SDV - Charter Communications - Page 6

r11roadster · 03-30-2010, 03:26 PM

Well aside from them showing up 2hrs late(surprise surprise) the install went uneventfully. I now have 3 devices that do no more than use power and blink. on the plus side they replaced all my splitters and put new connectors on all my cables. Asked when they were gonna turn it on they said they didn't know but that they had a few places turned on for testing.

fidracer · 03-30-2010, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonDawg

Carlos,

Your recent experiences are mirroring mine, almost exactly.

Me too. I called Charter again to yell at them (4th time in 5 days) and got a very apologetic guy who said that they have been having major problems in all of California, particularly SoCal. He gave me a credit for the missed days of service. He said they are working on it and have received many complaints. He didn't have an ETA for when it will be resolved.

ScratchFury · 04-01-2010, 09:55 AM

I am in Anderson, SC which is serviced by the Greenville/Spartanburg area. I got the letter at the end of March that SDV would start on April 2010 and as a Tivo user, I need a tuning adapter. I called the number, and they set up an appointment for a tech to come out. He came out the next day and had no idea what a tuning adapter was. I showed him the letter, and he took a copy to back to show his boss since his boss had no idea what was in the letter either.

I got a call a few hours later and was told a box had be found in the warehouse and someone was coming out. The 2nd tech knew what the box was about. He had never installed one though and told me they only had a 5 minute class about it a while back. He was told that it should just plug in and work. He didn't know it needed a USB cable, so I had to point that out. The box just blinks. He knew that it shouldn't blink, so he started calling around. Everyone that would know anything about how the box worked would not pick up their phone. He got a hold of one guy that registered the tuning adapter with my account but that didn't change anything with the tuning adapter. My 2nd CableCARD stopped working though. The tech thought that maybe it was related to the tuning adapter. He said he was going to find out more and call me back that day. After hearing nothing for 4 hours, I called support and told them my problem. Apparently the guy the tech called deactivated my 2nd CableCARD. Support fixed it in like a minute.

So the guy never called back, and I just have a blinking box that doesn't seem to do anything. I'm waiting to read if anyone has gotten a non-blinking box in the GSP area or when I start losing channel before calling them again.

ajburgh · 04-01-2010, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScratchFury

I am in Anderson, SC which is serviced by the Greenville/Spartanburg area.
...

He knew that it shouldn't blink, so he started calling around.

I'm in Greenville SC and got my Tuning Adapter installed this week as well. The yellow light is also blinking and just to make sure I asked the Charter Direct reps on dslreports about it. They say it will continue to blink until they switch on SDV in the cable headend (around mid April), so it should be ok.

ScratchFury · 04-01-2010, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajburgh

I'm in Greenville SC and got my Tuning Adapter installed this week as well. The yellow light is also blinking and just to make sure I asked the Charter Direct reps on dslreports about it. They say it will continue to blink until they switch on SDV in the cable headend (around mid April), so it should be ok.

Thanks for the info. That makes me feel better. I unplugged and plugged the box in and checked around the settings in the Tuning Adapter Diagnostic menus and noticed it now says ENABLED_IDLE for the Upstream Modem menu. I guess that's a good sign since it didn't have that before.

r11roadster · 04-02-2010, 02:10 PM

Just out of curiosity is the adapter bound to a particular tivo? I am guessing no but kinda wonder. contemplating the Premier and was wondering if the box needed to follow the tivo it is connected to.

DrKnightArcher · 04-06-2010, 10:53 PM

Charter St. Louis - Actually Arnold - and SDV
An Installation Story

Received TIVO HD Premier and called Charter to arrange for Cablecard installation. I told the CSR I needed a "Multiplex card for a TIVO". Couple years ago the appointments are out two weeks, now they tell me they can have someone by tomorrow. Charge for a truck roll is around 30 dollars.

Guy shows up and is looking behind the TV for the place to put the card. I tell him its in the back of the TIVO. Guy says he was not told it was for a TIVO and will need a tuning adapter.

