Remember a post that I put up three days ago which talked about how TWC was giving one of their customers hell? Well, the individual (John) who was having a tough time with TWC sent me another email letting me know that TWC did stop by and that his Series 3 TiVo is now up and running. What follows is the email that John sent me detailing what the experience was like.
Hi Alex,
It was a very trying experience… but the CableCARDS are installed (Saturday) and (as of 1:30pm Sunday) working! The installer (to TW’s credit) showed up on time, but seemed quite confused by the Tivo. I left the instruction sheet out for him, but he didn’t read it. He also didn’t read the big letters “use lower cablecard slot first” written both onscreen and on the back of the Tivo – although it didn’t seem to matter. After popping the cards in (in the wrong order), he seemed very confused about what to do next, so I sat down and read the instructions to him. After he was satisfied that we *really* didn’t need to sit through the guided setup together, he tried to call in the CableCARD info…
I live in an area with poor cellphone reception and the installer was insistent on trying to use a push to talk phone. It didn’t work. He tried over and over to call in the CableCARD ID and Host ID. They couldn’t hear him. I offered to let him use the phone, he said no. So, my fiance and I sat there while he fought with his phone for 30-40 minutes. After he *thought* he had closed out the job, he left. Then we actually tried to use the box and, sadly, none of our subscription channels were available. We called in to TW but there was a big local outage and gave up waiting after spending 30 minutes in the queue.
Today I called TW and got through. They reprovisioned the cards on their end, and within 5 minutes, everything was showing up, just lovely. So… it is possible to get this working through TW, but just be aware that they will have no experience with the unit and seem to have a general dislike for dealing with CableCARDs at all.
One note that *may* help people – During the process of him trying to get these things activated, he went through the same “what kind of TV is it” problem with the people he was trying to get to activate the card. When they asked the question, he looked at the front of the TV and said “Samsung”… (not realizing they really meant what kind of DEVICE are the cards being installed in). They accepted that and moved on… So, if TW gives anyone a problem, I’d say just tell them the kind of TV the Tivo is connected to and feign ignorance when the installer arrives.
Best wishes,
— John
I really hope TWC and the rest of the cable industry learns that a CableCARD capable Series 3 TiVo is available and that some consumers are willing to pay the $800 price tag to get a far superior product (I only wish I had $800 right now).
I live in Mississippi and have comcast. They are still refusing to support my tivo 3 after several weeks of calling Tivo and Comcast corporate office. I have had two different tivo reps on the line with comcast explaining the FCC rules but still no luck. It is very frustrating. I might have to return my series 3.
Didn’t have any problems with Timewarner Cable in Houston.
I went to the TWC store and traded in my Scientific Atlanta HD box for two cable cards without any problems and no questions asked. The cards came with instructions on what information to get after the cards were installed and a phone number to call into for activation.
My cable was already working and from previous phone calls to TWC I can tell you that they consider thier customers to be competent and encourage people to come into thier closest store for equipment upgrades and exchanges instead of waiting days for a service person to make a house call.
When I called the TWC activation phone number I followed the setup instructions for the cable installer that came with my Tivo. The TWC representative was professional and patient with me while I fumbled around to locate the second cable card’s data that he needed.
The only annoyance was that(as it states on the cable card instructin sheet) it takes 24 hours for the cards to be activated after the information is called in, but it wasn’t any worse than a child endures while waiting to open Christmas presents.
Good luck with your setup and have a good day.
[...] my surprise, it was rather easy to order the cards and get the installation scheduled. I know that some people have had a tough time with getting their cable company to provide them with CableCARDs for their [...]
Mediacom (in Missouri) were adamant when I called them that Cablecards were *not* supported in TiVos, and that I would have to put it in the TV or rent their set-top box. I insisted they were wrong and eventually had to send them a link so they could read for themselves ( http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=317212 ). Only after that did they agree to send out a tech. He showed up but apparently there was some problem with the cablecards in this area (which I suspect is total bullshit) and they’re coming back later. I’ll post an update when I get it finally done.
Update! The cable installer arrived a second time (new guy this time) and we got the cards installed, he called them in and got the “hits” to the cards and bada-bing, badda-bang, it’s working fine! It’s really not hard to get them working, just make sure you’re persistent when you call your cable company. Mine said they didn’t support Cablecards but by federal law they’re required to do so. In the end, it was a walk in the park… it just took a long time to convince them to install.
