Tivo with Fios TV

Yeah, but you also wouldn't need any more wiring for anything else- regardless if it was an Windows MCE box, a replayTV, or a Tivo.

I wonder if there is more to the wiring though. For instance I wonder if they run that wall outlet (pictured above where the cables are plugged to the wall) thing to every location in the home requiring fios video, internet, and phone. If so, I wonder what the charge per outlet is.

 

Justin Thyme we will find out on Friday if they try to go to several places in the house. I think looking at my service ticket that they go to only one main location, all others are addtional charges. I plan on having them go to the OnQ box in the garage and have it split the signal all over the house like we did for the cable modem.
j

 

It will be very intersting to hear your experience when you have your Tivo's hooked up. Professional question- I presume from your link you are into real estate. Seeing how the internet has revolutionized real estate in attracting buyers, I wonder if you have read or heard about any outfits doing video walk throughs for each listing. With a Tivo, it is possible to easily watch such walk throughs from the comfort of the living room. Of course, it is not going to be a big deal until there are substantial enough numbers of potential buyers with Tivos in a given market, but you may see where I am going with this. Buyer puts in their search criteria for a home (high low price, residential areas, square feet and other features)- all just like they would do for a Tivo wishlist. Bang- user goes to their now playing list and under House search folder, they can view any new listings satisfying the search criteria. Of course at the video listing is the listing agent, with a one tivo click, send me more information thing like they have on those car Tivo commercials. Broadband to everyone's home like FIOS makes that sort of scenarios very interesting because the transfer of such videos is extremely rapid. In tivo's case it doesn't matter that much how slow the connection is because as Tivo users we are delightfully oblivious of when things are being recorded (or for that matter how long it takes).

Anyway, back to the Fios wall connectors. If the installer wants to charge and arm and a leg, you don't have to take it or leave it. Everything is standard cabling after it leaves that main box (pictured above), so you can opt to hire another cable jockey do it. If you have a DIY kind of guy in the family, you can get all the supplies you need cheap at home depot because it is all standard stuff. It is pretty easy to do- no high power or danger to your equipment if things are bass ackwards- It just won't work. The grunt work is just getting the cabling runs made without any tight bends or kinks in the wire. Then even if you have to call in a pro to sort out some mix up with making the connectors work, it will be a lot cheaper.

A box of cable that will wire up the largest of houses will set you back $59. Connectors, wall plates and tiedowns for the cabling- another 50 depending on length of runs and how many locations you are running to.

If interested, I have written up a lot of detail notes here.

 

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This thread is the first I've heard of FIOS, so there's really no way to know how things will go down. If they use a Motorola box, there's a good chance that our IR codes might work but we'll have to wait for reports from the field to really know.

If their box is a DVR, other issues might arise that could prevent smooth operation even if the IR codes do work. For example, I've seen a TiVo DVR control a Dish DVR because the Dish DVR functions weren't activated. If they were activated, the TiVo DVR would have no way of knowing if the Dish DVR had changed a channel to record something else on its own.

 

TivoJerry- the Set top box is a Motorola DCT2500* so I think the Tivo is going to breeze through it. (source) For tech background on the FIOS infrastructure- DT-DC pointed out a great paper that Verizon presented to the FCC (same one I referenced earlier). Lots of pictures great for skimming the gist of it.

OK Joysbox. That's put you on the spot. Are you getting a Fios set top box or the DVR? If it is the Set top box, it will be very helpful to know how the Tivo does with it.

Okay?

* The only way to get HD is if you get the FIOS DVR- a DCT6414 [edit- this may be incorrect. There is a third box, which is an HD STB without DVR for $9.95/month according to a July document from Verizon. unknown model number] . As stated earlier, the FCC doc suggests that they are compatible with CC 1.0. Don't know if that means Tivo's CC is good to go with Fios or not. Maybe Bob should fly you to Dallas to visit Joy's home to find out.

Edits- 12/6 fixed busted link
12/7 HD STB correction.

 

Thanks for all the info...good stuff.

The DCT2500 is a model we control with current IR codes (10006, 10032, 10042, 10046 being the best choices). There is the possibility that these boxes may even have a serial port, but it seems doubtful that Verizon would know how to enable it to allow for serial control of channel changes (never know until you try).

 

Hi Justin Thyme,
First, yes, I am a Realtor. One of the reasons I got the DRT800 was with the firewire port I could go preview a home for someone and make a DVD without the huge overhead that companies that do that charge. I would LOVE to have clients be able to see the homes online in a friendly format. It would be a interesting market to see who brings that element to the plate. It shouldn't be long.....

But no, I won't be getting FiOS TV. It's not offered in Leesburg, only Herndon VA. And those 16 miles make a huge difference. I going in for the Internet service only. *shudder* The idea of leaving Tivo for one of their boxes....,not very likely.

joysbox

 

If you want a totally pro look for your DVDs, try a printer that will print directly onto your DVDs. I am told some kind of HP printer does the ones I burn for my community group, but Epson has them too eg. the R200.

Can't comment on how the Epson does, but the HP printed disks look commercial. I was surprized they were spending so much and then I found out it was just a inexpensive printer doing it. None of that paper adhesive kind of cheap look.

