Cox posts CableCARD Self Install & 888 Number

[CoxInPHX]

Cox has posted CableCARD Self Install Kit information and printed instructions.

Cisco
http://ww2.cox.com/residential/arizona/support/tv/article.cox?articleId={9bc79a10-7b4e-11e0-fbc4-000000000000}
http://media.cox.com/support/print_m...uide_Cisco.pdf

Motorola
http://ww2.cox.com/residential/orangecounty/support/tv/article.cox?articleId={0b2b32b0-7b52-11e0-fbc4-000000000000}
http://media.cox.com/support/print_m...e_Motorola.pdf

CableCARDS are available to Cox customers who have a retail device. You can pick up a CableCARD at a local Cox retail store or have it drop shipped to your home address.
Contents of Self Install Kit - The self install kit includes the CableCARD and a self-install guide that explains how to install and activate the CableCARD in your retail device.

The 888 number is just the main Cox number, There was not an option specific to CableCard Self installs, so I selected AdvancedTV Self Install.
At first the CS Rep did not understand what I wanted, so she put me on hold and went to speak with someone else. She came back and confirmed she had the instructions to walk me through the process. She also confirmed that the Cox Stores should have CableCards and Tuning Adapters (where needed) for customers to pick up.

Now if Cox would just follow through on their announcement of OnDemand on the TiVo all would be good.

[BrianAZ]

I wonder if this means I can now take my M card from my Tivo and re-activate it on the Ceton myself. Previously they wanted to do a truck roll!

[rcobourn]

Is there something the matter with me if I am overwhelmingly tempted to purchase a new Premier just to see if this works?

[CoxInPHX]

Originally Posted by BrianAZ

I wonder if this means I can now take my M card from my Tivo and re-activate it on the Ceton myself. Previously they wanted to do a truck roll!

Yes you should, If not today, for certain on August 1st.
I do not believe Cox has updated the Cisco Tuning Adapter firmware yet to support 6 tuners. They told me the update would happen on August 1st.

[CoxInPHX]

Originally Posted by rcobourn

Is there something the matter with me if I am overwhelmingly tempted to purchase a new Premiere just to see if this works?

I purchased 2 Premieres on Thursday night, for $59 each, because streaming was reportedly working, Only to find out on Friday that steaming had been disabled. I will not be activating them. So I will sit on them for a few months to see if streaming is officially launched. It would be nice if Cox would give some sort or update on If/When they plan on beta testing or launching OnDemand on the Premiere. I assume they are also waiting on streaming to be finalized since most markets have copy protection.

[Dan203]

Originally Posted by BrianAZ

I wonder if this means I can now take my M card from my Tivo and re-activate it on the Ceton myself. Previously they wanted to do a truck roll!

You may not need to do anything. I had a Premier unit replaced and simply moved the card over to the new unit without any issues. I thought they were paired to the device, but when I called the CSR told me to just move it over and it would work. And it did.

Dan

[CoxInPHX]

Yesterday, I went to the Cox Store and swapped out a malfunctioning HD receiver for a new one. I decided while I was there I would get a CableCARD and a Cisco Tuning Adapter, to try-out one of the new Premieres I had recently purchased back when I thought streaming was here to stay.

The guy at the Cox Store seemed irritated that I wanted a CC and wasn't returning any equipment. The CC looked used and had a few minor dents and scratches on it, but had a manufacture date of Oct 2010, so I asked if I could please have a new one. He said it was new and he had just removed it from the bag, he then scanned all the equipment an just tossed the CC in a bag with the new HD receiver and the TA. I then pulled the TA out of the bag to look at it. It was thickly covered in dirt and dust and obviously used and not even cleaned. It also had an RMA Tag still attached that said the unit was defective and had Poor Video Quality. Again, I asked for another one and he said no, he had already paired the CC to the TA and my account. I left the store wondering if any of the equipment was going to work.

When I got home I first connected the HD receiver, only to find out it was not working and the Cox employee had not correctly entered the receiver and I had to read the serial number off the back of the box to CS rep on the phone. I was now expecting the worst with the CC and TA.

Next I moved to the TiVo. I set it up and installed the CC and it downloaded new firmware and the correct channel line-up. At this point I was only getting the analog channels.

8pm, Time to call Cox to activate the CC and TA.
The lady on the phone asked if the CC was for my computer, which I thought was interesting. I said no it was for a TiVo. She had never activated a CC for a TiVo, only computers with Ceton cards. She had also never activated one with a Tuning Adapter.

