Official Time Warner Cable Thread

[hookbill]

I just got off the phone with TW here in N.E. Ohio. No matter how many times I asked the rep kept insisting that I only would get one cable card. I tried very hard to explain it to her. The best I could do was get her to type on the sheet and put on there I needed two cable card. She said "ok, but he's only going to bring out one."

Idiots.

I'm thinking about calling back, cancelling the installation and then calling back and saying I have two new tv sets that need cable cards installed.

[SCSIRAID]

I just got off the phone with TW here in N.E. Ohio. No matter how many times I asked the rep kept insisting that I only would get one cable card. I tried very hard to explain it to her. The best I could do was get her to type on the sheet and put on there I needed two cable card. She said "ok, but he's only going to bring out one."

Idiots.

I'm thinking about calling back, cancelling the installation and then calling back and saying I have two new tv sets that need cable cards installed.

That is what you need to do. Tech told me that their system only understands one cablecard per device. Once we got past that... all was well.

[eisenb11]

Tell me about it. I have an 8am - 12pm appointment today for CC install. I called at 11:55am to find out where they were. After being on hold for 15 minutes, I was told that a Foreman was required to install CableCards and that my appointment had been extended from 8am to 6pm. Are you trying to tell me that a regular service guy can't pop two cards in a box and make a phone call??
So I now have a 10 hour window and who knows if they'll even show. Ridiculous.

Hmm, that's wierd. Yesterday I was told that only a sub-contractor can do the install... hence why I had to wait another day because they blew my appt.

They're a pretty sad operation... it took over 3 hours for the supe to figure out where his sub-contractor was... sad...

And, yes, apparently it does take a rocket scientist to write down the number off the card, write down the number off the Tivo, and to call a phone number and read said numbers... :rolleyes:

Hmmm, perhaps this is a sign that our public school system needs to be reformed! :D

[hookbill]

That is what you need to do. Tech told me that their system only understands one cablecard per device. Once we got past that... all was well.

Yep, that's what I did. Went smooth as silk! :)

[ThePlungerMan]

I’ve had many problems and started a new thread to see if there is a correlation between different providers. Follow the link, you’ll see what I mean.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4408993#post4408993

[eisenb11]

I’ve had many problems and started a new thread to see if there is a correlation between different providers. Follow the link, you’ll see what I mean.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4408993#post4408993

It's hard to see the correlation between providers when not a single post in your thread states who your providers are...

[JKay]

I’ve had many problems and started a new thread to see if there is a correlation between different providers. Follow the link, you’ll see what I mean.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4408993#post4408993

Interesting way to try and highjack an informative thread. I hope folks here don’t fall for itl

[Tok3n]

My Tivo S3 arrived at my door last week ( I happily replaced my Sony DVR ). My S3 install was smooth and my only problem was getting my HD channels. I went through countless TW support techs, which was nothing but pain and frustration until I discovered the online chat they have on their site. My chat log attached:

Snoopie> Thank you for contacting Time Warner Technical Support Chat, my name is Snoopie. May I get the first and last name of the account holder, and also the 10 digit phone number on the account please?
Sub_Tok3n> James Woods XXX-XXX-XXXX
Snoopie> Thank you very much, and how may I assist you today?
Sub_Tok3n> I'm having problems with channels 1617, TNTHD and 790 ( HBO HD ) they show for a second then I get a cablecard message
Sub_Tok3n> Auth Status: Waiting for CP Auth
Snoopie> Okay I can look at that for you
Snoopie>okay so it looks like the account is setup correctly
Snoopie> let me try to unpair and re-pair the card for you
Sub_Tok3n> it gives me the cablecard id: x-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
Sub_Tok3n> and hostid: x-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
Snoopie> thank could be an issue there/
Snoopie> Let me take care of that for you
Snoopie> Alright so the cable card ID is XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Snoopie> Just verifying that that is correct cause that would cause an issue
Sub_Tok3n> correct
Snoopie> okay and that is the correct Host ID?
Snoopie> Again just making sure
Sub_Tok3n> yes
Snoopie> great go ahead and check those channels now
Sub_Tok3n> your the MAN!
Snoopie> Excellent!
Snoopie> alright anything else today?
Sub_Tok3n> thats it thanks!
Snoopie> No problem have a nice day.
Snoopie> Analyst has closed chat and left the room


Wow... it was that simple, I didn't even have to reset my Tivo.
I hope this helps other TWC customers in Austin,TX !!!

[Houtech]

I finally got around to setting up my new S3 today. I had my two CC cards that I picked up the other day and I began the setup. At the CC screen I called TW Houston and got the tech on the line immediately, no waiting. He wanted me to plug both cards in at the same time. I had a heads up on the forum that this was how TW wanted to do it, so ignoring the Tivo instructions I shoved both cards into the back and got a 161-1 error on my card slot 2. The tech had me switch the cards and now the error was on card slot 1. He said it was a bad card so I pulled it out and headed to the Tidwell TW storefront and exchanged it for a new card. Then I went home and plug it in. No error message on ether card now! Re-called TW and started over. Amazingly one of my cards was already authorized, the tech said he had never seen that before. I was already able to surf all my subscribed channels and the HD tier even while I was talking to the tech on the phone. He said that they would authorize the other card within 24 hours and hung up, I was a happy camper.

Then...a half hour later, I couldn't get any channels, even the lower analog channels were out. I looked on the CableCard setup screen and now both cards were "not authorized" not just the second card as before. I decide to wait it out for awhile and took care of some other business.

About 2 hours later, everything began to work again. The box even started to record a channel while I was surfing another channel. Interestingly, I checked on the status of the cards in setup and it shows that only CC1 is authorized, CC2 is still showing not authorized yet I was recording one digital channel and watching another in the HD tier. Whatever, it works.

[Scopeman]

I picked up the TiVo on Thursday from Fry's (apparently box #2 of 3).

Apparently I got box #1 of 3 when they were first uncrated. I wonder If there is some special treat for that (besides the audio drop out issue). :-)

FYI - last night the had 1 or 2 more at Fry's in North Austin from second batch.

I have not yet stepped up for CableCard from TX Round Rock, and I am beginning to wonder if I should even bother given the amount of churn and heartache I have read about in this thread.

90% of what I watch is available OTA - which means a $0 cable bill. Pretty tempting.

[VoodooNYC]

The Time Warner guy is here now. The first CableCard has been stuck on a screen authorizing firmware update for the past hour!!!! He said he may have to come back tomorrow. Anyone else have this problem????

[eisenb11]

Still waiting for the cable man...

They blew off my 10-12 appt yesterday and we now have about 1 hour left in my 10-7 appt for today... this is very frustrating...

[zimmou]

Also had problems with that sub-contracter TWC NYC is using. I had a 10-2 slot. I called at 2 and apparently my work order was not sent to them, and their dispatcher wouldn't accommodate me until tuesday morning.

I have to give them credit this time, the phone rep was very honest and helpful. He assures me i'll be the first house they do on Tuesday (we'll see) and gave me a month's credit and waived my install fee without me even raising much of a fuss. :up:

I think it's worth it. The OTA signals come in so well on my tivo it's no big deal...

ryan

[eisenb11]

Be careful, the devil lies through false promises!

I just called in and got word that my 10-7 resched for today is blown (after they blew my 10-12 appt yesterday). They say that someone *will* show up today, but late... which is ok but I question if someone is really going to show up at all...

Update:

Grrrr... It's almost 9 now... I'm starting to think that they've failed to carry-through yet again. 2 missed appointments, 2 days in a row, 1 day of PTO (friday), and 1 weekend (saturday) ruined sitting around the damned house waiting for their goon to show up. I hate Time Warner... they can go to hell.

[eisenb11]

Those bastards. Once again they don't show up and don't call like they're supposed to... and rescheduled to Wed without telling me. I have to work, no one is around on Wed.

Thanks for ruining my weekend and my day off to make me sit around the house waiting.

Heads will roll...

[ThePlungerMan]

Those bastards. Once again they don't show up and don't call like they're supposed to... and rescheduled to Wed without telling me. I have to work, no one is around on Wed.

Thanks for ruining my weekend and my day off to make me sit around the house waiting.

Heads will roll...
Wow you must be miffed. Hang in there, they want you to give up, don't.
We can be remembered for the generation that took on the Cable Co giants and won. ;)

[hookbill]

Didn't TW use to guarantee it would make their service calls? I'm astounded by people having all these problems.

I'm also worried about my appointment on 10/9. We were Adelphia, now TW. As far as I can tell however it's the same people running the show.

[eisenb11]

The areas here were Adelphia & Comcast and got absorbed by TWC.

They do guarantee on time appointments (they blast it all over the radio) but it's basically a bunch of BS. If they're late or don't show up all they do is offer to credit you $20... yippy!

I got $20 creditted for yesterday, and another $20 for today.

Then I told them I'm really angry and I want more to appease me, so I now also have $10 off my internet bill for the next 6 months, $15 off my cable bill for the next 6 months, my HBO is now free for 3 months, and they gave me the Showtime/MovieChannel package free for the for next 3 months.

I'm now rescheduled for next Saturday. No idea what I'm going to have to ask for if those idiots end up not showing up again when that comes around.

What sucks is that I'm at 1 in 4 right now. They did a no-show during my initial cable install and didn't come by until the second attempt. I'm now on my third attempt for CableCards with two no-shows in a row.

The impression I'm getting is that they've found a way to slow CableCard adoption in the area. From the way it sounds, it seems like they only have a tiny number of contractors (sounds like 1) handling everything over here. That way it looks like they're trying to comply with the FCC mandate while they're tying everyone up.

Evil bastards... I hate them... Can't wait until the FIOS rollout reaches over here...

PS. One of the CSRs told me that at the end of the work day today, there were 6 unfulfilled rollouts for the day. Shows how much they suck.

[SoBayJake]

The areas here were Adelphia & Comcast and got absorbed by TWC.

They do guarantee on time appointments (they blast it all over the radio) but it's basically a bunch of BS. If they're late or don't show up all they do is offer to credit you $20... yippy!

I got $20 creditted for yesterday, and another $20 for today.

Then I told them I'm really angry and I want more to appease me, so I now also have $10 off my internet bill for the next 6 months, $15 off my cable bill for the next 6 months, my HBO is now free for 3 months, and they gave me the Showtime/MovieChannel package free for the for next 3 months.

I'm now rescheduled for next Saturday. No idea what I'm going to have to ask for if those idiots end up not showing up again when that comes around.

What sucks is that I'm at 1 in 4 right now. They did a no-show during my initial cable install and didn't come by until the second attempt. I'm now on my third attempt for CableCards with two no-shows in a row.

The impression I'm getting is that they've found a way to slow CableCard adoption in the area. From the way it sounds, it seems like they only have a tiny number of contractors (sounds like 1) handling everything over here. That way it looks like they're trying to comply with the FCC mandate while they're tying everyone up.

Evil bastards... I hate them... Can't wait until the FIOS rollout reaches over here...

PS. One of the CSRs told me that at the end of the work day today, there were 6 unfulfilled rollouts for the day. Shows how much they suck.
Are you in LA? What city? Call up the franchising authority and complain.

[eisenb11]

Are you in LA? What city? Call up the franchising authority and complain.

I'm in Redondo Beach, CA... very close to LA.

Franchising authority? Never heard of those guys... can you tell me more?

[SoBayJake]

I'm in Redondo Beach, CA... very close to LA.

Franchising authority? Never heard of those guys... can you tell me more?
It would be the City of Redondo Beach. Check this out: http://www.redondo.org/in_the_city/cable_television/default.asp

[danator]

I got $20 creditted for yesterday, and another $20 for today.

Then I told them I'm really angry and I want more to appease me, so I now also have $10 off my internet bill for the next 6 months, $15 off my cable bill for the next 6 months, my HBO is now free for 3 months, and they gave me the Showtime/MovieChannel package free for the for next 3 months.

I'm now rescheduled for next Saturday. No idea what I'm going to have to ask for if those idiots end up not showing up again when that comes around.

Hey, not a bad deal. :D :D. At least they willing to pay for the mistake.

[eisenb11]

It would be the City of Redondo Beach. Check this out: http://www.redondo.org/in_the_city/cable_television/default.asp

Thanks Jake, I think I'll have to get on that!

[eisenb11]

Hey, not a bad deal. :D :D. At least they willing to pay for the mistake.

I told you all "heads will roll"! :D

[BGreenstone]

I've been having quite a bit of trouble with TW Austin's Cable Cards. When they first came to hook me up, one of the CC's went into permanent firmware update mode. The other card worked, but I couldn't get any 1600 channels. Then they replaced the bad card, and swapped slots for the first card. That worked, and suddenly gave me more HD channels. However, for unknown reasons the only channel I can get in the HD Tier is Universal HD. None of the HDNet channels will come in, and TWC doesn't know why - they're sending someone over again on Monady to investigate.

Is there anyone here in Austin who is receiving everything on their CC? Are you getting all the HDNet and local HD channels? If so, what kind of CableCard did they give you? Is it the old Scientific Atlanta card, or did they give you something else?

Also, what's worse is that randomly I'll lose channels and then they come back later. Sometimes I will actually lose the ability to tune my old analog stations (channels 2-99). Then, sometimes I just lose a few channels in the 1500 or 1600 range. While other times is the 100-900 range digital channels. On a few rare occasions I've actually lost *all* channels for up to 10 minutes. There was signal because my TV's tuner could still see them. I don't know if I should be blaming TWC or Tivo for this oddity.

All I can say is that so far this S3 upgrade has been a nightmare.

-Brian

[hookbill]

I had to tell them it was for two different tv sets in order to get them to bring out two cards. Has anyone been successful just telling them the truth and had somebody intelligent enough to understand what they were saying?

I should say hopefully they are bringing out two cards. And how come it takes so darn long, I can't get anyone out here until 10/9?

[VoodooNYC]

After waiting 10 hours for TWC to arrive, technician inserted both cards and card 1 went into permanant firmware upgrade mode. The button to eject on Card 2 is not working at all. He left with everything basically broken and said another supervisor would come out today. Supervsor called today and said that because it's Sunday, he doesn't have any cable cards and will try to come out early next week. After looking at the back of the box, I realized nothing is going to get cable card 2 out of the slot. Called TiVo and told them I was sold a defective machine - there's no possible way that the eject button for cablecard 2 slot could have been broken by TWC, I was watching him the whole time. TiVo said that their engineering department would call me back on Monday to discuss an exchange. I'm really not sure this is worth it at this point.

[skweaz]

Is there anyone here in Austin who is receiving everything on their CC?



Sort of. I have one card from 2004 and one from 2006. I get all HD and Premiums on both, but only the newer card gets all the digtal tier and analog channels. The old card can not tune digital tier channels for some reason, only analog. I worked with web chat support a few times yesterday and made it worse, getting error code 161-1 and at times, an endless loop of this message popping up (I can clear it if I am quick with the remote :) ). I have tech coming today to swap with a newer card.
I'm very close to having a fully functional system.

[vpras]

Time Warner (recently purchased Comcast and Adelphia in So Cal) refused my request for Cablecards today. I fought with the service rep and demanded to be connected to a supervisor. She reiterated what the rep said - then I started pushing. She said they "will not touch another piece of equipment except for their own" but that they will "install cablecards only in TV's". Of course this made no sense so I had her. She agreed to send out a tech to "see what they could do" at a cost of $50 PER HOUR!! This is most ridiculous and I will dispute the charge, Meanwhile they do not come until next Saturday so we'll see.

Interestingly if I had simply said I needed two cable cards installed in two TV's and left the word "TiVo" out of the conversation I sincerely believe that I would not have had an issue. Time Warner tried to sell me on their DVR twice during the call.

What a royal pain in the ass.

[ScottE]

I had to tell them it was for two different tv sets in order to get them to bring out two cards. Has anyone been successful just telling them the truth and had somebody intelligent enough to understand what they were saying?


Not here. When I made the appointment, I said I had a new Tivo, and needed two CableCards, and the CSR replied "You have two TV's that you want installed? Okay, let me see what time is available...".

The installer arrived and was genuinely confused about what the Tivo was; he kept thinking it was part of the TV, and talking about the "weird Mitsubishi menus" that we had to go through.

That said, he had no problems standing around while I physically installed the cards, and navigated the menus. He also mentioned that the install was the easiest CableCard install he had ever done, since nothing went wrong, and everything activated on the first try.

[Diacritical]

I had to tell them it was for two different tv sets in order to get them to bring out two cards. Has anyone been successful just telling them the truth and had somebody intelligent enough to understand what they were saying?

TWC/NYC/Brooklyn here...

When I asked for two CCs, the rep said, "Is this for that new TiVo?" ithout any prompting. She had no problem scheduling an install -- but managed to deauthorize one of my current boxes (the one being replaced) in the process. Apparently they are getting scores if not hundreds of calls for cable cards suddenly. They did not even try to sell me on keeping the box for PPV/VOD.

Install is scheduled for 2-6PM EDT next Friday. We'll see how well that goes.

--

[elsumptero]

deleted

[SCSIRAID]

Time Warner Austin

I had my cards installed for $35 + $6.95 ea / mo on Friday morning (at least that's what I was quoted). They didn't even flinch at the S3 TiVo - no questions asked.

The installer was unable to get any encrypted channels (we did get some of the 100s and the local HD's fine) & proceeded to tell me that it takes 24 hours and I should call then if I don't have anything. 24 hours later, still nothing. A tech was scheduled to come Sunday between 7a and 10a.

That's today. The tech has been here since 7am (going on 5 hours now) and is still working on it. It appears there were account setup issues preventing most things from working the first day. We've gotten to the point where both cards get most channels. SDV channels are and always will be missing (west premiums mostly), but more importantly the following HD channels are missing:

espnhd
maxhd
starzhd
inhd1
inhd2
hdnet
hdnetmv

HBO and Showtime HD work fine, as do the 700s (premiums) and local HD channels.

Hopefully we'll be able to get this resolved soon.

Does your status page say 'waiting for EMM's'?

[rodlebod]

After my installation yesterday, I noticed I am not getting most of the 100+ channels on cable card 1 of my Scientific Atlantic(?) cable cards. Card 2 seems to work fine. After checking the settings, both cards say "waiting for CP Auth" but the troublesome card says "Power Key Status Waiting For EMMs". Time Warner wants to send someone out but I hoped they could fix it over the phone. I have restarted and repeated the guided setup several times. So far, my installation has not gone as smooth as I hoped. Has anyone else had this problem?

[skweaz]

Time Warner Austin

That's today. The tech has been here since 7am (going on 5 hours now) and is still working on it.

I have a tech scheduled for today also, ask him if he has another appt for someone in SW Austin :)

[SCSIRAID]

After my installation yesterday, I noticed I am not getting most of the 100+ channels on cable card 1 of my Scientific Atlantic(?) cable cards. Card 2 seems to work fine. After checking the settings, both cards say "waiting for CP Auth" but the troublesome card says "Power Key Status Waiting For EMMs". Time Warner wants to send someone out but I hoped they could fix it over the phone. I have restarted and repeated the guided setup several times. So far, my installation has not gone as smooth as I hoped. Has anyone else had this problem?

An EMM is an 'entitlement management message'. It comes from the cablecompany to tell the cablecard what it is entitled to decode. Most likely it is either a cablecompany setup problem or a bad cablecard.

When I was stuck at waiting for EMM, changing the cablecard fixed the issue.