 

That FCC doesn't work for me, in either Firefox or IE. It is getting condensed in the middle somehow.

 

Yep looks like they got mangled somehow. Thought I tested the dang things. Sorry.

//gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6518171130

or http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6518171130

I will try and correct the prior notes.

 

HOT OFF THE WIRE PORTFOLIO NEWS - from Lycos Finance


Real Estate Marketing Now on the Apple(R) iPod(R)
- Dec 1, 2005 11:42 AM (BusinessWire)
- http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=53594956



===========================================================================


RENO, Nev.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 1, 2005--Explicit Media Inc., a
multimedia marketing innovator with a focus on the real estate
industry, has enabled its Real Estate Home Show product for
downloading to the Apple(R) iPod(R).



Real estate agents and consumers may download videos of current
real estate home listings directly to their Apple(R) iPod(R) to allow
for portable marketing and viewing (Web site:
TheRealEstateHomeShow.com).



Pat Dulleck, a real estate broker for Realty World in San Jose,
Calif., has embraced video in the marketing of her office listings and
has been a customer of the Real Estate Home show product since its
introduction in May of this year. "My clients love the Featured
Listing Videos; I provide six images and a few details of the listing
and they create an incredible finished video product that has been a
tremendous aid to my marketing. Now that they have added the ability
to load the videos to my Apple iPod, it is absolutely awesome. I carry
the iPod with me at all times, it's easy to use and just dazzles
prospective clients as I am able to immediately provide them with
video details of all of my active listings; no matter where I am, I
never miss an opportunity to show a property, and it costs less than a
360 tour!"



Scott Le Force, president of Realty World Northern California &
Nevada Inc., states, "Cost-effective, progressive technology that is
cutting-edge. You can't get a WOW factor better than this for the
money."



"Our Featured Listing Videos are now reaching all of the senses.
They are viewable on the Web, on our national television show and now
the Apple iPod, taking marketing of home listings to an entirely new
level," says Greg Johnson, CEO of Explicit Media.



Apple, the Apple logo, iPod and iTunes are trademarks of Apple
Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).



CONTACT: Explicit Media Inc.
Miles Johnson, 800-411-4471


Info@TheRealEstateHomeShow.com


SOURCE: Explicit Media Inc.

 

Yepp. Personal Video Players give new meaning to the term "pocket listings".

I would think any agent who shopped around would pass on the ipod though- going for a creative zen with twice the video playtime, or an Archos 700 with over 6 times the screen area.

 

Working in this market (Wash DC Metro) you have different expectations on what you(agent) will bring to the table. Gizmos are nice and do give a "wow" factor but overall it is the personal connection between you and the customer that works the deal.

I keep saying I want to do comercials or just more advertising, but the cost! and time! Now if I start getting those Million dollar listings, they will get the full treatment Now someone come buy this house!

j

 

According to pricing sheets that have come out, Fios has the option of an HD STB ($9.99) or an HD DVR ($12.95).

 

Right you are. My statement was incorrect, and I shall have to go back and correct it. The I4U review asked what the HD STB was, and the response mentioned only the HD DVR. It did not explicitly say that there was not an HD STB.

This verizon document from July confirms the pricing :
3.95 for standard definition set top box ("STB") [ model DCT2500]
9.95 for high definition STB [model ???]
12.95 for High def STB/ DVR [model DCT6414]

I posted a query on dslreports.com where they were discussing Fios. They seem to have sustained interest in the subject. Maybe someone will eventually come up with the model number.

 

which FiOS lineup did you see?? The one I saw for Wylie, TX was awesome. HD-wise, better than what Comcast had. I dunno what Dish offers, but does it offer all of the major locals in HD? (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, WB, UPN). The rest of the lineup looked really good to me as well.

 

I was remarking on the HD channels in addition to those which are available locally. Since that can change from city to city, I only refer to constant- which is the extra HD channels. And it didn't look that awesome to me.

Regardless, I will definately get FIOS when it comes to my area if it had CC Tivo support. The chatter on avsforum seems to indicate much much higher data rates for their SD and HD channels, which makes a great deal of sense to me, since they have the bandwidth to burn, and it is an established pattern (dish and direct came out first with great PQ, then started compressing more and more in order to make room for more channels until we have the degraded pictures we have today).

 

I will be getting FiosTv January 10th, 2006. I have three Tivo boxes, 1 Tivo-1 (Philips) and 2 Tivo-2 boxes. One series 2 box is connect to the network via cat5, the other connects to the network via a wireless card. Both boxes retrieve program info via the Internet which is through Fios (15/2M). I have used Tivo since 2001, and really like the service. So, I am very interested in the compatability between my Tivo boxes and the soon to be installed FiosTv. I will answer some/most of the questions asked in this forum as soon as I get the FiosTv and have had enough time to experiment (and ask questions).

Wayne

 

I got verizon fios installed yesterday (with the motorola 2500 box SD box). I already had a toshiba DVR/tivo that was working great, now it isn't.

Verizon said they didn't mess with Tivo boxes when they installed it.

I messed around with it and finally got a picture via tivo, but couldn't control the stations. It is driving me nuts and makes me want to go back to cable.

Can someone help out a non-technically inclined person how to get my TIVO to work with Verizon fios?