Time Warner Cable Navigator - Page 427

MoCA is probably what they are going with since TWC is a a member of the MoCA alliance. It will require a truck roll, since they need to install a MoCA filter and the gateway.

I'm running MoCA in my house with Motorola NIM100's and no interference issues with my 8640HDC, or my 8300HD (before I returned it).

Why would you need filters or other equipment if TWC/BHN started using the 8642 and 4642?

To prevent people from accessing your MR-DVR. I saw a demo from the CableShow and it was DLNA compliant with DTCP-IP encryption. A PS3 was in that demonstration and it had a list of videos which were DVR recordings.

Of course...an E-N cable extender could simply connect the Next Gen DVR
to a DTCP-IP capable remote cable box....if both software loads support this
configuration (don't know....DTCP-IP is designed for DLNA PCs & NAS HDDs.)

For homes equipped with Wi-Fi Router, it WOULD be useful to use a
wireless E-N Cable Extender directly between the HTCP-IP capable
DVR and a PC....if they supported direct connection (again...don't know).

A Wireless E-N I/F Extender COULD be used to connect DVR to an open port
on a Wi-Fi router in order to access both a DLNA capable PC and/or NAS HDD
(Network Attached Storage Hard Disc Drive)....if equipped with DLNA.
[Although it appears the MoCA Gateway (below) also performs this function.]

Cisco sez that all of their Next Gen cable boxes support "IP-enabled
video distribution through (optional) MoCA and Ethernet builds...with
DTCP-IP encryption". So Ethernet port is presumably available:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/coll...et-top-AAG.pdf
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/coll...3/7015625A.pdf
[Note MoCA frequency band in Next Gen Cable Box is 1.0-1.5 GHz.]

MoCA Intro Presentation:
http://www.opastco.org/doclibrary/19...Z0OmPVGEn9UNvQ
Note the availability of MoCA to Ethernet Gateways....which could
connect to legacy cable boxes...if their software is upgraded....
But I've never seen them described for this application.
They are intended to connect your PC to a MoCA/DLNA network:
http://www.netgear.com/Products/Powe.../MCAB1001.aspx
http://hd.engadget.com/2009/06/25/ne...dapter-review/

=====================================
Since the MoCA capable DVR is TRANSMITTING on a band of frequencies
above the CATV assignments, some sort of isolation is needed to
prevent interference to your neighbors. Apparently the isolation in
the existing neighborhood divider network isn't enough:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/coll...63/7016817.pdf
http://www.eaglefilters.com/Products...ry_Filter_.pdf
This would ALSO prevent unencrypted signals from being viewable by
your neighbors (such as from your PC to your HDTV)....

MoCA Field Test Report verified that existing house wiring can be used
in most, but not all homes (hope you're not in the problematic 3+%).
[DidJa note the MoCA Presentation said it should work in only 90%....]
It mentioned a MoCA installation kit, but didn't say what was in it:
http://www.mocalliance.org/industry/...ecutive_Su.pdf

MoCA has been described as being able to work on EXISTING networks,
the MoCA transmit levels should be enough to overcome the SUM of the
REVERSE Isolation Losses and FORWARD (Out-of-Band) Losses through
MULTIPLE splitters....but some homes may need to have fewer and/or
wider bandwidth (e.g. 2 GHz SAT) splitters....esp. for a complicated network
like mine: 4-Way Drop Amp to four locations in the house, two split 4-ways
(LR: DVRx2, Firewire-STB, D-VCR and FR: Internet, DVR, VCR, TV-direct):
http://hfc.jdsu.com/blog/moca

I got those channels in my Navigator Guide too. Except in my division they are in the 1800's. AFAIK, they are test stations for 3D. What exactly are the requirements for 3D TV? Do you have to actually buy another TV? (i.e an HDTV is not enough.) I think you need special glasses too. A little too gimmicky at this point in time IMO, and certainly pricey, if it's true you need another TV.

Jack

To watch TRUE 3D (not that Red/Green stuff), you need a 3DTV, which can be
either Plasma (e.g. Panasonic), LED LCD (e.g Samsung) or Rear Projector DLP
(e.g. Mitsubishi/ Samsung) and 3D Active Shutter Glasses (as much as $150) for
each viewer...and are NOT (yet) interchangeable between 3DTV manufacturers....

The 3DTV ("3D Ready HDTV") takes 3D formatted information via it's HDMI
interface, separates out the L and R images, and displays them alternatively
at a fairly high refresh rate (DLP does a crazy alternative L/R checkerboard
display at a much lower refresh rate). A synchronizing signal is sent (usually
via line-of-sight IR vice RF) to Active Shutter Glasses, which turns on either
the L or R eye...and your brain is presumed to put the two images together
as if you were really there....except for those 10-20% of people for whom
it simply doesn't work....or they walk away with a severe headache.....
and/or the pain is unbearable (my wife)....and sometimes an actual seizure....

