Power Preferences - How to Turn Off "Are You Still There" Notification.

[mordinxx]

After watching Ignite TV for a while I get a pop up asking "Are You Still There" and giving the options to stay on or turn off and a link to "Manage Power Preferences".  Is there any way to turn this off?  Power saver option is turned off.

[RogersTony]

Hello, @mordinxx

Thanks so much for posting your concern to the community.

There does not appear to be a setting to turn this particular feature off. After 4 hours of inactivity, the Ignite TV box will revert to the screensaver. You should have the option to increase this to 5 hours in the screensaver settings.

I know this may not be the answer you were hoping to hear. 😞

RogersTony

[brs]

I agree - I would really like to be able to let my tv run without my having to interfere.  We pay for the unlimited internet and I would like to see an option to turn off power saver settings.  I have been asking about this for over a year.

[Kerri151515]

I agree I have the same issue

[Davidaf]

I have the same issue and it is really frustrating there is no configuration to change that.

[ChristopherKCk]

Is this ever going to be fixed? I don't care how many coffees I brewed while doing laundry and microwaving when I wasn't watching the TV...

[RogersCorey]

Greetings @ChristopherKCk!

We currently do not have any updates to share with respect to this particular issue getting fixed.

Regards,

RogersCorey

[jd4pm]

I'm in the fence about Rogers Smartstream I like the layout, but don't like that its always on when I'm not watching TV, unplug it its the only way to turn it off.

[Lemon22]

Thank you for clarifying the options.  You're right, it's not the answer I myself wanted to hear.  I've bumped it to 5 hours, but it needs to run until it is turned off by us.  Is Rogers going to change this option to make it possible to turn the option off altogether?  

[57 · Accepted solution]

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@Lemon22 wrote:  Is Rogers going to change this option to make it possible to turn the option off altogether?  

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It's highly unlikely. I discussed why in the following thread, which is that the threat of government regulations meant that many new devices now use much less power than before and also turn off after a period of inactivity - also sometimes turning off other devices as well, or lowering their power draw.  It's actually mandatory in the EU, but "voluntary" in North America.

https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Ignite-TV/Disable-Screen-Saver-amp-Call-Display/m-p/501005/hig...

There are several posts discussing the topic in that thread.

[TLI67]

We are now in 2024 is there a way to turn the "Are you still there" notification off. 

[57]

@TLI67 : Short answer is No.  Although we as customers can request certain features, you may not be aware that Rogers licenses this technology from Comcast in the US and Comcast provide the firmware with certain functionality.  The option to turn this off is currently not available and is unlikely to be available as outlined in the solution post.

[shest23]

I would like to take a moment to explain why this is an unfair feature for many people. My mother has dementia. She is only in the early stages and she is fine to stay home alone. However, she cannot use the ignite remote successfully. She’s alone for about six hours each day. We turn on the TV for her before we leave for work and we make sure it’s on a channel that she likes so that she doesn’t have to change anything. But by the time we get home, she’s sitting there with no TV on … playing on her phone or doing some knitting, but really wishing she could watch her shows. It seems to me like this is an accessibility issue. so, respectfully, to be accessible, this feature needs to be able to be turned off

[wayner92]

Does the video output eventually get shut off if you fail to respond?  If so, what is the difference in power consumption with the video shut down vs when it is active?

[-G-]

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@wayner92 wrote:

Does the video output eventually get shut off if you fail to respond?  If so, what is the difference in power consumption with the video shut down vs when it is active?

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The power consumption of the Ignite set-top boxes is EXTREMELY low.  Remember that all of the Comcast X1 set-top boxes, IPTV and legacy cable boxes, share the same UI, and the Power conservation options are primarily there for the benefit of (MUCH more power-hungry) legacy cable boxes.

However, while the power draw of IPTV boxes is low, even while actively streaming, EACH active stream consumes network bandwidth and finite resources on the streaming servers in the back-end.  No IPTV service provider wants to have any set-top boxes out there streaming endlessly with nobody watching.  That's why every IPTV set-top box, from every TV service provider, will shut down active network streams after a period of inactivity.

[57]

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@wayner92 wrote:

If so, what is the difference in power consumption with the video shut down vs when it is active?

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As mentioned by @-G-  the power consumption is very small. It's even outlined in the Rogers - Settings menu as 1.5 kWh/year. This is almost nothing.

However, as discussed many times in the forum in threads on this topic, it's not the power of the IPTV box itself that matters, rather it is the infrastructure that uses the power, as well as the capital and operating cost of increasing that infrastructure if the box were allowed to stay "on".

The other item that can come into play is the TV (and AVR, etc) connected to the box. If it's connected utilizing the HDMI-CEC functionality, that could save hundreds of kWh/year, depending on size, usage patterns, etc.

[wayner92]

I have found a few ways to circumvent this issue, but they are pretty geeky.  You can use some sort of an IR blaster or home automation system to send an "Exit" key command to the STB every four hours.  That should stop the message from popping up. For example, if you have a Harmony hub system there are third party tools that you can find on Github to access the API.  Then set up a cron job to run to send that command to the box.

I happen to have a Control4 system that I use for AV control, amongst other things, and Control4 has a driver for Xfinity/Ignite boxes that uses IP control.  I setup a schedule event that runs every four hours to send this keypress to my boxes.

[Lemon22]

If the power actually shut off it would make sense to me.  It doesn't.. it just goes to "commercials".  The TV is still on.  Sometimes I'm home most days, all day and the TV is on.  Sometimes I'm watching, sometimes I'm listening as I go about the day.  It's so annoying to have to run and check every time it goes quiet.  Not to mention that at the time we made the mistake of switching to Ignite, we had an elderly dog that began to suffer from anxiety when we went out.  When the TV was left on, he was fine.  Then it would go to the commercial screen and silence and he would start barking.  I hate that our TV watching is being monitored.  What about elderly people that the TV is left on for, during the day?  Not everyone gets how to work a remote.  Some people in apartments use it for security.  If you pay for electricity,  then it should be of no concern to anyone but yourself how much you use.  That's my rant.

[57]

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@Lemon22 wrote:

1. The TV is still on. 

2. If you pay for electricity,  then it should be of no concern to anyone but yourself how much you use.  

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1. If you turn on the HDMI-CEC option in the TV and the box, and turn on Power-saver in the box, the TV should shut off when the box shuts off.

2. As discussed in a couple of recent posts, it's not just your power, but the infrastructure for the service provider which would need to increase, costing more capital and operating costs, and therefore costing you (and me) more.