"All new cablecard installs we were told need to have Tuning Adapters installed".

I had never heard of this nonsense so came to this forum here and learned all about SDV while the guy is out waiting in his truck for another tech to bring him a TA. The guy comes back inside and proceeds to unpack and connect tuning adapter. The amber light on the Motorola flashes yellow, and he calls into the mothership to report the host ID, etc of the cablecard and the numbers off the TA. The card works immediately for about 2 minutes then getting "Channel not authorized".

Guy says I have to do a channel scan on the TIVO likely to get the channels in, which is incorrect as the TIVO diagnostic screen for Cablecards is telling me that I have no CableCard channels. Go to the Tuning Adapter diagnostics and appears Im getting a downstream signal, but it will not lock on and error messages have a lot of OOB in them. Installation guy never dealt with a TA so he has no idea what its for or what the flashing yellow may signify, though the book says "If flashes yellow, check incoming RF"

Guy calls in, rechecks numbers, after sitting here about an hour I send him home, knowing that last Cablecard install about an hour passed and things started working. I could get the card to work by taking it out and putting it back in. Ultimately I think there is a problem with the cablecard and call for a replacement card. CSR did not toddle me around too long before rescheduling a new tech for THE SAME DAY! Great.

New tech comes out, I tell him my story, he goes outside and states he has to talk to his lead tech because it may be a Tuning Adapter problem since its still flashing yellow. I had since figured out (thru here) that at least in my area they are not yet on SDV so it is likely going to continue to flash, and he comes back in and changes out the card. I tell him I have a S3 upstairs with 2 cablecards that has been working just fine for 3 years without a tuning adapter so I did not think the TA was the problem.

New card solves the authorization problem and channels come in fine now. TA still flashing yellow.

Guy then tells me that Im "one of the lucky ones". I ask why and he states the the lead tech reports that Im one of the last to get a Tuning Adapter. Charter has decided that Tuning Adapters are encouraging people to use TIVOs and not Charter DVRs so they are losing revenue on that, so are no longer going to be issuing them to customers. I find this hard to believe as they have not even turned on SDV as far as I can tell, and now they went from needing them on all new Cablecard installs to no longer issuing them within one day?

And what is the deal with everytime a tech comes out they all say the same thing: "First time I've done this". "First TIVO job I've done". Am I the only one in Arnold with a TIVO?

So, when they turn on SDV, I have one TIVO that will work, (though I unplugged the TA since its just sucking juice and making heat), a TIVO that will not work, and no TA will be distributed. Of course I think Charter is FOS when it comes to information distribution, but just wanted others to know my experience, as it seemed I knew more about TAs and SDV in 2 minutes here on the forums than the techs who work for Charter seemed to know or be told.

bidderman9 · 04-07-2010, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrKnightArcher

Charter St. Louis - Actually Arnold - and SDV

Guy then tells me that Im "one of the lucky ones". I ask why and he states the the lead tech reports that Im one of the last to get a Tuning Adapter. Charter has decided that Tuning Adapters are encouraging people to use TIVOs and not Charter DVRs so they are losing revenue on that, so are no longer going to be issuing them to customers. I find this hard to believe as they have not even turned on SDV as far as I can tell, and now they went from needing them on all new Cablecard installs to no longer issuing them within one day?

My understanding is that as a result of the FCC rules surrounding cablecards that they are going to have to supply you with a tuning adapter. In other words, they cannot prevent you from receiving channels just because you are using a cablecard.

ChinaBull · 04-08-2010, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrKnightArcher

Guy then tells me that Im "one of the lucky ones". I ask why and he states the the lead tech reports that Im one of the last to get a Tuning Adapter. Charter has decided that Tuning Adapters are encouraging people to use TIVOs and not Charter DVRs so they are losing revenue on that, so are no longer going to be issuing them to customers. I find this hard to believe as they have not even turned on SDV as far as I can tell, and now they went from needing them on all new Cablecard installs to no longer issuing them within one day?

