[JJWhite]

Well, I thought I'd gotten lucky, the installer agreed to leave me two Motorola cableCards since my Tivo HD hadn't arrived yet. I pulled it out of the box today, popped in the first card and voila, tivo goodness. Then I put in the second card.. not so much joy.

It seem they had me listed as having cards with serial number xxx522 and xxx523, when I really have xxx521 and xxx522. So the card ending in 522, my #1 card, is working, while the other card is not.

So, after actually convincing them they had gotten it wrong, they informed me that they can't change the number without someone coming to look at the card. Essentially, they are rolling a truck so the guy can come in, see the 521 printed on the card, and call them up to change it.

My worst fear is that they will bring me a SA card to swap in there.

So not an easy install, but it doesn't seem to be Tivo's fault.. just poorly trained phone staff. The installer who brought the cards was very Tivo savy, and even knew to bring me Motorola cards to make things go easier! Can't beat that, I plan on calling his boss and letting them know I appreciated a good tech being sent.

 

[JJWhite]

Quick update... no encrypted channels work on either card.

I'm seriously considering returning this unit and just getting the Comcast DVR. I just want to watch TV, not learn the intracacies of the cable system.

 

[wmcbrine]

Try a reboot? I lost all encrypted channels on one card once, until I rebooted.

I'm lucky; Verizon (as of the one time I called them about it) wouldn't insist on a tech visit just to get the numbers straightened out. They'd also probably be able to correct your second problem over the phone; I don't know if Comcast would, but it's worth calling them if a reboot doesn't do it.

Just bear in mind that, if you return the Tivo and get a Comcast DVR, you'll be rewarding the very people who made this difficult for you (and quite intentionally -- they don't want CableCard to succeed).

 

[Langree]

Quick update... no encrypted channels work on either card.

I'm seriously considering returning this unit and just getting the Comcast DVR. I just want to watch TV, not learn the intracacies of the cable system.

I picked up my tivo hd tonight, I will do whatever it takes to dump this comcrap dvr.

 

[kb7oeb]

My worst fear is that they will bring me a SA card to swap in there.

They only use one or the other, SA and Motorola use different encryption schemes.

 

[20TIL6]

Just bear in mind that, if you return the Tivo and get a Comcast DVR, you'll be rewarding the very people who made this difficult for you (and quite intentionally -- they don't want CableCard to succeed).

:up: :up: :up:
I think that statement is worth repeating. I was having some tiling issues on my pair of S3 units, plus a cablecard TV (with no TiVo connected), maybe a month ago. I think once Comcast realized that I did not mind them spending countless support resources, a few truck rolls with multiple days of man-hours diagnosing a "problem", that things finally cleared up.

The last thing I told them, before things "magically" got better was that if this did not get resolved before my next bill, I would be cancelling TV services with them. I told them that I had an OTA antenna for local HD, and I could download a fair amount of cable content from Amazon Unbox. And I was dead serious.

Since then I have had no tiling issues at all. And I have added a TiVo HD with none of the problems being discussed here. If problems ever come back, I'm still prepared to cancel.

The thing we should all remember is that WE ARE THE CONSUMER. And as such, sometimes we have to be prepared to act like a consumer, even when dealing with the cable company. How odd that as paying customers we would allow them to dictate the quality of our experience.

 

[Saturn]

I didn't have any encrypted channels at first either. They plugged in the cards, they were recognized, and the installer only tested with the unencrypted channels. I had to call later once I figured it out and they sent "hits" to both cards and they started working immediately.

 

[richsadams]

The thing we should all remember is that WE ARE THE CONSUMER. And as such, sometimes we have to be prepared to act like a consumer, even when dealing with the cable company. How odd that as paying customers we would allow them to dictate the quality of our experience.

Here, here! :up: :up: Well said...couldn't agree more!

 

[20TIL6]

Thanks Rich,

I know I'm just one voice, but I did not let DTV control my TiVo experience, and I'm not about to let cable attempt to do so. Both DTV and cable might not understand or care why I want TiVo to manage my TV experience, but they do understand churn. And with HD via OTA, and more and more content available through Unbox, I find the alternative (no cable or sat) plausible. I'd miss live sports via ESPN, but that's hardly enough leverage for me to allow them to have their way.

Cable can either support my CableLabs approved devices, and get my $60-70+ per month for TV services. Or they can get nothing from me.

 

[JJWhite]

Okay, another update, and hopefully resolution:

They rolled a truck to look at my card and determine the same thing I did.. they had the wrong number in their system. They did, however, do one thing that impressed me.. They sent their tech who knew the ins and outs of the Series 3. He hadn't seen the new unit, and was surprised by it. According to him, this one is much easier to set up than the other Series 3, but he didn't elaborate. Anyway, they piled in a few guys to take a look at what he did, and he had it working on both cards with no pixelation and all channels in about 5 minutes.

They even took the time to have me show them this forum so they could take a look at what kind of problems people are facing. They gave me two tips for everyone: Request Motorola cards. Comcast has systems that use both Motorola and SA cards, and they've found far less problems with Motorola cards and the Tivos. Also, request a "hard" reset on the cards. This will cause an error message to appear on the Tivo, and that's a good sign that the card is properly talking with their system.

So far I can't find any problems, so I'm tentatively chalking this up as a good experience. The techs genuinely wanted to not only get it working, but learn how to get everyone elses working as well. A few said they were going to go buy one now that they can afford it!

- Jason

 

[20TIL6]

That's good to hear.

For obvious reasons, I think Comcast is the most willing to accept TiVo into their customer base. Probably Cox next. From what I have read, TimeWarner seems reluctant in certain regions, and Cablevision sounds like a bunch of jerks. Probably makes sense about Cablevision since they were the ones trying to do the DVR end-around with their Network DVR. They've got to be still smarting over that one.