Time Warner Cable TV/Voice → [Cable] Dallas/Ft Worth Metro Vol I -- Time Warner

Cable industry and Fiber.
Seems more common as I read here more and more. Many are using the dreaded if only had FIOS in my area. I would switch right now.

Cable has had Fiber in their networks for a good while now. It's just not FTTH as you are seeing with Verizon pulling Fiber to side of home.
Yet, from what I have read and without actually seen Verizon still uses the inside Coaxial cable to run their boxes. (Is this true for most?) Believe they run Cat5 from outside home for internet, dunno?

Cable uses Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC)

»www.linktionary.com/h/hfc.html

--- If this is true then why in the heck is the service not perfect or at least more reliable then it is?
--- My friends are having very minor to NO issues with their FIOS service.

Well, being cable has been around a good while longer then NEWLY laid FIOS lines you get more line problems as the years go on.
The problems for Cable (HFC):
illegal hookups - pets chewing underground lines - squirrels chewing aerial line - repair after repair cutting lines to fix things like trucks hitting main line -people stealing equipment - other utilities cutting/damaging cable lines - old outdated wiring in homes (yes as time goes on cable can get old and oxidated or other detioriation)

Take all of that which typically happens on the Coax side of the HFC network, and throw (Upstream) all the trash/noise issues, ingress from loose connections or many other ways into Fiber which goes back to the Headend office.
Just down the same lines/trunks from issues above will cause intermittent block sync on modems/ tiling on your boxes/ and other sorts of havoc complained about all the time.

Anytime something new is implemented it will have the hiccups typically network related or adjustments here and their. However, all looks great.
Wait until anywhere around the amount of subscribers that have Cable are in FIOS.
FIOS may be awesome and many that even work in cable industry like how it sounds and could be interested for their own homes just as many have satellite as well.
As time goes on FIOS will gradually gain the problems we encounter everyday, and when that happens what is the next newer technology available for customers to flock to.

In reality cable is not as bad as some make it to be and they are continually doing improvements and hanging/laying new lines in areas as they are outdated or needed.
Just as Time Warner is and will be doing for the Dallas area.
Competition is great for all.

Can Cable continue to compete with FIOS?

Yes with description given previously this is why.

Cable can offer higher speeds for internet as the technology improves for the DOCSIS standard (speed of downstream/upstream).

More can be offered for video as more technology advances for it to be shown on current boxes, and other improvements typically not seen by customers until given with more content available after the fact.

Again competition is great and pushes the advancements even more and more. Otherwise there would be no competition.

new channel line up in arlington 9/18/06

All of your points are mostly true... But you left out a huge factor... You seemed to forget the other side of the hardware factor... We here in the DFW for the most part have a good hardware system built. (execpt for the few areas that are still dual line, and these are a top priority to get them upgraded to a 750 mghz system) Our problem is that we have had 3 cable companies in the last 5 years... With the takeover of Comcast by TW we have had channels taken away, adds added to our guides, On Demand content stripped and nothing new added... That is why people are shopping and looking at FIOS. I have worked in the cable industry for 20 years and realize these changeovers take a little time... But the average consumer tends to bail if there are other options available. My advise would be to wait until the end of October, if your not happy with the new features promised by TW in Sept. then jump ship. But do your homework first! The grass is not always greener.....lol

And yes, I am not happy with TW right now, but I will give them a chance to get things up and going before jumping ship.

Scott

Still not sure why others didnt see the same ads in guide before when Comcast. I had 2 ads on left side and less room then current guide. Hopefully, with enough against the Ad they will drop it totally.
Channels taken away - at most is one, NFL Network and I dont blame TW one bit. If NFL Network wants to raise costs as much as they have more power to them. We will have other ways to see games. Anyone wanting more sports content typically already has Satellite, or will soon apparenty over one channel.

»www.timewarnercable.com/ ··· las.html

OnDemand content is just bad timing at best. Seems Comcast has best available.

Waiting patiently for coming months.

