Verizon FiOS TV → FIOS TV Central website access with Non AT Router?

Until you have the Remote DVR feature enabled, you can't say for certain you will be able to control them from TV Central...

ok. I wasn't sure if anyone could see there STBs on Central website.

I PM'd TheSanchez as described in links posted by More Fibers.

When TheSanchez replies, I'll post again.

When the STB lists are showing, I do not think that there is any communication required between V's servers and the boxes in order for them to be listed. I'm fairly sure that V* maintains a separate database that has the serial numbers of the boxes tied to individual accounts.

For instance, I have not had one of my DCT-700s connected to its coax for about a month now (redoing a room). That box's serial number shows up on the list of my STBs on Verizon central and (when it is up) on "My Account" on verizon.com.

Further, you cannot poll or issue a reset to the DCT-700s from the application on the "My Account" site. Verizon can issue commands to them since they must have to activate them.

I also DCT-700 showing under my STBs, even though it has never been out of the box that it was shipped in!

and i can see them listed on TV central...but ironically enough, not currently on my account page on verizon.com....the place i need to be listed so that i can reboot them occasionally....they have dropped off the map here lately.

I have pppoe, and two wds routers running dd-wrt v24sp1, and a nim. I have always been able to access vod and widgets as well as stream media via media manager. Having never had an actiontec i think locking in folks to it for dvrod would be foolish.

There really should be no real technical reason why verizon cannot allow you to use any router to access dvr on demand. I am unfortunately unable to test as i am not a part of the pilot program.

There is no pilot program for remote dvr access over the web. It's being rolled out (slowly) to customers now. However, I believe you must have the multi-room dvr / media manager and software.

I have that and every other feature they offer..i am a verizon 's salesmans dream customer.... course it might help if i turned on the media manager software though..huh...

also would be nice if the software didnt burp and die every 5 minutes...

EDIT: Ok now im just being tormented as my dvr gave me code to authenticate yet i have no link or am blind to it to enter it on the fiostvcentral page...

This seems to be a V* system wide problem. I (and others) have been getting error messages when logging in to "My Account" for about a week now. Reboots have regressed to the ol' "jackass" power method of actually having to get up from the recliner and pulling the STB plug(s).

I asked a CSR what was up the other day and got the "Duh, I dunno, haven't heard about it." canned response. At least the error message changed from "STB record cannot be found" to "STB is currently unavailable, try back later". Somewhat more encouraging, I guess.

any clue on where i can enter my authentication code...i have never received a pop up asking for it nor do i see anywhere to enter it ...and i got the code from my mrdvr...so i should be go to go...i would hope...

Has the remote dvr feature even been rolled out to your area yet? Many customers still do not have this feature available even though they "qualify" and will get it eventually...

allegedly...i didnt think you would have the option in your dvr to enable it if you werent from what ive read and i received message a month ago saying it was available but never really looked for it till today

apparently from another thread...after you get said code it takes 24-48hrs or more before the web knows it can activate you....ok call me stupid but they couldnt make this more complicated could they?

once im activated i will see i can get it all working via my networking setup...i have no actiontec and never have...had crappy dlink that ironically...never worked correctly but my dd-wrt routers have always worked with fios and use a completely different subnet as well...10.x.x.x non routable with no issues over the past 3 years

Could we stay on topic, please. This thread is for router issues related to TV Central. There are other threads for discussing VZ central web site and rollout issues.

I thought that's what we are talking about? Don't we need to access the site to tell whether the router is working?

I'm not trying to sound like a smart-ass..just curious as why this is not on topic?

By the way. I was able to activate my account, but my DVR Remote TV info is not being transfered to the website.

Soooo, the fact that I have a Windows Home Server doesn't change anything reguarding WHS router settings.

I was trying to keep the discussion about "I can't login", "I can't activate", "VZ TV Central is not up", and "When is it going to be available" in the other thread. Those issues have nothing to do with the router.

