[PLUG] Re: FiOS TV, MythTV, QAM, no sound on WGN and Weather Channel?

[zuzu <sean.zuzu@gmail.com>]

still fighting Verizon on this.  here's some new information I've
learned, however.  (if anyone here is a member on AVSforum, please
cross-post to there.)

Verizon is injecting something like a _broadcast flag_ (although the
representative I spoke to seemed to confused this with encrypted QAM
at times) which the Actiontec routers look for.  this could explain
the very large PMT header information.

supposedly when the 2009 analog OTA shut-off occurs, Verizon wants to
force everyone who subscribes to FiOS TV to use their cablebox even
(encrypting) for OTA channels (which are currently offered as Clear
QAM).  isn't there some kind of law/regulation regarding this
behavior?  don't the OTA channels have to be unencrypted (un-DRM'd)?
can someone cite this regulation/law for me?

because of the OTA regulations about how much Verizon can charge for
that feed, Verizon is seeking the loophole of charging rents on the
(mandatory) cablebox instead.

when you call in for tech support for FiOS TV service, the support
centers are in Texas, Indiana, and Florida.  they use a _Slingbox_
(seriously) to route the local video office feeds in question to their
tech support office.  this is why they ask you for a "channel number"
when you inquire about a broadcaster.  the conversion from signal ->
cablebox -> slingbox is also why, I suspect, I'm having such
difficulty getting Verizon to audit the MPEG-2 Transport Stream itself
for faults.

the two "main broadcast rings" for television are in Florida and
Indiana.  apparently everyone else derives from that.

Florida gets 50Mbps download speeds.  New York, New Jersey, and
Connecticut (and I think Boston) get 20Mbps symmetric.  the filters
controlling speeds and authenticating access to the PON are _in the
firmware of the ONT_.  does anyone have EEPROM dumping skills?
comparing various firmwares from the ONT could provide insight into
how the system works.  (sorta like uncapping cable modems back in the
day.)  the hardware itself can do up to 900Mbps symmetric.  the CO
uses OC-192 upstream.

the satellite dishes used to receive the originating provider video
signal are referred to as the "super head-in".  the analog to fibre
conversion occurs at the "big box".

the 15/15 symmetric that was supposed to be offered starting the
beginning of October (according to a Verizon representative) congruent
to this [ http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071023-verizon-discovers-symmetry-offers-2020-symmetrical-fios-service.html
] will probably materialize within 8 weeks.  (the claim is that
between talk-of and actual existence heuristically occurs within
Verizon of about 8 weeks time.)

the ONT handles access authentication and the WAN is now fully DHCP.
PPPoE is provided as a legacy function, but the name and password are
no longer actually authenticated.


anyone have the info on what's so special about Florida to Verizon?  a
combination of legal benefits and where the pipe/infrastructure are?


On 10/12/07, zuzu <sean.zuzu@gmail.com> wrote:
> I asked about this before in passing, but after throwing myself
> against the wall of Verizon bureaucracy for over 3 weeks, I'm also
> trying to forensically assess the technical nature of this problem:
>
> is anyone else using a Clear QAM tuner (such as the HDHomeRun) with
> the FiOS TV service?  are any of you missing sound from the channels
> for WGN Superstation and the Weather Channel (not Weatherscan)?  ...as
> of about 3 weeks ago?
>
> (all other unencrypted channels have sound and picture just fine.
> picture is fine on WGN and Weather Channel, just no sound, only as of
> 3 weeks ago.)
>
> I'm using an HDHR with EyeTV, although I've also tested this directly
> off the ONT with a Miglia MiniHD tuner, and ever since Verizon mucked
> with their network/infrastructure 3 weeks ago, those two channels have
> been without sound.
>
> on the phone I keep getting re-routed to either the "video" / "inside
> your house" department or lied to that I have the Premier package when
> actually I have the Local Plus (i.e. digital / HDTV) package ($13/mo),
> and that the problem is either with my tuner (it's not, since two
> different tuners produce the same result, and both tuners did work
> before) or that because I opted not to take the free cablebox when the
> TV service was installed that "I only ordered analog signal" (not
> true, Local Plus is _only_ in digital).
>
> I'm now starting to play with dvbsnoop or find some other (preferably
> Free Software) utility to examine the MPEG-2 transport stream (a
> friend of mine examined what FiOS sends out and said their header
> packets for PMT are unusually large -- so large that they spread over
> several packets).
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG_transport_stream
>
> one question Verizon shyed away from was that perhaps their boxes
> don't have problems because they're actually outputting the analog
> signal; I think this was a topic on Slashdot a little while ago:
> http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/16/0238245
>
> so among all you smart people who I'm betting have FiOS TV and MythTV
> setup using an HDHR:
>
> 1.) do you have any problems tuning 256 QAM with an HDHR or similar
> tuner and getting sound for WGN Superstation (411MHz) and the Weather
> Channel (477MHz)?
>
> 2.) do you know of any tools, such as dvbsnoop, to examine the
> transport stream packets to find out, precisely, what Verizon is doing
> wrong so I can decisively bring it to their attention?
>
> 3.) anyone have any additional information about how Verizon's FiOS
> network is deployed that you could bring to bear into this issue?  is
> there jargon for the particular hardware used or office responsible
> that I can cite?  or any other advice on how to squelch the run-around
> Verizon is giving me?
>
> p.s. the best way to get through Verizon's automated phone tree is to
> say "speak to an agent" or "speak to an NT" (network technician).
>
___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group         --        http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion  --   http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug