Official Time Warner Cable Thread

[mercurial]

Sure you can. You just won't be able to record more than one show at once.

You cannot use a cable box with an S3. For starters, it lacks the ability to control a cable or satellite box. And then there is the fact that it doesn't have the ability to take the input from a cable box.

You *COULD* use a cable box with an S2 (or a cable box + regular cable input with an S2DT to record two things at once), but then you wouldn't be able to record HD programs.

[jayladdin]

You cannot use a cable box with an S3. For starters, it lacks the ability to control a cable or satellite box. And then there is the fact that it doesn't have the ability to take the input from a cable box.

You *COULD* use a cable box with an S2 (or a cable box + regular cable input with an S2DT to record two things at once), but then you wouldn't be able to record HD programs.

My apologies for the misinformation. My S3 is on its way and I apparently received some inaccurate info.

[Joey Bagadonuts]

You cannot use a cable box with an S3. For starters, it lacks the ability to control a cable or satellite box. And then there is the fact that it doesn't have the ability to take the input from a cable box.

You *COULD* use a cable box with an S2 (or a cable box + regular cable input with an S2DT to record two things at once), but then you wouldn't be able to record HD programs.

Got it, thanks. Currently I have three S2's, all single tuners (and no HDTV's yet) so that explains why I've been able to use my TW cable box(es) with my S2's with no problem at all.

Taking into consideration the overall expense involved in staying with TiVo when upgrading to HDTV, I'll have to revisit just going with a TW DVR for the time being. Especially given the fact that networking features such as Multi-Room Viewing and TiVoToGo, are not supported by the S3. I do a fair amount of program transferring between my TiVo DVRs and my DVRs and my laptop. What's the sense in paying $500 for a "TiVo" DVR when all you're really getting is just a dual tuner DVR?

[cynthetiq]

let me make sure I understand this... if I wanted to use a Tivo S3 and only use it for OTA HD I can't do that at all?

[SCSIRAID]

let me make sure I understand this... if I wanted to use a Tivo S3 and only use it for OTA HD I can't do that at all?

Yes... you can do that just fine.

[abredt]

Got it, thanks. Currently I have three S2's, all single tuners (and no HDTV's yet) so that explains why I've been able to use my TW cable box(es) with my S2's with no problem at all.

Taking into consideration the overall expense involved in staying with TiVo when upgrading to HDTV, I'll have to revisit just going with a TW DVR for the time being. Especially given the fact that networking features such as Multi-Room Viewing and TiVoToGo, are not supported by the S3. I do a fair amount of program transferring between my TiVo DVRs and my DVRs and my laptop. What's the sense in paying $500 for a "TiVo" DVR when all you're really getting is just a dual tuner DVR?

If you have a TiVo, you'll hate TW's DVR. It works, but the way you program it sucks.

CB

[Langree]

If you have a TiVo, you'll hate TW's DVR. It works, but the way you program it sucks.

CB

See my above rants :)

[Mabes]

I came here today excited about the possibility of maybe having a TiVo again, I haven't since I got an HDTV a couple of years ago. But with the horror stories here I'm not so sure.

I'm not concerned about the installation, even if there are problems eventually it will get done. What scares me is SDV. 90% of what I watch is in HD, is SDV used for those channels? If not, I won't worry about that aspect. I can always watch those channels on another TV if I have too.

Re TiVo to Go and Multi-room viewing (features I never had before), could someone give me odds (your personal opinioin) on whether or not those will eventually become available? If they did, it would justify the extra cost of TiVo re TWC DVRs

[Fofer]

Re TiVo to Go and Multi-room viewing (features I never had before), could someone give me odds (your personal opinioin) on whether or not those will eventually become available?

Personal opinion: 87%

[rodalpho]

My guess would be:

MRV - 90%
TTG - 100% on analog and copy freely tagged content, 0% on everything else. But we won't see it in 2007.

[snowbunny]

I now am the proud renter of two Cable Cards and am paying for more channels than I receive.

I'm pissed as hell....

A lot of the digital channels seem to be SDV. For example, I can get VH1, but not VH1P on my S3. I can't get BBCA. And more. I plan to do a test later (thanks, TW, I had better ways of spending my time).

I am also going to write and insist on being given a list of channels on SDV.

If they move channels to this extent in Austin, then TW will do it everywhere. I don't consider BBC America to be a nonsense channel and there is no analog equivalent or sister channel to watch.

TW absolutely blows.

[Peter000]

TW in NYC here. Having a weird issue with the Guide listings for WNET. 7.1 has guide data, as does 160, the SD version. The HD version, Ch 713 does not list any program info. And when I search the HD Only titles, it lists channel 160 as an HD channel. I'm kind of pissed, because I scheduled two programs I wanted to see in HD and they recorded from the SD channel (they showed 713 when I scheduled them but somehow switched to 160).

Is this a TiVo isssue, or a TW issue? The Listings are a TiVo thing right? So I should complain to them?

[snowbunny]

This list is simply not true. CableCards can get all channels under 78, just in the analog form. Anything above 78 on your list is indeed switched and CableCards cannot get them. Confusion has come about due to our finally going full digital simulcast. I will get with my boss so no one else gets this wrong information.

I agree that the above list sent in March isn't correct -- at least as of June. I've checked all of the channels below 50 and indeed they all are there. Good thing, too, because TW is contractually obligated to provide some of those to all Austin customers. Not being able to receive ACC (Austin Community College) would have really been a black eye for TW.

However, what happens to the digital channels that are currently SDV when their analog "backing" channels go away, as surely some will do in future? Does the existing channel migrate to the old analog channel number and revert to being unswitched?

Additionally, if you look at:

http://www.timewarnercable.com/austin/products/cablecard.html
http://www.timewarnercable.com/rochester/products/cablecard.html
http://www.timewarnercable.com/houston/products/cablecard.html

Austin does not put out a list of SDV channels but does warn that they can't be received by Cable Cards. Rochester lists the channels, and Houston has no information on SDV (I believe it's not used there?).

There should be a list of SDV channels on the Austin site. In fact, ALL TW local sites should include a list of SDV channels either by marking them as such in the channel lineup or listing them in the "why not to use Cable Cards" pages as above. Then we could see the full extent of SDV across the TW brand.

[Joey Bagadonuts]

If you have a TiVo, you'll hate TW's DVR. It works, but the way you program it sucks.

CB

Actually, I have 3 TiVo DVRs and I am sure I've become spoiled by all TiVo can do compared to other DVRs. But I just can't see spending several hundred dollars on a DVR that isn't yet compatible with the TiVo features (MRV and TTG) I use the most. Without those features, I'm buying just a DVR and I can get one of those for a lost less $$$ (and probably less frustration, too, given some of the CableCard stories) from my cable co.

[EmmettC]

TW in NYC here. Having a weird issue with the Guide listings for WNET. 7.1 has guide data, as does 160, the SD version. The HD version, Ch 713 does not list any program info. And when I search the HD Only titles, it lists channel 160 as an HD channel. I'm kind of pissed, because I scheduled two programs I wanted to see in HD and they recorded from the SD channel (they showed 713 when I scheduled them but somehow switched to 160).

Is this a TiVo isssue, or a TW issue? The Listings are a TiVo thing right? So I should complain to them?

It's a tivo issue. They dropped 713 from their guide line-up. I just went into online scheduling and it was missing there as well. There's a form you can submit to inform them of this issue- I've submitted one, but I would think that the more notices submitted the sooner they'll take care of the problem. For now, I am manually recordings and it's a pain...

Emmett

[cdp1276]

You might want to call them the day of the appointment to make sure that a) it's still on and b) that they're bringing CableCARDs.

At least here in Rochester, both me and a friend have called Time Warner specifically to order CableCARDs, only to not have any show up on the work order when they showed. (They do always have the SA DVR with them for some reason...)

To top it all off, after that first experience I called them to ask to reschedule, and they gave me a time that they didn't even show for. I called them in a huff and they claimed they had no record of the appointment. This really cheesed me off as I had to take a huge chunk of time off from work during a fairly busy work week.

The third appointment, they did show up, but an hour after the time they gave us (although the guy did call to let us know), and the guys they sent had never touched a TiVo before.

I had a great experience with TW Rochester on my 2nd S3 CableCard install last Friday. All went well and working great. Just wished we didn't have to deal with SDV and missing channels.

[rlay]

This morning my Motorola 6412 and Tivo S3 were not receiving any HD Cablecard channels. I called, they said it was a known issue and they were working on it. To my surprise, when the service was restored, I received a bunch of channels on the Tivo S3 that I was only getting on the Motorola (including HDNet, Discovery HD, ESPN-HD, and a few others).... I guess all the complaining by local Tivo owners was getting to them.

I hope it's not a temporary thing. I hope it is permanent because I was just about to look into DirecTV when their new satellites become operational this summer. This justifies keeping Time Warner because most of the channels I watch are now in HD.

[rodalpho]

It's a tivo issue. They dropped 713 from their guide line-up. I just went into online scheduling and it was missing there as well. There's a form you can submit to inform them of this issue- I've submitted one, but I would think that the more notices submitted the sooner they'll take care of the problem. For now, I am manually recordings and it's a pain...
Emmett
I just called tivo customer care and gave a detailed report about this. The gist is that:

713 (wnethd) program info is on 160 (wnetdt2)
160 (wnetdt2) program info is on 714 (nothing, no picture)
713 (wnethd) has no program info

She promised it would be fixed within 5 days.

[energizerfellow]

I finally stepped up to a Tivo Series 3 and having major issues with Time Warner and Scientific Atlanta CableCARDs.

First card I put in worked great right off the bat, if you can believe it. Called in the card and host ID, authed, off the the races. However the second card has never worked properly, even when used alone in the primary slot. I have gone through 10 (yes ten) different cards, with build dates varying by over a year, and all end up with the following when fully authorized ("CP Auth Received"):

Scientific Atlanta Cablecard PKM600

SA CableCARD CP Screen
Auth Status CP Auth Received
Prog Number 3
CCI Byte 0x00
ECM count 0
EMM count 0
Decryption Status OK
PowerKey Status Ready
EID 0xffffffff
MKS period 100 seconds
KSE count 0

Notice the EID number of -1 above, which is obviously bad. The EMMs and ECMs never increase, thus no decryption ever. If I move the one working card around to either slot, it will work fine, so not a problem with the Tivo.

It looks like they are jacking up Entitlement ID (Entitlement Agent ID?), which appears to be a hex value mapping out what you're authorized to access and applies to all Scientific Atlanta client equipment.

Any ideas as to what Time Warner is screwing up on the head end? Disconnect between the CableCARD authorization system and the master Scientific Atlanta authorization box?

[pmiranda]

Sounds like they need to send some more hits. What city?

[energizerfellow]

Sounds like they need to send some more hits. What city?
San Antonio, TX.

I've had hits sent to most all of them and some will increment the KSE count when hit, maybe even ECM going up a couple, but I've never seen any card other than the initial one with a EMM count other than zero.

Interestingly, the second card in there now is showing a EID of 0x0, which is a change.

Also, I'm getting a different program number for the cards. Is this normal?

[pmiranda]

Program count changes if you change channels.
From time to time, I even see ECM and EMM go back to 0, perhaps when a tuner is inactive?

An example of what I'm seeing on a working cablecard at the moment:
Auth Status CP Auth Received
Prog Number 28
CCI Byte 0x00
ECM count 4787
EMM count 0
Decryption Status OK
PowerKey Status Ready
EID 0x28
MKS period 100 seconds
KSE count 0

Here in Austin When I first got my S3 and later when I had some problems, I had to play CSR roulette for a few rounds to get a rep that knew enough to figure out what was wrong at the head-end and send the right hit. Still, I did have one cablecard go bad after a few months and no hits would fix it, so I went through two rounds of truck rolls to get a replacement that worked. That was a few months ago and everything seems to be running fine.

All I can tell you is keep trying and good luck. I've probably sunk at least 10-12 hours into service calls and waiting on hold to get my S3 going and later dealing with two failures, but it's been nearly a year since I got it and it's been rock solid otherwise. If TW-Austin didn't have SDV it'd be perfect.

[ScratchFury]

I am finally up on both CableCARDs! I have TimeWarner in the Summerville, SC area. I had the original cards installed back in November, I believe. One card worked, but they couldn't never get a second card to work. The troubleshooting has been going on for months since getting time to be home was tough with work and all. Since I have no job at the moment, I finally had the chance to be at home.

Yesterday we took out both cards and were able to get a different card to work after first trying another "new" card. We noticed that after the card was paired, the EMM count quickly shot up to 43. We tried to get the second "new" card to work, but it would not go past 2 on the EMM count and the EID was 0xffffffff for all digital and HD tier channels. The tech could not give me back the original working card because it was removed from the account and could not be placed back on until it had been checked in at the office and reprovisioned. Today he came with a new card since he was unable to bring back the other working card, and we got the EMM count of 2 and EID of 0xffffffff for the channels. He was given the advice to call the head office in Columbia, SC, so he did. He talked with a tech there, and they decided to try to get the EMM count higher. The tech at the head office got the EMM count to 39 and all the channels started decoding. The EID was now 0xe, at least for the channel we were testing. The local tech talked with the head end tech, and it sounded like the EMM hits the head end tech was generating were different than what the local office could do since the head end tech was doing it from the equipment directly. So that little bit of info might help someone else. So at this point, I really think the other 6 cards that we tried probably would have worked had the EMM count been raised to the 39+ range. I can't believe I can now record 2 digital channels at once!

One thing I did notice though, is that even without the digital cards in, I was able to get the local stations in HD through the cable. They were not OTA as I had no antenna hooked up and the stations were in the 800 range.

[rmryan]

That's Central New York, not New York City... :) I'm in Cortland, about 30 miles south of Syracuse.

My installer showed up last Friday near the beginning of the installation window (a pleasant surprise). He had done some cable cards before, but had definitely not seen a TiVo. He didn't let it faze him, however, but happily accepted the TiVo instructions (another pleasant surprise) and went to work.

Initially I was missing the HD tier I recently added (HDNET, UHD, MOJO, etc.) A second phone call (where he seemed to get a more knowledgeable rep) revealed that the first rep simply hadn't authorized that on the cards. He did so, and I was set. Yesterday I returned my SA 8300HD (good riddance) and did a clear & wipe on both my Series 2 and an old Philips Series 1 I still have around.

My only concerns so far:

1. I don't appear to be getting the digital simulcast on all of the analog stations that a digital equivalent is offered for. Food Network is on channel 45, and should also be on 1914 (at least it was on the 8300HD) in digital. When I tune 45 on the S3, I most definitely get the analog channel (quality is bad and I get recording quality options) and I can't tune 1914 at all. Up in the 1900's I appear to get every other station (1911 but not 1912, 1913 but not 1914 etc.) When the installer pointed this out to the rep on the phone, he said that the stations up in the 1900 range were for "testing" purposes and he didn't think I could get them on a cablecard anyway. I don't think this is correct, and I would like to get it fixed if anybody knows what the deal is. Those stations are not on our channel list handout, so it's not like I could claim I'm not getting what I'm paying for.

2. Cable card 2 has reinitialized twice (that I know of) since the install. It acts like I pulled it out and put it back in. The insertion screen comes up and says to call the cable company to get it authorized, but within a few minutes it's back on and I'm getting everything I should. I may just pull that one and reinsert it firmly, possibly it's just not inserted all the way.

All in all I'm quite happy. The HD picture is great, comparable to the 8300 and I finally have my TiVo and my HD in the same box. Awesome. Now for an external hard drive. I would like to get the digital simulcast of the Food Network, though.... :confused:

[ScratchFury]

rmryan, sounds like Cable card 2 isn't pair correctly. If it say "Waiting for CP Auth" all the time instead of "CP Auth Received" it wasn't paired correctly. Also, you might not get some of the 1900's if they are being broadcast using SDV. If they are test channels, that might be the case.

[rmryan]

ScratchFury: Thanks, I'm showing "CP Auth Received" on both cards. And the only stations that TWCNY claims are SDV are ESPN2-HD and A&E-HD. I would think they'd have to reveal that cablecard customers can't get digital equivalents.

[rodalpho]

2. Cable card 2 has reinitialized twice (that I know of) since the install. It acts like I pulled it out and put it back in. The insertion screen comes up and says to call the cable company to get it authorized, but within a few minutes it's back on and I'm getting everything I should. I may just pull that one and reinsert it firmly, possibly it's just not inserted all the way.
Yeah that happens to me too. I'm watching recorded TV and up pops the black and grey screen. But it doesn't take a few minutes to recover; I can immediately watch TV on both cablecards. It's not too annoying because it happens very rarely.

[pmiranda]

Once in a while (maybe once a month?) the cablecard auth screen pops up out of the blue but both tuners keep recording without missing a beat. It used to worry me but now I just hit exit and go on my merry way.

[laurawali]

Are the "cablecard" things you guys keep talking about an HD thing?? I have series 2 and can't get sound on any channels above 99, described my full problem here (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=357015) but still searching all the threads trying to figure out what the problem is until someone responds. Perhpas I need a cablecard??

[BruceShultes]

AFIK, the only Tivo box using cablecards at this time is the S3.

On every cable company that I have heard of all channels above 99 are digital.

An S2 is not capable of receiving digital channels directly.

[ScratchFury]

CableCARDs only work with the Series3, as there are slots for them. The CableCARDs decode the signal for encrypted and/or digital channels. With the Series2, the cable box does same thing as far as decoding channels which usually run in the 100+ range. The video signal is passed from the cable box to the Tivo Series2 just like if you hooked the cable box to a regular VCR.

[jallison86]

Figured I'd post my experiences to this thread, although the saga is still ongoing.

At first all looked pretty good. After getting my S3 I called TimeWarner and asked for two cable cards. The person on the phone did know what I was talking about. She tried to sell me on TW's DVR, but I told her that I've been a TiVo user for a long time and much prefer it to the TW box. She let it go at that and set me up for an install. The guy showed up with two cable cards, which was promising. It took him a little while to get things going, but he finally got both cards installed and "hit." He told me that it'd take 30-45 minutes to get information downloaded (this is irrelevant, I believe...I think he was talking about TW guide information that would be downloaded to a device like a TV using the cablecards. TiVo doesn't care about that, since it uses its own guide info). At this point he left, even though it appeared to me that card 2 was working and card 1 was not. Sure enough, that was the case.

I called TW and told them that the install was only 50% successful. The guy told me that he'd contact dispatch and have someone come back out. Of course that didn't happen -- I never heard anything. I called back the next day and set up a new appointment. The next guy just came and left without a cable card. Said that the trouble ticket just said "blank screen," which he obviously took to mean a problem with the signal. Sigh. He was cool enough to talk to dispatch and emphasize that I need a NEW CABLE CARD. So I have a third attempt scheduled.

While I know that TW has no real motivation to support cable cards, it seems like the cost of all these truck rolls would be enough to get them to do it properly.

[ScratchFury]

jallison86, I know what you mean. I almost feel like I wore out some tires with the truck rolls required to get me going. Hey, what does the CableCARD info screen say? You might have the same problem as I did, and if so, you don't need a new card just someone to hit the card from the head end. I say head end because I don't believe the CSR can send the required number or type of hits to correct this particular problem.

[jallison86]

jallison86, I know what you mean. I almost feel like I wore out some tires with the truck rolls required to get me going. Hey, what does the CableCARD info screen say? You might have the same problem as I did, and if so, you don't need a new card just someone to hit the card from the head end. I say head end because I don't believe the CSR can send the required number or type of hits to correct this particular problem.

As far as the error, the TiVo just puts up something like "Cable Card 1 is not operating correctly. Error xxx-x" I don't recall what the error number is, but when I read it to the TW support guy he decoded it into a problem with a Sony TV. I don't own a Sony TV, so the usefulness of this error code is questionable. I suspect it's a broken cable card.

[ScratchFury]

As far as the error, the TiVo just puts up something like "Cable Card 1 is not operating correctly. Error xxx-x" I don't recall what the error number is, but when I read it to the TW support guy he decoded it into a problem with a Sony TV. I don't own a Sony TV, so the usefulness of this error code is questionable. I suspect it's a broken cable card.Yeah, that sounds like a different problem.

[jallison86]

To recap the story so far...
Monday -- Time Warner tech comes out, installs two cable cards. Tells me it'll take "30-45 minutes for them to download information" and leaves. At the end of the day, one works and one does not.

Wednesday -- Another tech comes out. His work order says the symptom is "blank screen." He has no cable card. He calls dispatch and arranges for someone to bring a cable card on Thursday.

Thursday -- Nobody shows up. I call TW and am asked if I rescheduled the appointment. Uh, no. They are not all apologetic about blowing off my appointment. Now I'm scheduled for next Monday. We'll see if someone shows up this time.

Time Warner customer service ladies and gentlemen. No wonder they're getting sued.

[ScratchFury]

Just remember to get your money. If they don't show up, they owe you.

[Joey Bagadonuts]

Just remember to get your money. If they don't show up, they owe you.

Can you elaborate a little bit please? I'm not familiar with this TWC policy.

Thank you-
Joe

[ScratchFury]

Look at "On-Time Guarantee"

http://www.timewarnercable.com/corporate/customerservice/custservover.html

The standard seems to be a $20 credit for missed appointments.

[Joey Bagadonuts]

Look at "On-Time Guarantee"

http://www.timewarnercable.com/corporate/customerservice/custservover.html

The standard seems to be a $20 credit for missed appointments.

I had no idea such a policy existed. Thank you for the information.

Joe

[capwkidd]

Ok, in TW area (Thousand Oaks, CA), Tivo 3, 1st CC works fine, always has, 2nd does not, 2nd card worked this morning when 2nd tech was here (1st repair tech, the other one was the install tech), what do I need to do to get this fixed? I have tried putting the cards into the following order in ACSR (ok, I asked the TW agent to do this):
Card 1: Outlet A
Card 2: Outlet B

No change, asked them to INIT (not hit, what is with hits? Lame, I always INIT myself), no change, I did notice the firware versions on the cards are different.. if that makes a difference ... what else do we/I need to do? I have been trying to read this thread, but it's a long one! Thanks for any and all help!

[nharmon91]

I have TimeWarner in the Summerville, SC area. Well, I also live in Summerville, SC and am calling to schedual to have both cable cards installed, I have never had a good experience from these guys so I am not looking foward to it.

[ScratchFury]

capwkidd, do both cards say "CP Auth Received"?

nharmon91, make sure they pair each card one at a time. Put in the first cable card and WAIT for the black screen with white text to appear. This can take 2 or 3 minutes. THEN have him pair the card. AFTER the card is paired, check channels 102+. 101 is not a good indicator as it is really an analog channel. If that works, THEN put in the second card. I had to fight the guy tooth and nail to pair one at a time.

[capwkidd]

What are the steps in this pairing process? Oh, and I do not recall ever seeing that "CP Auth Received" message, and I did notice that the two cards have different firmware versions...

Now, the closest thing I found to "CP Auth Received", is:
Ecryption:DES
EnabledByCP:no
copy protection key:disabled
But my working card has that same last line, and says the same thing.... the screens are actually different, with different info from the two cards...



capwkidd, do both cards say "CP Auth Received"?

nharmon91, make sure they pair each card one at a time. Put in the first cable card and WAIT for the black screen with white text to appear. This can take 2 or 3 minutes. THEN have him pair the card. AFTER the card is paired, check channels 102+. 101 is not a good indicator as it is really an analog channel. If that works, THEN put in the second card. I had to fight the guy tooth and nail to pair one at a time.

[ScratchFury]

What are the steps in this pairing process? Oh, and I do not recall ever seeing that "CP Auth Received" message, and I did notice that the two cards have different firmware versions...
You should have gotten a sheet with instructions that look like this:
http://customersupport.tivo.com/Content/Instancy%20V2%20Folders/2988/TiVo%20Series3%20HD%20Instructions%20for%20CablecARD%20Insta llers.pdf

The "Auth Status:" should be here:

Messages & Settings ->
Settings ->
Remote, CableCARD, & Devices ->
CableCARD(TM) Decoder ->
Configure CableCARD # ->
SA CableCARD CP Screen

[capwkidd]

You should have gotten a sheet with instructions that look like this:

The "Auth Status:" should be here:

Messages & Settings ->
Settings ->
Remote, CableCARD, & Devices ->
CableCARD(TM) Decoder ->
Configure CableCARD # ->
SA CableCARD CP Screen


Neither card has a screen that sasys "auth status:" .... Let me see if I can provide some pics...

[SCSIRAID]

Neither card has a screen that sasys "auth status:" .... Let me see if I can provide some pics...

Note that Motorola and Scientific Atlanta cablecards have different screens. I believe CP Auth Received is a SA term. Enabled by CP is the Motorola equivalent.

[capwkidd]

Ok, now both cards are, well, kind of working, I am not getting all my channels... Hmm... I can record two channels above 400 at 1 time... I'll record a little longer, then reboot... see if I get all my channels then.... what a pain!

[jayladdin]

Just thought I'd weigh in with my experience which (so far - knock on wood) - has been successful. I'm in Queens (Time Warner NYC) and had my CableCARD installation on Saturday morning. The technician brought three cards with him just in case one didn't work. He followed the TiVo-supplied instructions, although he installed both cards before calling TW to activate them.

The card in Slot 2 worked fine, but the card in Slot 1 only worked for a few channels. Good thing he had the third card with him. The third card worked fine in Slot 1.

The technician essentially said that the CableCARDS are iffy in general - sometimes they work, sometimes they don't, sometimes they work and then stop working. Seems like it's luck of the draw.

So we'll see....

[Joey Bagadonuts]

These might be dumb questions (if they are, so be it) but are these CableCards a necessity solely for TiVo S3 owners or are they necessary for all DVRs? Also, is this technology fairly new? From all the problems documented here and the apparent lack of knowledge on the part of the providers and installers, it sounds like it is and there are still some serious bugs that need to be worked out.

[ScratchFury]

Until the Series3, CableCARDs were only seen in high end HDTV sets. CableCARDs are used to decrypt digital channels. Until today, July 2nd, cable companies used their own proprietary cable boxes to do the same function. All new boxes from the cable companies will have CableCARDs in them. It's not a new technology really. It was just a technology not used heavily until the Series3 came out, thus the lack of experience with installation by the cable techs.

[jallison86]

Bringing my story to a close (hopefully). TW came out for the third time today and got both cards working. At least for the moment my S3 is fully operational.

As others have said, it does seem a bit of luck of the draw. If you happen to get good cards, it works. If you get flaky cards, you're in trouble.

[cab2]

so, does anyone think that now that the new FCC mandate is in place, and all new cable boxes will have cable cards...... that the performance, knowledge of techs, functionality of cable cards will get better? Lucky for me, my S3 install was relatively painless and only needed one visit by the cable tech, but that visit was about 3 hours long. I'm crossing my fingers that my cards stay working well, but all these issues being reported make me wonder. My hope is that now that the mandate is in place, the cable companies are going to at least have to learn how to properly install, configure, and use the cable cards? Or am I just dreaming?

cab

[ScratchFury]

cab, I think it well help. The guy that fixed my S3 said he wished they had an S3 in the shop or anything that had a CableCARD so he could test the cards to see if they worked at all. He couldn't even say that the cards worked when he left the office because they are just programmed, not tested.

[Joey Bagadonuts]

Interesting article about CableCards I just stumbled across here (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/2007/07/opening_up_the_cable_box.html).

I am specifically interested in this paragraph: CableCards have been around for a few years now, but so far the cable industry has managed to ignore them to death (as Mike Musgrove reported in this 2005 story). Some HDTVs have included CableCard slots, but buyers have repeatedly told me of problems getting CableCards from their local service providers. For instance, the cable operator won't even tell customers about it, and instead, spends time trying to upsell customers on renting a traditional box, or sends a cable technician to plug in the card who then says he can't get it to work.
It sure sounds like the author is accusing cable companies of instructing their installers to purposely mislead customers by telling them they can't get the cable cards to work which prompts the obvious question; does he have any solid proof to support such a serious accusation?

[dbhuber]

This is my first post on this site, but after all the horror stories of cable cards and S3 installation, I wanted to say that I just had a completely pain-free experience with Time Warner in LA.

They came on Tues, 7/3 (on time, by the way) to install the 2 cable cards in my new S3 plus a standard cable box on another (non-HD) tv. The technician knew what cable cards were, new what Tivo was, knew exactly how to set everything up (he knew the Tivo menus, what info he needed to call in, etc). Both cards worked on the first try. The whole process took a couple hours, maybe 2.5 hrs, but a lot of that included work outside to bring the cable to the house (I was switching from DirecTV).

I had heard from another friend of mine that Time Warner now has enough experience with Tivo S3 that they seem to have their act together, and my experience makes me think this is absolutely true.

[ZeoTiVo]

Interesting article about CableCards I just stumbled across here (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/2007/07/opening_up_the_cable_box.html).

I am specifically interested in this paragraph: CableCards have been around for a few years now, but so far the cable industry has managed to ignore them to death (as Mike Musgrove reported in this 2005 story). Some HDTVs have included CableCard slots, but buyers have repeatedly told me of problems getting CableCards from their local service providers. For instance, the cable operator won't even tell customers about it, and instead, spends time trying to upsell customers on renting a traditional box, or sends a cable technician to plug in the card who then says he can't get it to work.
It sure sounds like the author is accusing cable companies of instructing their installers to purposely mislead customers by telling them they can't get the cable cards to work which prompts the obvious question; does he have any solid proof to support such a serious accusation?
I had a contratcor come out to do some cable work. He flat out told me that TWC was canning cable cards and going to stop using them..
I mentioned the FCC rule that actually they would have to start using the cards. He dropped that approach and further discussion showed that he knew all about the FCC rule.
In short he lied directly to me in my own home to discourage cable card use
I have a neighbor trying to get a cable card TV going. They have in 5 weeks so far tried one cable card that did not work and are now dithering about signal to the house.

you tell me if this sounds like misdirection or not.

PS this was all TWC in my area.

[cokyq]

That is good news dbhuber. Glad it worked out so well for you.

Today ATT just activated my DSL service, and in the next few days will be contacting TWC to cancel my subscription. For now, it will be over the air tv for me!

[Joey Bagadonuts]

This is my first post on this site, but after all the horror stories of cable cards and S3 installation, I wanted to say that I just had a completely pain-free experience with Time Warner in LA.

Just curious if by LA you mean Louisiana or Los Angeles? Thanks.

Joe

[dbhuber]

Oops, meant Los Angeles, not Louisiana...

[Joey Bagadonuts]

Oops, meant Los Angeles, not Louisiana...

OK, that's actually good news for me. Thanks.

[abredt]

I had a TW tech here today on a signal strength matter and I asked him about the FCC regulation. He said that TW is putting them into all DVR boxes that are being ordered.

[sstewa22]

My cable card saga: called TW (Huntington Beach, CA) to get two cable cards for new S3 box, said it would be a 29.95 trip charge and that the S3 was supported. Cable guy gets here and almost goes ballistic when he finds out it's a Tivo. Says the customer service department doesn't know what they are talking about and grumbles about having to do this the whole time he is here. Finally gets 1 of the two cable cards to work. Says I can go to the cable store to get the other one. I go to the cable store and they say the installer is crazy, they don't carry the cc and set me up for another appt. Two guys come out for the second install and get the 2nd cc working. In the meantime, I didn't know about not getting certain channels on the cc, or that mrv and ttg doesn't work. I hope the new interactive cc coming out will do all this? Or, is it something Tivo has to support? It seems I lost a lot of features by switching to the cable cards.

I haven't seen the bill yet, they said it would be 1.75 per cc when I asked them the first time, but when I went to the office and asked, they said it was going to be 1.75 plus a 2.75 programming fee.

The whole time this was going on I was being told that cc don't work and I should be getting TW's dvr box.

Sherril

[cokyq]

I called ATT and am having DSL installed at home, so I can call TWC and tell them to keep their cable/internet service. I am going to watch OTA TV for now.

[Joey Bagadonuts]

My cable card saga: called TW (Huntington Beach, CA) to get two cable cards for new S3 box, said it would be a 29.95 trip charge and that the S3 was supported. Cable guy gets here and almost goes ballistic when he finds out it's a Tivo. Says the customer service department doesn't know what they are talking about and grumbles about having to do this the whole time he is here. Finally gets 1 of the two cable cards to work. Says I can go to the cable store to get the other one. I go to the cable store and they say the installer is crazy, they don't carry the cc and set me up for another appt. Two guys come out for the second install and get the 2nd cc working. In the meantime, I didn't know about not getting certain channels on the cc, or that mrv and ttg doesn't work. I hope the new interactive cc coming out will do all this? Or, is it something Tivo has to support? It seems I lost a lot of features by switching to the cable cards.

I haven't seen the bill yet, they said it would be 1.75 per cc when I asked them the first time, but when I went to the office and asked, they said it was going to be 1.75 plus a 2.75 programming fee.

The whole time this was going on I was being told that cc don't work and I should be getting TW's dvr box.

Sherril
Tell you what, if I were the management team at TiVo, I'd be pissed about stories like this and articles like the one I posted. It seems pretty obvious Time Warner Cable is doing everything within their power to make the installation of CableCards as cumbersome as possible for S3 owners. Also, I can't speak for other TiVo owners but it's stories like Sherril's that are keeping me from purchasing an S3.

Joey B
Anaheim CA

[SCSIRAID]

Tell you what, if I were the management team at TiVo, I'd be pissed about stories like this and articles like the one I posted. It seems pretty obvious Time Warner Cable is doing everything within their power to make the installation of CableCards as cumbersome as possible for S3 owners. Also, I can't speak for other TiVo owners but it's stories like Sherril's that are keeping me from purchasing an S3.

Joey B
Anaheim CA

My TWC experience has been quite the opposite. They have been very supportive of me with my issues. They loaned me a pair of cablecards for my replacement unit to test it out without disturbing my existing unit. They loaned me another cablecard to put in my TV to see if it exhibited the same behavior. Supervisors have given me their email addresses, the cablecard guru has given me his direct phone number. I couldnt be happier with their support (if only they could help fix the pixelation issues).

[Joey Bagadonuts]

My TWC experience has been quite the opposite. They have been very supportive of me with my issues. They loaned me a pair of cablecards for my replacement unit to test it out without disturbing my existing unit. They loaned me another cablecard to put in my TV to see if it exhibited the same behavior. Supervisors have given me their email addresses, the cablecard guru has given me his direct phone number. I couldnt be happier with their support (if only they could help fix the pixelation issues).

Yeah, from the variety of responses in this forum, it sounds like it's just the luck of the draw with regard to what kind of experience one has with the CableCard installation. I can't help but think it's a bit suspicious however, when first a columnist insinuates that TWC purposely has their installers feign problems with a cc install and then we have people here reporting that very same experience (it's difficult to prove the "feigning" part but when something looks and quacks like a duck...). At the very least, given Sherril's post, it's extremely unprofessional for a TWC installer to try and coerce a customer into switching from a TiVo DVR to one of their own.

[pmiranda]

In the meantime, I didn't know about not getting certain channels on the cc, or that mrv and ttg doesn't work. I hope the new interactive cc coming out will do all this? Or, is it something Tivo has to support? It seems I lost a lot of features by switching to the cable cards.

Either lots more people are taking advantage of the new cheap S3 pricing, or put too much faith in the TiVo name, since I've been reading a bunch of posts like this lately from people that haven't read any of the FAQs or much of this particular thread before posting. To their credit, this thread is now over 70 pages so I don't really expect people to read the whole thing, but at this point, I don't really see why people post in this thread complaining about things that have been rehashed over and over. I suppose there's some value in knowing that people are still getting the runaround from TW (and other providers) about CC's, but it's TW that needs to hear these stories so they can educate their CSRs and techs about the reality of cablecards.... they work fine within their limitations once set up, but SDV is pissing people off almost as much as when ignorant CSRs or techs claim CC's don't work on a TiVo, or that not getting channels that should work (not SDV) is NOT normal and requires the cableco to correctly configure and deploy their cablecards.

[JPALMETTO]

Well, I shoul have known from reading this long thread TW would screw this up.

Yeah, they showed up on time but installer was a subcontractor that had never installed a CC?WTF?? I had done enough research on here to make some good suggestions (get the headend involved) and the first card installed fairly smoothly. The 2nd card was bad and had to go to office and got their last 2. One of those finally worked with help from the headend. Anyway this took 5 HOURS!

Problem- None of the music channels come in (301-342). All the rest of the channels seem to be working fine on both cards. When you tune to one of these channels it tunes in for about 2 seconds and then goes to the cable card menu page. The headend said all was correct and I must have a bad box but I think it is something with the headend as they had to work their "voodoo" for the other channels to work. Can Someone please tell me if this has been seen before?

[Joey Bagadonuts]

Just curious JPALMETTO, what area do you live in?

[JPALMETTO]

Sumter, SC

[aymanme]

Anyway this took 5 HOURS!

And you are complaining? Many TW S3 CC installs seem to be measured in days. :)

[JPALMETTO]

Yeah they don't seem to think we have anything better to do than to spend "quality time" w/them :D

[davewall]

I've been using an S3 with TW West Valley (Los Angeles) cablecards since January with few problems, until now.

My ESPN-HD channel had stopped working, so a tech came out today. He told me that TW has decided that it will no longer provide ESPN-HD to customers that don't use a TW HD-DVR!! I'll call TW tomorrow to verify that story, but has anyone else heard of anything like this???

[cokyq]

I wonder how many S3 cablecard installations go smoothly? It seems that only those that do not go well and those savy enough to post on internet boards are the ones that complaint!