Wow. I wish I had read all these comments BEFORE I moved my Lifetime Tivo Service to a new Series 3 unit last year! (I eventually did the same on a second S3 unit.) I didn’t realize when I ordered the first one that they wouldn’t work with satellite. But, okay, I’m a Tivo-kinda gal, so I contacted Charter Cable and they sent out a tech with two cards.
Both units worked fine for a few months. But since February, I’ve had NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS! Tivo has replaced one unit or the other three times. Charter keeps sending techs out (because they won’t let me install it myself — you know, look up the numbers on the screen and call them in for activation — waaaay too technical for us consumers to do!). Anyway, the techs they are sending out have either never touched a cable card in their lives (so I end up showing them what to do) or they keep calling in the numbers, telling the office to “hit it again” while they’re telling me that the Scientific Atlanta cable cards just don’t seem to work and that everyone has problems where I live (in the mountains of Southern California).
At the moment, I have no working S3 unit. Luckily, we kept our DirecTV Tivo unit (a real Tivo unit) so we have TV, just not HD. Charter can’t seem to get it together, or call me back. Tivo has been great, but at this point I’m asking them to let me move my Lifetime Service back to a Series 1 or Series 2 unit! I took them up on their offer to move the Lifetime Service to the S3 unit, and now I don’t have a working unit!
I’ve spent HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS on the phone with Charter (an awful experience) and Tivo (a much better experience) and haven’t really accomplished anything except increasing my stress level, losing sleep and giving up valuable time for nothing.
So, yesterday I called DirecTV and asked about their HD stuff. (I can’t take it any more!) You’ll love this. They offered to give me their HD DVR at no cost (except $21 shipping/handling) and they would send a tech out between 8-12 today to install it. Tech didn’t show. It’s now 4:45 p.m. The installation company says they couldn’t reach him on his Nextel push-to-talk phone because there’s no signal here in the mountains. We’ve rescheduled for tomorrow, so I get to sit around all day another day. DirecTV said I can try their HD unit and if I don’t like it, no harm no foul.
Meanwhile, I called Tivo again to tell them I’d given up on Charter (who have been completely out of communication with me despite many calls — including from last week’s tech, who was great, who said she’d have the manager call me). Anyway, Bobby with Tivo listened to my sad story and said he’d call me back AND HE DID! And when he called back, he said “Give us a few days. Our people want to talk to Charter’s people and see if we can get this resolved.” He said if that doesn’t work, they’ll talk to me about moving my Lifetime Service to another unit. I’ll probably buy a couple of Series 2 units if I end up doing that, because all I have is Series 1, and I actually gave one of them away after I got the S3 units.
It actually made me feel better, though, to see that I’m not alone in this struggle. Best of luck to you all!
Verna,
I hope you get this resolved. The S3 really is a great device assuming you can get your cable company to install the cards properly.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Hello,
I have owned a series 3 tivo for almost a year now. And it has worked pretty flawlessly! Congrats to tivo for getting tivotogo working now as well.
We recently moved from one county to another in Colorado (Comcast). And the cableCARDS timed out. So we had them reactivated. Then the stopped working. So they sent a tech out that removed our two previous cards (guessing they were S-cards) and put in one m-card. It didn’t work. So we had a tech come out and put in another m-card and magically they both worked–by luck, as this tech knew nothing about S3.
so for five days, both cards worked, all channels. Then we get an error saying card #2 ’s pairing is off. So I go through the cableCARD config menu, guided set up, etc. and I notice a weak signal.
I look at the wiring from the wall to the tivo, and the tech has a three way splitter (one for tivo, one for comcast on demand, one for HSI) a 3 ft cable to a connect that connects to a one foot cable, that connects to the splitter that connected to a 6 inch cable that connectes to a connector that connects to cable that goes through the wall into the basement that connects to a 6 way splitter that goes to the cable service main line…
follow?
SO… time to reduce the signal loss. First thing I notice is that the three way splitters outputs have different signal losses: 2 at 3.5db and 1 at 7.5db. Of course, the most sensitive of the three devices, my S3 is on the 7.5. So i change that and put it on the 3.5db. then I remove all those short cables and connectors, so that the wire in the wall that goes to the basement goes directly into the splitter. Then I venture to the basement and remove the splitter, since we have just one TV and one tivo for now, and replace it with a connector.
I go back to cablecard diagnostics, and now the signal strength is 95 to 100, whereas before it was about 70.
cablecard 1 gets all the channels
cablecard 2 gets 1 through 21, and 22 sort of. when i try to go to hbo 550, it says to call comcast and have to activate these channels.
