[Tad W]

After 3 years with a TiVo Roamio and Cox Cable, I decided to "cut the cord" and give DirectTVNow a try. Last week, a month into using the streaming service, I decided to go back to cable and upgrade my TiVo. I am pleased with my new Bolt and, but only after experiencing a set-up process that I sarcastically call a TiVo "Rodeo" (my 3rd "rodeo" in this lifetime).

Streaming may be the way of the future, but it's not so great yet. Streaming picture quality is good but the guide and DVR service is bad. DirectTVNow worked smoothly on Apple TV but terribly on the app built into a 2018 model Samsung TV. The dirty little secret is that streaming doesn't save money. Cutting TV service eliminates discounts applied by the cable provider for internet and the amount of data used is very likely to breach the provider's data cap for a family of more than 1 or 2. DirectTVNow used 55GB of data with 2 TVs streaming for one afternoon. Cox's internet plans allow 1TB a month and sell unlimited data options for an additional $50/month. DirectTVNow just raised the entry price to $50/month. Stream today for the convenience but not for a quality experience or savings.

As for the TiVo "Rodeo," I had hoped by now that TiVo and the cable providers had worked out flaws in the cable card + tuning adapter set up. A TiVo "Rodeo" is what I call this inevitable process: the cable card and/or the tuning adapter fail to pair or authorize and it can take days to solve. Cox blames TiVo and TiVo blames Cox, although this "rodeo" (unlike in the past) 5 Cox techs did persistently admit that many customers go through several cable cards before one works. Whether this is truly defective cable cards or technicians that misstep I remain unsure about. Only one of 5 techs blamed the TiVo. Cox wanted me to have a technician come out, but I pushed back because, in the past, the tech gets there, doesn't know what to do with a TiVo, and gets on the phone doing the same thing I am, and then I get a bill. ... Ultimately the Cox store exchanged a few cable cards before one worked. The first two cable cards that failed were Arris models; a third Motorola card worked. Whether it was the card or a phone tech that knew some tricks, I don't know for sure.

I wish everyone quicker experiences getting their TiVos going, and ultimately keep enjoying the best TV/Streaming solution for at least a few more years!

 

[TeamPace]

After 3 years with a TiVo Roamio and Cox Cable, I decided to "cut the cord" and give DirectTVNow a try. Last week, a month into using the streaming service, I decided to go back to cable and upgrade my TiVo. I am pleased with my new Bolt and, but only after experiencing a set-up process that I sarcastically call a TiVo "Rodeo" (my 3rd "rodeo" in this lifetime).

Streaming may be the way of the future, but it's not so great yet. Streaming picture quality is good but the guide and DVR service is bad. DirectTVNow worked smoothly on Apple TV but terribly on the app built into a 2018 model Samsung TV. The dirty little secret is that streaming doesn't save money. Cutting TV service eliminates discounts applied by the cable provider for internet and the amount of data used is very likely to breach the provider's data cap for a family of more than 1 or 2. DirectTVNow used 55GB of data with 2 TVs streaming for one afternoon. Cox's internet plans allow 1TB a month and sell unlimited data options for an additional $50/month. DirectTVNow just raised the entry price to $50/month. Stream today for the convenience but not for a quality experience or savings.

As for the TiVo "Rodeo," I had hoped by now that TiVo and the cable providers had worked out flaws in the cable card + tuning adapter set up. A TiVo "Rodeo" is what I call this inevitable process: the cable card and/or the tuning adapter fail to pair or authorize and it can take days to solve. Cox blames TiVo and TiVo blames Cox, although this "rodeo" (unlike in the past) 5 Cox techs did persistently admit that many customers go through several cable cards before one works. Whether this is truly defective cable cards or technicians that misstep I remain unsure about. Only one of 5 techs blamed the TiVo. Cox wanted me to have a technician come out, but I pushed back because, in the past, the tech gets there, doesn't know what to do with a TiVo, and gets on the phone doing the same thing I am, and then I get a bill. ... Ultimately the Cox store exchanged a few cable cards before one worked. The first two cable cards that failed were Arris models; a third Motorola card worked. Whether it was the card or a phone tech that knew some tricks, I don't know for sure.

I wish everyone quicker experiences getting their TiVos going, and ultimately keep enjoying the best TV/Streaming solution for at least a few more years!

Having gone thru the multi day rodeo myself while helping a friend set up a Bolt on Spectrum I have a suspicion. I have to wonder if the cable companies just keep returning the bad cable cards and tuning adapters to the shelf and hand them off to the next sucker. So the stock they have contains lots of faulty equipment that just gets recycled. They don't care if they never get your TiVo to work.

 

[ncted]

I agree that streaming is "not there" yet. However, you may have chosen one of the worst OTT providers to try out if you are a happy Tivo customer today, IMHO.

 

[Bigg]

I cut the cord, and didn't give up TiVo, I just switched to a Roamio OTA. Now it just does my OTA stuff, and pretty much everything else is streaming. As the debates start up, I'm thinking about getting YTTV for the small amount of live content that I really want through the 2020 supercycle. I have my TiVo and Roku remotes right next to each other, and I still have way too much stuff to watch.

 

[tenthplanet]

I agree that streaming is "not there" yet. However, you may have chosen one of the worst OTT providers to try out if you are a happy Tivo customer today, IMHO.

