# Cinergy Metronet cablecard issue



## retnuh47591 (Feb 6, 2006)

Hello all. I have a problem and want to see if anyone has experienced this. I just switched to Cinergy Metronet, a small, fairly new cable system in Indiana. When I switched, I upgraded to full HD programming and got one of their DVRs to see how good it was before I upgraded my Series @ TiVo to Premiere. The service is great but the DVR sucks so I went ahead and ordered a TiVo Premiere. I didnt do my research until afterward when I found out that Premiere wont work with a box, just a cablecard. I called the person at Cinergy and requested a cablecard for my new TiVo. After three days she came back to me that I am only the second person in company history to ask for a cablecard and they have none in stock. I will have to pay $100 for the card and will take six to eight weeks for it to get here. Of course I said this is unacceptable and they need to get something figured out better than that. Through educating myself on the cablecard issue and talking to her, their techs dont understand the technology and are just trying to stonewall me hoping I will go away. I told her that the FCC required they provide one and typically they are a few dollars a month. I will pay the $100 and own the card if I have to and have no subscription fees if necessary but am not waiting six to eight weeks for one. The other thing I have seen is the high failure rate of these cards and don't want to end up owning something that may not work right out of the box.
I looked at both my cable boxes and discovered that they are both cablecard operated so I asked about switching one of those to my Premiere, activating it for the TiVo or whatever has to be done to get me working and then they can replace it in their box later when they get one in. That sent them into fits and doubt they will figure it out. I also called TiVo last night to see what help they could provide. They said that the cablecard should be able to be switched from their box to mine but wont guarantee that it will work since Cinergy has no clue what they are doing. 
Does anyone here have any experience with Cinergy (or anyone else) and this type of issue? Im waiting to hear back from them Monday to see what their solution is but am not hopeful. Why is this so hard? Because they are making it hard of course but does anyone have a suggestion or experience to help with this situation? I have read many posts about similar nightmares with other larger cable companies but it sounds like this should be a lot easier than it is and Im getting frustrated having a brand new $300 TiVo still in the box and using this inferior DVR until this is solved. Thanks in advance for any help.


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## caddyroger (Mar 15, 2005)

It possible that they might exempt from supplying cable cards. The fcc allows small cable company from the rule.


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## retnuh47591 (Feb 6, 2006)

Thanks. I don't think they are exempt and are going to get it done eventually, they are just ignorant about the whole thing and aren't willing to go to any great lengths to solve the issue. I got an update yesterday that a card will be here in 4-6 weeks now. It's hard to imagine that it takes that long to get anything in modern times unless you have to design and make it from scratch. I still haven't been able to pin them down on warranty and support since they are making me buy it instead of just renting it from them so we'll see. No one has been able to convince me that they couldn't just reprogram the card in my box and use it in my TiVo either but seems like no one wants to step up and try to solve this the hard way so are just giving me the company line that it is out of their hands and they will do better in the future.
Their service is excellent though and light years ahead of the company I left so am just going to have to wait it out and see what happens. Hopefully they will give me a discount on service or something to make up for it. It's funny how much I hate their DVR after having TiVo for 5 years.


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## PurdueSmitty (Nov 23, 2003)

I was thinking of switching to Cinergy Metronet and was curious as to the outcome of your issue?


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## retnuh47591 (Feb 6, 2006)

I finally got to the vice-president level and got him to kick it into gear. It took me a month and a half to get the card and get it working. I had to give them information on how to install it in a TiVo and then actually let them have my TiVo for a few days to get everything working right and it took another few weeks to get the guide data fixed. After all of that they have had several people get cable cards so I did them a big favor but they also gave me a deal on the card. I like the service a lot better than Avenue too. The only thing I don't like is that their DVR had a much better HD picture quality that the Premiere. TiVo says it is because the signal is noisy but I think the TiVo tuners aren't as good as what the cable company had and it is really disappointing after having the great picture from the other box for awhile. Same signal but completely different pictures. I am more used to it now but it still gets on my nerves. Cinergy's box made the HD look very 3-D and the TiVo doesn't plus it pixelizes and just isn't as good.
Every once in awhile a channel won't tune in right and tell me I'm not subscribed but I switch channels and come back to it and it is fine. Having said all that I would recommend it as the service is good and cheaper than what I had. let me know what you think if you get it.


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## joerote (Dec 2, 2012)

I tried PM and emailing you but it wouldn't let me do it without posting 10 messages. Hopefully you see this.

I just switched to Cinergy from Comcast. They're telling me that my TIVO Premiere is not compatible with them because they use IPTV technology. Is this different than the problem you encountered 2 years ago? Are you still with Cinergy and still using TIVO? I have the Lifetime Subscription on my TIVO so I really don't want to have to pay for another DVR and I'm partial to TIVO when it comes to DVRs anyway. If you see this, an update on your situation would be great. If it sounds the same, do you still have the name of the VP you talked to?


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## Tico (Dec 10, 2002)

joerote said:


> I tried PM and emailing you but it wouldn't let me do it without posting 10 messages. Hopefully you see this.
> 
> I just switched to Cinergy from Comcast. They're telling me that my TIVO Premiere is not compatible with them because they use IPTV technology. Is this different than the problem you encountered 2 years ago? Are you still with Cinergy and still using TIVO? I have the Lifetime Subscription on my TIVO so I really don't want to have to pay for another DVR and I'm partial to TIVO when it comes to DVRs anyway. If you see this, an update on your situation would be great. If it sounds the same, do you still have the name of the VP you talked to?


If they use IPTV you are completely out of luck with your Tivo.

It is the same reason you can't use a Premiere with Uverse!


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## joerote (Dec 2, 2012)

Is that any TIVO or just Premiere?


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## CharlesH (Aug 29, 2002)

joerote said:


> Is that any TIVO or just Premiere?


Well, there is always the ancient Series 2 standard definition TiVos that can control many set-top boxes with an IR blaster. But all HD-capable TiVos (Series 3, Series 4) use cable cards for non-on-the-air content. And that means cable companies and Verizon FIOS. Satellite companies use their own proprietary method, and U-Verse uses IPTV. I thought all cable companies,with the exception of some tiny ones who could get waivers, had to support cable cards (and thus TiVo)?


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## retnuh47591 (Feb 6, 2006)

Sorry guys, I jsut saw this and guess it idn't email me your responses. My TiVo Premiere died last night and I ordered a new one. I went to Metronet to get a cable box for the interim so I would ahve TV and they told me about the IPTV upgrade. I still have the RF signal but am now trying to find out if there is any way that TiVo will work with IPTV. I can change my order and buy one of the newer ones if necessary but this is going to suck if they squeeze TiVo's out altogether. Their new cable box looks a lot better than the old ones but is still not on par with a TiVo as far as I could see in a quick demo in the store. This is a nightmare! I'm waiting for TiVo to open today to call and see what they say so I can change my order if necessary. Do any of you have any new information on this since you posted 8 months ago?


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## gmedia (Jan 14, 2014)

Any luck retnuh47591?

We have Metronet too.

Chris


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