This doesn't sound realistic, even for strategic reasons. The Tivo is one thing that will keep me on Charter and prevent me from wanting to jump ship to UVerse: The UVerse doesn't use the Tivo.

shrike4242 · 04-08-2010, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrKnightArcher

So, when they turn on SDV, I have one TIVO that will work, (though I unplugged the TA since its just sucking juice and making heat), a TIVO that will not work, and no TA will be distributed. Of course I think Charter is FOS when it comes to information distribution, but just wanted others to know my experience, as it seemed I knew more about TAs and SDV in 2 minutes here on the forums than the techs who work for Charter seemed to know or be told.

I know they're FOS when trying to figure out anything.

Since you're in Arnold, you're almost in my residential area, and when I called Charter to try and get my TA installs set up, they had no clue yet again about when it was going to arrive in my area. Every time I try to get the installs scheduled, they say that it's not going to transition in my area yet and they can't order the TAs.

Did they send you the correspondence in the mail about the transition or was it some other way you found out about it?

shrike4242 · 04-09-2010, 04:01 PM

They continue to be FOS when it comes to any idea of when areas are switching to SDV. Once again, denied trying to order my five TAs.

r11roadster · 04-10-2010, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrKnightArcher

Guy then tells me that Im "one of the lucky ones". I ask why and he states the the lead tech reports that Im one of the last to get a Tuning Adapter. Charter has decided that Tuning Adapters are encouraging people to use TIVOs and not Charter DVRs so they are losing revenue on that, so are no longer going to be issuing them to customers. I find this hard to believe as they have not even turned on SDV as far as I can tell, and now they went from needing them on all new Cablecard installs to no longer issuing them within one day?

Yea the guy's that came to do my TAs first tried to take my cards as "I no longer needed them w/TA" I said that that didn't sound right and they insisted. before they pulled the first another tech called one of they and they asked him and discovered that they were indeed wrong 'gasp'. then they stated that they were no longer issuing cards and that they didn't know what would happen if one broke. Didn't bother telling them that they had to give me one per FCC regulations.

willv28 · 04-15-2010, 06:54 PM

Got my letter today that "technical upgrades" were being made to my local network here in NE CT. Yay, SDV. Hopefully I have good luck with it.

willv28 · 04-15-2010, 08:05 PM

Already it begins. At least the guy figured out a letter was sent. He said the letters were sent out a week too soon and we don't have the boxes yet... Call back next Friday and they should be in and we can schedule a next day install.

ChinaBull · 04-16-2010, 11:53 AM

FYI - My Tuning adapter has been installed and is blinking yellow in preparation for the April 16 switchover. But I recently got a call from Charter that "Cable card or Tivo device" owners must exchange equipment. I presume they mean the cable card must be exchanged. But I already have an M card, so I have no idea what can be exchanged. I haven't called in yet.

DrKnightArcher · 04-18-2010, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shrike4242

I know they're FOS when trying to figure out anything.

Since you're in Arnold, you're almost in my residential area, and when I called Charter to try and get my TA installs set up, they had no clue yet again about when it was going to arrive in my area. Every time I try to get the installs scheduled, they say that it's not going to transition in my area yet and they can't order the TAs.

Did they send you the correspondence in the mail about the transition or was it some other way you found out about it?

The only way I knew about it is from the installer. I had no other correspondence to indicate that SDV was something they were looking to do in the future. Of course, I tend to discard a lot of mail I would think is junk otherwise, so its possible I tossed a "special message from charter" as its usually just trying to upsell me stuff.

ajburgh · 04-18-2010, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChinaBull

FYI - My Tuning adapter has been installed and is blinking yellow in preparation for the April 16 switchover. But I recently got a call from Charter that "Cable card or Tivo device" owners must exchange equipment. I presume they mean the cable card must be exchanged. But I already have an M card, so I have no idea what can be exchanged. I haven't called in yet.

