TIVO Bolt and Spectrum

I can't speak to your local situation but I can tell you about our experience here. A year ago we moved into the Greenville, SC region and chose Spectrum (Spectrum Silver) as our cable provider. We purchased a TIVO Bolt, Spectrum provided a cable card ($2.00 per month) and a Tuning Adapter. We have no cable converter box. The installation went relatively smoothly and we've had virtually zero problems. Feel free to contact me directly if there is any other information that I can share.

Gary Hicks

 

It rarely goes more than a month or so when someone posting to these forums will make a similar statement about being told by some CSR of xxxISP that they don't or no longer offer/support cable cards....so far each and every one of those reports have been proven wrong.
The quickest way to get this resolved is to simply take 5-10 minutes and file an FCC complaint, and even though this is very effective, many folks are apprehensive and reluctant to use this mechanism. If you are not one of those, simply fill out this form, Submit a request – FCC Complaints
Usually within a few days you will be contacted by someone higher up in the food chain who will help you through their process.

 

I concur with the fcfc2 post. Charter Spectrum told me back in 2014 that they’ve didn’t offer cablecards in my area (middle TN) so I got one of their dvrs. It died on me last year and I asked them the cablecard question again and was then told yes they do support cablecards and had supported them for years. So I installed 2 bolt TiVos but I ran into a problem again with obtaining a tuning adapter. I was able to pick up one at my local Charter Spectrum store but a few weeks later I had great difficulty obtaining another one. I tried getting one shipped to me but apparently they only ship them to certain zip codes of which mine was not one of them. Once I received received the proper equipment I had no trouble getting everything hooked up and paired properly. (Oh, I also had to order one of those special printer type of cables to connect the tuning adapter to the Tivo box.) At another address I had about 10 years ago in a different location (upstate SC) it took us several days to get our tivo boxes working because the Charter technician/contractor knew absolutely nothing about cable cards and TIVO boxes. So, I would not believe what they are telling you about not supporting cable cards. I just think some of their associates are either not knowledgeable about them or they are purposely giving you false info in order for you to get one of their boxes.

 

I have the higher plan with TIVO and cable card.
In my area (Maine) the last I checked Spectrum only offered 2 tuner DVR and NO whole home service which more than ridiculous in this day and age and force people to TIVO. People grandfathered from TWC can keep there more tuner DVRs and whole home setup but if anything happens you are stuck.
Before I get Spectrum equipment I'd check about what you are getting

 

I am in Orlando and have suffered with speculum/brighthouse for 10 years. I have 2 bolts and they use cablecards and tuning adapters. It usually works. Once in a while the tuning adapters lock up and require restarting of everything. Spectrum believes that Tivo is witchcraft and if you mention Tivo on the phone they will try to roll a truck to your house to really F-stuff up. The tech that comes never know anything about Tivo and is generally afraid of it, but once he says "it is not our equipment" he gets to flee from the witch. Spectrum does have a plan where you get a bunch of channels plus 10 that you pick. I had a hard time picking 10. It dropped my bill $50 a month. You have to say "cancel" a bunch of times to get to the person that can offer that deal. Good luck.

 

I have the highest plan with Spectrum. When I switched from my old Time Warner plan, they told me that I needed one of their boxes. I just took it, and then returned it the next day. The local store didn’t have a tuning adapter last time when I added a 2nd TiVo, but customer service was able to mail me one.

 

just make sure you check your next bill and that they dont charge you the montly bill for it!

 

I have Charter Spectrum as well and the Gold package and it works fine with my TiVo Bolt.


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I am not sure if this helps your experience but I can say coming from California, being an Adelphia, to Time Warner. Then moving to an area that was Charter which eventually became Spectrum of course too. I have dealt with TimeWarner in California as well as in Texas for many many years. Many customer reps may think you have to have just one of their cable box to throw in that 11.99 + 7.50 combo justification on their part, but that is simply not the case. You only need their $2/month cable card...even if you wanted all their premium offerings and adult content. (VOD does not always work tho without their box depending on area and what year it is lol)


My suggestion is to file a complaint with FCC as a final step if you especially have no local Spectrum physical office you can visit to fix your account and/or escalate the matter. There are more “tech” like individuals usually for escalation in person than there are at times for customer service by phone.


Spectrum is generally not as crazy as some of these other cable providers — but each local office or customer service team may handle things differently and if CableCard onboarding does not come across their radar often, they mat default to other training they hear which is for a typical customer, yes you must have their cablebox for higher tier packages. In their mind, 9/10 times that probably is the resolution to their support call. case closed, next call etc. It does not make it right but managing so many customer service teams it always hurts when you discover bad patterns because most of these people do want to do a good job, go home, provide for a family etc. thats a whole other topic haha.

 

Anytime you want help with CableCARD, go to DSL Reports website and go to the Direct Support forums (link below). Find your cable provider and start a new thread. They usually ask for the MAC address of your cable modem to prove that you are actually one of their customers. You can find your modem's MAC address printed on the modem, or go to http://192.168.100.1 and find it on the modem's internal web pages.

The people on the direct forums work for your cable provider and they are much more informed about CableCARD than the typical CSR.

Here's the link:

Direct Support forums | DSLReports, ISP Information

EDIT: Hmmm... Spectrum/TWC used to have a direct support forum on that site. I guess they axed it. But lots of other providers are still there.

 

I bought a TiVo Volt in March and it took till August to get it working with Spectrum. I had many phone calls and they finally sent an experienced tech to get it working. They always tried to up sell there dvr boxes or just wanted me to stream there content.


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Gary, How many tuners are supported in your set up? should be listed under TiVo MENU/Settings/Remote, CableCARD, & Devices/CableCARD Decoder/CableCARD Installation/CableCARD Menu/CableCARD Status

I moved to Greenville area 3 years ago with my 4 tuner Roamio. Got the cable card and MTR700 tuning adapter from Spectrum, but they only supported 2 tuners (2 simultaneous streams). I'm back with Spectrum again (now with a Tivo Edge that supports 6 tuners), and I'm still being told by local Spectrum techs that they only support 2 tuners locally (even though both the cable card and MTR700 can support 6 tuners - confirmed by Spectrum cable card support team in Texas).

I want to get all 6 tuners working.

 

Have you actually fired it up and only get 2 tuners? If so, the cable card may need updated firmware. Or, you can get them to try some other CCs to find one that one that has the right firmware.