Any Suddenlink CableCard stories?

[raober]

My S3 arrived! Yay! Unfortunately, I don't have time to play with it tonight...Sunday will be the earliest I can really tinker.

Anyway, I ended up cancelling the card install I had with Suddenlink today. Funny thing is, they still thought I had an install, and gave me a courtesy call last night. No big deal.

But, today, my wife took a call from them when I was working. A tech called because he thought I still had an appointment. He called to cancel it himself actually, saying that they had no CableCards. My wife mentioned that I had rescheduled for two weeks from Friday. He said that "hopefully" they will have cards by then.

What a crock. And I thought this would go smoothly since the woman who took my original call seemed to "get it." I can already see that this could be a problem.

Anyone else have any Suddenlink experiences to share?

[turnpike17]

Im in stillwater, OK and i have suddenlink and the people at the main office first told me their Cablecards dont work with DVR's so i called in and said it was for two TV's. The installer should be here on monday. I cant wait!

[RichCoder]

Will they let you have 2 cable cards? I asked one installer and he told me there was a limit of one per household.

-rich

[Jaysv]

Anyone have an update on Suddenlink installs? I'm looking to make the HD jump around the first of the year and would like hear of other Suddenlink customer experiences.

Thanks

[mwarner]

Anyone have an update on Suddenlink installs? I'm looking to make the HD jump around the first of the year and would like hear of other Suddenlink customer experiences.

Thanks


I have had my TiVo Series 3 with Suddenlink for a little while now. We were in an old Cox area.

No major issues with the card install. The tech they sent out hadn't done much with cable cards, let alone a TiVo, so I had to help him thru it using the TiVo's cablecard guide. After we were done, the tech claimed that the premium channels wouldn't be authorized for at least 12-24 hours. So, I had analog cable working fine and some digital channels working, but no HBO, Showtime, etc.

About 4 hours after he left, all my channels went out. Called Suddenlink and the nice girl on the phone rehit all my cards. Since then, no issues (except one channel with no audio).

Hope that helps!

-Matt

[gpgrubb]

My local Suddenlink (formerly Cox) office in Tyler, TX gave me the "deer in the headlights" blank look when I asked for a CableCARD. So, I e-mailed the corporate folks thru the website and got this response
" Dear Valued Suddenlink Customer:

Thank you for your inquiry. Suddenlink is committed to providing the best customer service possible.

I apologize for any inconvenience this issue has caused but we do not provide CableCARDs for TiVo.The only CableCARDs we provide are for Digital Ready TV's.

We hope that we have been able to provide you with the information you requested. If we have not, or if we can be of any additional service to you, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Did you know that you can speak with a live agent without picking up the phone? It's Easy! Simply Click on the link below and let us assist you with your general or account specific questions. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your convenience.

Thank you for using Suddenlink Communications, Life Connected

Suddenlink Communications Online Customer Care Team

Original Message Follows: ------------------------

Yes, I am requesting Suddenlink to provide me with a CableCard and install it into my Tivo DVR. I also am renting your digital cable boxes for use on my other TV sets.

Thanks, "
Now what?

[mwarner]

Now what?

Just call them up and ask for two cable cards for your digital TV. When they show up, help them install the cards in the TiVo and you'll be fine (follow the instructions from TiVo).

-Matt

[cbordman]

Suddenlink in Point Pleasant, WV showed up with 2 cards to install, but when he called to activate them, the lady on the phone said she didn't know how to put them into the billing system.

They're supposed to try again in a few weeks.

[couperine]

It's interesting that supposedly Suddenlink is the 9th largest cable provider in the US, but there are so few stories here about customers' experiences with CableCard installation. I'll share our experience in Kingwood, TX (suburb of Houston).

We scheduled a 2 CableCard installation in a TiVo with no problems at all. The installer had never put a CC into a TiVo, and when he left, we assumed all was well because I could get the HD channels in the subscription package. The tech didn't want to read the TiVo literature at all; after I started checking all the channels, I didn't have the analog or digital stations. Some can see where I'm heading... :)

Called the national number - they had no clue what we about CC's, but we scheduled a service call for the next day. Thankfully this tech had put cards in a few TiVo's in the area, and he realized that my problem was actually the video input setting. We had it set for native and needed to use 1080i hybrid so that we could receive all the types of input.

Suddenlink uses Motorola cards, and there is certainly a wealth of technical support on the web for it. My experience is that their national CS staff is fairly useless in this endeavor (I got the old, let me give your number to my supervisor and let them call you trick, and then a better, I just don't know, let's send a tech), and in talking to the second technician, there isn't that much experience locally with installing CC's in TiVos. However, we had no issues with asking for 2 Cards or with the fee charged for them.

I don't think we were charged a service call fee either, but I'll have to check our newly padded cable bill to be sure. We tried to stick it out with the Suddenlink DVR, but it was a perfectly hideous interface. I'm glad that we have our TiVo up and running - the weeks without TiVo were a rude awakening after 3 years of TiVo service.

[raober]

Heh, I started this thread a while back...might as well provide an update.

I live along I-64 between Charleston and Huntington, WV. The original install went OK, it did take about 90 minutest to get both CCs working. The lady at the office talking to the tech on speakerphone said repeatedly how much she hated CCs. :rolleyes:

About a month ago, I started losing some of the HD channels. Had to get another truck roll, but at least it was free. They hit the cards several times and got all the channels working again. It's been near flawless since...even the audio/video breakups I had been having went away. I think they cleaned up their signal a bit recently.

This office uses SA cards, btw.

[rhenson]

I've got tivo 2 and am thinking of finally switching to cable (from dish network) and moving to a tivo 3. I'm being told from SL that you can only get HD with their DVR box. I plan on attempthing to get cable cards and bypassing the whole SL DVR nightmare, but have a question. Can I use the SL DVR for HD DVR and retain my tivo 2 for all other channels? If not, is Tivo offering any sort of guarantee that if I purchase a tivo 3 (that is supposed to work with all cable providers) and it doesn't that they will refund the purchase?
Thanks for any guidance.

[jfh3]

My local Suddenlink (formerly Cox) office in Tyler, TX gave me the "deer in the headlights" blank look when I asked for a CableCARD. So, I e-mailed the corporate folks thru the website and got this response
" Dear Valued Suddenlink Customer:

Thank you for your inquiry. Suddenlink is committed to providing the best customer service possible.

I apologize for any inconvenience this issue has caused but we do not provide CableCARDs for TiVo.The only CableCARDs we provide are for Digital Ready TV's.

