Fios is available to condo owners.

I think the new update is running behind as I am in NJ and was told I would have it by the end of May and its the middle of June and still nothing.

With VZ, the need for an STB with every TV is recognized. Works for me except with the kitchen TV. Is their provision with the box that would permit me to essentially hide it from view, but have a small sensor connected to it that I could place the sensor near the TV to pick up the remote signal?
And, if that answer is "NO," does anyone have another suggestion? :confused:
TIA
Roy

I guess FIOS is only available for home owners and not Condo owners....right?As rkkeller noted above, Verizon is doing some MDU FiOS installs. However ... alot depends on your particular building. Does the HOA / management group have an exclusive contract with another provider? What kind of access does Verizon have for cabling? Etc ...

If Verizon has started to deploy FiOS in your area ... you might want to ping your HOA to see if there's been any activity / discussions.

http://newscenter.verizon.com/press-releases/verizon/2006/page.jsp?itemID=29671535

With VZ, the need for an STB with every TV is recognized. Works for me except with the kitchen TV. Is their provision with the box that would permit me to essentially hide it from view, but have a small sensor connected to it that I could place the sensor near the TV to pick up the remote signal?
And, if that answer is "NO," does anyone have another suggestion? :confused:

If you can live with watching just the chs below 49 you don't need an STB - connect TV directly to the coax. Otherwise you'll need to find a spot for the STB - I thought I read that a smaller form factor STB might be available in the future.

I just had FIOS TV and internet installed yesterday.

I was told since I am in a condo the main FIOS box is in the central location and they reuse the telephone and cable wires to my unit to setup my condo.

So for Internet...they used the phone lines and ran a line to a DSL modem then to the router. Said I gets the same speeds as a normal install because I was connecting to the FIOS box in the equipment room and not back at the central switch like with normal DSL.

The TV was brought up via the cable line and also was run to the router.

Everything looks good on TV...and I am getting 2.5 mbts to the 5 mbts supposed to receive via the internet.

Any thoughts on this...or what I should look for?

thanks

You are in an MDU that is deploying a variation of FTTP technology. They are using an MDU ONT which is basically a shared ONT. This was probably due to difficulty getting Fiber to each living unit in the complex, or because the HOA decided they did not want Verizon running Fiber to each unit.

There are two flavors of MDU ONT, but you have the one that uses VDSL technology to extend the data signal via the existing copper network in your complex. It will allows very high speed data rates over the short distances common to your application, but it does require a DSL modem. I would not lose any sleep over the fact that you have this variant architecture.

All services should be fully deployable for you. While this is not the first choice architecture, it is a robust plan for situations where you cannot get Fiber direct to the living unit in an MDU environment.

Has anyone gone with the FIOS triple play, which includes phone service. Did it cause any problems with you security system's monitoring service?

Has anyone gone with the FIOS triple play, which includes phone service. Did it cause any problems with you security system's monitoring service?
If you get VoiceWing (VOIP) for the phone portion of triple play then you might have issues but you can still get POTS type phone service via FIOS that should have no issues with a system reliant on POTS. You could get the triple play but keep an old analog line just for the security system (if it doesn't work over VOIP).

Has anyone gone with the FIOS triple play, which includes phone service. Did it cause any problems with you security system's monitoring service?

FIOS Voice is a traditional Pots line and should work fine with your security systems. I do not know if the same is true of the VOIP product, but FIOS voice is not VOIP. You can get VOIP over FIOS, but its not the default service.

I live in Montgomery county MD and I am totally frustrated with Comcast. I am thinking of changing to Verizon FIOS but I have several questions related to secondary sets where I will not rent STBs. I have one HDTV with a QAM tuner and one with an old cable ready/analog tuner. If I connect the sets to FIOS via coax, what channels will I get? Will I get more than the local broadcast channels on all sets? Will I get the local broadcast HD channels on the set with the QAM tuner?

Thanks in advance for all replies

I live in Montgomery county MD and I am totally frustrated with Comcast. I am thinking of changing to Verizon FIOS but I have several questions related to secondary sets where I will not rent STBs. I have one HDTV with a QAM tuner and one with an old cable ready/analog tuner. If I connect the sets to FIOS via coax, what channels will I get? Will I get more than the local broadcast channels on all sets? Will I get the local broadcast HD channels on the set with the QAM tuner?

Thanks in advance for all replies

I too am in MontogmeryCounty, MD...

If you connect the cable to a TV with a QAM tuner, you will get the channels below 49 in analog and then also get the local broadcast HD channels as well as the music channels. No other channels will be available to you. The analog TV will receive only the stations below 49, which include local broadcast and just a handful of others.

The standard def box rental is $3 a month and the cablecard is also $3. HD-DVR is $13 per month. I think the first year they will give you the standard def box for free if you do their triple play.

Just a word of warning for anyone thinking about getting Verizons VOIP service Voicewing. While I suppose it functions fine as a VOIP system should once you switch from a Verizon land line to their VOIP the whole customer service/billing service falls apart. Voicewing and I suppose any other VOIP service is totally separate from either FIOS or Verizons land line service and you will no longer be able to be billed for all on one bill. In fact you cant even pay your FIOS services online once you dump their land line since it seems to be billed via the land line billing. And trying to get a CSR that can help is a real PITA! They really need to upgrade their internal billing to match their cutting edge technologies.




FIOS Voice is a traditional Pots line and should work fine with your security systems. I do not know if the same is true of the VOIP product, but FIOS voice is not VOIP. You can get VOIP over FIOS, but its not the default service.

I too am in MontogmeryCounty, MD...

If you connect the cable to a TV with a QAM tuner, you will get the channels below 49 in analog and then also get the local broadcast HD channels as well as the music channels. No other channels will be available to you. The analog TV will receive only the stations below 49, which include local broadcast and just a handful of others.

The standard def box rental is $3 a month and the cablecard is also $3. HD-DVR is $13 per month. I think the first year they will give you the standard def box for free if you do their triple play.
If you do a channel scan with a digital cable QAM tuner, you will also get the local SD broadcast, public access and government channels, not just the HD locals. When I did a scan back in March with two different tuners as an experiment, the newer Samsung DTB-H260F mapped the D.C. digital broadcast locals to 4-1, 4-2, 5-1, and so on. The older Samsung SIR-T451 did not. I had to dig up the HD locals at channels 73-1, 73-5, 74-2, etc. So Verizon passes the PSIP data through, but some QAM tuners may not map them. The SD digital locals were at QAM 63, 65, 67, 68 and the music sub-channels at 65. I should do another round of scans to see where the non-scrambled channels are now.

As you posted, a TV with an analog tuner will get the channels in the 2 to 49 range. Check the channel line-up at http://www22.verizon.com/content/fiostv/channel+lineup/channel+lineup.htm. All of those channels are digitally simulcast so a STB or QAM tuner will get the digital version of the SD locals.

The standard definition STB is $5/month which is reasonable (ignoring sign-up enticements), but I think the HD STB (non-DVR) is too expensive at $10/month. The 6416 HD-DVR is going to up to $16/month in mid-July for new subscribers or people getting one, so anyone planning to get the 6416 should go ahead and get it to lock in the $13/month rate for however long Verizon maintains it.

I was wondering if anyone here is getting just the analog channels on their computers via an ATI X800 AIW vid card? I use to be able to pick up the analogs via local cable but since I switched to FIOS the tuner in the card will not pick up anything. I have even had the card replaced through warranty but still no luck. The tech tested the line and shows a signal and hooking up a regular TV and it will get the channels. Just wondering if anyone else here has a similar setup.

FIOS Voice is a traditional Pots line and should work fine with your security systems. I do not know if the same is true of the VOIP product, but FIOS voice is not VOIP. You can get VOIP over FIOS, but its not the default service.
Like other cable cos, triple play usually involves VOIP for the phone portion. POTS charges are usually more than the typical $25/mo of VOIP.

What's up all,
Update to my PIP problem after getting FIOS (page 66 of this post).
Just got the CableCard installed in the TV and I am back in business. I told the tech not to touch anything until I got there, but of course I got home and the TV was pulled out and cablecard was installed.
Thankfully I didn't get a new hire and this guy knew what he was doing..

CableCard is installed and my PiP is working great! Thanks for all of the help on this...


On a side note...I used to be able to get into the service menu of my old Comcast box to set the HD resolution and the 4:3 override to full screen...
Is there any way to do this in the new Motorola cableboxes that Verizon uses? I used to get there by having the TV on, but cablebox off and then hit the "menu" button on th box.

Thanks again!

Hi. Don't know if anybody has had a similar problem. On one (I have three) of my FiOS STBs, my guide data would not appear. Furthermore, I was not getting the FiOS 1 channel on that STB either. Everything else was fine on the STB. I still was convinced it had to be the STB.

Well, as it turns out, I think the problem was the COAX cable (more specifically, one of the connectors) that goes from the wall to the STB. I troubleshooted the problem by replacing the STB in question with one of my other STBs (one that was getting guide data). Initially, the good STB would not update the guide either. I then checked the COAX connection at the back of the STB and the one at the wall plate. I discovered the one at the wall plate to be just a bit loose, and tightened it (a few more turns) down and voila, my guide data started to update! I then put back in the "faulty" STB and all appears to be well on it too. I even get FiOS 1 now!

I'm posting this to let people know that if they are having guide data issues (but no other problems), check you connections. It could help.

.

On a side note...I used to be able to get into the service menu of my old Comcast box to set the HD resolution and the 4:3 override to full screen...
Is there any way to do this in the new Motorola cableboxes that Verizon uses? I used to get there by having the TV on, but cablebox off and then hit the "menu" button on th box.

Thanks again!

you do the same thing with the FiOS boxes. hitting MENU on the remote works too.

Here is a billing question for you guys...

It seems I have received a bill for the telephone part of the service. It seems to be billed at the $39.99 rate plus prorated for the first month. Now I am guessing that I will get the credit for this next cycle when the FIOS TV and internet get billed since according to the triple play deal, I signed up for Phone, TV, and internet for $99 per month for 2 years. Does this sound accurate? This is in Montgomery County MD.

OK, semi-noob here. I just took the plunge and got my fios internet today. As I have read here, the wireless Actiontec router is junk. I am getting 20 down wired, but only 5-7 wireless. I also have a netgear mimo wireless router. I am lost as to how to make it work with the Actiontec. So far I plugged the Netgear into the Actiontec. The computer is connected to Netgear wireless fine, with a great connection. But when I open IE, won't load. So basically I am wondering how to set up the routers to make them work together, or even another idea. I am not going to accept paying for 20 when I am only getting 5-7 wireless. Help Please :(

EDIT..Ok after calming down and doing some reading/searching on here(I was too angry to figure out anything) I found that someone post this link:
http://kbserver.netgear.com/kb_web_files/N101236.asp
So I will give this a try and come back and update.

Here is a billing question for you guys...

It seems I have received a bill for the telephone part of the service. It seems to be billed at the $39.99 rate plus prorated for the first month. Now I am guessing that I will get the credit for this next cycle when the FIOS TV and internet get billed since according to the triple play deal, I signed up for Phone, TV, and internet for $99 per month for 2 years. Does this sound accurate? This is in Montgomery County MD.
Look online for the FIOS bill. I would have assumed everything being on the FIOS bill.

If you live in Delaware County, PA. anywhere between Upper Darby and Drexel Hill; you will be pleased to know that FIOS is coming soon!!!! I left the house this morning and an official Verizon surveyor was surveying my street. I asked him when were they planning to bring FIOS to the neighborhood and he said August but also added that he doubted that . He did say it would probably be here by March of 2008. Please Chime in if you have more information .

OK, semi-noob here. I just took the plunge and got my fios internet today. As I have read here, the wireless Actiontec router is junk. I am getting 20 down wired, but only 5-7 wireless. I also have a netgear mimo wireless router. I am lost as to how to make it work with the Actiontec. So far I plugged the Netgear into the Actiontec. The computer is connected to Netgear wireless fine, with a great connection. But when I open IE, won't load. So basically I am wondering how to set up the routers to make them work together, or even another idea. I am not going to accept paying for 20 when I am only getting 5-7 wireless. Help Please :(

EDIT..Ok after calming down and doing some reading/searching on here(I was too angry to figure out anything) I found that someone post this link:
http://kbserver.netgear.com/kb_web_files/N101236.asp
So I will give this a try and come back and update.

So I did everything as in this link and my wireless is still 5-7 on my windows PC's but my Mac laptop is now getting 13-16.
I have all G adapters. I also called verizon tech and they told me to buy an access point, that you can use the Netgear as an access point :confused:

So I did everything as in this link and my wireless is still 5-7 on my windows PC's but my Mac laptop is now getting 13-16.
I have all G adapters. I also called verizon tech and they told me to buy an access point, that you can use the Netgear as an access point :confused:

Wireless speed is always going to be less than wired. The speed listed (20?) is for the wired connection. The wireless speed is going to be affected by the quality of the adapter, the distance from the router and any interference, either physical (walls, floors) or emitters (any electronics, motors, etc). So getting 13-15 on the Macs is pretty good. Try taking a laptop and putting it right in front of the router and see the difference from operating outside, for instance.

The FIOS website also has some optimization tips / utilities that you might try.

Wireless speed is always going to be less than wired. The speed listed (20?) is for the wired connection. The wireless speed is going to be affected by the quality of the adapter, the distance from the router and any interference, either physical (walls, floors) or emitters (any electronics, motors, etc). So getting 13-15 on the Macs is pretty good. Try taking a laptop and putting it right in front of the router and see the difference from operating outside, for instance.

The FIOS website also has some optimization tips / utilities that you might try.

Thanks , I actually came here to update. I was right next to the router when I was getting that 5-7 speed. Since then I have spoke with fios tech again. And as you have said they had me go on speedguide.net and run the "tcp optimzer" and set it to 20,000.
I am now getting at least 15 on all computers now, sometimes 19 depending on the locations and how many comps are on at a time.
I wish the first guy suggested that, instead of me turning my router into a access point. But I learned a few new things , so time is never wasted in that sense.
As always you all are great, thanks for your help. Now my fios is working to it's potential. :) :rolleyes:

What's up all,
Update to my PIP problem after getting FIOS (page 66 of this post).
Just got the CableCard installed in the TV and I am back in business. I told the tech not to touch anything until I got there, but of course I got home and the TV was pulled out and cablecard was installed.
Thankfully I didn't get a new hire and this guy knew what he was doing..

CableCard is installed and my PiP is working great! Thanks for all of the help on this...


On a side note...I used to be able to get into the service menu of my old Comcast box to set the HD resolution and the 4:3 override to full screen...
Is there any way to do this in the new Motorola cableboxes that Verizon uses? I used to get there by having the TV on, but cablebox off and then hit the "menu" button on th box.

Thanks again!
Hey DingoAce, I'm also from Mass. (Framingham). Fios Tv hasn't made it here yet (no town approval), but I see that Lexington has. How is the PQ? Did you switch from Dtv or cable? If so, how does Fios compare? I'm a long time Dtv person but will definitely switch if PQ is better, esp in HD. Thanks
Any other MA people with comparisons?

With VZ, the need for an STB with every TV is recognized. Works for me except with the kitchen TV. Is their provision with the box that would permit me to essentially hide it from view, but have a small sensor connected to it that I could place the sensor near the TV to pick up the remote signal?
And, if that answer is "NO," does anyone have another suggestion? :confused:
TIA
Roy

If the remote is infrared, than an IR Remote extender should work. I do this now with Directv. The box is in the basement, with 100 feet of cable run from the box to my kitchen TV. I use the remote and the extender sends the signal all around the house. No Box anywhere in sight!

Hey DingoAce, I'm also from Mass. (Framingham). Fios Tv hasn't made it here yet (no town approval), but I see that Lexington has. How is the PQ? Did you switch from Dtv or cable? If so, how does Fios compare? I'm a long time Dtv person but will definitely switch if PQ is better, esp in HD. Thanks
Any other MA people with comparisons?

Here's my experience:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10219444&&#post10219444

If the remote is infrared, than an IR Remote extender should work. I do this now with Directv. The box is in the basement, with 100 feet of cable run from the box to my kitchen TV. I use the remote and the extender sends the signal all around the house. No Box anywhere in sight!

That only works for standard DEF, though. The HD box would have to be within HDMI/DVI/Component cable distance to work. My kitchen tv (a cheapo model) only has component inputs for HD so I'm out of luck - unless someone has another suggestion ? I do not really want to put the box in a kitchen cabinet.

That only works for standard DEF, though. The HD box would have to be within HDMI/DVI/Component cable distance to work. My kitchen tv (a cheapo model) only has component inputs for HD so I'm out of luck - unless someone has another suggestion ? I do not really want to put the box in a kitchen cabinet.

HD or SD has nothing to do with it. You put the transmitter in whatever remote comes with your box, and it will operate, just like it's right in front of you.

All the extender does is convert the IR (ifrared) to RF (Radio Frequency) so it works all over the house.

