Can someone check a channel for me?
mphare
Contributor - Level 2

Hi,

Can someone in the Dallas Area, VHO1, witht he Extreme HD package please try 259 (the HUB) and see if you get it?

All I get is a channel no availabe, try pressing button B.

I did that, rebooted the box and it's still off. A few other chennals are showing the same message.

THanks!

- m

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11 Replies
mphare
Contributor - Level 2

As it turns out I have a handful of channels that are not available.

This is on all three 7232s I have.

I talked to the call center and they don't show an outage.

Channels are:

86, 87, 89, 90, 122~125, 132, 151, 163, 166, 168, 169, 189, 198, 212, 223, 224, 242, 259, 262, 271, 285, 288, 289, 290, 295, 317, 318, 319

I don't know what most of these are, but I should be getting them

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spacedebris
Master - Level 2

if the channel is saying "currently unavailable" that generally means that the signal level on those channels is too low for the STB to display the picture.

The first thing I would try that seems to work quite often is to reseat the cable on the back of the STB. Look at the back and find the coax cable (screw on style) that is connected to "fios tv in" and disconnect and reconnect it. Quite often that will fix the issue.

If not it will likely be a problem with a bad cable or splitter between the Verizon ONT and the STB. Although it could be a bad tuner on the DVR it is more likely to be a cabling issue. Depending on your level of comfort in running wires, this is something you could try doing your self or you can call Verizon tech support and have them send out a tech.

Check your signal level on one of these channels.

  1. turn to a channel that is missing
  2. press MENU and bring up the verizon main menu
  3. go to "customer support" and press OK
  4. go to "in home agent" and press OK
  5. select the "network diagnostics" and run the test.
  6. when the test is complete and it says that your signal is OK or not then press the INFO button on the remote
  7. at the bottom of the screen it will say SNR value and have a number. If that number is less than 33DB, the signal is not sufficient to give a picture and requires a visit from a Verizon tech.
Hubrisnxs
Legend

Tune to the channel and then go to menu > customer support > in home agent > and network diagnostics.  make sure you're tuned to a bad channel.   

after the network diagnostics are done be sure to hit info to get the SNR value for that channel,   it should be 32 and above 

if it's below you will probably have a hard time tuning the station, and normally you can reseat the coax cable at both ends (splitter/wall jack and also at the back of the Set top box)    

that normally will help restore those channels, but if it doesn't, try the quick fix for set top boxes at the following link 

you can also do that same quick fix inside the in home agent under set top box auto correct. 

if those two things don't help restore the channels, then you may have to replace the cable, or have verizon come out and do it.   

a good way to double check if it's the one cable, is if that problem happens on all of your set top boxes vs just one box.

you can also move that set top box to a working location and see if the channels come in fine, if they do then it's definetely the cable, if the problem follows the box, then it will be a bad cable box.  

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Hubrisnxs
Legend

spacedebris for the WIN!  beat me to it.  

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mphare
Contributor - Level 2

All the STBs have the same limitations, so that narrows it down to a source problem or the home run cable from the splitter back to the ONT (or the ONT itself). If it's not a source problem (VHO), then it's a local problem.

I have two coax runs from outside the house from when I had DirecTV. I can switch the home run over to the other cable and see if that fixes it. To do that I will need to cut the cable in the attic and split off a leg for the Westell.

Thanks!

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Hubrisnxs
Legend

that's right, if it's all the stb's then it is likely the main splitter (I would replace that first, that is cheap and easy) and then it's possible that it's the main cable going back to the coax.    that many channels I would think, would garner attention in the way of an outage, so hopefully it's not that, but it's always a possibility.     let us know how it goes, is that main coax feed going from the ONT all the way to the attic, or is it a shorter run to the first splitter?

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mphare
Contributor - Level 2

Nice weather here in N. Texas, so I didn't mind a little attic crawling.

To recap, here's my setup

I had DIrecTV with a dual LNB dish, so I have 2 runs of RG6 from the dish area to the Multiplexer in the attic.From there there are two runs of RC6 to each of the TV areas.

