means downloads to my PC at the click of a button or on a schedule. The also MRV to each other. A refurb TivoHD with full warranty can be had from tivo for 199 and a 1 Tb drive for 100. replacement of the internal drive could be done by a blind monkey with instructs on tivo community forums.

Yeah, we looked into it, nice solution, but right now the impetus is on cost reduction. We are getting a second HD DVR from Verizon, and hoping for a new larger model later in the year.

Hello guys,

Since verizon introducted home media dvr to all customers, I tried using it last night. But I have problems. I have a DVR in living room 6216 and a standard box in bed room.

When I go to standard box and click on DVR button, it keep saying it encountered a problem and restart dvr box.

Is there something I can do to make it work

Thanks in advance.

Are you confusing Home Media DVR https://www22.verizon.com/residential/fiostv/EquipmentDetails/EquipmentDetails.htm?Media=0 with Media Manager features http://www36.verizon.com/fiostv/web/UnProtected/MediaManager.aspx ?

You still need to pay extra for Home Media DVR but they enabled Media Manager features to all DVR's.




Hello guys,

Since verizon introducted home media dvr to all customers, I tried using it last night. But I have problems. I have a DVR in living room 6216 and a standard box in bed room.

When I go to standard box and click on DVR button, it keep saying it encountered a problem and restart dvr box.

Is there something I can do to make it work

Thanks in advance.

... none of the Turner stations in HD any time soon.What are you talking about? TNT-HD, TBS-HD and CNN-HD are all there now.

When the FIOS unit goes into battery backup, it goes into a power save mode giving you phone only. I put a UPS in front of the FIOS battery backup unit, another UPS on my main DVR, and a smaller one on my wireless router.
Now when I have a power failure, the DVR keeps recording, and I have internet available for my laptops. This also keeps the DVR from rebooting on short power hits. Since mine is a TIVO, reboot is a long process. If you don't disable the beepers in the UPS units, it will drive you crazy when the power goes out. I haven't done that yet, but its high on my list.I use a UPS to bridge street powerloss to generator power (30 seconds) and to avoid burps in street power...

What are you talking about? TNT-HD, TBS-HD and CNN-HD are all there now.

I think he was talking about Cartoon Network, TCM, HLN, and TruTV.

I don't think anyone semi-official has confirmed that yet, so there's still some hope, but we're sitting at about 8 channels that are going to roll out in October, and there probably isn't going to be much more than that.

Given that none of those channels carry much HD, it might be a better investment in the short term to nab the three Comcast channels, E, G4, and Style. Although I would probably watch them even less than the Turner networks, HD or not.

Anyone have any luck with the Media Manager playing videos? I just downloaded and installed it today. Music and pictures from my PC work fine.

I get an error "Media Manager is not able to play this video at this time. Please try again later." Doesn't matter if its a local avi or from one of the internet sites.

So, why do they continue to waste bandwidth carrying the SD version of channels that are also in HD? Every HD box can output to an SD set, right? I guess they'd have to convert SD-only box rentals to HD boxes, but that's got to be cheap compared to the waste of bandwidth on SD channels.

And DVR disk space is not a good reason.

Is there another reason I'm missing?

I think I'm planning on getting a HTPC with Windows 7 media center and a dual tuner cablecard TV tuner before the end of this year.

Tivo doesn't appeal to me because I feel they are just as guilty as the service providers as far as being stagnant. Tivo has spent the last two years suing people and running around trying to ink service deals with various parties rather than trying to make a better product.

Windows 7 media center seems to be about the most feature complete and capable DVR solution out there, I can stream content to any computer in the house easily, and I don't have to pay monthly for anything other than the cablecard that goes in it.

Where is a good site for more info on this setup and Win7 capabilities?

So, why do they continue to waste bandwidth carrying the SD version of channels that are also in HD? Every HD box can output to an SD set, right? I guess they'd have to convert SD-only box rentals to HD boxes, but that's got to be cheap compared to the waste of bandwidth on SD channels.

And DVR disk space is not a good reason.

Is there another reason I'm missing?

My guess is when the new Cisco DVR is ready for deployment early next year, the SD STB and the HD STB will no longer be available, assuming the supply of existing boxes has been depleted, and the 7200 DVR will become the standard box. I believe others have stated that Verizon was moving towards one standard STB capable of HD and DVR to reduce truck rolls and shipping swaps when customers want to upgrade.

Compared to other providers, Verizon is charging (a lot) more for STBs, so they should have recouped the cost on those SD STBs and HD STBs pretty quickly. When the time comes, it shouldn't be that much of a cost problem to start swapping them out. Bad news is, since you and I are in one of the older VHOs with one of the largest subscriber bases, I bet we're one of the last VHOs to be SD STB-free. But I doubt Verizon has any plans to start phasing out SD channels until 2012.

Verizon hasn't run out of bandwidth yet though I'm sure we're getting close relatively speaking. But, unlike a couple years ago, it's not like 100 new HD channels are going to be announced any time soon. DirecTV's launching a new bird, but they're so far behind on national channels I bet they max out before they even claim every existing HD channel circa January 2010. But, I bet they do start a new HD advertising campaign once that bird is up and running (my guess: announcing capacity for up to 200 HD channels), so that will hopefully spur Verizon to keep adding new channels and upgrading services to compete.

So, why do they continue to waste bandwidth carrying the SD version of channels that are also in HD? ... I guess they'd have to convert SD-only box rentals to HD boxes, but that's got to be cheap compared to the waste of bandwidth on SD channels.My guess is when the new Cisco DVR is ready for deployment early next year, the SD STB and the HD STB will no longer be available ... I believe others have stated that Verizon was moving towards one standard STB capable of HD and DVR to reduce truck rolls and shipping swaps when customers want to upgrade.

When the time comes, it shouldn't be that much of a cost problem to start swapping them out.One thing that you two forget, at least on the SD channel side, is that not all SD subscribers will want to switch to an HD box anytime soon. Fortunately for Verizon, most current Motorola SD and HD STBs support IPTV for SD channels, not just On Demand and guide functions. The only one that doesn't support IPTV is the DCT-700, which was sent out to a minority of homes when the system went all-digital. Most of those homes aren't subscribed to, say, the Extreme HD package.

So if Verizon wants to add room for some HD channels on the QAM side, all they have to do is make the following SD channels IPTV exclusives:

1. International Premiums
2. SD channels that are exclusive to the Extreme HD package
3. Sports Subscriptions (like NBA Full Court) and other Pay-Per-View channels

That way, all SD STBs could get channels in the Local, Essentials, La Conexion, Spanish Language, and premium movie channel packages. Otherwise, customers would need an IPTV-capable box to get channels.

The cost for Verizon to install the necessary IPTV-related equipment, as well as switching any applicable boxes, wouldn't cost much money or man-hours.

Alternately, Verizon could choose to take additional SD channels to IPTV, but I don't know the costs to benefits ratio of that. There would be two choices upon which channels to remove:

1. Only premium movie packages like HBO, Starz, and Cinemax
2. All SD channels except for those in the Local package.

These tactics would cost more, especially for installing IPTV equipment at the headend, but would open up more QAM space in the long term.

I doubt Verizon has any plans to start phasing out SD channels until 2012.Or until one of the following happens:

1. Most/all SD STBs are gone, so it's just cheaper to just switch every SD box left
2. SD equipment at the headend reaches the end of its usable life (more likely)

Think more 2015 before the end of SD.

It was my understanding that when Verizon made the outlay to upgrade every VHO to full QAM capacity, that was the death knell for any future IPTV endeavors. Verizon will increase capacity in the future by transitioning to MPEG4, not IPTV.

How much capacity (in MHz) does each VHO have? I read somewhere that it was 850 MHz, which by my calculations, allows room for 282 MPEG-2 HD channels (if there are two HD channels in a single 6 MHz QAM transponder).

What I worry is that there will come a point that even with full capacity, there will be so many HD channels, along with their SD counterparts, that Verizon will run out of room for HD channels. So they will be in a quandary, with four options:

1. IPTV some SD channels to open up space for HD. This is my recommendation.
2. Switch all SD set-top boxes to HD versions, and eliminate SD channels this way. Not only will it be expensive to purchase that many HD STBs all at once, the need to deploy them in a small period of time would be a major strain on field techs. Plus, if the boxes don't support MPEG-4, these boxes might need to be replaced again. Additionally, there is still the 282 channel wall.
3. MPEG-4. Absolutely every last set top box currently in existence will need to be replaced, not to mention the purchase of all-new MPEG-4 encoding equipment. The encoders might be purchased well before the end of the MPEG-2 encoders' usable life. This option will not happen for many, many years. Does the Cisco support MPEG-4?
4. Increase channel density. Basically, this means putting one or two SD channels along with the two HD channels on a single transponder, or going Comcast on the customers and putting three HD channels on a transponder. This is the cheapest option.

This last option is a bit scary. If all three HD channels have very low motion, like shopping channels, or, once they exist, the three C-SPAN channels, you might be able to get away with it if the statmuxers and encoders are top-notch. But if the HD versions of Discovery Channel, Versus, and CNN go onto a transponder, even the best encoders and statmuxers won't prevent macroblocking.

IPTV doesn't eliminate the 282-channel MPEG-2 wall, but at least it pushes it forward a little longer.

Don't forget about the customers who might not be willing to shell out the extra cost of the HD box, especially those who have more than one ( SD ) in their homes. Could result in many subs leaving, I don't think they would go this route.

I do like the way DirecTV handles HD channels in their guide versus FiOS. They replace the SD channel with the HD channel if you have an HD receiver.

So channel 4 is channel 4, whether it's HD or SD. There are no separate HD and SD channels, and you don't end up with 004 is SD NBC, and HD NBC is over at 504.

How much capacity (in MHz) does each VHO have? I read somewhere that it was 850 MHz, which by my calculations, allows room for 282 MPEG-2 HD channels (if there are two HD channels in a single 6 MHz QAM transponder).

What I worry is that there will come a point that even with full capacity, there will be so many HD channels, along with their SD counterparts, that Verizon will run out of room for HD channels. So they will be in a quandary, with four options:

1. IPTV some SD channels to open up space for HD. This is my recommendation.
2. Switch all SD set-top boxes to HD versions, and eliminate SD channels this way. Not only will it be expensive to purchase that many HD STBs all at once, the need to deploy them in a small period of time would be a major strain on field techs. Plus, if the boxes don't support MPEG-4, these boxes might need to be replaced again. Additionally, there is still the 282 channel wall.
3. MPEG-4. Absolutely every last set top box currently in existence will need to be replaced, not to mention the purchase of all-new MPEG-4 encoding equipment. The encoders might be purchased well before the end of the MPEG-2 encoders' usable life. This option will not happen for many, many years. Does the Cisco support MPEG-4?
4. Increase channel density. Basically, this means putting one or two SD channels along with the two HD channels on a single transponder, or going Comcast on the customers and putting three HD channels on a transponder. This is the cheapest option.

This last option is a bit scary. If all three HD channels have very low motion, like shopping channels, or, once they exist, the three C-SPAN channels, you might be able to get away with it if the statmuxers and encoders are top-notch. But if the HD versions of Discovery Channel, Versus, and CNN go onto a transponder, even the best encoders and statmuxers won't prevent macroblocking.

IPTV doesn't eliminate the 282-channel MPEG-2 wall, but at least it pushes it forward a little longer.

It could prove quite costly for them to replace all of the free digital adapters that many of us have with HD boxes. I would think that they would have to keep them free as a consequence of eliminating the analog tier on us.

I do like the way DirecTV handles HD channels in their guide versus FiOS. They replace the SD channel with the HD channel if you have an HD receiver.

So channel 4 is channel 4, whether it's HD or SD. There are no separate HD and SD channels, and you don't end up with 004 is SD NBC, and HD NBC is over at 504.

I agree since the HD over the air signals wind up down with the SD signals on TiVo boxes. I would much rather have 2-1 over the air right next to FIOS Ch 2 HD rather than the way it is now. I do think that FIOS has the best scheme for grouping channels, though.

I still question why channels like
A&E
Bravo
Comedy Central
Comedy.TV
& ABC Family

are in the back of the pack behind
Sports, News, Info & Education, Women, Marketplace plus Home & Lesiure.