We hope that we have been able to provide you with the information you requested. If we have not, or if we can be of any additional service to you, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Did you know that you can speak with a live agent without picking up the phone? It's Easy! Simply Click on the link below and let us assist you with your general or account specific questions. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your convenience.

Thank you for using Suddenlink Communications, Life Connected

Suddenlink Communications Online Customer Care Team

Original Message Follows: ------------------------

Yes, I am requesting Suddenlink to provide me with a CableCard and install it into my Tivo DVR. I also am renting your digital cable boxes for use on my other TV sets.

Thanks, "
Now what?


Write back and tell them:

1) That you are sorry and were mistaken - you want the cards installed in a digital ready TV. (There is nothing in the head end system that identifies the type of host a CableCARD is installed in).

2) You are sorry to hear that they are in violation of FCC and CableLabs requirements. Ask them to provide a contact for their legal department for you to forward to the FCC for further assistance.

3) Show them the model number of the Tivo on the CableLabs approved device list.

#1 is probably the easiest. Get them working, then fight any duplicate outlet charges after the fact (if you are using SCards). Ideally, you will get a single multistream (MStream) card and there won't be any issue.

[jfh3]

Can I use the SL DVR for HD DVR and retain my tivo 2 for all other channels?


Sure.

is Tivo offering any sort of guarantee that if I purchase a tivo 3 (that is supposed to work with all cable providers) and it doesn't that they will refund the purchase?

Yes, Tivo has a 30 day money back return. If the cable company has/supports cablecards (and all but the smallest must), then they will work in either of the Tivo series 3 boxes.

[sljack63]

Write back and tell them:

1) That you are sorry and were mistaken - you want the cards installed in a digital ready TV. (There is nothing in the head end system that identifies the type of host a CableCARD is installed in).

2) You are sorry to hear that they are in violation of FCC and CableLabs requirements. Ask them to provide a contact for their legal department for you to forward to the FCC for further assistance.

3) Show them the model number of the Tivo on the CableLabs approved device list.

#1 is probably the easiest. Get them working, then fight any duplicate outlet charges after the fact (if you are using SCards). Ideally, you will get a single multistream (MStream) card and there won't be any issue.

I called Suddenlink to ask what the fee would be to rent CableCards. Here is what I understood them to tell me:

1. They will not support cablecards installed in a Tivo because it is a competing services;
2. They will not install a cablecard into a Tivo, but only into a tv;
3. They will not release cablecards for a self-install by the consumer.

Some of the posters on here have suggested I lie when I call to set up a cablecard install and tell them it is for my tv and then when the tech gets there, making them install it into the Tivo. I highly doubt this will work. Especially in light of the fact that the phone support guy was very quick to inform me that they will not install a card into a Tivo - sounds to me that since the release of the new tivo HD, the company has instituted a comprehensive policy which prohibits rental of cablecards to tivo subscribers.

So, tell me: How many Suddenlink subscribers are out there that are like me and cannot buy a HD Tivo because of the monopoly the cable company has imposed?

[Combat Medic]

I called Suddenlink to ask what the fee would be to rent CableCards. Here is what I understood them to tell me:

1. They will not support cablecards installed in a Tivo because it is a competing services;
2. They will not install a cablecard into a Tivo, but only into a tv;
3. They will not release cablecards for a self-install by the consumer.

Some of the posters on here have suggested I lie when I call to set up a cablecard install and tell them it is for my tv and then when the tech gets there, making them install it into the Tivo. I highly doubt this will work. Especially in light of the fact that the phone support guy was very quick to inform me that they will not install a card into a Tivo - sounds to me that since the release of the new tivo HD, the company has instituted a comprehensive policy which prohibits rental of cablecards to tivo subscribers.

So, tell me: How many Suddenlink subscribers are out there that are like me and cannot buy a HD Tivo because of the monopoly the cable company has imposed?
The cable company doesn't have a choice in the matter. Call them up and ask for the address for their legal department. Write a letter to them CCing the local franchise board and the FCC and all will go away.

[jfh3]

I called Suddenlink to ask what the fee would be to rent CableCards. Here is what I understood them to tell me:

1. They will not support cablecards installed in a Tivo because it is a competing services;
2. They will not install a cablecard into a Tivo, but only into a tv;
3. They will not release cablecards for a self-install by the consumer.



#3 may be valid - that is their call.

#1 and #2 are variations of the same mis-informed BS - the Tivo is a CableLabs approved device. As such, they MUST install cards in the Tivo.

They don't have to support the Tivo, but they have to support the cards supported in the Tivo.

If you still have problems, it might be easier just to call back and tell them you want them installed in a TV. If they really want to know the model #, tell them to check the CableLabs approved devices list for a TCD652160. :)

[chachierodriguez]

Hey Everyone! I am new here, and also new to Tivo. As a true tv junkie I thought the obvious move was to replace my Suddenlink dvr with a series 3 HD. I also thought that if I realy liked the Tivo experience I would replace the other two Suddenlink dvrs in my house. I thought you might enjoy my continuing struggle to get my Tivo hooked up!!! I am in Humboldt County, California. An old Cox area.

When I first opened the box around the end of September, I was dismayed to find out about the cable card deal. I guess somehow I missed that part on Amazon's ad. This is when I started calling Suddenlink.

Suddenlink Call 1:
I was told that Suddenlink did not "support Tivo" and I could not have cards.

I went on Vacation for a few days, then I found this forum and called back.

Suddenlink Call 2:
I told the rep that I now knew that it was required by law that they make cards ready for me and that I wanted them. I was put on hold for about 5 min. and then told that there were no cards in Northern California, and even if there was, i would not get any premium channels. I asked for a manager, she said one would call me back. I waited three days.

Suddenlink Call 3:
Now asking for cards for a "approved digital ready device" I was told that I could just go to my local office and pick them right up and do the install myself.

Suddenlink Office Stop by:
I was told that I had to have the cards installed and that I would not get my HD channels. I left and opted to call tivo

Tivo Call:
The rep told me that if Suddenlink didn't want to give me cards or had weird outdated cards that for some reason did not get all channels, there was nothing he could do.

Suddenlink Call 4:
I told the rep the whole story and reminded him how much I spend with them every month. He called the dispatch in my area and he was told that Suddenlink just did not have any cards in our area and there was no word on when they would get them. I reminded him that it was the law that they were supposed to make those available to customers, and again of how big my bill was. He promised to talk directly to his manager regarding this issue and a quick call back. I waited a week and then called again.

Suddenlink Call 5:
I told the whole story. I was told that this rep would email the former rep and the manager and get right back to me. Its been 4 days.

