San Francisco, CA - Comcast [Text View] - Page 48

ryany84

10-05-09, 12:04 PM

So, as far as you know, it's just that one RF-QAM block of channels, 78-1(KPIX-HD), 78-2(KTVU-HD) and 78-3(KTVU-(subchannel)?

If so, I would have to go with PSIP problems since you can get KNTV... I'm assuming you can also get KBCW at 74-5? That would be a pretty narrow band for them to block/trap the newly digital Expanded Basic channels in, it would be only 3 frequency blocks, which could carry about 30 SD/digital channels, but I don't think it's room for all of them... besides, they would have had to come out and put a new trap in place... so it has to be a PSIP problem... I think, I'm not sure what else to tell you other than see if someone in your area can look at the data in the signal and see if the PSIP info is correct or not. That stuff gets into areas that I really haven't spent too much time in, so I'm not going to be much help at all there.

Alright i did a rescan on my TV Sunday morning and KTVU-HD and KPIX HD Is BACK!!! I get football in HD again. Watched about 10 mins of the Raider game and turned it off. I wish we had NFL Sunday ticket.

That Don Guy

10-05-09, 02:18 PM

Is the recent signal quality just crap?

I'm in Cupertino and I can barely get KGO-HD on my TV using a QAM tuner. On my computer it's bearable but terrible. I tried to record the Cal - Oregon game and it was disgusting. I got audio only for the most part with bits of video.
I was having problems most of the day Sunday with KGO-HD trying to watch the NASCAR race, both through a Comcast box and through a CableCard with TiVo.

-- Don

Mikef5

10-05-09, 05:55 PM

10/13/09 World of More Launches in….

Fremont, Hercules, Newark, Richmond, El Cerrito, San Pablo, Albany, Kensington and portions of El Sobrante

and….

Sun Outages Started

Plan for Sun Outages - starting this past Saturday, 10/03/09 to 10/13/09

Twice a year around the first week of October and the first week of April, the video signals that are received at the master headends via satellite are affected by what are called sun outages. This is not a product of solar flares or sun spots.

Why’s it Happening:

Sun Outages are the result of the satellite’s orbit traveling in a geosynchronous orbit. The outage occurs when the sun is directly behind the satellite relative to the receive antenna (the antenna receiving the signals for picture) or dish. At this point, all the receive antenna can see is the sun, therefore saturating the low noise amplifier in the dish and causing the outage. Since satellites are spaced all across the western arc, it takes quite a bit of time from beginning to end of the outage window.

Each satellite channel (for example, CNN, ESPN, Discovery, etc) will experience interference once (sometimes twice a day) for approximately 5-20 minutes each, between 10:30a.m. - 2:30p.m., from 10/03/09 – 10/13/09.

This also includes all digital channels, PPV and Music Choice. This does NOT affect local broadcast stations, such as ABC, NBC, FOX, etc., which are delivered to Comcast through direct fiber feeds from their studios. Satellite channels will be “grainy or snowy” and digital channels will display "One Moment Please". We cannot prevent sun outages, but we can predict them.

####

So Fremont finally gets out of Siberia and into the World of More ;)

Also, the sun outages might explain some of the signal breakups that we've been seeing in the last couple of days. Maybe not the KNTV audio problem but some of the other signal breakups that people have seen. It'd be interesting to see if Dish and Directv are having signal problems also.

Laters,
Mikef5

Poochie

10-05-09, 05:57 PM

Anyone else notice a strange effect during Saturday evening's Sharks/Ducks game on CSNCA-HD? I noticed that for a time - I believe in the first period, but I could be mis-remembering - the video appeared to have a low framerate - almost like every other frame was being dropped. It wasn't the usual macroblocking or freezing when the signal is weak, but rather a consistent stuttering for minutes on end.

I was watching via my Tivo S3, native output, via HDMI to my JVC RS20 with film mode OFF, if any of this matters. I even exited the program once and resumed, and the jerkiness continued. Fortunately, it eventually went away on its own. So now I'm wondering if I'm seeing some issue with my gear, or if the source itself was the cause - or maybe the combination of the two...

I vaguely recall seeing this on rare occasions last year on CSNBA-HD too...

kevini

10-05-09, 06:06 PM

So Fremont finally gets out of Siberia and into the World of More ;)

Yeah!!!!! Thanks for the update Mike!

bwelling

10-05-09, 06:10 PM

So Fremont finally gets out of Siberia and into the World of More ;)

Woo!

(and hopefully Tivo's guide data will be updated on time...)

Mikef5

10-05-09, 06:11 PM

Mikef5

10-05-09, 06:14 PM

Woo!

(and hopefully Tivo's guide data will be updated on time...)

The Tivo guide data for me took about a day and then it showed up and was correct the first time around, so it should be good to go for your area also.

Laters,
Mikef5

keenan

10-05-09, 06:16 PM

If you can, if anyone could watch a bit of KNTV and report back whether the audio problems have been improved/fixed KNTV Engineering would appreciate it. Thanks. :)

Mikef5

10-05-09, 06:26 PM

If you can, if anyone could watch a bit of KNTV and report back whether the audio problems have been improved/fixed KNTV Engineering would appreciate it. Thanks. :)
So Jim,

What time of the day is this happening the most ? With the Giant's done for the year I've got a lot of time on my hands. I see the Dodger's didn't choke in the end, so we still have a California team in the playoffs ;). What's a good time to catch these glitches ?

Laters,
Mikef5

keenan

10-05-09, 06:38 PM

So Jim,

What time of the day is this happening the most ? With the Giant's done for the year I've got a lot of time on my hands. I see the Dodger's didn't choke in the end, so we still have a California team in the playoffs ;). What's a good time to catch these glitches ?

Laters,
Mikef5

Anytime really. Please note what the show is, whether it happened during the show or a commercial, and which commercial as some are local and some network. And the time it happened, it makes it easier for them to locate the segment. KNTV newscasts are a good place to listen for it, they seem to be the worst in fact.

I'll probably won't be watching any KNTV until tonight myself. I watched a bit of Martha today and it seemed to be better but I really wasn't paying enough attention, Martha Stewart is not really my thing. :p

rsra13

10-05-09, 07:09 PM

I recorded SNL and sounded as bad as ever.

I'll check tonight with Heroes.

keenan

10-05-09, 07:12 PM

I recorded SNL and sounded as bad as ever.

I'll check tonight with Heroes.

I think the adjustments were made this morning, so anything from then on is what he's looking for.

Xn0r

10-05-09, 09:11 PM

I'll be recording Trauma tonight. We'll see.

Dospac

10-05-09, 09:31 PM

Yep, I noticed this too. Went away after 5-10 minutes. Was odd, hadn't seen anything quite like it before. It actually reminded me of how my TV sometimes screws up w/2:3 pulldown enabled and gets blurry/choppy. Haven't seen it since.

Anyone else notice a strange effect during Saturday evening's Sharks/Ducks game on CSNCA-HD? I noticed that for a time - I believe in the first period, but I could be mis-remembering - the video appeared to have a low framerate - almost like every other frame was being dropped. It wasn't the usual macroblocking or freezing when the signal is weak, but rather a consistent stuttering for minutes on end.

I was watching via my Tivo S3, native output, via HDMI to my JVC RS20 with film mode OFF, if any of this matters. I even exited the program once and resumed, and the jerkiness continued. Fortunately, it eventually went away on its own. So now I'm wondering if I'm seeing some issue with my gear, or if the source itself was the cause - or maybe the combination of the two...

I vaguely recall seeing this on rare occasions last year on CSNBA-HD too...

hockeyzebra

10-05-09, 11:30 PM

This is good news indeed!

Thanks for the update.

<joy!>

rsra13

10-06-09, 01:14 AM

I just finished watching Heroes from the DVR and the sound was fine. I was really paying attention so I was able to catch just two issues, in one scene the sound cut out, and in other scene for a second or two it sounded bad like in the past.

So, for Heroes at least, it seems the sound issues had been fixed.

Xn0r

10-06-09, 01:57 AM

While watching Trauma, I heard six "stutters" in the audio. This is less than usual, so it seems improved.

Also heard a few during Leno (like when he said "Warren Buffet").

R8der

10-06-09, 03:05 AM

Wonder if they finally fixed the motorola remote delay bug? I've had my Tivo S3 for years so maybe got fixed...
this is the bug where you press a button on remote, and the Moto box is busy processing something else, and doesn't respond, so you push again etc... then a minute later all the button presses suddenly catch up and the box goes bit crazy... frustrating eg w/ ffwd/rewind.

Yes, that issue has been corrected. I have a newer DVR...about 6 months old....and it's much better than the first one we had, and holds more data, but I'm not sure on the size of the hard drive.

I see somebody mentioned the TIVO doesn't support On Demand services. My kid watches VOD all the time. Something I'll have to consider.

keenan

10-06-09, 03:20 AM

While watching Trauma, I heard six "stutters" in the audio. This is less than usual, so it seems improved.

Also heard a few during Leno (like when he said "Warren Buffet").

I logged about 8 instances from the beginning to about 00:23 mins into the show before I stopped and just watched the show.

00:01 - Nancy says "over and under"
00:03 - Rabbit says "awesome but I gotta work"
00:03 - "Yeah, she's going to be fine"
00:09 - "I don't need" think this was the kid doing the shooting
00:09 - "Even got a car" kid shooting
00:17 - "I was looking for you" helo pilot
00:18 - "burp the alphabet" helo pilot

At that point I stopped logging. It seems better in that it's subtler, maybe, but it's still there, it's not fixed.

I have 9 loggings for Heroes starting at 21 mins in, didn't really pay close attention to anything earlier than that.

Xn0r

10-06-09, 04:43 AM

@keenan:

I went over it at your time points and looked at it (too bad tivo can't show ss.ms):

00:01 - Nancy says "over and under" - not for me
00:03 - Rabbit says "awesome but I gotta work" - very small almost unnoticeable, could be his voice
00:03 - "Yeah, she's going to be fine" - yes. heavy. in the word "yeah".
++00:09 - "do not down energy drinks. they can deh~~~ydrate you." heavy
++00:09 - "they ai~~nt my boys" - medium
00:09 - "I don't need" think this was the kid doing the shooting - not for me
00:09 - "Even got a car" kid shooting - not for me
00:17 - "I was looking for you" helo pilot - same for me, in looking
++00:18 "do yo~u have your emt certificate" - light/medium stutter
00:18 - "burp the alphabet" helo pilot - "c~an b~urp the alphabet backwards"

++ is my addition
~ is stutter

Elias1

10-06-09, 11:14 AM

My world now has so many more HD channels it's hard to keep track. I can confirm that they are all live in San Jose (95125) and that my Tivo S3 has all of the guide data for the new channels. I haven't had time to validate that the data is 100% correct but on first glance it appears to be good.

robingo88

10-06-09, 11:45 AM

noticed the stations showing up in my TiVo S3 guide last night and this morning, all of the World of HD channels seem to be live here in 95124 San Jose. the program guide on the TiVo is wrong, though (841 THMA says its showing Jaws 2, but its actually showing Changeling, which is listed on the guide 3 hours earlier... looks like the wrong feed is attached to the listing)

one other strange point: i have the 'everything' package and all the premium channels seem to be active except for 847, which gives me a 'not subscribed' message on my HD Comcast box and shows a black screen on my TiVo S3... of course i can call, but wondering if anyone else has found this channel to be blocked?

robingo88

10-06-09, 11:50 AM

just wondering... previously the HD sports channels were grouped together and the HD movie channels were grouped together (and so were the news/business channels) but now stuff is scattered all over the place, and channels from the same service (the multiple HBO feeds, for example) aren't even grouped together.

Cal1981

10-06-09, 03:24 PM

rsra13

10-06-09, 05:52 PM

It'd be also helpful to report what was your equipment when watching NBC.

In my case, that only heard a couple of issues :

- DCH3416
- Optical cable
- Onkyo receiver 5.1

I may check later tonight in my bedroom, where I'm using a DCX box, using HDMI and sound through the TV speakers, so no home theater receiver there.

keenan

10-06-09, 06:20 PM

I have the sense that it's more subtle, not as pronounced as it was before, but it's still there. It's as if it's been "masked" somewhat rather than being out right "fixed".

Xn0r

10-06-09, 06:41 PM

diskus

10-06-09, 07:52 PM

Report from Los Gatos

Well I guess waiting has its advantages, all new channels are here and seem to be working fine on my Tivo HD. In addition all guide data is updated and accurate along with transfer of season passes to new or moved channels

completely seamless transition.

Thanks to all

MB

optossav

10-06-09, 11:59 PM

Hi,
Does anybody know if Comcast Sportsnet California HD (721) is supposed to work in Berkeley area? Right now I can only see text "available shortly..". The SD channel 89 shows just fine.

Ace of Space

10-07-09, 12:15 AM

Some of the premium HD channels are repeated on a higher channel number. I have 2 HBO HD, 2 Showtime HD, etc... I hope they sort this out.