My original cablecard installation was not smooth and took more than 1 week, several trips and several cards before it was actually working. After one year with TWC, and 6 months since my S3 purchase, because of my dissatisfaction with TWC I chose to drop cable tv all together and just rely on over the air.

[Fofer]

I've been using an S3 with TW West Valley (Los Angeles) cablecards since January with few problems, until now.

My ESPN-HD channel had stopped working, so a tech came out today. He told me that TW has decided that it will no longer provide ESPN-HD to customers that don't use a TW HD-DVR!! I'll call TW tomorrow to verify that story, but has anyone else heard of anything like this???


TWC in Los Angeles here too.

The tech *may* have been suggesting that ESPN-HD was moved to be broadcast over SDV (Switched Digital channels), a technology that squeezes more content over the pipes, that the S3 can't handle (but the TW HD-DVR can.)

http://www.timewarnercable.com/socal/products/cablecard.html

That's been the biggest concern for many S3 owners. Some markets are really affected by this, and S3 owners can't get all channels. So far, as far as I know, this hasn't affected Los Angeles. I have yet to come across any missing channels or mention of SDV wreaking havoc over here.

Sure enough, I just tested channels 424 (ESPN HD) and 425 (ESPN2 HD) and get them both.


It seems like there's not only a problem with the tech and incompatibilities, but so much misinformation and ignorance. Time Warner reps don't even know what we're *supposed* to be receiving...

[Joey Bagadonuts]

Sumter, SC

Thanks. I guess I could've just looked at the info under your user name a little more closely.

Joe

[pashasurf7873]

I live in Hawaii, am with Time Warner Cable and was wondering if any Time Warner Cable customers have heard of this in the Mainland?

Here is a breakdown of the CableCard charges:

>Duplicate Service Charge: $8.00 a month per card
>HD Entertainment Package: $6.95 a month per card
>Total: $14.95 for each CableCard!!!!!

The CableCards are $3.10 each with no premium programming on them. To
receive the Digital Cable Service on the cards, the Duplicate Service
Fee of $8.00 would apply instead of the $3.10 card charge. The HD package is not included in the duplicate service fee. It is charged per card.
So in Hawaii it costs $29.90 per month just to enable the use of my beloved TIVO S3.
When I called and then emailed to complain this is the response I got:


Aloha!

1. as I stated previously, the Duplicate service charge does not include
the HD Entertainment Package. The Duplicate service charge only includes
the equipment rental fee, digital cable service, and any premium movie
channels in your subscription. Each device that is receiving the HD
Entertainment Package is billed for that package.

2. Yes, we are aware of the current limitations of the technology. You
can install a single CableCard in your Tivo and only record one channel
at a time.

3. The CableCards are billed for each device, each CableCard is a
separate device. You could obtain the HD DVR without the duplicate
service charge, however you would still be billed for the HD
Entertainment package which is required to have any HD cable box.

You could also rent the CableCards for $3.10 each, however they would
only be able to receive the Standard Cable Service. They would not
receive the authorization to receive the HD Entertainment Package, the
Digital Cable Package, nor the HBO or Showtime.

4. Because that is how the company decided to do the billing.

5. Everything is NOT going HD. That is a common misconception. HD and
Digital are two very different things. The FCC is only requiring a
change to Digital, not HD.

6. I am sorry, but it does not appear the same from our point of view.
We bill per device that receives premium programming in the home. If you
TiVo requires 2 of those devices then the account should be charged for
each one.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to e-mail us again
or contact our Customer Care Department at the appropriate number below.
When replying to this e-mail, please include this message as well as all
previous correspondence regarding this issue.


Cable TV or Internet:
Billing: 643-2100
Sales: 643-2337
Repair: 643-2300


Thank you,
Nick S.
Oceanic Time Warner Cable

[nharmon91]

Well I am having them installed right now, but he clearly doesn't know what he is doing. He called in to activate them but never paired them so I just have a blank screen at the moment.

[jrj130]

I'm in New York City -- I just moved from a building served by RCN (who handled a cablecard install with no problems) to a building served by TWC. After four days, 6 different cable cards, four visits from technicians, and eight calls to customer service, the latest tech is now telling me that the latest firmware upgrade doesn't work with any Series3 Tivos, and there's nothing anyone can do -- none of their cablecards will work with the S3. How on earth can this be? Is Scientific Atlanta just sending out defective cards and no one cares?

[IsItLive]

I'm looking for some info about New York TWC cable card firmware upgrades.

My series3 was working great until about 2 weeks ago, when the tuner associated with CableCard1 would not get the scrambled channels. No problem with the networks, but something like Comedy Central or Nickelodeon would give me still screen of what was on that channel then go to an all gray screen.

No problem, I figured, I'll just have them install a new cable card in slot 1. Cable guys show up, put a new card in slot 1, call in the switch to dispatch or whatever, and we sit there waiting for the firmware upgrade to complete. Waited an hour, nothing changed. Tried changing to another card. Waited another 45 minutes, no change. Reset tivo box, wait for firmware upgrade, no change. Pull card 2, insert card 1 by itself, wait for firmware upgrade, no change.

Basically we sat around all day but never got the card to work. Eventually we pulled the card (1) and the box is running on the remaining working card. He left me the card that's currently paired with slot 1. I tried it again today, firmware failed to upgrade.

Cable guy called a guy he knew in tech support. That guy told him they haven't had a successful series3 firmware upgrade in 2 days.

Has anyone in the Southern Manhattan Time Warner tried to install a new cable card recently? I've started to think it might be my box, but that's a huge hassle to exchange.

Any help, thanks in advance.

[T-Shee]

I'm in New York City -- I just moved from a building served by RCN (who handled a cablecard install with no problems) to a building served by TWC. After four days, 6 different cable cards, four visits from technicians, and eight calls to customer service, the latest tech is now telling me that the latest firmware upgrade doesn't work with any Series3 Tivos, and there's nothing anyone can do -- none of their cablecards will work with the S3. How on earth can this be? Is Scientific Atlanta just sending out defective cards and no one cares?

jrj130, IsItLive: You should report this to TIVO asap. I live in Manhattan (TWC Manhanttan South) and while my older cards are working, this is a disaster for any new Manhattan bound S3 (like yours) or anyone who needs new cards in Manhattan.

If this is true, you should report it to Tivo immediately. Get them involved without delay.

Very disturbing.

[jrj130]

jrj130, IsItLive: You should report this to TIVO asap. I live in Manhattan (TWC Manhanttan South) and while my older cards are working, this is a disaster for any new Manhattan bound S3 (like yours) or anyone who needs new cards in Manhattan.

If this is true, you should report it to Tivo immediately. Get them involved without delay.

Very disturbing.


Ha, what a joke. I just spoke with Tivo for 45 minutes, and they basically told me to have TWC keep bringing out cards until they found one that works. They said it's not their problem, they won't do anything about it, and it's my tough luck. The guy was rude and unhelpful. if you think Tivo's coming to the rescue think again. Also, they openly mocked the various Tivo message boards on the web, implying that anything posted on them is nonsense.

I've been a loyal tivo customer and evangelist since the very first model, and they're about to burn that whole relationship. The S3 I bought less than a year ago is now an $800 paperweight, and Tivo takes no responsibility. Tivo doesn't care whether you or I can get service -- they got our money from us already.

[cokyq]

It will be nice if someone from TiVO is reading this forum to take notice and lend out a hand.

[BruceShultes]

I'm in New York City -- I just moved from a building served by RCN (who handled a cablecard install with no problems) to a building served by TWC. After four days, 6 different cable cards, four visits from technicians, and eight calls to customer service, the latest tech is now telling me that the latest firmware upgrade doesn't work with any Series3 Tivos, and there's nothing anyone can do -- none of their cablecards will work with the S3. How on earth can this be? Is Scientific Atlanta just sending out defective cards and no one cares?

Ask them whether they can perform the firmware update on the cards at their head office before they bring them out to you.

I believe that firmware updates can have problems when you have either too strong or too weak a signal over your cable.

I live in Albany so I am not dealing with TWC NYC, but when they first installed cards in my S3, one of them refused to complete a firmware update.

I just checked the date of manufacture on the back of the card that worked and noticed that the one that had a problem was older. I just asked them to provide a card with the same date as the one that worked. Then everything worked correctly.

[gary325]

I had a great experience with TW Rochester on my 2nd S3 CableCard install last Friday. All went well and working great. Just wished we didn't have to deal with SDV and missing channels.
What channels are missing with SDV and TW Rochester? Their website is a little outdated.

Services you CAN get with a CableCARD

Basic and Standard
Crystal Clear Picture & Sound
Digital Tier
HD Channels*
International Channels
HD Tier (excluding Universal HD)
Sports Tier
HBO
Cinemax
Showtime Unlimited
Starz (excluding Starz Comedy)
Encore Movie Pack


Services you CANNOT get with a CableCARD

*As of January 2006, any new digital services added will NOT be available with a CableCARD

Adult On Demand
Movies On Demand
Events On Demand
Free On Demand
Premiums On Demand
Pay-Per-View
Digital Simulcast
Interactive & Enhanced TV services
Interactive Program Guide
Caller ID on TV
Boomerang, digital channel 534
Howard Stern On Demand
Seasonal Sports Packages
Sleuth-digital channel 331
Starz Comedy-digital channel 955
Universal HD
NY Legislative Channel
A&E HD
MTV HD
Logo
Family Choice Tier
Start Over
Events On Demand
Answers On Demand
ESPN Deportes

[snowbunny]

latest list of SDV Time Warner Austin channels:

Please note that many of the upper-tier digital channels are mapped onto their analog counterparts. This results in watching an inferior analog channel and defeats the purpose of having a digital TV.

24 / 270 QVC (digital channel mapped onto analog)
25 / 273 HSN
27 / 215 Oxygen
28 / 213 WE
29 / 217 Soap
30 / 545 E!
33 / 258 Travel
36 / 234 Animal Planet
37 / 160 ABC Family
38 / 170 ION
39 / 180 Hallmark
40 / 520 TVLand
41 / 120 Nickelodeon
42 / 101 Disney East RTE
43 / 110 Cartoon Network
44 / 355 News 8 Doppler Radar
55 / 450 Golf
57 / 540 CourtTV
64 / 555 Turner Classic Movies
70 / 590 CMT
72 / 570 MTV
73 / 585 BET
74 / 219 Style
75 / 623 Telemundo
76 / 622 Galavision
77 TWC77 (the following are all switched video channels with no analog backup)
78 Infor
102 Disney West RTE
111 Boomerang
125 Nick Toons
261 LOGO
274 TV Superstore
275 Shop NBC
277 Revenue Frontier
278 Men's Channel
279 Healthy Living
281 Beauty and Fashion
284 iShop
285 The Mall Channel
286 Resort and Residence
287 PREVU Channel
295 The Word Network
348 News 8 Traffic
358 News 8 Weather
359 / 609 News 8 Weather Spanish
408 News 8 NonStop Sports
527 FoxReality
431 Fox Sports Atlantic
432 Fox Sports Central
433 Fox Sports Pacific
434 Fuel
435 NBA TV
438 CSTV
455 Tennis Channel
460 Speedvision
490 Outdoor Channel
601 CNN Espanol
602 Canal 24
604 DocuTVE
606 CanalSur
609 / 359 News 8 Weather Spanish
611 Toon Disney Spanish
612 Cartoon Spanish
613 Boomerang Spanish
614 Sorpresa
617 Fox Sports SW Espanol
626 TVE International
629 La Familia
630 SiTV
632 Infinito
633 HTV
634 Video Rola
635 Puma
636 MUN 2
637 MTV Tres
640 CineLatino
644 Discovery Espanol
645 HITN
649 EWTN Spanish
708 HBO WEST
709 HBOPLUS WEST
710 HBOSIG WEST
711 HBFAMILY WEST
712 HBCOMEDY WEST
713 HBOZONE WEST
714 HBLATINO WEST
723 CINEMAX WEST
724 MORMAX WEST
725 ACTNMAX WEST
726 THRILMAX WEST
738 SHOW WEST
739 SHO TOO WEST
740 SHOWCASE WEST
741 SHOW EXT WEST
742 BEYOND WEST
743 SHOW NEXT-W
744 WOMEN WEST
745 SHOW FAMILY WEST
748 TMC WEST
749 TMC XTRA WEST
761 Encore West
901 Sport PPV-1
902 Sports PPV-2
903 Sports PPV-3
904 Sports PPV-4
905 Sports PPV-5
906 Sports PPV-6
910 NBA
911 TEAM1
912 TEAM2
913 TEAM3
914 TEAM4
915 TEAM5
916 TEAM6
917 TEAM7
918 TEAM8
919 TEAM9
930 Game 1 (hockey, baseball etc)
931 Game 2
932 Game 3
933 Game 4
934 Game 5
935 Game 6
936 Game 7
937 Game 8
938 Game 9
939 Game 10
940 Playboy Enhanced
941 Ten
942 TenBlox
943 Ten Clips
952 IND 2
1639 Fox Sports HD
1660 A&E HD
1664 Music HD
1675 Cinemax HD
1684 Starz HD

[tenthplanet]

TWC in Los Angeles here too.

The tech *may* have been suggesting that ESPN-HD was moved to be broadcast over SDV (Switched Digital channels), a technology that squeezes more content over the pipes, that the S3 can't handle (but the TW HD-DVR can.)

http://www.timewarnercable.com/socal/products/cablecard.html

That's been the biggest concern for many S3 owners. Some markets are really affected by this, and S3 owners can't get all channels. So far, as far as I know, this hasn't affected Los Angeles. I have yet to come across any missing channels or mention of SDV wreaking havoc over here.

Sure enough, I just tested channels 424 (ESPN HD) and 425 (ESPN2 HD) and get them both.


It seems like there's not only a problem with the tech and incompatibilities, but so much misinformation and ignorance. Time Warner reps don't even know what we're *supposed* to be receiving...


According to TWC So.Cal. site ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD are due to be moved from the HD tier to in the clear QAM. There may be complications to this.

[Fofer]

According to TWC So.Cal. site ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD are due to be moved from the HD tier to in the clear QAM. There may be complications to this.

I just browsed briefly but I don't see anything about that on the site: http://www.timewarnercable.com/socal/channellineups/default.html

so... got a link?

[davewall]

Fofer, I couldn't find that information on the site either, but I was told the same thing by a TW CSR on the phone. I still don't get ESPN HD (in TW West Valley). The CSR suggested it may have something to do with it moving out of the HD Tier and that I should try re-doing a TIVO guided setup, but that didn't help.

No one at TW seems to be able to confirm the story I heard from the Tech that ESPN-HD is no longer available to customers without TW equipment (cable box or DVR.) I don't think they would have moved ESPN-HD to SDV since it's so popular, but the TW CSR had never heard of SDV so I don't know for sure.

[Fofer]

Fofer, I couldn't find that information on the site either, but I was told the same thing by a TW CSR on the phone. I still don't get ESPN HD (in TW West Valley). The CSR suggested it may have something to do with it moving out of the HD Tier and that I should try re-doing a TIVO guided setup, but that didn't help.

No one at TW seems to be able to confirm the story I heard from the Tech that ESPN-HD is no longer available to customers without TW equipment (cable box or DVR.) I don't think they would have moved ESPN-HD to SDV since it's so popular, but the TW CSR had never heard of SDV so I don't know for sure.

Has the "change" from the HD Tier (to clear QAM?) already happened?

Because, just to reiterate, I am in TWC SoCal (formerly Comcast) territory, and I just now confirmed I still receive ESPN HD (424) and ESPN2 HD (425.)

If it does (or has) moved to clear QAM, I don't see why the Series 3 would have a problem with it. The guide data and channel listing would just need to be updated to reflect the channel change (if there is/was one.)

So long as it doesn't move to SDV I'd think we'd be okay, right?

[davewall]

So long as it doesn't move to SDV I'd think we'd be okay, right?

Absolutely, we SHOULD be OK unless they moved it to SDV. And I believe the change (out of the HD Tier) has already happened, and there's no reason that I know of that the S3 SHOULD have a problem with it. There shouldn't even be a channel change. But unfortunately none of that helps me.

[nharmon91]

Im curious, who do you guys call to send hits to your cablecards? I just had the 4th tech guy come install a card and it is stuck on ECM:0 EMM: 2 EID: Oxffffffff

I heard I could fix this by sending a hit to it but customer service wont do jack. Anyone else I can call? Or anything else I an do? I really dont want to schedual a 5th tech to come out.

[zaknafein]

Anyone have experience with CCs in Kansas City? I just pulled the trigger on a TiVo HD, and I'm curious if anyone else had done the install on a S3 yet.

[CaptDS9E]

I live in Far Eastern Queens, NY. My brother and I both got The new HD Tivo, and was wondering if anyone out here has had any problems getting cable cards from TWC. I plan on calling them tomorrow to set up installation on both Tivo box's

[MisterUCLA]

This was on one of my statements.

ESPN HD & ESPN2-HD will move from the HD-Tier to Std Cable on 6-19-07. A subscription to Std. Cable and HD equipment will be required to view ESPN HD & ESPN2-HD beginning on 6-19-07.

I only subscribe to Broadcast Basic and the HDTV tier, so I was worried.

June 19th came and went and I never lost those channels.

I'm in West LA, I used to be Adelphia Santa Monica, but I guess I'm TWC West LA now.

[nharmon91]

I have my 4th tech schedualed for today to get my 2nd card working, lets see how this goes.

[Moochie88]

I'd like to switch from the TW-supplied SA HDDVR to the new $299 HD Tivo. I have several questions. When I looked into this last winter there were numerous issues with TW about getting two cable cards and complaints about the technicians not knowing what to do. Anyone having success with TW in getting 2 cards? I assume I have to have someone come to the apartment to install them, right? What about the ability to download from the 'net? I have a wireless system and one cable modem (not in the same room as the TV). I also have a Mini Mac hooked up to the TV that's on the wireless network. What do I need with the Tivo? A second modem? Or the Tivo wireless router. What is the down side to switching as far as services from TW? :confused:

[c-surfer]

My January 2007 Time Warner San Diego cable-card install appointment was uneventful. The technician showed up, put the 2 cable cards in the slots, phoned in some authorization codes found on Tivo's diagnostic screen and it was done.

The only issue I've experienced post-install is that when there's a digital cable outage, it is necessary to cycle power on the Tivo to get the HD channels to work again. There have only been a couple outages since January so it isn't a big deal; set-top box renters probably have to deal with stuff like that too.

[randomsolutions]

My January 2007 Time Warner San Diego cable-card install appointment was uneventful. The technician showed up, put the 2 cable cards in the slots, phoned in some authorization codes found on Tivo's diagnostic screen and it was done.

The only issue I've experienced post-install is that when there's a digital cable outage, it is necessary to cycle power on the Tivo to get the HD channels to work again. There have only been a couple outages since January so it isn't a big deal; set-top box renters probably have to deal with stuff like that too.
c-surfer can you please tell me how much they are charging you for 2 cable cards? I have TWC in SD as well and I'm thinking of upgrading, but I'd like to avoid the hidden costs.

[c-surfer]

$1.75 x 2 = $3.50 for 2 cards

[nharmon91]

I have my 4th tech schedualed for today to get my 2nd card working, lets see how this goes. No one showed up, fantastc

[CaptDS9E]

Just got off the phone with TWCNYC . 4 cable cards for 2 of the new HD Tivo's will be installed on Thursday. Hope it goes smooth.

[nharmon91]

Got 2 guys working on it, Im just unplugging it and they send hits, but its still not working. I am wondering if its unpaired or something, though I know they have authorized it.

[nharmon91]

I'd like to switch from the TW-supplied SA HDDVR to the new $299 HD Tivo. I have several questions. When I looked into this last winter there were numerous issues with TW about getting two cable cards and complaints about the technicians not knowing what to do. Anyone having success with TW in getting 2 cards? I assume I have to have someone come to the apartment to install them, right? What about the ability to download from the 'net? I have a wireless system and one cable modem (not in the same room as the TV). I also have a Mini Mac hooked up to the TV that's on the wireless network. What do I need with the Tivo? A second modem? Or the Tivo wireless router. What is the down side to switching as far as services from TW? :confused: If you have a wireless network all you need it the wireless network adapter.

[randymac88]

I have purchased and am staring eagerly at the $300 HD TiVo. I can't wait to get back in there...it's been three long years since I junked my S2 in favor of the HD DVR from Time Warner Cable in Manhattan.

I live in the East Village, and I have a scheduled tech visit for Tuesday to install two cablecards for the TiVo. I am working on getting my old lifetime subscription transferred over to the new box (we'll see if that works), but have been on hold for over 20 minutes now.

All this talk about TWCNYC Cablecard/Tivo issues is making me nervous! Anyone have any updates on this? I'll post my experience on Tuesday after the guy leaves.

[CaptDS9E]

All this talk about TWCNYC Cablecard/Tivo issues is making me nervous! Anyone have any updates on this? I'll post my experience on Tuesday after the guy leaves.

I'm a bit nervous as well since we are having 4 cards installed, but I have no problem getting on the phone to get things fixed if there is a problem

[LLane]

Hi. I'm new to Manhattan and planning to get first TWC installed in my new apartment, then getting the standard TiVo Series2 TCD649 from Weaknees. I was just wondering whether I should expect a pretty smooth installation of the TiVo service. I'm new to the whole DVR arena and I'm not very tech-savvy. I've been reading a couple of threads here and I'm concerned about the slow switch to SDV by TWC. I'm just a student, living off a stipend, and I'd hesitate to invest in a TiVo if it'll become useless in a couple of months.

I'd really appreciate any input on the matter.

[Tallguy001]

Long-time lurker here. I have been reading the discussions for the past 10 months or so re: the S3 and cablecard installation. While the S3 was a little above my price-range, I ran out and picked up a TiVo HD yesterday. I called Time Warner yesterday to set-up the cablecards to be installed. To my shock, they had an appointment available this morning!

The tech arrived within the time window and promptly stated this was his first cablecard install, and he seemed quite nervous. I explained the cards were for a Tivo and not a television and he seemed confused. In any event, once he settled down the process was fairly painless. We followed the instructions for the first card and he called it in (he needed the card # and the host ID)and he gave the info for the 2nd card as well. Once the person on the other end of the line got the correct info (she transposed a couple of numbers on the first attempt), I was receiving channels 1-99. We checked to see which channels were working and noticed that the digital were not being receive. The woman on the line realized she had programmed the account to only receive 1-99 and quickly corrected the problem to accurately reflect the channels I receive.

So, the tech left within 45 minutes and everything works properly (fingers crossed, knock on wood). I have not been a huge fan of TW, but I am very pleased with how this process went. Under 24 hours to get a truck roll and I didn't have to take time from work. I'd be happy to answer any questions if there are any!

[JoeSchueller]

Are you able to access all your channels or are any mysteriously missing.

PS: Great news to hear MKE is finally out of the CC dark ages. TWC tried for months to get one to work in my parents' DLP last year and finally just blamed it on the TV (and started charging them $10/mo for the STB insted). Gotta love the monopolies!!!

[Tallguy001]

Are you able to access all your channels or are any mysteriously missing.

PS: Great news to hear MKE is finally out of the CC dark ages. TWC tried for months to get one to work in my parents' DLP last year and finally just blamed it on the TV (and started charging them $10/mo for the STB insted). Gotta love the monopolies!!!

Hi JoeSchueller,

From a cursory review of the channels, the only 2 that I can say are missing are ESPN2HD and Nickelodeon Pacific Feed. I did know that ESPN2HD had fallen victim to SDV, so that was not a surprise.

Unfortunately, I am having trouble with my 2nd cablecard. Most digital channels are severely pixelated. Card 1 is having no such troubles, so I suspect it could be a bad card (or the signal may be a little weak). When I get a chance I will have to call for a truck roll.

[simonkodousek]

There is no Nickelodeon Pacific anymore on Milwaukee's TWC. They had to get rid of it to add NickToons.

Anyway, I plan to get a Tivo HD with two CableCards.

How much did it cost you to get the CableCards installed? When I called they told me it would be $33 per card which is outrageous. :(

[Tallguy001]

There is no Nickelodeon Pacific anymore on Milwaukee's TWC. They had to get rid of it to add NickToons.

Anyway, I plan to get a Tivo HD with two CableCards.

How much did it cost you to get the CableCards installed? When I called they told me it would be $33 per card which is outrageous. :(

Good point. It is NickToons on 157 (I believe) that is switched. On this channel and ESPN2 HD you receive Time Warner commericals for PPV, etc.

The woman I spoke with simply quoted me $2.50 a month. Check out this FAQ and they don't mention an install charge. http://www.timewarnercable.com/milwaukee/Products/Cable/CableCard_FAQs.html

We will see what happens when I get my bill. :o

As a follow-up, I am receiving some pixelation on card 1 and severe pixelation on card 2. Both cards are authorized properly, so I believe it is a signal strength issue. A truck is coming out tomorrow to take a look.

[simonkodousek]

$2.50 per month? I got quoted $1.75 per month for each card.

[Tallguy001]

$2.50 per month? I got quoted $1.75 per month for each card.

My quote was $2.50 per card, so $5 total. Glad to see they are consistent in the same market!

[jsmiley125]

The woman I spoke with simply quoted me $2.50 a month. Check out this FAQ and they don't mention an install charge.


I live in Columbus, Ohio, and am getting my two CableCARDs for my new TiVo HD this afternoon. Interestingly, the site for Time Warner Mid-Ohio supplies a lot more information about CableCARDs than the Milwaukee one. (Since I can't post links yet, Google Time Warner Columbus Ohio) They even tell you the installation price, and go over the features you will lose once you start using CableCARD. They even go so far as to tell you that the Switched Digital Channels will not be available.

I hope the installer is as knowledgeable as the web site...

Great, I just jinxed myself.

[jsmiley125]

My quote was $2.50 per card, so $5 total. Glad to see they are consistent in the same market!

Here in Columbus, I was also quoted $2.50 per card, per month. And, a $19.95 installation fee.

[jsmiley125]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but is there anywhere one can get a definitive (or semi-definitive, or not-very-definitive) list of TWC Switched Digital channels, so those of us who are going with CableCARD will know what we're losing?

[JoeSchueller]

Here in Cincinnati, they are promising a multi-stream card for us (I broke down and bought one last night). The install is scheduled for Friday and we were emphatic that we wanted a multi-stream card (just like the one in the POS SA8300HD). They confirmed that the rental is $2.50 for one multi-stream card.

[jsmiley125]

Here in Cincinnati, they are promising a multi-stream card for us (I broke down and bought one last night). The install is scheduled for Friday and we were emphatic that we wanted a multi-stream card (just like the one in the POS SA8300HD). They confirmed that the rental is $2.50 for one multi-stream card.

When I placed the service call for my CableCARDs, I thought asking for an m-card was pushing it. I figured it would just add to the confusion. If your installation goes well, then maybe I'll have them come back out and install an m-card down the road.

[JoeSchueller]

We'll see... the installer who put the SA8300 in was emphatic that this was the latest & greatest with the m-card in it. If nothing else the FCC's mandate caused TWC here to adopt m-cards faster so they could roll out these 8300 boxes - which are remarkable at pimping VOD/PPV.

I'll remain confident until they f it up.

Also, I sent a note to TWC yesterday asking for clarification on specifically what channels in my lineup would be unavailable with a UDCP device. Essentially, I want them to clarify "VARIES" in the chart at this address:
http://www.timewarnercable.com/Cincinnati/Products/Cable/CableCard_SA.html

We'll see what they say.

[blah238]

Hello, I'm considering a Tivo HD (already have an S2), and I'm in Austin (TW :mad: ). Does TW Austin do M-Card, and will that allow me to view SDV channels? Apparantly a large number of TW Austin's channels are SDV and the Tivo HD with CableCards doesnt support them. But with a single M-Card it will? And will be able to dual-tune? At least that is what I've gathered so far. So if that's all correct, the only question is does TW Austin do M-Card?

[randymac88]

So, the TWCNYC tech is here. We're working on the first card into the new TiVoHD...and having some trouble with the firmware update. It's been about 30 minutes. We've gotten to a screen that says "Please wait...Acquiring Channel Information", encouraging, but now we're stuck there for about 10 minutes. Good thing he brought *8* cards with him.

Update:

First card gave us an error, that it "couldn't receive channel info, please call your cable operator". We're assuming that means its just a bad card, and have moved on to Card Two. One down, seven to go.

[Tallguy001]

Hello, I'm considering a Tivo HD (already have an S2), and I'm in Austin (TW :mad: ). Does TW Austin do M-Card, and will that allow me to view SDV channels?

The multistream card will allow you to use two tuners with the one card, but I do not believe it will allow you to view SDV.

[randymac88]

Update: The TWCNYC tech is gone. Failure. Apparently, after a few tries and finally calling in to dispatch to ask for help, it came out that only the cards dated 6/11/06 or later would work. Of the eight cards that he brought, only one was dated 6/11/06, and we couldn't get it to work. To make matters worse, we had to reschedule for a week from saturday for them to come out with new 6/11/06+ cards.

The clock is ticking on my ability to return this box and get out of my service contract, and right now I'm not feeling overly confident in TWC's ability to get this thing running.

[ChrisFix]

Just got a TiVo HD, and called TWC in Raleigh-Durham.

After on hour, they don't know how to order a cable card without charging an additional $8.95 per card, which is the price for a Digital STB and Additional Digital Tier charge
(broken down on my bill as $7.95 for Digital STB and $1 for Add'l Digital Tier (an "outlet" charge).

The Cable Card is $1.75/month, so they want to charge me both the $8.95 Plus $1.75 per month per card ($10.91/month/card with taxes). So I will have to pay more for a CC than I do for an STB, and I don't even get an STB...that's a great deal!!

All logic tells me that I should pay $1.75/card plus $1/card or "outlet" for Add'l Digital Tier. Anyone else here have this experience or know what to tell them to get a Cable Card at a sane price?

Update:
TWC called me back...they were ordering the card as though I had no other services (even though I have 2 HD DVRs and a Digital STB). They're now telling me it is $1.75/month and NO outlet fee for Digital Tier because I won't be able to receive VoD (I'll have to wait and see if that ends up being correct).

They did take off $20 from the $42.95 install charge...so I guess that's something.

[jsmiley125]

Got both CableCARDs working correctly (sort of; see below) in my TiVo HD here in Columbus, Ohio.

So far, the only major issue I have is that a number of the higher digital/HD channels on CableCARD 2 are extremely pixelated. To the point that the channels are not viewable. It doesn't bother me that much since I don't watch much on most of those channels. I did a check of the diagnostics for both cards on one of the channels in question and I couldn't really find any differences between the two, except that at one point card 1 showed 107 for RS Uncorrected, while all other times both cards showed 0. (Of course, I have NO IDEA what that means.) Card 2 shows "Not Ready - Waiting for EMMs" next to PowerKey status. Card 1 shows "Ready" for PowerKey Status. I'll have to look up what that means...

I don't seem to be missing any channels due to SDV. I am of course missing VOD and PPV, but that was expected.

During activation of CableCARD 1, after TWC sent the "hit" the TiVo suddenly stopped being able to display video. The interface screens and menus still worked (it showed programs in Now Playing, and continued to show CableCARD menus and diagnostics) but if I tried to play a recorded program or watch live TV, I got nothing but a blank screen. A restart of the TiVo fixed that. It could have been complete coincidence since a couple days ago the same thing happened and I wasn't doing anything with the CableCARD slots. After the restart card 1 activated and we went on to card 2. No problems with card 2 activation.

I've heard of the cards working fine (except for pixelation) for some people, and then suddenly one day they lose activation. We'll see how smooth things go, and hopefully I can find a resolution to the pixelated channels on card 2.

[mshaw]

Anyone have any experience getting a S3 added to an existing TW account in the Dallas area?

All these horror stories are making me think I ought to wait a little while before upgrading.... Any info appreciated.

Thanks.

[Tallguy001]

I've heard of the cards working fine (except for pixelation) for some people, and then suddenly one day they lose activation. We'll see how smooth things go, and hopefully I can find a resolution to the pixelated channels on card 2.

I am now starting to think the pixelation problem is with the Tivo and not Time Warner. They have tried several more cards in slot 2, checked my signal, and I added an amp, all to no avail. I am quickly running out of ideas. My Scientific Atlanta cablecards have dates of December 2006, so they seem pretty new.

[jsmiley125]

I am now starting to think the pixelation problem is with the Tivo and not Time Warner.

I totally agree. I haven't even gone through all that stuff yet, but from the troubleshooting I've done, I was able to duplicate the pixelation problem with the first CC in slot 1 if I setup slot 1 AFTER slot 2. I know you're not supposed to, but I did it anyway, and lo, same problem. CC 2 worked fine then. Seems it's whatever CC is setup 2nd. So that seems to indicate a TiVo box problem.

Call me naive, but I'm still hopeful TiVo can produce a software update to fix this, or at least acknowledge the problem since SO MANY people have reported the exact same thing.

[George Cifranci]

Here in Columbus, I was also quoted $2.50 per card, per month. And, a $19.95 installation fee.


Yes that is what it was when I got my Series 3 installed in early January. Although back then the cards were $1.75 a month I think.

If you have any issues with your Time Warner Columbus Cable Card install send me a PM.

Also check out hdcolumbus.net if you haven't already.

[George Cifranci]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but is there anywhere one can get a definitive (or semi-definitive, or not-very-definitive) list of TWC Switched Digital channels, so those of us who are going with CableCARD will know what we're losing?

As far as I know, Time Warner Columbus hasn't said what channels are going SDV yet. But it is coming.

[keefer37]

So we just switched from DirecTV to Time Warner here in Raleigh-Durham. We have the Scientific Atlanta HD DVR in the living room and my wife and I can't stand it. It locks up. It misses recordings. It's unresponsive and it's just clunky.

Is it "safe" in Raleigh Durham to call Time Warner and order two of the cable cards and pick up the new HD TiVo?

[esfb8zs]

So we just switched from DirecTV to Time Warner here in Raleigh-Durham. We have the Scientific Atlanta HD DVR in the living room and my wife and I can't stand it. It locks up. It misses recordings. It's unresponsive and it's just clunky.

Is it "safe" in Raleigh Durham to call Time Warner and order two of the cable cards and pick up the new HD TiVo?

I just bought a Tivo HD from Circuit City in Apex, using a $40 off coupon for $218. I already had an install scheduled from Time Warner installing a HD DVR (theirs) today, and wanted to try it before I decided on the Tivo. I won't open the HD tivo yet, I'd like to see how the TWC DVR works... But after all these years of using Directv Tivos, I know I won't like it.

I'd also be curious to see how some Raleigh cable card installs go if anyone has any experience.

[simonkodousek]

I just bought a Tivo HD from Circuit City in Apex, using a $40 off coupon for $218. I already had an install scheduled from Time Warner installing a HD DVR (theirs) today, and wanted to try it before I decided on the Tivo. I won't open the HD tivo yet, I'd like to see how the TWC DVR works... But after all these years of using Directv Tivos, I know I won't like it.

I'd also be curious to see how some Raleigh cable card installs go if anyone has any experience.

Trust me, if you have used TiVo's, you will not like Time Warner's DVR service. :down:

[Langree]

Trust me, if you have used TiVo's, you will not like Time Warner's DVR service. :down:

+1000

I hope to be a TiVo HD owner soon.

[pkscout]

Is it "safe" in Raleigh Durham to call Time Warner and order two of the cable cards and pick up the new HD TiVo?

I have a Series 3 and TWC. I didn't get CableCards for it, but I know at least one person on this board from this area has with no problems. One thing to keep in mind. TWC will not provide the digital simulcast of the analog channels below 100 to CableCard users because the are planning on moving those to SDV at some point in the future. So if you watch a great deal on 1-99 be prepared for a drop in quality. The analog signal from TWC is quite good, but it definitely isn't digital.

Because of that and the fact that I can get all the HD network stuff with an OTA antenna, I dropped back to standard cable when I got the S3.

[dolfer]

How many people have the option of an M-Card like TW Cincy provides? Wouldn't this solve the slot 2 pixelization issues?

[mph005]

Well, might as well post my experience with TivoHD and TWC Austin.

Got a Tivo HD Monday evening. Called time warner as soon as I got home (and sat on hold for an hour, but somehow I expected this). Rep I spoke with knew what I wanted (even knew I wanted 2 cablecards before I even said so), and setup for Wednesday morning, got an 8-12 timeslot.

8am came and 12pm went, no tech, no phone call. Called back in, and was told the tech was running late (yeah, I figured that one on my own), and he'll call me right back and let me know how long it will be. Hour later and no call, I had to get to work.

Called TWC back at my office, and asked if the tech could come back later this evening when I'll be home (and got my $20 "on time guarantee" credit). This went on for a while, but the end result was I had the tech (himself) agree to come later tonight.

So he shows up, and has 2 cards with him. Immediately says he's only handled cablecards once before, and not on a Tivo. I assure him this should be a painless process and we approach the Tivo.

He places both cards in at the same time, I cringe. But, before I can say anything, I see the Tivo has detected a M-Card in slot 1 and an S-Card in slot 2. Awesome!

I explain the whole M-Card vs S-Card, and he (sorta reluctantly) agrees with me that I only need the 1 card, and removes the S-Card.

Right about here the Tivo CableCard diag screen shows that the CableCard is receiving a firmware update, and this takes a few minutes.

He calls TWC, and asks whoever answers what he's supposed to do next. He reads the numbers, and we wait.

After a few minutes, the M-Card is now reading Authorized. I begin to test channels.

I get some digital channels (200 through the upper 500's), the local HD channels, but nothing in the normal analog range (2-99) or any other HD stuff. He says that the card will take some time to completely authorize, and that my channels will start to show up in small blocks over a period of time.

I honestly don't know if I should believe him, but I agree to accept the card install as-is. If by tomorrow I still don't have all channels, I'll call in and try to see if it's something they can fix remotely (without needing a new card).

So far, the channels I do receive are looking good. I have no technical issues so far, but it's only been a few hours.

Plus, as I was heading off to bed, I forced a call and my Tivo just got an update, 8.1.7b. I have no idea what this fixed.

[bkdtv]

The new 8.1.7b update appears to fix the pixelization issues with Scientific Atlanta CableCards in the second slot. It will download the next time you connect to the Tivo service.

Good to see that Tivo got those issues resolved so quickly.

[Tallguy001]

The new 8.1.7b update appears to fix the pixelization issues with Scientific Atlanta CableCards in the second slot. It will download the next time you connect to the Tivo service.

Good to see that Tivo got those issues resolved so quickly.

I can confirm this as well. Hopefully this will no longer be an issue.

[SCSIRAID]

So we just switched from DirecTV to Time Warner here in Raleigh-Durham. We have the Scientific Atlanta HD DVR in the living room and my wife and I can't stand it. It locks up. It misses recordings. It's unresponsive and it's just clunky.

Is it "safe" in Raleigh Durham to call Time Warner and order two of the cable cards and pick up the new HD TiVo?

Come on in... the water is fine. My install was in September and was probably one of if not the first S3 for Raleigh. It took several hours but was successful.

[dolfer]

I get some digital channels (200 through the upper 500's), the local HD channels, but nothing in the normal analog range (2-99) or any other HD stuff. He says that the card will take some time to completely authorize, and that my channels will start to show up in small blocks over a period of time.

I honestly don't know if I should believe him, but I agree to accept the card install as-is. If by tomorrow I still don't have all channels, I'll call in and try to see if it's something they can fix remotely (without needing a new card).

So far, the channels I do receive are looking good. I have no technical issues so far, but it's only been a few hours.



The suspense is killing me! ;) Are the rest of your channels there???

Also, what kind of M-Card did you get? SA or Motorola?

My TW appt is set for Monday morning.

[mph005]

The suspense is killing me! ;) Are the rest of your channels there???

Also, what kind of M-Card did you get? SA or Motorola?

My TW appt is set for Monday morning.

Nope, so far nothing has changed. As of now, there's tons of channels missing, and not just the SDV stuff. No HD (other than local network stations), nothing in the 2-99 range, and a few in the 100-600 range.

Got off the phone earlier with a TW tech, who was surprising knowledgeable about Tivo's and cablecards. Verified the numbers and what I was supposed to be receiving and sent another authorization, no change.

Then she began to focus on the fact that I had an MCard at all (it's a SA). She was quite adamant that TW Austin does not have MCards, and I should have 2 cards in my Tivo. She then put me on hold to ask someone. Came back and said she verified that they do have some cable boxes with MCards, but only give out SCards for Tivo's. It was her belief that this was the problem.

Who knows. I'm sure the fact that it's an MCard and "they don't use those" isn't the real issue, but what do I know.

Not giving up quite yet though. I really want to avoid taking another day off work just to wait for a tech to come around.

[mihalik]

I get some digital channels (200 through the upper 500's), the local HD channels, but nothing in the normal analog range (2-99) or any other HD stuff. He says that the card will take some time to completely authorize, and that my channels will start to show up in small blocks over a period of time.


I have TW Austin, too and got a MCard installed tonight. I have the same thing with the channels not showing up. I get all the analog channels (not in the 2-99, but in the upper range) and the unencrypted HD channels. I got the same story from the installer about the blocks showing up. It has been a few hours and I've not seen an encrypted channel show up yet.

[rateaustin]

Quick summary
-------------------
*2 cablecard (scard) install in Austin, TX on HD Tivo
*Install lasted from 5:00pm - 7:15pm
*Tech did not know how to install cablecards and said that he was not told he would be installing on a Tivo. I did the install for him.
*Standard channels and local HD working. DiscoveryHD and other encrypted channels not working when tech left.
*Cablecard 2 is not working as well as 1. CBS HD and KLRU do not work most of the time and are heavily pixelated at best.
*The last image shows pixelation that appears on card 1. The same channel does not tune on card 2 as shown in the first two images.

[rateaustin]

Here is a timeline of the install of two cablecards in my HD Tivo

5:00 p.m. Tech arrived with 2 SA cablecards dated May 2006. The cards were not in mint condition visually.
5:01 p.m. Tech explained to me that I would not be able to receive any HD channels, VOD, or PPV with cablecards. He explained that the cablecard guru co-worker has only been able to get 2/100 cablecards to work. This is obviously bs...or is it?
5:05 p.m. I pointed tech to Tivo and he said that he had never done a Tivo cablecard install. He had no idea where the cards were supposed to go and was not familiar with the Tivo interface.
5:10 I printed out the PDF instructions from tivo and explained the process to the tech. He seemed relieved that I knew about the install process. The tech wrote down the card serial numbers for his paperwork.
5:15 I inserted the first card into slot 1 and the Tivo immediately recognized the card as an S-Card. The card started to install the firmware update after about 1-2 minutes and took about 5 minutes to complete (not 40-60 minutes).
5:30 Tech calls in the cablecard # and Host ID. Both numbers are in the format 0-000-000-000-000. It took 10 minutes to relay two 13 digit numbers over the phone. The tech is not talking directly to Time Warner, so it takes another 15 minutes for the person that he called to call Time Warner and repeat the process.
5:55 I inserted second card and relayed the cablecard and host id to the tech who called the number in to be relayed to Time Warner. This is the most ridiculous process that you can dream up for this.
6:15 Second card ok
6:20 Standard channels are working ok, local HD channels work expect for CBS on card 2. All HD channels experience pixelation every 15-30 seconds. It's not horrible, but I hope that it is fixed by a Tivo update. Most channels above 1600 are not working. No Discovery HD (1617) - possibly not getting encrypted channels.
6:30-7:00 Tech on the phone with dispatch attempting to close out ticket.
7:15 Tech leaves without closing ticket and suggests that I call tech support if the remaining channels do not start working by tomorrow.

[cableguy763]

rateaustin,
Send me a pm with your info and I will try to make everything better tomorrow. I have been about 98% successful at fixing things over the phone.

[BruceShultes]

Nope, so far nothing has changed. As of now, there's tons of channels missing, and not just the SDV stuff. No HD (other than local network stations), nothing in the 2-99 range, and a few in the 100-600 range.

Then she began to focus on the fact that I had an MCard at all (it's a SA). She was quite adamant that TW Austin does not have MCards, and I should have 2 cards in my Tivo. She then put me on hold to ask someone. Came back and said she verified that they do have some cable boxes with MCards, but only give out SCards for Tivo's. It was her belief that this was the problem.

Who knows. I'm sure the fact that it's an MCard and "they don't use those" isn't the real issue, but what do I know.



As long as you can receive encrypted channels on both tuners and you only have a card in slot one, it has to be an Mcard.

As far as not receiving all your channels, in my experience and from what I have read on other threads, many TW outlets have problems assigning all your programming packages to a new card.

When I got two installed in my S3, it took multiple calls to TW before I was receiving everything on both cards.

[sglynn]

Is there any reader of this thread who is in the Milwaukee WI area and can report on the TW experience in activating Tivo HD DVR in place of the Warner cable box? I've had extremely good luck with my SciAtHD8300 from TW, but I would jump back to Tivo (through Weaknees) in a flash if someone can tell me the experience is tolerable. Thanks in advance for any advice or recounted experience with Milwaukee TW.

[CaptDS9E]

TWC NY customer here

Well I have to wait till this coming Thursday for the cable card installation on our 2 HD tivo's. The guy on the phone said Thursday (as in this past one), but he put the appointment for this coming Thursday so now this is a 2 week ordeal to get someone to install the cards. Best yet, we called 3 times on Thursday after no one showed up, and left our name/number for call back which is supposed to keep your spot in line for a rep. Guess when they called back. Two days later at 10 PM at night.

[txagfan]

TWC NY customer here

Well I have to wait till this coming Thursday for the cable card installation on our 2 HD tivo's. The guy on the phone said Thursday (as in this past one), but he put the appointment for this coming Thursday so now this is a 2 week ordeal to get someone to install the cards. Best yet, we called 3 times on Thursday after no one showed up, and left our name/number for call back which is supposed to keep your spot in line for a rep. Guess when they called back. Two days later at 10 PM at night.
Must be a really long line... :o

[pmiranda]

Apparantly a large number of TW Austin's channels are SDV and the Tivo HD with CableCards doesnt support them.
Other folks have talked about what M-cards get you (not much in Austin since S-cards are cheap and there's nothing magic about an M-card that will give TiVo a transmitter). As for SDV, there really aren't that many switched channels yet. There's only one that I actually miss, but if you need the Spanish channels, religious/shopping channels, sports pack, ESPN2HD, nicktoons, A&E in HD, or that HD music channel, you'll be disappointed. The other switched channels are west-coast versions of premium channels, and the digital simulcast of the analog (2-99) channels. You still get the analog channels in analog, which in my experience is just as good as the digital simulcast from a TW DVR if you have good signal strength.

[Tallguy001]

Is there any reader of this thread who is in the Milwaukee WI area and can report on the TW experience in activating Tivo HD DVR in place of the Warner cable box? I've had extremely good luck with my SciAtHD8300 from TW, but I would jump back to Tivo (through Weaknees) in a flash if someone can tell me the experience is tolerable. Thanks in advance for any advice or recounted experience with Milwaukee TW.

Hi SGlynn,

I am in Milwaukee (Greendale) and picked up a TivoHD last Saturday (7/28). Cablecard install was scheduled for the following morning. The contractor showed up with 2 cablecards as requested, though he did not know what he was doing. I walked him through the instructions Tivo provided and I handled the remote. All-in-all, things went pretty smoothly with TW. The big problem was severe "macroblocking" on cablecard slot 2, but this turned out to be a Tivo issue (resolved with a software update). I do receive minor pixelation from time to time, but this also appears to be an issue with Tivo (see tivolovers.com blog for more). So, I can honestly say that TW was as easy to work with as I could have hoped.

[angel35]

Any one IN TWNYC.Know if you can get M- cards??. I jest got a Tivo HD and would like to get a M-card.Let me know

[ChrisFix]

TWC Raleigh-Durham told me they had M-Cards, and then the installation supervisor called the night before the install, to say he doesn't have any. He cancels my installation and the next available install is next Monday (two weeks from my initial call), and the b*****ds at TWC want to charge $42.95 Per Card for installation for the single stream cards.

They will bring an STB to your house and install it for $18.95. What a bunch of crooks.

[ChrisFix]

Come on in... the water is fine. My install was in September and was probably one of if not the first S3 for Raleigh. It took several hours but was successful.

I'm also on TWC Raleigh-Durham. Did you get charged $42.95 per card for installation? Looking for ammo to fight them on this.

[xplosivo]

I just got off the phone with TWC-Raleigh and they are complete morons. I spoke with 3 different people, none of whom could tell me anything about cablecards. I finally am able to get to someone that even knows what an M-Card is and am immediately told that they aren't available. Then I am told that there is a $42.95 install charge PER CARD. (however, they were willing to waive one of those charges if I had both cards installed at the same time. Gee, thanks!)

I want to switch back to Tivo in the worst way, however, I am getting HORRIBLY gun shy about the cablecard thing. I know this is what TWC wants to have happen, but you know, it's working. Can someone in Raleigh tell me it's worth it? Is SDV something I have to worry about? Are their any issues that I need to be aware of beyond the obvious ones? Can you recommend someone at TWC-Raleigh that isn't stupid that I can speak with about this?

[SugarBowl]

I just got off the phone with TWC-Raleigh and they are complete morons. I spoke with 3 different people, none of whom could tell me anything about cablecards. I finally am able to get to someone that even knows what an M-Card is and am immediately told that they aren't available. Then I am told that there is a $42.95 install charge PER CARD. (however, they were willing to waive one of those charges if I had both cards installed at the same time. Gee, thanks!)

I want to switch back to Tivo in the worst way, however, I am getting HORRIBLY gun shy about the cablecard thing. I know this is what TWC wants to have happen, but you know, it's working. Can someone in Raleigh tell me it's worth it? Is SDV something I have to worry about? Are their any issues that I need to be aware of beyond the obvious ones? Can you recommend someone at TWC-Raleigh that isn't stupid that I can speak with about this?

Might want to ask here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=147473&page=269&pp=30

I have a series 3, but have not gotten cable cards. I believe there are a few people over there that have cable cards.

[drummsticks]

Hello, I am also from the Milwaukee area and just got a TivoHD. I called TW asap to schedule the cable card installation. The woman on the phone told me that they do not support Tivo (even after I had pointed her to their website where it says they do). Even after all this discussion she was still going to allow me to schedule an installation for two cable cards in two TVs.

Did anyone need to tell them the cards were for TVs in order to get the contractor to their house? If so, does it matter what kind of TV you tell them you have? All cable cards should be the same, right?

Thanks for the help.

[dolfer]

Just got off of the phone with Time Warner Cincinnati technician who told me that M-Cards are only allocated for TW boxes.

Thus, I will have to use 2 S-Cards.

Is this legal under FCC rules?

[Tallguy001]

Hello, I am also from the Milwaukee area and just got a TivoHD. I called TW asap to schedule the cable card installation. The woman on the phone told me that they do not support Tivo (even after I had pointed her to their website where it says they do). Even after all this discussion she was still going to allow me to schedule an installation for two cable cards in two TVs.

Did anyone need to tell them the cards were for TVs in order to get the contractor to their house? If so, does it matter what kind of TV you tell them you have? All cable cards should be the same, right?

Thanks for the help.

I believe I used the term "device." The cable cards are all the same, so if letting them believe they are for a TV gets them out there, then so be it.

[randymac88]

Any one IN TWNYC.Know if you can get M- cards??. I jest got a Tivo HD and would like to get a M-card.Let me know

No, they are not available in New York City. They are supplied (and come pre-installed) in the new SA8300HDC boxes, but they are not offered to customers individually for TiVo use.

[ChrisFix]

Can you recommend someone at TWC-Raleigh that isn't stupid that I can speak with about this?


Also completely frustrated with crappy TWC Raleigh-Durham customer service...I think you will have a very hard time finding someone there who fits your request!! They are making it as painful as possible to get CCs - $42.95 EACH to install is absurd.

[drummsticks]

I believe I used the term "device." The cable cards are all the same, so if letting them believe they are for a TV gets them out there, then so be it.

Sweet deal, thanks for the help.

I'll ask when I make the app again, but did you get an M-Card or a did you need two cards?

[jbaum]

My existing Series 3 has died, I'm replacing it. Can I swap the cable cards or do I need TWC to come out again?


Jonathan

[pkscout]

Just got off of the phone with Time Warner Cincinnati technician who told me that M-Cards are only allocated for TW boxes.

Thus, I will have to use 2 S-Cards.

Is this legal under FCC rules?

It probably violates the spirit of the regulations while remaining true to the letter. I'd say if they aren't going to charge you any differently for the two cards than one that it doesn't matter. But I'm sure they want to charge you for two installs, two cards, and probably extra outlet fees.

Nothing to do but complain and watch as the FCC ignores you. They don't care.

[jsmiley125]

My existing Series 3 has died, I'm replacing it. Can I swap the cable cards or do I need TWC to come out again?
Jonathan

You should be able to put them in your new TiVo (Slot 1 first, of course) one at a time, and have TWC un-pair and then re-pair them over the phone.

I would try not to mention to them that you've taken them out of one device and placed them in another; it might confuse them (they're easily confused) and cause them to send a technician out.

Basically you just want them to un-pair and re-pair both cards, which should not require a technician to come out at all.

[Tallguy001]

Sweet deal, thanks for the help.

I'll ask when I make the app again, but did you get an M-Card or a did you need two cards?

The rep I spoke with had no idea what an M-Card was. I figured it was a losing battle to try and explain but you could get someone who does know what it is, so it is definitely worth a shot!

[jsmiley125]

I didn't see this issue mentioned in any other threads, so I thought I'd ask about it here...

OK, so I've had my TiVo HD for one week, three days. I had the pixelation issues with CC2; they MOSTLY went away after the August 1st software update. I still get some pixelation now and then, but I have faith in TiVo...

But now, something else is bothering me more and more: when my TiVo HD is left untouched for a long time, say about 7 hours or more, my analog channels disappear. They all go black. However, my digital channels are all fine. (Except for the occasional pixelation)

I've tried changing channels up and down, inputting a different channel number, going to TiVo Central and then back out, checking diagnostics, pulling the cablecards out and then putting them back in... nothing. Only the digital channels show up.

The one thing that DOES fix the problem is restarting my TiVo. After that, everything is back to normal... until the next time I leave the TiVo alone for more than 7 hours. Poor thing just needs attention.

This has happend three times. Anyone else seen this? If I could be assured that this was indeed a hardware problem and nothing that another software update could fix then I'm more than happy to go back to Best Buy and return it. But I'd like to know if I'm alone or not.

[rgura]

I had been successfully using a TiVo Series 3 with 2 cable cards for nearly 1 year, but then I made the mistake of selling my house and buying another.

Initially I brought all my gear from the old house to the new house, plugged it in and waited. On the day of installation, the contract-installer (not a TWC employee) turned something on at the street and magically the S3 worked without issues. However he then stated that he needed to unpair and pair the cable cards to get them over to my account. Alas things stopped working. We experienced some success and some failure, until ultimately I sent him home.

Working through TWC technical support, we were able to get most everything working with the exception of channel 818 (Adult Alternative Music) and 1521 (CBS Affiliate). If it were up to me, I would have left well enough alone and called it mostly working, however it just so happens that my wife likes listening to 818 all day long and watches Days of our Life on 1521.

On Tuesday August 7, 2007 I called TWC Technical Support, they attempted the standard “send a signal” and “unpair and pair” troubleshooting techniques to no avail. My to my surprise, they had opening for installers from 7am-10am the following day. Fortunately I work from home so waiting on the cable guy is not that bad for me.

The cable guy called around 9:00 AM and arrived promptly at 9:15 AM. The installed seemed very knowledgeable however he stated that he “does not see CableCards all that often”. I showed him the problems and he proceeded through a very rigorous troubleshooting process checking the signal strength with his meter, at the wall, at the OnQ panel, etc. He also had a standard Scientific Atlanta HD cable box, which oddly seemed to work w/o problems. He then proceeded outside checking the signal strength at the house and at the street.

Eventually he found signal loss somewhere between the house and the street.

While he took about 2 hours, he never gave up and ultimately his persistence paid off.

I am very happy with Time Warner Austin today and everything that I want is indeed working through my beloved TiVo S3.

