Atlanta, GA - Comcast - Page 164

Same letter and same date yesterday in Norcross 30092. The letter had the Xfinity branding. Also got a good laugh out of the urgent "SECOND NOTICE" wording since the urgent first notice came last August.

6 new HD channels on the grid on PTC..30269.

Fox News (not that I care to watch news, but I digress)...FXHD, SpeedHD...saw this am, LifeHD, NicHD and SpikeHD...

On a totally unrelated point, one thing I really like is I can get all the weather info I need very quickly on 212...thanks Comcast...simple and to the point.

Thanks for the heads up! I just checked and I have the 3 new ones (1st 3 came a few days ago) too . . . AND with picture.

Also in 30269, and I have the same six HD channels. Anyone receive any notifications from Comcast? It looks like the CSR info I referenced several weeks ago may be right about WOM coming to zip 30269.

I am in Lilburn/Norcross area, 30047, and I noticed these channels today. I think I have had Speed and maybe FX before because I watched the Nascar All-Star race on Speed Saturday night. I am very happy about Fox News and Spike though. (Finally UFC Ultimate Fighter in HD) My wife is thrilled about Lifetime....Blah

I have the six new hd channels all with picture. Still no Wom hopefully next month. 30297

These same six HD channels are on the grid and available in 30135 this morning.

Just got the email that Uverse is available at my house (30306, VaHi). Decisions, decisions. Putting aside the whole "Comcast is evil" argument (I've had plenty of bad experiences with AT&T as well), can somebody remind me of the technological reasons to stick with Comcast? Multi-room DVR is very alluring and with no set timeframe for that feature coming to Comcast it's tempting to jump ship.

BTW, at this time I only have 2 HDTVs in my house and we almost never have both on at the same time.

I'll only say that it never hurts to compare prices.etc..if you don't want to switch after that, it wouldn't hurt to call Comcast and ask them if they can offer you any better deal than you have now. Many times, they will offer some type of incentive to stay.

When U-verse became available here in Lilburn, I looked into it pretty hard. What killed it for me are the following issues even if it had a better price.

1. You can only watch or record 1 HD channel at a time. They say you can record up to 4 channels but that is only on SD. This goes for the entire house. 1 HD channel for the house at a time and if you are watching a HD channel anywhere in the house, then the DVR cannot record another HD channel.

2. HD Picture Quality. I have seen the SD quality is fantastic, but the HD quality is fair at best even when compared to the compressed crap that Comcast sends out.

3. Contracts Contracts Contracts. AT&T is requiring a 2 year contract to get whatever their promotional rate it. If you ever make any service changes, the contract re-starts. Comcast has no contracts.


Personally I say give u-verse a few years to get to the point where they can support HD better and then look at them again. If you have to switch from Comcast, I suggest getting a dish.

I got an Xfinity ad on the last page of my Comcast e-bill. I'm in PTC/30269.

Add this technical issue to the list of U-verse problems.

You have to have your local subnet set to 192.168.1.xxx

This can be a major problem if trying to VPN in to a client with the same subnet, such as your employer.

Plus, two things that have nothing to do with TV, but with AT&T as a company:

1) AT&T lies about their DSL Internet speed. I know that's not TV, but usually you bundle services with one provider for supposed savings. With their DSL, they often give you a slower speed than you are paying for-- sometimes half -- then make excuses about "line noise" and crap. Whereas everywhere I have measured Comcast (my house, friends' houses, relatives' houses), their internet speed is equal or even above what they promise. Plus AT&T's fastest speed is 6mpbs (but you will never get that) -- for $43 per month. Comcast's default speed is 12mbps -- for $43 per month.

2) AT&T nickels and dimes you to death with various fees and surcharges. Yeah, I know you will say Comcast tries to do the same, but not like AT&T. They are the masters at padding the monthly bill.

I have used the clear QAM removal as a test to see if I can do internet only TV, and it turns out that I can. (boxee FTW) The only real loss for me was TLC/Discovery, and they don't do much online (fail) so they may just lose me.

All I want is to have some sort of open standard that lets me use my own device my own way. I will pay, it's not that I want things for free, but I don't want to have anyone cram anything down my throat the way they intend, and I don't want to pay for a bunch of crap that I don't use. Why is this such a hard thing to come by?

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Let's take the last question first. You want a serious answer?


Lots of people have lobbied for a la carte channels -- just to get the few channels they think they want, or at least not "pay" for the channels they swear they never watch. Most times people watch or surf through more channels than they think -- but let's say you only give people the hypothetical 10 channels they think they want. (Say the locals, plus a handful of others). What's going to happen is they will end up paying about $50 for those 10 channels instead of paying about $60 for 200 channels.

