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How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

First of all, I'm not an Ignite customer.  In fact, I cancelled Rogers digital cable when I went to an IPTV package from my ISP using fibre that was installed in my area last summer.

 

My transition was more of a surprise than for most of you moving from Rogers Digital Cable to Ignite TV because I had a SA8300HD PVR on the SARA system, with none of the fancy shmancy graphics of the NAVIGATR interface, but it was simple, user friendly and had several features the later interfaces had dropped.  My legacy VIP also had way more channels, although, unfortunately, not the ones I really wanted.

 

Here are a couple of annoyances I found switching from Digital Cable to IPTV.

1. When playing cloud recordings I find the FF button skips in bigger steps than it did  with digital recordings on my hard drive.  Do you also see that on Ignite?

2. With my new IPTV service, I find that some SD channels do not display or record with the correct aspect ratio.  TV Ontario is weird because it displays correctly live, but record in SD, horizontally compressed. How is it on Ignite TV?

 

I ask these questions not only for my own edification, but so Rogers customers switching from Digital Cable to Ignite TV know what they'll be getting, because you can't switch back.

 

 

***Added Labels*** 

 


Rogers PayGo. Location: S-W Ontario
125 REPLIES 125

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

schmidtp
I plan to stick around
Those issues are regular things with my ignite. I have a rather big file at Rogers tech help LOL. I have had tech to my house, multiple times. I am completely "re-wired" from the outside box to the inside house. I have had exchanges of ignite set top boxes and still suffer the problems. I have 2 TV's and one is only a few months old so my equipment is not the issue. It is seemingly Ignite itself.
I do not seem to be alone as can be seen by the threads and discussions on this community forum. It is also a big complaint issue on Facebook.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

-G-
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@schmidtp  I totally sympathize and hope that those issues will get resolved for you.

 

I had the exact opposite experience.  With Digital TV, I ran into constant "unfixable" problems, a glitchy picture on all switched digital video channels, HORRIBLE set-top box software, and old, outdated, faulty hardware that got cycled from one customer to another... and the Digital TV platform itself was really showing its age and inflexibility when compared to modern IPTV platforms.

 

Today, my Internet service is now rock-solid, and I can make sure that my in-home network and WiFi is rock-solid as well.  With that, Ignite TV works well.  Could it be improved on?  Sure... but for me, it's still the most reliable TV service that I have ever had.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

schmidtp
I plan to stick around

Nice that you have good service but clearly not all do and the fact remains that there are a very big amount of threads and many hundreds of posts regarding issues with Ignite.
You, as a resident expert must have much more insight and knowledge than we, the users have. I thank you for helping.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

Bplayer
I'm a trusted contributor

I second the comments by @-G- about the stability of Ignite. It has been completely stable for me over the last 2 years, and I have not had to call in for support. I routinely reboot all my devices about every month.

The technical aspects of Ignite are solid, but there are two elements that likely impact users. The first is internet stability. Any dropout or minor outages will cause issues for any the services being used. The second is WiFi stability and connectivity between the Gateway and the TV Box. If both have problems then the overall service will be poor.

It does not matter to the typical user which one is cause. Technical Support should be able to diagnose and assess the internet stability, but only those experiencing these issue know how effective Rogers is at resolving. There may be many things that you can do about WiFi coverage in your home.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

schmidtp
I plan to stick around
Look, I only made a point saying my Ignite was problematic and tech support and techs at my home and rewiring did not help much. My router and wi fi is very good, as the tech in the house was able to determine. I also noted the hundreds of threads and many many hundreds of posts about Ignite problems is some proof that it is problematic for many of us.
I am glad it is good for you and the other guy but it is not for many of us.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

Bplayer
I'm a trusted contributor

I am not disputing the issues experienced of by you or others, but trying to outline where the issues might be. It would appear that your issues are internet related. If there was a simple fix it would likely have been implemented by this.

Keep pushing them, maybe the resolution is just around the corner.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

schmidtp
I plan to stick around

Just to clarify, my issues have been with Ignite TV. I have not had any issues with my internet. Even working from home and having 2 kids going to online school, the internet has been fine.  I am just tired of the problems and even more tired of the little black box that says "We are Sorry - We are having Problems, try again later"
Here is a 39 page thread about "Ignite TV - Several Issues" to affirm it is problematic, and not just for me.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

Bplayer
I'm a trusted contributor

@schmidtyDo you by any chance have any WiFi extenders (non POD) in you home? I had one of these before getting the POD and it disrupted my service. Technical Support had to do a reset on my TV Box, something that could not be performed by unplugging or just doing a reboot. Ask them to do this the next time you have a problem.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

schmidtp
I plan to stick around

As I mentioned before, I have had Rogers techs come to the house a number of times.The replace all the (Rogers) wiring in my house. then they came back and replace the wiring to the house so, I have good wires (cable). They then came back a few times and gave me new boxes, and added 2 pods, then did tune ups(?) etc.