At this point I have almost had the unit for 30 days... I don't know if I can still return it. What I realy want is a couple of cable cards so I can just use the thing. Frustration is boiling over!!!! I wish I could tell Suddenlink where to put their substandard dvrs, but I am a tv junkie, so here I am.

[demon]

Submit a complaint on the FCC's web site. I've been through this same dance with my cable company, and that was the only thing that managed to get them to sit up and pay attention. If you really want to return the unit you got, and buy another in a month after your cable company calls you up, you could do that - it took about a month between when I submitted my complaint and when the cable company's netops department called me up saying "I hear you're looking for some CableCARDs... when would you like to make the appointment for installation?" It will require waiting a bit, but it worked for me - my Series3 is now receiving full digital cable, including HBO-HD.

Edit: I'm not with Suddenlink, but PrairieWave/Knology in western South Dakota, but when their legal rep receives that complaint notice, they won't want to be on the FCC's bad side.

[Joybob]

Will they let you have 2 cable cards? I asked one installer and he told me there was a limit of one per household.

-rich

I have been told the same thing by my cable co. Are they allowed to do this?

[brazospiano]

Okay I am a total newbie, but really want to get a DVR for my wife for her birthday later this week. I don't think we have digital cable. We have Suddenlink. A coworker has a Suddenlink DVR but are paying $20 a month for it I was told. I would rather buy one.

Sounds like I will follow the FCC complaint and know which cable card approved device to tell them to use it with...

If I will probably purchase a HD tv next year, will the Tivo3 be what I need? Do I have to have digital cable for this to work?

[chachierodriguez]

Well here is an update. I filed a complaint with the FCC. I then called Suddenlink to tell them that I did so, and hoped that they would do something. The rep told me a tech would be out tomorrow to do the install. They called back about 15 min. later and told me that there were no cable cards in our area. However, if I waited a few more days, they would have them in.

A few days later he showed up with "all three" cable cards that they have. He told me that they should work, but I would get no HD channels. I told him to go ahead because I have another HD tv upstairs and really really wanted to get this tivo working. Install took two hours, and none of the cards worked. I got this really weird white pixelation on my analog channels and got no digital channels.

He suggested that I buy my own cards and then have them authorized by Suddenlink. Is this even a possibility? He said he did not know. Do any of you?

He then suggested that maybe I should return the tivo. Meanwhile my 30 days is up. Amazon nor Tivo will accept my return!

[agrabren]

I have Suddenlink in Pflugerville, TX (Stop laughing, it's a nice place) ;)
I got a Tivo Series 3 DVR for my birthday (I had already done my homework, was a Tivo user in the past) after getting really tired of the Suddenlink DVR.

I had great experience so far:

Called Suddenlink on Sunday night for an appointment, and they showed up Monday morning to set me up, no complaints or protests at a Tivo.

They arrived, and at first thought I only needed one card, since they use mCards, but I informed them that the Series 3 needed two mCards, since it couldn't multistream. He said ok, installed card 1, got it running, repeat card 2, all is set. I sign off, he leaves. All is good, so I thought at the time.

I got home that night, playing around more, realized that card 2 hadn't paired properly. I couldn't watch AETV or FOODHD on card 2. Despite my email request to Suddenlink getting the response that HD wouldn't be available, I got everything on card 1 that I should get. Tivo is apparently very popular in my town, according to the guy I talked to today.

Called up, they couldn't re-pair over the phone (the guy said he doesn't have that ability, it's a different group which does cable cards) but they could have someone back out the very next morning. I had to postpone to today because of I had meetings yesterday. So I worked from home again today, guy shows up, calls in the card, and they re-pair it. Everything now works perfectly on both cards. He even brought a spare card today in case it didn't work with a re-pair.

We talked a few minutes, he asked questions on how to set up the Tivo, since he's almost always had people who knew how to do all the screens, so in case he ran into a new Tivo customer, he could help get them all set up quickly and easily. I'm very impressed with Suddenlink in our area.

So they get a :up: from me in Pflugerville, although corporate may be a bit more questionable, and possibly far less useful. Your mileage may vary.

[strob777]

Like raober(the OP) I also live along I-64 between Charleston and Huntington in WV. I had a 8300 HD DVR from Suddenlink and hated it. Bought two TivoHDs and use them for OTA. Work perfect. I called Suddenlink and took the 8300 back and told them I needed 2 Mcards. Didn't tell them it was for a tivo and they didn't ask. Scheduled for last Saturday 1-5 and nobody showed up or called even though I called at 9 a.m. to confirm my appointment. When I called the 800 number at 6 p.m. the csr told me it had been noted on my order that they didn't have any cards even though the girl at the office told me they did after calling back to their tech guy to verify they did.Now they are telling me they will call me when they come in. I'm not going to hold my breath.

[larryinlubbock]

Well here is an update. I filed a complaint with the FCC. I then called Suddenlink to tell them that I did so, and hoped that they would do something. The rep told me a tech would be out tomorrow to do the install. They called back about 15 min. later and told me that there were no cable cards in our area. However, if I waited a few more days, they would have them in.

A few days later he showed up with "all three" cable cards that they have. He told me that they should work, but I would get no HD channels. I told him to go ahead because I have another HD tv upstairs and really really wanted to get this tivo working. Install took two hours, and none of the cards worked. I got this really weird white pixelation on my analog channels and got no digital channels.

He suggested that I buy my own cards and then have them authorized by Suddenlink. Is this even a possibility? He said he did not know. Do any of you?

He then suggested that maybe I should return the tivo. Meanwhile my 30 days is up. Amazon nor Tivo will accept my return!

I filed a complaint to the FCC also. About a month later I got 5 frantic calls from 5 different Suddenlink people asking if I still wanted cablecards. Cool! So now my install is scheduled for this coming Wednesday. It's kind of amazing considering that the Suddenlink office here in Lubbock had previously told me that in no uncertain terms would they give me cablecards for a tivo.
Now I'm worried that I won't get the HD channels to work with my HD Tivo.
After all, isn't that the point?

[colin1497]

I filed a complaint to the FCC also. About a month later I got 5 frantic calls from 5 different Suddenlink people asking if I still wanted cablecards. Cool! So now my install is scheduled for this coming Wednesday. It's kind of amazing considering that the Suddenlink office here in Lubbock had previously told me that in no uncertain terms would they give me cablecards for a tivo.
Now I'm worried that I won't get the HD channels to work with my HD Tivo.
After all, isn't that the point?

HD channels are just like other digital channels as far as their authorization system is concerned, FYI. If you don't get your HD channels it's because they don't have them properly turned on in the billing system. The garbage about HD channels not working is just ignorance on the part of the customer service folks.

