New Comcast Tivo DVR Install

[atomicrc11]

So today I had my Comcast DVR with Tivo installed and I must say it went very well. I was hoping for a DCX-3400 but all the installer had was a DCH-3416. He came in and dropped off the box. After getting it inialized he said it would take between 2-20 minutes for it to download and restart with the Tivo software. After about 10 minutes the box rebooted and everything was up and running.

I do have to say that his was a great install and I really like the Tivo interface. It isn't as slow as the earlier versions were reported to be and I love that I can now get OnDemand as most NBC and CBS shows are available to watch. If you don't use the ability to transfer shows to a mobile device and you can get Comcast Tivo it is definitely worth it.

I called the local office and they are out of all Digital, HD and DVR boxes so they put me on a waiting list. As soon as I hear I will upgrade to the DCX-3400 as I would love the bigger hard drive to record more shows and the fact that it can put out a native signal. Right now I'm limited to 1080i fixed but for the mean time and for most people this isn't a big deal.

[atomicrc11]

Just an update to the install, everything is working well. I did notice that it is recording just a couple extra episodes of White Collar, but I believe this is because I just created the season pass and any espisode that airs within two weeks of the original air date and is not previously recorded will be recorded. This same thing happened on my Tivo HD when I had a conflict and it would record the 1am airing of the show.

The online scheduling is also great. I didn't even realize Comcast offered it, but it works better than the Tivo version. It uses the Comcast online TV planner and not only can I schedule individual and Season Pass recordings but I can see everything on the DVR, the upcomining recordings and can delete anything I want, including things on the DVR and Season Passes. I know I was never able to delete recording on the Tivo when I had my Tivo HD.

Also, from www.comcast.com/tivo it states that the DVR costs $9.95/month and that you can optionally get the Tivo software for free with the Triple Play.

[probuilt]

I'm still itching for the package to travel out west. (California) Where are you located, and how far west have you heard of the package used?

[HiDefGator]

I'm still itching for the package to travel out west. (California) Where are you located, and how far west have you heard of the package used?

Why are you itching? You can get an S3 today to stop that itch.

[meoge]

I don't know about the OP but for me the main reason for wanting this Tivo guide on my Comcast box is so we get the OnDemand programming that we're paying for. It seems like people who have used a stand alone Tivo unit for many years just can't appreciate how important that is. I realize that we could get another Comcast box just for OnDemand, but that's impractical for most people.

[nirisahn]

I don't know about the OP but for me the main reason for wanting this Tivo guide on my Comcast box is so we get the OnDemand programming that we're paying for. It seems like people who have used a stand alone Tivo unit for many years just can't appreciate how important that is. I realize that we could get another Comcast box just for OnDemand, but that's impractical for most people.I don't know how your Comcast package is priced, but mine included an HD box even though I didn't need one since the TiVo HD uses cable cards. Since it was free with the HD package, I took the box and use just for watching OnDemand, although I don't use OnDemand very often because I seldom actually find anything I want to watch. But it's nice to have anyway.

[Tommm777]

Here's my TIVO install story in case someone wants to get the new HD-XL TIVO.

It took a few calls to Comcast to get the TIVO HD-XL operating right.

The Cable Card itself performs the decoding of the Comcast signals for the TIVO. What a Dual Cable Card (e.g., MCard) does as far as you are concerned is it doubles the number of TIVO's you have in one place from one to two. When I press the Live TV button It takes me to the second TIVO's LIVE TV display which is always running in the background (for example it maintains the 30 minute live TV recording at whatever channel you last left it on). The second TIVO has all the functionality of the first TIVO. That is how they make it so that you can record two channels at the same time. The cable card essentially doubles the number of TIVO's you have in one spot from one to two.

The TIVO card is programmed by Comcast (Verizon) to decode what you purchase monthly. The programming of the card is done by the main Comcast Office after it is installed at your house because they don't want to mistakenly give away free premium TV by accident. The cards are all initialized from the factory with the basic service and your Premium added services get enabled after the installation at your house. I think they charge me $3.00 a month for the "second" TIVO decoder.

The cable companies (Comcast and Verizon) often get the programming wrong on the first pass through because they don't tell the installers how the cards are supposed to work. Therefore when the installer leaves he has no confidence in what he was supposed to actually have done. Since it takes a few minutes for the programming of the card from the local office to complete all the channels the installers assume that it is a timing issue and tell you that you have to wait for all the programming to complete. Of course after they leave it never does complete - especially if the main office did not program it to receive what your package allows you to receive.

My TIVO installer guy said he didn't think the cable cards could get the premium channels. Wrong. Unfortunately, because he didn't think it could get the premium channels he didn't make any efforts to insure that the main office programmed my TIVO for all my stations. It took me a few days to realize what channels were missing. Once I realized what was missing I called Comcast and on the third try everything came in. When the card is not getting a channel because it is not programmed to do so there is a Cable Card Menu inside of TIVO that gives out information on the decoding of the channel you are trying to view. There was a label on all of the channels I was not getting that I should have of AUTH:NS which I think meant Authorization: Not Subscibed. Once I got the channels programmed right and could view them the label changed to AUTH:S which I think meant Authorization:Subscribed. It would be good for you to get the Verizon Technical Support number from your installer so that if something goes wrong later you can call them to get it fixed. You might also need it if the cable card should loose it's programming for some reason or another. My card maintains it's programming even when I unplug the TIVO but you never know, sometimes transients could take out the memory.

