[mythtv-users] Current Verizon FIOS experiences

[Jerry Rubinow]

On Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 6:37 AM, Andre Newman <mythtv-list at dinkum.org.uk>wrote:

>
> On 16 Dec 2009, at 11:29, Andre Newman wrote:
>
> > Hi, a friend in Boston MA is setting up a new MythTV box over Christmas,
> he had one for a while before but it was old, underpowered and many months
> ago died completely!
> >
> > His ATSC reception is lousy on an indoor antenna and he doesn't fancy
> climbing on the roof until the spring so I'm trying to advise the best thing
> to try. He has Verizon FIOS and a spare STB, we tried to get firewire
> working with the old myth box a year or so ago but never got any response
> from the STB, maybe this is better in 0.22?? There seemed to be a problem
> with the firewire card and the old motherboard too (FW HD locked up
> regularly), lots of problems with the old box generally.
> >
> > So I see lots of people on here with FIOS firewire STB's working, is
> there any trick to this beyond what's on the wiki, are there magic
> incantations that need to be recited to the Verizon support people to switch
> on Firewire??
> >
> > Also is Clear QAM a useful option (alternative or additional) or have
> Verizon encrypted the lot in the last couple of weeks?
> > He'd be happy to get a HD Homerun and that seems to me like it would
> supplement a firewire STB nicely, he has a Schedules Direct sub but I hope
> he doesn't need two subs to create two different video sources for the
> different lineups for the STB & Clear QAM?
> >
> > Looking for some up to date advice on this, I know MythTV well but I'm in
> the UK so I'm all DVBT, DVBS(2) uk_rt etc...
>
> Oops, forgot to mention, prefer to stick to direct transport recording
> rather than HD-PVR or similar solutions and it's primarily for HDTV.
>
> Ta


The setup I have is Verizon FIOS with an HDHomeRun for the raw coax and a
Hauppauge SD tuner card connected to the STB, which is tuned using firewire.
 It works very nicely, without problems.  Way back (maybe two years ago) I
tried firewire for input, but it always had one problem or another, plus
anything besides the same channels I got through the HDHR were encrypted
anyway, so there was really no added benefit.

Unless you know there are additional channels available through firewire
that you can't get through the HDHR, I would skip using it for input.  Why
are you averse to an HD-PVR?  If you want additional HD channels, this seems
to be a good route to go.

In my market (Philadelphia), the only channels in the clear are networks
(ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX), PBS, and a couple of other OTA ones.

-Jerry
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