Fios - Out of Home/In Home Only

[TaxDad]

Why do the Fios TV Mobile apps on both my iPhone 13 and my old iPad insist that I am "Out of Home", when I am sitting in my home?

I've already deleted all Fios apps, rebooted the phone, reload the Fios TV Mobile app and it still won't show me local TV, saying I'm "Out of Home".

When the Fios app first opened, it advised me. "Almost there!  Please ensure that this app has connected to your Fios Wi-Fi router at least once.  Then you can: Stream your full channel lineup on your mobile device while at home."

There are no instructions as to how you are supposed to connect the app to your Fios Wi-Fi router. I figured that if I used the app to stream an episode of the NBC Nightly News, the app and my phone would obviously have to be connected to my Wi-Fi router. Well, I can stream the NBC Nightly News, but I still can't watch it on my local NBC channel because that's available "IN HOME ONLY".

Apparently, this has been a problem for many years, but there don't appear to be any solutions online that I could find. Does anyone know of a remedy?  

[clem21]

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@TaxDad wrote:

Why do the Fios TV Mobile apps on both my iPhone 13 and my old iPad insist that I am "Out of Home", when I am sitting in my home?

I've already deleted all Fios apps, rebooted the phone, reload the Fios TV Mobile app and it still won't show me local TV, saying I'm "Out of Home".

When the Fios app first opened, it advised me. "Almost there!  Please ensure that this app has connected to your Fios Wi-Fi router at least once.  Then you can: Stream your full channel lineup on your mobile device while at home."

There are no instructions as to how you are supposed to connect the app to your Fios Wi-Fi router. I figured that if I used the app to stream an episode of the NBC Nightly News, the app and my phone would obviously have to be connected to my Wi-Fi router. Well, I can stream the NBC Nightly News, but I still can't watch it on my local NBC channel because that's available "IN HOME ONLY".

Apparently, this has been a problem for many years, but there don't appear to be any solutions online that I could find. Does anyone know of a remedy?  

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I'd first unplug power to the router for 3 minutes then plug it back in. Make sure location services are enabled on your phone, and are working and able to find your location. Once stabilized try opening the Fios Mobile app and see if it works correctly or not. If not, you may have to have billing re-authorize your account. Also some local channels are NOT available on the app due to contracts with the broadcasters. They want you to watch via the cable box, not the Fios app.

[TaxDad]

My iPhone’s location services are enabled, and its location is readily pin-pointed by various other apps.   Powering down the router for an extended period of time, even multiple times, did not correct the problem.

I called the Billing folks and, as expected, they did not understand what I meant by your suggestion to have them “re-authorize my account” even after I explained the issue. They did advise me that the “Fios” app is no longer functional, but that both the “Fios TV Mobile” app and the “My Verizon” app are functional.

I’ve deleted those apps and reinstalled the latter two multiple times with no improvement. Interestingly enough, the My Verizon app has a TV selection that reads, “Explore your channels on the Fios TV app”, but when I select that it opens a browser window that reads, “504 - Gateway Timeout”.   Perhaps the “Fios TV” app that it is trying to access is the app they say is no longer functional.   The billing person made a record of that “504 - Gateway Timeout” error in their “issues” log for the tech folks to see.

So, the issue persists.   It is interesting that the welcome screen of the “Fios TV Moble” app reads, “Welcome to Fios TV!  TV on the go, downloads, all your shows – all in one place”.   Oddly, the app allows me to use my iPhone to program my set-top DVR to record local broadcast TV channels, but it won’t let me watch it with my iPhone while it’s being recorded.   The whole thing is a bit frustrating.

[TaxDad]

I created a ticket with Verizon Support using the Help section of the Fios TV Mobile app, briefly describing the issue I’m having. This was their reply:

Hello,

I have cleared the cache for you on the back end and our system says your device is not provisioned as well.

Please follow the below set of instructions to fix the provisioning and the out of home issue

Out OF home :
Is this happening on your TV also

-Please update your IOS if you have not done so
-Please update to the latest version of the FIOS TV APP also
-For IOS 14 and newer you now have to allow access to the local network, please make sure you selected the option to allow access
-Please disconnect any VPN that you have running on the Network or Device in the background
-Please update the app version to the latest by going to the app store or play store and making sure that the version is current
-Force close and restart the app
-Please always bare in mind that the actual connection especially "public" ones or connections that have multiple devices connected will always cause rough streams.
-Also please provide information about the content so that we are able to check the channel or movie title including date and time.
-if it's on demand please give the season and episode numbers
-Local channels will NOT play when not connected to the home wifi, recordings or live TV this is per the Network Stations Restriction

Provisioning Steps:

Your device is NOT provisioned, please connect to the VERIZON WIFI in order to get provisioned. Please see the following for help:

When this happens please verify your IP Address in the app or the wifi connection you're on. If you are setup to toggle between cellular and wifi then that is the issue. The app will disconnect once you are considered out of home "which is on cellular or any other connection besides the verizon wifi".

