# New Bolt and 2 minis on Fios



## homersby (Dec 10, 2015)

Finally pulled the trigger and got the Bolt deal from AMZN along with 2 minis and hooked them up to Fios this weekend and it was a snap. However, I can see how some folks would be frustrated as it does take some time for bootup, connections, restarts, etc. I am not normally a patient person but knew it would be worth it and took my time. I think I spent less than an hour, maybe a little more, and everything worked on the first try.

I called Fios for a CC pairing and they said it wasn't necessary, but I get the pairing screen when I go to FX which is not a premium channel and is in my package so will have to call to see what is up with that issue, but otherwise, could not be happier.


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## mark1958 (Feb 13, 2005)

homersby said:


> Finally pulled the trigger and got the Bolt deal from AMZN along with 2 minis and hooked them up to Fios this weekend and it was a snap. However, I can see how some folks would be frustrated as it does take some time for bootup, connections, restarts, etc. I am not normally a patient person but knew it would be worth it and took my time. I think I spent less than an hour, maybe a little more, and everything worked on the first try.
> 
> I called Fios for a CC pairing and they said it wasn't necessary, but I get the pairing screen when I go to FX which is not a premium channel and is in my package so will have to call to see what is up with that issue, but otherwise, could not be happier.


I have charter and FX is not a premium channel for me, good to hear everything went smooth for ya enjoy.


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## drooplug (Dec 6, 2015)

Sometimes not all of the channels take. I have FIOS and had that issue with a couple channels. I called them and they re-paired it.


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## RUBiK (Jan 10, 2002)

Just went through this a couple weeks ago and it was kind of a pain to get the card properly paired.

Not getting FX (and most of the FOX-owned channels, check a few more such as Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Sports 1 & 2, etc. -- there is a full list somewhere but I don't have it handy) is a sign that the card is not properly paired.

All those channels are copy-protected and they won't show picture & sound without the card being paired.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

You should be able to pair it using the automated instructions on the bolt. I never talked to anyone. 

All fox cable channels are copy protected on fios so the card needs to be paired. Also needs to be paired if you get premiums, special events or sports packages.


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## homersby (Dec 10, 2015)

TonyD79 said:


> You should be able to pair it using the automated instructions on the bolt. I never talked to anyone.
> 
> All fox cable channels are copy protected on fios so the card needs to be paired. Also needs to be paired if you get premiums, special events or sports packages.


So called Fios and they cannot pair the CC on their end. They are sending a new card. I called Tivo and they said the Signal to noise ratio is high a 37-38db but I see from other threads that is not an issue. Called Fios back and told them about the SNR and they insist on sending a new card.

I tried pairing on my own but don't have the 6 digit code that came with the card which the Fios site requires. Any help would be appreciated.


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## PdX (Apr 12, 2016)

I just bought a bolt and two minis. Never thought of Tivo before but my father-in-law sold me on it. I never realized you just needed the one cable card and some minis and you could completely dump combusts crappy equipment. 

So happy.


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## RUBiK (Jan 10, 2002)

homersby said:


> So called Fios and they cannot pair the CC on their end. They are sending a new card. I called Tivo and they said the Signal to noise ratio is high a 37-38db but I see from other threads that is not an issue. Called Fios back and told them about the SNR and they insist on sending a new card.
> 
> I tried pairing on my own but don't have the 6 digit code that came with the card which the Fios site requires. Any help would be appreciated.


I could never use the Verizon online activation site either because I didn't have that code either.

My technician who did the install activated the card himself using his own equipment (or called it in? not sure.. he was out at his truck after he finished the install).

I didn't think to check all the copy protected channels before he left but we did test various random channels so I thought he did it right and we were set.

After he left, I realized the card wasn't paired properly because I couldn't tune in to any of the copy protected channels.

I called the Verizon cable card support number and a guy kept deactivating it and reactivating it for about 30 minutes and we gave up. I told him "Thanks for your help; maybe it'll fix itself in a day or two, let me call you back then".

Then I went and posted my cable card info (all the IDs, S/N, etc.) on the Verizon Direct forum and a tech replied within ~30 minutes to say they've re-paired the card. Sure enough, I was all set and posted to thank them.

