Set top box and Fios

[Silversurfer1]

I posted about this issue about a month ago a few days after Fios was installed. Well I am now a month into having Fios internet and Fios TV.  Both were installed by a Verizon tech.  The Fios TV has not worked properly since day 1.  Several times a day the picture locks up and then I get a VMS connection fiostv vms is not reachable error.  I have to reset the box a few times and then it will work again until a few hours goes by and it happens again. Verizon has been to my house several times and the issue has not been resolved.  It apparently is not a problem with the hardware and is a Verizon backend issue that they have been working on. The past few days the problem has gotten worse.  Lately it might not display the VMS error message and just go to a black screen.  Then a minute will go by and it starts to work again only to go black again moments later in a vicious cycle.   Picture also pixelates like crazy. It makes watching tv unbearable. It happens on all channels and on dvr.  I’ve contacted Verizon numerous times and they are “working on it”.  I’m about to bow out and go back to spectrum. I may keep Fios internet but I’m not sure how that will work out monetarily as I’d need to keep the CR1000 router and E3200 extender and right now the extender is free. Not sure what costs will be if I only keep Fios internet. Same thing for going back to spectrum tv. Prices seem better when bundling so I may have to just go with spectrum everything. This has been a super frustrating experience switching to Verizon Fios and I’m very disappointed ever since I switched.   I don’t understand how Verizon can’t figure out what the problem is.  I never really had problems with spectrum, I switched mostly because of price increases.  Cable or internet would go down maybe two or three times a year for an hour tops. I live in a newer house (only a few years old). Wiring in the house is all new.  It amazes me that it seems the problem can’t be solved. Short of a complete new install which I’d be fine with happening, I really don’t know what else can be done.  A month of “we are working on it” isn’t acceptable at this point. The set tv box was replaced as was the vms box.  Maybe the router needs to be replaced.   I don’t know.  If it was the router I’d think my internet would go down but it doesn’t. I still see connection to my cellphone and other devices. I can usually stream tv on a different tv w a firestick when this happens but sometimes that won’t work either.   I’d think Verizon would know but they don’t seem to.   I just want to watch tv.  These problems happen everyday several times a day. Like I said the past few days have gotten even worse.  It’s unwatchable. 

[clem21]

I'd check with your neighbors and see if any of them have Fios and are having similar problems. If they are, it could be a back-end issue like you you were told. If they do have Fios and aren't having any issues the problem could be outside on the pole, bad fiber coming in or a bad ONT that hasn't been replaced. The temporary dropouts may not be long enough for you to notice them with your internet service, but long enough to interfere with the TV service.

[Silversurfer1]

Thank you for your response. I will check with neighbors but I’m just surprised the Verizon techs that have been here (4 of them) haven’t been able to figure out the problem even though they have been here and experienced the problem in person themselves. If they didn’t figure it out I was thinking I certainly don’t have a shot at solving it myself. 

[clem21]

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@Silversurfer1 wrote:

Thank you for your response. I will check with neighbors but I’m just surprised the Verizon techs that have been here (4 of them) haven’t been able to figure out the problem even though they have been here and experienced the problem in person themselves. If they didn’t figure it out I was thinking I certainly don’t have a shot at solving it myself. 

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You never know what simple thing could be overlooked. Check with the neighbors and see if your house is unusual.

[gomets1969]

Can you describe your hardware set up in further detail?

Does your VMS connect directly to the TV? Or is it one of the new models, that requires a separate box, which acts as a conduit for the VMS?

Trying to figure out whether you have Fios One TV, or Fios TV+. I recently resubscribed to Fios for TV and was given the new setup, known as Fios TV+, and I'm less than thrilled with its performance so far.

[Silversurfer1]

It’s a brand new setup.  I was told a few times that I have the brand new streaming box that hasn’t been out long. It runs in an android operating system. It’s a small rectangular shaped box that connects to the vms4100atv. It frequently freezes, locks up,  goes black screen every few minutes starts pixelating the picture  or displays a VMS not connected error forcing a reboot.  Sometimes I get a no internet connection message.  It’s like Forrest Gump and a box of chocolates… you never know what you are going to get but for sure it’s going to have all of these problems throughout the day and night.  The black screen every few minutes is a rather new phenomenon.  The past few days. The other problems have happened everyday since the install 10/19/23.  I think it’s obvious at this point they have no idea how to fix it. 
what problems have you had?  The same?