Why? No, it's not because Comcast is "greedy". It's business. The cable companies do not really charge you equally for how many channels you get. There's not a real "per channel" cost. (For the same reason in the same store you pay $1.10 for a 20oz coke and $1.50 for a 2-liter coke, which is 67 oz. You are NOT paying a real per-ounce cost for soda.)


1) However, the most popular cable networks DO charge a per customer fee. Earlier this year, Scripps Networks (Food Network, Travel Channel, HGTV, DIY, Fine Living, etc) went through hardball re-negotiations for more money with CableVision in New York city to be paid more since they had the most popular channels. For a few days, cable customers there could not get those networks. There was a similar standoff between Scripps and Time-Warner Cable.

Point is, the channels you want are probably the "most popular" channels anyway -- like ESPN -- and they have higher licensing fees for the cable companies. If you ONLY want a few channels, but they are the ones most people want, then you will still have to pay for the higher licensing fees. You will have to bear the brunt of the costs. (Just like paying $1.10 for the 20-oz soda instead of $1.50 for the 2-liter -- 67 oz -- bottle. You want less soda? Sorry, you still have to pay almost as much.)

The only way your bill might go down considerably with a la carte is if you chose the 10 LEAST popular channels, which would have lower per customer fees.


2) The media companies force bundles on the cable companies.

* Disney owns ABC Family, ESPN (1,2,3), Disney (1,2,3) plus the ABC stations in several of the top markets.

* Time-Warner/Turner owns CNN, HLN, TNT, TCM, TBS, Cartoon Network.

* We've already discussed what Scripps owns (Food Network, HGTV, etc.)

* Discovery owns Discovery (1,2), TLC, Animal Planet, Science, HD Theater, and like 10 more.

These media companies do NOT NOT split up their networks. Disney-ABC tells Comcast, "You want ESPN -- then you have to take everything." All or nothing. YOU may only want the main ESPN channel, not the other two minor ESPN channels. You may not have kids and couldn't care less about Disney. But Comcast has to take them all, to get the few channels their customers really demand.

You may not like bundling but it mimics what the cable companies have forced down their throat, too.


3) Cable infrastructure costs. Same reason you aren't going to pay Wal-Mart prices for aspirin in the hospital. No matter how few or many channels you watch, there's overhead cost you will pay. The cable companies try to throw in as many channels as they can to make it seem like you are getting a good deal.


So, $60 for 200 channels is 30 cents per channel. But let's say you only want 10 channels. Sorry, you will not be paying $3.00. You will still be paying at least $50 for those 10 channels -- for the three reasons mentioned above. "A la carte" will not save you a lot of money, due to the way the business costs are generated for the cable companies.

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"Open standard"? That people can easily crack and pirate? Try again.

No one is offering what you suggest, because what you suggest does not work. EVER. The cable companies are now doing what the satellite-TV companies and the telephone-TV companies did from the beginning -- verify and authenticate customers.

The closest to what you suggest is cableCARD that goes INSIDE the TV. Have you heard of it? But it still verifies you are a customer and authorizes the package you are supposed to get.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CableCARD


It's an internal device, like a miniature set-top box inside your TV. Comcast does offer CableCARDs. However, not all TVs have slots for them.

Oh, and satellite-TV companies do not offer cableCARDs nor does AT&T U-Verse. They require set top boxes. Verizon FIOS lets you use cableCARDs.

Don't forget the new FCC proposal for a standard home IP gateway which will hopefully be imposed on ALL video providers. Should use a combination of DLNA and DTCP-IP but will allow 'open' access without special cards or other hardware - it's just ethernet and software.

Had not heard of this, thanks for the info. But it's still some sort of authenticating device. There's an "adapter" that sounds very much like a small set top box.

From your link:

I know that this is not on topic, but I'm new to the site, and I am trying to get some info on a show named "Real Women, Real Issues. Can anybody point me to a link or, page or something that discusses thie program. I belive te hostess is named Adrianne.

Thank you all for your patience.
DJ

Of course it's an authenticating device (FCC calls it Allvid now), but only to get the content into your house. There are two types of gateways under consideration - a 'set back box' that would sit behind a TV and provide two tuners so you could have PIP and which might be controlled via HDMI-CEC (i.e. one remote control for TV and box), and a 'whole house' gateway with 6 tuners or more that DLNA-enabled devices could access and control via ethernet or MoCA. Think Tivo, Moxi, some new DVR or TV, etc.

The box is provider-specific and has the proprietary interface with satellite, telco, or cable provider on the RF side, but on the consumer side it's just IP over cat5 or RG6 (or HDMI for the set back box). That's the standard the FCC and MVPD/CE industries have to come up with.

