[reidw]

I'm new to Fibe so sorry if this question has come up before, my apologies.

I have BA's Home Hub 3000. I thought that i had everything covered until this past week when I got a letter (by snail mail yet) from BA telling me that they noticed that I had not ordered a backup battery for my Hub. (no mention of cost). No one from BA had previously ever mentioned anything about a battery. Is it actually necessary and how much does it cost? I've searched the Support pages for answers but can't even find a reference to a backup battery nor any instructions on how I would install one if I did make a purchase.

Frankly I'm finding decent information about the Hub and the Fibe TV receivers at both the BA and Ma Bell websites to be wanting (I'm trying to be polite). Whatever happened to instruction manuals? Among my questions about the TV receivers:

• How many recordings can I make at the same time on the 4K wireless PVR VIP 5662W?
• What is the total number of 4K, HD and/or SD videos I can record on the hard drive?
• Is there any way to set up an ongoing daily manual timer recording rather than having to program a separate entry for every day? My old Bell TV Sat. PVRs, a 9200 and a 9242 both let me do this.

Again to be honest, I'm stunned at the number of features I had on my satellite PVR's that are not on Fibe's supposedly latest and greatest equipment such as for example a full detailed local forecast on the Weather Network channel. Fibe's version of a local forecast showing only the next three days is pathetic. I feel like I've taken a step backwards when I expected to be going forward.

Thanks in advance for your answers.

 

[doscott56]

If you look at system resources you wii see max streams is 6 HD

the hard drive is shown is a 1TB drive.

the settings for a recording allow you to select a series so all episodes are recorded. you can also set a recording to end up to 3 hours after a show ends, so you could select to record the earliest show as a seres and use the end time to include the following shows.

Edit by 57 - "required changed to recorded."

 

[reidw]

Thanks for your answers but:

• It's a 1 TB drive. How many recordings does that allow? Or to put it another way, how large is a say a one hour HD recording? An SD? A 4K?
• As for manual timers: What I want to do is record a short ten min. segment within a particular program every night of the week. I can do this only one day at a time with my Fibe PVR. My old sat. recorders had an every day feature that made this kind of recording easy to set up. Are you telling me that I can't do that any more with a device that is about ten years in advance of my previous PVR? This is progress?

 

[doscott56]

A google search gives: Our 4K Whole Home PVR offers a recording capacity of up to 150 hours in 4K or up to 320 hours in HD.

With the capacity of the DVRs I usually record an entire time slot on a series basis (CBC Newsworld) and then fast forward to the portion I want to see as it's not consistent in either start time or length. There is no setting to delay the start time. I've had Fibe for quite a few years and the HH 3000 is my third DVR and none have had the feature you are looking for; neither did my Star Choice boxes before that.

On your battery question I chose not to purchase one. It's main purpose is to keep the phone working for a short time during an outage and I figured with my cell phone I could live without the home phone. However after a couple of momentary power blips I discovered the restart time on the modem is extremely long, so I purchased a small UPS and keep the modem and the DVR on it to avoid the delays.

 

[reidw]

Thanks for your answers. I am definitely impressed with the recording times if not the other features. Your use of a UPS suggestions is also worth considering. Thanks for your help.

 

[Dr.Dave]

Bell doesn't develop their own TV platforms and acquires the Fibe TV and Satellite hardware and software from totally different and unrelated companies, so the feature set will be slightly different between the two.

Providers have moved away from long comprehensive instruction manuals to FAQs and short targeted help topics in the support section. For example:

https://bellaliant.bell.ca/support/article/stay-connected-during-a-power-outage-with-your-home-hub-3000/44534

You can find the available space by listing the recordings and Check PVR Space on the far right.

 

[57]

As for manual timers: What I want to do is record a short ten min. segment within a particular program every night of the week.

This also used to be part of Rogers (SARA) firmware 15 years ago and was called "Manual Recording" similar to what was available with VCRs which preceded PVRs. However, the newer Rogers (Navigatr) firmware on Digital Cable doesn't have this option either. I believe you can modify single recordings to a certain extent with Rogers' IgniteTV (IPTV) which they are phasing in, but I'm not sure it goes as far as you want either.