[allenplu]

I'm in Placentia (north orange county, california) and I'm in TWC formerly adelphia. They came Friday and the cards were called in but didn't bring up any channels for more than an hour. Then he gave up.

Called the call center and was refused. Then talked to the supervisor (Javier) at the Ontario call center. Was told that they will not "help their competitor" and refused an installation. I got to the point of quoting the plug and play order from the FCC along with the list of CableLabs approved devices. He still refused. I asked to speak to his supervisor and he said there was no supervisor. I insisted and he said that a Marylin Hanes would call me within 24 hours. She was the supervisor for the call center. She did not call me and it's been 40 hours. I called TiVo and they were going to conference call with me but I had to leave the house. I can't imagine that would work at this point since Javier had flat out refused even with threats to file complaints with the FCC and franchising authorities.

My next step is to call TWC again, then have TiVo help with a call.

It's Sunday, so I may need to wait until Monday. We'll see.

[SCSIRAID]

An EMM is an 'entitlement management message'. It comes from the cablecompany to tell the cablecard what it is entitled to decode. Most likely it is either a cablecompany setup problem or a bad cablecard.

When I was stuck at waiting for EMM, changing the cablecard fixed the issue.

Also, the Auth Status should be "CP Auth Received'. The card is saying that it hasnt been 'hit' by the cablecompany or that the 'hit' it has received doesnt contain the right host id.

[Lisa898]

After waiting 10 hours for TWC to arrive, technician inserted both cards and card 1 went into permanant firmware upgrade mode. The button to eject on Card 2 is not working at all. He left with everything basically broken and said another supervisor would come out today. Supervsor called today and said that because it's Sunday, he doesn't have any cable cards and will try to come out early next week. After looking at the back of the box, I realized nothing is going to get cable card 2 out of the slot. Called TiVo and told them I was sold a defective machine - there's no possible way that the eject button for cablecard 2 slot could have been broken by TWC, I was watching him the whole time. TiVo said that their engineering department would call me back on Monday to discuss an exchange. I'm really not sure this is worth it at this point.

That doesn't sound good. Can you at least record OTA while you're waiting or does having the one card stuck in the machine screw that up?

[eisenb11]

Time Warner (recently purchased Comcast and Adelphia in So Cal) refused my request for Cablecards today. I fought with the service rep and demanded to be connected to a supervisor. She reiterated what the rep said - then I started pushing. She said they "will not touch another piece of equipment except for their own" but that they will "install cablecards only in TV's". Of course this made no sense so I had her. She agreed to send out a tech to "see what they could do" at a cost of $50 PER HOUR!! This is most ridiculous and I will dispute the charge, Meanwhile they do not come until next Saturday so we'll see.

Interestingly if I had simply said I needed two cable cards installed in two TV's and left the word "TiVo" out of the conversation I sincerely believe that I would not have had an issue. Time Warner tried to sell me on their DVR twice during the call.

What a royal pain in the ass.

I'd call again and try with another rep, this one is clueless.

Mine didn't ask what I was putting it in until I said I needed two. Then she asked if I had 2 TVs. I told her it was 1 TV with 2 slots - didn't want to confuse her, much better to keep it simple.

[hookbill]

I'd call again and try with another rep, this one is clueless.

Mine didn't ask what I was putting it in until I said I needed two. Then she asked if I had 2 TVs. I told her it was 1 TV with 2 slots - didn't want to confuse her, much better to keep it simple.

I'm surprised she was willing to do that. When I first said it was a TiVo with two cable card slot she said only one cable card can be use. When I called back and told another rep it was for two tV's, no problem.

[freiz]

Also, the Auth Status should be "CP Auth Received'. The card is saying that it hasnt been 'hit' by the cablecompany.

Nah, the card is saying it hasn't been authorized. The cable company can hit the cards day and night and they will not authorize unless they have been paired with your Tivo HOST ID. You can see cable company hits - just watch the EMM count increment. I had many, many hits and the EMM count incremented fine, but my cable cards had never been properly paired to my Tivo HOST ID. When they paired them, they worked within a minute.

As to all this BS about taking hours + for the auth to flow down, that's a lie. Don't let the guy leave... it takes just a few minutes to hit a card with the auths, usually under a minute. I have read anecdotal evidence that some other cable card devices take hours to process new auths, but Tivo processes them immediately.

[SCSIRAID]

I'm surprised she was willing to do that. When I first said it was a TiVo with two cable card slot she said only one cable card can be use. When I called back and told another rep it was for two tV's, no problem.

Yup... TWC Raleigh got bent over a single device with 2 cablecards. The tech convinced the phone rep to just look at it as two devices with 1 cablecard each and all was then fine.

[SCSIRAID]

Nah, the card is saying it hasn't been authorized. The cable company can hit the cards day and night and they will not authorize unless they have been paired with your Tivo HOST ID. You can see cable company hits - just watch the EMM count increment. I had many, many hits and the EMM count incremented fine, but my cable cards had never been properly paired to my Tivo HOST ID. When they paired them, they worked within a minute.

As to all this BS about taking hours + for the auth to flow down, that's a lie. Don't let the guy leave... it takes just a few minutes to hit a card with the auths, usually under a minute. I have read anecdotal evidence that some other cable card devices take hours to process new auths, but Tivo processes them immediately.

I could be wrong but I believe the 'hit' is what contains the pairing information as well as indicate what a particular cablecard is able to decode for a particular host.

Perhaps I should have said that the card hadnt been hit with an appropriate EMM with the proper pairing information.

http://arstechnica.com/guides/other/cablecard.ars/2

"Once these keys are recorded, the CableCARD is "hit" by the cable company, which simply means that it is remotely programmed with information about what channels and services you have paid for and are entitled to watch. This is done by sending an Entitlement Management Message (EMM) from the headend to the CableCARD. An EMM is an out-of-band transmission (it sends data over low frequencies not reserved for cable channels) that authorizes a specific CableCARD to decode a specific set of services (HBO, etc.) to a specific host. Once this is done, the CableCARD is ready to go. To explain how it works, let's follow a typical cable signal from the headend to your screen."

[VoodooNYC]

That doesn't sound good. Can you at least record OTA while you're waiting or does having the one card stuck in the machine screw that up?


Yeah it's not good. The machine is completely frozen on the downloading upgrade for cable card screen and I can't pull the card out. It'll have to go back to Tivo. :mad:

[joshandmegan]

TWC in Carlsbad, CA.

Went in field office Friday to schedule install. Appointment set for the next day. Installer arrived 30 minutes into the 2-hour window.

He was a bit surprised that they were going in a Tivo, but he let me put them both in (one at a time per a previous post I read). They had to "hit" the cards twice, and it took about 3-5 minutes before the cards starting picking up channels.

The install cost $25, and the cost of each card is just under $4/mo.

Couldn't have gone smoother if you ask me...


jf

[eisenb11]

I don't see why we can't just self-install the cards.

In most of the posts I read, it seems like the installer just hands us the cards and sits around until we're ready for him to call the head end.

I for one, would love that option. Assuming they actually show up next Sat, it'll have taken me 3 weeks of waiting in order to accomplish a 10 minute task - no wonder productivity in this country sucks.

[joshandmegan]

I don't see why we can't just self-install the cards.

In most of the posts I read, it seems like the installer just hands us the cards and sits around until we're ready for him to call the head end.
I totally agree... Except the fact the installer has a direct Nextel connection to the home office for activation.

I'd hate to sit on hold for 30 min waiting to activate the cards...

If we can call an automated 800-number to activate our credit cards, why can't we do the same for CableCards? Someday, perhaps.

[freiz]

I could be wrong but I believe the 'hit' is what contains the pairing information as well as indicate what a particular cablecard is able to decode for a particular host.

Perhaps I should have said that the card hadnt been hit with an appropriate EMM with the proper pairing information.



You were right on - I was just pointing out the distinction that they can hit the cards all day and night, but if they never bothered to enter your HOST ID, encrypted channels won't be authorized.

In essence, they kept sending me hits, but the packets didn't contain the pairing information, so my cards never authorized. They compounded the problem by failing to check when I told them my cards said Waiting for CP Auth... if my host ID had ever been recorded.

A small 15 minute class would bring CSR and techs up to speed on exactly what's needed. It's just stupid to miss simple stuff like this - and no less than 6 people missed the HOST ID problem.

[SCSIRAID]

You were right on - I was just pointing out the distinction that they can hit the cards all day and night, but if they never bothered to enter your HOST ID, encrypted channels won't be authorized.

In essence, they kept sending me hits, but the packets didn't contain the pairing information, so my cards never authorized. They compounded the problem by failing to check when I told them my cards said Waiting for CP Auth... if my host ID had ever been recorded.

A small 15 minute class would bring CSR and techs up to speed on exactly what's needed. It's just stupid to miss simple stuff like this - and no less than 6 people missed the HOST ID problem.

Got it... Thanks! I revised my post and clarified it.

You are right on. The techs or CSR's really dont understand cablecards. He asked the lady on the other end of the Nextel about an EMM and she had no idea what it was. And the sad thing is that it really isnt all that hard. All they really have to do is pay attention to the card status. It is telling you what it needs...

[Diacritical]

I totally agree... Except the fact the installer has a direct Nextel connection to the home office for activation.

I'd hate to sit on hold for 30 min waiting to activate the cards...

If we can call an automated 800-number to activate our credit cards, why can't we do the same for CableCards? Someday, perhaps.

There's no reason they can't just do it through a web page -- esp if they are already your ISP. Imagine the level of service if you just plug them in and fill out a form on-line. There's an additional upside... hundreds of people employed at something they are better suited to.

--

[hookbill]

I don't see why we can't just self-install the cards.

In most of the posts I read, it seems like the installer just hands us the cards and sits around until we're ready for him to call the head end.

I for one, would love that option. Assuming they actually show up next Sat, it'll have taken me 3 weeks of waiting in order to accomplish a 10 minute task - no wonder productivity in this country sucks.

Can anyone do a simple layout on how the cards are installed so I can show the installer (if necessary). :)

[SCSIRAID]

Can anyone do a simple layout on how the cards are installed so I can show the installer (if necessary). :)

There is a sheet of paper included with the S3 with instructions for the installer.

[SCSIRAID]

There's no reason they can't just do it through a web page -- esp if they are already your ISP. Imagine the level of service if you just plug them in and fill out a form on-line. There's an additional upside... hundreds of people employed at something they are better suited to.

--

Security and authentication would likely be the main stumbling blocks. You are entering information that goes into the cable system head end. However there should be a way to make it happen. But.... cableco hates cablecards.... I dont think they will be especially anxious to make it easy on us.

[hookbill]

There is a sheet of paper included with the S3 with instructions for the installer.

Yes, but two questions come to mind. A. Can they read? B. If A is yes then WILL they???? :D :D :D

When I first had my SA 8300 installed the installer couldn't figure out. He left saying he would come back next day. I went to SA's website and set it up myself.

[SCSIRAID]

Yes, but two questions come to mind. A. Can they read? B. If A is yes then WILL they???? :D :D :D

When I first had my SA 8300 installed the installer couldn't figure out. He left saying he would come back next day. I went to SA's website and set it up myself.

Well... that IS the key question... you can lead a horse to water but you cant make him drink. Point well taken!!!!

[ahaley42]

I am still having problems with Premium channels on TWC in Austin. After my 5th card I finally got the second tuner to work and it gets premium but not #1. I had them unpair and repair my card1 and it didn't help. I took out the cards and ran through the installation again using first card1 and then card2. Card1 actually required that it be repaired, I called in and did this and it started getting premium channels but then card2 will no longer get them. Timewarner things I need a new card but it doesn't seem the issue is with the cards. Because they've both been able to get premium at some point, just not the same point.

[skweaz]

Had to replace one card that would not tune any digital channels. After several unpairings/ repairings, multiple hits etc, I am now getting everything on both tuners. Very happy!
My tech actually came up from San Marcos and didn't have any cards with him (he said they don't stock any in SM), but he took the time to track one down in the city, took him about an hour. He had never done any CableCARD installs, but he was eager to learn about them and the TiVo. His persistance paid off and everything worked out great.

[BGreenstone]

Sort of. I have one card from 2004 and one from 2006. I get all HD and Premiums on both, but only the newer card gets all the digtal tier and analog channels. The old card can not tune digital tier channels for some reason, only analog. I worked with web chat support a few times yesterday and made it worse, getting error code 161-1 and at times, an endless loop of this message popping up (I can clear it if I am quick with the remote :) ). I have tech coming today to swap with a newer card.
I'm very close to having a fully functional system.

That's very useful information, thanks! TW is sending another guy out tomorrow morning, and hopefully he'll have the 2006 cards with him. If not, I'll tell him what happened with you and we'll see what they can do. Also, please let me know if the new card they're bringing you also fixes the other tuner. Is the new card still a Scientific Atlanta card?

-Brian

[hookbill]

My cc won't arrive until 10/21 and I haven't got my TiVo Series 3 yet. I'm just so hyped up on getting it and wanting everything to go right.

Sometimes I think I gotta stop reading this thread. It's stressing me out. Hey it does go find for most people, doesn't it?

[skweaz]

That's very useful information, thanks! TW is sending another guy out tomorrow morning, and hopefully he'll have the 2006 cards with him. If not, I'll tell him what happened with you and we'll see what they can do. Also, please let me know if the new card they're bringing you also fixes the other tuner. Is the new card still a Scientific Atlanta card?

-Brian

I posted an update just above you, but I wasn't specific; the new card is dated 2005 and both are SA cards.

[elsumptero]

So the installer finally left after about 5.5 hours of work.

We never got past the point I last reported - namely everything works except the HD premium tier (starz, cinemax, espn, hdnet, hdnet2, inhd, inhd2). All other non-SDV channels appear to work properly on both tuners.

Between the installers & support, the cards were paired, re-paired, authorized, swapped, replaced and initialized about 10 times. They got quite good at it.

In every case, the outcome was the same. It's as if they can't authorize that tier.

Between all this, the PVRs in the house all lost authorization at had to be reauthorized. They continue to work correctly.

Will try again next week...

[besposito]

I have had the exact same problem with TWC in Raleigh.

Ive got two S3s. TWC sent out contractor. Contractor installed two cable cards in first S3 and got working perfectly. All channels, HD and premium content. Been working perfectly.

Second S3 a different story. They have been out three times and installed 6 different cable cards. Sometimes I would get a few of the digital and HD channels, but not all. With the last set of cards I am receiving nothing but standard cable. Contractor says they have been having this problem with lots of customers. The TiVo setup shows the cards are authorized and working.

I really think the issue is with TWC not having their provisioning working and that they have been unable to properly "program" my cards on the second S3.

Contractor wants to come out again and replace cards for a forth time, but they say they dont have anymore in their warehouse and are going to get back to me. TWC has scheduled another "tech" to come out tomorrow and look at it.

Some how I fell that TWC doesnt feel particularly interested in solving the cablecard issues...looks like a conspriacy to me :cool:

[Darthnice]

In summary:
Time Warner, Austin, TX. I have INHD/HDNET, Locals, DiscoveryHD all working. The digital Movie and Sports Paks are working. The basic Digital channels are working, and the Analog channels are working. Some of the Analog channels which are also available as SDV are not working and some are , and there is different behavior between the two cards on that last count. Time Warner hates CableCARDs and apparently indoctrinates their techs to hate it too.

Time Warner Austin, TX requires a Truck Roll to install the cards. They put the Tech who came to my house to install the CableCARDS on hold for about 40 minutes before he could authorize the cards. During that time, he told me that he can't really do anything at my house, everything is done at the main office (why do they need to charge me for a truck roll then?). After about 2 hours on the phone with them, we finally got all the HD channels and the Analog channels authorized, however the SD digital channels were not authorized. A 2nd level Tech came out the next day (a Time Warner employee, the first was a contractor) and did nothing but complain about how they were being forced to provide CableCARDs and how I would be better off using their DVR. After another 2 hours on the phone with people who kept telling him to call somebody else, the SD digital channels started working on both CableCARDs. A hand full of channels are SDV, so I don't expect them to work. However Disney is both Analog and SDV, so I expect that to work, only the Analog feed. It does work on one CableCARD (the Analog signal is used), but it doesn't work on the second CableCARD (TiVo attempts to tune to the digital feed). The installer said that I should just use the tuner that works to record Disney, but TiVo doesn't work that way. Time Warner needs help configuring their network so that the CableCARDs use the Analog feed when the digital feed is SDV. Clearly it can be done, but somehow it is different between the two cards. Overall, it was a very painful experience getting it work, and I had to endure 2 hours of CableCARD hate from the Time Warner Employee. The Tech also told me that they planned to stop sending all analog and use SDV for everything to save bandwidth, then I would have to use the DVR that they provided.

All in all, Time Warner seems to hate CableCARDs and makes it as painful as possible to get them installed correctly. I still don't have Disney on one of the cards, but am scared to call them back lest they break something else. I don't have time to babysit a Tech at my house while he sits on hold and bouncing back and forth between people on the phone who don't want to help him.

[bsegraves]

TimeWarner installed the two cable cards in my S3 and it took about 20 minutes.

After the tech had left I noticed that the second cable card kept failing on any channel over 1600 (it would briefly show the channel, then go to the "call service" screen), so I called tech support. They quickly realized that the card wasn't properly paired with my hostId. Once they fixed that everything worked great on both cable cards.

The only problem I have now is that channel 102 consistently brings up channel 1531 on both tuners. Kids aren't too happy about that. A tech is scheduled to come by the house today to figure it out.

Also, as reported by someone else, channel 111 (Boom, a kids channel) doesn't come in.

The HD quality is simply amazing, though. I've had no problems recording two HD shows at the same time. The Tivo seems to be less responsive when I'm recording a HD show, but it's hardly a reason to complain.

And unlike others, I've had no problems with the support I've received so far from Time Warner (other than the 20-30 minute wait times to get through to tech support).

[Darthnice]

bsegraves: You will never get 102. It is a switched digital channel, which means that it requires 2 way communication, which the S3 can't do.

[LostInAustin]

...but am scared to call them back lest they break something else.
Heh, I'm in the same boat regarding my occasional audio dropout. I think I'll just live with it for a while until TW has a little more experience with cable cards and the S3.

[labatt]

I just had my cablecard's installed here in East Greenbush, NY. As with others, a number of channels are working, a number aren't. I haven't been able to localize it to a specific tier. This was the first S3 they have done out of this office. The tech asked the head end about the issue - they said to "wait an hour and see if the channels show up". I was pretty sure that this was just to delay, and the tech took off for another job. Anyway, one hour later, no change and I'm waiting to hear if the tech will be returning today.

Does anyone have anything I can share with TW that has helped? Everything I've read thus far just says unpair/repair and try a new card. Being in the tech industry, I'm really doubting it's the card and am guessing it's just a provisioning issue. Perhaps the card provisioning software just sucks and it has nothing to do with the provider. I used to see that all the time in carrier equipment. But if anyone has any definitive suggestions for when TW comes back I'd greatly appreciate it!

[bsegraves]

Darthnice: Thanks for letting me know (though I wish they had just told me that).

I guess I'll cancel the service appt now - I'd rather them leave my system alone since it's currently working.

[hookbill]

Does anyone have anything I can share with TW that has helped? Everything I've read thus far just says unpair/repair and try a new card. Being in the tech industry, I'm really doubting it's the card and am guessing it's just a provisioning issue. Perhaps the card provisioning software just sucks and it has nothing to do with the provider. I used to see that all the time in carrier equipment. But if anyone has any definitive suggestions for when TW comes back I'd greatly appreciate it!