Why not put them where they belong, up front with all the other Entertainment channels ?

* I'd include the Kids channels with them.

Don't forget about the customers who might not be willing to shell out the extra cost of the HD box, especially those who have more than one ( SD ) in their homes. Could result in many subs leaving, I don't think they would go this route.

You misunderstand what I'm saying. They wouldn't charge SD customers for HD boxes. They'd charge them whatever they charge for SD boxes just like they do now.

The idea is you save so much money by reducing the administrative cost of maintaining separate STBs and the heavy cost to Verizon whenever a subscriber wants to upgrade service (i.e. truck rolls, shipping, tech support) that you recoup the initial cost of deploying more expensive STBs very quickly. If someone wants to upgrade to HD or DVR service, all they have to do is go on the website or call a CSR and HD service can be switched on instantly.

And the reality is, in 2009, none of the Motorola boxes that Verizon currently uses are all that expensive to purchase, especially compared to the cost of these STBs when FiOS service first began.

Plus, with on-site techs no longer dealing with upgrades, that leaves more time to schedule new installs, allowing the subscriber base to expand more rapidly.

3. MPEG-4. Absolutely every last set top box currently in existence will need to be replaced, not to mention the purchase of all-new MPEG-4 encoding equipment. The encoders might be purchased well before the end of the MPEG-2 encoders' usable life. This option will not happen for many, many years. Does the Cisco support MPEG-4?The 7100 and 7200 series Moto STBs support both MPEG-4 and MPEG-2. The Cisco STBs do the same.

The real cost isn't in purchasing MPEG4 STBs or even installing new equipment at the head end. It will, as you suggested, be in physically reclaiming the DCT-700 and the Moto series 2500, 2700, 6200, and 6400 STBs, especially since Verizon does not have a brick and mortar facility in most locations, and then replacing them with MPEG4 capable STBs. This process will certainly take no less than two years.

But at some point this will be necessary. Transitioning to MPEG4 will double capacity (four HDs per QAM instead of two). The 850 MHz system can probably handle little more than 150 national HD channels in its present form once you account for locals and SD programming. Fortunately for us, Verizon doesn't have to waste any of the QAM to provide VOD or Internet service, so we're getting the max out of it we can get. Should it be necessary, hopefully Verizon will sacrifice SD picture quality before HD picture quality.

Don't forget about the customers who might not be willing to shell out the extra cost of the HD box, especially those who have more than one ( SD ) in their homes. Could result in many subs leaving, I don't think they would go this route.And if done right, IPTV would affect a minimal number of subscribers that way, reducing risk of lost subs.

It could prove quite costly for them to replace all of the free digital adapters that many of us have with HD boxes. I would think that they would have to keep them free as a consequence of eliminating the analog tier on us.What I believe is that very few of those digital adapters are in homes subscribed to Extreme HD or international premium channels. If that's the case, then very few of these DCT-700's need to be replaced. My grandfather is one of those people who has an adapter, and I can assure you he doesn't have any of those packages.

The real cost isn't in purchasing MPEG4 STBs or even installing new equipment at the head end. It will, as you suggested, be in physically reclaiming the DCT-700 and the Moto series 2500, 2700, 6200, and 6400 STBs, especially since Verizon does not have a brick and mortar facility in most locations, and then replacing them with MPEG4 capable STBs. This process will certainly take no less than two years.And if you're selective on which SD channels to take to IPTV, if Verizon wanted to remain MPEG-2, the only boxes of those to replace would be the DCT-700's, and only some of those would need to be replaced. It really comes down to how many adapter-equipped homes have movie packages. If the number is low enough, then it's worth taking those channels to IPTV as well.

The 850 MHz system can probably handle little more than 150 national HD channels in its present form once you account for locals and SD programming. Fortunately for us, Verizon doesn't have to waste any of the QAM to provide VOD or Internet service, so we're getting the max out of it we can get. Should it be necessary, hopefully Verizon will sacrifice SD picture quality before HD picture quality.They can't go much further without reducing SD resolution (to, say, 544x480i) or introducing macroblocking. Those can be the only two possibilities to reduce bitrates on SD channels, so VZ can squeeze more SD feeds on a transponder. Actually, 544x480 wouldn't be a bad idea for IPTV, since that would save some bandwidth, which may be important if subscriber bases grow larger (especially if those subs have 20 Mbps packages).

By my count, if you count the international premiums, pay-per-view choices, and Extreme HD SD channels, there are about 65 of those channels that might exist at any one given time. Assuming 12 SD channels per transponder (I'm unsure how many there really are), that's about 5.5 transponders worth of channels. The remaining channels could probably be moved to other SD transponders, fully opening up the sixth transponder. That's 12 HD channels.

From there, there are 76 premium movie channels, if you count the adults like Playboy. That's another potential 6 transponders, or another 12 HD channels. So a total of up to 24 MPEG-2 HD channels could sensibly be reclaimed via IPTV. That could be enough to hold MPEG-4 back for a long, long time, until MPEG-4 boxes are more commonplace, thanks to increased HD penetration in homes.

You misunderstand what I'm saying. They wouldn't charge SD customers for HD boxes. They'd charge them whatever they charge for SD boxes just like they do now.

The idea is you save so much money by reducing the administrative cost of maintaining separate STBs and the heavy cost to Verizon whenever a subscriber wants to upgrade service (i.e. truck rolls, shipping, tech support) that you recoup the initial cost of deploying more expensive STBs very quickly. If someone wants to upgrade to HD or DVR service, all they have to do is go on the website or call a CSR and HD service can be switched on instantly.

And the reality is, in 2009, none of the Motorola boxes that Verizon currently uses are all that expensive to purchase, especially compared to the cost of these STBs when FiOS service first began.

Plus, with on-site techs no longer dealing with upgrades, that leaves more time to schedule new installs, allowing the subscriber base to expand more rapidly.



Ok, I get it now. But even with that said, I see them going the QAM stuffing route first ala Comcast if only for the simple reason of less hassle!

What I believe is that very few of those digital adapters are in homes subscribed to Extreme HD or international premium channels. If that's the case, then very few of these DCT-700's need to be replaced. My grandfather is one of those people who has an adapter, and I can assure you he doesn't have any of those packages.

I'll disagree. I have Extreme HD, Movie and sports packages, 2 HD TiVos with all the bells and whistles, but I still use a digital adapter to drive an SD set in my daughter's room, and another in my guest bedroom. I'm sure there are many power users that have a similar situation.

I have Extreme HD, Movie and sports packages, 2 HD TiVos with all the bells and whistles, but I still use a digital adapter to drive an SD set in my daughter's room, and another in my guest bedroom.Interesting. That said, if DCT-700 users don't watch the channels that would go IPTV, they can elect to keep the boxes they already have, and be none the poorer. With your daughter, it's unlikely she watches channels like Starz, RFD TV, NBA TV, or Polish-language stations at any point, so if those channels go IPTV, she's unaffected. You should be fine with the adapter in that room.

As for the guest bedroom, depending on the guest, it could be tuned to any channel at any time. So if IPTV happens, perhaps it would be a good idea to get an IP box in that room. Fortunately, it wouldn't cost much more to do it, since while the first adapter has no monthly fee, the second isn't free. I don't remember exactly how much, but I'll guess it's $5/month (though I might be off). In that case, what's another $2/month for the SD IPTV box if you're interested in the IPTV channels? It all washes out well for you.

I'm sure there are many power users that have a similar situation.Only those at Verizon know how many power users are out there. The number may be lower than you think. It reminds me of all those that have said, on this site, that they'll only watch a local news program if it's in high-def. Yet, no local high-def news program has ever gained in the ratings after going HD. For most people, it ultimately is about the content, not the resolution of the picture.

I'll disagree. I have Extreme HD, Movie and sports packages, 2 HD TiVos with all the bells and whistles, but I still use a digital adapter to drive an SD set in my daughter's room, and another in my guest bedroom. I'm sure there are many power users that have a similar situation.

same here. I sub to everything, have 2 TivoHD units and still use an SD box in my sons room

vurbano, does your SD box look like this?

http://www.motorola.com/staticfiles/Business/Products/TV%20Video%20Distribution/Set-tops/QAM%20Set-tops/All%20Digital%20QAM%20Set-tops/DCT700/_Images/Static%20Files/B2B_Product_DCT700_MD_US-EN.jpg

If not, then your SD box is IPTV ready.

It's a good thing that Verizon has records of who exactly has the DCT-700 boxes, and of those, who has advanced packages. Only those people would need to be contacted; everyone else's equipment would just keep working normally without any action on their end.

Transitioning to MPEG4 will double capacity (four HDs per QAM instead of two).Not necessarily. In time, cable and broadcast networks may want to transition to 60 frame per second 1080p. So Verizon may be using the jump to MPEG-4 to support those HD channels, instead of continuing 720p/1080i service. In that case, VZ would still be limited to two HD channels on a QAM transponder.

Also, I'm curious: If the Moto 7100 and 7200 decode MPEG-4 HD, why did Verizon switch to Cisco? Better prices? Support for 60-frame 1080p?

same here. I sub to everything, have 2 TivoHD units and still use an SD box in my sons room+2 our free adapter feeds an old 32" HDTV we have setup in the spare bedroom which is infrequently used. It's not HD, but it's good enough for guests to watch the early morning and late night news.

I got a couple of the digital adapters because Verizon was giving them away for free. I use one on the analog input on my HDTV and use it to PIP a second football game. Since they use the same remotes as the HD boxes, the Last button switches both boxes at the same time, enabling easy following of both games.

I think a lot of you are confused as to what I'm discussing. Under my proposal, most SD channels would remain on QAM, including all local channels. Additionally, many popular sports and entertainment channels, like A&E, ESPN, CNN, and Fox News Channel, would remain on QAM.

I envision the following SD channels going to IPTV:

NHL Network
CBS College Sports
Current TV
Chiller
Blue Highways TV
RFD TV
Channels 300 to 319 (sports channels included in the Extreme HD package)
Channels 1000-1488 (Pay-per-view, and subscription sports plans like Setanta Sports and ESPN Game Plan)
Channels 1750-1788 (niche subscription foreign language channels, like Deutche Welle TV and RAI Italia)
Channels 340 to 445 (all adult and premium movie channels)*

All other channels will remain exclusively on QAM, regardless of what packages subscribers may have. Users with enhanced packages may choose, at their own discretion, to keep continuing to use the DCT-700, and receive the remaining QAM channels. Or they can upgrade to an IPTV-capable box to receive IPTV channels. It's their call.

* depending on costs to benefits ratio of replacing applicable set-top boxes

Not necessarily. In time, cable and broadcast networks may want to transition to 60 frame per second 1080p. So Verizon may be using the jump to MPEG-4 to support those HD channels, instead of continuing 720p/1080i service. In that case, VZ would still be limited to two HD channels on a QAM transponder.That's not going to happen for 25 years at least, probably more. A switch to 1080p requires entirely new infrastructure at the broadcast end all over again.

I think we can all safely assume that 1080p linear channels are not in the cards for several decades. But there are VOD upgrades in the works for later this year, and with the GPON upgrades going around, it's probably just a matter of time before Verizon starts advertising 1080p VOD downloads like DirecTV.

Also, I'm curious: If the Moto 7100 and 7200 decode MPEG-4 HD, why did Verizon switch to Cisco? Better prices? Support for 60-frame 1080p?

I'm not sure, but rumors I've read here and elsewhere suggest that the Cisco DVR will have twice the storage capacity and the eSATA port will be active.

I would safely assume it has nothing to do with any sort of 1080p support. If the current boxes don't support 1080p, it's just a firmware issue.

It's a good thing that Verizon has records of who exactly has the DCT-700 boxes, and of those, who has advanced packages. Only those people would need to be contacted; everyone else's equipment would just keep working normally without any action on their end.