Newer firmware tends to be written for "smart" recording that records programmes whenever they occur on whatever channel, etc. On Rogers IgniteTV, the recordings sit in the cloud, not at your home. The newer firmware also seems to be written for the 99% of the people who don't have "special" needs like the one you mention. This makes the firmware run faster and less bloated for those 99%. There are some things you lose when you go to the newer IPTV platforms and some things you gain. It's always the case when switching providers or platforms and one must research very carefully if there are any "must haves" that the new provider does not have. You can never assume anything when switching.

As an FYI regarding Home Phone, Rogers Ignite service doesn't even have a battery option. This is because the infrastructure to deliver service to your home requires batteries at the nodes near your home if you want to continue operation in the event of an area power failure (Same for any IPTV service). This is because the infrastructure is usually FTTN (Fibre to the Node) and in some instances FTTH (Home) These node batteries are very expensive so they are not being replaced, or even put in the newer service areas. This is because most people have a cell phone as a backup and saves money for the end customer. If there is a power failure in your area, it's now likely that your phone (and Internet/TV) service will be down. This is different from the time when Bell was all copper, but there are very few areas left, even with Bell, that are all copper. I'm not sure if Aliant maintain their node batteries, but Rogers and Bell in Ontario often do not. (Node batteries also often get stolen.)

As for recording times, not all channels/programming are allotted the same amount of bandwidth, just like with BellTV (Satellite). Therefore one can only give a rough estimate of the recording time available. As an FYI, Rogers IgniteTV doesn't have a "memory limit in TB" because recordings are in the cloud. You can have up to 200 hours of SD, HD or 4K recordings, however, recordings are also deleted from the cloud after one year. (There are very few SD, 4K channels)

 

[ExDilbert]

Does FTTH have node batteries? In theory, each FTTH service could be a single fibre strand directly from the CO, spliced as needed, and would need no power in the field. FTTN needs power due to the need to multiplex optical fibre to copper electrical signals. (Even that could be powered directly from the CO during a power outage, removing the need for battery backup at the node.) Coaxial cable needs power in the field to amplify and, split or multiplex the electrical signals. That could, theoretically, be powered from a nearby head end with power backup capabilities.

This also used to be part of Rogers (SARA) firmware 15 years ago and was called "Manual Recording" similar to what was available with VCRs which preceded PVRs.

The original SD and, later, HD satellite PVRs from Bell were also manual timer only. Name based recording was introduced about 2008-2010 as a firmware update to the 9200 series PVRs. (I don't remember the exact date and could not find a reference. I believe it was about the time the 6000 receiver was replaced and was definitely years before the 9200 replacement.)

As to power backup for the HH3000, using an internal battery is more efficient and more reliable than using a UPS. Don't know about cost but a simple Li-Ion or NiMH battery should be significantly cheaper than a UPS as well. A small Li-Ion battery suitable for battery backup usually costs about $10. Bell may charge more.

 

[57]

The original SD and, later, HD satellite PVRs from Bell were also manual timer only. Name based recording was introduced about 2008-2010 as a firmware update to the 9200 series PVRs.

FYI, the SA8300HD (and before that the SA8000HD) had name based recording. These were available from various providers starting around 2002. Rogers rolled out the SA8300HD in late 2004. I only mentioned the manual recordings because that was (and still is) an option with the SA8300HD running SARA firmware. Here's a sample thread from that time:

Tips & Tricks for SA8300HD

Edit - 2007.08.24: This thread has not been updated in quite a while. Many of the tricks are no longer required since the latest firmware solved many of the issues. See the following threads for addditional information: SA8300HD Issues Latest Firmware - Resolved issues and new features Tips...

www.digitalhome.ca

It's amazing that these have been running since 2004 and are still used by some people. 16+ years is an eternity for electronic equipment like a PVR. I still have mine, it works, but I had to replace the iHDD twice. Purchase price in 2004 was $600, which is over $1000 in today's money.

 

[Mooch]

I'm new to Fibe so sorry if this question has come up before, my apologies.

