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Several Channels "Unavailable"

For a little over a week now, we've been encountering freeze-ups and several "This channel is unavailable" messages. When it first started, disconnecting and reseating the coax fixed the problem temporarily. Each time we did that, the picture would remain fine for less time than the time before.

There doesn't seem to be any particular rhyme or reason to which channels are out. Some are SD, but the majority are HD. The outages seem to be the absolute worst in the early afternoon when any fix we attempt results in no more than 30 seconds of working signal.

Verizon sent us a new DVR last week. That didn't fix the problem.

We bought a new splitter. That didn't fix the problem.

We moved the router into another room so that we wouldn't need the splitter. That didn't fix the problem.

We moved the HDMI cable to a new port. That didn't fix the problem.

We connected the DVR with component cables in lieu of the HDMI cable. That didn't fix the problem.

We've rebooted, reset, and reinitialized more times than I can count. That didn't fix the problem.

I ran a diagnostic and it says that our OOB S/N ratio is "poor."

Everything else in the self diagnosis is fine.

The internet was going out periodically as well. It hasn't gone down since we moved it to another room, but it's only been there a few hours.

I'm tempted to ask that they send a tech, but I fear the extra charges we risk incurring for the sin of not being a level 4 Verizon technician ourselves.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Comments

Hubrisnxs

channel unavailable is almost always the cable itself, unless it's happening on all set top boxes. That being said it doesn't look like you replaced the cable going from the splitter to the set top box, I would do that next, and if that doesn't fix it, then you aren't going to have much else to do but get an electrician or a verizon technician out there.

Tri or quad shield RG6 is what I would use, and on those splitters, make sure there are NO unused ports. if there are, then you need to cap them off, otherwise your signal could be bleeding from those unused ports. Also if you notice any amplifiers or attenuators on the coax cables today, then remove them. they aren't neccessary and could be causing the problem.

bkizer

Thanks! I just learned that my son replaced the coax from the wall to the DVR. We no longer use the splitter with the DVR as the router has been moved to another room where both the TV and the router are working fine. Unfortunately, neither of these things has fixed the problem.

I guess I'll be calling Verizon. I'm going to be most disappointed (and ready to run) if they bill me for services rendered after we've tried every fix we can think of.

Thanks again!

Brandy

Hubrisnxs

Just another thought, you may even want to steal a coax cable from one of the set top boxes that are working properly, and put it where your problem is. if the problem is still there, then it's obviously not the cable.

bkizer

Yep, that's what he did. I've had a STB in my bedroom since we signed up for the service, but I've never put a TV in there to use it. So, he took my coax and tried it in the living room. No go. Same unavailable SD and HD channels. Boo.

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