Cox says their tuning adapter won't work with my Ceton InfiniTV 4... help?

I don't have Cox (Charter here) but a Switched Video Adapter works for both Tivo and Windows Media Center.

Did you run the Digital Cable Adviser under Extras?

If you're only getting basic cable then they didn't properly setup your cablecard on their end. The tuning adapter works just fine on Ceton tuners - they don't know what they are talking about.

Open a ticket with Ceton. They were very helpful with some initial issues I had when setting up service with Charter here in Greenville, SC. I believe they actually contacted the local Charter techs and advised what needed to be done.

Good luck! Once you get it set up, you'll love it.

Edit to add: You know that this tuner will only receive digital channels, right? No analog channels.

Please open a ticket with us and PM me the ticket number. Cox's TA (along with all TA's) does work with the InfiniTV, and I want to get this straightened out for you.

I just went through this about 1 month ago. I'm in Fairfax VA but it's still cox and i assume they use the same tech here as they do out there.

They provided the MCard and a Cisco STA1520 Tuning Adapter.

The tuning adapter does support all 4 tuners for the Ceton.

To make it work i had to install this in parallel. Do not install in series, this caused problems for some reason with tuning channels.

Just make sure you check your devices tab on your computer to make sure the STA1520 is installed. Also check in WMC7 that it shows up under Ceton > Tuning Adapters.

Cox was extremely generous with offering support. But in the end their support was terrible, the techs that came out knew NOTHING about it, the people he called on my home phone knew NOTHING and the people on the phone knew NOTHING. They were trying to figure it out as they went even screwing up my HTPC a few times by uninstalling drivers and pulling the MCard out while the HTPC was on, I could go on, but in the end the answer to your question is YES. Ceton works with the TA they provide and works with COX.

Oh and btw checked their website for you xxx:\\\\ww2.cox.com/residential/centralflorida/support/tv/article.cox?articleId=%7Bb8889a60-d706-11df-66a2-000000000000%7D and it says they support it.

sorry for link 1st post :/

jacamera,

If I were you, I would submit a ticket to Ceton as soon as you can. That way it will give them some time to deal with the issue. The road may be paved for a smooth install next time. I would send a description of the problem, your contact info. to include your street address. This will help them help you :=)

Just to give you a data point to throw at Cox, I'm on Cox in Palos Verdes, so I have the same TA as you do. It works fine with the Ceton card.

It was a real PITA getting things working, however. I finally opened case number with Ceton, and Eric kindly interceded to get them to send out a tech who knew his tush from a hot rock. The tech told me that there are only 2 or 3 Cetons that he knew of in the entire OC/PV area. That's a little hard to believe, but the number has got to be pretty small, which probably accounts for Cox's ignorance of the card.

The next problem was that they insisted that I needed their whole home receiver to be able to receive more than a couple of the HBO and Showtime HD channels. I wound up filing an official complaint with the FCC. This resulted in an apologetic call, and I subsequently got all the HBO/Showtime channels. I also received a letter from a Cox lawyer stating that they're straightening out and flying right. I wouldn't wager much on that. I really would have preferred not to go the complaint route, but there's essentially no way to avoid it. They won't let you talk to anyone who can right wrongs.

1) To install in parallel, use a spliter. A two-way splitter works just fine. Just make sure the signal is good to the end of the coax.
Install the splitter. One to the TA and the other to the Ceton card.
2)YES!!!!!! The TA has got to be plugged in to the computer. This is how the Computer (CETON CARD) Communicates with the TA!!!! Otherwise it doesn't know how to send the signal for the SDV to turn on that channel for you! Plug that USB IN and check to make sure the device drivers install.
3) As I stated earlier in my post I was given the STA1520. Check to see what they give you and post it up here. I bet they give you the same thing.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

We have winner!!!

I am prety sure if you shot that tech in the head, he would still live, since there is no gray or white matter between his ears.

How in the world is the TA supposed to communicate with the PC?

Did he also tell you not to plug in the power cord for the TV? BTW, was the power cord plugged in for the TA?

I always suggest that people ask techs to put things in writing when they make "off the wall" recommendations. It can be useful in getting the company to train them properly.

I am about to "pull the trigger" on ordering a TV4 for use with my Cox San Diego service. The tech on the phone says that the "tuning adapter" is only for on-demand and PPV services, and that I do not need it.......I am not even really sure what a TA does????

Anyway, the Cox website says no interactive program guide.....fine, but will Windows Media Center be able to correctly show the channels and shows in the MC guide and record time-shift etc? Stupid questions but when your about to plunk down a few hundred dollars, you wana confirm a few things! :-D

Paul Anderegg

No it is other way around. You absolutely need a TA for normal programming if they offer one in your market and you can't get interactive or PPV regardless. WMC comes with its own program guide.

It sounds like this tech needs to re-read their training - Tuning Adapters are for switched digital video channels (in fact, they have nothing to do with PPV or On Demand). In almost all markets (Cablevision is the main exception - only some service tiers need TAs) if TAs are offered in your market, a TA is needed. That said, Cox doesn't use TAs in all markets. I would say if they have them, push to get one, if not, just try without it - worst case if you need one and you can't get one, we can reach out to Cox.

