Official Grande Communications CableCARD Thread [Text View]

gtars

12-22-2006, 11:36 AM

Please post all information regarding CableCARD experiences with Grande Communications here. Grande is a Texas based company and is also in the high speed internet and phone business. I was previously using them for phone and internet, but used TW for cable. I switched to Grande since they had a deal to get 20% off if you used them for all three services. I've also been very happy with their customer service.

When Grande installed the cable service, they installed the Moto DVR, which I used for one week until it crashed and erased all my recorded programs. When the tech came out to replace it, I asked him if they support CableCARD. He said that they did and to contact customer service to schedule an install. A week later, I had a shiny new S3 and I called Grande (at their toll-free number) about getting CableCARDs installed. I'm near Dallas and got someone in San Marcos. The rep told me that Grande does NOT support CableCARDs. Crap.

After having some problem with my internet connection, another tech came out and fixed it. I asked him about CableCARDs. He said that he's installed one and called another tech who confirmed that they ARE installing the cards into TVs. No experience with Tivos, though.

I called Grande again (this time, direct to their Dallas office) and asked about CableCARD support, mentioning I need two cards for a Tivo. They said that they do support it. She gave me no hassles about the mention of a Tivo, either. $46 per month (cheaper than what I was currently paying with the DVR rental), plus $2 per month for the extra card. This price was before the 20% discount.

Two techs came out and installed the cards, with me running the Tivo menus. They had never seen an S3 before. It took some time after each card was installed (several minutes) to be recognized by the S3. After install, I went through guided setup again.

At first I had my digital channels, but no premium channels. Tech calls office. Then, all digital channels were gone. Tech calls office. Then they were back on only one tuner. Finally, all expected channels worked on both tuners. It took about one hour total.

My tips for those contemplating this:

1. When you call the toll-free Grande number, you could be transferred to Austin, Dallas, San Marcos, etc. It's best to call the direct number (during normal business hours) for YOUR area.

2. Run through the instructions on CableCARD install (your S3 has a sheet for this). Make sure you know how to navigate your Tivo menus for the CableCARD install. Very likely, the tech won't know a thing about your S3.

3. If Grande doesn't show up for your zip code during guided setup, try the zip code for the major metro area. I live in a burb of Dallas with a different zip. Grande only showed up as one of my choices when I entered a Dallas zip. Tivo customer support helped me out with this. Just ask them what zip code to use for Grande Communications in your area. Do this BEFORE the tech comes out to install the cards, as you could spend 20 minutes on hold before a Tivo rep comes on the line.

Hopefully this helps someone save a bit of time. Please post here if you are using Grande!

Glenn

tjramsey

12-22-2006, 02:02 PM

Makes me wish all the more that Grande had expanded to my new neighborhood. I had Grande until I moved about a year and a half ago (They aren't in all of Austin, just some neighborhoods.) I have to say, I miss Grande quite a bit. Any time I see one of their trucks, I hope I'll see more when I get closer to home, but so far it hasn't happened. They were just cheaper and better than TW. THe cheaper part might just explain why their expansion in Austin seems to have ground to a halt, however.

Glad to hear that it can work, if they ever do expand the 4 miles north from my old house, they'll be putting two cards in my S3.... That may be the only way I ever get ESPN2HD (C'MON TW!)

--T.J.

dpratt

01-06-2007, 10:45 AM

I just ditched Time Warner for Grande about a week ago, and it's been flawless. The techs that came out hadn't seen an S3 yet, but I wasn't terribly surprised by that. The cablecard install went easier than TW (both cards they brought actually worked) and I am up and happily running with Grande as of now. So far, they don't have any SDV channels, and the people I talked to said they have no plans to move to it any time soon (but that could change, of course). As a plus, speed channel is now in their basic analog service, so I can tape F1 races with my media center PC.

If you live in Dallas/Austin/San Marcos and have the opportunity to switch, I highly reccomend it.

BenMiller

03-15-2007, 12:23 AM

I have been having a problem with Grande (in the Dallas area).

I currently have a package including all four premium packages (all at the 20 percent discount for also having phone and Internet), and I currently have two tuners. I want to replace one tuner with a CableCard - keeping the other tuner. Grande customer service will not let me add CableCard to my current service,

They tell me I must take the Digital Package - Cable Card (at $52 per month). I then have to add my other tuner and my premium services to this service. Therefore I lose the benefit of the package. Also only the initial package is subject to the 20 percent discount - not the additional premium services. It is therefore more expensive to have the same service with a CableCard than with a tuner.