Here is my advice to S3 owners or those planning a purchase:
• Plan to be home for the entire day of the installation
• Read up yourself on the CableCard installation process
• When scheduling, insist that you get an installer that is an employee of TWC, not a contractor
• Have a printed copy of the TiVo “Instructions for CableCard Installers (http://customersupport.tivo.com/Content/Instancy%20V2%20Folders/2988/TiVo%20Series3%20HD%20Instructions%20for%20CablecARD%20Insta llers.pdf) ”
• While it might not be practical, it helps to have additional CableCard devices in your home
• Thank the installer when he/she does things the right way!

[richcole99]

Having cable card troubles! I have a new Series3 (crazy-expensive model!)

Got two cable cards installed by a technician:

*one tuner gets all the channels I am supposed to receive

*the other tuner only gets some channels (and none of the non-network HD channels that I'm entitled to)

Time Warner has been here twice now; each time, they claim the cards are functional and programmed to receive all channels.

So, has anyone had a similar problem? Is it really the cable cards? Could it be <shudder> the Tivo itself? I'm a rabid Tivo fan, so I hate to even mention that.

[Jeffner76]

HELP! My series 3 HD (300 hr) arrived yesterday, I was sooo excited. Sat down and did the whole reverently unwrap the box thing. As I started going through the instrustructions, I realized I needed two cable cards. I had only ordered one. My appointment is this afternoon between 6 and 9. Last night I called TW-Charlotte and requested the tech bring 2 cable cards. HUGE mistake. HUGE. They absolutely refused to provide 2 cards since I do not have 2 hd tvs. A supervisor finally got on the line and stated that the FCC only requires they provide one and the company has made a policy decision and will only provide one card for TIVO users. I, of course, went into my "as soon as I locate alternate providers, I will cancel every service I have with TW" rant; not realizing at the time that the series 3 requires a cable feed!! (Idjut me).

I cannot begin to tell you how livid I am about this development. Called TIVO last night, they were helpful and "escalated" me to a higher level of customer service that would apparently conference in TW and tell them they had to provide the card. Hold time was stated to be 5 minutes...after 20 I gave up (I was on my cell phone and running up minutes like crazy).

I am calling back this AM when their phone lines open.

Has anyone else in Charlotte recieved this schtick from TW? Have you had any success?? I would appreciate any advice. Also, recommendations on other high speed internet providers would be appreciated!!! No need to give them any more cash than I have too. :D

[Jeffner76]

Having cable card troubles! I have a new Series3 (crazy-expensive model!)

Got two cable cards installed by a technician:

*one tuner gets all the channels I am supposed to receive

*the other tuner only gets some channels (and none of the non-network HD channels that I'm entitled to)

Time Warner has been here twice now; each time, they claim the cards are functional and programmed to receive all channels.

So, has anyone had a similar problem? Is it really the cable cards? Could it be <shudder> the Tivo itself? I'm a rabid Tivo fan, so I hate to even mention that.
How did you get 2 cable cards????!!!

PS - Everything I have googled indicates its not the tivo box...it's the techs or the cards. Try calling customer service w/o the tech present.

[pkscout]

HELP! My series 3 HD (300 hr) arrived yesterday, I was sooo excited. Sat down and did the whole reverently unwrap the box thing. As I started going through the instrustructions, I realized I needed two cable cards. I had only ordered one. My appointment is this afternoon between 6 and 9. Last night I called TW-Charlotte and requested the tech bring 2 cable cards. HUGE mistake. HUGE. They absolutely refused to provide 2 cards since I do not have 2 hd tvs. A supervisor finally got on the line and stated that the FCC only requires they provide one and the company has made a policy decision and will only provide one card for TIVO users. I, of course, went into my "as soon as I locate alternate providers, I will cancel every service I have with TW" rant; not realizing at the time that the series 3 requires a cable feed!! (Idjut me).

I cannot begin to tell you how livid I am about this development. Called TIVO last night, they were helpful and "escalated" me to a higher level of customer service that would apparently conference in TW and tell them they had to provide the card. Hold time was stated to be 5 minutes...after 20 I gave up (I was on my cell phone and running up minutes like crazy).

I am calling back this AM when their phone lines open.

Has anyone else in Charlotte recieved this schtick from TW? Have you had any success?? I would appreciate any advice. Also, recommendations on other high speed internet providers would be appreciated!!! No need to give them any more cash than I have too. :D

Just tell them you have two CableCard ready devices and that you want two CableCards. If they insist on knowing what it is, tell them again it's a TiVo with two CableCard slots. If they tell you that you can only have one card, tell them fine, you want one M-card then. If they won't provide it, file a complaint with the FCC.

[heschong]

Just tell them you have two CableCard ready devices and that you want two CableCards. If they insist on knowing what it is, tell them again it's a TiVo with two CableCard slots. If they tell you that you can only have one card, tell them fine, you want one M-card then. If they won't provide it, file a complaint with the FCC.

I told TW in Charlotte that I had a Tivo and needed two cable cards. While they had apparently never heard of putting a cable card in a Tivo, they didn't give me any hassle around getting two. They kept asking what kind of TV I had, and I patiently explained that the cable cards weren't going to go into the TV, but into the Tivo. After about 10 minutes on hold while they consulted with tech support to find out if they supported Tivo, they sent a tech out.

FYI - When the tech arrived, he had 3 cable cards with him, as apparently they often have bad cards. Both mine worked fine, but your installer may bring more than one and you may be able to get him to add it to your order when he shows up.

[iota]

Just wanted to post my (frustrating) experience with Time-Warner Columbus here in Ohio.

Saturday 8/4 - Picked up TiVo HD at Circuit City for $250 (just asked them to match a price I had previously seen on their site, they did it without any delay). Called Time-Warner immediately after picking up the box and told them I needed two CableCARDs.

The person I spoke to told me "No problem! Just bring your DVR to the office and we'll give you two CableCARDs. The office near you is closed, but the one way across town is open for another hour!" Perfect! I drive the 30 minutes across town (to the Alum Creek office) and I'm told "CableCARDs? We don't have those, we never have. You have to have a technician come out and 'wire them up' for you."

On the long drive home from the office, I call Time-Warner again; I tell the guy that I just need someone to bring the CableCARDs over so that I could set up my TiVo, and I wanted it as soon as possible since I had now wasted my afternoon driving around. He told me that I could make an appointment for a technician to come out in about a week and a half, but there was no way to get anyone else out sooner. When I asked to speak to a supervisor, he said that I could not speak to one; when I told him that the situation was so frustrating that I had to consider the possibility of switching providers, he said "I'll go ahead and just disconnect your service for you now." I of course asked again to speak to his supervisor, and he hung up on me.

I called back later (after I had cooled off) and was able to get an appointment for someone to come out on Wednesday 8/8. Frustrated that I will have to miss work just to have someone drop off a tiny device, I accepted it so that I could at least get the TiVo HD working as it should.

Wednesday 8/8 - Technician shows up in the middle of the scheduled block; he says he's in a hurry, and puts both of the CableCARDs in the TiVo HD at the same time, calls his dispatcher to tell them that he has finished the appointment, and tells me to call customer service in 10 minutes. He leaves, I wait 10 minutes, and call customer service. They tell me that I need to wait another hour. I wait an hour, and the TiVo still has no signal; the CableCARD CP Screen shows "Waiting for CP Auth," so I call again. They tell me that they have "sent a signal" to the CARDs and that they can't keep me on the phone while I wait.

Nothing happens. I call again, they send a signal. I call again, and again, and again. Some times I get through to someone who can "send a signal", some times they tell me the wait, most times they tell me that only a technician at my house can help me. Eventually, someone "sends a signal" that allows me to get the basic cable channels, 1-99, but nothing else (none of the 'encrypted' channels, like Showtime or DiscoveryHD).

After about 4 hours of calling and waiting, I call TiVo CableCARD support. After a long wait, I get through to the most helpful person of the night. He explains that the "Waiting for CP Auth" means that my card never received the provisioning information from the cable headend. He agrees to 3-way call with Time-Warner; after a long wait (during which we listened to "Please continue to hold!" every 3 seconds without music) we get through to someone. They explain that the CableCARD provisioning system has been offline all day, which is why no one can help me. We don't get anywhere with them and eventually give up, still "Waiting for CP Auth".

Thursday 8/9 - After work, I call TiVo again. They set up a 3-way call with Time-Warner; we finally get through to someone who says that CableCARD issues are handled by their RoadRunner internet techs! After being transferred (against our better judgement) and a long wait, we are told that RoadRunner only provides support for computers -- NOT CableCARDs. The TiVo tech asks me to call Time-Warner, then call them back once I have someone who can help out on the line.

I call back to Time-Warner a few more times and finally get a nice young lady who actually accepts the challenge of fixing my CableCARDs. After 45 minutes of her "sending signals", she finally realizes that the cards were never paired with their system at all. After pairing the cards, my "Waiting for CP Auth" goes away almost immediately, but I still cannot access any encrypted channels. It is at this point that the helpful young woman realized something that no one else had: when my CableCARDs were first added to my account, the person who set up the work order "accidentally" removed my cable TV service, so I was only receiving the basic channels. After a few moments, all of my channels came in crystal clear over both CableCARDs, and I was satisfied.

Total time spent on the phone with Time-Warner (including waiting time): 5 hours 51 minutes
Total time spent on the phone with TiVo (including waiting time): 1 hour 38 minutes
Time it should have taken to resolve this: 5 minutes, and no time off from work waiting for a technician to give me something I could have picked up at the cable company office

Oh well. At least it works now...

[toxicpenguin]

Hi All... first of all thank you all for the excellent suggestions and information posted on this forum... i guess I owe a lot to the comments on the forum for having a relatively painless experience.

I just had TWC come in and install my Cable cards and everything went smoothly, infact I have a perfectly working setup as of now (fingers crossed).

Here is how it all went. Maybe you all can use some or all information here to make your setup smooth.

I got my tivoHD on 8/3, and i immediately connected it, and updated it with Tivo for latest software updates. I did that on 8/3, reran the updates manually on 8/4, 8/5 and 8/6 ... nothing new dloaded, but did it anyways.

I had a technician scheduled on 8/8, therefore based on suggestions on the forum, I called TWC on 8/6 and asked them to make a note to bring in Cable cards which were 6/06 or newer.

8/8 - Day of reckoning.
4:30 - TWC technician showed up with 2 Scientific Atlanta cards, both dated 04/07 (yippie!!) :up: , however both were S cards, not M cards. I asked the extremely skeptical technician about previous setups, which seemingly went horrendous.
He put in both cards Slot 1 then Slot 2, and went to Cable Card setup. Updated both of them BEFORE he could call TWC for authorize them. Took about 15 mins to get both updated.
4:50 - Cards updated, called in TWC to get both cards authorized. Took about 5 mins to get that done.
5:00 - Began messing with channels, however none showed up (bummer). Although Tivo asked me to run guided setup, I chose not to run it at this time (based on computers... i like to reset after any hardware change) I reset the Tivo (without going thro the guided setup) and waited for it to come back on. Here I noticed something strange. After the powering up screen, my TV went blank with a message "not supported mode" (this is from my TV not TIVO). The message was on the screen for almost 5 mins, and the Tivo remote was non responsive. I thought the machine hung, so i hard reset it one more time. This time I went to make coffee. It took me 10 mins to get back, seems the same message popped up but waiting the 10 mins got the Tivo to power up.
5:20 : Technician wanted me to flip thro channels (which none showed up) ... so we decided to go thro the guided setup
5:50 : Guided setup completed. Tivo powered up again, This time channels 1,2,4,6,7,8,10 were displaying. No cable channels, no HD, no HBO.
6:00 : He remembered from his previous experience, if PBS HD shows up, the problem is at the center, not Tivo. We tuned in to PBS ... voila it worked!!!
6:05 : Called in, rehit the cable cards, and slowly channels started coming on!!!!
6:25 : All channels were displaying!!! All HD, regular, digital, HBO ESPN everything!!! AWESOME. The only channel that does not work.... A&E channel 16 (who cares)

Well he left, I went out got a celebratory beer, came back, and was messing around witht the Tivo, realized... Slot 1 Cable card works, Slot 2 DOES NOT WORK!!!!!!!!!

So I went to the Cable Card Diagnostics screen, both cards showed as active. Painfully I compared each line between both cards to see what is it that Slot 1 has that Slot 2 is missing.

Here was the difference

Cable Card CP Screen : PowerKey Status was Ready in Slot 1, Waiting in Slot 2

Cable Card Diag Screen : Showed message "please call TWC" in Slot 2

Called TWC asked for someone who had set up Cable Cards before. The technician was all paniky and said she will schedule another technician to come out.
All I asked her to do was to check if cable card was showing as active and to hit it one more time. Gave her the Cable card ID (its a bunch of letters), she sent out a signal, found that the card was not activated.

Activated it, I rebooted the tivo, she sent a signal, 15 mins later.... the damn card was working.

Everything is working perfectly now. I still have pixelations on HD channels (once every say 20 mins).... but overall it is working fine. Ill keep you posted if any changes occur.

Ill check on the forum every day so if someone has questions and I can help, please post them and ill answer to the best I can

Cheers all and thanks again!!!

[jbaum]

[QUOTE=toxicpenguin]Hi All... first of all thank you all for the excellent suggestions and information posted on this forum... i guess I owe a lot to the comments on the forum for having a relatively painless experience.

How did you to get the right person at TWC? I just replaced by dead series 3 and a new one and switched the cards myself. I get all the non premium channels, but the premium one say I need to be authorized. I do get PBS

The CSR kept complaining about cablecards and said he needs to send someone out. How do I get the existing cards reauthorized? Seems silly to have someone to come out since I know they work.

[Jeffner76]

Hey everyone...after all the hell TWC put me through, the tech who showed up was great! He had two cable cards and didn't hesitate to install both of them. I have no idea if they are m cards or s cards. The install went pretty smoothly and it was the tech's first time installing cable cards, period.

A few tips:

-have the "instructions for cable card installers" for the tech. Make sure they know how to follow directions!
-lie when you order cable cards! Tell them you have two hd tvs. They view TIVO as a competitor (ha! tivo is way out of their league!) and have no interest in helping you. The techs could care less...


So far, my tivo is working great. Now I'm just getting all of my programming up and running on the new S3 HD...who knew I had so many shows and preferences on the old S2!
Good luck - -

[Jeffner76]

Thank you - I did email the FCC!! Agggh...all is good now, see post...

[randymac88]

Everything is working perfectly now. I still have pixelations on HD channels (once every say 20 mins).... but overall it is working fine. Ill keep you posted if any changes occur.

You don't know how good this is to hear - I've yet to see a TWC Manhattan success story. I had my first tech appointment last tuesday (failed firmware updates - old cards), and they're coming tomorrow afternoon. I've called TWCNYC to beg them to bring the newest possible cards and (hopefully) perform the firmware updates before coming to my place.

I am so hoping that it works so I can move on to more "advanced" problems like pixelation and slow menus.

[Zaph32]

I'm having a terrible experience with time-warner so far. I was scheduled for cablecard "install' today between 8 and 11am (something I had to wait 2 weeks for) and got a no-show.

I called them 5 times today and got nothing but lies. "He's on the way." "He'll be there in 30 mins" etc.

Here it is, 5:22pm and no installer, no phone call, no nothing. I am livid.

Who can I complain to about this?

[CaptDS9E]

Well I have a pretty good TWC Queens NY story. As i mentioned a few pages back the customer service rep told me one day, but it was actually a week later. So i had to wait 2 1/2 weeks to get the 4 cards for the two HD Tivo's. This was the entire worst part it turns out. Just getting someone to come and install. So the installer comes yesterday, but has no cable cards at all. For some reason it was not on the work order (idiotic customer rep). My brother who was home told the guy our entire ordeal. Guy was not surprised at all with what happened. So as my brother calls him "the nicest installer ever" said he would go get the cards and be back in 30 minutes. He gets back, and starts the install. He has done many Tivo HD install's in the last few months with little problem. All four cards finally get installed. Says the premium's etc.. will work withen 30 minutes. He went to another service call nearby, but would call my brother to make sure everything was alright not only with the cable cards, but the other left over box's in our house as they have to reset also. He called back three times over the course of the day making sure everything was working. Beautiful. Brother checked and everything worked. All 4 cards. Last night I came home. My brothers cards were fine. However for some reason my first card was acting strange. So i called TWC, and got another person who actually knows what they are talking about (two in one day, we were on a roll). Mentions that some of the others need at least to run over night for some other batch updates and such. If there is a problem call back this morning. However i wake up and all is good. Every station works perfectly fine including all HD, HD extra and premium movie channels on every card. Guess we got lucky with actually having a great installer, and someone on the phone who actually knew what the hell they were talking about.

[Zaph32]

Well, I got stiffed. And didn't even get a call.

I called TW 7 times over the course of the day, and got various stories about when he would arrive, none of which came true.

If I hadn't already dumped my HR10-250's I'd be going back to DirecTV with a quickness.

[grwatlanta]

I just received my upgraded series 3 from Weaknees yesterday. I called Time Warner Chapel Hill to schedule installation of the cable cards. The service representative said that she had never heard of a component that takes two cards. She insisted that I must pay a $42.95 service fee for each card. I challenged that and said I had read on the internet that only one service fee is charged for these easy installations. She checked with her supervisor who also insisted that two fees must be charged. She said that if I could find on the internet where it said only one fee should be charged, she would honor it. On the Time Warner web site I found the page that listed the fees and it said nothing about charges per card. She still insisted that she had to charge me twice for this service. She justified that they needed this extra charge because of the cost to "roll" the truck and the fact that the technician may need to spend up to 60 minutes to install.

I went ahead to schedule the installation and hope I will find a way to get the fee reduced.

Have others experienced this problem? If so, were you successful in getting charged only one fee for service installation?

[ScratchFury]

Zaph32, Time Warner has a gurantee that if they don't show up, they owe you money.

[ScratchFury]

grwatlanta, I have never been charged a service fee for installation or a truck roll ever! But I don't live in your area. The only thing I pay is $3.50 a month total for just having the CableCARDs.

[Zaph32]

Scratch, yeah, they put a $20 credit on my account. (Whee.) I still have nothing.

[mitomac]

She insisted that I must pay a $42.95 service fee for each card. I challenged that and said I had read on the internet that only one service fee is charged for these easy installations.
Have others experienced this problem? If so, were you successful in getting charged only one fee for service installation?

Greetings neighbor,

TWC in Durham -- I also got hit with the $42.95 per card install fee. Ouch, $86 for the privilege of Tivo. The install took 2 days and approximately 6 hours. Most of the time was spent while the tech (a contractor) waited on hold with TWC.

All is working now, but we are experiencing the macroblocking issues on many channels. Thinking of taking the tivo hd back, but then I'm out the $86... Between a rock and hard place.


mitomac

[littlelibo]

The tech just left my house... Here's the weird thing. He installed 2 cards which had stickers on them that say "1 way"

When we inserted the first one, the screen showed "multi-stream"

He said that can't be right and installed the second one anyway.