[ZikZak]

HD channels are just like other digital channels as far as their authorization system is concerned, FYI. If you don't get your HD channels it's because they don't have them properly turned on in the billing system. The garbage about HD channels not working is just ignorance on the part of the customer service folks.

I was also told by Suddenlink in Northern California that I would not be getting HD programming with the cablecards, and in fact I did not. I spoke personally to the installer and the chief engineer in the head office, who were EXTREMELY nice and tried to be as helpful as possible. In fact, they were the most helpful and genuinely concerned people I have ever dealt with in the cable industry and I was their first CC install, EVER. But I could not even convince the engineer that, yes, cablecards decode HD channels just like all the others. I didn't push it because I knew I would be moving away in a couple of months.

[chinhster]

I had mine installed two weeks ago (College Station, TX). It was pretty painful. The installer showed up 40 minutes late. The installer had done them before with Tivos but he said every install he's done has been different.

The first card he put in took a good 20 minutes before the Tivo put up an error that it had a problem with the card. He put in a different card and it worked right away. He then put in an M-card in the second slot and it worked. I asked him if the second card is a multi-stream card, why doesn't he just put it in the first slot so that we can use just that one card. He said that they don't support multi-stream yet so the card would only work as a single-stream. I didn't know if this was true or not so I didn't press him any further.

It took another 30+ minutes for us to get my HD+ tier working (regular HD was fine). When he left, I got everything I subscribed for. This past Monday night, I decide to check out Monday Night Football near the end of the game and I get a blank screen. So I call Suddenlink all week long telling them I can't get ESPNHD but I can get all of my other HD+ tier channels (I later find out I can't get National Geographic HD either). I had an appointment with an installer a couple of days ago and he calls me before my appointment telling me he doesn't need to come by because the problem is that for some reason, they took ESPN HD off my account and that it's been corrected and I should pick it up within a few hours.

I check the next morning and I still don't get it. I call them later and they tell me they did a lineup change earlier in the week. So I had been tuning to the wrong channel for ESPN HD because the Tivo didn't know the lineup had changed. I tune to the new channel and still don't get it. I wonder if it had been working earlier (but on a different channel) and it screwed up when we tried to "fix" it. I've got an appointment later on today so we'll see what happens.

[DrBunsen]

Short version:
After 3 truck rolls (and one scheduling screwup by them) I'm up and going with single M-Cards in my 2 TiVoHDs. Reception seems to be fine. In a day or 3 I'll call to cancel (or suspend) DTV and donate my HR10-250s as a going-away present to my boss (who still has DTV).


Long, drawn-out version:
I live in Fate, TX, which is so small that mail has to be addressed through Royse City (about 7 miles away). I have 2 TiVoHDs to replace my soon-to-be-retired HR10-250's. I arranged to have Suddenlink come out and when doing so I tried to specify 2 M-Cards and explained that I'd prefer 2 M-Cards over 4 S-Cards. The cost per card was said to be $3.99/month (yuck).

Truck Roll #1:
Tech called 2 hours early hoping that I'd be home already. Since I work in downtown Dallas (30 miles away) he was SOL, so he went do to something else (I did admire that he was trying to not be late). I got home before the appointed time, and 3 (?) techs showed up right on time with 2 S-Cards, and said that it was all they had at the local office, but that I could reschedule and specify 4 cards and they'd be able to get them. They had never done any CC installations.

Called and rescheduled. The sales person I spoke to had to put together another package deal for some reason, and with 4 cards instead of 2 the pricing was only about a dollar more so I was pleased.


Truck Roll #2:
Tech called before hand and said that all he had was 3 cards, and couldn't tell if they were S-Cards or M-Cards (he was a different tech from the earlier guys, and hadn't done any CC installations either). I tried explaining the difference to him, but it didn't register so I dropped it. I figured that I didn't want to wait any longer (want to get away from DTV) so we proceded. He didn't want to pay much attention to the TiVo instructions, preferring to take cues from his tech support. He had to call around for almost 2 hours (including hold times) before he could find a tech to activate. He didn't bother to check reception on first card before inserting and activating the 2nd card (in the TiVoHD that was going to have 2 cards). I let him leave before running through the guided setup since I knew that a return visit was necessary anyway, and I kinda didn't want him around any more than necessary. (He did ask me, before leaving, if I knew that it was possible to get a single M-Card that would do what 2 S-Cards would do (he heard about it from their tech support), and I told him that that was what I was explaining when we first talked (sigh...).) After testing I could see that in the TiVo with 2 CC's, the 1st CC wasn't decoding, so I called the next day to schedule the next truck roll and let them know that one of the cards wasn't decoding. I found out that the tech had apparently already scheduled the next visit for the next Monday at 1pm-3pm (yikes - no good for me), so I got her to reschedule for 3pm-5pm (though I'd have to leave work a few hours early). Since I needed the 4th card, as well as possibly one more to replace the balky one, the person I spoke to said that they'd bring out 2 cards. I did manage to get her to put M-Cards on the order (just in case they had them).


Non-truckroll:
I left work at 1:20pm to catch the bus to the park-n-ride, then ride my motorcycle home by 2:15pm, plenty early for the 3pm-5pm appointment time. At 5:30pm I call and ask if there was a delay that they knew about, and the person I spoke to said that the scheduled time was for 8am to noon the next day (this past Tuesday).

Sheesh...

I'm rather peeved, but just express my disappointment in a friendly manner. She said that any change to the schedule would've showed up on her screen, so from all appearances it had always been scheduled for then. I did explain about how one of the cards wasn't working, and she did go through the effort of tracking down someone to hit the card, and I could see the status change, but it still wouldn't decode. I rescheduled for Thursday (which was the next evening I had open). After hanging up I rebooted the TiVoHD with the balky card and it worked. At least that was a bright spot. I didn't want to call back and tell them to only bring one card since it was possible that they could bring out 2 M-Cards (which is what ended up happening), and as far as I knew the card that they hit could be one that's defective.


Truck Roll #3:
Tech shows up with 2 M-Cards (yay!), but says that he's tried M-Cards in TiVos with no luck (uh-oh). He also says that he's not supposed to put them in TiVos ("if I told my boss that they're for TiVos he'd tell me to leave") but was willing to go through the motions. I take out the S-Cards, put in the M-Cards, he calls in the serial numbers, and boom, everything's shiney. He was out the door in 45 minutes (most of the time was spent trying to reach someone to activate the cards). So at least he can say that the M-Cards do work in some cases.

BTW, I did try to let him know about the FCC mandates, and the problem that Series 3's have with M-Cards, but his eyes told me he wasn't too interested so I dropped it.

