# Installation from helllllll part 2



## gsusser (Jul 10, 2011)

So, the tech I spoke with at TiVo thought I had a defective Roamio plus. The problem is I didn't get half the channels I was supposed to get, both premium and non-premium. When I was on the phone with the tech, I just tried a few channels and there was no problem. But she said that things didn't look right from her end and that if I had a further problem, she would swap devices via overnight delivery. She gave me a reference number and told me to only speak with her and gave me her hours.

Well, I called yesterday when she was supposed to be there and she wasn't. Today, same thing. So I said bulloney, why do I need her? It should all be documented. As it turned out, it wasn't all documented, but that's neither here nor there.

I spoke with a supervisor who said there are known issues with the new Verizon cable card and the problem I am having is the issue. He said swapping sets would accomplish nothing. And to add to my nightmare, my old TiVo, a Premiere, started acting up yesterday and rebooting like every half hour. Today it's been fine.

My question is that if this is a known issue, why doesn't anyone else on this forum have this problem? I am in an on hold position, waiting for Verizon. I cannot use the Roamio. 

Any suggestions? So far, I must have spent about 12 hours plus on this.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Cannot address why there are not more issues noted here, but check on this link:

https://twitter.com/Tivodesign


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## gsusser (Jul 10, 2011)

According to the supervisor, EVERYONE who owns a Roamio Plus and subscribes to Verizon FIOS will have the same problem as me. I have to think that is a false statement since no one uttered a complaint. But he was supposedly reading from tech notes or whatever. Meanwhile, there is nothing I can do but wait for Verizon or return my Roamio.

I did tweet Margaret.


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## Bramble (Mar 28, 2009)

There are a couple of Fios Specific problems that have cropped up with certain versions of cable cards. Because of this the verizon rep may be just assuming that your problem is related.

Here's the quote from Margaret on which cablecards to watch out for.



TiVoMargret said:


> Take the FiOS CableCARD out of the Roamio, and look at the part number on the back, above the bar code.
> 
> If that number is either one of these:
> 514517-002-00 (MCPOD1)
> ...


Also the two threads with the most discussion about FiOS issues based on issues with the cablecards.
Cablecard not pairing: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=508249
Pixelation on copy protected channels: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=507823


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## iadbound (Jul 30, 2012)

gsusser said:


> According to the supervisor, EVERYONE who owns a Roamio Plus and subscribes to Verizon FIOS will have the same problem as me. I have to think that is a false statement since no one uttered a complaint. But he was supposedly reading from tech notes or whatever. Meanwhile, there is nothing I can do but wait for Verizon or return my Roamio.
> 
> I did tweet Margaret.


This is just nonsense. I have FIOS and everything is working. To be sure, I lucked out and got the right cable card on the first try -- I guess it is the 017 series. And I also had to spend about three hours on the phone getting the card properly paired so I could watch HBO/Cinemax. But ever since that first night of working my way through the Verizon CSR's everything has worked perfectly.


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## cmshep222 (Feb 18, 2005)

I finally got HBO working when I posted my issue to twitter. @Verizonsupport. They had a CableCard guy tweet me back (got my pairing info) and he had HBO working in 10 min.


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## Borack (Dec 14, 2004)

I installed my TIvo this past week, did the setup thing...Went to Verizon store asked and received the cable card...Printed out what others here have written about which cable card to get went home and inserted it..Also read here about using the tech chat as it was faster...Got em online, asked him to reint..(whatever that was), he said how did I know about that...Told him about this community...Three minutes later, voila HBO and Showtime, no probs..Then I returned my Verizon DVR...

Thanks all....


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## gsusser (Jul 10, 2011)

I spoke with the executive office and they confirmed what I was told by TiVo support, but the explanation was a little more complicated. According to the exec. office, they have received a number of complaints exactly like mine. I guess those people don't use tivocommunity. I didn't follow the explanation entirely, but supposedly there is a problem with the new Verizon card, 017, that causes some channels to be obscure. That has a side effect of blocking channels. I have no reason to doubt the sincerity of the person I spoke with, though she is not a technician. However, I wonder why no one here hasn't complained about this. On the other hand, this forum does not represent the whole world.

