FiOS TV Technical Assistance

[#1]

Oh NO! I'm going to miss the Rangers game!!! I have FIOS installed today and it seems to be working and all but Fox Sports SW are showing up. Neither HD or regular FXSPSW is available.

I called CS and they were not able to help.

I have the 'Ultimate' package that has FOX Sports available...

Any ideas?

[#2]

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DaveNPlanoTX wrote:

Oh NO! I'm going to miss the Rangers game!!! I have FIOS installed today and it seems to be working and all but Fox Sports SW are showing up. Neither HD or regular FXSPSW is available.

I called CS and they were not able to help.

I have the 'Ultimate' package that has FOX Sports available...

Any ideas?

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First, welcome to FiOS! I hate to hear you are having  problems right off the bat.

Now, tech support should be able to help. If what I suggest below doesn't help, call, call, call, eventually you will reach someone who knows what to do. 'cause you sure don't want to miss the final game of the series with the Yankees

I presume there was a message; what was it? Does the Guide display OK? Does it show FS SW (76 and 576) at all in the Guide? Have you set up a Favorites list and accidentally removed those channels from the list? And besides calling Verizon, what have you tried to fix it?

There are a number of functions within the STB you can try that might fix the issue:

1) I would run the self diagnostics to see if all appears ok:

Menu ==> Customer Support ==> Self Diagnostics

In particular I would pay attention to the last item, Packages, mine shows among other things: Extreme HD and Prime HD, I

guess yours should show Ultimate HD and Prime HD.

2) Try the In-Home Agent:

Menu ==> Customer Support ==> In-Home Agent ==> STB/DVR Auto-correct

3) If that doesn't work, try Reboot STB, also under In-Home Agent.

4) If that doesn't work, try removing the power cord from the STB for 10-15 seconds, then plug it back in.

5) Call tech support (I prefer to call 1-888-553-1555, and after saying yes it is the right phone number I usually say "agent" to each prompt, after several the system will finally realize that you want to talk to a real, live person and connect you). Tell them what you have done. They can do a reboot that is more complete than what you can do on the box. Plus if necessary I understand that they can reload all of the software on the STB.

Hope this helps, the pre-game is on now, 7 minutes until the first pitch....good luck!!!!

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, 25/25 Internet, and Digital Voice user
QIP7232, QIP7100-P2, IMG 1.9
Keller, TX 76248

[#3]

Thanks, Justin. I have tried recycling the power via the cable, unscrewing the cable input and reconnecting, while on the phone with CS. Nothing works.

I am getting a screen that states:

"This Channel Is Currently Unavailable

FS SW HD

Try changing the channel and then returning to this channel. If no video appears, Press "B" button to troubleshoot.

Then it gives a number to CS a quick code and unit address."

By the way, this is happening on both STB's and HD and non HD channels, so I am assuming it is something that has either not been updated yet, or these boxes do not recognize they are in TX.

Thanks...

Fios Untimate TV, 35/35 Internet

[#4]

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DaveNPlanoTX wrote:

Thanks, Justin. I have tried recycling the power via the cable, unscrewing the cable input and reconnecting, while on the phone with CS. Nothing works.

I am getting a screen that states:

"This Channel Is Currently Unavailable

FS SW HD

Try changing the channel and then returning to this channel. If no video appears, Press "B" button to troubleshoot.

Then it gives a number to CS a quick code and unit address."

By the way, this is happening on both STB's and HD and non HD channels, so I am assuming it is something that has either not been updated yet, or these boxes do not recognize they are in TX.

Thanks...

Fios Untimate TV, 35/35 Internet

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Sorry I did not get back to you last night, I hope you managed to watch at least some of the Rangers game last night, it was a good one (again)!

Since it is/was happening on both STBs it appears to me it is either a cabling problem or a subscription problem. It may not be intuitively obvious, but a cabling problem can most definitely cause one or a few channels to not work, even though others do. This is because of the frequencies used by Verizon to distribute the signal to the STBs across the coax, a bad cable, a poor connection, or a bad splitter, can cause some channels to just get "lost." But it is mostly like a subscription problem since it is both the SD and HD versions of the same channel.

By the way, was it only those channels missing, or were there others?

That kind of error message is why I suggested doing those several things, and if they didn't work to contact tech support again and again and again until someone helped. They should be able to reload your STBs with the correct subscription info in just a few minutes.

By the way, to maybe toot my own horn just a little bit, as you get more familiar with FiOS TV, I suggest maybe you take a look at my document attached to the first post in this thread:

http://forums.verizon.com/t5/Interactive-Media-Guide-1-9/FiOS-TV-Getting-Started-With-Interactive-Me...

I really believe if you set up at least one Favorites list you will find yourself much, much happier with FiOS TV. Plus there is other info there on setting up and using the system. I hope it will help you......and of course if info in there is not clear, for sure please let me know.

And I hope you will come back to the Forums if you have questions or need help, there are some really knowledgable people here who are very willing to help.

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, 25/25 Internet, and Digital Voice user
QIP7232, QIP7100-P2, IMG 1.9
Keller, TX 76248 

[#5]

Justin, My other STB is able to access 576/577 with no issues. I think I mentioned that both STB's were having problems, but that is not the case. Only the STB/DVR combo is having a problem.

It's definitely not a subscription problem, and as far as I can tell all other channels are working although I have not taken an hour or so to explore exactly what I'm subscribed to and what actually shows up.

When running the 'trouble-shooting' while on the channel it replies that there is a problem in my area with channels, but I think that is an error.

Tonight I will pull the power and cable from the box before bedtime and boot it back up tomorrow morning to see if it refreshes, if not then I will get Verizon CS involved.

Thanks,,,

[#6]

If you are missing the channels on only one box, then this is most often a noise issue on that particular connection.  Some FiOS channels run right near the 900mhz upper end of frequency spectrum for TV (near the FM frequency spectrum) or near frequencies that are noisy in a particular area -- a poorly shielded coax or older coax installations can sometimes have issues with this and not get enough signal to pull in the channel.  The result is the box saying it's not available such as your are seeing.

To test this theory, if you have another box in the house where the channel is working ... temporarily unhook the box which is failing and take it to the other location. Connect the failing box in place of the working box and see what results you get.  If the problem goes away, then it's an issue with the particular location, not the box.

If the problem remains, then there could be a provisioning problem with that specific box.  This is rate however because it's usually an all or nothing problem -- you get it on every box or none of them.

Assuming the problem goes away when you relocate the box, start by checking all the splitters from thae bad location back to the ONT.  Make sure they are all digitally rated (5-1000mhz or higher), that you have no more splitters than absolutely necessary (or try pulling out splitters temporarily and avoid using multi output -- 3 or more -- spliters if you can, if not make sure the run for  the bad location is on the first stage -- 3db loss -- and not the secondary - 6db loss), and that none of the splitters has an open connection on it (likewise, if you have a splitter at an outlet where another TV can be connected but there's nothing presently there, remove that splitter.  Any open connection can let noise into the system -- essentially acting as a small antenna.  Also check the grade of all the coax segments you are using -- remove any old coax or cheap flexible snap-on type segments which may have poor shielding or not be rated for digital signals.