I call comcast and have them ‘hit’ the card which they say should take care of any issues, including pairing. However, it does not. Even more annoyingly, when i try to watch “live tv” on hbo 550, I get a black screen. If I record the channel, and then go to “Now playing” and choose the channel that I have recording, I have a picture–
From what I have read, I need to call comcast and confirm that all their number match up, data, unitid, etc.
does this sound right
Got a Tivo HD about a month ago – installer showed up first day, walked in and looked at his sheet and realized he forgot to bring cablecards. Way to go hotshot! Said he would come back tomorrow, but didn’t. Came back two days later with another gy – neither of them had done cablecards or used a Tivo before. I had to get the instructions out for them. Sad, really.
Worked about 3-4 weeks and then cable started having issues. TW “technical support” is really just customer service and they can’t do anything. ANYTHING.
So they send a guy out – two hours he can’t get card two to work. Another guy comes out three days later. Tries three cards – can’t get them to work, either. Tells me he’s never been able to get cablecards to work. Really, really sad. Said he’ll come back next day. Doesn’t show up.
That’s where I am now. TW reps keep going “I didn’t think cablecards worked with Tivo?” Well, they do. Cable companies need to train their reps, educate them. Train your field techs, too. “I’ve never installed a cablecard… !” Wah. Get some training. It’s your job.
Bought a HD Tivo3 a couple of months ago. Had half a dozen tech trips out from Comcast to install the cards – no help. Many, many phone calls – one involving TiVO and Comcast- later, no result. Unplugged the TiVo and reinstalled the Comcast SA STB. Using that now. Hoping Comcast and CableCard will get their act together. Any help for me on this?
Any hope for the future. I’d hate to use the new TivoHD as a door stop.
I’m in the exact same boat. What CableCard are you using? I have a Motorola M-Card with firmware version 531; it would be interesting to know if others are experiencing the same problems with the same card. The TiVo tech I talked to did not have documentation for my cards firmware version.
Bernie,
Do you have a TiVoHD or a Series 3? I don’t think the Series 3 can work with a m-Card cablecard.
I have an TivoHD; perhaps I jumped in on the wrong thread. I still don’t have service but now I see on Tivo’s forums that there are several people in my county in the same boat.
I am Michael Roe, and am a Charter customer in Vilas, NC.
I purchased a TiVo hd3 for my family for Christmas.
Since December I have:
had 4 charter technicians in my home;
had new cable ran into the home (have line signal strength of 94);
had TiVo replace the device twice (on third unit);
had charter replace cable cards (on fifth set of cards)
Just using logic here, I think it’s safe to assume that the issues I am having:
are not field tech related;
are not “cable into my home” related;
are not TiVo device related;
are not cable card related
Rather, the issue MUST be PAIRING RELATED.
When I call charter customer support (escalated to a supervisor), they ask me for the SERIAL NUMBER of the cable cards (I have two) there is only ONE serial number on the back of each card.
They then tell me that they have “hit” the card (sent “reauthorizations”, “another hit”, you name it…)
Yet the TiVo device itself (in the cable card menu, conditional access) shows that the cards are NOT paired…
All that to ask, what is it that charter should be pairing TO?
Or put another way, charter should be pairing what WITH what in their system?
The cable card (charter) “serial number” with the (TiVo) “host id”?
The cable card (charter) “serial number” with the (TiVo) “unit address”?
The cable card (TiVo) “cable card id” with the (TiVo) “host id”?
The cable card (TiVo) “cable card id” with the (TiVo) “unit address”?
* The charter cable card “serial number” and the TiVo indicated “cable card id” are NOT the same. and the “host id” and “unit address” are not the same. and then of course there is the TIVO SERVICE # (I can find no TiVo serial number for the device) which is different than the host id and unit address.
The folks at TIVO say that there is nothing they can do (and I buy that…I really do)
The folks at CHARTER don’t seem to KNOW what to do (even though some agents have been extremely helpful, they really do seem to be totally (intentionally?) clueless and to have had no training whatsoever with either cable cards or TiVo.
ANY SUGGESTIONS?
I’m open to ANYTHING at this point… even PAID SUPPORT!
Ttherwise, I have an 800 doorstop.
feel free to contact me:
mike@radioio.com
904-626-6964
PS – If nothing more, does anyone have any idea how to file a formal complaint with Charter? The FCC? Or both? (again, my personal opinion is that TiVO and the TiVO Customer are the victims here. Because I am JUST the fellow to do it.
So, I was just told by comcast that they don’t support cable cards for Tivo because of “support” issues and suggested I get their Tivo HD digital DVR box instead.. Sigh, why do I always get the idiots\liars.