 Prior to the install of FiOS I replaced the multiplexer with an Acoustic Research 4-way splitter rated at 1.5 GHz.  I used only one leg of the coax. I have only 3 TVs, so I put a terminator on the 4th output. I also needed to split off a leg for the Westell, so I put another Acoustic Research 1.5 GHz 2-way splitter about half way between the ONT and the 4-way splitter.

When Vz arrived to install, the basically hooked up the 3 QIP-7232 and the Westell, turned it all on, it worked and he was done.

That weeked we were able to access channel 259 (the HUB) because my son wanted to watch Family Game Night. It was fine. Last Friday we wanted to watch it again, but instead of the program, we got a Channel not Available message.

using InHome Agent did not help, calling Vz did not help. They reset the box and they contacted the VHO which reported no outage.

So, it's a local problem.

Systematically, I replaced the leg from the ONT to the 2-way splitter with the second cable.

The leg from the 2 way to the 4-way splitter with the second cable.

I removed the 4 way splitter and replaced it with a simple barrel connector to one of the TVs

I then tried each of the other 2 TV one at a time with the barrel connector.

I removed the 2 way splitter and replaced it with another barrel connector.

After each of these steps I checked the unavailable channels and never got a signal. I tried several of the unavailable channels and I had the exact outage pattern as before I made any changes.

I have now replaced every common piece of equipment between the ONT to the individual runs to the TVs.

Is there anything else I need to check that I might not be thinking about?

I hear there is a way to check signal strength using a STB. How do I do that?

Thanks for all the help!

-----------
- mike

3 x QIP-7232-P2 w/IMG 1.8
Westell A90-9100EM15-10
VHO1

mphare
Contributor - Level 2

Sorry, I re-read the above posts and see how to do signal strength. I thought you could test dB per channel, like you can with DirecTV.

Anyway, I'm getting 26 dB for S/N Ratio.

You say that's low.

I found this elsewhere:

[ This should take less than a minute and if everything is ok all tests should clearly pass and results should be written in green text. If any of them fail then you need to call Verizon for further assistance. Also, note that according to Verizon’s support your signal strength should be 25 db or higher (even though lower db’s might work fine as well). ]

The diagnostic screen shows the SNR value in green, I assume that means it believes the value to be good (although I'm on the edge).

Is my next step taking a 7232 out to the ONT and take the feed directly from the ONT?

-----------
- mike

3 x QIP-7232-P2 w/IMG 1.8
Westell A90-9100EM15-10
VHO1

mphare
Contributor - Level 2

Two ways to check SNR:

Menu -> Customer Support  -> In-Home Agent -> Network Diagnostics -> Info:

Yields: SNR Value: 39   SNR Level: Good

Menu -> Customer Support -> Self Diagnostics -> Start

Yields: OOB S/N ratio: 26 db

First, what's the difference (and I don't mean 13 db Smiley Happy )

What is Out Of Band SNR? Is that the MoCA signal strength?

My SNR seems well above the minimal value.

Yet, I cannot get BBC America, Cooking Channel, the HUB and a host of other channels.

Today I will take a STB out to the ONT and hook it directly to the coax there and see what I get.

Any other ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,

-----------
- mike

3 x QIP-7232-P2 w/IMG 1.8
Westell A90-9100EM15-10
VHO1

mphare
Contributor - Level 2

OK, for those of you still tuned in..

I have taken one of the 7232s outside to the ONT.

Disconnected the coax from the ONT feeding the house and connected it directly to the on 7232.

I used a small LCD screen to monitor the output of the 7232.

I had the exact same channel outage as I did inside the house with all the 7232s.

the SNR was 41, about 2 to 3 higher than the 38/39 I was getting inside at the normal STB locations.

So.. Have I effectively removed anything to do with my wiring as the cause of  this channel outage?

I mean, it won't work 5 feet from the ONT! Same channel outage pattern as before, all other channels came in just fine.

Thanks!

mphare
Contributor - Level 2

Hey! About 90% of my channel outage has magically self corrected. I came home from work today and was able to tune in BBC America, Cooking, the HUB.. clear, no pixelation.

Wonder how long it will last..