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Sacramento, CA - SureWest - Page 22

post #631 of 958
1/27/09 at 10:59pm
We are not getting MPEG4 at the moment. I again talked with a couple guys in tech support. One mentioned that he had no idea and had not heard when it would take place, another thought it would be sometime in the first half of this year. Needless to say, not yet. I am about to do something tomorrow that is not advised... I'm turning in two AmiNET130 boxes in exchange for a second DVR. They are told that theoretically, including overhead, they say that each HDTV channel may take up to 23 Mbps in MPEG2. Since the DVR can handle two HDTV streams at a time, that would be 46 Mbps each. 2 DVRs would be 92 Mbps, plus my 20 Mbps Internet, which exceeds the total 100 Mbps. They said they only recommend 2 DVRs to people without HDTV service. While they say 23 Mbps, it actually is not that much. I'm sure I'll be taking it close to 100 Mbps at times, but I'll try to make sure I don't record more than 3 HDTV shows at a time. I'll report here on my findings... to see if it really works. I basically had to acknowledge that it wasn't wise and they recommended against it. They did tell me that once they convert to MPEG4, this shouldn't be an issue.
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post #632 of 958
1/28/09 at 7:41am
big,
would that be 23 megs while recording HDTV or just 23 megs per dvr?
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post #633 of 958
1/28/09 at 10:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by spewak View Post

big,
would that be 23 megs while recording HDTV or just 23 megs per dvr?

That would be 23 Mbps per channel and the DVR is a dual-channel device, making it 46 Mbps. It doesn't matter if it is recording or just watching.
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post #634 of 958
1/28/09 at 1:01pm
I have one DVR and 2 130s, and 10/10 internet. Surewest support says with my current setup, I am at ~96 mb out of 100 mb. If you calculated ~23 mb per HD channel, I am about 102 mb bandwidth. Since they said about 96 mb, each HD channel may be a little lower than 23 mb. I see a glitch here and there once in awhile.
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post #635 of 958
1/29/09 at 10:22pm
Hi, folks, was having a problem and Surewest isn't answering the phone tonight (40 minutes on hold?)
Anyway. after the rate change notification, we lost a great number of channels and the regular channels have Closed captioned. The ADB Box (MRV5810WX) works fine, but all but the basic channel package is missing. Whats going on?

Thanks!
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post #636 of 958
2/1/09 at 5:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rocketjoe79 View Post

Hi, folks, was having a problem and Surewest isn't answering the phone tonight (40 minutes on hold?)
Anyway. after the rate change notification, we lost a great number of channels and the regular channels have Closed captioned. The ADB Box (MRV5810WX) works fine, but all but the basic channel package is missing. Whats going on?

Thanks!

I was also on hold for at least 30 minutes to tell them about the pixelization and freezing problem with the SD and HD programs. Also I am tired of waiting for more HD channels ie.ESPN2 which was promised when I first signed up close to 2 years ago. After I buy my new HD plasma tv I plan to switch to Direct TV. I'll be saving over $40 a month with more HD channels for 2 rooms. This rate increase by Surewest was the last straw. Maybe I'll come back when they get their act together.
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post #637 of 958
2/1/09 at 6:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cklim55 View Post

I was also on hold for at least 30 minutes to tell them about the pixelization and freezing problem with the SD and HD programs. Also I am tired of waiting for more HD channels ie.ESPN2 which was promised when I first signed up close to 2 years ago. After I buy my new HD plasma tv I plan to switch to Direct TV. I'll be saving over $40 a month with more HD channels for 2 rooms. This rate increase by Surewest was the last straw. Maybe I'll come back when they get their act together.

Not sure about the rate change, but I have Directv and they are going to raise my rate by 3 bucks a month. I think that it is happening to everyone. I am surprised that you will be saving over 40 bucks a month by switching. Is this just with the promotion from D*? I would have thought that bundling everything with Surewest would be cheapest. I have Premier with D*, all the HD access, HD extra and DVR fees, along with 5 DVRs and its about $150/month. Then you throw in your Sunday Ticket fees..... Did Surewest really go up that high in price? By the way, Surewest internet with D* on demand rocks.
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post #638 of 958
2/2/09 at 11:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Little Dude 1 View Post

Not sure about the rate change, but I have Directv and they are going to raise my rate by 3 bucks a month. I think that it is happening to everyone. I am surprised that you will be saving over 40 bucks a month by switching. Is this just with the promotion from D*? I would have thought that bundling everything with Surewest would be cheapest. I have Premier with D*, all the HD access, HD extra and DVR fees, along with 5 DVRs and its about $150/month. Then you throw in your Sunday Ticket fees..... Did Surewest really go up that high in price? By the way, Surewest internet with D* on demand rocks.