Anyways, I'm doing fine now. The only other glitch of note occurred when doing the Guided Setup. I first used the zip code for Fate (which is where we really are) and the channel lineup was incorrect on a number of channels. When I used the one for Royse City (which is about 7 miles away, but where we get our mail through) it worked fine. Suddenlink was a choice for both Zip Codes, but they apparently have different lineups in different parts of Fate, which seems strange for such a small town.


Bunsen

[keiffer6]

When I bought my Series 3 Tivo I called SuddenLink to see about getting the CableCards. The Customer Service lady told me that their cards only work in TV's. She also said that they could not give me 2 CableCards in the place of 1 DCT. She also gave me the whole "We don't support TiVo" argument. I finally told her to put me through to the Tech Support. If they were going to tell that they didn't work with TiVo, I was going to get a technical answer as to exactly why they wouldn't.

After talking with Tech Support for a little bit I got the tech to agree with me that there should be no reason that their cards wouldn't work in the TiVo. He did say that he was not sure how the Digital channels would work on both cards. He was thinking that the primary card would get all channels and the secondary card would only receive the analog channels. He went ahead and scheduled a install for me for Yesterday.

I received my TiVo Series 3 yesterday and had already scheduled an appointment with Suddenlink to come out. They were supposed to be there between 5 & 7 yesterday. About 7:15 I got a call from the tech saying that he was on his way. When he got there he was suprised to see that I was putting them into a TiVo even though I told them that from the start. None the less he gave it a shot. He said he had never done a CC install. It showed.

We went through the install of the first card and had the main office activate it. He then started on the second card and the lady at the office said that there was no way for her to add a second card to replace a single DCT. That effectively stopped us in our tracks. The tech asked if I would mind if he took the TiVo back to the office and they worked on getting running at the head end. I asked if they were going to be responsible should anything happen to my $600 Tivo. That ended that idea rather quickly. He then said that they would schedule another service call for today between 5 & 7 and that they would make sure that one of their more experienced techs was the one to come.

So that is where I stand currently. I have a TiVo with 2 M-Cards installed in the back and no cable working at all on that outlet. According to the tech, since they didn't complete the service order neither of the cards would work until that order was completed. Hopefully tonight they will be able to get everything working.

** UPDATE 3/6/08 **

The tech was there again last night for about an hour. By the time he left it looked like the cards were paired but I was still not getting any channels. After several reboots and checking all the numbers again he called it quits and told me to try TiVo support or SuddenLink support.

After he left I called TiVo technical support and spoke to a very helpful lady. After describing what was going on she said that one of two things was wrong. Either the coax cable was not plugged into the right spot or not tightly connecter OR the cards were not authorized on my account. I checked the coax and that was in the right spot and connected tightly. That left the cards not being authorized.

With this new knowledge I called SuddenLink support and told the lady that the cards did not appear to be authorized . She put me on hold and all the sudden I was getting channels. YEAH!!!! I thanked her for her help and hung up the phone.

I am now getting all my channels on both tuners and now have some HD channels (HD locals are free in our area). We love the HD. Amazing how much difference there is in the quality of the picture. Everything appears to be 100% for us.

I hope this helps others that have problems with SuddenLink. It seems that Suddenlink suffers from a severe lack of knowledge even when it comes to their own services.

[DrBunsen]

A followup to my earlier post...

When I got my bill I found that they're charging me for 5 cable cards, including partial-month charges for 3 cards and the another shorter partial-month charge for 2 cards. I called customer support and explained that the tech that came out the 2nd time took the 3 earlier cards with him. He could tell from the entries that that was so, so he adjusted the account so that I'll only be charged for 2 cards going forward. But for some stupid reason I need to actually drive to the Suddenlink office that did the install in order to get a refund done for the incorrect charges.

They also charged me $45 for an aerial install, which the guy on the phone said was to cable up the house, but no cabling needed to be done, and was noted as such on the receipt that I had to sign. In fact I had to initial the section that showed that he didn't do any cabling work so that I was taking responsibility for the quality of the lines.

Getting the charges wrong is something that can happen, and the guy on the phone obviously could see that I only had 2 cards authorized on my account. And he could see the various truck rolls and when things were authorized. So why can't he do the adjustment thing on the incorrect charges? Why do I have to drive to the office to get it straightened out? Even weirder, I asked if he could transfer the call to that office, or if he could give me the telephone number, and he said he couldn't. So I guess that other office doesn't have those telephone gadgets there. Welcome to the 90's Suddenlink.

The 1890's.


Bunsen

[lukepurdy]

My HDTivo arrived yesterday so I called Suddenlink to order the CableCards. The person at the callcenter told me that they had them in my local office and that I could schedule a service call or pick them up myself. I foolishly thought, "Wow, that was easy" and told him I'd pick them up at the local office.

When I arrived the woman behind the counter informed me that the callcenter guy was incorrect and that I would have to schedule a service call. This was Wednesday and the soonest they could schedule someone is Monday afternoon. Stay tuned...

Update for Monday
I'm sure few of you will be surprised to learn that nobody showed up on Monday. When I called Suddenlink assured me that they were very sorry but that my appointment was now scheduled for all day Thursday. They weren't sure why the meeting was rescheduled without me being notified. I was able to get them to narrow the time down to a two hour window. Long story short....it will take Suddenlink over a week to even show up to install the cablecards.

[joeball]

Got my new Panasonic HD TV, Tivo HD and got Suddenlinkto come out and install the cable card or cablecard(s). The bad news is that the guy had no idea about cable cards, how they work, how to install them or anything else. Good news is that the one (1) cablecard he brought just happened to be an M card. He slipped it in, and I and Tivo did the rest through guided set-up. He did make the call to activate, but I did the rest. Everything is working beautifully and HD is incredible. Bottom line is that Suddenlink has access to M (multi-stream cards) and my experience is that if you have the choice, INSIST on the 1 multi-stream card rather than the two (2) S cards. You then avoid all of that "pairing" business. I truly believe that is where many of the problems happen.........simply because they don't yet know what they're doing. Hope this helps someone or many someones...................JB

[keiffer6]

I thought I would update my story....

After getting the Series 3 TiVo working with SuddenLink cablecards, I fell in love with the cablecards. I went out and bought a TiVoHD for the living room. I had Suddenlink back out to install the single M-Card in the new tivo. After 5 different techs and 7 different service calls, my TiVo still did not work. Finally I decided to take matters into my own hands. I searched the web for answers. I was only able to get my basic channels on the new TiVo. Every time I went to a channel above 100, the screen would flash to the Pairing screen. Research led me to call Suddenlink and ask them to read off my host ID and Data ID numbers. Turns out that they had the numbers totally wrong. Once they changed the numbers I was in business and had all my channels.