I'm pretty sure that's just the "Communications" part of Charter Communications. I got the letter about the SDV change two or three times and at least one voicemail about this, even though I got the tuning adapter installed after the first letter. They don't seem to filter their mail and phone calls based on who's already done the update or not.

Same thing happened for the cable modem upgrade for faster internet, got several repeat letters that were sent after I had already upgraded the modem.

It's probably the same logic that keeps sending me about two offers per week to sign up for Charter Cable even though I've been their customer for over 20 months.

willv28 · 04-20-2010, 06:24 PM

heh, of course I called back Monday to talk to them again. Of course the guy was right on top of it and I have a guy coming out tomorrow to install a tuning adapter. I was hoping to do it this week since I have most of the week off. He asked all the right questions too. Do I have 1 or 2 cable cards. Though I know what it's about he nicely explained what it's all about and quickly scheduled the service. Now the hard part. When the guy comes for the install, to move the 95 pound TV off the stand so we can plug everything in.

Unbeliever · 04-21-2010, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unbeliever

More info.

It is as if the TA is now a one-way device. It can query the mappings, but can't request a channel tuning.

More updates.

I haven't had a manual tuning failure since the 'G' update, but I'm still getting "no signal available" failed recordings.

Twice now, I've caught the failed recording mid-program. When I cancel the recording (as it is useless) the TiVo re-tunes the channel and that tuning is successful, and the channel is re-tuned.

It's as if there is either one more bug, or Charter is low-priority listing recordings vs. manual tunings. And now it doesn't matter what time of day it is.

--Carlos V.

Bluesfan77 · 04-25-2010, 02:35 AM

Got a phone call earlier this week needing to set up a time to do the TA install. I scheduled it for today, the tech that came out noticed it was for a Tivo and pointed out that they're not installing them on Tivo's as there have been issues and they're recalling the adapters as the Tivo's are working just fine without them. He stated that customer service hasn't "gotten the notice yet". He also had a letter that stated something about Tivo people being exempt.

I figure if the guy is wrong, I'll find out when I can't tune channels and then I'll request a TA, ASAP.

Anyone else hear about this?

willv28 · 04-25-2010, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluesfan77

Got a phone call earlier this week needing to set up a time to do the TA install. I scheduled it for today, the tech that came out noticed it was for a Tivo and pointed out that they're not installing them on Tivo's as there have been issues and they're recalling the adapters as the Tivo's are working just fine without them. He stated that customer service hasn't "gotten the notice yet". He also had a letter that stated something about Tivo people being exempt.

I figure if the guy is wrong, I'll find out when I can't tune channels and then I'll request a TA, ASAP.

Anyone else hear about this?

If they're doing SDV in our area then yes, he is wrong. Never heard of that myself. Sounds like another misinformed tech that thinks they have all the answers. It's possible that they don't work right, but they are needed. SDV requires two-way communication which the TiVo is not capable of doing. In our area Charter has already converted many channels to digital, but maintain the analog counterparts and the SDV is NOT activated yet. Of course the TiVo would work fine in this case, it's merely tuning into another channel, but when the SDV is activated, that will no longer work.

My install is set for tomorrow. Hopefully something like that doesn't happen to me. I've already had a call telling me they had to move my appointment because they didn't have the TAs yet. Then I had to reschedule again because something came up.

willv28 · 04-26-2010, 02:08 PM

Ok, now +1 tuning adapter. We'll see how it works. The guy at first said they needed to remove the CableCARD, but then recinded that when he looked at my programming I subscribed to. It seems he almost thought the tuning adapter was "something I was just adding on".

For those in the area. I received a model Cisco STA1520. At least so far, no problems.

In addition. Of course the Charter guy asked "Why do you have a TiVo?" "Why do you think it's better than one of our boxes?" I said, well I have a Charter DVR in the bedroom. Guess why it's in the bedroom, less features, buggy, doesn't work right, prone to failure. Forgot to mention I upgraded it to 1TB storage, that would have put the air out of his balloon.

Also replaced cheap RG-59 cable that was in box he used to attach it with RG-6 cable.

