Cox Cable Cards

[tivocrazy]

When I had my problem Cox told me that the cable card manufacturer was the one that set the copyright protection code and not them. Of course, I did not care WHO set the code but wanted it fixed which is why they had me try the single cards. You need a higher level of Cox support to contact SA to find out what they are doing about fixing it.

[JayBird]

Cox television just made my crap that is not worth what I pay list of services I can be saving money on every month. I'll be calling and e/snail-mailing them to voice my displeasure with what looks like every channel above ~20 being set as CCI=0x02 on my CableCards. I'm giving them until the end of February to restore CCI to 0x00 and my ability to use MRV and TTG on non-premium content channels before I cancel my service and use an alternative.

Thankfully this also supposedly stops people with Cox leased set tops from copying to their PCs via FireWire or I'd be so mad right now I'd be driving down to the nearest Cox store to throw my CableCards and other equipment through their windows.

I suggest that everyone else who has a TiVo with CableCards on Cox as a provider contact them via every possible method and strongly express your displeasure with this change in copy protection policy, even if it hasn't been done in your area yet. Knowing Cox you'll all be in the same boat as myself and others shortly.

I can't stand being treated like a criminal when all I want to do is move shows around my house or copy them to a portable device or my laptop to watch when I am out of town.

I filed a complaint with the FCC on this issue. The response from Cox (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=6988297#post6988297) was pretty clear that they aren't interested in removing the copy protection bits. I think they would rather lose all of us TiVo customers than have to keep supporting us.

[ksalwitz]

it will only do SDV
Well I certainly hope not. As soon as they made the switch to SDV I lost the hockey package on my HD Tivo. Worked fine prior to that.

[jcaudle]

Well I certainly hope not. As soon as they made the switch to SDV I lost the hockey package on my HD Tivo. Worked fine prior to that.

One more reason to go to FiOs when it becomes available.

[ajwees41]

Well I certainly hope not. As soon as they made the switch to SDV I lost the hockey package on my HD Tivo. Worked fine prior to that.

maybe it got switched to sdv.

[Goofball]

When I had my problem Cox told me that the cable card manufacturer was the one that set the copyright protection code and not them. Of course, I did not care WHO set the code but wanted it fixed which is why they had me try the single cards. You need a higher level of Cox support to contact SA to find out what they are doing about fixing it.

The CableCard manufacturer has nothing to do with it. The CCI setting comes either set by the program distributor per program or is set on the cable head end per channel. Cox, at least in my area of Phoenix has decided to set CCI=0x02 on all of the channels in what amounts to the extended basic tier and up on their head end.

[LynnL999]

And the cable operators whinge and moan about how much internet traffic is taken up by bittorrent. Maybe if they had reasonable standards for copy protection, people wouldn't illegally download quite so much.

Why is Cox being so difficult about this? Are they just shills for the entertainment industry now? Are they their customers, or are the people who actually pay for their service?

[Supermurph]

I spoke with them yesterday and I was told that it's now an unknown release date. Atlanta still hasn't given the okay to start shipping them to the customers.

All of the newer HD channels are SDV. I'm missing about 10 channels that I would get with the resolver.

Actually, none of the new HD channels in AZ are SDV. They're just doing a slow roll out. I live in Scottsdale and receive all of the new HD channels as of last month (CNNHD, SciFiHD, GreenHD, etc.). You have the channels on your guide because Tivo's guide provider does not distinguish between the different areas of the Phoenix area. You should get the HD channels soon and I'd guess that Cox should be able to tell you when.

[Supermurph]

I filed a complaint with the FCC on this issue. The response from Cox (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=6988297#post6988297) was pretty clear that they aren't interested in removing the copy protection bits. I think they would rather lose all of us TiVo customers than have to keep supporting us.

If anybody gets any success even having a reasonable conversation with Cox on this, please post the method on this board. I tried about a month ago and I couldn't even get to anybody that understood how it worked.

[rorien_chan]

"I think they would rather lose all of us TiVo customers than have to keep supporting us."

This if from a letter from Cox, which was in response to my BBB complaint regarding unequal service to my non-cable company device.

"you are part of a very small group of customers currently limited by their one-way devices"

It seems to me that the amount of posts here regarding cable cards and tuning adapters this group is not "very small". Every contact I have had from higher ups at Cox has been very condescending, and usually they include incorrect information regarding my account. The only help I have gotten is directly from Tivo, or when I have Tivo 3-way call Cox with me. I have filed both BBB and FCC complaints, and only got a little more cooperation when I mentioned filing a second FCC complaint. I can tell they would rather lose us than support us, but non-support is a violation of Federal law, which they have already been taken to task for in a few states. I just don't know what it will take to get what I'm paying for out of them. Last week they called me to offer me a "deal" on telephone service. I almost up and cancelled everything right then and there, but I can't live without high speed internet and cable TV.

[djwilso]

Actually, none of the new HD channels in AZ are SDV. They're just doing a slow roll out. I live in Scottsdale and receive all of the new HD channels as of last month (CNNHD, SciFiHD, GreenHD, etc.). You have the channels on your guide because Tivo's guide provider does not distinguish between the different areas of the Phoenix area. You should get the HD channels soon and I'd guess that Cox should be able to tell you when.I agree. I have the new HD channels as well so they are not SDV. I have read that they will be available valley-wide here in the Phoenix metro area by the end of May at the latest.

Dennis

[teevoenaz]

I was told by a rep in Phx that they didn't carry M-Cards. I have my install tomorrow. We'll see.

[JayBird]

I was told by a rep in Phx that they didn't carry M-Cards. I have my install tomorrow. We'll see.

The reps don't know squat. It's been quite a while now that Cox abandoned using S-cards. Nowadays, the techs only have M-cards.

[Kershek]

I have an M-card in mine. I avoided S-cards because I heard there was a synch issue.

[Jedara]

Cox Cable guy installed M-card and digital tuner last night. We had software downloading problems that I won't go into. The end result is that I have the updated software and I am receiving most of the channels but some of them (such as the CW or Lifetime) are not coming through. I get a grey screen and a message that it's searching for signal: cable in.

Reset tivo this morning, no improvement.

Checked signal strength on the grey channels: no signal.

Checked channels for digital tuner, no problem there. Checked channels for cable card, no channels available. Is the M-card the problem? In other diagnostics, it looks like there's nothing wrong with it except for the fact that there are no channels when I use the "check channels" feature.

Went through set-up again. No help.

Removed m-card, rebooted, reinserted m-card, rebooted. No improvement.

Cable guy scheduled to return tonight. Any advice on what he should do? Do I need a new M-card, a new digital tuner? Did something go wrong with the installation of either?

Feeling pressed for time here (I'm at work), so I apologize if something doesn't make sense. Thanks!

[Follow Who?]

I am receiving most of the channels but some of them (such as the CW or Lifetime) are not coming through. I get a grey screen and a message that it's searching for signal: cable in.

I think you just need them to try a new CableCard. When I had my install my first M-Card had the grey screen (GSOD anyone?!?!:cool:) on all channels. He went right to a second card and then only a few channels had the grey screen. So he went to a third card and then we got the problem channels OK, but then others had a grey screen. The fourth card was the charm. All worked and have since.

Our guy didn't mess around. he said he had done quite a few TiVo's and the second everything was not perfect he didn't bother to troubleshoot, he just moved on the the next card. He said in his experience that was the best way to do it. He came to my house with four cards in his hand and said he had more on the truck if necessary.

[Jedara]

Cox Cable guy installed M-card and digital tuner last night. We had software downloading problems that I won't go into. The end result is that I have the updated software and I am receiving most of the channels but some of them (such as the CW or Lifetime) are not coming through. I get a grey screen and a message that it's searching for signal: cable in.

Reset tivo this morning, no improvement.

Checked signal strength on the grey channels: no signal.

Checked channels for digital tuner, no problem there. Checked channels for cable card, no channels available. Is the M-card the problem? In other diagnostics, it looks like there's nothing wrong with it except for the fact that there are no channels when I use the "check channels" feature.

Went through set-up again. No help.

Removed m-card, rebooted, reinserted m-card, rebooted. No improvement.

Cable guy scheduled to return tonight. Any advice on what he should do? Do I need a new M-card, a new digital tuner? Did something go wrong with the installation of either?

Feeling pressed for time here (I'm at work), so I apologize if something doesn't make sense. Thanks!
Update:

The Cox cable guy installed a new M-card and a new digital tuner. The M-card works, however, the digital tuner is not working fully. I think this is why I'm receiving most of my channels but not some (such as the CW, Lifetime, and Nickelodeon.) He did not know what else to do and asked his supervisor to call me today (no call so far).

Has anyone else experienced this problem with the Cox digital tuner? Where some of the channels are grey and you get a message saying "searching for signal in cable in"?

[teevoenaz]

The reps don't know squat. It's been quite a while now that Cox abandoned using S-cards. Nowadays, the techs only have M-cards.

Well, I had my install yesterday. Everything went well. He did indeed have an M-Card. It took ~ 2 hours for him to get all the channels working but they are there (Even HD). So far, so good.:up::up:

[deaddeeds]

Update:
Has anyone else experienced this problem with the Cox digital tuner? Where some of the channels are grey and you get a message saying "searching for signal in cable in"?

Check out the Fairfax County TA Forum!
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=412065&page=10

[Jedara]

SUCCESS! The Cox cable technician returned this morning with a new black cord. He'd done some research and learned that sometimes there's a problem with the cord that attaches the TA to the TiVo box and it doesn't grab all the channels, thereby resulting in a grey screen and the message: searching for signal in cable in.

Once he replaced the cord, all the channels appeared. HD channels, too! It also looks like I can dual-record using the one M-card, which is something I couldn't do before he replaced the cord.

I am reluctant to post the technician's name but I have to say: he was terrific. Patient, polite, and persistent. He could easily have left that first visit, once everything was installed, and left me to setup and discover the problems on my own. But he didn't want to close the job until he sure everything was working as it should. He said that he'd have his supervisor call me next week to double-check everything and that he'd ask his supe to offer me HBO or Cinemax as compensation for my trouble.

[Sandi]

Had a technician here for signal quality problem. When here he ended up having to re-pair the cable cards on one TIVO (other is/was fine) as the analog channels were missing. digital and Premium channels still worked. After he left we realized that HBO was gone. Called today to have them resend the signal which did not fix the problem and they are sending someone out. While the tech was trying to get it to work over the phone he informed me that cable cards would only be around for about another year and the next year the "Cable Cards 2.0" would be out and that nothing that now accepts cable cards will be able to accept the new cards.

Does he actually know what he is talking about, our TIVOs will not be able to accept new cable cards when they are out?

I'm with Cox Omaha.

Thanks

Sandi

[wierdo]

Had a technician here for signal quality problem. When here he ended up having to re-pair the cable cards on one TIVO (other is/was fine) as the analog channels were missing. digital and Premium channels still worked. After he left we realized that HBO was gone. Called today to have them resend the signal which did not fix the problem and they are sending someone out. While the tech was trying to get it to work over the phone he informed me that cable cards would only be around for about another year and the next year the "Cable Cards 2.0" would be out and that nothing that now accepts cable cards will be able to accept the new cards.

Does he actually know what he is talking about, our TIVOs will not be able to accept new cable cards when they are out?

I'm with Cox Omaha.

Thanks

Sandi

He doesn't know what he's talking about. It may be that Cox Omaha will be rolling out M-Cards (they don't have them in Tulsa), but that won't make your old cards stop working, it'll just give you the option of using only one card in a TiVo HD.

[cliffdwelling]

I am having a huge problem with Cox Cable in Tucson. They canceled a third time on me today. Yeah, that's right, three times I have made an appointment to install cable cards and they have an excuse everytime on why they can't get to me. I don't know what to do anymore.

The first scheduled time they called after I had waited 2:45 minutes and said the tech didn't have the right card on the truck and needed to reschedule for the following day. The next day I waited an hour and called to make sure they were coming and they said that they did not have me scheduled. Today they didn't show and when I called after the two hour wait and asked why they couldn't make it, and the guy said they had tried to call( was home the whole time) and didn't get an answer so they canceled. I asked why they didn't just show up, they replied they didn't know if I had a Tivo or a TV that needed a cable card, and that they did not have a tuning adapter on truck.

I believe they are making excuses for some reason, and I can't figure out what the problem is and they won't give me a straight answer. What can I do? Help!!

[jcaudle]

I am having a huge problem with Cox Cable in Tucson. They canceled a third time on me today. Yeah, that's right, three times I have made an appointment to install cable cards and they have an excuse everytime on why they can't get to me. I don't know what to do anymore.

The first scheduled time they called after I had waited 2:45 minutes and said the tech didn't have the right card on the truck and needed to reschedule for the following day. The next day I waited an hour and called to make sure they were coming and they said that they did not have me scheduled. Today they didn't show and when I called after the two hour wait and asked why they couldn't make it, and the guy said they had tried to call( was home the whole time) and didn't get an answer so they canceled. I asked why they didn't just show up, they replied they didn't know if I had a Tivo or a TV that needed a cable card, and that they did not have a tuning adapter on truck.

I believe they are making excuses for some reason, and I can't figure out what the problem is and they won't give me a straight answer. What can I do? Help!!

If they cancel, you can get them for a $20 service credit on each canceled visit....call customer service.

[drey]

I am having a huge problem with Cox Cable in Tucson. They canceled a third time on me today. Yeah, that's right, three times I have made an appointment to install cable cards and they have an excuse everytime on why they can't get to me. I don't know what to do anymore.

The first scheduled time they called after I had waited 2:45 minutes and said the tech didn't have the right card on the truck and needed to reschedule for the following day. The next day I waited an hour and called to make sure they were coming and they said that they did not have me scheduled. Today they didn't show and when I called after the two hour wait and asked why they couldn't make it, and the guy said they had tried to call( was home the whole time) and didn't get an answer so they canceled. I asked why they didn't just show up, they replied they didn't know if I had a Tivo or a TV that needed a cable card, and that they did not have a tuning adapter on truck.

I believe they are making excuses for some reason, and I can't figure out what the problem is and they won't give me a straight answer. What can I do? Help!!

I'm in Tucson too. Cox uses contractors to install TiVo cards, most of those contractors have no idea what TiVo is. Ask for a phone number of the guy who will be coming and talk to him or his supervisor directly.

Also, as other posted suggested, deman Cox to issue you a credit for their cancellation.

-- Andrey

[cliffdwelling]

If they cancel, you can get them for a $20 service credit on each canceled visit....call customer service.

Yes, I had requested the credit and they have said it is pending.Thanks

But today (Sunday) they called out of the blue and showed up around three to install 2 Scientific Atlanta cards into two separate HD tivos. No problem with the cards, but when I asked the guy if I needed a tuning adapter for the SDV-he said he didn't know what I was talking about.
I really did not pursue it except explain what I knew about SDV and that it was being used in Phoenix and believed it was deployed in Tucson. He then acknowleged that he did know what I was talking about but didn't seem to want to go any further in the discussion. I dont know if it was because he didn't want to seem uneducated or the fact that he said at first -"He didn't know what I was talking about".
I still am trying to learn all this by myself, because Cox definitely hasn't given any help in understanding what to expect.
I am not getting all of my channels for sure.
I don't even know what channels I should get.

[Supermurph]

No problem with the cards, but when I asked the guy if I needed a tuning adapter for the SDV-he said he didn't know what I was talking about.

In the Phoenix area you can pick up the Tuning Adapters at the Cox Digital Store and install them yourself. So, if you want to get one, just walk in to a Cox Store in Tucson and ask for one. If they don't know what you're talking about, you will know that they aren't available in Tucson yet.

One other thought is that if you don't notice any channels missing that you want to watch, you don't really need a Tuning Adapter yet anyway. ;-)

[cliffdwelling]

Yes,
I picked up the tuning adapters and hooked them up and called to activate.
One adapter performed right, but the other is still not working. I have disconnected it after a technician came out and he couldn't get it working.
Cox technicians and CS reps are learning about this technology on the fly.
I think there are only a couple of channels that I don't get without the adapter, so I have one disconnected. I will just wait until they get a little better practice and knowledge, before I attempt to have the other connected.

This whole process with Cox and the Tivo box and cable cards was a tedious process
and I am content with just the cable cards working properly.

[mcdowd]

This post describes my positive experience with Cox San Diego.

Cox SD sent a technician to my home yesterday to install Cablecard(s) into my Tivo HD XL. The process was painless. The installer was a Cox employee, who was professional, courteous and knowledgeable. He had installed Cable Cards on numerous Tivos in the past.

The installer came armed with a SA Cable Card M and a pair of SA Cable Card S’s as backups; he acknowledged the Cable Card’s hit and miss quality reputation and wanted to be prepared. He installed the M, our shared preference, and the Tivo immediately saw it and started updating the card's software. After the card updated itself, which took about 5 minutes, he called the home office, registered the card and was ready to go...almost.

We were not getting any digital cable channels (100+) after he completed the initial installation. After checking the Tivo’s connections and signal strength, the installer called the home office again. The home office told him to release the account on the computer in his truck.

Sure enough, this fixed the problem and everyone was happy.

Some lessons learned (some picked up from this very site) for Cox San Diego customers (and others)...


Set up your Tivo several days before the installation. This gives the unit time to update software as needed and it prevents the installer from walking back out the door. Officially, the installer is only supposed to work on a connected Tivo.


Force your Tivo to restart itself prior to the installer’s arrival. Based on my observations, some of Tivo’s software updates don’t kick in until the unit restarts itself. Better to force the restart prior to the installer’s arrival instead of waiting for Tivo to implement a significant software upgrade while the installer is trying to do their thing.


Despite what customer service tells you, Cox San Diego uses M and S cards.


Customer service told me that Cox will only charge for a single Cable Card when they install the 2 S cards. Customer service has a permanent discount code they will use to credit the fee that’s automatically generated when the second Cable Card is added to the account.


Cox San Diego is not using Tuning Adapters. (TAs)


Push back on the $75 installation fee. I told them that such a fee was ridiculous in light of the facts that ATT is coming and Dish and DirectTV are already here. Customer Retention issued the credit after I was bounced a few times between Customer Service and Sales.


Have your Tivo connected to either the internet or the phone line so the Cable Card(s) can update themselves, if necessary.


Politely ask the installer to clear your account from the computer in his truck before starting the installation process.

All in all, it was a great experience.

[socalgman]

Made the jump from a S2 Tivo with a non HD box rental, to Tivo HD with cablecard.