It's true you have to have the receiver hooked up to receive HD, but that's the same whether you have the box in the same room, or 500 feet away.

BTW, they make long distance HD cables. Check www.monoprice.com

They are not even that expensive.

a better solution might be an RF modulator to convert RF to component. You can get a mini Philips one at WalMart for $20. Run the RF cable to the kitchen, into the little modulator, then component out to the TV. Should not affect the picture quality, especially for a small screen size like you are speaking about.

a better solution might be an RF modulator to convert RF to component. You can get a mini Philips one at WalMart for $20. Run the RF cable to the kitchen, into the little modulator, then component out to the TV. Should not affect the picture quality, especially for a small screen size like you are speaking about.Um, no. That's not how an RF modulator works; it's the opposite. What you're describing would be demodulation... better known as tuning. A tuner would do it; a modulator would not. Secondly, it would affect the PQ. Thirdly... you would not be able to get component out of it, much less HD. (Those $20 RF modulators with three lines in -- one video, two audio -- are using composite, not component. And like I say, they only work in the other direction anyway.)

sorry, brain freeze. I used one to connect a RF to a TV, but it was composite in not component. It is RF out but S Video/R/L in. I do get stereo and it is only a 15" TV and shows no loss of picture quality.

That only works for standard DEF, though. The HD box would have to be within HDMI/DVI/Component cable distance to work. My kitchen tv (a cheapo model) only has component inputs for HD so I'm out of luck - unless someone has another suggestion ? I do not really want to put the box in a kitchen cabinet.
Hide the box within 25-50 feet of the HDTV?
Have you considered using either an HDMI Extender or a Component Video Extender:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10633495&highlight=hdmi+extender#post10633495

Hide the box within 25-50 feet of the HDTV?
Have you considered using either an HDMI Extender or a Component Video Extender:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10633495&highlight=hdmi+extender#post10633495


Thanks - I'm going to check it out

HD or SD has nothing to do with it. You put the transmitter in whatever remote comes with your box, and it will operate, just like it's right in front of you.

All the extender does is convert the IR (ifrared) to RF (Radio Frequency) so it works all over the house.

It's true you have to have the receiver hooked up to receive HD, but that's the same whether you have the box in the same room, or 500 feet away.

BTW, they make long distance HD cables. Check www.monoprice.com

They are not even that expensive.

I know the extender has nothing to do with SD/HD. My concern was running five wires (component + l/r audio) from my basement to the kitchen - my wife will kill me if I starty hacking up the floors/walls/cabinets ! ;)

I'm located between Annandale & Falls Church, VA. I know people in McLean north of here have FIOS, and apparently some in Annandale have it. But when I go to the FIOS site, they only tell me that it's not available and they will send me an e-mail when it becomes available. But they don't provide any estimate of when that might happen, and I've visited their site every few months for the past couple of years.

I'm tired of COX!!

Is there any other source of information on when it might become available in specific areas?

Ben Sanford :confused:

I just got FiOS installed today, but the aspect on my TV is AWFUL. I have to stretch the picture via the TV and thus my picture quality is terrible. It's blurry and not crisp at all. I cannot find a menu to change the resolution that the box is outputting at.

I looked at a couple previous posts on this subject but nothing seems to be as my problem is. It is not that I have small borders, but rather, well, look:

http://i16.tinypic.com/6f7fngl.jpg

There is no option to change anything in the menu. When I called up Verizon, they said it was a problem with my TV. But my Xbox runs perfect natively 1:1. The FiOS is being run through composite cables from the box.

I read about the powering off then hitting menu trick to change from 4:3 to 16:9 but I think my problem is different. Plus the menu trick doesn't bring up anything for me.

There are no component outs on my box. Just composite. This box model is (I am taking this from the front bottom left) QIP2500-3.

Did they give me a cheap box? This is for another TV (not the main one) in the house and it does not have the DVR feature. It is a different box than the DVR one (model QIP 6416-2).

This TV is an Olevia 332H, I believe.

The QIP2500-3 is SD only, I am sure, as it only has composite output. I understand that. But should my screen still be that small?

Sorry, I am somewhat in the dark about this.

Hello there peoples,

I JUST had my Fios installed 6/25. I was using Cavtel for Tel/internet, Dishnetwork for Satellite TV, and Comcast for basic TV and internet. I went for the triple play plus the extras that I needed such as an additional line etc. etc. My house already has wired communication panels for the TV ( all new Rg-6 ), for the internet all cat 5e on 110 punchdown blocks, and a 66 punchdown block for the phones on Cat 5e.

The install took 1.5 days. The tech had to string wire across several telephone polls to reach my house. When he pulled my OLD copper out for the phone lines he ended up having to run a new line in and COMPLETELY rewired my 66 block for the telephone lines, he even got me a longer 66 block! The coax was already run by me so there was no need for him to run any. He was amazing though, he checked out EVERY phonejack and network connection because he said he did NOT want to come back after all these issues. WHAT A GUY!!! Now onto my question. :-)

My previous setup went from the Modem to a Cisco Pix 501 firewall to a Dell 2616 gigabit switch. There is NOTHING like a Cisco or Netscreen firewall router if you do a LOT of uploading and downloading at the same time. They do something called fair queueing and the performance is amazing! The Actiontec MAY be MoCa and do some neat tricks but I need something to TRULY perform with better protection.

I purchased a Cisco ASA5505 firewall, this is supposed to be Cisco's latest and greatest, it even has an access port to plug your wireless into so it can be controlled through the firewall! I want to turn the Actiontec MW1424WR into a NIM. All I want it to do is run the VOD and TV guide and NOTHING more. I have read SEVERAL threads on how to do this, BUT the latest firmware changes ALL the menus about doing this and makes it LOTS harder to figure out. I DID get it to work by downloading the config. and manually changing it in notepad saving it and then reloading it, HOWEVER, I somehow lost the VOD and the TV guide. The STBs all read downloading please check again later, this went on for hours! Can somebody PLEASE help me with EXACTING steps with the lastest firmware to make it a working NIM so that my VOD and TV guides work??
Thanks in advance for the help, it's TRULY needed!

I just got FiOS installed today, but the aspect on my TV is AWFUL. I have to stretch the picture via the TV and thus my picture quality is terrible. It's blurry and not crisp at all. I cannot find a menu to change the resolution that the box is outputting at.

I looked at a couple previous posts on this subject but nothing seems to be as my problem is. It is not that I have small borders, but rather, well, look:

http://i16.tinypic.com/6f7fngl.jpg

There is no option to change anything in the menu. When I called up Verizon, they said it was a problem with my TV. But my Xbox runs perfect natively 1:1. The FiOS is being run through composite cables from the box.

I read about the powering off then hitting menu trick to change from 4:3 to 16:9 but I think my problem is different. Plus the menu trick doesn't bring up anything for me.

There are no component outs on my box. Just composite. This box model is (I am taking this from the front bottom left) QIP2500-3.

Did they give me a cheap box? This is for another TV (not the main one) in the house and it does not have the DVR feature. It is a different box than the DVR one (model QIP 6416-2).

This TV is an Olevia 332H, I believe.

The QIP2500-3 is SD only, I am sure, as it only has composite output. I understand that. But should my screen still be that small?

Sorry, I am somewhat in the dark about this.

The qip 2500 is a standard def box only, and does not have a 16:9 aspect ratio setting, thus it is definitely a setting on your set, have you tried other inputs on the set? perhaps s-video?

The question begs to be asked, "Why on earth would you invest in a wide-screen HDTV and put a God-awful composite video signal into it instead of ordering the HD STB and feeding it either component or HDMI?

I just got FiOS installed today, but the aspect on my TV is AWFUL. I have to stretch the picture via the TV and thus my picture quality is terrible. It's blurry and not crisp at all. I cannot find a menu to change the resolution that the box is outputting at.

I looked at a couple previous posts on this subject but nothing seems to be as my problem is. It is not that I have small borders, but rather, well, look:

http://i16.tinypic.com/6f7fngl.jpg

There is no option to change anything in the menu. When I called up Verizon, they said it was a problem with my TV. But my Xbox runs perfect natively 1:1. The FiOS is being run through composite cables from the box.

I read about the powering off then hitting menu trick to change from 4:3 to 16:9 but I think my problem is different. Plus the menu trick doesn't bring up anything for me.

There are no component outs on my box. Just composite. This box model is (I am taking this from the front bottom left) QIP2500-3.

Did they give me a cheap box? This is for another TV (not the main one) in the house and it does not have the DVR feature. It is a different box than the DVR one (model QIP 6416-2).

This TV is an Olevia 332H, I believe.

The QIP2500-3 is SD only, I am sure, as it only has composite output. I understand that. But should my screen still be that small?

Sorry, I am somewhat in the dark about this.

I'm located between Annandale & Falls Church, VA. I know people in McLean north of here have FIOS, and apparently some in Annandale have it. But when I go to the FIOS site, they only tell me that it's not available and they will send me an e-mail when it becomes available. But they don't provide any estimate of when that might happen, and I've visited their site every few months for the past couple of years.

I'm tired of COX!!

Is there any other source of information on when it might become available in specific areas?

Ben Sanford :confused:
Keep checking the FIOS site - once in a while someone posts the projected work for that month by Verizon.

does anyone know if Long Island (Eastern) is scheduled for FIOS any time this century ?

Verizon keeps saying, SOON....whatever that means

Has anyone gotten the new guide yet?

The question begs to be asked, "Why on earth would you invest in a wide-screen HDTV and put a God-awful composite video signal into it instead of ordering the HD STB and feeding it either component or HDMI?
I don't really watch TV :) No time for it; far too busy.

It's just here whenever I want to watch every so often. The HDTV box is upstairs in the main room. I ended up changing the TV to "Aspect" rather than "1:1"

It still looks terrible but I suspect that has to do with composite.

Anybody have the new FiOS Interactive Media Guide yet? I keep hoping that I'll wake up one morning and my software will be updated. Verizon says that everybody should have it by September, but I'm hoping sooner. I'm on Long Island and have been trying to find out when my area is scheduled for the software rollout. Anybody have an idea?

I don't really watch TV :) No time for it; far too busy.

It's just here whenever I want to watch every so often. The HDTV box is upstairs in the main room. I ended up changing the TV to "Aspect" rather than "1:1"

It still looks terrible but I suspect that has to do with composite.

Well, for God's sake, man, at least use an S-video cable!!

I am totally fed up with Verizon FiOS. Long story short, the neighbor cut our fiber line a few weeks ago. We called Verizon and they came and made some temporary patches, then proceeded to cut our coaxial line (for internet) in 2 different places. Brighthouse came and fixed that, but couldnt bury it because it was tangled with Verizons line. This was weeks ago, I have had a repair ticket with Verizon for over three weeks, and no one has come to do anything. My yard is a total mess, with the fiber and coaxial line now both above ground. Thanks a lot Verizon.

Oh and good luck trying to get in touch with them, I just got disconnected after waiting on hold for 10 minutes. Great.


Sorry to hear you are having problems... Verizon is not the one who buries the cable. A third party contractor is hired to do that. The Verizon Tech will come out and run the cable from the curb to the house and then again to do the install, but the cable gets buried by someone else. There has to be a ticket opened with verizon and then Verizon has to open a ticket with the third party contractor to come bury the drop. There is more than likely some confusion with the contractor. I hope they can get it all worked out for you. Good Luck.

I guess FIOS is only available for home owners and not Condo owners....right?

Not sure about your complex, but here in Texas our HOA has to approve FIOS before they will let them run the fiber into the complex. We are having a meeting about it later this month.

I know you can install FIOS in multi-unit buildings because there are several apartment buildings here in Dallas that have FIOS in them.

Hello to All,

Verizon FIOS has finally come to my neighborhood and I have a few questions that some of you may be able to answer. I currently have comcast digital cable with a moto hd box with dvi. I am considering changing to verizon . I'm sure someone here has done this. What are your impressions of the the verizon service?
Does the standard HD Box have a hdmi output on it? Is the picture quality better than comcast? Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Dude, did you try reading any of this thread?

Hello to All,

Verizon FIOS has finally come to my neighborhood and I have a few questions that some of you may be able to answer. I currently have comcast digital cable with a moto hd box with dvi. I am considering changing to verizon . I'm sure someone here has done this. What are your impressions of the the verizon service?
Does the standard HD Box have a hdmi output on it? Is the picture quality better than comcast? Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I switched from Comcast to Verizon a week ago and so far the HD PQ is the same as Comcast, maybe just a tad better but I don't see much difference BUT the SD PQ is markedly better. I record several SD programs from the SCI-FI channel (Eureka and the Stargates), USA (Monk and Burn Notice) and ABC Family (Kyle XY) and the PQ renders much better on my HDTV.

An HDMI is only available on a DVR, not the standard HD box. For the extra few bucks, get the DVR. Once you have it you'll wonder how you lived with no HD recording ability ;-)

I also have FIOS internet and am happy with it's performance.

Grey

An HDMI is only available on a DVR, not the standard HD box.


I have the Motorola QIP6200, which is the standard HD box, not a DVR, and it DOES have HDMI out.

Plano, TX here, I have a coworker who switched to Fios TV. He has an HDTV (not sure if 720p or 1080p). He used to have Comcast (Time Warner Cable) and he said the difference in PQ can be drastically seen in the regular, non HD channels. He said there is absolutely no noise in the picture.

Plano, TX here, I have a coworker who switched to Fios TV. He has an HDTV (not sure if 720p or 1080p). He used to have Comcast (Time Warner Cable) and he said the difference in PQ can be drastically seen in the regular, non HD channels. He said there is absolutely no noise in the picture.

I totally agree with your comments. I went from Comcast to Fios, and it was like night and day. Fios PQ is far superior to that of Comcast (Sarasota, FL) on SD channels. HD is comparable.

I have FIOS intrenet and TV and would like to drop my Verizon landline in favor of Vonage. Is this possible or will Verizon penalize me somehow?

I switched from Comcast to Verizon a week ago and so far the HD PQ is the same as Comcast, maybe just a tad better but I don't see much difference BUT the SD PQ is markedly better. I record several SD programs from the SCI-FI channel (Eureka and the Stargates), USA (Monk and Burn Notice) and ABC Family (Kyle XY) and the PQ renders much better on my HDTV.

An HDMI is only available on a DVR, not the standard HD box. For the extra few bucks, get the DVR. Once you have it you'll wonder how you lived with no HD recording ability ;-)

I also have FIOS internet and am happy with it's performance.

Grey

Thanks for the input. I kind of figured that the standerd hd box did not come with a hdmi port. Sounds like they use the same boxes as comcast. Does your box have dvi though? My current comcast non-dvr box does.

I have FIOS intrenet and TV and would like to drop my Verizon landline in favor of Vonage. Is this possible or will Verizon penalize me somehow?

I have heard that Vonage will work fine with fios internet..as far as them penalizing you..you will have to check your package deal's restrictions.

I have FIOS intrenet and TV and would like to drop my Verizon landline in favor of Vonage. Is this possible or will Verizon penalize me somehow?

Oooh GreyWolf050, we need to talk. I switched the land line over to Verizon Voicewing VOIP and while the service works ok, all went into the sh*#er with regard to billing and customer service. Apparently voicewing, which is suppose to be part of Verizon, must be far from the mind of Verizon. As soon as I cancelled my LL my ability to pay online went away. In fact you are suppose to be able to pay for your TV and internet online even if you dont have a Verizon telephone land line number by using your account number but this in fact doesnt work. I currently have a trouble ticket in with the internet division trying to figure it out. It is something they know about and they said has been happening with customers who switched their accts to VOIP. And while we are on the topic of customer service, well its baaad. unbelievably long hold times, routing problems, hours of operation only from 8 to 5 week days. I once was even transfered, mind you from within Verizons system, to some poor lady in California who pleaded with me to please tell Verizon to stop routing calls to her residence!

I always had good customer service with the FIOS proper part of the customer service department but that only works for orders and technical issues. Once you go to the billing its handled on the phone side and they have a long way to go.

Thanks for the input. I kind of figured that the standerd hd box did not come with a hdmi port. Sounds like they use the same boxes as comcast. Does your box have dvi though? My current comcast non-dvr box does.

the 6416-2 (HDDVR) and the 6200 (HD STB) both have hdmi out w/no DVI, however I hear some or all fios locations are supplying a 10' dvi-hdmi cable along w/ rca audio cables if your set needs

the 6416-2 (HDDVR) and the 6200 (HD STB) both have hdmi out w/no DVI, however I hear some or all fios locations are supplying a 10' dvi-hdmi cable along w/ rca audio cables if your set needs

So the 6200 hd stb has hdmi.. this is good. Thanks.. My current box has dvi and i have a dvi to hdmi adapter for it. My Pdp accepts hdmi.

