Verizon Fios TV

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thejawn

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I recently got Verizons Fiber Optic Service, and the cable box that I have has a serial port in the back. I was wonder if it was possible to use this to "sync" the cable box with my PC. I do have a serial cable, I plugged it into my computer, and nothing happened. I don't know where to go from there.

It also has a USB 2.0 port. BUT, whenever I try to use this port, it tells me I need to get the DVR service to be able to use it, any modifications I can do?
 
thejawn said:
I recently got Verizons Fiber Optic Service
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Consider yourself very, very lucky. :p

I do have a serial cable, I plugged it into my computer, and nothing happened.
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I would be very suprised if that didn't happen. Serial devices don't install themselves and start working as soon as you plug them in like USB devices do.

I would read the manual and/or talk to Verizon. Many TV devices have the seial port for interfacing with other equipment or a home theater automation system. You'll probably notice the serial port on other high-end devices as well, such as upscaling DVD players and audio receivers. I imagine it is possible to connect the device to your PC. You might need some sort of home theater atuomation software to interface with it.
 
Fios? You mean it actually exist?! Been waiting so long for it I thought it was just another urban legend.
 
The infrastructure has recently been installed in my neighborhood, nice fat lines on the telephone poles. Any day now supposedly :)

Will be running it side by side with Optonline/Cablevision, will thoroughly compare both TV and internet services for a month or two and may the better service win :D

Can't wait to see if their boxes will have active usb or firewire ports.
 
The quality is actually pretty darn good from my experience thus far (I've had the tv service for about a month). We got five of the standard boxes and one of the HD boxes, no DVR though. i kind of wish i did get a dvr, the multi-room features seem like they'd be fun to play around with. We came from Directv which had good quality, but the menus were very slow. And the internet is a lot more reliable than comcast's cable internet. FiOS is very snappy (it caches its program guide data about a week in advance) and the channel changes are nice and fast.

I don't have the proper cable to hook up my HD box via USB to my PC, but the manuals say that the USB port is currently inactive. As for the serial port, i've heard of people using them with cable boxes to change channels from a PC, but i haven't been able to find any detailed instructions on how to do it.
 
you got fios?! lucky!*where do you live?* theres fios availible to houston... but I live 30min drive away from it*not telling you where I live! unless you buy something from me* but im hoping there will be FIOS in an year or so :D

as someone said try calling verizon they'll have the answer.

p.s. how is it is it pretty stable?
 
JPGR87 said:
The quality is actually pretty darn good from my experience thus far (I've had the tv service for about a month). We got five of the standard boxes and one of the HD boxes, no DVR though. i kind of wish i did get a dvr, the multi-room features seem like they'd be fun to play around with. We came from Directv which had good quality, but the menus were very slow. And the internet is a lot more reliable than comcast's cable internet. FiOS is very snappy (it caches its program guide data about a week in advance) and the channel changes are nice and fast.

I don't have the proper cable to hook up my HD box via USB to my PC, but the manuals say that the USB port is currently inactive. As for the serial port, i've heard of people using them with cable boxes to change channels from a PC, but i haven't been able to find any detailed instructions on how to do it.
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I can attest to the USB port being inactive at the moment. At least, I'm pretty sure I wasn't doing it the wrong way ;) :confused:


But yeah, Fios FTW
 
I live in NJ, one of the first towns on the east coast to get FIOS. I still haven't found any guides, but the serial port to control the PC sounds like a possibility, I just want to know how to "connect" in a sense my PC to my cable box.

no DVR though. i kind of wish i did get a dvr, the multi-room features seem like they'd be fun to play around with. We came from Directv which had good quality, but the menus were very slow.
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Same story here, I took my old direct TV box and disassembled it today just to check it out.

Been googling for around and hour now, still haven't found anything.
 
Have had fios for a year now and I love it. The USB and Firewire ports are inactive till the end of the summer when they do an upgrade to the firmware. Supposed to be good stuff. The composite video port on the front is disabled as well, for some stupid reason. Other than those 3 things I have no problems. The picture quality is second to none and the 30mb broadband is.....well what 30mb should be. For you folks that are still waiting ...I am sorry but it will be worth the wait. The dvr multi room is outstanding. I can send the wife away to watch her stupid reality shows. That alone is worth the price I pay.
 
going o.t.

verizon has been ending me these fake dhl overnight letters about the service being available for me now. i currently have road-runner/time warner digital cable which is internet phone, cable broadband (10mbits down and 400k up) and about 1000 channels cable/50-100 hd. would it be worth it to switch? fios broadband/phone would actually be a little cheaper than what i have. how is the tv?
 
michael.pa2 said:
Fios? You mean it actually exist?! Been waiting so long for it I thought it was just another urban legend.
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I've had FIOS Internet since August of 2005. My TV service wasn't hooked up until April of this year though because the local CO didn't have the proper equipment until then, despite the availability announcement going out in January.

rayman2k2 said:
I can attest to the USB port being inactive at the moment.
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Yeah, the USB ports are inactive.

thejawn said:
I plugged it into my computer, and nothing happened. I don't know where to go from there.
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I don't know what you expected to happen, but serial devices aren't plug and play. Simply plugging one into your computer isn't going to do anything.

