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ssetta
join:2003-09-17
Natick, MA

ssetta

Member

[DVR] Motorola going away?

I just had a tech visit and he told me some rather interesting information. I've been curious as to when the X1 platform will be available to non-triple-play customers, and he actually told me that before too long, Comcast will be doing away with Motorola boxes completely. This is the first time I've heard this, and I have to say I'm pretty excited about it, because I'm getting sick and tired of this old, outdated looking guide. Has anyone else heard this?

FifthE1ement
Tech Nut
join:2005-03-16
Fort Lauderdale, FL

FifthE1ement

Member

said by ssetta:

I just had a tech visit and he told me some rather interesting information. I've been curious as to when the X1 platform will be available to non-triple-play customers, and he actually told me that before too long, Comcast will be doing away with Motorola boxes completely. This is the first time I've heard this, and I have to say I'm pretty excited about it, because I'm getting sick and tired of this old, outdated looking guide. Has anyone else heard this?

Motorola sold their "box" division to Arris Group. Well Google did anyway, as Google bought Motorola then sold it. But don't get too excited as Motorola has nothing to do with the Comcast guide anyway. Pace and any other box on Comcast's system run iGuide or the newer X1 Guide. So it doesn't matter which box you have you will be stuck with the same old guide. Comcast promises they are upgrading all older DCX+ boxes to X1 but I don't see that happening till 2014+!

»www.theverge.com/2012/12 ··· nd-stock

5TH
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

I think that sale made the MSOs happy, with some reading between the lines, When motorola mobility was initially grabbed by Google some of the MSOs feared Google might try and shake up the STB market in ways not friendly to contracts with IP owners.(ie enable the ethernet port on a box and let people stream media to their LAN without subscribing to an extra service.)
joejoejeo
join:2006-04-02
Bloomington, IN

joejoejeo to ssetta

Member

to ssetta
no it is not going way with comast they just want to use more companies compatible with the motorola system

gar187er
I DID this for a living
join:2006-06-24
Seattle, WA

gar187er

Member

dude arris BOUGHT moto. so i dont see how that made MORE companies.
joejoejeo
join:2006-04-02
Bloomington, IN

joejoejeo

Member

what i mean is comcast told me they are looking at more cable box manufacturers that support Motorola back end.

gar187er
I DID this for a living
join:2006-06-24
Seattle, WA

gar187er

Member

Well there arent any other manufacturers.
ssetta
join:2003-09-17
Natick, MA

ssetta to FifthE1ement

Member

to FifthE1ement
I've been asking about the X1 platform for awhile, but they keep telling me Triply Play is required. But he said the newer boxes just do a better job overall with everything, even if using the old iGuide. Maybe that's what he meant. But he said to call them in a couple of weeks, and that they expect all the Motorola boxes to be gone by the end of June (of this year)! I think that's a little soon, and I would expect that if that were to happen, we'd get notified of it ahead of time. They said that they would actually come up to your door and ask to replace the boxes.
SpHeRe31459
Premium Member
join:2002-10-09
Sacramento, CA

1 edit

SpHeRe31459 to gar187er

Premium Member

to gar187er
said by gar187er:

Well there arent any other manufacturers.

Uh WTF?
There a bunch of Moto compatible vendors...
Pace is a big supplier of new equipment for Comcast right now.
They make the RNG110, an RNG150N model, and the current X1 DVR and a revised model that will be shown at The Cable Show in June.

There are upcoming products from Humax and Arris (not the recently bought Motorola division, Arris itself) too.
SpHeRe31459

1 recommendation

SpHeRe31459 to ssetta

Premium Member

to ssetta
said by ssetta:

But he said the newer boxes just do a better job overall with everything, even if using the old iGuide. Maybe that's what he meant. But he said to call them in a couple of weeks, and that they expect all the Motorola boxes to be gone by the end of June (of this year)! I think that's a little soon, and I would expect that if that were to happen, we'd get notified of it ahead of time. They said that they would actually come up to your door and ask to replace the boxes.

I think your tech is confused a little bit. I think he might be referring to older Moto hardware that isn't designated an RNG box. Comcast has started labeling newer more future proof hardware as "RNG" from various vendors. But Motorola hardware is still definitely around just being labeled as RNG.
»Comcast Cable TV FAQ »Legacy - Comcast RNG equipment
ssetta
join:2003-09-17
Natick, MA

ssetta

Member

What?? Now I'M starting to get confused because I keep hearing different things. Maybe the new Pace box won't have the same glitch that these Motorolas have. The glitch where you get tiling while swapping tuners. This didn't start happening until the software update back in December. The only thing is, I don't think you really get to pick which box you have, you just get whatever is available. I had the box swapped out for one just like it.
SpHeRe31459
Premium Member
join:2002-10-09
Sacramento, CA

1 edit

SpHeRe31459

Premium Member

said by ssetta:

What?? Now I'M starting to get confused because I keep hearing different things. Maybe the new Pace box won't have the same glitch that these Motorolas have. The glitch where you get tiling while swapping tuners. This didn't start happening until the software update back in December. The only thing is, I don't think you really get to pick which box you have, you just get whatever is available. I had the box swapped out for one just like it.

You just identified the problem, it's a software/firmware issue, not a hardware one.

As FifthE1ement said, the box itself (as long as it is a recent one, for Motorola that would be a DCX series) is almost irrelevant at this point. Any box you get will be loaded with the same old I-Guide software.
ssetta
join:2003-09-17
Natick, MA

ssetta

Member

Wow, now I'm mad at the tech, and real disappointed. He seemed all energetic and excited about it happening. Why would he lie? I've been acquiring about the new boxes for ages, I even have a friend who has one. But I don't know if they have X1, going by what you said here. I still can't see how the glitch can be in the software. Maybe it could be, but the tech didn't think so. But every time I ask, they say you need Triple Play to get X1, and nobody seems to know when it will be available to all. The last time I talked to a rep about it, she made it seem like it would NEVER be available to people who don't have triple play.
SpHeRe31459
Premium Member
join:2002-10-09
Sacramento, CA

4 edits

SpHeRe31459

Premium Member

said by ssetta:

Wow, now I'm mad at the tech, and real disappointed. He seemed all energetic and excited about it happening. Why would he lie?

He's not lying, he's misinformed. It happens all the time. Also many Comcast employees seem to not understand that the same designation i.e. RNG200N refers to multiple vendors hardware (which includes Motorola).
said by ssetta:

I've been acquiring about the new boxes for ages, I even have a friend who has one.


Has one what? What box are you referring to? A Motorola DCX 3501 (RNG200N)? an X1 DVR? or?
said by ssetta:

I still can't see how the glitch can be in the software. Maybe it could be, but the tech didn't think so.

Didn't you say that the tuner swap problem didn't exist until the most recent guide update? So that would be software/firmware.
said by ssetta:

But every time I ask, they say you need Triple Play to get X1, and nobody seems to know when it will be available to all. The last time I talked to a rep about it, she made it seem like it would NEVER be available to people who don't have triple play.

People have gotten X1. Currently you do have to be a triple play customer, but its not just available to only new customers. It seems to depend on who you talk to and perhaps the region.

Eventually the X1 guide software will be pushed to all capable boxes (This should be all RNG designated boxes in addition to the X1 specific models). So triple play will eventually not be a limitation. But there is no time table for that.

I wouldn't be in a hurry to get X1, the software is a bit of a mess too. This last week the X1 network services (which are required to actually use DVR functions, etc.) were out more than they were up and working. You should read up on the X1 threads here.
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