Oooh GreyWolf050, we need to talk. I switched the land line over to Verizon Voicewing VOIP and while the service works ok, all went into the sh*#er with regard to billing and customer service. Apparently voicewing, which is suppose to be part of Verizon, must be far from the mind of Verizon. As soon as I cancelled my LL my ability to pay online went away. In fact you are suppose to be able to pay for your TV and internet online even if you dont have a Verizon telephone land line number by using your account number but this in fact doesnt work. I currently have a trouble ticket in with the internet division trying to figure it out. It is something they know about and they said has been happening with customers who switched their accts to VOIP. And while we are on the topic of customer service, well its baaad. unbelievably long hold times, routing problems, hours of operation only from 8 to 5 week days. I once was even transfered, mind you from within Verizons system, to some poor lady in California who pleaded with me to please tell Verizon to stop routing calls to her residence!

I always had good customer service with the FIOS proper part of the customer service department but that only works for orders and technical issues. Once you go to the billing its handled on the phone side and they have a long way to go.

If your bank has online bill pay can't you just pay the Verizon bill that way? I am thinking about switching and will be using Vonage as my voip as I use them now with comcast internet service. I do not plan on using verizons voip. What is the cost of their voip? They sent me a letter and said I can have unlimited calls on their landline for $19.99 a month for the first year but then it goes up to $39.99 a month..eek

As soon as I cancelled my LL my ability to pay online went away.

I can forgo the convience of paying my FIOS bill online in order to save 40 bucks per month. My Verizon LL bill is 60 bucks per month for minimal service where the cheapest Vonage plan is 18 bucks per month which includes 500 outgoing minutes per month, unlimited incoming calls plus a bunch of features Verizon would charge me more to activate. Fees and taxes are included and the give you the gear you need. Seems like a nobrainer considering I seldom use my LL other than to have a place for an answering machine...

I can forgo the convience of paying my FIOS bill online in order to save 40 bucks per month. My Verizon LL bill is 60 bucks per month for minimal service where the cheapest Vonage plan is 18 bucks per month which includes 500 outgoing minutes per month, unlimited incoming calls plus a bunch of features Verizon would charge me more to activate. Fees and taxes are included and the give you the gear you need. Seems like a nobrainer considering I seldom use my LL other than to have a place for an answering machine...

I will be the first to agree that the service is worth it because of the savings. I just wanted to make you aware of the downside related to your billing.

I will be the first to agree that the service is worth it because of the savings. I just wanted to make you aware of the downside related to your billing.

I thank you for the input. I get more reliable information and help from forum members such as youself than I could ever hope to receive from the CSR's at any service provider.

Thanks again,
/Grey

Anyone using the Samsung 4061F, or for that matter any 1080p TV, with Verizon FIOS HD/DVR (Motorola 6416-2)? The HD content looks great but some SD or 480i channels are barely watchable. Have tried everything from using S-VIDEO in to setting HD/DVR 4:3 overide. The worst channels are high motion sports, like ESPN-U or Fox Soccer. Connecting via HDMI. Note that setting 4:3 overide to 480i (and letting TV do upsampling to 1080p) does not work with the 4061f. Currently using 480p for 4:3.

Anyone have a set of settings they like? Or is this a general problem with 1080p sets and the lack of content?

Thanks!

Anyone using the Samsung 4061F, or for that matter any 1080p TV, with Verizon FIOS HD/DVR (Motorola 6416-2)? The HD content looks great but some SD or 480i channels are barely watchable. Have tried everything from using S-VIDEO in to setting HD/DVR 4:3 overide. The worst channels are high motion sports, like ESPN-U or Fox Soccer. Connecting via HDMI. Note that setting 4:3 overide to 480i (and letting TV do upsampling to 1080p) does not work with the 4061f. Currently using 480p for 4:3.

Anyone have a set of settings they like? Or is this a general problem with 1080p sets and the lack of content?

Thanks!

I have a VIZIO 47" 1080p, I've been watching both ESPNU and FoxSoccer Channel regularly; they look good with the override. I'm using HDMI for the video.

All SD looks very good (currently suffering through a Lifetime show that I wish was fuzzier).

Anyone using the Samsung 4061F, or for that matter any 1080p TV, with Verizon FIOS HD/DVR (Motorola 6416-2)? The HD content looks great but some SD or 480i channels are barely watchable. Have tried everything from using S-VIDEO in to setting HD/DVR 4:3 overide. The worst channels are high motion sports, like ESPN-U or Fox Soccer. Connecting via HDMI. Note that setting 4:3 overide to 480i (and letting TV do upsampling to 1080p) does not work with the 4061f. Currently using 480p for 4:3.

Anyone have a set of settings they like? Or is this a general problem with 1080p sets and the lack of content?

Thanks!

I have a 52" mitsu 1080p & a 32" 720p sammy, it sounds to me that you might be using some or all of your television's extra picture enhancement settings if you're getting the same result even w/ s-video(which can only send the sd in 480i). I would start with turning any extra settings to "off" or "normal".

Are you saying you're getting the same result even w/ 4:3 override set to "off"(i.e. the 6416 is sending the sd content in 1080i)?

AT&T doesn't offer binary newsgroups and in on board to block torrents. What is Verizon's policies on those subjects?

Verizon does offer Binaries, I believe 8 simultaneous connections. And they have never blocked any torrent traffic, although I use nonstandard ports in the 69xx range.

Anyone using the Samsung 4061F, or for that matter any 1080p TV, with Verizon FIOS HD/DVR (Motorola 6416-2)? The HD content looks great but some SD or 480i channels are barely watchable. Have tried everything from using S-VIDEO in to setting HD/DVR 4:3 overide. The worst channels are high motion sports, like ESPN-U or Fox Soccer. Connecting via HDMI. Note that setting 4:3 overide to 480i (and letting TV do upsampling to 1080p) does not work with the 4061f. Currently using 480p for 4:3.

Anyone have a set of settings they like? Or is this a general problem with 1080p sets and the lack of content?

Thanks!

I have a JVC 56FN97 & i'm rather pleased with SD PQ(HD is stunning!!).

I suspect your PQ issues have two sources:

1. the scaler in your Samsung. not saying it's defective just not one of the better ones out there.

2. any video processing features you may have enabled(you don't mention this in your 1st post)

3. some of the chs have marginal PQ to begin with. when i had D* ESPN U & FSC always had some of the fuzziest images on large-field long distance shots. both chs have small but noticable improvement with FiOS. now the medium distance shots are visibly improved, whereas before the image was improved only on close-in shots. another good example is the locally-sourced programming on the Pentagon ch-it was obviously mediocre-to-poor quality to begin with.

the added bandwidth over FiOS is going to clean up compression artifacts & such but it can't magically make a poor quality signal good.

Sounds like you have your ducks lined up.

As for the cable card, I have the Tivo S3, and there's issues between the two which Tivo and Verizon are working on. However if you know users that have had good luck with the Verizon cable card and the Sony device you're referring to, then you're probably in good shape. Officially, Verizon won't say they support their cable card in some other device, for obvious reasons, although I've found them willing to try to work out compatibility issues.

Hi Ron,

What sort of issues? Assume I am totally ignorant (woefully so) and describe how the S3 works with FIOS.

Thanks...

Ed

Hi Ron,

What sort of issues? Assume I am totally ignorant (woefully so) and describe how the S3 works with FIOS.

Thanks...

Ed

Ed:

This looks like an old quote of mine. Don't recall writing it recently.

Anyhow, all works fine for me with Fios and the S3. Initially I was having problems with about 8 HD channels, but no longer so. I solved my problems with insertion of a Radio Shack amp in the line to boast the signal to the S3. Not even sure I still need it, but "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Nor have I seen much negative talk, concerning our area, about Fios and the S3. So perhaps, Verizon has identified the problems and corrected them. I've read in other parts of the country that bad "cards" have been replaced in the Verizon system.

Anyhow, to your original question. The S3 is a cable tuner. It's no different that a TV set you can buy that has a cable card slot. Without a cable card, it will receive what's referred to as the "analog tier", which is what any cable ready set will get without a cable company's cable box. In the case of Comcast, that would be channels 2-99. In the case of Verizon, it's channels 2-49, which is essentially our local channels and some public access stuff. So what the cable card does is acts as a STB and allows the Tivo S3 to receive the entire spectrum of subscribed services. You need two of them in order to allow you to record two shows at once or watch one and record a second. Think the cable cards are $2.98 each.

All in all, I highly recommend Fios with the S3.

So tell me --- did you dig the trench for the 150'?

Ed:

This looks like an old quote of mine. Don't recall writing it recently.

Anyhow, all works fine for me with Fios and the S3... ...Think the cable cards are $2.98 each.

All in all, I highly recommend Fios with the S3.

So tell me --- did you dig the trench for the 150'?

Thanks a lot for the info on the TiVo S3 and Verizon FIOS. No, I haven't started digging yet. :) I called Verizon (using your info about gethelp) and actually managed to talk to a real live person. (THANKS!) He is checking with someone else to see if they have any plans to make a fiber cable run to me anytime in the near future. Supposed to hear something in a week? I've got all my fingers and toes crossed.

In the meantime I am beginning to learn what all is involved with FIOS, such as how the TiVo S3 works with it. Sounds great...

Ed

FIOS hi-speed internet has been available in this part of Southern Delaware (Angola area of Sussex County) for about 6 mo. I have the 15/2 mps midrange option. As of this week FIOS TV is also available here. Can't wait - will have it installed next week. Replaces Mediacom cable in our area. Will report how it goes if someone wants to know.
Normally Verizon installs the Interface on the outside but per my request installed it inside which I feel is more secure and closer to existing Coax splitter boxes and the Verizon supplied battery backup.
Here the triple play promotion is $99.99 for FIOS TV, Internet at 5mps, and phone. $10 more for the 15/2 mps. Each standard TV box is $5, HDTV box $10, cable card $3.99/mo.

Normally Verizon installs the Interface on the outside but per my request installed it inside which I feel is more secure and closer to existing Coax splitter boxes and the Verizon supplied battery backup.


My ONT is also installed inside, at my request. Installer actually was pleased to do it, because it was raining the day of the install, and this minimized the time he had to spend outdoors.

My ONT is inside as well... I lucked out as the crew who buried the fiber never put the termination on it so it was super easy to snake into the house. It just makes the whole wiring a lot cleaner as the battery backup, coax, and RJ-11 phone wire is all in one spot. Plus not having a the ONT sticking out on the front of the house looks much cleaner.

Installing the ONT inside makes wiring much simpler - only the fiber has to go through the house exterior wall.

Oooh GreyWolf050, we need to talk. I switched the land line over to Verizon Voicewing VOIP and while the service works ok, all went into the sh*#er with regard to billing and customer service. Apparently voicewing, which is suppose to be part of Verizon, must be far from the mind of Verizon. As soon as I cancelled my LL my ability to pay online went away. In fact you are suppose to be able to pay for your TV and internet online even if you dont have a Verizon telephone land line number by using your account number but this in fact doesnt work. I currently have a trouble ticket in with the internet division trying to figure it out. It is something they know about and they said has been happening with customers who switched their accts to VOIP. And while we are on the topic of customer service, well its baaad. unbelievably long hold times, routing problems, hours of operation only from 8 to 5 week days. I once was even transfered, mind you from within Verizons system, to some poor lady in California who pleaded with me to please tell Verizon to stop routing calls to her residence!

I always had good customer service with the FIOS proper part of the customer service department but that only works for orders and technical issues. Once you go to the billing its handled on the phone side and they have a long way to go.

I installed Vonage last Wenesday and it's working flawlessly, plus they give you the phone adaptor and a bunch of features free (caller ID, call forwarding, voicemail and call waiting).

I called Verizon yesterday to cancel my landline. I thought I was on terminal hold and almost gave up when a nice lady in customer service picked up and did the cancellation with no hassels. She also transferred my FIOS TV and internet charges to paper billing. She also said that once I get my 1st paper bill I can login with my account number and pay future bills online.

Not the horror show I had anticipated, I guess it depends on which customer service rep the luck of the draw is assigned to your case ;-)

I installed Vonage last Wenesday and it's working flawlessly, plus they give you the phone adaptor and a bunch of features free (caller ID, call forwarding, voicemail and call waiting).

I called Verizon yesterday to cancel my landline. I thought I was on terminal hold and almost gave up when a nice lady in customer service picked up and did the cancellation with no hassels. She also transferred my FIOS TV and internet charges to paper billing. She also said that once I get my 1st paper bill I can login with my account number and pay future bills online.

Not the horror show I had anticipated, I guess it depends on which customer service rep the luck of the draw is assigned to your case ;-)

I finally got a decent CSR the last time I called too and she is the one that informed me that Verizon was in fact having problems with peoples accounts that dropped off the land line. I was not switched to paper billing right after I switched to voicewing so that may be the reason the whole account got screwed up. All I can say is good luck and I hope they got it right for you. Please let us know when you can confirm access to your remaining FIOS account online and that all is well.

Thanks.

Jeff

I ended up having online access to my FiOS internet and to my FiOS TV, but through separate accounts. Apparently the process to combine them back into one account would requiring cancelling one and re-adding the service to the other, and that just sounded a bit too fraught with peril for me.

Verizon has gotten a bit better about allowing you to get to your account information without a Verizon-hosted phone number, but that is a fairly recent change. My plan is just to lay low and not change anything :).

Hampton Roads, VA got the new IMG today!!! any other VA localities?(heck any other FiOS market period?)

Hampton Roads, VA got the new IMG today!!! any other VA localities?(heck any other FiOS market period?)

Hasn't show up in Richmond yet. I did get a mailer yesterday saying it's coming - hopefully soon!!!

http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1009305/ultraflexible_fiber_optics_on_the_way/index.html
--John

rickypicky,
don't worry, Cox hasn't gotten any better. In the time since you've posted this, it's gotten infinitely better. Zero HD-Lite signals / macroblocking (full uncompressed) signals here in Tucson, AZ ;)

Not to get off topic but is it true if you go fios you lose all copper connections? In other words sometime in the future (after you buy Fios) they will remove your copper telephone line(s)?

Not to get off topic but is it true if you go fios you lose all copper connections? In other words sometime in the future (after you buy Fios) they will remove your copper telephone line(s)?
I don't know that they actually remove the copper line, but it is at least disconnected . I am having FIOS TV installed this weekend, and I had to give up my Verizon phone and DSL because of that and switch over to FIOS phone and internet, because my copper line will no longer be in service. If anyone knows if they actually remove the copper line, I would be interested to know that myself.

they just replace your copper drop w/ a piece of cat5 or cat3 from the installed fiber ONT(optical network terminal) on your house

Has anyone gotten the new guide yet?

Here in Hampton Roads, Va we received the new guide 7/25/07. The guide is a lot more responsive and has more colors. Still has submenus like before.

Has anyone had any luck reprogramming their FIOS remote (black) to add a "Page Down" and "Day +" function. The guide is painful without these functions compared to the Comcast remote (silver).

The function is definately in the box, since my soon to be taken away Comcast remote works for these functions. I haven't had any luck getting the FIOS remote to take the codes to remap a couple buttons.

http://verizonfios.com/img/

The rollout schedule for the new guide software, as reported on DSLReports.
MA 8/2
new customers only NJ/PA/DE 8/2
extisting customers NJ/PA/DE 8/28
other parts NJ 8/7
NY 8/9
CA 8/14
FL 8/16
TX 8/21
MD 8/23 (and N. VA)

Has anyone had any luck reprogramming their FIOS remote (black) to add a "Page Down" and "Day +" function. The guide is painful without these functions compared to the Comcast remote (silver).

The function is definately in the box, since my soon to be taken away Comcast remote works for these functions. I haven't had any luck getting the FIOS remote to take the codes to remap a couple buttons.

Are you talking about the philips remote w/ the giant "FiOS TV" button in the middle? If so, the channel up & down button will page up & down, not sure about day+ yet

^^^ See This post...Might help regarding day +/-...looks like same discussion 2 threads...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11145712&&#post11145712

I don't know that they actually remove the copper line, but it is at least disconnected . I am having FIOS TV installed this weekend, and I had to give up my Verizon phone and DSL because of that and switch over to FIOS phone and internet, because my copper line will no longer be in service. If anyone knows if they actually remove the copper line, I would be interested to know that myself.
It depends on the situation and whether you say anything. I think the default is to remove all copper - they certainly did with my install - all the way to the nearest junction box on the telephone pole. They would want to do that so you're never tempted to go back.

Richmond got the new IMG guide today. Looks good from what I've seen so far.

Does anyone know when the M-card will be available from FIOS? I called tech support and they say they do have it and customer service says they've never heard of it. This card would be for my new Tivo HD which accepts the new M-cards.

My problem is I already have 6 'devices' (5 boxes, one of which is a Tivo S3 with 2 cable cards). The limit on the FIOS systme is 7 devices (each card counts as a 'device'). FIOS says the system can't do it. In fact it won't even allow them to enter the order since it sees I'd be maxed out.