Gotcha. By the way, I know you said you would have to wait to find out what/how the DVR sent and received it's info through through the router...I'm all set up in regards to being activated. Is there anything I can do like run some software and send the logs to you?

Just wondering if there is anything I can do to help and maybe learn something along the way?

Thanks again!
Aaron

What is needed is to install a hub (or managed switch with port mirroring) in front of the Actiontec. Connect the ONT, Actiontec and a PC running Wireshark to the hub.

A few things to try and capture:
•Schedule a program to be recorded. See if there is any WAN traffic from the STB (I suspect not).
•Log in to VZ TV Central, access the MR-DVR. I expect there should be WAN traffic from VZ Central TO the MR-DVR (and a response from the MR-DVR).
•Reboot the MR-DVR. Capture the DHCP request and any communication with VZ TV Central during bootup. This will generate a LOT of traffic as the guide data will be downloaded.

Will my DIR-655 work as the hub? Or do I need a "dumb-hub"?

My network is set up according to the LAN-to-LAN guide.

I have a static IP address

No, the DIR-655 will not work as a hub. The traffic needs to be captured between the the ONT and the router (DIR-655) WAN port. That's the reason for the "dumb hub".

Ok...I don't have a hub. I'll have to borrow one from work tomorrow.

Just so I understand: I connect ONT, AT, and PC to the hub....THEN connect the hub to the DIR-655 WAN port for NAT, DHCP, ext ?

I'll set it up and reply back tomorrow.

Thanks!

That's correct. You should get a 169.254.x.x IP address when you connect your PC to the hub. i.e. You won't be able to get a DHCP address, but that won't matter. Wireshark will put the NIC in "promiscuous" mode, so it will see all traffic on the hub.

Finally was able to authenticate.

No joy on my setup though i can see the requests going in and out...

placed the stb in the dmz and - no joy
attempted UPnP enable and rebooted all devices - no joy

i dont have winpcap installed for me to capture via wire shark...as i usually dont have a need to do traces on my home network....i can load but since i dont have a hub or switch i will have to wait for captures by others

I have my setup via the LAN to LAN.

I was just able to activate the remote DVR. It times out when looking for the dvr data.

I assume all we need to do is some port forwarding, but not sure which port.

mike

I agree with Mike...this is not some arcane mystery here.

Some services are initiated by the set top box outbound to Verizon (guide info etc.). These requests pass outbound through a firewall and, if you have your firewall defaulted to allow connexions to be completed automatically if they are initiated from inside (most do or default that way or can't be configged any other way), then the set top box gets its information.

However the remote control DVR flowpath is initiated (at time of starting a request) at the Verizon end..this is outside the firewall so any IP stream has to hit the firewall. This presumes Verizon will know the public IP number assigned to your router/home and the port that the set top box listens on. The latter can be defined by Verizon in the code running on the router; the former they have to have some dynamic way of picking up on as the external IP address obviously can change: call this info piece number one that V. needs.

Now packets coming into the router/firewall are by default ignored unless the router sees them as returning paths of already est. outbound communication (cf above), the host is in the DMZ (lets assume it's not for now), or there is a port forwarding rule in place to "listen" on that port number. Unless this is hardwired into the router, the mechanism for this is most commonly UPnP as was referenced earlier: the set top box "tells" via UPnP to open a port and forward it back to the internal network address used by the set top box. Loads of devices do this and it's not cutting edge any longer.

So I would posit we have transport in place for the set top box to update the router with a port and local Ip address such that the router sets up the port forwarding on that port (probably udp, possibly tcp or both) back to the box.

That leaves us back with how V. knows to correlate the _current_ external IP number used by the house (most commonly only one IP number is assigned per residential account) and to link it with the multi-media DVR enabled set top box. We could posit V. keeps a constantly updating database of all users' current IP entries mapped to set top box serial numbers but IMHO this implies a level of complexity (re: keeping it current) and management that isn't cost effective...much easier to have the set top box obtain the external IP number used via UPnP, then send at regular defined intervals its serial number and this IP off to Verizon, thus letting the remote equipment do the work rather than making V's servers go out and figure out all that info.

