Verizon FIOS direct connect HD local channels

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This used to work. Did Verizon intentionally screwed it up? Now I only get the audio for the local on-air HD channels. I have tried it on multiple TVs and have done the re-scan operation. I don't think they can legally do this but then again unless I am willing to take it up to FCC, there is not much I can do.

I have some hope that this is just a simple screw up at our zipcode.

So how many of you have your digital cable ready TV directly connected to FIOS RG6 cable input? And do you get your on-air local TV channels in HD? The TV complains something about bad H.264
 
Why pay for TV channels??????
Blows my mind :eek:) ...

Put up an antenna, attic is best but wherever.
Lowes home Improvement, $100 outdoor antenna, can of course go in the attic.

Then google TV Antenna Aiming, punch in your address, it will tell you which way to point it.
Can not possibly be any more simple.

As far as picture quality??
IT WILL BLOW YOU AWAY!

Ahhh ... yes, the power of marketing to the "young" in this country, pay TV services will have people believe that their "4k or HD" signal is best, when, in reality its cr@p.
SO they get people to actually PAY FOR TV that is free! *L* this completely amazes me .. *L*

Using a TV antenna you will notice a superior picture on ALL major network TV stations over paying your pay TV company. Your getting the nice "clean" TV station signal from your antenna not the compressed CR@P that the pay TV company sells you.

If you want to take it a step further, then cancel your "pay" TV and go out and fill up your home with Roku players for the premium stuff, for much less you can subscribe to Hulu+, Netflix or Amazon of HBO or whatever the heck you want. :eek:)

Just having fun here/trying to help/get my point across/reassure you/ please don't take my comments in a disparaging way.
 
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I cut the cord about four years ago. My understanding is that having the antenna in the attic versus outside cuts the signal strength by about 50%. I am able to get about 40 channels with the same antenna I installed in the attic in 1996. And, yes, the picture quality is great. Keep in mind that not all local channels broadcast in HD. While they are all digital they are not all HD. Because cable and satellite providers "re-broadcast" the local channels there is a delay of several seconds between off the air programs and cable/satellite programs. I was on the phone with my GF the other day and she told me to tune into Channel 8 news. I could hear her TV in the background like an "echo" of mine. I was seeing stuff about 5-10 seconds before she was. (She has cable.).
 
I recently purchased a Televes DiNova Boss Mix UHF/VHF HDTV Antenna w/LTE Filter -and mounted on the roof and used an old coaxial/DISH mounting post from the satellite company the previous owner of the house used. I get 60 channels. And then purchased a TABLO DVR and the guide from this device is very "cable like". I took all my boxes back to ComCast and will save $65.00 a month. It's really not about the money-we can now pay to watch what we want-and $6.00 a month for streaming and NOT PAY for a bunch of channels we don't watch.


As stated above-the digital picture you get from an antenna is amazing. Very few people are aware that cable companies compress the signals which lessens the picture definition.
 
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Just so everyone knows, there is no such thing as an "HDTV antenna." Current digital broadcasts are on frequencies previously used by analog TV. If you had a decent antenna before the digital switch it should work now as well. In my area most of the channels are on the UHF portion of the spectrum rather than VHF, but the same antenna I used in 1996 works today. My location and the fact that it is in the attic instead of on the roof limit the number of channels I can receive. I get all the local network affiliates, though. Just like on cable, there are a bunch of garbage local OTA channels as well. Some of the newer antennas are smaller (tailored to the frequencies used in your local area) so if you're going to roof mount the thing it definitely pays to go that route. But, if you shop antennas online you'll find that some of the ones touted as "HD" look exactly like the ones they made twenty years ago. That's because they ARE exactly the same.
 