The M card would solve this issue, but no sign of an M-card on FIOS.

Does anyone know when the M-card will be available from FIOS? I called tech support and they say they do have it and customer service says they've never heard of it. This card would be for my new Tivo HD which accepts the new M-cards.

My problem is I already have 6 'devices' (5 boxes, one of which is a Tivo S3 with 2 cable cards). The limit on the FIOS systme is 7 devices (each card counts as a 'device'). FIOS says the system can't do it. In fact it won't even allow them to enter the order since it sees I'd be maxed out.

The M card would solve this issue, but no sign of an M-card on FIOS.
I don't know about your area, but there are others where they're using the M-cards and people with the new S3HD say the M-card works great with FIOS. I've heard that Motorola started shipping M-cards to Verizon sometime around April but I'm sure they'll continue to use the S-cards until the supply is depleted. Besides, renting two cards at 2.99 is better than one!

Has anyone had any luck reprogramming their FIOS remote (black) to add a "Page Down" and "Day +" function. The guide is painful without these functions compared to the Comcast remote (silver).

The function is definately in the box, since my soon to be taken away Comcast remote works for these functions. I haven't had any luck getting the FIOS remote to take the codes to remap a couple buttons.

I have been using my comcast remote because of the page up and down issue. If someone can figure it out I would be very appreciative

page up/dn is definitely in the box. it works from my cheap harmony, but not the supplied remote.

I don't know about your area, but there are others where they're using the M-cards and people with the new S3HD say the M-card works great with FIOS. I've heard that Motorola started shipping M-cards to Verizon sometime around April but I'm sure they'll continue to use the S-cards until the supply is depleted. Besides, renting two cards at 2.99 is better than one!

Thanks for the info! It's a bit frustrating since I've made at least 4 calls and nobody has heard of the M-card except for 1 guy in tech support. Unfortunately he has no access to them and to get them you need to call Customer Support. Of course they never heard of them. Round and round we go. :rolleyes:

Had fios for 3 painful weeks in Feb. Remote was almost impossible to use, IPG hard to navigate and info was nothing more than an overview of the programming vs. program content, DVR was sluggish, macroblocked, skipped movie parts (you name it). Can anyone answer the following questions?

- New remote looks greatly improved does it skip forward (for those with a DVR).
- Can the remote control what's passed thru (1080i, 720p, 480i etc.) or do you still need to turn of the STB and navigate that terrible menu
- How does the DVR perform. Some movies were unwatchable on the box I had (from my old paperwork model # appears to be 6401.

On a related note, new IPG is much improved for navigation, but I see from the video that was kindly posted, in some cases it still only comments on the type of program rather than the actual program content...For instance the part for Oprah: Instead of listing guests or topic of conversation it states "A one-woman entertainment dynasty, and the gold standard in the talk show genre, able to attract just about..." Really pathetic programming information. And it still doesn't list why the program received the rating, like dish or directv does. Almost a deal breaker for my wife who only records shows based on guests or topic.

DISH is superior in all these features and HD Content, but I am tired of satellite outages during storms.

- New remote looks greatly improved does it skip forward (for those with a DVR).
- Can the remote control what's passed thru (1080i, 720p, 480i etc.) or do you still need to turn of the STB and navigate that terrible menu
- How does the DVR perform. Some movies were unwatchable on the box I had (from my old paperwork model # appears to be 6401.

It sounds like you had a bad experience, but it is likely that you weren't set up correctly, or in many cases gave the service a chance. Having been a TiVo user since there was a TiVo, I will admit that the FiOS DVR interface isn't the best, but it is certainly not a complete waste, and actually has some features that the TiVo doesn't. All of that being said, I would rather have a TiVo, but then again I would rather have FiOS than either DirecTV or Dish.

Here is my take on your questions:

1. Even the old DVR software supported skip forward; however, the remote provided did not have a button for it (doh!). Those of us with univeral remotes like the Harmony have had access to it, and it is actually reasonably responsive. The good news is that I believe the new remote actually has a button assigned to this function.

2. The DVR, since it is still the same hardware, still does not support native pass through, except you do have an option in the service menu for how you would like 480i handled (can send through as 480i, 480p, or upconvert to 720p/1080i). In terms of HD sources you have to choose either 1080i. My experience has been that 1080i gives me the best picture on my 788p RP-LCD, but YMMV.

3. The DVR you had was likely the 6416, which is the current DVR as well (with perhaps some minor upgrades). My suspicion with your poor video performance is that you either had a buggy box (perhaps the hard drive) or your signalling over coax wasn't up to par. A FiOS technician should have been able to diagnose and fix this for you. My reception since Day 1 (December of last year) has been pristine. the picture is MUCH better than DirecTV and Dish on SD stations and better on HD as well. The DVR is my son's room, however, saw many of the same issues you describe. We had it swapped out and now all is well.

4. The guide data has gotten better. Per your example, the Oprah Show typically has a description of the topic. Every once in a while the generic description you describe shows up, but not very often. I have also noticed that more movies now list the actors, which wasn't the case before. This is all a function of where FiOS is getting its guide data. I really don't understand how you can get better data for free than they seem to provide, but who knows.

I think FiOS would be a step up for you over Dish. I would like a bigger hard drive on the DVR. One option you also have is to get a TiVo HD and CableCards from FiOS.

Had fios for 3 painful weeks in Feb. Remote was almost impossible to use, IPG hard to navigate and info was nothing more than an overview of the programming vs. program content, DVR was sluggish, macroblocked, skipped movie parts (you name it). Can anyone answer the following questions?

- New remote looks greatly improved does it skip forward (for those with a DVR).
- Can the remote control what's passed thru (1080i, 720p, 480i etc.) or do you still need to turn of the STB and navigate that terrible menu
- How does the DVR perform. Some movies were unwatchable on the box I had (from my old paperwork model # appears to be 6401.

On a related note, new IPG is much improved for navigation, but I see from the video that was kindly posted, in some cases it still only comments on the type of program rather than the actual program content...For instance the part for Oprah: Instead of listing guests or topic of conversation it states "A one-woman entertainment dynasty, and the gold standard in the talk show genre, able to attract just about..." Really pathetic programming information. And it still doesn't list why the program received the rating, like dish or directv does. Almost a deal breaker for my wife who only records shows based on guests or topic.

DISH is superior in all these features and HD Content, but I am tired of satellite outages during storms.

Easy solution, it's called Tivo. You now have a $299 solution, the Tivo HD. You get coherent guide data, a far better PVR and all the goodies. Add that to the superb PQ of the FIOS signal and it's a win win. :)

Does anyone know scheduled availability date for Verizon FIOS internet and/or TV for central New Jersey, specifically Franklin Township, Somerset county? I've checked the Verizon FIOS website and customer support and no one seem to know.


lman12

Easy solution, it's called Tivo. You now have a $299 solution, the Tivo HD. You get coherent guide data, a far better PVR and all the goodies. Add that to the superb PQ of the FIOS signal and it's a win win. :)


You also get a very small hard drive and for those of us that need more than 1 unit, you have to pay the outrageous tivo monthly fees. With the 3 boxes I'd need, it'd cost me almost $40 per month just in tivo fees (plus the $900 for the unit - or $1800 if I want the series 3).

You also get a very small hard drive and for those of us that need more than 1 unit, you have to pay the outrageous tivo monthly fees. With the 3 boxes I'd need, it'd cost me almost $40 per month just in tivo fees (plus the $900 for the unit - or $1800 if I want the series 3).
You can get Tivo's already with a larger HD .... see....
http://www.weaknees.com/series-3-hd-tivo.php

You can get Tivo's already with a larger HD .... see....
http://www.weaknees.com/series-3-hd-tivo.php

Yes, that's the Series 3. He (and I) was talking about the newly released HD Tivo that is NOT expandable.

Yes, that's the Series 3. He (and I) was talking about the newly released HD Tivo that is NOT expandable.

Read further down the page on that link. The HD Tivo is there, too.

Read further down the page on that link. The HD Tivo is there, too.

Yep, it's there, but it's the stock version. All the HD upgraded units are Series 3 DVR's (at least that's what their description says).

2. The DVR, since it is still the same hardware, still does not support native pass through, except you do have an option in the service menu for how you would like 480i handled (can send through as 480i, 480p, or upconvert to 720p/1080i). In terms of HD sources you have to choose either 1080i. My experience has been that 1080i gives me the best picture on my 788p RP-LCD, but YMMV.

How do you get it to upconvert? The only options I have for the 4:3 output are 480i, 480p, and "stretch". Connected via HDMI.

Unless "stretch" is the upconvert, but I figured that would just stretch a 4:3 picture to fill the screen, screwing up the aspect ratio.

Yep, it's there, but it's the stock version. All the HD upgraded units are Series 3 DVR's (at least that's what their description says).

Keep paging down. The stock version (180 hours) is listed first, but below that are five upgraded HD Tivos, ranging from 300-1360 hours.

Keep paging down. The stock version (180 hours) is listed first, but below that are five upgraded HD Tivos, ranging from 300-1360 hours.

I saw that, but why does it say they're Series 3's?:


TiVo 300 Hour SD / 32 Hour HD Series 3 DVR

How do you get it to upconvert? The only options I have for the 4:3 output are 480i, 480p, and "stretch". Connected via HDMI.

Unless "stretch" is the upconvert, but I figured that would just stretch a 4:3 picture to fill the screen, screwing up the aspect ratio.


the 'off' setting upconverts the sd content to whatever you have the hd content set to, inserting pillars

I saw that, but why does it say they're Series 3's?:

I haven't a clue why they refer to it as Series 3, however if you click on the "more information" link for the 300 hours version, it says "TiVo HD Lite / Value DVR - CableCARD - Upgraded to 300 Hours'' and the picture is clearly that of the new HD Tivo.

If you still have any doubts, why don't you contact the company directly. I'm just telling you the way I interpret it.

the 'off' setting upconverts the sd content to whatever you have the hd content set to, inserting pillars

Nice, thanks. Gets rid of that delay when switching between HD and SD channels.

Is there anyway for the HD DVR box 6416 to display something else besides PLA during DVR playback? I would rather have the time displayed.

I am in the process of signing up for the FIOS TV and need clarification on the boxes being offered by Verizon.

My 32 inch LCD Sharp TV has QAM on it. Will I get any HD/Digital stations by getting the "Standard" box instead of the "HD" box?

Also, with regard to the "HD" box or "HD DVR" box, do both have HDMI connections?

Does the "Standard" box have a composite connection so HDMI/digital can be received?


Thanks!

Is there anyway for the HD DVR box 6416 to display something else besides PLA during DVR playback? I would rather have the time displayed.
Does the scheduled upgrade fix this bug? I totally hate the fact that I cannot see the time when I want.

I am in the process of signing up for the FIOS TV and need clarification on the boxes being offered by Verizon.

My 32 inch LCD Sharp TV has QAM on it. Will I get any HD/Digital stations by getting the "Standard" box instead of the "HD" box?

Also, with regard to the "HD" box or "HD DVR" box, do both have HDMI connections?

Does the "Standard" box have a composite connection so HDMI/digital can be received?


Thanks!

I assume your Sharp LCD is High Definition. If so, the Fios Standard box will not receive any HD. You need an HD box or HD DVR, or if your TV has a cable card slot, you can use that rather than a Fios box.

The standard box does not have component or HDMI connections.

Is there anyway for the HD DVR box 6416 to display something else besides PLA during DVR playback? I would rather have the time displayed.

if you have the new IMG(or when it's downloaded to you) you set the display in the user menu to display time or ch #.

in DVR playback it will display PLAY for several secs. then default to the time.

Since weaknees can do it, Can I do it? I want to increase the size of my Tivo HD that I purchased just yesterday. I have done two Tivos, and two ReplayTVs in the past.

Are there any "how to's" for this new unit yet? And recommendations as to what drive. I assume using some of the recommended S3 drives would work.

I will read more on how to upgrade the S3, and see if I think it will work on this TIVO HD.

Since weaknees can do it, Can I do it? I want to increase the size of my Tivo HD that I purchased just yesterday. I have done two Tivos, and two ReplayTVs in the past.

Are there any "how to's" for this new unit yet? And recommendations as to what drive. I assume using some of the recommended S3 drives would work.

I will read more on how to upgrade the S3, and see if I think it will work on this TIVO HD.Yes. I've got a 750Gb drive in my TivoHD on FiOS.

http://www.mfslive.org/winmfs/

You can download it here:

http://www.mfslive.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=207

Looks like MA customers got the new FiOS guide today.

IMy 32 inch LCD Sharp TV has QAM on it. Will I get any HD/Digital stations by getting the "Standard" box instead of the "HD" box?The SD box won't get any HD channels (except audio). However, by hooking up the cable directly to the TV, you should be able to get your local HD channels via unencrypted QAM, yes. You'd also pick up the SD locals, music channels, and perhaps a few others.

Also, with regard to the "HD" box or "HD DVR" box, do both have HDMI connections?(Probably, but I don't know...)

Does the "Standard" box have a composite connection so HDMI/digital can be received?I don't understand the question.

Looks like MA customers got the new FiOS guide today.The wife is not loving the new IMG, and so far I can't say I really disagree with her, for reasons stated here and in the programming thread.

In the new guide / software, how do you reach the service menu? The way I used to do it does not seem to be working with this remote.

I was reading through some of the posts and was a little confused. Here is my question:

With D* you can set the box to output 1080I and set to stretch. In this way all 480I (SD) fills the screen of my Hitachi 51"....then it automatically fills the screen properly when watching HD material. Does the FIOS 6416 DVR HD box do this? How can it be set up...I don't want pillar box's on the side of 4:3 content with my RP CRT. Also, I don't mind it stretched in 4:3...
I don't want my wife to try to figure out have to "zoom" in on 4;3 content everytime she flips from HD to SD...

With D* you can set the box to output 1080I and set to stretch. In this way all 480I (SD) fills the screen of my Hitachi 51"....then it automatically fills the screen properly when watching HD material. Does the FIOS 6416 DVR HD box do this?

Yes.

(You may be able to do this from the remote but Instructions are doing it physically on the box).

-Press the power button on the box to turn it off.
-Press the "menu Button"
-Use the down arrows to go to the 4:3 content area and change to stretch.
-Press menu and then power on the box.

I had comcast with the 6412 and had the box set only to 480p and the it also stretched, on my TV, but does not seem to do it on the Fios 6416 box unless set to "stretch". The pic quality is still good for SD on stretch but I now prefer to watch it regular with the bars, since the pic quality unstretched is great.

Thanks...August 27th is the install date for FIOS. I am excited!! I had D* for 7 years but I missed my local sports. The only "bite" is I have to pay D* $220 for ETF...really stinks!!
I had to send them back 2 boxes that I owned that had reboot problems for leased boxes that "worked"...kind of. I had to sign for 2-years...i had no choice.

Oh well, maybe I can suspend my account for 6 months then pay it then?

Thanks...August 27th is the install date for FIOS. I am excited!! I had D* for 7 years but I missed my local sports. The only "bite" is I have to pay D* $220 for ETF...really stinks!!
I had to send them back 2 boxes that I owned that had reboot problems for leased boxes that "worked"...kind of. I had to sign for 2-years...i had no choice.

Oh well, maybe I can suspend my account for 6 months then pay it then?

mike I'm a former D* sub as well. if you had them for 7 yrs. I'd talk to a supervisor when you're ready to cancel. you may be able to negotiate something better than a $220 hit.
in fact if you're leasing the boxes & send them back on your own dime the fee may be less anyway(or so someone posted on another thread). I owned my boxes & was long past the service agreement so no issue for me.

on the issue of output res. on the FiOS box--you actually want it set to 1080i or 720p(depending on the native res. of your TV) BUT with 4:3 OVERRIDE 480i enabled. this seems to give the best PQ for SD chs. no need to set to stretch-everything is stretched in this mode. only drawback is more lag switching from SD to HD chs.

now with the new media guide(which may or may not be in your area-but Vz's goal is to have it in all markets by the end of Aug.) you set output res. from the guide menu. but to set 4:3 OVERRIDE you have to get into the boxe's service menu as detailed in imt's post.

BTW 4:3 OVERRIDE is likely the default setting-it was on my box. also this setting won't improve SD PQ if the scaler in your Hitachi is substandard. IMO the override setting is there because Motorola is aware their boxes don't do a very good job of scaling SD.

on the issue of output res. on the FiOS box--you actually want it set to 1080i or 720p(depending on the native res. of your TV) BUT with 4:3 OVERRIDE 480i enabled. this seems to give the best PQ for SD chs. no need to set to stretch-everything is stretched in this mode.

I tried all of the settings on the box and nothing would stretch unless you are in "Strech" mode in the 4:3 override. At least under the verizon Moto box. On my Comcast Motobox, which is a 6412 as opposed to the 6416 (HDMI on the 16 Vs DVI on the 12). it did auto stretch when I had it set to 480p.