Even worse - they said they could not rent me a second Cable Card unless I purchased a second Digital Package - Cable Card at an additional $52 per month. Can you provide some documentation or a specific Grande point of contact that I don't have to pay for all the programming a second time to get a second Cable Card?

gtars

03-15-2007, 08:45 AM

Ben,
Here's the detail on my Grande bill:
Showtime Unlimited ... $10.95
Showtime 6 Month Offer ... $-7.95
Digital Cable: Includes Broadcast Basic ($10.00) and Digital Cable ... $52.00
Ttp Twenty ... $-10.40
Additional Cable Card ... $2.50

The "Ttp Twenty" discount is only on the $52, not the additional service (in my case, only Showtime). So, it's consistent with what they told you.

As for the second Cable Card, I would call several times and talk to different people at Grande. I got different answers depending on who I spoke to. I don't know how it would work if you got tuners + Cable Card, but they should not charge you an additional $52 to add a Cable Card to an existing Digital Package - Cable Card service.

Glenn

khopesh

08-16-2007, 08:25 PM

Just wanted to share my experience with getting my new Tivo HD working with Grande Communcations, or should I say not working. I picked up two cablecards from their office and popped them in. I was unable to get them working over the phone with a tech for about an hour. He sent out a tech. He'd never seen a cablecard and 3 hours later I still was unable to view the encrypted digital channels (able to view the unencrypted channels just fine). The next day, a two hour wait (same tech) and still no success. Went through 6 cablecards at last count. Unfortunately they seem quite clueless about the whole cablecard thing, which is unfortunate becuase otherwise their customer service excellent, at least as compared to the alternative cable companies. I'm on hold right now with customer service, we'll see if they pull it off, but I might have had my fill.

dowacr

08-20-2007, 05:54 PM

I've been trying to set up a new TivoHD with Grande and (after an installer actually came to my house) learned that Grande is out of cable cards, at least in the Austin area. Customer service has not yet been able to tell me when more cards will be available. The phone reps have been remarkably pleasant to deal with, as always with Grande. I just wish that the company had its act together on stocking cable cards.

wonderbow

08-29-2007, 10:55 AM

Hey, dowacr....

I just called Grande here in Austin and the rep said that they do not provide CCs here in Austin. She had never heard of them and would not transfer me to anyone else who may know. Have you heard anything else? I want to get rid of Time Warner with all their Switched Digital Video channels which Grande does not use.

I will switch to Grande the INSTANT someone there tells me they will install Cablecards for me.

Thanks.

echoout

09-09-2007, 11:20 PM

Me too. I will switch as soon as I hear they support CCs and are in my neighborhood in Austin. TWC are the devil. Anybody remember Austin CableVision?

Hey, dowacr....

I just called Grande here in Austin and the rep said that they do not provide CCs here in Austin. She had never heard of them and would not transfer me to anyone else who may know. Have you heard anything else? I want to get rid of Time Warner with all their Switched Digital Video channels which Grande does not use.

I will switch to Grande the INSTANT someone there tells me they will install Cablecards for me.

Thanks.

cableguy763

09-09-2007, 11:26 PM

Anybody remember Austin CableVision?
Yeah, it was bought by TWC.

echoout

09-09-2007, 11:36 PM

T'was a simpler time.

Yeah, it was bought by TWC.

wonderbow

09-10-2007, 12:11 PM

And I am loving it! The techs had extra cable cards on the truck and we were done in less than an hour as opposed to the 10 or so hours with Time Warner. Also, NO SWITCHED DIGITAL VIDEO! Every channel is available and looks great (except the on demand and PPV of course). I recommend it to anyone in Austin.

echoout

09-18-2007, 03:06 PM

...who can actually get Grande...

I recommend it to anyone in Austin.

j0hnW

09-18-2007, 09:27 PM

Hey, dowacr....

I will switch to Grande the INSTANT someone there tells me they will install Cablecards for me.

Thanks.

I'm in Austin and have Grande (phone, internet and digital cable). I also have two cable cards installed in my S3 Tivo, with flawless performance (including HD channels).

Sounds like the tech/sales-person you go ahold of is clueless. Grande does support cable cards (at least S-cards; don't know about the newer M-cards where you only need one card to get two tuners working).

