FIOS TV Signal Issues
Chat Subject: FiOS Television (No Picture / Picture Quality)
Your Question: I’ve had no TV since last week. New set-top box arrived. I installed it, and auto-activation failed. Details are: RF Check: MoCA TX RATE (151 Mbps) IS LOW.
A Verizon Service Representative will be with you shortly. Thank you. (19:07:04)
Agent Dig has joined. (19:10:14)
Dig : Chat ID for this session is 03071174364. (19:10:14)
Dig(19:10:29): Thank you for contacting the Verizon FIOS technical chat support. We thank you for your patience in reaching us. In order to pull up your records and assist you better, May I request you to confirm the telephone number , name and address on the account.
F J SCONZO(19:10:54): xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Dig(19:11:09): Thank you for the information .
Dig(19:12:09): I see that the box failed to activate , am I correct ?
F J SCONZO(19:12:19): Correct
F J SCONZO(19:12:39): It is currently displaying a picture, but the picture quality is very poor.
Dig(19:12:49): I apologize for the inconvenience caused .
Dig(19:14:19): Let me go ahead and see where the issue is .
F J SCONZO(19:15:55): The last support representative said “I assure you that the set-top box once receive will work as you expect. I am 100% confident about it, you can trust my word on it.” But it is not working.
F J SCONZO(19:16:00): Thanks for looking into the problem.
Dig(19:16:15): I apologize for that .
Dig(19:17:40): So now you have picture on the TV, however the quality is bad ?
F J SCONZO(19:17:50): Correct.
Dig(19:17:55): Okay .
F J SCONZO(19:18:10): The image is very pixellated, and different parts of the screen update at different times.
F J SCONZO(19:18:25): Also, the sound is delayed at times and not in sync with the picture.
Dig(19:18:35): Let me go ahead and run some advanced commands on the box that should fix the issue .
F J SCONZO(19:18:46): Please proceed.
Dig(19:21:41): May I know the serial number of the box that has an issue, it would start with < M > ?
F J SCONZO(19:23:41): It is M00000XXX000
Dig(19:24:36): Thank you .
Dig(19:27:06): I have already send out the commands .
F J SCONZO(19:28:11): The picture still looks bad.
Dig(19:28:31): Well the commands are still in process.
F J SCONZO(19:28:56): okay
F J SCONZO(19:29:41): Okay, the set-top box just shut off again.
F J SCONZO(19:29:56): And is now restarting…
F J SCONZO(19:30:26): The display on the box now shows “–:–” instead of the time or channel.
Dig(19:30:31): Correct .
Dig(19:30:41): Please wait for some time .
F J SCONZO(19:30:51): Okay, now it shows the time.
F J SCONZO(19:31:16): The Verizon menu appeared on the TV, saying “Press MENU to watch FIOS TV”
F J SCONZO(19:32:57): Should I press the MENU button on the remote, or continue to stand by?
Dig(19:33:46): Please wait .
F J SCONZO(19:33:56): Okay. I will wait.
Dig(19:34:06): Thank you .
Dig(19:35:36): Mr Sconzo, may I request you to now check and see .
Dig(19:35:46): I am sure the issue should be now fixed .
F J SCONZO(19:36:01): The set top box display is completely blank.
F J SCONZO(19:36:11): Should I power it on first?
Dig(19:36:26): Please turn it off and turn it back on .
F J SCONZO(19:37:16): It is back on, but the picture and sound problems persist.
Dig(19:37:31): Oh. Okay .
Dig(19:38:01): May I request you to unplug the coaxial cable from the box to the wall jack and replug it back .
F J SCONZO(19:38:16): SURE
Dig(19:38:56): Thank you .
Dig(19:39:16): Just to let you know, in case the chat gets disconnected due to any issue at either end, please re initiate the chat through the same channel or call our FIOS phone support at 1-800-837-4966, whichever is convenient to you.
F J SCONZO(19:40:26): I disconnected and reconnected the cable, again.
F J SCONZO(19:40:31): The picture is looking better now.
Dig(19:40:41): Great!
Dig(19:41:16): I am sure that you should never face the issue again .
F J SCONZO(19:41:31): Thank you.
Dig(19:41:36): I see that your email address is verizon@sconzo.com. Shall I go ahead and send you some quick troubleshooting tips for your future reference?
F J SCONZO(19:42:01): Sure thing.
Dig(19:42:31): Thank you .
Dig(19:42:46): Is there anything else I may assist you today?
F J SCONZO(19:43:21): No thank you. My family is happy to have their television programs are available again, after a weekend and several days without them.
