Solent Installations- Important Information

ecw199 · 19-02-2007, 15:23

This message is for Blueview and Crooky and anyone else in the Solent region who has had a V+HD Box installed

I had my V+ box installed on Friday

- it seems to be working fine but I have noticed that there is a small turquoise light flashing on and off on the front of the box.

This is the online light and it SHOULD NOT be flashing it should be on constantly (I started a thread on the subject and was told that if it is flashing then it means I have a faulty return path!).

I phoned faults yesterday hoping there was an easy solution and was told that no it should not be flashing and that this is probably why I can't get VOD. Then he said I would have to have an engineer out AND EVEN WORSE HE WOULD PROBABLY NEED TO DO A BOX SWAP. Now having spent all weekend recording stuff this was not good news.

So check that your online light isn't flashing and if it is you need to phone faults. In the meantime don't record too much in case they replace your box and you lose the lot.

So I now have engineer coming out on Wednesday which means another afternoon off work .......

BlueView · 19-02-2007, 15:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by ecw199

This message is for Blueview and Crooky and anyone else in the Solent region who has had a V+HD Box installed

I had my V+ box installed on Friday

- it seems to be working fine but I have noticed that there is a small turquoise light flashing on and off on the front of the box.

This is the online light and it SHOULD NOT be flashing it should be on constantly (I started a thread on the subject and was told that if it is flashing then it means I have a faulty return path!).

I phoned faults yesterday hoping there was an easy solution and was told that no it should not be flashing and that this is probably why I can't get VOD. Then he said I would have to have an engineer out AND EVEN WORSE HE WOULD PROBABLY NEED TO DO A BOX SWAP. Now having spent all weekend recording stuff this was not good news.

So check that your online light isn't flashing and if it is you need to phone faults. In the meantime don't record too much in case they replace your box and you lose the lot.

I asked the engineer this morning about the flashing green 'online' light as it seemed quite distracting to me. He said it was quite normal. But as he had Sky himself he wasn't able to go through much of the details of the V+ box.
He checked the signal, said it wasn't strong enough for the V+ box, went across the road to the main box, returned and continued setting it up.

The first thing I noticed when he'd gone was no VOD.
The first thing my wife noticed was the flashing green light. 'Tis normal, said I, according to the engineer!
Still no VOD, so phoned 151 quoting 1092 (as it said on screen) when I called.
"Give it 24 hours for initialisation" was the response and, on checking the forums I discovered that others had to wait several hours.
So, now, 6 hours after installation, I phoned 151 again mentioning no VOD still with a 1092 quote.
"Is there a flashing green light?" was the response.
Yes
"That means that there is not a strong enough signal for VOD. I'll have to pass this on to the second tier of response** who will contact you by phone in the next 3 to 5 days. There was no mention of an engineer coming and it sounded as though it could be sorted by phone."
If she was correct, then your box shouldn't need to be changed. That's the good news. but the bad news is we'll have to wait, yet again, for a normal service.
** Could this be the 'second line' mentioned by you yesterday?

ecw199 · 19-02-2007, 16:06

Thanks for this info blueview its great that you've got your box installed and I hope its all working okay (apart from the VOD)- I've been playing with mine all weekend and think its great.

If you've got a flashing light too this suggests that its a region problem rather than a individual box problem. I think I'll call faults again, the guy I spoke to on Sunday didn't seem to have a clue. I probably don't need an engineer at all.

I also though it might be a good idea to use this thread for general Solent Region info ie faults, queries etc rather than the pvr release date threads. I'm pretty sure you suggested this awhile back and it seems like agood idea to me.

There is another thread on the flashing online light here
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/10...-supposed.html

RS100 · 19-02-2007, 16:07

The flashing light is a warning for no return path, So you will not get any VOD,

BlueView · 19-02-2007, 16:36

Just had a call from Darren in Faults - now that's a quick response for Virgin Media !!
It seems the interactive content was not added to the box when it was installed. He has now done this.
All I have to do is take out the plug, reboot and all should be fine.
I am now going to to this. I'll let you know the outcome.

---------- Post added at 16:36 ---------- Previous post was at 16:12 ----------

Just did 2 reboots.
Still flashing light. Still no VOD.
So back to 151 and the 1092 fault.
Was told it could take another couple of hours before the interactive content appears. So I'll check later this evening.

ecw199 · 19-02-2007, 16:45

Thanks Blueview

Will phone faults when I get home and report back

Maddad · 19-02-2007, 16:55

I've been reading this forum with interest as I also has a V+ box installed on Friday afternoon. The blue online light was flashing from the start but the Engineer said it would turn solid in approx 2 hours. I believed him....!

24hrs later still flashing so called faults. Advised by CS rep that VOD was not supported on the V+ boxes. Couldn't be bothered to argue at the time so I called back again today. This time they suggested the box was faulty (as the light was flashing) so they will besending an Engineer out on Thursday.

Somehow I don't think this will do much good as from the sound of it there were a lot of duff boxes fitted on Friday!!