That being said, we posit that when the set top box is switched on for remote DVR, a listening port is set up, the V. router is informed via UPnP of a port and local address to forward to, and the periodic messages to V begin of packets containing current external IP address and serial number info (possibly port number if this isn't hard wired).

When remote DVR use is initated on the V website by a user, the V computer checks the latest info from the user's login to the user's mapped set top box serial number (from their database--which may or may not have correct info as was referenced elsewhere in the thread), then looks for the latest update to obtain the public IP address used by the residence (and, again, possibly the port number). It sends off the stream: the router, already listening on that port takes the info and port forwards back to the set top box. Communication achieved.

Now, figger in that the V. router is not there, or is not the actual firewall router but is behind it. The actual front line router has to be able to get the port forwarding info for this all to work. We can assume the set top box outward's communication is ok (the guide works, e.g.) but getting in from outside through the firewall is crucial. Either the "real" router gets the info from the set top box's UPnP, or it would have to be manually configged.

If it were the workplace, I'd say hang a sniffer on the wire, make sure the set top box is "switched on" for remote DVR, then start looking at what is going on.

Someone referenced MoCa, but I'd posit it has no place or need to be involved in the remote DVR communication..that this is just IPIP between Verizon and the set top box.

Anyway, sorry for rambling but was kinda thinking outloud on how I'd set it up after realizing in reading the thread to-date, there didn't seem to be any hard network-data based information being provided by anyone..just one user referenced an udp port in the 31000+ range...I'd like to see people follow that up.

Cheers,
Andrew

While I don't disagree with your analysis of the flow, if it were that simple, tricks such as disabling the firewall or placing the MR-DVR in the DMZ would have worked. There is more going on here that we won't understand until someone can analyze some traces.

A couple of possibilities you overlooked:
•The STBs send DHCP option code 60, which most home routers ignore.
•The Actiontec supports TR-069 for CPE management. VZ could very well be using that to communicate with the STBS.

MoreFiber,

True, but I, e.g., use the DHCP from ActionTec even though I have a Linksys router so the DHCP code 60 is being supplied yet I still don't get connectivity.

Overall, agreed that we need some actual data traces here.

S.

One would hope too that some sort of encryption is being used between the DVR and the verizon mothership...... nothing like having an open port to your dvr that anyone can hit and attempt to hijack to program or just create mischief.

Just a bit of a clarification here, the Media Manager software is not a factor with RemoteDVR. The software strictly provides the ability to stream music/pics from your PC on your local network.

The Home Media DVR 'service' is required to stream DVR content to other non DVR STB's in the home.

Being able to use the RemoteDVR feature(Programming/Scheduling, Viewing HD Usage/deleting recordings on your DVR) from the FIOS TV Central Website) requires that you are a Home Media DVR 'service' subscriber and that you have the ActionTec as your primary outside router. AND you have to be in a rollout area where this functionality has been deployed as not all areas have this enabled, yet.

I have been unable to use the Remote DVR feature. After "activation" I have been unable to "update"; I get an error stating to "try back later". I called FIOS tech support and we tried about everything. I have a Linksys router with a Verizon NIM. We recycled the router, NIM and cable box. Checked my IP addresses to be sure the cable box was allowed - it was. Tech support checked with a Verizon network technician and said it is not the Linksys/NIM combo. As a result Verizon issued a ticket to have their network people investigate. Any suggestions?

I've got the hub all set up and have collected some logs, but I have no idea what I am look for.

Fiber,
If your interested, I can send you the logs? or maybe you could give me an idea of what I should be looking for. How will 60 show up?

a e v e r e t t
atatat
hotmale (spell it the correct way, not this way)
d0t
c0m

In the logs, I see an HTTP/1.1 303 object moved.

Could this be it?