Internet connection and on-demand

[tbonez3858]

Any help with the following problem will be greatly appreciated. Im pulling my hair out and I dont have much left...



I have not been able to get on-demand since my install a few months ago. I know my internet connection is up and working as I have 5 to 8 devices on the internet working without issue. I am even positive the exact port/cable going to my deca/swim device is working. I plugged the Ethernet cable that goes into my deca/swim device into a PC, assign a static address and am able to surf the web. When I plug the ethernet cable into the swim device I get all green lights. When I go into my dvr network setup I enter the static IP and it tells me the receiver CONNECTS to the internet yet I get no on demand.


When I access the system info it gives me a warning symbol and tells me that STB service ports are N/A(301). I started researching and I found that this setting is configurable in Network Settings/Network Services. There is a setting for auto or manual. I changed it to manual and it appears you can change the port settings. Im assuming these are TCP port settings that I must have correct to interact with DirecTVs servers. They are obviously not right or my router might be blocking them.
I escalated all the way up to the manager level at DirecTV and NO ONE knows what is going on. They keep telling me my ISP is "bad" and to call my ISP which this is 100% not a network issue. They cant or wont refer me to a higher level engineer or developer to make sure my settings are correct. I cant test the TCP ports because they dont have anyone with enough knowledge to give me the destination TCP/IP address. Im really blown away that they have a home grown application that they have NO CLUE about it or its settings. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

[BobStokesbary]

I will cautiously step in here and suggest some tests you may want to do while others chime in with their opinions. (I say cautiously, since a lot of the setup has to do with a person's opinion about the best way to do it.) I am not a big believer in static IP assignments and use DHCP on my setup which works just fine.

First, log on to your router and see if you see your receivers are listed in your router table. They should identify themselves as DIRECTV XX (where XX is the model number of your receiver) and you will see the corresponding IP address assigned to each HD receiver. If you don't see them on your router table you have something wrong in your setup. My installer's DirecTV tech support had him unplug each receiver in my system and then plug them in one by one to get my installation working correctly. If you do see them in your router table and the IP addresses are the same as indicated on your receiver setup page then you should be working fine and I am lost as to what your problem is.

 

[badtlc]

I don't think opening ports will change anything for you. I use DHCP and have all my ports completely closed/stealth. Zero problems using on demand features. It takes very little time to try the DHCP setting and see if that helps. Are you sure you are using the right DNS servers?

 

[jdspencer]

Not all routers will display the the receiver in router table. My Speedstream DSL wireless four port router doesn't. This is why I set up static IPs for my HR23 and HR24 (only because I wanted to be able to ID them when looking at the table). Having said that, you need to log into your router, as mentioned above, and see if the receiver is listed (either by name or its MAC number).

 

[tbonez3858]

Well I reset everything to default, rebooted the modem, router, swm, deca and then powered on the everything in the same order. The receivers get DHCP and everything is set to auto. I can ping all of the receivers from my pc and even the router...STILL no on demand. There are pages and pages of problems of people with problems on line...

DirecTV knows absolutely nothing about the system..Yea another product that is junk with junk support..

Any other suggestions out there?

 

[kjlued]

DirecTV knows absolutely nothing about the system..Yea another product that is junk with junk support..

Well, it is new technology and occasionally a problem will arise that we have problems trouble shooting.

What receivers do you have?
Every receiver including model number.

 

[wildbill129]

What kind of router are you using? Have you tried manually assigning all your receivers and all other network equipment static IP's? Are they are all on the same subnet mask?

I use DHCP without issues, others cannot. It definitely depends on the equipment you are using.

 

[tbonez3858]

Well, it is new technology and occasionally a problem will arise that we have problems trouble shooting.

What receivers do you have?
Every receiver including model number.

I have (2) HR24s....

I really appreciate the help so please dont take the following comments the wrong way. I realize difficult technical problems exist as I have been in IT for 15 years. There is ZERO excuse for the customer to have greater product knowledge than the support they are working with, however.

It isnt that DirecTV is battling a difficult technical issue with my problem..They havent started troubleshooting anything because they dont even know where to start. When I call up and the best advice they can offer is simply say reset everything and if it doesnt work your ISP is broken. Their troubleshooting effort has been nothing but passing the buck to the ISP.

 

[tbonez3858]

I run a Cisco ASA 5505 firewall...I know the firewall isnt the problem. I scanned the HR24 and discovered what ports are open. I then put the IP address of my HR24 on my laptop and tested the ports over the internet to my laptop.All ports are open and port forwarding is working for all of the ports that the HR24 has open.

 

[ranmic]

Damn tbonez, you run an ASA at home? Kinda over kill aint it.... Nothing wrong with it though. Good luck, I can't seem to get my OD to connect either and I have tried about everything I can think of. But, I'll keep plugging away at it and let you know if I find a solution for mine.

 

[BobStokesbary]

Quick question: Did you sign up for "Whole House DVR" and does that work OK? That would at least give some insight as to whether or not your D* network is working correctly.

This is really interesting thread since my OD was so simple to set up. This really makes me wonder what to do if it stops working.

 

[ranmic]

Got mine resolved. Turns out my DNS setting were set to look at my router and not my ISP. I reset all settings and now my OD works great.

 

[tbonez3858]

Issue is FIXED! Thanks so much for each of your help. I called DirecTV today, went over the issue again and asked them to check my account to make sure on demand was turned on. The tech said nothing was wrong but I kept pressing her to check my account. She actually cared enough to not give me the canned "your ISP is broken" response and looked at my count. The tech found that on demand and cinema wasnt enabled. She enabled the cinema plus feature and on demand and sent an activation code. Within two minutes I was watching on demand...

I am super happy to have this put behind me because I have spent dozens of hours working on it. I am SUPER TICKED that the installer told me I had to have this service activated because they didnt want kids downloading stuff without permission and this is what I have been telling DirecTV for MONTHS. DirecTV support was arrogant, felt they knew better, wouldnt check it and simply wanted to pass the buck to the ISP.

I am going to press my complaint to the highest level of DirecTV because I have every name recorded that I have dealt with. Im not the guy that wants anything for free but DirecTV needs to know my time isnt free especially when it is wasted on arrogance.

 

[red hazard]

Concur. I have been trained in customer service and can testify that DirecTV, Dishnetwork and Charter do not have a clue regarding customer service. And the fact that they brag about their customer service is absolute proof that they do not have any!!

 

[charper1]

The parental deal from the installer doesn't wash with me; why isnt this feature defaulted to ON?