Question about recording of programs midstream. I came from Cogeco where if you had been watching a program and decided you need to record it, when you hit "record" it would record starting at the beginning if you had had it on from the beginning. On Bell Fibe, it only seems to record from when you hit record. I thought that the "restart" feature would record it from the beginning but it doesn't. Just an aside, Cogeco was also better for rewinding a program. There was no "if you go back further you cannot fast forward". I want to go back 10 minutes to refresh my memory about something but you can't. What's the point of rewind with Bell Fibe TV?
Fibe, Questions..
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.
Thanks in advanced folks.
1101 - 1120 of 1147 Posts
There are a couple of things going on. One is the capabilities of the hardware. Retroactive recording has to be designed into the software and hardware. Some companies who operate in a very competitive market tended to develop receivers with more advanced features. Others just use whatever is available from a third party and put little money or effort into providing advanced features. That assumes they even have the resources and capability to design and make advanced equipment.
The other issue is restrictions placed on TV services by broadcasters and copyright holders. In an attempt to protect copyrights and increase revenue, they tend to make if difficult to do things like skip, rewind, fast forward and record programming. It's going to get worse instead of better as newer technology makes it possible to place more and more restrictions on how content can be viewed. Despite the the appearance of more viewing options, companies with a captive audience, such as Canadian broadcasters, will take advantage of new technology to restrict viewing. Larger international companies that are vying for a large worldwide market share will provide better options with fewer restrictions, at least until they capture the market.
The other issue is restrictions placed on TV services by broadcasters and copyright holders. In an attempt to protect copyrights and increase revenue, they tend to make if difficult to do things like skip, rewind, fast forward and record programming. It's going to get worse instead of better as newer technology makes it possible to place more and more restrictions on how content can be viewed. Despite the the appearance of more viewing options, companies with a captive audience, such as Canadian broadcasters, will take advantage of new technology to restrict viewing. Larger international companies that are vying for a large worldwide market share will provide better options with fewer restrictions, at least until they capture the market.
I have a VIP 2262 PVR running Bell FIbe TV with Bell MTS. I use that feature all the time and it works correctly. When you switch to a new channel the data stream is buffered to the hard drive for a maximum of 90 minutes for HD content. You can rewind and fast forward through the programs that have been buffered on the hard drive. If you press the record button, the current program will be recorded, including all the previous data on the hard drive.Question about recording of programs midstream. I came from Cogeco where if you had been watching a program and decided you need to record it, when you hit "record" it would record starting at the beginning if you had had it on from the beginning.
If you rewind past your hard drive buffer and trigger RESTART, you are no longer watching the program from your hard drive. You are now watching the program that is being simultaneously recorded by Bell (with the permission of the copyright holder) and streamed from Bell's server to your STB. Since you are no longer watching the live channel, the hard drive buffer is released and you start fresh when you exit to live TV.
If you don't want to trigger RESTART, it's important that you stop pressing the rewind or replay button when the restart message comes up. Sometimes I tune to a news program and catch the middle of a story. If I want to watch the story from the beginning, I often press record first to start recording at that point, then I rewind and trigger RESTART to watch the story from the beginning. When I press exit to return to live TV, I can then rewind to the point I started recording and fast forward through any commercials.
I have some questions about intermittent troubles I have watching shows I've recorded via my VIP2262 Bell Fibe receiver. I hope I'm posting this to the correct place.
From time to time a program I've recorded shows up in my listed of recorded programs, but when I attempt to play it I just get a black screen. If I press fast forward, the recording doesn't advance as usual. Usually it's not a program that is that important to me, so I just delete it and move on.
This week it happened twice. Once on a recording I'd recorded probably back in November and another that I was actually in the middle of recording. I'm sure I've been able to watch a show from the beginning while the show continues to record, so I don't think that broke anything.
I called Bell to ask what might be going on and was told some things that surprised me and I'm wondering he knew what he was talking about.
1) He said my internet may have been poor and that may have cause the recording to fail. I discovered that I was actually recording 2 shows at exactly the same time on different channels. One recorded successfully and I was able to watch it. One failed as described. I said if it was a poor internet connection, does it make sense that for 2 programs being recorded at exactly the same time that one would be successful and the other fail. He gave me a "non-answer" that made me think he didn't understand my point, so I dropped it. Questions: does it make sense that my recording failed due to a poor internet connection? And if so, how could it be that one recording worked and the other failed? And does anyone else experience this and know how to prevent it?