On the other hand, combined with some PVR software (such as SageTV) and a hardware TV tuner (such as a Hauppauge PVR- card), you can use the serial port for changing the channel on the box so that you don't have use to IR Blasters (which, even under the best of conditions, are not 100% reliable).

If you are having problems getting that to work then your box probably had the port disabled form the factory. In that case you can call the fiber solutions center and use the automated system to have your STB reinitialized (just tell it you're having problems with a STB and it will reboot them remotely, unplugging and plugging back in is NOT the same thing). Once it comes back up the serial port will be active.
 
Hey, I live in NJ too! Where abouts? I'm Exit 148 on the GSP ... Waitting for FIOS here!

thejawn said:
I live in NJ, one of the first towns on the east coast to get FIOS. I still haven't found any guides, but the serial port to control the PC sounds like a possibility, I just want to know how to "connect" in a sense my PC to my cable box.


Same story here, I took my old direct TV box and disassembled it today just to check it out.

Been googling for around and hour now, still haven't found anything.
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nvidiapwnsati said:
you got fios?! lucky!*where do you live?* theres fios availible to houston... but I live 30min drive away from it*not telling you where I live! unless you buy something from me* but im hoping there will be FIOS in an year or so :D

as someone said try calling verizon they'll have the answer.

p.s. how is it is it pretty stable?
Click to expand...

I live in a northern suburb of philadelphia, verizon trucks were all over the place around here for the past couple months wiring up streets. Two chicks were walking around my neighborhood once the TV service was available, trying to sell everyone the triple play. We gave in and ditched our comcast and directv in favor of fios, and they installed it 3 days after we signed up.

It is very stable. I only had an internet outage once, but when i called and gave my phone number the robot-lady said that our whole neighborhood was out. so i went to wawa and came back, and there was a couple of guys and a verizon van at the end of my street at a big box on a phone pole. Internet was up later that night. The TV is damn good, on demand has artifacts once in a while, but not to the point where its bothersome. And i get the full 5mb/sec out of downloads.
 
...I was happy when dsl came to where I live a year ago...

Gimme fios! :(
 
Cobalt2112 said:
Hey, I live in NJ too! Where abouts? I'm Exit 148 on the GSP ... Waitting for FIOS here!
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Boo Bloomfield/Belleville.

136 here, no Fios, and none planed for the near future from what I gather. Supposedly, Verizon thinks the boonies deserve fios before the cities, wtf.
 
I have Timewarner and right now their service in my area is lousy. But Fios is still not available in most of NYC. So i have keep on suffering
 
Yep, Bloomfield here! My brother-in-law works for Verizon's DSL unit, he keeps boasting about FIOS. But, I just read an article that cable may compete in that area. Theoretically cable can go to 100-150MB/s ... They just cap it.


c.d.e said:
Boo Bloomfield/Belleville.

136 here, no Fios, and none planed for the near future from what I gather. Supposedly, Verizon thinks the boonies deserve fios before the cities, wtf.
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Cobalt2112 said:
But, I just read an article that cable may compete in that area. Theoretically cable can go to 100-150MB/s ... They just cap it.
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They cap more than that the bastards. This may or may not be true but I also hear that our cable/internet provider has been snitching on torrent users. Supposedly doesn't take much abuse before you've been flagged either (?) and i don't care to find out.

Just a friendly heads up to those in northern NJ with Optonline internet service.
 
no, everything is transmitted to your house digitally, there's no crappy analog noise that you're used to from OTA or basic cable. The picture is always sharp and clear
 
JPGR87 said:
no, everything is transmitted to your house digitally, there's no crappy analog noise that you're used to from OTA or basic cable. The picture is always sharp and clear
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Well I have/had "digital" cable, and it was no where near sharp and clear...
 
got fios a month ago, tv is really crisp and clear. internet is really really fast being that im the only one in the house using it. i got the hd box for no additional cost because it was part of a deal for fios just starting up in town. im on exit 151 on the Garden State Parkway so for u guys at 148, it should be there soon :p
 
montypythizzle said:
Well I have/had "digital" cable, and it was no where near sharp and clear...
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Digital cable compresses the signal a lot more than FiOS does due to bandwidth issues. verizon has a lot more bandwidth to play with than cable companies, so they don't have to compress their signals as much, which means less fuzziness/blockiness and other compression artifacts that can affect picture sharpness and clarity.
 