Granted, even though they provide cablecards, they are likely to be baffled by Tivo. It took three service visits, two different pairs of cards, multiple headend "hits", and lots of homework and lots of persistence on my end to get the cards working. Basically, you should learn everything you can about installing and pairing cards with Tivo -- because you're probably going to have to explain it to the techs (in the end, I was installing the cards and driving the config menus myself while the tech sat on my couch and watched).

My best advice is that if you have any installation problems, 99% of the time it is going to be due to the way the techs initialized/"hit" the cards at the "headend"; not with your Tivo hardware and/or the cablecards themselves, no matter what the techs may try to convince you of. If you are getting nowhere with the techs on your own, Tivo has an S3 specific tech support number where they will conference call between you, the Tivo tech and the Grande tech, to get things working (unfortunately I don't have that number handy, but a quick search of the forum should turn it up).

Bottomline: don't take no for an answer. Grande does support cablecards, and you can get your S3 working with Grande cable programming.

Best of luck,
John

kaseyjohns

09-29-2007, 07:44 PM

Thought I would put in my experiences (so far) on getting CableCARDs for a TivoHD on Grande in San Marcos. Called in, mentioned I had a TivoHD and needed to get CableCARDs for it. The rep immediately knew what I was talking about, went through the plan changes, and set up a service call for today (this was Wednesday afternoon). I asked about self-install and was told that it wasn't an option, that a truck roll was required. Also didn't ask about M-Cards vs S-Cards... figured that might A) confuse the rep and B) the rep could be misinformed... would be a lot easier to sort that out here with the install tech.

So, fast forward to this morning. Tech shows up - sits in the driveway for about 15 minutes, then comes to the door. When I see him come to the door with nothing but his cell phone, I know something's up. He tells me that they're running short on CableCARDs and he's waiting for a call back to see if they can even *find* any. Sits there for about 15 minutes more until the call finally comes. They can't find any. Says he'll keep searching - if they're able to find some today, he'll call me and come out and do the installation, otherwise we'll reschedule for when they can find some. About 30 minutes later, he calls back and says they'll have some this upcoming Monday (10/1) and sets up a 3-5pm window.

So... ordering? :up: The actual install? :down: :down: And not being able to find any CableCARDs... that just amazes me, considering the company is based here. It worries me a bit... if they're having this much trouble tracking down 2 of them, what's going to happen if one of them doesn't work.

I'll update Monday afternoon after the next install appointment.

MPAC

09-30-2007, 10:15 AM

Grande is Great

I have had Grande (Midland, TX) and S3 for a year with no problems. When they did the original install they acted like they had already seen several S3's and quickly moved through the setup. I subscribed to a digital package that included one CC and added a second CC for $2.50/month. Grande does not charge installation fees or a fee for a truck roll!

Daniel

10-03-2007, 12:48 PM

Kaseyjohns -- Any update to the install?

kaseyjohns

10-06-2007, 07:58 PM

Sorry, bit of a delay in getting back to this. Let's see, where were we:

Monday afternoon comes and goes. Haven't heard from anyone at Grande, so call up about 5:45pm to check on the status of the install. The CSR who answers the phone says that it's still in there (as an 8a-7p appt, not 3-5p as the tech from last weekend claimed he would set up) and that there haven't been any attempts or calls made yet that she can see.

About 30 minutes later I get a call from a Grande tech. He asks me whether my install was for cablecards or cable boxes. I tell him cablecards and also throw in that it's for a Tivo. He says that's what he thought, but that his supervisor insisted that the workorder was incorrect. :confused: Says they don't have them tonight but that they'll have some tomorrow (Tuesday) and sets up another all day appointment.

Tuesday morning comes. Tech calls me about 10am and says he has some free time and wants to try and knock this out instead of leaving it for the evening. First card goes in, calls the Host ID into tech support to get it activated, and wait about 5 minutes for everything to sync up. About 15 minutes later, he's gone and the Tivo is completely up and running (sans the HD Tier, which I'll get to in a minute). Flawless install. The tech said he had done a couple of TVs with CableCARDs, but no Tivos yet.

So... bottom line? Install - flawless, once it happened. If the tech would have had to drive the Tivo himself, he probably would have had some issues. Since I did all that, he never touched the Tivo except to put the cards in.