I also got a tweet from TivoMargaret. She said it was the pairing.

So, here again I have 2 conflicting explanations from the upper echelons of TiVo. In any event, I will be receiving a new cable card today (but yes, I was using the correct updated version before). I'll need to go through more troubleshooting with TiVo if the pairing doesn't fix the problem. They agreed to send a new Roamio if the problem persisted.

However, I have my limits. At this point I don't know who is at fault and it is irrelevant, though I'm beginning to wonder about Verizon. I have spent a ridiculous amount of time on this and I'm getting ready to throw in the towel.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

With my 017 card on FiOS, I went through all the HD channels and a couple dozen SD channels. WHich are all the channels that I have checked off in my channels list. Those all came in fine for me. Although I did not check any of the other SD channels since I don't watch them. So I it's possible that there could be issues with some of those channels.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

gsusser said:


> I spoke with the executive office and they confirmed what I was told by TiVo support, but the explanation was a little more complicated. According to the exec. office, they have received a number of complaints exactly like mine. I guess those people don't use tivocommunity. I didn't follow the explanation entirely, but supposedly there is a problem with the new Verizon card, 017, that causes some channels to be obscure. That has a side effect of blocking channels. I have no reason to doubt the sincerity of the person I spoke with, though she is not a technician. However, I wonder why no one here hasn't complained about this. On the other hand, this forum does not represent the whole world.
> 
> I also got a tweet from TivoMargaret. She said it was the pairing.
> 
> ...


Well, my guess is you are hearing different words to describe the same problem and source, Verizon's card. Hopefully its resolved with the new card. Don't let the cableco win by providing a bad card!

Make sure you re-read your tweet from tivo- she noted that its "usually" the problem and offered to help you individually. That is certainly not a flippant remark about pairing and is the route I would follow if I were you.


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## gsusser (Jul 10, 2011)

I'm happy to say the issue is resolved. It was definitely a verizon issue.. I inserted a new card and everything went pretty smooth. So, either I had a defective cable card or verizon was doing something wrong in pairing the first time.


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## sneagle (Jun 12, 2002)

gsusser said:


> I'm happy to say the issue is resolved. It was definitely a verizon issue.. I inserted a new card and everything went pretty smooth. So, either I had a defective cable card or verizon was doing something wrong in pairing the first time.


Excellent. Especially since I just brought home a new roamio pro and roamio plus and I have fios.


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## sneagle (Jun 12, 2002)

I got my cards. FYI for others here is a pic to show where the 017 is located


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## emerz (Aug 18, 2007)

gsusser said:


> According to the supervisor, EVERYONE who owns a Roamio Plus and subscribes to Verizon FIOS will have the same problem as me. I have to think that is a false statement since no one uttered a complaint. But he was supposedly reading from tech notes or whatever. Meanwhile, there is nothing I can do but wait for Verizon or return my Roamio.
> 
> I did tweet Margaret.


I have a Roamio Plus and Verizon Fios and have no problems what-so-ever.


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## DCIFRTHS (Jan 6, 2000)

sneagle said:


> I got my cards. FYI for others here is a pic to show where the 017 is located
> 
> View attachment 19524


I like the old school Dymo label you used. What program did you use to add this label to the picture? Thanks!


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## sneagle (Jun 12, 2002)

DCIFRTHS said:


> I like the old school Dymo label you used. What program did you use to add this label to the picture? Thanks!


I was at work so I used PhotoStudio on my iPhone


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## ciucca (Jun 29, 2004)

Borack said:


> I installed my TIvo this past week, did the setup thing...Went to Verizon store asked and received the cable card...Printed out what others here have written about which cable card to get went home and inserted it..Also read here about using the tech chat as it was faster...Got em online, asked him to reint..(whatever that was), he said how did I know about that...Told him about this community...Three minutes later, voila HBO and Showtime, no probs..Then I returned my Verizon DVR...
> 
> Thanks all....