I have a CRT 34" HDMI and for some reason it doesn't want to stretch unless you select "stretch in the override.


BTW 4:3 OVERRIDE is likely the default setting-it was on my box. also this setting won't improve SD PQ if the scaler in your Hitachi is substandard. IMO the override setting is there because Motorola is aware their boxes don't do a very good job of scaling SD.

I thought the purpose of the 4:3 override was to have the moto box scale the pic. Basically upconverting from 480i to progressive 480p. Or just stretching it if you have a 16:9 TV. I would think you would set 4"3 to off to have no scaling by the motobox whatsoever.

I thought the purpose of the 4:3 override was to have the moto box scale the pic. Basically upconverting from 480i to progressive 480p. Or just stretching it if you have a 16:9 TV. I would think you would set 4"3 to off to have no scaling by the motobox whatsoever.No. With 4:3 override set to 480i, the Motorola DVR does not apply any extra processing (no scaling or deinterlace). It outputs the original signal as is. That way, you can take advantage of the superior processing in your modern TV.

The Motorola does not do a very good job with 480->480p deinterlace so I would not use that setting.

just to second what bfdtv said:

imt if you set 4:3 OVERRIDE to OFF then you're sending either 1080i or 720p res. on ALL chs. that will eliminate switching lag going from SD to HD & back again but SD PQ suffers because the Moto box is scaling all chs.

the OVERRIDE(@480i) setting is there so HD ch are set at a single res. output while SD chs get a native signal. in effect it's a semi-native setting.

aside from improved SD PQ this gives the advantage of SD sent in native 480i while all the HD chs are sent at a single res.-meaning no lag when switching between HD chs(which you would have with a true native output res.)

Motorola probably felt that most people(like me) usually watch SD for a while, or surf among SD chs, then do the same among HD chs. so the lag going from SD to HD or vice-versa only happens once or twice an evening & most won't find it that annoying.

My experience (and I have seen other postings stating the same) is that the SD quality off of the QIP is better when override is set to OFF and HD output is set to 1080i. I'm sure there will be differences, but the native SD output appears to be very soft while the upconverted output looks brighter and crisper.

This could all be "eye of the beholder", but I have experimented with a few different settings and trying to get my television (Sony 60" RP-LCD) to give me as good of a picture as what is coming out of the Moto box.

I have Fios. I have two Pioneer Pro plasmas but on is a couple years older than the other. On both cable boxes I have 4:3 override set to off. Now here's the weird part. On my bedroom tv it works fine. HD programming is 16:9 and non HD programming displays in 4:3. On my family room tv this works fine until I turn the tv off. Once I turn the tv back on it somehow changes the setting on the cable box back to 480i override!! How on earth does that happen? I can turn off just my tv, leave everything else on including the cable box. But once I turn the tv back on the 4:3 override setting has changed from off to 480i. This happens on the older tv, not the newer one. Any thoughts??? The tv takes a long time to change from 1080 to 480 I really want to avoid this lag and just leave the 4:3 override setting to off.

Are you saying that if you go back into the cable box that it the 4:3 override setting has changed from off to 480i or are you just interpreting that since you see the picture is being displayed as a 4:3 picture?

Setting the 4:3 override does not turn off 4:3 picture which may make you think you are still virewing it in 480i. The only thing that happens is it sets the side bars to black instead of the grey (I get grey bars if 4:3 is set to 408i or 480p) and the picture will still be a 4:3 size.

If you set the 4:3 override to stretch, then it will fill the 16:9 display without the bars. See the 4:3 override settings explanation under the following link.

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Setup

imt if you set 4:3 OVERRIDE to OFF then you're sending either 1080i or 720p res. on ALL chs. that will eliminate switching lag going from SD to HD & back again but SD PQ suffers because the Moto box is scaling all chs.

Ok I understand that but why is the default color of the side bars under 480i grey instead of black. I can see the pic quality is slightly better under 480i but I can't bear to watch it in that format since the bars are grey. At least with the override set to off the side bars are pitch black and its much easier to watch an not notice its only 4:3.

Ok I understand that but why is the default color of the side bars under 480i grey instead of black. I can see the pic quality is slightly better under 480i but I can't bear to watch it in that format since the bars are grey. At least with the override set to off the side bars are pitch black and its much easier to watch an not notice its only 4:3.
The gray bars are likely coming from your television, not the QIP. The QIP is outputting a native 480i 4:3 signal without any bars unless you set it to output SD in 1080i or 720p, in which case black side bars are added. Your set may have a setting for this, but maybe not.

Thanks. I thought I looked but did not see one but I'll check again. I don't get why they would choose gray unless that color won't burn in like black or something. This is a CRT based HDTV so maybe that is the issue.

Yes, when I go back to the menu on the cable box. The setting for 4:3 override has changed from off to 480i. Somehow turning my tv off then back on is doing this. Bizarre huh?? But it doesn't happen on my other tv. The other tv is basically the same just a couple years newer.

Maybe there is an issue with the cable box. The Tv should have no effect on this. The only signal that would be sent by the TV to the box would be the copy protection handshake.

If its not too much trouble, why don't you try switching boxes and see what happens.

That's a good idea. I'll try switching them and see what happens.

Maybe there is an issue with the cable box. The Tv should have no effect on this. The only signal that would be sent by the TV to the box would be the copy protection handshake.HDCP handshaking isn't the only information an HDMI/DVI monitor can send to a component / STB.

Specifically, HDMI/DVI supports the ability for a monitor / TV to send information to a component / STB about the resoltions / video formats it supports. So, for example, a TV can tell an STB that it accepts 1080i but not 720p, and based on this, the STB could (automatically) choose to convert all 1080i content to 720p for output.

This is what the 'Auto HDMI/DVI' setting that you see on alot of STBs / HD-DVD players / etc. is about. Box knows what resolutions the TV supports and ... automagically picks appropriately.

silverbullit - I'd check under the HDMI/DVI settings on the TV and the box and see if there's something ... meaningfull. Not at home right now ... I forget if the Verizon boxes have an 'Auto HDMI' setting or something similar.

I am like 99.9% certain that there is no Auto setting. You have to select 480i, 480p, 720p, or 1080i. Whatever you choose is the resolution all HD is output in.

There is the add'l settings menu for HDMI but this just allows you to set either HDMI or DVI, the color space and the audio. There is an Auto setting but for audio only.

Maybe there is an issue with the cable box. The Tv should have no effect on this. The only signal that would be sent by the TV to the box would be the copy protection handshake.

If its not too much trouble, why don't you try switching boxes and see what happens.
VERY odd behavior. I would note, however, that my in-law's QIP resets back to factory defaults (which includes 480i output for SD content) whenever they lose power to their box. This is not the case for the QIPs I have, and may be an indication that you are missing a battery somewhere that is supposed to be holding the last known configuration.

They haven't done anything to fix this, but I do get a call every now and then to go back over and put their settings back where they should be.

So I switched the cable boxes and still had the problem on my family room tv. I did realize one big difference on the set ups of the two tvs. I have a surround sound system in the family room. The HDMI cable runs from my cable box into the surround sound receiver then into the tv receiver. Where as on the upstairs tv the HDMI cable runs from the cable box directly to the tv receiver. So somehow the surround sound receiver must be causing the problem.

So I switched the cable boxes and still had the problem on my family room tv. I did realize one big difference on the set ups of the two tvs. I have a surround sound system in the family room. The HDMI cable runs from my cable box into the surround sound receiver then into the tv receiver. Where as on the upstairs tv the HDMI cable runs from the cable box directly to the tv receiver. So somehow the surround sound receiver must be causing the problem.

You could try the direct HMDI connect in the FR, then run an optical or digital audio connection from the cable box to the receiver. Simply turn down your volume on the TV when using surround sound. If the problem goes away, that may be the answer. If not. you now have the option of using the surround sound or the TV sound when viewing in the FR. :)
Works for me. YMMV :)

Just a fyi, the latest TivoHD software update appears to eliminate the intermittent pixelization with FiOS.

With the previous software, I would see intermittent pixelization about five times per hour. Since last night's software update, I've seen no pixelization on any channel with the TivoHD. :)

Just got my software upgrade and had a couple of questions:

1. I can't seem to access the service menu anymore. I can set the default output resolution in the main menu but I can no longer change how the box handles 480 material. Is this menu gone or has it moved?

2. It seems like my recording capacity has decreased since the upgrade. I currently have 12 hours of HD and 3 of SD and it says that I can only record 2 more hours of HD. I thought before I was getting close to 20 hours of HD. I don't know if this is a remaining space measurement problem or if it's a really decreased. Has anyone else noticed this? Haven't followed this thread for a while so I also wanted to know if there's now a way to add an external drive to increase storage?

I think the above is maybe addressed in this thread and definitely in others on avs and dslreports, but I will take a shot at some quick answers. (BTW, I still haven't gotten my update, so this is all heresay):

1. It seems that the procedure for accessing the service menu is similar but slightly different. Try doing the sequence: Off-Select-Menu in quick order. I think the "Select" is the new added part.

2. There has been a lot of discussion concerning this. I haven't seen anything which definitively says that recording space has actually been lost. Mainly these have just been reports that the "stated space" is lower. One explanation I saw yesterday on another forum was that the new software is using the highest possible SD and HD bitrates to estimate remaining space, which would make the estimate about 30% less than what is actually remaining given the true bitrates typically used. If this is true, then you have actually not lost any recording space, it just looks that way. We shall see.

2. There has been a lot of discussion concerning this. I haven't seen anything which definitively says that recording space has actually been lost. Mainly these have just been reports that the "stated space" is lower. One explanation I saw yesterday on another forum was that the new software is using the highest possible SD and HD bitrates to estimate remaining space, which would make the estimate about 30% less than what is actually remaining given the true bitrates typically used. If this is true, then you have actually not lost any recording space, it just looks that way. We shall see.

I believe this is a temporary reduction in recording space that is supposed to be corrected in a future IMG update coming in October. After that update it should return to pre-IMG levels. I haven't seen an explanation as to why the reduction in the amount of recorded content.

Someone on dslreports reported testing out the above theory and found that SD recording space is pretty much unchanged from the older program guide, but HD recording space is down to about 12 hours. I'm not sure why this would be the case since recording bitrate should have nothing at all to do with the guide software. It may be, however, that the guide software is using the bad calculation to determine when to start deleting older programming.

In any case, a fix is definitely needed here.

Could the decrease in HD recording space be due to an increase in the live buffer? I heard that the new software provided a larger live buffer but I haven't tested mine.

Also, is there an easy way (USB) to add more storage? 12 hours stinks!

I believe this is a temporary reduction in recording space that is supposed to be corrected in a future IMG update coming in October. After that update it should return to pre-IMG levels. I haven't seen an explanation as to why the reduction in the amount of recorded content.


This is accurate. Not sure why, but accurate.

Could the decrease in HD recording space be due to an increase in the live buffer? I heard that the new software provided a larger live buffer but I haven't tested mine.The buffer is twice as long, but that would only explain a very minor change in recording capacity.

I am having Fios installed next week. Could someone please tell me what model DVR box is used in Ma. so I can set up my Harmony remote in advance. Thank you.

Jay

I am having Fios installed next week. Could someone please tell me what model DVR box is used in Ma. so I can set up my Harmony remote in advance. Thank you.

Jay


Can you call Verizon for this information?

The FIOS installer should stay until the TV is calibrated to look good so will the installer be able to program your Harmony for you?

Jim

Can you call Verizon for this information?

The FIOS installer should stay until the TV is calibrated to look good so will the installer be able to program your Harmony for you?

Jim


Harmony 1000 remotes, such as the one I have, are programed on your computer, you then download the information for the devices and the macros for one touch operation to the remote. This is not something that the tech will or could do. With the proper model name and number, I can pre-load the remote so that it's all set to go. Not a necessity, just a convenience.

I think the model number is Motorola HD/DVR OIP6416-2 .

Jay

Does anyone know if there are only 2 versions of remotes with FIOS? I had my original one and when I picked up a new FIOS DVR, I got a new one. I'm wondering if this is the same remote they use with the new IPG.

After Verizon updated the menus for my QIP6200-2 I lost the ability to get into the setup menu by pressing "menu" when the power was off to the unit. The new menu's don't have the option to change the output of SD channels to 480i or or 480p. Anyone have any idea where I can change this setting now that the menu system has changed?

After Verizon updated the menus for my QIP6200-2 I lost the ability to get into the setup menu by pressing "menu" when the power was off to the unit. The new menu's don't have the option to change the output of SD channels to 480i or or 480p. Anyone have any idea where I can change this setting now that the menu system has changed?
Yes, turn box off. Press Select, then press menu on the remote.

Finally got FIOS installed yesterday and so far I like it....I'm not totally "blown" away but SD is better than D* and HD is about the same on some channels and other channels are REALLY much better.
The box is fast and VERY simple to use. Also, I soon came to realize that this box does a HORRIBLE job upconverting video. I set it to "4:3 480I" and 1080I on the component.

It's simple to use and I like it so far. DVR is easy as well as the speed of the guide, on demand is really cool, etc. I was able to suspend my D* account for 9 months to avoid the ETF for now and I always have the option to go back if Verizon raises it's prices...which I'm sure they will.

The PQ is noticbly better on my LCD tv, however. Very little to NO artifacts at all....unlike with D*. I did not notice artifacts on HD and very little on SD...which really is kind of amazing on an LCD TV. Like I said, on my RP CRT there was a less "noticeable" difference, but time will tell. I'll let the box break in and give my update a few weeks from now.

Overall, for now, I am pleased.

Hello,

I apologize in advance, if this question has been asked and answered. I have searched the internet and this forum, but I have not found a definitive answer.

I am scheduled for FIOS TV installation on Sept. 14. I opted not to lease the Motorola QIP 64xx STB, because I prefer to buy my own equipment. I have not found anyone that sells new Motorola QIP boxes, and I don't know of any alternative STB's that work with FIOS TV.

Any answer would be extremely appreciated, even if it that I have to lease/rent the STB from Verizon.

Thanks,
Randy
Plano,TX

I don't know the answer to whether or not you can purchase the Moto boxes from Verizon, however if you want to own your equipment, why not buy a Tivo S3 or Tivo HD and rent cable cards from Verizon.

I don't know the answer to whether or not you can purchase the Moto boxes from Verizon, however if you want to own your equipment, why not buy a Tivo S3 or Tivo HD and rent cable cards from Verizon.

Ron,

I am trying to find retailers that sell the Motorola STB. I have seen used units on Ebay. I was not aware that I could rent cards from Verizon, much less that Tivo hardware was an option.

Thanks for clues. I have more research to do.

Randy

The Motorola QIP STBs and DVRs are sold exclusively to Verizon in North America. They are not available from any retailer. Simply put, you cannot buy your own Motorola DVR for use with FiOS. The Motorola QIP boxes sold on ebay are stolen. Verizon will not activate those.

If you want your own box, you need to buy the TivoHD and get CableCards from Verizon for $2.99/mo. That box will cost you $260-$270 from Best Buy or Circuit City with a coupon from **************. Of course, there is a monthly fee to use Tivo service; it is $300 prepaid for three years (~$8.30/mo), or $12.99 month-to-month with the same commitment.

With the TivoHD, you lose VOD, but most would agree that you get a superior DVR solution. Furthermore, since you own the box, you can expand the recording capacity, something you cannot do with the Motorola DVRs.

bfdtv:

Thank you for the succint answers to many questions I did not explicitly ask.

I suspected that the Motorola units on ebay might have problems. You verified that.

I did not know what other options I had. You laid out a plan, using Tivo.

You also confirmed my worst fear, as a consumer. The price points for all these options are nearly the same. FIOS rental of a Motorola unit is about $14/month. The Tivo service, plus card rental, is about $13/month, plus the cost of hardware. Combine those prices with no retail option for the Motorola unit, and I spell price fixing or consumer gouging.

Maybe I am just old fashioned. I don't like pay-as-you-go. That lets me get bled to death by the numerous service providers I have to deal with.

Thanks,
Randy

Price fixing? That's a felony. You're saying that you think Tivo and Verizon executives are willing to risk long prison sentences over this? These are luxury services, not necessities, and they're priced according to what people are willing to pay for them. Of course the suppliers are aware of their competitors' pricing. That they end up roughly equal is the natural result of an efficient market, not criminal conspiracy.

well the FiOS tech just left and i'm getting used to everything. two things come to mind:

when the box is set to 4:3 override, it forces bars on all 4:3 material. what exactly does 4:3 stretch do? is it still 480i, but the box is stretching?

secondly, the fan in the 6416 runs all the time, which would be ok if it was constant, but it speeds up, slows down, speeds up, slows down, which is annoying. is this normal? the tech said something about this happening after the new IMG upgrade.

when the box is set to 4:3 override, it forces bars on all 4:3 material. what exactly does 4:3 stretch do? is it still 480i, but the box is stretching? When 4:3 override is set to 480i, SD channels are output as is, without any bars or stretching. If you see bars on SD channels with 4:3 override set to 480i, your TV is adding them. Change your TV aspect mode.

