Mediacom HDTV - Page 2

ESPN and ESPN2 are in HD in Coralville tonight. I get them through the Mediacom HD box, but have been unable to locate them through my QAM tuner. I don't have the HD tier, and they are still at 830 & 831.

I had a few responses to add info to this thread. I moved to Des Moines from DC a few months ago. I had Comcast cable in DC and, while I wasn't 100% pleased with it, it is much better than Mediacom so far. This surprised me as I assumed that since they had similar operations, they were essentially the same.

I have the vip pack which is phone, cable, and internet for $99, plus I've added the HD package and DVR service. It's about $120ish a month after all is said and done.

I had the motorola HD-DVR, but I wanted a box with HDMI, so I visited the local office several times and got a new Pace brand box that was just rolled out for Mediacom and it is MUCH better for HD than the motorola box. It has HDMI outputs too.

Comcast's ondemand is SO MUCH better than Mediacoms, I can't even believe it. I used ondemand regularly in DC and haven't touched it here. I can't believe how sparse it is. And the payperview is ridiculous! I could watch a newly released movie whenever I wanted to on Comcast. On Mediacom, one friday night I was trying to find a payperview movie to watch and the one I wanted was only available at 5 am on Tuesday...that's it.

I recently looked into switching to Qwest's bundled package which includes DirectTV because I had a bad experience with the Mediacom DVR not recording something and I'm tired of the lack of HD. I chatted online with someone about getting DirectTV and they said that my area (Des Moines suburbs) has FULL CAPACITY for subscribers, so I couldn't get satellite. I would have to wait until someone cancelled their service!! I've never heard of such a thing. I had no idea that this was even possible and it's a little bewildering to me.

So as it is, I don't have an option for tv other than Mediacom. I'm really hoping they flesh out their HD lineup.

I'm surprised no one else complains about their ondemand. I really hope they do something about that as well. It's about as useless a service as I've ever seen.

I was told that they didn't have any HDMI boxes, and the tech that came to our place said he'd never heard of them having one...

If you're in Des Moines, I was told the same by the tech and by the 800 number. But I went to the office anyway on Ingersoll and asked someone at the counter and she said they were getting them in soon and would call and she did! I was really nice, so maybe that helped. At the time when I came in they had a stack. I'm not sure if they were spoken for or not, but make a few appearances at the main office and act nice and see if they can get you one.

Who did you speak to? DirecTV can't be at full capacity, it is a one way system and every home in America could get it. The only possibility is that the installers may be overbooked, and that they aren't scheduling new installations at the moment. Even in this case they usually just schedule you several months out. I would suggest you find an independent retailer for satellite, and ask them about getting installed.

I was trying to get a bundled package through Qwest. They direct you to DirectTV's website and I clicked on "chat with a representative" and it brought a chat window.

I gave him my zip and he said my area was "at full capacity" and said I had to wait until someone cancelled their service. Like I said it was bizzare.

I really don't want to switch to satellite. I was just fed up with Mediacom and wanted to see what my options were. I suppose if I really want to go with dish I can check for other installers or try the chat again in case I got someone who didn't know what they were talking about.

It's after Christmas, anyone on Mediacom have more HD channels yet? I don't.

Oops, it appears it was the broadband that was at capacity. I thought I was chatting with a direct tv representative when I was told that.

I'm hearing if you have an HD STB from Mediacom you can get ESPN in HD without having the HD tier. I highly doubt your going to get these channels in the clear. Heck I don't even get all of the locals in the clear in my area.

I just jumped ship on Mediacom {western burb. of Mpls.} after many years.
I went with Qwest's package of phone, 7mb DSL & DirectTV - saves me about $50.00 a month. The local Mediacom folks are pretty decent and customer service {for a cable co] was good for us.

Mediacom is so glacial in adding HD content and pricing has gone up considerably.They aren't even close to competitive here.

In My area the DSL speeds downstream during peak times are a bit disappointing but the upstream is much faster the cable, I'm able to live with it{barely}. Thankfully I'm pretty close to a switch.

Now if DTV can figure out a way for my HR20's to have dual live buffers I'd really be happy.

I got my mediacom bill today and espn and espn 2 are on Hd family cable and hd net etc are on hd pak. bill also went up 2 bucks.

Also on the bill where are all the other hd channels located, like locals etc. Would they be under hd familly cable, and the hd pak sections.

If that is the case I have a total of six hd channels not including the hbo, showtime etc.

Sucks for me. No locals at all.

