[mojotwo]

I had cable cards installed via TWC today. Here is the problem. There are certain channels that I can not get. i.e. ESPN HD, TNT HD, Discovery Channel HD. Does anyone have any idea why? Or suggestions on how to fix this. These were channels that I were recieving when I had the CC DVR.

 

[s2kdave]

I had cable cards installed via TWC today. Here is the problem. There are certain channels that I can not get. i.e. ESPN HD, TNT HD, Discovery Channel HD. Does anyone have any idea why? Or suggestions on how to fix this. These were channels that I were recieving when I had the CC DVR.

Yeah the cable company needs to bind the card on their side. Basically set it up so that they're sending those channels to your cable card. i.e. they didn't finish their job. They should be able to do this over the phone. I just had the same problem recently.

 

[mojotwo]

Well I called the cable company and had then resend a signal to the cards with no luck. This whole install was a nightmare! Not only was the tech 45 mins late even with a 2 hr window, he left when the cable card was doing a firmware update! This was his second cable card install but it looked like his first to me. So now there is a tech coming back out on Sunday. I am going to call CSR today to complain and I am going to refuse to pay the 30.00 install fee because to me he did not do his job.

 

[fritolayguy]

Call customer service and ask to speak with a supervisor. My experience was that once I got in touch with someone that had cable card experience, the next hit to the cards was successful. In my case, the issue was how my account was set up in their computer (they thought I still had their crappy DVR, and with Mediacom, cable cards must be listed first in the account screen to operate properly) and the supervisor had the ability and better yet, capability, to make the necessary changes.

Just my 2c

 

[s2kdave]

mojotwo, go to the cablecard menu and go to the CP menu and see if it says under Status something like "Waiting for CP Auth" or "CP Auth Received" If it says waiting for auth, that means the card isn't authorized and they probably need to reinput the host id and cable card id back into the system and resend the authorization signal similar to what they did on the phone. If it says auth received and you still don't get those channels, that's the part I was mentioning before. Basically the signal they sent when you called them was just to receive the authorization signal which you already have. But somewhere else in their system they have to tell the card to let you display that channel. When they did it for me it they said the card needs to be bound. It took them about 10-15 minutes and called me back and it worked. It's not the simple resending of the auth signal that they did for you on the phone.

From what I understand of TW here's the process. Guy brings out cable card and inserts them. They call dispatch with the serial numbers to enable the cards. Then they call customer service rep to enter in cable card id and host id into the system and to bind the cards so that you receive the channels in your package that you pay for. Then the cs sends out the auth signal to the cards.

So they skipped the second to the last step.

David

 

[mojotwo]

s2kdave thanks for that info I will try and give that a try when I get back home today. I did call the cable company again and complained and at least got that service charge taken off. Hopefully your suggestion will work. Thanks again.

 

[mojotwo]

s2kdave you were so right! The cards needed to be binded! The tech came out this morning. I called CC CS and tried to explain this over the phone and it was as if I was speaking Greek! So I just gave up and decided to just wait for the tech to come out today. All of this could have been cleared up days ago...but oh well.

Hey quick question. ..should both cards have the same status up Card Cp?? Card 1 shows Decryption OK EMMS Ready...while card 2 shows....decryption-No ECM detected and Waitin for EMMS....


thanks

 

[s2kdave]

Yeah, it's tough sometimes talking to TW on the phone because the first level CS people only know exactly what is written on a memo in front of them, no more no less. Sometimes you have to ask for the manager that might know more details.

Here's an article that describes ECM and EMMS that I found. It sounds to me like it depends on the channel it's tuned to on what the status is for those in the CC menu.

http://arstechnica.com/guides/other/cablecard.ars/2

 

[mojotwo]

s2kdave thanks for the link. I did a channel test on both cards and they both recieve all the channels....so all is good now. Thanks for your help.