Hopefully it will be of benefit to us and we'll be able to buy 'Allvid enabled' stuff at retail, but we saw how well that 'standard' went with Cablecard.

slowbiscuit,

I'm looking to pick up a factory renewed Tivo HD XL to replace a Comcast Moto DCX3400. I think I'm getting my wife argued over to the benefits that come with the $600 price tag. Since you seem to understand where this Allvid is going, do you see a short or long term impact on units designed to work with the current Cablecard technology? In other words, would a Tivo HD XL be obsolete in three or four years?

Thanks,
Jason

I know that this is not on topic, but I'm new to the site, and I am trying to get some info on a show named "Real Women, Real Issues.

All google reveals is a website:

http://www.realwomenrealissues.com/

Don't know about the Tivo, but I think the Moxi is DLNA compliant already . . . so if the gateway uses that, you should be good to go.

Cablecard is not going away anytime soon - don't forget the current gen Moto DVRs use Cablecard because all devices built after July 07 had to use CCs for security, and this large installed base will keep CCs around for some time to come. I think the only reason I might hesitate in getting an HD XL is the question on whether Tivo will roll out support for the gateway interface on the HD series (whenever these gateways get out in the field - supposed to happen by end of 2012). I don't think there's any question that they will release these updates for the Premiere series, but at some point they're going to stop releasing updates for the discontinued HDs.

But given that CCs are not going away, the only thing you'd (potentially) lose with the HDs is the ability to access Comcast OnDemand via the gateway, assuming they put two-way services into the spec (I'd imagine they will).

In the Forsyth area here where HD channels usually start at 201.

Just went up to the 800s to see if any new HD channels were there. A few months ago I noticed local nbc or cbs HD added there, but it was the lone HD channel. Now I am seeing FXhd, Lifetime HD (hah), SpeedTVhd, SpikeHD, FOX news HD along with the rest of the original HD line up starting at 802. Nice to finally see some new channels.

Good afternoon,

I just hooked up a Comcast digital adapter to one of my TVs that I used to watch QAM channels on only. Since Comcast got rid of most of the QAM channels recently other than the HD network channels (i.e 98-3, etc.) I was forced to use the digital adapter. As you know, with the digital adapter hooked up it alleviates the TV's ability to tune in any QAM channels. So here's the question - is there a way around this using a splitter or A/B switch? I am pretty savvy with A/V equipment and can't figure out how to make it work. Maybe it is just too obvious and I am missing it.

Please educate me! I want my HD QAM channels back!!

Thanks in advance!

Jeremy

To continue receiving broadcast HD channels with a feed directly to your HDTV, you will need:

* DTA
* Splitter
* Coaxial cable (x5)
* A/B switch

To install:

1. Connect one end of a coaxial cable to the wall
2. Connect the other end of that coaxial cable to the IN of a splitter
3. Connect a coaxial wire to the OUT of the splitter and to the IN of the A/B switch
4. Connect a coaxial wire to the OUT of the splitter and to the IN of the DTA
5. Connect a coaxial wire to the OUT of the DTA and to the IN of the A/B switch
6. Connect a coaxial wire to the OUT of the A/B switch and to the IN of the television

To watch Limited Basic or broadcast HD channels, set the switch for the A/B switch to the correct setting (for example: 'B'). To watch any Expanded Basic/Starter channels in digital format, set the switch for the A/B switch to the correct setting (for example 'A').

*Please note: Some HDTVs may have two (2) RF inputs. If your HDTV has two RF inputs, you have the option of taking the output connections from the splitter and connecting them directly to the RF inputs of your TV, without using an A/B switch. You will need to select alternate inputs (RF1 or RF2) on your TV to switch between Limited Basic/Broadcast HD or Starter/Expanded Basic channels.

That was copied/pasted from Comcast's DTA FAQs, in case anyone is wondering.

Here is the Shack's selection of A/B switches. IMO you're much better off with an HD receiver if you don't mind paying Comcast's ripoff rental, since you'll get a ton of HD channels instead of crappy looking SD expanded basics. You did get an HDTV to watch HD, right?

Thanks! I even looked at Comcast's FAQ's before I posted - not sure how I missed that. Anyway...hooked it up as described and it works like a champ!

I'm in complete shock. ESPN 3D up and running on channel 790. Did hell freeze over? I mean WTF? Comcast ready with something before I even have the tech to view it in my home? Now I've seen everything! For once I can say, Kudos Comcast. Apparently you have to have a 3D TV, an MPEG 4 box (ESPN's requirement), and some sort of glasses...not sure what kind. Maybe whatever kind works with the new TVs. Anyone here have a 3D TV who can report on how the World Cup looks in 3D?

If I cross my eyes it looks awesome. Oh wait, that's the ad. Oh wait, I can't keep my eyes crossed for long enough. Dang.