Xn0r

10-07-09, 01:09 AM

Some of the premium HD channels are repeated on a higher channel number. I have 2 HBO HD, 2 Showtime HD, etc... I hope they sort this out.

They were the old versions of those channels. I presume they'll eventually vanish. The high numbered ones are the new ones.

curtis82

10-07-09, 01:32 AM

Some of the premium HD channels are repeated on a higher channel number. I have 2 HBO HD, 2 Showtime HD, etc... I hope they sort this out.

It's going to be like that for a few months anyway. They do the duplicates for the movie channels to avoid increased call volume. If they just moved those channels up to the 800's initially then folks would call in asking "where's my hbo hd or starz hd, why don't you people tell us anything?" There's always a good percentage of people who have no idea of channel changes, they either didn't get the flyers or didn't bother to read them when they diid come. So they keep them in the same place for a little while to ease the transition. I heard today actually that showtime hd ( the ch.785 duplicate version) is going away and going to replaced by NFL Red Zone HD on 785 in "World of More" areas. That change is supposed to go into effect for the games on 10/19. So we'll see how that goes.

R8der

10-07-09, 02:48 AM

It's going to be like that for a few months anyway. They do the duplicates for the movie channels to avoid increased call volume. If they just moved those channels up to the 800's initially then folks would call in asking "where's my hbo hd or starz hd, why don't you people tell us anything?" There's always a good percentage of people who have no idea of channel changes, they either didn't get the flyers or didn't bother to read them when they diid come. So they keep them in the same place for a little while to ease the transition. I heard today actually that showtime hd ( the ch.785 duplicate version) is going away and going to replaced by NFL Red Zone HD on 785 in "World of More" areas. That change is supposed to go into effect for the games on 10/19. So we'll see how that goes.

LOL...these folks have it so easy. Back in the early days of channel changes it would change to a completely different satellite! Half the time it was a new satellite that you hadn't even programmed into your receiver! Now that will create some confusion!

Somehow we always figured it out.....I miss those C-band days.

Mikef5

10-07-09, 12:14 PM

keenan

10-07-09, 01:07 PM

GBruno

10-07-09, 02:42 PM

This is the link to the Comcast website that explains the " World of More " and what it encompasses and the latest updates.
Plus it explains it a lot better than I could ;) ... http://comcastcalifornia.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=313

Laters,
Mikef5

Thanks for that post. I noticed on the coverage area map that Santa Cruz IS included in World of More. Is there any way to confirm? I have my HD through Dish but have the basic level of comcast still and have received no info about an upgrade. Neither has my friend in santa cruz who has comcast HD. TIA! .

Brian Conrad

10-07-09, 02:59 PM

This is the link to the Comcast website that explains the " World of More " and what it encompasses and the latest updates.
Plus it explains it a lot better than I could ;) ... http://comcastcalifornia.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=313

Laters,
Mikef5

Interesting as there still is no mention of Martinez, Pacheco or Pleasant Hill even though we received a flier saying that the Extended Basic only be available digital on July 22nd. That still hasn't happened. Now some of the HD channels people are getting for the first time have been on our system for a while. That leads me to think they have pushed us back due to that. Comcast upgraded this system in 2003.

curtis82

10-07-09, 03:05 PM

Thanks for that post. I noticed on the coverage area map that Santa Cruz IS included in World of More. Is there any way to confirm? I have my HD through Dish but have the basic level of comcast still and have received no info about an upgrade. Neither has my friend in santa cruz who has comcast HD. TIA! .

That map shows all the areas Comcast serves in California, not just who's getting the World of More upgrade. Santa Cruz County probably won't be upgraded for a little while. It just wasn't included in this initial roll out.

millerwill

10-07-09, 03:31 PM

This is the link to the Comcast website that explains the " World of More " and what it encompasses and the latest updates.
Plus it explains it a lot better than I could ;) ... http://comcastcalifornia.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=313

Laters,
Mikef5

Yes, indeed, thanks much for this info, Mike. Whoopee--Berkeley et al set for Oct 13, and "an additional 12 High def networks... 58 new HD networks"!

robingo88

10-07-09, 03:55 PM

this is strange... this past summer i signed up for the HD Premiere Triple Play for 2 years (the top of the line package)... prior to that i had Digital Premiere with HD, etc, blah blah blah, and had both of the TMC channels (591 and 593) though i never explicitly subscribed to the TMC channels (i looked on my old bills and there's no separate line charge for TMC).

with the World of More cutover the other day, i noticed that 847 (TMC West HD) was blocked and so was 591 and 593 (not sure when they stopped showing up on the SD channels since i don't watch them as much).

so i just called comcast and was told that while i have 'almost everything', my package doesn't include TMC, which was available at a special price of only an additional $10/month.

at first i thought, uh..ok..., but then i went back to the comcast site and pulled up the HD Premiere Triple Play bundle listing and there's a link to the Channel Lineup for that package and, don't you know, TMC 591 and 593 are included (the lineup doesn't yet show the new world of more)...

so i called comcast back and pointed out this discrepancy and was told that the agent (who no longer appears to be here in the states) couldn't help me and i had to print out the web pages and bring them into a local comcast office.

wha?

its just a silly little channel and not worth $10 for just the HD feed, but does this seem right? (right as in 'correct' as opposed to 'moral'/'ethical')

thanks!
r

Mikef5

10-07-09, 04:24 PM

keenan

10-07-09, 04:30 PM

I noticed the same thing when I upgraded to the Triple Play package. TMC is no longer in any package but is a separate channel that you have to subscribe to. Sort of like ala carte that everyone is so hot to have. :rolleyes:

IMHO not worth the money by itself and I never watched it before when it was in the Premium Package. When I asked the CSR about it the price was $14.95, if I remember right, so I decided not to get it at that price, but even at $10 not worth it, just nothing on it compelling enough to warrant it.

Laters,
Mikef5
Seems to me TMC used to come with Showtime, TMC is a Showtime owned network. I guess they break them apart now.

aretzios

10-07-09, 06:52 PM

aretzios

10-07-09, 06:58 PM

Here's a question for all of you that have gotten the new HD channels. Have you seen any substantive increase in the the volume of HD progamming that is available via On Demand? I vaguely recall Comcast trumpeting this as something that would happen along with the World of More channel additions.

No, OD did not get anyt more content. Actually, most of the newly added channels are not represented in OD, certainly not their HD versions. But most of these channels have been marginal channels anyway. Although there have been many addition, the only really notable additions were the two financial news channels which really supply lots of information in HD. If anything, HD seems a great fit for such channels. I was told that there will be more additions of channels with better content but it remains to be seen. As we know, the target is about 100-120 HD channels by year's end.

keenan

10-07-09, 07:04 PM

Received a response from KNTV engineering today, forgot to ask if okay to post as is so I'll paraphrase.

In essence, they are certain that there are two different, although possibly related, audio problems they are working on fixing. The garbled audio issue appears to be via Comcast, and as such they have asked Comcast to switch to a "backup system" while waiting for some new equipment to be used in that particular distribution path. The pops and clicks are something else and they believe they have minimized them to a large extent although they are still working on the exact cause and a fix for it.

So, I'm impressed, it's nice to see back and forth communication with a local station actively working on end user(viewer) problems. Now all we need is for NBC to put up some good programming. :p

Oh yeah, Go Dodgers! :D

stretch437

10-07-09, 07:08 PM

tempted to hook up my OTA tuner again to see if the non-comcast feed is really improved.

thanks everyone for pursuing this. it's been bugging me for months, but i'm just one person. this demonstrates the power of an online forum to effect change.

jlee301

10-07-09, 11:05 PM

In Union City, my TiVo got the channel update a night earlier before the go live. I am a little worried as I see that a lot of the feeds are listed as East Coast feeds as many of the other areas needed to submit support tickets to TiVo to get many of the channels corrected to the Pacific feeds.

Oh well, no way to really tell for sure until they go live tonight.

keenan

10-07-09, 11:24 PM

Blk-t

10-07-09, 11:29 PM

This is the link to the Comcast website that explains the " World of More " and what it encompasses and the latest updates.
Plus it explains it a lot better than I could ;) ... http://comcastcalifornia.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=313

Once again Oakland gets screwed! I had a live chat with Comcast today and the rep said Oakland is not included in the upgrade yet. They are still working on it and there is no ETA. Historically, Oakland has been last on the list when it comes to any kind of cable upgrade. I saw in a earlier post that a user in Oakland got an automated call saying he would be getting the WOM. If anyone has seen or heard different please comment...

Dospac

10-08-09, 12:08 AM

In case this helps anyone, I've been noticing audio and video skipping on several channels after the world of more update here in San Jose and it was particularly bad on the Dogers Cards game tonight on TBS HD. I pulled the plug and rebooted my DCH box and after restarting it all went away. Odd, but I'm happy!

jlee301

10-08-09, 12:15 AM

Which channels in particular? Very few networks have both and east and west HD feeds, most are east feeds.

All the channels I am listing are listed as East coast feeds in Union City compared to these cities who have the West coast feeds:

Zap2It results from Milpitas-95036
743 - SPIKEHD
795 - LIFEHD
796 - LMNHD (missing)
801 - HBOHD
816 - STZHD
825 - SHOWHD
826 - SHO2HD
838 - MAXHD
847 - TMCHD

Zap2It results from San Jose-95113
743 - SPIKEHD
745 - CCHD
763 - DXDHD
768 - ABCFHD
769 - DISNHD
777 - BETHD
778 - CMTVHD
781 - VH1HD
782 - MTVHD
795 - LIFEHD
796 - LMNHD (missing)
801 - HBOHD
805 - HBOCHD
807 - HBOZHD
808 - HBOLAHD
816 - STZHD
817 - STZEHD
818 - STZCHD
819 - STZKHD
825 - SHOWHD
826 - SHO2HD
838 - MAXHD
847 - TMCHD

Worst case scenario, I just did all the work and just have to submit this to TiVo :-)

nbc11newsclips

10-08-09, 05:54 AM

Here are the HD Channels from the on-screen guide:
450 TEAM
459 GAME2
460 GAMED
700 HDOD
701 HDOD2
702 KTVUD
703 DKNTV
704 KROND
705 KPIXD
706 KICUD
707 KGODT
709 KQEDH
710 KSTSD - 05/05
711 IONHD
712 KBCWD
714 KDTVD - 05/05
715 LIVWL
716 KFSFD - 05/05
717 WGNAD
718 HSNHD
719 QVCHD
720 CSNBA
721 CSNCD
722 GOLFD
723 VSHD
724 ESPND
725 ES2HD
726 ESWHD
727 NHLHD
728 NBAHD
729 MLBHD
730 NFLHD
731 SPDHD
732 CBSCH
733 BRVOD
734 A&EHD
735 TBSHD
736 SyFyD
737 TNTHD
738 USAHD
739 UHD
740 TVONE
741 FXHD
742 STYLE
743 SPKHD
744 G4HD
745 CMDYD
746 HGTVD
747 FOODD
748 TRTVD
750 DSCHD
751 APHD
752 TLCHD
753 E! HD
754 HDT
755 TRAVD
756 SCIHD
757 NGCHD
758 HISHD
759 CNNHD
760 FNCHD
761 FBNHD
762 CNBCD
763 DXDHD
766 TOOND
767 NIK
768 FAMHD
769 DISHD
771 GRNHD
772 BIOHD
774 HLNHD
776 TWCHD
777 BETHD
778 CMTHD
779 FUSED
781 VH1HD
782 MTVHD
783 PLDHD
784 OUTHD
785 NFLRD
786 TNNSD
787 mnbcD
788 ESPNU
789 TCMHD
790 IFCHD
791 WE HD
793 HCHD
794 HALLD
795 LIFEH
796 LMNHD
797 MGMHD
798 AMCHD
801 HBOHD
805 HBOCD
806 HBOZH
807 HBOLD
809 ENCHD
816 SZHDw
817 SZEHD
818 SZCHD
819 SZKHD
825 SHOHD
826 SHO2H
838 MXHDW
840 AMXDW
841 TMXDW
847 TMCWD
870 HDPPV

jlee301

10-08-09, 11:10 AM

Union City hasn't gone live yet with the WoM upgrades...hopefully when I get back from work there will be some activity.

drowningape

10-08-09, 11:39 AM

I turned on my TV this morning, and there was the expanded HD line-up. Other than TCM which is coming soon, the only channel really missing is BBC America HD, which I don't think Comcast is carrying anywhere.

Based on a quick flip through the channels the video quality seems decent. This is a good step, and will probably delay my planned switch to DirecTV for awhile.

Edit**

TCM is on channel 789, it just shows up as TMC in the guide.

juancmjr

10-08-09, 02:18 PM

I have our expanded HD lineup as well.

nbc11newsclips

10-08-09, 04:38 PM

by the end of October, will comcast adding BBC America HD, Smithsonian Channel HD, Fuel TV HD, Crime and Investigation Network HD, Hallmark Channel HD, Centric HD, HDNet, HDNet Movies, HBO2 HD, HBO Signature HD, HBO Family HD, MoreMax HD, 5StarMax HD, WMax HD, Showtime Showcase HD, Showtime Extreme HD, and The Movie Channel Xtra HD?

we will wait and see...

keenan

10-08-09, 05:24 PM

Ace of Space

10-08-09, 06:19 PM

jlee301

10-08-09, 11:08 PM

Union City hasn't gone live yet with the WoM upgrades...hopefully when I get back from work there will be some activity.