Customer Service:

When I called Cox in Northern Virginia to make the change to Cablecard, they did try to encourage me to not make the change. When I persisted, they informed me that I would lose my discount for bundled services. They also said that I would need two cards, but I told them they could give me ONE M-card instead. (Note: They were actually going to let me pick up the cablecard and self install, but then they offered the essentially free truck roll, so I took that option instead). Anyway, with dropping the bundle discount, I suggested that since I wasn't bundled anymore, there was no need to keep the phone service, since I mostly use my cell phone now. They did end up making concessions, and by time I was done my monthly billing did drop about $40 from where I started due to some promotions that they put me on (including $5 monthly discount on digital gateway), plus they gave me HD (didnt have the service before) and a programming service credit to cover the $19.99 truck roll. They said they were charging me $19.99 because they considered the cablecard install an "upgrade install". I maintained all of my previous service levels, except for the addition of HD. My concession was that I had to put some of my services on a subscriber agreement, and an hour of my life that I'll never get back.

Truck Roll:

The tech was a Cox employee, and he showed up the day after my CS call, on a sunday morning. He had a SA M-card in his pocket, but with the short notice of the job, he didnt have a tuning adapter with him. He made arrangements to return with one. The setup went quickly, and there were no errors. After setup, I did note a lack of several HD channels, to which he attributed the lack of the adapter. He told me during setup that he doesnt do many cablecard installs because not many customers ask for them, tho he had worked tivo setups previously. Tech was very pleased that I had all of the initial setup work done before he got here. A hint: On a fresh Tivo box, just keep manually connecting to the tivo service through 'settings', and it will force the download of the updated system software. Mine was at ver 11 in no time by doing this... but I probably had to connect 5-6 times. Also, it required a system reboot through the settings menu, but the tivo box told me when this was needed.

Overall:

The CS rep was really fantastic, and the technician, while not entirely versed in the tivo, did just fine. I also liked the confirmation email that Cox sent me to put in writing what we discussed on the phone, and also what the technician did while he was here. Nice touch, Cox. I know that Cox CS hasnt always been legendary, but they did right by me this time. I like the Tivo HD (upgraded to 750GB HDD) and like the integration of the cablecard into the tivo. We'll see if the adapter gets me my missing channels!

[Kershek]

Interesting experience. Thanks for posting it.

Which channels are missing for you?

[socalgman]

Interesting experience. Thanks for posting it.

Which channels are missing for you?

Honestly, the majority of the HD channels were missing. I didn't note. Some of the major networks, CNN, etc. Same Cox tech came back today with the tuning adapter. TA booted up, light went solid green, plugged USB into Tivo, and no change. Still missing many channels. Tech thought that the signal may have been weak. I knew that wasnt the case though. We ended up going to the tivo settings and restarting (per posting in this forum). After boot, the tivo displayed the mapping channels screen, and voila. I now have all of my channels.

I got alot out of reading this forum in preparation for this change, and it was more than helpful. I wanted to give back a little by posting my experience.

[AZDad]

I'm looking for some good advice for those of you in PHX. I am new to the HD world but not new to Tivo or Cox. I currently have Cox cable (no box) with a Series 1 and 2 Tivo boxes in my house. I ran out tonight and picked me up a nice Sony Bravia and now I have to make a content decision. Should I stay with Cox? I love Tivo and I have been happy with Cox. We get our high speed internet through Cox as well. I will not consider the Cox DVR as it looks like crap from what I have seen.

So, my dilemma is: Cox with Tivo Series 3 cable card or go with Dish or Directv. I prefer to stay with Cox but all the cable card problems reported on this forum are scaring me away. The Best Buy rep today told me that he thought the Cox issues have gone away with the cable cards. Is this true?

Please share any good (and bad) experiences you are having with Cox in PHX with Tivo Series 3 + cable card. :confused:

[Kershek]

Honestly, the majority of the HD channels were missing.
Depending on where you are in the city, you may not yet have all the channels that TiVo says you have. For instance, I'm in East Mesa, and I have several channels that don't work in the HD range. This is because they are doing a rollout of new channels across the valley and our area hasn't had them turned on yet, although last I heard it was supposed to happen in May. TiVo got the word that we were getting new channels and added them to my box, but they didn't know when they would appear, so I just have to wait.

[taylorwilken]

We've been a Tivo owner for 7 years, and just purchased a new Tivo HD, and upgraded our Cox (Oklahoma City) service to digital and HD. We're trying to get it set up with a cablecard and it's been a bit of a disaster.

The TiVo cablecard hotline has been wonderful, but we have had no luck getting to someone who knows anything about cablecards at Cox.

Here's the issue:

M-Card goes in fine, they call it in and activate it. However the Main CA screen shows Status: Not Staged , which I think is the critical problem.

Everything else looks good, but the channels are all "NOT_ENT" We have no channels whatsoever except the local stations, in both standard and HD (Channels 1-15 and 701-715)

No one at Cox knows what the Status message means or thinks it's relevant in any way. There's a "Authorization Received" message on the main screen with the phone number, so they say that's all they can do.

They have made two trips out so far and have tried 5 M-Cards and an S-Card. All cards show the same "Not Staged" error. TiVo has replaced the HD unit, though Tivo and I both agree that's likely not the problem, we're just trying to pacify Cox, who was maintaining the unit must be bad.

Does anyone know what this error means and how it could be corrected? They (Cox) are coming out again on Friday, and I would like to be educated a little better. I will be calling the hotline while they are out as well. I think it may be a matter of getting to the right person the tech calls in to when they are out at my house, the techs don't seem to know anything about cablecards.

Thanks for any help you can give.

[jrm01]

As I responded on your similar post on tivo.com:

I have seen several reports with this same error message. In all cases it was fixed when, in the words of the poster, Cox finally got someone at the headend office who knew what they were doing. There seems to be some complications in how the cards are entered into their system and assigned to your account.

You may ask them to try and change your account to eliminate the cablecards from it, then start over and add cablecards back onto the account.

[Johncv]

This post describes my positive experience with Cox San Diego.

Cox SD sent a technician to my home yesterday to install Cablecard(s) into my Tivo HD XL. The process was painless. The installer was a Cox employee, who was professional, courteous and knowledgeable. He had installed Cable Cards on numerous Tivos in the past.

The installer came armed with a SA Cable Card M and a pair of SA Cable Card S’s as backups; he acknowledged the Cable Card’s hit and miss quality reputation and wanted to be prepared. He installed the M, our shared preference, and the Tivo immediately saw it and started updating the card's software. After the card updated itself, which took about 5 minutes, he called the home office, registered the card and was ready to go...almost.

We were not getting any digital cable channels (100+) after he completed the initial installation. After checking the Tivo’s connections and signal strength, the installer called the home office again. The home office told him to release the account on the computer in his truck.

Sure enough, this fixed the problem and everyone was happy.

Some lessons learned (some picked up from this very site) for Cox San Diego customers (and others)...


Set up your Tivo several days before the installation. This gives the unit time to update software as needed and it prevents the installer from walking back out the door. Officially, the installer is only supposed to work on a connected Tivo.


Force your Tivo to restart itself prior to the installer’s arrival. Based on my observations, some of Tivo’s software updates don’t kick in until the unit restarts itself. Better to force the restart prior to the installer’s arrival instead of waiting for Tivo to implement a significant software upgrade while the installer is trying to do their thing.


Despite what customer service tells you, Cox San Diego uses M and S cards.


Customer service told me that Cox will only charge for a single Cable Card when they install the 2 S cards. Customer service has a permanent discount code they will use to credit the fee that’s automatically generated when the second Cable Card is added to the account.


Cox San Diego is not using Tuning Adapters. (TAs)


Push back on the $75 installation fee. I told them that such a fee was ridiculous in light of the facts that ATT is coming and Dish and DirectTV are already here. Customer Retention issued the credit after I was bounced a few times between Customer Service and Sales.


Have your Tivo connected to either the internet or the phone line so the Cable Card(s) can update themselves, if necessary.


Politely ask the installer to clear your account from the computer in his truck before starting the installation process.

All in all, it was a great experience.

Cox San Diego seem to be more on ball. In fact the installer who came out to install the SA-M card wish that Cox would dump the SA boxes and just use TiVo’s.

Just asking, did your cable card receive a firmware update? My box receive it last Sunday. Just would like to know what was updated.

[mcdowd]

Johncv,

My CableCard updated itself as soon as it was plugged into the my Tivo.

Michael

[gideonse]

Cox San Diego is demanding $75 for Cable Card installation. Is that even legal? And is there anyway to make that go away?

[jcaudle]

Cox San Diego is demanding $75 for Cable Card installation. Is that even legal? And is there anyway to make that go away?

Its 29 bucks for a truck roll here with Cox Northern Virginia. Of course the fees vary by each area. I want Fios.

[ajwees41]

I want tivo on the cox dvr

[tivocrazy]

Believe it or not there was a press release issued about 3 years ago where Cox was going to allow Tivo to create the UI for the Cox DVR's. I have not seen anything since. Heard that it had be trialed in Rhode Island but never got any further. Anyone know anymore about this?

[Kershek]

I heard that was only for specific pilot areas that had a Motorola HDR.

Believe it or not there was a press release issued about 3 years ago where Cox was going to allow Tivo to create the UI for the Cox DVR's. I have not seen anything since. Heard that it had be trialed in Rhode Island but never got any further. Anyone know anymore about this?

[ajwees41]

I hope they are just waiting for Tru2way and then they will launch on the motorola platform.

[LynnL999]

Unless they can manage to produce a Moto box that can hold more than ~15 hours of HD, or permits expansion, it hardly matters if it has TiVo software or not, IMO. The lack of hard drive space is what finally tipped me over to an HD TiVo.

[moyekj]

The TiVo software on Moto boxes in Comcast test markets was a huge flop so I wouldn't bother waiting for whatever may eventually materialize with Cox. Perhaps new hardware will help but you will never have all the flexibility of standalone Tivos anyway so just get the real thing.

[CrispyCritter]

Believe it or not there was a press release issued about 3 years ago where Cox was going to allow Tivo to create the UI for the Cox DVR's. I have not seen anything since. Heard that it had be trialed in Rhode Island but never got any further. Anyone know anymore about this?
The Cox public trials are supposed to be announced in the next month or two. There haven't been any public trials yet.

[cliffdwelling]

Cox San Diego is demanding $75 for Cable Card installation. Is that even legal? And is there anyway to make that go away?

They charged us 29.95 for the same thing and on the bill it says "Pro-Install"
which was everything but. I had to guide the tech through the process and they probably should have paid us for the class training the guy received on the job.

Probably no way to avoid charge, but maybe you could call and ask why the charge is so much more than Southern Arizona Cox. I had earlier compared Cox- San Diego service charges to Tucson and found San Diego cheaper across the board, so this is surprising. Maybe they will negotiate. Good Luck.

[juanian]

I haven't seen this posted, so I don't know if is possible or not.

I have Cox in Phoenix. Would I be able to get a reduced charge (or no charge) if I bring my TiVo into a Cox store to have the CableCards installed? (Actually, I think I heard that Cox Phoenix has the M cards, so I guess it would only be one card.)

I'm guessing it is not possible (since I haven't seen it brought up as a less-costly alternative). But, isn't the pairing of the CC with the TiVo (and not some other device) the reason the cable companies use their own personnel (or their paid contractors) to do the CC install?

[Shawn95GT]

You can't do it in the store, has to be done at your house.

Your best bet is to try to negotiate the fee.

[cliffdwelling]

I haven't seen this posted, so I don't know if is possible or not.

I have Cox in Phoenix. Would I be able to get a reduced charge (or no charge) if I bring my TiVo into a Cox store to have the CableCards installed? (Actually, I think I heard that Cox Phoenix has the M cards, so I guess it would only be one card.)

I'm guessing it is not possible (since I haven't seen it brought up as a less-costly alternative). But, isn't the pairing of the CC with the TiVo (and not some other device) the reason the cable companies use their own personnel (or their paid contractors) to do the CC install?

No, they won't let you bring it to there store, I tried.
No way as of now to avoid charge, and yes the multi-stream card is what they inserted in Tucson.

[gsu13]

I have searched the thread but have not seen this answered. I have the very basic analog Cox subscription and Series 1 and 2 Tivos here in Northern VA. I am considering upgrading to a Series 3 HD Tivo, but I am unclear if I can just connect my coax directly into the Tivo and get the HD channels I currently get. I have split my coax into the Tivo 2 and HDTV, so I get several HD channels on the TV (4.1, 7.1, 9.1, 26.1,etc.) that don't show up on the Tivo. Can I get those same channels with the HD Tivo, or will I need a cablecard (or two) and therefore digital cable service? Thanks for your help and expertise!

[CrispyCritter]

I have searched the thread but have not seen this answered. I have the very basic analog Cox subscription and Series 1 and 2 Tivos here in Northern VA. I am considering upgrading to a Series 3 HD Tivo, but I am unclear if I can just connect my coax directly into the Tivo and get the HD channels I currently get. I have split my coax into the Tivo 2 and HDTV, so I get several HD channels on the TV (4.1, 7.1, 9.1, 26.1,etc.) that don't show up on the Tivo. Can I get those same channels with the HD Tivo, or will I need a cablecard (or two) and therefore digital cable service? Thanks for your help and expertise!
With an HD-Tivo, you can get those channels with your current cable setup, but will probably not have TiVo guide information on them (see the QAM threads) so can only do time-based recording on them. Depending on exactly where you are, it may be reasonable to have an HD-TiVo accept input from both your current very basic subscription, and also an antenna input for OTA HD signals. That's what I would do if I only wanted your current channels, since you'll get TiVo guide info for the OTA channels.

[cliffdwelling]

I have searched the thread but have not seen this answered. I have the very basic analog Cox subscription and Series 1 and 2 Tivos here in Northern VA. I am considering upgrading to a Series 3 HD Tivo, but I am unclear if I can just connect my coax directly into the Tivo and get the HD channels I currently get. I have split my coax into the Tivo 2 and HDTV, so I get several HD channels on the TV (4.1, 7.1, 9.1, 26.1,etc.) that don't show up on the Tivo. Can I get those same channels with the HD Tivo, or will I need a cablecard (or two) and therefore digital cable service? Thanks for your help and expertise!

The answer is yes, but you won't have to split the coax, as the HD-Tivo has a cable input and antennae (OTA) input. When you setup it will search and grab all your cable channels and your OTA channels and Tivo should have info on all the locals.

[gsu13]

Thanks so much for the quick replies, CrispyCritter and Cliffdwelling. I found the posts on the clear QAM issue and that is so disappointing of Tivo. I don't get good OTA so would not want to do cable plus OTA since I think while i would have program info for the HD channels, the Tivo would still try to record off the antenna, and there wouldn't be much of a stable picture. Thanks again - I'll probably look at something else besides Tivo HD

[juanian]

No, they won't let you bring it to there store, I tried.
No way as of now to avoid charge, and yes the multi-stream card is what they inserted in Tucson.

Now I'm confused . . .

I just called to get two cablecards added (and to remove the Cox HD DVR). The woman said that they don't have multi-stream cards. She also said that I can go to any Cox store, bring the Cox HD DVR, and they will give me two cablecards.

Is that true -- will they give me two cablecards to install myself, or is she "confused"? (She did say that I would have to call Cox when I installed them to activate them, which is fine.)

[Johncv]

Now I'm confused . . .

I just called to get two cablecards added (and to remove the Cox HD DVR). The woman said that they don't have multi-stream cards. She also said that I can go to any Cox store, bring the Cox HD DVR, and they will give me two cablecards.

Is that true -- will they give me two cablecards to install myself, or is she "confused"? (She did say that I would have to call Cox when I installed them to activate them, which is fine.)

If that is what she told you, Yes you can install them yourself, just record the card id numbers before you install them. Then you then call Cox and tell them the numbers from the cards which are input into the server. You then go to the cable card setup screen and the cards should pair with the server. If you run into any problem you can call TiVo ask for a three way conference with you, TiVo, and Cox.

[djwilso]

If that is what she told you, Yes you can install them yourself, just record the card id numbers before you install them. Then you then call Cox and tell them the numbers from the cards which are input into the server. You then go to the cable card setup screen and the cards should pair with the server. If you run into any problem you can call TiVo ask for a three way conference with you, TiVo, and Cox.I don't know if it has changed, but here in Phoenix I was told a very similar story 3 years ago when I was trying to get my CableCards.

When I showed up at the retail location and asked for the cards, they had no idea what I was talking about and told me that the CSR was misinformed. Shocking (sarcasm). The cards would require a tech to come to my house and install them for me. Because it takes such a high level of technical ability to push a PCMCIA card into a slot.

And that's what I ended up doing. Three years later, the cards are still working just fine along with the SDV Tuning Adapter (which I was able to pick up at the retail store).

Dennis

[Johncv]

I don't know if it has changed, but here in Phoenix I was told a very similar story 3 years ago when I was trying to get my CableCards.

When I showed up at the retail location and asked for the cards, they had no idea what I was talking about and told me that the CSR was misinformed. Shocking (sarcasm). The cards would require a tech to come to my house and install them for me. Because it takes such a high level of technical ability to push a PCMCIA card into a slot.

And that's what I ended up doing. Three years later, the cards are still working just fine along with the SDV Tuning Adapter (which I was able to pick up at the retail store).

Dennis

It seem like it done differently depending on where you live. The only way juanian is to find out is to go to the Cox office and ask for one miti-stream card or two single stream cards. I would suggest taking the TiVo manual with you.

[juanian]

Thanks for the info Johncv and Dennis. I had figured that I'd give it a shot (going to the store and trying to get an M-CC, or 2 S-CCs if they didn't have M-CCs). If they told me that they must make a service call to install them, I'd try and asked for a reduced installation charge (for my "inconvenience" of coming to the store myself after I was told I could do it myself); it's worth a try, right!

I'll also bring the TiVo manual -- good suggestion. Just to be on the safe side, I'll also try and be familiar with the potential problems and solutions (just to appear that I know what I'll be doing when I go to install the cards :) ).

I had been wondering about SDV channels here in Phoenix. Is there any list of what channels are currently SDV here? (I'll assume that they can change which channels are SDV whenever they want as demand varies, so a 'recent' list may be good enough.) Should I just go ahead and get the Tuning Adapter while I'm at it?

[Johncv]

Thanks for the info Johncv and Dennis. I had figured that I'd give it a shot (going to the store and trying to get an M-CC, or 2 S-CCs if they didn't have M-CCs). If they told me that they must make a service call to install them, I'd try and asked for a reduced installation charge (for my "inconvenience" of coming to the store myself after I was told I could do it myself); it's worth a try, right!