2) He said my box must be faulty and to exchange it. I asked if I would lose my recordings. He said "YES". I thought the recordings are in the cloud. After the call, I did a test where I unplugged my PVR and used my Fibe Android app to see if I could watch a show. I was able to watch newer shows, but I recall there is a restriction that one can't watch shows older than 60(?) days except from the PVR and I was not able to watch older shows. It would seem that my physical PVR isn't necessary for at least recent shows, so I'm wondering what would happen to my recordings if I had a new PVR. Questions: where are the recorded shows located (locally and/or in the cloud)? And if I do switch my physical box, do I lose any? all? of my recordings?
Interestingly, in my test of trying to watch shows while my PVR was unplugged, I tried to watch the "failed" recording. I was surprised that the recording was just fine when watching from my Fibe app. So I now have a workaround if this happens in the future, but I'm as confused as ever as to what is recorded where and why I've experienced what I have. Maybe the recording is in 2 places? On a local hard drive that failed and in the cloud and that one was fine?
I can't make sense of the various troubleshooting things I've tried, in combination with what the tech rep has told me.
If anyone has any insight into how Fibe recordings work (where they are stored), why some fail, and why I'm seeing what I'm seeing and in particular if I change my physical box if I'd lose all my recordings, I'd be most grateful.
From time to time a program I've recorded shows up in my listed of recorded programs, but when I attempt to play it I just get a black screen. If I press fast forward, the recording doesn't advance as usual. Usually it's not a program that is that important to me, so I just delete it and move on.
This week it happened twice. Once on a recording I'd recorded probably back in November and another that I was actually in the middle of recording. I'm sure I've been able to watch a show from the beginning while the show continues to record, so I don't think that broke anything.
I called Bell to ask what might be going on and was told some things that surprised me and I'm wondering he knew what he was talking about.
1) He said my internet may have been poor and that may have cause the recording to fail. I discovered that I was actually recording 2 shows at exactly the same time on different channels. One recorded successfully and I was able to watch it. One failed as described. I said if it was a poor internet connection, does it make sense that for 2 programs being recorded at exactly the same time that one would be successful and the other fail. He gave me a "non-answer" that made me think he didn't understand my point, so I dropped it. Questions: does it make sense that my recording failed due to a poor internet connection? And if so, how could it be that one recording worked and the other failed? And does anyone else experience this and know how to prevent it?
2) He said my box must be faulty and to exchange it. I asked if I would lose my recordings. He said "YES". I thought the recordings are in the cloud. After the call, I did a test where I unplugged my PVR and used my Fibe Android app to see if I could watch a show. I was able to watch newer shows, but I recall there is a restriction that one can't watch shows older than 60(?) days except from the PVR and I was not able to watch older shows. It would seem that my physical PVR isn't necessary for at least recent shows, so I'm wondering what would happen to my recordings if I had a new PVR. Questions: where are the recorded shows located (locally and/or in the cloud)? And if I do switch my physical box, do I lose any? all? of my recordings?
Interestingly, in my test of trying to watch shows while my PVR was unplugged, I tried to watch the "failed" recording. I was surprised that the recording was just fine when watching from my Fibe app. So I now have a workaround if this happens in the future, but I'm as confused as ever as to what is recorded where and why I've experienced what I have. Maybe the recording is in 2 places? On a local hard drive that failed and in the cloud and that one was fine?
I can't make sense of the various troubleshooting things I've tried, in combination with what the tech rep has told me.
If anyone has any insight into how Fibe recordings work (where they are stored), why some fail, and why I'm seeing what I'm seeing and in particular if I change my physical box if I'd lose all my recordings, I'd be most grateful.
As you guessed, the recordings are in two places. If you watch on an STB, you are watching the recording you made on your PVR. The Canadian Copyright Act gives individuals permission to make a recording for their own personal use and there's no limit on how long you can keep those recordings, as long as your PVR doesn't fail.Questions: where are the recorded shows located (locally and/or in the cloud)? And if I do switch my physical box, do I lose any? all? of my recordings?
That doesn't apply to companies like Bell. Bell has to negotiate with the content owners for permission to record the programs on their servers. If you watch through the app, you are streaming the recording from Bell's servers, which they keep for 60 days. The restart feature also uses Bell's recording.