Our surewest tv rate went from $81 per month to $90+ and that's with the 3 package bundle. The D* package starts at $29.99 per month for a year then goes up to $52 after that. We just want HD boxes with no dvr so with the HD package it comes to $44.99 per month. Also with the 3 bundle package with surewest we had to upgrade our phone package.
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post #639 of 958
2/8/09 at 7:00am
I was just reading over at Engadget that Comedy Central is available in HD. I wish Surewest would get a deal going to carry that channel in HD. Thoughts?
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post #640 of 958
2/9/09 at 8:42am
I had to do another reboot last night - this is the second time since they replaced my 120's with the 130's a month ago. It's always when I channel surf - the 120's used to lose the video, the 130 is losing the audio! Anyone else having this problem?

Thanks
Mike
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post #641 of 958
2/9/09 at 5:44pm
Mike,

I have 2 130s and a DVR and I have never had a situation where I lose audio or video. I am assuming when you lose audio, it doesn't come back unless you reboot? Have you called support? Are your cat cables coming directly from the ONT to the 130s?
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post #642 of 958
2/9/09 at 9:18pm
I lose sound if I leave my Animo 130 on CNN-HD (only seems to happen with that channel) overnight. If I change the station to another channel, sound returns. This has been happening for the past few months, but I keep on forgetting to report it, since I'm not the one in my household who leaves the box on CNN-HD. If I don't forget again, I'll file a trouble ticket tomorrow.

Has anybody else ever experienced this problem when you leave your 130 box on CNN-HD overnight?
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post #643 of 958
2/10/09 at 7:01am
Adinn - It usually happens when I surf the channels, almost like the audio cannot keep up with the video? The only way to fix it is a reboot.

cyberbeing - I usually turn to 603(kcra) before I turn off the TV, haven't had your problem.

Mike
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post #644 of 958
2/11/09 at 5:55pm
cyberbeing, I left one of my Animo 130s on CNN-HD last night and I still had sound when I turned my TV on in the morning. Sorry I couldn't reproduce your problem. Maybe you should exchange the stb for another one?
madmin, I have not experienced the problem you are having when changing channels. The only problem I had was that it was taking longer and longer to acquire the next channel I select and service recommended I "reboot" or unplug the DVR or 130 routinely to "clear" it out. Since I have been doing this about once a week, acquiring the next channel on channel changes has been pretty quick. Maybe you should exchange your stb too.
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post #645 of 958
2/11/09 at 8:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Adinn View Post

cyberbeing, I left one of my Animo 130s on CNN-HD last night and I still had sound when I turned my TV on in the morning. Sorry I couldn't reproduce your problem. Maybe you should exchange the stb for another one?

Well the problem doesn't happen 100% of the time, but rather is random.

Maybe my stb does have an issue. Where does Surewest have their showrooms now?

I used to go to the showroom off Fair Oaks & Watt, but that one has been long gone now since the Verizon buyout AFAIK.
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post #646 of 958
2/12/09 at 5:49pm
Unfortunately there are only 3 showrooms listed on their website. The other alternative is to call for service but then you are stuck waiting around with 4 hour window appointments.

McClellan Park:
5411 Luce Ave.
McClellan Park
North Highlands, CA
Mon-Sat: 9am-6pm
Sun: closed

Roseville:
8150 Industrial Ave.
Building D
Roseville, CA
Mon-Fri: 9am-6pm
Sat: 9am-5pm
Sun: Closed

Elk Grove:
9766 Waterman Road
Elk Grove, CA
Mon-Fri: 9am-6pm
Sat & Sun: Closed
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post #647 of 958
2/19/09 at 10:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cklim55 View Post

This rate increase by Surewest was the last straw. Maybe I'll come back when they get their act together. Our surewest tv rate went from $81 per month to $90+ and that's with the 3 package bundle.

It seems I am now in the same boat as cklim55 and will likely be switching to satellite shortly in order to save money. The ~$5 rate hike somehow raised my bill by $20 (some funny math going on over at Surewest) and it has stayed that way for the past two bills. I can't justify paying $93 for Digital Choice + HDTV when I almost never watch TV in the first place. Quick calculations show I'll save $30-40 (based on regular prices) when switching to satellite service w/HDTV.

