TWC and Tuning Adapters

[LoadStar]

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)

That's it. One card instead of two to have to be installed and be billed for.

[LoadStar]

Ok, I picked up a TiVo HD today... what is the best route to getting it hooked up? Can I just call up Time Warner and ask for a cablecard and tuning resolver installation?

[Tivoman44]

Go to this link to get the tuning adapter.  http://www.timewarnercable.com/Wisconsin/site.faqs/Cable/SwitchedDi/How-do-I-get-a-Tuning-Adapter  I own a Tivo Series 3, have one multi stream cable card and the tuning adaptor and it works like a charm.  Someone said it above, but TWC is required to support the cable cards.  I remember reading somewhere how in 2008 the FCC fined TWC for not supporting it.  Basically their are only two things that it cannot support, On Demand, and caller ID on the TV if you have digital phone.   Fill out that form for a tuning adaptor, I also emailed Jack Herbert, the VP of the mid region for TWC.  If the people at TWC call center keep saying how they will phase out the cable card, then I say file a complaint w/ the FCC, also email your local rep, I believe Jim Sensenbrener (last name spelling?) is the member of the US house of reps for the milwaukee area.  Also get the news involved.  Competition is a good thing, and we should have a choice.

[TiVo HD XL]

Well I finally received the SA-branded cisco tuning adapter in the mail and plugged it all up according to the instructions and it did not work. However, this morning a couple of TWC techs came in and thrashed around for an hour and a half and long behold it started to work at some point. The problem seemed to be some internal data entry error at TWC or a surge protector installed locally or both. I really think that Jack Herbert email got this going at least a little faster than normal. From what I understand, the first people with cable cards to get the tuning adapters were those who emailed Jack. The devices should now be available for pickup but you need to call first. Also realize that these techs have not all been trained on how to install cable cards and tuning adapters. By the way, I have 2 s-cards so there was no m-card hassle like others have noted. Also for those of you who order PPVs, the lead tech explained that you should be able to order the PPV via "phone" and watch it on the TiVo. Of course I have not actually seen this work yet and neither had he.

[LoadStar]

I just scheduled my cablecard install with Time Warner. My first reaction: wow, their phone people have gotten SO much better than I ever remember them being. They were friendly and very easy to deal with. (It used to be like talking to workers from the DMV.)

I asked about the M-card vs. S-Card issue - surprisingly, she seemed familiar with the fact that there were the two kinds, but unfortunately didn't have any updated information about when the M-Cards would be available. She did not offer any discount or anything - that I'll ask the tech about when he comes.

I asked them to include a tuning adapter in with the truck roll; she didn't seem to know what a tuning adapter even was, but she offered to put it in the notes for the tech to see if by some chance he would be able to bring one along. I'm not holding my breath. (I filled out the form already on the website.)

So... I guess I'll see what happens on Saturday when they come out!

[plpmke]

OK...my bad...I had just posted a long post about my lack of success on getting SOME, IF ANY info from TWC on tuning adapters via phone support and stopping at Mayfair or MLK Drive...

Then, not more than ten minutes after I posted, TWC called to let me know they would be sending my tuning adapter out via USPS and I should receive it next week.  The rep also offered up the info, without me asking, that they were hoping to roll-out M-cards immediately after the Tuning Adapters have been fully distributed, though he couldn't promise.  He said the M-cards they have been testing have worked without fail, but he didn't know if when they rolled them out they would be available via service center "pick-up" or via USPS. (He didn't even get close to mentioning a truck-roll for M-CARDS.)

FYI

[Klankster]

I got the call from TWC last night telling me that the tuning adapter would be shipped out for my TiVo probably today -- Finally!  Interestingly, the tech had me go to the unit and bring up the cablecard diagnostics because he noticed that they had not been configured properly!  I had noticed occasional error messages when they first set up the cablecards, but we have been using our old DirecTV TiVo until we got the tuning adapter, so we weren't watching the TWC feed much.

So he got the cablecards all reconfigured and with a little luck, I'll get the tuning adapter in the next day or so, and it'll work.  Then it's adios, DirecTV.

