Comcast switchover to box, Tivo problem.

[Richard D.]

Comcast must have switched over to thier new box yesterday, now my Tivo will only play on channels to number 33 and no higher, how do we fix this.

[gastrof]

If your cable provider has deleted most of their analog channels, they likely told you that you'll be needing some sort of cable box to continue getting all the channels you could get before.

If you have a TiVo Series 1 or 2, you'll have to get one of those boxes, and using Guided Setup, you'll reconfigure your TiVo to work with a cable box. An IR blaster, plugged into the TiVo, will produce Infra Red control flashes, simulating what the cable box's remote would normally emit to control channel changes.

You'll use the TiVo remote as always, and the TiVo will control the channel changes on the cable box.

This is the only way your TiVo will continue to work with an almost all-digital cable system.

A side point-
If they've gone this far, they'll go further and eventually there will be NO analog channels. I'd get the cable box from them now if I were you.

An alternative would be to, if you can afford it, buy a TiVo HD and have Comcast install cable cards. The cable cards will make a TiVo HD able to serve as its own cable box, and it'll alleviate the problem of a cable box occasionally messing up when receiving the flashes of an IR blaster.

[simsbotv]

well after 5 years with tivo and a series ...I will cancel my subscription as the Comcast DVR on my main tv has made the tivo service superfluous..bye bye tivo
kevin in simsbury ct

[ralphbs]

I've been talking with Tivo and Comcast on a daily basis for at least three weeks and have only connected one of my two Series 2 Tivos correctly so it no longer automatically changes recording to either channels 8 or 26. Neither new Tivo IR Blasters, nor new Comcast DTA boxes resolved the problem but when I replaced the old 29 inch TV with an old 19 inch, the problem mysteriously is gone---at least for the last couple of days. At one point I sealed the Tivo blasters and the Comcast remote ir sensor in a box but that that remedy didn't work either.
Now I want to get our second Tivo Series 2 working to record upper channels on our new Sharp HDTV. We had to get the Comcast/Motorola DCT6200 HD Cable Receiver when we got the TV. We also have the Tivo Series 2 connected but it only gets up to Channel 34. We're paying about $7 monthly for the HDTV programming from Comcast and about the same for Tivo services---both of which I dislike doing. I also dislike the band aid approach of Comcast's DTA box and Tivos blasters and don't want to venture into that again with the new HDTV. However, purchasing an upgrade Tivo HD DVR may be an answer worth pursuing although it means more money up front and scraping a perferctly good Tivo Series 2. Their upgrade is currently $100 off or $199.99 and wonder if anyone has gone this route? What is the monthly cost from Tivo and is there a monthly charge for the required cable cards from Comcast? Another option is to dump Tivo and Comcast completely and go with the AT&T package. Their marketing department is super agressive and one neighbor is satisfied with it. I'd like to hear from anyone having a Tivo Series 2 DVR connected to a Comcast/Motorola DCT 6200 HD Cable Receiver.

[DaylightDan]

I have a Tivo HD DVR without cable cards and am wondering if I still need the Comcast cable box to view channels 21-77 which were analog but will be converted to digital next month. The key here is I do not have cable cards installed and just use this DVR for channels 2-77. Will the HD DVR convert the digital channels (22-77) or do I need the additional cable box from Comcast?

[gastrof]

Originally Posted by DaylightDan

I have a Tivo HD DVR without cable cards and am wondering if I still need the Comcast cable box to view channels 21-77 which were analog but will be converted to digital next month. The key here is I do not have cable cards installed and just use this DVR for channels 2-77. Will the HD DVR convert the digital channels (22-77) or do I need the additional cable box from Comcast?

Dan-

You and the guy who posted before you are really in the wrong forum. This forum is for people who have Comcast cable boxes that run TiVo software.

As for your situation, TiVo HDs weren't made to work with cable boxes. They were made to work with cable cards, which allow the TiVo to become its own cable box.

As for the TiVo being able to tune digital channels on its own, that depends on whether your area has its basic channels (digital versions) scrambled or not. In some places, you can tune all the expanded basic channels, unscrambled, using just a QAM tuner, which your TiVo has.

In some areas, Comcast scrambles all channels, except for the ones they legally can't. (Namely, the local channels which you can also get OTA. They're required to carry OTAs unscrambled.) If you live in one of those areas, you'll need cable cards from now on.