Originally Posted by DBMaster
Just so everyone knows, there is no such thing as an "HDTV antenna." Current digital broadcasts are on frequencies previously used by analog TV. If you had a decent antenna before the digital switch it should work now as well. In my area most of the channels are on the UHF portion of the spectrum rather than VHF, but the same antenna I used in 1996 works today. My location and the fact that it is in the attic instead of on the roof limit the number of channels I can receive. I get all the local network affiliates, though. Just like on cable, there are a bunch of garbage local OTA channels as well. Some of the newer antennas are smaller (tailored to the frequencies used in your local area) so if you're going to roof mount the thing it definitely pays to go that route. But, if you shop antennas online you'll find that some of the ones touted as "HD" look exactly like the ones they made twenty years ago. That's because they ARE exactly the same.


Yes- I'm well aware of that. In my post above-that's what the antenna is called-so that's what I mentioned. The big selling point for me on the antenna I purchased was it's sleek design/signal amplifier-coupled with the LTE filter.

I'm running the antenna to three TV's and the Tablo-so four connections and things are working perfectly.
 
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Originally Posted by CKN
Originally Posted by DBMaster
Just so everyone knows, there is no such thing as an "HDTV antenna." Current digital broadcasts are on frequencies previously used by analog TV. If you had a decent antenna before the digital switch it should work now as well. In my area most of the channels are on the UHF portion of the spectrum rather than VHF, but the same antenna I used in 1996 works today. My location and the fact that it is in the attic instead of on the roof limit the number of channels I can receive. I get all the local network affiliates, though. Just like on cable, there are a bunch of garbage local OTA channels as well. Some of the newer antennas are smaller (tailored to the frequencies used in your local area) so if you're going to roof mount the thing it definitely pays to go that route. But, if you shop antennas online you'll find that some of the ones touted as "HD" look exactly like the ones they made twenty years ago. That's because they ARE exactly the same.


Yes- I'm well aware of that. In my post above-that's what the antenna is called-so that's what I mentioned. The big selling point for me on the antenna I purchased was it's sleek design-coupled with the LTE filter.


Fair enough. I guess it's what they need to help sell antennas these days so why not.
 
Originally Posted by Vikas
The TV complains something about bad H.264

H.264 is a video coding standard. If it used to work and now it doesn't, it sounds like Verizon made a change to the video encoding algorithm/settings, and whatever settings they chose seems to be tripping up your TV, unable to decode video stream.

Have you tried reaching out to Verizon with this issue?
 
Some of these posts are misleading/incorrect and makes a very simple thing complicated. This isn't brain surgery, simplest thing in the world and all the information is online.
Forget the advertised "super antennas" that you see people sticking on their wall in their home *LOL*

1. buy an outdoor antenna (such as this, no smaller)
2. mount in attic or outside
3. google TV antenna aiming, plug in your address and it will tell you which way to fact the antenna (compass heading) It will also show you where the major network TV station antennas are and how far.
You could do this before you select an antenna, ALWAYS select a larger antenna, don't fall for the "miles" claim, those are for clear open areas, unobstructed.
4. its all VERY simple for those who wish to put some effort into getting the free major network stations with better video quality then what they pay for on their TV

Some good sources;

Dennys Antennas

Channel Master

Station Location Tool

FCC Reception Maps, you pay for this with your taxes, use it!

Google is your friend ... well not really but use them when you have too or duckduckgo (they are your friend)...
 
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That reception map is pretty cool. It also tells me that I'm pretty much getting everything that the model predicts I can get.
 
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by Vikas
The TV complains something about bad H.264

H.264 is a video coding standard. If it used to work and now it doesn't, it sounds like Verizon made a change to the video encoding algorithm/settings, and whatever settings they chose seems to be tripping up your TV, unable to decode video stream.

Have you tried reaching out to Verizon with this issue?

No, I have not contacted them yet. I do have attic mounted antennae, so I moved the cables around to get the local HDTV signal. Unfortunately, not strong enough to pull in all the channels.

The real impetus behind asking this question in this forum was to see if somebody else is using direct cable successfully. I am NOT surprised by the irrelevant replies but I am surprised that other people have not connected directly.

Asking Verizon should have been my first choice but I suspect they will just stall me and will not tell the real reason as to why they broke it.
 