Must be a local or network issue?

ecw199 · 19-02-2007, 17:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maddad

I've been reading this forum with interest as I also has a V+ box installed on Friday afternoon. The blue online light was flashing from the start but the Engineer said it would turn solid in approx 2 hours. I believed him....!

24hrs later still flashing so called faults. Advised by CS rep that VOD was not supported on the V+ boxes. Couldn't be bothered to argue at the time so I called back again today. This time they suggested the box was faulty (as the light was flashing) so they will besending an Engineer out on Thursday.

Somehow I don't think this will do much good as from the sound of it there were a lot of duff boxes fitted on Friday!!

Must be a local or network issue?

Welcome to the forum Maddad, nice to hear from more people in the solent region.

This is looking very much like a regional problem rather than problems with individual boxes. Therefore there seems little point in an engineer coming out - he'll probably do a box swap in desperation which won't fix the problem and will mean you'll lose any programmes on your hard drive. I have an engineer booked for wednesday but I'm going to phone faults again as I don't want to take an afternoon off work for nothing especially after what Blueview has said.

So check back again later and see how I get on and also whether blueview gets his VOD working (I'm making this sound like a soap)

BlueView · 19-02-2007, 17:18

So, in summary:
All recorded Solent boxes, on this forum, are showing a flashing blue light.
All were installed in the past few days. All have no VOD content.
Reasons given by Faults:
1. Not set up for interactive content - easy to resolve.
2. Too weak a signal which would therefore involve Gosport, Fareham, Havant, Portsmouth - might take time to resolve.
3. Every box was faulty - highly unusual.
It certainly sounds as though 2 is the likely reason. If my box does not get VOD by late tonight then it probably is a signal or network problem.
Who will be the first in the Solent region to get VOD? Let us know !!

Maddad · 19-02-2007, 17:27

Thank you ecw199.

Other than the VOD issue I am very pleased with the box. The picture quality is great and so far the other problems such as the remote control delay haven't been too bad - I was expecting worse!

The VOD is annoying however - sad as it may seem I've actually covered up the flashing light with tape as it was bugging me so much!!!

I'm tempted to let the Engineer come out as I'm here anyway and at least it might enable the problem to be escalated as phoning Customer services is no use if they don't know the answer.

jemo · 19-02-2007, 18:46

just a pointer guys, when my v+ was installed the engineer had 2 install a new splitter, i know on other forums that people that didnt have a new 1 done, their v+ dont work, just a thought though as to may what be wrong with ur v+

ecw199 · 19-02-2007, 23:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by ecw199

Welcome to the forum Maddad, nice to hear from more people in the solent region.

This is looking very much like a regional problem rather than problems with individual boxes. Therefore there seems little point in an engineer coming out - he'll probably do a box swap in desperation which won't fix the problem and will mean you'll lose any programmes on your hard drive. I have an engineer booked for wednesday but I'm going to phone faults again as I don't want to take an afternoon off work for nothing especially after what Blueview has said.

So check back again later and see how I get on and also whether blueview gets his VOD working (I'm making this sound like a soap)

Well I phoned faults and basically didn't get very far (in fact got the feeling I knew far more than he did). Anyway I told him the problem pointed out the fact that other people in my area were having the same problem and was there any point having an engineer out if it was a region wide issue. He checked his computer and said that it WASN'T a regional problem and that it might be a problem with the settings on my box.

He did say that the reason the light was flashing was a lack of signal strength, so at least that seems to tally with what Blueview was told. He said I definately need an engineer out. In the end because I wasn't getting anywhere I decided to keep my appointment for Wednesday pm (my mum has agreed to wait in so I don't have to have a day of work).

I'm pretty sure that the engineer is going to turn up and say there is nothing he can do and that its a network issue.

It would be great to know if there is anyone in the solent region who has VOD and whos light ISN'T flashing on and off!

Also if you are in the solent region and your online light is flashing please report it to faults because the guy said that it is only designated as a regional network issue if they recieve enough complaints.

Really feel like I'm doing all the work here, aren't they suppose to tell us when theres a problem not the other way around

elmtree · 20-02-2007, 06:46

I live in North End, Portsmouth and had my box installed Friday afternoon. It also has a flashing blue light and no VOD. In addition, it can't remember TV settings and won't allow me to change to HDTV. The Engineer comes out today.

Crooky · 20-02-2007, 07:00

Hi all,

my return path is flashing still.

The signal strength for a return path is the return strength, as its name suggests. The installation engineer and his supervisor checked the signal strengths and the diagnostics says that all signals are locked.

There is another thread on here that states we will be getting a new software download this month.

Perhaps this is a software issue in the region that no-one has picked up on yet. Remember, we were delayed by software problems for our roll-oout initially.

BlueView · 20-02-2007, 07:28

Got up early - like Elmtree and crooky........light still flashing at 6am.
Rebooted again ........still flashing.
My engineer tweaked the signal strength up and the interactive was added yesterday afternoon, so it seems to be a local Solent issue.
Nobody on here yet has said they have VOD in Solent.
Once Elmtree's engineer has visited him today, perhaps we'll know more.
Elmtree - could you show him this thread if he can't resolve it?
Might move things along quicker !!