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SteveACS29
join:2013-06-14
Chatham, IL

SteveACS29 to andyross

Member

to andyross

Re: Say goodbye to ClearQAM

I'd like to comment about my experience with Comcast and the DTAs needed for the encryption of the Basic channels in Springfield IL area on June 25th.

On June 11th, prompted by the encryption letter, I embarked on what became a series of frustrating and irritating phone calls with Comcast support to order thee HD DTAs. I was on the phone for nearly 90 minutes and talked with 6 different people because no one could agree on the price and/or the interpretation of the "one free DTA for a year" statement in the letter. Ultimately I was connected to my "market office" in Schaumburg IL and was told (surprisingly) that all three HD DTAs would be at no charge and no shipping cost. I was pleased.

Later that day, when the order confirmation emails arrived, it was for 1 HD and 2 SD DTAs. I was worried.

So I called support again and this time I was told that the HDs would cost $5.95 per month, that none were free, and I would indeed be billed $9.95 for shipping. I was fired up and told the rep to cancel the order completely.

But too late. I soon received one shipment of 1 HD & 2 SD DTAs and a second shipment of 1 HD DTA. I had no idea how the second shipment was initiated. So on the advice of forum member DishRich, I headed to the local Comcast office, hoping for the best but expecting the worst to return/exchange the DTAs and/or cancel them entirely.

I arrived mid-morning on June 13th and was 2nd in line. After explaining my situation to Comcast Rep Valerie, she was as helpful and courteous as anyone could hope for. A complicating factor was a pending port of my Frontier phone number to Comcast which I had initiated with the Schaumburg office, but abruptly cancelled when I saw the DTA errors. Valerie could see the pending provisioning order on her screen, but could not cancel it (at my request) but she persevered and with assistance from her associate Tymae and their remote support office, she got the entire order cancelled. Yay!

Then Valerie entered the order for three HD DTAs @ $1.99 each, credited the previous shipping charges, and issued me a credit for $15 to make up for my time and aggravation. I told her that I didn't expect a credit, but appreciated it very much.

At this point, I haven't seen an actual bill yet, but if there is a problem, I'm sure the local Comcast office is where I will go first. I cannot say enough good things about my treatment by Valerie and Tymae. They were very professional, empathetic, and performed their duties as if I was their only customer. I wish there was a commendation process at Comcast so that they could be recognized for their good work.
jwoolman
join:2009-10-08

jwoolman to andyross

Member

to andyross
Three years ago, they forced those of us on limited and/or expanded basic to install a set top box or DTA so we could get an analog signal for our tvs from their soon-to-be digital signals. They actually shipped the STB and DTAs to us and said they would be free forever. (they are the only game in town, so I imagine the local government insisted it be free).

Last December (2012), their system mysteriously took my free DTAs off my account and then immediately put them back on- triggering a price increase for each from $0 to $1.99. I insisted they change back to $0 each as soon as I saw the bill, but I wonder if they were hoping most people wouldn't notice. I lost my expanded basic channels this week (see other thread for 47374 area, message is that they aren't included in my subscription even though they are) and the phone tech tried to convince me to "upgrade" my service since he claimed the DTAs can't deal with encryption (despite Comcast telling us repeatedly in writing all over their site that they can). You see, if I upgrade my service- I lose the free DTAs and will have to pay another $3.98 per month.

I wonder if they ever heard the story about the straw that broke the camel's back.