Older 3D "upgradeable" DLP's also require an external, extra cost, 3D Adapter if
you are considering this presumably lower cost/lower performance alternative.

Here are the 3D threads (the 3D FAQ thread only addresses the older DLP):
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=193

SAT and Cable systems are currently using a reduced resolution side-by-side format,
throwing away every other pixel in each line so they can fit TWO 1920x1080 images
into a single 1920x1080 frame (which will be obvious if you tune to those channels).
Since 1080 lines are still being provided, the reduction in resolution probably isn't
all that noticeable.....esp. given the difficulties is providing a 3D image that isn't
plagued with depth perception (your eyes don't know where to focus) and blurred
panning problems.

Blu-Ray DVRs provide TRUE HD resolution by outputting at TWICE the above data
rate via HDMI v.1.4....but the SAT/Cable boxes and their older HDMI v.1.3 interfaces
can't support this sort of thruput...hence the current down-rezzed "demo" format.

In the future, when HDMI v.1.4a interface compliant equipment is available
(perhaps a software only upgrade to current Next Gen Cable boxes & HDTVs????),
the SAT/Cable companies will finally be able to match Blu-Ray's resolutions....and
will probably also be using MPEG4 via IPTV for delivery. Until this all gets sorted
out (and low cost 3D Glasses are standardized and HDMI v.1.4a compatible AVRs are
available for passthru and/or switching), I'm advising to wait a few more months....

PS: HDMI v.1.4a is a (host software only???) upgrade to Blu-Ray's HDMI v.1.4
high data rate interface to support a variety of high & lower rez modes desired by
SAT & Cable guys....which may or may not be compatible with the new 3DTVs....
give or take a firmware update that the manufacturer's may or may not provide....

BTW: The underlying SMPTE & ISO 3D specs are STILL under development,
including how to display 3D Captions....and hence the final is not yet approved....
http://3dtaskforce.com/2009/06/smpte...ec-at-nab.html
http://www.smpte.org/news/pr/view?it...1234fe4d27318c

Is there such an animal as a MoCA to ethernet adapter (something tells me not)? And if such exists, would any real network devices act like they were plugged into a standard ethernet network?

As mentioned above, fol. are MoCA to Ethernet Gateway devices:
NetGear MCAB1001, D-Link DXN-221 and Actiontec ECB2200.
Above, I provided links for what the NetGear device does....and doesn't do....

You can also get Wireless Routers with built-in MoCA, such as
Actiontech MI424WR and Westell UltraLine Series3 Moca Gateway:
http://www.westell.com/broadband-hom...a-gateway.html
http://www.actiontec.com/support/pro...pid=41&typ=all

Not sure what you're getting at....I would presume the attached E-N device
(e.g. Printer) would have to implement device discovery protocols (e.g. DLNA)
before it could talk to a PC, presuming each has a MoCA/E-N Adapter....hence
the need to continue using either a Router or Wi-Fi/Router to interconnect them.

List of approved DLNA devices can be found here (includes some printers):
http://www.dlna.org/digital_living/devices/
http://www.dlna.org/products/

Plus see this thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1145636

xnappo

Thanks for all the help!

But we need to get back on topic to Navigator.

Jack

MoCA is a (new) part of Navigator....

If you're talking about the Chapel Hill staff I know what you mean. At least it's not just me. It's like everything you ask them to do is the equivalent of calculating pi to a million digits and then donating blood.

The truck roll techs are all pretty cool though and as you said seem to be swimming upstream against a river of mismanagement.

There is such inconsistency from division to division and management to management office. Some are wonderful, some suck, and a lot are dependent on whom you talk to.

The TWC Untangled Blog has a list of categories on this page:

http://www.twcableuntangled.com/

One of them is Customer Care. This goes to corporate, and you can leave both positive and negative feedback by picking a category and responding. Individual e-mail addresses are available for tech team and Customer Relation Departments. They will publish anything as long as you don't use abusive language, things like that. They are helpful with constructive feedback. You should discuss in the blog, if something is good or bad, what made the experience good or bad, and what did you observe in other divisions that are doing well, that made the experience good? If several customers are fielding the same complaints from the same office, this could be a problem that they could look at for improving employee training at the local offices where it is needed.

The great offices are fantastic, but the ones that are bad, it's like, oh are they EVER bad!