Dig(19:43:31): Oh. Okay .
Dig(19:43:46): I am really sorry for the delay .
Dig(19:44:17): However you should never face this issue again as Verizon always wants a happy customer .
F J SCONZO(19:44:31): Great. thank you.
F J SCONZO(19:44:41): Have a good day.
Dig(19:45:01): Our goal is for you to be completely satisfied with the service you have received and that you recommend us to your friends and colleagues. I am glad I could help. Additional help on all 3 FIOS services is available on our website fioshelp.verizon.com. You can also make use of the Verizon In Home Agent for your Windows and Mac computers which is available for download onwww.verizon.net/connect .Please navigate to this website and click on the link Get In-Home Agent to download and install it. This software would help you in troubleshooting basic issues that you face with your FIOS services before you contact us. Thank you for choosing Verizon and have a nice day.
Dig(19:45:12): To Save/Print the chat session:
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[ At this point my ten year old son Peter began typing in my absence, and the conversation that follows is pretty amusing… ]
Dig(19:48:47): Is there anything else I may assist you today?
F J SCONZO(19:49:22): no
Dig(19:49:37): Thank you for choosing Verizon and have a nice day.
F J SCONZO(19:49:57): you too
Dig(19:50:22): It was pleasure assisting you .
F J SCONZO(19:50:37): thank you
Dig(19:50:57): Take care Mr Sconzo .
F J SCONZO(19:51:57): you too. you helped us a lot. now we can watch American idol
Dig(19:52:02): Great!
F J SCONZO(19:52:12): bye
Dig(19:52:22): You and your family have a great day .
F J SCONZO(19:55:12): i hope you have a nice day too
Dig(19:56:07): Thank you for your complement .
Dig(19:56:37): You made my day .
Dig(19:56:53): You are the most patience and polite person I ever worked with !
December 7th, 2013 at 8:33 am
I had same problem, replaced the box, problem cleared and would come back with no signal. Changed coax to box and cleared, came back again a couple days later. Now everytime it happens, I just unscrew the coax and then reseat and it clears for days. Not sure what is going on but thing the box they are using has an AGC problem on the input.
July 13th, 2015 at 2:49 pm
I know this is a fairly old blog, but the problem would have to be one, two, three, four, OR *all* of the following:
1) Coax cable from set top box to outlet is bad..
2) Bad and/or old wiring in the house, i.e. more bad coax cables, possibly bad or incompatible cable splitter(s), etc. I suggest that you make the cables yourself, if you are tech savvy. That way, you can test your cables to make sure the cables are made correctly. To make sure so you can isolate the actual problem, make sure you test the cable(s). If you are not “tech savvy”, then buy ready-made cables. Any store similar to Radioshack has those, and of course… there’s the web.
* 3) Bad Wiring from the ONT (Optical Network Terminal, which is where the fiber is converted to coax and/or Ethernet, depending on the set up and the initial installation. Typically, coax is the only thing used when Verizon FiOS installs your service, unless you decide to wire it yourself with a CAT 5e or CAT 6 Ethernet cable. CAT 5 itself would *technically* work but it limits speeds, thus a low transmission rate of only 100 Mbps. It can actually reach higher speeds, but if you force it past 100 Mbps, then WAY too much cross-talk occurs. For details and/or explanations, refer to the bottom of this post.
** 4) Bad crimping jobs: *Always* test your cables. You can find those at Lowes and Home Depot. If you’d rather go cheaper, then I suggest Amazon.
5) Possibly a Corrupt ONT. Call Verizon, have them at least run a few tests on the Optical Network Terminal.. if they find that something is corrupt, they’ll come out and reinstall it for free.
* (See #3) — The greater the bandwidth, the greater the data capacity in a given period of time. CAT 5e cable is rated at 350 megahertz, and it is this increased bandwidth (compared to CAT 5 cable) that allows it to support Gigabit Ethernet. Same goes for CAT 6, except the speed capabilities are much higher.
** (See #4) http://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-VDV-Coaxial-Explorer-Plus-Tester-VDV512-058/202520424 — Klein is one of the best, by the way.
Remember.. the older the coax, the older the splitters, the more chance you’re gonna have to keep disconnecting/reconnecting your cables in order to simply get a picture. Something is wrong with the wiring *somewhere*.. this case being Coax, like many others.
I hope this helps anyone that has some problems with “Low TxRate” while updating set top boxes, etc with Verizon FiOS.
I’d suggest you to start with simply testing the cables themselves. A lot of this applies to just about every ISP and TV provider.