Union City WoM was live by the time I got home. Noticed the following TiVo guide errors:

The following are showing east coast guide but is airing west coast:
743 SPIKEHD
783 PLDHD
795 LIFEHD
801 HBOHD
805 HBOCHD
816 STZHD
825 SHOWHD
826 SHO2HD
838 MAXHD
840 ACMAXHD
841 THMAXHD

The follow channel is missing:
796 LMNHDP (Lifetime Movie Network HD - Pacific Feed)

Okay, besides the TiVo guide errors, there are two errors I am seeing:
783 - PLDHD is showing TRAVHD (both my TiVo and Comcast HD set-top)
816 - STZHD is giving me channel should be available shortly message (from the Comcast HD set-top)

The guide data on Comcast HD set-top box is correct for the channels.

Everything else looks good so far.

Xn0r

10-09-09, 12:45 AM

jlee301

10-09-09, 03:19 AM

796 - LMNHD is probably east coast feed. The guide on the Comcast box is showing pacific results but it's broadcasting the east coast feed.

783 - PLDHD is correct, program data is correct on the TiVo and the Comcast box. However I think one of their engineers screwed something up because the feed is actually TravelHD.

816 - STZHD is giving me that "ONE MOMENT PLEASE. The channel should be available shortly message" on the Comcast box. As well as the guide data on my TiVo being the east coast feed when it's actually the west coast.

I probably need to call Comcast about PLDHD and STZHD.

Xn0r

10-09-09, 05:17 AM

Some channels may not pop up for a few days. That's how it happened with my area.

jlee301

10-09-09, 11:18 AM

Some channels may not pop up for a few days. That's how it happened with my area.

I'm hoping Mikef5 passes on the information to Mr. J so someone can look at it :-). The last time I went to get a Comcast tech to look at a channel outage and a similar channel mixup like I am having with PLDHD took quite a bit of time to get the channel issues resolved.

Kaz415

10-09-09, 03:02 PM

When is the World of More coming to San Francisco? I need more HD channels, getting real jealous of everyone to the south of me....

curtis82

10-09-09, 04:10 PM

When is the World of More coming to San Francisco? I need more HD channels, getting real jealous of everyone to the south of me....

They're almost done switching over channels 35 and up to digital for all the nodes in San Francisco. So, based on that you'll probably get the WOM upgrade in mid-Novemeber.

jlee301

10-09-09, 10:17 PM

I'm hoping Mikef5 passes on the information to Mr. J so someone can look at it :-). The last time I went to get a Comcast tech to look at a channel outage and a similar channel mixup like I am having with PLDHD took quite a bit of time to get the channel issues resolved.

The problems have been fixed! Yippie! Now just waiting for TiVo to correct the guide data.

Xn0r

10-10-09, 12:07 AM

Well, today I got another guide update message from Tivo. Thankfully, they finally fixed 841 Thriller Max HD. Unfortunately, they BROKE two other channels which they actually had fixed back on an update on 9/13! Will this ever end?

Ch.|Update|Should Be|Status
826|SHO2HD|SHO2HDP|BROKEN
841|THMXHDP|THMXHDP|FIXED
847|TMCHD|TMCHDP|BROKEN

So annoying. When I saw the line up change message I was thinking "great! they fixed Thriller Max finally" then when I saw the other chans I almost threw the remote. :rolleyes:

At least I don't have season passes on any of these channels at the moment.

Brian Conrad

10-10-09, 04:09 PM

They're almost done switching over channels 35 and up to digital for all the nodes in San Francisco. So, based on that you'll probably get the WOM upgrade in mid-Novemeber.

So it's about a "node" switching thing? I've had the 35 and up channels on digital way before the July 22nd date they set in this area for the transition which has yet to occur. Does that mean they haven't switched all the nodes yet on my headend which is the Danville headend?

Comcast is such a blackop. :p

curtis82

10-10-09, 05:38 PM

So it's about a "node" switching thing? I've had the 35 and up channels on digital way before the July 22nd date they set in this area for the transition which has yet to occur. Does that mean they haven't switched all the nodes yet on my headend which is the Danville headend?

Comcast is such a blackop. :p

Good question, I'm not sure what's going on in your neck of the woods though. Yes, it is about node switching thing yet they really haven't switched over too many nodes at all yet in Concord, Martinez, Clayton, Pacheco, Pleasant Hill or Walnut Creek. Those are really the last block of cities in the Bay Area that need to be switched order. All the rest of areas fall into 3 categories: they either have WOM already, are getting it soon ( ex. Fremont, Berkely, Richmond, etc on the 13th) or Comcast is the process right now of switching over nodes neighborhood by neighborhood in these cities and that lines them up to get WOM by next month ( ex. San Francisco, Oakland, Emeryville, Vallejo, ) Their goal is to have the whole area upgraded ( with the exception of Half Moon Bay) by the end of the year so we'll see how that goes.

sexycatsinhats

10-10-09, 08:11 PM

Mikef5, Do you have any information on when we're getting HDNET? It's rolled out in some parts of the country.

dmo580

10-10-09, 11:37 PM

Xn0r

10-11-09, 12:05 AM

Ummm have you guys been having low signal woes recently? I can't even pick up KGO-HD anymore over QAM Comcast.

I have a splitter yes, but it worked flawlessly for so many years. I took it out and rescanned and now I can pick it up, but I see some signal quality issues still. if I put the splitter back in, it's like WTF the channel is gone.

I posted earlier saying that I was recording the Cal-Oregon game on my computer and it came out audio only at some sections and video cutting in and out. It looked disgusting.

While my download shave been fine, I checked my modem config page and I saw:

Downstream Power Level -15 dBmV
Upstream Power Level 53 dBmV

Makes it sound like my signal blows. Yes I have a splitter for cable, but it's never been this bad from what I remember.... =[
I had something like that happen to me once. I had a three way splitter on my SD comcast box and going to my VCR and TV for years, and never had an issue. Then one day I couldn't get half the channels. I took the splitter off and bingo it started working again.

I'm still not sure what happened. I'm not sure if my splitter just "went bad" (is that possible? It wasn't an amp, just a simple splitter), or whether perhaps Comcast switched to wider bandwidth on the cable that was more than the splitter covered.

Anyway, that was the "cure". Nowadays, I'm back on a splitter, a two way feeding my Moto DCH-3200 STB and my Tivo HD. I made sure I got one that went to 1000mhz (labeled as a "digital cable/satellite" capable) so that I should be good for a long long time. Unless this one also decides to die. :p

You may want to try a new splitter?

EDIT: could it also possibly be because they're working on your system for the WoM stuff?

R8der

10-11-09, 02:28 AM

Xn0r

10-11-09, 02:45 AM

OMG. I just realized that the broken tivo channel for sho2 came in just in time to ruin a scheduled recording of a movie I had set up about a week ago. How did they know? <rant> :(

keenan

10-11-09, 02:57 AM

Thanks for your efforts and those of others. We watched Community from Thursday night and it was fine! If there were audio problems they were minimized enough for me to not notice them.

Chris

I haven't watched any NBC lately, the NFL game tomorrow night would be the first in awhile. Glad to hear it seems to be fixed, or almost fixed anyways. :)

dmo580

10-11-09, 03:54 AM

I had something like that happen to me once. I had a three way splitter on my SD comcast box and going to my VCR and TV for years, and never had an issue. Then one day I couldn't get half the channels. I took the splitter off and bingo it started working again.

I'm still not sure what happened. I'm not sure if my splitter just "went bad" (is that possible? It wasn't an amp, just a simple splitter), or whether perhaps Comcast switched to wider bandwidth on the cable that was more than the splitter covered.

Anyway, that was the "cure". Nowadays, I'm back on a splitter, a two way feeding my Moto DCH-3200 STB and my Tivo HD. I made sure I got one that went to 1000mhz (labeled as a "digital cable/satellite" capable) so that I should be good for a long long time. Unless this one also decides to die. :p

You may want to try a new splitter?

EDIT: could it also possibly be because they're working on your system for the WoM stuff?

Tried a new splitter, but my TV is connected to a totally different splitter than my computer. One's in the living room, one's in my work room and both have a wall co-ax. The one in my room splits to the cable modem.

I have not touched anything for years even and I've always been able to watch my College Football on Saturdays no problem. Recently it's just gotten bad.

New splitter is one from Monoprice that goes 5-2400mhz as recommended on DSLReports. Signal looks just as bad.

Without splitter is Down: -11dBmv Up: 48dBmv. I understand anything out of -10 to +10 for down is terrible from DSL Reports. So without splitter is certainly better, but nowhere near great still.

I can't really provide numbers otherwise other than that watching TV was meh. I'm gonna call Comcast I guess... ><

The unfortunate thing is I tried speaking with them online and they gave me crap about using the DAMN BOX. I don't want to use their damn box because I want my local HD (I'm on digital starter btw so I don't get the nice HDMI boxes, and I don't want to pay more just yet).

Milenkod

10-11-09, 11:11 AM

Mikef5, Do you have any information on when we're getting HDNET? It's rolled out in some parts of the country. Mikef5...2nd that. Really miss that from DirecTV.... any info?

DAP

10-11-09, 03:10 PM

Tried a new splitter, but my TV is connected to a totally different splitter than my computer. One's in the living room, one's in my work room and both have a wall co-ax. The one in my room splits to the cable modem.

I have not touched anything for years even and I've always been able to watch my College Football on Saturdays no problem. Recently it's just gotten bad.

New splitter is one from Monoprice that goes 5-2400mhz as recommended on DSLReports. Signal looks just as bad.

Without splitter is Down: -11dBmv Up: 48dBmv. I understand anything out of -10 to +10 for down is terrible from DSL Reports. So without splitter is certainly better, but nowhere near great still.

I can't really provide numbers otherwise other than that watching TV was meh. I'm gonna call Comcast I guess... ><

The unfortunate thing is I tried speaking with them online and they gave me crap about using the DAMN BOX. I don't want to use their damn box because I want my local HD (I'm on digital starter btw so I don't get the nice HDMI boxes, and I don't want to pay more just yet).

I recently solved a similar problem with one of these:
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=03&p=CM3418&d=Channel-Master-CM-3418-Distribution-Amplifier-%28CM3418%29&c=Amplifiers&sku=020572034180

Comcast had moved one of the channels I cared about to channel 71. This is right on the hairy edge of the limited basic trap, and was about 6 dB lower in amplitude than the previous channel. With the splitter in place I could get nothing. without the splitter, I could get everything but channel 71. With the distribution amplifier, I was able to get everything including channel 71.

This amplifier DOES work with my cable modem (it has a passive return channel). I bought the 8 output version, but this is available with 1, 2, 4, or 8 outputs (note that the output power is halved every time the number of outputs doubles). Unlike a passive splitter, the signal on one output does not appear to be affected by what is plugged in (or not) into the other outputs.

Brian Conrad

10-11-09, 03:38 PM

Good question, I'm not sure what's going on in your neck of the woods though. Yes, it is about node switching thing yet they really haven't switched over too many nodes at all yet in Concord, Martinez, Clayton, Pacheco, Pleasant Hill or Walnut Creek. Those are really the last block of cities in the Bay Area that need to be switched order. All the rest of areas fall into 3 categories: they either have WOM already, are getting it soon ( ex. Fremont, Berkely, Richmond, etc on the 13th) or Comcast is the process right now of switching over nodes neighborhood by neighborhood in these cities and that lines them up to get WOM by next month ( ex. San Francisco, Oakland, Emeryville, Vallejo, ) Their goal is to have the whole area upgraded ( with the exception of Half Moon Bay) by the end of the year so we'll see how that goes.

Thanks. The Martinez system I'm on was rebuilt by Comcast back in the late summer of 2003. At the time I had Dish Network but since Comcast had more HD than Dish at the time (I couldn't see the bird that Dish had added more HD on) I switched. That also gave me the opportunity to an HD tuner on a computer.

mds54

10-11-09, 05:21 PM

For those of us with the Sports Package,
do we not get the new NFL Red Zone channel in HD?

curtis82

10-11-09, 07:17 PM

For those of us with the Sports Package,
do we not get the new NFL Red Zone channel in HD?

not right now but we should have it starting next Sunday in WOM areas on channel 785.

Mikef5

10-12-09, 12:22 PM

OK, I'm back again. ;)
My tv and my computer monitor both decided to go tits up at the same time. They've both been replaced and I've got the new hdtv ( LG 55LH90 ) reconnected and setup/calibrated so I can return my attention to posting again and I have an update to the WOM that was suppose to happen on the 13th of October, see my next post.