I'll also bring the TiVo manual -- good suggestion. Just to be on the safe side, I'll also try and be familiar with the potential problems and solutions (just to appear that I know what I'll be doing when I go to install the cards :) ).

I had been wondering about SDV channels here in Phoenix. Is there any list of what channels are currently SDV here? (I'll assume that they can change which channels are SDV whenever they want as demand varies, so a 'recent' list may be good enough.) Should I just go ahead and get the Tuning Adapter while I'm at it?

Oh, you want to make two trips to the Cox office? :rolleyes: Yes, ask if they use SDV, if they do, then request a Tuning Adapter. :D

[LynnL999]

Just wanted to offer a positive word to those who might be considering TiVo and are terrified about the cable card hassle -- I've had two installed in two HD TiVo's in the past 6 weeks. I live in Orange County, CA. The installers were on time (one was even early, they called to make sure it was ok) and the installs were relatively painless. Everything has been working fine since then on both TiVos (knock wood that it continues). Just a positive thought for anyone who might be on the fence.

(We don't have tuning adapters here yet.)

[cpt09135]

Just wanted to offer a positive word to those who might be considering TiVo and are terrified about the cable card hassle -- I've had two installed in two HD TiVo's in the past 6 weeks. I live in Orange County, CA. The installers were on time (one was even early, they called to make sure it was ok) and the installs were relatively painless. Everything has been working fine since then on both TiVos (knock wood that it continues). Just a positive thought for anyone who might be on the fence.

(We don't have tuning adapters here yet.)

That's great to hear. I'm in Orange County also, and I have 3 Cox DVR's, but I'd like to start trying Tivo soon. I assume you don't get 753, Travel HD on the Tivo?

[joycentucson]

the tivo hdr finally hit the price i was willing 2 pay for, so here's my experience here in tucson, az.
when my tivo arrived there were detailed instrux 2 cable card installer, which i thought was really great.
sub-contractor came out today (sch was only out a few days), and brought a multi-chnl cablecard & the tuning adapter - instl fee was $29.95, no charge for tuning adapter (i had no idea it would be almost as large as a dvd player, looks ok tho)
the tech had experience with cable cards and had someone who was being trained with him, he really had no problems - it was the office, after a few calls to them, who made the job longer. So, all in all it was a good experience :up:
====the tech never did look at the detailed tivo intrux tho~!====

prev cox phone call experiences:
*first time called (prob 6 mos ago) sales rep gave me such a hard time about doing this, this time around got no flak from rep at all.
*told could pick up box at cox store twice, then when asked to double check this - came back and said no, someone would have to come out.

i believe that since the technology's been around a while cox has played catch-up and i highly recommend this :D

[LynnL999]

That's great to hear. I'm in Orange County also, and I have 3 Cox DVR's, but I'd like to start trying Tivo soon. I assume you don't get 753, Travel HD on the Tivo?

Correct. You also don't get Science HD, Animal Planet HD, and a handful of non-HD digital channels. It's unknown if the new HD channels we're supposed to get at the end of this month will be switched digital or not.

Hopefully, a functioning tuning adapter will be available soon.

[Johncv]

Correct. You also don't get Science HD, Animal Planet HD, and a handful of non-HD digital channels. It's unknown if the new HD channels we're supposed to get at the end of this month will be switched digital or not.

Hopefully, a functioning tuning adapter will be available soon.

That strange, here in San Diego we do get Science HD and Animal Planet HD, but Cox San Diego replace every copper wire with fiber optic years ago when they had @Home internet service. Miss it, it was faster then the top service I it get now. And I paid less for it :p

High Definition
700 HBO HD
701 HBO2 HD
702 ESPN2 HD
703 ESPN HD
704 Channel 4 San Diego HD
705 Fox HD
706 CW HD
707 NBC HD
708 CBS HD
709 KUSI HD
710 ABC HD
711 PBS HD
718 National Geographic HD
719 ABC Family HD
724 Discovery Channel HD
728 USA HD
730 MTV HD
731 CNN HD
732 Palladia
733 TBS HD
734 TNT HD
735 HD Theater
736 TLC HD
737 Fox News HD
738 Lifetime HD
740 Showtime HD
741 A&E HD
742 Bravo HD
743 FX HD
745 Spike HD
746 VH1 HD
747 Nickelodeon HD
748 Comedy Central HD
749 E! HD
750 Cartoon HD
751 Golf HD
752 Disney HD
753 HGTV HD
754 Animal Planet HD
755 History Channel HD
756 Speed HD
757 AMC HD
760 Travel Channel HD
761 CMT HD
762 CNBC HD
763 Syfy HD
765 Universal HD
767 Food Network HD
768 BET HD
770 MLB HD
772 NFL Network HD
773 NHL Network HD
780 Cinemax HD
782 Science Channel HD
783 Planet Green HD
790 Starz HD
796 Game HD (NHL/MLB)
797 Team HD (NBA)
798 Pay-Per-View HD
799 On Demand HD
805 Music Choice HD On Demand
806 FearNet HD On Demand
807 Dew Action Sports HD On Demand
808 Fuse HD On Demand
809 MOJO HD On Demand
810 Sundance HD On Demand
812 Gospel Music HD On Demand
830 MTV HD On Demand
832 Palladia HD On Demand
841 A&E HD On Demand
845 Spike HD On Demand
846 VH1 HD On Demand
855 History Channel HD On Demand
856 Speed HD On Demand
860 Travel Channel HD On Demand
881 MAX HD On Demand
882 SHOW HD On Demand
883 STARZ HD On Demand

[Johncv]

Just wanted to offer a positive word to those who might be considering TiVo and are terrified about the cable card hassle -- I've had two installed in two HD TiVo's in the past 6 weeks. I live in Orange County, CA. The installers were on time (one was even early, they called to make sure it was ok) and the installs were relatively painless. Everything has been working fine since then on both TiVos (knock wood that it continues). Just a positive thought for anyone who might be on the fence.

(We don't have tuning adapters here yet.)

Cox San Diego rep knew what he was doing when install the SA m-card, told me he install seven TiVo’s that day. Also, told me that Cox San Diego is just waiting for the day when they can just push the Tivo’s interface and just dump the SA BS that have to deal with about the SA interface.

[jctivo]

Not sure if this is the correct forum.

But I just wanted to say I have ended my relationship with Cox.

The tuner adapter had continuous problems.

The copy-protection flag was not set correctly so I could not transfer shows to my computer that I should have been able to (i.e. non HBO shows).

Within 1 hour of having FIOS, I have transfered shows that I previously could not have with Cox.

Yes, I had contacted Cox several times about these issues but they played the blame game with Tivo.

I tried Cox. I tried.

[chestnu1]

I have had my tivo hd for almost a year and I figure that it is time I post the story of how I my cable card install here in Las Vegas went. First let me say that when I called to schedule a cable card install the CSR knew exactly what I was talking about. I asked for a Multi stream cable card (M card) and he knew what it was but he also said that they only use those here in Las Vegas. The only problem was that the soonest I could get someone out was a couple of days later on Friday. So got my tivo opened it up got it set up the day before the cable guy was suppose to come out and the night before it did a software update which is good. I go to school and come home to wait for the cable guy who due to bad traffic was late 15 minutes past the time window when he does show up I guess this was his first so he is on the phone not listening to me I gave him the piece of paper that has the instructions for cable cards on but he doesn't take a second look at it. He is looking around the back he must of thought that it was a series 3. So I tell him that this model loads the cable card in the front and that it only needs one cable card since he had M cards with him. He puts it in there and goes through the steps and the card does its firmware update. And here is where I had problems. This is when I had to leave and go to the doctor for an appointment. so I left the cable guy to do his thing and had my brother and sister supervise. On the way home I call them up and the cable guy had finished and left. But they were unable to go to any of the channels so I had them turn off the tivo think ing maybe they were using SDV (Which they weren't and still aren't) and plug in the cable box.(He also on the receipt for his visit also stated that he was on time) So the next day I am setting up the tivo in my room with my new tv and I hook it all up and I notice that I am not able to tune to any of the digital cable channels so I call up cox tell them about this and they look at every thing then they reset something on there end and all of a sudden it was working with all the channels.

So the moral of this very long story stay for the whole thing and dont let the cable guy leave till you have tested all the channels. But the whole thing went reasonably well and was well worth the trouble.

[alansh]

Unfortunately, as far as Cox is concerned, the copy-protection flag was set correctly -- they flag everything except broadcast channels. They claim this is because their content providers require it, but of course that's not true -- otherwise, FIOS would have that too. And also unfortunately, they're legally permitted to do this for everything except broadcast channels. I think the only cable channels they aren't flagging are the CSPANs.

I suspect they do it to make the TiVo less competitive with their own DVR.

[tivocrazy]

For what its worth, and it may not be worth anything...but here in southeastern virginia I had the same problem. When I reported to Cox that I was not able to transfer content to my computer they suspected the multi cable card in the Tivo. We swapped out the multi for two singles and the problem went away. Cox contacted Motorola (who supplies our cards here) and they were aware of the problem but gave Cox no timetable as to when they would fix it. I don;t care, two singles works for me.

[jcaudle]

They only seem to flag most of the HD channels with these Flags. Showtime for some reason isn't flagged here in Northern Va, the rest of the premium HDs are. TNT and other networks that were on HD prior to SDV are not flagged. HGTV is on HD, but not on its analog channel.


Unfortunately, as far as Cox is concerned, the copy-protection flag was set correctly -- they flag everything except broadcast channels. They claim this is because their content providers require it, but of course that's not true -- otherwise, FIOS would have that too. And also unfortunately, they're legally permitted to do this for everything except broadcast channels. I think the only cable channels they aren't flagging are the CSPANs.

I suspect they do it to make the TiVo less competitive with their own DVR.

[LynnL999]

Unfortunately, as far as Cox is concerned, the copy-protection flag was set correctly -- they flag everything except broadcast channels. They claim this is because their content providers require it, but of course that's not true -- otherwise, FIOS would have that too. And also unfortunately, they're legally permitted to do this for everything except broadcast channels.

Interesting... here, they don't flag anything but the premium channels and stuff like Amazon on Demand.

[tivocrazy]

Interesting... here, they don't flag anything but the premium channels and stuff like Amazon on Demand.

Same Here in Hampton Roads, VA

[ellinj]

Interesting... here, they don't flag anything but the premium channels and stuff like Amazon on Demand.

same here.

[Ink Noise]

Purchased my TiVo HD a week ago and set up an appointment to have an M-Card installed since of course there is no self-serve option for this. Cox - Santa Barbara charges $59.99 for the luxury. Fifty. Nine. Ninety. Nine. To slide in a card. And I thought the earlier posters in other markets who were charged $30.00 had it bad.

With Cox Santa Barbara, there is no SDV in place just yet and the SA card works as expected. Nearly all channels save for locals and TBS are copy protected rendering TTG pretty much useless. But it still beats the SA 8300HD DVR by a mile. It's nice to be back with TiVo.

[tivocrazy]

Purchased my TiVo HD a week ago and set up an appointment to have an M-Card installed since of course there is no self-serve option for this. Cox - Santa Barbara charges $59.99 for the luxury. Fifty. Nine. Ninety. Nine. To slide in a card. And I thought the earlier posters in other markets who were charged $30.00 had it bad.

With Cox Santa Barbara, there is no SDV in place just yet and the SA card works as expected. Nearly all channels save for locals and TBS are copy protected rendering TTG pretty much useless. But it still beats the SA 8300HD DVR by a mile. It's nice to be back with TiVo.

Wow..59.99. The installs have gotten expensive. Don't think my install was that much (in the 20's). Do you want to use TTG? Have you checked to see if 2 single cards eliminates they problem because that it is what control it (can't remember the exact bit) but my multi card had the problem but the singles did not.

[joycentucson]

After my install here in tucson, 7-17-09, i wasnt getting all my chnls. Seemed to be chnls mostly that are also high-def chnls also, but also a 3 hbo & 5 cinemax. Altogether, tho, i was missing about 25 chnls.

Like stated before, make sure ALL chnls coming in before tech leaves.

I set up a service call and another subcontractor came out. My RF levels were checked first, under TA diagnostics, they were ok. Next DVR diagnostics checked, my TA signal was really bad - jumping between 0-45% - should be above 80% consistantley.

Turned out the previous contractor (the b-team) installed a rinky dink cable jumper from my TA to the tivo, the a-team contractor said it's not the 1st time b-team has caused them probs and took cable for evidence!

Now my TA signal is a solid 93%, so this cautionary tale could apply for someone out there, so i thought i'd put it out there :rolleyes:

Regarding previous posts on copyright protected channels, seems like here in arizona they are flagging all chnls cept broadcast, yet back east and irvine, ca only premium chnls & VOD are flagged, hmmm

Thanks to tivocrazy: 7-27 12:16PM

"For what its worth, and it may not be worth anything...but here in southeastern virginia I had the same problem. When I reported to Cox that I was not able to transfer content to my computer they suspected the multi cable card in the Tivo. We swapped out the multi for two singles and the problem went away."

Thank you, that's my next call to cox...then maybe the saga is over...

[LynnL999]

FYI, about half a dozen new HD channels (including FX, Comedy Central, MTV) were made available to Orange County users this week -- but TiVo users are not getting them.

[Kershek]

Do tuner adapters allow TiVos to see VOD?

[ajwees41]

Do tuner adapters allow TiVos to see VOD?

nope

[cpt09135]

Do tuner adapters allow TiVos to see VOD?

No, just channels that are using Switched Digital Video (SDV). Hopefully when/if a Tru2Way Tivo comes out we can view VOD.

[BenderSD1]

Just moved to Las Vegas and had Cox Cable installed. They came out on Saturday and set up my Series 3. I had to explain to the guy that the Series 3 needed 2 cards regardless of the type. Aside from that, everything went smoothly.

The next day I realized I wasn't getting any HD channels other than the major networks. I called up Cox thinking that I hadn't asked for the HD package, but they said I should be getting them. Reboots and a few attempts on their side, and still no HD. So they rolled a truck today.

This tech was pretty knowledgable (I still had to explain about the Series 3, though). He brought 2 cable cards with him and swapped out the first one. We waited for it to upgrade, and then he paired it. It worked, the HD channels were now coming in.

He then repeated with the second cable card, but no luck. The second one didn't show the HD channels. He left and came back a bit later with another card, but this one had a physical issue and wouldn't insert properly into the TiVo. So he's scheduled to come back again tomorrow.

I was trying to figure out the difference between the installation that worked and the ones that didn't. We did notice that, for the one that worked, when he plugged in the card, the upgrade went to completion before the card info screen popped up automatically. For the ones that didn't work, I'm pretty sure the info screen popped up before the upgrade was complete. It's either that, or the tech attempted to pair the card before the upgrade completed.

Hopefully he'll bring a bunch of cards tomorrow and it'll work.

[ellinj]

I know there is a few folks here in my area, does anyone know if Cox offers M-Cards in RI? I am about to add a tivohd. I have a series3 that is running great with 2 s cards.

[jleach8]

I know there is a few folks here in my area, does anyone know if Cox offers M-Cards in RI? I am about to add a tivohd. I have a series3 that is running great with 2 s cards.

Hey

Cox is coming out to my house with cards for the 2 TivoHDs I recently bought. The rep told me they were m-cards. I'll let you know what happens. I'll also tell Mandar you say hi :)

-Jamie

[Rodney]

Hey

Cox is coming out to my house with cards for the 2 TivoHDs I recently bought. The rep told me they were m-cards. I'll let you know what happens. I'll also tell Mandar you say hi :)

-Jamie

I just moved to North Kingstown. Tivo is shipping me 2 TivoHD's. Should be here Thursday! I called Cox, but the salesman didn't know if the cards were S or M (he admitted he didn't know what that meant). Please let me know if you actually received the M cards, so I can tell him how many to bring.

Thanks,

-Rodney

[ellinj]

Hey

Cox is coming out to my house with cards for the 2 TivoHDs I recently bought. The rep told me they were m-cards. I'll let you know what happens. I'll also tell Mandar you say hi :)

-Jamie

lol, awesome. give Mandar a kick instead.

[deaddeeds]

I am having my TiVo HD RMA'ed this week. Will I need a truck-roll to pair the M-Card with new TiVo HD?

[kevintheoman]

Just moved to Las Vegas and had Cox Cable installed. They came out on Saturday and set up my Series 3. I had to explain to the guy that the Series 3 needed 2 cards regardless of the type. Aside from that, everything went smoothly.

The next day I realized I wasn't getting any HD channels other than the major networks. I called up Cox thinking that I hadn't asked for the HD package, but they said I should be getting them. Reboots and a few attempts on their side, and still no HD. So they rolled a truck today.

This tech was pretty knowledgable (I still had to explain about the Series 3, though). He brought 2 cable cards with him and swapped out the first one. We waited for it to upgrade, and then he paired it. It worked, the HD channels were now coming in.

He then repeated with the second cable card, but no luck. The second one didn't show the HD channels. He left and came back a bit later with another card, but this one had a physical issue and wouldn't insert properly into the TiVo. So he's scheduled to come back again tomorrow.

I was trying to figure out the difference between the installation that worked and the ones that didn't. We did notice that, for the one that worked, when he plugged in the card, the upgrade went to completion before the card info screen popped up automatically. For the ones that didn't work, I'm pretty sure the info screen popped up before the upgrade was complete. It's either that, or the tech attempted to pair the card before the upgrade completed.

Hopefully he'll bring a bunch of cards tomorrow and it'll work.

I had a similar experience a couple months ago.

Somewhere on tivo's site (or on here maybe) is a how-to on not receiving channels. You basically go into tivo diagnostics and see if a channel is blocked or not.

Basically, Cox was blocking my non-network HD channels. They had the wrong channel lineup. Just took a lot of me trying to convince them they had the wrong lineup. Once convinced all they did is flash down the new information and everything was fine.

The original mistake is with how I ordered the service. I said "I want cablecard, digital service (with variety tier)." Needed to say "I want cablecard, digital service (with HD and variety tier)." Even though the HD is free.