The 'stretch' option for 4:3 override upconverts SD channels to the HD output resolution, but stretches them to fill the screen.

secondly, the fan in the 6416 runs all the time, which would be ok if it was constant, but it speeds up, slows down, speeds up, slows down, which is annoying. is this normal?What's the ambient temperature of your room? Is the DVR enclosed in a cabinet with restricted ventilation?

When 4:3 override is set to 480i, SD channels are output as is, without any bars or stretching. If you see bars on SD channels with 4:3 override set to 480i, your TV is adding them. Change your TV aspect mode.

The 'stretch' option for 4:3 override upconverts SD channels to the HD output resolution, but stretches them to fill the screen.

What's the ambient temperature of your room? Is the DVR enclosed in a cabinet with restricted ventilation?

i got the 480i override situation figured out.

the ambient temp of the room is 78* and the box is on the top shelf of am armoire with 8" or so on all sides except the top which has ~ 1.5" of space. i know it's not exactly the recommended requirements for ventilation, but it started doing it as soon as we plugged it in. i can't believe the STB would have warmed up that quick.

according to the tech, he mentioned that it could be a software tweak with the new IMG to reduce the amount of repairs for boxes that over heat.

well, it's a ventilation problem. the shelf the STB sits on slides out, so i pulled it out to see if it helps. sure enough, no more zooming fan. so now i have to figure out a way to ventilate either the armoire, or add a small fan to the stop of the STB, which is probably pointless since i don't have much vertical clearance.

Are they still handing out 6416's? I was hoping there would be some new model out by now, when I got my FIOS TV hooked up way back they told me the 6416 was on the way out and some new mpeg-4 box was coming.

I have never heard my fan kick into high gear, and it's trapped in a pretty small AV cabinet. But it does have 5" or so of space to the top of the shelf.


I would love to go with Tivo 3 and cablecards, monthly cost would be about the same but I'd have to cough up $300 bucks or so. It took my wife a good 6 months to stop complaining about the FIOS DVR, she was quite happy with Tivo and it is a jump back to the stone age as far as usability goes. But we are used to it now and it is "ok".


By the way! If you are an "oldtimer" FIOS subscriber and you have that godawful remote they used to give out (you KNOW which one I'm talking about - no backlighting and the buttons are all the same size, plus an IR range of about 8 feet) they are using a marginally better remote now... at least it has some backlit buttons and some kind of button layout to it. Call Verizon and demand a new remote and they will send you one! It's not as good as the directivo remote, but is is a TON better than the early FIOS one.

Are they still handing out 6416's? I was hoping there would be some new model out by now, when I got my FIOS TV hooked up way back they told me the 6416 was on the way out and some new mpeg-4 box was coming.

I have never heard my fan kick into high gear, and it's trapped in a pretty small AV cabinet. But it does have 5" or so of space to the top of the shelf.


I would love to go with Tivo 3 and cablecards, monthly cost would be about the same but I'd have to cough up $300 bucks or so. It took my wife a good 6 months to stop complaining about the FIOS DVR, she was quite happy with Tivo and it is a jump back to the stone age as far as usability goes. But we are used to it now and it is "ok".

By the way! If you are an "oldtimer" FIOS subscriber and you have that godawful remote they used to give out (you KNOW which one I'm talking about - no backlighting and the buttons are all the same size, plus an IR range of about 8 feet) they are using a marginally better remote now... at least it has some backlit buttons and some kind of button layout to it. Call Verizon and demand a new remote and they will send you one! It's not as good as the directivo remote, but is is a TON better than the early FIOS one.



yep still using the 6416. from what i've read over in the Programming forum, they won't switch boxes until a hardware change is necessary a la MPEG4 sometime in 2009. at least that's what the rumors are saying.

That 5" of space is probably the difference between you and me. i need to figure out a solution, be it exhaust fans for the cabinet, or reconfiguring the shelving.

I have the backlit remote, and it's ok, but i might look into a harmony. i really want to be able to close the doors to the cabinet, but until the heat issue is fixed, they're staying open.

yep still using the 6416. from what i've read over in the Programming forum, they won't switch boxes until a hardware change is necessary a la MPEG4 sometime in 2009. at least that's what the rumors are saying.

That 5" of space is probably the difference between you and me. i need to figure out a solution, be it exhaust fans for the cabinet, or reconfiguring the shelving.

I have the backlit remote, and it's ok, but i might look into a harmony. i really want to be able to close the doors to the cabinet, but until the heat issue is fixed, they're staying open.

Can you drill out the back of the armoire? I did that and it helps enough with the ventilation that it is not an issue.

Can you drill out the back of the armoire? I did that and it helps enough with the ventilation that it is not an issue.

i may try that first and see what happens. if not, i'll have to look into some fans to pull heat from the top.

i may try that first and see what happens. if not, i'll have to look into some fans to pull heat from the top.

I bought a drill bit that cut out a 5" diameter circle in the back of my armoire, and cut a couple of circles. It's not intrusive, helps with cabling and airflow.

Does anyone know if the Motorola 6416 STB is HDMI 1.3, and if not what version of HDMI does the output support?

If you want your own box, you need to buy the TivoHD and get CableCards from Verizon for $2.99/mo.

Can I assume that each Tivo requires two cable cards in order to utilize both tuners, which would end up costing $5.98 per month per Tivo?

With Fios commitments, are the receivers part of the commitment? I'm thinking about going to Fios (from DirecTV). I have two HDTV's & one standard def TV. I'm thinking about starting with one multi-room DVR and a regular DVR.

However, I can easily see wanting to convert back to three Tivo's if I don't like the Motorola DVR's. I don't want to get myself into a position where I can't get rid of the Fios STB's for a couple of years. If that's the case, I'll just go with the Tivo's day 1.

Does anyone know if the Motorola 6416 STB is HDMI 1.3, and if not what version of HDMI does the output support?The latest box revisions are HDMI 1.1, I believe. There are no HDTV STBs or DVRs available anywhere with HDMI 1.3.

Can I assume that each Tivo requires two cable cards in order to utilize both tuners, which would end up costing $5.98 per month per Tivo?That's correct, although some people are now reporting that Verizon may have multistream CableCards (MCARDs) in parts of Texas, eliminating the need for the second card on the TivoHD.

Motorola is no longer manufacturing the older 'S' (single stream) CableCards used by FiOS, so they'll have to move to the MCARDs as they exhaust their inventory.

With Fios commitments, are the receivers part of the commitment? I'm thinking about going to Fios (from DirecTV). I have two HDTV's & one standard def TV. I'm thinking about starting with one multi-room DVR and a regular DVR.The commitment is to service only. There is no commitment to extras, receivers, movie packages, etc.

That said, keep in mind Verizon does charge a $25 installation fee to come out and remove and/or add new equipment. There is no fee for service (i.e. support) calls.

I think the 6416's are hmdi 1.1. The newest HD disc players are barely 1.3 at this point and the 6416's have been around for about 2 years now.

I saw on an earlier post someone wondered if the usb ports did anything, I argree that would be nice since the 6416 has front and back usb but it all appears to be disabled.

Hi guys,

I just had a quick question about splitters. I want to upgrade the FIOS 3-way splitter to a 4-way. I noticed that the FIOS splitter is a basic 3-way that supports up to 1ghz. Since I'm going to 4-way can I use one that supports up to 1ghz or will I need to upgrade to 2ghz? I have both FIOS TV and 20/5 internet. Also, I noticed that two outputs on the 3-way are 8db and one is 4db. On a 4-way I believe its 7db on all 4 outputs. Does it matter which of the TV or data feeds resides on which output? Will there I notice a difference in PQ going to a 4-way? Thanks in advance!!!

Hi guys,

I just had a quick question about splitters. I want to upgrade the FIOS 3-way splitter to a 4-way. I noticed that the FIOS splitter is a basic 3-way that supports up to 1ghz. Since I'm going to 4-way can I use one that supports up to 1ghz or will I need to upgrade to 2ghz? I have both FIOS TV and 20/5 internet. Also, I noticed that two outputs on the 3-way are 8db and one is 4db. On a 4-way I believe its 7db on all 4 outputs. Does it matter which of the TV or data feeds resides on which output? Will there I notice a difference in PQ going to a 4-way? Thanks in advance!!!

My installer told me that the splitters they use are the only brand of splitters that would consistently pass their Mocha signal, even though other brands were, for the most part, "just as good".

Also, he happened to install the same "unbalanced" three-way splitter you speak of in my coax network because one of the legs of coax was getting marginal signal levels; which were corrected by putting that leg on the lower loss output of the splitter.

just some food for thought :)

Hi guys,

I just had a quick question about splitters. I want to upgrade the FIOS 3-way splitter to a 4-way. I noticed that the FIOS splitter is a basic 3-way that supports up to 1ghz. Since I'm going to 4-way can I use one that supports up to 1ghz or will I need to upgrade to 2ghz? I have both FIOS TV and 20/5 internet. Also, I noticed that two outputs on the 3-way are 8db and one is 4db. On a 4-way I believe its 7db on all 4 outputs. Does it matter which of the TV or data feeds resides on which output? Will there I notice a difference in PQ going to a 4-way? Thanks in advance!!!

1ghz is sufficient. Verizon does not utilize above 1GHz. If they did, they will need to come by everyone house in my area to swap out the 1GHz splitters. Just buy a 1GHz splitter that has return path capability.

My installer also said that their splitters would only work with FIOS. After he left, I plugged the source into an 8-way splitter by Channel Vision, and I have not experienced a problem. On-demand, channel guide, etc works flawlessly. Just make sure the Actiontec box is hooked up to the coax as well.

Thanks for the info!!

Question regarding FIOS...I have had FIOS internet for about 6 months now, twice I have lost the internet and phones. First time, they had me shut down router, pull battery backup for two minutes and then put back and restart. It was fine. Last week, it went down (no WAN light) around 6 pm and I tried that step several times but it did not come back. It was fine the next morning, so it may have been a problem on their end. I did jump on neighbor's internet service and checked to see if Verizon was doing service, but nothing was reported. Also tried to use the online support center, but they were closed!?

Question I have is, does FIOS TV go down also when internet and phones go down? Pretty sure it's a yes, but wanted to confirm. If so, that is one negative for me if I switch. Losing phones, internet and TV...then I would have to talk to my wife!:rolleyes:

Question I have is, does FIOS TV go down also when internet and phones go down? Pretty sure it's a yes, but wanted to confirm. If so, that is one negative for me if I switch. Losing phones, internet and TV...then I would have to talk to my wife!:rolleyes:

If Verizon is unable to communicate with your ONT, you will experience service disruption. But this is the same deal if you have several services with a tv cable provider. If Verizon central distribution facility were to experience phone and internet outage, but can still connect to your ONT - you'll likely to receive TV services.
It's not a Verizon issue, it's a consequence when you have many services with any one provider. Look on the bright side, sometimes talking to wife leads to extra curriculum activities. YMMV.

Ok im going to do a little cross posting here from the 6416 forum so if your subscribed to both please excuse me. I'm at my wits end with this DVR! Now the recorded shows are stopping half way through and Im getting a DVR error. Is anyone here running a Tivo HD and if so can they give me some specifics about how well it works and any bugs? even a link to another forum for more info would be appreciated. Thanks.

Ok im going to do a little cross posting here from the 6416 forum so if your subscribed to both please excuse me. I'm at my wits end with this DVR! Now the recorded shows are stopping half way through and Im getting a DVR error. Is anyone here running a Tivo HD and if so can they give me some specifics about how well it works and any bugs? even a link to another forum for more info would be appreciated. Thanks.Works great with FiOS in my experience. The Tivo software is very mature.

HDTV Tivo Forums (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=51)

Amazon has it for $268.88 shipped. A three year prepaid subscription is $300. Total upfront cost for three years of use is $568.88. From Verizon, you will need one of the newer Motorola MCARDs (reportedly now available in some parts of Texas) or two of the older Motorola 'S' CableCards at $2.99/mo.

Tivo just began rolling out new 9.1 software (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=366908) for the TivoHD and Series3 that makes some nice improvements. They also recently announced that multi-room viewing (MRV) and the ability to transfer HD recordings from Tivo to PC/Mac would be enabled in November.

Works great with FiOS in my experience. The Tivo software is very mature.

HDTV Tivo Forums (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=51)

Amazon has it for $268.88 shipped. A three year prepaid subscription is $300. Total upfront cost for three years of use is $568.88. From Verizon, you will need one of the newer Motorola MCARDs (reportedly now available in some parts of Texas) or two of the older Motorola 'S' CableCards at $2.99/mo.

Tivo just began rolling out new 9.1 software (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=366908) for the TivoHD and Series3 that makes some nice improvements. They also recently announced that multi-room viewing (MRV) and the ability to transfer HD recordings from Tivo to PC/Mac would be enabled in November.

I really appreciate the info. I am very close to placing an order for one. I have been dealing with FIOS tech support most of the day regarding my current DVR which is apparently suffering from some sort of HD corruption as when playing back recorded programing, I am getting an error about half way through. They are sending out a tech tommorow to replace it and check everything. This will be my third box.

Can you currently add an external hard drive to the tivo hd to increase capacity? also am i able to connect my off air antenna and integrate my local broadcasts into the channel line up? I use to do this with my Directv HD Tivo.

edit: already answered in the 6416 forum, sorry

edit: already answered in the 6416 forum, sorry

Sorry for what?? That someone posted an answer to this in the 6416 thread or that you are pointing it out?? I like answers from many different ppl especially when looking for more detail. Thanks...

Can you currently add an external hard drive to the tivo hd to increase capacity? also am i able to connect my off air antenna and integrate my local broadcasts into the channel line up? I use to do this with my Directv HD Tivo.
No, not officially. There is a hack for the Series 3 Tivo to activate an external had drive, but the hack does not work for the TivoHD. Tivo is supposed to release a software update later this year for the TivoHD and Series 3 that will enable the external SATA port along with multi-room viewing support and other features. Of course, software update schedules almost always slip.

What people are doing with the TivoHD is taking out the 160 GB hard drive and dropping in a 500 or 750 GB SATA drive. This requires copying the 160 GB drive files to the new drive using a PC. The tivocommunity.com forum for the HD Tivos has a lot of information on this.

I'm seriously thinking of buying a TivoHD to use with Fios and OTA. But I am inclined to wait a while longer for the M series card to become available from Fios and for software updates from Tivo. OTOH, I can use the Tivo for OTA use only for a while to record the programs on the broadcast nets.

Can you currently add an external hard drive to the tivo hd to increase capacity?Most expect Tivo to officially support "plug and play" eSATA drive expansion before the end of the year. Tivo suggested as much to some TivoHD reviewers. However, Tivo has not formerly announced when they will be adding that feature.

You can add eSATA expansion today via unofficial means, as afiggatt suggested above. You can also upgrade the internal drive using the free WinMFS utility. You attach the Tivo drive to your PC and click the 'backup' menu in WinMFS; you then connect your new, larger drive and click the 'restore' menu in WinMFS. Stick the new drive in your Tivo and you are done.

also am i able to connect my off air antenna and integrate my local broadcasts into the channel line up? I use to do this with my Directv HD Tivo.Yes. The TivoHD is just like your old Direct HD Tivo, except it has a much faster CPU, a newer decoder with MPEG-4 support, twice as much memory, a faster hard drive, much newer Tivo software, and of course, support for encrypted cable channels with CableCards.

We just got word that we can get Fios! I have several dumb questions before we make the plunge:

1) Does Verizon offer a "dual-mode" box that can serve two separate TVs in the house? They are both NTSC SD sets btw. I will be needing another box in the basement for the HDTV though.

2) If getting Fios TV + internet, do they both plug into the same modem? If so will watching TV or accessing VOD affect internet bandwidth in any way?

3) And does anyone have any major regrets/complaints switching over to Fios TV?

Thanks for any tips!

We just got word that we can get Fios! I have several dumb questions before we make the plunge:

1) Does Verizon offer a "dual-mode" box that can serve two separate TVs in the house? They are both NTSC SD sets btw. I will be needing another box in the basement for the HDTV though.

No, they do have a Multi Room DVR, that can stream shows to other TVs, but you need a STB on each television.


2) If getting Fios TV + internet, do they both plug into the same modem? If so will watching TV or accessing VOD affect internet bandwidth in any way?
TV is on a separate path from internet, so watching TV has no effect. However VOD is done through IPTV, and while VZ claims it wont effect your net speeds, your mileage may vary. I am sure this is the main reason for not seeing HDVOD yet. All the same people who are begging for it, will then throw a **** fit when it effects their net speeds.


3) And does anyone have any major regrets/complaints switching over to Fios TV?

Watch your bill closely, the Fios billing department is one level below retarded.