It seems the tech's you get on Home agent chat are a higher tier above the telephone dummies. I've always got things taken care of quicker easier and the person is more knowledgeable on the chat. They must be tier 2 or 3.


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## sneagle (Jun 12, 2002)

My experience was not perfect but it worked out. 

My first mistake was my plan to do guided setup for one TiVo then the other. The verizon self activate site activates both cablecards at the same time, so when I got to the screen on the first TiVo, I needed the info from the second TiVo. When I got to the cablecard screen on the secodn TiVO, I accidentally went past to network stup and there is no going back. After several connections to TiVo and updates, I was ready to go.

Sadly, when I entered the info online, it froze. I then chatted with Verizon and the rep activated the cablecards. But NO premium channels!! I continued to chat with him and eventually he re-activated them and who knows what else and it worked. I did have to go into settings and add the premium channels so they would show up in the guide....side note: why can't I select all or remove all in the channels settings??

Total time about 2 1/2 hours. Mostly because I had to wait while one TiVo did it's updates before completing the Cablecard activation.

I am now setting up my Mini. It is taking forever to do the intial setup after downloading

A few notes from just a very small amount of use...
- The Roamios are fast. They do want to do several updates when first connected so be prepared
- It will take a bit to get used to the new remote layout
- The Mini uses the old remote layout. Dislike that I have to use two different layouts
- I transferred my season passes online. It went quickly but I think it changed the priority order
- The old TiVo HDs are disconnected from cable and the cards are removed. Over the next few day, we will transfer recordings we want to the new TiVos then decide what to do with them. One has LifeTime so I may try to sell. I tried to get TiVo to sell me $99 LifeTime on the other one but no


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## gsusser (Jul 10, 2011)

I'd laugh if this wasn't so pathetic and I have a bad back now from going back and forth to the TiVo.

After 1.5 days of problem-free use, I have a problem again, a different problem. All of a sudden, I don't get many channels and many channels are coming in pixalated or blurry. As per the TiVo supervisor, I don't have enough signal strength from Verizon. The Roamio Plus require more signal strength than the Premiere because it has 6 tuners. 

Personally, I also think there's something wrong with the TiVo. The record light has been on all day even though it's not 

In any event, I'm done. The shame is I sold my Premiere. It went fast on eBay. I could reneg on the eBay deal, and say something happened and continue using the Premiere, which is a thought. But I have such a bad taste in my mouth after spending what must be 15 hours on the phone and chat with Verizon and TiVo.

The alternative is a Verizon DVR. I'm not crazy about it and it's not cheap at 16.99/mo, but you don't buy it. Has anyone had experience or know anything about Verizon's DVR? I know it's only 2 channel but I can live with that.


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## gsusser (Jul 10, 2011)

I'm sorry to keep posting and bugging the forum. However, I could really use advice.

I got an incredibly helpful TiVo supervisor on the phone last night. It seems my problem is insufficient signal strength from Verizon. This probably was my problem all along. We got Verizon on the phone and went thru helllllll. It took talking to 7 different people and over 1 hour to get someone on the phone who could help us. The supervisor, who was at first very calm and methodical, started to lose it at one point with Verizon. Anyway, Verizon is sending someone over to troubleshoot.

I'm still not 100% convinced it's entirely a Verizon problem though. The red recording light stays on almost all the time even though it's not recording. Rebooting gets rid of it for a little while but then it comes back. Any explanation? And why would my Roamio work okay for over a day and then all of a sudden experience problems?

Meanwhile, as soon as my Roamio started working, I listed my Premiere on eBay. It sold immediately. I haven't shipped and I now regret listing it so fast. Shipping was promised for today. My thinking is to keep the Premiere in case a Roamio won't work for me. But I feel that I'm committed to ship it now - the buyer paid for it. 

