HD Cable Question

mbalbritton

mbalbritton

#@$%!
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Location
Lakeland, FL
So Sandy Claws, brought a big LCD to us for Christmas, and I was then compelled to call Time Warner to come hook us up an HD/DVR box. That gave us access to the HD channels which in our area are in the 500 range. According to the programming guide it gives us about 25-30 HD channels.

My question is this, Does anyone else only get certain channels at any given time? Discovery HD May or may not come in, SpeedHd Rarely come in, etc. for most of the other none local channels. Only a small handful come in regularly. and half the time, I'll be in the middle of a program and it'll just lock up as if paused. change channels, come back and it's gone.

If this is the case everywhere, WHY? Anyone else run into this?

Pretty freakin annoying. Not sure if it's " You live in the sticks" deal, but I'm not THAT far out of High Point.
 
TWC sucks. Call and complain, they might be able to fix it, but probably not.
 
Same here. At various times Speed, Discovery, History, Versus, and some others don't work. Usually I can go back in 5 minutes or less and it's OK.

The regular channels are OK though.

I don't live in the sticks.
 
lol... sad to say, but Saf-t probably just gave you the most complete answer you could ask for.
 
Hmm.. never had that problem and my house is in the sticks as well...

May be the diameter of cable you have running to your house isnt able to carry the signal.. or may need an amplifier.. Time Warner should correct all that free of charge.

EDIT: We did have an amp hooked up as well as the larger cable ran when we ordered the HD stuff... but the house is like is 1000+ feet off the road...
 
Planning on calling, but for some damn reason they can never find my account by phone number or physical address, only by account # and I keep forgetting to bring the bill in. Which I find funny, You know were to bill me, but can't find my account by my address. :rolleyes:

More to the point I just wanted to see if anyone else has these issues.
 
mbalbritton said:
Planning on calling, but for some damn reason they can never find my account by phone number or physical address, only by account # and I keep forgetting to bring the bill in. Which I find funny, You know were to bill me, but can't find my account by my address. :rolleyes:

More to the point I just wanted to see if anyone else has these issues.
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TWC set up my HD about two weeks ago. I was told that if I had problems, to cal back - they would then upgrade the cable running to my box.
 
I have the same problem with some of the TWC HD channels down here in SC, but it is mainly with the stupid ones so I dont bother. If the speed or any espns start messing up, they would definitely get a call.

I live fairly out in the sticks.
 
Chef Steve said:
Dish Network? Thats what we use in Michigan and have never had a problem and we have 100+ HD channels. Not sure if they are offered in NC or not.
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Yeah Dish is here (actually Dish is in like 25 countries now...)
I am a dealer for them, and they are a decent product, but down South we have summer thunder storms.....most people dont like watching it rain....
 
I am a pc tech. You do not want internet from satellite. It can be slow and you have to depend on the weather being nice just like with your tv signal. You should be able to get your TWC working. My roommate works for a subcontractor for TW. If they give you the run around let me know and I will ask if he has a suggestion for you.
 
This is teh shitty side of using digital communication... eithert he isgnal gets through, or it dosn't.
At least w/ old-school analog, you'd have a picture, it might just be a little fuzzy. I rather have that than nothing at all. Guess those days are gone!
 
Time Warner Cable- there is your problem. Those guys are the worst. Here is Charlotte EVERY time it would rain, even a drizzle, my cable went out. Every tech they sent over was dumber than the last one. Always trying to blame it on my inside wiring- bullshit. I went round and round with them for months and eventually just said fawk it and got Dish, best decision ever. I will seriously do without television before I ever give TWC another cent.
 
im a tech/installer out of wilmington and it sounds like you have a weak signel. got a couple of questions for you. 1. how many cable lines are in your house? 2. are they all rg-6 cable? 3. do you guys have RR/hsd or digital phone? 4. how long is your outside drop from the tap to your ground block on the side of your house and is it rg-6 or rg-11 cable. 5. do you have a line amp on your house. something you can try is go to radio shack and purchase a rf line amp and install it between your cable comming into your room and your dvr or call them and tell them you are having problems and you want someone to come out and check your lines and signel. they will come out and replace the lines if they are too small. the only time they will charge you is like your dog got under your house and chewed through the line or you want that line moved in the house, or you want a new line. if i was closer i would come look at it. let me know what you find out and ill let you know what to do.
 
blazeproc said:
We have TWC with RR,Phone, DVR/HD and the HD channels never shutter at all. Call TWC and they will make it right
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This.

I had a problem after I moved a few years ago, with certain channels not showing up. Only happened on the digital tiers.

Signal wasn't strong enough, so the put an amplifier in, and that fixed it.

I know it's popular to hate on TWC, and they're not perfect, but I'll say this: After the experience I had with DirecTv in 2007, when I switched from TWC to them for a month, TWC will have to start talking bad about my mama for me to switch again.....at least until FIOS is available.

BTW, the HD on TWC looks better than on satellite. If you've never seen the two side-by-side, you probably won't know the difference, but I have, in my house, and even my wife could tell it. And that was with the newer MPEG4 encoding.
 
