Hey @DrMike,
We appreciate the time you've taken to piece together this detailed post, you've come to the right place!
I'd like to give some more time to our lovely community members so they can weigh in on their personal experiences with Ignite TV! I'll also tag in some of our awesome RE's @Gdkitty, @-G- and a few other helpful users that I've seen around the way, @Babylegs1, @Bplayer, @ColdGranite to see if they'd like to chime in!
Cheers!
RogersLaura
1 ) While not an recent person (I have had it since day 1), being on here have seen most of the complaints. Is is perfect 100% of the time? No. But neither was/is the digital TV.. there are still quirks there.
Almost ALL the complaints I see, stem from a bad setup.. where signal, etc wasn't tweeked to make everything set up properly. IF everything is set up properly, any user should not see 95% of the problems that people do see/complain about.
(The trick is getting a good tech sometimes, who will do it properly.. but thats another discussion :P)
2 ) Its something you have to look at and whats running. A 4k stream, is only taking up about 25mbps max.. so a few TVs running 4k, plus general browsing, and other things... you still might only be hitting 250??
One thing to consider is thats the throughput on the MODEM itself. Would one likely get 500 or 1g over wireless at one time? Not likely. so its the combined.
I have the 500, and I can be running 1-2 of the ignite TV boxes, both my son and I playing online games (with no lag/issues) wife on her phone doing things, etc... all with no issues.
3 ) that is my understanding. I have them, just switched from their original ones to the newest ones.
I am not paying extra. I think they will based on the signal in general to those other areas, within the house itself. So if someone wants one for the garage, etc.. they might have to pay extra for that one.
4 ) Correct, it only has two ethernet ports. So modem placement comes into play possibly then if you have wired connections into the modem. (might need to drop a switch if you need it). More on this below.
Yes the phone connection is on the back. The main base on a multi set, while it can plug into the back of this direct, does not need to. As long as you have a phone jack where the modem is, all the jacks should be interconnected. So you can can go from the modem into that jack.. then put the base elsewhere on another jack.
5,6,7 ) That was a great router, I had that one prior switching over to ignite. That being said it is 7 years old. The rogers one is a newer chipset, etc in it (which is not always good either sometimes). But generally its not bad. BIGEST thing is that it doesnt have external antennas, so potential RANGE is less. But thats why these things are now designed to work with the pods too.
Some people like to use their own hardware which they have 100% control over. But if your not using all those features on it, is it fully necessary? It does make support from the rogers side if you do have problems a little more, as they dont do a lot of support if you have your own stuff in the mix that way.
Surprisingly, while the new stuff does not have the fine granular settings for some/all areas, it does have a bunch. Where you can assign devices to profiles, and with those profiles turn OFF the internet manually, on a schedule, etc. Even set timers (person can only use 4 hours of wifi a day). Does support port forwarding, etc.
Modem placement may be a question. IF you have wired connections, you'll want the modem where you have them running to. But if thats not critical, as you dont need any of the other cable connections in the house, you could put the modem say in a more central area. You'd always get the best wifi off the modem itself vs the pods.. so putting the modem on the main floor? (But also you need to then take the phone line connection into account)
8 ) This I am not sure.. I can see if I can find anything.
9 ) The phone stuff is not wifi, etc. Its pretty much the exact same thing as before. Instead of having a separate VOIP modem, its built into the main rogers modem.
The big downside here, is that there is no longer any battery in it. So the power goes down, so does the phone 😞
One consideration, is getting a basic UPS battery backup for the modem, keep it up for a period of time if the power is out, and also helps it ride out the micro blips.
While on the topic of phone.. one thing often missed.. the CALLER ID on the TV does not work with ignite.
1 ) Yes, my wife starts recordings before they are done recording all the time.
If my memory serves me right, when you are recording something, if you look on the SAVED list (where the recordings are, it shows that its recording there. and you can click on it and start it up.
2 ) I am not 100% positive on this one. I THINK it can, at least in most cases.
As the streams here are a little different, your right that its not buffering it. But I think that it knows to grab the stream back from the beginning. As a lot of the channels have the 'replay' feature. That when you get to the channel, that say you missed the first 1/2 of it, can have it re-start from the beginning. So it probably grabs this same feature to put it in recorded.
3 ) Yeah, the pause is much shorter, I think 15 mins max? may not even be that. But definitely can rewind, fast forward, go back to live, etc.
4 ) oh yeah, you can go in and type in the search, type in a channel number, station, etc.
@DrMike wrote:
Hi all,
I realize there are many, many threads about Ignite TV/Internet etc so forgive me for starting yet another one, but I had some very specific questions that I'd prefer answered in one place as opposed to me searching for weeks piecemeal. Hope that's OK.
That was a great response from @Gdkitty
I am also very happy with my Ignite TV service. (I was a former Rogers Digital TV and Bell Fibe TV customer.) For any IPTV service to work well, your Internet connection needs to work well and your in-home network/WiFi also needs to work well.
