I need help please!!!
keba1126
Newbie

Ok, we've had an HD plasma tv set up with a verizon hd cable box for about a month. We put in new carpet yesterday & had to unplug everything, after we plugged everything back in, we couldn't get the cable box to work. the cable box was only showing dashes & no numbers & the screen said starting up...please wait a moment. That stayed on the screen for hours & never changed. We backtracked & tried to do the plugs over again, but the same thing. We called a tech & they basically said everything showed that it was plugged in the right way but they couldn't figure out what was wrong. We get cable through the router, but the computer & phone work just fine. We can't figure out why the hd box wont work? We also tried several different coax wires just in case we had a bad wire & no change.

Anyone have any suggestions of what we can do? Also, now our on demand on the other regular cable boxes won't work. It's saying the set top box is offline?

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Re: I need help please!!!
spacedebris
Master - Level 2

If you are only getting dashes on the display, it means that there is no signal getting from verizon to the STB.

So the cable in question is the coax cable (screw on style). It should go from the wall ( or from another room) to the "RF in" or "Fios TV in" on the back of the stb. At this point, this is the only cable of importance. You need to make sure that it is connected and tight at both the wall and at the stb. If this cable is correct you should get the clock to show the correct time.

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Re: I need help please!!!
keba1126
Newbie

The coax comes out of the router & goes directly into the back of the stb. The tech said everything was connected the right way & they didn't understand why nothing was working. But it's weird, we're not getting a "no signal" it just says starting up...please wait, like its trying to start, but nothing happens. 

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Re: I need help please!!!
spacedebris
Master - Level 2

Ok thats the problem. it should not go from the router to the stb. What you should have is a cable that comes from the wall to a splitter, then from the splitter, one line to the router and a second to the stb.

                            |------------  ROUTER

WALL ------------|

                            |------------  STB

                      splitter

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Re: I need help please!!!
keba1126
Newbie

The cable wire isn't one of those black wires with the little needle that you can screw in. Our old one was, but our new cable wire is white & it comes out of the wall & snaps directly into the back of the router. It's like the click in ones that are always in the landline phones. Then we have to set up a coax wire from the router that goes directly to the STB!

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Re: I need help please!!!
spacedebris
Master - Level 2

The cord that goes from the wall to the router. the one that clicks and looks like a large phone wire is a "ethernet" cable. This is fine for internet but will not work for TV in any way.

you MUST have a coax (screw on style) go from the wall to the stb. It will not work otherwise.

What your trying to do is go from the wall to the router and then send the tv signal from the router to the TV. That does not work. You cant do it that way.  My previous post is the only way that will work.

For the TV you MUST have a coax from the wall to a splitter, then you MUST have a coax from the splitter to the router, and then you MUST have a coax from the splitter to the stb.

The ethernet cable from the wall to the router, is fine for internet but not TV.

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Re: I need help please!!!
keba1126
Newbie

No, this wire that I'm talking about is not the ethernet cord. The ethernet wire is yellow & that goes from the back of our computer into one of the LAN slots on the back of the router. Our cable wire comes from the basement up from the floor & snaps into the WAN slot of the router & that cord is our cable wire. Then at the bottom of our router there is a coax wire slot that goes from there to the STB. Everything is in place where it should be. 

Our cable wire is different from most. We used to have the thick black wire, but not anymore. We have a thin white wire with one of those click snaps on the end.

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Re: I need help please!!!
spacedebris
Master - Level 2

@keba1126 wrote:

No, this wire that I'm talking about is not the ethernet cord. The ethernet wire is yellow & that goes from the back of our computer into one of the LAN slots on the back of the router. Our cable wire comes from the basement up from the floor & snaps into the WAN slot of the router & that cord is our cable wire. Then at the bottom of our router there is a coax wire slot that goes from there to the STB. Everything is in place where it should be. 

Our cable wire is different from most. We used to have the thick black wire, but not anymore. We have a thin white wire with one of those click snaps on the end.


Yes, that cable that goes to the WAN port on the router is an ethernet cable. Its the same type of cable that goes from the router to the computer. Color is not an indicator. Doesnt matter what color it is. All the snap in connections on the router are ethernet.

COAX is the ONLY cable that you can use for TV. There is no choice here. You MUST have a coax cable. The tv will not work with any other type of cable.

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Re: I need help please!!!
keba1126
Newbie

I don't think you understand what I mean. My router only has 1 ethernet wire. That wire which is yellow is what connects the computer to the actual router. The etherent wire goes into one of the LAN slots in the middle, our cable wire goes into the WAN at the very top. The ethernet is a completely different wire than my cable wire, that also gets plugged into the back of my router. Our cable wire looks very similar to an ethernet wire, but they are not the same. So in the back of my router it looks like this.

WAN slot: cable wire (straight from the wall)

4 different LAN slots: The ethernet can go into any of those.

Slot for the adapter: To get power

Coax slot: This is where we have the thick black wire connected that goes to the STB.

This is how the Verizon guy set it up. I'm not sure why our cable wire isn't one of those thick black cables like before, but it's a small white cord that comes from our wall that look the kind that gets plugged into a landline phone. 

Do you understand what I mean now?

Also our router is connected to a power surge box & on the side there's a red light that came on & it says something about "wiring fault"

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Re: I need help please!!!
spacedebris
Master - Level 2

@keba1126 wrote:

I don't think you understand what I mean. My router only has 1 ethernet wire. That wire which is yellow is what connects the computer to the actual router. The etherent wire goes into one of the LAN slots in the middle, our cable wire goes into the WAN at the very top. The ethernet is a completely different wire than my cable wire, that also gets plugged into the back of my router. Our cable wire looks very similar to an ethernet wire, but they are not the same. So in the back of my router it looks like this.

WAN slot: cable wire (straight from the wall)

4 different LAN slots: The ethernet can go into any of those.

Slot for the adapter: To get power

Coax slot: This is where we have the thick black wire connected that goes to the STB.

This is how the Verizon guy set it up. I'm not sure why our cable wire isn't one of those thick black cables like before, but it's a small white cord that comes from our wall that look the kind that gets plugged into a landline phone. 

Do you understand what I mean now?

Also our router is connected to a power surge box & on the side there's a red light that came on & it says something about "wiring fault"


Trust me, I understand completely. You dont understand. The wire to the WAN slot on the router is ETHERNET. Always has been and always will be, no other cable can connect to the WAN connection on the router. (unless your running a regular phone wire, this will be slightly smaller than an ethernet cable, This will not work any better than an Ethernet cable) Both types CAN NOT and WILL NOT carry a video signal.

The video signal from Verizon MUST go by coax from the wall to a splitter, then from the splitter, you will have coax run to the router AND to the cable box. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY IT WILL WORK. PERIOD.

Your connection as it is now is not the way verizon set it up, cant be, will not work. Verizon can ONLY send video signal on COAX cable. NO OTHER CABLE WILL WORK. COAX ONLY.

The cable that has looks like it plugs into a land line phone is an ETHERNET cable and WILL NOT carry a video signal.

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