When they left, i got a message telling me to remove the second card as it won't be used...

So... is there a way to tell what I have?

[mercurial]

I just received my upgraded series 3 from Weaknees yesterday. I called Time Warner Chapel Hill to schedule installation of the cable cards. The service representative said that she had never heard of a component that takes two cards. She insisted that I must pay a $42.95 service fee for each card. I challenged that and said I had read on the internet that only one service fee is charged for these easy installations. She checked with her supervisor who also insisted that two fees must be charged. She said that if I could find on the internet where it said only one fee should be charged, she would honor it. On the Time Warner web site I found the page that listed the fees and it said nothing about charges per card. She still insisted that she had to charge me twice for this service. She justified that they needed this extra charge because of the cost to "roll" the truck and the fact that the technician may need to spend up to 60 minutes to install.

I went ahead to schedule the installation and hope I will find a way to get the fee reduced.

Have others experienced this problem? If so, were you successful in getting charged only one fee for service installation?

I had two S3's setup here in Cary and got "lucky". It confused them enough installing 4 CCs in 2 devices that they only charged the installation fee once per box instead of per-card. (Though they'd said it was per-card originally.) Of course, it also took them 4-5 trips and many hours before they got it right too...

[littlelibo]

I am checking the rest of my channels and I am not getting my ESPNHD, ESPN2HD or HBOHD channels...

Also, my HDNET, MOJO, & UHD are coming in with no audio

Any help?

[ChrisFix]

The tech just left my house... Here's the weird thing. He installed 2 cards which had stickers on them that say "1 way"

When we inserted the first one, the screen showed "multi-stream"

He said that can't be right and installed the second one anyway.

When they left, i got a message telling me to remove the second card as it won't be used...

So... is there a way to tell what I have?

If the TiVo is reporting that card 1 is a multi-stream card, then that is what you have. You can't use a card in slot 2 with a multi in slot 1...nor would you want/need to. The multi-stream card will serve both tuners. Take out the card in slot 2 and tune to a channel on both tuners...it should work fine. Return the other card if you are paying per card, as you don't need it.

[toxicpenguin]

Jbaum, I dont know if you can request a specific agent on the phone, but the one that helped me was extension 1170 .. I called around 8pm on a weekday to the Manhattan phone number. However, considering you have a NEW box, it means a new install unfortunately. So I am guessing they will come out to you anyways. However, REMEMBER ... if the install goes well, check your cable lineup for BOTH cards (pressing the watch live tv button repeatedly switches between cable cards). run thro channels for both cards. Thats the mistake I made, checked only one which is why i had to call back to activate the other.

[toxicpenguin]

Randymac88 - You don't know how good this is to hear - I've yet to see a TWC Manhattan success story. I had my first tech appointment last tuesday (failed firmware updates - old cards), and they're coming tomorrow afternoon. I've called TWCNYC to beg them to bring the newest possible cards and (hopefully) perform the firmware updates before coming to my place.

Check the cards before he installs them, I had to call 3 days in advance, leave a note on the order number to get new cards. Also, before the installer puts cards in, write down the cable card serial numbers ... should be 9 letters (eg PKdhdhZPL). Very useful to have once the installer leaves and you need to call in for a problem.

A suggestion... keep your old cable box for a week atleast before you turn it in. Sometimes you may have a problem and will be frustrating to have no TV at all!! I still have my old setup hooked up, which I will disconnect next week when I am confident with the new setup

[ChrisFix]

I just received my upgraded series 3 from Weaknees yesterday. I called Time Warner Chapel Hill to schedule installation of the cable cards. The service representative said that she had never heard of a component that takes two cards. She insisted that I must pay a $42.95 service fee for each card. I challenged that and said I had read on the internet that only one service fee is charged for these easy installations. She checked with her supervisor who also insisted that two fees must be charged. She said that if I could find on the internet where it said only one fee should be charged, she would honor it. On the Time Warner web site I found the page that listed the fees and it said nothing about charges per card. She still insisted that she had to charge me twice for this service. She justified that they needed this extra charge because of the cost to "roll" the truck and the fact that the technician may need to spend up to 60 minutes to install.

I went ahead to schedule the installation and hope I will find a way to get the fee reduced.

Have others experienced this problem? If so, were you successful in getting charged only one fee for service installation?

I'm also in Chapel Hill, and have had the same conversation with TWC as you have. They are insisting on $42.95 per card...even though it isn't listed anywhere on their web site. They charge $18.95 to bring and install an STB...seems fair in some anti-competitive universe.

I was originally told that I could get an M Card and had scheduled that install, which was canceled by the installation supervisor because "we don't have any M-Cards". I then rescheduled to have two cards installed...but decided to cancel that to see if the pixelation issues are fixed during my 30 day return period. If not, it's going back. I didn't want to waste $86 on TWC for something I might return.

I'd been pretty happy with TWC but their CC policies just suck:
- No M Cards
- No Digital Simulcast
- $42.95 Per Card to install with no option to self install (which I'd do in a heartbeat)
- $5.50 Per Month to rent ($1.75 each + $1 each for premiums)

Then there is the added bonus of:
- No VoD
- No SVD

Between the cost to install CCs ($86), the TWC monthly ($5.50), cost of TiVo box ($299) & cost of TiVo service ($299) it has gotten very expensive per month, even over a 36 month period ($24.50 / Month).

[littlelibo]

I am checking the rest of my channels and I am not getting my ESPNHD, ESPN2HD, UHD or HBOHD channels...

Also, my HDNET and MOJO are coming in with no audio

Any help?


Still can't get these...help

[rateaustin]

The Time Warner cablecard installation process can be summarized in one word: cluster****. The first problem is that Time Warner sends out contractors that have not been trained to install cablecards and have not been told that they will be installing cablecards. You might think from reading this forum that some kind of advanced skills are required to install cablecards and it's not possible to train every last installer. It is NOT TRUE. There is no need for an installer to come out at all other than to attempt to confuse the customer about cablecards. The installation process is easy. You plug in two cards and phone in 2 number sequences per card. The entire process should take at most 20 minutes or even less if you are lucky enough to get cablecards that do not require an automatic firmware update. The reason that you want an installer that is experienced with Tivo cablecard installs is that they know how to work around the obstacles put in place or not addressed by Time Warner. Unlike a pcmcia network card for your laptop, cablecards do not get pulled in and out of computers repeatedly. That is why I cannot understand how the cablecards that were used for my Tivo install were scratched and dented like a 5 year old pc card that was finally replaced by a new laptop with built in wireless. The installer told me that he was initially given a cablecard with a piece of cardboard taped around it to hold it together. No joke. Where is Time Warner getting these cards? Are they used to prop up broken tables at the Time Warner offices?

My lessons learned:


When the installer calls right before showing up, make sure you verify that he has 2 cablecards and has experience installing them in a Tivo.
Write down the cablecard and host (tivo) id numbers found in the tivo cablecard host/device screen. The installer will read these back to the main office to activate the cards.
If you are not getting expected channels, make sure the installer contacts the "DNS" office to make sure that the correct signals have been sent out to the cablecards. Even non-contract Time Warner installers do not have direct access to the DNS office, so don't be fooled by the the first few rounds of "try it now, we sent the signals".

[Glich]

Just got the cards for my tvhd installed. Not perfect but it usable..

1. Landlord had to call cable co a week ago (she pays the cable bill) and set up appt for today phone lady had no clue about cable cards and just said I am sure the installer will have the right stuff in the van.

2. Cable guy calls 90 min before his his window to say hes ready if we are now (miracles do happen luckily I was home)

3. I meet him and curb and great him and ask him if he has setup a Tivo HD and he said yes. (this turned out not to be true he had done a S3 before)

4. I ask him if his as a M-card and he says yes and take it our of his pocket.

5. I take him to tivo and he begins looking behind it for the slot. I give him the paper and show him there in the front.

6. He put cards in and tivo says its a S card. At this point this breaks down to a 5 min conversion on s vs m and that there is a difference.

7. he goes back to his tuck and gets another s-card. and the install seems to go from there.

8. when he calls in to his office to activate cards he asks about m cards they tell him 2 weeks when the new boxes come out. (looks like i am making another apt in a few weeks)

9. I tune in a HD chanel and the start recording and try to swap to a different HD and the unit goes black screen and says it needs to firmware update.


10. cable guys leaves but give me his cell number if anything gos wrong.

11. 40 min later i can tune and record 2 different channels (its a bit sliugist compared to my S1 but still better then the beyond TV box i have been living with since my S1 died)

12. just did setup again and if the gods are nice i should be 100% soon..

--
update well i discovered only 1/2 my digital channels work right some of them are blank and some only work for 4-5 sec the the frame gets stuck..

--
update 2
called cable guy back and called tivo after being on hold for 40 min tivo showed me the CC diags that showed the cards were not activated right just as shes about to hang up the cable guy shows talked to tivo then calls his dispatch . turns out the host IDs the girl this morning said she didn't need were needed to make it work.. 5 min later everything appears to be working.. Minor pixilaizion just after channel change but my cable box did that too. Wish me luck!

[randymac88]

Good news from Time Warner Cable Manhattan sub. Technician came out today, 12-4 window, arrived at 3:30 (d'oh!).

The guy meant business. Was totally on top of it, knew exactly what he was doing. Said he had done multiple installs into the TiVos. I told him about my previous appointment from two weeks ago, and how the Firmware update didn't load.

He pulled out two cards, said that they were tested prior to going out in the field. They were dated April and May of 2006. Uh oh. I told him that I was told that the cards needed to be dated 6/11 or after due to the firmware update issues. He said that actually, the firmware downloading issue was not with the cards or the TiVo, but actually with the IT group at TWC. And, they located and found the issue. I was skeptical, but took his word for it.

Popped in card 1, got the host ID. Popped in card 2, got the host ID. Firmware updates began with both cards...and finished in about 5 minutes. Paired the cards through dispatch, and was off and running. Checked both cards for HD channels, got a few, and off he went. All set, up and running, about 30 minutes total!

Unfortunately, I've got pixelation issues on both tuners. I haven't had time to watch enough to determine whether I deem it unwatchable, but I definitely have some significant problems. Cross your fingers. HD looks great though...I think it looks a little crisper than the old 8300HD box (which I kept around, just in case).

For some reason, my "480i" light on the front won't turn off though...weird. I've disabled everything, yet it remains (I've got it on 1080i fixed anyway).

Thanks to all for the info!

[toxicpenguin]

Alright, its now been a solid 2 days with me trying out the TiVoHD with the new cable cards. I have been recording pretty much everything showing up, and transferred all my old season passes to the new tivo. The 2 tuner recording works great. Infact I disconnected the Tivo to rearrange the equiptment, and reconnected everything and cable cards worked like a charm.
Here are the issues I have been having so far.

1. SLOOOOOW GUI.... I mean it is real slow. Maybe I am comparing it to my S2 box which was zippy. It is even slower when you are accessing HD channel lineup.

2. Changing channels thro the Tivo is a bit slow compared to STB ... not that big a deal.

3. Pixelation : that is my biggest gripe. EVERYTHING i tape has that random pixelation. HD maybe a bit more than SD, and I suspect Cable card 2 more than 1 (no way to be sure other than watching each show as it records)

4. Color saturation of the GUI is too much (again i compare it with S2 connected with SVGA versus S3 with HDMI)

5. A&E, and a couple channels still do not decode.

6. Couple channels... video OK, no audio (i dont watch those anyways :))

I wonder if some or all issues are Tivo related or TWC related. All of you out there with TWC, can you post if Channel 16 (A&E) decodes on your TiVoHD's.

Also, does anyone know if there is a setting which displays which tuner I am viewing, without going to cable card lineup menu... something which displays channel and tuner info at the same time

Is anyone having any other issues? I am going to call TiVo is a day or 2 to talk to them about this damn pixelation which the better half is definately gonna bitch about.

Thanks again

[littlelibo]

I live in dallas and just had my cablecards delivered. First thing you should know is that the techs they send have little to no experience with cablecards. The dispatchers they call in order to activate the cards are even worse. I will say that they will keep working however until you get success. The trick is for you to be educated before they arrive.

The second thing you should know is that the cards they brought to me were all motorola m-cards. The cards have stickers which say "1-way", but they show in the tivo as multi-stream. This is great, it means you will only need one card (if your experience is like mine).

My experience was painful, but ultimately successful. The didpatchers were the problem... The cards would work, but certain channels would not come in. It took about 6 hours, and 5 cablecards (all of which I know believe were totally fine). Finally, one of the dispatchers cleared my account totally and set it up from scratch and viola... I know am enjoying TivoHD paradise...

Good luck...

[LowFuel]

My experience:
Called TW and setup an appointment once Tivo alerted me that my box had shipped.
The box arrived a few days early, which is fine. I set it up the night before so it would be ready to go.
TW installer had not done a HD Tivo yet. He plugged in the first card, called in the ID#'s, and it was working within a few minutes. Second card took a little longer to sync up, but then started working as well.

I am getting the pixelation problem quite often (every 10 seconds or so on HD channels). Anyone NOT getting this?
I'm really, really not looking forward to trying to troubleshoot this - I'm sure TW will say it's Tivo, and Tivo will say it's TW, etc.
Bottom line is my old 8300HD plugged into the same jack worked flawlessly for a year or so.

Also, new problem just occured - all the digital channels are now just a gray screen. They were working one second, then just stopped. I restarted the Tivo to no avail, then powered it off and re-seated the cable cards, again to no avail. Anyone seen something like this?

I'm really frustrated at this point. I expected problems from TW and Scientific Craplanta, but not Tivo... :(

[Zaph32]

I'm not getting pixelization on HD channels, but I am using 1 Motorola M card in each box.

Oh, and I'm having digital channel issues similar to what you're seeing on one of them. No luck so far in getting them fixed over the phone.

[LowFuel]

Oh, and I'm having digital channel issues similar to what you're seeing on one of them. No luck so far in getting them fixed over the phone.

I was actually seeing it on *all* digital channels. But, looks like it's cleared up after waiting about 30 minutes...

I wonder if I can get a motorola card here in San Diego...

[Zaph32]

So here's a semi-new topic.

How can we get REAL technical support?

Calling the reps is not good enough to resolve "tough" issues like 0x02.
Calling the "Tivo Cablecard Support" line is just regular Tivo support, and is also worthless.

I need to get through to a real, honest to God technical person at Time-Warner to fix this card.

I am so pissed off at this whole experience.

[Karnwine]

Zaph32, Here's what I did after several frustrating days of trying to get my cards to work: Go to TimeWarnercable.com, enter your zip to take you to your areas webpage. From there I clicked on the "about Us" tab and found email links to the management team. I shot a short email to the regional president and had three lead techs at my door and their cable card "guru" on the phoneline the next morning. Everything works great now. Let us know if this works for you too. Good Luck

[Zaph32]

Karnwine, very good suggestion and I will do exactly that.

[Zaph32]

Karnwine,

Just to follow up...you rule. This got the appropriate attention and my issue is now completely resolved!

[heidismiles]

HELP! My series 3 HD (300 hr) arrived yesterday, I was sooo excited. Sat down and did the whole reverently unwrap the box thing. As I started going through the instrustructions, I realized I needed two cable cards. I had only ordered one. My appointment is this afternoon between 6 and 9. Last night I called TW-Charlotte and requested the tech bring 2 cable cards. HUGE mistake. HUGE. They absolutely refused to provide 2 cards since I do not have 2 hd tvs. A supervisor finally got on the line and stated that the FCC only requires they provide one and the company has made a policy decision and will only provide one card for TIVO users. I, of course, went into my "as soon as I locate alternate providers, I will cancel every service I have with TW" rant; not realizing at the time that the series 3 requires a cable feed!! (Idjut me).

I cannot begin to tell you how livid I am about this development. Called TIVO last night, they were helpful and "escalated" me to a higher level of customer service that would apparently conference in TW and tell them they had to provide the card. Hold time was stated to be 5 minutes...after 20 I gave up (I was on my cell phone and running up minutes like crazy).

I am calling back this AM when their phone lines open.

Has anyone else in Charlotte recieved this schtick from TW? Have you had any success?? I would appreciate any advice. Also, recommendations on other high speed internet providers would be appreciated!!! No need to give them any more cash than I have too. :D

Does anyone mind helping a noob? I just ordered one 80-hour box and one 300-hour box directly from Tivo. I am a Time Warner customer in Orange County, California. I've never even heard of a CableCard before. What's the deal? Will I need one or more of these cards to make my Tivos work? I called TW and they said I won't need any cards, just cable boxes.

[Karnwine]

Zaph, did you actually get a response from an email that fast or just threaten to use it when you called in??

[Zaph32]

I just emailed. I got a response almost instantly, and resolution very shortly thereafter.

I was (and am) floored. It's a Sunday afternoon!

[Karnwine]

Wow!! Thats pretty good service. TW is actually decent when you finally reach the right people....okay, thats doesn't sound right in this thread, please don't flame me, TW haters!!

[TracerBullet]

Has anyone else had the experience of getting put on hold for a lengthly period of time when ordering cablecards? I called TWC (Brooklyn) last week to order them, and was put on hold for approximately ten minutes. I had to cancel the appointment because something came up, and told them I'd call back to reschedule. I did so today, and got the 10-minute hold time again. I've never gotten this with any other call to TWC.

I'm usually allergic to conspiracy theories, but this seems a little odd.

[s2kdave]

Has anyone else had the experience of getting put on hold for a lengthly period of time when ordering cablecards? I called TWC (Brooklyn) last week to order them, and was put on hold for approximately ten minutes. I had to cancel the appointment because something came up, and told them I'd call back to reschedule. I did so today, and got the 10-minute hold time again. I've never gotten this with any other call to TWC.

I'm usually allergic to conspiracy theories, but this seems a little odd.

As with any customer service, it really all depends on what day and the time of day you call. If everyone is calling the same time you are, the hold times will be long. So 5-6pm on a weekday, especially monday, will be the worst time to call.

[TracerBullet]

As with any customer service, it really all depends on what day and the time of day you call. If everyone is calling the same time you are, the hold times will be long. So 5-6pm on a weekday, especially monday, will be the worst time to call.

No, no. I was put on hold after I reached a CSR and asked for cablecards.

[LowFuel]

Zaph - are you saying they fixed your pixelation issues, or just a bad cable card?
Sorry, I wasnt sure what the problem was you needed escalated. I'm curious if they were actually able to resolve pixelation problems!

[s2kdave]

No, no. I was put on hold after I reached a CSR and asked for cablecards.

My bad, I misread it. Yeah, that sucks. I've had that happen once or twice, but not consistently. Most of my wait time is before talking to someone. The last time I called they were working on something for a while and took my number and called me back so I didn't have to wait.

[Zaph32]

Zaph - are you saying they fixed your pixelation issues, or just a bad cable card?
Sorry, I wasnt sure what the problem was you needed escalated. I'm curious if they were actually able to resolve pixelation problems!