I have BA's Home Hub 3000. I thought that i had everything covered until this past week when I got a letter (by snail mail yet) from BA telling me that they noticed that I had not ordered a backup battery for my Hub. (no mention of cost). No one from BA had previously ever mentioned anything about a battery. Is it actually necessary and how much does it cost? I've searched the Support pages for answers but can't even find a reference to a backup battery nor any instructions on how I would install one if I did make a purchase.

Frankly I'm finding decent information about the Hub and the Fibe TV receivers at both the BA and Ma Bell websites to be wanting (I'm trying to be polite). Whatever happened to instruction manuals? Among my questions about the TV receivers:

• How many recordings can I make at the same time on the 4K wireless PVR VIP 5662W?
• What is the total number of 4K, HD and/or SD videos I can record on the hard drive?
• Is there any way to set up an ongoing daily manual timer recording rather than having to program a separate entry for every day? My old Bell TV Sat. PVRs, a 9200 and a 9242 both let me do this.

Again to be honest, I'm stunned at the number of features I had on my satellite PVR's that are not on Fibe's supposedly latest and greatest equipment such as for example a full detailed local forecast on the Weather Network channel. Fibe's version of a local forecast showing only the next three days is pathetic. I feel like I've taken a step backwards when I expected to be going forward.

Thanks in advance for your answers.

 

[Mike Lang]

@Mooch

You quoted a post but your reply is missing. Please edit.

 

[can3gxw]

My HH3000 battery just bought the farm and is showing varying levels from 80% up to 99% and it reports that the battery needs replacing. The red light is also lit up on my HH3000.

I just called Aliant tech support and they advised that the replacement cost, since mine was out of warranty (about 3 months past) the charge would be $30. Well worth it for uninterrupted service. I have a UPS as well, but should there be a glitch in the power I would rather have the HH3000's battery keep on humming in case my UPS glitches.

 

[ExDilbert]

Stay connected during a power outage to your fibre-to-the-home phone service.
These look like sealed lead acid batteries. Chances are they would cost close to $30 to purchase somewhere else. A good quality lead acid battery should last from 3 to 5 years. A NiMH or Li-ION battery would probably last longer and be more reliable but they would cost the HH3000 manufacturer more money.

 

[Dr.Dave]

ExDilbert that link is for the old-fashioned UPS used for the separate ONT. Here is the link for the HH3000, which uses a battery more like a laptop battery, judging from the picture. My HH3000 didn't come with a battery, probably because I don't have a landline, so I haven't seen one in person.

Stay connected during a power outage with your Home Hub 3000

 

[ExDilbert]

That looks more like a lithium ion battery. It sounds like the one mentioned above lasted only 15 months. It must have been poorly made to only last that long. As a backup only battery it should last at least 5 years.

 

[RedGreen]

Not a hope in hell a lead acid backup battery will last five years. In both my APC backup units for my computers and the ONT I have, they will get just over the year the warranty states. They are designed to fail at them times my normal skeptical nature tells me. If I am lucky I will get eighteen months out of one of them. I have five plus the ONT so it is just not a one off observation but a long term reproducable trend.

 

[ExDilbert]

I've seen them typically last at least 3 years and up to 6 years. That's for the original UPS batteries and cheaper replacements from a reputable battery supplier in Ontario with their own brand.

 

[RedGreen]

Well I buy them from reputable supplier in Ontario with their own brand just did it for three damn more of them last year. And that is the results I get with multiple, machines over many years. I was thinking when I did it damn this is awful soon is it not and found the receipt for the previous purchase just months past the expiry date. So I will stand by my observations in my real world use with multiple devices over a decade at least in my APC 1500 not sure on the 1000s. Let alone the now sick of replacing the batteries all the time rountine on the 500s and 350s that sit around unused, it is nice you do so much better.

 

[ExDilbert]

I had an APC 1300 that kept going through batteries. It turned out the UPS was defective. I don't trust dual battery UPS units anymore. It just doubles thhe likelyhood of a battery failure. The APC 300 to 550VA units are cheaply made compared to most of the 700VA and up models. Deep cycling during long power outages will kill UPS batteries quicky, especially if it happens more than once or they are over 3 years old. It's best to shut them off if possible before they discharge too much.

 

[RedGreen]

And the excuse for the 1000s?