Jack

Question re: recorded shows from local NBC affiliate. Since the DL of navigator to my box I have noticed that when FF thru commercials (at 3X speed) for programs recorded from the NBC affiliate that the video advances very slowly compared to the speed with which it advances for any other programs from any other network or cable channel. I haven't put a stop watch on it but it seems to take about twice as long to advance thru the commercials on NBC vs any other program. Not a huge deal but it does seem very curious that it would only behave this way on NBC. Has anyone else noticed this on your system?

FF with the new software is really jerky and slower on all channels for me. Hope they find a fix for this.

eSATA on a 8640 with 3.2.0_15 ODN has been a no go for me.


http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...8#post18858918

The cheapest way to do this is to get on eBay and find good deals on Motorla NIM100's. I have 3 of them in my house, I got the trio for $100 and they work flawlessly.

Is there not a more appropriate (MoCA) thread for this? Why load down the Navigator thread?

it's better than bitching about keyword search

Hi, some (hopefully) quick questions that somebody may be able to help me with. I am with time warner cable in NYC, and my Scientific Atlanta 8300HD crashed and would not reboot.

The cable guy arrived today and I ended up with a Cisco Explorer 8640 HDC. I have been reading the posts on this here, but could not see conclusive answers to the following.

1 - I previously used a WD DVR Expander 500GB, which worked fine on the 8300HD. I have connected to the esata port and it does not register when I power on the 8640HDC. Has anyone managed to get a eSata drive connected to this box? Or is the eSata not active?

2 - There are several references to the Cisco Explorer 8640 HDC having a 300GB hard drive in the previous posts. How do I check the drive capacity?

3 - There are also several mentions of a HDMI issue affecting output in HD resolutions. Is this now resolved? If so what is the version of the software would that be?

4 - As a completely separate question. If this new model is basically a cable card, is it worth the cost to go with a TIVO premiere

- My new DVR
Cisco Explorer 8640 HDC
ODN Version 3.1.3_3 2209/11/19 1238
Cable card version 01.01.10P12

Thanks for your help.
Derek

You are SOL. Time Warner disabled eSATA on all OCAP boxes. However, I have successfully transplanted the 320GB drive with a 1TB drive. I have your version of Navigator.


Hold "Select" on the remote until the mail icon flashes on the display, then press the down arrow. It should enter the boxes diagnostic pages. Scroll through with the "Page" buttons until you get to the drive info.


I have not encountered any HDMI issues with this version, but there have been reports.


If you have SDV you will need a Tuning Adapter and that brings it's own problems with it. They do work, but from most reports are buggy as hell and need frequent reboots. You will also lose access to your VOD. If you are not SDV yet, you won't need the Tuning Adapter but will be limited to whatever HD is not switched.

LOL!!!

Since you brought up Keyword Search, Rdg...............!!!!

I will be doing a big promotional campaign begging TWC for it to come to all the boxes and need your support!!!


THE NAVIGATOR QUEST PREP SONG! (LET'S HERE IT!)

"TITLE SEARCHES DO NOT WORK!!!!
GIVE OUR GATORS KEYWORD SEARCH!!!!
SEARCH FOR BASEBALL TEAMS NO LUCK
SEARCHING SPORTS TITLES, REALLY SUCKS!!!!
WORDS AND PHRASES THAT WILL WORK!!!
GIVE OUR GATORS KEYWORD SEARCH!!!!
MAKE SEARCH RESULTS EASIER FOR
ALL CUSTOMERS TO SEE!!!!

OMG!!!!! This "cheer" actually matches up to the Notre Dame Fight Song!! (No copyright infringements intended or implied) It just came out this way!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!! Hope that's OK. I just wanted to interject a little humor into rdgcss post! Even the PR campaign is a joke! However, I do want Keyword Search on all Gator boxes! That's no joke!

Jack

I don't believe that TW actually disabled eSATA on these boxes; it just doesnt' work properly. I know the difference is just a technicality, but I hope that technicality means there's hope in future versions of Navigator.

-barry

When the hardware is there and the box is fully capable and previous versions of the software had it... I call that disabling it. Whether it was on purpose or not, the bottom line is that ODN Navigator removed that feature.

On a side note, for as long as I have waited for Navigator (and like it better than SARA) I now find myself looking seriously at DirecTV with current promotions. I can get the HD fee waived, have multi room DVR NOW with multiple DVR's and only pay ONE DVR Fee for the whole account, not for each box. Additional outlets are only $5 instead of $8. Even after the promos expire, I'd be paying less. The only downside is the two year committment... Meanwhile, TWC takes forever to filter current versions of Navigator to various divisions. Once a patch or updated version is released, it should go out nationwide.

