# Spectrum Cablecard with Bolt



## Bombola (Dec 7, 2016)

I have been using a Spectrum Cablecard with mt Bolt. I do not receive a number of the channels I am supposed to get and receive others I am not. I do not get a number of east coast premium channels. I have placed numerous phone calls to Spectrum asking why this is so. I finally had a tech come out who was supposed to be savvy in TiVo. When he got here he said he had seen a TiVo a couple years ago and seemed surprised anyone still used them. 

Anyway, after a half hour he agreed that the channel lineup was incorrect and had no idea what to do. He insists that they only have one Cablecard in use. An earlier tech suggested that it might be because I have a “one-way” Cablecard rather than a “two-way”. Thoughts?


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

Spectrum uses tuning adapters don't they? You don't mention having one, which could explain some missing channels if they are channels that are SDV (I guess it depends on whether you are in a Spectrum region that is using SDV).

Spectrum.net Switched Digital Video (SDV) Overview

Scott


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

The tuning adapter was invented precisely because there is no such thing as a 2-way cable card.

When you get your tuning adapter connected, we can look at some diagnostics and see if your card is actually paired.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Aside from verifying whether you need a SDV tuning adapter and getting it in place and paired with your TiVo, you'd probably also want to re-run Guided Setup and make sure you entered the correct Zip Code and selected the correct cable service lineup. (And it's not an impossibility that TiVo/Rovi has the wrong lineup information for your locale. You might want to post your Zip Code to allow others to verify your options against other Rovi-based guides.)


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

I thought he/she gave up -> Noob with pixelation on Bolt


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## Bombola (Dec 7, 2016)

HerronScott - I do have a tuning adapter.
mdavej - Tech came out last night and confirmed pairing. 
krkaufman - I will rerun pairing. TiVo is in 54941 area code. 
JoeKustra - and yet he/she persisted.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Bombola said:


> JoeKustra - and yet he/she persisted.


There is Pairing and there is Channel List Received. The channel list is the channels loaded into the cable card as a Virtual Channel Table (VCT). These items are displayed in Help/Account & System Info/Diagnostics. Scroll down to the end where cable card data is shown. But you also have a TA, which complicates things.

Go to www.tvguide.com, plug in your zipcode and provider and see if the resultant channel lineup matches what you expect. That's the same database that TiVo uses. If the channel lineup is wrong, you have a provisioning problem.

Note that Diagnostics may say "Paired: NO". Ignore that.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

JoeKustra said:


> Go to www.tvguide.com, plug in your zipcode and provider and see if the resultant channel lineup matches what you expect. That's the same database that TiVo uses. If the channel lineup is wrong, you have a provisioning problem.


Are there any alternatives to TVGuide.com? I'm having trouble trying to customize my lineup using a Zip. (Stuck on "Loading, Please Wait&#8230;")


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

krkaufman said:


> Are there any alternatives to TVGuide.com? I'm having trouble trying to customize my lineup using a Zip. (Stuck on "Loading, Please Wait&#8230;")


www.tv.com is the next best choice. It's a bit more primitive.

Looks broken. It forgot my settings.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

TV.com shows two possible lineups for Charter at that Zip Code (54941). You'll probably want to review both to see if either matches your expectation, as well as re-running Guided Setup on the TiVo.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Checking zap2it, only Fond du Lac is an option. tvguide.com is really brain dead.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

JoeKustra said:


> Checking zap2it, only Fond du Lac is an option. tvguide.com is really brain dead.


But Zap2It is not using Rovi/TiVo data; it's using Gracenote/Tribune...

Copyright 2017 Tribune Media Entertainment - Powered by Gracenote, Inc.​
So I guess, given the relative accuracy of the sources, that probably means you should lean towards the Fond du Lac lineup being the correct one. It would certainly be worthwhile to also use the Tribune/Gracenote data from Zap2It to compare to the lineup(s) you find on TVGuide.com or TV.com.


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## Bombola (Dec 7, 2016)

I will check again. Unfortunately it is in a weekend home that I only get to once a month.


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## Bombola (Dec 7, 2016)

I was able to use www.TVguide.com. Both "Charter Communications, Green Lake Co. (Cable)" and "Charter Communcations, Fond du Lac (Cable)" have the same lineups. My TiVo Online service has the same channel lineups. Just the actual TiVo service through Bolt has a different lineup. Perplexing.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Bombola said:


> I was able to use www.TVguide.com. Both "Charter Communications, Green Lake Co. (Cable)" and "Charter Communcations, Fond du Lac (Cable)" have the same lineups. My TiVo Online service has the same channel lineups. Just the actual TiVo service through Bolt has a different lineup. Perplexing.