I have to admit, the series 3 TiVo is even more attractive now that we can watch HD feeds from Netflix on it -- Something that has worked very well for us, and has been our heaviest use of the series 3 unit so far.

[LoadStar]

Well... I've got TWC here now. They are trying to install both the tuning adapter and what they say is the first M card they have attempted to install. So far, not so much luck.

[Klankster]

My tuning adapter arrived on Thursday and I got it hooked up yesterday.  Worked pretty much right off the bat -- The installation instructions TWC gives differ from those in the device's manual, so just to be on the safe side I rebooted the TiVo unit after installation.

It all came up just fine, I now have access to all the HD channels with the exception of the Weather Channel HD, for which it puts up an alert that says my tuning adapter is not configured for that channel, which I thought was kind of odd.  Anybody else seeing that?

Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with the experience, they let me self-install which surprised me.  I figured they'd send out a tech, which was totally unnecessary but they seem to want to do that anyway normally.

[LoadStar]

WOOOHOOO!

Tuning adapter and M-Card both working! (Data entry with the pairing back at the head end, I believe - the Host ID wasn't entered quite right.)

[gparris]

My tuning adapter arrived on Thursday and I got it hooked up yesterday.  Worked pretty much right off the bat -- The installation instructions TWC gives differ from those in the device's manual, so just to be on the safe side I rebooted the TiVo unit after installation.

It all came up just fine, I now have access to all the HD channels with the exception of the Weather Channel HD, for which it puts up an alert that says my tuning adapter is not configured for that channel, which I thought was kind of odd.  Anybody else seeing that?

In my area we don't have the Weather Channel HD, only the analogue version on channel  64, maybe you don't have it yet, either.:huh?:

[Klankster]

WOOOHOOO!

Tuning adapter and M-Card both working! (Data entry with the pairing back at the head end, I believe - the Host ID wasn't entered quite right.)

YES!!!  Glad to hear it, LoadStar.  The incorrect Host Id was the problem here as well -- I'm just glad they saw it before I tried to hook up the tuning adapter!  I wonder how many people have their Cablecards set up incorrectly...

[TiVo HD XL]

Anybody manage to get any TWC PPV (Pay-Per-View) shows (channels 502 or 801, 802, etc.) showing on a TiVo after using the phone to order them? Anybody here even care for PPVs?

[Klankster]

Well, I'll tell you this -- We stopped ordering PPV movies on our DirecTV TiVo when they started this "must watch in 24 hours or it will be deleted" crap.  I couldn't believe it.  So we decided that was the end of that -- we normally would set up a record and watch it several days later when we had time, but the new policy, which was apparently dictated by the motion picture industry, ruined that.

Now we either get Netflix DVDs or instant view feeds via the Series 3 TiVo.

[spolebitski]

Go to this link to get the tuning adapter.  http://www.timewarnercable.com/Wisconsin/site.faqs/Cable/SwitchedDi/How-do-I-get-a-Tuning-Adapter  I own a Tivo Series 3, have one multi stream cable card and the tuning adaptor and it works like a charm.  Someone said it above, but TWC is required to support the cable cards.  I remember reading somewhere how in 2008 the FCC fined TWC for not supporting it.  Basically their are only two things that it cannot support, On Demand, and caller ID on the TV if you have digital phone.   Fill out that form for a tuning adaptor, I also emailed Jack Herbert, the VP of the mid region for TWC.  If the people at TWC call center keep saying how they will phase out the cable card, then I say file a complaint w/ the FCC, also email your local rep, I believe Jim Sensenbrener (last name spelling?) is the member of the US house of reps for the milwaukee area.  Also get the news involved.  Competition is a good thing, and we should have a choice.

So I was a real pain in the butt regarding the Tuning Adapter from November to February.  I have been in the TWC Mayfair location twice already to inquire about when M-Cards will be available (as they brought one out when they installed the Tuning Adapter - but it did not work properly - personally I think it wasn't set right when they called in the numbers). Should I just trust that TWC will call me as soon as they get them in or is it one of those things well put it off until you keep bugging use so we can collect an extra 3 bucks a month from you?