I hear Obi-Wan right now... Don't let the hate consume you, it only leads to the Dark Side"

Ben,

How have you been doing with TWC? Are you on a 1-2 year contract commitment? If you are, there's like a $100 termination fee, if not, all you would have to do is return your TWC stuff or pay like $30 for a truck roll to disconnect...............UGGHHHH.

That's a great point. The Navigator updates are just taking too long and they are too in the dark about them. Do you have a clear line of site for your dish? At least you would be getting a better DVR. I can't emphasize enough what Ben said is such an advantage from what Dish people say. It's all the same services so with maybe with very slight exceptions you get the same features on your guide as everyone else, You don't have to wait three months, five years, ten years, forever based on division, location, box type, head-end, and box model to get features you want. In ten years, when TWC finally gets all divisions up to where Dish is now, the Dish boxes will be talking and singing. And if any customers want the reason for cancellation, that's it above. They are just taking too long to update to what the competition has now. I empathize with this. People are sick of the waiting game with TWC.

There is one bad thing for which the competition is famous. After your discount deal expires, you have to beg, moan, and kick and scream, to get them to give you another discounted rate. TWC is much easier to lock in and renew discount rates. So you should seriously think about that drawback. To me, that's even worse that a two-year commitment deal.

My phone lines are crap and I have about a zillion trees in my neighborhood, so U-Verse and Dish are not an option. Verison has a long term contract with Wisconsin, that somehow PREVENTS Fios from coming here. I am not an expert on Dish systems at all. I just know that there's something called Standard Tivo and Integrated Tivo for the boxes, and my friend who has Direct TV and Integrated Tivo said, if you go with Direct TV, that's what you should get.

Jack

I've looked at DTV numerous times and never found it more than $5/mo cheaper if matching the channels I was getting with cable. Then I had to factor in a $10/mo premium up charge on RR for not having cable TV service at e same time. Not sure if BHN still charges that fee or not. I dropped my premium movie channels a month ago and returned my second PVR to save cash. Maybe I can get more for my money with DTv now?

The biggest deterrant to DTV is weather. I get daily under storms here in central Florida and they are often very bad. One of my coworkers says he looses his signal every time it rains heavy and he said his dishes are aimed properly and he has no tree obstructions. Other people in similar environments in ore parts of the country tell me they rarely loose signal.

Hi BenJF3,

Thanks very much for the quick response. It was actually your signature in previous posts that made me think it was possible to add a larger drive, I had assumed it was an expansion drive as opposed to surgery.

Do you have a previous post where you describe the process? How easy/hard it was.

Thanks,
Derek

Continuing saga of switching from MDN to ODN.

Over the past week I have had both the 8300HD and 8640HDC connected and working. I have been mostly using the 8300 as I was trying to watch up everything I had recorded. In addition to testing the eSATA drive, I was also setting up all of my series recordings on the 8640. This weekend I finally emptied out the 8300 and moved over to the 8640 full time. The way it acted totally changed. The only difference is that I hooked up RCA audio cables.

At power up it can take 10 seconds or more for the picture to show up on the screen. Often the banner will show up and then dissapear on a blank screen before the picture comes on.

In general, the controls are very laggy. Often it will get stuck and then after 10 -20 seconds execute the backed up commands all at once. Changing the channel up and down is a problem, Trying to type in a 4 digit code is impossible.

When trying to FF or RW live TV, the banner will not come up or if it comes up it often gets stuck, staying up after the command is finished.

The worst is the Show List and the Guide. Often then won't come up at all. The Show List works ok once you get into it. The Guide is a nightmare. If you can get it to scroll, the info in the box at the top lags behind, but the show title in the same box does not. So the show title matches the line you are one but the description of the show is wrong.

Last night was the final straw. It did not record shows that I had scheduled. I watched it while the clock changed and it just did nothing. At the end of the show it just removed it from the Scheduled Recordings list.

I have re-booted again and again. Sometimes the problems go away for a short period but it reverts back again and again.
One interesting thing thing to note: Obviously with the 8640 I have been getting the ODN boot screen, it has "Scientific Atlanta, a Cisco company" on one side, a white banner with a JAVA logo, progress blocks that turn yellow, etc. One time I got a blue Mystro screen but it was not the same screen as with the 8300. It did not have progress bars but a circle with a single digit number in it..

Any ideas? I am calling TW today but right now I plan on going back to the 8300 even if I have to use the component hookups.

But we do seem to have gotten a few recent reports claiming they have perfectly functioning external drives running. You internal drive upgrade is pretty unique!

NYC is going to be lousy w/SDV at some point real soon. Last count I heard was 241 channels overall, with 76 being HD.

Other than the one guy with the 8240, who else has gotten it to work? (it was certianly a bust for me with an 8640 and ODN 3.2)