Atlanta, GA - Comcast - Page 175

I have an HDHR Prime. I cannot seem to stream 806 WXIADT. The stream says that it carries encryption:

Channel cannot be displayed - copy protection
vch=805 name=WXIAD 806 auth=unspecified cgms=protected-rcd

Works fin on my standard HDHR.

Anyone in Atlanta see the same thing?

Nope. Working fine on my Prime here.

vch=806 name=WXIAD 806 auth=unknown cgms=protected-rcd
ss=95% sq=88%

I'm on the Stone Mtn headend.

Running Prime 20110911beta1

Wonder why your vch=805. Rerun Channel Scan maybe?

sorry, it was a typo should be. What are your streaming client?

vch=806 name=WXIAD 806 auth=unspecified cgms=protected-rcd

I am running 20110916beta1 wonder if that is the problem.

What is weird is that you show protect-rcd and HDHR support says that that should be restricted.

All my clients are Win7 Media Center PCs. No extenders. So no problem with the flag.

Checking the normally Clear QAM locals, 806 (NBC) is the only one with the broadcast flag set. And although it plays fine in Media Center, it will not play in QuickTV. Due to my set up (regular HDHR plus HDHR prime) this has not been a problem for me as the locals defer to the Clear QAM HDHR and, should I need a CableCARD tuner for 806, Media Center decodes the flag.

I suspect this is a problem best taken up with Comcast. They may have set the broadcast flag by mistake. Or they can confirm that WXIAD, of all the local channels, has requested the flag be set.

Hi folks, I took the plunge and went to Comcast from DTV and AT&T. I did the Triple-play deal and thought others might be interested in my 'jouney.'

First, the price and deal you get depends on how you sign up!!! Call 1-800 COMCAST and get one deal, sign up online get another deal, go to a Comcast storefront, get a third deal, go to a retailer (BrandSmart in my case) get yet a different deal.

The BrandSmart deal was the best for me. I got no commitment $149 per month for 12 months for 1 phone line, Blast ISP (31Mbps for me) HD package with one DVR and HBO, SHO, Max and Starz. No installation fee and a $150 gift card. Second year $179, then $199. Again no commitment and no install fees. I can cancel whenever I want...or renegotiate. No other sales channel could touch this deal, and it took some doing to get it.

Second, install was a pain. Phone was not ported on time, phone wiring was done incorrectly - had to re-do it myself or wait three days for a visit. I was suppose to have four DCX-3400 DVR's, installer only brought three and one was DOA. Had to drive to a CC storefront (three times!) to replace them, then re-initialize.

Third, the guy who buried the cable in my yard did not even cover it up in places. I could see orange cable through the grass. Oh, and he cut my neighbor's cable. After a call, re-buried it and cut my and my neighbors sprinkler lines. Still not fixed. My neighbor's re-run cable is on the ground and will need to be buried soon. Hopefully my cable will not be cut.

All in all, a good financial deal for me. I reduced my monthly bill for phone and TV by about half, got screaming fast internet (more reliable, too) and an additional premium channel over what I had before. A giant PITA, though. Took over three weeks of shopping to get the best deal because of different deals available in different places. Not fair to customers, IMO, to do that. Many, many calls and visits to CC storefronts to finally do their jobs for them, and a LOT of frustration.

Anyway, now YOU know how to get the best deal!

I would have went for a Double Play deal with TV and internet. For phone service you can get the Obi100 for ~$40 and no monthly fee.

I have Preferred TV and Performance Internet for $79.99/month for 6 months and no commitment. I use an Obi110 for free phone service and a Ceton 4 tuner cablecard device. I lease nothing from them and I get a $2.50 per month credit for my cablecard. After 6 months it is to only increase $15.

bryan when you say preferred is that the Digital Preferred package? Also I assume that you are getting the HD channels.

Just noticed this on Tuesday of this week. Watching Weather HD (832) & all the local info is being displayed along the bottom 1/6th of the screen like on the SD channel. I live in Smyrna on the Vinnings head-end & this translates to Marietta weather info for me. During the Local on the 8's I get by the hour weather info. Me likey

Yes, Digital Preferred which includes the HD channels. It is their highest level package without paying for premiums or any sports pack. With my Ceton I can record up to four shows at once. I can also share out tuners to other PCs or using an extender such as an Xbox I can do what would be multiroom viewing without activating additional outlets.

I am not seeing local weather info in Alpharetta (on the Vinings headend).

I'm getting HD "local on the 8s" here in Dunwoody-Chamblee, and I'm connected to the Stone Mountain headend. My local info is based on conditions in Norcross.

>Phone was not ported on time, phone wiring was done incorrectly
> - had to re-do it myself or wait three days for a visit.
>I was suppose to have four DCX-3400 DVR's, installer only brought three
> and one was DOA.
>Had to drive to a CC storefront (three times!) to replace them,
>then re-initialize.

No surprise they weren't on time, as that department is overworked.
Making you wait three days for a fix of their mistake is their bad customer service.
No surprise the installer didn't have enough DVRs, as the company doesn't coordinate that well.
No surprise a DVR was DOA, as they bought cheap DVRs.
Their storefronts are notorious for not having equipment, but if you can get their phone number, you can call ahead to see what's in stock.

>the guy who buried the cable in my yard did not even cover it up in places.
>I could see orange cable through the grass.
>Oh, and he cut my neighbor's cable. After a call, re-buried it and
>cut my and my neighbors sprinkler lines.

The drought has made the ground too hard for their (and AT&T's) machines to bury cables deep enough.
And both companies don't care about cutting other lines because it's cheaper for them to fix the occasional cut than to avoid them in the first place.

