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TheMayor
join:2002-05-09

TheMayor

Member

[TV] Fios TV Service questions

Hi Everyone,

My parents was thinking of adding Frontier's Fios TV service to their existing Fios internet service & I had a few questions..

1) Do they offer cable card & if so, what is the monthly cost
2) How much does a STB Cost for just SD & HD?
3) Does the package come with either the Cable Card or STB (Pay for each additional item separate)?

4) How good is the TV service?

Looking at the promo that came up, not only would they be able to upgrade from 10 to 25 Mbps, but also cut their TV bill by half (assuming its a 2 year agreement)

Thanks

darcilicious
Cyber Librarian
Premium Member
join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR
·Ziply Fiber

darcilicious

Premium Member

1) Yes but haven't heard about the current pricing for new customers. I would expect between $4.95-$6.95 per month.
2) $9.99/mo for a non-DVR set-top box (does both SD and HD)
3) Not sure which package you're looking at, it's probably an additional cost (mine is, I have two STBs)
4) Overall quality is pretty good; we have lost more channels than gained since Frontier took over from Verizon.
EdmondsFios
join:2010-09-02
Edmonds, WA

1 edit

1 recommendation

EdmondsFios to TheMayor

Member

to TheMayor
CC runs $3 or $4 depending on the alignment of the planets and Frontier's mood the day you call. If you are going to use CC (I do @ $3 a month), Comcast charges $0 for the first card and $1.50 for the second then gives you a credit for using your own equipment so the net cost is negative.

As far as picture quality goes, Fios is stunning and superior to any other signal I have seen. I absolutely love it.
TheMayor
join:2002-05-09

TheMayor to darcilicious

Member

to darcilicious
The package that was being looked at said something like

25 Mbps internet, HD Extreme & Unlimited Digital phone for $135.99 a month
speedys4
join:2013-10-12
USA

speedys4 to TheMayor

Member

to TheMayor
I currently renting 2 CC. Just like what others have said. I'm paying $3.99 for the first one and $2.99 for the second card.

Ordering one could be really challenging, dealing with customer service people who don't have any idea what a cablecard is.

pdxhz
@frontiernet.net

pdxhz to TheMayor

Anon

to TheMayor
Pricing will depend on your location. Here in Beaverton, OR, I pay $3.99/mo for CC. Fios TV signal quality is rock solid ( and still superior to Comcast , IMO). But as some cable broadcasters send out low bit-rate signals to start with, the difference may not be all that apparent. We recently lost MGM-HD, and a few other channels. OTOH, Fios has HDNet movies in the Extreme HD package which Comcast does not offer. Finally, there has been ongoing uncertainty about the future of Fios TV since Frontier does not seem to have the same negotiating power as the likes of Comcast or Verizon.

mugd
@bpa.gov

mugd

Anon

just waiting for frontier to install fios at my house, but your last sentence has been on the back my mind since I made the call to switch from comcast.
TheMayor
join:2002-05-09

TheMayor

Member

Hi Everyone,

Well my parents decided to order the TV service, along with a speed upgrade, which is supposed to be installed next week.

Just a couple more questions:

1) Since they already have Fios Internet, what will the installer do, as far as hooking up TV goes? I would assume they use the existing cable wiring, since it looked like that's what they did for hooking up the internet.

2) They won't be disconnecting Comcast for probably a couple of weeks, to make sure everything works. I would assume there shouldn't be any issue with both signals on the line or I would assume the installer would disconnect the wire from the pole for their existing cable tv service?

3) Does anybody know how frontier has their channels set for use with a cable card & a Ceton tuner (copy never, copy once, copy freely)?

Thanks

NOYB
St. John 3.16
Premium Member
join:2005-12-15
Forest Grove, OR

NOYB

Premium Member

said by TheMayor:

3) Does anybody know how frontier has their channels set for use with a cable card & a Ceton tuner (copy never, copy once, copy freely)?


All your subscribed channels should work with the tuner. The issue will be the HTPC and display device. The protected channels require HDCP or analog. So for a home rolled HTPC, from what I read that pretty much means Windows Media Center and HDCP compatible graphic adapter and monitor or TV. By the way, at present that excludes Display Port. Even for notebooks that use DP internally. Though I am very novice in this protection stuff details. So YEMV.

Protected channels are basically (here in OR) most anything not local, 50 and up for SD, and 550 and up for HD.
NOYB

NOYB

Premium Member


Even the C-SPAN channels are copy protected. Which is laughable on at least two levels.

1) Extremely low pirating target. If a target at all.

2) Isn't C-SPAN significantly tax funded? And we can't even use what we have already paid for. C-SPAN copy protection, encryption etc. should be prohibited.

wesm
Premium Member
join:1999-07-29
Seattle, WA

wesm

Premium Member

said by NOYB:

2) Isn't C-SPAN significantly tax funded? And we can't even use what we have already paid for.

Nope, C-SPAN stands for "Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network." It is funded by per-subscriber fees paid by multichannel television companies, just like how ESPN and USA Network make money.

NOYB
St. John 3.16
Premium Member
join:2005-12-15
Forest Grove, OR

NOYB

Premium Member


Do they pay us for the content we provide?

wesm
Premium Member
join:1999-07-29
Seattle, WA

wesm

Premium Member

I'm not sure exactly what you mean, but C-SPAN gets $0.06/subscriber from each company that carries it. That money goes toward paying the cost of operating the channels, web site, and associated services. The broadcasts of Congressional proceedings are already in the public domain.

Put another way, the C-SPAN channels shouldn't be copy protected since they are akin to local and public service channels.

NOYB
St. John 3.16
Premium Member
join:2005-12-15
Forest Grove, OR

NOYB

Premium Member

said by wesm:

The broadcasts of Congressional proceedings are already in the public domain.

Put another way, the C-SPAN channels shouldn't be copy protected ...


That's what I was beating around the bush about. We the tax payers produce and provide that content. Fine if they charge a small fee to carry it for us. But to then also copy protect it from us. That shouldn't be. But far as I can tell all the C-SPAN channels on Frontier are copy protected. Cannot view them with a non HDCP devices/displays. At least I can't here.

wesm
Premium Member
join:1999-07-29
Seattle, WA

wesm

Premium Member

I suspect it is a Frontier failing, not a C-SPAN requirement. Even when I had Time Warner, home of deliberately flagging everything, C-SPAN was in the clear. An FCC complaint might be in order.
TheMayor
join:2002-05-09

TheMayor

Member

Well the TV service was installed on the 26th & so far they are liking it, besides the fact they have to memorize new channel numbers.

Like others have said, most channels are protected, except for the broadcast ones.

The only annoying thing was updating the channel mapping on WMC, since it showed channels being on two different channels (& I'm not talking a SD version & an HD version either)

NOYB
St. John 3.16
Premium Member
join:2005-12-15
Forest Grove, OR

NOYB

Premium Member


The only other channels I'm aware of are for the alternate languages, which here start above 1000 I think.
TheMayor
join:2002-05-09

TheMayor

Member

I thought so also, but when I tried watching a few of them, they were speaking in English.
said by NOYB:


The only other channels I'm aware of are for the alternate languages, which here start above 1000 I think.


darcilicious
Cyber Librarian
Premium Member
join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR

darcilicious

Premium Member

It's a mix of duplicated regular broadcast channels (the duplicates you see) and specific foreign language channels above 1500.

Just delete anything above 1500 from WMC and you'll be fine.