I never had pixelization, thankfully. I'm on MCards on both units, and so far the pixelization seems to be limited to Scientific Atlanta SCards.

My issue had to do with the card provisioning - it was done incorrectly and was causing certain channels to throw up the cablecard screen. The normal phone reps could not fix it, it had to be handled by someone who really understood cablecards.

(The problem? The installer, who wrote down all the numbers by hand, assigned the wrong host/data to the wrong card serials.)

Then my next problem, channels randomly going dark on me, was "resolved" after a fashion...the TivoHD in question died and I replaced with a new one. Yes, that did re-open the cablecard activation problems, you can't port the card over.

At this moment, all is well and I am pleased (and holding my breath!)

[heidismiles]

Ok, well I just ordered my first Tivo boxes (80 hr and S3) and I called Time Warner to schedule a CableCard installation. They didn't give me any crap about it (they said "Series 3, right? Yes, you will need two cable cards.") and the cards are going to be free. They aren't even charging me for the service call, since I was so angry about my TW DVRs crapping out on me (they randomly erased ALL of my recordings, future recordings, and favorites lists.) So, it looks like a potential good experience from an Orange County, California customer. Hopefully they'll work! I'll let y'all know on Thursday.

[randymac88]

No, no. I was put on hold after I reached a CSR and asked for cablecards.

This happened to me once, but i just assumed that it was because the first rep I got on the phone knew nothing about cablecards, so she put me back on hold until a more knowledgable rep could pick up.

[Skittles]

Ugh. Just dealing with the order department at Time Warner Cable is already frustrating me, and I haven't even gotten my install set up yet.

Called and talked to a Time Warner Cable person in Richardson, told her I needed to get cable service set up and that I wanted two cablecards. She asked if I'd be using them in my TV, and I told her I'd be using them for my TiVo HD unit.

She put me on hold. Came back a few minutes later, told me they don't offer cablecards for TiVo's.

I told her that was a crock of bull, and that they offered cablecards, and that they don't get to pick and choose what they want to install them in, because that's a violation of the FCC regulation. Put me on hold again for five minutes, came back, and said once again that they only offer cablecards for TV installations, not for TiVo's.

I told her that was a crock (again) and that there should be no issue with installing them in a TiVo, since they're the same cablecards.

She put me on hold again, another five minutes. Came back, and said they'd go ahead and set up an appointment for installation. She gives me the spiel about how I'll be losing out on their guide, their On Demand, and the PPV functionality. I was real polite and said that was totally OK.

She offered me an install for tomorrow. I told her that wouldn't work for me. She said the next install appointment was on the 28th.

I asked if she'd be able to offer me an installation appointment on the 4th, instead. So she says "I can't schedule that far out... I can offer you an appointment tomorrow, or an appointment on the 28th. That's it".

Yep. In the next three weeks, they can only install on two days, and won't do anything to schedule beyond that. So I said "Thanks very much anyway, please cancel my order".

I'm already aggrevated with them, and I haven't even seen a tech. I may have to email the regional director about this, because I'm pretty frustrated and want some resolution on this.

[mercurial]

Yes, I love how TWC can never schedule "that far out" but when you push them they can. Our internet and phone was going wonky two days before we were heading out of town. They couldn't get someone out the next day (how can you not send someone out on an emergency call when a person's phone service isn't working?) and "couldn't schedule it a week out because the availability isn't posted yet" but somehow was able to call a supervisor and through some magic had us an appointment for the day we returned.... Hmmm...

[Skittles]

Well, I wrote to the president of the North Texas division for TWC.

I got a reply within 5 minutes, and he was very apologetic. He admitted that they install cablecards in TiVo's all the time, and that he was disappointed in the experience I'd had. He's going to work on getting it fixed for me ASAP.

So hey, if they can get this sorted out, I might be giving major props to them. I'm already impressed with how quickly they wrote back.

[Skittles]

Local manager just called... REALLY apologetic. She offered to set up the TiVo today if I wanted to, and I thanked her for that, but told her that the next few days would be bad for me. I asked if there'd be an installation available on the 23rd, and she said I could have an install on the 28th, for any time of the day that I wanted.

Then I asked her about the cablecards, told her I'd need two, and would it be a problem installing with a TiVo? She said she'd make sure that the install tech brought enough cards to make sure I was working on both tuners, and that they wouldn't leave my apartment until everything was working correctly.

So, in less than an hour, I got everything squared away. It really sucks that I couldn't just have gotten that done with the regular CSR line, though.

[mercurial]

Well, I wrote to the president of the North Texas division for TWC.

I got a reply within 5 minutes, and he was very apologetic. He admitted that they install cablecards in TiVo's all the time, and that he was disappointed in the experience I'd had. He's going to work on getting it fixed for me ASAP.

So hey, if they can get this sorted out, I might be giving major props to them. I'm already impressed with how quickly they wrote back.

HE probably feels the heat from FCC complaints a bit more. HE probably realizes that the song and dance they do to try and get you to back down on CCs isn't going to work on you. But until they ALL get spanked by the FCC for this crap (like the IXCs did for slamming back in the late 80's or was it early 90's) they'll keep trying to FUD you into not using cable cards/TiVos...

[Zaph32]

I was really impressed with the VP's response (and the various people he tasked with resolving my issue.)

The capability exists for this process to be smooth, but there are a couple things that need fixing:

1. We should be able to specify that we want MCards.
2. The installers need to be trained on:
A. The vital and critical importance of getting all the numbers right
B. The testing process to ensure things are right. That is, test HD channels like 755 on both tuners AND test digital channels like 120 on both tuners.
3. The reps need to be trained (and perhaps their phone system enhanced) to allow for sending the "CCInit" zaps. They should be able to see and correct all the various numbers for each card.

In a perfect world, the experience would be:

1. Order your M Cards, receive them by mail or pick them up
2. Enter all the numbers yourself using a phone system or webpage.

It works for DirecTV. It works for Tivo. It should work here also.

The reason they insist on the truck roll is because of the "high failure rate" of these cards. In my experience, the failure is user (installer) error.

[kitchenboy]

Just got my new Tivo Series 3 - called Time Warner on Sunday to come pick up their POS DVR and bring me 1 M card or 2 regular cards - also wanted to have them check the cable in my living room because of pixelation errors on some HD channels.

Installer came out today - had nothing on the order about Cablecards. Found an issue and replaced the cable run to my living room but no cablecards.

I called TWC and they told me they are out of cards and will not have them until September!!!!!!

Not sure why they couldn't tell me this on Sunday when I placed the order - seems really shady...

[pkscout]

Not sure why they couldn't tell me this on Sunday when I placed the order - seems really shady...

Shady implies some basic level of competence that I am unwilling to attribute to TWC. It is more likely that the CSR you scheduled with had no idea and no way of knowing about the shortage.

[abredt]

Does anyone mind helping a noob? I just ordered one 80-hour box and one 300-hour box directly from Tivo. I am a Time Warner customer in Orange County, California. I've never even heard of a CableCard before. What's the deal? Will I need one or more of these cards to make my Tivos work? I called TW and they said I won't need any cards, just cable boxes.

Are your TiVos HD? If so, you need cable cards. If not, then answer is no. I'm in San Fernando Valley with a TiVo Series-3 TiVo. Box requires 2 cable cards that TW installs. Go to TiVo support and find the info that says "Give these instructions to your Cable Card Installer." Make sure they follow the instructions exactly!!! Be sure to tell TW that the installer must bring cable cards. Installer will phone the dispatcher to "authorize" the cards.It often takes several cards to find 2 that work.

CB

[noahtom]

I am livid right now!

Oceanic Cable our local version of Time Warner came to install my cable cards in my new HDTiVo and they no longer support HD channels through the cablecard system.

This means I have a $300 series 2.

I was on the phone with customer service for over an hour. The bottom line is that they are dropping all one way HD signals and going to a two way system and have no backward support for my BRAND NEW TiVo.

I don't know what to do… we only have one cable provider on Oahu.

IF YOU LIVE IN HONOLULU DO NOT BUY A SERIES 3 TiVo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Noah.

[noahtom]

I am livid right now!

Oceanic Cable our local version of Time Warner came to install my cable cards in my new HDTiVo and they no longer support HD channels through the cablecard system.

This means I have a $300 series 2.

I was on the phone with customer service for over an hour. The bottom line is that they are dropping all one way HD signals and going to a two way system and have no backward support for my BRAND NEW TiVo.

I don't know what to do… we only have one cable provider on Oahu.

IF YOU LIVE IN HONOLULU DO NOT BUY A SERIES 3 TiVo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Noah.


I just talked to TiVo, and they seem confident that they can force HD compliance of the cable cards on Oceanic. They said they would let me know in about 2 days.

Stay tuned,

Noah

[Fofer]

If the HD channels are on SDV, I'm not sure what TiVo can do. The S3 can't handle SDV.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=357703

[cryptmagic]

I have a couple questions for you guys i am looking to get the new TivoHD, I have Time Warner in NYC, anyone able to recieve M-cards? Also if you have a M-card, are u able to see channels in SDV or do video on demand? I

[randymac88]

I have a couple questions for you guys i am looking to get the new TivoHD, I have Time Warner in NYC, anyone able to recieve M-cards? Also if you have a M-card, are u able to see channels in SDV or do video on demand? I

1) No M-Cards in NYC.
2) Even if we get M-Cards, it won't support SDV.

[d_anders]

I am livid right now!

Oceanic Cable our local version of Time Warner came to install my cable cards in my new HDTiVo and they no longer support HD channels through the cablecard system.

This means I have a $300 series 2.

I was on the phone with customer service for over an hour. The bottom line is that they are dropping all one way HD signals and going to a two way system and have no backward support for my BRAND NEW TiVo.

I don't know what to do… we only have one cable provider on Oahu.

IF YOU LIVE IN HONOLULU DO NOT BUY A SERIES 3 TiVo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Noah.

Are you absolutely sure? Did you get it confirmed...

Sorry to state maybe the potentially obvious, but doesn't that violate FCC rules?

[TracerBullet]

Well, I had my install today. The installer was here for about 45 minutes. No real problems, and he was knowledgable about TiVos, although he commented that "TiVos don't work well with cablecards". Once we got the hits I had all channels within 5 minutes.

I have some pixellation, but I can live with it until it's fixed.

[pkscout]

Are you absolutely sure? Did you get it confirmed...

Sorry to state maybe the potentially obvious, but doesn't that violate FCC rules?

They are certainly violating the spirit of the rules, but not the letter. Check out the FAQ on SDV (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=357703).

[noahtom]

Over the last 24 hours I have familiarized myself with only a small portion of the Telcom act of 1996. But I feel that Oceanic Cable / Time Warner is clearly disregarding the Federal Mandates by not including all programming via Cable Card especially HD programming.

EXCERPT FROM 1996 FEDERAL TELECOMUNICATIONS ACT

(a) COMMERCIAL CONSUMER AVAILABILITY OF EQUIPMENT USED TO ACCESS SERVICES PROVIDED BY MULTICHANNEL VIDEO PROGRAMMING DISTRIBUTORS-
The Commission shall, in consultation with appropriate industry standard-setting organizations, adopt regulations to assure the commercial availability, to consumers of multichannel video programming and other services offered over multichannel video programming systems, of converter boxes, interactive communications equipment, and other equipment used by consumers to access multichannel video programming and other services offered over multichannel video programming systems, from manufacturers, retailers, and other vendors not affiliated with any multichannel video programming distributor. Such regulations shall not prohibit any multichannel video programming distributor from also offering converter boxes, interactive communications equipment, and other equipment used by consumers to access multichannel video programming and other services offered over multichannel video programming systems, to consumers, if the system operator's charges to consumers for such devices and equipment are separately stated and not subsidized by charges for any such service.

In a nutshell this section of the TelCo Act allows the consumer to purchase their own hardware to decode any cable company’s signal. Similar to the TelCo Act that allowed us to purchase our own phones and not have to buy or rent phones from our telephone company.

Representative Anna Eshoo (D-Ca) said: "I am concerned that despite the implementation of this mandate, many cable operators will either hobble or render competitive set-top boxes unusable by deploying new channel switching technology that won't work with other boxes" I believe Oceanic Cable is doing this right now to stop any competition to their lucrative set-top box rental and VOD markets.

According to Oceanic Cable’s CSR I spoke to yesterday (After an installer was unable to provide access to HD programming via Cable Card.) Oceanic is now going to a SDV (Switched Digital Video) system and requires the Cable Card to have two way communication. This type of Cable Card technology has not been created yet and is not available for any Cable Card device on the market today. Also that as of August 13, 2007 all of Oceanic’s HD programming was moving to this SDV and I could no longer purchase it from them for use on my cable card device. They explained to me that cable card is less than 2% of the market. They needed the SDV upgrade to supply more channels and that cable card was in the way of that progress.

Now here is where it gets really interesting…
The FCC has an Order that has had it’s deadline pushed back twice, but has now passed it’s final extension of July 1, 2007. This order mandates that all set-top cable boxes distributed after that date work via cable card technology. The cable company could still rent you a box but would have to install a cable card into it just like a consumer purchased device. This means that no Oceanic Cable set-top box distributed after July 1, 2007 should be able to access their SDV programming either. I know this is not true and they are still distributing their old style set-top boxes they offered me one in liew of getting my cable card device to work.

I am trying to form this letter to go to my local congressmen and the tech sections of our local papers and business publications. If you see any problems with my logic or understanding of the federal mandates please post.

Thanks for your help.

Noah.

[cableguy763]

Now here is where it gets really interesting…
The FCC has an Order that has had it’s deadline pushed back twice, but has now passed it’s final extension of July 1, 2007. This order mandates that all set-top cable boxes distributed after that date work via cable card technology. The cable company could still rent you a box but would have to install a cable card into it just like a consumer purchased device. This means that no Oceanic Cable set-top box distributed after July 1, 2007 should be able to access their SDV programming either. I know this is not true and they are still distributing their old style set-top boxes they offered me one in liew of getting my cable card device to work.
Noah.[/I][/COLOR]
Just because they use a cablecard in their box doesn't mean it won't do SDV. Even using a cablecard, it is still two-way capable. They can still issue you a box that doesn't have cablecards if they owned it before 7-1-07. It was not a requirement to trash their existing equipment.

[noahtom]

Just because they use a cablecard in their box doesn't mean it won't do SDV. Even using a cablecard, it is still two-way capable. They can still issue you a box that doesn't have cablecards if they owned it before 7-1-07. It was not a requirement to trash their existing equipment.


So what you are saying is, the box needs to be two way capable not the cable cards? Could a TiVo be two way capable?

noah

[cableguy763]

So what you are saying is, the box needs to be two way capable not the cable cards? Could a TiVo be two way capable?

noah
Yes, it is up to the host to be two-way, not the cards. There has been much discussion if the Tivo could be two way. Many think via an add on usb dongle, though nothing concrete about what tivo will do. Check the sticky SDV thread, it is discussed in there.

[Sy-]

I am livid right now!

Oceanic Cable our local version of Time Warner came to install my cable cards in my new HDTiVo and they no longer support HD channels through the cablecard system.

This means I have a $300 series 2.

I was on the phone with customer service for over an hour. The bottom line is that they are dropping all one way HD signals and going to a two way system and have no backward support for my BRAND NEW TiVo.

I don't know what to do… we only have one cable provider on Oahu.

IF YOU LIVE IN HONOLULU DO NOT BUY A SERIES 3 TiVo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Noah.

FWIW I'm using Oceanic and have a S3 with 2 cable cards since October. I get most of the HD channels available to us. No Golf/VsHD and no ESPN2HD. But the other HD channels do work. I'm getting to the point where i'm considering yanking the cable cards from my box and simply use the S3 with an OTA antenna (or qam remapping if Tivo would make this possible) because I feel that Oceanic is ripping us off charging us for a service duplication fee as well as a HD fee for each cable card. My $150 cable bill each month is starting to piss me off.

Edit... And another thing...... Check it out post #2000!!! What do I win?

[atomarchio]

I have Time Warner in Cleveland, Ohio. Bought my HD Tivo at Circuity City and the time warner technician came today.

He kept trying to convince me not to have the cable cards installed. They don't work well and cause problems.

After the "sell job" from the tech, he then proceed to install the cable card. However, one of the cards he had was "a year old, and needed firmware upgrade". The second card was not working at all.

He is supposed me to call me tommorow to come back . Getting this cable card installed by Time Warner is becoming quite a hassle.

Anyone else have this experience in Cleveland?

[pkscout]

Over the last 24 hours I have familiarized myself with only a small portion of the Telcom act of 1996. But I feel that Oceanic Cable / Time Warner is clearly disregarding the Federal Mandates by not including all programming via Cable Card especially HD programming.

Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please read the SDV FAQ (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=357703). Most, if not all, of that is discussed there.

[noahtom]

FWIW I'm using Oceanic and have a S3 with 2 cable cards since October. I get most of the HD channels available to us. No Golf/VsHD and no ESPN2HD. But the other HD channels do work. I'm getting to the point where i'm considering yanking the cable cards from my box and simply use the S3 with an OTA antenna (or qam remapping if Tivo would make this possible) because I feel that Oceanic is ripping us off charging us for a service duplication fee as well as a HD fee for each cable card. My $150 cable bill each month is starting to piss me off.

Edit... And another thing...... Check it out post #2000!!! What do I win?


Sy-

According to Oceanic Cable / Time Warner, They are sending you a letter that will tell you that they are cutting off HD service to Cable Card customers. They told me this letter was going out on 8/13/07 and if you haven't seen it yet you will soon.

So I would assume your choice has been made for you! I don't get good OTA signals where I live in town, How is Ewa Beach?

P.S. to pkscout - I have read that thread thanks for the link! I am only trying to solicit response from the forum to make sure my conclusions are correct before I start shooting my mouth off. If you believe that my posts should be in a different thread please suggest which one.

noah

[romeodawg]

I'm still on hold with Time Warner (45 minutes so far), but unbelievably the CSR said "Just to give you a heads up, the cable cards aren't "meshing" with the Tivo guide, so the guide is often wrong when you use the cable cards..." So she's saying that Time Warner cable cards render the entire Tivo functionality useless, but they're still willing to charge us every month for the privilege. I just don't understand why Time Warner would spend a penny on advertising and marketing before fixing the current system or getting someone on these boards to explain what the hell is going on. :mad:

[Zaph32]

Don't believe the FUD, it works.

[crazywater]

I'm still on hold with Time Warner (45 minutes so far), but unbelievably the CSR said "Just to give you a heads up, the cable cards aren't "meshing" with the Tivo guide, so the guide is often wrong when you use the cable cards..." So she's saying that Time Warner cable cards render the entire Tivo functionality useless, but they're still willing to charge us every month for the privilege. I just don't understand why Time Warner would spend a penny on advertising and marketing before fixing the current system or getting someone on these boards to explain what the hell is going on. :mad:
That is crap! I have CC from TWC and the programming guide is fine.