We just got word that we can get Fios! I have several dumb questions before we make the plunge:

1) Does Verizon offer a "dual-mode" box that can serve two separate TVs in the house? They are both NTSC SD sets btw. I will be needing another box in the basement for the HDTV though.

2) If getting Fios TV + internet, do they both plug into the same modem? If so will watching TV or accessing VOD affect internet bandwidth in any way?

3) And does anyone have any major regrets/complaints switching over to Fios TV?

Thanks for any tips!


I've got three services, internet, phone and TV coming in. I switched all over because of the quality of each and because they save me money.

1. Dual mode - you need an STB at each TV unless you are just going for the analog channels. One of my DVR's is the multi room DVR, which I use for not only the family room, but also as a feed for recorded content to an exercise area where I only have an STB.

2. Modem -> TV + internet - In my case all three services come in through the same equipment by way of the fiber cable. The signals are split at the box outside of the house and come into the house by the traditional connections: CAT5 (ethernet) for internet, Coax for the video signals and telco wire for the telephone. There is a bridge between the video system and the network at the FIOS provided router. This is the gateway for VOD broadcasts, and the only place where interference between the two could happen. I haven't seen any, and I have been watching. I have metered my internet speeds and they consistently come in at advertized speeds (20 MBit) which Comcast never did (paid for 8MBit, was lucky to get 3). I've also done ping tests for latency and they come in at good values. I'm very happy at the internet performance, and I have three DVR's and one STB which are used heavily. I also have four computers which are also used frequently.

3. No regrets or complaints. I do have some wish items, but to me those are like dessert - a way to expand the hard disk space on the DVR, for the interface on the DVR's to evolve a bit more, more HD stations (they have a lot already) and HD VOD.

I came over from DirecTv with Tivo. I understand some people's predilection for Tivo units, but I haven't found myself pining for it. The quality of the HD and SD displays is stunning, the internet has been rock solid and the transition of phone service was easy.

I had one DVR that was too noisy (mother in law's) so I called to have it serviced. I got a human on the phone within two minutes, and the unit was swapped out within two days. I can't complain about the service. Make sure you call the number on the FIOS web site, not the usual verizon people.

1. Verizon uses a single "ONT" interface for all or any fiber provided service? IOWs', one box does all?
2. The battery backup will power the box for phone service only, or will it power it for internet and TV (assuming you have power elsewhere for a TV and Laptop/computer)?
3. Does the interface have to be installed outside?
4. What are the grey & beige wires for (right of the yellow 'fiber' feed)?
5. Anyone have closeup photos of the ONT other than this attachment;

If your 'wired' utilities (telco, cable, power) are above ground (where they should be), Verizon doesn't have the fiber drop buried to the home do they?

If your 'wired' utilities (telco, cable, power) are above ground (where they should be),What do you mean, "where they should be"?

Verizon doesn't have the fiber drop buried to the home do they?No. If the existing lines are buried, they'll bury the fiber. If the existing lines are on poles, they'll run the fiber on poles.

1. Verizon uses a single "ONT" interface for all or any fiber provided service? IOWs', one box does all?
2. The battery backup will power the box for phone service only, or will it power it for internet and TV (assuming you have power elsewhere for a TV and Laptop/computer)?
3. Does the interface have to be installed outside?
4. What are the grey & beige wires for (right of the yellow 'fiber' feed)?
5. Anyone have closeup photos of the ONT other than this attachment;

1. one box handles the incoming data stream-the ONT apparently converts the optical signals & routes them to the appropriate places in your dwelling. BTW FiOS internet doesn't use a conventional modem-just a router. from observing the installation it looks like the necessary software is downloaded & installed in your computer. one thing for current Vz DSL subs-they make it very clear that once you switch to FiOS internet there's no going back.

2. the battery backup is designed for emergency phone use only. it won't power internet or TV. OTOH it will work just fine with a UPS or a generator.

3. I've heard that some subs insist on installing the ONT inside. the installers try to place close to the where existing phone line(s) enter your dwelling.

4. looks like the POTS cables for phone. However:

5. that photo shows an ONT I've never seen before. I'm attaching photos of the ONT that seems to be in common use. note the splitter at the bottom of the ONT in the first pic. one feed goes to the router, the other to the existing video cable in my attic. the second pic-with the access cover open-was taken before TV service was available.
the cable going into the hole in the wall leads to the power supply & battery-backup on the other side.

1. Verizon uses a single "ONT" interface for all or any fiber provided service? IOWs', one box does all?
2. The battery backup will power the box for phone service only, or will it power it for internet and TV (assuming you have power elsewhere for a TV and Laptop/computer)?
3. Does the interface have to be installed outside?
4. What are the grey & beige wires for (right of the yellow 'fiber' feed)?
5. Anyone have closeup photos of the ONT other than this attachment;


1. I only have one.
2. I believe the backup works for all, I could be wrong. No sense if it does, since you couldn't power your video or computer equipment anyways.
3. I've heard of inside or outside, but it is not ugly on the outside, just a nondescript box about the size of a large electric meter.
4. I believe: power / battery, video, 4 telco wires and the (blue) network CAT5 wire.
5. Look in Wikipedia, I think they have a picture.

1. I only have one.
2. I believe the backup works for all, I could be wrong. No sense if it does, since you couldn't power your video or computer equipment anyways.
3. I've heard of inside or outside, but it is not ugly on the outside, just a nondescript box about the size of a large electric meter.
4. I believe: power / battery, video, 4 telco wires and the (blue) network CAT5 wire.
5. Look in Wikipedia, I think they have a picture.


They mounted my ONT in the basement. My basement is finished but the install was very well done. I'm in northern NJ

What do you mean, "where they should be"? Exactly what it says. Gas, water & sewer should be buried, that's it. Power, CATV & telco should be above ground where you can access them and not worry about digging them up or getting them 'dug up'. :rolleyes:

one thing for current Vz DSL subs-they make it very clear that once you switch to FiOS internet there's no going back. My understanding Verizon is now leaving the copper in tact, at least in the first test CO that got wired in WNY.
Originally, they were removing it (I believe). I've heard that some subs insist on installing the ONT inside. That's where I would want it since it is easier to see the LEDs' for troubleshooting and the advantage of weather protection. But, it makes it harder for a tech to access it if you aren't there. Crap shoot between their and your conveinance.

HDntheCity; The orginal install was fine, but that addition of the 'splitter' and cables kinds of ruins it. That is a perfect example of why it would be better inside in the basement, not just for the absense of the splitter 'hanging' as a afterthought (couldn't he of secured it to the mortor?), but the issue of having three fitting outdoors.

I was doing a search for "ONTs'" and those photos were another model I found. The pic I posted, that model was selling them for $375!
Looks as it is a crap shoot on which model is used in which area. Anyone else want to post pics of their ONT?

Here are some models;
http://www.tellabs.com/products/1000/tellabs1600.shtml (yours)
http://www.motorola.com/content.jsp?globalObjectId=5537-8674-8677
http://www.occamnetworks.com/products/ONT_NID/

After a few minutes of searching, I found some pictures of the one I have, which is different from the other ones that were posted.
Here is the link I found:

http://www.tinyscreenfuls.com/2006/01/photos-of-verizon-fios-fiber-broadband-install-part-1/

[QUOTE=videobruce;11730697]HDntheCity; The orginal install was fine, but that addition of the 'splitter' and cables kinds of ruins it. That is a perfect example of why it would be better inside in the basement, not just for the absense of the splitter 'hanging' as a afterthought (couldn't he of secured it to the mortor?), but the issue of having three fitting outdoors.

Bruce I had different installers-phone & internet were installed in Jan.. TV in July.
I agree that the initial install was much tidier(in fact that tech took xtra care) but in Vz's defense they did a LOT of TV installs when TV became available here.

my house is a slightly unique case because it's old, with very thick plaster walls. the coax is secured to the external brickwork rather than being fished thru the interior walls. this was also true of the original telephone wires.

my comment about Vz DSL v. FiOS refered to the services themselves-Vz makes it clear that once FiOS internet is activated there's no going back to FiOS DSL. and the old copper wire from the overhead lines to my house is gone, replaced by fiber cable(which actually looks the same-if you don't notice the ONT my house looks the same as before).

a few points that you may be interested in:

FiOS will work with any VOIP phone system if you want to go that route.

the PPV, VOD(SD only BTW) & guide data are IP based. so you need the router even if you don't want FiOS internet.

Vz has CableCards available(though again you'll lose the guide & VOD without an STB).

Power, CATV & telco should be above ground where you can access them and not worry about digging them up or getting them 'dug up'.I'd be more worried about them going down in a storm if they were aboveground. Certainly, I've experienced more outages with pole-mounted lines than buried ones.

Vz has CableCards available(though again you'll lose the guide & VOD without an STB). I could care less about VOD and PPV. The same lousy movie will be on a regular preium channel in a year anyway. I have no desire to be the first one on the block to see a subpar movie and have to pay extra for it. If anything, it's an advantage NOT to have their damn STB. It removes the temtation. ;) I'd be more worried about them going down in a storm if they were above ground. Certainly, I've experienced more outages with pole-mounted lines than buried ones. Maybe, but it's surely alot easier to tell where the break is when you don't have to dig for it. If the trees are trimmed properly, the chances are lessened. Besides, it's alot cheaper to string overhead lines than to bury them. You don't have a choice with water, sewer & gas, you do with communications & power.
Besides, I will be damned if I would have a backhoe come in and dig a 100' trench, just to run cables from the pole to the house. :rolleyes:

noamparn; Thanks for the link.

Besides, it's alot cheaper to string overhead lines than to bury them. You don't have a choice with water, sewer & gas, you do with communications & power.


I live in Boston and I talked to a Verizon tech today that does the installation. He said the same thing.

Quote: It will be a long time before Boston has FIOS because it cost to much to run it underground".

Jim

FIOS internet is finally available in my area (Walpole, MA) and I have a tentative install date in October; FIOS TV is not yet available: my ?: is there any advantage to having the install done for internet/phone now, without TV service, or simply wait until all 3 are offered and perhaps get a "bundle" offer? The price of the internet more than doubles what I'm paying for DSL, and I only use the internet, say 10-12 hours a week..seems a stiff premium to pay, although I understand the speed benefits...does Verizon always offer "free" installation and router for new customers, or has anybody had to pay for this after refusing a first offer?
Side question: the copper from the nearest pole is buried undergroound to the house (approx. 100 feet); does VZ bury the new fiber? thanks, MM

I live in Boston and I talked to a Verizon tech today that does the installation. He said the same thing.

Quote: It will be a long time before Boston has FIOS because it cost to much to run it underground".

Jim

FIOS is all around me in Stoneham, MA, but I cannot get it in my neighborhood because we have underground wiring. These towns need to wise up and have some requirement for coverage before letting them in. Cherry-picking neighborhoods sucks :mad:

- Rich

Nice to live in a city with overhead utilities. They "cherry pick" where it make economic sense. For those who don't like overhead utilities, you pay the price elsewhere. You can't have both.

They also pass over 'poor' areas.

FIOS internet is finally available in my area (Walpole, MA) and I have a tentative install date in October; FIOS TV is not yet available: my ?: is there any advantage to having the install done for internet/phone now, without TV service, or simply wait until all 3 are offered and perhaps get a "bundle" offer? The price of the internet more than doubles what I'm paying for DSL, and I only use the internet, say 10-12 hours a week..seems a stiff premium to pay, although I understand the speed benefits...does Verizon always offer "free" installation and router for new customers, or has anybody had to pay for this after refusing a first offer?
Side question: the copper from the nearest pole is buried undergroound to the house (approx. 100 feet); does VZ bury the new fiber? thanks, MM


I got the internet / telephone install done first (last December) in Medfield. I use the internet quite a bit, and it actually cut my internet bill quite a bit (from comcast), but I was paying for the fastest that comcast had at the time. The speed difference is large, especially since the advertized speed actually is what you get, instead of what you get from comcast. Having said that, you'd have to make your own judgement on whether it's worth it. The telephone service has been rock solid for me. I finally got the TV portion last April, and since the previous installation was done, there was a lot less to do. In both cases, I had very good installation people, they tested everything. I did not get charge for the install, but did not get a bundle since I wanted more services (15/2 internet).

When I got the TV service, I asked if there were any deals available, and the service person was very good at changing packages to lower my costs. I wound up with 20/5 internet and a lot more TV subscriptions than I originally planned on for about the same price as I started with. I would ask them at the outset if they would honor a package when TV is available.

I've heard that they do bury new fiber, maybe an incentive to get it done before the ground freezes.

Thanks, Hernanu; one more ? is the lowest speed available (forget the speed, but it is $40) adequate, or is the additional $10 for the middle speed worth it in your opinion? thanks again, MM...PS, how is the TV? I have been a Directv customer for 10 years, but only have the 3lnb dish; to get the Sox and most HD channels would require a new dish and cutting down several trees, something I am reluctant to do...

Quote button isn't working:

Posted by Video Bruce:


"They also pass over 'poor' areas."

Show me your evidence of this. This is the same old BS argument the cable companies make when trying to stop the rollout. VZ is in rich and poor communities alike.

He also posted:

"Nice to live in a city with overhead utilities. They "cherry pick" where it make economic sense."

This just makes sense. New network, roll it out initially where its economically feasible, generate revenue and then attack you higher cost locations. This has much more impact on their deployment plans than the demographic allegation made in the first post.

I haven't looked up Bruces history of posts, but this just sounds like a Cable guy who fears his monopoly is about to crumble.

If your 'wired' utilities (telco, cable, power) are above ground (where they should be), Verizon doesn't have the fiber drop buried to the home do they?

Prior to fios, I had cable and electricity above ground and POTS buried. The fiber line to my house was buried. I have power line running behind my house, but I also have what I think is the FIBER line running under ground. There was a lote of orange spray paint near some sort of man-hole looking thing in my neighbor's back yard. I guess the fiber is buried and distributed to homes under ground.

Quote button isn't working:
This just makes sense. New network, roll it out initially where its economically feasible, generate revenue and then attack you higher cost locations. This has much more impact on their deployment plans than the demographic allegation made in the first post.


Hey. I am pissed. I get flie's, planes fly over. I have called to order it 4 times and they keep telling me in a few months. It has now been 9 months and the is FIOS all around me. I live in a "nicer" neighborhood.

I blame our town for not insisting that they eventually build out the WHOLE town within a reasonable time period, like 1 year.

- Rich

Thanks, Hernanu; one more ? is the lowest speed available (forget the speed, but it is $40) adequate, or is the additional $10 for the middle speed worth it in your opinion? thanks again, MM...PS, how is the TV? I have been a Directv customer for 10 years, but only have the 3lnb dish; to get the Sox and most HD channels would require a new dish and cutting down several trees, something I am reluctant to do...

I think the lowest speed is more than adequate if you're doing basic surfing and email. Where it becomes more useful to go faster is if you're downloading music, playing internet games or want to see video streaming (I'm a fan of internet soccer streams). 5 MBits down / 2 Mbit up is very good. 20/5 is much better, and that is the $42 (I think) package in our neck of the woods.

The TV portion is amazing. I was a comcast customer for about ten years, and a DirecTv customer for about five. My family chipped in to get me an HD TV (Vizio), so I wanted to upgrade. DirecTv was very arrogant and told me that it would cost me $300 to upgrade my DVR, but I wouldn't wind up owning it, would have to pay a lease fee (~10 bucks?) and then another "HD Service" fee. This in order to get a version of HD that has been compressed to push to the satellite and decompressed. No thanks. In the end, I paid less for more. The HD signal is like an over the air (OTA) signal, and the standard definition (SD) signal is very clear. I can't complain about the quality or the number of channels available. Go for it when they clear it. It was a political fight in Medfield, since Comcast was actively lobbying against it (I heard), but it was finally approved.

I haven't looked up Bruces history of posts, but this just sounds like a Cable guy who fears his monopoly is about to crumble.And there are actually wepons of mass destructiuon lurking since the Bush/Chaney pair never lie. :rolleyes:
Any other guesses? New network, roll it out initially where its economically feasible, generate revenue and then attack you higher cost locations. This has much more impact on their deployment plans than the demographic allegation made in the first post. You counterdict your own statement. You say: "roll it out initially where its economically feasible"; IOWs' where the $$ is, the affluent suburbs.

1. Verizon uses a single "ONT" interface for all or any fiber provided service? IOWs', one box does all?
2. The battery backup will power the box for phone service only, or will it power it for internet and TV (assuming you have power elsewhere for a TV and Laptop/computer)?
3. Does the interface have to be installed outside?
4. What are the grey & beige wires for (right of the yellow 'fiber' feed)?
5. Anyone have closeup photos of the ONT other than this attachment;
A little late but...

