TWC and Tuning Adapters

[TiVo HD XL]

I guess one thing I'd like to know is has anybody with the Tuning Adapter been able to order a PPV via phone or some other mechanism then was able to receive the PPV on the TiVo on one of the (502,801,802...etc.) type channels. This is a must for me. I understand you can't order a PPV with a TiVo but according to the documentation you should be able to receive the PPV if it was ordered using something else. Once I can get that working I'm chucking out this SA 8300HDC hunk of junk I've been paying $20 per month for.

[spolebitski]

Any chance amazon can't solve your pov demands?

[TiVo HD XL]

Any chance amazon can't solve your pov demands?

Nope, thanks for the suggestion but I doubt they carry UFC events (correct me if I'm wrong) and I don't really watch movies so the "on demand", NetFlix, etc. type services are meaningless to me. Can't speak for others.

I think phone-ordered PPV should come through on the TiVo, I was just wondering had anyone with a Tuning Adapter verified this yet?

I have yet to be contacted by these slow-moving ______ .

[WPXE ION]

What is the monthly fee for this? Also do you need the digital package to get the cards, or just regular cable? At home I just have the extended cable package with RR. I have been looking into either a Tivo or DTVPal for the house.

Thanks.

[TiVo HD XL]

Well what do you know. I've been contacted by TWC. They'll either mail the Tuning Adapter to me or have a technician install it. I'll let you all know how it goes.

[spolebitski]

Anyone have any luck with the M-cards yet?  The tech said he would be back to install the M-card or he would make sure I was only billed for one.  Haven't heard from him since.

Also I got my bill today and i went from paying aprox $80 to over $100 a month.  This might be just my bill but whenever a tech is involved i get these extra cable card charges then credits then service charges then credits and on and on.  The bill is so confusing that when I take in the Mayfair they look at as well and are not sure what is going on.

[vixyswillie]

Well what do you know. I've been contacted by TWC. They'll either mail the Tuning Adapter to me or have a technician install it. I'll let you all know how it goes.

+1

Tech is coming next week.

[TiVo Dude]

My tech should roll up today between 11 and 1, so once the long-promised installation is done, I'll update everyone.

:rock:

[TiVo Dude]

Okay, the adapter is officially installed and working!  Woohoo!

Details:

-It's not a terribly lengthy setup.  Gotta wait for the adapter to sync with the TiVo, then you're off and rolling.  With some additional issues brought on by some bad splitters and cable they had to replace, the install was about half an hour.

-The box itself is wider than I would've liked (about 3/4 of the width of the actual TiVo) but it's quite thin and not terribly deep, so finding a spot for it isn't hard, especially since it doesn't need to be visible for remote access.

-Now that it works, we get pretty much every HD channel listed on our TiVo lineup screen (barring premium channels and some specialty sports channels).  Also interestingly, we now get a number of SD channels in the 100s that we didn't have access to before, so be sure and scan through all your channels manually to see what you do and don't get at this point.

-The installation techs made an offhand comment estimating that they've got about 210 or so TiVo customers throughout Wisconsin.  Of course, they may have been referring specifically to HD TiVo customers, but I thought it was an interesting number regardless.

-Regarding M-cards, they said that they have gotten new M-cards in, but because of some sort of TWC system-wide upgrade yesterday, they are unable to install them at this time.  That said, they will be scheduling truck rolls to switch out people's S-cards for M-cards soon.  An even brighter upside to this is that TWC will now only be charging TiVo customers for one S-card rental per month (I guess to show that they're not forcing S-cards on us to make more money).  I thought this was a huge step in the right direction when dealing with TiVo customers.

So I guess that's the end of the long saga of the TWC tuning adapter coming to Milwaukee.  It's been a frustrating trip, but ultimately worth getting all this glorious HD.  For those of you still waiting, the cavalry is coming!  

Thanks to everyone for support during the dark days of SD and SDV.

:wave:

[vixyswillie]

Great to hear you're up and running. I should be good to go sometime Tuesday evening.

Agree that this thread has been great. It certainly resulted in getting some action that might otherwise have taken longer. Thanks to everyone for their help and united front.

[LoadStar]

Someone want to hook me up with a TiVo HD so I can get in on this action?

[vixyswillie]

They guys came last night and installed my tuning adapter. The process was pretty painless - but did require the tech to use the lower of the two USB slots on the back of the unit. He first plugged it into the top slot - but the green light on the front of the box just kept blinking and the unit failed to initialize. Once the lower slot was chosen, it initialized immediately. All of my missing channels are now present and accounted for. Great to finally have that taken care of!