_TL;DR - I had no luck with Verizon cable card support over the phone. Verizon Direct tech knew what to do and fixed it. I highly recommend posting your info there before you try a new card._


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## homersby (Dec 10, 2015)

RUBiK said:


> I could never use the Verizon online activation site either because I didn't have that code either.
> 
> My technician who did the install activated the card himself using his own equipment (or called it in? not sure.. he was out at his truck after he finished the install).
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info. Definitely will give it a try if the new card does not come with the 6 digit code for me to try myself. My initial cards were installed by the tech so I am sure I don't have the code.

Also, VZ has already indicated their BS that the new Tivo unit may not be compatible with their cards, which I immediately shot down, but know they will be trying to get me onto their garbage. No thanks!


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

Hi guys,
This has been mentioned several times before so here goes, on Verizon if you get most channels but are missing some, call in and ask them to do a "manual validation", so far this has worked for many folks.


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## RUBiK (Jan 10, 2002)

fcfc2 said:


> Hi guys,
> This has been mentioned several times before so here goes, on Verizon if you get most channels but are missing some, call in and ask them to do a "manual validation", so far this has worked for many folks.


Good point, thanks.

That's what I found from reading posts here and that's exactly what I asked for and the cable card support tech on the phone said he "knew what he had to do" and kept trying, to no avail.

I think he just kept de-activating and re-activating the card because that one number (sorry, forgot what it's called off the top of my head) kept changing on my screen (supposed to change every time the card is activated, I guess?) but the copy protected channels were still never authorized.


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## homersby (Dec 10, 2015)

Well, the card is coming today according to UPS. I hope it comes with the 6 digit code so I can try activation myself since VZ is now on strike and I will either be on hold for 2 days, or get someone who could not change a light bulb much less activate a CC!


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## Jerky (Apr 8, 2016)

Just last week I got a Bolt and a Mini on Verizon FIOS. Very easy setup. Activate your cable card on the internet. It activated on Verizon in less then 5 minutes and I was off and going.

Make sure you activate your devices on the tivo website ahead of time if you can.

This was easily the best setup experience I have ever done in terms of AV installation.


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## homersby (Dec 10, 2015)

Jerky said:


> Just last week I got a Bolt and a Mini on Verizon FIOS. Very easy setup. Activate your cable card on the internet. It activated on Verizon in less then 5 minutes and I was off and going.
> 
> Make sure you activate your devices on the tivo website ahead of time if you can.
> 
> This was easily the best setup experience I have ever done in terms of AV installation.


Jerky, I did the Tivo activation first thing for the Bolt and both minis and just swapped my Fios CC. The problem is on their end (Fios), not mine or Tivo. Appreciate the advice but have been with Tivo since the first unit and got the minis working almost instantly even though some threads have indicated it can take up to hours for your account to recognize them.

I will post results when I get the card today and hopefully it will have the self install 6 digit code and can do it myself.

Thanks for all the advice. One of the best boards/forums I have ever visisted.


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## Jerky (Apr 8, 2016)

homersby said:


> Jerky, I did the Tivo activation first thing for the Bolt and both minis and just swapped my Fios CC. The problem is on their end (Fios), not mine or Tivo. Appreciate the advice but have been with Tivo since the first unit and got the minis working almost instantly even though some threads have indicated it can take up to hours for your account to recognize them.
> 
> I will post results when I get the card today and hopefully it will have the self install 6 digit code and can do it myself.
> 
> Thanks for all the advice. One of the best boards/forums I have ever visisted.


Sorry, was unaware of your level of expertise. I hope the new cable card works well for you.


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## homersby (Dec 10, 2015)

Got the card with the code and was up and running in literally about 5 minutes. Guess I could fill in for the striking workers! Actually I guess I could replace the regular cable card staff!

Thanks for the advice and comments along the way.:up:


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

That sounds about right for fios.


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## measel (Dec 17, 2015)

The online thing doesn't work, but if you call the phone number and punch in the code it works.


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## homersby (Dec 10, 2015)

measel said:


> The online thing doesn't work, but if you call the phone number and punch in the code it works.