[Rodney]

Well, I am on day 2 and counting with Cox and the cable cards. Yesterday, the installer brings an M card, and it seemed to be a smooth transaction. Put it in, and he paired it, and checked that we were getting channels, even the premium HD ones. I did NOT have him check every single channel, he selected about 5 channels and everything looked good.
Later in the afternoon, I noticed a grey screen on a channel. Then another. I counted 20 channels in the 700 numbering that I was not getting on TiVo. They were not premium channels, but ones like NFLHD, HGTV, , etc. I call Cox, they first send a signal to the card to make sure everything is open, but it doesn't fix the issue.
The original installer comes out to see what the issue is, but doesn't have any cards with him to swap out. They setup an appt. for Saturday (today). Saturday comes, and about 1/2 hour after the time range for the installer to be here, I call Cox, and they let me know he is running late (really?). Another hour goes by, then the doorbell rings.
This is a different installer, who has one M card, and he is set to replace it. He calls Cox, and they tell him that he cannot use that card. That is the only M card he has (What, are these things made of gold?). He does have two S cards in the truck. Out he goes, comes back in, and starts putting them both into the TiVo. I stop him, show him the instruction sheet that says you first put in 1, and after getting that to work you put in the next one. He doesn't really like me to tell him his job, I can tell. Anyway, the first card gives Cox an error at their end, and the 2nd card gives us an error on the Tivo, and now I have NO channels. He hangs up with Cox, and tells me that they will be back Monday, since he has no more cards. I said, can you just put the original M card back? He tells me no, that since it was taken off the account, it can no longer be used. I am now getting angry.
The phone rings. I answer it, and it is Cox, asking to speak to the installer. I say, sure, but first, I want him to put the original card in and pair it with the system, so at least I have some channels for the weekend. She says, okay. I hand him the phone, and he talks for a minute, and I hear him say, "We can put the old card back?"
They can, and they did. I am now back with everything working except for those 20 odd grey channels. TiVo keeps getting no signal on those channels. They will be back on Tuesday evening, and I asked them to bring a few M cards, not just one.

Why am I writing all this. Not just for catharsis, but also to ask a question: I feel if the next cards do not correct the error, they are going to point to the Tivo HD as being the problem. What do I do at that point?

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any suggestions on how to handle the situation at this point.

-Rodney

[Kershek]

After all that, I would ask for a different installer (one that's not so difficult to work with, hopefully), and start over.

[crazi4tv]

Rodney

Click on or go to this link from the TiVo website:

http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/137#Troubleshootingactivationandmissingchannelissues

This will give you all the information you need to troubleshoot the issue with your cablecards.

Good luck.

[Rodney]

Rodney

Click on or go to this link from the TiVo website:

http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/137#Troubleshootingactivationandmissingchannelissues

This will give you all the information you need to troubleshoot the issue with your cablecards.

Good luck.

Thanks very much for the link. Great info!

-Rodney

[dmille6]

hi,
the Cox technition just completed my TivoHD cable card.. i had to pay 55.00 for him to come insert a cable card, then call the main office to register it... something i could have easily done.. if that wasnt enough, after he installed it he then informed me cox doesnt support multi-cards so i had to rent two single cards a month 55.00 each, or just use one and only be able to watch or record 1 show at a time. i could use the cox cable box/dvr and be able to record two.

nothing i can do about it, and thats how the cable company is, but i am disappointed.

[tivocrazy]

hi,
the Cox technition just completed my TivoHD cable card.. i had to pay 55.00 for him to come insert a cable card, then call the main office to register it... something i could have easily done.. if that wasnt enough, after he installed it he then informed me cox doesnt support multi-cards so i had to rent two single cards a month 55.00 each, or just use one and only be able to watch or record 1 show at a time. i could use the cox cable box/dvr and be able to record two.

nothing i can do about it, and thats how the cable company is, but i am disappointed.


Are you sure it is 55 a month and not 50 for the truck roll and 5 each month for the single card. I pay 5 a month for each single. 55 a month seems a bit steep.

[Punker1234]

I've called my local cox rep here in Santa Barbara and they charged $59 to install and $1.99 a month, and they do have multi-stream cards.

I have a quesiton though. Has anyone had luck with getting Cox to waive or credit the $59 back? Thats a bit steep!

[murraymh]

hi,
the Cox technition just completed my TivoHD cable card.. i had to pay 55.00 for him to come insert a cable card, then call the main office to register it... something i could have easily done.. if that wasnt enough, after he installed it he then informed me cox doesnt support multi-cards so i had to rent two single cards a month 55.00 each, or just use one and only be able to watch or record 1 show at a time. i could use the cox cable box/dvr and be able to record two.

nothing i can do about it, and thats how the cable company is, but i am disappointed.

That's BS...Cox here in San Diego does have M cards...mine was installed just over a year ago & it's been smooth sailing since then - they charge me $2 a mo for the card

[hillstrubl]

I am having my TiVo HD RMA'ed this week. Will I need a truck-roll to pair the M-Card with new TiVo HD?
shouldn't as the card is paired to your account, not the tivo itself

[philp3]

I just had had my new Tivo HD setup with cox in Las Vegas. It's been pretty smooth so far. They inserted an M-Card.

One thing I wish I had asked the guy. He had to go outside and do something with the wiring outside before installing the card. Any idea what he had to do?

Did he put in some type of adapter or tuner?

[aztivo]

shouldn't as the card is paired to your account, not the tivo itself

This is incorrect the card is paired to the Tivo, so yes you will either need a truck roll or find a way to get to level 3 tech support

[lofar]

I've called my local cox rep here in Santa Barbara and they charged $59 to install and $1.99 a month, and they do have multi-stream cards.

I have a quesiton though. Has anyone had luck with getting Cox to waive or credit the $59 back? Thats a bit steep!

Not in SB. They waived the fee once when they had to come out and replace a defective card. And once I managed to get them to re-pair a card over the phone to my tivo without a truck roll but that was like pulling teeth.

[LynnL999]

I just had had my new Tivo HD setup with cox in Las Vegas. It's been pretty smooth so far. They inserted an M-Card.

One thing I wish I had asked the guy. He had to go outside and do something with the wiring outside before installing the card. Any idea what he had to do?

Did he put in some type of adapter or tuner?

If it was anything like mine it had nothing to do with the card install itself. Apparently they're required to check the wiring when they make a service call, and stick a tag on to indicate the last time service was done. When my cable card was installed, the guy replaced some cable and a splitter, and got rid of an unneeded splitter.

[Rodney]

If it was anything like mine it had nothing to do with the card install itself. Apparently they're required to check the wiring when they make a service call, and stick a tag on to indicate the last time service was done. When my cable card was installed, the guy replaced some cable and a splitter, and got rid of an unneeded splitter.

I wish my original installer had done that. There was a trap on my line, which was the issue I wasn't getting about 18 channels. Tooks 5 trips for them to figure it out.

BTW - I still don't get channels 764 and 765, which are Lifetime and Hallmark. They don't have a clue why, and since I don't watch those channels, it doesn't really affect me. Just upsetting not getting all the channels I pay for, and more upsetting that they cannot figure out why.

-Rodney

[roothack]

I just got off the phone with Cox in Northern Virginia and the CSR says there cablecards only work with Series3 Tivo and not TIVO HD. I am unconvinced, and will probably call back later, but I was wonder if anyone has Cox in Northern VA hooked up to a Tivo HD

[stevesogge]

Has anyone had any luck with trying to get Cox to lower or take off their fee? They want $75 to roll a truck to do 1 cablecard for my series 3. Needless to say this sorta negates the point of having one. Thanks.

[JimG19]

I just got off the phone with Cox in Northern Virginia and the CSR says there cablecards only work with Series3 Tivo and not TIVO HD. I am unconvinced, and will probably call back later, but I was wonder if anyone has Cox in Northern VA hooked up to a Tivo HD

Somebody told you wrong. I have Cox in Hampton Roads and have been using a cable card in my TivoHD for several months with no problems.

Jim

[jcaudle]

Has anyone had any luck with trying to get Cox to lower or take off their fee? They want $75 to roll a truck to do 1 cablecard for my series 3. Needless to say this sorta negates the point of having one. Thanks.

The fees for truck rolls must vary widely around the country. Its $29.95 for them here in Cox Fairfax County in northern Va.

[av_dude]

Has anyone had any luck with trying to get Cox to lower or take off their fee? They want $75 to roll a truck to do 1 cablecard for my series 3. Needless to say this sorta negates the point of having one. Thanks.

The fees for truck rolls must vary widely around the country. Its $29.95 for them here in Cox Fairfax County in northern Va.

It's $50 for Cox here in Orange County. I did get them to waive the fee a couple of months ago. I had to ask to speak with a supervisor, but when I pointed out that I am spending over $150 a month, he waived this fee, "just this one time.":)

[insane42]

I waited forever and finaly bit the bullet. Cox in Phoenix was doing a free install thing for the week, so I took the plunge. Wasn't without its pain points, but we're up and running.

[deaddeeds]

I just got off the phone with Cox in Northern Virginia and the CSR says there cablecards only work with Series3 Tivo and not TIVO HD. I am unconvinced, and will probably call back later, but I was wonder if anyone has Cox in Northern VA hooked up to a Tivo HD

I have both a Series 3 and TiVo HD in Fairfax. Call back and tell them you have a TiVo and need a Cable Card installation.

[roothack]

I have both a Series 3 and TiVo HD in Fairfax. Call back and tell them you have a TiVo and need a Cable Card installation.

I got it straightened out. Cox refused to rent me out an M-card despite the fact that the box I had from them had one installed, so the tech showed up with two S-cards, install was painless and I got to watch the football game.

[JessLC]

Does anyone have any experience with this in Connecticut? We are considering upgrading to the new HD Tivo (currently have a Series 2), and I'm confused about our options from Cox. We currently have "regular" expanded cable (not digital) but we do get some HD channels on our HD TV (they are the channels with "-") - TBS, ABC, NBC, CBS and a couple others. Will Tivo be able to record those HD channels if we stick with the cable package we have?

If we upgrade to get the HD versions of the other cable channels, will we first have to pay the ~$63/month for digital cable, and then a cable card fee on top of that? Is there any package that would allow us to stick with regular cable, but just add on the HD versions of the channels we already get? Does anyone know if Cox in CT has the "M" cards, or would we have to pay for two regular cards?

Sorry, I know these are questions Cox should answer, but they aren't answering them for me because I don't think they understand Tivo and/or don't want to deal with it. They keep trying to push their DVR on me.

Thanks.

[Johncv]

Does anyone have any experience with this in Connecticut? We are considering upgrading to the new HD Tivo (currently have a Series 2), and I'm confused about our options from Cox. We currently have "regular" expanded cable (not digital) but we do get some HD channels on our HD TV (they are the channels with "-") - TBS, ABC, NBC, CBS and a couple others. Will Tivo be able to record those HD channels if we stick with the cable package we have?

If we upgrade to get the HD versions of the other cable channels, will we first have to pay the ~$63/month for digital cable, and then a cable card fee on top of that? Is there any package that would allow us to stick with regular cable, but just add on the HD versions of the channels we already get? Does anyone know if Cox in CT has the "M" cards, or would we have to pay for two regular cards?

Sorry, I know these are questions Cox should answer, but they aren't answering them for me because I don't think they understand Tivo and/or don't want to deal with it. They keep trying to push their DVR on me.

Thanks.

You really need to talk to your local Cox provider. As I understand it, you need digital cable in order to HD versions of channels. The best way to deal with this is to print out the PDF file of the TiVo HD manual and take it to the Cox office.

[linkja35]

Just got off the phone with Cox in Cleveland. They just told me that every time the power goes out, they would have to send someone out to re-activate the CableCARDs. Does anyone have any experience with this? Not that our power goes out all that much, but $30 each time it did (plus the aggravation of having to wait for a day or more for an appointment simply to re-activate) doesn't seem worth it.

I just received my TiVoHD yesterday and I'm already thinking of returning it without even getting it set up based on (what appears to be) numerous issues with the CableCARDs and lack of knowledge on the cable company side. Am I just overreacting? Is it worth the trouble - once everything is up and running, are there a lot of issues? I love my TiVo Series 2 (it's so stable and without ANY issues) and I bought the HD without reading up on it much before hand, just assuming that it would be the same user experience, just with the added benefit of HD programming.

[deaddeeds]

Just got off the phone with Cox in Cleveland. They just told me that every time the power goes out, they would have to send someone out to re-activate the CableCARDs. Does anyone have any experience with this? Not that our power goes out all that much, but $30 each time it did (plus the aggravation of having to wait for a day or more for an appointment simply to re-activate) doesn't seem worth it.

I just received my TiVoHD yesterday and I'm already thinking of returning it without even getting it set up based on (what appears to be) numerous issues with the CableCARDs and lack of knowledge on the cable company side. Am I just overreacting? Is it worth the trouble - once everything is up and running, are there a lot of issues? I love my TiVo Series 2 (it's so stable and without ANY issues) and I bought the HD without reading up on it much before hand, just assuming that it would be the same user experience, just with the added benefit of HD programming.

In Fairfax, VA. I have lost power on several occasions and everything booted back up just fine. In the rare case that the Cable Card loses its activation status Cox can re-activate it over the phone.

[linkja35]

In Fairfax, VA. I have lost power on several occasions and everything booted back up just fine. In the rare case that the Cable Card loses its activation status Cox can re-activate it over the phone.

That makes me feel a little better. His other option was to offer me to pay $4.95 a month as 'insurance' and by paying this amount, it would allow me to have them come out as often as necessary to fix my CableCARD issues without any further one-time per-service-call charges.

Still looking for feedback about how happy or unhappy Cox customers are with their TiVoHDs after all the initial kinks are worked out. Thanks in advance to any of you who do respond!

[av_dude]

That makes me feel a little better. His other option was to offer me to pay $4.95 a month as 'insurance' and by paying this amount, it would allow me to have them come out as often as necessary to fix my CableCARD issues without any further one-time per-service-call charges.

Still looking for feedback about how happy or unhappy Cox customers are with their TiVoHDs after all the initial kinks are worked out. Thanks in advance to any of you who do respond!

Other than waiting forever for the tuning adapters, things are working completely seemlessly for me (Cox - Orange County, CA). :up:

[Johncv]

That makes me feel a little better. His other option was to offer me to pay $4.95 a month as 'insurance' and by paying this amount, it would allow me to have them come out as often as necessary to fix my CableCARD issues without any further one-time per-service-call charges.

Still looking for feedback about how happy or unhappy Cox customers are with their TiVoHDs after all the initial kinks are worked out. Thanks in advance to any of you who do respond!

The insurance here in San Diego is $2.95, even $4.95 it worth it. Keep in mind it cover anything that go wrong with your service. Had my outside line replace twice due to cracks in the line.

[deaddeeds]

That makes me feel a little better. His other option was to offer me to pay $4.95 a month as 'insurance' and by paying this amount, it would allow me to have them come out as often as necessary to fix my CableCARD issues without any further one-time per-service-call charges.

Still looking for feedback about how happy or unhappy Cox customers are with their TiVoHDs after all the initial kinks are worked out. Thanks in advance to any of you who do respond!

With the roll out of the Tuning Adapter and now subsequent firmware patches, things have settled down. But if I could switch to FIOS I would in a heartbeat.

[travellover]

it took a while and i learned how to install and re pair (not fix but match cards with unit and cox) cable cards better than cox techs in many cases, I hve to give Cox head cable card GURU larry thomas tons of credit. he is not just the GURU but a heck of a great guy who really cares about his job and did great things for me. now i have had no issues for a log time. it's just a matter of getting the right person with the right cards. for some reason not all cable cards work, they had to try multiple cards but in the end i love my tivo. now if i could just get it to download you tube it would be even better. it recently stopped doing the you tube for no know reason. some vids work but overall 99.9% don't

what a headache this causes !!

[tivocrazy]

With the roll out of the Tuning Adapter and now subsequent firmware patches, things have settled down. But if I could switch to FIOS I would in a heartbeat.

The last MAJOR update that Tivo rolled out was to fix a hugh issue that Tivo was having primarily with FIOS users. Programs were tilling so much that they became almost impossible to watch and this had gone on for at least a year. I don't know why we were also experiencing the same issue but on a smaller scale in our area using Cox but it was annoying and Cox had no answers for me. If it was not for the FIOS people across the nation screaming Tivo would probably still be trying to figure out how to fix the hot signal issue. I am just grateful that they finally have. So if you had switched to FIOS 8 months ago you would have regretted it. And yes, GO HOKIES!

[NuShrike]

So does anybody know if Cox in OC/Irvine is renting M-cards for the TivoHD yet?

From reading the threads I'm getting the impression there's a large disconnect between CS reps and techs in the field where sometimes there are M-cards out there and sometimes not.

The only communication I've had with Cox so far says they don't have M-cards, but I find that hard to believe.

I'm not looking forward to tussling with them about this. Currently, I get clearQAM channels fine, but no guide data which reads that I need the cablecard for ...

[av_dude]

So does anybody know if Cox in OC/Irvine is renting M-cards for the TivoHD yet?

From reading the threads I'm getting the impression there's a large disconnect between CS reps and techs in the field where sometimes there are M-cards out there and sometimes not.

The only communication I've had with Cox so far says they don't have M-cards, but I find that hard to believe.

I'm not looking forward to tussling with them about this. Currently, I get clearQAM channels fine, but no guide data which reads that I need the cablecard for ...

The CS reps are clueless. I've been using my TiVo HD with an M-CARD for a few months. I believe they've had them for quite a few months.

[CALover]

So does anybody know if Cox in OC/Irvine is renting M-cards for the TivoHD yet?

From reading the threads I'm getting the impression there's a large disconnect between CS reps and techs in the field where sometimes there are M-cards out there and sometimes not.

The only communication I've had with Cox so far says they don't have M-cards, but I find that hard to believe.

I'm not looking forward to tussling with them about this. Currently, I get clearQAM channels fine, but no guide data which reads that I need the cablecard for ...

I've had a Cox M card for almost a year and I live in Tustin. It works great, but if you're getting HD, you won't get :

717 FXHD
732 SCIHD
748 BETHD
749 MTVPHD
750 VH1PHD
752 SpikeHD
753 TravHD
759CMTHD
760 ComedyHD
770 Nickledeon HD
771 ToonHD
772 AnimalPlanet HD

because they don't offer tuning adapters. I have contacted Cox customer service a couple of times about this, but all they say is I need to get their cable box if I want all the channels. I just filed a complaint with the FCC about it.

Hope this helped!

[tivocrazy]

Wow, this is amazing how they treat you differently in different parts of the country. While I don't have an M card (I gave up on it due to a copy prevention bit being set which prevented me from transferring content to my other Tivo) so I have S cards. But, Cox does not limit my HD in any way so I am surprised they do out on the west coast. I would ask for a supervisor because out here Cox advertizes that HD is free with digital cable.

[av_dude]

Wow, this is amazing how they treat you differently in different parts of the country. While I don't have an M card (I gave up on it due to a copy prevention bit being set which prevented me from transferring content to my other Tivo) so I have S cards. But, Cox does not limit my HD in any way so I am surprised they do out on the west coast. I would ask for a supervisor because out here Cox advertizes that HD is free with digital cable.