Laters,
Mikef5

Mikef5

10-12-09, 12:42 PM

Change to the schedule for the WOM for 13 October

#########################

We’ve made a decision to reschedule the WOM launches that we had originally set for this week (Tuesday, October 13)

We’ve now set October 22, 2009 as the date when the additional HD channels will be launched in:

Berkeley, Fremont, Hercules, Newark, Richmond, El Cerrito, San Pablo, Albany, Kensington and portions of El Sobrante.

As we’ve talked about in the past, one of the potential problems with sharing information with the Forum early is the possible confusion that results when we have to make a change to our plans. You’ve made a pretty compelling case that the vast majority of the Forum contributors will understand how schedules can be impacted by unforeseen circumstances and that it is worth the “risk”. I’m hopeful the Forum members in these particular communities will understand our slight change in plans.

########################

So it's going to be next week instead of this week for those cities before they get the WOM.

I don't know what went wrong but I'd rather that they do the roll out right and not rush it out and have it screwed up which IMHO would be much worse.

This is why I always say that these schedules are subject to change and why CSR's should not release information before it's time, because even official announcements can change when a problem occurs. Well, at least you know that it is still coming, just not when we originally thought that it would and for that we are sorry. If there is a change to this I'll post it here.

Laters,
Mikef5

Mikef5

10-12-09, 12:54 PM

Mikef5, Do you have any information on when we're getting HDNET? It's rolled out in some parts of the country.

Still no official word but I have asked again and about the 2 HBO channels that weren't added in the last channel additions. I'll post here when I get any info on them and when I get the OK to post it.

Laters,
Mikef5

Brian Conrad

10-12-09, 03:32 PM

Never mind about plans being posted to the forum and then changing the schedule. Comcast doesn't even stick to the schedules they send in the mail.

kevini

10-12-09, 05:03 PM

bwelling

10-12-09, 06:03 PM

Hmm my TiVo already has the WOM channels in the guide. Luckily I don't record from any of the re-numbered channels otherwise they would fail. I wonder if they will reverse this until Oct 22nd.

Given all the problems that other people have been having with TiVo guide data not being updated or being updated incorrectly, I'm not sure if I want to see them try to back out and re-add the channels next week.

The delay is annoying, though.

walk

10-12-09, 06:36 PM

Without splitter is Down: -11dBmv Up: 48dBmv. I understand anything out of -10 to +10 for down is terrible from DSL Reports. So without splitter is certainly better, but nowhere near great still.

You want it around -3 to +4db down, 42-44db up.

If you can get as close to the point where the cable enters your house as possible, maybe take your modem and a laptop outside, etc.. then check the signal level there. Or if you can't do that then at least try to remove all splitters you can, and make sure everything is wired with good RG-6 (not older RG-59).

They do adjust signal balancing from time to time, could be some new customer(s) recently in your area, or they are doing work for the digital transition. Or could be a wire or connection somewhere went bad, might've got some moisture in it.. might've gotten chewed on by animals... who knows.

Have a tech come out if you can't figure it out, that's their job, they're usually pretty good.

AndyN

10-12-09, 06:44 PM

Mike,

bummer. It's a huge bummer that this info was not from a CSR or rumors on the forum but from a flier I recieved. Oh, well. bummer but it'll happen soon.

drowningape

10-13-09, 02:05 AM

dailowai

10-13-09, 02:18 AM

Anyone else notice that the HBO and STARZ guides are wrong after the new channels were added? Quite to my surprise when it showed that Curb was on, but really it was Cathouse or something.

curtis82

10-13-09, 01:21 PM

In Alameda, channel 789 TCM HD (Turner Classic Movies) is showing in the guide as TMC HD (The Movie Channel). I noticed when the movie playing had Humphrey Bogart, not Rob Lowe. Is anyone else who got the WOM expansion last week having the same problem?

Yea I noticed the same problem here in San Leandro as well. I've also noticed that I'm not getting channel 826 ( showtime too hd), which was listed as one of the new channel additions. It doesn't show up anywhere in my guide. I checked my girlfriend's house in Hayward and she's having the same issue. Anyone else notice that? I'm going to try report these problems and see where it takes us.

clau

10-13-09, 01:44 PM

mds54

10-13-09, 02:16 PM

NFL Redzone in HD?

Just found that we have channel 785 here in Sunnyvale. That channel says NFL Redzone in HD! Hope this is real, since the Redzone is a great channel, and until now only in SD (channel 427).

Yep, I just saw NFLRZ on 785 in San Jose!
Looks like they replaced the duplicate Showtime channel with it.
This channel alone wipes out any need for DTV Sunday Ticket!

That Don Guy

10-13-09, 03:05 PM

Ummm have you guys been having low signal woes recently? I can't even pick up KGO-HD anymore over QAM Comcast.
I have been having KGO-HD problems for a few weeks now. From one of my wall drops, I have one half of a split going into a Comcast cable box, and the signal is mostly viewable (with the occasional freeze followed by pixellation), and the other half is itself split, with one half of that (1/4 of the original signal) going into my TiVo (and this is unwatchable about half of the time).

On the other hand, I haven't had my CNN-HD TiVo freeze-up problem for a number of weeks...

-- Don

NorthOTA

10-13-09, 04:51 PM

JoeCheapo here - I am wondering if I can subscribe only to Comcast High Speed Internet and receive the Basic package digital and analog tv channels with a QAM tuner?

ffjxc

10-13-09, 05:24 PM

Just received a flyer in the mail from Comcast stating WOM in Oakland on November 12.

Grandude

10-13-09, 05:40 PM

JoeCheapo here - I am wondering if I can subscribe only to Comcast High Speed Internet and receive the Basic package digital and analog tv channels with a QAM tuner?
That's a good question. I have Comcast High Speed Internet and the Limited Basic package with one HD receiver. I get a reduced rate on the Internet with this set-up. Total bill is $66.06. I could probably get rid of the HD receiver and save $8 but like it for the convenience of back-up if Dish goes out.

BTW, I'm also south of Windsor, near Larkfield, and we are on the Healdsburg system which is quite new and very reliable.

keenan

10-13-09, 07:57 PM

That's a good question. I have Comcast High Speed Internet and the Limited Basic package with one HD receiver. I get a reduced rate on the Internet with this set-up. Total bill is $66.06. I could probably get rid of the HD receiver and save $8 but like it for the convenience of back-up if Dish goes out.

BTW, I'm also south of Windsor, near Larkfield, and we are on the Healdsburg system which is quite new and very reliable.

What HSI tier do you have? You might check at the local office and see if the $29.99 Digital Starter package and the $29.99 16/2 Blast HSI package is still available. The total additional cost to your bill would be about $10 but you would get all the extra HD channels that come with Digital Starter. It's what I did as it was cheaper than what I was paying for just Limited Basic and 16/2 Blast. The Digital Starter price is locked(contract) for a year and the HSI price is good(no contract) for a year.

Mikef5

10-13-09, 09:41 PM

Showtime HD/NFL RedZone HD

All World of More systems will drop Showtime HD from its old channel number 785.
Showtime HD will no longer be dual illuminated in systems that have launched the World of More channels. It will only be available on channel 825.

Effective Dates:

10/12/09 - Areas that have already launched World of More

10/22/09 - Next seven cities to launch World of More

This is being done because the systems who have launched World of More will receive NFL RedZone HD on channel 785.
The first day of programming for NFL RedZone HD will be October 18th.

The below systems will launch NFL RedZone HD and will no longer dual illuminate Showtime HD as of 10/12/09:

* Alameda
* Brentwood
* Burlingame/Millbrae
* Castro Valley
* Cupertino
* Daly City
* Fairfield
* Hayward
* Healdsburg
* Los Altos
* Los Gatos
* Milpitas
* Mountain View
* Novato
* Palo Alto, Woodside, Los Altos Hills
* Petaluma
* Pittsburg
* Pleasanton
* Rio Vista
* Rohnert Park
* S. San Francisco
* San Jose
* San Mateo
* San Rafael
* Santa Clara
* Santa Rosa
* Saratoga
* Sunnyvale
* Travis
* Union City
* Vacaville

The below systems will launch NFL RedZone HD and will no longer dual illuminate Showtime HD as of 10/22/09:

* Berkeley
* Fremont
* Hercules
* Newark
* Richmond/El Cerrito
* San Pablo

Sorry this is late but I had a power outage in my area but it seems to be fixed for now. ;)

This explains why some people don't see SHO HD on it's old channel number.
I've got the new Red Zone HD on my Tivo but no guide data or channel name, it's also on my Comcast box but it has the guide data.
Hopefully, this will be better than the SD version that really looked bad, we'll just have to wait until Sunday to see for sure.

Laters,
Mikef5

Cal1981

10-13-09, 10:23 PM

Just received a flyer in the mail from Comcast stating WOM in Oakland on November 12.

10 days after we lost souls in Vallejo are scheduled to get it. Here's hoping that we both go off on time.

keenan

10-13-09, 11:46 PM

HBO2, HBO-Signature, HDNets...?

Noticed the above HBO's are listed in the most recent channel lineup card at the Comcast office, not that that amounts to a hill of beans...

I'm guessing that RedZone channel is available with the Sports/Entertainment package? Should be interesting to see if it shows up given that I'm getting all of those channels other than Speed and CBS Sports already, weird...

Milenkod

10-14-09, 08:19 AM

Mikef5

10-14-09, 12:28 PM

I just recently got Comcast here in Dublin coming from DirecTV. So let me get this straight....I DO NOT get Speed channel without some sports package extra? That came with the most basic DirecTV line-up....geeze that blows!
Milenkod,

So what package did you get ? If you got the Triple Play package, the Sports Package comes with it, some other packages include it also. Without knowing what package you have it's hard to tell what you're suppose to get. If you have a package that doesn't include the Sports Package I believe you can get it for $5 a month.

I just did a channel lineup check and the Digital Starter package includes the Speed channel both SD and HD versions of the channel.

Laters,
Mikef5

Grandude

10-14-09, 12:49 PM

What HSI tier do you have? You might check at the local office and see if the $29.99 Digital Starter package and the $29.99 16/2 Blast HSI package is still available. The total additional cost to your bill would be about $10 but you would get all the extra HD channels that come with Digital Starter. It's what I did as it was cheaper than what I was paying for just Limited Basic and 16/2 Blast. The Digital Starter price is locked(contract) for a year and the HSI price is good(no contract) for a year.
Not sure if it would be worth the trouble for me. I primarily use DishNetwork for my TV viewing and only signed up for Comcast Basic to get the HSI and use the receiver only for occasional viewing.
HSI speeds for me here are Down 10 to 15 Mb/s and Up 5 to 10 Mb/s. Don't know what tier but just the basic one when I signed up.

I should add that I also have a Comcast line to my PC monitor which has a QAM tuner so I can watch TV from my computer and the TV in the bedroom has a QAM tuner so I can watch there too. I'm adding a CM dist amp with four outputs so I can route cable to my front office/bedroom and garage. The cabling is turning into a nightmare...........

walk

10-14-09, 01:05 PM

There's a lot of channels DirecTV has on the basic tier that you have to pay extra for at Comcast (or can't get at all...) but to be fair DirecTV isn't getting Red Zone for free either, have to pay for the NFL package ($300).

As for HSI, no if you only have HSI they put a trap on the line that filters out most TV channels. Some will come thru but it's just a crap shoot.

Milenkod

10-14-09, 01:36 PM

Milenkod,

So what package did you get ? If you got the Triple Play package, the Sports Package comes with it, some other packages include it also. Without knowing what package you have it's hard to tell what you're suppose to get. If you have a package that doesn't include the Sports Package I believe you can get it for $5 a month.

I just did a channel lineup check and the Digital Starter package includes the Speed channel both SD and HD versions of the channel.

Laters,
Mikef5
I'm pretty sure I have triple-play since I ordered TV, home phone and internet together....

Mikef5

10-14-09, 01:38 PM

I'm pretty sure I have triple-play since I ordered TV, home phone and internet together....

Milenkod,

Go to channel 731 that's the HD channel for the Speed channel.

Laters,
Mikef5

NorthOTA

10-14-09, 02:14 PM

keenan

10-14-09, 03:14 PM

Milenkod,

So what package did you get ? If you got the Triple Play package, the Sports Package comes with it, some other packages include it also. Without knowing what package you have it's hard to tell what you're suppose to get. If you have a package that doesn't include the Sports Package I believe you can get it for $5 a month.

I just did a channel lineup check and the Digital Starter package includes the Speed channel both SD and HD versions of the channel.

Laters,
Mikef5
No it doesn't, at least not up here in Santa Rosa it doesn't.

It doesn't include CBS College Sports either although it does include most of the rest which is weird, not sure if that's by design or by mistake. Oddly enough I get Fox Sports Central but not Atlantic or Pacific.

keenan

10-14-09, 03:22 PM

I just recently got Comcast here in Dublin coming from DirecTV. So let me get this straight....I DO NOT get Speed channel without some sports package extra? That came with the most basic DirecTV line-up....geeze that blows!

