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Advice on Cox and SDV

Discussion in 'TiVo Help Center' started by TomJHansen, Aug 27, 2018.

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  1. Aug 27, 2018 #1 of 9
    TomJHansen

    TomJHansen Member

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    Mesa, AZ, USA

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    I’m a longtime TiVo subscriber since the Phillips days. I’ve run into some issues recently (last year or so) with Cox cable cards and SDV using a tuning adapter. About 30 of my pay channels (mostly movie channels) don’t work about 50% of the time. Some channels never work. Rebooting everything sometimes will fix, for some channels, for a few hours. I’m using a Roamio Pro with the old UI.

    How about a bolt, does it work better with Cox? Does the bolt work well with Netflix and Plex (my two other main sources of TV watching). What are my chances of being able to get my cable card paired again. Or do I bail on Cox and TiVo and go to satellite?

    I don’t mind spending money to upgrade the hardware - I’m already giving Cox $150 a month - but I’d like to just “make it work”. I’m in the greater Phoenix area in case anyone has a good story to tell me regarding the newer hardware working with Cox.

    Thanks for any comments.
     
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2018
  2. Aug 27, 2018 #2 of 9
    Wil

    Wil Unknown Member

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    I used to get several days out of an adapter reboot, most of the time; set up a timer. But I eventually dropped Cox for many reasons, this being just one.
     
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2018
  3. Aug 27, 2018 #3 of 9
    UCLABB

    UCLABB Well-Known Member

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    This sounds like a problem with Cox/tuning adapter/cable card. Not the TiVo box itself. So, buying a Bolt May yield the same problems.

    Have you tried only rebooting the TA so to perhaps isolate the problem? You have a Cisco TA, right? Does the light stay solid?

    Have you contacted and complained to Cox?

    In my experience, the Bolt is marginally better than a Roamio with Netflix wrt loading time. I would not scrap a Roamio for a Bolt. I did sell a Premiere and got a Bolt.
     
  4. Aug 27, 2018 #4 of 9
    ajwees41

    ajwees41 Well-Known Member

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    are you able to watch ondemand? can you check if the card is paired to the account and the tuning adapted synced to the card also. even though I have motorola cable card/tuning adapter it sounds like it's a bad card or an account issue.
     
  5. Aug 28, 2018 #5 of 9
    TomJHansen

    TomJHansen Member

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    Thanks for the replies.

    The strange part is it works for most pay channels and usually after rebooting for a few days. The on demand app works for the same channels that don’t work directly - but of course those aren’t really tied to channels. For example all the Cinemax channels don’t work but any movie in the on demand works fine for Cinemax.
     
  6. Aug 28, 2018 #6 of 9
    tvmaster2

    tvmaster2 Well-Known Member

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    It’s been my experience over the years with Cox, that nearly every problem I’ve had is finger trouble at their end. Getting someone who knows how to properly activate a cable card, and then properly add all your bundles, packs, etc., is the real headache. Once it’s done, I’ve rarely had troubles. The only time I do, it’s either low signal to the TiVo, which you can check in Cable Card Diagnostics, or it’s the tuning adapter having a brain-fart. That’s always remedied by unplugging it, and plugging it back in. I have Premiere, Roamio and Bolts, all working with Premium channels.
     
  7. Aug 28, 2018 #7 of 9
    Wil

    Wil Unknown Member

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    I agree. That was my experience too. Reboot the TA. I put it on a timer and lived with it for a long while. But he says some channels don't last for days. You can't expect someone to reboot every few hours.
     
  8. Aug 28, 2018 #8 of 9
    tvmaster2

    tvmaster2 Well-Known Member

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    that’s why I’m suspicious his cable card is properly paired with the Tivo/tuning adapter. Failing that, I’d swap them out after ruling out signal strength is less than 85.
     
    Last edited: Aug 28, 2018
  9. Aug 29, 2018 #9 of 9
    TomJHansen

    TomJHansen Member

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    Thanks for the suggestions. Rebooting the TA seems to have helped - so I don't think it's a pairing problem because it works for most of the channels. I'm sure there are some that are just not provisioned on Cox's side. It's not worth the effort to get it fixed at this point. I did check and the signal strength is good (in the high 90's).

    I noticed another strange problem. When I was watching a movie on Starz last night, partway through the live movie, it switched from Jumanji to Barbarella (which is odd since it wasn't on any of the other Starz). I checked the guide data to see if it had switched channels or something - but it was this strange...pixelated switchover that I could rewind on the movie and it went from one move to the other, almost mid-frame. I'm convinced there is something strange going on at the head end in my neighborhood with Cox. Any of you ever see that happen - on a SDV channel, it just basically switches stream mid-movie?

    I think I'll connect a smart outlet and set up a schedule so that the tuning adapter can be reset every night at 3:00 am or something.

    Thanks
     

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