The reason for not getting those channels CALover listed is that they are SDV channels. The tuning adapters were due to already be out, but they've delayed it again. The consensus appears to be that they will have the tuning adapters available by Dec. 31st of this year. Let's hope so.

[jcaudle]

The reason for not getting those channels CALover listed is that they are SDV channels. The tuning adapters were due to already be out, but they've delayed it again. The consensus appears to be that they will have the tuning adapters available by Dec. 31st of this year. Let's hope so.

We have had the tuning adapters for almost a year here in Northern Virginia with Cox. Our Fios friends don't have the CCI flags. The tuning adapters are cranky. Mine (2 of them) were pretty solid for the first six months, but since June I have traded them in 2 or 3 times each. And it only been one of them crapping out at a time fortunately. I am lucky since I don't live but 2 miles from the Cox store.

[av_dude]

We have had the tuning adapters for almost a year here in Northern Virginia with Cox. Our Fios friends don't have the CCI flags. The tuning adapters are cranky. Mine (2 of them) were pretty solid for the first six months, but since June I have traded them in 2 or 3 times each. And it only been one of them crapping out at a time fortunately. I am lucky since I don't live but 2 miles from the Cox store.

In case it wasn't inferred, I was speaking of Orange Country, CA. That doesn't sound good about the tuning adapters, though.

Anyone else having issues with Cox and tuning adapters?

[oscardeuce]

I'm with Cox in Southern Claifornia (Palos Verdes), and I just got a letter yesterday that they are putting almost every channel except for the major the HD channels on SDV as of November 20th. No tuning adapters available at this time, and they're saying "maybe" they'll be out by the end of the year. They're offering a free STB (not a DVR) for 3 months as consolation.

[NuShrike]

I've had a Cox M card for almost a year and I live in Tustin. It works great, but if you're getting HD, you won't get :

732 SCIHD
753 TravHD
760 ComedyHD
771 ToonHD

Hope this helped!This takes away any reason for me to step up to HD. Thanks for the help.

Filing with FCC too then ...

[LynnL999]

I'm with Cox in Southern Claifornia (Palos Verdes), and I just got a letter yesterday that they are putting almost every channel except for the major the HD channels on SDV as of November 20th. No tuning adapters available at this time, and they're saying "maybe" they'll be out by the end of the year. They're offering a free STB (not a DVR) for 3 months as consolation.

We received the same in Orange County. The analog channels are staying put, but most of the 100-series channels will be on SDV. So no BBCA, Bio, HISI, the additional Discovery-owned channels, etc. Very irritating, but at the end of the day, most of what I watch is in HD anyway. I just hope they get the tuning adapters squared away soon.

[Islanti]

In case it wasn't inferred, I was speaking of Orange Country, CA. That doesn't sound good about the tuning adapters, though.

Anyone else having issues with Cox and tuning adapters?The VA tuning adapters (TAs) are for Motorolla equipment. Here in Orange County we have Cisco gear. The first Cox TAs are just being tested. Fortunately Orange County will be the first market to get them.

More here (http://gadgetress.freedomblogging.com/2009/10/28/cox-to-begin-testing-tivo-adapter-this-week-only-in-oc/24447/).

[av_dude]

The VA tuning adapters (TAs) are for Motorolla equipment. Here in Orange County we have Cisco gear. The first Cox TAs are just being tested. Fortunately Orange County will be the first market to get them.

More here (http://gadgetress.freedomblogging.com/2009/10/28/cox-to-begin-testing-tivo-adapter-this-week-only-in-oc/24447/).

Huh, as I look at my Cox, Orange County DVR right now, it is definitely a Moto box. I've been a Cox, OC customer for ten years now and have never seen a Cisco box.

The GADGETRESS even states such in your provided link:

I mentioned this Motorola test in early September (see “Cox O.C. will be first to test TiVo adapters from Motorola“). The test was scheduled to start in September but was postponed when Cox rolled out new video-on-demand software instead (see earlier story, “Cox fix for TiVo users delayed“

[LynnL999]

I think Islanti got it backwards. OC is definitely Moto gear.

[jcaudle]

constant problems with Tuning adapters and now Cable card is out is out. I tell them to bring out a MCard....and the dumb a** tech brings an S card for my Tivo HD...said he forgot to look at it when hep picked it up at warehouse despite note on work order that asked him to make sure he brought one. Cable card was bad. Verizon has been on my street this week laying fiber optic for Fios. No more cox for me soon....Get rid of balky Cisco Tuning adapters and their crappy cable cards....and have Multi Room viewing without CCI flags.

[tvmaster2]

We received the same in Orange County. The analog channels are staying put, but most of the 100-series channels will be on SDV. So no BBCA, Bio, HISI, the additional Discovery-owned channels, etc. Very irritating, but at the end of the day, most of what I watch is in HD anyway. I just hope they get the tuning adapters squared away soon.

I too am in Orange County. could you explain a couple of things for me? What is "SDV", and how is it relevant to Cox cable-cards and Tivo HD boxes. Also, I watch BBCA more than any other Cox channel. How will a cable card with a Tivo HD be effected. Does the cable-card / Tivo HD combo reduce the number of HD channels that are available from Cox in comparison to what you receive with one of their DVR's?
Lastly, how many cable cards do you need from Cox, and what is their monthly cost?
Thanks a bunch

[orgbd]

The CS reps are clueless. I've been using my TiVo HD with an M-CARD for a few months. I believe they've had them for quite a few months.

I live in Irvine, CA and had an M-CARD installed in my TiVo HD last month. Over the phone they claimed that I needed 2 cards becasue they did not offer the M-CARD but the installer showed up with an M-CARD.

[orgbd]

I too am in Orange County. could you explain a couple of things for me? What is "SDV", and how is it relevant to Cox cable-cards and Tivo HD boxes. Also, I watch BBCA more than any other Cox channel. How will a cable card with a Tivo HD be effected. Does the cable-card / Tivo HD combo reduce the number of HD channels that are available from Cox in comparison to what you receive with one of their DVR's?
Lastly, how many cable cards do you need from Cox, and what is their monthly cost?
Thanks a bunch

I will post a long thread about this issue on a few minutes answering most of your questions. The cost is minimal at $1.99 per card in Orange County, CA.

Search for "Urgent Issue relating to SDV, Tuning Adapters & TiVo"

[orgbd]

This takes away any reason for me to step up to HD. Thanks for the help.

Filing with FCC too then ...

Once Tuning Adapters are available all of the potential tuning problems will be solved.

[orgbd]

In case it wasn't inferred, I was speaking of Orange Country, CA. That doesn't sound good about the tuning adapters, though.

Anyone else having issues with Cox and tuning adapters?

Only the availability of them. You can call Cox not and be out on a waiting list.

[tvmaster2]

I will post a long thread about this issue on a few minutes answering most of your questions. The cost is minimal at $1.99 per card in Orange County, CA.

Search for "Urgent Issue relating to SDV, Tuning Adapters & TiVo"

I tried - got nothing. Any advice on how to search on this forum? If I cut and paste your sentence, the search engine says I need more than two words (?). Hmmm
thanks

[NuShrike]

I've had a Cox M card for almost a year and I live in Tustin. It works great, but if you're getting HD, you won't get :
[snip]
because they don't offer tuning adapters. I have contacted Cox customer service a couple of times about this, but all they say is I need to get their cable box if I want all the channels. I just filed a complaint with the FCC about it.Well, just got my new Motorola (blue) M-card installed in my TivoHD along with a Motoroa MTR-700 Tuning adapter.

The tech was friendly and knowledgeable about the cable-card install. It took probably 5-7 minutes and all the major HD channels came in immediately.

However, none of the SDV channels came in, so the Motorola tuning adapter was then connected, and a dim yellow light started blinking. Tuning adaptor menu came up, but it couldn't tune any channels, and many of the diagnostic screens said 0 or not-initialized. Interestingly, the techs were being told to add the TA only if folks weren't getting the 8xx channels, and they were not trained to connect up the USB cable also.

So, I went ahead and connected the USB, a red led blinked, dim orange/yellow continued to blink, and still no SDV channels! SyFy HD, but no ComedyHD nor ToonHD.

I'd then Googled quickly for any info and vaguely got that the TA had to be added to the account and paired/initialized. Well, it was added to the account, but "dispatch" and tech didn't know anything about pairing/initialization of the TA.

So there you go, tuning adapters are available from Cox for the OC/Tustin area, but they don't know how set it up yet.

I'm running through the Guided Setup now to see if that helps anything.

[NuShrike]

I've had a Cox M card for almost a year and I live in Tustin. It works great, but if you're getting HD, you won't get :
[snip]
because they don't offer tuning adapters. I have contacted Cox customer service a couple of times about this, but all they say is I need to get their cable box if I want all the channels. I just filed a complaint with the FCC about it.Well, just got my new Motorola (blue) M-card installed in my TivoHD along with a Motoroa MTR-700 Tuning adapter.

The tech was friendly and knowledgeable about the cable-card install. It took probably 5-7 minutes and all the major HD channels came in immediately.

However, none of the SDV channels came in, so the Motorola tuning adapter was then connected, and a dim yellow light started blinking. Tuning adaptor menu came up, but it couldn't tune any channels, and many of the diagnostic screens said 0 or not-initialized. Interestingly, the techs were being told to add the TA only if folks weren't getting the 8xx channels, and they were not trained to connect up the USB cable also.

So, I went ahead and connected the USB, a red led blinked, dim orange/yellow continued to blink, and still no SDV channels! I'd then Googled quickly for any info and vaguely got that the TA had to be added to the account and paired/initialized. Well, it was added to the account, but "dispatch" and tech didn't know anything about pairing/initialization of the TA.

So there you go, tuning adapters are available from Cox for the OC/Tustin area, but they don't know how set it up yet.

I'm running through the Guided Setup now to see if that helps anything.

edit: guided setup doesn't help, and the SDV status screen for the TA still shows uninited with no upstream connection, and Warning Report shows "OOB Lost Lock".

[BigTuna]

Well, just got my new Motorola (blue) M-card installed in my TivoHD along with a Motoroa MTR-700 Tuning adapter.

The tech was friendly and knowledgeable about the cable-card install. It took probably 5-7 minutes and all the major HD channels came in immediately.

However, none of the SDV channels came in, so the Motorola tuning adapter was then connected, and a dim yellow light started blinking. Tuning adaptor menu came up, but it couldn't tune any channels, and many of the diagnostic screens said 0 or not-initialized. Interestingly, the techs were being told to add the TA only if folks weren't getting the 8xx channels, and they were not trained to connect up the USB cable also.

So, I went ahead and connected the USB, a red led blinked, dim orange/yellow continued to blink, and still no SDV channels! I'd then Googled quickly for any info and vaguely got that the TA had to be added to the account and paired/initialized. Well, it was added to the account, but "dispatch" and tech didn't know anything about pairing/initialization of the TA.

So there you go, tuning adapters are available from Cox for the OC/Tustin area, but they don't know how set it up yet.

I'm running through the Guided Setup now to see if that helps anything.

edit: guided setup doesn't help, and the SDV status screen for the TA still shows uninited with no upstream connection, and Warning Report shows "OOB Lost Lock".

I have full instructions. I installed 2 of these today without any problems. I did connect via USB port #2 on the Tivo, port #1 didn't seem to work. it takes about 15-20 minutes to sync. The scan file is too big to attach here. Send me a PM or email and I will forward.

BT

[NuShrike]

I have full instructions. I installed 2 of these today without any problems. I did connect via USB port #2 on the Tivo, port #1 didn't seem to work. it takes about 15-20 minutes to sync. The scan file is too big to attach here. Send me a PM or email and I will forward.I'm connecting by port #1 (the top one).

So I resolved this by calling CS whom shunted me to a special department to activate it. It takes ~20 minutes to sync after that to get a solid amber light, and then it's all good.

I don't get 730 (SPEED) and some other channels in the 7xx range although I do get CCHD and TOONHD, so good enough.

[av_dude]

I'm connecting by port #1 (the top one).

So I resolved this by calling CS whom shunted me to a special department to activate it. It takes ~20 minutes to sync after that to get a solid amber light, and then it's all good.

I don't get 730 (SPEED) and some other channels in the 7xx range although I do get CCHD and TOONHD, so good enough.

That's strange. You should get all the SDV channels.

[NuShrike]

That's strange. You should get all the SDV channels.SPEED is on SDV? I'll ping Cox sometime to see why some of my digital channels are missing. Thanks.

[av_dude]

SPEED is on SDV? I'll ping Cox sometime to see why some of my digital channels are missing. Thanks.

Actually, no, I didn't word my sentence well. That said, to get SPEED, I believe you need to have the Sports and Info Tier. Did you get SPEED before?

http://ww2.cox.com/residential/orangecounty/tv/channel-lineup.cox#9

[NeoMinder]

I'm trying to understand the way cox charges for cables cards. I was told it was $2 per month per card. I see now that Cox is charging $2 for the card, and $2 for "Digital gateway service". So it appears that Cox really charges $4/month per cable card. Has anybody else had this experience? It just seems like you should be able to watch the cable tv you are paying for, not getting charged for the "service" of being able to watch the cable. Seems odd to me.

[av_dude]

I'm trying to understand the way cox charges for cables cards. I was told it was $2 per month per card. I see now that Cox is charging $2 for the card, and $2 for "Digital gateway service". So it appears that Cox really charges $4/month per cable card. Has anybody else had this experience? It just seems like you should be able to watch the cable tv you are paying for, not getting charged for the "service" of being able to watch the cable. Seems odd to me.

I believe the Digital Gateway service (http://ww2.cox.com/residential/orangecounty/tv/pricing.cox) is $5 a month and a CableCARD is $1.99 a month, thus $7 per month total - plus the cost of the TiVo service, of course. When you factor in the hardware purchase, there really is very little financial advantage of the TiVo over the cable DVR. Now the features, quality, and general experience, that's entirely different.:)

[NeoMinder]

I believe the Digital Gateway service (http://ww2.cox.com/residential/orangecounty/tv/pricing.cox) is $5 a month and a CableCARD is $1.99 a month, thus $7 per month total - plus the cost of the TiVo service, of course. When you factor in the hardware purchase, there really is very little financial advantage of the TiVo over the cable DVR. Now the features, quality, and general experience, that's entirely different.:)


So since I have three cable cards I pay the gateway fee three times?

$6 for 3 cards
$6 for 3 gateway services.

I have a Cox set top box, so on my bill i have the gateway service listed 4 times total. The first one is for $5, then the other three are for $2 each. I can understand that fee to the cox box, but charging the gateway fee for each cable card? That seems crazy to me.

[av_dude]

So since I have three cable cards I pay the gateway fee three times?

$6 for 3 cards
$6 for 3 gateway services.

I have a Cox set top box, so on my bill i have the gateway service listed 4 times total. The first one is for $5, then the other three are for $2 each. I can understand that fee to the cox box, but charging the gateway fee for each cable card? That seems crazy to me.

No, you will only have to pay one Digital Gateway fee. The wording on the bills can be confusing at times.

[Shawn95GT]

They may charge the digital gateway fee per card until you complain. They did for me.

[NeoMinder]

They may charge the digital gateway fee per card until you complain. They did for me.

I did call and complain. They said it was correct. $5 gateway fee for the cox box, and $2 gateay fee for each cable card. It's listed that way on the bill. So $11 a month for the gateway, what ever that is.

[cwpomeroy]

sorry to jump in. but i'm heading out tonight to buy a gift for someone that lives in gainesville fl and has Cox. They would like a tivo. What's the latest on them working well with Cox? I know in the past there were some pending incompatabilities that might have limited certain features like interactive or PPV/channels/etc?

Assuming the monthly economics aren't a concern (paying for the service, cards etc..) does it work well and are there any pending issues to be aware of?

Thanks!!!!!

[snarler]

sorry to jump in. but i'm heading out tonight to buy a gift for someone that lives in gainesville fl and has Cox. They would like a tivo. What's the latest on them working well with Cox? I know in the past there were some pending incompatabilities that might have limited certain features like interactive or PPV/channels/etc?

Assuming the monthly economics aren't a concern (paying for the service, cards etc..) does it work well and are there any pending issues to be aware of?

Thanks!!!!!

I live in G'ville, and have Cox Digital Cable, and use a TiVo HD with Cablecard, and beyond a small installation issue that was resolved over the phone (Cox needed to reset my Cablecard or authorize it or whatever the proper term is but for some reason is took a three way call between me, Cox, and TiVo and about an hour on hold while the tech typed away furiously to make it finally work) everything works as desired. The only problem I have is that I believe my signal is too hot and I have some attenuators on the way to see if I can clear that up. The symptom I am having is that every so often I'll get a video hiccup (pixelation, etc.) and/or the sound will vanish for a few seconds. I wouldn't even care but when I try to transfer a recording that has a particular hiccupy spot in it to my PC it stops when it gets to the hiccup. And I've tried several different ways to get it to my PC to no avail.

Price-wise, oddly enough, it's about a dollar or two cheaper than just regular digital cable, let alone the monthly PVR fee they have vs the lifetime option with TiVo. I love it. After football season is over, I might scale back to just limited basic (locals only plus some shopping networks) but keep the cablecard for the guide data and digital music channels.

Edited to add: Meant to also say you don't get some features they offer like OnDemand.

[snarler]

I did call and complain. They said it was correct. $5 gateway fee for the cox box, and $2 gateay fee for each cable card. It's listed that way on the bill. So $11 a month for the gateway, what ever that is.

I can only speak for my Cox cable bill, but if I compare the line items to their listed prices for various services, it turns out that the $5 gateway fee plus what they have listed for extended basic and limited basic ends up being what they say digital cable costs before they add in the set top box. The 2 per card is a rental fee that takes the place of the rental fee you would be paying them for the set top box they would provide.

Of course, now that I go back to their site to the price list, it's all changed around with special offers lol so I can't easily point out what I'm getting at.

[pokechop8898]

I live in Baton Rouge, LA. Recently had a cox tech come out to my house for a new coax line to be run. I was robbed five days later. My tivo was stolen. I got a new TivoHD for christmas, and now need cableCards. Needless to say, I refuse to have another tech in my home. I have watched someone do an install, not very difficult. How can I convince Cox to mail me or let me pick up the card?

[Johncv]

I live in Baton Rouge, LA. Recently had a cox tech come out to my house for a new coax line to be run. I was robbed five days later. My tivo was stolen. I got a new TivoHD for christmas, and now need cableCards. Needless to say, I refuse to have another tech in my home. I have watched someone do an install, not very difficult. How can I convince Cox to mail me or let me pick up the card?