Anyone who loves their Tivo will want to throw a rock at the cloud dvr's of any OTT live streaming service from time to time, they all have weird restrictions and don't always run smoothly. These things are still in their infancy. Then there are channels you have and channels you don't. Know if you go this route you are a pioneer and you're taking your tech wagon into unknown territory.

 

[Bigg]

Anyone who loves their Tivo will want to throw a rock at the cloud dvr's of any OTT live streaming service from time to time, they all have weird restrictions and don't always run smoothly. These things are still in their infancy. Then there are channels you have and channels you don't. Know if you go this route you are a pioneer and you're taking your tech wagon into unknown territory.

That's not true at all. Much of the good content today is on OTT SVOD anyway, so that's not DVR-able whether you have the cord or not. Then, you've got OTA, which you can still TiVo with a Roamio or Bolt OTA, so all that's left is cable channels, which are mostly only for live content anyway, so the actual amount of DVR'ing you'd do with a vMVPD is minimal. While the transport controls aren't anywhere near what TiVo has, cloud DVRs also have some features that TiVos don't, like anywhere access via the cloud and unlimited storage (on some services like YTTV).

 

[tenthplanet]

That's not true at all. Much of the good content today is on OTT SVOD anyway, so that's not DVR-able whether you have the cord or not. Then, you've got OTA, which you can still TiVo with a Roamio or Bolt OTA, so all that's left is cable channels, which are mostly only for live content anyway, so the actual amount of DVR'ing you'd do with a vMVPD is minimal. While the transport controls aren't anywhere near what TiVo has, cloud DVRs also have some features that TiVos don't, like anywhere access via the cloud and unlimited storage (on some services like YTTV).

Tell that to people who don't finish a series and find no one picked up the streaming rights. OTA has a lot of channels that some people want no part of. DVR's without a time limit are power/Vod gives it away. Cable channels are still heavily time shifted among people who aren't home at night.

 

[Bigg]

Tell that to people who don't finish a series and find no one picked up the streaming rights. OTA has a lot of channels that some people want no part of. DVR's without a time limit are power/Vod gives it away. Cable channels are still heavily time shifted among people who aren't home at night.

Unfinished series have nothing to do with it. The fact of the matter is that a huge chunk of the good content today is on OTT SVOD, and then you look at the remainder, and subtract out premiums and their apps, an OTA which you can record with a an OTA TiVo, there's not much left, so even if you do subscribe to a streaming service like YouTube TV to fill in the gaps, most of the content there is live, like news and sports, so cloud DVR usage is only going to be a tiny fraction of what you're viewing. Yes, a TiVo on cable can bring together local channels, cable channels, and even premiums if you get them through a QAM-based provider, but a huge chunk of the content is still only on OTT SVOD, which, by it's very nature, is VOD-based.

 

[mschnebly]

That's not true at all. Much of the good content today is on OTT SVOD anyway, so that's not DVR-able whether you have the cord or not. Then, you've got OTA, which you can still TiVo with a Roamio or Bolt OTA, so all that's left is cable channels, which are mostly only for live content anyway, so the actual amount of DVR'ing you'd do with a vMVPD is minimal. While the transport controls aren't anywhere near what TiVo has, cloud DVRs also have some features that TiVos don't, like anywhere access via the cloud and unlimited storage (on some services like YTTV).

I switched from DTV Now to YTTV last week with ease. I haven't had to DVR anything yet. The amount of great stuff with a streaming service along with Netflix and Hulu is mind boggling.

 

[cwoody222]

Having gone thru the multi day rodeo myself while helping a friend set up a Bolt on Spectrum I have a suspicion. I have to wonder if the cable companies just keep returning the bad cable cards and tuning adapters to the shelf and hand them off to the next sucker. So the stock they have contains lots of faulty equipment that just gets recycled. They don't care if they never get your TiVo to work.

I don't think that many cards or SDV boxes are defective.

More likely, when you get a replacement, and a new tech sets it up, you eventually get lucky and get a tech who knows what they're doing.

Techs in the field have no idea so they just throw their hands up and blame "hardware" so they can leave and close the ticket.

 

[Tad W]

I don't think that many cards or SDV boxes are defective. More likely, when you get a replacement, and a new tech sets it up, you eventually get lucky and get a tech who knows what they're doing. Techs in the field have no idea so they just throw their hands up and blame "hardware" so they can leave and close the ticket.

I tend to agree but suggest it may still have something to do with "recycled" cards and/or accounts not being properly reset/recycled/tested (or whatever that in-house recycling process involves).... the first two times (in years past) that I set up a TiVo I let Cox send a tech out and that is exactly what happened (and I ended up arguing with billing). This time I pushed back on having a tech come and went through 5 phone techs over two days. 4 of 5 techs blamed bad cards admitting that they do recycle cards. 1 of the 5 techs blamed the TiVo.

 

[larrs]

I cut the cord in November just recently came back and I may drop it again. I went with DirecTVNow instead of Xfinity when we moved, but when DTVN raised prices, it made the price basically the same as Xfinity so I switched back. A few days later and we actually miss the streaming service. We love the Tivo interface, but the way we digest content has changed in the few months. Having a bunch of content recorded just doesn't mean much in a Netflix and Vudu centric house as it used to. The DTVN app works much like Netflix and seems much more familiar now.
I hate to say it, but I may just do the Xfinity instant TV service and forget the cablecard. Unfortunately for Tivo, the Roku seems to have become our "one box", not Tivo.