Online worked just fine for me last week. No problem and took all of about 5 minutes.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

With a new CC the online activation has worked great for me. But after that it is always hit or miss. I'll use chat or phone help and sometimes the Cable cards are paired in minutes. But sometimes it can take much, much longer.

Of course last year I had an issue and it was much worse. The tech took over 1.5 hours and ended up making me lose all channel(except locals) with the cable card. Then he had it screwed up in the system, with no way to correct it. So the only fix was to order a new card and pick it up the next day. And I used the automated activation for it which worked great. 

But because of that I am leery now in dealing with the manual cable card activation on FiOS. So when I set up a Bolt a few months ago I just ordered a new cable card since I didn't want to risk any problems with my existing cards. So right now I am paying for a third card and using two Bolts and a Roamio Pro on FiOS. Which has had me dragging my feet with selling my Pro. And all the talk of changes doesn't make we want to drop the Pro. Since that has lifetime but my Bolts are on yearly.


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## thebotti39 (Mar 11, 2016)

I ordered FIOS from Frontier for installation next week, they ordered 2 cable cards and gave me 150/150 Internet and Phone and Extreme HD for 145.
I would like to buy the router instead of paying 10.00 a month, but am not sure what brand and model to buy....


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

thebotti39 said:


> I ordered FIOS from Frontier for installation next week, they ordered 2 cable cards and gave me 150/150 Internet and Phone and Extreme HD for 145.
> I would like to buy the router instead of paying 10.00 a month, but am not sure what brand and model to buy....


Hi,
With 150/150 you should be getting an Ethernet install from the ONT and since you are going with Tivo, you should be able to use the router of your choice. That being said, if you later have problems and don't have one of their routers handy, they may want to make you wait for a truck roll to get any help. Some keep one of the older Actiontec W1424WR's handy for this.  You can pickup Actiontec's or even their new Gateway G1100(dual band AC, MoCA 2.0) off of Ebay for less money ($140 range) and the Actiontec Rev I's (singe band, MoCA 1.1) can usually be found in the $50 range. One nice feature is the builtin MoCA support if you are thinking of using it with your Tivos.


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## Alfarick (May 2, 2016)

I really need some help here I have Verizon FIOS with Extreme HD. Two weeks ago took the plunge and bought a Bolt. Totally happy with the performance of the TiVo loving it however. I find my Fox channel package FXHD, FS1, FS2 Nat Geo etc etc. All Fox owned channels will not work via the cable card. Everything else is perfect. 

Spent hours and hours on the phone with Verizon, replaced the mCard, no joy. Tried my 6 digit Verizon activation code, that failed. Verizon fail to connect remotely with the card. Had a really helpful Verizon Tech at my house today, he could not fix it.

I read on the internet that this is tied up with a Fox CCI encryption applied to their channels. I checked the pairing on my card via the Bolt and it's one way pairing. 

Of course Verizon tried to blame TiVo, then Motorola mCard. Remarkably FS2 does work on HD but not on SD. At my wits end to know how to proceed can anyone help please.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

Alfarick said:


> I really need some help here I have Verizon FIOS with Extreme HD. Two weeks ago took the plunge and bought a Bolt. Totally happy with the performance of the TiVo loving it however. I find my Fox channel package FXHD, FS1, FS2 Nat Geo etc etc. All Fox owned channels will not work via the cable card. Everything else is perfect.
> 
> Spent hours and hours on the phone with Verizon, replaced the mCard, no joy. Tried my 6 digit Verizon activation code, that failed. Verizon fail to connect remotely with the card. Had a really helpful Verizon Tech at my house today, he could not fix it.
> 
> ...


It definitely sounds like a pairing problem from what you describe. The ongoing strike might make it harder for you to get a competent tech that knows what he is doing with CableCards. I think Verizon has an automated system for pairing a CableCard. Have you tried that?

http://www.verizon.com/fiostv/selfinstall/

If that doesn't work and Verizon still isn't helpful in fixing your problem, you will need to file a complaint with the FCC. That seems to give them a kick in the pants to get someone competent to contact you to fix your problem.

https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

Alfarick said:


> I really need some help here I have Verizon FIOS with Extreme HD. Two weeks ago took the plunge and bought a Bolt. Totally happy with the performance of the TiVo loving it however. I find my Fox channel package FXHD, FS1, FS2 Nat Geo etc etc. All Fox owned channels will not work via the cable card. Everything else is perfect.
> 
> Spent hours and hours on the phone with Verizon, replaced the mCard, no joy. Tried my 6 digit Verizon activation code, that failed. Verizon fail to connect remotely with the card. Had a really helpful Verizon Tech at my house today, he could not fix it.
> 
> ...