It sounds like TiVo has a bad lineup. First you can tell TiVo -> Report a Lineup Issue
Next you can verify that channels you are supposed to receive have a signal. You can manually enter the channel number. There should be an error indicating "Channel not Available - Contact your provider". If you get a "No Signal" error there is still a provisioning issue. If there is a signal then TiVo has an issue. Double check the Channel List. The bad channel should be checked. With a cable card you can not "scan" for channels. They should be in the channel list.

I wonder if there is a nearby zipcode you can try. Verify that tvguide.com is ok, then run Guided Setup for the new zipcode and provider. It's just a shot in the dark. But like you said, Perplexing.


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## Bombola (Dec 7, 2016)

Per TiVo i will 1) force a connection to the TiVo service, then 2) Repeat Guided Setup. I do get the "Channel not Available - Contact your provider" message when i hit some channels which are supposed to be included in my package. 

I did not know that TiVo controlled any lineup info from their end.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Bombola said:


> Per TiVo i will 1) force a connection to the TiVo service, then 2) Repeat Guided Setup. I do get the "Channel not Available - Contact your provider" message when i hit some channels which are supposed to be included in my package.
> I did not know that TiVo controlled any lineup info from their end.


Control? You mean screw up. Yes, they have the final decision. From that message I conclude that there is a signal present on that channel but your card is not decrypting it. Are they in the guide? As for pairing, check Remote, Cable Card & Devices, CableCARD Decoder, CableCARD Options, CableCARD Menu, Conditional Access. The item "VAL:" should be followed by "Y 0x02" but the number doesn't matter. If it has "?" it is not paired and it is not provisioned right.

It is possible to not be paired and still work. But not until it has been properly provisioned.


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## santinelli (Aug 23, 2011)

I had a great deal of issues going to tivo with spectrum. They actually replaced the cable card AND the tuning adaptor. Then some guy back at headquarters had to work some serious magic to get everything to work. But they did. It took several hours but they did get it. 

You need a tech to come out with new card and new tuner adaptor. And he needs to know who to talk to at the other end. 

ROYAL pain in the butt, since I drove over an hour to get the 2 even before to do the install myself.


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## Bombola (Dec 7, 2016)

Yes, it seems to be a number of issues involved. Did you have to call TiVo regarding each channel that did not appear?


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## Bombola (Dec 7, 2016)

Ok. Finally got a chance to force a connection. However, system now says it can’t provide program info. Called TiVo and was told my CableCARD was not properly paired. TiVo rep called Charter with me on the line. Charter rep unpaired the card and paired it again. TiVo rep said it was now paired correctly. Soon as Charter hung up, all channels sat “not authorized”. TiVo rep called Charter tech who tried to reboot the CableCARD 4 times. They eventually gave up and scheduled a tech from the same facility that told me he didn’t know people still used TiVo. Not happy.


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## Bombola (Dec 7, 2016)

Tech came out Saturday. First thing i asked was whether he was familiary wth Tivo. Not at all. However, he hopped on it and after 1/2 hour he told me that he had no other ideas. But, he was waiting for another tech (office 30 miles away) to bring more cablecards and tuning adapters to try. 

1/2 hour later, they told me they had it working and i am good to go. I checked and all looked good. Soon as they left it went out again. But, they re-sent the signal and it worked again. Now, has been working for 3 days straight! Even have the correct channels. So, this is what I know: Original cablecard was connected but not paired. Unpairing and re-pairing from Charter only caused all authorization of any channels to cancel. Only after going through numerous cablecards and tuning adapters did they get it to work.


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## lisabranam (Apr 5, 2018)

It happens to the best of us sometimes, one of my friends had a bit similar experience. But so far I did not have any adverse experience working with the tech support of Spectrum Cable.


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## Bombola (Dec 7, 2016)

Seems to greatly depend upon the tenaciousness of the tech. First two were almost dismissive because it was a TiVo product. Last one called in reinforcements and swapped out cableCards and tuning adapters until they all worked.


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## philw1776 (Jan 19, 2002)

Considering Bolt because Spectrum now charging me $28/month for their crappy HD DVR


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## Bombola (Dec 7, 2016)

I got it because is can. Use the minis to get full service to three other rooms. Nice when it finally works.


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## jlin (Nov 20, 1999)

Is there a dedicated number for Cablecard dept at Spectrum?


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