I think you're giving Verizon too much credit for being able to manage their records. Why do they keep sending me solicitations to upgrade to Extreme, which I already have, and to sign up for triple play? I have quadruple play now - wireless, land line, TV and internet. Shouldn't they be able to weed me out of their mailings if they're so savvy? :rolleyes:

It's a good thing that Verizon has records of who exactly has the DCT-700 boxes, and of those, who has advanced packages. Only those people would need to be contacted; everyone else's equipment would just keep working normally without any action on their end.I think you're giving Verizon too much credit for being able to manage their records. Why do they keep sending me solicitations to upgrade to Extreme, which I already have, and to sign up for triple play? I have quadruple play now - wireless, land line, TV and internet. Shouldn't they be able to weed me out of their mailings if they're so savvy? :rolleyes:My hope is that they're just being lazy with things, and sending them out to all their subscribers (with their bills?). Maybe it's cheaper to insert/send solicitations to everyone, than to have targeted solicitations. That's just a guess from someone with no inside info.

However, it will be cheaper to do super-targeted notifications for an IPTV rollout. Too much notification to too many people will cause too much confusion among viewers, which could result in STBs being replaced when they shouldn't be. If a customer isn't affected by an IPTV rollout, they shouldn't even know it's happening.

It's not like when the system was being converted to all-digital, and Verizon couldn't possibly know who would need DCT700's, hence the TV announcements. Besides, not placing notifications on TV this time means more revenue from outside advertisers, anyway.

I'm sure that Verizon has a record of users who have a DCT700, and what packages they're subscribed to, somewhere. They absolutely should use it if and when IPTV comes to fruition.
____________________________________

But there are VOD upgrades in the works for later this year, and with the GPON upgrades going around, it's probably just a matter of time before Verizon starts advertising 1080p VOD downloads like DirecTV.I assume 1080p VOD will require an MPEG-4 STB?

The 850 MHz system can probably handle little more than 150 national HD channels in its present form once you account for locals and SD programming.I was looking at the DCT700 on the Motorola website, and I noticed that it has a "90-860 MHz Tuner". This got me wondering: Does the Verizon 850 MHz system only transmit up to 850 MHz in frequency, or is the total bandwidth spectrum an 850 MHz wide "slice"?

It was my understanding that when Verizon made the outlay to upgrade every VHO to full QAM capacity, that was the death knell for any future IPTV endeavors. Verizon will increase capacity in the future by transitioning to MPEG4, not IPTV.IPTV will probably be less expensive to implement than MPEG-4. It's unlikely that Verizon, through SD bandwidth reduction alone, will be able to reclaim enough room for the amount of HD that will be coming. They've got it better in terms of available room than other cable companies. The real wild card is satellite. Does DirecTV, even with the soon-to-launch bird, have the room for 200 HD channels? What about Dish?

I assume 1080p VOD will require an MPEG-4 STB?Requiring it might be a good way to start STB swaps for everyone who wants to utilize 1080p but doesn't have a newer 7100/7200 Moto STB. Almost no one will care that they offer 1080p VOD except the videophiles. Few of them will be able to take advantage since it will be 1080p24, and HDTVs more than a year old probably can't accept it. If and when they do offer it, as is the case with DirecTV, it'll mostly just be an advertising ploy.

As for the technical details, I'm not knowledgeable enough to really speak to the point. My guess is that 1080p24 downloads wouldn't be feasible on any remaining BPON systems, but would be possible for the newer GPON systems. I don't know what the upgrade schedule is for GPON, but it should be finished sometime next year if it's not already. Ultimately, since VOD is sent on the 1490 packet with Internet while traditional TV is sent on the 1550 packet, I don't think it technically matters whether it's MPEG2 or MPEG4, but obviously the latter would cut the size of the download significantly.

I was looking at the DCT700 on the Motorola website, and I noticed that it has a "90-860 MHz Tuner". This got me wondering: Does the Verizon 850 MHz system only transmit up to 850 MHz in frequency, or is the total bandwidth spectrum an 850 MHz wide "slice"?The latter. I'm not sure of the details, but I think each QAM slot gets 6 Mhz, and each slot carries two MPEG2 HD channels or between 6-10 SD channels. I think all the music channels fit on one QAM. Here's a map of the Washington Metro area to give you a better idea: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r21749866-QAM-Channel-Use-List-for-Washington-Metro-Market.

IPTV will probably be less expensive to implement than MPEG-4. It's unlikely that Verizon, through SD bandwidth reduction alone, will be able to reclaim enough room for the amount of HD that will be coming. They've got it better in terms of available room than other cable companies. The real wild card is satellite. Does DirecTV, even with the soon-to-launch bird, have the room for 200 HD channels? What about Dish?

DirecTV absolutely does. All their HD is transmitting in MPEG4 already. Assuming the new satellite is at least mostly dedicated to national HD channels, which it almost surely is, they'll be able to easily claim capacity for 200 HD channels, especially given how DirecTV likes to fudge the numbers.

I don't have knowledge of Dish's infrastructure.

The bottom line is, the MPEG4 transition will take several years, so they are hopefully thinking about it now. They are the only terrestrial based QAM system with the resources and the infrastructure to implement the transition across its entire footprint. The longer they wait and the larger the footprint grows, the harder and more expensive it will become.

I did want to respond to one other comment you made regarding MPEG4 and 1080p broadcasting. The latter is very far down the road--decades away. It is on no one's radar. MPEG4 is, in relative terms, a much shorter term goal. DirecTV put the wheels in motion for its MPEG4 switch years ago now. Verizon's will need to happen within the next ten years, and the sooner it happens, the less likely PQ will be compromised in the name of channel selection.

Anyway, by the time the first 1080p broadcast happens, Verizon will have already transitioned to the next compression standard--MPEG16, MPEG64, what have you.

Entry for X-HMC on 740 here (no programming yet) in the Boston area (moved HMC-HD to 739).

The longer they wait and the larger the footprint grows, the harder and more expensive it will become.

I'm not sure if that's really the case now if they've depleted their supply of 6xxx boxes since any new box that they deploy is going to be MPEG4 capable and they aren't exactly bringing new VHOs online that often.

It might even be easier as time goes on as people swap out the 6 series boxes for something else due to hardware failure or maybe a drive upgrade when the cisco boxes come out.

My guess is that 1080p24 downloads wouldn't be feasible on any remaining BPON systems, but would be possible for the newer GPON systems. I don't know what the upgrade schedule is for GPON, but it should be finished sometime next year if it's not already. Ultimately, since VOD is sent on the 1490 packet with Internet while traditional TV is sent on the 1550 packet, I don't think it technically matters whether it's MPEG2 or MPEG4, but obviously the latter would cut the size of the download significantly.If the current HD VOD is 1080i MPEG-2 HD (averaging 16 Mbps), then MPEG-4 1080/24p (averaging 8 Mbps) would use less bandwidth than the current arrangement. So unless even a heavily underutilized BPON system would have some issue with the MPEG-4 codec itself (unlikely), then I doubt that BPON would be the issue preventing 1080p VOD. Even MPEG-2 1080p would use the same amount of bandwidth as the current MPEG-2 1080i. So it's unlikely that BPON is holding things up.

The longer they wait and the larger the footprint grows, the harder and more expensive it will become.I'm not sure if that's really the case now if they've depleted their supply of 6xxx boxes since any new box that they deploy is going to be MPEG4 capable and they aren't exactly bringing new VHOs online that often.

It might even be easier as time goes on as people swap out the 6 series boxes for something else due to hardware failure or maybe a drive upgrade when the cisco boxes come out.What would need to be replaced at a VHO to support MPEG-4 HD? I can think of MPEG4/MPEG-2 transconvertors. However, that only is needed if there needs to be transconverting. FOX has committed to MPEG-2 delivery of all (I think 75) of their HD channels, so if Verizon goes MPEG-4, those cross-convertors will cost a lot at all the VHO's. Will current Disney and Disney co-owned properties (including the A&E, Lifetime, and ESPN families) remain MPEG-2 exclusive? If so, that accounts for about 100 HD channels. Each headend would possibly need fewer transcoders if they remain MPEG-2, at least over the next five to ten years. I would assume that VZ would otherwise purchase equipment that could handle both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. So assuming there's enough QAM space for MPEG-2 HD, the system doesn't necessarily need an MPEG-4 overhaul anytime soon. Additionally, Matt, you earlier said,

The real cost isn't in purchasing MPEG4 STBs or even installing new equipment at the head end. It will, as you suggested, be in physically reclaiming the DCT-700 and the Moto series 2500, 2700, 6200, and 6400 STBs, especially since Verizon does not have a brick and mortar facility in most locations, and then replacing them with MPEG4 capable STBs.So how would things get more difficult for Verizon as time passes, since you've said that the biggest technical and financial hurdle is replacing STBs, not upgrading the headends? Perhaps you thought that switching every Moto box would be the big issue. But now that I've thought about it, and as bull3964 inferred, Verizon wouldn't need to replace every MPEG-2 SD and HD box to go MPEG-4 for HD. They would only need to replace the Moto 6200 and 6400 STB's, and keep SD channels on MPEG-2. They've got the bandwidth to handle that configuration. That would be a good value for Verizon, although I still contend that IPTV is an even better value, in terms of box switching costs.

An additional problem with going MPEG-4 is that the TiVo HD and Series3 don't decode MPEG-4. Well, technically, they're software-crippled to do MPEG-2 only, but viewers will be at the mercy of TiVo here to update the firmware. If Verizon switches before TiVo updates their firmware, a lot of TiVo users on this forum, and elsewhere, will be pissed. When will TiVo move? Who knows, maybe when Comcast starts transitioning to MPEG-4, whenever that is? Good thing that VZ is in less of a bandwidth bind than Comcast, so they can wait.

Here's a map of the Washington Metro area to give you a better idea: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r21749866-QAM-Channel-Use-List-for-Washington-Metro-Market.Thanks for the link. An average of 8 SD's on a QAM? Goody; that means more cleared QAMs than I thought.

OK, assuming 8 SD's on a QAM, the 64 aforementioned non-movie channels will open up about 8 transponders. The movie channels probably do 9 on a QAM, so using that metric, the 76 premium movie channels open up about 8.5 transponders; the other half of the ninth can go to currently underutilized SD transponders, fully opening it up, too. So you add the two groups up, and you get 17 transponders opened by IPTV.

From there, SD bitrates/bandwidth can be reduced to allow more SD channels on a single QAM. Comcast usually averages 12 SD's per QAM, each at 544x480i: http://www.comcastmediacenter.com/hits-quantum/programming-lineup.asp

So of the remaining SD channels, average bandwidth demands can be cut by a third. Basically, three transponders worth of channels can fit into two. So let's add it up:

According to Matt's link, there are, by my count, 45 SD QAM transponders, including local channels. Four or so of those transponders are basically half-utilized, so I'll say there are 43 in the "official" tally. Of those 43 transponders, 17 can feasibly be sent to IPTV. That will mean 26 transponders remain. So from there, we'll cut by one-third, which leaves us with 17.333 transponders. We'll round up to 18 to give the channels a little breathing room.

So bottom line, how many HD channels will this mean? First of all, Matt's link shows us that there are only 134 transponders, not 141 as I originally thought. Assuming transponders 2-6 remain unused (a good idea if they're in the same frequencies as OTA channels 2-6), 129 transponders of the original 134 will remain. Subtract the 18 SD QAM's from that, and you get 111 transponders. This means there's room for a total of 222 HD channels. Assuming a crowded local TV market, 15 of those are dedicated to local HD channels and RSN's. So that leaves 207 national MPEG-2 HD channels. (Eat your heart out, DirecTV.) The only question from there is this: Is room for 207 national HD channels enough?

What would need to be replaced at a VHO to support MPEG-4 HD?No idea. My only thinking was that there will presumably be more VHOs then than there are now, driving up the cost and the man hours. The most substantial "cost" to Verizon, even when it comes to swapping boxes, isn't really in money. It's in man hours. The more sprawling the FiOS network is, the longer it's going to take to reclaim boxes, and the harder it will be to continue expanding while also transitioning everyone to MPEG4, assuming that the folks you need to install MPEG4 hardware at all the head ends and nodes and what not have a good amount of technical expertise and whose abilities are fairly scarce.

On the other hand, STB swapping wouldn't have to be handled by Verizon techs since that wouldn't require much technical expertise. They could freelance that work out to some entity that would just schedule door-to-door visits and swap STBs.

