We have now had Fibe TV since Wednesday evening. The Bell installers called when they were supposed to tell us they would be working outside on the line. They said we would lose internet for about 5 mins. (was more like 15).. then they showed up at the door.
Three vans with three installers - there was some training going on here! They put on their booties so nothing would get dirty and then we went through a checklist of what they would be doing. Very thorough and explained everything.
I now have an HD PVR and 2 HD set top boxes (it seems all the boxes support HD). They all talk to the PVR. The PVR and one of the set top boxes are attached to HD screens, the other to one 20" Toshiba with Colour Stream. I did note that I could watch a HD recorded show on the Toshiba - it down converts.. nice touch!
The Menu system beats the crap out of the Rogers system - it's translucent and covers the whole screen(in HD).
It also allows you to customize the guide so you don't have to see channels that you are not subscribed to.
The PIP on the guide allows you to see what is in the other channel as you search through the channels.
I did notice that you do not have a "schedule reminder" which Rogers has (and I thought most able boxes).
Another observation is that you have to tell the set top box what HD format to accept for that TV (1080i or 720p). You cannot allow the signal to flow through to the HDTV which would then decide how to output the signal.
Still playing with everything..
I have to say that the installers were great and so far I'm pleased with the picture quality + sound.
I believe the reason Fibe TV provides Plattsburgh and Buffalo is that it is licensed by the CRTC the same way as Videotron or Rogers and these are considered local services.
Had my install done on Friday 04-MAY-2012 here on the Hamilton Mountain; had to to delay it a week as I was away for a week of of golf
Install was pretty straight forward; 1 PVR and one STB; switching from Bell Satellite TV after 20 or so years
Coax runs were reused; installer just had to install new ends.
Installer was not aware that with Bell FIbe 16+, we should be seeing 25 Mb/s with all TV's off, and around 16 Mb/s with them on; our testing showed that this was the case; I filled him in !!
Pretty impressed with the system; boxes are smaller than I thought....pretty cool system overall. Just playing around with it...so far...so good !
HD picture quality seems to be at least as good as the Bell Satellite TV; I am impressed....doesn't take much ;-)
Appreciating the Portuguese channels that I could never get on satellite
Missing the call display I had on Bell Satellite TV...but no biggy !!
1. The remote is a pain, especially the button under the 0 which I always confuse for the 0.
2. The delay when entering a channel from the remote is ridiculous ... if you take a half second too long you have to restart.
3. I really miss the time display on the Illico PVR.
4. Everything works well then all of a sudden everything gets to be real slow ... Internet times out, sound cuts in and out on TV, guess they're ironing out some glitches locally. Will wait a while but my patience is running thin.
Bottom line is we'll see in September when Videotron Illico 2 (or next gen) comes out and what kind of deal they offer me. So far Fibe has nice TV quality abd channel selection but I have the feeling I am being used as a beta tester.
so if you are with Rogers and still considering Fibe consider this:
I got better PQ, more HD channels and a lower price;
not to mention free(and waaaay better) PVR, Apps and HD guide.
it would actually be pretty close without bundle and contract discounts.
nevertheless, you still get more HD channels and better PQ for a few bucks less.
I'm anxious to have Bell Fibe installed (friday). Hopefully, all the reviews here about Fibe image quality will be right on. A year and a half ago I went with ShawDirect TV after reading comments here about top notch image quality.......what a disappointment!
Interesting to see you were disappointed with Shaw Direct PQ. I had SD before I switched to Fibe earlier this year and I always found the PQ for SD to be outstanding for HD but lousy for standard def. I've found Fibe to be every bit as good and probably better, especially for standard def, which is now very watchable.
What type of equipment and connections do you have for your TV? Might that be part of the problem?
My two SDTV HD receivers (HDDSR605 & HDPVR630) were hooked HDMI to a 1080P 55" and 32" screens. I couldn't stand the grainy image. Both soon up for sale in the EE.
betterthancable - I'm not sure what post you're referring to. My post never mentioned specific receivers. If you're referring to kosmic's post #170, the receivers he referred to are his Shaw Direct receivers (which are also the same model receivers I had when I was with Shaw Direct).
kosmic - glad to hear Fibe is working well for you. Still don't understand how your PQ was so poor with Shaw, however. I basically had the same setup as you (at least wrt the 55" 1080p TV) for Shaw and the PQ was very good for HD. As I've said before, the PQ for Fibe is probably a bit better than Shaw (in my experience). It's all the other things that really make Fibe stand out for me (way more HD channels, no rain fade, very good guide, very quick channel changing, etc.).
