TWC or U-verse for Tivo Box

[skydivingnerd]

We have TWC and got sick of all of the failures of TWC's HD DVR boxes so got a Tivo box.  Paid the $40 to have an installer come over and set up the cablecards.

Works fine some times.  However, we frequently lose the premium channels and when we call to get the cablecards hit we get a run-around because most of those call center morons don't even know what a cablecard is.

My wife wants to switch to U-verse.  Is their video service any better for Tivos?  I'm wondering if their cablecards are any better.  After reading some of the less-than-glowing comments on this board about U-verse customer service I'm wondering if we'll just be exchanging one lousy provider for another.

Also, is Verizon going to be putting in FIOS any time soon?

[Will]

We have TWC and got sick of all of the failures of TWC's HD DVR boxes so got a Tivo box.  Paid the $40 to have an installer come over and set up the cablecards.

Works fine some times.  However, we frequently lose the premium channels and when we call to get the cablecards hit we get a run-around because most of those call center morons don't even know what a cablecard is.

You need a tuning adapter to allow your Tivo to tune the channels that TWC is delivering via switched digital video (SDV).  These tuners should be available shortly directly from TWC.  There is another thread on this site that you'll want to read.  Search the site for "Tivo tuning adapter"

Also see Tivo's site about the issue.

My wife wants to switch to U-verse.  Is their video service any better for Tivos?  I'm wondering if their cablecards are any better.  

Tivo does not and will not work with Uverse.  (Uverse is not cable; it is IPTV.)  Sorry, your choice is TWC or OTA if you want to stick with Tivo.

Also, is Verizon going to be putting in FIOS any time soon?

Not likely in Milwaukee.  Verizon has no service agreements around here.

[skydivingnerd]

I don't think HBO (311) is on SDV yet as we can get it fine once they hit the cablecards.

The Tivo Community boards are full of posts about people using their Tivo boxes with U-verse.  One of my reasons for posting my message was to get some feedback on Tivo owners that have U-verse around here.  Is there something different about U-verse in this area that Tivo won't work at all with it?

[nick3092]

I did some quick searching, and it seems only series 1 and 2 are compatible with Uverse, for whatever reason.

[LoadStar]

I did some quick searching, and it seems only series 1 and 2 are compatible with Uverse, for whatever reason.

Series 1 and 2 boxes are allowed to work with U-Verse by coupling them with a U-Verse set-top box. The TiVo controls the U-Verse box with a IR "blaster" and records via either composite or S-Video out from the U-Verse box.

The series 3 has neither an IR blaster, nor component/S-Video input, and as such, has no ability to work with the U-Verse boxes.

[TPK]

I did some quick searching, and it seems only series 1 and 2 are compatible with Uverse, for whatever reason.

The only way you are going to get U-verse to work with a TIVO (or similar third party) DVR is by using a set top box and wiring in the analog (standard definition) signal from the output of the set top box to the input of the TIVO...  This is less than ideal than a cable-card setup, where the tivo is directly tuning into the digital signal (HD and SD) and is able to record that to a hard drive without having to re-convert the analog...

Now if u-verse would partner with TIVO or something, and make a IPTV unit compatible with the u-verse system then we would have something....  But I think there is too much money to be made with rental fees and crappy STB and DVR boxes, so Im not gonna hold my breath....