Unable to watch live tv in Fios TV app on some channels

[Jennifer1162]

A number of channels will not allow us to watch live tv through the Fios TV app.  Several channels have the following error message:  “This channel is only available to watch live when connected to your Fios Wi-Fi router”.  We are at home on our home network.  Channels with this problem include CBS, WETA, Telemundo, MPT, WGN, ABC.

Help would be appreciated.  Tech support chat through Twitter claims streaming live tv is only available with enhanced DVR service.  We don’t think this is correct.

[sakdc]

Spent three hours today on this.  Both iPhone and iPad apps say I am out of home when I am home, trying to use the app to stream. I interacted with chat and phone support and did some of my own troubleshooting. I restarted rebooted reinstalled everything:  main set top box, router, both mobile devices, updated iOS software.  I adjusted the home sharing and mobile device settings, uninstalling and reinstalling, enabling and disabling and re-enabling under settings in the main menu of the main TV set box. I reset the network settings on the iPhone. Per phone support, I logged out and then hand-typed in my username and password on my Mac and on my mobile devices instead of auto fill. 

Fios TV app used to work perfectly for months for me. Now, as of this week, it thinks I am “out-of-home” no matter what I do.  Argh!

[SusanMaryland]

PROBLEM SOLVED!!

I have been using the Fios app for years on both an android phone and an iPad. Yesterday, both devices suddenly started telling me that I couldn't access certain channels because I wasn't on my home wifi, even though I most certainly was. I spent hours deleting and reinstalling apps (both the old FIOS Mobile app as well as the new FIOS TV app), logging out and logging in, and resetting my router.

Finally, I decided to turn to my set-top box. From the STB, you can run an auto-correct process to self-diagnose and clear problems with the STB. Well, it must have found something to fix because once the STB was reset and restarted, both apps can now see I'm at home and all is good. I don't know if the problem was only the STB or a combination of all of the other things that I did as well. 

Here is the procedure to run the auto-correct process through the STB:

From the Main Menu

--> Customer Support

----> Top Support Tools

------> Fix FIOS TV Issues

This will bring you to an screen that says "Auto Correct My STB/DVR". Select your main STB from the list and follow the prompts to run the diagnostic and reset procedure. It will take several minutes until the box is up and running again.

I want to make sure that I posted my solution after finding on these forums that nobody else was able to clear this problem.

[SusanMaryland]

Update: The above solution only seemed to work for the older FIOS Mobile app. It didn't seem to work for the new FIOS TV app, however the new app is so awful it's practically unusable anyway.

[sakdc]

Thanks for the efforts, SusanMaryland. I had high hopes. Your fix sounded like a very plausible solution. (I'm in DC, btw. Sounds like your Fios TV app was "borked" at the same time as mine. Wonder if it is a regional issue?) 

But then I tried this fix. It didn't work for me on the new app and, unfortunately, I had already deleted the old TV app on both of my ios devices. The new app had been streaming well for me before this week (even if the UI was terrible).

For those who want to try this fix, there is one extra step to Susan's instructions: After "main menu" you must click on CUSTOMER SUPPORT menu to find "top support tools" etc.

In any case, it was good to discover these tools, which I hadn't noticed before. Thanks, again!

[SusanMaryland]

sakdc,

I'm really bummed it didn't work for you. I didn't realize the old FIOS Mobile app had been removed from the Apple app store. It's still available for Android. I encourage you to try a combination of uninstalling and reinstalling the FIOS TV app and auto-correcting your STB. There must be some combination that will work. I'd do it myself but I am not going to mess with it now that I have something that works. It seems to be a fragile system. I wish FIOS cared enough to prioritize this problem.

(You could always buy a cheap android phone to use the old app, and just keep it at home connected to your wifi, without attaching a calling plan to it.)

[sakdc]

I actually think it is good for getting help that it's a problem on both platforms.

Attention, Verizon: The newer android FIOS TV app and the newer apple FIOS TV apps (iphone and ipad apps) ALL are having the same problem -- limited functioning as if we are "out-of-home"/"not connected to your FIOS wifi router" when we are indeed at home and our mobile devices are indeed connected to our FIOS routers!! 

The Verizon chat support person I dealt with yesterday -- a horror show experience in frustration, 20 minutes wasted on baloney and the runaround -- directly blamed Apple for my app issues on iphone/ipad.  lol.  The phone support person was so much nicer and more helpful, with actual fixes to try, though it took me over an hour on hold to get her on the phone and none of the fixes worked.

The more widespread the issue, maybe, the faster the solution.  Let's keep this thread going till we all have a good fix!!

[SusanMaryland]

All my FIOS apps on all my platforms are now working this afternoon. I'd like to think I did something magical to make this happen, but perhaps FIOS got on the ball and took care of it for everybody. Nevertheless, I'm happy and I hope it doesn't happen again.

[sakdc]

Still not working for me at all on either iphone or ipad apps. Same issue.

Even just tried some stuff again, Susan's idea to reset set-top box (deep in box's Customer Support menu) and then re-installing iphone app fresh. 

Also went on twitter to try and get Verizon support there to help. Just tried to put me through the same customer serverice merry-go-round I went on yesterday. No one wants to acknowledge and take action internally there that the problem is on VERIZON'S end, not the user's end and not Apple's. 