What can be a bit frustrating is having a choice of exactly *one* provider. For many of us -- myself included -- cable is the only option (my apt has no clear view for satellite, fios is not in the area). So it's either put up with the problems or go without.

That being said, I'm more than willing to give TWC a little time to see what they do. In my case, I rarely watched On Demand, don't know which (if any) channels were "taken away," and had the ads in my guide reduced from 2 to 1 (with the addition of a live picture in the upper right). If I can get some more content in HD, that would satisfy my needs.

Or, I can just move when my lease is up in January.

As with most complaints, it all boils down to personal preference... I think it is stupid to have to lose channel listings in my guide for a frickin ad that you even have to scroll thru to advance the guide... But thats just me. (and alot of other people from the looks of this forum and other DFW forums) But hey, like I said earlier, I will give them a chance. As far as OnDemand content goes...again my personal prefernces are obviously different than some. My kids used the OnDemand content, specifically Nick Jr. as well as my wife and I. TW cut the OnDemand content in half. This is no small reduction in content for those of us that use it regularly. I have read that they will be adding content as contracts are signed but of course no specifics are given on this subject. I think people are just as entitled to be happy hunky dory with your new TW cable service as we are to be so far very disappointed. With that being said, I'm not the type to jump ship at the first sign of a leak. I'm willing to wait it out a couple of months to see how things shape up. TW's biggest mistake in this change over is the piss poor handling of communication to their new subs.

pmart5 - I'm right there with ya brutha.... I have been in a situation in the past where I was stuck with one cable provider and no option for Sat. In the words of Bill Clinton...."I feel your pain" I think, no I hope things will improve with TW over the next couple of months and it will all be a non issue...lol

I just moved my son into an apartment in Dallas, zip code 75206, and when the installer came he dropped off a 6208 DVR, when I asked him if he had any Dual Tuner ones, he said that it can be done, but I would have to swap the box. It looks like the Plano office is open on Saturdays, does anyone know if they have any dual tuner models in-stock? Also, it seems that there is a lot of talk about the A/B cable system, which might prevent me from getting a dual tuner model, can anyone verify that zip code 75206 is a single line system, and one where I can get a dual tuner model. One final question, Dallas does not seem to have ADS (I have Comcast in Chicago, and have loved having this for my bigger TV), does TW have an eta for when ADS will be rolled out?

Thanks for all of your help.

Zip code 75206 is in general a Dual A/B system. Some apartments in Dallas are setup as Dallas MDU which is Single so it is hard to say exactly.

Is there a single outlet or dual outlet on wall in apartment for Coax.
If it is a single outlet then yes I would try a Dual Tuner.
Plano office is on Summit Ave. just off of Plano Pkwy.
»www.mapquest.com/maps/ma ··· iguity=1

Dallas office is on Chenault off of I-30 and Buckner.
»www.mapquest.com/maps/ma ··· eodiff=1

With recent swap to Time Warner, ADS is just one of many things Time Warner will be working on in months to come.

»www.timewarnercable.com/ ··· ketID=89

That states just a little on what TWC has coming up for Dallas. The ADS will be in the works as they are working on new lines and trying to rollout VoIP.

Thanks for the info, it seems that the apartment is part of the MDU lineup, and I was able to get a P3 6412 from the Plano office. Just out of curiosity, is there a link for a description of a A/B cable system, I have never had to use one, and I am curious as to how they work, and why they were originally implemented (do you manually have to switch something to get access to the B-Channels)?

Thanks again for the response.

Originally, the A/B lines were controlled by the tuner box so you could switch to the "A" or "B" side with your remote. With the advent of TV's with built-in tuners -- you could get rid of the tuner box but you had to either manually switch between "A" and "B" or in some TV's such as Sony they have dual "Antenna-IN" slots in back. With Digital Cable boxes you don't need to manually switch between "A" and "B".

Thanks for the overview, so if the digital cable box combines the A/B signals, why can't people in those areas get a Dual Tuner model?