A last resort is to go with the Verizon DVR. I don't relish that, but at least I know everything will work, or should work because there won't be compatibility issues. I rarely need more than 2 tuners anyway. It's expensive though at 16.99/mo.

So, what do you think? Thanks and again, sorry if this is getting annoying.


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## ilkevinli (Jan 6, 2001)

There is no doubt that you should ship that Tivo out. The buyer has paid and is expecting it to be shipped. Put yourself in his/her shoes.



gsusser said:


> Meanwhile, as soon as my Roamio started working, I listed my Premiere on eBay. It sold immediately. I haven't shipped and I now regret listing it so fast. Shipping was promised for today. My thinking is to keep the Premiere in case a Roamio won't work for me. But I feel that I'm committed to ship it now - the buyer paid for it.
> 
> A last resort is to go with the Verizon DVR. I don't relish that, but at least I know everything will work, or should work because there won't be compatibility issues. I rarely need more than 2 tuners anyway. It's expensive though at 16.99/mo.
> 
> So, what do you think? Thanks and again, sorry if this is getting annoying.


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## gsusser (Jul 10, 2011)

ilkevinli said:


> There is no doubt that you should ship that Tivo out. The buyer has paid and is expecting it to be shipped. Put yourself in his/her shoes.


Agreed. I know I could come up with an excuse and refund his money, but I don't want to be like that. I might ask him to wait a few days and offer a partial refund. In any event, I would never keep the money without sending it.


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## jmpage2 (Jan 21, 2004)

gsusser said:


> Agreed. I know I could come up with an excuse and refund his money, but I don't want to be like that. I might ask him to wait a few days and offer a partial refund. In any event, I would never keep the money without sending it.


Holding onto it is almost as bad as trying to back out of the sale. You don't know what the buyer situation is.... they could have a dead TiVo and really need a DVR, and now you are trying to hold up delivering it.

You should either ship on the agreed date or explain to the buyer that your Roamio doesn't work as needed and you need to keep your Premiere, and try to get the buyer to agree to canceling the auction.


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## gsusser (Jul 10, 2011)

jmpage2 said:


> Holding onto it is almost as bad as trying to back out of the sale. You don't know what the buyer situation is.... they could have a dead TiVo and really need a DVR, and now you are trying to hold up delivering it.
> 
> You should either ship on the agreed date or explain to the buyer that your Roamio doesn't work as needed and you need to keep your Premiere, and try to get the buyer to agree to canceling the auction.


Stop lecturing! I gave the buyer a plethora of choices, including shipping as agreed tomorrow or giving a full refund and not shipping or a partial refund if shipped late. Can you address the question instead of my integrity?


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## Grakthis (Oct 4, 2006)

No, dude. It's a contract to sell the unit. If you back out of that deal, Ebay will beat you up for that pretty badly, potentially suspending your account. You don't get to list something then just NOT sell it when the time comes because you changed your mind. That's awful.

Ship the unit.

If you find that you need the unit back, well, go buy a new one. Your mistake.


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## jmpage2 (Jan 21, 2004)

gsusser said:


> Stop lecturing! I gave the buyer a plethora of choices, including shipping as agreed tomorrow or giving a full refund and not shipping or a partial refund if shipped late. Can you address the question instead of my integrity?


Sure, let's address your question.....

TiVo has indicated that they think the problem is insufficient signal strength. TiVo has shown no indication that they believe you have a problem that cannot be resolved.

So, wait for Verizon to come out and address the issue TiVo has identified before you go off the rails about this. Did you get the phone # of the TiVo supervisor? Hopefully you got their name and #. Get them on the line during or after the Verizon visit and if the signal strength is addressed and you are still having problems ask them about next steps... remind them that you had a Premiere that worked perfectly fine with that signal, with that cable-card, etc.... point out how expensive the Roamio is with new service and that you require this issue be prioritized and fixed. Keep notes of everything and the name and extension # of everyone you speak to at both companies.

And, ship the TiVo to the eBay buyer who paid for it. The technical challenges are not that buyers fault. I'm not "lecturing" you at all, just giving you advice from someone who has done a lot of business over eBay. No one likes the seller who backs out at the 11th hour after completing a sale.


