Fibe, Questions..

Well my switch to Bell fibe did not happen. The tech arrived this morning and told me I was too far from the "node" and would experience problems on a consistent basis. His exact words were "i will be calling Bell all the time".

Not sure what the "node" is but I guess I will have to stay with Videotron longer and hopefully sometime in the future Bell will be available.

@rainey, the node is where your copper telephone line connects to the fibre optic cable. The speed of VDSL2 degrades over long distances of copper lines.

@same2you, in Ontario the minimum internet package is Fibe 6. If you order "Fibe 16+" with Fibe TV, you pay for Fibe 16, but you can download up to 25 Mbps (depending on IPTV traffic). In the early days of Fibe TV, people were able to order Fibe 6 and download up to 25 Mbps; however those accounts are being changed to limit the download to 6 Mbps.

@Dr.Dave,
I just checked out the Fibe TV website and it seems they now have an "Essentials Plus" internet package with Fibe TV.
Here is the info. -
Download speeds of up to 2 Mbps
Upload speeds of up to 800 Kbps
Wireless Home Networking
Basic Security services
Monthly Internet usage: 2 GB

However, the pricing is strange - it seems to cost more than any other of the other internet packages. Pricing screw-up ?

I skipped "Essentials Plus" since it cost more (compared to the promotional pricing on the Fibe plans).

Essential Plus $28.95
Fibe 6 $19.48
Fibe 12 $20.98
Fibe 16+ $21.98

Here is the info from the "Offer Details":

• Essential Plus: Monthly rate is $38.95 (subject to change), less $5 credit for months 1 to 12, less $5 Bundle discount. Usage 2 GB/mo.; $2.50/additional GB.
• Fibe 6: Monthly rate is $48.95 (subject to change), less $24.47 credit for months 1 to 12, less $5 Bundle discount. Usage 25 GB/mo.; $2.00/additional GB.
• Fibe 12: Monthly rate is $51.95 (subject to change), less $25.97 credit for months 1 to 12, less $5 Bundle discount. Usage 40 GB/mo.; $1.50/additional GB.
• Fibe 16+: Monthly rate is $53.95 (subject to change), less $26.97 credit for months 1 to 12, less $5 Bundle discount. Usage 65 GB/mo.; $1.00/additional GB.

Click to expand...

Both receivers are connected directly to the modem. They use CAT5 (or coax). In my case, they reused the coax from my existing cable connection to connect the PVR to the modem, and CAT5 for the second receiver.

You can continue to use your existing wireless router connected to the modem and disable the built-in WiFi.

I don't see any difference in the functionality of the PVR and the second receiver, in terms of functionality or lag time.

FlameMoth said:

Both receivers are connected directly to the modem. They use CAT5 (or coax). In my case, they reused the coax from my existing cable connection to connect the PVR to the modem, and CAT5 for the second receiver.

I don't see any difference in the functionality of the PVR and the second receiver, in terms of functionality or lag time.

Click to expand...

Thanks. How many connectors are on the back of the 7130. Are there separate CAT5 connectors for TV and internet? ie: for 2 boxes I would need 2 RJ45 ports, thus how many would be left for wired internet?

In terms of the PVR location I wondered if the remote needed to control that box or does the 2nd box control the PVR itself?

Sorry for all the questions but I can't find a picture of the back of the 7130.

bh626pro said:

Thanks. How many connectors are on the back of the 7130. Are there separate CAT5 connectors for TV and internet? ie: for 2 boxes I would need 2 RJ45 ports, thus how many would be left for wired internet?

In terms of the PVR location I wondered if the remote needed to control that box or does the 2nd box control the PVR itself?

Sorry for all the questions but I can't find a picture of the back of the 7130.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure what the "7130" is, but the modem I received (and others who recently got Fibe) is a Sagemocom [email protected] 2864.

It's got 4 ethernet ports, 1 coax and 1 RJ11 phone jack.

I'm not sure about your remote question...both boxes in terms of functionality are the same. The each come with their own remote (which are identical). The 2nd box retrieves recorded TV shows from the PVR box seamlessly, as if they are recorded on itself.

2 quick questions

2 quick questions for bell fibe tv subscribers.

1) how big is the hard drive on the main unit. How many gbs is it? I know it stores 200 hours of content.

2) what's the highest resolution of the hd programming is it 1080i or 720p?


Thanks in advance,
AK

1, 320gb, it is MPEG4 so that is quite a bit of storage.

I cannot answer #2

1. As nitra said, the drive is 320 GB. Fibe TV uses MPEG-4 compression which is more modern and efficient than MPEG-2 that Rogers uses. The rule of thumb is that MPEG-4 uses half the space of MPEG-2.