I'm in the Twin Cities market and the local HD stations are listed under HD Broadcast Basic.

Looks like Mediacon is finally coming through with new HD channels here in Central Illinois! I noticed that my DVR guide has added a space for channel 752.....not yet populated with programming info and the signal doesn't come in. As best I can tell the new channel will be........CSPAN2. What a dissapointment! Anything would be better tban CSPAN2...I never watch it. Oh well.

Mel

CSPAN in HD? Wow how exciting...

I have MOJO on 752 on Mediacom in Effingham.

ditto in central Iowa.

I stand corrected, you guys are right. It is MOJO on 752...Oh well, I doubt if I will watch that, either. I am hoping for History, Food, etc.

Mel

Okay,

I'm looking for the ESPN and ESPN 2 in HD also. My bill has something call "Family HD". But I've called Medicom twice and no one knows anything about the "Family HD" with ESPN and ESPN. They are telling me, you must have the HD service (additional fee) and the HD Box (additional fee)

Really think Mediacom is playing games. This may be topic the FCC needs to address. I'm thinking about filing a complain.

You might need the HD set-top, but if you have the regular family cable plan you should have the two ESPNs now. As stated above, the most recent bill spells out the lineup changes and they moved the two channels to a separate tier that goes in tandem with the regular family plan. I don't know if that's across the board for Mediacom or just in certain areas (Central Illinois here,) but you may have to find a CSR or supervisor that's more in the know.

Just wanted to chime in about billing. I just checked my bill that's due this month, and its $3 less than last month's bill. After comparing January's to December's, I noticed the following:

December
Family Cable Expanded Service $14.79 Basic Service $9.21 $ 51.95
Service Discount -27.95
HDTV Tier $ 9.95

January
Family Cable Expanded Service $14.85 Basic Service $9.15 $ 54.95
Service Discount -30.95
HDTV Tier $ 6.95

So they jacked the price of the family cable package up $3 (I'm still on the promotional period, so it didn't change) and dropped the HDTV Tier $3. Seems fair. They're still screwing us on HD programming, just a little bit less. They also dropped the Taxes from $5.11 to $4.73. Anyone else seeing this on their bill?

Yeah you'll need the HD box from them to get those two. You don't have to sub to the HD tier, but you do need the box.

You won't get those two channels in the clear if that's what your thinking. They're encrypted and you need the HD box. They just don't require you to sub to the tier anymore to get them.

Yep they raised rates 3 bucks on the family cable to allow the ESPN HD's in. They lowered the tier because the ESPN's aren't there anymore. Kind of nice how they say no deal to the Big Ten network because they don't want to force everyone to have to pay for it, but they're more than willing to make everyone pay for ESPN HD by putting it on family cable. Talk about double standards.

Just wait until the promotion run out. Mediacom don't extend promotion or allow you to enroll in new promotions.

As for as the ESPN/ESPN2 HD they are not broadcasting in the clear. You need a HD box ($10/month) or a cablecard ($1.99/month) assuming you have a HD TV. But the way the bill reads, they should be broadcasting in the clear or waive the monthly fee (don't hold your breath on the waiver or broadcasting in the clear). I've got to call back so they can activate those channel on my cablecard.

Okay... been on hold with Mediacom for the last hour. The CSR gave me the story that ESPN/ESPN 2 HD is not available through the cablecard. So I told her that was unacceptable and asked for a call back from the supervisor (very high call value). I'm going to take the cablecard by the local mediacom office and see if they can program the card for ESPN/ESPN 2. one theory is that the programmers haven't developed a package for ESPN/ESPN2 so if they activate the ESPN HD they will activate all of the HD channels in the package. And I'm not looking to pay any more money.

Mediacom doesn't have very good customer service. Anyway I'm scheduled to have MC phone and internet services install in a few weeks.

My next step is to email the CS department and then I'm going to write the regional director.. Cause his name was signed to the new bill and channel lineup.

So what they're doing is making you pay for the box ($10). Cause I can't get them thru the cable card either.

Okay... I have one more update... I took my cablecard to the locate Mediacom office and they gave me another (m-card). Had to call the service line and I gave them the spill about the local office said give the ID number on the card. After sending multiple hits, the card and the tv finally paired. Now I'm getting ESPN/ESPN2 HD. It was worth the effort....

I'll be upgrading to mediacom phone in a few days and they're letting me try the digitial channels for a couple of months (box included). So, I'll have to get them to add those channels to the card also.

Suggest if you have the card, you call with the info required to pair the card and TV. They should be about send the hit to you...