I read somewhere the cable cards dated 2005 or later work better. I don't know if it's true but if there is a date on the cards you have, check it out.

[freiz]

The only problem I have now is that channel 102 consistently brings up channel 1531 on both tuners. Kids aren't too happy about that. A tech is scheduled to come by the house today to figure it out.

Yes, I noticed that as well. Odd. It would seem to be a mapping pushed by TWA. No loss here, my kids don't watch 102.

My life is almost complete - Tivo simply needs to resolve my audio dropouts. I'm seeing the sub 1 second audio dropouts that others have mentioned. Sometimes 5 - 6 times per 1 hour show, sometimes none at all. I have dropouts live and recorded.

[wehokev]

We hooked up the Series 3 TiVo Thursday night (9/21/06) to the raw cable (with no cable cards installed) and then did the guided setup. The line up channels 1-99 was perfect and we were able to record two shows at once – but had no HD since there were no cards installed.

Friday morning (9/22/06), the cable guy came and installed the cards. We were able to tune in all the channels 1-99 and 902-930 perfectly (we just pay for basic + HD). TiVo kept sending messages saying that we had to repeat the guided setup. So we did. Incidentally we had no problems with Time Warner, the installer, or the CableCards themselves.

Once we repeated the guided setup, channels 1-99 were all messed up and channels 902-930 just said “regular schedule.” That is, TiVo was not downloading the programming for the HD channels and was assigning the wrong programs to the basic channels. For example, TiVo thought the Fox News was on 32 when that was actually a local LA channel.

Eventually we got a line up that was very close to our actual line up by using 90210 for the zip code rather than 90069 where we actually live. The problem is about a third of the basic cable channels are not getting any program information. They are correctly identified, i.e. channel 59 is listed as Sci-Fi, but there is no program schedule. Also, for the channels where there is no schedule, if you look at them in the programming guide or the channel line up, the call letters all appear in lower case.

I know this is a long shot, but has anyone else had this problem in West Hollywood? Or, has anyone a similar problem in some other city? How did you solve it?

[jacksonian]

This is for the Greensboro/Triad TWC folks:
I actually got a reply from Jack Stanley, President of our local franchise, regarding my questions about them using SDV, here are his replies:

REPLY #1 (when I asked about SDV)

Dear xxx,

After my email correspondence dated 9/14/06 I have further consulted with our engineering team regarding the questions you raised with respect to TiVo 3 and SDV and would like to clarify several TWC positions.

First of all, I would like to assure you that we fully support CableCARDs in compliance with Federal law and will supply them to all verified and certified devices, including TiVo Series 3. We would be happy to set up a CableCARD installation for you if you do decide to purchase the TiVo Series 3.

While it is true that Time Warner Cable will be implementing switched digital technology (a service requiring two-way receiver devices), it is not true, as stated in your original email, that we are currently planning to deliver all of our channels via switched digital technology (“SDV”). Rather, we will be selectively choosing the channels to deliver via SDV based on various factors. By selectively deploying switched digital technology on certain channels, Time Warner Cable is able to gain the necessary bandwidth to offer more exciting programming and services for all of our customers. Unfortunately, one-way devices, including TiVo Series 3, are not capable of receiving those channels offered via this new technology. Nonetheless, you will be able to receive (and record) all other non-interactive programming that will continue to be delivered to all of our customers.

If you have had specific negative experiences with your leased set top box we would be very interested in hearing about them and would like to remedy the situation if possible. We are constantly striving to improve our equipment and services and to deploy the latest technology. We thank you again for being a loyal Time Warner Cable customer.

Sincerely,
Jack W. Stanley
Greensboro Division



REPLY #2 (when I asked which channels they were putting on SDV, specifically about HD)

Dear xxx,

At this point we have only 10 or so channels being delivered via SDV,
all of these have low viewership. It is our intent to migrate the lower
viewed services initially and determine at some later date the most
practical use of this technology. At this point our plan does not
include the HD signals, but that is not to say it would not at some
point in the future.

I know this is somewhat ambiguous and I apologize for that, but the fact
is, we simply haven't made those decisions as yet.

Hopefully this will help you for now though.

Thank you for letting me know about your concerns.

Jack W. Stanley
Greensboro Division

[SCSIRAID]

I have had the exact same problem with TWC in Raleigh.

Ive got two S3s. TWC sent out contractor. Contractor installed two cable cards in first S3 and got working perfectly. All channels, HD and premium content. Been working perfectly.

Second S3 a different story. They have been out three times and installed 6 different cable cards. Sometimes I would get a few of the digital and HD channels, but not all. With the last set of cards I am receiving nothing but standard cable. Contractor says they have been having this problem with lots of customers. The TiVo setup shows the cards are authorized and working.

I really think the issue is with TWC not having their provisioning working and that they have been unable to properly "program" my cards on the second S3.

Contractor wants to come out again and replace cards for a forth time, but they say they dont have anymore in their warehouse and are going to get back to me. TWC has scheduled another "tech" to come out tomorrow and look at it.

Some how I fell that TWC doesnt feel particularly interested in solving the cablecard issues...looks like a conspriacy to me :cool:


Well... have faith. Im in Apex and TWC Raleigh installed my cablecards on Friday. My S3 is up and running. My tech was Kevin (Tech #15553). The cablecard I moved from the TV to the S3 came up perfectly as it was already provisioned and only had to be re-paired. The two cards Kevin brought turned out to be bad. His supervisor brought two more and the first one plugged in paired and provisioned perfectly. Took 4 hours!!!

[mercurial]

Well... have faith. Im in Apex and TWC Raleigh installed my cablecards on Friday. My S3 is up and running. My tech was Kevin (Tech #15553). The cablecard I moved from the TV to the S3 came up perfectly as it was already provisioned and only had to be re-paired. The two cards Kevin brought turned out to be bad. His supervisor brought two more and the first one plugged in paired and provisioned perfectly. Took 4 hours!!!

Well, wish me luck. We're moving from NoVA back to Cary, NC and from D* back to Cable. I've got two new S3's to get setup at my install next Wednesday. To the CSR taking my order's credit, she didn't bat an eye when I said I'd need a total of four cable cards for two devices. We'll see how the actual install goes... :rolleyes:

[labatt]

I just had my cablecard's installed here in East Greenbush, NY. As with others, a number of channels are working, a number aren't. I haven't been able to localize it to a specific tier. This was the first S3 they have done out of this office. The tech asked the head end about the issue - they said to "wait an hour and see if the channels show up". I was pretty sure that this was just to delay, and the tech took off for another job. Anyway, one hour later, no change and I'm waiting to hear if the tech will be returning today.

New tech is out here now. I had to walk him through the whole Tivo dual card thing. By the time he got here, card #1 died completely - when you click on configure it says it doesn't have the info from the provider. Both techs keep saying "This is why we're getting rid of the cablecard's", so I'm pretty nervous about the $800 I spent. The dead card is from 2005. The card that's not dead, but still isn't receiving all the channels, is from 2006. They have to go back to the warehouse to pick up more cards...

[BGreenstone]

Well, 3rd time's a charm because TW came back out for the third time this morning and finally got things working 100%. I now have all of the HD channels and other channels that I was mysteriously not getting before.

Ends up it was not the CableCard as we had suspected. Other people had reported that swapping out older CC's for newer ones got channels to reappear, but in this case, the tech called the home base and had them reset everything in the computer. I guess they essentially "rebooted" the CC. That was all it took to fix it, and we did not have to swap out the old 2005 cards that they put in the other day.

So, I can now say that it is definitely possible to get a Tivo S3 working 100% with Time Warner in Austin.

-Brian

[NetJunkie]

This is for the Greensboro/Triad TWC folks:


I guess we'll find out soon enough. Our CCs are being installed on Thursday.

[danator]

TWC in Dallas.
My Installation was a no show job. Cable guy lied have me call with no answer but i was home waiting 3 hours with no call and no show. Call back in for explanation, again... i was promised the dispatch will call me within 10 minutes, 40 minutes later and nada... i waited for nothing.

After several calls, disconnection..... i lost, they won. Cable company lied to customer and i have to reshedule for next installation. I asked for a manager to return my call, i am not giving up yet.

Comcast were ok in Dallas, TWC came in cut off HD chanel then screwing customer... These are some sorry-ash lying cable company.

[Franco]

Comcast were ok in Dallas, TWC came in cut off HD chanel then screwing customer... These are some sorry-ash lying cable company.

What exactly does "TWC came in cut off HD chanel"? When Time Warner took over from Comcast in your city did you lose HD channels? Because that's not what happened to me when Time Warner replaced Comcast.

[hookbill]

What exactly does "TWC came in cut off HD chanel"? When Time Warner took over from Comcast in your city did you lose HD channels? Because that's not what happened to me when Time Warner replaced Comcast.

Perhaps he's talking about The NFL Channel HD, which had hardly any HD on it anyway.

[danator]

What exactly does "TWC came in cut off HD chanel"? When Time Warner took over from Comcast in your city did you lose HD channels? Because that's not what happened to me when Time Warner replaced Comcast.

One of the inhd is gone for good... I heard our local fox is going down soon...

[danator]

Boss lady called back, appology for the mistake. She didn't blame on the call i didn't answer (which i never received) but insisted the tech dude saying my area have dual system and CC will not work. (that's new, but gotto find more excuses right?)

I told her my box and outlet suggesting that i have single system and will work just fine. If they refuse to come, i will install it myself and if they refused both, I will pursue legally. She was persistant but confirmed my area is single system after a fact check. She offered to waive $15 buck for the mistake and i took it. Good thing i don't have to wait another week for the MIT installation team but do need 2 days to get the open slot. Self Installtion was again refused. By the way, she knew TIVo dual channels DVR...which is a good thing i guess. :)

[disneyboi81]

but insisted the tech dude saying my area have dual system and CC will not work. (that's new, but gotto find more excuses right?)

This is true for 40% off the Dallas Metro area. Most of Dallas, Richardson, Plano, and Mesquite are configured for a dual (A/B) system. Time Warner Cable is in the process of upgrading the infastructure in these areas to a single line system, like most of the surrounding cities. The first cities to be converted over will be Richardson & Plano and then Dallas/Mesquite. There are some cases with newer apartment complexs and the like, which were built with just a single line in those areas. Hopefully this is your case b/c installations on a dual line system can be difficult. So, I wish you good luck. If that's the case

As far as loss of channels, inHD2 was dropped, along with the NFL Network. Hopefully soon we will see HDNet as its carried on other Time Warner system within Texas.

Sorry to hear about your tech missing your appoinment and that is something that TWC is working towards decreasing with hiring more inhouse techs.

The change to TWC will be a big improve for the area. There is alot of things happening behind the scenes to improve the overall experience for our customers and that will show in the coming months!

:)

[danator]

The change to TWC will be a big improve for the area. There is alot of things happening behind the scenes to improve the overall experience for our customers and that will show in the coming months!

Glad we have the TWC in the house. Keep the fee low and more hd channels.

I'm in Farmers Branch, single system.

[thein]

This could easily be the longest post on the thread even if I do it at a summary level. End result: I got my cards installed Sunday PM. All is not perfect with one of the two cards, but good enough for the time being.

Attempt 1 I called TWC 2 weeks ago (prior to S3 arrival). TWC: "Blah blah blah, no problem in fact you can go to a branch office and pick the cards up so you don't have to pay for an install" Me: "Can I pick them up at your central office (Morrisville) which is a few miles from where I work" TWC: "No but you can pick them up in Durham." OK, so I make arrangements for my wife to go there. She goes there (last Monday) waits in line, they tell her no and are rather abusive with her in saying so. I talk to them while she is there (by cell phone) and they are likewise abusive with me, probably a little less so. Wifes leaves rather frustrated and upset she wasted almost 2 hours.
:eek:

Call up TWC again. Talk nicely with them, explain frustration. Get a $20 credit for our wasted time. Schedule an install for Thurs and convince them it should be only one install charge for the two cards since they are going into the same device (I say it has two tuners... don't even mention that it is a Tivo)

Attempt 2 Install supposed to be AM. Wife rearranges her day. Call early AM, "should be there early". 11:00 call back TWC: "should be there in next few mins". 12:00 still no TWC, so my wife calls back. TWC: "was just there and no body was home". No way. Wife goes to front door, there was a scribbled note. The guy had just left it and ran without ringing the doorbell. Wife was on 1st floor (no TV there) and would have heard doorbell or knock. Surprised that she didnt even hear car door. :mad:

Attempt 3 Wife is very angry, but can't stick around all day. I call back to TWC @ 12:30 to see what they can do. They agree to send someone that PM. I come home from work early (3:00) and wait. And wait. Call back @ 5:00 for ETA TWC "They will be there today". I cancel dinner out with family. Still nobody. I call back @ 7:00, CSR talks with dispatcher who talks with the same tech who ran away in the AM... he promises that he will be there by end of the day. I call back at 9:00 and am told same thing. When I call at 10:00, they say that he isn't answering his cell and agree that he has blown off the appointment. CSR just volunteers for me to speak with a supervisor. (Key is to talk very nice with them and explain the comedy of the pathetic situation). Supervisor schedules me for a Sunday afternoon install and waives the install charge.

Attempt 4 Nice tech arrives on time with the cards. Says they do one only every 6 months or so... and that TWC CSRs don't have a clue about what to do with them. Agrees that his side of it is easy and it is really a matter of the CSR knowing what they are doing. Of course he has never seen a S3, but the nice instructions from Tivo make it appear really simple. Agrees to let me drive the remote (not that I even asked his permission). Install 1st card & calls in. Gets a clueless TWC CSR and quickly hangs up. Waits and redials. Gets someone who has heard of cable cards. Gives her the S/N, MAC & host ID info. He installs second card while waiting. Tivo eventually reports error on first card. Gives TWC info on 2nd card. We remove 1st (needed pliers to do it) and put in another. He says that over 2/3 of the cards he gets are bad. Luckily the 3rd card works (since he only brought 3). Elapsed time with tech installer: about 30 mins.

Card 2 is not fully working... it gets all channels (including HD) except Discovery HD, TNT HD and all 10 HBO channels. I will leave that issue for another day. I pray and presume that they just need to correct something remotely.


Tivo aspect of it all was absolutely as smooth as could be. TWC about as painful as could be. I've actually understated and skipped many of the calls and long on hold times.

I absolutely love the S3 and am oh so glad to be rid of my TWC HD DVR.

[mercurial]

Well, wish me luck. We're moving from NoVA back to Cary, NC and from D* back to Cable. I've got two new S3's to get setup at my install next Wednesday. To the CSR taking my order's credit, she didn't bat an eye when I said I'd need a total of four cable cards for two devices. We'll see how the actual install goes... :rolleyes:

Well, the CSR called back to confirm the install and tell me that there will be a $43/device charge to install them. I balked a bit and said "You're just sliding a card into a slot.." She says, "But they have to program them..." :rolleyes: Puh-lease... you have to "program" a cable box too.

I'd have thought they'd have waived that since it was a new install and I'm getting their full bundle (CATV/Internet/Phone) but no. I figured I might as well try the phone service since I wrote quite a bit of the software on the product they're using to provide it... :p

[stevereis]

This is true for 40% off the Dallas Metro area. Most of Dallas, Richardson, Plano, and Mesquite are configured for a dual (A/B) system. Time Warner Cable is in the process of upgrading the infastructure in these areas to a single line system, like most of the surrounding cities. The first cities to be converted over will be Richardson & Plano and then Dallas/Mesquite. There are some cases with newer apartment complexs and the like, which were built with just a single line in those areas. Hopefully this is your case b/c installations on a dual line system can be difficult. So, I wish you good luck. If that's the case
:)

I am in Richardson and the changeover to single line is supposed to happen sometime in the next 2-3 weeks. My S3 is due later this week but I'll wait until the change to get CC's installed.
However, I am using a CC in my current TV and it works on the A/B system with only the A-side connected. You do lose all of the analog channels carried on the B-side. With the change, most of the analog stuff will also be carried in digital as well and I am looking forward to getting a mostly digital experience even for SD from the S3 and avoiding the quality loss (even at HIGH quality on my S2) from encoding analog content.

[j_edge]

Time Warner, Austin

After calling in and being told I can pick the CableCard's up at either TW office, I headed out the day the Tivo arrived to pick them up only to be told I had to have an installer come out. While setting up the appointment the rep asked me if it was for an S3 tivo and when I confirmed she said she had just gotten 2 herself :)

Friday afternoon installer arrives and had never done a CableCard install, tried handing him the sheet from the Tivo and he glanced at it but didn't read and proceeded to pop the first card in slot 2, then after the page came up and he wrote the info down popped the next card in slot 1. After calling in they had him pop both cards out and redo the install.

After getting the info from slot 1, the person on the phone said it would take 20 minutes for all the channels to download and to call back when they've finished. I asked him how we would know they finished and he said there wouldn't be an indication, but just to call back in 20.

The installer left to another job nearby and came back 45 minutes later, inserted the second card and called it's info in. For a while the 2nd card seemed to be ok, but Card 1 on the "CP Information" screen still shows "Auth Status: Waiting for CP Auth" so it appears something didn't work right. I called back about this, and while on the phone with them went to check the info on Card 2 and while it showed as "inserted" I could no longer get to the menu for it, but instead got the message "CableCARD 2 is not in normal operation". Card 2 did go through a firmware upgrade late Friday after I was off the phone w/ the help desk, so was hoping that would fix the issue but it never did and Card 2 still shows as not in operation.

The funny thing is, both tuners appear to be working and I'm getting most of the channels on both including all analog, free digital, local HD's. I don't have any premium channels, so the only ones I'm not getting are the rest of the HD's like Discovery HD, TNT HD, etc. I have an appt scheduled for Tuesday morning and they will probably re-install. Hopefully the installer will have done CC installs before but if not I've learned a lot more about these installs from the messages here so hopefully can walk him through it.


p.s. The installer was a nice enough guy, but he had never had experience with any of this equipment before. I understand the S3's are new but CableCard's have been around for awhile now and there's no excuse for TimeWarner not training these guys how they work and how to install them.

p.p.s The tech just came by for the re-install. Fortunately he was a TW employee and knew what he was doing. As I suspected, Card 2 had died after receiving the firmware update and Card 1 wasn't even on my account. He remarried Card 1 and installed a new card for #2 and I'm now getting all the channels expected.

After reading some of the comments in this thread about TW-Austin and the switched digital video channels I had expected not to receive any of those but I just went to ch 232 (which is National Geographic and as I understand it the only channel that doesn't offer an analog equivalent so I was gonna be pretty bummed about losing it) and it works fine. It wasn't working over the weekend so apparently it is encrypted and just requires the card to be authorized. I also get the music channels which for some reason I wasn't expecting to. So the only thing I am not receiving now is the PPV and VOD channels, which I was fully aware I would be losing. I was wondering if I would receive PPV movies if I order them via the STB or phone, but since I never order PPV am not to concerned about it.

[danator]

May be someone from TWC here can explain why they insist on having a tech came out here to hand us the cards. Majority of them don't know jack about Cable card, yet they ask for installation fee.

I'm sure the MIT engineers have much important job to do, for instance, set up new account. :). If existing customer willing to perform self installation, let them pick up the cards. There's no programming need to be done by the tech on the site, we are more than capable to read the code and call for initilization.