I concur that the 500u Internet service should be more than ample, based on the usage that you described.
The Ignite XB6 gateway was designed to move data Gigabit rates, so it will be more than fast enough. It only has 2 Ethernet ports but that can be expanded by adding an unmanaged desktop Gigabit Ethernet switch, perhaps something like this. The Rogers techs carry similar switches in their trucks and should be able to provide you with one free of charge.
I run Ignite TV over my own network gear. I use a wired router and business-grade WiFi access points. It gives me full control over my network and ultra-reliable WiFi. I would not recommend this setup for most people but Ignite TV does work very well in this configuration. Before using this setup, I also ran Ignite TV in a configuration that was fully-supported by Rogers, for several months, and I fall back to that configuration if I should ever require tech support from Rogers.
1. I know that everyone has a different experience with Ignite, but most of the "reviews" I see date back quite a while so I wondered what has been the experience of people who have switched RECENTLY, as in, is the Ignite service really ready for prime time? Will I have buyer's remorse or is the technology sufficiently polished that it will be a positive experience?
I can't answer that without understanding what would give you buyer's remorse.
I tested Ignite TV in multiple Rogers stores before signing up. I knew all the things that I liked and did not like about my previous services, and I expected that Ignite TV would have some of its own unique ways of doing things. I knew exactly what I was getting before I signed up. for Ignite TV I also wanted to make sure that I could get my money back if the service did not perform well in my home.
I am happy if I can get a reliable service and good picture quality, and get all of the channels that I want to watch at a fair price. As it turned out, the picture quality in my home was better than what I saw in the store, and I never experienced any major issues with my service. Rogers has also provided me with fantastic support. I have absolutely no complaints about the Ignite TV service whatsoever.
8. Rogers website has to be one of the most confusing ones I see for trying to compare Ignite TV channel packages. Can anyone point me to a page where I can actually download a chart that compares side by side the channels in the Ignite "Premier" channel package vs the Ignite "Popular" channel package?
Send a Private Message to @CommunityHelps . They should be able to provide you with PDF files that show the channels that are included in Popular and Premier, and might also have a version that lists the Popular and Premier channel lineups side-by-side.
9. For better or worse, my wife and I still like a "landline". The current Rogers home phone is a VOIP-based as far as I understand, and uses a separate modem to convert the cable signal so that I can plug in my cordless phone into a phone jack on the wall. The Ignite Home phone is strictly WiFi as I understand. Will I see any improvement, or more likely, any deterioration of phone audio?
The voice quality is great and you can continue to use your existing telephones, just like you do with your current Home Phone service. I have a monitored home alarm service and it works fine with Ignite Home Phone as well. I have not tried using a fax machine with the service.
I hope that this helps. If you should have any additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask more questions here.
@DrMike wrote:
2. Similar question. If I am watching a show (from the beginning) and realize, hey, my wife would really like this, I hit record and it records FROM THE BEGINNING (as long as I have been watching it continuously). I have read that Ignite cannot do this - it will record ONLY from the point you hit record since it is not buffered in the same way to pick up what is already past. Correct?
Ignite TV uses a "Cloud PVR", and it does not buffer what you are currently watching in the cloud, so it can only record from the point when you press the Record button.
3. Again related, is pausing and rewinding 'live' TV (i.e., not an already recorded program). It happens all the time that we either want to pause for a while and return where we left off, or even more often have a "wait, what did he say" moment, where we pause a live broadcast, rewind 30 seconds and rewatch etc. My understanding is that Ignite allows a pause, but not as long as NextBox. Is this true? Can I pause and rewind and replay at will as long as the pause is not overly long time?
The Ignite set-top boxes buffer approximately 25 minutes of HD video.
As @Gdkitty mentioned, Ignite TV will allow you to restart many programs. Also, one of the unique, unsung benefits of Ignite TV is that you can fast forward and rewind restarted programs. You can't do that on Rogers Digital TV or with Bell Fibe TV.
4. Lastly (for now). I assume that there is a 'manual' search function as well as the search by voice function. As in, if my wife is sleeping and I don't want to wake her with my voice, can I still do an old-fashioned rudimentary search using buttons instead of voice per se?
Yes. You can do this in the Guide to find a channel or program by name. You can also press the Rogers (Menu) button, select search (magnifying glass icon), and can then search for a program/movie/actor, etc.
Putting a UPS on the Gateway to keep things like home phone and internet alive may or may not work. The nodes near your home (used to) have battery backup, however, many of these nodes either no longer have batteries in them, they have been stolen, or they are old and not functioning properly. Rogers has not been replacing these batteries due to high cost. Many people have cell phones to use during a power failure. Do not expect to have home phone and internet if there is a power failure in your area. If you do, you're lucky. I have not for years now. I'm still on Legacy digital cable and all my stuff is plugged into various UPS and the stuff stays up, but the signal is not there.
@DrMike wrote:
Clearly there are many who have had strongly positive, even glowing experiences. It would be helpful to have you elaborate on what kinds of issues you encountered, if for no other reason that to teach those of us who are still contemplating, what pitfalls to avoid etc.
