Sound burps, pixelation
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This is how problems never get fixed. Customers "Assuming" what the problem is. I love going to a house and having a customer tell me what the problem is. I can only recall a few times when they were right.. and its usually the "Hey the lawn guy cut the cable over here let me show you" ones they get right..
Thats not to say you cant be right, the odds are however against you from my experiance though. How do you expect BHN to fix the problem if you do not let them send a tech out to determine if the problem is on the main lines? They dont just send out the maintenance techs at your request. A service tech has to go and verify they see a problem at the tap first. I recomend you call a service call and scheudle it during the times you notice the problem (evenings? mornings?)
Question though. Has the problem only started since it got real cold?
Thats not to say you cant be right, the odds are however against you from my experiance though. How do you expect BHN to fix the problem if you do not let them send a tech out to determine if the problem is on the main lines? They dont just send out the maintenance techs at your request. A service tech has to go and verify they see a problem at the tap first. I recomend you call a service call and scheudle it during the times you notice the problem (evenings? mornings?)
Question though. Has the problem only started since it got real cold?
Steven, frankly, your response really burns me up. Tell me how, when I now have six people within two miles of me saying they have exactly the same problem, that the problem is in my house?
They can send out techs to check the lines WITHOUT HAVING TO COME INTO MY HOUSE. And if they can't check the network lines without coming into my house, then they are incompetent.
"The odds are against me?" Yes, I am 'assuming' the problem is not in my house, However, it is so certain as to be unquestionable. The probability of six houses having exactly the same problem at exactly the same time inside their house is, what? You tell me since you know so much.
Geesh. Do you have that attitude about all customers?
They can send out techs to check the lines WITHOUT HAVING TO COME INTO MY HOUSE. And if they can't check the network lines without coming into my house, then they are incompetent.
"The odds are against me?" Yes, I am 'assuming' the problem is not in my house, However, it is so certain as to be unquestionable. The probability of six houses having exactly the same problem at exactly the same time inside their house is, what? You tell me since you know so much.
Geesh. Do you have that attitude about all customers?
If you don't want a tech out, you'll have to provide more information such as when did this start, does it happen during certain times, certain channels etc.. Even at best, everyone would be guessing. Since your neighbors are expriencing the same issue. It's best to get a cable tech out. It could be an area, node, tap, outside wiring etc..issue.
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I didnt think I said they need to come "Into" your house to figure if its a problem outside, I said they need to send a tech to your house. The first thing the tech should check is outside, at the tap, then work his way to the house. If he finds a problem on the feeder he can turn it over to have it repaired. But unless he comes out to your house, he can not turn it over for repair. When you setup the trouble call though and the tech comes out and does not find a problem on the main lines, having him check the house out is a good idea.
I have been to many trouble calls in the same sub division heck the same street that all complained of the same problem and each had a different solution to fix it. I have been to many a houses where a person said "Well my neighbor also has the same problem" Yet when I replace the customers drop or a bad splitter or turn his tv on Ch 3, the problem goes away. My experiance has taught me that more often then not, just because 2 neighbors complain of the same type of problem does not mean its outside.
I asked a question, did the problem, start when the cold snap came? If so that could be an indication of an AGC going bad. Which is common when the tempature changes drasticlly like that, and would cause the problem you describe. Usally when it goes bad it causes a high "hum" thus knocking out your digital signals. Causing heavy pixelation and distortions.
We really aren't communicating. The evidence is that the problem is not in a house (in spite of your protestations that you have seen six houses in a two mile radius all have the same symptom at the same time--and it be six different problems INSIDE their house).
Thus, my assertion is a tech could go to network nodes/junctions from the get-go, and begin troubleshooting. It does not have to be started at a house, and it probably should not be a solve-problems-at-houses tech, but a network tech. I am indeed assuming those are different people, but in truth I do not know that.
I suspect we are hung up on this because BHN procedures don't include the ability to do anything other than start to troubleshoot at a house; then, when that tech discovers that it is not a house problem, he "turns on" a request for the problem to be worked by other people.
If the procedures =DO= include the ability to start elsewhere, then that is what I am saying should be done. And if the procedures don't include the ability to do that, they should be changed.