Well as noted above, I too am on the Vinnings headend & it was coming in nicely on 832 (Weather HD). Now for the past two days, the whole channel is not working & I just get a waiting for service message. I'll be off Friday, so if it persists then I will call to see what the trouble is. Comcast giveth & Comcast taketh away

I recently moved apartments and the cable service went form Knology to Comcast only. I used to have Knology's basic cable and ran that straight into my HTPC via a dual digital/dual analog tuner. I was able to get all basic cable channels (99 of them) and my locals in HD.

I have been reluctant to get cable tv with Comcast because i don't know what is broadcast in clear QAM and what is encrypted. I have only internet through them now.

I run Media-portal and dislike MC7 and refuse to go that route with a cable card solution. Can anyone here that is familiar with the subject let me know what i will be able to pull with my tuner? Or will i just be better off running off of their STB?

BTW the tuner in my HTPC is a WinTV-HVR-2250. Thanks everyone!!!

You get all the local channels (in SD and HD) on clear QAM, plus some junk like shopping. That's it, no expanded basic since all that has been migrated from analog to digital and encrypted.

IF you get internet now through Comcast...hook up the coax to your Tuner and do a scan. That's what you get without a box. I'm guessing the locals in HD will be there...

Go to http://www.silicondust.com/support/channels/
Enter your ZIP and select Comcast Cable. You'll see which SD and HD channels are broadcast in the clear. In my ZIP, there are 62 channels, most of which are SD, but the locals are available in HD Clear QAM.

I bought an HDHomerun 3 (clear QAM/NTSC only) 2 weeks ago. I live in Smyrna & I'm on the Vinnings head end. Did a search with Comcast & not a single channel showed up on my HTPC. Now checking with a cheap Toshiba 19' LCD & the Locals are indeed there, but they are WAAAAY up in the channel lineup,. Like 90.1 & 112.2 & so forth. I really hate that they started scrambling the basic cable tier as the COMCAST DVR's have got to be one of the worst consumer electronics devices ever devised by man

Assuming you're using Windows Media Center with the Clear QAM HDHR, after running the HDHR Setup program, you need to manually add the QAM channels in the TV/ Guide settings/Add Missing Channels/Add QAM channel (example 98.803 = WSB HD). Once you do that, you go back into the Guide/Edit Channels, go to the channels you added and Edit Listings to merge the QAM channels with the actual Comcast number (example: 98.803 is merged with 803 so only that number shows in your Guide). Sounds more complicated than it is, but once you have that done, the channel line up in the Guide looks just like what you get on your Comcast DVR.

Use the SiliconDust link above to determine the correct QAM channels numbers for the stations you wish to add.

There is an application that's part of the HDHomerun setup that will pull in the channels and push them into WMC's guide. It's called HDHomeRun WMC Sync. Read the instructions here: http://www.silicondust.com/support/h...ructions/wmc7/

Has anyone heard of cable cards not working with older TVGOS devices? The TVGOS device is unable to get the right channel setup info from the newer M cards (version of). The TVGOS guide keeps changing every day or so, even though intially it works for a week maybe two? Any thoughts?
Michael

What is the most current HD DVR offered by Comcast? Have pretty much given up on the CC for the Sony DHG and decided to go with their box, but want to be sure it is not an older model. I think they offer two tuners and HDMI out, but do not know how they price these out and if their boxes still have to have a separate CC for it to work.
Any help/feedback is appreciated.
Thanks,
Michael

When you order a DVR from Comcast you get a dual tuner device. A cablecard installation isn't required. The price is listed on their site and is the same for all DVRs.

Who knows exactly what model they will give you. You could always try to ask for something new, but you'll probably end up with whatever is on top of the pile.

AFAIK, the newest model in the Atlanta region is the Motorola DX-3400 (the Any Room version is the DX-3400M)The model comes in 160/250/320 GB hard drive sizes but there's no way to tell which you got until you fire it up. As Bryan mentioned, it's the luck of the draw whether you'll get this model. At the time I got mine, the Comcast rep said DVRs weren't inventoried by model number (duh). Your chances seem to be a bit better if you order one by phone after your service is installed. My 3400 came via prepaid UPS 2 day, brand new in a sealed brown box. If you pick it up at your local office, you're at the mercy of whatever they've got in the return stack. DVRs come with CableCARD installed.

Current rate sheet shows the DVR at $15.95 mo and the Any Room version at $19.95 mo. If you get the Any Room version, you're sure to get a 3400M as it's the only model Comcast has that does this.

so even if you call to order any-room dvr service they may not know how to get you the right box? i mean, i'm not surprised, i just want to be prepared :-)

The most current HD DVR is the Motorola DX-3400 with a 320 GB hard drive. Note they have DX-3400s with smaller hard drives. Your best bet to get one is to go to a Comcast store and ask. Whenever I have done this, it has worked easily. If you can't start service by going to a store, and you get a different DVR, you can simply go to the store with that DVR and exchange it.

The 3400M is the only box that does any-room, so if you opt for a truck roll to install or have one sent to you, that's the one you'll get. Whether your local office will have one in stock, I don't know.

I am in a new subdivision that is still being built out that doesn't have Comcast currently. The builder said they contacted Comcast at some point and there was not enough homes so they wouldn't install the service. This was at least 2 years ago and now the neighborhood is almost all built out. I contacted Comcast to try and get service and they had to do some sort of service check. I checked the status today and they told me I can't get service and the builder needs to contact them. I went back to the builder and they are telling me they already did and Comcast won't do anything. Does anyone know of a local Atlanta Comcast contact I can reach out to that could check about them providing service in the neighborhood?

^^ Check for a private message.

Some new HD channels showing up....oxygen, etc...showing unauthorized..not that I would pay for OX.