A couple of days after the install, I call in to get the HD & Sports tiers activated on the cards. After sitting in the hold queue for a few minutes, a rep answers and I tell him what I want to do. He pulls up the account and says "you'll need to come by our office and swap your CableCARDs for an HD DVR". After some back-and-forth, he finally puts me on hold to confer with tech support. He comes back and offers to activate the channels on my cards, but that they probably won't work and I'll need to come by the office and swap the cards for an HD box. I hang up, flip the Tivo to 322, and there's ESPN HD in all its glory. So... customer service is hit-and-miss. I know the guy I talked to for the upgrade was in Austin and the one who set up the initial call was in San Marcos, so (based on the other posts in this thread) it sounds like the Austin office may need some CableCARD training.

ulf_a777

11-05-2007, 06:47 PM

I case someone with Grande is still hesitant, my experience with Grande, Tivo S3 and cable cards was great! I live in the Dallas area, have one Motorola HD box upstairs in a media room, and a Motorola HD DVR downstairs. I wanted to swap out the DVR and get Tivo.

On Tuesday I talked to the Dallas sales people at Grande, guy didn't quite know what I wanted, but he connected me to customer service in San Marcos (Brandon) who was very familiar with Tivo and cable cards. Swapped out the digital cable service for cable cards ~$45, plus the additional cable card for an additional $2.50. I also keep my other HD cable box upstairs for the additional $6.50 as before. I haven't seen my new bill yet but I'm optimistic...

On Friday of the same week the installer (Derek) showed up. Very good to deal with, everything went smoothly except one cable card didn't work. Popped another one in, and it was all done in maybe 20 min.

supersnoop

11-13-2007, 06:16 PM

Has anyone gotten a multi-stream card from Grande? The sales lady I spoke with is certain that cablecards are available, but doesn't know anything more without processing an order.

supersnoop

11-24-2007, 04:03 PM

To answer my own questions; I found an installer with an M-Card. Now my TivoHD is up an running.

The sales guy wasn't sure, but I scheduled an installation for Friday. I got a call on Friday from the installer saying he didn't have any cable cards and had to postpone to Saturday. A different installer showed up also didn't think he had any cable cards, but found one S-Card in his truck. We got that working. I scheduled for another guy to come back out with another card, and he had an M-Card. Now, everything is working great!

travisc77

11-30-2007, 10:45 AM

I am considering Grande as a switch from TWC in Corpus Christi, TX. Does anybody have experience with Grande in Corpus? Has anybody heard about SDV implementation with Grande?

Thanks
Travis

EndBoards

12-04-2007, 05:15 PM

I am considering Grande as a switch from TWC in Corpus Christi, TX. Does anybody have experience with Grande in Corpus? Has anybody heard about SDV implementation with Grande?

Thanks
Travis
I've been a Grande phone, internet and cable customer in CC for about 8 years. I've had maybe 2 or 3 issues that required a service call over that entire time. They've been excellent and they do offer cable cards in the CC market. I'm planning on getting a pair of S3's after the first of the year..

travisc77

12-04-2007, 05:29 PM

I've been a Grande phone, internet and cable customer in CC for about 8 years. I've had maybe 2 or 3 issues that required a service call over that entire time. They've been excellent and they do offer cable cards in the CC market. I'm planning on getting a pair of S3's after the first of the year..

Can you confirm what HD channels you get? I'll list what I get below:

1. Networks - NBC, CW, PBS (no ABC, CBS, FOx)

2. Other - MOJO, HDNet, HDNet Movies, Universal HD, Discovery HD

3. Premium - HBO (now Showtime, Starz, etc)

Also, do you know if Grande is FiOS or not?

EndBoards

12-10-2007, 01:21 PM

Can you confirm what HD channels you get? I'll list what I get below:

1. Networks - NBC, CW, PBS (no ABC, CBS, FOx)

2. Other - MOJO, HDNet, HDNet Movies, Universal HD, Discovery HD

3. Premium - HBO (now Showtime, Starz, etc)

Also, do you know if Grande is FiOS or not?
1. Yes, Unsure (what's CW?), Yes - (correct, correct*, correct.. blame this on the local affiliates, not Grande..) *CBS is digital, but not HD, again because of the local affiliate..

2. yes, yes, yes, yes.. add FoodHD, NGEO HD, TNT HD, MTV HD, A&E HD, WealthTV HD, HGTV HD.. maybe a couple of others that I'm forgetting.. (this is by memory)

3. Not sure, I don't subscribe to any of those.. But I know HBOHD is on there.. I think there's one other.. Maybe CinemaxHD?

cogitofire

01-28-2008, 11:52 AM

Mid January I added my new TivoHD to my grande cable here in Dallas, TX. The guy who came had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to do but I just followed the onscreen directions, he called some guy that his boss told him to call, and whamo! Not 5 minutes later my new m-card worked perfectly getting all channels.