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## Grakthis (Oct 4, 2006)

gsusser said:


> Stop lecturing! I gave the buyer a plethora of choices, including shipping as agreed tomorrow or giving a full refund and not shipping or a partial refund if shipped late. Can you address the question instead of my integrity?


The question was "what should you do."

The answer is "ship the tivo you sold and were paid for."

I would never be happy with a cable company DVR and I'd fight with Verizon until they got my TiVo working. But that's because I am stubborn.


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## gsusser (Jul 10, 2011)

Ok to everyone. I'll wait for Verizon and ship the old TiVo. I didn't think it was a big deal with the old TiVo since I told the buyer I would ship as agreed if he wanted. Anyway, yes, I have extensive notes. But dealing with Verizon, phone or chat, is a real exercise in patience. And some techs at TiVo are the same, though the vast majority are good.


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## DCIFRTHS (Jan 6, 2000)

gsusser said:


> I'm sorry to keep posting and bugging the forum. However, I could really use advice.
> 
> I got an incredibly helpful TiVo supervisor on the phone last night. It seems my problem is insufficient signal strength from Verizon. This probably was my problem all along...


Did you check signal strength on the TiVo (either in the CC screens or the menu item that displays signal strength)? If so, what were the numbers?


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## gsusser (Jul 10, 2011)

About 66 percent


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## DCIFRTHS (Jan 6, 2000)

gsusser said:


> About 66 percent


That's exactly what I am getting on my premier boxes. I think I have a bad ONT or bad fiber cable coming in to my apt. I always had signal levels in the 90's...

When is the tech coming out to you?


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## gsusser (Jul 10, 2011)

As far as fighting with Verizon. It takes a lot of energy and patience. They really are one of the world's worst companies. But I'm getting psyched for the battle. My priority now is making sure a technician comes tomorrow who knows what he's doing.


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## DCIFRTHS (Jan 6, 2000)

gsusser said:


> As far as fighting with Verizon. It takes a lot of energy and patience. They really are one of the world's worst companies. But I'm getting psyched for the battle. My priority now is making sure a technician comes tomorrow who knows what he's doing.


Keep us posted.


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## gsusser (Jul 10, 2011)

From what I'm told, the Roamio's need more signal strength than the 2 tuner sets. And I have a Roamio Plus, which, if I understand correctly, needs even more signal strength. Verizon is coming tomorrow. Today, I start making calls to ensure this is done right.


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## DCIFRTHS (Jan 6, 2000)

gsusser said:


> From what I'm told, the Roamio's need more signal strength than the 2 tuner sets. And I have a Roamio Plus, which, if I understand correctly, needs even more signal strength. Verizon is coming tomorrow. Today, I start making calls to ensure this is done right.


Who will you call, and what will you do to ensure it's done right? No sarcasm intended - I'm in the same boat as you with regard to signal strength.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

The signal strength from the ONT is typically very hot. They had to put an eight way splitter on mine to drop the signal and even then I could split it several more times without any issues.


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## gsusser (Jul 10, 2011)

DCIFRTHS said:


> Who will you call, and what will you do to ensure it's done right? No sarcasm intended - I'm in the same boat as you with regard to signal strength.


I called to make sure someone familiar with cable cards came and hopefully, a senior technician. I made sure this was all marked on the repair order so I hopefully don't get someone who never dealt with these issues.

The TiVo supervisor conferenced in yesterday did that and I followed up today to make sure it was done. Unless you have a contact at Verizon, which I used to, I don't think there's anything else that can be done. The reason for doing this is I've gotten technicians here who look at a cable card and say something like, "Gee, I haven't seen one of those in a long time."

I also plan to call TiVo tech support the moment Verizon arrives in case the tech needs info or tries to give me the run around. I figure someone from TiVo can wait on the phone while Verizon is here after all I've been through and paid.