 

[bartendergreg]

I am a long experienced Tech for Cablevision. The Tivo Series 3 and the Lite HD Tivo are a hit and miss. Tivo announced to Cablevision all the issues their equiptment is having and said they will have it fixed immediately and to have the customer notify Tivo to get it fixed or swapped for a new box. Issues were the Slot 2 failure and/or pixilation and also the aggravating 30 cable cards later and not one working with the Tivo. Sometimes when the customer would call Tivo their techs would not allow them to swap the Tivo box insisting it is all the Cable company's fault. Others would swap it with no problem and the next visit we would be out of their from 20 minutes to an hour depending on firmware upgrade and guided setup. So far I have seen less the 50% of the Tivos work. I would spend a whole day at a persons house rewiring and trying up to 20 cable cards with a no go. Once the sub got a new Tivo the next visit was easy and short. Granted we also have many bad Cable cards in out inventory. I would say almost 1 out of 4 is bad but that is Scientific Atlantas fault. The refurbish their cards and never solve the issue. The pixilation issue with Tivo is ridiculous. When the first batch of Tivos came out we never had these issues. It was more a slow process on the cable companies fault to get their Techs familiar with the Tivo 3. Once we got the hang of it Tivo 3 series they were a bang out to install. 20 to 30 minutes easily no problems except the once in a while bad cable card. Now its flooded with hundreds of defective Tivos. Our whole day is shot because we have to knolly out all the possiblilties of it being our fault. I don't know why Tivo couldn't produce fully working boxes since they started with good working ones. Personally I love the way the Tivo is set up with its decorative menus and options and I think it produces a clean picture. But with all this aggravation and all the money spent I would just deal with the DVR from Cablevision. You spend up to $600 on the Tivo, $15 to $20 on the monthly (CONTRACT) service, $12 a month for both Cable Cards, and then a whopping $50 for an installation charge when we come out. Also if your Tivo is defective we will charge you for the truck roll on trouble calls and installation. The DVR is free with a $15 a month charge, no contract, free replacement, free trouble calls (as long as you didn't mess with the wires! ) and you will probably get free installation or you can install it yourself easily. The Tivo also needs an internet or phone line connection to Download all the updates and get the TV guide info. The DVR needs only the cable line and seeing that Tivo download off a phone line is irritating. I think its to much aggravation to deal with Tivo customer service and Cablevison customer service and go through the finger pointing. You loose the nice fancy Tivo menus and its easy to use interface but the DVR is not that bad. You can even hook up an external HD to the DVR. They said they are working on a new interface for the DVR so soon it will be exactly similar to Tivos and they will also work those annoying bugs out too. Everyones house that i went to with the Tivo problem are pissed they dealt with the all the crap and wished they got a DVR. They would of if Tivo didn't lock them in a contract. If you want one wait till Tivo gets all their problems strait. The cable companys will always have issues with Cable Cards but they will get it to work for you and they won't charge you for their mistake. If you get one and you see any of those problems with a good installer at your house get ready to swap that Tivo. Try the DVR first and see if you like it. You can always get rid of it and they have promotions for one to three months of free trial use.

 

[s2kdave]

bartendergreg, this is probably the wrong thread for a rant about why you don't like tivos and prefer the cable company's dvr. I'm sure that the majority of the problems with cable cards are that they aren't set up properly. I bet the majority of them work just fine, but somewhere in the cable company's system there is some missing piece of configuration. And with all the non-technical people involved during set up that don't understand cable cards, it's easy for them to miss a crucial detail that prevents it from working.

 

[jfh3]

Wow. Some really strong Kool Aid they must have in the Cablevision cafeteria.

Of course Cablevision wants customers to use their DVR - it forces many customers to subscribe to more expensive packages than they would normally have and allows full control of the customer.

I'll grant you that the Tivo HD box has some issues for some customers with SCards in slot 2.

However - I'll bet there are FAR more issues caused by installers that don't follow instructions, dispatch/warehouse folks sending improperly provisioned CableCARDs to the field, installers that don't ensure that known bad CableCARDs are removed from stock.