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

1 edit

telcodad

MVM

said by telcodad:

said by telcodad:

The CEA officially filed its challenge with the FCC today:

CEA Challenges Charter's FCC Set-Top Waiver
Says Media Bureau decision is illegal and sets dangerous precedent

By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable - May 20, 2013
»www.broadcastingcable.co ··· iver.php

TiVo has joined the CEA now in challenging the FCC's conditional waiver they gave to Charter:

TiVo Asks Bureau to Rethink Charter Waiver
Says it needs to add guarantees that it is not creating de facto downloadable security system without any notice or opportunity for comment

By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable - May 21, 2013
»www.broadcastingcable.co ··· iver.php

In response to a recent court decision, TiVo has filed a petition with the FCC asking them to reinstate CableCARD customer access rules:

TiVo Petitions FCC to Reinstate CableCARD Customer Access Rules
Seeks to Retain Consumer Choice to Access Cable Content on Retail Devices Using CableCARDs Until Successor Solution Is Available

Press Release, Marketwired - June 16, 2013
»www.marketwire.com/press ··· 1516.htm

EDIT: An article about this on the MCN site: »www.multichannel.com/ind ··· r/144432
telcodad

telcodad

MVM

Latest update on TiVo's petition to the FCC:

Media Bureau Seeks Comment on TiVo Petition
DVR Maker Wants FCC to Clarify Cable Operator Obligations to Set-Tops with CableCARDS

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News - July 26, 2013
»www.multichannel.com/dis ··· n/144586
telcodad

telcodad

MVM

An Ars Technica article last week about a draft bill in Congress that proposes to prevent the FCC from mandating that cable companies have to use CableCards in their own boxes:

TiVo, media center PC makers alarmed by CableCard-cutting bill
Cable operators could leave CableCard behind in their own hardware.
By Rob Pegoraro, Ars Technica - August 2, 2013
»arstechnica.com/tech-pol ··· ng-bill/
GTFan
join:2004-12-03
Austell, GA

GTFan

Member

If you check opensecrets.org you'll see that the bill's sponsor received over $100k in contributions from the cable industry.

Bills like this are paid for, and no one should be surprised. But it's not like the FCC is doing anything to stop companies like Charter from doing whatever the hell they want to get away from cards...

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

telcodad

MVM

Like TiVo received for their new Roamio series DVRs, Samsung was just granted an analog tuner waiver by the FCC for their CableCARD-based "Smart Media Player" which may be released by the end of this year:

Samsung Scores FCC Waiver For Retail-Focused CableCARD Device
Gets CE Giant a Step Closer to Launching ‘Smart Media Player’ That Will Mix Live TV with OTT Video

By Jeff Baumgartner, Multichannel News - September 9, 2013
»www.multichannel.com/ind ··· e/145341
Expand your moderator at work
GTFan
join:2004-12-03
Austell, GA

GTFan

Member

Re: Say goodbye to ClearQAM

Clear QAM scheduled to go away on 12/10 in the ATL per recent Xfinity notice.

We'll have Cablecard for a LONG time, after all they have to support a ton of STBs with them anyway. I do hope the industry gets an IP-based standard that Tivo et al can implement (as required by FCC next year) so we can get past all this card nonsense though.
joejoejeo
join:2006-04-02
Bloomington, IN

joejoejeo

Member

Some newer tvs are going the way of ditching the tradition antenna/cable port and putting in a antenna/cable card port, so that people do not have to worry about if they cable to get a DTA or settop box so they can recieve there channels. So the port is the same as the traditional antenna/cable port but has a cable card slot underneath the port so to get it to work with cable you would have to put in a cable card

DocDrew
How can I help?
Premium Member
join:2009-01-28
SoCal
Ubee E31U2V1
Technicolor TC4400
Linksys EA6900

DocDrew

Premium Member

said by joejoejeo:

Some newer tvs are going the way of ditching the tradition antenna/cable port and putting in a antenna/cable card port, so that people do not have to worry about if they cable to get a DTA or settop box so they can recieve there channels. So the port is the same as the traditional antenna/cable port but has a cable card slot underneath the port so to get it to work with cable you would have to put in a cable card

I haven't seen a new CableCARD enabled TV in at least 6 years. They were around from about 2001-2007, but most manufactures stopped after all the problems they had with them.

camper
just visiting this planet
Premium Member
join:2010-03-21
Bethel, CT

camper

Premium Member

said by DocDrew:

but most manufactures stopped after all the problems they had with them.

 

I've oft wondered if those problems were intentionally created to keep the STB rental fees in place....

