Time Warner Cable Navigator - Page 541

Greetings,

Permanent Guide Filtering is coming to the ODN boxes (C-models, new Motorolas, and Samsungs.) in a future software update. You will be able to have the guide display:

All Channels (Default)
Pay-Per View
Video on Demand
Subscribed Channels
HD Channels
Favorite Channels

Currently, the MDN boxes have a guide filter, (no C, old Motorolas, not a Samsung) but it only holds when you are searching.

Jack

There is currently no true Guide Filter in Navigator release versions. However, word is that the feature is in the works and will hopefully be deployed with the "Black" Guide shown a few pages back.

I mentioned a little about the black guide to the tech and he thinks that TWC is trying to copy DirecTV. I really think TWC wants to make Navigator look like the iOS/Android TV app.

I used to have an MDN box and have never really used the Guide filtering feature. Why have it if it is not permanent. I do not mind going through all the channels, but to each their own.

My 8642HDC seems to be better than my 8300HD box. It is lightning quick, which is odd for a Cisco box. Probably one of the fastest TWC DVR I have ever experienced. I am sure it will slow down, once I start loading it up with recordings. I have ODN v5.1.0_6 on my 3260, 3272, and 8642HDC. My 8642HDC does play around with the resolutions when you turn on the TV. It will switch down to 480i, but then goes back to 1080i. The tech said it is better to keep it on 1080i, as multiple resolutions can cause issues.

Also, the new update defaults to 480p, and not 1080i like before. You have to go into the settings to change the resolution. This bug will likely get fixed in a future version.

What is the ODN verson # of the firmware that includes that black guide?

It's not known to the public yet afalik, as it is still in employee testing for selected markets.

Jack

jcalabria mentioned a v5.2 something in the diag menu.

That could be it. But note that we won't have an official build until release. Reliable sources say that the new guide is going out to both ODN/MDN builds. ODN will be first. (Because it is newer. It is likely that it will trickle down to MDN at a later time.) But remember that the MDN boxes are being phased out and are becoming harder and harder to get. TWC is going to try to give Navigator better functionality across the boxes.

I have heard that at some point down the road, the guide will be a true HD 16x9, but for the 16x9 HD feature, you will have to have a Cisco, New Motorola, or Samsung box for that. MDN and older SA-boxes that run ODN, can't do HD guide rendering. The newer boxes, won't stretch anymore. But I would expect several months of roll-outs and new feature evaluations before they do the 16x9 guide.

I heard they are going to try to make it look like Direct TV and that searching for information will be much easier than what they have now.

Those with drive expanders who enjoy their faster MDN boxes, the word is not encouraging for E-SATA support for ODN builds. Subs will get 500GB with a Whole House DVR set-up and from what I heard 320GB from the newer Cisco's and Samsungs that are not multi-room. However, E-SATA support is mostly miss on the ODN boxes, regardless of ODN make/model.

I have a question. For those that still have a legacy MDN box (No C, no Samsung, old Motorola) and you attach say a Western Digital Drive Expander to it, how much space could that bring you up to from the MDN's limited 160GB's of storage? A relative of mine has had an SA-8300HD for six years with a drive expander, and to this day is amazed at how fast it is compared to the ODN boxes.

Oh another question, How does the speed of the modern Motorola's, Cisco's, and Samsungs running ODN Navigator, compare with the great speed of MDN on the old SA-8240's and SA-8300? What MDN boxes out there (both DVR and non-DVR) are NOT fast with Navigator? I had my SA-8300HD two years ago, and it smoked! Friends say the very, very old SA-8000HD was extremely slow.

What about non-DVR boxes out there that still are on MDN in terms of speed?

Jack

TWC San Diego will start deploying the MR boxes for non MR/SH customers, as Cisco and Samsung no longer make the 320 GB non MR boxes. It is easier just to order the new MoCA boxes as they work just fine without MR service. It also gives TWC an opportunity to upsell their MR-DVR service. Same applies for the non DVR boxes, as they will work as a regular HD-STB without MR service. I have 2 MR-DVR's without MR service and they work just fine. This is the case in some divisions and it will apply to San Diego in a few months.

MDN can support up to 2TB, as that is what a SA document said. However, nobody has tried such a config, so it might only be 1TB. Now is the time to get eSATA, as a few months ago, that is all they had were 8300's. TWC wants to flush those out and replace them with 320 GB and 500 GB MR boxes.

Pioneer, early SA boxes, and SA 8000 are slow with MDN. I had an old Pioneer box, many years ago which was our first digital box and that thing was ok with Passport but the older build of MDN ruined it. Then again, that thing was old and very slow and we replaced it for a SA 8300HDC.

My Cisco 8642HDC is probably the fastest ODN box with the Samsung a close second. It could be that my wiring is bad on my Samsung box, but it seems to be ok, according to the tech. Then again, my old 8300HD was pretty fast with MDN 3.1, but it too had its issues. Slowest ODN box would be the SA 4250HDC, which was our first ODN box. When we got that box, TWC still had Passport on the non ODN boxes. That was with an older version of ODN before the current color scheme (remember the all blue guide).

