VOD slow/unresponsive
jmcohen231
Contributor - Level 3

just curious if anyone else is frustrated with the slowness and unresponsiveness of the VOD.  about 75% of the time when I try to select a VOD (either paid or free), the box freezes up for at least 60 seconds, sometimes for as long as 5 minutes, and the only button that will work is the power-off button.  this is very frustrating and should not occur in our world of technology.  I rarely experienced this issue with Comcast.

please tell me that Verizon is making this issue their top priority to fix with their next update (hopefully soon).  I'm sure that this topic has been covered several times on this forum, so if a Verizon rep can at least address it, then please make it a sticky.

Message Edited by jmcohen23 on 08-11-2009 08:12 AM
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Re: VOD slow/unresponsive
VZ_JoeD
Contributor - Level 1
Hello.  I am a FiosTech support agent.  I have a suggestion that should help your VOD be more responsive.  Send me a message and I will be more than happy to assist you.
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Re: VOD slow/unresponsive
VZ_JoeD
Contributor - Level 1

This delay is known by Verizon and is being worked. It has to do with the database access. Right now when you enter into the selection it has to load the entire database, not just the part you are looking into. It is better than it used to be before it was condensed into a zip style, back when it had to load an unabridged file. But they are still working on getting it more condensed and compartmentalized so that it will only have to load the small part that you are actually looking into. Its getting better but not all the way there yet.

There is a setting in the Actiontec router that may help us out.  Wont know for sure until we try.  I have had success at times with this depending on the actual issue at hand.  Shoot me a message and I can walk you through the router settings.

Message Edited by FIOSTechJoe on 08-11-2009 09:09 AM
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Re: VOD slow/unresponsive
Justin46
Legend

FIOSTechJoe,

That is good information, and I appreciate your providing it. But I have to say I have NEVER, EVER experienced any significant delay when using VOD. I only use free, I am too cheap to pay (already paying Verizon enough Smiley Happy ), but I just did a quick test, all the way from hitting the VOD button to beginning to watch a selected movie, and no step, including starting the movie itself, took more than 5 seconds, and all but the last probably took only 2 or 3.

Is it possible that the problem is regionalized or something? Really, VOD works just fine for me, and has for at least the last 3 years.

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
QIP6416, IMG 1.6.2, Build 08.58
Keller, TX 76248

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Re: VOD slow/unresponsive
matcarl
Master - Level 1
VOD on my SD box is really slow, but fast on the HD & DVR boxes.
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Re: VOD slow/unresponsive
Justin46
Legend

@matcarl wrote:
VOD on my SD box is really slow, but fast on the HD & DVR boxes.

Yeah, I tried it on my DVR. But, I went and tried it on one of my SD STBs and it was just about the same speed, maybe slightly slower, but not more than 6 or 7 seconds in the longest step, most were 1 or 2 again..

A mystery to me, but I am not complaining....

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
QIP6416, IMG 1.6.2, Build 08.58
Keller, TX 76248

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Re: VOD slow/unresponsive
spacedebris
Master - Level 2
One thing that may also be an issue, especially in light of what fiostechjoe said about it having to load the entire list. Some of the stb's only have 8mb of ram, some have 16mb, and some have 32mb.  So if you have one of the older 8mb boxes, it may be just a lack of ram allowing it to load quickly. Just a thought
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Re: VOD slow/unresponsive
Justin46
Legend

@spacedebris wrote:
One thing that may also be an issue, especially in light of what fiostechjoe said about it having to load the entire list. Some of the stb's only have 8mb of ram, some have 16mb, and some have 32mb.  So if you have one of the older 8mb boxes, it may be just a lack of ram allowing it to load quickly. Just a thought

Looking at the memory configuration in the diagnostic menu of each of my STBs: 

My QIP6416-1 (yes, -1) that I have had since Sept. 2005 shows 128MB of system RAM.

My QIP2500-3 shows 20480K (20MB) of RAM

My QIP2500-1 shows 16384K (16MB) of RAM

I have done the VOD thing on each of the STBs, and they all take about the same time from start to finish to find and start viewing a movie. Maybe a few seconds difference, but really insignificant.

You may be right, I don't know, but it sure doesn't look like the memory size has any significant effect for me. Now I would guess that if someone really does have only 8MB that could be a cause, but my 2500-1 has 16MB, and that is the way it was at initial install in Sept. 2005, the first month of FiOS TV. Maybe others of you could take a look at their STBs and report the memory size to see if there is a memory corrolation to VOD performance. But still a mystery to me at this point.

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
QIP6416, IMG 1.6.2, Build 08.58
Keller, TX 76248

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Re: VOD slow/unresponsive
matcarl
Master - Level 1

I have a 2500-3 and it is very slow, so I guess that's not it.

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Re: VOD slow/unresponsive
spacedebris
Master - Level 2

I may be wrong on the specific amounts of ram. I'm doing this from memory on a post I read sometime earlier this year when they said that they were going to start upgrading the ram. so take my numbers with a grain of salt Smiley Wink

but the actual numbers aside, there is supposed to be version 1's, 2's, and 3's.  1's and 2's are supposed to have low ram and if I'm remembering right, they had to upgrade the older boxes to version 3's in order to do a lot of the new features that they were rolling out.

I'm just thinking if someone with the older small ram boxes is having problems with loading the guide and the one's that are not having any issues are version 3's then maybe that is the issue. Just trying to think "outside the box" a little.

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