[danator]

However, I am using a CC in my current TV and it works on the A/B system with only the A-side connected.

Thanks. That's what i said to the boss lady, dual system or not. CC will be still working but customer have to deal with missing channels. There's no excuse for the tech to say "NO".

[labatt]

Everything ended up great yesterday when we were all done. Even with the issues throughout the day, I ended the day with two working CableCard's and all channels.

Here's what I can say for those who aren't getting all the channels (I wasn't getting DiscoveryHD, TNT, HBO's or a bunch of other channels). When my first cablecard didn't work, the tech called the head end (for those that don't know what a head end is, it's where the cable provider's termination equipment is) directly and had them "run an update script". Within minutes, all my channels were there. The second Cablecard got installed and the same channels were missing. Once again, a call to the head end and a "run of the update script" solved the issue. I now get all channels on both cards. I don't know if this will help.

I asked them to tell me specifically what the head end here in the Albany NY area did to provision the cards correctly and they couldn't, or wouldn't, tell me. All I can say is that if your tech has problems, the number here in Albany for customer facing customer service is 518.869.5500. Perhaps if your local tech explains who they are and asks to speak to field service or the head end they may be able to get through...

With the way the techs were talking about "the impending discontinuation of cablecards within Time Warner" I am concerned, but the FCC does mandate their existence. I just wonder what has to be specifically supported on them - all normal programming? Or just a basic set of channels? I swear everyone I spoke to at Time Warner acted as if Cablecards were going away within days. I had to explain the FCC mandate for them to realize why they existed.

[labatt]

May be someone from TWC here can explain why they insist on having a tech came out here to hand us the cards. Majority of them don't know jack about Cable card, yet they ask for installation fee.

I'm sure the MIT engineers have much important job to do, for instance, set up new account. :). If existing customer willing to perform self installation, let them pick up the cards. There's no programming need to be done by the tech on the site, we are more than capable to read the code and call for initilization.

Seriously - I actually trained the TW tech yesterday on how to install the Tivo and troubleshoot cablecard issues. I should be charging THEM back, yet I still have to pay an ~$20 install fee!

[BillP Studios]

Great news Labatt!! :up:
I heard from someone else in Latham who experience problems so maybe he'll see your post.

My tech really didn't know much about TiVo or FCC regulations. All he had to do was call in my Host ID and I did the rest.
Before my install I wrote to a family friend who is one of our Albany tech's. He sent me the message below. I suspect it's the typical attitude from their end.
As to the tivo w/ cable card issue: We will support it. As with any tv that has a cable card installed in it, the install MUST be done by a time warner tech (no 3rd party contractors as far as I can tell).

A couple of things on the cable card, though:
There are no reverse functions, so no ordering of _ANYTHING_ (movies, ppv, channels, etc...)
no video on demand
the support provided by time warner assumes that it was installed correctly, so from there we just make sure there is signal to the card, then ask you to unplug/plug it in... after that, we have to send a tech.

Unfortunately, some of the channels that people were able to once get with cable card, are not available anymore on cable card because of the way we are transmitting the signal.

All the above issues should be fixed with the next generation cable card that will support two-way communication, unfortunately, anything that is made for cable card 1, will not take cable card 2(this means that anyone who wants to use the new version of the cable card whenever it is released will need to buy a new tv or in this case, tivo v 4.0{I'm guessing})

I am copy/pasting the letter sent out to all the current cable card customers below which better explains the channel issue.
Personally, i wouldn't suggest making a purchase of tivo v 3.0 until there is more feedback or, until the new cable cards are released and there is a tivo that takes them, but as i know this is purely for the "techieness" and coolness factor, enjoy and tell me how it works outSo, it appears they feel the cableCARD v1 is useless.
I posted the letter sent to local TW customers at http://billpstudios.blogspot.com/2006/09/time-warner-battles-against-cable.html but so far the letter isn't accurate. It says we'll be losing all the premium pacific channels but I still have them all.

Bill Pytlovany
Bits from Bill (http://billpstudios.blogspot.com/)

[NetJunkie]

This could easily be the longest post on the thread even if I do it at a summary level. End result: I got my cards installed Sunday PM. All is not perfect with one of the two cards, but good enough for the time being.

I absolutely love the S3 and am oh so glad to be rid of my TWC HD DVR.

I just moved from Raleigh down to near Greensboro. The SA8300 I had in Raleigh was a PLEASURE compared to the one I have in Greensboro. Raleigh uses Passport, Greensboro uses Sara. I freaked out when I first turned it on. Awful...just awful. I've had some good techs in the Raleigh area and some bad ones. I fought a signal issue for a long time and finally got a really good tech out to help me.

Unfortunately, I'm scared about my install on Thursday here in Whitsett. I kid you not.... When they came out to do our initial install in April it took them two hours for two standard boxes and a DVR. One standard box was taking a long time to sync up so the guy unhooks it to do something. My wife says "It's going to have to start over now." and the guy answers, no kidding, "No, these update their info OVER THE AIR.". Good lord. I'm doomed.

[labatt]

My tech really didn't know much about TiVo or FCC regulations. All he had to do was call in my Host ID and I did the rest.
The only reason we talked about it was to pass the couple of hours of sitting around waiting for the stuff to work. He was interested in the S3 because his Dad loves this stuff - so he was scoping it out for him :)

Before my install I wrote to a family friend who is one of our Albany tech's. He sent me the message below. I suspect it's the typical attitude from their end.
So, it appears they feel the cableCARD v1 is useless.
That's the great thing about the Tivo. Since the west coast channels just repeat what the east coast channels show 3 hours earlier (I believe this is correct), as long as we can continue to record our east coast channels we're fine! I am continuing to rent a basic digital STB from TW so I can get the two way services though. We sometimes use the movies on demand.

[BillP Studios]

I am continuing to rent a basic digital STB from TW so I can get the two way services though. We sometimes use the movies on demand.

Same here. I have one of my TiVo's S2's connected to one of their Digital Boxes so that way I can record non-Basic content and Premium channels. That way I can use it to copy it to my other TiVo's or burn things on a DVD.

Hopefully, we'll soon get the capability to at least copy TO the S3 from our other S2 systems. That shouldn't break what ever CableCARD regulations that prevent the S3 from having TiVoToGo available.


Bill

[macsamurai]

Can anyone with Time Warner NYC (manh, brooklyn or queens) who has WORKING CableCards in their Series 3 already PM or email me so I can get some info from you that might help get mine working properly? It's been 2 weeks and TW still can't get my cards to receive anything but the basic local channels (the nbc/cbs/abc/fox locals on 2/4/5/7 and 702/704/705/707 for HD). Other channels, like TNT, Comedy Central, Nick, etc and my premiums channels just give me black screens with no video or audio. Every now and then I'll check one of the non-working channels and i'll get an image for a split second and then that image freezes, but the local channels work when I switch the channel again. My old TW standard digital cable box is receiving all the channels it should (basic and standard and extended tiers + hbo, sho and max) when I switch inputs. Signal strength according to TiVo's gauge is 97 or higher - even on the channels where I get no programming, only black screen.

I've had 2 techs, 1 foreman and had the cards themselves swapped 2x already. The host IDs match every time they call the check them again. I've got TWCNYC's Public Affairs department involved now because I got sick and tired of having people promise to call me back with answers and never doing so and the public affairs people have been great in that they sincerely seem to want to help but all I keep hearing is that their IT Dept is looking into it and they don't see where there's a problem on their end.

This seems to me like a problem specifically with the account authorization (in fact the cablecard cp screen still says Auth in Progress for each card and there is still no RF IP address for either card) but no one can find out exactly what is wrong.

The channels that I do get are gorgeous of course :)

I figure if I can speak with someone who already has theirs setup with Time Warner NYC I can perhaps have them look at how that account is setup and figure out what is different about mine that makes it NOT work!

Thanks in advance to anyone who hears my plea :)

[andyf]

Can anyone with Time Warner NYC (manh, brooklyn or queens) who has WORKING CableCards in their Series 3 already PM or email me so I can get some info from you that might help get mine working properly? It's been 2 weeks and TW still can't get my cards to receive anything but the basic local channels (the nbc/cbs/abc/fox locals on 2/4/5/7 and 702/704/705/707 for HD). Other channels, like TNT, Comedy Central, Nick, etc and my premiums channels just give me black screens with no video or audio. Every now and then I'll check one of the non-working channels and i'll get an image for a split second and then that image freezes, but the local channels work when I switch the channel again. My old TW standard digital cable box is receiving all the channels it should (basic and standard and extended tiers + hbo, sho and max) when I switch inputs. Signal strength according to TiVo's gauge is 97 or higher - even on the channels where I get no programming, only black screen.

I've had 2 techs, 1 foreman and had the cards themselves swapped 2x already. The host IDs match every time they call the check them again. I've got TWCNYC's Public Affairs department involved now because I got sick and tired of having people promise to call me back with answers and never doing so and the public affairs people have been great in that they sincerely seem to want to help but all I keep hearing is that their IT Dept is looking into it and they don't see where there's a problem on their end.

This seems to me like a problem specifically with the account authorization (in fact the cablecard cp screen still says Auth in Progress for each card and there is still no RF IP address for either card) but no one can find out exactly what is wrong.

The channels that I do get are gorgeous of course :)

I figure if I can speak with someone who already has theirs setup with Time Warner NYC I can perhaps have them look at how that account is setup and figure out what is different about mine that makes it NOT work!

Thanks in advance to anyone who hears my plea :)

Black screen sounds kind of unusual. Usually, if you're not pulling in a picture or are not authorized for a channel you get a grey screen. This may sound like your TV not displaying the picture it's being given. HDMI/DVI connection?

Have you tried an analog connection to your TV, like using the S-Video connection first and then moving up from there.

[Bubbette]

Got our Series 3 last Friday; TWC came a half hour late on Saturday. The installer did have the 2 cablecards we ordered. He did not even know what a Tivo was, and was confused as to why we had ordered 2 cards when we already had them in our TVs. During this time, he is talking to a friend on his bluetooth phone stuck in his right ear canal. We handed him the Tivo instruction sheet that came with the unit, but he insisted he never followed "their directions." "I thought you had never worked with a Tivo unit before." "That's right." "Then how come you refuse to follow their directions?" He installed both cards without going through the requested procedure. Only 1 of the cards works as far as getting all the HD channels; The one in Tuner 2 does not get the high def tier - 930 thru 950. He says it must be the Tivo unit but refused to switch the cards to check if it was the card or the unit. "I can't do that." He did not require a credit card and another tech is supposed to come back tomorrow to "fix" the problem. TWC is charging us $50 per card for the install and $1.75 per month per card. Oh, Lord, when will TWC train their technicians in the field of cablecards?

[derekcbart]

I'm in Los Angeles and had TWC (formerly Comcast) install last Friday (09/22/06). I got the last two CableCARDs in the area apparently. The installer followed the TiVo instructions and stayed on the phone with the various technical agents until both cards were recognizing all of the channels. It went really well for me and I am enjoying all of the HD programming now.

[minckster]

Can anyone with Time Warner NYC (manh, brooklyn or queens) who has WORKING CableCards in their Series 3 already PM or email me so I can get some info from you that might help get mine working properly? It's been 2 weeks and TW still can't get my cards to receive anything but the basic local channels . . . You can call 311 to complain to the city's Cable Service Office at the Department for Information Technology. Good luck!

[macsamurai]

Black screen sounds kind of unusual. Usually, if you're not pulling in a picture or are not authorized for a channel you get a grey screen. This may sound like your TV not displaying the picture it's being given. HDMI/DVI connection?

Have you tried an analog connection to your TV, like using the S-Video connection first and then moving up from there.

It's not the TV. I have connections on Component (2 component inputs - the old tivo + cable box + the dvd player), S-video (my iPod video) and also tested the DVD player on the HDMI port and DVI as well (same cables even to be sure it wasn't a cable problem).

We've had the TV for over a year and there's not a thing wrong with it.

[macsamurai]

You can call 311 to complain to the city's Cable Service Office at the Department for Information Technology. Good luck!

Thanks - as I said, I've already got the Public Affairs office involved (they are who contacts you when you complain to the public utility commission or to the President's office)

[Hokie Fan]

Last week I received my Series 3 and immediately called TWC to schedule an install. Earliest available was today (Tuesday 9/26). I carefully explained to the CSR on the phone that I needed two CableCARDs. He explained that I wouldn't be able to do PPV or VOD with CableCARD devices, I said that was fine and we proceeded with the order. After a few minutes I had my new total for monthly service. Going with two CableCARDs instead of the 8000HD DVR resulted in a net decrease of $13 per month. CableCARDs are apparently $1/mo per card. Emminently reasonable!

Fast-forward to today, installers arrive at 12:30 for a 11AM-2PM install window and disaster strikes immediately. Installers are sub-contractors for TWC, not actual TWC technicians. Installer #1 asks me, literally, "What do you want us to do?" Installer #2 shows me the work order that says "Install two (2) CableCARDs" and then asks, "what do the cards look like? Is it for a computer?"

Turns out the subs have NO IDEA what CableCARD is or how you're supposed to install them. Not their fault that they haven't been trained and were sent out on a call without the equipment, although it clearly stated on the work order that they needed two cards. I tell them that if they can get the cards I'm sure I can help them install the cards. I confirm that they have my phone number and off they go to see if they can find some cards.

In the meantime I call TWC, livid, and receive an on-time service guarantee credit for my next bill. The installers and their supervisor call me back about 40 minutes later and inform me that they have no CableCARDs at their location. I point out that I'm not blaming them, clearly dispatch screwed the pooch but that this reflects very poorly on TWC and is decidedly bush league.

The supervisor swears up and down that they'll bring me *a* card tomorrow morning, "first thing." I point out that I in fact ordered and require *two* cards and they then confirm that I'll receive two cards first thing tomorrow around 8:30 in the morning. I'll report back my anticipated fury when that doesn't happen tomorrow.

[besposito]

My TWC Raleigh cablecard install continues....

Recap - I have two S3s. First one had cablecards installed and provisioned without a hitch. Still working fine.

The second S3 had cards installed, but never provisioned correctly. I receive standard channels (1-99) and local HD, but do not receive digital tier (110-200) and premium HD like HBOHD, DiscoveryHD, etc.

I have had TWC out at my house 5 times and they have replaced 10 cable cards on my second S3 trying to resolve the issue.

What we have learned from all of this is that the problem lies with the provisioning that is done back at the "central office". The nice thing about having one S3 working and one not is that I was able to swap the two and confirm that the issue is NOT with my line, cable,wiring, signal strength, signal quality,etc.

The sympton is consistent. I get all of the standard cable channels (1-109), and the local HD channels. This is because these channels do not require any provisioning to receive (Any TV with a digital tuner can get these). The problem channels are the digital tier 110-200 and premium channels like HBOHD, DiscoveryHD etc. In the 5 various attempts to fix my second S3 I have at times received the premium channels like HBOHD, but when they would re-provision later I would loose them. I have never been able to get the digitial tier on the second S3.

My current status is that they are going to repovision again, but they have to wait for some server to "reset" this evening before it can do it...something about flushing out the old IDs with the new one...tech not very clear on this. Supposedly tomorrow I should have it reprovisioned and working...I am not holding my breath.

So my theory is that all the cablecard issues that center around receiving some but not all channels (especially the digital tier or premium HD) is because they are not properly configuring the provisioning data. To get it resolved you have to find the right internal person who understands and knows how to provision the cards correctly. I am still searching for this elusive person.

[mercurial]

besposito- could you please get it ironed out before my dual S3 install next Wednesday?

And, if their provisioning/authenitcation system is ANYTHING like the ones I used in our old lab for setting up CTMs for doing VoIP testing, I can believe they're a pain to get setup just right. Sometimes it would show the same data for two end-points- except where they were supposed to differ- one working one not and it could come down to the order you set them up.

[zimmou]

Can anyone with Time Warner NYC (manh, brooklyn or queens) who has WORKING CableCards in their Series 3 already PM or email me so I can get some info from you that might help get mine working properly?


got mine installed this morning. the cards were authenticated right away, but none of the encrypted channels worked. I came home this afternoon and pulled out the cards, put em back in again. Called TWC and they said to wait until tomorrow morning and see if it works then. While I was on the phone the channels started working.

Before, it was saying "Waiting for EMMs" or something like that on the CP screen in the cablecard menu. That has cleared up and ECD: now has a number after it. I'm sure you can tell i have no idea what all that means...

Strangely, I was on the DTValue plan, and I'm getting channels I'm not supposed to have, like TNTHD, discoveryHD, and Bravo, and not getting a few channels I should. I feel like i've come out ahead though, so i won't be calling them about it unless they've upgraded my package without telling me (wouldn't put it past them).

[besposito]

Oh yeah...here are a few myths often told by the techs...

Myth: "X% of cablecards are bad...we just have to keep trying new ones until we get the right one"
Truth: Everytime they replace the cards, they have to reprovision them. Sooner or later the right person configures the provisoning data correctly and when it is sent everything works. Its the old "even a blind squirrel finds a nut sooner or later" theory

Myth: Some of the cablecards we get arent programmed properly when we get them so they dont work. We just have to keep trying new ones until we get one that is.
Truth: See myth above.

Myth: The signal to your Tivo is too low/high/too-much-interference/too-much-signal-noise ratio and that is why you can get some channels.
Truth: While the above could cause problems like channels or audio dropping or breaking up at times...it is not going to cause all of the standard channels and localHD to work perfectly and the digital tier / premium HD to not appear at all.

Myth: It will take a few hours for all of your channels to appear, but it should start working by tomorrow.
Truth: The tech is tired of sitting around and nothing working and so by telling you this he can get on to his next call and let someone else worry about it tomorrow when it still doesnt work.

Myth: Cablecard installs are so complicated that they need to send a tech to your house to make it work.
Truth: The install is easy. The provisioning back at the central office is complicated and a significant percentage of the engineers in the central office dont have a clue how to troubleshoot or properly provision the cablecards.

[labatt]

So my theory is that all the cablecard issues that center around receiving some but not all channels (especially the digital tier or premium HD) is because they are not properly configuring the provisioning data. To get it resolved you have to find the right internal person who understands and knows how to provision the cards correctly. I am still searching for this elusive person.

It would probably never happen, but you should request that your group contact the Albany NY region Time Warner group (518.869.5500). I had a similar problem (channel provisioning was incorrect) and they were able to solve the problem within 20 minutes. Some engineer at their head-end knows what they're doing. Good luck!

[besposito]

It would probably never happen, but you should request that your group contact the Albany NY region Time Warner group (518.869.5500). I had a similar problem (channel provisioning was incorrect) and they were able to solve the problem within 20 minutes. Some engineer at their head-end knows what they're doing. Good luck!

thanks!

I am 99.99% sure mine will still not be working in the morning and I will have to call yet again. I will definitely mention the above and see if it helps.

[labatt]

Oh yeah...here are a few myths often told by the techs...


I will say, however, that one of the Cablecards in my box was recognized when they first put it in, but two hours later the Tivo gave all sorts of error messages about it. It was completely dead and had to be replaced. It actually is, sometimes, the Cablecard. This particular one was manufactured in 4/2004 (if that tells you how old their stockpile is).

[frozenbubbleboy]

Ok...I have a successful install in San Antonio, after just a few snags.