Just some more information and experiences.

Good stuff here! Thanks!

Jack

My 8740HDC is probably the fastest TWC box I have ever used. Still feels slow compared to my TiVos and my former Dish 722 DVR.

With TWC's track record, looking like some other software is one thing, behaving like it is quite another...

Meanwhile, I've just discovered another "feature" with the FPOS. If I have two programs ready to record while I'm watching an on-demand program, whether I hit "A" to confirm on each of the two popups or not, it will choose one program not to record. The log entry, "helpfully" positioned with the earliest entries, not the latest, shows "Not recorded due to an unresolved recording conflict (13)". There must be a CSR somewhere who knows exactly what the "13" signifies.

Anyone else, or just me again...?

Once again we see advanced feature from a competitior. Hopefully as TWC moves to IP based video and Cloud solutions we will begin to see stuff like this. My personal favorite look for a guide is shown here with the logos right on the guide.

Comcast began rollout of their new interactive guide:

http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/21/c...ne-app-launch/

Grid Guide WITH Logo for easy channel ID



Keyword Search (Default ALL)



DVR List where you can actuall read the titles of the shows!



Interactive Features



Apps



Smartphone Control

Hey guys, I found this forum from some google searching. I'm a recent Time Warner customer (switched from WOW, I found that TW was just a better deal). I have HD-DVR service, and they gave me a SA 8240 HDC. I chose to post this here because I'm unsure if my issues are navigator related or just related to the box hardware.

When attempting to navigate (basically anything) there is a noticeable delay. For example, press the guide button and the guide comes up a couple seconds later. When the guide is open and you attempt to navigate it, things do not improve. For example, when you use the arrows to navigate up or down the channel listings; the first time you press it often nothing happens. When you press it again (under the assumption you were not pointing the remote at the box adequately) you'll find a couple seconds later that the guide will navigate two spaces. Therefore it did register the first press, it just didn't occur until much later. The unit is just generally noticeably slow or laggy in almost every aspect, much more so than I've noticed on Time Warner units in the past.

My parents have a newer Samsung box which is extremely snappy, so that makes my box seem that much worse.

I've reset the box a few times, but it doesn't really change anything. Upon bringing up diagnostics, I find that my ODN Version is 4.1.0_7 last updated 8/22/2011.

Is there anything I can do personally to fix this? Or do I just need to call time warner and try and request a new box?

What you are experiencing is quite typical for an 8240/8300HDC. It doesn't get better unless you move up to a newer SA/Cisco box like the 8600 series or the newest 8700 series. Any Samsung DVR (3090 or 3270/3272) will also be a major improvement (as you have already seen)... just keep in mind that the Samsung 327x lacks PiP if that is important to you (3090 has it).

Paradoxically, you can also move to an older box model to speed up as well... the older 8300HD (no "C") runs a different version of Navigator that is not as taxing on the box resources.

Choices typically are limited to whatever your local office has on hand at a given moment (which can change day-by-day).

Good screen shots Ben! Thanks! It looks impressive! I don't know how much I would use some of the social networking applications, as I am not a Facebook/Twitter fan. Yup, this will probably be something similar when TWC divisions and nodes are ready for the cloud-based services.

My suspicions are that some TWC may not stop selling those legacy boxes, until cloud features are ready for both nodes and boxes across the geographical area in which they are implemented. TWC wants to go Cloud Base in 3 years. I think that could work for divisions that are ready for the modern technology. Other engineers are saying 5 years. So that span of 3-5 years is reasonable to get the cloud footprint with boxes and nodes updated.

In the interim TWC will probably just wait for the customer's old boxes to die out naturally. In fact, ten years ago when we got Digital Cable, they called and actually came out to swap the box. With the economy today, TWC I am not sure will take that approach. I think they will establish expected goals and outcomes to make the Video Services elements of their Navigator Guide more modern and polished. Working up to a cloud based environment.

I have communicated with critics who are skeptical too, and they think, "No, in 5 years, there will still be some TWC offices who will be giving out old boxes and claiming them to be "top of the line."

Regardless, customers want their equipment to be reliable, easy to use, and adaptable. I am hoping with the forthcoming changes to Navigator, that we will have customers that can look at the guide as something positive to their STB viewing experience, and not something that has been disastrous to mediocre for the past six years.

I have to echo the post I saw in another thread:


My attitude personally, very cautious optimism, with several grains of salt as we TWC subs wait and watch how these roll-outs and updates are going to appear.

Jack

I also, could care less about the interactive features and apps (but it's almost a standard now if you look, even net enabled TV's have it). I particularly see this as forward thinking by Comcast. I really like the Grid layout with the logos and the way the DVR list is detailed and you can see the entire show title. For example, my wife likes Million Dollar Listings and Million Dollar Rooms. In Navigator's DVR List you cannot distinguish the two because all you see is Million Dolla... so you have to go into each one to see. The way the list populates should have been changed many, many versions ago. I also like the "Gas Gauge" with bar indicator showing remaining space. If it's going to take TWC three years to get here, imagine how far ahead the competition will be by then? The only bright spot is that Charlotte and my division seem to get updates first.