I just thought someone else might benefit from my experience. Hopefully I can save someone else the headache of 7 service calls from techs that have no clue how to do their job.

[rangermonk]

Does anyone know if Suddenlink is going to update their channel lineup anytime soon? I'm moving into an area where they are the cable provider, and their HD lineup isn't that great from what I see. They have even less HD channels than Comcast, which I currently have now. Thought about switching Directv, but I don't want to lose that Tivo goodness.

[MFDDriver]

Well here is my SL story. I called and place order with CS rep and they set and appointment up for two days later within a 2 hour window, which didnt seem too bad. Well when the tech showed up he didnt seem to opptomistic, but he forged ahead anyway. After trying to get the 1st card to work for about and hour with no luck he went ahead and tried the s 2nd card, BINGO, worked almost instantly. He said the first slot must be bad because the second worked so fast, said that was all he could do and it was on TIVO.
I called CS back and let them no how uninterested the guy was and they said they would send someone else out and they would put a note on it not to send the same guy. Well when the second tech showed up he had one card with him swapped it out with no luck. He had a much better attitude but still no luck with card.
I called CS back and got a real helpful woman who kept me on the phone for over an hour with no luck. I told her about my conversation with TIVO rep and that she had told me it may take a few cards before we find one that works. She found that strange, she said all cards are the same. She said she would dispatch a third tech instructions to bring multiple cards.
Well when the third tech showed he had two cards, the first one immediately showed an error when he inserted it. He inserted the second card and it would not show pairing info. he said it had to be TIVO because there is no way 4 cards could be bad. He had no more finished his sentence when he looked at card #3 and said well this card is crushed, sure enough it looked like it had been stepped on. He got frustrated and called his boss and ask if four new unused cards could be rushed over to my house, boss said sure and brought them himself. I thought that was very customer friendly.
Well when boss arrived and dropped off new cards the tech, who by the way was one of the friendlist guys you would ever want to meet, inserted the first new card and bingo after just a brief wait for pairing info the card worked like a charm.
Moral of the Story-Not all cards are the same! relate my story to CS and request new unused cards.

[alto]

These problems with SL:

First tech (who came in the morning) suggested using one multistream card vs 2 single. The tech said he could not get one because the warehouse could not be accessed. I found out later that it could have been. Then the tech informed us that he was mistaken and that they didn't have MS cards and told my wife he was on the way to put in two singles. He never arrived even though I waited for a couple of hours while my wife and her family from out of town went to eat.

Of course I called and complained but CS would not get someone out in the evening but promised a call from the Tech's sup on the following Monday. No call came. Called CS and was told that they would get someone out at 2-4 window but would not agree to have someone meet me at 6 so I could avoid leaving work. I asked for the general manager and was transferred to another person who represented herself as the general manager (actually I learned later that she was a mid-level sup in the call center) She also "confirmed" that they didn't have MS cards.

Guess what, tech finally shows up at 6pm. He had been given a MS card (which supposedly they didn't have). He had some problems and was told MS cards don't work on SL. He kept at it and the MS card worked fine ultimately.

I have dealt with about 6-7 folks so far. Usual attitude, at least at the supervisory level was implicitly "we are sorry for your inconvenience due to our errors, but don't expect us to do anything that is inconvenient for us to solve your problem or lessen your inconvience" In contrast, the CS reps who took my calls initially tried to be helpful within their authority. The techs, except the one who said he was on the way and didn't show, were fine also.

Obviously they have some organizational confusion about what cards they have and what work. It could be they would rather charge for two single cards vs one MS, but I am not sure that is the case.

[Aside - I have generally been very please with the CS assistance I have received on the internet side. This is my first bad experience with SL overall.]

The concept of withholding necessary equipment or parts from the techs who discover a need for it during the day is beyond me but is apparently an organizational practice. As a policy, SL seems to be much more concerned about their convenience than that of their customers.

Misrepresenting a representative's position within the company, i.e., "I'm the general manager" is plainly deceptive and inexcusable.

I am continuing the complaint process about the service received.

[jaredog]

I had a Suddenlink CableCARD install today and apparently I took part in a rare event...everything went great.

I called last week to set up my install. It went fine. They didn't even ask what they were for.

Installer showed up today with several different cards and we ultimately installed a multi-stream card. The installer was very nice and even brought his own Tivo installation intructions!

I even mentioned how I had read horror stories online about trying to get a cablecard installed by Suddenlink and he laughed and said they only install one or two cablecards every six months.

I have to say I was extemely pleased and surprised with Suddenlink's service.

[JettM]

I have a TIVO HD and Suddenlink service. I scheduled SL to do an install and, while they said they hadn't done a TIVO install and were not sure it would work, they would give it a try. They installed a single M-Card. Everything seems to work fine with the exeption of HD channels. I simply get a blank screen. SL is looking into it but have many sources providing conflicting information. One conclusion is that the cableCard won't support HD which I don't think is the case.

Has anyone seen this before or have any suggestions I might pass on to SL Abilene?

The whole point of this upgrade for me was to get HD channels. Thanks in advance...

[Pete Abel]

I have a TIVO HD and Suddenlink service. I scheduled SL to do an install and, while they said they hadn't done a TIVO install and were not sure it would work, they would give it a try. They installed a single M-Card. Everything seems to work fine with the exeption of HD channels. I simply get a blank screen. SL is looking into it but have many sources providing conflicting information. One conclusion is that the cableCard won't support HD which I don't think is the case.

Has anyone seen this before or have any suggestions I might pass on to SL Abilene?

The whole point of this upgrade for me was to get HD channels. Thanks in advance...

I'm with Suddenlink Corp. HQ. If you're willing to email me -- pete.abel@suddenlink.com -- and let me know name and address on your account, plus who you've been dealing with locally -- I can make sure senior managers in your area are aware and involved.

More on who I am here (http://www.suddenlink.com/about/executives/abel/).

[cableguy763]

You sir, are brave. I commend you for your customer service.

[JettM]

I have a TIVO HD and Suddenlink service. I scheduled SL to do an install and, while they said they hadn't done a TIVO install and were not sure it would work, they would give it a try. They installed a single M-Card. Everything seems to work fine with the exeption of HD channels. I simply get a blank screen. SL is looking into it but have many sources providing conflicting information. One conclusion is that the cableCard won't support HD which I don't think is the case.

Has anyone seen this before or have any suggestions I might pass on to SL Abilene?

The whole point of this upgrade for me was to get HD channels. Thanks in advance...

It looks like the values for validation on my Tivo Conditional Access page are incorrect. No "V" in the Val?: and MP instead of "S" in the Auth: field. SL tried to re-validate the card today...no luck.