Thus, my assertion is a tech could go to network nodes/junctions from the get-go, and begin troubleshooting. It does not have to be started at a house, and it probably should not be a solve-problems-at-houses tech, but a network tech. I am indeed assuming those are different people, but in truth I do not know that.
I suspect we are hung up on this because BHN procedures don't include the ability to do anything other than start to troubleshoot at a house; then, when that tech discovers that it is not a house problem, he "turns on" a request for the problem to be worked by other people.
If the procedures =DO= include the ability to start elsewhere, then that is what I am saying should be done. And if the procedures don't include the ability to do that, they should be changed.
To solve the problem, goto every single door on your street, the street over and the street over. Have every single one of them call BHN and complain about the pixelating and sound burping.
Now, once 12 people on a street all call in with the same problem, they do a truck roll instantly to go check the amplifiers on your section, the street over, etc. etc.
Now, once 12 people on a street all call in with the same problem, they do a truck roll instantly to go check the amplifiers on your section, the street over, etc. etc.
Our street only has 10 houses; can't get 10 people on the same street. And I only know people at five houses.
The six I know are having the problem are scattered up to 1.5 miles south and 0.5 miles north.
Incidentally, now that I am thinking about it, I don't think I have seen any of the burps/pixelation tonight. Maybe they fixed it.
20 MIN LATER: Cancel that...just saw a picture freeze for about 1 sec--but no sound burp with it.
The six I know are having the problem are scattered up to 1.5 miles south and 0.5 miles north.
Incidentally, now that I am thinking about it, I don't think I have seen any of the burps/pixelation tonight. Maybe they fixed it.
20 MIN LATER: Cancel that...just saw a picture freeze for about 1 sec--but no sound burp with it.
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As I said the procedure is they have to send a tech to your house, before they send out a "Maintenance" Tech to handle the feeder/express etc. Thats just how it works. Why? Because exactly like I said. Having the same problem in a node with multiple houses does not always mean its an outside problem. More often then not its at the house. If we sent a Maintenance tech to every node that had more then 1 call for the same problem wed need to hire another 50 techs. Its not odd to see a single node with 10-15 calls (a node usually will service 500-1000 passings) and even 5 or more of them for the exact same problem. Heck we roll out at 2AM for "Outages" (An outage is triggered when more then 3 people call and say "hey my cable is completely out" and live in the same node) and each problem is individual. and not system related.
So I told you BHNS procedure and the only way to get your problem fixed if you choose not to follow the steps then I dont think I can help you further.
My advice is just try and deal with it until say the end of this month. If the problem still persists I would call and have a tech come out and "make sure" the tech checks the tap etc. They don't tend to do this that often from my experience if its a contractor such as Knight Communications in my case.
The reason I'm giving the advice above is because many cities within the Central Florida and Tampa Bay area's are currently in the process of being upgraded to a 1Ghz network. I've also been told by a few people I know that much of Largo, Clearwater etc is also getting fiber extensions as well. So I'm also assuming that Central Florida will also be getting fiber extensions as well in some area's. When I say a fiber extension I'm talking about extending fiber closer to our homes but not all the way. In most cases fiber would be run from up to one to two miles from our homes and I'm hearing that they are getting it closer now. The rest of the way to our homes etc would be coax of course.
Just give it time because these types of upgrades can really screw around with video and audio. These upgrades also tend to be big trouble makers at the higher frequencies which is why its really only a few HD channels having problems. Most of the channels I'm having problems with are in the 750-770Mhz ranges but the issues have been getting better each day that goes by now. For about two weeks though it was very very bad to say the least.
I've also heard that BHN Tampa Bay is about 4-8 months ahead on these upgrades than BHN Central Florida so you might be at the very start of these upgrades too.
The reason I'm giving the advice above is because many cities within the Central Florida and Tampa Bay area's are currently in the process of being upgraded to a 1Ghz network. I've also been told by a few people I know that much of Largo, Clearwater etc is also getting fiber extensions as well. So I'm also assuming that Central Florida will also be getting fiber extensions as well in some area's. When I say a fiber extension I'm talking about extending fiber closer to our homes but not all the way. In most cases fiber would be run from up to one to two miles from our homes and I'm hearing that they are getting it closer now. The rest of the way to our homes etc would be coax of course.
