Comcast Houston Switching to SA CableCards

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UPDATE - Everything is working!

as of last night, Comcast activated and paired the 2 cards that were in the S3 TiVo, so that TiVo is working perfectly now.

The HDTiVo was not working last night, i tried the 8080 number this morning and a tech called me back 30 minutes later (while i was still home!) and told me to go check that tv and bammo, everything on the HDTivo was working!

now the TV, it's a mitshubishi, and the tech on the phone said that it may not recognize MStream cards, so i am going to get a firmware update from Mitsubishi and see if that fixes it.

But the bottom line is that the 8080 phone number is the fastest result i have ever gotten!
The tech also said that since that letter went out they have been so slammed that activation does actually take up to 72 hours in some cases, he said normally it's a 4 to 6 hour process and it will get back to that once this whole swap out of cards settles down.

 

The folks at 8080 rock. They seem to be doing TiVo hits in real time. I called yesterday afternoon and while the activation was supposed to have been done the previous evening, my channels still weren't coming in. The support person put me hold and called someone somewhere. After about 5 minutes he came back and asked if anything had changed. I checked CC#2 and all the channels I checked, including premiums were now coming in. I checked CC#1 and everything except the premiums were coming in.

We ended the call with the promise that they'd continue to work this and call me back later.

I checked the MMI screens and noticed that CC#1 was still waiting for CP Auth while CC#2 was CP Auth Received. Makes sense, premium channels are copy protected. I called back and explained the situation. Another 5 minutes on hold while they re-hit CC#1 and sure enough the premiums started coming in.

Note, it did take about 15 mins to get to talk to someone, they are very busy. But everything is now good. For some reason FMC and IFC just give me a black screen but who cares, I never watch those channels.

 

Well - I have started my journey - decided to take the plunge today. Experience so far...

Plugged in cablecards (I remembered from last time to write down the serial numbers BEFORE I plugged them in) at 4:30PM. Rebooted the TiVo. Noticed I was getting the lower channels and every other higher (in the 300's) channel. No Starz, Encore or HBO. About 20 minutes later, a message popped up that the cablecards were being updated. Good sign.

Then I got a "Host" screen poput that said to call the 800-555-something number to "start service". I called that number...and it was a completely unrelated company - got a message playing talking about chat radio for 10 seconds then it hung up. I verified the number, called back and got the same 10 second message and it hung up.

I went cruising around the cablecard menu on the TiVo and got a different message saying to call 713-341-9000 (a little different from the standard 1000 number). Called in - after about 5 minutes on hold/voice mail hell, got to a person. She took down some information...then said she was going to have to escalate this to someone with more technical experience. She transferred me...and I got a message saying "you have been transferred to a non-working Comcast number...if you think this is in error, hang up and call 1-800-COMCAST".

Well, I called the 8080 number...spent almost 30 minutes on hold before an Indian woman answered. SHe asked me to go to the TiVo menu and get her the host numbers associated with the cablecards. I gave her them...thinking all was about done. THen she said "OK, I have taken all of the information...a colleague will be making the necessary changes and will call you." I asked when I could expect a call - 10 minutes, 1 hour, 1 day? She said "soon" and hing up.

So....that's where it stands - I will update when I know more.

[EDIT] - Well surprise, surprise...I did get a call back "soon" - about 20 minutes after this post. Everything is working 100%. This is my first good customer service experience with Comcast.

Jim

 

Still no 300,113,108,101,343....

The stations are being streamed to SA DVRs and HD boxes. I really do not understand why they can't correct the channel lineup.

Very frustrated.

Brian

 

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Is anyone who swapped over to the SA Cable Cards getting these channels?

 

I am getting all of those EXCEPT 221, 343, 397 and 399. These are simply blank.

I swapped cards on Monday (1/5) and started getting most channels that evening after calling in about 6:30 PM. The rest were active by Tuesday evening, but I still do not have the four mentioned above.

 

I get everything except

221 FUSE
343 BOOMERANG
397 FMC
399 IFC

I'm guessing that since cepheid is missing these channels also,, that this is not a CC issue and more of a headend issue. Since I don't care about those channels I'm not calling in about them.

If you tune to a channel that sends you to the CC Host ID screen then you are not authorized to view that channel.

What I did was wait the requisite 48 hours after calling in the first time, then on the second call they starting sending hits to the box while I was on the phone. Took a couple of times to get everything working, maybe 30 mins on the phone.

HBOSIG did have a hard time locking in, in the Test Channels screen, but seems to work OK in normal use.

 

I have been twittering with Frank Eliason about my issues (missing channels). He assures me that Comcast, SA and Tivo all know about the problem, and are working together to get it resolved. I even sent them links to this forum topic.

Of course, this should have all been tested before it was rolled out. I think the right person could fix it quickly.

I wish they could tell us when it was going to be fixed.

Brian

PS I'd really be interested in knowing the solution once it is fixed.

 

Comcast called me and offered to come to my house tomorrow and put in Motorola cards and activate them immediately.

I had to think about it, but I decided against it. I have to wait three hours tomorrow, and then will have to have them come back by January 20th to switch back to SA cards, or else I will lose more channels (if they do the programming switch as planned).