Pacfanweb said:
I had a problem after I moved a few years ago, with certain channels not showing up. Only happened on the digital tiers.
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Ya, this typically only happens with the high-def channels because there isn't enough bandwith to carry all the digital data to produce a picture for these new digital cable boxes (which are nothing more than small network computers)...in mild situations, you'll see portions of the picture pixelate.

Pacfanweb said:
BTW, the HD on TWC looks better than on satellite. If you've never seen the two side-by-side, you probably won't know the difference, but I have, in my house, and even my wife could tell it. And that was with the newer MPEG4 encoding.
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A friend at work was talking about this recently, he used to work for directTV, they (satellite) use so much compression for the HD channels that, he says "they look no better than SD channels".
 
Pacfanweb said:
This.
I know it's popular to hate on TWC, and they're not perfect, but I'll say this: After the experience I had with DirecTv in 2007, when I switched from TWC to them for a month, TWC will have to start talking bad about my mama for me to switch again.....at least until FIOS is available.
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Popular? Never even entered my mind. 82 day out of 90 going without a usable cable signal, and then a half dozen different techs telling me it's my own wiring at fault, that had WAY more to do with me forming my opinion of TWC. Last time I told the tech to wait on my back patio where the cable connection is, I walked into the house and carried out the 27" TV and set it down right next to the ground block. I told him to try it from there and then tell me it was bad wiring in the house. He couldn't believe that it wouldn't work from there either. What a bunch of asses.

If TWC works for you, you're just plain lucky. If it doesn't, don't count on them to be able to fix it, because the monkeys they hire for techs just learned how to fling shit yesterday and they're really not up to the job of learning anything about electronics yet. At least in Charlotte they have big, bad problems with their distribution network and they absolutely will not admit it.
 
LOL. I should be a tech...

Roughshod said:
Popular? Never even entered my mind. 82 day out of 90 going without a usable cable signal, and then a half dozen different techs telling me it's my own wiring at fault, that had WAY more to do with me forming my opinion of TWC. Last time I told the tech to wait on my back patio where the cable connection is, I walked into the house and carried out the 27" TV and set it down right next to the ground block. I told him to try it from there and then tell me it was bad wiring in the house. He couldn't believe that it wouldn't work from there either. What a bunch of asses.
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"I'm sorry sir it appears your TV isn't working properly. Is it cable ready?"
 
fatboyf150 said:
1. how many cable lines are in your house?
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One HD Cable box

One TV plugged straight to Coax in wall (no digi box)

One RR Connection

The Splitter in the box on the side of the house has one in and Three out.

2. are they all rg-6 cable?
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They are Coax, and that's about all I can tell you for certain. They look the same diameter, coming from the street as is under the house, approx. 1/4" thick. hope that info helps.

3. do you guys have RR/hsd or digital phone?
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RR, yes
Digi phone, no
hsd, wtf is that?

4. how long is your outside drop from the tap to your ground block on the side of your house and is it rg-6 or rg-11 cable.
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Drop from Pole to house is about (rough guess) 175 feet??? again, LOOKS to be 1/4" thick

5. do you have a line amp on your house.
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not that I've seen.

something you can try is go to radio shack and purchase a rf line amp and install it between your cable comming into your room and your dvr or call them and tell them you are having problems and you want someone to come out and check your lines and signel. they will come out and replace the lines if they are too small. the only time they will charge you is like your dog got under your house and chewed through the line or you want that line moved in the house, or you want a new line. if i was closer i would come look at it. let me know what you find out and ill let you know what to do.
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thanks for that info, I was getting ready to call and thought I'd check in here before doing so. That helps.
 
ok, to check your inhouse wiring for size, if there isnt any writting on the jacket, look at the copper core of the wire. if its real thin, like a thread, then its rg-59 and it needs to be replaced by twc, if its as thick as the diameter of a large safety pin (only thing i could think of for reference) then it is rg-6 and its up to date. as far as your drop outside, it is too small. it is rg-6 and we wont run it no longer then 100 ft. it also needs to be replaced by twc at there cost. if you have a 3-way spliter outside, the you do not have a house amp, i would request one of them also. i hope this info helps you out. i know how dumb cable techs can be cause we have a assload here also. i go to houses on service calls where other techs have been and just scratch my head at some of the dumb shit they do. let me know if i can be some help.
 
I trained cable/low voltage techs for 5+ years (at least 1 of which is an active member of this board) TWC isnt necessarily the problem, but they do not do a lot to edumacate their techs.

To PROPERLY diagnose and identify your problem without guessing requires a very nice and fairly expensive ($400+) meter, TWC aint putting one on each truck, and if they required them no one would ever buy them and they would have ZERO techs.

The best test is to take th3 TV to the box as suggested or buy a long cord at Wally world and eliminate the house wiring as a test. TWC is not responsible for the wiring beyond the customer interface at the side of the house.

Some areas are great some are under served.
BTW I LOVE technicians who diagnose cable size without enough info...but carry on its funny.....
 
ended up being that the box didn't have an IP address. Soiunds like it's a DHCP type deal where it just grabs one. But for whatever reason it just didn't.

They did check the lines and signal strength was up to to par. He pointed one out to me on the screen and the S/N was hovering at 36-37. he said that's the one to watch. for all I know, that could be how many adult movies had been watched, but his info sounded good to me :D

none the less, I have all my channels now.
 
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