Just give it time because these types of upgrades can really screw around with video and audio. These upgrades also tend to be big trouble makers at the higher frequencies which is why its really only a few HD channels having problems. Most of the channels I'm having problems with are in the 750-770Mhz ranges but the issues have been getting better each day that goes by now. For about two weeks though it was very very bad to say the least.
I've also heard that BHN Tampa Bay is about 4-8 months ahead on these upgrades than BHN Central Florida so you might be at the very start of these upgrades too.
Yes BHN Orlando is a bit slower on these ugprades...
but BHN orlando has been using freq above 750mhz even on the "750 plant" to try to squeeze a bit more out of it. So far I think they are up to ch 119 and working "ok" (116 is 750mhz)
I never was a fan of "waiting to see if the problem goes away" I used to get irate at customers if I went to their house and they were yelling at me cause they had the problem for 2 months... and yet this is the first time they called, as if BHN was suppose to read their mind and know they were having a problem......Then have the nerve to ask for credit for the 2 months they had problems.....
but BHN orlando has been using freq above 750mhz even on the "750 plant" to try to squeeze a bit more out of it. So far I think they are up to ch 119 and working "ok" (116 is 750mhz)
I never was a fan of "waiting to see if the problem goes away" I used to get irate at customers if I went to their house and they were yelling at me cause they had the problem for 2 months... and yet this is the first time they called, as if BHN was suppose to read their mind and know they were having a problem......Then have the nerve to ask for credit for the 2 months they had problems.....
Yeah I think they are working on some upgrades near Oviedo right now...
Had my internet and cable feed (not the tv feed though) go down in my neighborhood the other day...and then WESH-HD-1 was getting pretty pixely during American Gladiators (hey, it's fun....dont' laugh =p).
But it was only messed up for a few hours, and now everything is back up and normal.
Any word on how long it's going to take to finish the upgrades in C. Fl? I'm guessing the new HD channels coming next month aren't going to require the new bandwidth, right?
Had my internet and cable feed (not the tv feed though) go down in my neighborhood the other day...and then WESH-HD-1 was getting pretty pixely during American Gladiators (hey, it's fun....dont' laugh =p).
But it was only messed up for a few hours, and now everything is back up and normal.
Any word on how long it's going to take to finish the upgrades in C. Fl? I'm guessing the new HD channels coming next month aren't going to require the new bandwidth, right?
I'm not a fan of waiting for things to go away either so I'm going to change my advice to the OP to wait just two weeks and call if the problem doesn't fix itself. I just believe that way too many things are going on right now that could cause these issues that I'm not sure if a tech could do anything at all himself. Also any poster on SatGuys isn't like a normal customer so I'm not worried about this person being a prick with BHN.
Also to the OP if your having these issues on many channels including "both" SDTV and HDTV channels I would schedule a tech right away as this more than not would be a signal issue. If these issues only occur on a few "HDTV" channels and nothing else I would say more than not its related to field upgrades and/or known box firmware issues which don't have any fixes yet and sending a tech wouldn't make any difference. Again after about two weeks if its been HDTV only issues on a few channels you should call BHN and have a tech come out just to rule out signal issues. Better safe than sorry but for now I'd wait it out just a tad bit longer.
Upgrades for the entire Central Florida area will take I guess six months to a years time its just hard to guess. Each specific node could be completed at any time during that period and that is very hard to guess. Also more than one node get field upgrades at the same time as well.
Most of the new HD channels being added within the next month most likely won't require this new bandwidth. I also believe new channels could be added via Switched Digital Video technology if it really came down to it. Most of the new "used" bandwidth from the upgrade to 1Ghz
I hear will be used for increases in HD VOD content along with increased SD VOD content. This won't take that much bandwidth in the overall scheme though. Most of the new "used" bandwidth will however be used
to increase high speed internet speeds both download and upload speeds to closer match Verizon FIOS internet speeds.