I have no issues with my internet nor with my Rogers home phone.

I fairly regularly get "we are sorry....." messages when selecting something on the remote.

As I also said before, there are almost 400 posts on Ignite issues in one thread alone and another thread with almost 200 posts. This community seems to be one of the last resort for many Ignite customers. Most have had tech support calls and techs in the house. I have read a great many of the posts to see if issues were the same as mine. This thread asked the question if you like digital or ignite and I responded with my dislikes.

I think I have said enough and do not wish to explain myself anymore. I have done everything I can and I dislike Ignite because of the issues I posted and for what I lost from digital.

Have a happy viewing day 🙂

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

@schmidtp  I'm sorry to hear about your problems with Ignite TV. It seems like your problems are more related to the delivery of the service rather than its own idiosyncrasies compared to digital cable.  I remember there was a $150 installation fee for Ignite due to specialized setup required, but it seems like that's been dropped. If there is no,longer an installation fee, I would hazard a guess that the Rogers techs now doing it are less skilled or thorough. Like I said when I started this thread, I switched to an IPTV service provided by my ISP (not Rogers) but it's basically similar, but in my case the STB is connected directly to the ONT (Optical Network Terminal), as is my personal router for internet, even though my ISP rents out their own routers.  But as mentioned earlier, cloud TV is different from PVR TV. There are some advantages, but also disadvantages. One drawback I find is Fast Forward on recordings is in big steps even at the slowest speed. My SA8300HD PVR could do slomo playback, even frame-by-frame, which the Nextboxes could not do. I also have Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube and many others on my smart TV. All those services seem to work better than IPTV.


Rogers PayGo. Location: S-W Ontario

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

-G-
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@schmidtp  Okay, but a high percentage of those hundreds of posts come from a small percentage users who have experienced installation issues.  When my Ignite TV service got installed, my install tech (a contractor) was not well trained at all on how to install or troubleshoot WiFi, nor did he have much knowledge about how to hook up or test the Home Phone service.  (No problem.  I could take of that part.)  However, he did a fantastic job with the Internet part of the install and knew exactly what he was doing when it came to provisioning the services.  My installation was completed quickly and it all turned out well.  Others would not have been so lucky.

 

@schmidtp  It's also great that all the cables to and within your house got replaced... but that's only helpful if they actually needed to be replaced.

 

Fortunately, the XB6 gateway provides your with a wealth of statistics that will allow you to confirm whether the power levels and signal-to-noise ratio on your downstream channels are within spec.  If your "CM Error Codewords" stats show zero (or close to zero) "Uncorrectable Codewords" errors across all channels, that is also great.  However, those stats won't tell you whether your local node is congested or overloaded, and you will have to perform additional tests to determine whether or not you are seeing excessive latency caused by problems in your local node or your "CMTS router".  If you are getting excessive latency or packet loss, those problems may not show up when the support tech tests your connection and if those problems are severe enough, they will cause problems for Ignite TV.  Some users have also been reporting random Internet disconnects and again, depending on why they are occurring, may also not show up on Rogers tests or in your modem's Events log.

 

If your Internet connection and connection to the Rogers network really, truly are totally fine, the only other things that could cause picture freezes or audio drop-outs on Ignite TV are either a defective set-top box or problematic network connectivity within your home.  Those drop-outs occur because, for whatever reason, the decoder in your set-top box ran out of data from the incoming network stream to decode and process.  Even if your set-top box has a good WiFi connection, you can still run into problems if you have too many active devices and not enough Internet bandwidth OR too many active WiFi devices with poor WiFi connections that are consuming too much "air time" on your WiFi network and preventing your set-top box from accessing WiFi when it seeds to send or receive data.  (The latter problem can also occur if you share WiFi channels with your neighbour and THEY have severe problems with their WiFi network and consume excessive air time on those channels.)  You also need to confirm that you do not have any other sources of RF interference that could cause problems with WiFi (which could also come from nearby non-WiFi devices) and that the your set-top box is getting clean power.

 

If you are experiencing constant problems with Ignite TV, you either have a network-related problem that needs to be fixed or defective equipment that needs to be replaced.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

schmidtp
I plan to stick around

@-G-, understand you are trying to help.   

I expect the techs sent to to my house by Rogers are all qualified. I have no reason think not and I certainly do not ask them for credentials.