Sadly, Surewest only allows HDTV with Digital Choice and up. I would have been happy to switch to the Digital Basic package and be limited to only those channels in HD, but they don't allow it. That would have saved me ~$15 and put my bill back within an acceptable range. Since I somehow need to reduce my bill by ~$20, to bring it back to it's pre rate-hike value, this seems to leave me with no other choice other then dropping Surewest's TV service completely if I want to keep HDTV, which I do. Their loss, not mine.

If Surewest's TV prices ever come back down in the future, they increase their bundle discounts, not pass expensive taxes to the customer, or reduce their internet prices, I would likely switch back. Having everything with Surewest no longer is the really great deal it used to be. I really dread what Surewest will raise their prices to next year, since that is all they seem to know how to do the past few years.
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post #648 of 958
2/20/09 at 12:55pm
Mine is just over $180 for the triple play - no premium channels, 2 HD/1 SD box, 10mb internet. Seems to have really jumped in the last couple of years. Wouldn't mind so much but I keep having issues with signal interruptions, last night I kept getting 'Network cable has been disconnected' on the PC, at the same time the TV would go dark and no audio. Happened 3 or 4 times between 6 and 9 pm. Never does it when I call for service.

Mike
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post #649 of 958
2/21/09 at 7:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by madmin View Post

Mine is just over $180 for the triple play - no premium channels, 2 HD/1 SD box, 10mb internet. Seems to have really jumped in the last couple of years. Wouldn't mind so much but I keep having issues with signal interruptions, last night I kept getting 'Network cable has been disconnected' on the PC, at the same time the TV would go dark and no audio. Happened 3 or 4 times between 6 and 9 pm. Never does it when I call for service.

Mike

you should call to ask for the promo's or something... I am only paying about $125 for 10mb internet, digital phone (500min plan), and digital choice tv with HD and DVR and 2x HD boxes... I switched over to digital phone a couple months ago which gave me the promo deals for a year.
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post #650 of 958
2/22/09 at 3:43pm
Hey guys: I didn't know this thread existed. I live in Elk Grove and SureWest dug up my neighborhood last fall. I was looking forward to using their services, but it looks like the company has a way to go before they're up to speed.

I have Frontier internet now and am not real happy. The download speed seems to be at about 1 Mb. They charge $40.00 for that. I understand Surewest has 3 Mbps for $50 (without bundling) and it's reliable?

I had D*, but switched to DISH about 5 months ago because of the unreliabilty of D*'s HD DVR. I'm happy with DISH and it sounds as if Surewest has many fewer HD channels? It also sounds like their HD DVR is not as good.

Surewest only has 18 hours of HD recording time? Do they allow you to archive and play programs from an external harddrive? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks
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post #651 of 958
2/24/09 at 5:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cyberbeing View Post

It seems I am now in the same boat as cklim55 and will likely be switching to satellite shortly in order to save money. The ~$5 rate hike somehow raised my bill by $20 (some funny math going on over at Surewest) and it has stayed that way for the past two bills. I can't justify paying $93 for Digital Choice + HDTV when I almost never watch TV in the first place. Quick calculations show I'll save $30-40 (based on regular prices) when switching to satellite service w/HDTV.

Sadly, Surewest only allows HDTV with Digital Choice and up. I would have been happy to switch to the Digital Basic package and be limited to only those channels in HD, but they don't allow it. That would have saved me ~$15 and put my bill back within an acceptable range. Since I somehow need to reduce my bill by ~$20, to bring it back to it's pre rate-hike value, this seems to leave me with no other choice other then dropping Surewest's TV service completely if I want to keep HDTV, which I do. Their loss, not mine.

If Surewest's TV prices ever come back down in the future, they increase their bundle discounts, not pass expensive taxes to the customer, or reduce their internet prices, I would likely switch back. Having everything with Surewest no longer is the really great deal it used to be. I really dread what Surewest will raise their prices to next year, since that is all they seem to know how to do the past few years.

Well it's been week 2 with D* and have had no incidents of freezing pictures or having to reset my cable box at all which I had to do with Surewest. I guess the Surewest box can't handle channel surfing. Also having two of the three Surewest products (telephone and internet) still qualifies as a bundle package. So we kept the same rate for the 10meg internet and we signed up for a year package which took $5 off per month. The D* package is saving us $49 per month for more HD channels.
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post #652 of 958
3/1/09 at 7:16am
cklim55.
Is the HD quality the same as Surewest with Directv? I am going to switch once my contract is up in May. Unless of course they give me a deal. Their TV is expensive as hell.
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post #653 of 958
3/1/09 at 7:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by spewak View Post

cklim55.
Is the HD quality the same as Surewest with Directv? I am going to switch once my contract is up in May. Unless of course they give me a deal. Their TV is expensive as hell.