He and I had never done this before buy their system made it happen seamlessly.

Al-Mann

02-02-2008, 10:55 PM

I picked these up today from my supervisor. I had a work order that had "cable card" listed on it. I have yet to do a CC install. It seems almost all the other guys have done them...
http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/5496/mcard001ap8.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mcard001ap8.jpg)

I am SO tempted to call our tech support and see about adding one of these to my account for my THD...

When I get paid again I'll be transferring my Product Lifetime Service from my single tuner S2 to the THD. Once I do that I'm taking the THD to work for some impromptu training on CC installs in a THD. We have directions on how to do the install... But reading the directions and seeing it actually done are two diff'rent things. I just wanna help out my fellow employees here in San Antonio make sure my fellow TiVo San Antonio users get the service they deserve...
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/5968/ccmcardedittediw5.th.jpg (http://img509.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ccmcardedittediw5.jpg)
I'm not leaving the vehicle number visible to give anybody a chance to call in on me...

tharper

02-09-2008, 08:42 AM

I've been a Grande phone, internet and cable customer in CC for about 8 years. I've had maybe 2 or 3 issues that required a service call over that entire time. They've been excellent and they do offer cable cards in the CC market. I'm planning on getting a pair of S3's after the first of the year..

I'm in Corpus, did you ever get your S3's and go cablecard from Grande?
I have a TivoHD and just have extended basic from Time Warner. I thinking of switching to Grande because of the SDV issue.

travisc77

02-09-2008, 11:26 PM

I'm in Corpus, did you ever get your S3's and go cablecard from Grande?
I have a TivoHD and just have extended basic from Time Warner. I thinking of switching to Grande because of the SDV issue.

Ditto here. I'm checking out Grande this week and will report back.

Travis

tharper

02-10-2008, 08:13 AM

Ditto here. I'm checking out Grande this week and will report back.

Travis

OK, thanks

Al-Mann

02-10-2008, 09:05 AM

They "should" have CCs in Corpus Christi... We have them in San Antonio. I just went through the web site and nowhere did it say anything about CCs though. If I remember correctly CCs are like $2.95 each a month. I'll be getting mine next week. Now whether Corpus Christi has M-Cards or just S-Cards I do not know.

Travisc... As for which HD channels Grande Communications (http://www.grandecom.com/explore/cable/hd.php) offers it states on the site. These are the channels we get here in San Antonio...
HDTV Tier
HD Theater
ESPN HD
ESPN2 HD
MOJO
Universal HD
TNT HD
HD Net
HD Net Movies
Wealth TV
National Geographic HD
MHD
A&E HD
History Channel HD
HGTV HD
Food Network HD
Premium Digital Service HD
HBO HD
Cinemax HD
Showtime HD
STARZ HD

tharper

02-24-2008, 09:50 AM

Ditto here. I'm checking out Grande this week and will report back.
Travis
Were you able to go with Grande yet? Just checking...

daverdfw

03-04-2008, 08:45 PM

new Grande user here in Dallas and I HATE the Motorola box, anyone know how much Grande charges for cablecards?

daverdfw

03-05-2008, 09:31 AM

well I went on woot.com today and low and behold they have a HD tivo for referb for $179, so I will be calling grande soon to get my cablecard. and get rid of that crappy motorola box.

travisc77

07-07-2008, 11:48 AM

Figured I would give an update on the switch from TWC to Grande in Corpus Christi. I finally switched, as they have more HD, cheaper and no SDV. Cable cards are $2.99/each but are multi-stream motorola cards. I have an S3 which needed 2 and a Tivo HD which only needed 1. The installer had never seen Tivo, but the engineer at headend for Grande was very familiar. The install took about an hour and I did have to stay there and help walk him through the install as I've done it before. Everything works without an issue.

The biggest issue if your switching seems to be:

- Write down the serial # of the cards before inserting (remember card 1, 2 etc)
- If an S3, get card 1 working before inserting card 2
- Navigate the Tivo menu (to cable card screen, etc) for the installer if he doesn't know
- Make sure he calls headend, not regular customer service

This was my 3rd CC install, and was the quickest mostly due to an experienced headend guy.

Travis

tharper

07-20-2008, 01:28 PM

Figured I would give an update on the switch from TWC to Grande in Corpus Christi.....

