Fibe, Questions..

410639 Views 1146 Replies 247 Participants Last post by elyk, 7 mo ago

Boavista

Discussion Starter · Aug 2, 2010

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

Thanks in advanced folks.

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Larry

· #58 · Oct 12, 2010

Cable/Satellite are broadcast systems - meaning you get all the content available coming at you all the time. This makes VOD and other advanced services more challenging and more restrictive. IPTV on the other hand, delivers to you only the content you are watching or recording at the time. What is sent to you over your IP connection is completely configurable and dynamic.

Most of the capabilities of Cable/Satellite and IPTV are the same - ability to "tune" to a station and watch or record it. But the features possible with IPTV are far more extensive. For example, you could define a custom set of channels and see a tiled view of those channels. You could start watching a recording on your TV, pause, and continue watching on your cellphone or computer.

Because the video stream delivered to you is switched, there is really no limit to the number of channels, unlike with Cable which has a limited bandwidth (large, but still finite). This makes Cable companies choose which channels they will deliver. Rogers has started to compress some HD channels to fit more in. With IPTV, there would be no need to compress to enable more channels (but compression is important to limit the bandwidth required and permit more concurrent streams given a fixed bandwidth).

You can check out the possibilities by seeing what AT&T has done with their U-verse service. Of course who knows what Bell might do in the future, but the possibilities are there.

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Larry

· #641 · Dec 13, 2013

I believe it is limited to 4 simultaneous streams, of which 3 can be HD and 1 SD. I don't believe you can have more than 4 simultaneous SD streams even though there should be enough bandwidth for more. If you really need to have 6 simultaneous programs recording/live, perhaps the timeshift package would help.

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Larry

· #649 · Jan 1, 2014

A few answers..

The modem is connected like a telephone with two wires (red/green). You can get a spool of white 4-wire telephone cable to extend the reach (I did this with no problem).

To connect to the TV, there are three choices - existing or new coax, Ethernet or wireless. If you have coax near where the modem will be and near your TV, they will probably go that route. Easiest of all is wireless.

The Bell Modem does support wireless. I don't know what a SATA modem is but if it has an Ethernet connection you can connect directly to the modem.

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Larry

· #651 · Jan 2, 2014

Yes, the PVR must be wired, but that sounds like no problem for you. If you can run an Ethernet cable to your TV from the modem you are good to go.

The PVR/TV and the Bell Fibe modem do not need to be near each other - just reachable by either COAX or Ethernet.

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Larry

· #653 · Jan 26, 2014

A few possibilities.

1. Are there no telephone jacks on level 2 or 3? You use wireless phones upstairs?
2. Anyway to run a telephone wire to level 2?
3. Yes, you could have the PVR connected on Level 1, and have a STB on level 2 and 3. The PVR does not have to be connected to a TV to work. It will be a waste in that you'll need to rent an additional STB, but its not that much.

Actually now that I think of it, if you have COAX available on level 1 (or they could run a new cable there), you would simply connect the coax to the modem on level 1, and use your existing COAX to reach the TVs on level 2 and 3. No problem. Your PVR would be on level 2 or 3. No need to have the PVR near the modem.

The connections are actually Bell's problem. You order the service, they figure out how to get it working.

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Larry

· #657 · Jan 26, 2014

Dozy Dinah said:
Thanks for your reply. There is an unused phone jack on level 3 in the bedroom where the TV is. In my ignorance I thought that would mean we would have to have the modem moved to there?

The modem can be connected to any phone jack (even one that has a phone connected to it - simply use a splitter). Ideally the modem will be located near the existing COAX so that the STB's can be connected. It sounds like there won't be any problem in your home, so don't worry, and let the Bell tech figure it out. They are used to dealing with all sorts of situations.

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Larry

· #659 · Jan 29, 2014

I don't know how they will run the wire. They tend to do it the easy way, but I also think that they are amenable to other options if they don't pose any problems. BTW, they will likely just run CAT5 from the modem to your bedroom - no need for COAX. It doesn't really matter where the modem - often it is near existing COAX but since you want to reserve that for OTA, it doesn't matter. If your wireless can't reach other parts of the house, you can try either an extender, add another router (if you have the CAT5 wiring) or even try powerline ethernet (a bit pricey in my opinion).

Do you not have a phone jack in your bedroom? If you do , then why not put the modem there and just connect it up to your TV?

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Larry

· #664 · Feb 4, 2014

tvlurker said:
It turns out that he doesn't have ethernet terminating equipment, so he only does coax installs.

Ok, you got me. What is 'ethernet terminating equipment' ? You mean he didn't have a crimper and the ethernet jacks?

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