Assuming a crowded local TV market, 15 of those are dedicated to local HD channels and RSN's. So that leaves 207 national MPEG-2 HD channels. (Eat your heart out, DirecTV.) The only question from there is this: Is room for 207 national HD channels enough?It might be enough to go a decade. It would certainly be enough to go 5-7 years down the road. Right now, there are 142 national HD channels available. There are 10 remaining Showtime channels that are supposed to light up in HD this year, and there are about another 10 channels with known plans to go HD by the end of 2010. That gets you to 162 channels. Once all those channels are accounted for, the only remaining channels not in HD on the premium tier belong to Starz/Encore. As for basic cable channels, most, if not all, of the "first order" cable networks have already launched HD channels. New HD channels from here on out will probably come from the major content providers, like Time Warner, NBCU, Disney, and Viacom, looking to streamline their workflow and save some transponder space by going all HD and removing duplicate feeds, as Fox has already announced plans to do by the end of 2010. But even if they all did that in the next five years, they honestly don't have that many channels left to transition and I haven't counted but they probably couldn't bring the overall total to 200 channels.

Currently, Verizon carries 112 national HD channels, with seven more known on the way for Q4 2009. That would put us at 119 going into 2010. This year Verizon added about 20 new national HD channels. Even assuming they add 20 more next year, they probably couldn't do it in subsequent years because there probably won't be enough new channels. Of course, just 20 more next year would still max out existing QAM capacity.

couldn't the STBs be self-installed, requiring techs only for troubled cases?

my main concern is the best quality HD

Thanks for any helpful comments :)

Mark, you already know my opinion...FIOS is still the best with the largest 'pipe' and least degradation (none) to the incoming signal. I still see D* feeds that show motion issues I don't see on the same channel with FIOS.

I'm thinking of switching from Cox Cable to FIOS, the "Extreme HD" package, which does contain lots of regular channels as well as HD ones. Missing from the lineup, however, which are favorites of mine, are Indep. Film Channel, Sundance, The Movie Channel. My monthly bill will be roughly the same as for Cox, and with Cox I also get HBO (its also not on the FIOS lineup). Can any one tell me if the TV reception (on a Sony 52XBR6) will be greatly improved or about the same for HD? Also, what about the old "regular" channels? What would be superior (besides the faster internet connection)? Thanks for any word.

i do like the way directv handles hd channels in their guide versus fios. They replace the sd channel with the hd channel if you have an hd receiver.

So channel 4 is channel 4, whether it's hd or sd. There are no separate hd and sd channels, and you don't end up with 004 is sd nbc, and hd nbc is over at 504.
yeah!

couldn't the STBs be self-installed, requiring techs only for troubled cases?Sure, they could mail the STBs just like they do for upgrades now. But I think you're overestimating how many people would successfully perform a self-swap. Unlike people who are actively seeking to upgrade to HD, DVR, etc., swappers would have no incentive to educate themselves or put forth the effort.

A lot of self swappers would probably just refuse to actually perform the swap and sit on the new STB until service failed at the MPEG4 transition. Then Verizon CSRs would drown in phone calls from angry customers.

I'm thinking of switching from Cox Cable to FIOS, the "Extreme HD" package, which does contain lots of regular channels as well as HD ones. Missing from the lineup, however, which are favorites of mine, are Indep. Film Channel, Sundance, The Movie Channel. My monthly bill will be roughly the same as for Cox, and with Cox I also get HBO (its also not on the FIOS lineup). Can any one tell me if the TV reception (on a Sony 52XBR6) will be greatly improved or about the same for HD? Also, what about the old "regular" channels? What would be superior (besides the faster internet connection)? Thanks for any word.

Can't speak for Cox, but both HD and SD channels look better through FIOS than they do from Comcast on all my displays!

Is anyone noticing some weird sort of tearing at the bottom of the images for channels like USA HD and SciFi HD? I've seen it on Monk and Warehouse 13 lately, as well as a couple others I can't recall right now.

It's weird, and not all the time, but it's on sideways motion, and only seems to affect the bottom 20% of the screen.

I'm thinking of switching from Cox Cable to FIOS, the "Extreme HD" package, which does contain lots of regular channels as well as HD ones. Missing from the lineup, however, which are favorites of mine, are Indep. Film Channel, Sundance, The Movie Channel. My monthly bill will be roughly the same as for Cox, and with Cox I also get HBO (its also not on the FIOS lineup). Can any one tell me if the TV reception (on a Sony 52XBR6) will be greatly improved or about the same for HD? Also, what about the old "regular" channels? What would be superior (besides the faster internet connection)? Thanks for any word.Standard definition and high-def channels do look better on average than cable. Any improved picture quality occurs because Verizon uses more space to transmit their channels, at least over Cox.

Verizon offers the "Movie Package" option, which includes IFC, Sundance, and The Movie Channel. While IFC and Sundance aren't available in HD, yet, The Movie Channel has four HD selections (channels 885 to 888). Additionally, the "Movie Package" includes SD and HD versions of Starz, Encore, and Showtime channels. Showtime apparently also has a few good TV series, like Dexter, Weeds, and one from Penn and Teller (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit!), though I haven't seen any of them.

The Movie package doesn't include any HBO channels, although HBO is available as another optional package.

Over the past couple of days, I have slowly changed my stance on the need for IPTV. I now realize that there isn't a need for IPTV, because there's enough bandwidth to handle both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 HD in a hybrid fashion that will require minimal investment on Verizon's part. Under this plan, many peoples' MPEG-2 HD boxes would not need to be switched out at all.

Verizon can avoid the IPTV path, and simply QAM stuff all SD channels in the method I've already mentioned. By my calculations, this would turn 43 SD QAM's into 29. Subtract that from the 129 feasible transponders, and this leaves 100 QAM transponders, or 200 HD channels. From there, I'll reserve 20 of those, not the previous 15, for Saturday spillover coverage of Big Ten Network HD games (the latter of which is available in HD, though not yet on VZ), in addition to HD locals and RSNs.

Room for 180 MPEG-2 HD channels remains. However, this number could be increased, through the MPEG-2/MPEG-4 hybrid tactic.

For viewers with just the FiOS Extreme HD package, no discernible changes to MPEG-2 service would occur. But for HD customers with any premium movie packages, an MPEG-4 box would become required. That way, any channels delivered to Verizon in MPEG-4 format could be passed through to the viewer without being transconverted or otherwise recompressed, saving QAM bandwidth. Transconverting equipment that is currently being used on these premium movie channels could then be repurposed for general purpose HD channels yet to come online, saving Verizon money.

Two reasons that only premium movie channels would go MPEG-4:

1. It saves Verizon money on box switching costs, since not all HD users have movie packages.
2. Verizon doesn't insert local content on premium movie channels. Local content is inserted by something called a "splicer". To my knowledge, Verizon's splicer equipment only works with MPEG-2 content. However, the premium movie channels have no localized content, allowing Verizon to bypass the need for any splicers.

So let's say that there are 75 HD premium movie channels. Of these, 60 of them are in MPEG-4. These 60 HD channels would take 30 QAM transponders with MPEG-2, but they would only require 15 QAM's with MPEG-4. Those 15 freed-up QAM transponders hold room for 30 MPEG-2 HD channels. Adding these 30 channels to the 180 HD feeds already available, results in a 210 national HD channel capacity. That's more than the 207 channel IPTV-based estimate in the past, and all with no IPTV.

Is anyone noticing some weird sort of tearing at the bottom of the images for channels like USA HD and SciFi HD? I've seen it on Monk and Warehouse 13 lately, as well as a couple others I can't recall right now.

It's weird, and not all the time, but it's on sideways motion, and only seems to affect the bottom 20% of the screen.

I've seen no problems here.

Over the past couple of days, I have slowly changed my stance on the need for IPTV. I now realize that there isn't a need for IPTV, because there's enough bandwidth to handle both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 HD in a hybrid fashion that will require minimal investment on Verizon's part. Under this plan, many peoples' MPEG-2 HD boxes would not need to be switched out at all.

Verizon can avoid the IPTV path, and simply QAM stuff all SD channels in the method I've already mentioned. By my calculations, this would turn 43 SD QAM's into 29. Subtract that from the 129 feasible transponders, and this leaves 100 QAM transponders, or 200 HD channels. From there, I'll reserve 20 of those, not the previous 15, for Saturday spillover coverage of Big Ten Network HD games (the latter of which is available in HD, though not yet on VZ), in addition to HD locals and RSNs.

Room for 180 MPEG-2 HD channels remains. However, this number could be increased, through the MPEG-2/MPEG-4 hybrid tactic.

For viewers with just the FiOS Extreme HD package, no discernible changes to MPEG-2 service would occur. But for HD customers with any premium movie packages, an MPEG-4 box would become required. That way, any channels delivered to Verizon in MPEG-4 format could be passed through to the viewer without being transconverted or otherwise recompressed, saving QAM bandwidth. Transconverting equipment that is currently being used on these premium movie channels could then be repurposed for general purpose HD channels yet to come online, saving Verizon money.

Two reasons that only premium movie channels would go MPEG-4:

1. It saves Verizon money on box switching costs, since not all HD users have movie packages.
2. Verizon doesn't insert local content on premium movie channels. Local content is inserted by something called a "splicer". To my knowledge, Verizon's splicer equipment only works with MPEG-2 content. However, the premium movie channels have no localized content, allowing Verizon to bypass the need for any splicers.

So let's say that there are 75 HD premium movie channels. Of these, 60 of them are in MPEG-4. These 60 HD channels would take 30 QAM transponders with MPEG-2, but they would only require 15 QAM's with MPEG-4. Those 15 freed-up QAM transponders hold room for 30 MPEG-2 HD channels. Adding these 30 channels to the 180 HD feeds already available, results in a 210 national HD channel capacity. That's more than the 207 channel IPTV-based estimate in the past, and all with no IPTV.

If FIOS went the IPTV route they would probably lose me as a customer for TV service. Even with the best to offer in HD, I will only be with a provider that allows me to use my TiVos.

As long as they stay with MPEG2/MPEG4, the TiVo should work fine since it can decode both those formats.

. Those 15 freed-up QAM transponders hold room for 30 MPEG-2 HD channels. Adding these 30 channels to the 180 HD feeds already available, results in a 210 national HD channel capacity. That's more than the 207 channel IPTV-based estimate in the past, and all with no IPTV.
They can even easily get to 250-300 HD's capacity, adding to your ideas:

There's no reason to hold back QAM 2-6, & I doubt they're doing it "on purpose" ... ... Besides being in a closed fiber system that can't (& isn't even allowed to, per FCC) radiate any meaningful interference, There are barely any Broadcast stations on those Low VhF freqs since the digital switchover (not to mention all the QAM channels currently being used, that are "actually" in the current Broadcast populated high VHF & UHF now) ... There's , what, 20 MPEG 4 HD's right there ... They can also take "select" HD's, such as QVC/HSN/CNBC's, & like cable providers, 3-to -a-QAM them. Low bitrate HD's could also be given an SD or 2 on their QAM without changing the HD signal ....
Finally, The DCT-700's could eventually be limited to channels below ch 50, + any SD's with no corresponding HD feed, only, 2-49 + SD-only channels would be the only channels actually sent in SD, discontinue 2500 boxes, 7200 type HD boxes required for any other SD TV's that want 50-499, & therefore shut down all SD feeds, & freeing up all the QAMs used for chs 50-499, that have a corresponding HD channel .. Freeing up even more QAMS, getting close to 300 HD's without IPTV & without yet going total MPEG 4!
This may even save VZ money, since they may not have to pay for the SD feed seperate from the HD feed of their channels anymore.

I'm currently a comcast customer and have been itching to get FIOS. Currently the fiber is being installed in my neighborhood and hopefully it will be available in a few months. Naturally, i'm already deciding what to get.

I currently have 2 HD DVRs and want to get something similar with FIOS. I noticed FIOS has a HD DVR that can be played back to all boxes. I assume if I wanted to watch in HD on another TV, I would have to get a HD tuner.

So I have two options, get 2 HD DVRs for $16/mo each or get 1 multi TV HD DVR for $20 and 1 regular HD tuner for $10. Basically a difference of $2. It seems like having 2 HD DVRs would be better since I get twice the recording capacity. The downside is I can't view a recording from one DVR on the other. Plus, I understand reliability may be a big issue with the multi-room DVR.

What do you recommend? 2 DVRs or 1 multi-room DVR and 1 HD tuner?