I have no idea what you are talking about in your third paragraph. I am a user, not a tech and would have no idea how to get the "CM Error Codewords" and "Uncorrectable Codewords", let alone "perform additional tests to determine whether or not you are seeing excessive latency caused by problems in your local node or your "CMTS router".  let alone what to do if I was able to get that data.

Yes, my internet and phones are all fine. As I said before I have had both my set top boxes replaced in the past 2 weeks and still, even last night had blackouts and picture freezing.

So, to end this....I answered the question "How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?" that is this thread and I liked the old digital better. less problematic and I had more features.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

-G-
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@schmidtp  Your comments are all totally fair.

 

What PAINS me is seeing ANY customer who is getting a glitchy, problematic service.  I know that Ignite TV and Ignite Internet work well for me, and they SHOULD work well for every other Rogers customer.  I don't want to minimize or discount anything that you have said.

 

The Community is here to help anybody who is frustrated with ongoing unresolved issues.  If at some point you would like to comb through your entire Ignite installation, confirm what is and what is not working and what could be working better, we are here to help, and we will do our best to keep the process as simple and as straightforward as possible.

 

I would also strongly advise sending a Private Message to @CommunityHelps and request that they do a "health check" on your Internet service, even if it seems to be working fine.  They can check the quality of the connection to your modem, check error stats, check to see if your local node is overloaded, and check to see if any other issues are affecting your area.  They also have access to additional WiFi stats from your modem and from your Pods, and they may be able to see evidence of connectivity issues that could affect the performance of your Ignite set-top boxes.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

kgrosvold
I plan to stick around

.....or allow customers to simply revert back to digital TV if they do not like Ignite.....

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

schmidtp
I plan to stick around
As I have said, the techs have been here. I have everything new from the outside box to the set top box and all the equipment. All checks have been done.
Just at the very least, give us one button last channel back LOL

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

kgrosvold
I plan to stick around

I'm in that same boat (kind of).  I have absolutely no issues with my Gigabit internet, been like that for years.  I have digital cable right now, but I am so leery with even contemplating switching to Ignite as I know that I cannot switch back if I do not like it.

 

I also understand that there is a very good chance that I won't have any issues, but to me it is still not worth the risk.

 

Unfortunately, I understand that Rogers will eventually force everyone onto the Ignite system as they do away with digital.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

fisherman11
I've been around

I am quite confused about the pricing for centre ice this year , $179 last year $209. This year season started mid January last year Oct 1. Let's say for arguments sake there is 3 month's  difference and at Roger's price of $33.99 a month that should be $ 120 off last year's price of $209 someone is pretty greedy .

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

Really, per say, i dont think there is anything preventing people from switching back.. 
Sure, a bunch of account, hardware, etc changes that all have to get reverted... having those things still available in the system to do so, etc..

And while I understand that the digital IS working still fine for people, the question comes to, HOW LONG.
A ) the companies that make these digital cable boxes.. well.. pretty much just DONT anymore.  There are not many who are making them.. most have stopped.
B ) those that do, may not be compatible with the current rogers system, software, etc
C ) that leads to repair, etc on these boxes.. and if anyone is/can support them anymore.
D ) no one that is supporting, developing, etc software for it.

Its getting harder and harder to support that infrastructure.
Hence why they are trying to put people towards a newer one that is supported, and being developed.

Not saying to everyone SWITCH NOW.
Just that there will be a time when there is not much of a choice.
I think there is a good 5+ years, but I can see it starting to go the way with Analog TV.
(thats a whole other story to get into.. the stories from on here of how many were still ONLY on analog, etc)

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

kgrosvold
I plan to stick around

I believe that I had a conversation with a Roger's rep and was told that once I switched to Ignite, I could not switch back to digital.

 

The other gripe is that since the same infrastructure is feeding both internet and TV shouldn't the package prices be cheaper, rather then same or more expensive?

 

 

Kev

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

@kgrosvold wrote:

I believe that I had a conversation with a Roger's rep and was told that once I switched to Ignite, I could not switch back to digital.


I do believe that is Rogers "policy". But technically it's not impossible. But you won't be able to get back any grandfathered, obsolete plan you had. It depends how badly Rogers wants to keep you as a customer until digital cable is gone and everyone has to switch to Ignite or leave.


Rogers PayGo. Location: S-W Ontario

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

schmidtp
I plan to stick around
What is intersting to me in your statement is that once gone, digital cable is gone.... Where does it go?
My neighbor has resisted and uses the old system and I am using Ignite. Both cables come out of the same box in his front yard. The only difference between us is the set top box.
So, in my mind, the technology is in the modem and set top box and it is exactly as you say, either switch or leave.
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