1. Yes
2. All services come from the ONT which is powered by the same power supply - so the services all stay up when the power goes out - it's up to you to power up the rest of the equipment attached to the ONT - I have the router and Vonage box on a UPS so the phone service stays up during power outage
3. No, it depends on the installer - and your negotiating skills
4. One is power - not sure about the others
5. I have the same ONT - others have been posted

And there are actually wepons of mass destructiuon lurking since the Bush/Chaney pair never lie. :rolleyes:
Any other guesses? You counterdict your own statement. You say: "roll it out initially where its economically feasible"; IOWs' where the $$ is, the affluent suburbs.


No contradiction. It was a comment on the ease of an aerial build, not a demographic based decision.

If you owned the company and had X dollars to spend in years 1,2 &3 would you try to get the most homes per dollar or try to build the costliest path first? Make sense please.

I think the lowest speed is more than adequate if you're doing basic surfing and email. Where it becomes more useful to go faster is if you're downloading music, playing internet games or want to see video streaming (I'm a fan of internet soccer streams). 5 MBits down / 2 Mbit up is very good. 20/5 is much better, and that is the $42 (I think) package in our neck of the woods.

The TV portion is amazing. I was a comcast customer for about ten years, and a DirecTv customer for about five. My family chipped in to get me an HD TV (Vizio), so I wanted to upgrade. DirecTv was very arrogant and told me that it would cost me $300 to upgrade my DVR, but I wouldn't wind up owning it, would have to pay a lease fee (~10 bucks?) and then another "HD Service" fee. This in order to get a version of HD that has been compressed to push to the satellite and decompressed. No thanks. In the end, I paid less for more. The HD signal is like an over the air (OTA) signal, and the standard definition (SD) signal is very clear. I can't complain about the quality or the number of channels available. Go for it when they clear it. It was a political fight in Medfield, since Comcast was actively lobbying against it (I heard), but it was finally approved.

Thanks, you have been most helpful; am looking forward to the October install of internet, and hopefully not too far down the line, the TV service when it is available...I also have an Hd set(the last 34" CRT made by Sony) and have been enjoying HD OTA for about 2 years; doesn't help with the Sox, Celtics or ESPN though...thanks again for your time..MM

A little late but...Better late than never. Thanks.

FIOS has finally come to my neighborhood and I'm getting installed on Friday. I know I'm probably nuts but I'm actually leaving D* after multiple years of suffering with HD-lite just when they are rolling out all those new full-rez HD channels. With Verizon's triple play, I get to save real $$ each month, probably triple my internet speed and lose that ugly dish from my roof.

I'm sure that this has been discussed here before, but any help on choosing between the Verizon DVR and the Tivo HD with cable cards would be appreciated. I understand from reading back several pages that the monthly fee is similar for both but, of course, the TIVO has a $300 MSRP. I really have enjoyed the TIVO interface and features on my Directv HR-10-250. How do these compare with the Verizon supplied DVR?

Three words...Tivo, Tivo, Tivo! Verizon dvr pretty much inhales vigorously!

Three words...Tivo, Tivo, Tivo! Verizon dvr pretty much inhales vigorously!

Sounds like a strong Tivo endorsement. But how does the Verizon dvr's features compare? Are the menus slower? Less descriptive? Less intuitive? Does the seasons pass feature (assuming there is one) work as well? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

OK. I found the QIP6416 thread and I now better understand the TIVO HD enthusiasm.

Sounds like a strong Tivo endorsement. But how does the Verizon dvr's features compare? Are the menus slower? Less descriptive? Less intuitive? Does the seasons pass feature (assuming there is one) work as well? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.In a few markets, Verizon uses the old Microsoft FE software. This software works relatively well, but being three years old, it had a relatively plain-looking interface and lacked a useful search. One nice aspect of this software was that it let you pick and choose what channels you wanted to see in your guide; you could completely remove channels from the guide that you did not want. The season pass feature worked well when the guide data was accurate.

Verizon recently released its next-generation DVR software in a number of markets. This software has a colorful, modern interface with nice graphics. The screenshots look wonderful. It has robust search, although lacks the ability to save searches. It drops the most popular feature of the old software -- the ability to pick and choose what channels you want to see in the guide. The season pass recording feature doesn't seem quite as robust or reliable as the old software, especially in its handling of repeats. But the main problem with this new software is that it is bug ridden. Verizon released it well before it was ready. A software update is coming in October or November to fix a number of the bugs, but until, many consider the software a downgrade rather than an upgrade.

Regardless of the DVR software used in your market, guide data is still a significant problem on the Verizon-provided boxes. Someone at Verizon decided it would be a good idea to cut costs by using FYI Television as their guide data provider rather than established companies like Tribune and Gemstar. [DirecTV and Tivo use Tribune while Comcast and a few other cable companies use Gemstar.]

I'm sure the idea of saving a few cents per month per customer on guide data sounded like a great idea on paper, but it was a terrible decision. The FYI guide data isn't as detailed and isn't nearly as reliable or accurate as that delivered by Tribune and Gemstar. It fails to provide consistent 'first-run' flags -- which differentiate new episodes from repeats -- on a number of cable channels. In some cases, the scheduling information provided is simply wrong. As one recent example, Verizon's guide data listed many of the new NBC premieres as starting at half past the hour (i.e. 8:30 instead of 8:00 and 9:30 instead of 9:00). DVRs do all of their recording based on guide data, so Verizon's DVR failed to record 30 minutes of those shows.

The upcoming maintenance update, if coupled with more reliable guide data from Tribune or Gemstar, could make the FiOS DVR a very usable product. However, so long as Verizon sticks with FYI Television for its guide data, the DVR will remain unreliable. Guide data makes or breaks a DVR. That's part of the reason why Tivos are so good.

If you want a reliable DVR on Verizon FiOS for now, the Tivo is pretty much your only option. Thankfully, the HDTV Tivos can now be had for $253 from Amazon so it's not a huge investment. Eventually, FiOS is expected to deploy new boxes for IPTV, but one should be able to get three years minimum out of the TivoHD on FiOS before another box is needed to receive new channels.

Thanks for your detailed reply, bfdtv. I appreciate this very helpful information.

A little late but...

1. Yes
2. All services come from the ONT which is powered by the same power supply - so the services all stay up when the power goes out - it's up to you to power up the rest of the equipment attached to the ONT - I have the router and Vonage box on a UPS so the phone service stays up during power outage
3. No, it depends on the installer - and your negotiating skills
4. One is power - not sure about the others
5. I have the same ONT - others have been posted

I am wondering if different ONT models behave differently then the power goes out. On mine, the Internet and TV connections only stay up for a few minutes. They then shut down to conserve battery power for the phone.
I tested this by unplugging the ONT and waiting to see what happened.
The Internet connection stays up long enough for my PC (which is on a UPS) to send me out an e-mail (my router and switch are on the same UPS).

Anyone hear anything about a new DVR being released by Verizon model # QIP2708??? I was just on the phone with customer retention at Verizon and she told me that they just released a new DVR but, get this, it only has an 80GB hd! WTF? Got to tell ya, bout to go back to D* if they dont get a handle on the hardware soon.

Anyone hear anything about a new DVR being released by Verizon model # QIP2708??? I was just on the phone with customer retention at Verizon and she told me that they just released a new DVR but, get this, it only has an 80GB hd! WTF? Got to tell ya, bout to go back to D* if they dont get a handle on the hardware soon.

This is a standard definition only DVR (no HDMI, etc)... Probably meant to flesh out the offerings. That still leaves us wanting a larger hard drive, etc.

This is a standard definition only DVR (no HDMI, etc)... Probably meant to flesh out the offerings. That still leaves us wanting a larger hard drive, etc.

Do you know this for sure? I asked if it was HD and was told yes. She even told me how much HD it would hold compared to SD.

Do you know this for sure? I asked if it was HD and was told yes. She even told me how much HD it would hold compared to SD.Yes. It is SD only. More information on the Motorola site:

http://broadband.motorola.com/catalog/productdetail.asp?ProductID=461

Yes. It is SD only. More information on the Motorola site:

http://broadband.motorola.com/catalog/productdetail.asp?ProductID=461


Well that makes sense. I knew the actual level of knowlege Verizons CSR's have was nil. Thanks for the link.

Hi, All. I've been haunting this thread for months, eagerly awaiting availability in my neighborhood. Now that it's here, I've hit a roadblock.

We currently have AT&T DSL. I told my wife that, when the FiOS is installed, we'd no longer have access to the DSL and she'd have to access that mailbox via webmail. I use webmail exclusively, so no problem there. She, however, prefers to use Outlook.

Am I correct in that she'd no longer be able to access the DSL account through FiOS to download her mail? Thanks.

Doug

Hi, All. I've been haunting this thread for months, eagerly awaiting availability in my neighborhood. Now that it's here, I've hit a roadblock.

We currently have AT&T DSL. I told my wife that, when the FiOS is installed, we'd no longer have access to the DSL and she'd have to access that mailbox via webmail. I use webmail exclusively, so no problem there. She, however, prefers to use Outlook.

Am I correct in that she'd no longer be able to access the DSL account through FiOS to download her mail? Thanks.

Doug

She should have no problems. Outlook is merely a "vehicle" to access email of any pop-3 server. I believe att dsl uses pop-3. Perhaps someone else can supply more detail, though

Hi, All. I've been haunting this thread for months, eagerly awaiting availability in my neighborhood. Now that it's here, I've hit a roadblock.

We currently have AT&T DSL. I told my wife that, when the FiOS is installed, we'd no longer have access to the DSL and she'd have to access that mailbox via webmail. I use webmail exclusively, so no problem there. She, however, prefers to use Outlook.

Am I correct in that she'd no longer be able to access the DSL account through FiOS to download her mail? Thanks.

Doug


She could definitely use Outlook (or any other POP3 client), could also access it via Webmail if she wanted to. I use Outlook, and prefer it also. She would definitely not have the same email address, it would be something on the order of: "her_name@verizon.net". The mechanics of switching over are simple:

1. Configure email accounts - create a new account.
2. Modify the "incoming server" value - I think you use "incoming.verizon.net" for this. It may also identify this as the SMTP server.
3. Modify the "outgoing server" value - I think you use "outgoing.verizon.net" for this. It may also identify this as the POP3 server.

Look at advanced if you're having trouble sending (SMTP) mail, it may require that you check the "authentication" button.

Again, I think the installer may help you with this, or go to the FIOS support web site. I've been using Outlook with FIOS for about 8 months now, no problem and very fast.

Hi, All. I've been haunting this thread for months, eagerly awaiting availability in my neighborhood. Now that it's here, I've hit a roadblock.

We currently have AT&T DSL. I told my wife that, when the FiOS is installed, we'd no longer have access to the DSL and she'd have to access that mailbox via webmail. I use webmail exclusively, so no problem there. She, however, prefers to use Outlook.

Am I correct in that she'd no longer be able to access the DSL account through FiOS to download her mail? Thanks.

Doug

exactly, when the tech does the install, he/she should get you to the account setup, which I believe configures outlook express by default, then you can configure whatever pop3 client you choose

I believe our tech went into "custom install" and I saw "configure Outlook express" was checked by default

you could even takeit a step further and continue to use your ATT account in tandem w/ your verizon acct, if you"re willing to still pay ATT

....you could even takeit a step further and continue to use your ATT account in tandem w/ your verizon acct, if you"re willing to still pay ATT

Thanks, everyone, for your help. BTW, the above is the scenario I'm looking at. She would need to be able to access both her new Verizon mailbox as well as the old AT&T mailbox until she has everybody moved over to using her new Verizon address. My initial concern was, when I move the AT&T account to e-mail only, that we wouldn't be able to access the mailbox other than via webmail. It makes sense that, configuring Outlook w/ the mail servers & passwords, we should be able to access both accounts.

Regards,
Doug

... She would need to be able to access both her new Verizon mailbox as well as the old AT&T mailbox until she has everybody moved over to using her new Verizon address. ...

i don't know if they still have this service, but during our installation, the installer said that we could go into our account & there's a feature called "trueswitch" that will migrate your email for you, if I remember correctly it sends everyone in your address book notification of your new email address. I haven't been in the account settings in a while, so I'm not 100% about this ;)

I am wondering if different ONT models behave differently then the power goes out. On mine, the Internet and TV connections only stay up for a few minutes. They then shut down to conserve battery power for the phone.
I tested this by unplugging the ONT and waiting to see what happened.
The Internet connection stays up long enough for my PC (which is on a UPS) to send me out an e-mail (my router and switch are on the same UPS).

There must be different models - for an ONT to switch power like that it must know the power is out - it can't with a simple DC power connection. There must be some other connection between the power supply and ONT to tell the ONT power went out so it can switch to power saving mode. The ONT I have doesn't have such a connection. On my set up the UPS powering the rest of the equipment always went out (10-20min) before the battery back up of the ONT power supply.

I'm trying to simplify things for the SO and get all Sony equipment that works with the Sony Bravia Theatre Sync. Does anyone have FIOS and this Sony system? How does it work together or do you still need two remotes?

I'm trying to simplify things for the SO and get all Sony equipment that works with the Sony Bravia Theatre Sync. Does anyone have FIOS and this Sony system? How does it work together or do you still need two remotes?

Have you checked out universal remotes? I have three Logitech Harmony 670 remotes at my house, they are easy to program and can handle all of the different combinations of devices that I've thrown at them. They are programmable by a web application, so you don't have to muck around with entering codes by hand.

At one location, I have: A sony A/V receiver with multiple devices attached, a DVR (FIOS), a DVD player (sony), a CD player (Samsung), an HD TV (Vizio) with multiple inputs. I can set up the remote to "watch FIOS" which turns the TV on, selects HDMI input, sets the A/V to TV/SAT, shuts off the CD player and the DVD player. Other actions "Watch DVD", "Play CD" ... take the proper actions for whateer you are trying to do. Programming it to recognize your devices and group devices into actions is also easy with the remote->computer->webapp connection.

I have other locations that have an Xbox, other DVD players, TV's etc., and several family members who could not be bothered to learn anything electronic, but they are all happy with the remotes.

If you're happy with your current equipment, this is a cheaper way to simplify, and also allows you to get the best equipment rather than standardizing on one brand.

Just an FYI for anyone in Braintree, MA....the Board of Selectmen voted to award Verizon a cable TV license for the town. Per the Verizon rep, those who homes that have above ground service from the poles could start getting FIOS TV next week.

Time for me to drop DirecTV!

[QUOTE=videobruce;11730697]HDntheCity;
Vz has CableCards available(though again you'll lose the guide & VOD without an STB).

I recently bought a Vista PC with dual ATI Cablecard Tuners and Verizon came out about a week ago and installed the 2 required cable cards.


Now that I am satisfied that the Cable Card DVR works great, I am turning in the Motorola HD DVR.


However, this will cause me to loose VOD (not such a big deal) as well as the ability to do firewire recordings to a DvHS deck that I have been doing.



I have been searching high and low for information on VZ's HD STB (NOT the DVR) to find out if it has a firewire port on it.

Can anyone post a link to VZ's HD STB or a Picture of the back of it?

I can save $25 if I do a 30 minute drive to their distribution center to return the HD DVR.
The reason I am trying to find out about their HD STB is that I can pick one of them up there(I think).

I called Verizon tech support but the guy I got did not understand about firewire.

Thank You

I have been searching high and low for information on VZ's HD STB (NOT the DVR) to find out if it has a firewire port on it.

Can anyone post a link to VZ's HD STB or a Picture of the back of it?


http://broadband.motorola.com/catalog/productdetail.asp?ProductID=478

Firewire ports are clearly visible on back - but don't know if they are active.

We're getting ready to pull the string and switch to Verizon FiOS, but have a sticking point that needs to be cleared up before we proceed:

We're on Comcast now and haven't had the need for set top boxes for the 4 tv's upstairs because we get all the channels we need (about 75) right over the cable. I understand this won't be possible w/Fios because there are only 10 or so basic channels that come in without a box.

The issue is that all 4 of these tv's are mounted high up on the walls on swivel mounts and only have a single, 3' length of coax that is exposed. The tv's are all HD lcd flat panels and none of them has a cable card slot.

We want to preserve the clean wiring look as much as possible and need some ideas on what can be done. A friend mentioned an IR extender but didn't know if it would be compatible with the fios stb's. At this point I'm open to any idea that won't cost a bundle and is realatively simple to implement. Thanks for any input!

http://broadband.motorola.com/catalog/productdetail.asp?ProductID=478

Firewire ports are clearly visible on back - but don't know if they are active.


Thank you for that information.

Look at this link and you will see why i asked.
This one has the label for firewire on the back but there is no socket:


http://broadband.motorola.com/business/digitalvideo/product_qip6200_settop.asp

I am splitting the cable signal so that i can feed it to several sources.

When I did this, I started getting dropouts so it was suggested that I put an amplifier on the line.

I have both Fios TV and FIOS Cable.
Since this is a 2 way communication, it seems to me that I need a special type of amplifier.

The ones that I see at Radio Shack do not specify whether their amplifiers are bi-directional.

Anyone know where I can get the proper type amplifier?

Thank You