The instructions from TiVo and Cox both say to install the CC and activate prior to installing the Tuning Adapter, so that is what we did. But the TiVo would only tune to the Cox Starter Tier of SD and HD channels, 02-22 and 1003-1022, and nothing else. When attempting to tune to a SDV channel, the TiVo behaved as it should, It said the channels were not currently available. But when tuning to Non-SDV channels above the Starter Tier it would prompt for the CC activation.

This went on for 3 Hours with small breaks as she went to talk to a supervisor, and as I attempted to reboot the TiVo several times. The supervisor even attempted to send hits to the CC and check to see that it was provisioned correctly. Everything looked good on their end they said.

I have to give this Cox employee a big thumbs up though because she was so nice and patient and had a good sense of humor, I was really surprised she was allowed to stay on this one call for so long. She was determined to get it working. In the end though she scheduled an appointment for a Tech to come out on Friday to finish the install.

As a last attempt to get it working we decided to just connect the Tuning Adapter up and see if that made any difference. As soon as we attached the Tuning Adapter and rebooted the TiVo the CC activation completed and all channels were active. We were both surprised, so she went back to her supervisor and determined the guy at the Cox Store had already paired the CC to the TA. It seems that once the CC is paired to a TA, that the TA is required to be attached to activate and provision the CC.

I set the TiVo to record programs on several SDV channels for the last 24 hours and every single SDV channel has recorded with out issue, So far so good. The Cisco TA does also have the new 6 Tuner firmware FLASH: STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.1402.

[moyekj]

Originally Posted by CoxInPHX

It seems that once the CC is paired to a TA, that the TA is required to be attached to activate and provision the CC.

AFAIK the TA just has to be activated in your account and is not paired to a particular CC. I have 3 TAs and have swapped them around in different TiVos without any issue.

[CoxInPHX]

Originally Posted by moyekj

AFAIK the TA just has to be activated in your account and is not paired to a particular CC. I have 3 TAs and have swapped them around in different TiVos without any issue.

Perhaps a difference between Cisco and Motorola? I do know Cox had to make a change to the CC-TA pairing process in Cisco markets after the Ceton InfiniTV 4 was released. Because at that time the billing system would not allow 2 TAs to be paired with one CC, and Cox was not ready to release the new Cisco TA firmware supporting more than 2 Tuners.

[yoheidiho]

Originally Posted by CoxInPHX

Perhaps a difference between Cisco and Motorola? I do know Cox had to make a change to the CC-TA pairing process in Cisco markets after the Ceton InfiniTV 4 was released. Because at that time the billing system would not allow 2 TAs to be paired with one CC, and Cox was not ready to release the new Cisco TA firmware supporting more than 2 Tuners.

Tuning Adapters are authorized to a cable account not any specific cablecard whereas cablecards are paired with specific devices which is why you must supply the cable company's CSR with the device's Host ID.

I have three Cisco TAs which have been easily swapped between my Tivo and my HTPC with a Ceton InfiniTV Card. My cable company has not updated the firmware on the Cisco TAs and I don't expect them to ever do so. I have been told that my area is slated to go completely digital and do away with SDV and TAs. I can't wait for that to happen but I am not holding my breath.

[lrhorer]

Originally Posted by yoheidiho

I have three Cisco TAs which have been easily swapped between my Tivo and my HTPC with a Ceton InfiniTV Card. My cable company has not updated the firmware on the Cisco TAs and I don't expect them to ever do so. I have been told that my area is slated to go completely digital and do away with SDV and TAs. I can't wait for that to happen but I am not holding my breath.

Don't expect SDV to go away. You shouldn't want it to. SDV allows the CATV system to deliver a litertally unlimited number - eventually in the millions - of channels. Eventually, you should expect a CATV channel to be cheap enough that you yourself could host one. In the mean time, they will be cheap enough that your favorite hobby or social club should easily be able to afford one. It also alows for interactive services such as VOD and IPPV, not to mention interactive features such as "start over", online voting, online gaming, you name it.

[lrhorer]

Originally Posted by CoxInPHX

As a last attempt to get it working we decided to just connect the Tuning Adapter up and see if that made any difference.

It's not surtprising that it did. The TA-provided channel map overrides the one downloaded by the CableCard.

Originally Posted by CoxInPHX

As soon as we attached the Tuning Adapter and rebooted the TiVo the CC activation completed and all channels were active. We were both surprised, so she went back to her supervisor and determined the guy at the Cox Store had already paired the CC to the TA. It seems that once the CC is paired to a TA, that the TA is required to be attached to activate and provision the CC.

No, the CableCard knows nothing of the TA until the TA is attached to the TiVo. Removing the CC should only kill your SDV channels. In your case, however, I expect there is something screwey in the database at the CATV headend, so removing the TA will probably have more involved consequences than would normally be the case.