HOCP4ME said:
Consider yourself very, very lucky. :p



I would be very suprised if that didn't happen. Serial devices don't install themselves and start working as soon as you plug them in like USB devices do.

I would read the manual and/or talk to Verizon. Many TV devices have the seial port for interfacing with other equipment or a home theater automation system. You'll probably notice the serial port on other high-end devices as well, such as upscaling DVD players and audio receivers. I imagine it is possible to connect the device to your PC. You might need some sort of home theater atuomation software to interface with it.
Click to expand...

Sometimes the serial connection on the back of a cable box is so that a stand alone DVR can change the cable boxes channel so that it can record a show... Just a thought...

I've had FiOS for a long time.. My internet is the only FiOS service I use though. 10Mb/s connection speed, I could have 20Mb/s or 50Mb/s if I wanted to shell out the $$$.
 
montypythizzle said:
So what is the quality of the FioS????? SDTV wise
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ATT UVerse, they have more HD channels than anyone else and its all over a network similar to Verizons(but much bigger and faster). Uverse is a combination of TV and Internet much like FIOS and it runs over high bandwidth cables too.
 
Depending on the location, Uverse is either approximately the same bandwidth as Fios, or significantly less.

In greenfields, or new build areas, they are installing fiber to the home like Verizon, but in overbuild areas they are using pumped up DSL(Copper) to provide the bandwidth for the IPTV. ATT is doing this for $$$ reasons. Eventually they will have to pony up the $$$ to get the FTTH ONT on the wall, but for now they will continue to be limited in the bandwidth they can provide.

Anyone that tells you different is pulling your leg...
 
'96DOHC said:
Sometimes the serial connection on the back of a cable box is so that a stand alone DVR can change the cable boxes channel so that it can record a show... Just a thought...

I've had FiOS for a long time.. My internet is the only FiOS service I use though. 10Mb/s connection speed, I could have 20Mb/s or 50Mb/s if I wanted to shell out the $$$.
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True, back when a lot of people were using replayTV (still have mine) you could use it to switch the cable box's channel, so you didn't have to use the IR blaster.
 
This may be a stupid question but for fios or even that uverse does the tv part of it take anything away from the internet speed or are they on two different things?

And by me the elite for uverse for internet is only 6Mbps down and 1Mbps.
 
RussianHAXOR said:
ATT UVerse, they have more HD channels than anyone else and its all over a network similar to Verizons(but much bigger and faster). Uverse is a combination of TV and Internet much like FIOS and it runs over high bandwidth cables too.
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Uverse is currently capped at 25mbps to the house. Since it is all IPTV, they only allow max internet speeds of 6 meg and reserve the other 19 for tv. This 19 meg left over only allows one HD stream to be coming in at one time, meaning only one stb can be tuned in or recording ONE hd channel at a time. However their DVR does allow 4 SD feeds to be recorded at one time.
 
I live in a suburb outside of Dallas and Verizon is currently beta testing their Fios g-pons network amongst their employees. A gigabit card is required and they've been getting consistent speeds of over 200meg and up to 600meg. Who knows how much that will cost, but supposedly it is for their upcoming HD On Demand which does run solely off the internet.
 
In case anyone is interested, most of the SD channels are broadcast at about 2GB/hr according to my TiVo S3 (don't confuse that with what you might set SageTV or some other PVR app to record at). The HD channels seem to vary greatly and are in the 5-8GB/hour range.
 
jonw757 said:
Why does the TimeWarner commercial say that FIOS TV is a dish?
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Probably more BS from the cable companies. Verizon has/had an older TV bundle package which used DirectTV service, it had nothing to do with FIOS and i don't know if they're even offering it anymore. Fios on the other hand does not use a dish, at least in northern NJ it doesn't, but for more remote areas i wouldn't know (?).
 
SJetski71 said:
Probably more BS from the cable companies. Verizon has/had an older TV bundle package which used DirectTV service, it had nothing to do with FIOS and i don't know if they're even offering it anymore. Fios on the other hand does not use a dish, at least in northern NJ it doesn't, but for more remote areas i wouldn't know (?).
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"FIOS TV" never uses a dish. As you mentioned though, Verizon also offers an older package that is resold from DirecTV. It is still offered but only to the people that cannot receive FIOS TV.
 
I made my mom get Verizon Fios just b4 I moved to Northern CA from DC. SHe loves it. I am still amazed at the speeds of the service, plus the TV service as well. She got the multi-room DVR package with HD Service. The picture is amazing, the DVR function is really cool to play with. I won't even comment on the internet service. "JEALOUS"

Enjoy it...I wish it were avilabe in the bay area....
 
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