I called Time Warner on Friday to request the cablecards, and the customer service rep to happy to accommodate me. When I mentioned that both cards would be going into one device, so I should only be charged for one outlet he said he needed to forward me to someone else. So, I explain the situation to guy #2. He tells me that I can pick up the cablecards at any Time Warner location and install them myself. GREAT!!!

So, I go to the nearest location, wait in line for 45 minutes, only to be told that there's only one location in town which provides cablecards (one by North Star Mall). The girl even checked with her manager to be sure, and they even checked to make sure they had them there. Well, it was already getting late, so I wouldn't have been able to make it there in time.

So I head over there Saturday morning to pick them up. After waiting in line for 30 minutes, I ask for the cablecards. After the usual lecture on what features I'll be missing out one, the woman (Marie) goes in the back to get the cards. When I hear her talking on the phone, I realized something was up. She finally comes back out, and said that they were currently out of cablecards, but she called the warehouse to send over some more later in the day. She takes my number down and says she'll call me when they get in, and she'll hold two for me.

Well, with 4pm approaching (the office closes at 5pm on Saturdays) and still not having heard a word from her, I decide to head over there. I explain to this other woman that Marie was going to hold them for me, but I hadn't heard anything. She tells me to wait by Marie's counter so she could help me. Well, they did get them, and she did have them for me, but she forgot to call due to how busy they were. (I worked retail for 6 years, so I completely understand). She gives me the cards, and says that all I needed to do was pop them in, and they should be good to go.

So, I get home and pop them in. All I'm able to get are the analog channels, the local HD channels, and ESPN HD. I couldn't get any of the other HD channels, nor could I get any of the digital cable channels. So I call Time Warner. I finally get someone after a 25 minute wait. He tries a few things, but nothing works. He puts me on hold. After a few minutes, the line gets disconnected. :mad:

Furious, I call back. This time, I'm on hold for 35 minutes. I explain to him the problem I'm having. We're probably on the phone for about 45 minutes, and nothing he does works. Heck, some things he did caused me to not get ANY channels at all. So, he's obviously tired of dealing with me, so he schedules a truck roll for today (Tuesday) between noon & 4.

So, It's nearly 2:30, and nobody's showed up yet. I call Time Warner to see if my service actually was still scheduled, or if it just disappeared. It was scheduled. About 10 minutes after I got off the phone, 2 Time Warner trucks pull up.

The guys come in, and I explain what the situation is. One of them (the more senior one, I assume) immediately said that the cards weren't paired. He asked me if this was a self install, which it was. He was surprised when I said when I called, nobody took down the host ID & the cablecard ID. So one of the guys calls it in. 12 minute wait.

Once they get through, they get the first card paired up, and it was then able to get the additional channels. They get the second card paired up, but nothing. They try a couple of things, but still nothing. The senior guy had one cablecard with him, so he pops that one in, and gets it paired. Still nothing. After trying several things on that one, they pop in another card (and the last one at that). Get it paired up, AND IT WORKS!!!! :D

In total, the installers were here for around 50 minutes. After they left, I sat down and checked every single channel, with both cards. There's one channel I can't get on the first card, but I don't believe I've ever watched anything on the Hallmark channel, so I could care less about that.

So, now that I've got my Tivo setup, I think it's time for me to rot in front of the TV for a while. :cool:

[mapugh]

This is my experience with TWC Raleigh:

The cable guy (independent contractor) showed up at the house with a work order specifically stating that 2 cable cards were to be installed. He only brought one. He was completely in the dark about cable cards in general, and Tivo specifically and spent most of the next hour on the phone trying to get someone to explain how to do the install.

After about an hour, he told me that he could not activate a single card in Tivo and that both cards would need to be installed (yeah, right). I told him I wasn't about to take another 4 hours off work to wait around for another installer. He called around and apparently found another installer willing to meet him locally and give him another card.

When he returned and installed the second card he was unable to get anything other than the analog basic cable and local digital/HD channels to work. He was told by the CSR tech on the phone that the HD suite (ESPNHD, Discovery HD, HDNet, HBOHD, etc.) wouldn't work with the Tivo yet.

After he left I spent about 1/2 hour on the phone with TWC only to be told that they were able to confirm that the HD suite channels would not work on the Tivo and that they were 'working' on the problem.

So -- I have an $800 THX certified cable card box that doesn't give me access to my subscription channels. Not fun.

Anyone else out there with a similar experience?

Thanks,
Mark

[derekcbart]

I don't know about TWC Raleigh, but all premium and HD channels show up on both of my CableCARDs installed by TWC Los Angeles.

[Eskimo Pie]

Well TWC Buffalo (Formerly Adelphia) came back for my second attempt today. I had previously had an attempted cable card install and one of the cards was apparently bad... they were here for about 3 hours before they finally gave up (originally)... Today they came in, plugged in the first card, wrote down the CC number and Host ID off the screen... plugged in the second card, wrote down the CC number and host ID off the screen... called dispatch, gave the info to the lady on the other end... she paired the cards and sent a "hit"... Wham Bam... done... both cards get all my channels I'm supposed to get... Probably less than 15 minutes from them coming in to them leaving. We were shocked... especially after our first attempt. Anyway, all is well here in Buffalo... no hesitation from anybody over it being a TiVo (other than not knowing what it was)...

[mowheeler]

TW tech showed up at my house today. Had never seen or heard of a Tivo Series 3. Installed two cablecards. Set them up. And left. Took less than an hour. I'm a believer.

[kensteele]

fyi Time Warner in Overland Park, KS will require a visit (no pickup) for the time being.

[rafeco]

My installation went very similarly to mapugh's. I got an install today in Raleigh. The tech (a very nice and helpful guy named Roderick) brought both cards (yay). The first worked without a hitch (it tunes in every channel I subscribe to). The second didn't work at all, so he had to leave and get another card. When he got back and installed it, it looked like it wouldn't work either (same error message as the first). It eventually came around, but now it won't tune in anything but the local HDTV channels and the local new's channels 24 hour weather channel. I'm wondering about a solution, or whether I just need to get that second CableCard replaced.

[ahaley42]

Anyone else having any issues not getting channels or getting copyright protection issues? I'm in Austin and can only currently get Premium channels on 1 card and am getting copyright issues on all 4 of the major HD channels. The recorded shows get deleted 1.5 hours after recording. Tivo says it's up to the cable company to deal with and won't even escalate my ticket (I've talked to 5 people there) and TW says the copyright flag is not enabled on any channels. It's driving me crazy. I think I have up to 30 days to take it back to Fry's so I've still got a little less than 2 weeks left. It might have to go back. I can't risk getting stuck with a $100 brick.

[dracx]

One of the earlier posts in this thread indicated success with picking up cable cards at the TW Dallas Farmer's Branch location. I drove over there hoping I could be enjoying HD tonight. Walked up to the rep and asked for 2 cable cards for my new Tivo. "Cable...what?" You know, cable cards. <blank stare>

The rep next to us overheard the conversation, and asked if the cable cards were for my "HD". I said they were actually for my new Tivo. "Our cable cards only work with HD". (I'm assuming he meant an HD TV...) So I (sorta jokingly) said that the Tivo does support HD. "Then why did you say Tivo - that just confuses us". Yes, he actually said that.

Needless to say, no HD tonight. My appt is for next Monday, and after reading through this thread, it sounds like I need to keep my fingers crossed!!

[lrhorer]

How many ways can TWC be stupid, bull headed, and make this a pain in the ass for the customer.
Shall I start counting? They could make it worse, however, believe me.

It's bad enough we have a mandated truck role for a minimum wage "tech" to put a card in a slot
Trust me, Time Warner Cable Techs are not paid minimum wage, by a long shot. I know, I used to work for them as an engineer. While you would be extremely hard pressed to come up with enough money to pay me to go back to work for them, I can tell you their technicians are well paid - if very badly treated - and while most of them are not rocket scientists, for the most part they are not totally clueless, either. There are of course some who should not by rights call themselves technicians, but by and large most of them are technically quite competent in their own area of understanding. Of course, there are always rookies, fresh out of high school, graduating far from first in their class. Who you get is luck of the draw, but the rookies and less experienced techs are not usually reticient to call upon their lead techs. If they are, then you should encourage them to call up their lead for assistance.

[hookbill]

Just curious. Are the techs willing to follow the instructions TiVo has? I'm going to insist they follow it when they come out to my house (as nice as I can).

[comicsacrifice]

as much as i hate to admit it, i actually needed the tech there to install my cards. and i was so pissed when i found out i couldnt pick up the cards myself. we went through 3 cards before we got 2 that worked.

[Hokie Fan]

After the lunch time debacle I received a call from the indepdent contractor techs (techs henceforth). They managed to locate two CableCARDs and returned around 8:15 in the evening to do the installation. This was their first CableCARD install and they had never really seen a TiVo at all, much less a Series 3. To their credit they studied TiVo's supplied instructions for a bit and then proceeded to install Card 1 and then Card 2. When each card was installed it immediately popped up the CableCARD info screen with the card ID and Host ID. The longest part of the install was waiting on the operator at the headend to first transcribe the card and host IDs. One of the IDs was copied down wrong and this caused problems during pairing. Once the proper numbers were confirmed pairing occurred in a matter of minutes.

I was unable to get the various HD Tier and premiums (SD and HD) at first. Once I forced a restart via the settings menu TiVo came up with the HD Tier and Premiums working as expected.

Here's a rundown of what does and does not work.

Works:

Local HDs (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, etc)
TNTHD
Discovery HD
HD Tier except for Universal HD
HBOs (all six of them) and HBOHD
Cinemax and its variants
ESPNHD (praise be to gozzar)
Digital Only channels like Speed, etc. (Haven't explored too many of these)

What DOES NOT Work:
Pacific feeds for HBO, HBOHD and Cinemax
UniversalHD

I suspect that like much of the country TW of SC is using the Switched Video technology for the Pacific feeds and it appears that UniHD is also on the switched video technology since all the other channels in the HD Tier work fine. I will call and confirm this today.

[cwoody222]

Well TWC Buffalo (Formerly Adelphia) came back for my second attempt today.

Hey - nice to see you made it here from the AVS Forum :D

Glad to hear your CableCARD install went smoothly.

[robreams]

No hassle other than the "You know you won't be able to record anymore, you won't have the cable guide anymore, you won't have the music channels, blah, blah, blah" speech.

Can anyone verify the above? If I replace my current SA-8300HD with a Tivo Series3, will I lose the Digital Music Channels Time Warner offers?

[derekcbart]

Can anyone verify the above? If I replace my current SA-8300HD with a Tivo Series3, will I lose the Digital Music Channels Time Warner offers?
I've got digital music channels with my S3 with TWC Los Angeles.

[VoodooNYC]

Can anyone with Time Warner NYC (manh, brooklyn or queens) who has WORKING CableCards in their Series 3 already PM or email me so I can get some info from you that might help get mine working properly?

I have TW coming to Brooklyn for the second time this Saturday after 1st installation resulted in failed cablecards and cablecard stuck in the slot. After numerous calls to 4 supervisors, I was able to schedule again and not have to wait 3 weeks for a truck roll with the assurance that they would bring more than 2 cards this time around. If I'm up and running by Saturday, I'll be happy to help. :)

[macsamurai]

I have TW coming to Brooklyn for the second time this Saturday after 1st installation resulted in failed cablecards and cablecard stuck in the slot. After numerous calls to 4 supervisors, I was able to schedule again and not have to wait 3 weeks for a truck roll with the assurance that they would bring more than 2 cards this time around. If I'm up and running by Saturday, I'll be happy to help. :)

Thanks! I spoke to my Public Affairs rep this morning and gave her some info that will hopefully help - thanks to TiVo Community member "alee" and also the "head end" info that was posted here earlier from the TWC customer in Albany.

She just called back to tell me she passed all that info along to the head end techs and the IT supervisor and they are both "working on it," but there's still no ETA as to when they might have it resolved (or figure out exactly what the problem is, for that matter). Hopefully I'll get a more informative update tomorrow.

[clupher]

First, a disclaimer. I don’t have any premium services like HBO, Showtime, etc. I do pay for the basic HD channels (ESPNHD, HDNET, HDNET Movies, Universal HD, INHD, INHD2) as well as all of the local HD channels.

I had the cable cards installed Tuesday (Sept 26th) but CC #1 didn’t display HDNET Movies. CC2 didn’t display anything in the 1600 range. The tech that did the installation mentioned that it can take up to 24 hours for the CCs to come on-line.

Long story short, as of 6:00pm on Sept 27th, both cards now receive all channels.

I was a little concerned that the TW folks were telling me that the 1600 range didn’t work with the CCs. In my case the fear was unfounded.

I’m back on TIVO, baby! Time to dump the TW box!!!

<cpl>

[rrman]

I have two Tivo's (a series 1 and a series 2). I'm really interested in getting the series 3, but I'm worried about SDV. I sent the following email to Time Warner:

=========
I'm a Time Warner cable subscriber in Ithaca, NY (Syracuse market).

I am considering getting a TiVo Series 3. This is an HDTV DVR that uses
two Cablecards (1.0). I like the usability of the Tivo much more than
that of the SA 8300HD. However, this box, like TVs that use Cablecards,
may not work properly if SDV (Switched Digital Video) is used by Time
Warner.

My questions are:

1. Does Time Warner in the Ithaca/Syracuse area use SDV?

2. If SDV is used, what channels use SDV?

3. What are the future plans of using SDV and what channels might use
it in the future?

I'm not interested in all the channels, so if SDV is used for some less
popular channels, it would be okay with me. However, my main concern is
that I can continue to receive all HDTV channels with CableCard (such
as ABC, NBC, CBS, HBO, Showtime, HDNet, plus the other premium HDTV
channels such as inHD, etc.). In addition to the HDTV channels, I'm also
most interested in the WB and Fox.

==================

The following is Time Warner's reply:

===========

As of August 1st 2006, the only channels that we us SDV on are the west
coast feeds for out premium channels like HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and
Starz!. So your high definition channels should not be effected. If Time
Warner adds more channels to the SDV way of transmission you'll be
notified in writing of the changes.
==================

I really want to get a Tivo Series 3, but it's not clear what Time Warner's future plans are for SDV, and I'd be really upset if in the future there are HDTV channels that I can't get due to SDV. I see that many Time Warner subscribers have decided to go ahead and get a Series 3. Any thoughts?

Thanks.

[SCSIRAID]

I have two Tivo's (a series 1 and a series 2). I'm really interested in getting the series 3, but I'm worried about SDV. I sent the following email to Time Warner:

=========
I'm a Time Warner cable subscriber in Ithaca, NY (Syracuse market).

I am considering getting a TiVo Series 3. This is an HDTV DVR that uses
two Cablecards (1.0). I like the usability of the Tivo much more than
that of the SA 8300HD. However, this box, like TVs that use Cablecards,
may not work properly if SDV (Switched Digital Video) is used by Time
Warner.

My questions are:

1. Does Time Warner in the Ithaca/Syracuse area use SDV?

2. If SDV is used, what channels use SDV?

3. What are the future plans of using SDV and what channels might use
it in the future?

I'm not interested in all the channels, so if SDV is used for some less
popular channels, it would be okay with me. However, my main concern is
that I can continue to receive all HDTV channels with CableCard (such
as ABC, NBC, CBS, HBO, Showtime, HDNet, plus the other premium HDTV
channels such as inHD, etc.). In addition to the HDTV channels, I'm also
most interested in the WB and Fox.

==================

The following is Time Warner's reply:

===========

As of August 1st 2006, the only channels that we us SDV on are the west
coast feeds for out premium channels like HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and
Starz!. So your high definition channels should not be effected. If Time
Warner adds more channels to the SDV way of transmission you'll be
notified in writing of the changes.
==================

I really want to get a Tivo Series 3, but it's not clear what Time Warner's future plans are for SDV, and I'd be really upset if in the future there are HDTV channels that I can't get due to SDV. I see that many Time Warner subscribers have decided to go ahead and get a Series 3. Any thoughts?

Thanks.

We can live in fear..... or.... enjoy life. Even if they move something you like to SDV you can always rent a 8300 for that stuff and enjoy Tivo goodness for everything else. A Series 3 will always retain value for those who go OTA.

Come on in... the waters fine.

[rlay]

The Time Warner (former Adelphia) installer showed up early with only one cable card. He's never worked with them before. Installed it, and we kept getting the 161-1 error, even after having them reset it in the office. He called the office and told them that I needed two cablecards. He came back a half hour later, and kept getting the 161-1 error. He removed the old card and the new card worked. Everytime we tried the first card, the machine keeps returning to the 161-1 error.

After speaking to his CSR, he was told that there was a number he was going to give me to specifically get the TIVO to work. He was going to call me to give me the number. I'm still waiting for that call, and the 888-683-1000 support number keeps telling me that all representatives are busy and to call back later.

So, at the moment one tuner works (2 tuners were working with analog cable)....and I have HBO-HD and one local channel...but no HD Package (HDNET, Discover HD, etc.).

Does anyone know if I can configure analog cable and one digital cable card while I try to resolve this fiasco with Time Warner?

The Motorola box is working just fine....one cable & two tuners...plus the HD channels.

[pmiranda]

Does anyone know if I can configure analog cable and one digital cable card while I try to resolve this fiasco with Time Warner?

No. I hope they do make that work someday since it's rare I need to record more than one non-local digital channel at once and I'd love to cut TW down to just one cablecard of revenue from my house.
S3 FAQ (http://www.tivolovers.com/Series3-FAQ.html)

[alee]

Is ANYONE in the TWCNYC area up and running? Seeing quite a few reports here that TWCNYC blitzed a lot of CableCARDs today, and wondered if anyone's unit is back in service?

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4424077&&#post4424077

Judging by my To Do list, i think both my cards have been out of service for at least 18+ hrs...

[rlay]

I finally got through to TWC (former Adelphia in Imperial Valley, CA...call center in Colorado), and the polite CSR lady told me that the non-working card is probably not an HD card, because it wasn't specified in the orginal work order. They look identical, but the serial numbers have a different sequence pattern. She was scheduling an "advanced tech" to come out next Friday (Oct. 6th)...but to call in a couple of days to see if they can have out out sooner (waving any setup fees)

When we talked about the functioning card not getting all of the HD channels, she said that all of the HD channels are switched on for all of the devices in my home, whether it's an HD cable card or one of their set top boxes. Her guess is that both of the cards were not HD cards (even though I get HBO-HD and one local channel in HD). I still get all the HD channels on the Motorola box. I'm hoping the advanced tech can work it out.

I recieved my S3 nearly 2 weeks ago, and it looks like it will be at least another week before I'll know whether it will even work with TWC. Because the Motorola box works fine, I might return the S3 if we TWC can't get it to work next week. I might even consider DirecTV, but my neighbor has had all kind of problems wiring up multiple TVs, phone lines, and a 2 tuner TIVO....also, they don't do local HD in my area....and he has a big obtrusive dish in the front of his house. So TWC might be the lesser of two evils. I'm really getting the sense that the S3 is an early adopter product with a lot of kinks that need to be worked out.

I hooked up the S3 back to analog cable to get 2 tuner capability back (which looks surprisingly better then the analog channels on the Motorola box). $800 is a lot of money to lose programming and features just to get a better UI and a bit sharper picture...considering my plasma as $2000+.