The problem with FiOS is too many HD's LOL. You will want a larger hard drive in your DVR so switch to FiOS for sure but look at getting a couple of TiVo HD's instead of the FiOS DVR's.

Otherwise, the multi room feature with FiOS works very well. You're just extremely limited in the amount of HD programing you can record.

I'm currently a comcast customer and have been itching to get FIOS. Currently the fiber is being installed in my neighborhood and hopefully it will be available in a few months. Naturally, i'm already deciding what to get.

I currently have 2 HD DVRs and want to get something similar with FIOS. I noticed FIOS has a HD DVR that can be played back to all boxes. I assume if I wanted to watch in HD on another TV, I would have to get a HD tuner.

So I have two options, get 2 HD DVRs for $16/mo each or get 1 multi TV HD DVR for $20 and 1 regular HD tuner for $10. Basically a difference of $2. It seems like having 2 HD DVRs would be better since I get twice the recording capacity. The downside is I can't view a recording from one DVR on the other. Plus, I understand reliability may be a big issue with the multi-room DVR.

What do you recommend? 2 DVRs or 1 multi-room DVR and 1 HD tuner?

I switched from TWC to Fios in June. Picture quality is noticeably better on FIOS.

I went the 1 hd-dvr and one HD tuner route. Works for us. But note the limited recording space. We record and watch mainly for time switching (and ff past commercials). If you plan on using the dvr for archiving, one unit will not be enough, at least until external drives are activated, if ever.

The watch on any receiver feature is great, as is the media manager--watch home movies or downloaded media.

A question I can't answer is -- if you have 2 hd dvrs, can each watch programs recorded on the other?:confused:

GE

The problem with FiOS is too many HD's LOL. You will want a larger hard drive in your DVR so switch to FiOS for sure but look at getting a couple of TiVo HD's instead of the FiOS DVR's.

Otherwise, the multi room feature with FiOS works very well. You're just extremely limited in the amount of HD programing you can record.

How does the setup with TIVO work? Is there a web site that explains it?

How does the setup with TIVO work? Is there a web site that explains it?

Tivo requires a cablecard installation, and paying for the Tivo service. You'll pay a monthly fee for the cable card(s).

After that, I leave it to the Tivo mavens to fill you in.... Aaron?

How does the setup with TIVO work? Is there a web site that explains it?

Try bkdtv's thread over at: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=419994

* The guy deserves an online Emmy for that one !

I have two options, get 2 HD DVRs for $16/mo each or get 1 multi TV HD DVR for $20 and 1 regular HD tuner for $10. Basically a difference of $2. It seems like having 2 HD DVRs would be better since I get twice the recording capacity. The downside is I can't view a recording from one DVR on the other. Plus, I understand reliability may be a big issue with the multi-room DVR.

What do you recommend? 2 DVRs or 1 multi-room DVR and 1 HD tuner?I'd do the multi-room DVR option. Next year, Verizon will introduce a Cisco multi-room DVR (pdf) (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/video/ps8611/ps10318/ps10348/G1699B-8600_Series_One_Sheet_Jan2009.pdf) that answers your issues (and may allow for an external HDD), so you can call to replace one of your DVR's at that point.

Or perhaps they may already be available when you get installed. Based on my grandfather's installation, the installers don't bring the set-top boxes when they first arrive, but on the second stop-over. So when they first get there, ask them if they have any Cisco multi-room DVR's available. If they don't know what you mean, they can always ask someone back at the headend.

I'm not sure if that's really the case now if they've depleted their supply of 6xxx boxes since any new box that they deploy is going to be MPEG4 capable and they aren't exactly bringing new VHOs online that often.

It might even be easier as time goes on as people swap out the 6 series boxes for something else due to hardware failure or maybe a drive upgrade when the cisco boxes come out.

Our initial install was a 7216 home media DVR and two non-DVR STBs. We decided to swap out one of the STBs for a HD-DVR and they sent us a 6416 for self-install. It appeared to be a used box, so they are still deploying the MPEG-2 boxes.

I'm currently a comcast customer and have been itching to get FIOS. Currently the fiber is being installed in my neighborhood and hopefully it will be available in a few months. Naturally, i'm already deciding what to get.

I currently have 2 HD DVRs and want to get something similar with FIOS. I noticed FIOS has a HD DVR that can be played back to all boxes. I assume if I wanted to watch in HD on another TV, I would have to get a HD tuner.

So I have two options, get 2 HD DVRs for $16/mo each or get 1 multi TV HD DVR for $20 and 1 regular HD tuner for $10. Basically a difference of $2. It seems like having 2 HD DVRs would be better since I get twice the recording capacity. The downside is I can't view a recording from one DVR on the other. Plus, I understand reliability may be a big issue with the multi-room DVR.

What do you recommend? 2 DVRs or 1 multi-room DVR and 1 HD tuner?

We switched from DirecTV with DVRs in two rooms to FiOS with the Home Media Server in our family room, and non-DVR STBs in other rooms.

Within a day we called Verizon and got a 2nd DVR to re-create our DirecTV configuration. The Home Media DVR set-up was nice, you can watch what you record on the DVR from any room, but we missed the convenience of having a second DVR in our bedroom. The fatal flaw in the multi-room DVR is that you can't record from other set-top-boxes, and you can't pause/RW from other set-top-boxes.

Hopefully the Cisco system will add these control capabilities to remote set-top boxes.

I've seen no problems here.

It appears to be gone as of this week, but it was there for the last couple of weeks (I've been getting caught up on Tivo).

It's not constant, but it's annoying...

We switched from DirecTV with DVRs in two rooms to FiOS with the Home Media Server in our family room, and non-DVR STBs in other rooms.

Within a day we called Verizon and got a 2nd DVR to re-create our DirecTV configuration. The Home Media DVR set-up was nice, you can watch what you record on the DVR from any room, but we missed the convenience of having a second DVR in our bedroom. The fatal flaw in the multi-room DVR is that you can't record from other set-top-boxes, and you can't pause/RW from other set-top-boxes.

Hopefully the Cisco system will add these control capabilities to remote set-top boxes.

This sounds like a deal breaker to me. I'll go with 2 DVRs.

It will probably be months before FIOS is actually available so i'll have to see what options I have then.

One concern is the motorola boxes look the same as the crappy DVRs that comcast has. I would fell better if they were the newer motorola boxes that have a rectangular appearance in front as opposed to the circular appearance. It took me about 2 years before I was able to get 2 reliable dual tuner DVRs from comcast.

Try bkdtv's thread over at: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=419994

* The guy deserves an online Emmy for that one !

If I have two boxes and go with tivo, I would pay $4/card plus $13/mo subscription fee. Total would be $21/mo. If I rent two boxes from verizon, I pay $32/mo. So Tivo saves me $11/mo. The two comparable Tivo boxes currently cost $259 each from Amazon. So I would spend $520 for them to save $11/mo. It would take me about 4 years to break even.

It seems Tivo is a better service, but most DVRs can do what Tivo does. Scheduled recordings for only new episodes, etc... .

If my Tivo breaks, I'm SOL. If Verizon switches technologies and I have an incomptable TIVO, I'm SOL. If Verizon upgrades to a better unit, I can call them and switch to another unit, no problem. With TIVO, I can't do this. With Verizon I can use their VOD, with TIVO, I can't. Not that I use VOD much. If for some unknown reason, things aren't working correctly, Verizon may blame TIVO and TIVO may blame Verizon.

I think I'll pass on the TIVO at first. Subject to change if I run into issues with the Verizon units.

We switched from DirecTV with DVRs in two rooms to FiOS with the Home Media Server in our family room, and non-DVR STBs in other rooms.

Within a day we called Verizon and got a 2nd DVR to re-create our DirecTV configuration. The Home Media DVR set-up was nice, you can watch what you record on the DVR from any room, but we missed the convenience of having a second DVR in our bedroom. The fatal flaw in the multi-room DVR is that you can't record from other set-top-boxes, and you can't pause/RW from other set-top-boxes.
Hopefully the Cisco system will add these control capabilities to remote set-top boxes.

That is not true, the remote STB's are full fuctional except the ability to record. If you can not perform these funtions then you have a bug in your software. Mine works fine using those features.

If I have two boxes and go with tivo, I would pay $4/card plus $13/mo subscription fee. Total would be $21/mo. If I rent two boxes from verizon, I pay $32/mo. So Tivo saves me $11/mo. The two comparable Tivo boxes currently cost $259 each from Amazon. So I would spend $520 for them to save $11/mo. It would take me about 4 years to break even.

It seems Tivo is a better service, but most DVRs can do what Tivo does. Scheduled recordings for only new episodes, etc... .

If my Tivo breaks, I'm SOL. If Verizon switches technologies and I have an incomptable TIVO, I'm SOL. If Verizon upgrades to a better unit, I can call them and switch to another unit, no problem. With TIVO, I can't do this. With Verizon I can use their VOD, with TIVO, I can't. Not that I use VOD much. If for some unknown reason, things aren't working correctly, Verizon may blame TIVO and TIVO may blame Verizon.

I think I'll pass on the TIVO at first. Subject to change if I run into issues with the Verizon units.

For someone who has never used a DVR, the cable company offerings are great. But once you use a TiVo, you see how much better DVRs can be, so using a cable company DVR after using a TiVo is a big letdown.

How much are wwe HD ppv events on vz?

I'm hearing different info from different providers
With D* and E* its
$39 for sd
$49 for HD

And on cable I heard both HD and sd is $39

How much are they on FiOS ?

That is not true, the remote STB's are full fuctional except the ability to record. If you can not perform these funtions then you have a bug in your software. Mine works fine using those features.

I should have been clear, you can not pause/FF/RW "live" TV from a non-DVR box. You can only use those features if watching recorded content from the Home Media DVR.

We missed having the ability to control live television that we had with our previous DirecTV set-up of DVRs in each room.

For someone who has never used a DVR, the cable company offerings are great. But once you use a TiVo, you see how much better DVRs can be, so using a cable company DVR after using a TiVo is a big letdown.

Honestly, it all depends on your usage patterns. I was a ReplayTV user and I have used Tivos before and while the UI and guide data are better and there are a few nice perks like being able to transfer shows to PC, the FIOS DVR really doesn't bother me much at all aside from the price they charge for it.

It's been stable and it records the things I want to watch. It gets the job done. Now, I only watch about 8 hours worth of first run programming a week (which most of my peers think is very excessive), so I really don't see any issues with organization or searching or anything else.

Really the only time space is even an issue is when I come across a few movies in the premiums that I want to record but don't have time to watch right away.

Where is a good site for more info on this setup and Win7 capabilities?

The Green Button has some good discussion as well as the HTPC forums here at AVS. You can also good for Windows 7 Media Center Review where you'll find some nice videos and a summary of what's new in 7.

How much are wwe HD ppv events on vz?

I'm hearing different info from different providers
With D* and E* its $39 for sd $49 for HD

And on cable I heard both HD and sd is $39 How much are they on FiOS ?

$45 SD & $50 HD. UFC PPVs are $45 SD or HD on Time Warner Cable in my city but on FiOS they are $50 SD & $55 HD. I have noticed some cable companies in other cities charging $5 extra for the HD event, FiOS is charging $10 extra.

The HD PPVs are not from their preferred PPV event provider, they come from iN Demand which I guess TWC/Comcast/Cox get a better deal from. If you order the PPVs monthly the extra $10 on each event can really add up, WWE & UFC should really work to prevent this.

Should I expect similar price differences for sports packages like NHL Center Ice or NBA League Pass (when offered)?

Should I expect similar price differences for sports packages like NHL Center Ice or NBA League Pass (when offered)?

There was no price difference for NHL Center Ice last season when I ordered it. Strange that the PPV would have one.

I should have been clear, you can not pause/FF/RW "live" TV from a non-DVR box. You can only use those features if watching recorded content from the Home Media DVR.

We missed having the ability to control live television that we had with our previous DirecTV set-up of DVRs in each room.

The On-Demand material works with full function as well but I see what you are saying as for live tv.

hi all, is there a difference between a PPV and an on-demand show? Can I save/record a PPV or OnDemand show that I've purchased for later viewing? And, can i order an ondemand/PPV show on one DVR and watch it from another?

Thanks!