Thanks Travis!

I'm fixing to go through the same with Grande in Corpus.. Guess there was no chance they would give you the cablecards and let you install them, and call the headend yourself?

travisc77

07-22-2008, 01:04 AM

Nope, they insisted on a truck roll. Another side benefit with Grande seems they don't have 100% of their channels flagged for no transfers (as did TWC). So far so good on transferring all shows I have tried between units.

inkydoo

08-06-2008, 02:51 PM

I've gotten conflicting answers from Grande on whether CCs require a truck roll (this in Austin). Before I signed up, they told me you couldn't come get them, but the required truck roll wouldn't cost anything. Then I called today to set up a time for them to come out, and I'm told a truck roll will cost me, but I can go pick them up at the office for free.

inkydoo

08-12-2008, 11:37 AM

After talking to several people at Grande, I have an explanation for the varying responses.

First, apparently Grande has different policies for different markets. For instance, in San Antonio, they generally send out a tech to do a CC install, whereas in Austin and parts of Dallas, they generally let customers do self-installs.

Second, even in a market where self-install is the general rule, if the local office doesn't have any cablecards in stock, they'll schedule a truck roll and send out a tech (at no cost, I gathered).

As far as my self-install went, the only problem was the Grande support person who clearly hadn't ever encountered a CableCard install, much less a TiVo CC install, yet insisted that there was nothing she could do on her end, even after I explained the pairing process. She put me on a list for a supervisor to call me back, but then called back an hour later, apologizing and saying she'd talked to another tech, and know understood what needed to be done. After that, it took about ten minutes on the phone.

Even with the hour between phone calls, it still took less time than the Time Warner tech took a year ago. Of course, this is the same Time Warner that insisted I couldn't remove their cable card from my HDTivo myself, but would have to schedule a tech to come and do it, lest I damage the "delicate" and "fragile" card. At least the tech who showed up thought it was just as ridiculous as I did.

travisc77

01-19-2009, 08:00 PM

This is specifically for Corpus Christi, but several changes to the channel lineup. As with most channel changes, not all of them are working right away and I'm not sure why...

Shown Up in Guide & Working:
Ch 405 ABC KXXV

Shown Up in Guide & Not Working:
Ch 402 CBS KWTX
Ch 403 NBC KCEN
Ch 404 PBS KWBU
Ch 414 Fox KWKT
Ch 415 CW KBTX
Ch 442 Disney

Not in Guide, but Working:
Ch 443 Animal Planet
Ch 444 Science Channel

Another weird thing that happens, several channels that were working have stopped working (429 Wealth HD, 430 NGHD, 431 MTVHD). Anybody else out there experiencing similar issues?

Thanks
Travis

tharper

02-12-2009, 09:01 PM

This is specifically for Corpus Christi, but several changes to the channel lineup.
Travis

Travis, did Grande Corpus Christi have s-cards or m-cards?

<edit>Sorry, read back, you did say m-cards available...
Fixing to attempt this install tomorrow....

bhoppe80

03-09-2010, 10:57 PM

I have recently had an M-Card installed with a Tivo HD. The initial install took around an hour or so, and I'm not sure that the installer even knew how it started working. After he thought it was going to work, it didn't and he had to call a specialist.

Since then, it has just stopped working about 4 different times. One time I had to have someone come out, the other 2 I just spent half the night removing and inserting the cablecard and rebooting the unit and eventually it came back up.

Anyone else having these types of problems on grande? I'm hoping to be able to nail it down so at least I can know what to do when it happens. Considering asking for a new cablecard.

enkrates

03-20-2010, 05:01 PM

I just got off the phone with Grande after they left me a voice mail saying I needed to get some new cablecards. I have two cards in a Series 3 Tivo, which have worked well enough. The folks at tech support have no idea what they're talking about and can't even tell me what the new cards are for, other than saying that they will allow "video on demand", whatever they mean by that. Does anyone know what the story is with these new cards? I've had so much trouble with Grande at this point, I'm considering abandoning Tivo just to get away from Grande...

travisc77

03-23-2010, 09:50 AM

Sorry to hear about the issues with Grande, they have been great compared to my first year in Corpus using Time Warner, and they are cheaper.

I have an S3 with 2 Mcards) and an HD with 1 Mcard. The install for both took about 30 minutes and I haven't had a single issue in ~2 yrs. It may be that you have bad cards, or it could be incomplete install. Make sure to follow the directions in the following article...

http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/135

And make sure the worker is talking to "headend" and not a customer service rep. Headend will understand and ask for the correct info. I've done this before, so I was able to walk them through the menus.