Also when I say new "used" 1Ghz bandwidth I'm talking about these new features (high speed upgrades etc) using a portion of the new bandwidth created from 1Ghz upgrades. For now very little of overall of the new 250Mhz of bandwidth created by this upgrade will be actively used for quite a while.
This extra bandwidth however will be available in those rare times that SDV HD channels have increased viewing within a node to avoid customers getting a message that the channel isn't available at this time. This is more of a future proof upgrade than anything.
Also having these upgrades in place and working will also help BHN get a higher buying price as I've been hearing for a while that BHN wants to sell these markets off to either Comcast or Cablevision. BHN Tampa Bay in the early analog days was owned by Cablevision so I'm curious on this deal. However most of what I'm hearing is that the buyer will be Comcast but when this deal might occur I have no idea. I just know that BHN can get more money with an upgraded network to offset the cost of doing these upgrades. They can get more on the sale than the cost of the upgrade compared to the sell price without upgrades.
I know of one person that wonders around this site and as an active member on tampahdtv.com. This person is Greg McLaughlin who I believe is the Assistant to the President of Bright House Networks. He used to work in Tampa, FL but once he got the new job he now works at corporate headquarters now. I will try and get in contact with Greg and see his take on these issues and maybe if I'm lucky he might give a few hints about a possible sale of Bright House Networks but I doubt I'm that lucky.
They are well aware of customers who love to complain but at the same time not let BHN fix the problems. Trust me it happens on a daily basis.
I have had these slight pixelization and audio burp issues since early December. I know it isn't my house specifically as well. I also know that BHN is aware of the issue going on here.
It is truly pointless to schedule a time for them to come out to my house and check everything. The problem is not in my house. Others on this site like yourself are reporting the same problem around Tampa Bay. So how could it be in my house? It isn't. Sure it is their procedure to send somebody out and start from the bottom up before they check their equipment up the line, but it is annoying to schedule a window for them to come out when you know the problem is not in your house. I have reported the problem from my end and thus far declined having somebody out.
It is my opinion that they have some kinks to work out with the upgrades. For this reason I am holding off on waiting for them to come out and check my house for the problem. I watch a lot of Fox News and Fox Business, as well as Lightning games in both SD and HD when available. I have noticed this hiccup in all three of these places as well as other channels I view less frequently. I have been watching some of the new HD channels, particularly History HD, and have noticed it there as well.
Admittedly, out of force of habit, I am still watching many of the newly available HD channels on Dish, so I haven't watched enough yet to see the problems on all the new HD channels. I am getting rid of Dish as soon as I am done burning all my DVR stuff to DVD-Rs. I'll then add back my missing premiums (Starz and maybe TMC), the HD pack, Encore movie pack, etc... things I dropped when I got Dish. BHN will get more of my money again.
Question for you BHN guys-
any timetable on Starz HD, Starz On Demand, Cinemax HD, and any other HD premium multichannels?
It is truly pointless to schedule a time for them to come out to my house and check everything. The problem is not in my house. Others on this site like yourself are reporting the same problem around Tampa Bay. So how could it be in my house? It isn't. Sure it is their procedure to send somebody out and start from the bottom up before they check their equipment up the line, but it is annoying to schedule a window for them to come out when you know the problem is not in your house. I have reported the problem from my end and thus far declined having somebody out.
It is my opinion that they have some kinks to work out with the upgrades. For this reason I am holding off on waiting for them to come out and check my house for the problem. I watch a lot of Fox News and Fox Business, as well as Lightning games in both SD and HD when available. I have noticed this hiccup in all three of these places as well as other channels I view less frequently. I have been watching some of the new HD channels, particularly History HD, and have noticed it there as well.
Admittedly, out of force of habit, I am still watching many of the newly available HD channels on Dish, so I haven't watched enough yet to see the problems on all the new HD channels. I am getting rid of Dish as soon as I am done burning all my DVR stuff to DVD-Rs. I'll then add back my missing premiums (Starz and maybe TMC), the HD pack, Encore movie pack, etc... things I dropped when I got Dish. BHN will get more of my money again.
Question for you BHN guys-
any timetable on Starz HD, Starz On Demand, Cinemax HD, and any other HD premium multichannels?