FYI, word on the street is the reason why TDS and Colbert are in a 3 week hiatus is to switch to HD.

This is a prime example of why I don't follow the "the station doesn't show any HD content right now, we don't need it" line of thinking. Comedy Central is poised to add 4 hour of HD content a week to their lineup overnight and if we didn't have it right now I would be hopping mad. You really just never know when things are going to change drastically and not getting the one bit of programming you love in HD because you don't have the station is torture.

I'm currently hoping we get Cartoon Network HD very soon in the off chance that Adult Swim starts airing their stuff in HD. After seeing Venture Bros. on blu-ray, I will go crazy if they show Season 4 in HD from the start and we don't have the station.

Colbert and TDS always go on a three week hiatus prior to Labor Day, except last year because they were on an altered election year schedule.

But I agree with everything you said anyway.

But I agree with everything you said anyway.

Me too.

hi all, is there a difference between a PPV and an on-demand show? Can I save/record a PPV or OnDemand show that I've purchased for later viewing? And, can i order an ondemand/PPV show on one DVR and watch it from another?

Thanks!I'm not a FIOS customer, so no absolute truth here... In general, the difference between VOD and PPV is that you pay for the latter when you request it. VOD is part of your subscription.

On cable systems I have used, once you start a VOD/PPV show - it is good for 24 hours. You can pause and restart within the period without paying or requesting the episode over again.

Most if not all DVRs will prohibit recording of VOD/PPV.

hi all, is there a difference between a PPV and an on-demand show? Can I save/record a PPV or OnDemand show that I've purchased for later viewing? And, can i order an ondemand/PPV show on one DVR and watch it from another?

Thanks!

PPV is the traditional you pay a good amount for a special event. FIOS Video On Demand has both paid VOD (new movies, etc.) which cost a much lower amount than event PPV, typically between $2-7 per movie (the high end for HD movies), for example. There is also a significant amount of free VOD, movies , TV shows and all. If you subscribe to premium channels (the movies package, Cinemax, HBO) you also get the Premium Subscription VOD for those channels. If I subscribe to the movies package, I get Starz on Demand, ... which include both SD movies and shows, as well as HD movies; while it's not free, since you pay for the subscription, it comes at no added charge.

Most if not all DVRs will prohibit recording of VOD/PPV.

PPVs on channels 1000 & 1001 can be recorded to the Verizon Motorola DVRs.
On Demand (VOD) content can not whether its free or paid for.

Whelp, hot off the heels of their Echostar victory, Tivo is now suing Verizon and AT&T.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aNMTG0WgrQmE

Basically, it seems that unless you've inked a deal with Tivo, they are going to sue you if you offer a DVR.

Whelp, hot off the heels of their Echostar victory, Tivo is now suing Verizon and AT&T.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aNMTG0WgrQmE

The other patent, issued in February, is for a way of automatically compensating for a user’s reaction time when they’ve hit the fast-forward or reverse buttons.

I HATE this feature. When fast forwarding/reversing you can't stop it where you want it; it keeps jumping back, jumping back. It's the most annoying feature of FIOS to me.

I HATE this feature. When fast forwarding/reversing you can't stop it where you want it; it keeps jumping back, jumping back. It's the most annoying feature of FIOS to me.

So, now I understand. What I always thought of as a bug, is a feature. Go figure!

I HATE this feature. When fast forwarding/reversing you can't stop it where you want it; it keeps jumping back, jumping back. It's the most annoying feature of FIOS to me.

I happen to love it. When FFing at 2x, I can hit my desired spot almost every time. When I see the network logo, meaning back from commercial, I hit the play button, and end up in black before the show 9 ot of 10 times.

TV Online...starts with TNT and TBS programming and "more to come"

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/08/27/verizon-launches-fios-tv-online-trial/#continued

I HATE this feature. When fast forwarding/reversing you can't stop it where you want it; it keeps jumping back, jumping back. It's the most annoying feature of FIOS to me.

I have no problems with this. I suspect you have a defective box or corrupted firmware.

I have no problems with this. I suspect you have a defective box or corrupted firmware.
i just want to tell everyone that i live up in harford county md which is north of baltimore city by 30 miles or so i live in a rural area outside of town and i am getting fios christmas has come early to santa

i just want to tell everyone that i live up in harford county md which is north of baltimore city by 30 miles or so i live in a rural area outside of town and i am getting fios christmas has come early to santa

Good. But punctuation, capitalization, and understanding quoting are good things.

Showing your location (profile) is also helpful.

I HATE this feature. When fast forwarding/reversing you can't stop it where you want it; it keeps jumping back, jumping back. It's the most annoying feature of FIOS to me.

I love this feature as well. I almost always get it to stop exactly where I want it to with the slight jump-back.

Good. But punctuation, capitalization, and understanding quoting are good things.
us rednecks love runon sentences

+1 for the skip back feature. I don't see it as a bug. It's helpful to me. I can always ffwd on the fastest speed and then hit play when I think the show is back on and usually it skips back just enough to be at the right spot. sometimes i might have to hit the skip fwd or skip back 10s button.

maybe they should have a menu setting to disable it though, for the people that don't like it.

The worst feature about the guide is the fact you can't go back in time. I've missed the end of a few sporting events by not knowing what channel they were on when they ran past their time slot.

The worst feature about the guide is the fact you can't go back in time. I've missed the end of a few sporting events by not knowing what channel they were on when they ran past their time slot.

Isn't that the way most guides work?

The worst feature about the guide is the fact you can't go back in time. I've missed the end of a few sporting events by not knowing what channel they were on when they ran past their time slot.

In guide edit your options and switch from "Grid Guide" to whatever the other option is (I hardly ever use it) and you will be able to view earlier items on the channel.

Isn't that the way most guides work?That's the way many cable DVRs work. Some early DVRs like TiVo do allow you to go back in time. In the guide, you hit the replay (day -) or << (90 minutes back). Guide data is stored for the past 1-2 days.

In the FiOS IMG?


In guide edit your options and switch from "Grid Guide" to whatever the other option is (I hardly ever use it) and you will be able to view earlier items on the channel.

My Verizon wish list between now and the end of the year: BBC America HD, MSNBC HD (I don't care if it takes hell and back to make a deal with Cablevision-just fix the problem and get it done soon!!), CBS College Sports HD (Again, don't know why Verizon makes promoses and blatantly lies to their customers), All comcast channels in HD, all rainbow media channels in HD, All channels in HD owned by Ted Turner that aren't in the lineup yet (TCM HD, TruTV HD, Cartoon Network HD, HLN HD, Investigation Discovery HD (don't think this one has launched yet), All of the remaining Showtime channels in HD, NBA TV HD, all remaining Viacom channels in HD, and C&I HD (again,. I don't know why the hold up).

You could've just said "I want everything," since that's what you're asking for.

My Verizon wish list between now and the end of the year: ... MSNBC HD (I don't care if it takes hell and back to make a deal with Cablevision-just fix the problem and get it done soon!!), ... all rainbow media channels in HDTwo things:

1. Only WE and AMC have an HD channel available in the first place.

2. Rainbow Media is owned by Cablevision.

(Why would MSNBC HD be held up by Cablevision?)

Verizon won't carry national channels that they can't carry across their entire footprint, and Cablevision has exclusive rights to MSNBC in NYC. Not the first or last cheap trick employed by the sleaziest provider in an industry of sleazy providers. See also: MSG network availability on other providers, Tennis Channel dealings.

Two things:

1. Only WE and AMC have an HD channel available in the first place.

2. Rainbow Media is owned by Cablevision.Actually, AMC, WE, IFC, and Fuse all have HD channels. And they have been confirmed by Verizon as coming later this year during Q4.

You could've just said "I want everything," since that's what you're asking for.

Isn't this his weekly rant and rave over the very same issues?

Isn't that the way most guides work?

Comcast's allows you to go back past the current time frame. I miss that too.

Did anyone watch HDNet's coverage of the NASA Shuttle launch. LMAO. I have never, ever, seen an opening introduction to a launch done from a boxing ring.

"And now, we will pause for HDNet's live presentation of the NASA Space Shuttle in Florida... We will resume the fights after the launch."

Under the circumstances, it was the best thing they could do. Keep the viewers happy on both sides while keeping their NASA contract intact.

While the launch was spectacular, I really don't think it was the best picture quality. It looked noisy, even allowing for clouds. Did they compress the feed, to work in conjunction with the fight?

The picture quality of the fight itself was up to HDNet's usual high standards- you could clearly see the blood stains on the mat. The NASA coverage was below par. They cut back to the fight as soon as they could. I guess they allowed an amount of time about equal to one match. Fight, launch, next fight...

I cut over to Fox News HD and they provided coverage until external tank separation. Very nice view of the engine plume from the dark side of the earth. Excellent detail. The astronaut commenting was very sharp and immediately explained what the viewers were seeing, despite the distracting question by the talking head news host.

NASA Channel p-l-e-a-s-e? :(

NASA channel is not in HD, is it?

Actually, it is. I don't think it's on all the time. http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/mission_schedule.html

There are three standard definition NASA TV channels available. The Public Channel (Program 101), Education Channel (Program 102) and Media Channel (Program 103). An HD Channel (Program 105) also is available.

For those with C-Band dishes, open the Shuttle Mission TV schedule:
Standard-Definition NASA TV satellite coordinates are available at: http://www1.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/digital.html. High -Definition NASA TV Channel #105 is broadcast at 720p @ 59.94 fps, carried on an MPEG-2 digital signal on satellite AMC-6, Transponder 17C, at 72 degrees west longitude, 4040 MHz, vertical polarization. A Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) - compliant Integrated Receiver Decoder (IRD) with modulation of QPSK/DBV, data rate of 36.86, symbol 26.665 and FEC 3/4 will be needed for reception. Mission Audio can be accessed at: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv. Clients actively participating in Standard-Definition on-orbit interviews, interactive press briefings and satellite interviews must use the LIMO Channel, accessed via satellite AMC-6, 72 degrees west longitude, transponder 5C, 3785.5 MHz, vertical polarization. A Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) - compliant Integrated Receiver Decoder (IRD) with modulation of QPSK/DBV, data rate of 6.00 and FEC 3/4 will be needed for reception.

Cool.

Now go get NASA HD, FIOS! :)

Anyone check the encore presentation that aired at 12:00 PM ET? I forgot I still had the DVR set to record from the beginning of the week. The Friday Night Fights were just part of the full broadcast. Go figure.

Wow. Full coverage starting from inside the launch control at the T - 9 minute poll. Excellent. The announcer didn't do too bad, he tried to keep talking to a minimum inside the 2 minute count.

They kept coverage going until after external tank separation. Very, very cool to see what this looks like when the earth isn't illuminated (it's night time). Lots of launch replays in the meanwhile. Once the external tank separated, they did even more launch replays from lots of different angles. Even the fish cam, where you actually could see the fish hit the surface of the water during launch.

At the end of the program, they showed an incredible HD time elapse of the moon rising over the horizon as well as the HD video shot by the space shuttle as it was leaving the International Space Station a few weeks ago. Nice finale.

I think they spent some time in production on this, as everything was done right. Even the close-up shuttle views as the countdown was progressing.

Kudos to HDNet for the post-production quality. And yes, I still want the NASA channel.

(I searched HDNet and couldn't find the Encore presentation listed anywhere in the schedule.)

Has anyone here switched for Directv to Fios and been sorry? The incentives being offered by Fios are tempting me to switch. The only thing holding me back is the NFL Sunday ticket. I don't watch football, but the men in my life do. For the savings I would have, they could watch a few less games if my picture quality improves.

Cool.

Now go get NASA HD, FIOS! :)As I stated earlier about NASA-TV HD, at this point it seems too little too late anyways because by this time next year there will be virtually no HD programming (or no new programming) for that matter as the Space Shuttle program will be phased out.

I want to point out that the Space Shuttle isn't the only thing on. There's lots of other missions, even besides the ISS. I find that there's always something interesting to watch. With NASA funding always a concern, good public relations goes a long way. This is public relations.

Has anyone here switched for Directv to Fios and been sorry? The incentives being offered by Fios are tempting me to switch. The only thing holding me back is the NFL Sunday ticket. I don't watch football, but the men in my life do. For the savings I would have, they could watch a few less games if my picture quality improves.