The HD quality seems the same to me and I've got it hooked up to a brand new 50" 1080p tv. I like the quick response of the hd box for channel surfing. I swear the surewest box had alot of lag time in switching from channel to channel with occasional lockup which had to reset the box. Also the angle of aiming the remote to the D* box is wider and more forgiving. I swear you had to have the surewest remote pointed at the box at within a certain angle or nothing would happen. It was frustrating as heck. I love all the HD channels I'm getting--ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN news, Spike, MTV, etc. Surewest had Fox business channels, Wealth, comcast sports (which rarely had anything on it).Surewest will have to lower their prices and get better equipment before I think of coming back.
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post #654 of 958
3/1/09 at 8:59am
Ck,
Do you have the Directv HD DVR? If so, how does it operate? I am pretty sure that I am going to switch come May. Everything you state about Swest box is so true. I can get quite a bit more from D* for about the same price. Thanks for responding. I had D* prior, and it was a superior picture. Will keep you updated.
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post #655 of 958
3/1/09 at 4:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by spewak View Post

Ck,
Do you have the Directv HD DVR? If so, how does it operate? I am pretty sure that I am going to switch come May. Everything you state about Swest box is so true. I can get quite a bit more from D* for about the same price. Thanks for responding. I had D* prior, and it was a superior picture. Will keep you updated.

I didn't go for the HD DVR. The initial startup equipment cost would have been $100 more plus $5 more per month for the dvr service. I know it's strange but a dvr isn't something I feel a strong need to have. I am watching Lord of the Rings on TNTHD and it looks fantastic. We also watched Star Wars III on SpikeHD and my wife thought it looked almost 3D. I haven't found anything to complain about regarding D*.
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post #656 of 958
3/9/09 at 6:31pm
Monday, 03-09-2009 - Download speed 62kbps, Upload speed 67 kbps. Anyone else experience this today? Takes forever to load pages, yesterday was fine???

Mike
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post #657 of 958
5/14/09 at 4:42am
told me that Surewest is working on raising the download and upload of their different tiers.
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post #658 of 958
5/18/09 at 8:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by spewak View Post

told me that Surewest is working on raising the download and upload of their different tiers.

I'd guess that would take place AFTER the conversion to MPEG4/AVC. It probably will occur and is rightfully discussed, but current bandwidth used with HD channels in MPEG2 eat up a lot of the 100 Mbps. I currently could not get 50 Mbps, even if I wanted to... unless they added a second fiber to the house. An even cooler option would be for them to upgrade all the hardware to operate the entire fiber network at 1 Gbps... but alas, that is probably too lofty of a dream.
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post #659 of 958
5/18/09 at 5:29pm
With the Allied Telesyn AT-iMG726MOD/AT-iMG746MOD 100Mbps/1Gbps capable residential gateways supposedly available as of Q4/2008 (press release only with no product page/datasheet), it seems inevitable that Surewest will eventually deploy them. That inevitability is likely still a few years off though.

If all the internet tiers are getting a boost with the deployment of h.264 video, I would assume the increase would be around 50%.

My educated guess for the new speed tiers are 1Mbps to 1.5Mbps, 3Mbps to 4Mbps, 6Mbps to 8Mbps, 10Mbps to 15Mbps, 20Mbps to 30Mbps, 50Mbps staying put, and the addition of a new 75Mbps tier.

I also hope they will do some sort of price drop along the lines of 1.5Mbps for $10, 4Mbps for $25, 8Mbps for $30, 15Mbps for $40, 30Mbps for $60, 50Mbps $90, and 75Mbps for $120, but that is just wishful thinking. Surewest has to realize their higher-end internet packages are overpriced, especially in this crap economy. With prices like those, Surewest could become the dominate ISP in the Greater-Sacramento area.
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post #660 of 958
5/20/09 at 10:51am
Was using D*** Network for over 4 years - had the wonderful VIP 622 and loved it - 30 hours of HD + USB. and DVR worked from the other room as well so we could watch recorded shows from the bedroom TV.

Moved to Surewest yesterday and was disappointed that the DVR is only usable from 1 room - other rants
1 the aspect ration change button on the remote (# key) does not work. My SOny plasma does not allow me to change the aspect ration while in HD mode - Dish VIP 622 always let me cycle thru 4 different options for ALL channels (HD and Non-HD)
2 No 30 sec / 7 sec commercial skip fwd/back buttons
3 Sluggish fwd/rewind

4 Non-user-intuitive interface
5 just 18 hours of HD recording time
6 USB ports non-functional
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