[Yakko1968]

After four Time Warner tech visits to my home and numerous calls to both Time Warner Cable and TiVo I've finally got both CableCARDs working properly in my S3.
The problem always seemed to be with the card in Slot 2 - it would decode the digital signals but not any of the premium channels. The card was replaced several times but what finally seemed to get it working was a senior tech at the cable company who reprovisioned the card while I was on the phone with him.

I thought I was having a bad experience with the techs clearly not familiar with the TiVo S3 hardware and with TWC customer service always scheduling more truck rollouts whenever I would call rather than putting me in touch with somebody who could reprovision on the phone. But after reading what some of the people posting in this thread have gone through in other cities I don't feel so bad. If half of the stories are true about the ignorant and downright rude behavior that TiVo customers have endured from TW in other cities then I guess I'm damned lucky that I was always treated courteously. I never even had to listen to the "let me talk you out of CableCARDs" speech once!

Frankly it seems like a lot of the problems could be avoided if TW would allow consumers to install the cards ourselves. Granted I would imagine most TiVo S3 early adopters are gadget minded and aren't intimidated about hooking up A/V equipment whereas some would rather let somebody with a toolbelt install everything. But at least make it an option like picking up the STBs.

Anyway... good luck to anyone still having problems. And if you've yet to go through your install I would recommend reading that "Instructions for CableCARD Installers" and familiarizing yourself with the menus before the tech arrives.

[rrman]

We can live in fear..... or.... enjoy life. Even if they move something you like to SDV you can always rent a 8300 for that stuff and enjoy Tivo goodness for everything else. A Series 3 will always retain value for those who go OTA.

Come on in... the waters fine.

Hee hee. Good point. Even if the SA 8300HD gets all the channels, it isn't very reliable, so yeah, a Tivo would be good to get :-).

[VoodooNYC]

Is ANYONE in the TWCNYC area up and running? Seeing quite a few reports here that TWCNYC blitzed a lot of CableCARDs today, and wondered if anyone's unit is back in service?

I'm curious about this too. Is it a system wide failure in the entire NYC area? That would really suck. :(

[alee]

I'm curious about this too. Is it a system wide failure in the entire NYC area? That would really suck. :(
I just called and the CSR said all of Manhattan is affected. "We are aware of this problem", blah blah blah. Would be a disaster if every single CC in the area has to be replaced.

[macsamurai]

Originally Posted by VoodooNYC
I'm curious about this too. Is it a system wide failure in the entire NYC area? That would really suck.

I just called and the CSR said all of Manhattan is affected. "We are aware of this problem", blah blah blah. Would be a disaster if every single CC in the area has to be replaced.

Misery loves company but I promise you I didn't tell them "if mine won't work you need to break everyone else's too!" :)

VooDoo - where in Brooklyn are you? I'm on the Brooklyn Heights/Cobble Hill border near Atlantic & Henry. Maybe if the tech that's coming back out to you on Sat gets yours working he can come here and make mine work!

[VoodooNYC]

I just called and the CSR said all of Manhattan is affected. "We are aware of this problem", blah blah blah. Would be a disaster if every single CC in the area has to be replaced.


It just seems really suspect that every cablecard in NYC is affected. Seems more likely that TW in NYC is completely clueless about cablecards.

[VoodooNYC]

Misery loves company but I promise you I didn't tell them "if mine won't work you need to break everyone else's too!" :)

VooDoo - where in Brooklyn are you? I'm on the Brooklyn Heights/Cobble Hill border near Atlantic & Henry. Maybe if the tech that's coming back out to you on Sat gets yours working he can come here and make mine work!

Macsamurai: I'm close by, Carroll Gardens on 2nd Place. I'm not particularly hopeful after reading all these threads that anything is going to work anytime soon. Maybe time to get Tivo involved. NYC is a pretty big market for them to lose due to lack of cablecard education!!!

[alee]

Misery loves company but I promise you I didn't tell them "if mine won't work you need to break everyone else's too!" :)
LOL, it crossed my mind last night but I'll trust you for now. ;)

Is your S3 showing the FUGSOD (firmware upgrade grey screen of death) right now?

[VoodooNYC]

Mine never got past FUGSOD at the install. Just did the upgrade for two days before I pulled the cards out and then it prompted me to go through guided setup again.

[macsamurai]

LOL, it crossed my mind last night but I'll trust you for now. ;)

Is your S3 showing the FUGSOD (firmware upgrade grey screen of death) right now?

My S3 is not showing the FUGSOD, which is why I am wondering if the LACk of that symptom proves what I've been saying all along, that my account is not provisioned properly. if it was, even though I am only getting a handful of channels, I'd think my cards would be equally affected by what everyone else's cards in NYC and/or Brooklyn are experiencing since yesterday. I haven't seen a post from anyone in Brooklyn with the firmware upgrade problem tho, so it's possible that only Manhattan got hit.

It all just sucks either way :(

It's so frustrating have a $1000 (incl the lifetime sub transfer) toy sitting in my livingroom that serves no real purpose right now other than as a pedestal for my DVD player in my AV cart!

[jfh3]

I finally got through to TWC (former Adelphia in Imperial Valley, CA...call center in Colorado), and the polite CSR lady told me that the non-working card is probably not an HD card, because it wasn't specified in the orginal work order. They look identical, but the serial numbers have a different sequence pattern.

LOL! There's no such thing as an HD CableCARD.

They are conditional access cards and don't care what the stream is.

[Darthnice]

LOL! There's no such thing as an HD CableCARD.

They are conditional access cards and don't care what the stream is.
My installer (Austin) thought that the reason the switched digital channels which have an analog analog (not a typeo) were showing up on one cable card and not the other was because one of the cable cards was an analog cable card but the other was only digital.

As someone else said, "strictly bush league."

[mentalradio]

I tried scanning through the posts for this answer, sorry if I missed it and this is a repeat...

I'm in LA, called TWC to schedule CC install, but the CSR said I needed to pick the cards up at the Santa Monica office. I've read in posts from people in other cities that they've been told the same only to find out TWC won't give them cards when they actually get to the office. Before I drive from Silverlake to Santa Monica, has anyone in LA picked up the cable cards from the TW office and installed them on their own?

[sdether]

I've searched the forums and couldn't find anything about TWC San Diego. If i missed it, please just point me there.

Anyway, i had finally rationalized getting the S3 and then I looked in this forum and got the crap scared out of me. So I called TWC San Diego to see what lame excuses they'd give me.

But they didn't. While I'm not sure the agent really knew what I was asking, the information I did receive was encouraging. $1.95/month/card. She told me that the Digital cable box was so much better than cablecards, and I told her, i needed cable cards for my tivo to record HD and she said "yeah, you do need the Cable cards then". I asked about SDV or switched channels and she didn't know what i was asking. I asked what channel would i not receive and she quoted me their CC info page word for word. So, at least it doesn't sound like SDV is in my area.

But my concern remains that I buy the box, get it working even and then 2-3 months down the line, channel will disappear one by one and i'lll be stuck with a useless box with lifetime service.

Any official word from Tivo about what's the deal with SDV and whether we will be able do a software upgrade on our S3s once CC 2.0 is out?

thanks,
arne

[Viktor]

I am in the Dallas area (Richardson) and the Time Warner Tech came very punctual, he checked the cable setup and he said that I have the old system: cable A and cable B. This is incompatible with cable cards and system 3 TiVo. He said that in about 3 weeks it will be only one cable and I will be notified when that happens to set up another appointment. The $15 charge will not be applied. Six days ago I did received a letter from Time Warner telling me about the change on ar about October 27.

I called TiVo and they said the that the only way I can hook up my Tivo is to a single cable setup. I have tried to plug-in only cable A and no luck, the same when I tried cable B.

What a letdown

[eisenb11]

I tried scanning through the posts for this answer, sorry if I missed it and this is a repeat...

I'm in LA, called TWC to schedule CC install, but the CSR said I needed to pick the cards up at the Santa Monica office. I've read in posts from people in other cities that they've been told the same only to find out TWC won't give them cards when they actually get to the office. Before I drive from Silverlake to Santa Monica, has anyone in LA picked up the cable cards from the TW office and installed them on their own?

You'll want to be careful on that one... CSRs have told me I can pick up the CCs when, in fact, you cannot in my area. The CSRs that answer the phone are not always in your local area and may be making assumptions based on their own area (some other places do allow pickups).

I'm in the Redondo Beach area and TWC does not allow CC pickups. I believe I've read that others in the LA area weren't allowed to do pickups either.

I've been trying for 3 weeks to get a CC installed by a TWC installer... and you can bet I tried like crazy to see if they'll just let me pick it up... assuming they actually show up this Saturday (third attempt for an install) it'll have taken 3 weeks to perform a 10 minute task! :D

You might want to see if you contact your local office or the santa monica office directly to see what they have to say about pickups (I have a feeling it's a no-go). Best of luck...

[sakaike]

I tried scanning through the posts for this answer, sorry if I missed it and this is a repeat...

I'm in LA, called TWC to schedule CC install, but the CSR said I needed to pick the cards up at the Santa Monica office. I've read in posts from people in other cities that they've been told the same only to find out TWC won't give them cards when they actually get to the office. Before I drive from Silverlake to Santa Monica, has anyone in LA picked up the cable cards from the TW office and installed them on their own?
I'm a TWC customer in Redondo Beach and my service center is in Hermosa, not Santa Monica. Also, I don't have a S3, but I'm following this thread because I'm considering a purchase and wanting to see how the early adopters are fairing. But I strongly advise you to call the Santa Monica office directly and speak to a supervisor before making the drive.

I recently had a tech out to work on my HD signal. His fixes didn't work, but it wasn't obvious until he was long gone. He was nice enough to leave me his Nextel number, and when I called him he suggested that for faster service, rather than scheduling another truck roll, I could take my Moto DCT6200 HD box down to the Hermosa office, where they would gladly do a box swap. When I got there, they refused to do it, so I was forced to schedule another appointment.

When the next tech arrived a few days later, they apologized for the erroneous information I had been given, and said that their current policy is to allow box swaps only for non-HD boxes. All cable cards and HD boxes must be installed by a tech. They said the policy might change in the future, but that's the way it is now.

Of course, this doesn't make much logical sense to me, and your mileage may vary, but I thought I would pass this anecdote along anyway.

[pntsoptional]

I tried scanning through the posts for this answer, sorry if I missed it and this is a repeat...

I'm in LA, called TWC to schedule CC install, but the CSR said I needed to pick the cards up at the Santa Monica office. I've read in posts from people in other cities that they've been told the same only to find out TWC won't give them cards when they actually get to the office. Before I drive from Silverlake to Santa Monica, has anyone in LA picked up the cable cards from the TW office and installed them on their own?

I'm in Santa Monica (former Adelphia) and TWC is coming out in about two hours for the CC install. I didn't ask if I could pick them up on my own though. Also, I had to wait a week for the truck roll which was not great.

If I learn any lessons during the install, I’ll post an update.

[ahaley42]

Does this warrant a new thread? Sound off here if you're in Austin and working except for the premium HD channels.
I'm one! :confused:

[Lisa898]

Macsamurai: I'm close by, Carroll Gardens on 2nd Place. I'm not particularly hopeful after reading all these threads that anything is going to work anytime soon. Maybe time to get Tivo involved. NYC is a pretty big market for them to lose due to lack of cablecard education!!!


I wonder if we have the same installer. I'm just a few blocks from you guys and have an appointment Saturday from 8 to noon. I'm not terribly optomistic at this point after reading the posts here about whatever happened in all of NYC to screw up cable cards this week.

[VoodooNYC]

I wonder if we have the same installer. I'm just a few blocks from you guys and have an appointment Saturday from 8 to noon. I'm not terribly optomistic at this point after reading the posts here about whatever happened in all of NYC to screw up cable cards this week.


Hi Lisa: Well I'm 10am to 2pm, so looks like you get your shot first. Even though last Saturday went poorly for me, I have to say that I got a few calls this week from a very kind supervisor who really went above and beyond to make sure I got an immediate follow-up. And he called back today to confim that he would try to have the tech guy bring a bunch of cable cards to try (Just don't use them all before he gets to me!!! :eek: )

But no, after reading all the failures going on in this area, I really have my doubts for a successful install as well.

[Thanatox]

TW Lincoln, NE.
No problem install. Installer had read the same instructions that I had in a meeting earlier this week.

[infinitespecter]

I just got done with the cable guy. He came with a Comcast card (just switched to TWC) and literally 5 minutes after he came, he was done and gone. Worked like a charm.

[NetJunkie]

Had my install done today. This was the first CC install for the tech but everything went just fine. The only issue we had was that they didn't put the HD Suite on the second card. A quick call back to the main office and it was done. The people at the main office had a very good understanding of CCs and knew exactly what to do. Very pleased.

I noticed on the install sheet that Tivo says a minute or two after inserting a card you should get the MMI screen. Mine never did that. I finally went in to the CC config to the Host info screen and it showed what we needed.

[gavilon]

Their system no longer announces that there's an outage in Manhattan for cable card service. However, everyone here seems to be experiencing it. I've been on the phone all day with customer service, bounced from one idiot to another. They are clueless. Two guys asked me to turn off my cable box after I'd explained that I had the CCs installed in my Tivo S3.

I've got some guy working on my case now and I've made a service appt. for Sat. to get some new cards installed. However, I don't think the cards are the problem. Seems like some back-end IT screw-up. Doesn't anyone over there think to back out the changes? My CCs were working just fine until yesterday at 6:40am. NO TV for 2 days now and I'm climbing the walls.

The guy working on my case asked me the model number and when I gave it to him he said this model was not supposed to work with their system. Told him his system still has a "typo" - TCD instead of TDC. He asked me where I got that information and I told him about this user group. I suggested to him that perhaps TWC might want to contact TIVO directly to confirm the correct model - DUH!!!

[gavilon]

Just got a call back - I almost fainted!

The guy said he found the correct information on the model number and I was right.

He also said this is a system-wide issue and they will be resolving it tonight, hopefully by 6pm, if not definitely by 9pm.

Not holding my breath.

I'll let you know what happens next.

[MeatSack]

I have not gotten cable cards yet, but I am VERY interested in all the issues everyone is seeing here.

Does this warrant a new thread? Sound off here if you're in Austin and working except for the premium HD channels.
I'm one! :confused:

[DJRobX]

Los Angeles, Former Comcast

Guy came with both cablecards. He asked "Where's the TV?"... "They're going into a TiVo". He gave me a major "deer in the headlights" look. "That's never been done before so I don't know if its going to work". "Oh there are other customers in LA that have it working.". Despite his complaining about CableCARD the whole time, it seemed to go without a hitch and now the TiVo is doing dual tuner HD on cable. :)

[skanter]

Their system no longer announces that there's an outage in Manhattan for cable card service. However, everyone here seems to be experiencing it. I've been on the phone all day with customer service, bounced from one idiot to another. They are clueless. Two guys asked me to turn off my cable box after I'd explained that I had the CCs installed in my Tivo S3.

I've got some guy working on my case now and I've made a service appt. for Sat. to get some new cards installed. However, I don't think the cards are the problem. Seems like some back-end IT screw-up. Doesn't anyone over there think to back out the changes? My CCs were working just fine until yesterday at 6:40am. NO TV for 2 days now and I'm climbing the walls.

The guy working on my case asked me the model number and when I gave it to him he said this model was not supposed to work with their system. Told him his system still has a "typo" - TCD instead of TDC. He asked me where I got that information and I told him about this user group. I suggested to him that perhaps TWC might want to contact TIVO directly to confirm the correct model - DUH!!!

I was afraid of this type of thing! I'm waiting until price drops and TWC works out the bugs...sorry you're having problems! :(

[alee]

He also said this is a system-wide issue and they will be resolving it tonight, hopefully by 6pm, if not definitely by 9pm.

Not holding my breath.
Nothing yet at 7:12pm... glad my S2 TiVos are still around.

[VoodooNYC]

Nothing yet at 7:12pm... glad my S2 TiVos are still around.


Yup. Keeping both my S2 AND my cablebox till all of this is resolved.

[pntsoptional]

Santa Monica (Ex Adelphia)

So I just had the CC cards installed and everything went peachy, despite the fact that things started off a little rocky.

* The tech had no idea the cards could go in a box
* He had never seen anything take two cards before
* He shoved both cards in at the same time even though the directions say to activate them one at a time
* He only brought two cards (one for backup) cause nothing takes two cards. ;) (Yes, I told TW I needed two cards.)
* Got the “161-4” error but thanks to this board I knew that wasn’t a showstopper

He was a real nice guy though, and was totally willing to play with the thing if necessary to get it to work.

Seriously though, I can’t imagine the S3 will ever be the "mass market" product the S2 is. CC cards are just too finicky and you have to know more about the install process than the techs.

Once everything is up and running though, the S3 really is an awesome little gizmo. :up:

PS: I also have all the HBO feeds, so switched digital doesn't seem to be an issue yet :D

[alee]

Yup. Keeping both my S2 AND my cablebox till all of this is resolved.
9pm, and the TiVo is still on the FUGSOD.

Guess it's time to call up TWCNYC (again).

[mercurial]

Seriously though, I can’t imagine the S3 will ever be the "mass market" product the S2 is. CC cards are just too finicky and you have to know more about the install process than the techs.


I'd disagree. The kinks will get worked out and I bet we'll eventually have a platform that allows for people not only get the two-way services like SDV but also VOD and interactive stuff. It will just a while for mass adoption.

[skanter]

I'd disagree. The kinks will get worked out and I bet we'll eventually have a platform that allows for people not only get the two-way services like SDV but also VOD and interactive stuff. It will just a while for mass adoption.

"It will just be a while" and "eventually" is fine, but I'd have to pay the 800 bucks now :eek: and then deal with all the issues...

[mercurial]

"It will just be a while" and "eventually" is fine, but I'd have to pay the 800 bucks now :eek: and then deal with all the issues...

Well, I don't think the issues are THAT awful (I'll find out for sure next week). I was commenting on it becoming "mainstream". Remember, HDTV isn't quite "mainstream" yet. How many people have bought HDTVs and don't even have an HD source hooked up to it yet... :rolleyes:

[SCSIRAID]

Well, I don't think the issues are THAT awful (I'll find out for sure next week). I was commenting on it becoming "mainstream". Remember, HDTV isn't quite "mainstream" yet. How many people have bought HDTVs and don't even have an HD source hooked up to it yet... :rolleyes:

I have really had only one issue (audio dropouts) so far. Im very pleased with my S3 experience.

[alee]

So I called TWCNYC again. They are still claiming all Manhattan CableCARD customers are out of service. They were supposed to have a resolution earlier tonight but they were unable to fix it. I pressed the CSR for more information, but she had no other information... just apologies. I asked for a credit for the day, which she ave me.

Anyone out there in NYC have a working S3 right now?

[rhanson]

So I called TWCNYC again. They are still claiming all Manhattan CableCARD customers are out of service. They were supposed to have a resolution earlier tonight but they were unable to fix it. I pressed the CSR for more information, but she had no other information... just apologies. I asked for a credit for the day, which she ave me.

Anyone out there in NYC have a working S3 right now?

Here in Brooklyn my cable cards are working fine.

My install on Weds went very smoothly. The tech had installed cable cards in one other Tivo. Had a little trouble getting the second card started but fixed fairly quickly.

I was expecting more trouble. Every thing has been working fine since the install. The interesting one card still says 'Waiting CP Auth' but works fine.

Rich Hanson
Brooklyn

[macsamurai]

Do you remember your tech's name, rhanson? or do you have his ID # on your service order receipt?