It is Cablevision and the other MSOs that make the CableCARD process a nightmare, not Tivo. If the MSO does what they are supposed to, the average CableCARD install should take about 15 minutes, tops.

It is an insult to the intelligence of the average person that a truck roll is required to install a CableCARD. Yes, there are times when there are signal issues or a new line is required and a tech is required, but that is the exception rather than the norm.

Installing and activating CableCARDs is not rocket science. That Cablevision and all the MSOs have dragged their feet and made it so hard for the consumer to exercise their right to choice is inexcusable.

And, if you think your DVRs are that good - spend some time over on avsforums.

 

[ZeoTiVo]

it is just AFP1 seeking truth, justice and his own weird concept of how to use a an Internet forum

 

[berfy]

I am a long experienced Tech for Cablevision. The Tivo Series 3 and the Lite HD Tivo are a hit and miss. Tivo announced to Cablevision all the issues their equiptment is having and said they will have it fixed immediately and to have the customer notify Tivo to get it fixed or swapped for a new box. Issues were the Slot 2 failure and/or pixilation and also the aggravating 30 cable cards later and not one working with the Tivo. Sometimes when the customer would call Tivo their techs would not allow them to swap the Tivo box insisting it is all the Cable company's fault. Others would swap it with no problem and the next visit we would be out of their from 20 minutes to an hour depending on firmware upgrade and guided setup. So far I have seen less the 50% of the Tivos work. I would spend a whole day at a persons house rewiring and trying up to 20 cable cards with a no go. Once the sub got a new Tivo the next visit was easy and short. Granted we also have many bad Cable cards in out inventory. I would say almost 1 out of 4 is bad but that is Scientific Atlantas fault. The refurbish their cards and never solve the issue. The pixilation issue with Tivo is ridiculous. When the first batch of Tivos came out we never had these issues. It was more a slow process on the cable companies fault to get their Techs familiar with the Tivo 3. Once we got the hang of it Tivo 3 series they were a bang out to install. 20 to 30 minutes easily no problems except the once in a while bad cable card. Now its flooded with hundreds of defective Tivos. Our whole day is shot because we have to knolly out all the possiblilties of it being our fault. I don't know why Tivo couldn't produce fully working boxes since they started with good working ones. Personally I love the way the Tivo is set up with its decorative menus and options and I think it produces a clean picture. But with all this aggravation and all the money spent I would just deal with the DVR from Cablevision. You spend up to $600 on the Tivo, $15 to $20 on the monthly (CONTRACT) service, $12 a month for both Cable Cards, and then a whopping $50 for an installation charge when we come out. Also if your Tivo is defective we will charge you for the truck roll on trouble calls and installation. The DVR is free with a $15 a month charge, no contract, free replacement, free trouble calls (as long as you didn't mess with the wires! ) and you will probably get free installation or you can install it yourself easily. The Tivo also needs an internet or phone line connection to Download all the updates and get the TV guide info. The DVR needs only the cable line and seeing that Tivo download off a phone line is irritating. I think its to much aggravation to deal with Tivo customer service and Cablevison customer service and go through the finger pointing. You loose the nice fancy Tivo menus and its easy to use interface but the DVR is not that bad. You can even hook up an external HD to the DVR. They said they are working on a new interface for the DVR so soon it will be exactly similar to Tivos and they will also work those annoying bugs out too. Everyones house that i went to with the Tivo problem are pissed they dealt with the all the crap and wished they got a DVR. They would of if Tivo didn't lock them in a contract. If you want one wait till Tivo gets all their problems strait. The cable companys will always have issues with Cable Cards but they will get it to work for you and they won't charge you for their mistake. If you get one and you see any of those problems with a good installer at your house get ready to swap that Tivo. Try the DVR first and see if you like it. You can always get rid of it and they have promotions for one to three months of free trial use.

FYI:

A PARAGRAPH break here and there would make your rambling thoughts a whole lot more readable.