It's likely due to Speed being a Fox Sports property and News Corp owning DirecTV at the time of addition to their lineup. Comcast has no financial interest in the channel hence it's placement on the Siberia tier.

keenan

10-14-09, 03:23 PM

Not sure if it would be worth the trouble for me. I primarily use DishNetwork for my TV viewing and only signed up for Comcast Basic to get the HSI and use the receiver only for occasional viewing.
HSI speeds for me here are Down 10 to 15 Mb/s and Up 5 to 10 Mb/s. Don't know what tier but just the basic one when I signed up.

I should add that I also have a Comcast line to my PC monitor which has a QAM tuner so I can watch TV from my computer and the TV in the bedroom has a QAM tuner so I can watch there too. I'm adding a CM dist amp with four outputs so I can route cable to my front office/bedroom and garage. The cabling is turning into a nightmare...........

What ever works best, it was just a thought, it worked out very nicely for me as I'm getting far more value for less money now. :)

Mikef5

10-14-09, 04:55 PM

No it doesn't, at least not up here in Santa Rosa it doesn't.

It doesn't include CBS College Sports either although it does include most of the rest which is weird, not sure if that's by design or by mistake. Oddly enough I get Fox Sports Central but not Atlantic or Pacific.
Jim,

Don't know about Santa Rosa but I input a Dublin address and the Digital Starter package for that area does offer the Speed channel in HD ( as a matter of fact there's a special going on ), also in Milpitas the Digital Starter package offers the same thing. He did say he has the Triple Play and that does include the Sports Package. You have to remember that Santa Rosa probably still has one foot still in Siberia and the other in the real world. :p;)

Laters,
Mikef5

Brian Conrad

10-14-09, 05:07 PM

I just got the latest mail from Comcast that says the digital changeover for channels 35-75 for Martinez is now November 17th. Any bets they on whether they will make this target? ;) The first target was July 22nd.

No mention of WOM.

keenan

10-14-09, 06:04 PM

Jim,

Don't know about Santa Rosa but I input a Dublin address and the Digital Starter package for that area does offer the Speed channel in HD ( as a matter of fact there's a special going on ), also in Milpitas the Digital Starter package offers the same thing. He did say he has the Triple Play and that does include the Sports Package. You have to remember that Santa Rosa probably still has one foot still in Siberia and the other in the real world. :p;)

Laters,
Mikef5

What zip did you use, I'd like to see how it's listed. The Digital Starter listing for here doesn't include the HD channels, you have to click the HDTV listing to see the channels offered and it just says "sports" next to Speed, same as it does for ESPN so it doesn't clarify it at all. Honestly, I don't know why I even bothered to check the website as it's proven once again to be utterly worthless.

Can you check with Mr J on this? Because if what you say is true, then I'll contact Comcast and see why it's not coming in here. In fact, if any of those S/E package channels are supposed to come with other tiered offerings it would be nice to know.

Mikef5

10-14-09, 07:27 PM

What zip did you use, I'd like to see how it's listed. The Digital Starter listing for here doesn't include the HD channels, you have to click the HDTV listing to see the channels offered and it just says "sports" next to Speed, same as it does for ESPN so it doesn't clarify it at all. Honestly, I don't know why I even bothered to check the website as it's proven once again to be utterly worthless.

Can you check with Mr J on this? Because if what you say is true, then I'll contact Comcast and see why it's not coming in here. In fact, if any of those S/E package channels are supposed to come with other tiered offerings it would be nice to know.
Jim,

I used 8150 Lake Drive, Dublin Ca. 94568, can't remember what it is, I think it's an apartment complex in Dublin.
Click on view the channel lineup and it will list them all including the HD channels.

Laters,
Mikef5

keenan

10-14-09, 07:52 PM

Jim,

I used 8150 Lake Drive, Dublin Ca. 94568, can't remember what it is, I think it's an apartment complex in Dublin.
Click on view the channel lineup and it will list them all including the HD channels.

Laters,
Mikef5

I think you're seeing things, it doesn't show up anywhere but in the Sports/Ent package when I try, not even under the Premier package.

Mikef5

10-14-09, 08:51 PM

keenan

10-14-09, 09:06 PM

Crap, it's not working for me now :confused:
What might of happened is I didn't clear out my history buffer and it screwed up what I was putting into the website.
I have Triple Play and it probably was using that when I tried to put in the Dublin info.
You're right the web site sucks, way to difficult to get any useful info. I'll just go to the source and ask him what the deal is.;)

Laters,
Mikef5

Thanks, and I'm sure you will anyway, but those HBO's....

Mikef5

10-14-09, 09:13 PM

Thanks, and I'm sure you will anyway, but those HBO's....
You know I keep asking and no response, Might be busy or out of town or just can't get an answer from the higher ups, but I'll keep trying.

Laters,
Mikef5

davelasker

10-14-09, 09:42 PM

I subscribe to Comcast cable in Napa. I have extended basic service, and I have installed the "digital now" boxes.

I have an HDTV that is directly connected to my cable with no box. Up until a few weeks ago I was able to receive the clear QAM HDTV signals for all local stations, both network and independent.

Now, I no longer get the signal for ABC (7-x), PBS (9-x), or NBC (11-x). All other local HDTV channels are still received OK. Strangly, 9-3 still works.

I called Comcast tech support, and got no help.

Does Comcast have any obligation to supply no-extra-charge HDTV feeds for these channels?

Thanks for the help!

walk

10-14-09, 09:51 PM

Did you do a re-scan?

clau

10-14-09, 10:29 PM

davelasker

10-14-09, 10:34 PM

Yes I have done several rescans since the problem started; those didn't help.

snidely

10-14-09, 10:41 PM

Can't recall if it's been mentioned - got in the mail yesterday a notice that the "World of More" will be here (Oakland 94612) November 12th.

...mike

clau

10-14-09, 10:46 PM

Yes I have done several rescans since the problem started; those didn't help.

I entered 94558, a Napa zip code, into the silicondust site, and got the following:

KGODT: 130.1
KQEDDT: 130.1
KNTVDT: 107.3

They are definitely still in the clear.

stretch437

10-15-09, 03:12 AM

KNTV (Conan specifically) sounded a little better last night. something odd was still detectable but it did seem improved.

back before the campaign to alert their engineers, there were times that it was unlistenable (with my setup at least). this was pretty good by comparison.

Elias1

10-15-09, 10:23 AM

KNTV (Conan specifically) sounded a little better last night. something odd was still detectable but it did seem improved.

I agree. The sound is much better, particularly when it's just a person speaking. I still hear some pops but they are far less noticeable. I feel that I can now watch KNTV and focus on the show instead of the audio glitches.

Kudos to the KNTV engineering staff for making such good progress. I'm sure these issues are hard to diagnose and fix; or they would have done it long ago.

montyward

10-15-09, 02:29 PM

walk

10-15-09, 02:36 PM

I entered 94558, a Napa zip code, into the silicondust site, and got the following:

KGODT: 130.1
KQEDDT: 130.1
KNTVDT: 107.3

They are definitely still in the clear.
If he has extended basic (aka "standard cable") they should be coming through, it could be a signal strength issue.

If the tv has a diagnostic screen that shows signal levels try tuning to one of the 'missing' channels and pulling that up.

Otherwise call Comcast and have a tech come out to check it, could be wind/water/etc degraded a wire somewhere recently too.

clau

10-15-09, 02:54 PM

I am in Santa Rosa and I am not seeing the NFL Redzone on 785. When I try to tune that channel, it says subscription required. I am using Windows Media Center though. I also don't see channel 427. Anybody else in SR with a Comcast box seeing 785 as NFL Redzone?

Thanks,

Ryan

That channel is encrypted, so you need a cablecard or a Comcast STB to view it.

keenan

10-15-09, 03:20 PM

I am in Santa Rosa and I am not seeing the NFL Redzone on 785. When I try to tune that channel, it says subscription required. I am using Windows Media Center though. I also don't see channel 427. Anybody else in SR with a Comcast box seeing 785 as NFL Redzone?

Thanks,

Ryan

I believe the channel is only active during Sundays, and you need the Sports/Entertainment package to receive it.

It is listed in my guide(TiVo) but they both say "to be announced" for program info.

MANNAXMAN

10-15-09, 03:46 PM

I think you're seeing things, it doesn't show up anywhere but in the Sports/Ent package when I try, not even under the Premier package.

Crap, it's not working for me now :confused:
What might of happened is I didn't clear out my history buffer and it screwed up what I was putting into the website.
I have Triple Play and it probably was using that when I tried to put in the Dublin info.
You're right the web site sucks, way to difficult to get any useful info. I'll just go to the source and ask him what the deal is.;)

Laters,
Mikef5
I'm in Sunnyvale and I have the Triple Play package, but I do NOT get the Speed channel. When I switched over to the TP package (I used to have the old Digital Silver package), a short time after switching, I noticed I was getting the Speed channel. About a month ago, I noticed I wasn't receiving it anymore. I checked here and found two other members posting about losing Speed (this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17172252&highlight=speed+hd#post17172252) and the one right after it). No one ever addressed these two posts, so I figured I was just lucky to have gotten Speed for free for a short time when I shouldn't have been.

keenan

10-15-09, 03:57 PM

I'm in Sunnyvale and I have the Triple Play package, but I do NOT get the Speed channel. When I switched over to the TP package (I used to have the old Digital Silver package), a short time after switching, I noticed I was getting the Speed channel. About a month ago, I noticed I wasn't receiving it anymore. I checked here and found two other members posting about losing Speed (this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17172252&highlight=speed+hd#post17172252) and the one right after it). No one ever addressed these two posts, so I figured I was just lucky to have gotten Speed for free for a short time when I shouldn't have been.

I think it probably was a mistake. As far as I know, the only way to get Speed is to get the S/E package. Pretty sure it's the only way to get the NFL RedZone channel as well. I don't believe those channels are included with any other package/tier of channels/service.

mds54

10-15-09, 03:57 PM

I believe the channel is only active during Sundays, and you need the Sports/Entertainment package to receive it.
It is listed in my guide(TiVo) but they both say "to be announced" for program info.

From everything I know, I believe Keenan is correct.
On my DCH DVR guide, channel 785 is listed as NFLRZ, and the
time slots say "Off-Air" since it's not Sunday. I do have the Sports package.
And yesterday I received a message stating that NFLRZ will be shown in HD
this coming Sunday.

I watched this show last Sunday (even in SD), and I think it's the best thing ever to come to NFL fans!

keenan

10-15-09, 03:59 PM

From everything I know, I believe Keenan is correct.
On my DCH DVR guide, channel 785 is listed and NFLRZ, and the
time slots say "Off-Air" since it's not Sunday.

I watched this show last Sunday (even in SD), and I think it's the best thing ever to come to NFL fans!

That was a "free-view" right? Or do you have the S/E package?

mds54

10-15-09, 04:15 PM

That was a "free-view" right? Or do you have the S/E package?

I dunno if it was a free-view.
I do have the S/E package.

montyward

10-15-09, 04:17 PM

That channel is encrypted, so you need a cablecard or a Comcast STB to view it.

I have a cablecard pc and all the other channels work and I have the sports entertainment package, but this one doesn't seem to show up. I'll check Sunday and hope it is there.

keenan

10-15-09, 04:31 PM

I dunno if it was a free-view.
I do have the S/E package.
Yeah, I can't remember if it was last week or the week before, but one of these past weeks was a free-view... that was before Comcast here lit up the HD version, I think, we'll have to see if the HD version actually comes through this week.

I have a cablecard pc and all the other channels work and I have the sports entertainment package, but this one doesn't seem to show up. I'll check Sunday and hope it is there.

I'm virtually certain that the channel is only active during from around 10am to 4pm on Sunday.

Mikef5

10-15-09, 04:43 PM

Yeah, I can't remember if it was last week or the week before, but one of these past weeks was a free-view... that was before Comcast here lit up the HD version, I think, we'll have to see if the HD version actually comes through this week.

I'm virtually certain that the channel is only active during from around 10am to 4pm on Sunday.

You're right it's only active on Sundays 10am to 4pm (Locally)
I watched last Sunday and the SD version looked really bad, lots of macro blocking. Hopefully, the HD version will not suffer that fate.

The real important thing to remember, is to watch TBS today and root for the California team. Can't remember their name but I'm sure Jim remembers ( and yes Jim, I'm pulling your leg ) :p;)

Laters,
Mikef5

mds54

10-15-09, 05:23 PM

NFLRZ saves the day!
This Sunday, with the Niners bye and the Raiders blacked-out,
there are NO afternoon games scheduled to be broadcast locally.

Milenkod

10-15-09, 06:09 PM

That Don Guy

10-16-09, 12:34 PM

NFLRZ saves the day!
This Sunday, with the Niners bye and the Raiders blacked-out,
there are NO afternoon games scheduled to be broadcast locally.
The last I heard, KTVU switched to Arizona-Seattle, which is a 1:00 game. (I wonder why it originally had a 10:00 game, since it knew KPIX wouldn't be allowed to air a 1:00 game.)