Fstgrande

03-23-2010, 01:42 PM

Everyone,

I work for the technical support group that assists the Grande field technicians. If they need any help with the setting up or trouble shooting of the cable cards, we provide assistance.

Grande is in the process of phasing out Motorola Cable Boxes and Motorola Cable Cards to move into a Scientific Atlanta platform. This will allow us to provide our customers with our new Video-On-Demand (VOD) service for free. This will only happen in Austin, San Antonio, and the San Marcos areas.

Since you have two Motorola single stream cards, the card that will be provided to you will be one Scientific Atlanta multi-stream card. This will not only allow you to access our VOD service, but it will also reduce your monthly bill by one Cable Card charge.

If you need physical assistance swapping these cards out then we can send a technician at no cost to you. If you do it yourself but have issues, our Technical support department will be glad to assist you 24 hours a day, every day.

enkrates

03-23-2010, 01:48 PM

As far as I know, Tivo Series 3 doesn't support any sort of cable company provided VOD, regardless of what the cable cards are capable of providing. Also, as far as I know, the Series 3 still requires two multi-stream cable cards because (again, as far as I know) the Series 3 uses them in a backwards compatibility mode and treats them as if they were single stream.

It's exactly this sort of mismatch between what I think I understand about this issue and what Grande representatives say that makes me want to stop using Grande. I haven't found an issue yet where a Grande person has understood a Tivo (or sometimes even Grande policies) better than I do.

Fstgrande

03-23-2010, 03:12 PM

Correct Tivo Series 3 software does not allow to multi-stream or allow VOD

*VOD does work on a Tivo series 2

*TiVo HD and TiVo HD XL DVRs require 1 M-Card (multi-stream CableCARD) or 2 S-Cards (single-stream CableCARDs)

*Series3 HD DVRs require 2 M-Cards or 2 S-Cards

Grande does not support Tivo, and therefore the technicians are not trained in supporting Tivo. However we do support what service is provisioned to the card.

Even though we do not support Tivo we make the effort to try to make them work at the convenience of the customer.

In this case since the platform is changing you will require two Scientific Atlanta PK800 or PK802 (multi-stream) cards.

inkydoo

04-02-2010, 02:43 PM

So Fstgrande, can you confirm that this isn't a move toward a switched video infrastructure? I tried to ask a tech and got the same "it allows video on demand" answer that enkrates got. I could tell this guy didn't really know what was going on, so I didn't push the issue, but it does worry me little.

I also asked if I could get a new one at their local office, swap it out and bring the old one back to minimize "downtime" (I didn't use that term with him) and he said no. He said for that I'd need a tech to come out. I asked if I could talk to someone else who might be able to make an exception. He said no. The office is close enough that I may drive over and ask anyway, but it was one of the least helpful conversations I've had with Grande phone support.

inkydoo

04-03-2010, 09:43 AM

Just as a follow-up, I went to the office and the woman at the desk there (who I've interacted with before and is always pleasant, helpful and reasonable) said it was fine to take one of the new SA cablecards (which are apparently just rebranded Cisco cards according to my Tivo) and bring the old one back in a few days.

For those who are wondering, apparently there's no "unpairing" that needs to happen with the old card. Somewhat apprehensively, I yanked the old one out, the Tivo immediately said there seemed to be a card missing and took me to the CableCard "overview" screen. I put the new one in, it started downloading a firmware update (which took about ten minutes) and then went into its ready state.

A call to Grande tech support saying I needed to pair my new cablecard, a nice but obviously unsure tech who took a few minutes to figure out what he needed to do and I was up and running. I didn't even have to give them any numbers over the phone, so I guess they can detect that now. So far everything appears to work as before.

Every once in a while I deal with someone at Grande (always over the phone) that's not very polite or helpful (like the guy who said there was no one else to talk to), but the truth is that 90% of the time I'm really happy with their customer service. Compared to the maybe 5% of the time I was happy with TW, it's really a major improvement.

thelontx

04-16-2010, 02:37 PM

Hey all... I'm in Austin. About 2 weeks back I had one of the Grande techs come out to my house and replace the CableCards in my Series 3 Tivo. Very nice and fairly competent guy. He wasn't fully familiar with the why's and how's, but he knew the right numbers at Grandecom to call and get the cards activated. One thing he missed at first... the series 3 requires 2X multi-stream cards. He originally thought that a single multi-stream would be sufficient. It took about 10 minutes for the firmware update on each of the cards.