I am trying to switch my parents to Fbe TV. Rogers doesn't want to renew their discounts so as a result, there's no incentive to stay with them, especially since they already have internet with Bell.
The issue is around installation... Here's the scenario:
Computer is in an office, there's a phone jack there where the current DSL modem is placed. No COAX/Cable TV jacks in that office.
Den is in another room (although adjacent to the office). The Den (where the main PVR will be doesn't have a phone line near it. Will the tech run wires from the Fibe modem to the PVR unit? I know the other boxes connect via coax networking from the main PVR. I am just concerned about the main box and Fibe modem connect to each other.
My mother is very sensitive about wires, so before they schedule an install, I wanted to know if there's any other way (like having the connectivity done in the patch panel room or something (which I doubt). I know the Fibe modem has a coax output for the HPNA networking. Can it be used to link with the PVR or must it be over ethernet?
All ethernet/coax cables run from the modem to any and all pvr/set top boxes. So the location of the modem may become a bit different depending on where chases are in the house to run wires.
There's one place in the den where there is actually a phone jack + COAX jack next to each other. My idea would be for the technician to install as follows:
1. Fibe modem on Phone line, COAX output from Fibe modem into the Coax. Wi-fi connection to PC (in another room).
2. All TVs in the home hook up via COAX HPNA networking from the other outlets.
Yes that is possible, I have mine set up as follows:
modem is in the main bedroom as that is where my computer is, from the modem he used ethernet to the HD box in the bedroom, then he ran the main COAX from modem to a splitter that splits it, from the splitter one COAX goes to the PVR in the living room, and the other COAX goes to the second bedroom, trust me these guys are well trained and I have had Fibe Installed in two different locations as I moved and everytime they came to install, it has always ran very smooth and no problems whatsoeve...
Great, thanks.
Glad to hear the techs are good at what they do. Rogers' outsourced teams are the total opposite, based on my experience with Whole Home PVR in my home. (which was a total disaster)
Your den will become the coax source for the rest of the house, so the splitter where the cable TV originally comes in will need to be adjusted: cable TV source removed, and the den becomes the source.
Make sure the area in front of your coax wall jacks are cleared for the techs, they will be replacing the barrel connector with a blue "Bell approved" connector.
The techs will also replace your coax splitter with an HPNA compatible unit.
A simpler alternative might be to have the modem/router installed at the point where the cable and modem come into the home. The cable to the TV's would be plugged into the modem, the incoming incoming phone line would be connected to the modem. A POT filter need to be installed but am not sure where (my installation is a couple of weeks away).
For my set up, I utilized the existing coax cable in my home as all rooms/tvs were already hooked up to satellite. I was able to have the modem/router set up in my den, where there was an old (but completely good) coax cable that effectively ran down to my basement, where my satellite splitter was (and where all the runs to the various TV's effectively originated). By hooking up this coax cable to the modem I was able to run the TV signal to a splitter in the basement and use all the existing cable without a need to run any new coax. Everything works like a charm and with the modem/router in my den I have excellent wifi coverage throughout the entire house, including upstairs and basement.
I think my situation matches wysiwyg's but I'm not sure:
My condo in Toronto has coxial cable wiring which is used for Rogers TV/Internet/Home Phone. It also has telephone wiring which Rogers connected their cable to via a box they installed in a closet where it connects to both sets of wiring.
If I switch to Fibe I assume the Rogers change would be undone and a Fibe modem hooked up to a phone line jack. For me the best place to connect this is to a phone jack in my den as that is where my PC is located and the phone jack is adjacent to a cable jack.
If this done how does the signal get to the PVR which would be in my living room in a TV stand on a wall that only has a cable outlet and no phone outlet? Does Bell connect the Fibe modem to the cable jack in the den and that feed the whole condo?
Yes, the signal to the tv receivers is through coaxial cable or network cable. It does not rely on phone lines at all.
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