Fios CC Pixelation Question

[ciucca]

I not looking to start another long pixelation thread. I've read hundreds of posts concerning this issue with FIOS and TIVOHD/S3. I've read many posts were people claim that their pixelation was fixed by experimenting with attenuators, and an equal number (It seems to me that way) that say it did not work.

I have about 8 days to return the Tivo. I usually don't mind tinkering, but in as much as this is my wife's tivo I don't have the time to trouble shoot the issue. I need to find the "fail safe" solution and implement that.

[wmcbrine]

I didn't vote, because none of the choices is correct. What I'd say is that attenuation can help, but it tends to be temporary, because Verizon doesn't keep their signal levels as steady as they should. I've had to add attenuators at some points, and then take them off again later.

However, most of the time, most channels (and yes, unfortunately, the signal level varies across channels) work fine. Also, I doubt that software can do anything about this.

[ciucca]

I didn't vote, because none of the choices is correct. What I'd say is that attenuation can help, but it tends to be temporary, because Verizon doesn't keep their signal levels as steady as they should. I've had to add attenuators at some points, and then take them off again later.



I assume the signal levels is the strength of the signal. Since it does not affect the Verizon STBs it must be the TIVO hardware that is not up to par. Hmm this is leaning me towards packing it up and returning it.

[wmcbrine]

On the contrary, I'd say it's Verizon's fault. And yes, it DOES affect their STBs, at least sometimes. They may or may not be more resilient than TiVos -- I can't say for sure -- but the bottom line is that Verizon needs to keep a better rein on their signal.

[ciucca]

You are probably correct, but after a couple of days dealing with their tech support, it I get the feeling they don't think that way or at least they will not admit it.

[GoHokies!]

I have seen this in equal amounts on my S3 and on the other Tvs in the house with Verizon STBs, so at least in my case the problem is clearly Verizon.

I haven't bothered to much around with attenuators or anything as the once every day or two I see it doesn't bother me enough to fuss with it.

[rifleman69]

I put a 12 on and it has cut out the pixellating almost 99%. Very very rarely will I get something that doesn't last for more than 2-3 seconds...and most of that time is from the content provider and not TiVo.

Verizon does not have a steady signal though, that is for damn sure.

[ciucca]

Thanks for your responses so far.

I posted a question on the dslreports Verizon direct forum and I received the following response concerning this issue from a higher tier tech than the phone support. His response (see below) and the low number of people saying the fix is permanent, makes me think that the TIVO may have some serious hardware problems.

Thank you for your inquiry. I apologize for the trouble you are experiencing with FiOS and your TiVO. Unfortunately, at the moment there is no universal fix. This is an issue that our Video Engineers have been working with TiVO to resolve; however, after trying the various possibilities, including the ones you mentioned (attenuator, QAM card replacement), we have yet to find a resolution. In most cases, the resolution has been temporary, or it's still intermittent. Even though some are reporting no issues, we don't feel it's permanent and wouldn't be surprised if the problem returned at any moment. For this reason, we continue to investigate and work with TiVO to find a permanent resolution. I apologize that I do not have a better answer for you, but as of now, there is still no resolution. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding this information.

Sincerely,

I will try the attenuator work around when they arrive tomorrow. If it doesn't improve significantly I will be returning the TIVO

[ilh]

I started with 3dB as that is what Verizon put on their HD DVR. I experienced some very rare pixelation during the Daily Show and the Colbert Report so I switched that out for 10dB. I haven't noticed any pixelation in weeks. This 10dB is after 2-way and 3-way splitters installed by Verizon. My SNR is now 35/36. I haven't seen any uncorrected RS errors whenever I have checked.

[rifleman69]

They put one on their own box? Interesting....

[ilh]

Yes.

[ciucca]

Well I received by Attenuator pack from smart home today.

I ended up having to use a 16db (10 + 6 Attenuator) to get to a point were the RL uncorrected errors have stopped. I do still get corrected errors. I even get corrected errors at 20db.

I am disturbed by this. I had periods were the RL uncorrected errors would stop for periods of 12 + hours. I wonder what is going to happen when the this period arrives again. I assume from posts in this thread and others that the signal strength goes up randomly during the day. I hope during one of these periods I don't lose the signal altogether.

Oh, well I think I am convinced that the problem is with TIVO's QAM tuner, or the Cablecard. I think the CC is only decrypting the bit stream after the tuner demodulates it into a bit stream. To me this seems to implicate the TIVO QAM tuner as being the problem.

I think this may be my last TIVO product. IMO I think Tivo probably used a low cost QAM tuner to save hardware costs. Unless they come up with a software fix soon (if possible) ... This is disappointing.

[wmcbrine]

16dB? Good grief!

I assume from posts in this thread and others that the signal strength goes up randomly during the day.No, it's not as bad as that. It's more like, it drifts up (or down) over the space of a few days... they finally notice it and fix it... then it's fine for a few months.

Oh, well I think I am convinced that the problem is with TIVO's QAM tuner, or the Cablecard.No, the problem is with Verizon.

[ciucca]

Not that I want to stick up for Verizon, but there are a few things that make me not agree with you. I agree Verizon's signal out of the ONT may not be as stable as it should be but...

- I have an 6416 Moto DVR I use in my den, I hooked it up to the same line as the tivo (with and without the attenuators) and it is rock solid. I put the "in-band" status page up and tuned to the offending channels and not 1 corrected or uncorrected error for over an hour. With the TIVO in the same time frame I got uncorrected and corrected without the attenuators and a few hundred corrected with them.

- I had a similar problem with TIVO 4 years back when I had directv. There was a software update that stopped one of the tuners from receiving the signal on one cable run, they use one for each tuner. Some very smart person on this board in fact in a different forum, figured out if you attenuated the signal 7db it would work. I was able to do it back then with splitters. A few months later TIVO pushed an updated that fixed the problem and when I removed the splitters the tuners were rock solid. If I remember correct TIVO/D* did not admit to it being their problem until they had a fix in hand. People would call and get replacement units. sound familiar?

This issue seems eerily similar to that.

This is probably why I think it is a TIVO issue. Their engineers should go back and see how the D* issue was fixed. There may be a clue there.