It's a switch that mounts on back of box where the A/B cables come in.
They have not released a version of Dual Tuner box that would allow the same type of switch to be mounted and work properly in combination with box.

Hopefully within 18 months or so as currently planned A/B systems will be no more in Dallas.

Did you say 18 months? I was under the assumption it was a top priority. If it is really going to take 18 months, I may have to check elsewhere...

"Hopefully within 18 months or so as currently planned A/B systems will be no more in Dallas."

In other words, as they have told us they are looking to be finishing up 18 months from now.

"Did you say 18 months? I was under the assumption it was a top priority. If it is really going to take 18 months, I may have to check elsewhere..."

For a large area as Dallas that is pretty good as a priority. Knowing how construction and such works there are many factors to consider that can happen beyond the scope of work.

They are starting in Richardson I believe and working from there. Considering I'm not directly in construction department I am unaware of details, but they are definitely working on now.

Did anyone else get an automatic reboot on their box this am around 10:15 or so... Just wondering what they were up to... Firmware and software vers. are the same..

My auto reboot (75248) came late yesterday afternoon. Searched a little, but didn't notice any changes.

I was seeing some confusion on who had what ads on their guide. I'm in 75067 zip and this is what we are seeing. I saw some were complaining. I have called, but is their a email address anyone is using to send in these complaints? Also, whats funny is the brochure they sent out about the new channel line up. If you look at their features on the iguide(right page of the channel lineup pullout) it shows a picture of the guide WITHOUT ads, hmm false advertising?

Here is what I'm seeing,
»img145.imageshack.us/img ··· wqd7.jpg

Anyone else experiencing an outage tonight? I'm uptown & mine started around 9. Still not back on. First 2hrs w/o power last week & now no Entourage!

Seen the same brochure with no Ad on bottom. I am seeing same as your pic in 75253.

I would call 972-742-5892 and/or fill this out:
»www.timewarnercable.com/ ··· tUs.ashx

Unless someone else can post an email address that has gotten better results.

well what did you expect. you have to rewire every home and practically every apartment in the dfw area do you think it will happen over nite.

You don't have to rewire every apartment to go from dual like to single line. All the signal will go through 1 of the drops vs. split across two drops....lol

And yes, this is a time consuming project... miles and miles of plant will have to be replaced...

So has anyone called for pricing on the new channel lineup coming in september? it looks like they will attempt to tier you to death. looking at austin prices expect about a 15.00/mth increase for similar tv vs comcast.

just great.

My Ad is back....

Does anyone know of any new channels that are being added to the new channel lineup - any hope that we get CSTV or ESPNU?

Hmm, don't know about *new* channels, but did anyone else see their ad in today's edition of the Dallas Morning News (page 10A):

"...will discontinue carriage of the NFL Channel, effective September 3, 2006. We are continuing to negotiate...[blah blah blah]"

Oops...I might have spoken too soon about there being a current price increase with TWC (although it sounds like they could be looming according to other posts here). Apparently I had ~$30 credit on my bill (it was still in transition) so when I thought it was $118, it was probably more like $148 w/o discounts. Still not sure if I'll stick with cable, but now it appears I would have had the decision to make whether TWC took over, or not. Just wanted to straighten that out...

I was signed up for auto bill pay through Comcast, will that transfer over to TWC or do I need to set that up again?

I wasn't on auto bill pay, but to be able to pay through the TWC web site I had to go through the "new user" login process. Once I did, they had all my previous payment info saved for my account. So the setup is just for using their site -- your payment info & preferences should be transferred already.

75024 Plano

Lately my digital simulcast channels (660, 661, etc) have become unwatchable (drop-outs so bad the picture disappears) and the analog channels have become horrible, too.
I know it's gonna look bad on the HD-TV, but now they're almost unwatchable on the regular TV, too.

Anybody else having the same problem?
It started pretty much around the time TWC took over.
Not very promising so far...:-(

BTW, does anyone know why GoalTV isn't in the sports package?