It is a good offer, and I'm glad Comcast is trying to do something. I think it will be best to get the platform issue fixed.

Brian

 

Offering to switch back to the Motorola cards sounds like they aren't very close at all to a solution for ths SA cablecards. Ditto to headslap to Comcast for rolling out an untested (or not fully tested) solution.

Same 8 channels with just a gray screen. I did have sound on channel 113 (NFL non-HD) last night for a bit. <shoulder shrug>

Still waiting ....

 

Well...except for channel 101 (NBA), the other 7 did show up when I got home and flipped on the tivo. I won't complain that much since I rarely ever watched that channel. Glad my NFL channel is back.

No call or email from Comcast (I had sent another request to Frank last night). Guess it must be magic.

I'll still call Comcast and see what kind of reduction I'll get for my pain and suffering of missing channels for almost two weeks.

Ken

 

I finally picked up my cards this evening. I left the CC store @ 4:45 & had everything up by 5:30. I did call the 8080 number. They push my CP auth through immediatly.

I am missing the channels below at the moment. We don't watch any of them so it is not a priority.

221 FUSE
343 BOOMERANG
397 FMC

John
399 IFC

 

Same results here, everything except 101. We'll see if it "holds". I also need to check for some of the channels that I do not watch.

What an all-consuming battle this has been for me. Not sure what my next one will be, but I'll be glad if this is actually over.

I would still love an explanation on how this was finally fixed--just to see if my thoughts were in sync.

Brian

 

I'm getting everything now too, except 101... and I'm not sure I should be getting that one.

 

I'm getting everything now too.

 

I don't want to speak to soon, in case I jinx myself...but I swear the HD pictures are better than before...and I have not run into one pixellation issue <knocking wood frantically> since putting in the new cards.

Jim

 

Called 8080 about my missing channels this morning. All he said was that they were aware of the situation and asked me to please bare with them. I asked about the Music channels (777 and above) and he said that they were having problems with those as well. That doesn't seem right to me. How would I get most of the music channels but miss a few. Also, once I clear the cable card screen, the channel displays for a few seconds and then goes black.

 

Comcast called today and again apologized about the issues I've been having. She assured me that the Comcast, Tivo, and Scientific Atlantic technical group was still attempting to fix the problem. She told me that they did a software upgrade (on their end), but it didn't fix the problem. She told me that customers were still lacking the same 8 channels. (Haven't ever looked at the digital music channels..)

I did advise her that 7 of the 8 channels were back, and the only one missing was the NBA (channel 100) channel. She said they were still attempting to resolve the issue, and my account would be credited for the time spent without the channels.

All in all...Comcast has been trying to accomodate as best they can. They can be faulted for not testing the SA cablecards enough to find the Tivo issue, but I can't fault them for not trying to fix the problems.

I appreciate this forum and the encouragement we give each other to contact Comcast (in this case), and keep on them until problems are fixed. I don't know how many people this actually impacted, but the percent of people who have HD Tivos that use cablecards and actually noticed some of these channels missing is probably less than 1&#37; of their customer base.

Ken

 

I went to the store Wed. (7th) to exchange my CableCARD (for my TiVo HD). A few hours later I was getting some, but not all of my channels (I know this is crazy, but I don't have digital cable--only basic and expanded basic). I was getting all of my basic, but not all of my expanded basic channels (I was only getting 18 of the 63 expanded basic channels, to be exact). I called several different times, provided the info to have the card activated, blah, blah, blah.

As of Saturday (according to the tech, my card had been activated on Thursday) they told me the only solution was to have a tech visit. NO THANK YOU! This is after restarting the TiVo several times and repeating guided setup. So I went back to the store and exchanged the card out for another one (hoping the problem was in a malfunctioning card). This time I was so sick of Comcast that I didn't call in for the activation--because of course they told me I didn't have to in the letter anyway. Surprise, surprise. Same issue as before. Only some of my channels were coming through.

So Sunday morning I got fed up enough that I searched the internet for people who had this same problem. That's when I found this forum. I was all set to figure out what in the world "tweeting" or "twittering" or whatever is and how to do it (like someone else suggested), but I decided one more phone call wouldn't kill me. So I called tech support once more. 713-462-9000

First off, this was the first person I had talked to since Wednesday that had actually asked what number would be good to call me back at. I knew immediately that I liked her. Then, this little Comcast angel told me that the card had been activated on Saturday (the day I picked up the card--so they were right! I didn't have to call to have it activated.) I guess the person in the store had done it right. But I explained that still I didn't have my channels. So she sent a refresh signal and BOOM! All my channels are coming in now.

Now, I'm not a moron. I had tried sending a refresh signal (using the automated menu) with the first CableCARD I picked up on Wednseday, and that didn't work. And I know I tried the refresh signal after the card had been activated. So my guess is that the "activation" wasn't done right the first time. Shockingly, no other tech that I talked to on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday even thought of sending a refresh signal.

So it must be a combination of having someone activate the CableCARD properly AND having a refresh signal sent.

I hope my plight can make someone else feel better about their situation, and help others out there as they exchange their cards.

Good Luck, ya'll.

Oh yeah, I wasn't getting my music channels either, but now those are working, too.

 

Just found out HBO is not copy protected right now. At least HBOHD. Cinemax HD is copy protected.