DocDrew
How can I help?
Premium Member
join:2009-01-28
SoCal
Ubee E31U2V1
Technicolor TC4400
Linksys EA6900

4 edits

DocDrew

Premium Member

said by camper:

said by DocDrew:

but most manufactures stopped after all the problems they had with them.

 

I've oft wondered if those problems were intentionally created to keep the STB rental fees in place....

Most of the problems I saw where on the TV side. Such as badly made CableCARD ports, firmware issues on TVs with no easy way to fix them short of RMA (USB and networking on TVs didn't exist), but the worst problem was the lack of an easy to use guide (TVGOS was best of the worst). 400+ channels with a shitty guide was death. Cable side problems were usually fixed when you got the right person in support.

Then there was VOD and since services like Netflix, Amazon Video, and Hulu weren't around, people wanted VOD which didn't work without a box. Add to that CableCARD wasn't needed since most systems still had large amounts of clear analog and clearQAM TVs were gaining market share as broadcasters started switching to HD.

I think by 2006 customers were apathetic to CableCARD, it had too many problems and wasn't really needed yet, so makers started dropping it as a feature. By the time Tivo release Series 3 in 2006 it was too little too late for general consumer interest. The FCC mandated better cable support in 2007 was way too late.

TV makers could revive it if they wanted too. The wide spread encryption of digital and dropping of analog is creating a new market for it on the infrequently used TV sets or space constrained installs. FCCs announcement of the DOA AllVid pretty much killed it though.

Agent 86
@comcast.net

Agent 86

Anon

I got "the letter" from Comcast informing of the encrypting of basic cable. My question is, if you ask for a free (for a limited time) cable box, what do you get? An SD box or an HD box? And if you subscribe to a higher tier (which was already encrypted), will the box receive all channels, or just the basic tier previously available unencrypted (e.g. ABC/NBC/CBS/FOX/PBS)?
SpHeRe31459
Premium Member
join:2002-10-09
Sacramento, CA

1 recommendation

SpHeRe31459

Premium Member

said by Agent 86 :

I got "the letter" from Comcast informing of the encrypting of basic cable. My question is, if you ask for a free (for a limited time) cable box, what do you get? An SD box or an HD box? And if you subscribe to a higher tier (which was already encrypted), will the box receive all channels, or just the basic tier previously available unencrypted (e.g. ABC/NBC/CBS/FOX/PBS)?

You get a DTA which is a very basic digital box.
»Comcast Cable TV FAQ »What is a DTA? What channels can I get with a DTA? What about those new HD-DTA?
Expand your moderator at work
trunkster
join:2003-02-01
Bothell, WA

trunkster to andyross

Member

to andyross

Re: [Content] Say goodbye to ClearQAM

No more ClearQAM in the Seattle area. Comcast just pulled the switch last night.
bobdsl
join:2008-04-08
Tucson, AZ

bobdsl

Member

No more ClearQAM in Tucson (Pima County) area, gone, gone, gone last night...

Bobs31
@comcast.net

Bobs31

Anon

Somerset, Hillsborough NJ no more QAM @ Nov.7...one digital channel Comcast explaining how to get a DTA. OTA antenna is working just fine.
JJV
Premium Member
join:2001-04-25
Seattle, WA

JJV to bobdsl

Premium Member

to bobdsl
Seatac WA dead as well.

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

telcodad

MVM

Re: Say goodbye to ClearQAM

RE: Court Won't Block FCC Viewability Rule Decision - Denies broadcaster request for a stay pending resolution of appeal
»Re: Say goodbye to ClearQAM

The broadcaster appeal of the FCC's decision to sunset the Dual-Carriage/Viewability rule has now been rejected:

Federal Court Rejects Dual-Carriage/Viewability Sunset Appeal
Says FCC Got it Right the First Time; Broadcaster Appeal has 'No Basis' in Law

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News - December 31, 2013
»www.multichannel.com/cou ··· l/147419