| TiVo Premiere Elite XL4/SDV/CableCard questions Question #1: Does WOW broadcast any channels in analog-only (without rebroadcasting a digital version)? The TiVo Premiere Elite XL4 4-tuner TiVo supports only digital channels. It cannot tune any analog channels. I'm wondering if there are any channels that cannot be viewed on the Premiere Elite.
Question #2: Does WOW currently use SDV (which would require a Tuning Adapter for use with a TiVo w/ CableCard)? If WOW doesn't currently use SDV, are there any plans to implement SDV & Tuning Adapters in the future?
Question #3: I picked up 3 CableCards from the local WOW office to install in 3 TiVos. Is there a special phone # to call for assistance pairing/activating the CableCards, or should I call the regular tech support phone #? Will most likely do the installs on Thursday evening (unless I need to call a special group during certain hours). |
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| 1: no
2: no and nobody knows
3: regular number
(three TiVOs?? How about just getting WOW's Ultra TV, or the upcoming Ceton Q?) |
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1 edit | said by adam1991:three TiVOs?? How about just getting WOW's Ultra TV, or the upcoming Ceton Q?
Fair question. I looked hard at Ultra TV, but decided against it for a few reasons: 1) Ultra TV requires the use of an all-in-one cable modem/wifi router/DVR package, which isn't my preference. 2) We don't want a single whole-home DVR...different people want to record their own shows and store them separately from the rest of the house. 3) Ultra TV costs more over time than TiVo. We plan to add two TiVo IP streaming boxes to the mix once they become available as well.
Ultra TV for 3 TVs would work out to $40/month or $480/year. If we bump this up to 5 TVs, this would work out to $70/month or $840/year. Not to mention the fact that sharing 6 tuners with 5 TVs may become a challenge.
Instead, we paid around $1700 or so for 2 Tivo Premieres and 1 Tivo Premiere Elite...all with lifetime service. Our leased equipment costs with Wow are now $10.50/month (for 3 CableCards). Once we add the two IP streaming boxes in, our up-front investment will be fully recovered in 3 years. If we decide to ditch the TiVos before then, they can be sold to recover some of the up-front cost. |
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| well, we'll disagree on separate storage.
But Ultra TV uses WOW's cable modem/router with wifi. Turn off the wifi, use your own. Regardless, the DVR is NOT in the gateway; the DVR is in its own box. |
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2 edits | said by adam1991:well, we'll disagree on separate storage.
But Ultra TV uses WOW's cable modem/router with wifi. Turn off the wifi, use your own. Regardless, the DVR is NOT in the gateway; the DVR is in its own box.
Ah ok...thanks for the clarification. TiVo still works best for us right now, though the Ceton Q looks interesting. I'll certainly look into it when it is released. I also appreciate your quick answers to my other questions...thanks!
On a related note, my attempt to work with Wow via phone to activate the first CableCard last night failed miserably after a few hours of working with 3 different Wow Tier 1 CSRs.
The first rep I talked to thought that the CableCard should work as long as the serial # alone showed up on the Wow account. I walked her through the process of entering in the Host ID so it could be paired properly. She then quickly sent me on my way without sending an EMM update out. Failure #1.
The next rep quickly sent out the EMM update and sent me on my way without waiting for me to see if I could receive any channels. The TiVo processed 12 EMMs, but still could not receive any channels. Failure #2.
The 3rd rep sent out another EMM update, had me reboot the TiVo, and was still unsuccessful. When I asked to talk to the NOC, she said they're not allowed to transfer customers to the NOC. I suggested trying another CableCard since I had 3 available. She tried, and it failed with the same problem...still couldn't tune into any channels. Failure #3.
The cable line itself seems OK since it works just fine with a DTA connected to an old analog TV.
I now have a tech scheduled to come out on Friday morning, since the 3rd rep said that is the only way to fix the problem as they have exhausted all options on the Wow side (even though nobody ever talked to anyone in the NOC). My perception at this point is that the only reason a tech needs to come out is to pick up the phone and get the NOC on the line to work through the problems. Seems like a waste of on-site tech hours to me, though there could be other factors that require a tech to come out that I'm unaware of.
Oh well....we'll see what happens on Friday. In the meantime, I sent WOW_Dan a message to see if he can offer any additional assistance. |
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| Let me know how it works out. I have 2 TivoHD's and am thinking of upgrading one of them to the Premiere XL4. One of my Tivo's paired right up, they other they struggled with.
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and the hits just keep on coming......... |
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| reply to vortix
I'm pretty sure your perception is right in that the tech will get on the phone to the NOC and get it resolved quickly.
I had that happen with a cable modem problem I had that took awhile to get resolved.
On the other hand, my first attempts at making the cableCARD work were, in the end, stymied by (a) the mangled cable that came out of the wall, and (b) my not seeing that the cable coming out of the wall was mangled. Tech replaced the cable, and all was well.
For the record, that very mangled cable worked fine for a long time on their analog service, splitting off and feeding both the TV and the ReplayTV. Go figure. It was only when we went to digital that it revealed its weakness.
Moral of the story: your coax cable could be old or bad, check it for obvious problems. |
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| said by adam1991:Moral of the story: your coax cable could be old or bad, check it for obvious problems.
Good point...I'll check it out. Though at this point I'm still leaning towards a CableCard provisioning issue since we can receive a digital signal without any problems via a DTA and 3 cable boxes throughout the house. |
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 WOW_DanPremium
join:2011-03-24
Naperville, IL
kudos:22 | reply to adam1991
said by adam1991: Regardless, the DVR is NOT in the gateway; the DVR is in its own box.
The DVR is in the gateway. The gateway is the modem, router, DVR, and EMTA (phone interface). The media players on your TVs are just streaming boxes that get their content from the gateway. |
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mogamer
join:2011-04-20
Royal Oak, MI | said by WOW_Dan:said by adam1991: Regardless, the DVR is NOT in the gateway; the DVR is in its own box.
The DVR is in the gateway. The gateway is the modem, router, DVR, and EMTA (phone interface). The media players on your TVs are just streaming boxes that get their content from the gateway. Dan, I have a question. Since the Tivo Elite XL4 can function over a MOCA connection. Will it be fully functional connected to the Ultra TV gateway that way? |
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WOW_DanPremium
join:2011-03-24
Naperville, IL
kudos:22 | said by mogamer:said by WOW_Dan:said by adam1991: Regardless, the DVR is NOT in the gateway; the DVR is in its own box.
The DVR is in the gateway. The gateway is the modem, router, DVR, and EMTA (phone interface). The media players on your TVs are just streaming boxes that get their content from the gateway. Dan, I have a question. Since the Tivo Elite XL4 can function over a MOCA connection. Will it be fully functional connected to the Ultra TV gateway that way? I have never tested this, but I would guess they will not function together very well, if at all. Our UltraTV equipment knows what other equipment on the account it's allowed to talk to. It's possible they might be able to see content from the Tivo, but I highly doubt the Tivo will be able to get anything from the gateway.
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Dan Della Terza
WOW! Internet, Cable & Phone
Network Operations Center |
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| All CableCard problems I had earlier have been resolved thanks to WOW_Dan's help...thanks again!! |
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