I just hope nobody at NFL headquarters comes up with the crazy idea to turn off NFL Red Zone in areas where a blacked-out game is being played "just to make sure nobody watches NFLRZ to see that game"...

-- Don

Cal1981

10-16-09, 01:08 PM

Anyone catch any of the Sharks-Caps game yesterday? Wide-screen SD at its worst. Rotten game matched by a rotten picture.

Cal1981

10-16-09, 01:11 PM

NFLRZ saves the day!
This Sunday, with the Niners bye and the Raiders blacked-out,
there are NO afternoon games scheduled to be broadcast locally.

Giants-Saints at 10 AM makes this transplanted Noo Yawker a happy camper. As much as I enjoyed the Jints-Raiders game last week, it really was embarrassing. Al Davis has succeeded in transforming Oakland into a possible UFL team.

Milenkod

10-16-09, 01:49 PM

Al Davis has succeeded in transforming Oakland into a possible UFL team.:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Mikef5

10-16-09, 04:32 PM

Oakland Raiders' game against Eagles won't be shown on local TV

Please see below regarding the Raiders game being blacked out this weekend.

##########

Oakland Tribune staff and wire report

The Oakland Raiders' home game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday will be blacked out locally because the team did not sell out the game in time.
Games need to be sold out 72 hours before kickoff to avoid a blackout in a 75-mile radius. This is the second time in three home games that Oakland has been unable to avoid a blackout.
Oakland's season opener against San Diego on Sept. 14 was sold out and shown on local TV. The Raiders' second home game, against Denver on Sept. 27, was blacked out locally.
The Raiders have had two games blacked out each season since taking over ticket sales from Alameda County before the 2006 season.
In their first 11 seasons back from Los Angeles, the Raiders sold out only 25 of 88 regular-season games in time to avoid a blackout.

Fortunately, Comcast customers have access to NFL RedZone (in HD) and they can still see their beloved team inside the 20-yard line live on NFL RedZone.

##########

Well, at least the Raider fans can see part of the game on the NFL RedZone which I guess is better than not seeing them at all. I'm not a big fan of the Raiders because they allow this to happen all the time, The 49er's will usually buy up the extra tickets and donate them to the local schools/charities or they will have one of their backers do it for them. Oh well, at least there will be a good reason to watch the RedZone HD this Sunday, if just to see how it looks in HD ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

millerwill

10-16-09, 05:25 PM

Oakland Raiders' game against Eagles won't be shown on local TV

Please see below regarding the Raiders game being blacked out this weekend.

##########

This is merciful.

mds54

10-16-09, 06:15 PM

Mikef5 wrote....Well, at least the Raider fans can see part of the game on the NFL RedZone which I guess is better than not seeing them at all......

Will we?
I was wondering how local blackout rules would apply to NFLRZ....

DiveFan

10-16-09, 06:22 PM

What's with the HSI? When I test the bandwidth on sites like Speedtest.net, I get amazing speeds...like 20 down / 9 up. However, when I access some of my favorite blogs it goes as slow as the 3mbps DSL I just got rid of. Then, when I try to load a youtube video, it's slower that my DSL was. W.T.F...?????
Did Comcast "tune" their bandwidth for site that do speed testing?
You're probably just seeing the usual periodic bottlenecks somewhere else on in the Internet. Comcast may or may not be throttling some kinds of traffic. Which is why I'm not inclined to move off my DSL reseller ISP.

Servers hosting 'free' services are typically way overcommitted on bandwidth - if more that a few hosted sites get busy, everybody suffers. You (free blogger) get what you pay for.

walk

10-16-09, 06:51 PM

I think Comcast is having intermittant DNS problems. Either that or my router was going screwy. I would click on a web site or link and it would give me an immediate DNS error, then if I clicked Refresh it would come right up.

walk

10-16-09, 11:15 PM

Update, reset my router (1st time since March) everything seems ok now.

But got these weird entries in log:

2009-10-16 19:11:21 5-Warning TSM: TxError WatchDog - Restart Upstream
2009-10-16 19:11:21 5-Warning HAL: Overcoming Tx Error (reseting the US - DMA)
2009-10-16 19:09:40 5-Warning TSM: TxError WatchDog - Restart Upstream
2009-10-16 19:09:40 5-Warning HAL: Overcoming Tx Error (reseting the US - DMA)
2009-10-16 18:56:46 3-Critical R02.0 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out

ffjxc

10-16-09, 11:17 PM

millerwill

10-16-09, 11:24 PM

That assumes the Raiders make it inside the 20 against the Eagles.

You'll probably see them often inside their own 20, with the Eagles having the ball.

reel_fan

10-16-09, 11:55 PM

jasonander

10-17-09, 04:34 AM

I've seen DNS problems also. I think its Comcast.

Same DNS problems in Sunnyvale on Comcast HSI... it was really bad on Thursday. Resetting my modem and router didn't help; I was still getting intermittent DNS failures and had to refresh a lot. Seems to be better today.

Xn0r

10-17-09, 06:08 AM

One of the reasons I run my own DNS server. Caching DNS server is very simple to set up.

Milenkod

10-17-09, 09:09 AM

One of the reasons I run my own DNS server. Caching DNS server is very simple to set up.ohh...do explain...instructions?

Grandude

10-17-09, 12:52 PM

Oakland Raiders' game against Eagles won't be shown on local TV

Mikef5
I won't miss it. I only watch the Raiders if nothing else is on. Gave up on them when they moved to LA and they won't get my loyalty back until Al is gone and they start winning again.

Xn0r

10-17-09, 05:37 PM

ohh...do explain...instructions?
Well, first see if your router/firewall can do it. Some can.

If not, if you could install something like BIND (https://www.isc.org/software/bind) on one of your local linux/bsd or windows boxes. If you have a windows server box, you probably already have the MS DNS server on there you can just configure. Then you configure it to be a caching name server, then point your DNS resolver to whatever machine you installed it on (either through your DHCP server, or manually).

You can google around for "bind caching name server" etc for example named.conf files. You also need to fetch the named.cache (ftp://ftp.internic.net/domain/named.cache) file (list of root name servers) which that config will refer to. Note that if you're installing BIND on windows, you need to use MS file naming/path conventions, e.g. C:/path/file. Most examples you'll find out there presume linux, so you might want to google for a windows BIND example.

Once something like that is set up, the box you set it up on will call the root name servers directly, and do its own recursive name queries instead of going through your ISP's name servers.

In my environment, I just have one of my linux server boxes acting as the DNS server for my LAN.

walk

10-17-09, 07:17 PM

My router can act like a DNS server but I don't know if it caches the info or if it just retrieves it on-demand. Any case, I rebooted it and things seemed better Fri and today.

Xn0r

10-17-09, 08:24 PM

My router can act like a DNS server but I don't know if it caches the info or if it just retrieves it on-demand. Any case, I rebooted it and things seemed better Fri and today.
Yeh some of them can. A lot of them are "forwarding only" DNS servers, however. That is, you give it the IP of a few DNS servers (typically your ISP), and it forwards requests to those servers, and caches the results. That wouldn't help in the case of a broken ISP DNS server.

If it can be a "caching only" DNS server, then it actually does recursive queries itself and caches the results. This bypasses your ISP's servers and recursively queries name servers on the internet directly.

aforkosh

10-18-09, 02:04 AM

Many people use OpenDNS rather than their ISP's DNS. Go to http://opendns.com for more details. Under the 'USE OpenDNS' tab are instructions for setting up many common routers (essentially how to change the DNS settings).

Dospac

10-18-09, 04:23 AM

.. Yeah don't try and go setup your own DNS server just to get away from Comcast DNS problems. Much easier to just use OpenDNS. Highly recommended. =)

Xn0r

10-18-09, 04:53 AM

:shrug: To me setting up a caching DNS server is super-simple. :P But sure, just pointing your resolver to OpenDNS is even simpler I guess. 'cept you don't have control of it as much as you do your own DNS server (e.g. if you want to clear the cache by restarting it).

stanj

10-18-09, 12:59 PM

Sorry if this has been posted already.

Just got a flyer from Comcast that WOM is coming to my area in SF (94127) on 11/16/09. Hope the date holds, I'm anxious to get the new HD channels.

Xn0r

10-18-09, 05:32 PM

Yay! Got another update yesterday and they re-fixed Showtime Too HD (826) and TMC HD (847), putting them back to pacific channels. Now all channels are finally fixed! Took almost three months for them to do it, with multiple requests put in by me alone (at least a half dozen), but now my line up is good!

nereus

10-18-09, 07:42 PM

We are seeing a lot of signal issues on KNTV HD this weekend. First noticed during USC/ND game, but continuing today. Signal breaking up, loss of audio, etc. I wanted to find out if this is a purely local (my house, probably sig strength/interference/dampness) issue, a less local (Fremont, Mission area) issue, or whatever. If anyone else noticed anything?

thanx

Xn0r

10-18-09, 07:46 PM

This may be old news, but the Tivo just got another update and added Channel 785, NFL Red Zone in HD. I recall having an SD range NFL Red zone added a while ago? So is this HD version new? I have it on now, and it's showing games in HD for sure.

EDIT: Now I remember. It was channel 427, definitely SD (NFLNRZ on the Tivo). This is a new HD version I guess (785 NFLNRZD). On the Tivo at least. Not sure when Comcast added this HD version

IamMark

10-18-09, 09:33 PM

Milenkod

10-18-09, 10:47 PM

I just got a Pioneer KRP-500M, and this is my first entry into HDTV. I currently have Comcast and TiVo, so I'm eyeing the TiVo HD. However, I'm wondering what the consensus is of the quality of Comcast's HD channels here in the Bay Area (I'm in Livermore). Is the quality pretty good, or are they compressing the heck out of the channels to get more in?

Thanks.I just came from DirecTV of 13 years. Recent (unfortunate) changes in our household income forced me into a cost savings solution with Comcast Triple-Play. I can tell you without a doubt that DirecTV's SD and HD picture quality are much better than Comcast. My wife contends from a picture and hardware quality standpoint, we made a big mistake. I think of the savings were making and I'm pretty much OK with what I see.

So to answer your question, yes, it does seem that they compress the heck out of the signal. However, my neighbor has AT&T U-Verse (we are copper-last mile in older Dublin) and it's equal to what we're getting on Comcast, perhaps a shade more compressed; at least his signal appeared so.

Jobius

10-19-09, 02:53 AM

Mikef5

10-19-09, 01:58 PM

World of Now comes to my neighborhood (Bernal Heights) in San Francisco on November 16, according to a pamphlet I got in the mail on Friday. I've had some unsatisfactory communications with Comcast chat agents requesting a date for the extra HD channels prior to that (mostly apologetic reports that no date was available, but also a false report on 9/2 that they would be available on 9/29).

Ok, once again I'll try and explain this.

The pamphlets are just a notification of a proposed date, it is not written in stone and can change if things go wrong or there is a problem. It's more like they are telling you, this is what we are shooting for, it is not a drop dead date.

While CSR's are given schedules, they are not allowed to release those dates until they are given the OK to do so and that would be the same time that I get the notification. Also, even those dates are subject to change and can be delayed or can occur early depending on the situation for that area.

There is no company that can or would give out drop dead dates or give out dates or areas for upgrades early. This is mostly done to avoid customer confusion ( and being slammed for not meeting that date ) and not to let the competition know what or where Comcast is working on or where they are upgrading areas.

To make this real simple.

Pamphlets are just notifications of what is coming, not a drop dead date.
CSR's do have schedules but can not or should not release those dates until the OK is given to do that.
Lastly, all dates are subject to change, either for the better or the worse. Several areas where done early, mine included, some where on time but a few had problems and have to be delayed.

I hope this helps clarify what those dates mean or don't mean.

Laters,
Mikef5

Milenkod

10-19-09, 02:26 PM

Needs some help w/ Comcast. I bought my plan though the Concord, CA office rather than the sales center. I was supposed to get some additional programming but when I call the general support phone number to ask about the package Im supposed to get, they don't know anything about my plan and suggest that I call Concord again. However, all I have are two names of the people I spoke with and no other way to get a hold of them. Anybody know anyone in the Concord office and how to get back a hold of them?