Thanks and hope you get it all sorted out!
Here are some proactive things that you can in advance:
1. Confirm whether or not you have sufficient WiFi coverage in your home. (As an iPhone user, I installed Apple's AirPort Utility from the App store. It has a Wi-Fi scanner that you can enable in Settings. It's not fancy but it is free, and ad-free, and it does the job.) If you plan to install the Ignite modem in the same location as your current Wi-Fi router, go to all the areas where you will be installing a set-top box and make sure that the RSSI on the 5 GHz band is -70 dBm or better. My set-top boxes all see a signal strength between -48 dBm and -61 dBm.
2. If you know that you will require Ignite WiFi Pods, install the Ignite WiFi app on your phone and make sure that it can log into MyRogers. You won't be able to do anything with it until your Ignite service has been activated and you have a modem assigned to your account, but you will be ready for installation day. Also, use the Wi-Fi scanner and map out the border areas where the signal strength drops down to -65 to -68 dBm. That is where you will want to place Pods to boost the WiFi coverage to the farther reaches of your home. Pods are useless if placed in a room with poor Wi-Fi connectivity... because they won't be able to get a good connection back to the Ignite gateway, and won't be able to get any better a connection than the device in that area used to have to begin with.
3. Prepare for the installation in your home as much as possible. Note that the Ignite gateway will use the 10.0.0.x addresses on its internal network. Do you have any devices that use static IP addresses or require any special firewall configurations?
4. Be prepared to do some coax-related clean-up work in your home. On installation day, you will need to disconnect all of your modems and set-top boxes and will also need to remove all coax splitters. You will then use a coupler to connect the incoming Rogers coax to the cable that feeds your modem's wall jack. (The coupler is also referred to as an "F81" barrel connector. The tech will provide you with one of these.)
5. Know how you will be connecting your phones to the Ignite modem.
6. Watch the Ignite installation tutorials on Rogers' YouTube Channel. If you have any questions, ask here.
If you are sufficiently prepared, that will put most remaining installation risks on Rogers' side.
- Rogers will need to ensure that everything is set up correctly in their systems prior to the installation day. They will need to assign an Ignite modem to your account and prepare to complete the port of your telephone number.
- On installation day, the tech will need to double-check that you are getting a good signal going into your home and to your modem. Ideally, your new Ignite modem should be up and running before the tech leaves! If your modem is not fully operational and/or not working optimally, then none of your Ignite services will work well.
@DrMike wrote:
I was told that, due to Covid etc, all installations are self-service, so the tech will be me ...... They will charge a one-time $29 express setup/service fee for what I don't know but I don't think anyone is coming to the house...
I know that with a self-install, the techs will not go into your house... but I thought that they still stuck around to perform any required work outside, and to provide some guidance and any required parts that you may need to complete the installation. If they do not, then it's no surprise that folks are running into problems and experiencing long hold times when calling in for installation support.
@DrMike wrote:
Thanks for all the tips! This part of your reply has prompted me to ask yet 2 more questions, specifically pertaining to WiFi...
1. I had never heard of Band Steering until I started researching this modem. Is this a feature that is best turned on or off? Right now, I have my 2 Wi-Fi networks (2.4 and 5.0) separately labeled with different SSID's etc and manually make a connection to one or the other depending. Is band steering a good option for the Ignite TV functionality in particular?
If you install Ignite WiFi Pods, then Band Steering WILL get turned on; the Pods require it to be enabled. Usually, band steering is a good thing. You can use a single SSID to connect to WiFi and your device will be "directed" to the optimal band. However, Band Steering will break connectivity with some devices. I have posted more detailed explanations as to why things can break here and here.
Band steering is not required for Ignite TV. The set-top boxes just need good, solid WiFi connectivity. If any of your devices have problems with Band Steering, then DO NOT install Pods.
On the Ignite XB6 gateway, you disable band steering by assigning different names to the 2.4 and 5 GHz networks. If they have the same names, then band steering will be enabled.
2. Speaking of SSID's and WiFi, I have a lot of WiFi connected devices, including smart home connections (several Google Home hubs, Philips Hue lights, LIFX lights etc) all of which require WiFi connections either to a hub (e.g. Phillips Hue) or directly (e.g. LIFX). *IF* I was to keep the same SSID on the Ignite Modem as I have on my current router setup, and use the same passwords etc, will I be able to maintain seamless connections to all my WiFi devices, or will the fact that, even with same SSID and passwords, it is a different piece of physical hardware with a different IP and MAC address etc mean I will need to reestablish a new and updated WiFI connection to every single all device? Clearly I'd rather avoid that pain in the um, neck, but not sure if I can circumvent this once a new modem is installed.
Yes, if you reuse the same SSID and passphrase, your devices should simply reconnect to the Ignite WiFi... and if a device does not reconnect to the new WiFi network immediately, it will likely only require a reboot... unless you have band steering enabled and the device is incompatible with it.
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