I've been with D* since the beginning and live in a Fios area. I have Fios internet in my house. I had Fios tv installed for a couple months to compare. For me the Fios DVR is still inferior to D*. I'm also a sports enthusiast and enjoy the extra channels D* broadcasts for golf, tennis, mlb ei, march madness, etc. If you can live without the sports and get used to the DVR, the service will be rock solid.

Thanks for the responses. I love my D DVR so might not switch. Ireally love the travel chanel. If D had that in HD there would not be a question. The internet service is great though.

I've been with D* since the beginning and live in a Fios area. I have Fios internet in my house. I had Fios tv installed for a couple months to compare. For me the Fios DVR is still inferior to D*. I'm also a sports enthusiast and enjoy the extra channels D* broadcasts for golf, tennis, mlb ei, march madness, etc. If you can live without the sports and get used to the DVR, the service will be rock solid.

I tried all of them at once, yes Cablevision too. I ended up settling on FIOS with TiVo DVRs, and left my trees intact when D* added more birds.

I don't think this was ever posted here. Verizon uploaded new channel lineup PDFs (http://www22.verizon.com/Residential/FiOSTV/ChannelLineup/ChannelLineup.htm) to their website a little over a week ago. The PDFs feature a new format and while they don't tell us anything about channels that might be coming soon, they do list MLS Direct Kick/NBA League Pass HD on channel 1489.

Still dated for March here in Central PA: http://www22.verizon.com/NROneRetail/NR/rdonlyres/AD64565C-1CB4-4450-B447-B255FF88800D/0/Harris2_Web_CLU.pdf

Nope, your link is out of date. http://www22.verizon.com/NROneRetail/NR/rdonlyres/CF707E7E-707C-4DCF-9033-9CB8C5A9FB40/0/HARRISBURG_CLU_081909.PDF

Thanks for the responses. I love my D DVR so might not switch. Ireally love the travel chanel. If D had that in HD there would not be a question. The internet service is great though.

well FiOS has the Travel CH-HD NOW and for some time.

as for sports the only thing D* offers that FiOS(& any other provider) can't is NFL Sunday Ticket-& that is is indeed a deal-breaker for many(for the record FiOS has Golf CH & Tennis CH in HD plus MLB EI(w/HD CH) & should have ESPN College Game Plan starting soon. AFAIK NBA is the only ? left.

having had D* for 8 yrs.(tho never had their DVRs) FiOS has better PQ & reliability across the board at a better price. the FiOS DVR is the 1st one I've used & to me it's acceptable.

BTW if the guys in your living room are college sports fans FiOS has Big Ten Network & ESPN-U in HD plus CBS College Sports in SD(HD rumored to arrive in Q4 of this year.)

Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply

Nope, your link is out of date. http://www22.verizon.com/NROneRetail/NR/rdonlyres/CF707E7E-707C-4DCF-9033-9CB8C5A9FB40/0/HARRISBURG_CLU_081909.PDF

Please tell me how you get that Link, because when I go to Verizon I just get the old one.

Hmm, must be your cache or something. I just go to http://www.verizon.com/fiostv > Click "Channels" > Click "Print channel lineup."

Yes, that's
exactly where I go.

So, I cleared out the chache and tried setting my Internet Options / General / Browsing history / Settings / Check for newer versions of stored pages - from Automatically to Every time I visit the webpage.

Did not help !

Makes me wonder how many out of date things I'm getting while out there surfing the Internet.

I still get the March 2009 channel lineup as well.

Ditto. March 2009.

I don't think this was ever posted here. Verizon uploaded new channel lineup PDFs (http://www22.verizon.com/Residential/FiOSTV/ChannelLineup/ChannelLineup.htm) to their website a little over a week ago. The PDFs feature a new format and while they don't tell us anything about channels that might be coming soon, they do list MLS Direct Kick/NBA League Pass HD on channel 1489.

When is NBAtv coming? Its ridiculous that they will have League Pass and NBATV isnt live even though it was announced last year.

My grandfather made the first TV in our neighborhood. I remember little of it but do remember that to watch TV you lifted the lid on the top of the cabinet and watched a reflection of the picture tube on a mirror flat mounted on the bottom of the lid.Apologies if this is old news, but did you see this bit of news (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8159406.stm) about the oldest TV in the UK? Sounds like your grandfather's AND it can be used with digital broadcasts!

Looking for some feedback from you folks on the Home Media DVR and HD streaming. But first some history........I've had FIOS installed for about a year, and was told at install time that the Home Media DVR I had ordered would not stream HD to a regular HD STB in my house. So I had the tech provide me with a second regular HD DVR and kept the Home Media DVR active on my account (Had a deal on it, so was costing me slightly less money to keep the arrangement the way it was). Fast forward to a year later and now I'm paying $5 more for my HD DVR setup than I need to.

Since it now appears that you can stream HD content from the Home Media DVR to an HD STB, I need to decide whether to bin the one of my HD DVR's and swap it for a straight HD STB or choose to get rid of the Home Media functionality. I know the shortcomings of the HD streaming angle (Unable to pause Live TV, etc), but I'd like to know if the HD streaming of recorded shows is truly up to snuff or if there are issues with it that would annoy me.

Would appreciate any feedback you can provide.

as for sports the only thing D* offers that FiOS(& any other provider) can't is NFL Sunday Ticket-& that is is indeed a deal-breaker for many(for the record FiOS has Golf CH & Tennis CH in HD plus MLB EI(w/HD CH) & should have ESPN College Game Plan starting soon. AFAIK NBA is the only ? left.


That's quite the generalistic statement. While correct, it's not completely accurate. FIOS offers MLB EI and Center Ice and rumoured NBA League Pass, FIOS cannot compete with DirecTv with any for PQ. DirecTv broadcasts most if not all the games in all packages in HD. FIOS only offers 1 or 2 games a day in HD because they receive the packages from InDemand. The SD stuff is somewhat unwatchable on FIOS.

I am both a Verizon and DirecTv sub because of that very reason. It's important to keep the entire picture in mind when choosing a provider and you're a sports fan.

Apologies if this is old news, but did you see this bit of news (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8159406.stm) about the oldest TV in the UK? Sounds like your grandfather's AND it can be used with digital broadcasts!

That looks similar to my grandfather's TV though it was somewhere in the early to mid 1950's.

Aholbert-

NBA TV will be on by the season start...hang tight!

Aholbert-

NBA TV will be on by the season start...hang tight!

Thanks Jeepmatt. I'm just skeptical because I've been hearing about them adding NBATV for months and nothing has happened. Is NBATV going to be in HD too?

It was announced today that FIOS TV will also carry the NFL Red Zone channel - in both SD and HD!

It will launch by the Week 1 games on 9/13!

It was announced today that FIOS TV will also carry the NFL Red Zone channel - in both SD and HD!

It will launch by the Week 1 games on 9/13!


Another great reason to be with FIOS!

It was announced today that FIOS TV will also carry the NFL Red Zone channel - in both SD and HD!

It will launch by the Week 1 games on 9/13!


The "hot off the press" thread says there going to charge $50 for the season for that channel. Is that true?

From Verizon...

http://forums.verizon.com/t5/Verizon-at-Home/FiOS-TV-to-Carry-NFL-RedZone/ba-p/74364

"NFL RedZone is a subscription channel that costs $49.99 for the season. It will be available on FiOS TV in both HD (channel 835) and SD (channel 335)."

Looking for some feedback from you folks on the Home Media DVR and HD streaming. But first some history........I've had FIOS installed for about a year, and was told at install time that the Home Media DVR I had ordered would not stream HD to a regular HD STB in my house. So I had the tech provide me with a second regular HD DVR and kept the Home Media DVR active on my account (Had a deal on it, so was costing me slightly less money to keep the arrangement the way it was). Fast forward to a year later and now I'm paying $5 more for my HD DVR setup than I need to.

Since it now appears that you can stream HD content from the Home Media DVR to an HD STB, I need to decide whether to bin the one of my HD DVR's and swap it for a straight HD STB or choose to get rid of the Home Media functionality. I know the shortcomings of the HD streaming angle (Unable to pause Live TV, etc), but I'd like to know if the HD streaming of recorded shows is truly up to snuff or if there are issues with it that would annoy me.

Would appreciate any feedback you can provide.

I have a Verizon HD DVR streaming HD content to an HD STB and have no issues with performance. Picture quality is perfect. The only negative I can cite is when fast forwarding or rewinding, you get only two speed selections instead of the four you get on the HD DVR. Otherwise, no complaints.

The "hot off the press" thread says there going to charge $50 for the season for that channel. Is that true?

Yes, almost $3 per week. The other providers that will carry it are putting it in some sort of sports tier, which Verizon doesn't have.

Yes, almost $3 per week. The other providers that will carry it are putting it in some sort of sports tier, which Verizon doesn't have.

Verizon DOES have a sports tier and they're charging me for it every month.

Same here but most people don't since it only applies to parts of NJ and NY. :confused:

Verizon DOES have a sports tier and they're charging me for it every month.

$50? I think I'll pass. I can see the highlights on Sports Center. How much is D* charging for Sunday Ticket now?

Sunday Ticket is the only thing I miss about D*.

$50? I think I'll pass. I can see the highlights on Sports Center. How much is D* charging for Sunday Ticket now?

Sunday Ticket is the only thing I miss about D*.

I don't know, I think I'm getting sucked in by this. To be able to switch over to a channel that has the action for other games in the red zone, or in the last few minutes.... I think they might have me.

I usually only watch the Pats for an entire game anyways, since those are the terms of my parole with my wife :eek: So being able to switch over to see live red zone action might appeal to the sports ADD in me.

Same here but most people don't since it only applies to parts of NJ and NY. :confused:

Why is that? I thought verizon was pretty much the same across the board. Something I thought was an advantage for them when compared to some other Cable providers.

I have a Verizon HD DVR streaming HD content to an HD STB and have no issues with performance. Picture quality is perfect. The only negative I can cite is when fast forwarding or rewinding, you get only two speed selections instead of the four you get on the HD DVR. Otherwise, no complaints.

Cool, appreciate the feedback :). Now I just have to decide whether we can live with the HD space provided by just one DVR box, and if trade-off is worth the $6 or so in savings per month.

Why is that? I thought verizon was pretty much the same across the board. Something I thought was an advantage for them when compared to some other Cable providers.It allows for more competitive pricing. They can opt out of the sports tier and they get a significant discount on STBs.

At $49.99, Verizon can forget about it. I have NO interest in this channel for any price. It should be included in the extreme package which costs enough already.

Thanks Jeepmatt. I'm just skeptical because I've been hearing about them adding NBATV for months and nothing has happened. Is NBATV going to be in HD too?

Trust the man, he was right about the NHL last year.

Trust the man, he was right about the NHL last year.

I will. Fingers crossed that he's right.

Question about media manager: I tried to access my media manager from a different computer (location). I thought it would open my media from my home computer, but it would only access media on the computer I was on. Anyone know if this is possible?

Porcupine-
Thanks for the props!

There will be some extra decent HD news coming up....we should see some more additions as the calendar turns to October.

Porcupine-
Thanks for the props!

There will be some extra decent HD news coming up....we should see some more additions as the calendar turns to October.

Will BBC America HD or MSNBC HD be added?

Is there a way to make the deafault guide 16:9 in stead of 4:3? I just got FIOS installed and this is bugging me. Thanks for your help in advance!

IMG 1.7 that is coming over the next month or so and it will allow for a stretched guide.

I have not seen it with my own eyes so I don't know how it looks but I hear it is better then it is now. We'll see.

Is there a way to make the deafault guide 16:9 in stead of 4:3? I just got FIOS installed and this is bugging me. Thanks for your help in advance!

Will BBC America HD or MSNBC HD be added?

Originally, it was stated those channels would not becoming until 2010 (at the earliest, in MSNBC HD's case), so I wouldn't count on either of those. Here's everything that hasn't been announced by Verizon that is currently available or imminent on other providers:

Remaining Available HD Channels
A&E Networks: 1 - Crime & Investigation Network
Comcast: 3 - E!, G4, Style Network
Discovery Communications: 2 - BBC America, Investigation Discovery (launching this month)
Fox: Fuel TV
NBC Universal: 2 - MSNBC, Oxygen (launching this month)
Time Warner: 4 - Cartoon Network, HLN, truTV, Turner Classic Movies
Viacom: 3 - BET, BET J, Logo
Other: 5 - Fashion TV, Jewelry TV, RFD-TV, Shorts HD, TV One

We're now down to 21 total channels that Verizon doesn't presently carry, assuming the Rainbow Media channels, Team HD, NBA TV, and Epix launch as planned within the next month or so.