Installing the Cable Card is not difficult, but pairing the card may need tweaking so your better off having a tech talking to the people at the other end. Do NOT let the tech leave until the following conditions are met:

1. Your receiving ALL the channels to which subscribe, including all HD channels. Make sure there are no picture or sound problem.

2. Even if you don’t use close caption, make sure it work. Turn digital close caption OFF on the TiVo. Leave the analog close caption on. Turn close caption on and check all your channel for close caption.

[pkbradbury]

I installed the Motorola adapter to my Tivo HD today and I now recieve channel 1 on Cox (On Demand). Trouble is, pressing select on my remote will not connect me to the services. Anybody found a work around for this yet

[Goofball]

I installed the Motorola adapter to my Tivo HD today and I now recieve channel 1 on Cox (On Demand). Trouble is, pressing select on my remote will not connect me to the services. Anybody found a work around for this yet

The Tuning Adapter does not allow you to get "On Demand" services. All it does is allow your TiVo to request and tune SDV channels. If you want to use "On Demand" or one button PPV services you will need a cable company digital STB or DVR.

TiVo and Cox/other cable companies could potentially make "On Demand" services work through the TA/CableCard combo in the TiVo but haven't bothered to figure it out at this time. I'm guessing it is so they can get the additional money from you having to rent a STB. STB rentals are a cash cow for the cable companies.

[pokechop8898]

Is it possible to have a Cox stb with a tivoHD? i thought that was the entire point of the cableCard slots. I would much rather a stb, can i use one with an HD Tivo?

[Goofball]

Is it possible to have a Cox stb with a tivoHD? i thought that was the entire point of the cableCard slots. I would much rather a stb, can i use one with an HD Tivo?

You are correct, the S3/HD/HDXL are stand alone and have no option to interface with and control a STB.

You can, however, hook up a STB to your TV as well as as the TiVo on separate inputs and switch between them when you want to use functions that are only available on the STB (On Demand, PPV).

[NuShrike]

Actually, no, I didn't word my sentence well. That said, to get SPEED, I believe you need to have the Sports and Info Tier. Did you get SPEED before?

http://ww2.cox.com/residential/orangecounty/tv/channel-lineup.cox#9Okay, that might explain it, although it is in the HD tier.

Recently, I've "lost" two channels and since neither of the 2 Cox techs that have passed by can explain it nor fix it besides sending a "hit" to the TA, maybe somebody here can help me.

I'm getting ToonSD(71) on 225000KHz and ToonHD(771) on 699000KHz. However the HD channel is simulcasting the SD content because it's 480i and matches the 71 channel guide, not the 771's guide. I know I got ToonHD properly before because it was when the OC TAs came out and I got a CC installed for the first time. I've also recorded content in 1080i.

Is those frequencies correct for those of you in the OC COX area?

Meanwhile, I've also had lost channel KNBC(4) on 573000KHz, but it seems fiddling with the cables and sending a couple pairs have brought it back.

So, I really would like to get my ToonHD back on this m-card, and Cox only seems to have s-cards now.

[oscardeuce]

I live in G'ville, and have Cox Digital Cable, and use a TiVo HD with Cablecard, and beyond a small installation issue that was resolved over the phone (Cox needed to reset my Cablecard or authorize it or whatever the proper term is but for some reason is took a three way call between me, Cox, and TiVo and about an hour on hold while the tech typed away furiously to make it finally work) everything works as desired. The only problem I have is that I believe my signal is too hot and I have some attenuators on the way to see if I can clear that up. The symptom I am having is that every so often I'll get a video hiccup (pixelation, etc.) and/or the sound will vanish for a few seconds. I wouldn't even care but when I try to transfer a recording that has a particular hiccupy spot in it to my PC it stops when it gets to the hiccup. And I've tried several different ways to get it to my PC to no avail.

Price-wise, oddly enough, it's about a dollar or two cheaper than just regular digital cable, let alone the monthly PVR fee they have vs the lifetime option with TiVo. I love it. After football season is over, I might scale back to just limited basic (locals only plus some shopping networks) but keep the cablecard for the guide data and digital music channels.

Edited to add: Meant to also say you don't get some features they offer like OnDemand.

Snarler:

Did you get your attenuators, and did they work? I have the same pixellation and audio blips you describe. Oddly enough, it seems to be worse on SD channels.

[snarler]

Snarler:

Did you get your attenuators, and did they work? I have the same pixellation and audio blips you describe. Oddly enough, it seems to be worse on SD channels.

No not yet. They were some 3rd party from Amazon with cheap shipping. Says they'll be in anywhere between the 30th and the 5th. I'm a little nervous that it won't work for a couple reasons. One is that I don't think my error counts match what to expect in the cases of problems that this will solve. Two is that it seems that one of my tuners has a different strength and SNR than the other and I wonder if bringing one down to levels that might clear up the problem will either bring the other down too low or leave it too high depending on which I target first. But we'll see. :) I've got 2 3's, 2 6's and 2 12's coming. If this don't affect my signal nothing will lol.

[NuShrike]

Recently, I've "lost" two channels and since neither of the 2 Cox techs that have passed by can explain it nor fix it besides sending a "hit" to the TA, maybe somebody here can help me.

I'm getting ToonSD(71) on 225000KHz and ToonHD(771) on 699000KHz. However the HD channel is simulcasting the SD content because it's 480i and matches the 71 channel guide, not the 771's guide. I know I got ToonHD properly before because it was when the OC TAs came out and I got a CC installed for the first time. I've also recorded content in 1080i.So here's the semi-"official" line I got back from Cox finally:

Cartoon Network made the "decision to start delivering content in standard definition and not high definition" at least for either Cox, or the Pacific market, and nothing related to my m-card (which they tried sending 2 clueless techs to take away and replace with s-cards).

Also, the guide data is wrong due to their "guide vendor". Right, sure ...

Not sure why this wasn't announced, and why they still list TOONHD as HD, and why bother putting it on SDV? ...

[Exige240]

You are correct, the S3/HD/HDXL are stand alone and have no option to interface with and control a STB.

You can, however, hook up a STB to your TV as well as as the TiVo on separate inputs and switch between them when you want to use functions that are only available on the STB (On Demand, PPV).

That's what I just did. I just got my Tivo's and had the cox tech out to set them up this week. I told them I wanted them to pick up my 2 cox dvr's and bring 2 Cox Hd boxes, that way we can just switch inputs on the Tv when we want use on demand.

When the tech came he said I could keep my Motorola 6412 dvr and they could just send a signal to turn off the Dvr functions. I tried to bribe him with beer and pizza to leave that portion on, but he wasn't hearing it.lol My other dvr was a newer Motorola 3416 which he said they wouldn't just turn off the dvr since it has a larger internal HD and it was in higher demand.

The new hd box I got was about 1/4 the size of the older Motorola boxes and it does have a cable card in it(so did the 3416), it has no buttons on it and have to use a remote now. The tech told me the new dvr version of that exact box is supposed to have a 240 gig drive in it and they are testing Tivo's software on it at his place.

[Warrenator]

Just an update about my issue. I got a new HDXL box, Cox technician came out and installed a single stream card (s-card), when I asked why not put in a multi-stream card (m-card, a Motorola), he said, "oh, did you want one of those?" and put that in instead. He then hooked up the tuning adapter (also Motorola) and made a series of phone calls and fiddled with his Blackberry to get everything initialized and whatnot. But it would not tune certain channels like 743 (MTV HD) or 746 (Travel Channel HD) and he said maybe those are on a tier you don't get. When I said but I get them on regular TV, he pulled out a year old channel guide, said none of these are listed on my guide, and tried to call the office again, nobody would pick up on the tech support numbers he called, so he said, why don't you call "Digital Ops" on Tuesday. (This was Saturday of a 3 day weekend.)

So I emailed Big Tuna (user here on TCF) because he said he had the self-install instructions to set up the tuning adapter, he sent them right away. Here's what they say:

1 Make sure the connections are going to the right place, cable into the tuning adapter, tuning adapter out into the tivo, USB hooked up, power on.

2. Call Cox to activate at 1-866-248-9585

3. When activated, the red light should flash and go out, when the amber light is flashing it means activation is incomplete, when the amber light goes steady it means it is activated and ready.

4. Tivo box message came on and said tuning adapter installed, you can go to a menu and test the channels.

5. When the tuning adapter box is working properly the amber light will be steady on, and the red light will flash when you change a channel to a SD channel. The red light means the tuning adapter is communicating with Cox.

6. If all that doesn't work the Cox line for Tivo tech support is 1-866-318-0965

I had to call Cox tech support and they reactivated my tuning adapter, it all works great now.

[boywaja]

Turned on the TV tonight and received a message that cablecard 2 is upgrading firmware. That was 4 hours ago.

Anyone else with Cox Fairfax seen their card's firmware updated recently?

[delgadobb]

Turned on the TV tonight and received a message that cablecard 2 is upgrading firmware. That was 4 hours ago.

Anyone else with Cox Fairfax seen their card's firmware updated recently?
Well, I'm with Cox Las Vegas, but the other night I came home late & wanted to catch up on the (TIVOed) Olympics. About 3:30 AM PST Wed night/Thurs AM Cox decided it was a good time to update the cable card firmware. Not sure why.

What I *do* know is that I couldn't use either of my HD Tivos, so I eventually gave up & went to bed. Some of my recordings from that night got screwed up, so Cox will definitely be getting a phone call.

Anyone know why this firmware update was done (presumably) automatically? I mean, most of the Cox techs can't do cable card stuff with three people & a manager involved. Why would they expect it to work unattended & unannounced?

[boywaja]

one of my reasons for posting is to find out if Cox Fairfax did push a firmware update or not. Either way my card was dead.

Cox came out today. Failed to bring two cards like I asked. I was a bit worried about him putting one multi card with existing single stream card that still worked

I had to call in to support and have them hit my cards multiple times, and reset the tuning adaptor before it finally got all the channels. What a pain.

[deadz007]

Hello, I also live in Las Vegas and have Cox as my cable provider. I have a TiVo HD DVR and for some odd reason starting two days ago, after installing an M cablecard my DVR seems to randomly reset itself.

I've spoken with TiVo reps and they seem to all agree that it is a cablecard issue. Has anyone else had their HD DVRs randomly reset when trying to access recordings? I'm really trying to figure out if I need to call Cox and get this sorted out.

[Johncv]

Hello, I also live in Las Vegas and have Cox as my cable provider. I have a TiVo HD DVR and for some odd reason starting two days ago, after installing an M cablecard my DVR seems to randomly reset itself.

I've spoken with TiVo reps and they seem to all agree that it is a cablecard issue. Has anyone else had their HD DVRs randomly reset when trying to access recordings? I'm really trying to figure out if I need to call Cox and get this sorted out.

Try this, power down (unplug) your TiVo for about an hour and then power it back up. The cable card should refresh and everything should work. If not then you will have to call Cox.

If you use a Tuning Adapter, make sure it hook up correct. Search the form for info on that. I don’t use one here in San Diego.

[tamaman]

I have had a THD with two s-cards up and running with Cox Omaha for little over two years. As far as I know I was getting all the channels I thought I was supposed to get, didn't seem to be having any SDV issues, but to be honest maybe I didn't know I was missing anything. My THD hard drive died a couple of weeks ago and I grabbed the Cox DVR just to have something. I of course hate it so I just ordered a Tivo Premiere. (decided to spend the extra $$ rather than replacing the hard drive). So my questions is: should I just stick the 2 s-cards I still have into my new TiVo when it gets here, or move to an M-card? (don't really care about the extra 2 bucks if it saves me some hassle). If I move to an M-card will I need a Tuning Adaptor? Thanks!

[gwsat]

I have had a THD with two s-cards up and running with Cox Omaha for little over two years. As far as I know I was getting all the channels I thought I was supposed to get, didn't seem to be having any SDV issues, but to be honest maybe I didn't know I was missing anything. My THD hard drive died a couple of weeks ago and I grabbed the Cox DVR just to have something. I of course hate it so I just ordered a Tivo Premiere. (decided to spend the extra $$ rather than replacing the hard drive). So my questions is: should I just stick the 2 s-cards I still have into my new TiVo when it gets here, or move to an M-card? (don't really care about the extra 2 bucks if it saves me some hassle). If I move to an M-card will I need a Tuning Adaptor? Thanks!
I believe that the new S4 boxes have only one CableCARD slot and require M-cards.

[scott85213]

I'm trying to figure out how I can get some cable cards for my box without paying the ridiculous $60 "Professional Installation" in Phoenix, does anyone have any ideas?

I'd like to use the Tivo I have, but I see no reason to pay for all the stuff when it'll cost me a large amount of money for basically the same functionality I'm looking for with their cable box I have now. I was just hoping to pay for the monthly tivo subscription and the card rental fee, and NO installation fees, so the cost would be roughly the same as the cablebox I have now.

I called in and was redirected to the cable card technical support line and this guy didn't know if they had M-Stream cards or even what the difference was, and said it was impossible for a non-professional to install them. Needless to say I'm very frustrated with their lack of knowledge and the cablecard activation scam they got going right now.

[gwsat]

I'm trying to figure out how I can get some cable cards for my box without paying the ridiculous $60 "Professional Installation" in Phoenix, does anyone have any ideas?
Apparently, Cox OKC has the same policy as Cox Phoenix. I recently had to have a new M Card installed and Cox required that I have a $40 service call so that a Cox tech could be here and oversee this end of the installation. I understand that some cable companies don't have this requirement but Cox evidently does.

[Johncv]

I'm trying to figure out how I can get some cable cards for my box without paying the ridiculous $60 "Professional Installation" in Phoenix, does anyone have any ideas?

I live in Chula Vista, which is serve by Cox San Diego. I pay $2.95 a month for the Cox Service Assurance Plan. What this mean is if anything go wrong with my service Cox has to fix it at no additional charge. This include the cable card installed in the TiVo HD. When I requested a card for my TiVo, no problem, made an appointment. Cox sent out a tech the next day, but receive a phone call that the tech would be late and Cox credit $20.00 to my account. When the tech arrive he had an M-card (I was told they only had s-cards), I ask and was told they just receive them. He wrote down the card number and pop card and proceeded with the set-up, had to call TiVo for a clarification on cable card set-up screen, call Cox HQ to activate the card and did not leave till he had the thing working. Took him a little more then an hour. Because I had the service plan, no charge.

You may want to check and see if Cox in your area offer a service plan.

[gwsat]

I live in Chula Vista, which is serve by Cox San Diego. I pay $2.95 a month for the Cox Service Assurance Plan. What this mean is if anything go wrong with my service Cox has to fix it at no additional charge. This include the cable card installed in the TiVo HD. When I requested a card for my TiVo, no problem, made an appointment. Cox sent out a tech the next day, but receive a phone call that the tech would be late and Cox credit $20.00 to my account. When the tech arrive he had an M-card (I was told they only had s-cards), I ask and was told they just receive them. He wrote down the card number and pop card and proceeded with the set-up, had to call TiVo for a clarification on cable card set-up screen, call Cox HQ to activate the card and did not leave till he had the thing working. Took him a little more then an hour. Because I had the service plan, no charge.

You may want to check and see if Cox in your area offer a service plan.
Was this a new card for a new TiVo? If so, Cox San Diego treated you better than Cox OKC treated me. I, too, have the Cox Service Assurance Plan, but it only covers repairs, not the installation of new CableCARDs in newly acquired CableCARD capable devices. Thus, I had to pay a $40 installation charge when I had an M Card installed in a newly acquired TiVo DVR.

[Johncv]

Was this a new card for a new TiVo? If so, Cox San Diego treated you better than Cox OKC treated me. I, too, have the Cox Service Assurance Plan, but it only covers repairs, not the installation of new CableCARDs in newly acquired CableCARD capable devices. Thus, I had to pay a $40 installation charge when I had an M Card installed in a newly acquired TiVo DVR.

At the time, it was a new TiVo. From what I been reading it seem everything depend on who managing the area.

[culhwch]

I called in and was redirected to the cable card technical support line and this guy didn't know if they had M-Stream cards or even what the difference was, and said it was impossible for a non-professional to install them. Needless to say I'm very frustrated with their lack of knowledge and the cablecard activation scam they got going right now.

An e-mail I got from Cox Phoenix about a month ago said they have M-Cards. The monthly charge for an S-Card is $2.00; for an M-Card is $4.00.

And, no, I don't know how to get around the tech having to come out to install it. I would like to know that as well!

[tvmaster2]

I'm trying to figure out how I can get some cable cards for my box without paying the ridiculous $60 "Professional Installation" in Phoenix, does anyone have any ideas?

I'd like to use the Tivo I have, but I see no reason to pay for all the stuff when it'll cost me a large amount of money for basically the same functionality I'm looking for with their cable box I have now. I was just hoping to pay for the monthly tivo subscription and the card rental fee, and NO installation fees, so the cost would be roughly the same as the cablebox I have now.

I called in and was redirected to the cable card technical support line and this guy didn't know if they had M-Stream cards or even what the difference was, and said it was impossible for a non-professional to install them. Needless to say I'm very frustrated with their lack of knowledge and the cablecard activation scam they got going right now.


Here's what I did - bought a used TiVo HD from someone in the same cable company area as me. Then, before I left their house, had them call the cable company and switch the cable card to my account. Effectively, the seller told the cable company that I had his permission to remove the card from his house. Since the card and Tivo were already paired, the cable company COULDN'T say that they needed an "expert" to come to the house and make it work. I then went to the cable company store, and the CSR typed out a few commands and voila - no charge.

[djwilso]

Here's what I did - bought a used TiVo HD from someone in the same cable company area as me. Then, before I left their house, had them call the cable company and switch the cable card to my account. Effectively, the seller told the cable company that I had his permission to remove the card from his house. Since the card and Tivo were already paired, the cable company COULDN'T say that they needed an "expert" to come to the house and make it work. I then went to the cable company store, and the CSR typed out a few commands and voila - no charge.That is good that you found a way around the truck roll, but you have to admit that this scenario is extremely exceptional.

[tvmaster2]

That is good that you found a way around the truck roll, but you have to admit that this scenario is extremely exceptional.

it involved some quick thinking on my feet - but that truck-roll cost sucks so much it made me think extra hard. Look on Craigslist. It's amazing how many of these come up for sale, every week, in the same cable area as me.

[gwsat]

Cox OKC requires a service call, at a cost of $40, whenever they do a CableCard installation. If there is a way around paying that charge, I don't know what it is.