Are the M cards going to be our next crusade? :rolleyes:

[thesamurai]

Okay, Time Warner made my day yesterday.  (Hard to believe that I ever wrote a sentence like that!)

I received a call last evening from someone named Jason from Time Warner.  He informed me that my tuning adapter and instructions would be sent out today or tomorrow in the mail and that I could install it easily myself.  He told me that he would likely follow-up with me in a few days to see how it was working.

I quizzed him about the M-card situation.  He said that they were working on a solution to that and it would either be 1) getting new M-cards out to those that have S-cards or 2) crediting everyone for one of the S-cards (I didn't ask whether this would be retroactive or only go-forward).  He said that they are going to resolve this situation very shortly.  Their preference is to use the M-cards however he wasn't sure they were going to be allowed to purchase them.  And another thing he said was if they went with the replacement cards, he didn't know if it would be a truck roll, a mail-out replacement, or even a service center walk-in replacement.  I was a bit amazed at this since they are so adamant about a truck roll for the initial install.

He said that they knew who had cards and who had Tivos, etc.  He said that the Tivo HD and Tivo XL boxes all had the same device ID prefix, so they could tell who needed what and they would contact those affected about the M-card/S-card situation.

He seemed knowledgeable and not your average CSR.  I can now get my second Tivo set up.  Gee, I've only paid for a full year of service on that one.  I chose not to install that one with Time Warner since there were these problems and I used a Time-Warner DVR instead.

I await my mail....hopefully by the weekend I'll be watching new HD channels!
:stpat

[honduh chicken]

Okay, Time Warner made my day yesterday.  (Hard to believe that I ever wrote a sentence like that!)

I received a call last evening from someone named Jason from Time Warner.  He informed me that my tuning adapter and instructions would be sent out today or tomorrow in the mail and that I could install it easily myself.  He told me that he would likely follow-up with me in a few days to see how it was working.

I quizzed him about the M-card situation.  He said that they were working on a solution to that and it would either be 1) getting new M-cards out to those that have S-cards or 2) crediting everyone for one of the S-cards (I didn't ask whether this would be retroactive or only go-forward).  He said that they are going to resolve this situation very shortly.  Their preference is to use the M-cards however he wasn't sure they were going to be allowed to purchase them.  And another thing he said was if they went with the replacement cards, he didn't know if it would be a truck roll, a mail-out replacement, or even a service center walk-in replacement.  I was a bit amazed at this since they are so adamant about a truck roll for the initial install.

He said that they knew who had cards and who had Tivos, etc.  He said that the Tivo HD and Tivo XL boxes all had the same device ID prefix, so they could tell who needed what and they would contact those affected about the M-card/S-card situation.

He seemed knowledgeable and not your average CSR.  I can now get my second Tivo set up.  Gee, I've only paid for a full year of service on that one.  I chose not to install that one with Time Warner since there were these problems and I used a Time-Warner DVR instead.

I await my mail....hopefully by the weekend I'll be watching new HD channels!
:stpat

Too bad I hadn't found this thread 3 mos ago..  I figured I was on my own in this crusade.  

Dispite my absence in this thread, I assure you I contributed to the cause!

I filed a complaint with the FCC and the FTC re: TWC's performance in this matter.

I've also sent certified letters threatening to start the ball on a Class Action, citing the suit filed against Comcast in CA circuit court.

Well,  last week I got a call from someone at TWC telling me they were going to ship my CA on monday, and I got it today.  It's installed and working great.  

simple to hook up, no need for an installer.  

The only thing you notice right off the bat is the laggy-ness of tuning in a SDV channel.  In some cases it's 5+ seconds before I get video, and another second or two before the audio stream comes in.  Then I'll get a split second stutter in the audio, like it'll go out for a second or two then come back.  It only happens with you first tune a channel.  It's the same lag and stutter that I've always gotten on the music channels.  

I've been advised by my attorney to remain a customer and keep my account in good standing.

So do you guys think we really made a difference?  I know we're an extremely small market segment (Tivo Users) and I was told quite frankly that if they had a choice between scrapping the Tuning Adapter implementation all together that it would have been more economical for the company to just sacrifice their Tivo customers than it was to roll these things out and maintain them.

The Exec I spoke to was "floored" by the loyalty of the "Tivo Crowd".  

By this point in the conversation my only response was, "If you would make available a set-top box that wasn't a steaming pile dog ****, Tivo might not exist any more".

Agreed?

[honduh chicken]

So what advantage will an M card give me over the (2) S cards I currently have? (besides being billed for 1 card instead of two)