I know I'm rough on TWC some time, but I feel it's justified and necessary. I want them to have a top notch service for everyone. We, as subs, pay an enormous amount for their products and should have every expectation they be cutting edge.

A week after returning from a two week trip, I finally discovered why my 4250HDC is even more constipated - it has been "upgraded" to ODN 5.1.0_6!

Wow, what a gawd-awful steaming pile of ..... Hopefully on DVR boxes it has brought some benefit, but one ............... to .............. two ............. second ........................ delays ....................... in .............. scrolling .......... through ...................... the ................. guide .................. is .................... driving .............. me ............. effing ........................... crazy ............................................................ .

Is there any newer, faster STB that is being issued to us peasants / non-DVR customers?

IMO Comcast is just as backward as TWC in their own way. They rent NEW Moto SD boxes with unbelievably small memory footprints - the PG available is LESS THAN ONE DAY!

Hi Mike,

Sup? I was actual looking at the historic impact of the IPG's today, and I saw a screenshot of Comcast, "a.k.a Comcrap's" legacy guide. I hope they have SOMETHING better. The guide only showed I think it was like a one hour advance. HUGE text, all blue background. (Remember Navigator's first color scheme? UGGHHH!) and a big friggin advertisement on the bottom third of the screen!

Tons of issues with Navigator ODN 5.1.06. Our division actually had it and downgraded us back to 5.1.04. There's a 5.1.07 out and hopefully will be widespread soon. San Diego might get it by June-July. A 5.2 version is also in the works.

Jack

Cisco and Samsung boxes are available in LA, but there is also a Motorola box. You should ask the local office, but you could very well get an older MDN 3250HD refurb. I prefer the Cisco and Samsung client STB's, but some of the newer boxes are for MR and SH customers. This will change, as they will start allowing such customers to have those boxes with the MR service disabled. MR is Multi Room. Most of the Comcast Moto boxes are refurbs, as they have a ton of them.

In June or July San Diego will update the boxes, but I am not sure what version. I think it could be v5.1.0_7, but it could be 5.2 something. LA will probably get a month after San Diego. San Diego does not have Advanced Search, but it would be nice to get it.

Software Version 5.2.0_6 is the Golden Black Guide Menu with Cloud Abilities.

Does anyone know how to get additional MoCA filters out of TWC? I stopped by my local office, but they told me it would require a truck roll (and an installation charge) to get additional filters. I did a Google search, and the cheapest I could find the ones like TWC supplies was $10 each on eBay. I really didn't want to spend $50 to get 5 of them.

Thanks,
Ted

This is the one I found:

http://compare.ebay.com/like/1506800..._lwgsi=y&cbt=y

That is the right Price, why do you need more Moca Filters.? Keep in mind that if you start moving boxes around to different rooms and can't get everything working again they may or may not charge for a truck roll. The new WHDVR's have a Docsis modem in them so that needs to be considered also.

The original installer would only give me a filter for my cable modem, but I understand I need them for my Tivo Premiers, Tuning Adapters, and directly connected TVs as well. RIght now I have the whole house boxes separated from the other devices by the one filter they provided me. I would prefer to have the Cable Modem, WHDVR, Tivo, and TA all connected at one location, the Samsung WH box, Tivo, and TA connected at another location, and a 3rd TV directly connected to cable.

Thanks,
Ted

My installer was trained to filter EVERYTHING except the lines with the WH DVR's. I found I have much better reliabilty with my other devices with only ONE filter on the drop at the demarc point to keep MoCA from going out to the street. The frequency range is well beyond where the other devices reside anyway (850 to 1525 MHz). Another issue is amps or drops amp that are not MoCA compliant or have a MoCa filter built in that could block the frequency. My division has MoCa on 1150Mhz.

A diagram of what you are actually trying to do might be helpful too. Are you a Sig Hom sub? If so, we might want to move this convo into that thread so we don't derail the latest happenings of Navigator.

I am not a signature customer. I am just trying to determine whether I am better off using the filters on every non-MoCA device or not. If you would prefer to private message, let me know.

Thanks,
Ted

Well, at some point overnight I went from 5.1.0_4 to 5.1.0_7. No noticable change in features or perforance yet. I'm hoping it fixes the de-intercing bug and audio problems.



Actually, there are many people here who can assist. I just wanted to keep the thread relevant to Navigator development instead of installation issues. Feel free to PM me and I'll see what I can do. I'm also thinking of starting an actual Time Warner Tech Help Thread for issues such as yours.

Is there a way to determine what frequency MoCA is running on for my location?

Excellent idea. Please do it.

Yes, go into the diagnostic screen on your TWC box. Hold SELECT until the mail light blinks and then press the ARROW UP. Scroll to Home Networking and you find your details about the MoCa network. My guess is TWC probably is keeping it consistent, so don't be suprised if it's the same as what I posted.

I will work on putting together a Tech Type Forum with a starting post containing as much info as I can. Right now, I'm back to full time work, so my time is heavily divided. I will continue to assist as best I can and people can always PM me as well. Also, there is a great Direct to Tech forum over at DSL Reports which I've been told is very helpful.