The tech understood that the new Scientific Atlanta cards were related to bandwidth and that the change would take effect on Apr 15 or 19th or something like that.

One very helpful piece of advice... he said that you can pop the cards out, go to your local Grandecom office, and ask to swap them out without a reason. Much easier than scheduling time off of work to try and meet a technician.

Regarding customer service... I have had a few minor issues with GrandCom over my almost 3 years with them. But, I am MUCH happier than I was with Time Warner.

CenterPartnersTV

04-16-2010, 02:40 PM

TiVo is raising fees on all tivo users not connecting by broadband effective 05/30/2010 from Center Partners Northen Colorado TiVo Tech Internal E-mail.

travisc77

05-19-2010, 11:56 PM

Grande changed their channel lineup, but Tivo hasn't changed theirs. It's been a few days and still nothing. Tivo steady recording blank channels, notified Tivo of the issue and hope it gets resolved soon. Basically Grande Corpus Christi moved all HD from the 400's to the 800's and added a few new channels.

Centexhokie

08-06-2010, 10:31 AM

they want to charge a fee for the service visit. Not sure which. I just purchased a Tivo Premiere and it will arrive today. Went to Grandecom and requested a multistream cable card to do the install and they said they have to have a "technician" do that and can get to it in 6 days. I'll be so glad to get rid of the SA-8300HD that it will be worth it, but Grande it's time to realize that some customers can handle the small stuff.

inkydoo

09-01-2010, 09:12 AM

Got my new Premiere XL yesterday and I'm planning to make a run by the Grande office to pick up a CableCard today or tomorrow (and finally return the remaining Scientific Atlanta box I've had attached to an older series 2). I'll let everyone know how it goes.

inkydoo

09-03-2010, 09:34 AM

Things haven't gone as smoothly this time. I returned home with my CableCard and installed it into the new Premiere. It did a firmware update, I went through guided setup, and found that it wasn't getting any non-broadcast HD, nor any premiums. Called support, who sent a subscription signal, maybe even a couple of times. At this point, I started doing as much troubleshooting on my end as possible. Replaced the coax cable, unseated and reseated the CC, looked through a ton of Diagnostic and other CC screens, and finally performed the ultimate test by swapping the CableCard in my working TivoHD into my Premiere.

With that, my Premiere now sees all the channels I should be receiving and the TivoHD doesn't, so it's clearly something specific to the CableCard. So, I take the CC back to the office to get a new one and try again, but this time on the old TivoHD, since I'd rather have the new one hooked up and recording. Same situation as before. Not receiving various channels, phone support sending signals makes no difference.

So, now I'm waiting for a tech to come this morning. I suspect it's something simple, and a phone call to the right person on the tech's part will solve everything (or maybe it's a bad batch of CCs and some more CC swapping will get me one that works), but we'll see.

travisc77

09-03-2010, 10:07 AM

Make sure they follow the directions in the following article...

http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/135

And make sure the worker is talking to "headend" and not a customer service rep. Headend will understand and ask for the correct info.

As you have noticed, Grande doesn't pair the cards with Tivo. But headend must do something to activate the cards.

inkydoo

09-03-2010, 11:19 AM

Tech just left a few minutes ago. He knew what he was doing, and listened to the steps I'd already gone through before proceeding. Just to be sure, he tried another CableCard, had the techs send the subscription signal, and nada. But, since he's talking to the real techs (as opposed to regular customer tech support), the tech tells him that he's getting back a bad response to the signal, and escalates the issue up to provisioning. Since I couldn't hear the conversation, I'm not exactly sure what was up, but it sounds like either they've had trouble adding (and removing apparently) provisioning on recent CableCards, or that they've sent out some recent cards that weren't prepped to handle provisioning. Either way, I'm apparently not the only person having this issue. So, the tech said that someone from provisioning would need to do something in order to get it working, but that that could all happen on their end and should be working some time today (theoretically, when some guy gets out of a meeting). He left me a second CableCard just in case something went wrong and I need to swap the existing one out.

I realize there's some challenges to implementation, but I can't help thinking that if there were some way I could have talked to the headend techs myself either Wednesday or Thursday, we could have figured out the same thing without them sending a tech. As long as Grande could identify advanced customers, it seem like this would be win / win for me and them.