[evilipoo]

I just got off the phone with Cox San Diego. The installation fee for the Mcard is now $75 and they deny that there is a self install option.

There has got to be a way around this...

[ajwees41]

I just got off the phone with Cox San Diego. The installation fee for the Mcard is now $75 and they deny that there is a self install option.

There has got to be a way around this...

cox does not allow self installs of cable cards yet

[guammm17]

Just wanted to post a note on cox phoenix with S4 tivos. Cox Phoenix does have M-cablecards, don't let anyone tell you different. The people at cox in Tempe Marketplace and on the phone all claimed that they did not offer multistream cablecards. After much arguing and convincing, they "realized" that they did in fact offer multistream cards (I showed them the back of one of their cable boxes with a multistream card in it and asked how was this possible if they did not have them).

The charge for install was $30, and I couldn't talk them out of letting me do it myself, but the installer was quite nice and very quick, had the box set up in under 10 minutes. He had four "green" cards in his shirt pocket when he came over. I believe the fee for the cablecard is $4/month, however no one would give me a straight answer on this.

Hope this story helps someone out there.

[tvmaster2]

Just wanted to post a note on cox phoenix with S4 tivos. Cox Phoenix does have M-cablecards, don't let anyone tell you different. The people at cox in Tempe Marketplace and on the phone all claimed that they did not offer multistream cablecards. After much arguing and convincing, they "realized" that they did in fact offer multistream cards (I showed them the back of one of their cable boxes with a multistream card in it and asked how was this possible if they did not have them).

The charge for install was $30, and I couldn't talk them out of letting me do it myself, but the installer was quite nice and very quick, had the box set up in under 10 minutes. He had four "green" cards in his shirt pocket when he came over. I believe the fee for the cablecard is $4/month, however no one would give me a straight answer on this.

Hope this story helps someone out there.

In Orange County the monthly is $1.99, with a $55 install, but if you find the right CSR, they'll reduce that fee. Sadly, NO ONE in CSR technical seems to know anything about trouble-shooting a Tivo with cable card.

[PVCOX90275]

In Orange County the monthly is $1.99, with a $55 install, but if you find the right CSR, they'll reduce that fee. Sadly, NO ONE in CSR technical seems to know anything about trouble-shooting a Tivo with cable card.

First time Tivo user, I was too told by multiple CSR from Cox in Palos verdes that installtion is $55 and they don't allow self installation. However, one of last CSR that I talked to recommended that I contact retention unit as they have more leverage in waiving the fee. So I called Cox retention and complained that it's ridiculous that Cox wants to charge me $55 for something that I can pick up at their office and insert into Tivo myself. It's very upsetting that I want to switch to Verizon FIOS. The retention guy was very nice but it was also his first time hearing about cable card. Anyway, he put me on hold and contacted his technical support to research. In the end, he was able to find out how to order cable card installation for me and waive $55.

[zowwie85]

Does anyone on Cox Phoenix have an issue with suggestions not being recorded? Series 3 HD + SDV seems to = no suggestions.

[spartan300]

Has anyone else experienced the same issue as this.

Ordered a S4 Premiere and had Cox come out to install M-Card.
It worked for 4 hours and then spit out a 161-38 error call your cable company and report.

Since that day 3 months ago I have had 3 different premier boxes an over 20 cable cards. Nothing has worked for more than 4 hours and I am not able to record any shows because the signal is lost and I eventually just get a blank screen with the floating message of lost signal trying again from Tivo.

My stats are as follows
S4 Premiere with ver. 14.5
SA Multi stream cable card
Cox Digital cable
signal strength of 95-98 depending on channnel
SNR 37-39 (This is the kicker because Tivo says it can't be above a 35 and Cox showed me documentation that says their standard is anywhere between a 30-50 and most of their equipment runs in the 40's)
I will receive anywhere from 100--250 RS Uncorrected errors but it doesnt fluctuate, once it is on a channel the Uncorrected errors stay at the same number. I have used this support article for ref on the RS count: support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/150/c/123%2C130/r_id/100041

I have had Cox run a new line to my house for better signal and I have tried an attenuator but nothing has worked.

When I can get to the the CableCard option screens the FDC says it is locked and it is paired and authorized.

If I reboot the Tivo the channels come back but again only for about 4 hours and then it looses the signal and i have restart again.

Is it just me or is anyone else having this same amount of trouble getting a premier to work with Cox in Cleveland?

[moyekj]

Can't really help you with your problem, but perhaps more information will be useful in getting it resolved with cable company.
CableCard error codes can be found here:
http://www.opencable.com/downloads/specs/OC-SP-CCIF2.0-I07-060803.pdf
161-38 you can find in the table on page 252.
"Card fails to respond to ca_info_inq within 5 seconds"

If you search for ca_info_inq within that PDF document there are several references to it, including this blurb on page 96:
"Under normal operating conditions, this session will never be closed".

So sounds like that is getting closed perhaps because your card is losing communication with the headend.

[spartan300]

Can't really help you with your problem, but perhaps more information will be useful in getting it resolved with cable company.
CableCard error codes can be found here:
opencable.com/downloads/specs/OC-SP-CCIF2.0-I07-060803.pdf
161-38 you can find in the table on page 252.
"Card fails to respond to ca_info_inq within 5 seconds"

If you search for ca_info_inq within that PDF document there are several references to it, including this blurb on page 96:
"Under normal operating conditions, this session will never be closed".

So sounds like that is getting closed perhaps because your card is losing communication with the headend.

Thanks moyekj.....at least now I have something to show Cox tech next time I call him out. Neither Tivo CableCard support reps nor Cox tech could tell me what the error code actually meant and they both have just been pointing fingers at each other and saying try another Card. After 20+ cards though I don't think another one is going to make a difference.

I am just stubborn enough to keep calling a tech out until it works even after 3 months.

[zowwie85]

I just got off the phone with Cox San Diego. The installation fee for the Mcard is now $75 and they deny that there is a self install option.

There has got to be a way around this...

First, get the best deal you can on a TiVo Premiere since you're wasting your time trying to get an S3 to work with cablecard and SDV and still have the features that TiVo markets as an inducement to pay for the subscription. An S3 will stop suggesting shows you might like.

Budget at least TWO 1/2 days off of work (or weekend appointments). They are correct, there is no self install option. Given the state of the (lack of) employee training there isn't even a likelihood of a first time "professional" :rolleyes: install.

Insist you need the M-card plus SDV box. The first person they send will be a contractor, who may well know how to do the install but he won't have immediate access to anyone who can manipulate the authorization system to pair your M-card to your TiVo AND pair the card to the SDV box.

The reality of the install is that if you ever plugged a pacman cartridge into an atari (or something like that) AND plugged a computer into a printer... AND you can correctly read and react to english numbers and letters - yes, this could be a self-install. Cox has made a business decision not to support that.

You will have to agree to the fee in the first place. If lightning strikes and you get a successful install on the first try you'll probably have to pay it. Given the VERY MINIMAL level of training Cox has given their employees (and least of all, contractors) - the first attempt will not succeed.

DO NOT stand for the contractor who shows up with card only and tells you the SDV box is unnecessary. Let him leave with a vague promise to come back and then call to b**tch.

After the first attempt put on your biggest smile and call - expect the hard line "either you pay the fee or cancel the call." Just hang up when you hear it. Call back and reset your smile, try again. You will get the fee waived provided you don't blow your cool much about the wasted time. When you get someone doesn't take the "pay-the-fee-or-cancel-the-call" line emphasize you want them to send a Cox employee.

They will insist contractors and employees are equal... but it's not true. An employee will have better access to anyone who has any clue about how to authorize the card.

Or just complain to the city or entity that has the franchise (after the contractor FUBAR's your first install attempt). That works too.

There's yet another gotcha... Cox will eventually get your cablecard and SDV adapter working - but your S3 TiVo will stop offering suggestions. That's why you should probably have the Premiere in the first place if you can get it.

[ellinj]

Have an install appt this morning for two cards for a series3 that I inherited. The installer already tried to call me to make excuses. Said the cards were hard to find, there were problems with them, etc etc, did I know I can't get on demand etc etc.

I told him I didn't want any excuses and I expect him to be here in his time window.

[Amiga]

I've gotten the usual CableCARD runaround from Cox. They tried to charge me over $7 for a card, $1.99 for the card and the rest as an access fee. Even after complaining to Clark County (Las Vegas), some Cox CSR liaison that contacted me insisted cards were $7+. Finally, this CSR found someone up the foodchain who agreed that cards are only $1.99. Beyond that, this rep also acted like she was doing me a favor lowering the install from around $60 for two cards to $25. I now found this press release stating free Cox CableCARD / TiVo installations, http://pr.tivo.com/easyir/customrel.do?easyirid=CA934452BA6418EF&version=live&prid=651057&releasejsp=custom_150 . Has anyone had any luck pushing for a free install?

[ajwees41]

I have had a THD with two s-cards up and running with Cox Omaha for little over two years. As far as I know I was getting all the channels I thought I was supposed to get, didn't seem to be having any SDV issues, but to be honest maybe I didn't know I was missing anything. My THD hard drive died a couple of weeks ago and I grabbed the Cox DVR just to have something. I of course hate it so I just ordered a Tivo Premiere. (decided to spend the extra $$ rather than replacing the hard drive). So my questions is: should I just stick the 2 s-cards I still have into my new TiVo when it gets here, or move to an M-card? (don't really care about the extra 2 bucks if it saves me some hassle). If I move to an M-card will I need a Tuning Adaptor? Thanks!

Omaha does not use sdv as far as I know we are 1Ghz already

[ajwees41]

I've gotten the usual CableCARD runaround from Cox. They tried to charge me over $7 for a card, $1.99 for the card and the rest as an access fee. Even after complaining to Clark County (Las Vegas), some Cox CSR liaison that contacted me insisted cards were $7+. Finally, this CSR found someone up the foodchain who agreed that cards are only $1.99. Beyond that, this rep also acted like she was doing me a favor lowering the install from around $60 for two cards to $25. I now found this press release stating free Cox CableCARD / TiVo installations, http://pr.tivo.com/easyir/customrel.do?easyirid=CA934452BA6418EF&version=live&prid=651057&releasejsp=custom_150 . Has anyone had any luck pushing for a free install?

that's for when they launch the cox ondemand for tivo not avalable yet

[Johncv]

I've gotten the usual CableCARD runaround from Cox. They tried to charge me over $7 for a card, $1.99 for the card and the rest as an access fee. Even after complaining to Clark County (Las Vegas), some Cox CSR liaison that contacted me insisted cards were $7+. Finally, this CSR found someone up the foodchain who agreed that cards are only $1.99. Beyond that, this rep also acted like she was doing me a favor lowering the install from around $60 for two cards to $25. I now found this press release stating free Cox CableCARD / TiVo installations, http://pr.tivo.com/easyir/customrel.do?easyirid=CA934452BA6418EF&version=live&prid=651057&releasejsp=custom_150 . Has anyone had any luck pushing for a free install?

This is one of the reason I have held off purchasing the Tivo Premiere. I want to see how Cox and TiVo will implement this. From the way TiVo is trying to unload the current TiVo Premiere boxes make me think that a new “Premiere” box is coming out next year to support this.

[lasergecko]

Has anyone had any luck pushing for a free install?

Sure as hell did! Woo hoo!

I didn't get it "free", but I just got a credit issued to my account by telling the CSR about the press release and giving the contact info in it. I'd go about it that way. Get billed, then get credit for it.

Thanks for the pointer!

[GregOhio]

Just got off the phone with Cox in Cleveland. They just told me that every time the power goes out, they would have to send someone out to re-activate the CableCARDs. ... Is it worth the trouble - once everything is up and running, are there a lot of issues?

I am in Cleveland, with both TivoHD and Premier using cablecards. The cards are a PITA to get setup, but it is one-time. They haven't touched the ones in my HD for 3 years. That power failure story is rich. I wonder if they pay bonuses for talking customers into getting Cox DVR's instead.

I gave the Cox HD DVR (Scientific Atlanta) a shot. The interface was fine, but it was unreliable. I hardly ever got successful recordings. That was 3 years ago.

I greatly prefer the TIVO. The cablecard setup is a minor one-time hassle.

[TheRatPatrol]

This is one of the reason I have held off purchasing the Tivo Premiere. I want to see how Cox and TiVo will implement this. From the way TiVo is trying to unload the current TiVo Premiere boxes make me think that a new “Premiere” box is coming out next year to support this.
So you think thats why they're $99.00 right now?

[Johncv]

So you think thats why they're $99.00 right now?

Yes, I think people who are being serve by Cox should just save their money and wait and see if Cox support VOD for the Premier box. I really wish Cox and TiVo had sign an agreement to provide the Premier box like RCN, Suddenlink and now Charter. http://www.thestreet.com/story/10983182/1/tivo-rises-on-charter-deal.html

[thebarber]

I recently read that tivo will be able to use the cox vod and it should be available by the end of the first quarter or during the second quarter of this year. I currently have a tivo premiere HD sitting in the box at home because I can't justify the extra money vs. my cox dvr. Can anyone convince me if I should or shouldn't make the switch before I return it? I can't complain about the cox dvr, only about the company itself. I also think tivo will be coming out with a new box that will have the wireless card built in, I can't believe it's not already in their like it is in bd players, etc....

[djwilso]

Most likely, the Premiere that Cox provides will be able to use their VOD but will also disable using all of the other types of VOD such as Netflix and Amazon VOD.

I could be wrong, of course, but I would not put it past them.

[tvmaster2]

Most likely, the Premiere that Cox provides will be able to use their VOD but will also disable using all of the other types of VOD such as Netflix and Amazon VOD.

I could be wrong, of course, but I would not put it past them.

that would be rather unsporting

[Johncv]

Most likely, the Premiere that Cox provides will be able to use their VOD but will also disable using all of the other types of VOD such as Netflix and Amazon VOD.

I could be wrong, of course, but I would not put it past them.

As I understand the deal is that YOU buy a TiVo Premiere box from whoever you want, Cox will provide VOD for the TiVo Premiere. Cox has also agree to advertise and promote the service. I just want to see this happen before I even spend money on a TiVo Premiere.

[Testpattern]

On another area of interest concerning Cox and S3 cable cards, have any of you experienced a re-install on a set of functioning cards.

I'm replacing my dead S3 and Tivo says to simply install my cable cards from my old unit to the new one. They said I "may" have to call my provider for them to pair something on their end but that's about it.

Excuse me, but I still recall the pain I went though initially with Cox to get these two cards installed. It took days and multiple in home visits to get them to function.

Is it really this easy when exchanging a unit? Anyone know?

[calstudios]

Cox still not allowing self install of cable cards. I called Cox Santa Barbara today and they said CC installs require a $55 truck roll. I mentioned the FCC regulations and the guy was clueless. They're probably going to wait the full nine months to extort as much money as they can out of customers.

[LoREvanescence]

I've gotten the usual CableCARD runaround from Cox. They tried to charge me over $7 for a card, $1.99 for the card and the rest as an access fee. Even after complaining to Clark County (Las Vegas), some Cox CSR liaison that contacted me insisted cards were $7+. Finally, this CSR found someone up the foodchain who agreed that cards are only $1.99. Beyond that, this rep also acted like she was doing me a favor lowering the install from around $60 for two cards to $25. I now found this press release stating free Cox CableCARD / TiVo installations, http://pr.tivo.com/easyir/customrel.do?easyirid=CA934452BA6418EF&version=live&prid=651057&releasejsp=custom_150 . Has anyone had any luck pushing for a free install?

I just had my premiere set up with Cox and a M-Card a week and a half ago.

I was not able to get the cable card for free, but I got a $25 credit.

So my bill looks like this
Installation - CableCARD $50.00
Regulated Installation $-25.00

So far I'm impressed. To my amazement there is absolutely no copy protection on any channel I receive!

There appears to be no SDV, I don't have a tuning adapter and I get every single channel on the lineup card that I receive with my package, 200 or so channels plus music choice.

Only disappointment I have with cox is that is what ever compression they use on some hd channels, the picture looks all grainy and colors are dull, but no blocking. I'm not really a fan of that.

The install went smoothly. After the cable card was put in all encrypted channels said not authorized, but after one call to reprogram the box they came in and have worked perfectly since.



So what is going on with this cox ondemand. I have not followed it / don't know anything about it since this is my first time with cox. That news article linked in the past page seems to suggest cox will sell retail boxes with ondemand access.

Does that mean a special cox box, or would that mean they would just sell tivo premieres and regular retail premieres would have access to it?

[Testpattern]

So what is going on with this cox ondemand. I have not followed it / don't know anything about it since this is my first time with cox. That news article linked in the past page seems to suggest cox will sell retail boxes with ondemand access.

Does that mean a special cox box, or would that mean they would just sell tivo premieres and regular retail premieres would have access to it?

Supposedly, Cox and TiVo have a deal worked out where the Premiere will support Cox VOD somehow. I've talked to two sales people from Cox OKC concerning this and neither knew anything about a Cox/Tivo agreement.

As you probably know, Current TiVo connections do not support Cox VOD since TiVo communication is one way. VOD requires bi-directional communications.

[wjdennen]

I heard from Cox New England that this Cox/TiVo deal Is on hold. Via twitter. @coxnewengland

I asked specifically about the VOD and they said it was on hold.

[LoREvanescence]

I heard from Cox New England that this Cox/TiVo deal Is on hold. Via twitter. @coxnewengland

I asked specifically about the VOD and they said it was on hold.


that's not a good thing

I recently emailed cox contact on this deal asking about the Rhode Island Area and if were were to get it. I forger her name, but the lady's who's email was given in the press release.

The response I got was to call the local cable franchise and she provided the number.

I call them, they know nothing about it, then try to sell me their box to get vod, lol

[cmallan]

I am in Cleveland, with both TivoHD and Premier using cablecards.

what cable card do you have in your premiere? I was told by Cox Cleveland that they only have S-cards and no M-cards (which is complete crap in my opinion)

[cmallan]

I am in Cleveland, with both TivoHD and Premier using cablecards.

what cable card do you have in your premiere? I was told by Cox Cleveland that they only have S-cards and no M-cards (which is complete crap in my opinion)

[CharlieC]

I'm in Cleveland with 4 TIVO boxes. Three have M-cards from Cox, the other (an S3 box from way back) has 2 S-cards. As I added the boxes I requested M-cards when I scheduled the install. The CSR initially told me there were no such thing as M-cards (not just with Cox, but anywhere). I told him whatever. When the tech came out to do the install he brought S-cards. I asked him if he had any M-cards. He told me he didn't but his supervisor had some so he called his supervisor who ran over and brought a whole bunch. Ever since then, I've requested M-cards and that's what they've installed.