[gavilon]

10:45pm and still nothing. I'm disgusted!

[alee]

10:45pm and still nothing. I'm disgusted!
Calling CSR isn't going to get us anywhere... what's the next step? Do we have someone higher up the chain to start complaining to?

[VoodooNYC]

Here in Brooklyn my cable cards are working fine.

My install on Weds went very smoothly. The tech had installed cable cards in one other Tivo. Had a little trouble getting the second card started but fixed fairly quickly.

I was expecting more trouble. Every thing has been working fine since the install. The interesting one card still says 'Waiting CP Auth' but works fine.

Rich Hanson
Brooklyn

Cripes! Is this the first report of a functioning cablecard in the greater NYC area in the past 48 or so hours?

Rich: More details please for those of us with upcoming installs. Especially your Brooklyn compatriots.

Alee, Gavilon and Macsamurai: The whole Manhattan is completely out thing, I just don't get it. But whatever you decide to do, count me in. I will make a lot of noise to make this work.

[VoodooNYC]

Actually, I have the direct dial of a supervisor at TW that was left on my caller ID and was really helpful. I can start there.

[rhanson]

Do you remember your tech's name, rhanson? or do you have his ID # on your service order receipt?


The service order says Tech # 3066. Can't read his name. He had a Jamaican (or something like that) accent. He had apparently installed many cable cards in TVs. He had installed cable cards in only one other Tivo before mine.

[rhanson]

Cripes! Is this the first report of a functioning cablecard in the greater NYC area in the past 48 or so hours?

Rich: More details please for those of us with upcoming installs. Especially your Brooklyn compatriots.

.....

Not a whole lot more to say. The tech showed up with two cards. He knew that the bottom slot was first when I thought it should be the top one. I didn't read the instructions too well. Obviously he was right.

He put the first card in, got the host id and keyed what ever he needed into his terminal. Then did the second card. He was surprised that each card had it own host id but took it in stride.

Because he didn't expect two host ids he didn't know which card ser # matched which host id, so we had to take the cards out to figure it out. Had problem here because the button to get the cards out didn't work. Did the old fashion way, carefully used a pair of pliers. No harm done.

After he matched the host ids to the cards, he called the office to make sure that they sent down the appropriate codes for both hostids. Had to wait about 10 minutes for the second card to activate.

That was it. As I stated before card #2 still says 'Waiting for CP Auth' even though works fine.

Have been recording fine ever since, even both tuners.

Not sure how I lucked out, I was expecting the worst.

Rich Hanson
Brooklyn (Park Slope)

[gavilon]

Looks like I got my service back...finally. All channels seem to be working too.

Everybody in Manhattan, check yours now and thanks for your support.

[VoodooNYC]

Have been recording fine ever since, even both tuners.

There's hope for us yet. Thanks.

[SCSIRAID]

Here in Brooklyn my cable cards are working fine.

My install on Weds went very smoothly. The tech had installed cable cards in one other Tivo. Had a little trouble getting the second card started but fixed fairly quickly.

I was expecting more trouble. Every thing has been working fine since the install. The interesting one card still says 'Waiting CP Auth' but works fine.

Rich Hanson
Brooklyn

If the cablecard is in "waiting CP Auth" state then it isnt paired properly. It may be providing channel info to Tivo but it shouldnt decode any of the encrypted content. Suggest you go to "Test Channels" menu for that card and tune to encrypted channels like Discovery HD, InHD, HDNet, ESPNHD.... I bet that you will get a black screen. If not... your provider must be sending those unencrypted or the cablecard is broke in a 'good' way.... which is unlikely on both counts.

[alee]

Looks like I got my service back...finally. All channels seem to be working too.

Everybody in Manhattan, check yours now and thanks for your support.
We're live again in Tribeca. Checked both tuners before I left for work, and no problems.

[Darthnice]

Does this warrant a new thread? Sound off here if you're in Austin and working except for the premium HD channels.
I'm one! :confused:

I'm in Austin and have InHD, InHD2, HDNet and HDNet Movies all working. I don't subscribe to HBO/Showtime/Cinemax.

The tech told the CSR on the phone to "update the rates" whatever that means, and then they got authorized.

[jeremyz]

Great install yesterday w/ TWCNYC - cable guy's second Tivo install of the day. I was a little worried when he didn't follow the instructions, but he knew what he was doing, and after a little back-and-forth with the mothership about billing, the guy got me going with no problem.

Just fyi - it did take a couple of hours to get all the channels. Don't know why - figure it had something to do with slow authorizations.

Just called to get the HDXtra package, although customer service doesn't know whether it will work through the cards (I don't see why not). We'll find out later. :up:

[vpras]

Time Warner (recently purchased Comcast and Adelphia in So Cal) refused my request for Cablecards today. I fought with the service rep and demanded to be connected to a supervisor. She reiterated what the rep said - then I started pushing. She said they "will not touch another piece of equipment except for their own" but that they will "install cablecards only in TV's". Of course this made no sense so I had her. She agreed to send out a tech to "see what they could do" at a cost of $50 PER HOUR!! This is most ridiculous and I will dispute the charge, Meanwhile they do not come until next Saturday so we'll see.

Interestingly if I had simply said I needed two cable cards installed in two TV's and left the word "TiVo" out of the conversation I sincerely believe that I would not have had an issue. Time Warner tried to sell me on their DVR twice during the call.

What a royal pain in the ass.

Before the TWC folks arrive tomorrow and fireworks begin, can anyone comment on the outrageous charge mentioned above. Said another way, what have folks on this board been charged for their "truck-roll"/install. Any/all input is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[mercurial]

Before the TWC folks arrive tomorrow and fireworks begin, can anyone comment on the outrageous charge mentioned above. Said another way, what have folks on this board been charged for their "truck-roll"/install. Any/all input is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I have two S3s that will be installed next week. Even though it is a new cable install, they still told me $43/device for the install (at least it wasn't per-card). So as long as they can get your instlal done in less than 51.6 minutes, you'll get off cheaper than I will for the first box... :p

[SoBayJake]

Before the TWC folks arrive tomorrow and fireworks begin, can anyone comment on the outrageous charge mentioned above. Said another way, what have folks on this board been charged for their "truck-roll"/install. Any/all input is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
I am former Comcast in Los Angeles. I was told the "usual" install fee was $28 (not per card), and they had no problems with it being a TiVo.

The CSR seemed to know exactly what it was, and all. The work order listed the two cards, but the install guy (seems a nice guy, altho a little nervous putting them in something other than a TV) claimed the work order only indicated one. Luckily, he had more cards in the truck.

[SCSIRAID]

I have two S3s that will be installed next week. Even though it is a new cable install, they still told me $43/device for the install (at least it wasn't per-card). So as long as they can get your instlal done in less than 51.6 minutes, you'll get off cheaper than I will for the first box... :p

Be prepared for a 4 * $43 charge as I would be willing to bet that that is what you are gonna get. They are probably still stuck in the 1 cablecard per device mentality. Hopefully they show up with 4 (or more) cablecards. I hope it works out for ya but be prepared.... :)

[mercurial]

Be prepared for a 4 * $43 charge as I would be willing to bet that that is what you are gonna get. They are probably still stuck in the 1 cablecard per device mentality. Hopefully they show up with 4 (or more) cablecards. I hope it works out for ya but be prepared.... :)


The lady on the phone knew of the S3 and knew it needed two cards so I'm hoping for the best (even some TVs I've seen say they take two cards now, for PIP/POP I presume).

[SCSIRAID]

The lady on the phone knew of the S3 and knew it needed two cards so I'm hoping for the best (even some TVs I've seen say they take two cards now, for PIP/POP I presume).

Really? I hadnt heard of a two cablecard TV but it does make sense.

Ive got my fingers crossed for ya... let us know how it works out.

[FireflyFan88]

Everything ended up great yesterday when we were all done. Even with the issues throughout the day, I ended the day with two working CableCard's and all channels.

Here's what I can say for those who aren't getting all the channels (I wasn't getting DiscoveryHD, TNT, HBO's or a bunch of other channels). When my first cablecard didn't work, the tech called the head end (for those that don't know what a head end is, it's where the cable provider's termination equipment is) directly and had them "run an update script". Within minutes, all my channels were there. The second Cablecard got installed and the same channels were missing. Once again, a call to the head end and a "run of the update script" solved the issue. I now get all channels on both cards. I don't know if this will help.

I asked them to tell me specifically what the head end here in the Albany NY area did to provision the cards correctly and they couldn't, or wouldn't, tell me. All I can say is that if your tech has problems, the number here in Albany for customer facing customer service is 518.869.5500. Perhaps if your local tech explains who they are and asks to speak to field service or the head end they may be able to get through...

With the way the techs were talking about "the impending discontinuation of cablecards within Time Warner" I am concerned, but the FCC does mandate their existence. I just wonder what has to be specifically supported on them - all normal programming? Or just a basic set of channels? I swear everyone I spoke to at Time Warner acted as if Cablecards were going away within days. I had to explain the FCC mandate for them to realize why they existed.

Success in Latham NY (Albanyarea)! The tech checked my levels (good), then called the "head end." A few minute later. Presto! All my channels are working.

[macsamurai]

Another day in Brooklyn, NY...

I had a real live "code man" call me from the main office this morning and we spent about 45 minutes verifying the serial numbers and host IDs, device compatibility tables, etc, as well as checking all the account codes on my account that dictate what packages I have, channels I should be receiving, etc. The public affairs rep who is shepherding my case called me shortly after to see if we made any progress. Sadly we didn't. She is arranging for a field foreman who has been on the job for 10+ years and is already familiar with my specific case to pay me a visit tomorrow and we're going to try replacing the CableCards again.

Fingers crossed, but hard not to be discouraged after 2 weeks of no progress. I will give kudos to the TWCNYC Public Affairs department for keeping me well informed, and calling me back when they say they will as opposed to the complete lack of cooperation and information I was getting from the plain old customer service supervisors.

[spsmyk]

So after watching this thread grow, I figured I would call before I ordered my S3 to ensure that I understood Binghamton TW policy. Called last week, got a rep that said "Sure you can pick them up at the office - come down when convenient". Placed my order at cc on Tuesday night, cleared with my wife that I would spend Saturday reworking the Entertainment system and she and my daughter should clear out for the afternoon. Had it sent two day so I could beat the weekend as the next three weekends we are out of town...

In a bit of a panic yesterday thinking TW would find a way to mess up my precisely planned project, so I called back and was informed that of course I could do the install myself - "Come on down and pick them up at your convenience".

Walked in today at lunch (to an insane line) and waited for 35 minutes. I'll give you one guess as to the response I got:

"I'm sorry. We have to roll a truck and do the install. We can be there between 12 and 5 next Friday".

:(

My best laid plans again thwarted by TWC.

[VoodooNYC]

The public affairs rep who is shepherding my case called me shortly after to see if we made any progress. Sadly we didn't.

REALLY sorry to hear that as I am scheduled for another cablecard install attempt tomorrow. Hang in there, we will not be defeated.

And I very much agree that, although not in public affairs, the supervisors from TWCNY that I have been dealing with over the past week have been great and very responsive. The CSRs will get you nowhere. Good luck.

[szohn]

It seems I'm the first TW customer in the Akron/Canton ohio area to have a tivo install. And it went pretty well.

When I first called for the appt, they had already gotten a memo that the S3 exisited and would support them. The Tech arrived at 10:00 for a 10-Noon appointment. Followed by 3 other trucks and 4 techs, it seems they all wanted to see how the install would go and learn how to do it. I was happy to oblige.

First card required firmware upgrade and 2 calls to the office to have the emm's sent.
Second card was DOA
Third card required firmware upgrade and 1 call.

All my channels worked.

Hats off to TW Akron/Canton:
They had a company wide memo about supporting tivo
The primary tech researched the product before arrival, brought extra cards and was told to not to schedule anything else after so any issues could be addressed.
Sent additional techs so they could learn the process for future installs.

Overall they created a very satisfied customer.

(oh and after a brief demo of the tivo interface and features one tech said he was going to buy one too)

[Diacritical]

Brooklyn TWC here...

TWC rep just left -- this was his fourth TiVo install and he seemed to know what he was doing. Right now, card 2 is functioning perfectly and card 1 is still waiting for CP Auth. They will dispatch someone else tomorrow morning if it does not come up before 6:00PM this evening (one hour from now). We saw pixilation and dropouts on WPIX HD (711), but he re-terminated the cable and it cleared right up.

They are getting a *lot* of cable card installs. The most common mistake according to this guy was caused by having two host ids in the box. Now the people in the head office know thatthey need different ones, so its going smoother this week than last. There was no attempt to sell me anything or to get me to keep their box.

Other than the problem with card one still not authorizing, it was a fairly smooth install.

[macsamurai]

Brooklyn TWC here...

TWC rep just left -- this was his fourth TiVo install and he seemed to know what he was doing. Right now, card 2 is functioning perfectly and card 1 is still waiting for CP Auth. They will dispatch someone else tomorrow morning if it does not come up before 6:00PM this evening (one hour from now). We saw pixilation and dropouts on WPIX HD (711), but he re-terminated the cable and it cleared right up.

They are getting a *lot* of cable card installs. The most common mistake according to this guy was caused by having two host ids in the box. Now the people in the head office know thatthey need different ones, so its going smoother this week than last. There was no attempt to sell me anything or to get me to keep their box.

Other than the problem with card one still not authorizing, it was a fairly smooth install.

Finally! A semi-successful install in 11201 (aka Brooklyn Heights for the rest of you). Hopefully third trip is a charm for me tomorrow. I really think TWCNYC should pool us all together and send the same handful of guys that seem to get it right to other TiVo installs nearby in each neighborhood. I'd think it would be so much more efficient!

Was your installer named Lewis or Juan, by any chance?

[Diacritical]

Finally! A semi-successful install in 11201 (aka Brooklyn Heights for the rest of you). Hopefully third trip is a charm for me tomorrow. I really think TWCNYC should pool us all together and send the same handful of guys that seem to get it right to other TiVo installs nearby in each neighborhood. I'd think it would be so much more efficient!

Was your installer named Lewis or Juan, by any chance?

It was Enoch. Funny... when I saw 11201, my first thought was "How does he know my zipcode... then I remembered my neighborhood was in every post. :o

I think they either got a number wrong for card one (most likely) or the card itself has a problem. For now, I have most of my local recordings using OTA and the cable ones off of another other TiVo. It's hard to tell it which tuner to use -- and only one gets all the stations.

[ingenue007]

TW Austin

OK cable guy just left. Took about 1 hour. I currently have just digital package. I get some, but not all HD channels which is all I really care about. First cable card 1 was recognized and picked up channels, but second one wasn't. Called to office to pair and re-pair fixed it. After calling a couple times to office about some channels not showing up, some more show up but others still don't. The tech is telling me it will take ~ 1 hour for all channels to show up. We will see.

BTW I have 2 scientific atlanta powerkey cable cards. They came in un-opened packaging. The piece of paper in it says copyright 2003; are these new or older cards?

[danator]

TWC, Dallas. :up:

Long story short,

1st trip, 2 cards working but both didn't get the premium except Starzhd and tnthd

2nd trip, took some works!! 1st worked right away but 2nd card took several hits, swapping locations card to make it worked.

Card ver 4.15, displaying messagge something about host only has one way RF capability. That card doesn't work for me. It never received any signal to begin with, could be bad card?

Both card ver 4.05 worked just fine

[ingenue007]

ugh time warner tech coming out again tomorrow. i am missing 1 channel on one card and 7 or 8 on the second. ugh.

[rrman]

I just ordered my Tivo Series 3 last Thursday night, and it shipped on today (Friday). I should get it by Tuesday. Time Warner is coming on Thursday to install the CableCards.

Can folks summarize what they've done to setup the TiVo?

I'm thinking, before the installer comes, I should setup the TiVo to the point where I get the latest Tivo firmware/software upgrade and confirm that everything works. Then, I'll get the CableCards installed. I can't really get any channels OTA, though. How do I verify that BOTH CableCards work properly and get all the channels? Do I record one show, and then use the 2nd card to check all the channels, and then start a second recording, and then un-record the first recording and check all the channels with the first CableCard? Oh, yeah, I assume I transfer my lifetime to the S3 first, right? I've heard folks having a lot of hassle if they get the $6.95 plan with the S3 only to transfer their lifetime to the S3.

Thanks.

[hookbill]

I just ordered my Tivo Series 3 last Thursday night, and it shipped on today (Friday). I should get it by Tuesday. Time Warner is coming on Thursday to install the CableCards.

Can folks summarize what they've done to setup the TiVo?

I'm thinking, before the installer comes, I should setup the TiVo to the point where I get the latest Tivo firmware/software upgrade and confirm that everything works. Then, I'll get the CableCards installed. I can't really get any channels OTA, though. How do I verify that BOTH CableCards work properly and get all the channels? Do I record one show, and then use the 2nd card to check all the channels, and then start a second recording, and then un-record the first recording and check all the channels with the first CableCard? Oh, yeah, I assume I transfer my lifetime to the S3 first, right? I've heard folks having a lot of hassle if they get the $6.95 plan with the S3 only to transfer their lifetime to the S3.

Thanks.


I got mine on Wednesday arround 11 am and had it up by 1:00 pm (including lunch and a run to Target to get a digital optical cord). Oh, I have to mention the digital optical I got at Target was the last one of this brand they had. Monster. :) 4ft cable marked down as a close out, price $6.50.

Anyway I hooked everything up, played with it for one day and signed on for service. Cards won't be here until Wednesday, but that's ok in case you don't know if you run a scan you get still get some HD, just no info, you have to do a manual record.

Set that puppy up.

[SCSIRAID]

I just ordered my Tivo Series 3 last Thursday night, and it shipped on today (Friday). I should get it by Tuesday. Time Warner is coming on Thursday to install the CableCards.

Can folks summarize what they've done to setup the TiVo?

I'm thinking, before the installer comes, I should setup the TiVo to the point where I get the latest Tivo firmware/software upgrade and confirm that everything works. Then, I'll get the CableCards installed. I can't really get any channels OTA, though. How do I verify that BOTH CableCards work properly and get all the channels? Do I record one show, and then use the 2nd card to check all the channels, and then start a second recording, and then un-record the first recording and check all the channels with the first CableCard? Oh, yeah, I assume I transfer my lifetime to the S3 first, right? I've heard folks having a lot of hassle if they get the $6.95 plan with the S3 only to transfer their lifetime to the S3.

Thanks.

There is a test channels function in the cablecard menu to let you make sure that the cablecard is decoding your digital and premium stuff. Just check it in the menu for each cablecard.

Agree.. before installer comes, go thru guided setup with your basic cable.

[rasandefur]

Beposito -- Did you ever get this worked out? I'm also at TWC Raleigh customer, and they came out today, and I'm having the exact same problem as you are. I get the local HDs and channels 1-100, but not the 110 -200. Both of my cards say they are authorized. However, card one still says it is "Waiting on EMMs". If you have any luck, could you pass along the information to me? Thanks!

[VoodooNYC]

Finally! A semi-successful install in 11201

Yes! I've seen a couple positive Brooklyn posts, and several more in Manhattan. I'm 11231 (Carroll Gardens), so if they can do Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope, maybe the whole damn borough won't be too far behind. Keeping my fingers crossed for a successful install tomorrow (and you too, Macsamurai!) :D

[thein]

This is my experience with TWC Raleigh:
He was told by the CSR tech on the phone that the HD suite (ESPNHD, Discovery HD, HDNet, HBOHD, etc.) wouldn't work with the Tivo yet.

