Old TiVo user considering a return... (TWC / NC)

I am not in North Carolina and I do not have Time Warner.

But from my perspective the CableCard pairing process has improved dramatically since the early S3 days. You can even do self installs now...

One point though - you are not paying $15 a month for guide data, you are paying $15 a month as a service fee for using the TiVo software and services.

That now includes not only the software and services directly supporting your TiVo but also 2nd screen tools like the IOS TiVo App and now the introduction of streaming services. Just making a point.

You will LOVE the Roamio and it works really well paired with one or more Mini's to serve multiple TV's (and yes the Mini requires a service fee as well.)

As always, I recommend getting lifetime service - it is just a better deal and you never have to call TiVo to cancel your service. Just sell the TiVo for a profit when you are done using it!

 

in Cary, you can pick up the cards yourself now at the cable office, then get home and call an 800 number. There is a person on the other end that knows what they are doing and it takes less than 10 minutes.

EDIT: 866-532-2598

 

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I am with Time Warner in the Raleigh, NC area. I just purchased my very first TiVo (a Roamio Plus and 2 Minis) this past November. It has taken me 2 trips (and an hour waiting in line each time) down to the local Time Warner office and several phone calls to TW support, but I have finally gotten everything working (mostly) and am loving my TiVo Roamio and Minis.

The first trip down I picked up a CableCard and a Tuning Adapter, both of which were manufactured 3 or 4 years ago, which concerned me. The main reason I wanted to switch to a TiVo was that I was sick and tired of TW's crappy old equipment.

Anyways, I get home and pop the CableCard into the back of the Roamio and surprise, surprise it has to update the firmware on the CableCard which takes about 90 minutes to accomplish. However, once that is done I start getting the basic channels to come through. I then call Time Warner's main line to pair my CableCard to the Roamio and surprise, surprise nobody seems to know what the hell a CableCard is. I get transferred around to some other people who say they need to transfer me to other people and eventually someone hits the wrong button and hangs up on me.

So I do some google searching and find the direct number to the TW CableCard activation line and finally talk to someone who knows what he's doing. After about 5 minutes the CableCard is paired and I can get all of the channels I should that don't use switched digital video. I then plug in the tuning adapter and surprise, surprise it doesn't work.

After spending some time on the phone with the TW CableCard support guy looking at the diagnostic screen, he determines that the tuning adapter is probably ****ed up and says he can either send out a tech or I can go back down to the TW office to pick up another one. I opt to go back down and pick up another one because I figure the average TW tech won't know a damn thing about CableCards and Tuning Adapters.

So I get the second Tuning Adapter home, plug it in, and it works!...sort of. Sometimes when I switch channels to a SDV channel, the channel doesn't tune and I just get a blank screen. It's kind of annoying, but doing a channel up then channel down usually gets the channel to tune properly. Strangely, I never get a tuning error on either of the 2 Minis I have connected to my Roamio, it only happens with the Roamio unit.

Anyways, I decide to go back down and get another Tuning Adapter to see if that will fix the problem, but before I do a TiVo software update comes through and seems to allow the Roamio to deal more gracefully with a tuning failure. Instead of just getting stuck on a black screen when the channel doesn't tune, the Roamio now seems to ether re-tune the channel automatically or it gives me a popup message to hit the "select" button to re-tune, which pretty much always works.

After doing some experimentation, I have found that if I set all of the tuners on the Roamio that I am not currently using to the local broadcast channels, which I know are non-SDV channels, the tuner I am using for live TV almost never gets an error when trying to tune a SDV channel. This makes me suspect that the real problem is Time Warner's crappy old tuning adapter not being able to properly tune multiple SDV channels at once.

Eventually, I may go back to the TW office to pick up another TA to see if I can get a better one, but I am reasonably happy with my work-around solution, particularly since I am saving about $45/month on my cable bill not having to pay rental fees for a crappy Time Warner DVR and 2 cable boxes.

 

If that were true then all the TiVo functionality would continue to operate normally albeit without guide data.

TiVo has been "bricking" non subbed TiVo's since I purchased my first Series 2 unit. As an example, network functionality - moving content via TiVo desktop has always been a component of the subscribed service. Today, you can't even use the buffer and simple trick play with the most modern units.

The guide data is the most obvious service you receive and people have been attributing the fee to it for years, but it is only a portion of the "service" you get from the tivo systems.

 

TWC here in Charlotte. The process is MUCH better. Dedicated cable card hotline with people that know their stuff.

I upgraded from a premier to a roamio plus about 3 months ago and the longest part of the upgrade was being on hold waiting for a person to synch my cable card with the new device. Now granted I was just swapping the cable card into a new device so I don't know if obtaining a card has improved but I would imagine it has.

 

Yes, you can pair the TiVo Stream with either the Premiere or Roamio Basic models.

 

Yes, you can.

Also, check out the thread on hard drive upgrades from the Roamio. Much easier than the old method of upgrading, with the caveat that you want to swap drives before firing up, as there is no way to carry over the old programs to the new drive.

 

And if you decide to cut-the-cord again in a year, the $150 model will work with OTA. The $400 model will not.

 

Just be aware that TWC may have a trap on your line preventing tv service. So you may need a truck roll for them to remove it. If you can't get the cablecard paired or working correctly, I would make sure they have checked before you pull all your hair out trying to figure out why.

 

If you want to avoid paying the $6/month TWC modem fee (and you should), I recommend buying the Motorola SB6141. I've been using it with TWC in NC for about 6 months now and it has been rock solid. You can buy it on Amazon for around $80 and it'll pay for itself in about a year. If you do buy it, just make sure you buy the white model not the black model.

http://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-Motorol...ie=UTF8&qid=1390420747&sr=8-1&keywords=sb6141

 

What's the difference between the white model and the black model?

 

From what I've read (see the reviews on Amazon), the white model is the retail model and the black model is the wholesale model sold only to the cable companies. If you'll notice, Amazon sells the white model directly, but does not sell the black model directly. You can only buy it on Amazon through third-party sellers.

Since Motorola will only sell the black model directly to cable companies, the ones you can buy online are either stolen or possibly were surplus units that have been sitting in some cable company's warehouse collecting dust that they decided to sell off. If you buy a black model, it's highly likely to be used (even if advertised as "new") and possibly stolen, which could make it impossible to activate and use on your internet account.

Another problem is that TWC refuses to push firmware updates to user-owned modems. And since end-users can't update the firmware on a cable modem themselves (only the cable company can do it) you definitely want to buy a new modem manufactured recently so that it will have the newest firmware already installed.

 

Hang in there. Eventually you'll be able to get it worked out despite TWC's incompetence. And look at the bright side, you'll get the satisfaction of depriving TWC of some revenue every month by no longer renting their crappy equipment.