Hartford, CT - Comcast - Page 83

awesome!!!!

The Silicondust site says New Britain has WCTX-DT on physical channel 116-3 and Middletown has it on 12-3. You seem to be getting it on the frequency that Silicondust lists. I used to receive it on physical channel 12, but no more. Thanks for the info. I'll scan 116, just to be sure.

I have a friend on the Middletown system, so I know what you are going through. My biggest issue with this whole thing is that you guys are paying the same amount we are, but you are getting a hell of a lot less. Significantly less HD, no extra Internet boost, etc.

If that isn't illegal, it should be. Either we should be paying more, or you should be paying less. Absolutely, 100%, doesn't make sense that you're paying the same that we are.

It would be one thing to claim that the extra cost is going into upgrading your system, but as nothing has changed in a very long time it seems that this is not the case. That or they are ridiculously slow at doing it.

If you guys aren't fully digital with a ton more HD by year's end, I'd get pretty pissed and start rattling the cage of the DPUC and your town government (which grants the cable rights to Comcast).

Just got the Comcast letter for the Vernon system which will be fully digital by July 28, 2009.

i was surprised that Comcast is encrypting all the basic cable channels (except networks) even if your TV has a QAM turner. i thought they would stay unencrypted QAM

other than the 8-10 new HD channels no news on internet speed increases and/or DOCSIS 3.

Still no SNY-HD and boomerang

I was actually thinking about that the other day. I don't see how its legal for them to charge the same rate for different packages of channels. I mean, I guess its a subscription service, but still...

The fact that they are moving the Vernon system to all digital as quickly as they are gives me a little hope that they will get to the other areas and change them just as quickly.

Really, the only thing keeping me from switching to satellite is my Tivo. If Directv and Tivo would ever release that long rumored DirecTivo I would switch in a heartbeat.

That's the same exact junk southeastern CT (New London) has to put up with being a low bandwith, no improvements, no new HD, poor internet (switched to ATT DSL and was 3 times faster).

I'm sick of the phone calls from Comcast about buying a bundle. I don'tn want phone and internet from them. I just want my TV bill pro-rated for the less HD or improved to have the more HD.

Hartford has DOCSIS 3.0, and we're not 100% digital and there's no timeline for us to be all digital.

In case anyone is interested:
I scanned the other day and found WCTX-DT in clear QAM on physical channel 12 again. It was missing for many weeks. It disappeared around the time that DIY and MPLEX disappeared from clear QAM. Those two are still gone, but at least I can tune all the locals.

You are correct about WCTX-DT on QAM channel 116-1. I'm just wondering why it tunes so far away from the other unencrypted locals? Here's what I get them as:

WFSB-DT (CBS) 91-1
WFSB-DT (Eyewitness News NOW) 91-3
WTNH-DT (ABC) 90-2
WTXX-DT (CW) 92-1
WTXX-DT (This TV) 92-2
WEDH-DT (PBS) ???
WVIT-DT (NBC) 90-1
WVIT-DT (Weather Plus) 90-3
WVIT-DT (Universal Sports) 90-4
WCTX-DT (MY) 116-1
WTIC-DT (FOX) 91-2

My WCTXDT is also far from the other clear QAM channels (on the Middletown cable). It's on physical channel 12 and the next clear QAM is on a physical channel in the 80's (I don't have the correct channel number with me, but IIRC, it's about 85).

The way it seems is that they are not moving FROM Digital Classic, but if you have Digital Starter, you can receive them with the Sports/Entertainment Package.

I realize I have only been with Comcast for a couple of months now, but I still can't get used to the channel numbers. There seems to be no real order to the numbering or the grouping of the channels. I really liked when the digital version of a channel was just 7XX or something similar to that. Am I the only one that would like them to do a complete overhaul of the channel numbering?

Well, I've got some good news for you then!

Since DirecTV is no longer owned by the same company that owns NDS, DirecTV gets no financial advantage by continuing to purchase their boxes from them. Additionally, they really don't want to keep paying the guy they bought the company from.

