Rogers Ignite TV (IPTV) Discussions.

This thread is for Rogers new IPTV (Ignite TV) discussions:

https://www.rogers.com/consumer/about-rogers-iptv

I have been contacted recently regarding Ignite TV (IPTV). I would like to share the following information, which may provide a good summary for those who need to know some of the technical information. The Ignite CSR was very knowledgeable addressing my questions well.

1. Since I currently own 4 Rogers boxes, I wanted to run at least a couple of these in parallel with Ignite. This is not possible. You need to switch completely.

2. I have existing Internet and Home Phone (yes, I still have a home phone) but even those change somewhat and become part of the Ignite bundle.

3. Ignite does not run Navigatr firmware. It runs something different and has numerous “nice to have features” like searches that can include Netflix or YouTube. If you wish to see what the interface looks like, search the web for “YouTube Xfinity” which is the Comcast system. Or go to YouTube and search “Comcast Xfinity.” or use other similar search terms. Rogers is not identical, but similar. If you search the Rogers Website for “Ignite TV”, there are several additional links available.

4. There is one “Modem” that can be placed anywhere in the home (what we usually call the demarcation point). The various boxes that you would use for various TVs in your home are wireless (can also be wired to the modem, but the modem only has 2 Ethernet ports). The “modem” takes care of everything – TV, Home Phone, Internet, however it doesn’t have internal battery backup, so I would suggest a UPS for anyone considering Ignite. If there are issues with the wireless operation, Rogers will supply hardware to make things work (like a switch). A UPS may or may not keep the system up because the battery backup in the Rogers node near your home may be missing or useless. In this case, everything (including home phone) will be down. Most people have a cell phone, but be aware.

5. From the FAQs it looks like you can record up to 8 simultaneous recordings.

6. There is no Hard Drive to save your recordings. Your recordings are allocated to a space “in the cloud” (Rogers Servers?). You can record up to 200 hours before programming would automatically be deleted (oldest first). There also appears to be a one-year time limit, so no archiving beyond that. In the future there may be an option for more storage at additional cost, but this should be more than adequate for most families. It appears that you can download recordings to an app, so there is a bit of archiving possible that way.

7. All the TV set top boxes are 4K and the 4K channels are included at this time.

8. The remote has a voice command option (you press a button and talk into the remote). This allows you to search for programming, set recordings, etc. It also allows “voice guidance” (for visually impaired - see the YouTube Videos, etc.)

9. The FF and REW speeds should be similar to what we have with Navigatr on a NB3/9865, however, I would have to check myself to see how “responsive” the commands are when compared to the 9865, which is “instant” when it comes to pressing Play/Pause, etc. I know I could not put up with the slow response that I see when using VOD for example. I do not watch any live TV, only recordings, so the button presses must be acted on instantly. There is apparently a programmable “skip” feature, which allows you to skip forward various times (in say minutes). I don’t know the limitations of this skip feature, but perhaps we can get feedback once people have Ignite in their homes and use these functions.

10. The TV boxes only have HDMI out. If you wish to connect to an older devices without HDMI, you’ll need to purchase a converter.

There are way too many features for me to go into in this one post, the YouTube videos and searches of Rogers Website will provide lots of additional information for those interested.



Here's a summary of things that IgniteTV doesn't do.

• TV Call Display
• “on” Channel (goes to last channel instead)
• No DD5.1 on cloud recordings (is available live and OD)
• Time off? (extend recordings) Done Automatically
• Latency/ping issues as discussed in the Rogers Forum
• Emergency Alert doesn’t cancel
• Recordings deleted after one year (without warning).
• No Guest Mode on Modem/Router

Although I’m not going to discuss exact pricing, it will vary with your package. For example, I currently have the grandfathered Ultimate VIP with Movies. In order to get something similar with Ignite TV, I’d be on the “Premiere” TV package, plus have to pay a bit more for some channels that are not in Premiere. I was provided with the option to have 500 mbps/unlimited Ignite Internet, along with a Home Phone package similar to what I currently have. Unfortunately, the price of all this was a lot more than I’m currently paying. I therefore declined to switch at this time. At this price point, I don’t believe that Rogers will get many “average customers” to switch. There are no appreciable "discounts" for Ignite. This price point appears to be for early adopters or people in the top 5%. It’s not a matter of “too little, too late” because the technology appears to be great, but I would say it’s “too expensive, too late.” This will be a tough sell for Rogers with many people looking at cord cutting or cord minimizing - not at increasing their bills.