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Fibe, Questions..

429K views 1K replies 249 participants last post by  Dr.Dave 
#1 ·
Im thinking of ditching bell tv after 5 years. Love the service, prices are good but sick of satellite tv losing signal in bad storms. The new Fibe tv service is available in my area.I currently have the fibe25 internet. Ive read that its a max of 4 set top box's. My question is i have 5 tvs. I want to change to fibe tv and i obviously want to watch my 5 tv's so i need 5 set tops. The most set top box's that will ever be on at once is 4 ( 3 sd and 1 hd). Now is it possible to get a 5 box install in this case? the 5 tvs will NEVER all be used at once. Unfortunately this is a deal breaker for me.. I need the 5 tvs or ill have to either settle for bell tv or make the swap back to robbers. I'd call be all ask but i already know ill call 5 times n get 5 different answers so i always come here first :cool:

Thanks in advanced folks.
 
#342 ·
So I called Loyalty (even though the Fibe CSR yesterday said that they can't do anything) and was able to get a pretty good deal.

-Fibe TV for 3 months Free on a 2 year contract. $70.98 per month thereafter for the ' better' package, including 1 receiver rental.
-Fibe 15/10 internet for $34.95 per month for 6 months. $49.95 per month thereafter. Includes an extra 25gb for a total cap of 100gb.
-$10 off my phone bill for the next 12 months.
-Still have to pay the $99 installation fee, but I am OK with that since I am saving a total of almost $300 over the next 6 months.
 
#343 ·
OK. So the Tech is coming next Wednesday to do the install. I need to figure out how the whole installation is going to go down.

I am thinking have the modem in the basement where the phone line comes in and the all the COAX originates from. Minimal installation work and the COAX wires are already run throughout the house.

BUT.......my desktop is in one of the bedroom upstairs. So to connect it to the modem in the basement.....Do I:

A: Just throw a wireless PCI card in there and make the desktop wireless?
B: Run Cat5 cable through the A/C duct from the basement to the room with the desktop?
C: Can I keep the current modem up here? Its already on a dedicated line from the phone jack with a POTS splitter.
 
#346 ·
Just for the record - you can't have 2 modems on the same line. You could put the new modem next to your desktop if you can connect it to your coax cable.
Good to know about no 2 modems. I do not have coax in the room with the computer. So I would have to run cable anyway. I might as well run the Cat5 instead of the COAX. eventually, the computer will be in the basement when it gets finished, so I would prefer to have everything down there.

So B would be the best option then? Will the installer supply the Cat5 cable or should I just go ahead and run it myself before he gets here? Its only $20 for a 50 foot cable. The air duct is under the desk and runs straight down to the basement where the service panel is and where the modem would be. So very easy to do and keep hidden.
 
#348 ·
The Tech will also likely replace all the connectors at both ends of all your coax cables. Quite easy if they are all easily accessible but it does take a bit of time. Plan on a couple of hours for the install. A POTS splitter will also be installed at the incoming phone line which will eliminate all individual filters at each of your wired telephones.

I agree that the modem should be in the basement and you should run the Cat5 cable yourself.
 
#349 ·
A few questions about Fibe:


1) What is the better connection option with FibeTV: Ethernet or Coaxial?


2) Can I insist on a particular connection option or is this decision made by the installer?


3) Are these the newest receiver model numbers: PVR-2262 and Receiver-2202?


4) Are all installations now using these newest receivers or are the older models (eg 1232, 1200) still used?


5) I currently have Fibe25, but I've read here that I'd have drop down to Fibe15 after getting FibeTV. Does everyone with FibeTV & Fibe15 experience greater internet speeds than Fibe15 if all their tv's are off?

Thank you
 
#353 ·
5) I currently have Fibe25, but I've read here that I'd have drop down to Fibe15 after getting FibeTV. Does everyone with FibeTV & Fibe15 experience greater internet speeds than Fibe15 if all their tv's are off?

Thank you
Unfortunately they will force you to downgrade to 15 down. I was told it is because that is the maximum they can guarantee everyone will get when you are also using fibe tv (they generalize even though your signal may be stronger like mine is).

There was a time when even though you subscribed to 15 down you got 25 down when you were not using your TVs, but that is no longer the case. You will get capped at 15 down regardless.
 
#350 ·
1. Ethernet is better
2. You can select either
3. These are the newest
4. You should specify what you want when ordering or you may be given the older model.
5. Not sure of the contract options. Internet speed will be reduced when watching or recording HD by up to 6.4 Mbs per channel.
 
#351 ·
1) No difference in quality. The installer may have to put new couplings on the ends of the coaxial cable if they are 10+ years old, or in poor shape. Otherwise, they are the same.

2) Ultimately, the decision is the installers. But, they will generally try to do what you request.

3) Yes

4) Usually new, but sometimes the installer will show up with the older models.
If you don't want the older models, mention that the website claims 150 hours of HD storage. Only the new models have that much room on the HDD.