You will get an EPG (and be able to time shift, etc) with WMC and CableCARD. Most likely what Cox is trying to say there is the guide doesn't come from them (which is correct - in this case, the guide comes from MS).

Suprising how lame these CabaleCo techs are. Charter insisted on sending one (on their dime after I reminded them of the self install rules) and I pretty much taught the tech how to install a TA and CableCARD. They didn't even show up with instructions but that's okay because I looked t the model numer of he TA While he fiddled around, d/l'd them and printed them out before he could finish hooking up the splitter to the modem.

What is a Tuning Adapter ? http://www.cablelabs.com/opencable/udcp/downloads/Switched-Digital-Video-Tuning-Adapter-FAQ.pdf

One of the big issues with setting up the Ceton card is NOT the card it is the mistake you will make if you let your cable provider do a "truck roll" to come screw up your system. Most of them have never delt with a Ceton much less a htpc . WORD TO THE WISE , do not let anyone touch the htpc or any other part of your system if the vehicle that pulled into your driveway is a Cable Co. van . All you need to do is get the Ceton card , cable card and a tuning adapter. The rest a well trained monkey can do . BTW ... I would stay away from adding splitters in your cable lines . The Ceton requires a very good cable signal and splitters that the general public can buy will be a problem for sure .

If you have phone issues with getting a cable tech to help you get what you need and get the Ceton paired (cable card) with there system then you need to ask for A) Another tech or B) contact Ceton support . Ceton will if at a last resort get between you and your cable provider and get the work done !!! Trust me , I know .



100% correct

My experiences getting the card paired and activated with Cox have been awful. Most of the techs don't know what they are talking about, and it seems that they do not have any actual training documentation on how to handle cable cards on their end. Even worse, I recently had a cable card fail abruptly, causing me to need a replacement and reactivation. Wouldn't have been so bad, except that the replacement I picked up at the Cox store was part of a bad batch. Didn't know this until finally agreeing to a truck roll, and having to go through a full ten cards before we got one that would properly pair. The Ceton card itself, and the support, has been fantastic. It's once again the cable companies that seem to mess everything up.

On the plus side, the one knowledgeable tech at Cox that I have spoken to out of the many told me that there was a phone app being developed to allow self-activation of their equipment. He said cable cards were last on the list to be added to it, but that it would be available at some point. Sure beats having to call up and stay on hold for 20-25 minutes, just to possibly get someone who has no idea what they are doing.

I just got my Ceton, CableCard, and Cisco TA installed..........I can only get the local off the air stations, and watch one local HD channel, and I get no signal for everything else. I am unable to record even a single channel, not even the one I am watching live. Ceton said to send them the diagnostics log....while I was doing that, the Ceton program said to install the new firmware, which I did.........now I get "service is unavailable" on ALL channels. Ceton is being very proactive and helpful, I hope they can get me all fixed up.

By the way, this install is just one cablecard and one TA.....I can imagine how much of a nightmare this will be attempting to add the second TA. By the way, how the hell do you connect TWO TA's? Each TA will want to be plugged into the Cetons single ant in connector?!?!?!!?

Paul

Your CableCO needs to send a provisioning "hit" to your CableCARD to tell it what you subscribe to.

What are your signal strngths?

Also, try power cycling. Unplug all power and cable. Connect the TA first and wait untill all LED's are solids. Then connect the USB and cable to the ceton and powery up the PC.

For nearly the past year (the anniversary is coming up 8/1 or 8/8 depending on who you ask) TAs have been required to support 4 streams so you will no longer need 2 TAs hooked up to a single infiniTV4. If the 6 tuner version came out you might need two TAs but most support 6 streams. The coax connection of the TA does not need to be connected to the ceton, and in some cases should not be... they communicate with each other from USB (through the computer) not the coax. Note you do need both the TA and the Ceton connected by coax to the cable company. I had heard of some people having problems with the TA's passthrough handling 840MHz-1GHz signals. Others have had problems that if the TA isn't working no signal passing through and/or (whether working or not) a greater loss than a splitter, though many do have a better signal through the passthrough than through a splitter. Cox usually recommends getting the cablecard working and paired first prior to installing the TA.

Since this is a cox thread (by the thread title), I'm assuming that is your provider. I believe with the exception of San Diego and/or OC, most cox areas set CCI to copy once on all except locals so you must be using windows 7 media center and have run/passed the digital cable advisor to view anything other than locals.
Edited by signcarver - 7/26/12 at 1:08am

Actually the TA's are required to support at least as many streams as the CableCo's best DVR so if their's supports six streams then they need to provide a TA that supports six streams too. All TA's must support at least four streams but could be required to support more based on what the provider's DVR's support.

Disconnect the daisy chain TA-Ceton and instead get a quality splitter, connect one end of it to the Ceton, and the other to the TA

See if that works.

FYI - Omaha is "copy freely" on everything but the premium movie channels.