[JettM]

It looks like the values for validation on my Tivo Conditional Access page are incorrect. No "V" in the Val?: and MP instead of "S" in the Auth: field. SL tried to re-validate the card today...no luck.

Problem fixed. The solution was having SL remove the M-Card from the account completely and then add it back in and configure it.

I got a lot of direct personal attention on this from SL Abilene. SL corporate also got involved. The local manager actually came out to the house even after it was working just to verify everything was correct.

[popyee]

Suddenlink installed my M cable card today with no problems. I thank Pete Abel for making this painless.

[Yosemitebob]

I'm moving from Time Warner country to out in the country. Actually Spring Hill Kansas is not that small of a town and it's only about 15-30 min from KC and it's suburbs. But according Chad with Suddenlink customer service who said that I live in too small of a town so they don't have to give me a cable card. I explained that it was a FCC requirement in all 50 states and that got me nowhere. He said that Suddenlink was not aware of this regulation. I even said that I was going to file a complaint with the FCC (which I did immediately). He still said that they wouldn't give me one. I am not yet a Suddenlink customer but would like to be one. So we will see. Has anyone else gotten the you live in the sticks response?

[Pete Abel]

I'm moving from Time Warner country to out in the country. Actually Spring Hill Kansas is not that small of a town and it's only about 15-30 min from KC and it's suburbs. But according Chad with Suddenlink customer service who said that I live in too small of a town so they don't have to give me a cable card. I explained that it was a FCC requirement in all 50 states and that got me nowhere. He said that Suddenlink was not aware of this regulation. I even said that I was going to file a complaint with the FCC (which I did immediately). He still said that they wouldn't give me one. I am not yet a Suddenlink customer but would like to be one. So we will see. Has anyone else gotten the you live in the sticks response?

I'm with Suddenlink @ Corp. HQ. If you'll contact me by email (pete.abel@suddenlink.com) with details on how to contact you outside this forum, I'll follow up accordingly. Thanks.

[Pete Abel]

Yosemite Bob -- I did some additional checking and have been told that we (Suddenlink) can in fact provide you with a Cable Card, as you suspected. I'm sorry you were not given the correct information before. Please email me (pete.abel@suddenlink.com) and I'll have the senior manager for that area make sure that you're taken care of.

[SugarBowl]

does suddenlink use SDV in west virginia?

[JF0rd]

I am in Ruston, LA and had a reasonably good experience with my CableCard request from SuddenLink.

First I called customer support and spoke with a lady who was adamant that SuddenLink did not do CableCards. She got tech support on the line and they verified what I told her. Once she realized I was right, she hung up (I didn't get her name unfortunately). I called back and spoke with another person who didn't know anything about them and spoke to Tech Support again and the Tech Support guy called Ruston, LA a major market, and I laughed. He said we only have CableCards in major markets. Then I said I would go to the local office to handle everything.

I went yesterday to the office, convinced them to let me install the cards myself. They removed the block on the cable that afternoon from the previous tenant of the apartment and I was good to go.

[Carlton]

I had read this forum so I was prepared for the suddenlink cablecard run-around, and I got it. The customer service rep had never heard of a cablecard, so he asked tech support and they said it wouldn't work in a Tivo, even though their website says it will. Then the installer showed up without the card and had to go to the office to get one. He said he had never installed one before, so I gave him the Tivo instructions. He had it up and running in 5 minutes. He said it was the easiest install he had done. It works perfectly.

I hope this is helpful.

[Bassplayer]

Yeah - MCard installed right now, and I get some HD, but not all. Very frustrating.

[khickson]

Here I go on my cablecard trip.

First things first.
suddenlink/support/cable-support/cable-card-faqs/

1. Are there any alternatives to leasing a Suddenlink Digital set-top box in order to receive digital channels, including Digital Premium and HD channels?


Yes. You can lease a CableCARD for use in either of the following:


•"Digital-Cable-Ready" TV set (has a CableCARD slot and built-in Digital QAM tuner)
•"Digital-Cable-Ready" device (such as a TiVo box or Microsoft Digital Cable Tuner).

5. Why does Suddenlink offer CableCARDs?


We and other cable operators are required to offer CableCARDs by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC). Suddenlink is also committed to supporting Digital-
Cable-Ready TV sets and other Digital-Cable-Ready devices that consumer electronics
manufacturers are developing.

My story so far, October 1st

Chat History
aaron has entered the session.
Kurt Hickson: I called in earlier today and spoke with a CSR in Lubbock concerning CableCARD's. He explained is wasn't an option but the FCC requires it. Who do I call to get CableCARD's?
aaron: hello Kurt.
aaron: Welcome to Suddenlink Online Support. My name is Aaron and it is my pleasure to assist you today.
Kurt Hickson: great
Kurt Hickson: hello Aaron.
aaron: I am sorry but the information that you entered at the beginning did not come through correctly. How can i help you today?
Kurt Hickson: i need 2 cablecards
Kurt Hickson: when I called my local support they tell me it's not an option but the FCC say's differently
aaron: Ok i will help you today.
aaron: In order to assist you today, I will need some additional information. May I please have the city and state your services are in; the physical address, and the name on the account?
Kurt Hickson: shouldn't that pull up considering I had to enter my account number to get here? The name is obvious.
Kurt Hickson: Lubbock, TX, #### - ###
aaron: Thank you! One moment please while I pull up your account.
aaron: To confirm the account can i get the last four digits of your social.
Kurt Hickson: ####
aaron: Thank you Kurt.
aaron: One moment please.
Kurt Hickson: k
aaron: I am setting up your order now. Thank you for your patience.
Kurt Hickson: Thank you
aaron: And you want the 2 cable cards added with the digital box order?
Kurt Hickson: I haven't bought the Tivo HD yet, I guess all I need now is a digital box
Kurt Hickson: The cablecards won't be till late October
Kurt Hickson: cablecards can't be activated without the host device
aaron: ok so you would only like to order for the one cable box now?
Kurt Hickson: that'll be fine
Kurt Hickson: the reason for contacting you is that I was told it wasn't an option
aaron: I see the option in our system. I am sorry if you were told it was not.
aaron: Unless they know of something that i do not know.
aaron: But is shows the option to add a cable card to your account.
Kurt Hickson: it's ok, just need to make sure b4 I order a tivo hd
aaron: Let me double check the notes.
aaron: One moment please.
aaron: I am checking in your area to see if you can add the cable card to a TiVo box. One more moment please.
aaron: I am sorry for the wait.
Kurt Hickson: thanks for your help
aaron: Ok i did confirm that we do offer cable cards in your area. Unfortunately we do not program it with your TiVo box.
Kurt Hickson: really?
aaron: If you are wanting to record HD programming we do offer the Suddenlink HD DVR.
Kurt Hickson: So I can get a cablecard but Sudenlink will not program it to a Tivo.
aaron: That is correct.
Kurt Hickson: Is that just my area?
aaron: In some markets where we do not offer the HD DVR we will program a cable card to the TiVo.
Kurt Hickson: gotcha, time to call the fcc

..........

