Comedy Central (and Nickelodeon) Heavily Pixelated/Unwatchable

Months before we made the switch to Quantum service in September 2014, Comedy Central had a nasty habit of becoming pixelated and unwatchable, something that always seemed to manifest right around when The Daily Show would air. For months I just used On Demand to catch the program the next day, because I'd been told if a tech came out and found nothing wrong, we'd be dinged $99 for essentially wasting the tech's time.

For a good three months' time, I played phone tag with ever-more-senior FiOS tech support reps until *finally* they agreed to waive the potential visit charge. The tech came and performed a line test, finding the SNR ratio 'poor to fair,' and then examined the ONT, finding that 1) it was old since we were one of the first in our neighborhood to switch to FiOS, and 2) that a crucial splitter had 'almost rusted clean through.'

He replaced the ONT with a newer model, and I'd assume the splitter as well. Again, this was mid/late September 2014 - not even a year ago. After this, everything was perfect (even the internet connection felt 'snappier') - up until now.

The issue has returned, but is far more sporadic. Some nights it will work fine - maybe a little 'glitch' in the picture every once and a while, but perfectly watchable, and other times it's so bad that the recording stops prematurely. As said in the title, this happens on Nickelodeon as well, but since I don't *watch* Nickelodeon, it's less of an issue. I just remember that when this was fixed once before, that I was told that Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and a few other channels all share the same 'band' so if one is compromised, they all are.

I contacted FiOS chat support, and after an ONT reboot, the channel was clear and watchable again, but the issue has reemerged, as bad as ever, and manifests on all TVs.

What's the likelihood of a relatively 'new' ONT failing like this so soon?

Accepted answers

destruya

@CRobGauth wrote:
Hard to say.
Does it happen on all STBs?
Have you checked to make sure all of your connections are tight (from ONT to STB)?
It may be that you have a splitter going bad as well (do you have more than the 1 that was bad before?)

It happens on all STBs, and the connections are all tight. It doesn't happen every night, but it does seem to happen the worst in the evenings. CC and Nickelodeon are the only channels I've noticed it on, but I think there's an ESPN channel that also shares the same 'band.' Checking the signal diagnostics while tuned to CC while it's pixelating will show a signal strength of 'poor' or 'fair,' which is what it was doing last time.

I've saved DVR recordings of the issue presenting itself if/when I can get a tech to come in the eventuality that it isn't doing it if/when I can get a technician visit to look at it.

And I can't easily check my external ONT connection without taking a mud bath and meeting whatever lives in my bushes. But it is telling that the *exact* same issue is presenting itself less than a year later (and when it happened before I just 'toughed it out' for a few months).

All comments

CRobGauth

Hard to say.

Does it happen on all STBs?

Have you checked to make sure all of your connections are tight (from ONT to STB)?

It may be that you have a splitter going bad as well (do you have more than the 1 that was bad before?)

destruya

@CRobGauth wrote:
Hard to say.
Does it happen on all STBs?
Have you checked to make sure all of your connections are tight (from ONT to STB)?
It may be that you have a splitter going bad as well (do you have more than the 1 that was bad before?)

I've saved DVR recordings of the issue presenting itself if/when I can get a tech to come in the eventuality that it isn't doing it if/when I can get a technician visit to look at it.

tns2

A signal level of poor or fair, means something is wrong. Wiring is still the most likely cause. Bad wires, bad splitters, two many splits, etc. ALthough it could still be anything such as a bad ONT..

destruya

This happened again tonight, making HBO (channel 899) completely unwatchable. Scrolling through the channels, I found 920 was unwatchable as well...but 920 didn't have Ballers, The Brink, and John Oliver on it.