[sakdc]

Good news!

Everyone who has had the FIOS TV app problem this week, check again today.

I woke up this morning and -- MAGIC! -- both my ipad and iphone apps work as they are supposed to, recognizing that I am indeed on my home network and therefore providing all content.

It was apparently a glitch on Verizon's end. They just didn't want to admit it and have chat/phone customer service folks just tell us it was a known error they were working on. That would have been so much more considerate. I would have wasted so much less time on this had I known there was never any fix from my end.

If you read the reviews of the apps from the last few days, most were complaining about this problem with 1 star reviews. Maybe that's what finally got this handled. Thanks, everyone!

[SusanMaryland]

I'm thrilled it's working for you. I still suspect the STB reset had something to do with it, even if there was a delay before the app started to work. I know it wasn't a coincidence that the old app immediately started working for me on two platforms after I ran the auto-correct on the STB. Maybe the new app just needed some time to catch up. Enjoy your channels!

[sakdc]

Thanks again. Susan! You were a great help and support .

However it happened, now I have my “extra tv” back, which is how I use the app on my iPad. Only had fios for a few months so also good to know how to dig into those set-top menus going forward.

Happy Fourth!

[Mima2005]

STILL getting the "not connected to router" message on both my iPhone and iPad when I am actually at home and connected. I've tried all of the fixes posted here (thank you) and three support (hah!) calls, but nothing changes. Frustrated beyond belief and one phone call away from cancellation.

Verizon, can you hear me now??

[sakdc]

Hmmm. Another thing I tried the day before it started to work for me was that I contacted Verizon support via Twitter, a few detailed posts and replies back and forth. Post and reply to all of Twitter, not via direct message though they’d rather go there, because that seems to get better attention. You can also see if it’s a larger problem with others on Twitter this week too, not just in the app reviews in the App Store, if you broadcast on twitter.

It could be something on Verizon’s end, which I suspect was the case for me. The challenge, imho, is getting someone at a high enough technical level to pay attention and do whatever they need to be doing.

[LawrenceC]

Hi Mima2005,

Your issue has been escalated to a Verizon agent. Please check your Private Message Inbox for a message from Verizon_Support. You can find your Inbox by clicking on your username at the top right corner of this page. Please direct all correspondence concerning your issue to the agents who will be assisting you privately.

[sakdc]

Actually, Mima, Could you please also come back to this thread and let us know what happened after you interact privately, as the moderator is urging you to do?  

This lack of router recognition seems to be an ongoing, if intermittent, issue with the new app. Although some of us had the problem remedied a couple of weeks ago, we aren’t sure what that exact fix was. It would be nice to be able to pinpoint the precise remedy if/when this problem with the app occurs for others again. 

Thanks!

[CRobGauth]

There is also a link within the app that can be used to contact support.

That is the best means for app issues as the team that gets this is dedicated to app (so I have been told).

Plus it allows you to send logs from the app that will help them diagnose the issue.

[Mima2005]

I did respond to the Verizon private message, and the tech person suggested rebooting both the router and the set-top box, and then closing/opening the app - all of which I had tried before, per this forum's suggestions. But I did it all again and the problem STILL exists. I got right back to them but haven't heard anything since. I'm frustrated beyond belief.

[sakdc]

A rep from Verizon Residential finally called me this week to follow up on the ticket I had filed a couple of weeks ago. After I told her about all the things i tried and that later suddenly my problem with the app had resolved, she told me something very interesting:

She said that if the app isn’t working at all that it probably is a problem on the user end.  Trying a lot of fixes on our end makes better sense if the app isn’t working at all.  But that if the app is working partially, and some basic reinstallation stuff doesn’t help, that it is indeed probably an issue on Verizon‘s end. 

So the fact that we were having a problem with the live channels not recognizing our home routers, but everything else about the app was working fine, that told her that it was something that had to be done by Verizon. In the case of my outage she said: the problem was with the app itself. Several people were a part of my outage and it was sent on to the app developer to fix.

[Mima2005]

That partial explanation from Verizon makes sense, sakdc. My app does work for the most part, so it seems logical that the router connection problem lies with them and not my devices.

It seems strange, however, that the problem was corrected for some users but not others. I guess I'll just have to wait for a reply. Hopefully, they'll have a fix for me and others who are still experiencing this problem.

[sakdc]

 As others have said, I think it is crucial that you open up a support/help ticket directly from INSIDE the app, not just via phone or chat, when the problem is with the app itself. From my experience now, I think a lot of the regular support channels are clueless about the app, which seems to be a separate deal from TV Internet and landline service. 

I still also think it couldn't hurt to turn to social media broadcasting, not dm. You’ve got to get the internal app developers’ attention somehow. And there must be many layers of bureaucracy between us and them.

Crossing my my fingers for you!

[Mima2005]

I just noticed a slight change in the Fios TV messaging...

When I try to access several channels now, it says "This channel is available for viewing on your Fios TV box only" where the previous message for these same channels was that I needed to be connected to my router.

Is this how they're taking care of the problem? By basically saying "Sorry, you can't watch these channels on your device now, even though some weeks ago we told you that you could?"