Oh...and I had to use an Amplifier to get all the channels to work in the bedroom. I was missing half (strange) the HBO's without the Amp. It was a Motorola Brand two way amp which I installed at the input to the house. After I installed the AMP all of my HBO's came in. Prior to that I had only half and every once in a while a channel would lock and I'd get another. When Unlocked I just got a Grey Blank Screen .... the same screen as when you're not subscribed to a channel.

And finally, I made sure that when I initialized the channels I took the RF signal at the output of a splitter at the point where the cable enters the house. The splitter splits the signal with one channel going into my Comcast Box and another to the TIVO. (actually I had a 4 way splitter! but it worked) After the splitter the signal was ssentially at the same RF signal level at TIVO as at the Comcast Cable box. If the Comcast box worked so should the TIVO. For some reason a call to Tech Support before I moved my TIVO to a spot of equal power to the Cable Box had them telling me that as far as they could see I was getting the channels. However, my card has a label of :NS on the suspect channel. I suspect that in THEIR records it was reporting that the authorization had been allowed but for some reason it did not get written into MY cable card. MY cable card is of course the area I am most concerned about, not the Comcast Records! So, to insure that the cable card would "hear" the "OK" this time I made sure it was in an area of good cable power. It programmed quite quickly once I made the final and third call and had the TIVO in a spot where the power level of the input RF was the same as was at the Comcast Cable Box. While on the phone with help support the channels came in and when I checked the Auth: field it had changed from :NS to :S.

The HD channels will get received by the cable card as HD. The extra cost you usually see from the cable companies when it comes to HD is for an HD decoder box (I think). The cable card is that box as far as you are concerned.

The Encryption that the TIVO 802.11 wireless device works with can handle WPA also. I don't know if it can do WPA2 but WPA works fine so I didn't have to change the wireless access back to WEP for my wireless access point. The first thing I watched wirelessly was You Tube video of a song at a concert. Very cool.

Hope this helps someone else...good luck. TIVO Rules...

Tom

[Dad]

So today I had my Comcast DVR with Tivo installed and I must say it went very well. I was hoping for a DCX-3400 but all the installer had was a DCH-3416. He came in and dropped off the box. After getting it inialized he said it would take between 2-20 minutes for it to download and restart with the Tivo software. After about 10 minutes the box rebooted and everything was up and running.

I do have to say that his was a great install and I really like the Tivo interface. It isn't as slow as the earlier versions were reported to be and I love that I can now get OnDemand as most NBC and CBS shows are available to watch. If you don't use the ability to transfer shows to a mobile device and you can get Comcast Tivo it is definitely worth it.

I called the local office and they are out of all Digital, HD and DVR boxes so they put me on a waiting list. As soon as I hear I will upgrade to the DCX-3400 as I would love the bigger hard drive to record more shows and the fact that it can put out a native signal. Right now I'm limited to 1080i fixed but for the mean time and for most people this isn't a big deal.

I just got the Comcast box with the TiVo software and I'm impressed. The install was trouble free (they just brought another box already programed). Boy, you forget about the little things like the To Do list, the will not record listings and the bounce back on fast forward & rewind. Getting the On Demand listings in the search is sweet. Now that the upgrade is free w/ Triple Play there is no reason not to get it. Great peanut remote too (with NO power button for the DVR!)

Now to find out if I can program the 30 second skip into it...

[fredk]

I just signed up for comcast here in NJ. I ordered the HD-DVR package. Will I get a tivo dvr? I was under the impression that it was just some comcast dvr. Thanks.

[HiDefGator]

it won't be the tivo. you would need to ask for tivo by name and it would need to be available in your area.

[fredk]

Thanks, I got it today, it's a motorola DCT3412. The interface stinks compared to my old tivo. Damn. What are my options, buy a tivo then rent a card from comcast? Is that how that works?

[jfalkingham]

Well you have the box. If the TiVo software is an option in your area, they will 'probably' need to roll a truck to do the upgrade. I would highly recommend calling them and asking for the 3416 box (160gb vs 120gb). The TiVo upgrade should only add another $2.95 a month to a HD DVR that is included in your monthly rate (at least how it is here).

I have a 3416 with the TiVo software in the bedroom and a TiVo HD XL with an mstream card in the living room. We are happy with both options. The bedroom unit has better online scheduling with ondemand, and the living room unit has all the added benefits of a stand alone tivo (media sharing, netflix, etc).

http://www.servicesolution.com/blog has more info about my experience with the Comcast TiVo...

[fredk]

Well you have the box. If the TiVo software is an option in your area, they will 'probably' need to roll a truck to do the upgrade. I would highly recommend calling them and asking for the 3416 box (160gb vs 120gb). The TiVo upgrade should only add another $2.95 a month to a HD DVR that is included in your monthly rate (at least how it is here).

I have a 3416 with the TiVo software in the bedroom and a TiVo HD XL with an mstream card in the living room. We are happy with both options. The bedroom unit has better online scheduling with ondemand, and the living room unit has all the added benefits of a stand alone tivo (media sharing, netflix, etc).

http://www.servicesolution.com/blog has more info about my experience with the Comcast TiVo...

Thanks, I will ask for the 3416. I only have one hour of HD saved to the dvr and it says it's already 7% full. That's not good. I used to have 100 hours saved on my old tivo, granted it was in standard def.