[TomXP411]

I live in Chula Vista, which is serve by Cox San Diego. I pay $2.95 a month for the Cox Service Assurance Plan. What this mean is if anything go wrong with my service Cox has to fix it at no additional charge. This include the cable card installed in the TiVo HD.

I just called Cox today to order a CableCard for my InfiniTV, and they want $75 now for "Professional Installation."

Seriously? I could do it myself in 10 minutes. It's not like they can't provision this stuff remotely.

It sure seems like a simply profit-grab to me.

[zowwie85]

It's not like they can't provision this stuff remotely.


You give them too much credit. Half the time they can't even provision it once they've shown up with it.

[CoxInPHX]

Cox has posted CableCARD Self Install Kit information and printed instructions.

Cisco
http://ww2.cox.com/residential/arizona/support/tv/article.cox?articleId={9bc79a10-7b4e-11e0-fbc4-000000000000}
http://media.cox.com/support/print_media/tv/equipment/user_guides/cable_box/CableCardSelfInstallGuide_Cisco.pdf

Motorola
http://ww2.cox.com/residential/orangecounty/support/tv/article.cox?articleId={0b2b32b0-7b52-11e0-fbc4-000000000000}
http://media.cox.com/support/print_media/tv/equipment/user_guides/cable_box/CableCardSelfInstallGuide_Motorola.pdf

The 888 number is just the main Cox number, There was not an option specific to CableCard Self installs, so I selected AdvancedTV Self Install.
At first the CS Rep did not understand what I wanted, so she put me on hold and went to speak with someone else. She came back and confirmed she had the instructions to walk me through the process. She also confirmed that the Cox Stores should have CableCards and Tuning Adapters (where needed) for customers to pick up.

[Makaveli6103]

Cox in Omaha will not provide me with a multi-stream card. What do I do?

[zowwie85]

Cox in Omaha will not provide me with a multi-stream card. What do I do?

Just call back and ask for a cablecard without going into any detail. Single-stream cards are even rarer than knowledgeable employees.

[LynnL999]

Anyone else in OC? My Tivo popped up with a whole slew of new channels today. Some are working with the tuning adapter, some not. I went through all the new and newish HD channels (channel 800+) to test what I'm getting and not getting.

Working:

891 DIYHD
892 COOKHD
893 HUBHD
894 (unlabeled)
895 OUTHD2

1028 WGNHD
1051 TWCHD

1103 IDHD

1337 TENISHD
1346 BBCAHD


Not Working:

785 NFLNRZD
798 GAME HD
799 CSDINHD

870 STZIBHP
871 STRCHP
877 SHWXPHD
879 HBOCPHD
880 HBOZPHD
881 HBO2HD
882 HBOSGHD
883 HBOFHD
884 HBOLAHD
887 SHOCPHD
888 TMCHD
889 STZCHD
890 STZKHD

1045 HLNHD
1047 (unlabeled)
1068 TCMHD
1105 OWNHD

1284 STZEHD

1352 TRUTV
1363 NGWILDH
1371 WEHD
1394 GALA

1654 TEAM HD
1672 (unlabeled)

None of the 1900 numbered MC channels are working for me either.

I don't sub to Cimemax and didn't try any of those channels, or any paid sports channels. I do subscribe to HBO, Showtime and Starz.

Can anyone with a TA report back if they are getting any of the channels I'm not getting?

I am thrilled with BBC HD, but I am really getting perturbed about all these channels that should be part of my package that I can't get -- especially the premiums.

[LoREvanescence]

some of those channels are plus package. Meaning they can only be viewed on cox's own box the whole home dvr. such as trutv and most of your not working ones.


as for MC, it was 4 months after they were added to my line up before they worked. They were just added to tivo's guide early and weren't on cox's own boxes until they worked.

Give them time, some may work if they are not added yet. Have someone with a cox box check to see if they are there and working.

And if they are, and they are still not working on your tivo, they wont. The reason being is they are inbetween 850 mgz and 1ghz. A S3 or THD tuner can not tune in that range.

The premiere can but also does not have access to them at this time. May take a software update? But I heave heard on the avs forums tivo is working with cox on this.

[LynnL999]

some of those channels are plus package. Meaning they can only be viewed on cox's own box the whole home dvr.

This doesn't make sense to me, because I am getting 891-895, all of which are listed as Plus Package, but not getting the premiums which I pay extra for in the same package.

And if they are, and they are still not working on your tivo, they wont. The reason being is they are inbetween 850 mgz and 1ghz. A S3 or THD tuner can not tune in that range.

Then Cox shouldn't be using it. It's unfair to charge TiVo users for all channels yet treat us as second-class citizens. I don't expect to get On Demand or PPV or anything I knew that TiVo couldn't handle when I bought it. I do expect to get all the channels that I pay for, though.

[CoxInPHX]

I Urge all Cox CableCARD customers to file a complaint with the FCC, and tell them Cox is requiring the lease of equipment to receive these "linear channels" and denying you access on a capable CableCARD UDCP receiver (TiVo Premiere). Cox may not budge on this issue until the FCC gets involved.

http://www.fcc.gov/complaints
or
http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm

FCC CableCARD Rules:
http://www.fcc.gov/guides/cablecard-know-your-rights
"Receive all “linear” channels (channels other than “on-demand”) in your subscription package. This includes premium channels and specialty channels. For some channels delivered using a technique called “switched digital video,” you may need a second device called a “tuning adapter.” This device is typically provided at no additional charge to CableCARD customers. FCC Rule 76.1205(b)(4). CableCARD-ready devices currently cannot receive your cable operator’s Video on Demand services. "

FCC ENFORCEMENT ADVISORY:
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db0809/DA-11-1373A1.pdf
"Ensure access to all linear channels. Consumers have identified problems accessing switched digital channels on their retail CableCARD-compatible devices.9 Cable operators must ensure that subscribers can use their retail devices to access all of the linear channels that comprise the cable package to which they subscribe.10 Operators also must ensure that retail devices can tune at least four simultaneous channels, or as many switched digital channels as that operator’s most sophisticated operator-supplied set-top box, whichever is greater. See 47 C.F.R. §
76.1205(b)(4)."

"The term “linear programming” is generally understood to refer to video programming that is prescheduled by the programming provider, i.e., channels other than on-demand programming. Linear programming includes premium channels and channels delivered by switched digital technology"

[tvmaster2]

I Urge all Cox CableCARD customers to file a complaint with the FCC, and tell them Cox is requiring the lease of equipment to receive these "linear channels" and denying you access on a capable CableCARD UDCP receiver (TiVo Premiere). Cox may not budge on this issue until the FCC gets involved.

http://www.fcc.gov/complaints
or
http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm

FCC CableCARD Rules:
http://www.fcc.gov/guides/cablecard-know-your-rights
"Receive all “linear” channels (channels other than “on-demand”) in your subscription package. This includes premium channels and specialty channels. For some channels delivered using a technique called “switched digital video,” you may need a second device called a “tuning adapter.” This device is typically provided at no additional charge to CableCARD customers. FCC Rule 76.1205(b)(4). CableCARD-ready devices currently cannot receive your cable operator’s Video on Demand services. "

FCC ENFORCEMENT ADVISORY:
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db0809/DA-11-1373A1.pdf
"Ensure access to all linear channels. Consumers have identified problems accessing switched digital channels on their retail CableCARD-compatible devices.9 Cable operators must ensure that subscribers can use their retail devices to access all of the linear channels that comprise the cable package to which they subscribe.10 Operators also must ensure that retail devices can tune at least four simultaneous channels, or as many switched digital channels as that operator’s most sophisticated operator-supplied set-top box, whichever is greater. See 47 C.F.R. §
76.1205(b)(4)."

"The term “linear programming” is generally understood to refer to video programming that is prescheduled by the programming provider, i.e., channels other than on-demand programming. Linear programming includes premium channels and channels delivered by switched digital technology"

Complaint sent. It's the only way we have a chance of being treated fairly

[tvmaster2]

This doesn't make sense to me, because I am getting 891-895, all of which are listed as Plus Package, but not getting the premiums which I pay extra for in the same package.



Then Cox shouldn't be using it. It's unfair to charge TiVo users for all channels yet treat us as second-class citizens. I don't expect to get On Demand or PPV or anything I knew that TiVo couldn't handle when I bought it. I do expect to get all the channels that I pay for, though.

you are correct on both points. it would appear Cox's TiVo customers are subsidizing the non-TiVo dvr users. As far as freq. spectrum goes, same thing...we put up with lousy NTSC 525 lines for 50 years because standards had to be maintained. Same goes here...in fact, the ONLY realistic reason Cox would change technology would be to benefit Cox, and that's just not right when there isn't another company allowed to use the coax feeding my neighborhood

[tvmaster2]

but at least we FINALLY have BBC HD. Now, how about Current TV please...

[LynnL999]

but at least we FINALLY have BBC HD. Now, how about Current TV please...

I am with you on both points! I am really excited about BBCA.

So after venting my spleen a bit on Twitter, a Cox rep called me.

She said all of the HD channels will be moving to the 1000's in December, and the new channels are mostly for testing purposes. What cable card users have now should smooth out and be the same as the regular lineup, except for the Plus Pack which we're apparently not supposed to have at all.

So I was told.

[LynnL999]

I Urge all Cox CableCARD customers to file a complaint with the FCC, and tell them Cox is requiring the lease of equipment to receive these "linear channels" and denying you access on a capable CableCARD UDCP receiver (TiVo Premiere). Cox may not budge on this issue until the FCC gets involved.

Both my TiVo's are HD's. Can I file a complaint too?

[tvmaster2]

Both my TiVo's are HD's. Can I file a complaint too?

I would...Cox is taking the low road on this one, legal or not

[tvmaster2]

I am with you on both points! I am really excited about BBCA.

So after venting my spleen a bit on Twitter, a Cox rep called me.

She said all of the HD channels will be moving to the 1000's in December, and the new channels are mostly for testing purposes. What cable card users have now should smooth out and be the same as the regular lineup, except for the Plus Pack which we're apparently not supposed to have at all.

So I was told.

regarding the "Plus Pak", we need to complain to the FCC on that issue. Essentially, I pay $21 for HBO/Starz. For that I receive SIX HD versions of those channels. For a measly $5, Cox DVR renters receive at least 10 of those HP Premium channels, which I CANNOT subscribe to. Essentially, TiVo/Cable-card renters are SUBSIDIZING the Cox DVR renters, as they are getting channels from HBO / Starz / Encore based on a "group" rate from those content providers. It's complete bulls$&t. But if no one writes the FCC, then you get the government you deserve, you know?

[LoREvanescence]

regarding the "Plus Pak", we need to complain to the FCC on that issue. Essentially, I pay $21 for HBO/Starz. For that I receive SIX HD versions of those channels. For a measly $5, Cox DVR renters receive at least 10 of those HP Premium channels, which I CANNOT subscribe to. Essentially, TiVo/Cable-card renters are SUBSIDIZING the Cox DVR renters, as they are getting channels from HBO / Starz / Encore based on a "group" rate from those content providers. It's complete bulls$&t. But if no one writes the FCC, then you get the government you deserve, you know?


does anyone have a good complaint written up that I could recycle and send to them? I haven't complained to the fcc yet as I just never felt like sitting down to write a formal complaint.

[LynnL999]

If you go to the FCC site, you'll click through to a complaint form. You can pretty much paraphrase what tvmaster said -- I would leave out the bulls$%t part though :)

[CoxInPHX]

does anyone have a good complaint written up that I could recycle and send to them? I haven't complained to the fcc yet as I just never felt like sitting down to write a formal complaint.

Anyone up for posting a professional complaint letter?

If not, I do plan to draft and post a letter in the near future, actually 3 letters, one to the FCC, one to the local Cox market and one to Cox Corporate in Atlanta. Cox Arizona has not officially launched the Plus Package channels, so at the current time I do not have a legitimate complaint, but I want to be ready.

[sudodate]

I filed a complaint today. In Fairfax, VA they don't call anything the Plus Pack yet... but they still have a block of 27 channels (including most of the premium movie channels) which are only available if you use the Cox Trio "Whole Home" DVR.

When I called Cox today to find out why most of the HBO channels showed up as "not authorized", the tech support rep told me honestly that Cox had decided to only make those channels available to people who pay for their most expensive DVR.

Seriously... how do they get away with this?

[unitron]

...

Seriously... how do they get away with this?

How many cable companies do you have from which to choose?

I'm guessing it's probably 1.

I'm thinking that's the answer to your question.

Maybe you need to talk to whatever local politicians are on whatever local body that says which cable company gets to use the right of way in which area of your community.

[slowbiscuit]

Folks with this issue also need to talk to their local franchise authority, they will have contacts to escalate with Cox. Once you can show them it's an FCC violation, they might listen (both the county/city and Cox). Google Cox Cable's executive relations number and talk to corporate as well. They need to know that they are in violation of the regs.

Of course explaining how Tivo uses Cablecards and Tuning Adapters will be lots of fun...

[unitron]

Folks with this issue also need to talk to their local franchise authority, they will have contacts to escalate with Cox. Once you can show them it's an FCC violation, they might listen (both the county/city and Cox). Google Cox Cable's executive relations number and talk to corporate as well. They need to know that they are in violation of the regs.

Of course explaining how Tivo uses Cablecards and Tuning Adapters will be lots of fun...

What you explain to the local franchise authority is that you'd hate to have to support their opponent(s) in the next election, but...

[LynnL999]

I received a reply to my FCC complaint that appeared to be a form letter. It had nothing to do with cable cards or anything I actually said in my complaint :(

[lrhorer]

I received a reply to my FCC complaint that appeared to be a form letter. It had nothing to do with cable cards or anything I actually said in my complaint :(
Why does that not surprise me? OTOH, did you specifically reference FCC Rule 76.1205(b)(4) and the fact you are not receiving linear SDV channels that other subscribers with the same level of service you have are getting? This issue fundamentally has nothing to do with CableCards, so mentioning them is really superfluous.

[CoxInPHX]

I received a reply to my FCC complaint that appeared to be a form letter. It had nothing to do with cable cards or anything I actually said in my complaint :(

See this posting all California markets should have access to the Plus Package channels by December 1st, on a capable 1GHz CableCARD tuner.
A Cox San Diego employee has confirmed that Cox California markets will have access to the Plus Package HD channels on 1GHz capable CableCARD UDCPs by December 1st. (assuming they also subscribe to the associated SD channel package) He would not confirm if other markets would follow.

http://www.sandiegohdtv.org/forums/thread-plus-package-hd-channels-cablecard?pid=2185#pid2185


Why does that not surprise me? OTOH, did you specifically reference FCC Rule 76.1205(b)(4) and the fact you are not receiving linear SDV channels that other subscribers with the same level of service you have are getting? This issue fundamentally has nothing to do with CableCards, so mentioning them is really superfluous.

None of the Cox Plus Package channels are using SDV. They are simply broadcast over the legacy 860MHz range.

There was some discussion about using MPEG-4 for these channels, but I believe they are currently MPEG-2, they are here in Phoenix. In Phoenix they are live for testing purposes, but are not Authorized on CableCARDs at this time.

[lrhorer]

None of the Cox Plus Package channels are using SDV. They are simply broadcast over the legacy 860MHz range.
I cannot argue that it is not the case, since I am not there, but according to the response above, only certain Cisco 1GHz boxes can receive them. That smells a lot like SDV.

There was some discussion about using MPEG-4 for these channels, but I believe they are currently MPEG-2, they are here in Phoenix. In Phoenix they are live for testing purposes, but are not Authorized on CableCARDs at this time.
If they are only there for testing purposes, then they are probably not breaking any laws, but that is not what the website suggests.

OTOH, something else is fishy. Twenty-seven SDV channels is just an awfully tiny number, and if they are deploying SDV, then there is no need to go above 750 MHz. 750MHz is enough for thousands of SDV channels, unless their nodes are over-extended. No matter what, something does not add up.

[jodell]

I filed a FCC complaint a few months ago and called Cox OC customer relations months before I found this thread. Neither resulted in any changes. I was actually told that the Plus Package channels "couldn't possibly be working on my TiVo because they were not SDV". I offered to repeat the audio from any working Plus Package channel to the rep but she declined. :')

I will file a new FCC complaint as well as copy the local franchise board, etc. Maybe if we make enough noise, the Plus Package channels will "magically" start working.

Jeff

[LynnL999]

Why does that not surprise me? OTOH, did you specifically reference FCC Rule 76.1205(b)(4) and the fact you are not receiving linear SDV channels that other subscribers with the same level of service you have are getting? This issue fundamentally has nothing to do with CableCards, so mentioning them is really superfluous.

I did mention that rule, and also that I was a cable card subscriber, which seemed relevant to how I get the channels at all without a Cox HD receiver or DVR.

(Unfortunately, the FCC doesn't email you a full copy of your complaint.)

[LynnL999]

I will file a new FCC complaint as well as copy the local franchise board, etc. Maybe if we make enough noise, the Plus Package channels will "magically" start working.


I'm in Irvine too -- I'd be happy to send a letter as well. If you'd post yours, it would be helpful, though I won't copy it word for word :)

[Holazola]

Quick question: Does anyone have a spec sheet for the Motorola M-cards. Are they 1Ghz bandwidth capable devices? I can't find any detailed info about them.

I have COX in Santa Barbara and I got the "above 860mhz" story line today. It looks like about 30 of the 120 or so available "1000 series" HD channels "REQUIRE" their newer rental HD STBs. I pay $15/mo for 9 channels of HBO and only get 2 channels in HD. What a load of crap.

[CoxInPHX]

Quick question: Does anyone have a spec sheet for the Motorola M-cards. Are they 1Ghz bandwidth capable devices? I can't find any detailed info about them.

I have COX in Santa Barbara and I got the "above 860mhz" story line today. It looks like about 30 of the 120 or so available "1000 series" HD channels "REQUIRE" their newer rental HD STBs. I pay $15/mo for 9 channels of HBO and only get 2 channels in HD. What a load of crap.

The CableCARD is a decryption device, not a tuner. There is no such thing as a 1GHz capable CableCARD. Tuning limitations are dependent upon the device's tuner. The TiVoHD and Premiere both have a 1GHz tuner. Cox initially only set-up one account/billing code for the Whole Home DVR bundled with the Plus Package channels. According to a Cox San Diego employee, Cox California is in the process of setting up a second account/billing code for CableCARD users to receive these channels at no additional charge and not have to call in to activate the channels.
http://www.sandiegohdtv.org/forums/thread-plus-package-hd-channels-cablecard?page=2