5) Your connection will still be 25/26 mbps down, but the internet is now capped at 15 mbps when you have TV service.
 
#352 · (Edited)
5) I currently have Fibe25, but I've read here that I'd have drop down to Fibe15 after getting FibeTV. Does everyone with FibeTV & Fibe15 experience greater internet speeds than Fibe15 if all their tv's are off?
I'm not sure why you would have to drop down. That doesn't make sense. Bell wants you to spend more $$$ on a faster internet package, not downgrade. If you have FTTH and want 175mbps service at $200 per month, would Bell really force you to drop down to a $50/month plan?

I know there is a minimum requirement (I had to upgrade from Fibe 12 to 15/10 to get fibe tv). But that was as fast as I could get in my area based on how close to my house the fibe runs. So for me, I had to go with fibe 15/10. But there should be no maximum cap.

As for part 2 of your question, if you have fibe 15/10, you are automatically upgraded to Fibe 25 only for the portion of the bandwidth that is used for TV watching. So as long as your TV bandwidth is under 10mbps, your internet speed will always be 15mb/s.

This is a cut & paste from the Bell website:

What happens when I turn on my TVs?

When you subscribe to Fibe TV, Bell gives you a total access of 25 Mbps to share between your Internet surfing and your TV watching, whether you signed up to Bell Fibe Internet 5/1 or Bell Fibe Internet 15/10. This means that in most cases, you'll enjoy blazing-fast Internet even if you're enjoying the most amazing TV experience at the same time.

For example, when two HD TVs are on, a Bell Fibe Internet 5/1 connection will still have all of its speed available for surfing. That's because we use the rest of the 25 Mbps bandwidth to bring you the TV channels you want to watch.

With Bell, your Internet connection is yours and yours alone and you decide how you want to use it.
So based on the above info, you could downgrade to fibe 15/10, save some money, and not loose any bandwidth for internet, unless you have all TV's on at the same time, then it might eat a little bit into your 15mbps.
 
#358 ·
16+ is not available anymore, I was able to renew my discounts when I called in and keep it as my account was about to roll over 1 year.
I was informed that the highest tier for FTTN was 15/10, and the internet will be capped at 15 megs.
For me, it was much better to stay with 16+, it wasn't as cheap as the 15/10, but they gave me back my discounts for another year which brought its price to $7/mo more than 15/10.

Speedtest as of this morning with no TV's on.

I was about to swap to zero-rated internet on the Bell connection and use the cable connection, but Bell reinstated my Internet discounts for the next year, also continued my TV discounts for the next year, and offered me an additional $15/mo off the TV on top of the previous discounts.
All said and done, it was barely enough to keep me with them for internet. Credits per month are now $65
 
#360 ·
$57/mo totaling at 210GB/mo Fibe 16+ with the extra upload speed, although I don't get anything about 5 megabits on the upstream.

That does not include my 2 service bundle discounts of $13.
I can get better elsewhere, and I still likely will get another cable connection with Teksavvy or something, I can't live with 210gb/mo
 
#365 ·
I should clarify a little.
On a given month I would generally use 190-280GB/mo, on a high month it's been as high as 800, it's not uncommon to go up to 500 on a given month.
And no, it's not torrents or other junk like that, some of us are just bandwidth heavy, hopefully they'll have FTTH here and I won't have to wait near as long.
 
#366 ·
FibeTV connection

Howdy folks,

So I'm getting ready for the FibeTV sevice (just got available in our neigborhood) and am at the wiring portion of our home renos. I would rather get it right the first time so a 2-part question concerning the connection if I may...

1. I understand the connection between the modem and the receiver is standard RG6 cable. But there is also a network port on the back of the receivers labeled as IP Video Out... Can anyone clarify it's use? it's not described in the available online manual... Basically, I would like to know if the receivers (PVR or standard) can get their video stream from the modem through the Cat5 cabeling or is the RG6 preffered/only way to go?

2. My current Fibe 7 internet setup uses the 2wire bell modem for connection to the internet and DHCP (WiFi disabled), then I use a gigabit Dlink router (IP routeing disabled) as the main hub for my home ethernet and WiFi network. Is this type of connection still available with the FibeTV modem? Where it would only provide the Internet, TV connection and the IP distribution? I just don't want to screw around with the setup too much. Swap out one component (2wire for FibeTV modem) and we're off to the races... Any thoughts?

Much appreciate all feedback on the matter..

Tom
 
#367 ·
1. Modem/router to the receivers can either be coax or cat5. The port labeled IP Video Our is actually the cat5 connection to the modem/router (if used instead of the coax video in). Both work well but there is a slight preference for cat5. If using coax the tech will replace the cable ends. Connection to additional receivers can either be coax or cat5, and if coax a splitter will be provided.

2. The 2wire will be replaced by a sagemcom modem/router and you can retain your Dlink router configuration.
 
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