Please completely power down any extra routers or hubs that are not ours, unplug them and leave them off the network then follow these steps to factory reset the router and the network:

-Please Update your IOS if you have not done so
-For IOS 14 and newer you now have to allow access to the local network, please make sure you selected the option to allow access
-Disconnect the coax from all devices and the power cords
-Remove any VPN software completely
-Remove Any additional routers that are not Verizon
-Now Factory reset the router
-reconnect the router and wait for it to come online completely
-now reconnect each STB
-If need be try to uninstall the app while connected to the home Wifi and then reinstall it
-If these steps don't work then please replace the Set Top Box

Thank You
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MY REPLY TO ABOVE MESSAGE IS AS FOLLOWS:

If you are saying that that my device, which is an iPhone 13, is not provisioned with Verizon, you are correct because my provider is T-Mobile. My iPhone is functioning properly in every regard except with the Fios TV Mobile app.

There is no Out of Home issue with regard to our TV, so your first set of instructions are not applicable.

Yes, my iPhone is set up to toggle from cellular to Wi-Fi when I am at home. When I am at home, it AUTOMATICALLY connects to my home Wi-Fi and the name matches the Wi-Fi Name on my router.

Our home has no routers other than the Verizon router.

Yes, my IOS Version is up-to-date, ISO 16.6.1.

Yes, my iPhone is set to allow the Fios TV Mobile app to access to the local network.

No, I do not have any VPN software.

I have disconnected the coax and the power cords from all devices and performed a factory reset of the Verizon router.  After the router reconnected and was completely online, I reconnected both STBs and the TVs are both working properly.

While sitting in my home connected to the Wi-Fi, I removed/deleted the Fios TV Mobile app from my iPhone and reinstalled it from the App Store.

After all of that, the Fios TV Mobile app STILL tells me that I am OUT OF HOME and that I have to be IN HOME ONLY to watch many, many of the channels to which we subscribe.

But wait, something has changed?  Before all this, I could watch shows that I had recorded.  NOW, I can’t watch any shows that have been recorded under “My Stuff”.  The app tells me, “This content is not available to watch on your mobile device with your current Verizon plan.”

Your last suggestion was to replace the Set Top Box.  I presume you mean the main STB with the DVR. How can that possibly be the problem?

[TaxDad]

Today, Verizon Support responded to my reply to their original response. Their response was EXACTLY the same as their original response above, word-for-word. Either they have nothing else to offer with regard to the problem or the Help feature in the Fios TV Mobile app is a Verizon Bot.

During Thanksgiving dinner I learned that other family members have lost the ability to view local TV channels using the new Fios TV Mobile app with their iPhones. I may attempt to keep poking the Verizon Bot, I mean Support staff, just to see how many times I can get the same reply.

[clem21]

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@TaxDad wrote:

Today, Verizon Support responded to my reply to their original response. Their response was EXACTLY the same as their original response above, word-for-word. Either they have nothing else to offer with regard to the problem or the Help feature in the Fios TV Mobile app is a Verizon Bot.

During Thanksgiving dinner I learned that other family members have lost the ability to view local TV channels using the new Fios TV Mobile app with their iPhones. I may attempt to keep poking the Verizon Bot, I mean Support staff, just to see how many times I can get the same reply.

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I'll run this thread past my support contact and see if anything comes up. Hang in there.

[clem21]

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@TaxDad wrote:

Today, Verizon Support responded to my reply to their original response. Their response was EXACTLY the same as their original response above, word-for-word. Either they have nothing else to offer with regard to the problem or the Help feature in the Fios TV Mobile app is a Verizon Bot.

During Thanksgiving dinner I learned that other family members have lost the ability to view local TV channels using the new Fios TV Mobile app with their iPhones. I may attempt to keep poking the Verizon Bot, I mean Support staff, just to see how many times I can get the same reply.

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Could one of you PM me with the serial number of your VMS box? Do NOT post it here! Support needs it to do some research. Also they want to know if you are signing in  to the app with their Verizon online account credentials?

Thanks.