Xn0r

10-19-09, 03:03 PM

Milenkod

10-19-09, 03:29 PM

IIRC, the last time I tried to get a local office on the phone, I've been told that there is no number to dial. That one must physically go there to talk to the reps there.I have the office number but my wife forgot to get the extension when she originally called. I guess I can just call the number, hit any extension and ask to be transferred to the person I spoke with...?

uclacody

10-19-09, 04:25 PM

so if this is in the wrong forum sorry, but i am having trouble with my comcast cable boxes.
for the hd tv i have the new black cable box from motorola with the most memory. and in the room i have the silver older non-hd box motorola.

the hd box started turning off randomly and seems like it is internally shorting out or something because it cycles through and then says to be announced for all channels. Sometimes it can download the channel guides but sometimes i have to power cycle it to get it to start. Now the box in the bedroom is doing it too.
comcast tech had no idea what was going on and we did the diagnostics on the box too and nothing was wrong, but he still told me to take the boxes back.
but has anyone else experienced this?

rsra13

10-19-09, 04:46 PM

New boxes do that. I have a DCX and it turns off by itself. However I haven't had any issue turning it on back again or missing any recording.

rxp19

10-19-09, 05:52 PM

stretch437

10-20-09, 02:52 AM

i wonder what's going on- my STB (also a new black DCX3400, although i'm not sure that has anything to do with it) started doing the same thing tonight. everything in the guide was "to be announced".

actually, i had correct guide info this evening for most channels around 6 pm. then as the evening went on i saw more and more "to be announced" start creeping into the guide for upcoming time slots.

the current program might be reported correctly, but future ones started showing up as "to be announced"

finally i pulled the power cord out of the back, replaced, and rebooted, and after a few minutes (at least 15) i got correct program guide for the current time and a few hours into the future.

FWIW firmware is still on 22.35 (although i have read in some markets they are pushing out 22.37).

MANNAXMAN

10-20-09, 03:15 PM

I've replaced two DCT6200's on the same TV because of the same issue. The first time was probably 2 years ago. I just assumed the box was dead/dying and took it in to the local center to exchange it. The second was less than a month ago. It was shutting off every ~15 minutes DURING Monday Night Football and Heroes. Before replacing it, I called Comcast and the CSR sent two different types of hits to the box. Neither of them did anything. The next day, I took it in and I upgraded to the DCX. Got it home, hooked it up and called in for activation...NO PICTURE on any channel. CSR told me to wait an hour or two and see what happens. I waited 24 hours and still no picture. Disconnected it, went back and got a different one, hooked it up and got it activated and working in less than 5 minutes. I haven't had any problems with this one so far.

aretzios

10-21-09, 02:29 AM

Tom Koegel

10-21-09, 09:38 AM

rxp19

10-21-09, 12:01 PM

My DCX does this too. I called Comcast and they "reset" it but there has been no real change. My DCT performs quite well. My guess is that the Comcast system is not compatible with the DCX, at least not yet.

I think there are different signals a CSR can send the box. You should specifically ask for them to send the signal that resets everything to factory settings. The CSR I talked with said this pretty much makes the box as if it just rolled off the assembly line. I never had this issue since.

caliwxdude

10-21-09, 01:16 PM

For those with the new DCX boxes, are they an improvement over the older DCTs and DCHs? My parents live in Southern California and are Verizon FIOS customers. They have a QIP-6200 (IIRC), which basically is a DCT configured for the FIOS system. Even though it is an "old" box, the menu system is leaps and bounds better than the very primitive DCTs. I'm wondering if the DCX has a more modern system?

If you're talking about the DCX user interface, it still uses the old and gross Rovi (formerly Macrovision) i-Guide like the rest of the DCT and DCH boxes that Comcast uses. I think it has something to do with the fact that Comcast still has some ancient STBs out there that can only handle the i-Guide, and so the entire system has to use the lowest common denominator of GUIs.

Comcast's crappy interface is part of the reason why I'm a TiVo HD user...

NickFoley

10-21-09, 02:31 PM

Has Comcast mentioned anything about expanding the lineup that is currently available on the DTV convertor boxes?

Mikef5

10-21-09, 04:30 PM

Update to the World of More for this week

######

After our launches this week, (October 22nd in Berkeley, Fremont, Hercules, Newark, Richmond, El Cerrito and San Pablo) our current plan has us adding Benicia and Vallejo on November 2nd.

Oakland is in the “on deck circle”.

######

So Vallejo comes out of Siberia a lot sooner than I thought it would and Oakland will coming to bat soon ;)

Speaking of baseball, what the heck happened to the Dodgers and Angels ?? The Angels especially with errors up the Wahzoo and the Dodgers really need someone that can pitch. Well, at least they made the playoffs which the Giant's failed to do.
Well, as the Cubs fans always say, " There's always next year " . :p;)

Laters,
Mikef5

keenan

10-21-09, 04:46 PM

Speaking of baseball, what the heck happened to the Dodgers and Angels ?? The Angels especially with errors up the Wahzoo and the Dodgers really need someone that can pitch. Well, at least they made the playoffs which the Giant's failed to do.
Well, as the Cubs fans always say, " There's always next year " . :p;)

Laters,
Mikef5

The Dodgers starting pitching was suspect from day one, the best pitcher they have is Padilla who they didn't get until very late in the season. Broxton giving up the win the other night though was crushing, we had that game won.

While I haven't given up on the Dodgers, player for player, the Phillies and the Yankees really are the two best teams.

Cal1981

10-21-09, 05:11 PM

Update to the World of More for this week

After our launches this week, (October 22nd in Berkeley, Fremont, Hercules, Newark, Richmond, El Cerrito and San Pablo) our current plan has us adding Benicia and Vallejo on November 2nd.

######

So Vallejo comes out of Siberia a lot sooner than I thought it would and Oakland will coming to bat soon ;)

Those of us living in the hopelessly mis-managed gulag of Vallejo can feel the warmth of all those HD channels radiating towards us:) Looks like we'll get NFL Red Zone HD too.

ldivinag

10-21-09, 10:04 PM

is WOM at 12 midnight oct 22?

at least for us in fremont?

bamboo510

10-22-09, 05:02 AM

is WOM at 12 midnight oct 22?

at least for us in fremont?

Channels are in the guide as of 2am! No guide data yet :D

rxp19

10-22-09, 11:15 AM

is WOM at 12 midnight oct 22?

at least for us in fremont?

Got the new channels in Fremont!

pappy97

10-22-09, 01:00 PM

Got WOM here in Newark. It's great! Only thing is now I have to spend $5/month to get some of the sports channels, like ESPNNEWS HD, NHLN HD, and of course, NFLRZ HD. I know I would have had to spend that before, but before it wasn't HD so I wouldn't get it.

bwelling

10-22-09, 01:11 PM

Got the new channels in Fremont!

But the TiVo guide data is wrong for about half of the new channels. Sigh.

avekevin

10-22-09, 04:04 PM

keenan

10-22-09, 04:56 PM

I'm pretty sure that Santa Rosa went through the conversion recently as we have additional channels now. I also noticed that Palladia is gone. Too bad, it was good background while staying up late working on HTPC stuff.

For about that last month that I had it, about 1/3 of the programming didn't have sound. I guess that's why Comcast didn't bother to try to fix it.

<shrug>

Palladia-783 is still there, works fine for me.

For Mikef5:

Just got a new lineup listing in my billing and it shows HBO/Signature-802 and HBO/2-803 under premiums. Any answer on when/if those are ever going to show up? I have this sneaky suspicion that if they don't show up soon, they're not going to show for quite awhile and that would be very disappointing. Let's not leave this job half done Comcast.

Xn0r

10-22-09, 08:17 PM

But the TiVo guide data is wrong for about half of the new channels. Sigh.
Welcome to my nightmare. It took from about august to just about a week ago to get them all fixed.

avekevin

10-22-09, 08:56 PM

Palladia-783 is still there, works fine for me.

Sure enough. It used to be located at 743. I just didn't search enough.

Kevin

bwelling

10-22-09, 10:34 PM

Welcome to my nightmare. It took from about august to just about a week ago to get them all fixed.

Oh, this is great. The guide data is wrong on Comcast's web site also, so emailing Tribune is going to have no effect. Anyone know how to get this fixed?

Xn0r

10-22-09, 10:53 PM

Oh, this is great. The guide data is wrong on Comcast's web site also, so emailing Tribune is going to have no effect. Anyone know how to get this fixed?

Yep. Similar situation here. For a while I had a mix of Tivo having the GD correct and Comcast having it wrong, and vica-versa. I think I sent in at least 7-8 lineup error reports. And a few times they actually broke channels that were working while fixing a few that were bad. Look for my "Ongoing Comcast/Tivo Program Guide Saga" posts in this thread where I vent about all this. :p

bwelling

10-22-09, 11:00 PM

Yep. Similar situation here. For a while I had a mix of Tivo having the GD correct and Comcast having it wrong, and vica-versa. I think I sent in at least 7-8 lineup error reports. And a few times they actually broke channels that were working while fixing a few that were bad. Look for my "Ongoing Comcast/Tivo Program Guide Saga" posts in this thread where I vent about all this. :p

Yeah, I remember seeing reading parts of it, but I didn't realize that it was wrong on both ends. You'd think they'd want to avoid another several months of this...

Dragunov1

10-23-09, 01:30 AM

To confirm I had the DNS problems here too, couple of days ago. Switched my router to the good old 4.2.2.1 & 4.2.2.2 DNS servers and no problems now.

ldivinag

10-23-09, 03:02 AM

anyone else getting black screens for the new channels?

btw... weather channel in HD? lol...

btw, where's SPEED HD? i'm already paying for the SD channel...

oh... nm.... found speed hd... oops...

Tom Koegel

10-23-09, 08:12 AM

If you're talking about the DCX user interface, it still uses the old and gross Rovi (formerly Macrovision) i-Guide like the rest of the DCT and DCH boxes that Comcast uses. I think it has something to do with the fact that Comcast still has some ancient STBs out there that can only handle the i-Guide, and so the entire system has to use the lowest common denominator of GUIs.

Comcast's crappy interface is part of the reason why I'm a TiVo HD user...

Yes, that's the info I was looking for. I'm always trying to keep current on my options . . . switched to D* in the spring and am happy . . . but the HSI bandwidth makes me continue to consider a future switch back to Comcast. I won't do it if my choices are that ancient UI or having to come out of pocket for a Tivo for each TV in the house. The UI on the FIOS box is not as good as D* . . . certainly not as good as Tivo . . . but it's leaps and bounds better than the Comcast one in use here in the SF Bay Area.

Thanks for the info.

nereus

10-23-09, 01:00 PM

anyone else getting black screens for the new channels?

In Fremont, last night between 10:15-a while later (11ish?), most of the new channels disappeared. (Since I was trying to watch Holy Grail), ... they got better.

Brian Conrad

10-23-09, 03:18 PM

Just read about a rumor of layoffs at Comcast and they may be outsourcing support to India or the Philippines. Wouldn't that be fun?

Brian Conrad

10-23-09, 04:47 PM

keenan

10-23-09, 05:38 PM

I also just got my bill which had a new price list and line-up on it. I notice that "Digital Starter" is gone. And it (as usual) is a little difficult to figure out what the line-up really means or if it is really even applicable to my area.

I think it's what "Starter Package/Value Package...$61.99" might be. It still has a Digital Starter lineup on the reverse side of the sheet.

millerwill

10-25-09, 07:35 PM

rxp19

10-26-09, 04:03 PM

AndyN

10-26-09, 04:21 PM

Got the new WOM in Fremont and very happy. For a casual NFL fan RED ZONE HD is awesome. exciting all the time.

Also, perhaps just my imagination, but the HD quality seems to be better. No macroblocking that I noticed and no orange ghost with fast transitions. Any one else notice this or are my eyes just getting worse so that everything looks ok. Neither would be bad.

keenan

10-26-09, 05:02 PM

Looks like Comcast is still running their $10.99 special on the Preferred Package + Showtime/Encore for customers with Digital Starter.

This pretty much opens all of the non-sport non-premium HD channels that the digital starter doesn't include. It does include ESPNU/HD which the Sports Package does not include.

What's nice is even if you have a promotion already, (e.g. $29.99/mo Digital Starter) this simply just adds $10.99 to your billing. So you won't lose your current promotion benefits.

Yup, that's what I did, it basically gives you everything other than the one's you noted. For $41 per month I get all the Preferred channels, and Showtime for a $1 per month, and HBO for free. The offer is good until the end of the year by the way.

Mikef5

10-26-09, 09:38 PM

The WOM finally arrived in Berkeley this past Thursday, enabling me to get the NFL RedZone in HD. Wow, this is neat--like having PIP with 6 or more screens to switch between. Since it's so worthless watching the Niners and Raiders games, this is esp useful to be able to see the best part of the best games. I'm sold.

I gave up on the Raiders along time ago. Blacking out games isn't going to get fans to go to their games.... a winning team gets them there and a ticket price that would allow an entire family to go to their games and not have to mortgage their house. I still watch the 49er's, they at least will buy up tickets and give them to local charities to prevent the game from being blacked out.

I watched the RedZone HD for the last 2 Sundays ( all day long just to make sure it was good all day ) and I've got to admit that it's much better than I thought it was going to be. The picture was sharp and clear and the announcers are very good, very impressed so far, I hope they keep things like it is and not screw it up by over compressing it. So when the 49er's game isn't being shown I'll be watching this channel for sure. Heck, it might make me a football fan again. :p;)

Laters,
Mikef5

millerwill

10-26-09, 10:09 PM

I watched the RedZone HD for the last 2 Sundays ( all day long just to make sure it was good all day ) and I've got to admit that it's much better than I thought it was going to be. The picture was sharp and clear and the announcers are very good, very impressed so far, I hope they keep things like it is and not screw it up by over compressing it. So when the 49er's game isn't being shown I'll be watching this channel for sure. Heck, it might make me a football fan again. :p;)

Laters,
Mikef5

And it's great how they switch to another game when there is a commercial time out on one of them. It's my first experience with the RedZone, and I'm very impressed. It had me revetted the whole time 10am - 5 pm. I didn't need to watch any of the summary recaps of the day's games.