How old are the TVs? It sounds like Verizon changed to a newer video codec that the TV does not support.

The signal on the cable is QAM, not ATSC, so you need to use "cable" mode. You're at the mercy of Verizon whether they choose to deliver a signal that your TV can decode directly.
 
Originally Posted by alarmguy
Some of these posts are misleading/incorrect and makes a very simple thing complicated. This isn't brain surgery, simplest thing in the world and all the information is online.
Forget the advertised "super antennas" that you see people sticking on their wall in their home *LOL*

1. buy an outdoor antenna (such as this, no smaller)
2. mount in attic or outside
3. google TV antenna aiming, plug in your address and it will tell you which way to fact the antenna (compass heading) It will also show you where the major network TV station antennas are and how far.
You could do this before you select an antenna, ALWAYS select a larger antenna, don't fall for the "miles" claim, those are for clear open areas, unobstructed.
4. its all VERY simple for those who wish to put some effort into getting the free major network stations with better video quality then what they pay for on their TV

Some good sources;

Dennys Antennas

Channel Master

Station Location Tool

FCC Reception Maps, you pay for this with your taxes, use it!

Google is your friend ... well not really but use them when you have too or duckduckgo (they are your friend)...



To recommend an antenna that large without knowing how far he is from the broadcast towers can be over kill.

[Linked Image]
 
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Originally Posted by mk378
How old are the TVs? It sounds like Verizon changed to a newer video codec that the TV does not support.

The signal on the cable is QAM, not ATSC, so you need to use "cable" mode. You're at the mercy of Verizon whether they choose to deliver a signal that your TV can decode directly.


I would presume that there are specific standards designed to prevent Verizon doing something like this.

I would be nice to get at least a single person to say "No it does not work me either" or "Yes, it does work for me"

Both the TV's are the one which supports QAM HD tuning.
 
Originally Posted by CKN
Originally Posted by alarmguy
Some of these posts are misleading/incorrect and makes a very simple thing complicated. This isn't brain surgery, simplest thing in the world and all the information is online.
Forget the advertised "super antennas" that you see people sticking on their wall in their home *LOL*

1. buy an outdoor antenna (such as this, no smaller)
2. mount in attic or outside
3. google TV antenna aiming, plug in your address and it will tell you which way to fact the antenna (compass heading) It will also show you where the major network TV station antennas are and how far.
You could do this before you select an antenna, ALWAYS select a larger antenna, don't fall for the "miles" claim, those are for clear open areas, unobstructed.
4. its all VERY simple for those who wish to put some effort into getting the free major network stations with better video quality then what they pay for on their TV

Some good sources;

Dennys Antennas

Channel Master

Station Location Tool

FCC Reception Maps, you pay for this with your taxes, use it!

Google is your friend ... well not really but use them when you have too or duckduckgo (they are your friend)...



To recommend an antenna that large without knowing how far he is from the broadcast towers can be over kill.

[Linked Image]



I posted 5 links to help him select the right antenna. Overkill? I don't think so, most people look at the "mile range" an antenna manufacturer states but that is under ideal conditions, open air.
Just like you, you are using a 20 to 30 mile antenna (chances are the makers claims more) mile antenna and you say you are 10 miles from the towers. Which confuses me about your reply to me.


Bottom line, most would be perfectly served by a simple "non powered" $100/150 antenna like below if they are 30 miles or so from the towers and its placed in the attic. Anytime someone places it outside is a plus of course but not needed for that range. The bottom line is, I provided the links to help. More or less, select something that is about double what you need and if in the attic, it will stay there for decades providing you service.




Click - this is the "old reliable" rock solid antenna, cant go wrong
With that said, sure, there are many others, Im keeping it simple for those who just want to get something up and running with little fuss.
I do use the 60/100 mile antenna in this link on my house and my sons. 9 years ago though, I installed the equal and bought it at lowers for $100 in the RCA brand but see they no l anger carry it.
Its all in the 5 links I posted.
 
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