2. Bell currently uses 720p for HD. The STB can be set to display either 1080i or 720p.

Dr.Dave said:

1. As nitra said, the drive is 320 GB. Fibe TV uses MPEG-4 compression which is more modern and efficient than MPEG-2 that Rogers uses. The rule of thumb is that MPEG-4 uses half the space of MPEG-2.

2. Bell currently uses 720p for HD. The STB can be set to display either 1080i or 720p.

Click to expand...

Thanks. I was wondering how it's 320gb but fits as much 100 hours in hd. When my Rogers is 500gb and only fits close to 60 hours. It all makes sense now.

Still trying to decide whether to switch from Rogers. My two main problems are:

1) can only record 4 shows at once (3 hd and 1 sd)

2) Internet speeds can go as low as 6mpbs when recording 4 shows at once.

2 question: FTTH and internet

Hey guys,

at a recent condo meeting the administration told us that Bell would be adding a box in the communications room (same place Videotron has their box) which will bring Fibe TV to us. Does having this box in the building make it FTTH or is it still FTTN as the signal still needs to get from the room in the garage to everyone in the condo. Also, we are 15 units in the complex - is that too high a number to split the signal and keep quality?

Second question is for those that have Fibe Internet, simply put are you happy with the speed and service?

I'm with Videotron for everything and am quite happy, but am looking for more English HD channels.

Appreciate any feedback.

Brown, I was with Videotron on 60/3 for the longest time, dropped to Fibe 16+ with the 7 meg speed upgrade. Overall it's solid, not as fast as Videotron 60 meg, but, for the price, I can wait a little longer on my downloads. The IP address changes about every 2 days, whereas with Videotron it changed once a year.

If you are using all the streams at once it can drop as low as 6 megs, but generally it's not a big deal, the internet works well, I've not seen any throttling at all either.

In terms of general internet, Bell is peered much better to the US and the EU, Videotron is peered much better within Canada, for me, the Bell peering is better for gaming. I also found with Videotron, when downloading from Europe there seemed to be limits on the thread speed, to about 500k/sec, on Bell I've not seen this.

The box coming to the condo will likely be FTTN, and copper will still go from there to your unit.

2 questions

First, tv volume is low through HDMI when i select Dolby Digital surround and how do i know the bell reciever is full volume since the tech configured the volume buttons to operate the TV.

Next, what is the resolution fibe Transmits, 720P or 1080I?

Next, this makes 3 questions. I'm not subscribed to channels so why do i have to go through them using the up and down channel buttons on the remote? How can i scroll through purchased channels only?

Thanks!

1. You would have to change the remote to have the volume control the STB, make sure the volume is turned all the way up, then change it back to control the TV.

2. Fibe TV usually uses 720P, but the STB can be set to display 720P or 1080i. If you have a 1080 TV you can try both to see which gives you a better picture.

3. You can customize your channel list to remove channels you don't watch. BTW the Channel Up/Down buttons also work as Page Up/Down in list of programs.

Thanks Dave, the STB vol goes max to 25 I found. Is that OK? 1080i looks better on my tv and i figured yesterday nite about the guide add/remove channels. I find some HD channels looking like SD compared to Videotron but the colors are alot better. The tech yesterday changed a jack for my phone and with the built in splice connector on the new jack went to an existing 25 year old phone jack that connects my Modem/STB. I asked him to change the old jack for the new one but he said he didn't have to. Should i do it myself? I'm not having problems but the image quality ( brightness mostly) does vary from time to time during yesterday and this afternoon and I do loose audio for a couple of seconds after changing channel but then it stays on for the duration. My desktop Wifi to the modem works fine.

Thinking Of Switching From Bell TV

I have been a Bell TV subscrib er since 2000, I have 3 receivers, 2 that I use and one I had deactivated when I moved out 5 years ago to a new apartment and my roommate moved out west. So now my building landlord is saying all tenants with a satellite dish must remove it unless we get a report from Bell that says that the installation of the dishes do not affect the building's structure. Mine is on my balcony railing, there are about 25 in the two buildings. So I am wondering if FIBE TV is a good choice? Also what can I do with my receivers seen as i own them? Not sure if anyone will buy them.
Thanks

Rich, if you are getting fiber-to-the-home in Oakville, there will be no change in internet throughput, even with two tv's recording simultaneously. So Netflix should be very smooth. For fiber-to-the-node, distance to the node and 'local line management' becomes more important, so you might want to check with existing fibe subscribers in your neighbourhood.