If you replace your PVR, you would lose all your recordings. Bell keeps a list of the recordings on your PVR and uses that to give you permission to stream their copy of the program. When you replace the PVR, the lists would be synchronized and you wouldn't be able to watch your old programs. Your new PVR would tell Bell you have no recordings.
There are several possible reasons for your blank recordings.
1. Failing hard drive.
2. Poor internet connection. (not likely the problem if you're able to record another program at the same time.)
3. You are no longer subscribed to the channel. I've seen his happen occasionally because the PVR checks with Bell's servers to see if you have permission to play that recording.
Watching the program while it's recording won't cause it to be blank. I do it all the time.
One additional point. If you plan to replace your PVR, you may be able to watch some previous programs through the On-Demand feature. Those recordings are provided by the channel owner and the length of time they are available depends on the series. Some series are available for the full season and some for only 3 or 4 episodes. You can verify how long an episode will be available by choosing the program from the On-Demand menu, going up to the Summary and then right to Details. So you can plan to watch the programs that will only be available on you PVR and watch the remainder On-Demand after you've replaced your PVR.
Thank you so much for your thorough and complete answers. That clears everything up. From what you have said, I suspect I may have a hard drive that has some bad spots on it.There are several possible reasons for your blank recordings.
1. Failing hard drive.
2. Poor internet connection. (not likely the problem if you're able to record another program at the same time.)
3. You are no longer subscribed to the channel. I've seen his happen occasionally because the PVR checks with Bell's servers to see if you have permission to play that recording.
I was thinking that if I only have one area that is bad and I keep the failed recording, then future recordings couldn't write to the bad spot and my problem wouldn't be manifested again. Although I acknowledge that there may be other bad spots on the hard drive, now or in the future.
Do you know if the hard disk has some sort of automatic defrag or moving of content on it? If so, my solution wouldn't work, but if not, it should prevent future programs from being written to the bad spot.
Any comments on my proposed "solution"?
And thanks for this tip. While I was very surprised to learn that I'd lose my recordings if my PVR was replaced, your thoughts will help mitigate losing anything that I care about.One additional point. If you plan to replace your PVR, you may be able to watch some previous programs through the On-Demand feature. Those recordings are provided by the channel owner and the length of time they are available depends on the series. Some series are available for the full season and some for only 3 or 4 episodes. You can verify how long an episode will be available by choosing the program from the On-Demand menu, going up to the Summary and then right to Details. So you can plan to watch the programs that will only be available on you PVR and watch the remainder On-Demand after you've replaced your PVR.
That should work. All Mediaroom PVR's prior to the 4K box use Windows CE as the base OS, but Mediaroom handles its own file allocation for recordings by using large blocks, which should eliminate any need for defragging. I don't have any info on the 4K PVR which uses Linux.Do you know if the hard disk has some sort of automatic defrag or moving of content on it? If so, my solution wouldn't work, but if not, it should prevent future programs from being written to the bad spot.
I just switched to an all Fibe bundle a few days ago from an Aliant Satellite/DSL Internet/phone service and during the switch over I tried to get all channels we had on satellite and was able to get all but one. The channel Fibe does not have is National Geographic Wild. Does anyone know why Aliant's/Bell's flagship service does not offer this channel yet their satellite service does?
Thanks
Thanks
It usually boils down to licensing terms. Some channels want certain price and carriage terms that Bell doesn't want to pay or do. For example, TCM was missing from Bell services because TCM wanted to be on the basic service to get maximum subscribers (and was on many services.) Bell wanted to bundle TCM with TMN (Crave) which would limit subscribers. After over a decade, TCM eventually relented.
Thanks for the response.It usually boils down to licensing terms. Some channels want certain price and carriage terms that Bell doesn't want to pay or do. For example, TCM was missing from Bell services because TCM wanted to be on the basic service to get maximum subscribers (and was on many services.) Bell wanted to bundle TCM with TMN (Crave) which would limit subscribers. After over a decade, TCM eventually relented.
Isn't it odd though that they offer it on their satellite service? I would think Bell/Aliant is Bell/Aliant no matter the delivery method, fiber or satellite.
Different TV service, different time, different terms.
Satellite tv regardless if its from Bell or someone else like Shaw, has a certain limitation of the number of channels they can carry at once compared to IPTV television systems but it also goes both ways one channel might be exclusive to Satellite and not yet available on IPTV and vice a versa. We don't always know the reasons why but we know this scenario exists for sure.
Thanks for the responses.