Request a "manual validation" to get the cablecard to pair correctly.

Or as RUBiK explained above, contact them on the Verizon Direct forum over on DSLReports. Give them all 5 things: your account number, the card's serial number, Cablecard ID, Host ID and Data ID. Ask for the manual validation.

https://www.dslreports.com/forum/vzdirect


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## Alfarick (May 2, 2016)

Thanks folks I will take your advise. If I get a resolution I will be sure to post it.


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## Alfarick (May 2, 2016)

FOX Channels issue solved. So turns out this was an issue with Ethernet and MOCA. I had a tech on his second visit to the house and a tech on the phone who immediately suggested we should insert a low pass filter but the tech did not have a filter. So we turned off the router which disabled the Ethernet (and thus MOCA). Whilst the router was off he remotely re-validated and paired the Cable Card and the FOX channels all sprang into life. We then turned the router back on and at the moment all is good. Fingers crossed it stays that way. So beware the MOCA.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Until the card is paired you cannot receive any of the Fox channels(as well as HBO and Cinemax). With a card activated and unpaired you will still receive the other channels on FiOS.


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## Alfarick (May 2, 2016)

Thanks for the response ... So just to be absolutely clear for anyone else who experiences the issue with FOX Channels not working with FIOS on a TIVO Bolt.

1 My mCard was correctly paired by Verizon, Data ID, Host ID, Cable Card ID were all in Verizon's System and correctly set up
2 All channels in my Verizon Extreme Package worked fine as far as I could tell with the exception of the FOX owned channels premium channels like FOX HD FOX SPORTS 1 and 2, Nat Geo FOX News etc etc. 
3 My intent was to help other TiVo customers who were experiencing this issue to potentially cut out the 10 hours I spent on resolving this issue with Verizon FIOS. I am a potential cord cutter so have never subscribed to all that movie stuff so cannot contribute to that discussion. But I like my live sports on FS1 and FS2.
4 If you look at the whole discussion stream there are external links which speak to this in much more detail about encryption and the like which is being used by FOX.

I hope my comments can assist other TIVO users to shortcut the issue in getting the FOX channels to work on TIVO Bolt. Six days in and everything is holding up perfectly. I did have the activation Code and all the other stuff. Check out the links RUBiK posted to understand further.

Tomorrow I will be returning my Verizon FIOS supplied CISCO DVR and going full TIVO hardware. YEAH ....


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## thyname (Dec 27, 2010)

I had the same issue yesterday. Brand new FIOS install. See the thread below named Verizon FIOS.

As bigJimOutlaw mentioned above, the solution was to do a manual revalidation. Somehow, when the CableCard is activated the first time, it is not paired properly.

After I spent hours on the phone with clueless tech support CSRs based overseas, Verizon Direct people over at dslreports site were able to fix this remotely in no time. 

The procedure is as follows:

1 - you give them all the three ID items you get on the TiVo menus. They sent me a specific chat URL to do so.

2 - they sent a "refresh" signal / command (not sure what that is)

3 - you give them again the three numbers. I believe one of them (I think data ID) had changed.

4 - that's it!

Thanks to the people posts in several thread around here, I was able to figure out what to ask for and who to ask.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

The only time I've had issues with Fox channels or HBO/Cinemax channels is when the card was not paired. Not paired correctly sounds like it's not paired at all. I've paired dozens of Cards on FiOS and if I can't receive those channels then the card was never paired. Activated but not paired.

Just because a tech says it's paired, doesn't mean it actually is. When an active card is actually paired, the device will receive the HBO, Cinemax and Fox channels. If the device only receives some of those channels, then it is paired and there is another issue. Since you can't receive any of those channels without a paired cable card. Except when there is a free weekend.


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