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).
Comcast does support the two cablecard tivo.
Due to the structure of billing, the first cards is free and the second card is 1.00 USD.
If it is not setup right only one card will work. You need to swap tuners to get to the second card.
So, if you have been using Video on demand, this is only a function of the set top Digital box, not a cable card.
Thank You
ComTech3 of Atlanta
If you run into a problem getting a cable card then ask for their manager….then go up in management untill you get what you want
Like any large company you get someone that is not familiar with Comcast procedures.
There is also a customer tech help service is you ask for it.
Comcast has no problem with Tivo, with using a cable card over the DVR recording box.
In fact, Comcast and Tivo are partners
I just set up cable with Astound(formerly RCN in this area) on the SF penninsula, and they knew all about cable cards. They set up my appointment for two cards, and when the tech was going to install them, he has a dual(mCard) “tuner” card, so I’ll only get charged for one. He was really knowledgable and said he set up a lot of the HDTiVo’s, so if you have an alternate cable provider, especially Astound, I would look into that.
What is the best setup with BASIC CABLE through Sudden Lynk. We get our channels with no box or cards. Everything works through my Sony TV, but when I try to run through the HD Tivo box, I can’t find the right settings that give both, (1) ability to see the digitial channel (709 for NBC) and (2) ability to see the programing info for that channel. I did find a set up that allows me to see both the digital version (709) through the Tivo and the low def signal (channel 6) through the Tivo. The only thing is there is no program info for the 709 high def version. I can also run a set up that allows me to see programing for both 709 and ch. 6, but in this case, the Tivo is not tuning 709. Just getting a grey screen. HELP.