I have the most Fios.   It’s almost comic.  The most of what??? Problems?  Locking up? VMS errors?  Yeah all of the above.  I’m very sorry I left my other provider.  By the way I also have the CR1000 router and E3200 extender. The router is right next to the VMS and stream box. No reason to drop internet connection.  No reason to drop VMS connection either. It was u stalled by Verizon too so it wasn’t like I installed it wrong. 

[clem21]

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@Silversurfer1 wrote:

It’s a brand new setup.  I was told a few times that I have the brand new streaming box that hasn’t been out long. It runs in an android operating system. It’s a small rectangular shaped box that connects to the vms4100atv. It frequently freezes, locks up,  goes black screen every few minutes starts pixelating the picture  or displays a VMS not connected error forcing a reboot.  Sometimes I get a no internet connection message.  It’s like Forrest Gump and a box of chocolates… you never know what you are going to get but for sure it’s going to have all of these problems throughout the day and night.  The black screen every few minutes is a rather new phenomenon.  The past few days. The other problems have happened everyday since the install 10/19/23.  I think it’s obvious at this point they have no idea how to fix it. 
what problems have you had?  The same?

I have the most Fios.   It’s almost comic.  The most of what??? Problems?  Locking up? VMS errors?  Yeah all of the above.  I’m very sorry I left my other provider.  By the way I also have the CR1000 router and E3200 extender. The router is right next to the VMS and stream box. No reason to drop internet connection.  No reason to drop VMS connection either. It was u stalled by Verizon too so it wasn’t like I installed it wrong. 

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I would try running an ethernet cable from the small box to your router or the extender. Sometimes the WiFi connections to the boxes are not very good, regardless of distance to the router. Wired is ALWAYS better if you can do it.

[Silversurfer1]

Thank you but no can do.  It’s not an option. Only ports on the small box are for a usb (not sure what that is even for) and hdmi.  Only the VMS box has a coaxial connection and there is a Ethernet port which two techs thought it shouldn’t be used to be plugged in to my router. We tried it plugged and unplugged. Same results.   I’m calling tomorrow to say I’m canceling. A month is long enough. It was a sad experiment. I really hoped they could fix it. They failed miserably. Tried online tech a few times.  Several Techs came to me house  a few had no clue about this new little Verizon streaming box. One seemed to really know his stuff. But he failed as well.  After him it’s just been “we are working on it” but basically silently. I really do t think they have done anything.  Well maybe they have because the problem seems to have gotten worse. New variations of it not working that were never displayed the first week or second week. Just the past few days. It’s pretty much unwatchable. Yet if I stream from a firestick it works most of the time. Go figure. That is why I think it’s or or both of these boxes.  The only thing g I can think of is they drop connection multiple times during the day to the router for some reason. Sometimes the fiostv just starts working again. Sometimes I manually reset it and it still doesn’t work. It does what it wants to when it wants to.  So frustrating. 

[clem21]

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@Silversurfer1 wrote:

Thank you but no can do.  It’s not an option. Only ports on the small box are for a usb (not sure what that is even for) and hdmi.  Only the VMS box has a coaxial connection and there is a Ethernet port which two techs thought it shouldn’t be used to be plugged in to my router. We tried it plugged and unplugged. Same results.   I’m calling tomorrow to say I’m canceling. A month is long enough. It was a sad experiment. I really hoped they could fix it. They failed miserably. Tried online tech a few times.  Several Techs came to me house  a few had no clue about this new little Verizon streaming box. One seemed to really know his stuff. But he failed as well.  After him it’s just been “we are working on it” but basically silently. I really do t think they have done anything.  Well maybe they have because the problem seems to have gotten worse. New variations of it not working that were never displayed the first week or second week. Just the past few days. It’s pretty much unwatchable. Yet if I stream from a firestick it works most of the time. Go figure. That is why I think it’s or or both of these boxes.  The only thing g I can think of is they drop connection multiple times during the day to the router for some reason. Sometimes the fiostv just starts working again. Sometimes I manually reset it and it still doesn’t work. It does what it wants to when it wants to.  So frustrating. 