ChinaBull · 04-27-2010, 05:04 AM

Charter did its switchover in my area last night - the blinking yellow changed to solid yellow. Operation looks normal; the tuner switches channels properly (a red light shows on the tuner when it switches).

r11roadster · 04-27-2010, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChinaBull

Charter did its switchover in my area last night - the blinking yellow changed to solid yellow. Operation looks normal; the tuner switches channels properly (a red light shows on the tuner when it switches).

Ditto for my area too, Spartanburg SC. oddly my HD and S3 were both on the tuning adapter screen this morning but my premier was not though they all have the solid light. So where are all the extra Channels??

bubba1972 · 04-27-2010, 06:51 PM

I got my phone message in St. Charles, MO that I had to swap out equipment. I have the truck roll scheduled for Friday. Do they just plug the adapter in and it magically works and starts flashing yellow, or does the tech have to dig through the menus to set it up?

ChinaBull · 04-28-2010, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bubba1972

I have the truck roll scheduled for Friday. Do they just plug the adapter in and it magically works and starts flashing yellow, or does the tech have to dig through the menus to set it up?

The normal sequence is to connect the adapter - may take a few minutes worth of coax connector work. Then plug in the adapter. The tech should call in the number (Network address?) from the tuning adapter into the head end. After a minute or 2 when the head end recognizes the tuning adapter the Tivo should pop up that it has recognized the tuning adapter. A good tech can do it in about 15 minutes per Tivo.

From that point on, it's flashing yellow until switchover day.

If the tech wants to do anything with the Cable card(s) in the Tivo, that's unnecessary and wrong. The Tivo and cable card(s) are not changed other than to double check working channels and validate tuning adapter and diagnostics.

1idjack · 04-29-2010, 05:25 PM

I also got a call here in Saint Charles, Mo, that I "need to exchange my cablecards by May 4, 2010" to continue receiving digital channels. You and I both know that is incorrect; the phone # they gave was for "the tuning adapter center." The truck roll was scheduled for today. The installer called about the time he was to bring my two tuning adapters to say that they aren't installing these because the SDV rollout isn't happening yet. (But he promised they would call us to set up the install before the rollout--yup, just what I want, get a call, schedule an install, they call me to cancel, get another call, schedule another install, another call to cancel; lather, rinse, repeat)

willv28 · 04-29-2010, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1idjack

I also got a call here in Saint Charles, Mo, that I "need to exchange my cablecards by May 4, 2010" to continue receiving digital channels. You and I both know that is incorrect; the phone # they gave was for "the tuning adapter center." The truck roll was scheduled for today. The installer called about the time he was to bring my two tuning adapters to say that they aren't installing these because the SDV rollout isn't happening yet. (But he promised they would call us to set up the install before the rollout--yup, just what I want, get a call, schedule an install, they call me to cancel, get another call, schedule another install, another call to cancel; lather, rinse, repeat)

I find just keep calling helps. Eventually you'll get someone know knows when what is supposed to happen when.

Bluesfan77 · 05-04-2010, 01:11 AM

Well in my area we are now SDV and "shock, shock" I'm not getting all my channels. I had to have a conversation with two different support people before anyone would believe I needed the TA. They'll be out between 10 & 12. I'll make sure to have this page up so that I'm sure they don't mess with the cablecards, etc. I want this to be quick and painless.

Bluesfan77 · 05-08-2010, 11:23 AM

Well as an update, they we running late on the 4th, so I had to reschedule to today (had to get to work on the 4th). Guy comes out. Doesn't bring TA. Claims they're not issued anymore. I insist that I need one. Have to demostrate that I'm not getting channels. He suggests connecting the cable box (that's connected to my S2) to the TivoHD, I explain it doesn't work that way. He calls his dispatcher to find out if it's possible to get a TA or locate one. She says they have them there. He just left to go back to "the shop" to get one. Lord help me.

I think I might insist on doing the install when he gets back so he doesn't "f" anything up!

Also, going to have this page loaded...

http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/133