[Pasha Souvorin]

TiVo sold me a refurbished bolt after my three year old bolt died. This new bolt has TERRIBLE reception. I bought a new rooftop antenna, used the Internet to find the broadcast tower (only 10 miles away), and pointed the antenna directly at it. The old bolt had decent reception (50-80%) all the time with an indoor antenna. This newer model bolt gets only 0-40% reception from the new antenna. I connected the same new antenna directly to my television and got 80-100% reception on every channel. TiVo's tech support keeps telling me that the new bolt is dividing the reception between four tuners, and that it's perfectly normal to have worse reception. But the new bolt basically has no reception. They tell me to get a "booster," but I've read elsewhere on this forum that those only give a few percentage points of boost. Is it normal for a new bolt with 4 tuners to get unusable reception from an antenna that gives 90% reception when connected directly to a TV? Is there a fix for this, or do I just need to return this thing and ask for my money back?

 

[kpeters59]

You should verify all 4 tuners, but otherwise, you should get it re-swapped...

-KP

 

[LarryAtHome]

Your new antenna may be picking up cell LTE interference.
I had my bolt disconnected for about a week and moved its location. After moving it my signal strength on some channels dropped to about half of what I was receiving before. Adding a LTE filter brought the signals back for me.

 

[Pasha Souvorin]

Thanks! Tomorrow I'll scan every channel on all four tuners. Should I add this LTE filter / amplifier: (Outdoor HDTV VHF/UHF Antenna Amplifier/Booster-Channel Master CM 7777HD (CM7777HD))? The TiVo Bolt is also restarting constantly. It's plugged into a surge protector with a "Building Wiring Fault Indicator" light on. Is that also a problem?

 

[Pasha Souvorin]

Thanks again for the help. I tested all four tuners and this thing is a dud. TiVo email support was terrible. They just kept telling me to move my antenna and buy a signal booster. But the phone tech support was great. They admitted that the device they shipped me didn't work and they're sending a free replacement.

 

[mpf541]

I had a new bolts that worked perfectly changed when the OTA channels needed to be rescaned last month. I started getting one channel that pixelated all the time now. tivo support told the I had SNR issues. Even though other channels with the same readings did not have the issue. I ended up getting them to replace the box and the next one had the same issue.

I ended up deciding to get an edge and at that time I ordered a new antenna and all new cable. The edge got here first and I set it up and all channels worked fine. Not sure what the difference is in the refurb and new to cause this issue. But tivo support is just ready to blame your signal rather than the tivo box. Support is really bad now since it moved overseas.