It's been 8 months and counting since the Gateway and 3 portals have been installed. Main cable in, splitter, MOCA filter then Drop Amp/Splitter to the Portals, another unamped splitter to my home phone, modem and a tube tv. Each tv and modem running through a surge suppressor (power and coax).

That all said, other than not having an "extender" connected, everything seems to be working well. Only issue that I've had on occasion is audio drop outs for some of the TV's that are connected via HDMI. Audio literally stops; have to go into the audio menu, press OK on all the settings that are already there and everything works fine again. For the Portal that's connected to my amp via fibre-optic and tv via HDMI, I have never had any audio issues. ((it's an "old amp" - bought one year before the HDMI ones started coming out. :(

Yes, I realize my description of how I'm connected is vague, just wanted to give a general picture. Main reason for the post is to give an update to what my experience has been like so far. Oh! nearly forgot... watching VOD has been iffy at times. Have ordered a show and the show hasn't loaded, have been watching a show and it suddenly goes to a channel that I wasn't watching while still showing I'm in VOD. Only happened a couple times, I attributed it to a temporary glitch with VOD. Just not sure if it was a VOD glitch, Gateway glitch or a storm of Gateway and VOD glitchiness.

Just realized I could actually post a pic of where/how my Gateway was installed. so here it is.

1. Gateway on the wall - http://digitalhome.ca/forum/picture.php?albumid=986&pictureid=5271

2. Cable and splitters going to Gateway, Portals and everywhere else - http://digitalhome.ca/forum/album.php?albumid=986&pictureid=5270

Keep in mind that all of this was a "retrofit". The leviton box was put in a few years ago when I pulled in new RG6 cable. Yes I'd prefer to have the splitters fastened inside the box - but at least I can close the door). Ya... no extender. Yet.

@cudtz
Whoever the installer was on that, they should be ashamed of themselfs..
Both the amp and the splitters should be mounted to the back plane and the cables should have been dressed into place...
Very poor workmanship there.
But I guess there probably should have been a backboard (piece of plywood) in there in the 1st place anyway.
I suspect the installer was afraid to drill into the back of the metal box..
Still ugly as all get go...

Hi All,
Have three portals, over the last few days two of them have rebooted by themselves.
Any one know what is going on?

Please see the main Gateway thread for plenty of discussion about this.
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=153175

Quick question guys.

I'm not using 1 of my portals in a spare bedroom. If I unplug it for an extended period of time and plug it back in when needed, do I need to do anything for it to be recognized?

The gateway will still be running for the other 3 portals.

I know for the DCTs sometimes you need to re-activate them if it has been disconnected for some time.

As far as I know, there is no problem with disconnecting the Portals for any length of time. I have 3 that are not connected but they work fine when I do connect them.

I searched but could not find an answer to this . If i buy a used gateway and portal will shaw come and install it ?

arthur

Since Shaw doesn't allow self-installs of Gateway systems, the answer would have to be yes. The usual caveats to buying used Shaw gear apply, though, i.e., get the serial numbers and just double check them with Shaw to ensure that the gear is neither stolen nor otherwise unusable with Shaw.

There should be no problem with getting Shaw to install a 'used' Gateway system. There was a reply to this effect from a Shaw spokesperson here too and I can't find it at the moment either but it was specified.

The oldest Gateway equipment would only be about a year old and would still have 2 years of warranty left so be sure to look into that 'expiry date' when you contact Shaw to book your install.

We recently had a big storm and right after my gateway/portals stopped working. However, they were all plugged in to battery backups and surge protectors. The main gateway was plugged in to a surge protector along with my shaw modem, and voice modem. The shaw modem and voip modem work fine.

I have replaced the MoCA filter, and the problem persists. When I go on the portal local network status it says it can connect to the local network fine, but that it failed to get DNS for the internet connection. This is where it is wierd, sometimes after I power cycle the gateway I get a DNS address of 192.168.x.x, and sometimes I get what looks more like an external one 10.x.x.x. Regardless of which one I get it fails to work.

I talked at length with a very good tech in Calgary (he got me to replace the MoCA filter with one I picked up at the local shaw branch), and he said there were tons of errors coming up in his logs (millions), he said the gateway may have to be replaced, or that the line coming in to my place may be shot (but it can't be that because that same line delivers the internet/voip fine.) If I hook up the same line going from one portal directly in to the TV it works for the lower channels fine. Is there anything else I can do besides wait the 9 days for the service call? I'm guessing that I will have to have the gateway replaced? Not digging watching the olympics in standard def old peasant vision style.

It does sound like your Gateway may have taken a hit through the coax. Only a tech equipped with the proper MoCA tester will know for certain and all you will likely get is a guy who will just swap out your Gateway. Either way, you are likely going to lose any content you had recorded. It would be nice to know for certain that that is necessary rather than just having to accept it but it's typical of most field techs that aren't supplied with the necessary test equipment; not really their fault.

Thanks for the Reply Jetranger - Shaw replaced the gateway and all is well. They said it looked to be stuck in an endless loop when it restarted. Of course all my PVR'ed stuff, like 100+ shows gone. Oh well, time to start fresh, my kids will be disappointed! lol

Thx,
Trev

Hi Folks;
My cable provider has installed a Home Media Gateway MG5125G server with 2 clients the problem is that when watching TV the gateway will go into screen saver mode if you dont use the remote frequently. Does anyone knowe how to disable the screen saver modes of change them. The manual only states they exist and does not say how to modify them.
Thanks!

If your system is the one offered by Shaw, the screen saver is not currently adjustable or switchable. It shouldn't come on for about 12 hours now so if you are with Shaw, maybe you don't have the latest firmware installed yet. I would be surprised if that was the case but we haven't had the issue with the 'screen saver' since the current code was pushed out.

Hello everyone, I'm having 1 gateway and 3 portals installed tomorrow as well as home phone, just wondering if I should anticipate any issues? Also do my new internet/phone modems and gateway need to be in close proximity or not an issue?

I'm just trying to figure out where everything should be installed, I'm thinking utility/laundry room but I guess the Shaw tech's should be able to figure out a good location.

I'd recommend reading thought this thread as the info is still the same.

OK, you guys have me curious again. Now that my Gateway system is up and running smoothly I'll try out the Netgear MOCA and see how it works together.
Someone mentioned the order in which the different units are powered up might affect things, apparently not wanting the Netgear units to get an IP from the Gateway itself.

This will probably take some time. Hope to report back within a couple days.


Dragging this back out from the dead....I just got the gateway installed today and the second portal will not work on an existing Netgear MOCA network. :(

BTW, is there an FAQ for this box? I'm curious if there are more audio out options than the Dolby Digital/stereo/mono option. Sounds kinda weak if there's not better audio quality than those.

Cheers,
-H

Has anyone been able to hunt down any sort of user manual for this thing? I've been GoogleHunting for hours trying to track one down. How can one not exist?

In particular I am trying to figure out if there is any way to power the MP2000 down without having to unplug it. Does anyone know? Is there seriously no power switch on this stupid thing? I want to double up on some inputs to an older TV.

There is a rudimentary manual that was available on the Shaw website.

As for powering down the Portals, it can't be done unless you pull the plug. They only draw 7-11 watts and need to be 'on' for updates, etc. from the 'mother ship' back at ARRIS.