TWC/Comcast Houston Cable Card Install

[lethcoeb]

Hi.
I've purchased a new Series 3 TiVo, and picked up a couple of cable cards.

Following the instructions from both TiVo and TWC/Comcast, with activated cards, I remain stuck and unable to download any channel information. Without the cable cards, I can pick up stations 2-70 something.

Any suggestions, other than pick up more cable cards and keep trying (which is what I plan to do on Monday)?

Any suggestions with regards to the activation process? With the self install, everything takes at least 24 hours - while waiting for TWC/Comcast to activate (between the hours of 8-5, Mon-Fri only!), and there's no immediate feedback that you are doing anything correctly.

Thanks,
Bryan

[woofmaster]

I just got mine working today - I picked up 4 cards to make sure I got 2 working ones after the first failure.

The cards should fairly quickly display most all of the channels after you insert them before you call to activate them(I believe about the time they pop up a pr. I managed to only get 1 card yesterday and it was stuck on "acquiring channels" forever.

Get more cards - make sure you are plugging the cable in directly from the wall to the Tivo and skip the converter box.

[lethcoeb]

I just got mine working today - I picked up 4 cards to make sure I got 2 working ones after the first failure.

The cards should fairly quickly display most all of the channels after you insert them before you call to activate them(I believe about the time they pop up a pr. I managed to only get 1 card yesterday and it was stuck on "acquiring channels" forever.

Get more cards - make sure you are plugging the cable in directly from the wall to the Tivo and skip the converter box.

Thanks for the advice - I am plugged directly into the wall (converter removed), but neither card is displaying channels (both stuck on acquiring channels, with 0 channels loaded), even after calling and having them activated.

I will pick up 4 new cards on Monday, and improve signal strength temporarily by replacing my 1/4 splitter in the attic with a 1/2 splitter to see if that helps.

[gastrof]

Thanks for the advice - I am plugged directly into the wall (converter removed), but neither card is displaying channels (both stuck on acquiring channels, with 0 channels loaded), even after calling and having them activated.

I will pick up 4 new cards on Monday, and improve signal strength temporarily by replacing my 1/4 splitter in the attic with a 1/2 splitter to see if that helps.


If you don't have an amplifying splitter, get one. That's the way to go.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=Electroline&category0=

[Gregor]

Thanks for the advice - I am plugged directly into the wall (converter removed), but neither card is displaying channels (both stuck on acquiring channels, with 0 channels loaded), even after calling and having them activated.

I will pick up 4 new cards on Monday, and improve signal strength temporarily by replacing my 1/4 splitter in the attic with a 1/2 splitter to see if that helps.

Make sure it's a 1 ghz splitter, the old 900mhz ones won't work with cable cards.

[lethcoeb]

Make sure it's a 1 ghz splitter, the old 900mhz ones won't work with cable cards.

I have a Motorola amp (1GHz according to the paperwork) in line with the input of the 1/4 splitter currently. I am planning on swapping the 1/4 splitter with a 1/2 splitter here in the next few minutes and seeing if that improves anything.

If not, I'll probably try removing the splitter altogether just to see if there is any effect.

If that does not work, I remove the amp, just to see if there is any effect.

Thanks for the advice - I'll keep updating as I go forward...

[lethcoeb]

OK, so I turned in the original 2 cable cards, and picked up 6 more (the lady at the counter of the 2nd Comcast storefront I visited recommended getting as many as I could, and I concurred).

I went into the attic and completely stripped all splitters out, so that I had a direct path to my TiVo.

First cable card gave an error, while both the second and third cable cards immediately loaded the channel information, and gave me all channels (minus my HBO package).

Called to activate, and spoke with a rep I spoke with last week, who helped me doubly confirm all of the numbers, for when Comcast hits my cards tomorrow to fully activate them.

After I confirm activation, I will go back into the attic and begin restoring some of my splitters, and I am considering an amplified splitter as recommended, if my line amp does not help me keep signal.

Appreciate all of the advice - it actually seemed pretty easy with Cable Cards which worked. After tomorrow (confirming all channels, etc) I will be able to return 4 cable cards, my HD DVR, and my old school digital cable box (previously feeding my Series 2 TiVo, now relegated to the bedroom).