Missing Channels on Legacy

[DJD2]

I'm not too techy but I've been wrestling with an issue of missing channels for a couple of weeks. I will note that we are on Digital and not Ignite. We have two older boxes. A Scientific Atlanta - 4250HD and a PVR. We own both boxes. They have served us well. A couple of weeks ago we suddenly were missing many channels. Error message said Tuning and then flipped to a message saying  "Channel not available, Try again later".  I did have a Service Technician last week who checked signals inside, outside and at the junction box and said the signals were acceptable. He went back to his van to make some calls and returned saying the issue was isolated and was a result of a maintenance issue in the back office which I trust this is the same as the "Head End" which I have read in other similar posts. Less than 24 hours later the missing channels were returned. However, a couple of days later the missing channels issue reappeared (Friday of last week) and it remains unresolved. Another ticket was opened and a Senior Tech was here today. He rechecked signals and he brought with him an temporary box (Netbox) which worked. He looked at the settings in the Scientific Atlanta box and the box was showing as Broadcast mode vs Ready which he said was the problem. But even so we are getting some channels.  All of the channels I'm missing appear to be broadcasting on QAM Frequency 753. While the ones we are getting are on different QAM frequencies. I as well, as I read in previous posts from December 2022,  have raised yet another ticket. The agents again tried to go through their remote troubleshooting which I accommodated but I knew it would not fix the issue and I requested that the ticket be escalated to the back-office (Head-End??). I ensured the agent noted the issue with the QAM frequency 753 as noted. Just keeping my fingers crossed that the issue will be resolved within 24 hours. However. if resolved I fear the issue will return in a short time. I welcome your comments or suggestions. Thx

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[AV_Fan]

I have the exact issue a few months ago and like you said the channel freq is always 753 MHz when the problem occurred. In my case, the channels affected include The Weather Network (586), TSN1 (494), TSN3 (496) to name a few.

Long story short, I escalated the issue and after multiple tech visits including a senior tech spanning 2 months I was told that the issue was related to the fact that my area had been migrated to what they call a RPHY node (to accommodate Ignite TV as I understand) and that the 'Channel Unavailable' problem is something their maintenance team would need to resolve. However, after many rounds of opening tickets and Rogers automatically closing them due to 'no issues found on their end', the issue was never resolved.

I ended up migrating to Ignite TV to circumvent the problem.

Just want to share my experience. Good luck!

[57]

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@DJD2 wrote:

Error message said Tuning and then flipped to a message saying  "Channel not available, Try again later".  

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This is definitely an issue with the SDV channels (Switched Digital Video).  The return signal from your box is not getting back to the node or the head end, so the channel is not being sent to you.  The other channels that you get are either always being sent from the head end/node, or are being requested by other customers in your neighbourhood that have a good return signal.   As certain channels that are SDV are tuned by your neighbours, they will come and go on your box.

This can be due to a poor cable, or a poor splitter, either inside or outside the home, or an issue with the node or the head end.  Rogers should be able to pinpoint the issue and correct it for you, however, as you say, they are not spending any more time than absolutely necessary on Legacy Digital Cable customers.  The fact that your return signal is not working also affects On Demand because your signal is not getting through to the head end.

This sort of signal issue may also affect Ignite, but that would depend.  Here's a wiki on SDV.

https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/how-switched-digital-video-works.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched_video#:~:text=Switched%20video%20sends%20the%20digital%20vide....

Here's my previous FAQ on another forum:

https://www.digitalhome.ca/threads/57-faq-tips-for-sa-cisco-stbs-also-pace.17719/#post-1166439

[DJD2]

Thanks for your comments. After escalating again yesterday to the Head End my channels returned today. Don't know if they did anything or if it was just a fluke. Guess I will keep my fingers crossed.  Thanks again for your detailed comments.