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## gsusser (Jul 10, 2011)

Problem solved. It was the signal strength and Verizon came over and fixed it. 

Kudos to TiVo support for their help. Unfortunately, I had to deal with them extensively over the past 5 days. I got to know many of the techs and supervisors as well as someone in the executive office. I have nothing but praise for 97% of them. Meanwhile, Verizon sucks. -)


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## DCIFRTHS (Jan 6, 2000)

gsusser said:


> Problem solved. It was the signal strength and Verizon came over and fixed it.
> 
> Kudos to TiVo support for their help. Unfortunately, I had to deal with them extensively over the past 5 days. I got to know many of the techs and supervisors as well as someone in the executive office. I have nothing but praise for 97% of them. Meanwhile, Verizon sucks. -)


Cool 

What did they do to fix signal strength?


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## gsusser (Jul 10, 2011)

I had a jack in another room that was sucking up a great deal of signal strength. It wasn't installed correctly. Since I wasn't using it and have no intention of using it, the tech directed all the power to my one TV, so I now have 100% signal strength as opposed to about 66%. I guess 66% was sufficient for the Premiere that I had, but not the Roamio Plus and its 6 tuners. It seems the problem was a rarity and something not many people will come across. 

I tell ya, it took about 20 hours of my time over nearly a week, but it was worth it. The Roamio is fantastic. Btw, I said Verizon sucked because their only solution was to keep sending me cable cards. Granted, TiVo or Verizon should have probably picked up that I had insufficient signal strength earlier, but it seems most TiVo problems are related to the cable card, or so I was told. But still, to send 5 cable cards is ridiculous. I'm keeping the last one as a souvenir, haha.


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## bunjicat (Jan 14, 2012)

gsusser said:


> From what I'm told, the Roamio's need more signal strength than the 2 tuner sets. And I have a Roamio Plus, which, if I understand correctly, needs even more signal strength. Verizon is coming tomorrow. Today, I start making calls to ensure this is done right.


Thats odd because I have experienced the exact opposite. On my premieres I had to remove splitters to get a descent signal. Roamio plus I had to add splitters back in to prevent the macro blocking issues from to strong a signal. I have also not experienced any issues with HBO/Cinemax with the older cable card. FWIW.


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## DCIFRTHS (Jan 6, 2000)

gsusser said:


> I had a jack in another room that was sucking up a great deal of signal strength. It wasn't installed correctly. Since I wasn't using it and have no intention of using it, the tech directed all the power to my one TV, so I now have 100% signal strength as opposed to about 66%. I guess 66% was sufficient for the Premiere that I had, but not the Roamio Plus and its 6 tuners. It seems the problem was a rarity and something not many people will come across.
> 
> I tell ya, it took about 20 hours of my time over nearly a week, but it was worth it. The Roamio is fantastic. Btw, I said Verizon sucked because their only solution was to keep sending me cable cards. Granted, TiVo or Verizon should have probably picked up that I had insufficient signal strength earlier, but it seems most TiVo problems are related to the cable card, or so I was told. But still, to send 5 cable cards is ridiculous. I'm keeping the last one as a souvenir, haha.


My situation may be different from yours as I am seeing about 65% on both TiVo boxes. They are in separate rooms, but off the same splitter. I ran a direct run from the ONT to the TiVo, and the signal strength didn't change - still about 65. I used to have strength in the 90's, so I think my ONT either needs adjustment, or is dying.

My situation is here.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

DCIFRTHS said:


> My situation may be different from yours as I am seeing about 65% on both TiVo boxes. They are in separate rooms, but off the same splitter. I ran a direct run from the ONT to the TiVo, and the signal strength didn't change - still about 65. I used to have strength in the 90's, so I think my ONT either needs adjustment, or is dying.
> 
> My situation is here.


I finally looked at my signal strength on my Roamio Pro. From my GPON ONT it goes to an eight way splitter. Then one of those feeds goes around 50 feet to my Romaio Pro. I was seeing signal strengths between 88 and 95 on the thirty or forty channels I looked at.


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