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It seems you have two threads on the same topic, so here is my reply to your other post:

OK. did some research, you have the Stream TV box. I wasn't aware of that option. You are correct, it only connects via WiFi, and looks similar in concept to a Roku or Apple TV box. Can you possibly get into your router settings and set a fixed channel for your 5Ghz network? If you haven't changed it the default is automatic, which can change channels on the WiFi signal randomly based on nearby usage. I have found that to cause a lot of issues with streaming devices like Roku or Firestick and I'm guessing it can do the same here. Also if your Stream TV is TOO close to the router or extender it could be overloading the receiver in the device.

[gomets1969]

That other thread is actually mine, but he replied on it, as we have the same new Fios TV+ setup.

[Silversurfer1]

I can get into the router. I see 2.4G ,5G and 6 G are all enabled.  I don’t see a way to make a device only connect to 5G or 2.4G. The stream box is connected to 5G currently.   I only see a box to click to make the 2.4G, 5G and 6 G enabled. That’s it.  
can I force a device to connect to just one of them and never move off it?

[gomets1969]

I have a different model router, so not sure how the settings differ from yours. But on the Stream (V2) box, I chose the TV optimized network from the Network settings and it's never switched to another network since doing so.

[Silversurfer1]

Mine is set for the special tv network put out by the router. I did try just the regular network too in an effort to see if that made a difference and it didn’t help. 
Thanks for all the time you have spent responding. 

[clem21 · Accepted solution]

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@Silversurfer1 wrote:

I can get into the router. I see 2.4G ,5G and 6 G are all enabled.  I don’t see a way to make a device only connect to 5G or 2.4G. The stream box is connected to 5G currently.   I only see a box to click to make the 2.4G, 5G and 6 G enabled. That’s it.  
can I force a device to connect to just one of them and never move off it?

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It wasn't a way to get it to connect to a specific device, the idea was to assign a static 5Ghz channel in the router. They ship in automatic channel mode, and constantly change the WiFi channel based on interference in the area. You may have to go into the Advanced Settings menu to change the channel. I know from personal experience my Roku devices will not use the 5Ghz channels if they are in the DFS range, so I have to assign a static channel. Just guessing it might work here too. The other thing that came up is during setup of the Stream box it asks you to choose a network. Another user posted he chose the network that ended in .TV, which is the hidden network only Verizon equipment is supposed to use. He hasn't had connection issues at all, just the problems caused by the latest update. You could go into the Stream box settings and go back to the setup routine and change to the network that ends in .TV.

[gomets1969]

So we're both having issues with this new Fios TV+ service - but they're different issues.  

Other than the poor picture quality on 720p sources, mine has been working properly.  I'm wondering, are you using the dedicated WiFi network that has been optimized for TV use? The network name should end with a  "-TV." (It only showed up as an option when I initially connected the Stream box to my 5.1 GHZ network.) I have two Stream boxes connected to that dedicated TV-optimized network and the signals have been very strong and reliable.  I have the 3100 router, not the newer 1000 router like you have.

The USB port on the back of the Stream can be used for Ethernet. I used a USB to Ethernet dongle and connected an Ethernet cable to a network switch and the Stream registered as being hardwired. It works, but with a caveat. For some reason it shows up in the Connected Devices menu as not being connected, but everything worked as it did with the wireless connection. (I went back to wireless only, since it's been working.)

There is one other option, but it's a pain in the arse. If you contact Verizon Support via chat, they can place an order for you to exchange this equipment for the previous model 4100. However, you'd have to go to the local Verizon store to do the swap, as the warehouse is now only shipping out the new equipment. I might do that if they don't fix the issues with 720p channels displaying at 30FPS instead of 60FPS.