Another question relating to hardware. I just came across mention of a home hub 4000, which is apparently the most recent version offering WiFi 6 plus a single 10Gb/s output and that it might be offered to new customers. At no time during my conversation with the sales representative or the installation technician did they ever mention to me there were 2 modem options, the technician came with the 3000 and that was it. Should I not have been at least been given the choice or is it possible the 4000's aren't yet available in all regions? I'm in the Maritimes.
Another question relating to hardware. I just came across mention of a home hub 4000, which is apparently the most recent version offering WiFi 6 plus a single 10Gb/s output and that it might be offered to new customers. At no time during my conversation with the sales representative or the installation technician did they ever mention to me there were 2 modem options, the technician came with the 3000 and that was it. Should I not have been at least been given the choice or is it possible the 4000's aren't yet available in all regions? I'm in the Maritimes.
Last August Bell finished installing fiber in my neighborhood to the home (eastern ontario), and I requested to have it installed as I wanted the higher speed it offered. They replaced my 3000 modem with the 4000 modem at that time without my asking. Perhaps the 4000 is reserved for fiber optic installations?At no time during my conversation with the sales representative or the installation technician did they ever mention to me there were 2 modem options, the technician came with the 3000 and that was it.
Just had a chat with Bell, apparently the 4000 is not being offered in the Maritimes
Another question, is the 3000 or 4000 capable of IPv6?. Just noticed when doing a speed test on my Xbox One it showed IPv4 just like my old Aliant DSL connection.
I know not related to IPv4 vs IPv6 but very annoying to see the XB1 only showing a fraction of my available 1.5Gb/s speed, only seems to want to clock in between 200Mb/s and 300Mb/s and it's wired using Cat6. The phones in the house over WiFi are getting up to and a bit over 500Mb/s. My laptop which is wired is seeing practically it's limit at 1Gb/s as it only has a 1GB network card.
Another question, is the 3000 or 4000 capable of IPv6?. Just noticed when doing a speed test on my Xbox One it showed IPv4 just like my old Aliant DSL connection.
I know not related to IPv4 vs IPv6 but very annoying to see the XB1 only showing a fraction of my available 1.5Gb/s speed, only seems to want to clock in between 200Mb/s and 300Mb/s and it's wired using Cat6. The phones in the house over WiFi are getting up to and a bit over 500Mb/s. My laptop which is wired is seeing practically it's limit at 1Gb/s as it only has a 1GB network card.
Hi there. Can't speak to the specific XBox issue (although I have seen threads here and on DSL REports regarding speed issues). However my understanding is that you won't get more than 1.0Gb/s out of any single port but you can exceed that with multiple ports, in total (unlike 1.0Gb/s service). Your wi-fi throughput looks about right given probability of other factors affecting wi-fi.
Good luck with your search for answers on the XBox.
Good luck with your search for answers on the XBox.
Thanks
Having done some research regarding the slow download speeds on the Xbox, it's apparently a Microsoft "feature" Xbox One, One S, One X, Xbox Series X and S all have this issue, none are able to get any ware close to 1Gb/s download speeds. Seems the Playstations don't have this "feature" and can download at speeds relative to what customers are paying for with their ISP.
Having done some research regarding the slow download speeds on the Xbox, it's apparently a Microsoft "feature"
Xbox One, One S, One X, Xbox Series X and S all have this issue, none are able to get any ware close to 1Gb/s download speeds. Seems the Playstations don't have this "feature" and can download at speeds relative to what customers are paying for with their ISP.New question. Why are the IPGs and other displays used by the Fibe TV app (or Fibe tv on my computer) and the STB different? The recordings list on the APP shows a small thumbnail for each each recorded programme while the STB shows only a line of text for each programme. More importantly , the APP's IPG gives me information about the season number, episode number and indicates if a programme is "new". The STB completely omits all of that information which is useful when I'm setting up my PVR to record only new episodes of a series. Surely it wouldn't be that difficult for Bell/Bell Aliant to get the Guides to display the same information? The current situation just seems crazy to me.
Yeah, we have something similar with IgniteTV on Rogers. It varies a bit because of what can and can't be displayed easily on the various devices. I find when I click or select a programme, it shows all the information like episode, new, description, thumbnail, etc. Otherwise it's mostly a short text summary. In IgniteTV it even varies a bit between scheduled recordings and programmes already recorded.
Another question. For what can the USB port (it says 3.0 in the documentation) on the Fibe VIP 5662 PVR be used? I can find no way to access it. Thanks.
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