Anyone else out there with a similar experience?

Thanks,
Mark

As you suspect, you are being fed a line of BS.

I am on TWC in Durham ... same system but different branch. Discovery HD, TNT HD & HBO HD work fine for me in one of my cable cards but not the 2nd. I am going to call and try to get it addressed when I have the energy. I don't subscribe to the HD Suite so dont get ESPNHD or HDNet.

Keep fighting the good fight.

[ingenue007]

TW Austin

This is horrible. Tech is out and he says I can't guarantee you will get channels. What?! Plus other idiot has lodged a cable card stuck in my tivo. I HATE TIME WARNER

[guerra6880]

TW Austin

This is horrible. Tech is out and he says I can't guarantee you will get channels. What?! Plus other idiot has lodged a cable card stuck in my tivo. I HATE TIME WARNER

Working with TWC in Austin, TX I have found that with a CC with OS Build 2.3.149s2 (0) May 2005, I would end up in the endless "Waiting for CP Auth" but once I went to two cards with 2.3.149.2 Jul 2005, all channels came done and I am now able to get full service on all non-SVD channels.

It only took 2 visits, 3 phone call and 2 web chat sessions to get them to believe me that I knew what I was talking about.

[VoodooNYC]

FINALLY! Almost success in Brooklyn. GREAT tech arrived 15 minutes early (!!!!) for a 10am to 2pm install. Had done 6 S3s this week. 20 minutes later I'm good to go, except I don't have any premium HD channels yet, but he said this could take some time. Both tuners are up and running. Hope it goes as well for the rest of you with appointments today!!

[jhwpbm]

TWC, Dallas. :up:

Long story short,

1st trip, 2 cards working but both didn't get the premium except Starzhd and tnthd

2nd trip, took some works!! 1st worked right away but 2nd card took several hits, swapping locations card to make it worked.


Are you still in A/B land (i.e. Dallas) or in single-cable Nirvana (i.e., suburbs). I had the understanding that the TiVo S3s would not work with a dual-cable drop.

[ingenue007]

yeah so now i have no channels and a stuck cable card which the tech says will probably be un-removable and require time warner to replace the unit. WHAT

[Lisa898]

FINALLY! Almost success in Brooklyn. GREAT tech arrived 15 minutes early (!!!!) for a 10am to 2pm install. Had done 6 S3s this week. 20 minutes later I'm good to go, except I don't have any premium HD channels yet, but he said this could take some time. Both tuners are up and running. Hope it goes as well for the rest of you with appointments today!!


He's at my place now. He says he's going to another one right after this. He totally seems to know what he's doing.

[VoodooNYC]

He's at my place now. He says he's going to another one right after this. He totally seems to know what he's doing.


Yep - if it's the same guy, he's really great.

Note: Key to a successful install: Both cards that failed last week were from 2004. This time he brought cards from June 2006 that hadn't been used yet.

[ingenue007]

does anyone know of a number other than 512-485-5555 for time warner austin? i need to get in touch with someone high at time warner for all the BS the techs have done; everytime you call it's a 30+ minute wait. this is a nightmare.

[Lisa898]

Yep - if it's the same guy, he's really great.

Note: Key to a successful install: Both cards that failed last week were from 2004. This time he brought cards from June 2006 that hadn't been used yet.


I'm pretty sure its the same guy. He started talking about how the guy he just did was telling him about the messge boards?

Did he leave your place before you ran guided setup?

THere are a bunch of stations I'm not getting, are you getting everything?

I'm not getting anything except basic cable (ie pretty much local over the air networks). The cable guy says it takes awhile for the rest of the channels to show up. We shall see.

ETA took about an 45 minutes, but all the stations popped up at once, first on one card then the other. I've got all the stations I subscribe to now, which includes almost everything.

[NetJunkie]

TW Austin

This is horrible. Tech is out and he says I can't guarantee you will get channels. What?! Plus other idiot has lodged a cable card stuck in my tivo. I HATE TIME WARNER

"Will get channels" or some channels? You'll lose some channels like the west coast feeds. As for the lodged card, get some pliers. The eject button on the CC slot doesn't work. Then, don't let them insert the cards. I did both of mine myself with the tech there.

[ingenue007]

On card 2, I am loosing local NBC channel. One card 1, I loose almost every local channel, TNT, DiscoveryHD, UNIHD. All I care about are upper HD channels. I don't even really watch analog channels except for FX. Tech says basically he can't get channels to work and implying that I will never get all my channels and I should go back to digital box and that cable cards are a 'new' technology that Time Warner doesn't fully support. He's an idiot just like everyone else there.

I'm not dislodging the card until the tech comes. If he breaks it, they are paying for it.

[hookbill]

On card 2, I am loosing local NBC channel. One card 1, I loose almost every I'm not dislodging the card until the tech comes. If he breaks it, they are paying for it.

Sounds like you got an idiot. Reach in the bowl and pick another one. If that doesn't work, escalate.

[guerra6880]

On card 2, I am loosing local NBC channel. One card 1, I loose almost every local channel, TNT, DiscoveryHD, UNIHD. All I care about are upper HD channels. I don't even really watch analog channels except for FX. Tech says basically he can't get channels to work and implying that I will never get all my channels and I should go back to digital box and that cable cards are a 'new' technology that Time Warner doesn't fully support. He's an idiot just like everyone else there.

I'm not dislodging the card until the tech comes. If he breaks it, they are paying for it.

I have all of my 1500's and all of my 1600's on TWC ATX = HBO HD, SHO HD, CIN HD, UNI, HDNet, HDNET MV, INHD, INHD2, TNT HD, DSC HD, ESPN HD, KLRUDT, KLRUDT2, CBS HD, NDC HD, ABC HD, FOX HD

PM - I can give you the cell # of the guy that came out here this morning and you can try and see what he can do for you. He didn't really all that much but he was willing to let me "drive" the show and tell him what to say to his backline staff.

Edit - Forgot to mention that he was actually TWC staff and not some 3rd Party

[skweaz]

does anyone know of a number other than 512-485-5555 for time warner austin? i need to get in touch with someone high at time warner for all the BS the techs have done; everytime you call it's a 30+ minute wait. this is a nightmare.

You can try this one: 485-6201

[VoodooNYC]

I'm pretty sure its the same guy. He started talking about how the guy he just did was telling him about the messge boards?

Did he leave your place before you ran guided setup?

THere are a bunch of stations I'm not getting, are you getting everything?

I'm not getting anything except basic cable (ie pretty much local over the air networks). The cable guy says it takes awhile for the rest of the channels to show up. We shall see.

I ran guided setup after he left. Same here with me, only basic channels. I checked the cablecard menu and both still say "waiting for CP authorization" which is the reason why. That should be a phone call solution though if it doesn't come through soon. Glad your box is at least set up.

Anyone know how long it takes for your premium channels to get through to the cards?

[guerra6880]

I ran guided setup after he left. Same here with me, only basic channels. I checked the cablecard menu and both still say "waiting for CP authorization" which is the reason why. That should be a phone call solution though if it doesn't come through soon. Glad your box is at least set up.

Anyone know how long it takes for your permium channels to get through to the cards?

Once I had CP Auth Recieved it took about 5 mins to get the full channel download. I have figured out that if you are able to "Test Channel" immediately and not have to wait for the Channel download then you are not properly decrypting the content and therefore not fully authorized yet.

[Lisa898]

I ran guided setup after he left. Same here with me, only basic channels. I checked the cablecard menu and both still say "waiting for CP authorization" which is the reason why. That should be a phone call solution though if it doesn't come through soon. Glad your box is at least set up.

Anyone know how long it takes for your premium channels to get through to the cards?


I don't think it should say waiting for authorization. I had that before he left (the cards said authorized). I had waiting for EMMs, but that's gone now too. I've got everything now. He said he was going to call you to check your stations, assuming it was you.

When the channels came in, it all came in at once.

[VoodooNYC]

I don't think it should say waiting for authorization. I had that before he left (the cards said authorized). I had waiting for EMMs, but that's gone now too. I've got everything now. He said he was going to call you to check your stations, assuming it was you.

When the channels came in, it all came in at once.

Thanks! Calling TWC now. I think I just need to get authorized.

[macsamurai]

Well "Victor" (another supervisor) was here this morning and we installed 2 new cards just for the hell of it. He called in the card serial numbers and had them matched to the host IDs. He said he'd done 2 TiVos already so he felt confident.

So much for that...

It's 3 hours later and there's still no change. Still just the locals showing up. Still says Waiting for Auth and Waiting for EMMs.

I keep insisting there is something wrong with my account and they keep insisting there's nothing wrong on their end.

I've suggested that they literally delete all my packages and let's add them back one by one (starting with cable modem, then adding the HD for the cablecards, then adding the digital cable standard def box services - which continues as of now to get all the channels i am supposed to get) but no one seems to want to do that. I've suggested cloning someone else's working account to mine, but they keep insisting the codes already match.

I'm out of patience and out of ideas. If this keeps up for more than another week I am returning the S3 and getting my $1000 back, which will really really suck considering how long I have waited for this. But I can't justify spending $1000 just to have a whopping 8 local channels in high-def.

[VoodooNYC]

Well "Victor" (another supervisor) was here this morning and we installed 2 new cards just for the hell of it. He called in the card serial numbers and had them matched to the host IDs. He said he'd done 2 TiVos already so he felt confident.

So much for that...

It's 3 hours later and there's still no change. Still just the locals showing up. Still says Waiting for Auth and Waiting for EMMs.

I keep insisting there is something wrong with my account and they keep insisting there's nothing wrong on their end.

I've suggested that they literally delete all my packages and let's add them back one by one (starting with cable modem, then adding the HD for the cablecards, then adding the digital cable standard def box services - which continues as of now to get all the channels i am supposed to get) but no one seems to want to do that. I've suggested cloning someone else's working account to mine, but they keep insisting the codes already match.

I'm out of patience and out of ideas. If this keeps up for more than another week I am returning the S3 and getting my $1000 back, which will really really suck considering how long I have waited for this. But I can't justify spending $1000 just to have a whopping 8 local channels in high-def.

I fear I may have the same problem. This really sucks.

[Lisa898]

I fear I may have the same problem. This really sucks.


It's *got* to be the guys who send the codes. I'm all set and have everything, including HDHBO etc.

I had my authorization on the cards before the guy left my house. The waiting for EMM took about 45 minutes. If Victor is the supervisor, I'm pretty sure he's the supervisor of the guy who was at my place-my guy was talking to him while he was here. I'm in the Carroll Gardens zip code. Can you guys make the guys on the phone look at my account somehow? I'm in the same area and it went totally smoothly.

From reading around here, if you dont' have the authorization, I don't think they paired your cards to your host id or whatever it is correctly.

[VoodooNYC]

It's *got* to be the guys who send the codes. I'm all set and have everything, including HDHBO etc.

I had my authorization on the cards before the guy left my house. The waiting for EMM took about 45 minutes. If Victor is the supervisor, I'm pretty sure he's the supervisor of the guy who was at my place-my guy was talking to him while he was here. I'm in the Carroll Gardens zip code. Can you guys make the guys on the phone look at my account somehow? I'm in the same area and it went totally smoothly.

I agree, has to be the authorization guy. I'm going to try, but I'm having a hell of a time getting a supervisor. Been hung up on 5 times.

[macsamurai]

Update - just got a phone call from a different supervisor. When I told him I was about ready to cry out of frustration he said "Don't cry - give me a shot." At least he made me laugh :)

Anyway, he asked for the S3 SERIAL number (note, this is thesame as the TiVo Service #), which no one else has asked for. He said that is supposed to be entered in order for the pairing to work. He's also looking again at alee's account (alee and i have been in touch via email and are in the same TWCNYC service area) to try again to replicate everything since alee's cablecards are working and mine aren't.

Bottom line - he is working until 7pm and has assured me a call back once he's grabbed someone from the IT department to go over my account again with a fine tooth comb. I believe he'll at least try since he gave me his direct dial phone number and I've informed him that his phone will never stop ringing if this doesn't get fixed!

[Lisa898]

I agree, has to be the authorization guy. I'm going to try, but I'm having a hell of a time getting a supervisor. Been hung up on 5 times.


I think you need to get the installer back and have him hang around until both cards say authorized. He can keep calling in until he gets someone who does it correctly.

ok, the cable guy just called me to check if my channels came in. I told him to call you (voodo) back because yours wasn't working. He said he was going to call in and have them send another hit to your box. He *says* that after he left my place, he called some other guy who knew more about how to do this and had them send another hit to my box. He says he will call you back. I didn't know how to tell him to send another hit to macsamuri because he didn't go there today. I'm almost positive that he did go to voodo's place.

FYI-does your phone not accept calls that block the number? He has a blocked number, so if he tried to call you back it won't go through.

Good luck to both of you.

One last thought-he made me literally unplug the tivo and replug it in while he was here to do something to the cards after he called in the authorizations. You might try that.

[j2chulo]

LA area: Called tonight at 10pm, and they're coming out on tuesday. $25 install fee, $1.75 a month for the card. They said they had no way in the computer to tell the installer to bring 2 cards out at the same time, so I'm supposed to bug the installer guy when he arrives and see if he has an extra on him.
We get that all the time. LOL and who ever told you that they is no way to tell us to bring 2 cards is wrong. all they gotta do its put it on the commend. Cust want 2 Cable card that it. today i had a job where they didn't say how many card the cust want. but since these tivo series 3 came out lots of people are getting it and i know most of these people who has it want the 2 cable card so i try to ask my supervisor for and extra card in case i need it. LOL Nah all the time i get it though

[macsamurai]

It's *got* to be the guys who send the codes. I'm all set and have everything, including HDHBO etc.

I had my authorization on the cards before the guy left my house. The waiting for EMM took about 45 minutes. If Victor is the supervisor, I'm pretty sure he's the supervisor of the guy who was at my place-my guy was talking to him while he was here. I'm in the Carroll Gardens zip code. Can you guys make the guys on the phone look at my account somehow? I'm in the same area and it went totally smoothly.

From reading around here, if you dont' have the authorization, I don't think they paired your cards to your host id or whatever it is correctly.

Lisa - it probably was my guy on the phone with your guy. Was your guy Juan? A young guy - told Victor over the walkie that he'd been here before? He had... he was the first installer here 2 weeks ago :) In fact, he gave me his email address since I asked him if he did any side work.

... just got another phone call. Victor is on his way back here. More updates later!

[j2chulo]

I have had about 7 cablecards installed over the last year. Not one has been as easy as insert card and call a phone number. These cards have to be "Married" to the tv's and devices. Sometimes it takes 15 minutes for the signal to come through. Once visit took 4 cards until they found one that worked 100%. If you are trying to get 2 cards from the cable company you will be making another trip back once you find 1 of not both of the cards don't work right.
True about this but scientific atlanta has updated they card so we are getting news card still some of them are bad but i will say 90% are working. so hey we Improving. lol and yeah the TVs ( Tivo ) need to be married to the card which mean we need the Host ID number from the Device to add it to the Card Mac Address. in order to work proper. and yeah after we install these card some tvs (Tivos) take less time to pop the channels in but other can take over an hour so don't blame us ( Tech ) i know we wish everything work as soon as we pop the card inside the Tivos. l ;)

[ingenue007]

TW Austin...again

my third tech in less than 24 hours is here. he removed the stuck card with pliers. doesn't appear damaged. he's been working 1.5 hours so far and still missing channels.

btw, if TW messes up your installation call, complain and get the installation charges knocked off your accnt. They are crediting me 35.00.

[j2chulo]

TW tech showed up at my house today. Had never seen or heard of a Tivo Series 3. Installed two cablecards. Set them up. And left. Took less than an hour. I'm a believer.
Its it working? :confused:

[macsamurai]

LOL - I recognize j2chulo :) I'm glad someone from Time Warner is actually reading these posts now!

[j2chulo]

On card 2, I am loosing local NBC channel. One card 1, I loose almost every local channel, TNT, DiscoveryHD, UNIHD. All I care about are upper HD channels. I don't even really watch analog channels except for FX. Tech says basically he can't get channels to work and implying that I will never get all my channels and I should go back to digital box and that cable cards are a 'new' technology that Time Warner doesn't fully support. He's an idiot just like everyone else there.

I'm not dislodging the card until the tech comes. If he breaks it, they are paying for it.
LOL I know lot of you guys blame on us. Believe me Its nah our fault. we try our best. I mean i know i do. I don't want to get repeat call on me. so i try everything i got on my hand to do the best. but yeah about activating channels and getting the card to work. Most of the time is nah a tech fault but and office fault. if we give them all the info they need to get the card up and running that should end our job there. but Nah lot of time we have to call the office 2,3 and 4 time to make sure all the info had been entered corred. and the the codes on the account are good. :o sorry you're having all this trouble

[macsamurai]

I know it's not your fault, Juan - or anyone else's in the field. You're ok with me :)

Victor is here again now and he's on the phone with someone else who is trying to help.

I have such a headache!

[ingenue007]

OK well. tech #3 just left. He got it down to 1 channel missing on both cable cards (local NBC HD) and then swapped cards #8 or 9 in and now I am down to missing a bunch of channels on both cards. He was nice to leave me his cell and supervisors number to call later to see if I can get the channels. He is going to stop by Monday afterwork if I still don't get channels. He's working hard, but it looks like it's an issue on TW's end with authorization of channels. I am supposed to wait for all the hits to supposedly come through now and hopefully give me channels.

This is unbelieveable. I probably hold the record for # of cable cards tried.

[j2chulo]

LOL - I recognize j2chulo :) I'm glad someone from Time Warner is actually reading these posts now!
AJJA oh you do... LOL nah glad you do. hope you don't want to kill me too. lol so its it your tivo working? did vitor show up yet?

[j2chulo]

I agree, has to be the authorization guy. I'm going to try, but I'm having a hell of a time getting a supervisor. Been hung up on 5 times.
Hey i sent few hit to your cable cards. I also called the office and asked some one there to double check your account to make sure everything its correct also asked him to send few authorisation to your cards. He said everything its good with your account, and he sent few activation to your card. Let me know if you still having the problem. :o

[macsamurai]

SUCESS !

I'd say more but I'm still in shock :)

HUGE Thanks to Molly, Desmond, Victor, Greg - and of course, Juan, who was lucky to be here when it was only my Plasma that wasn't working with the CableCard - before the TiVo nightmare began a few days later.

All of you will be mentioned by name in the very long letter I'll be sending to TWCNYC HQ in recognition for the many hours you all collectively put in to resolving this problem. You are all tops with me and I hope every other Time Warner employee takes a cue from your work.

Victor told me he was going to make sure a "tech tip" got written up about exactly how this has to be done to achieve success so hopefully this will help future TiVo owners and TWC techs get it right the first time, every time.

And thanks also to Lisa in Carol Gardens, VooDoo in Brooklyn, Stephen H in Murray Hill and Al Lee in Manhattan for collectively sharing the good and the bad so that all of us can benefit from it.

[alee]

Woohoo! macsamurai's up and running! :up:

What was the missing piece of the equation?

[VoodooNYC]

Thank God!!!!!!!!! Is it insane to get so emotional about a Tivo? Someone just called and said he would be back out to me too. I knew it had to be an authorization issue.