That Don Guy

10-27-09, 02:11 PM

I gave up on the Raiders along time ago. Blacking out games isn't going to get fans to go to their games.... a winning team gets them there and a ticket price that would allow an entire family to go to their games and not have to mortgage their house. I still watch the 49er's, they at least will buy up tickets and give them to local charities to prevent the game from being blacked out.
I was under the impression that the Raiders and/or KPIX do the same thing, but they have to get to the point where the NFL considers them close enough to a blackout that they will grant a 24-hour extension to the 72-hour limit (otherwise it's just too expensive), and with the Raiders, that just doesn't happen particularly often.

And I for one hope NFL Red Zone doesn't become too popular; otherwise, the NFL may give serious consideration to blacking it out in areas where a blacked-out game is being played (otherwise it pretty much defeats the purpose of having the blackout rule).

-- Don

Cal1981

10-27-09, 03:35 PM

And it's great how they switch to another game when there is a commercial time out on one of them. It's my first experience with the RedZone, and I'm very impressed. It had me revetted the whole time 10am - 5 pm. I didn't need to watch any of the summary recaps of the day's games.

I've been watching RedZone in SD. I have been very impressed with the presentation and the game choices made by the directors. I also think that Scott Hanson, the host, does a very good job. This weekend is the last time that I should be watching RedZone in SD. We get our additional HD channels on Monday, woo hoo!

millerwill

10-27-09, 05:03 PM

I've been watching RedZone in SD. I have been very impressed with the presentation and the game choices made by the directors. I also think that Scott Hanson, the host, does a very good job. This weekend is the last time that I should be watching RedZone in SD. We get our additional HD channels on Monday, woo hoo!

You're going to LOVE it! It's by far my most enjoyable addition fro WOM.

ldivinag

10-27-09, 10:07 PM

so what's everyone's fav WOM channel so far...

mds54

10-28-09, 04:52 PM

so what's everyone's fav WOM channel so far...

NFLRZ beats any single channel I've ever had, as a total NFL fan.
It removes the need or desire for DTV's Sunday Ticket, at a couple hundred bucks. The announcer is good, and there is not a single commercial! By the end of the day, I feel like I've watched every football game in HD (which includes blacked-out Raider games), and have enjoyed watching the conclusion of a few OT games which we would never have seen here on the West Coast. This channel by itself makes everything else worth it! :D

pappy97

10-29-09, 02:06 PM

And I for one hope NFL Red Zone doesn't become too popular; otherwise, the NFL may give serious consideration to blacking it out in areas where a blacked-out game is being played (otherwise it pretty much defeats the purpose of having the blackout rule).

But blacking out the entire channel while a game is on subject to local black-out is too extreme (and keeps fans away from non-blacked out games). And blacking out only live portions of a blacked out game in a specific market is probably too difficult to manage. I seriously doubt the NFL would ever give any serious consideration to blacking out NFL redzone, ever. They are printing money with that channel.

If anything the day may come when they repeal their own black out rule. It's not like teams are dependent on attendance revenue today and the NFL doesn't need the rule anymore.

walk

10-29-09, 02:23 PM

They haven't needed the rule for 20 years but that hasn't stopped them from enforcing it.

Any rate, I doubt they will start blacking out Red Zone. DirecTV has the sports mix channels and they don't black out games from there.

diskus

10-29-09, 06:04 PM

But blacking out the entire channel while a game is on subject to local black-out is too extreme (and keeps fans away from non-blacked out games). And blacking out only live portions of a blacked out game in a specific market is probably too difficult to manage. I seriously doubt the NFL would ever give any serious consideration to blacking out NFL redzone, ever. They are printing money with that channel.

If anything the day may come when they repeal their own black out rule. It's not like teams are dependent on attendance revenue today and the NFL doesn't need the rule anymore.
The other fear would be it becomes a premium or even PPV channel

avgirl319

10-29-09, 08:12 PM

Got a DCX-3400. Really nice box. Just plugged it and tested a couple of HD channels. I changed the setting to output native resolution too. And yeah, noted the bug related to the sound (delay in sound when switching to an HD channel). Since this is for my bedroom it's fine for me. I have a DCH-3400 in my home theater room and no issues, other than the crappy SD image in a 100'' screen :D

Anyone in SF Bay get the DCX-3400 or I guess more accurately the DCX-3432 with 320GB? I'm in Berkeley and wondering if it is offered in this market. Thanks

Barovelli

10-29-09, 11:35 PM

Anyone in SF Bay get the DCX-3400 or I guess more accurately the DCX-3432 with 320GB? I'm in Berkeley and wondering if it is offered in this market. Thanks

I got one, I waited for the HDMI issues were resolved before taking one home and by the time I was ready (or better put, the recordings on the old DCH had been watched) the '320 was out.

They should be in the mix everywhere.

avgirl319

10-30-09, 03:12 PM

I got one, I waited for the HDMI issues were resolved before taking one home and by the time I was ready (or better put, the recordings on the old DCH had been watched) the '320 was out.

They should be in the mix everywhere.

Thanks Barovelli. How did you go about getting yours? By going to a Comcast warehouse or did a tech need to bring it to you?

Mikef5

10-30-09, 04:56 PM

Thanks Barovelli. How did you go about getting yours? By going to a Comcast warehouse or did a tech need to bring it to you?

Yeah Dave, how did you get yours ??
You must know someone at the warehouse :D:D:D

Laters,
Mikef5

keenan

10-30-09, 05:12 PM

Yeah Dave, how did you get yours ??
You must know someone at the warehouse :D:D:D

Laters,
Mikef5

Any word yet on those HBO's? There was something else as well... I think it was about that oddly named MLB channel.

Mikef5

10-30-09, 05:19 PM

Any word yet on those HBO's? There was something else as well... I think it was about that oddly named MLB channel.
Nope, nothing yet on the HBO channels. As a matter of fact I haven't heard from him in a while, must be busy buying NBC :p ( just kidding Mr. J. :) ).

What oddly named MLB channel ??

Laters,
Mikef5

keenan

10-30-09, 05:39 PM

Nope, nothing yet on the HBO channels. As a matter of fact I haven't heard from him in a while, must be busy buying NBC :p ( just kidding Mr. J. :) ).

What oddly named MLB channel ??

Laters,
Mikef5

It was "MLB League Pass", which doesn't exist as far as I know. It's listed in the following post you made about channel additions.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17271303#post17271303

Also, once you reached him, I'd be interested to know exactly how, or even if, Comcast does their MLBEI, if they have HD games and how many channels, etc. I put my DirecTV account on 6 mos suspension until next April when baseball starts again. If Comcast can give me reasonably close to what I can get with with DirecTV's MLBEI package then I might just cancel the service. This also depends on those HBO channels, which frankly, I think you're being smoke-screened on, my guess is that the Comcast brain trust has decided that the subscriber base in this area is not interested in the channels. This, of course, was no doubt determined by those widely participated in and extensively researched customer surveys I'm sure every one of us here has had the opportunity to take part in. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

thompson11

10-30-09, 05:44 PM

keenan

10-30-09, 05:53 PM

Quick question on the WOM upgrade (re: signal strength)

I'm in Berkeley -- prior to the update, I had a real issue getting the local NBC affiliate in HD. My TiVo had major issues maintaining a signal lock, lots of macroblocking/audio hiccups.

Now, I'm not seeing any of that. Everything seems great, no audio problems, TiVo reports signal strength is much improved. I'm pleased with the new channel options, but wasn't expecting to see a signal boost. Is this just a coincidence?

Not entirely no, the process of removing and adding channels also can change their location frequency-wise and their relative signal strength/quality. You may have had KNTV in or near a trapped frequency prior to the upgrade, and after at a frequency that is more stable. That is to say, you shouldn't have had a problem before as it should have been addressed and rectified by Comcast, but because of the channel migration process they "lucked out" of having to deal with as it now works well in it's new frequency home.

thompson11

10-30-09, 06:01 PM

Not entirely no, the process of removing and adding channels also can change their location frequency-wise and their relative signal strength/quality. You may have had KNTV in or near a trapped frequency prior to the upgrade, and after at a frequency that is more stable. That is to say, you shouldn't have had a problem before as it should have been addressed and rectified by Comcast, but because of the channel migration process they "lucked out" of having to deal with as it now works well in it's new frequency home.

Cool. I figured it might have been something like that. I probably should have had Comcast come out and look at the signal strength issues but... well, getting Comcast + TiVo + CableCards to work in the first place was a painful process. I didn't want to deal with that again ;)

Barovelli

10-31-09, 01:17 PM

Yeah Dave, how did you get yours ??
You must know someone at the warehouse :D:D:D

Laters,
Mikef5

Apologies for being away, was totally absorbed in Windows 7 install (which by the way is pretty nifty - the Media Center channel scan picks up and tags the QAM channels. Good while it lasts)

New shipments of DCX DVRs are 320g ones. Suddenly there's more. No fanfare, no added cost, just more. Gotta say it's hit or miss, but since the DCX is new there are few returns - chances of getting one at the service counter is good. I always recommend going to a service center that is part of a large facility over one that is part of a shopping center or mall.

Have to admit that I am wary of new equipment. Some recordings are not playing - watched World Series while Survivor was recording. Go to watch Survivor and it blinks and crashes. :confused:

drowningape

11-01-09, 01:08 AM

I got a DCX 3432 by going to my local Comcast office and asking for one. They were out, but were nice enough to call around and find an office with one in stock and have them hold it for me. I drove down to the Comcast office/yard in Hayward and picked it up, it was pretty painless. The person at the local office in Alameda who helped me said they get new boxes on Mondays and Fridays.

rsra13

11-01-09, 11:46 AM

I may need to try get a new DCX, besides the one I already have, to replace a DCH. The DCH, the one that's plugged to the projector, is missing recording some shows, it's very random, it shows them as recording but then when I go to check the recording there is nothing there. I have had zero issues with my DCX that's why I'm thinking the DCH is going to be replaced. I didn't have any issues with the DCH up until a few months ago, and the missing recordings are not that frequent but still...

rsra13

11-01-09, 11:51 AM

Keenan and the rest of the people in Santa Rosa, how much are you paying for cable/internet with Comcast? I'm trying to get a better package for my inlaws, right now they are paying standard rate for internet ~$44 or something. And they have a special rate for cable tv that includes HBO and all of the plus channels.
I think I've read here that some of you pay ~$60 for tv and internet, that's why I'm wondering about that.
Their needs are really basic, internet normal/low? speed, and same with TV, no HD, no DVR. I'm almost sure they are paying ~$100 right now that I think it's too much for what they are getting.

juancmjr

11-01-09, 01:41 PM

rsra13,
my total bill comes to almost $177 with all 3 services. To be more specific I have Digital Starter with OD, 2 HD boxes, HBO, Cinemax; HBO and Selecto channels come in no charge for a year. My internet is Blast level (16mbps) for $10 and $5 modem rental. I'm sure you could get your inlaws a better deal than that.

keenan

11-01-09, 02:36 PM

I had Limited Basic and HSI Blast 16/2 for about $73 per month. With the promos/deals I got Digital Starter for $29.99 and HSI Blast 16/2 for $29.99. The HSI price is locked for a year and the Digital Starter price is good for 2 years. Along with the Digital Starter promo I got HBO for free for 2 years. I have since added the Preferred package which is being offered at $9.95 per mo with Showtime for an additional $1 per month. The Preferred price is locked for a year. I own the HSI modem so no rental charge on that. The monthly bill for all the above runs about $78-$80.

keenan

11-01-09, 02:36 PM

rxp19

11-01-09, 04:17 PM

juancmjr

11-01-09, 04:44 PM

How did you get the 16/2 HSI for $10 per month?

Not sure. It's what it says on the itemized portion of the bill. Originally the account was set up by my sister years ago, and she has infinitely better negotiating skills than I do; among her responsibilities at her work is purchasing. I know we could probably squeeze a few more freebies out of them. OTOH, I could chalk it up as some sort of Comcast inconsistency.

Cal1981

11-01-09, 05:16 PM

We're supposed to get our World of More roll out tomorrow. To those of you who have gotten it already, do the changes happen after midnight tonight or tomorrow night? Thanks.

keenan

11-01-09, 05:58 PM

Not sure. It's what it says on the itemized portion of the bill. Originally the account was set up by my sister years ago, and she has infinitely better negotiating skills than I do; among her responsibilities at her work is purchasing. I know we could probably squeeze a few more freebies out of them. OTOH, I could chalk it up as some sort of Comcast inconsistency.

Interesting, the "inconsistency" is a likely suspect, I've been the beneficiary of a Comcast inconsistency for years now. :)