This being the case, the new owners have decided to roll with TiVo. The new DirecTiVo boxes should start appearing sometime in 2010. They'll be HD boxes, and are rumored to have much more of the functionality of the standard boxes then the previous DirecTV series did.

Happy times in the future for you!

Awesome! The race is on then -- who will fulfill my HD dreams first: Comcast, or DirecTV?

That's not only a town/region dependant question but a loaded one on this thread.

Does anyone here have any opinions on going with Uverse over Comcast? It appears as though I can get more for less with Uverse but I'd like to hear what people here think? I've heard mixed reviews about the quality of HD. Also I'm not worried about the 2 HD stream limitation at this point in time. Just looking to maybe save a couple bucks while getting more channels and more HD. Thanks.

I had the same choice and ultimately went with Comcast because of the 2-year promotion they have running. $85/$95 for the "almost-everything" package and $20 for Internet is darn good.

That being said, I am unhappy with TNT-HD. I am on the New Haven system. I did a cursory search on this website and found some posts about sound/video synching issues from a couple years ago, but that isn't really my problem. The sound synchs fine, but the video is very choppy. I've unplugged, reset, and sent multiple new signals to my box with no luck.

It's not a huge deal, I've had the cable installed for almost 3 weeks and just noticed today. As you can probably tell, I rarely, if ever, watch TNT but with the British Open this week, it's a glaring problem. Totally unwatchable.

Is anyone else on the New Haven or neighboring systems experiencing anything like this? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

That is a really good deal. The only problem is that the deal is only for new customers People who already have Comcast get the shaft.

Does anybody know what type of non-DVR HD box is currently available on the Danbury system? The 3250-HD don't have HDMI.

Thanks in advance

In case anyone is curious...

A "New Customer" is someone with only the basic level of service, or someone who has never been a customer before.

You can become a "New Customer" if you go without video service for 4 months.

The early termination fee on 2 year contracts is $250.

Recd letter and email from comcast.

Starting August 18 the Vernon system will be fully digital for channels 24 and up. All customers will need a DTA, cablecard or digital receiver to receive those channels. TV sets with QAM turners will still need box or cablecard to receive those channels.

Speed increases as well:

6/1 to 12/2
8/2 to 16/2

Also said speeds up to 50mg available but i could not find it on the site.

New HD starting August 18:

HBO2 HD185
HBO Zone HD186
HBO Sig HD187
HBO Comedy HD188
HBO Family HD189
HBO Latino HD190
More Max HD246
ActionMax HD247
5 starmax HD248
ThrillerMax HD249
WMax HD250
MSNBC HD238
CNN Headline HD239
trutv HD277
Big Ten HD270
TCM HD290
NBA Network HD274
NHL Network HD275
ESPNU HD276

Channels in the above numbers will be moved.

Just lost a bunch of channels on analog today... right now they're remapping to 101-? and up on my QAM tuner

Well it appears I cannot received Uverse right now even though all my neighbors can lol. Something about being at the very end of the loop? Oh well, staying with Comcast for the foreseeable future. Let's hope Seymour will be able to get some more HD channels like the Vernon system!!

How about folks with SA boxes? What is the non-DVR HD box? HDMI ready?

What about the changes coming to those of us in New Britain this month? I have two TVs with QAM tuners. I already give these people about $66 a month. There is now way that I'm going to shell out even more money to them.

Don't know about Danbury but, Waterbury/Seymour systems now have the 4250 with HDMI

Comcast is giving 2 free DTAs as part of their digital project in CT. The thinking behind it is to use the DTAs in rooms where HD is not a big deal. After the 2 i believe it is $1.99 @ month for each additional. However they will not decode the HD channels. the only thing the TVs QAM turners will decode is local/pbs networks.

Are you sure that a QAM tuner can't get the digital channels that the DTA can pick up? I was told the digital DTA channels would be QAM clear standard definition and a QAM TV could display them. Is that wrong? Are the channels that the DTA tunes encrypted? If so, the DTA would have to be able to decrypt them, and I was told it had no decryption capability.