You forgot CBS College Sports HD. And judging from other webisites, that ,too, will not be available on Verizon Fios this year.

Looking for some feedback from you folks on the Home Media DVR and HD streaming. But first some history........I've had FIOS installed for about a year, and was told at install time that the Home Media DVR I had ordered would not stream HD to a regular HD STB in my house. So I had the tech provide me with a second regular HD DVR and kept the Home Media DVR active on my account (Had a deal on it, so was costing me slightly less money to keep the arrangement the way it was). Fast forward to a year later and now I'm paying $5 more for my HD DVR setup than I need to.

Since it now appears that you can stream HD content from the Home Media DVR to an HD STB, I need to decide whether to bin the one of my HD DVR's and swap it for a straight HD STB or choose to get rid of the Home Media functionality. I know the shortcomings of the HD streaming angle (Unable to pause Live TV, etc), but I'd like to know if the HD streaming of recorded shows is truly up to snuff or if there are issues with it that would annoy me.

Would appreciate any feedback you can provide.

We had two DVRs with DirecTV and went with one Home Media DVR and one regular HD STB when we switched to FioS. After about 48 hours we swapped the regular STB for a second DVR. Once you have had a DVR, it's hard to give up being able to pause/rewind live TV. You also can't initiate recording from the HD STB, you have to record from the Home Media DVR.

You forgot CBS College Sports HD. And judging from other webisites, that ,too, will not be available on Verizon Fios this year.

Given how much you hate Fios for not adding channels (as evidenced by your nearly daily rants), why are you still with Fios? Wouldn't your local cable provider or Dish/DirecTV be better for you? They do add channels you want.

Directv is becoming slower at adding HD channels. I'll give Fios credit for offering certain channels that Directv doesn't have. As far as DISH is concerned, their lineup is more or less on par with Verizon. My concern is that cable networks like Time Warner, Comcast, AT&T U-verse, and Cablevision have really stepped up with their content and are among the first to land channels I want. And not getting MSNBC HD or BBC America HD due to some ridiculous feud with Cablevision is plain unacceptable.

As of right now - BBC America and MSNBC HD are NOT in the 2009 plans.

We'll see a 'handful' (use this as a guide for the #) of channels at the end of this month / start of October. :D

NBA League Pass should then fire up in time for the season -

Then, that may be it for the rest of the year.

My concern is that cable networks like Time Warner, Comcast, AT&T U-verse, and Cablevision have really stepped up with their content and are among the first to land channels I want.
The question was why don't you switch if you aren't satisfied with fios. It sounds like a cable provider might better suit you. 'Tis not rocket science...

Is it truethat ehen verizon gets nba league pass that only 3or4 games will be in HD per night? just curious because directv shows every game in HD,and i have been thinking of switching to fios,but i want to make sure every game will be televisied in HD.

Celtic-
Most likely it will only be 1 or 2 NBA games per night in HD, as it is with Extra Innings.

FIOS (and other providers) get their League Pass programming via In Demand - and they only provide 1 HD channel at this time.

The question was why don't you switch if you aren't satisfied with fios. It sounds like a cable provider might better suit you. 'Tis not rocket science...

Here lies the problem: I don't live in an area that has any one of the following: Cablevision, AT&T, Time Warner, or Comcast. My other options are Directv (love their sports lineup-but they lack HD channels Verizon has that matters to me), DISH (for the same reason as Directv but to a lesser degree), and COX, my original provider before I switched to Fios.

Here lies the problem: I don't live in an area that has any one of the following: Cablevision, AT&T, Time Warner, or Comcast. My other options are Directv (love their sports lineup-but they lack HD channels Verizon has that matters to me), DISH (for the same reason as Directv but to a lesser degree), and COX, my original provider before I switched to Fios.

There is no problem. For a person with programming needs such as yourself, and where you have identified those providers who would satisfy you (Cablevision, AT&T, Time Warner, etc), the solution is simple. Move into an area with the provider you want. Now wouldn't that be better than needing to rant and rave on a daily basis?

BTW, Time Warner? In my area, they are a complete joke. My pet cockroach offers more HD than they do.

Hey, folks -

Verizon is currently wiring my bldg for FiOS and I've been looking forward to dumping Cablevision for years now. I currently use a TiVoHD with a single M card (and that craptacular tuning adapter that I had to wait years for). I know that there are some complaints about the size of the FiOS HD when it comes to recording HD programming, but with about the actual interface? Can you do any of the actor/director/genre searches that TiVO can do? I'd love to be able to go with Verizon's STB because I miss using the on-demand services that I lost with the cable card, but I'm a bit torn based on what I've read.

Thanks in advance.

Hey, folks -

Verizon is currently wiring my bldg for FiOS and I've been looking forward to dumping Cablevision for years now. I currently use a TiVoHD with a single M card (and that craptacular tuning adapter that I had to wait years for). I know that there are some complaints about the size of the FiOS HD when it comes to recording HD programming, but with about the actual interface? Can you do any of the actor/director/genre searches that TiVO can do? I'd love to be able to go with Verizon's STB because I miss using the on-demand services that I lost with the cable card, but I'm a bit torn based on what I've read.

Thanks in advance.

You can just use your current TiVoHD with a FIOS cable card. And if you want VOD you can rent a FIOS STB which gives you the same VOD capability as the FIOS DVR.
FIOS doesn't restrict any programming so you can easily transfer all the recordings to your (for burning to disc or permanent storage) or another TiVo.

Personally I have four TiVos with eight cable cards on FIOS. I used to have a FIOS STB for VOD but I found That I was only using it a couple of times a month and everything I could get from the FIOS VOD I could also get from other means I already have, like from the TiVos(Netflix, Amazon On Demand etc), Internet, VUDU, Xbox360 etc.

Since I dropped my STB I have not missed anything. It would be quite the opposite if I dropped my TiVos. The FIOS DVR doesn't come close to what I can do with the TiVos.

Vz. seems to be like Disney-very hard to deal with. They have been negotiating with CBS college Sports,Crime and Investigation and NBA forever. There is no excuse for not having BBC,HLN,TruTV and Turner Classic Movies .Have they ticked off Time Warner also?

As far as I am concerned 2009 has been a waste in adding new HD content. It appears that Vz. cannot deal with most of the available c0mpanies that have the remaining content.

Vz. seems to be like Disney-very hard to deal with. They have been negotiating with CBS college Sports,Crime and Investigation and NBA forever. There is no excuse for not having BBC,HLN,TruTV and Turner Classic Movies .Have they ticked off Time Warner also?

As far as I am concerned 2009 has been a waste in adding new HD content. It appears that Vz. cannot deal with most of the available c0mpanies that have the remaining content.

Well, don't let the door hit you on the way out; I'm sure D* would love to have you back or whatever lame company you were with beforehand. I like the new HD channels we've gotten since I joined back in March, and I couldn't be happier with the picture quality, so off with you, m'lad.

Vz. seems to be like Disney-very hard to deal with. They have been negotiating with CBS college Sports,Crime and Investigation and NBA forever. There is no excuse for not having BBC,HLN,TruTV and Turner Classic Movies .Have they ticked off Time Warner also?

As far as I am concerned 2009 has been a waste in adding new HD content. It appears that Vz. cannot deal with most of the available c0mpanies that have the remaining content.Expect some new HD channels in the next 3-6 weeks (although it won't include most of those you mentioned).

It looks like NFL RedZone is ready to go in VHO4. I get the "Not subscribed" message on 835.

It looks like NFL RedZone is ready to go in VHO4. I get the "Not subscribed" message on 835.

Wonder why it's not with the other Sports channels in the 570 - 59x range.

Well, technically you should be asking why Tennis Channel, Golf Channel, WFN, Outdoor Channel, MavTV, etc., don't follow the +500 rule. If they did, they'd be near NFL RedZone.

I was at the Vz Wireless store yesterday, and a FiOS salesguy pulled me aside. He wanted to upgrade our current service, while keeping the same cost. We have nearly everything, but he offered to upgrade our I-net from 20/5 to 25/15, and upgrade us from 1 HD DVR/2 SD boxes to 1 HD multiroom DVR/2 HD boxes.

Based upon my previous nightmarish experiences w/ FiOS billing, I just knew I should have walked away, but I jumped right in. He gave me a package that would save me $8 per month based upon my guess at the current rate. Of course, he didn't have access to my current bill, so he had to use my guess. Also, he had to use my broad statements about what products we have.

As soon as I got home, I realized I guessed high. I called him back, and he smoothly promised to match our current rate. I was starting to get really nervous. Then, I got an automated e-mail from Vz stating that I was signed up for backup services at $6.99 a month, which I didn't sign up for. I was able to cancel it online.

Today, I called Vz billing to verify the amounts/products. It took them a while to locate the order, but then had a hard time comparing services. However, they could tell me that my base rate would be $10 higher.

At this point, I knew I was sinking into quicksand. Who knew what other charges would show up later? I cancelled the upgrade ASAP. I'm still afraid something horrible will happen, like my service being completely cancelled, or other unidentified charges showing up for months to come.

The moral is: walk away from the salespeople!

Doug (in love w/ FiOS, other than the billing)

Thanks for the heads up. FYI - DSL Reports.com has a Verizon FiOS forum: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/vzfiostv You might find similar stories there.

Expect some new HD channels in the next 3-6 weeks (although it won't include most of those you mentioned).

TCM HD is the only new channel I really want.

TCM HD is the only new channel I really want.From what I recall from this forum, TCM HD is still many months from having actual HD content.

Shortly after TCM-HD launched on Cablevision, someone claimed that it looked no better than TCM on FiOS.

Given that Cablevision has been known to cram 4 HD channels onto one QAM channel, it's not surprising that a viewer might not see any difference between that and a FiOS SD channel.

TCM HD is not in the near term plans...and neither are the Turner Networks.

We'll be seeing 5 new HD's at the end of this month, and then most likely NBA TV and League Pass HD at the end of October prior to the season starting.

(Teaser: none of you men here will be mad about at the additions)

As i've stated previously, then that may be it for 2009.

Early 2010 rumors are for the Comcast HD's (E!, Style, G4)...


Also, Red Zone SD/HD live this morning out of VHO8. Ordering should be available tomorrow.

...The moral is: walk away from the salespeople!....
Be aware that there are a number of "add-ons" that come with your service that you may or may not want. The "free" wrestling package is added immediately, but it costs $10 per month after the first month. If you have any form of virus protection on your computer to begin with, you don't need Verizon's security package that adds $6 per month as I recall. Review your bill for the first few months to be sure you aren't being charged for ancillary products that you don't want or need.

Hi folks, I've just signed up for FiOS in NYC so I'll be joining the club. I do have a couple of questions I'm hoping you experienced users can shed some light on. I'm moving from Time Warner Cable using their HD-DVRs, by the way.

1. I'm going to get a couple of HD Tivos for my two HD television sets. Assuming I get the FiOS installer to install M cards, I do NOT need the Verizon DVRs, right? Yes, I know, that means no Video on Demand or widgets, but I couldn't care less about that. So assuming that doesn't matter, there's no reason for them to install their own DVRs and bill me for them, is there?

2. I'm being offered $140/month (before tax), and cheaper for the first six months, for FiOS service for two HD televisions (that includes the DVRs, but that will get adjusted as above), internet service of 25/10, and phone service. Does this sound like a reasonable rate for this triple play? I went to the Verizon web site and noticed that their cheaper offers do no include 25/10 (I think it's 10, maybe he said 15) service. When I boost it to 25 and include two units, the price moves roughly into that $140 range. So this is about as good as i can do?

Thanks.

sorry if this is a stupid question:
I heard that some sattelite & cable services have G4 HD. Is there any word on Fios getting this channel? We haven't had any HD channels in months, but I would be happy with just this channel for now.

What is G4?

What is G4?

Channel 191, where I live.

What programming does it show?