[khickson]

Suddenlink Sam called today (on a Sunday), said he was reading thru the chat logs and that Aaron gave me the wrong information too. Sam did say that a technician visit was required but that they would waive the fee because of the hassle thus far. Looks like I can order my HD box now.:rolleyes:

[trav1856]

I'm with Suddenlink Corp. HQ. If you're willing to email me -- -- and let me know name and address on your account, plus who you've been dealing with locally -- I can make sure senior managers in your area are aware and involved.




Pete,

No offense bud, but you're about as useful as a fart in a spacesuit.

You people are in direct violation of the Telecommunications Acts of 1992 and 1996, and with presented with that information, you and your little buddy Michael McKeen have refused to correct the problem.

The provisions in the Telecommunications Act provide for the activation of CONSUMER OWNED EQUIPMENT, and I quote: "No cable operator may prevent the activation of customer owned equipment provided that the equipment is technically compatible with the cable operator's plant"....seeing as how my equipment is the EXACT equipment that you people use, and you still refuse to activate it, tell me, just how are you legal?

The FCC has been contacted, and there will be an investigation into this matter. What strikes me as odd, it would've taken just a few man-hours to resolve this situation to everyone's liking, but instead, now you're going to have to spend untold amounts in legal fees and travel expenses to deal with this situation, when all it would've taken is a little effort on your part to make the consumer happy. Good job, buddy. I'm sure the shareholders will be impressed at the annual meeting.

[shaown]

So, my parents have had a S2 Tivo for quite a while, and I've put off their upgrade to HD for 2 years or so, waiting for Tivo prices to drop, installs to get easier, and more HD Channels to become available.

Finally, I figured this was time to pull the trigger, I passed them down my Tivo HD (LT), picked up a new premiere for them (LT), and put in a order for 2 Cablecards with Suddenlink for install Thanksgiving week while I was home on vacation. (gives me XMAS to solve any isses).
I hoped it would go smooth, cause 1) I have friends with CC installed in Tivos in Stillwater already 2) I've done about 10+ installs for myself and friends over the years with Cablevsion, RCN, and TimeWarner.

I setup both boxes, most recent SW, etc etc. Installer came out first thing Monday, had two very new Motorola cards. He was a contractor from Loiusiana who had been brought out to help deal with the digital migration, and was training a new guy. They tested the lines, replaced the ends, etc. Cards were installed, Broadcast Basics were enabled but no joy on the digital channels.
I had him double check the hostid/data/etc #s, and he said it would probably take a little bit and he woud be back. I could tell the cards were not activated - but accepted his approach. He called me back, and told me there were rehitting the cards, etc - no joy.
They returned at end of day, tried running a brand new line (didn't mater - which I could have told him, since it was clearly an activation issue).

This is when it turned bad - he called up a senior tech. The senior tech said - oh these Tivos require the new tuning adaptors, and we don't have them yet. Of course I knew the base digital tier (CNN HD, MSNBC HD, etc, etc) were not on SDV, and Tuning Adaptors would not prevent CC activation. I tried to convince them, and failed. They said they would reach out to their contacts and call me the next day.
I took the initiative that night to call the Tyler Texas call center, where they confirmed we had the right Host Ids, etc, and but the cards were not active. They said they were able to hit the cards, but were not getting response. (I was suprised by this, since I though 2 way comms were not enabled, but --- maybe it was a Suddenlink thing)

I sent a note off to Pete Abel asking for help (The TA thing had me freaked out) and he responded within minutes offering to to contact local mgmt ( GREAT!)

The next day I got a call, they had setup the cards wrong in their system (as 2 way devices they said?), and they resetup them up, repaired them from scratch, and boom everything worked without a third visit.

So all resolved succesfully within 28 hours or so.

The biggest surprise, was how nice, friendly and supportive Suddenlink was. They bent over backwards to make things work. The biggest dissapointment was despite clearly have done Tivos and CCs in Stillwater in the past, they were still unclear on the process, and despite a lot of prompting from me, could not get it right the first day.

-Shaown

[Tolstoy88155]

I just got a new Premiere for Christmas. This is the first experience with CableCards and so far it has been problematic. I went down to the SuddenLink office in Stillwater, OK and picked up the CC and installed it in the Premiere.

I then called up SL to activate the card. The tech said he was not familiar with the process, but looked it up and got the information he needed. Most of the channels showed up without a problem, but not the Showtime digital package. Showtime works fine on the other Pace cable boxes in the house but not on the TiVo. Six total calls, replaced CC, and a truck roll and the problem still is not solved.

The last tech I talked to seemed to think it was a problem on the cable head end. The CC does not seem to be initializing correctly. He emailed the local supervisor, the cable head tech, and the dispatcher. We're going to try it again tomorrow.

I was hoping that since SuddenLink is a TiVo partner that they would be more familiar by now with the TiVo in general, but that does not seem to be the case.

I do want to emphasize that despite being frustrated, it is in no way due to any rudeness from the SuddenLink employees. They have all been very friendly.

[Tolstoy88155]

The second tech showed up this morning and checked the signal strength and determined that there was nothing wrong on our end. He called and had them "hit" it in a different way. All channels are now working correctly on the Premiere.

It all seems to be a numbers game. You keep calling until you get someone who knows the one last thing to try to get it to work.

[lillevig]

The second tech showed up this morning and checked the signal strength and determined that there was nothing wrong on our end. He called and had them "hit" it in a different way. All channels are now working correctly on the Premiere.

It all seems to be a numbers game. You keep calling until you get someone who knows the one last thing to try to get it to work.

I hope you didn't have to pay for what should have been an unnecessary truck roll. I talked to at least 12 phone techs and most kept saying I needed a truck roll. As an FYI, before the self-install mandate, it took them two separate truck rolls and lots of phone calls to get the card working in my S3HD. I e-mailed a detailed account of my travails to the Suddenlink Regional VP. You might consider doing the same so that they know how poor the training and communications are on this topic. I found his actual e-mail address on the Suddenlink website.

[shaown]

its seems like by default they want to hit them with a standard activation process that requires 2way - so they need to use an alternative?? hitting/activation process.
-Shaown