# Bolt/Spectrum does not get Premium Channels



## Skanter123 (Feb 28, 2015)

My Bolt has not been receiving premium channels or sports pass for last 2 weeks. Spectrum guy was here for 3 hours - swapped tuning adapter and tried new card (didn’t work at all, “from wrong area”). He put in old card back. The tech guy on the phone who was authorizing everything seemed clueless as well. They are coming back next week with new cable cards.

Any ideas besides switching to FIOS (which I am ready to do!)?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Check the Conditional Access menu in the cableCARD menus. It should look similar to this:







Important items are Val: V, Con: Yes, and Auth: S. That picture is from a TE3 Roamio, so yours may vary.

The number after Val: V is the count of times your card has been paired.


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

Skanter123 said:


> My Bolt has not been receiving premium channels or sports pass for last 2 weeks. Spectrum guy was here for 3 hours - swapped tuning adapter and tried new card (didn't work at all, "from wrong area"). He put in old card back. The tech guy on the phone who was authorizing everything seemed clueless as well. They are coming back next week with new cable cards.
> 
> Any ideas besides switching to FIOS (which I am ready to do!)?


On many systems, the Premium channels are a separate item on the individual account, and if the correct code is not in the right place....
This has nothing to do with the cable card or TA.


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## Skanter123 (Feb 28, 2015)

fcfc2 said:


> On many systems, the Premium channels are a separate item on the individual account, and if the correct code is not in the right place....
> This has nothing to do with the cable card or TA.


Thanks for the reply.
Who at Spectrum might be able to fix this, and how do I communicate it to them?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Skanter123 said:


> Thanks for the reply.
> Who at Spectrum might be able to fix this, and how do I communicate it to them?


Perhaps someone here will know: [CATV] TiVo: SDV channels all missing, seems like a back-end problem? - Charter Spectrum | DSLReports Forums

It's an interesting story with a lot of pictures.


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## Skanter123 (Feb 28, 2015)

JoeKustra said:


> Perhaps someone here will know: [CATV] TiVo: SDV channels all missing, seems like a back-end problem? - Charter Spectrum | DSLReports Forums
> 
> It's an interesting story with a lot of pictures.


Oy! Don't know how that helps me! Tech coming Tuesday with new cable cards - doubt that will help. :-(


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

Skanter123 said:


> Thanks for the reply.
> Who at Spectrum might be able to fix this, and how do I communicate it to them?


Submit a request - FCC Complaints 
Complete the form asap, someone of the higher ups at Spectrum will find one of the few who has a clue and they will be in contact with you. The techs who come to your home, unless they know someone at the head end from experience, will not be able to do anything to help you....except waste time.


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## Skanter123 (Feb 28, 2015)

fcfc2 said:


> Submit a request - FCC Complaints
> Complete the form asap, someone of the higher ups at Spectrum will find one of the few who has a clue and they will be in contact with you. The techs who come to your home, unless they know someone at the head end from experience, will not be able to do anything to help you....except waste time.


Done! Thank you.


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## lhvetinari (Jun 24, 2019)

I doubt it’s the cable card or TA itself - unless you’re specifically getting tuning adapter related messages, it’s most likely bad provisioning of the card inside Spectrum’s systems. Access for premiums are broken out separately than the rest of the digital service packages, so your card may just not be provisioned for the premium packages (one for HBO, one for Showtime, etc) on the back end.

Do you know if you were Charter, TWC or BHN before the merger? L-TWC customers (myself included) can request the “special initiatives desk” or “digital initiatives” (I’ve heard both, but have had better luck with the first) and get to someone who has slightly-better than average cablecard knowledge.


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## Chuck_IV (Jan 1, 2002)

More than likely they changed something at the head end and the TA no longer knows what to do. 

I’ve had this happen several times including right now. Vice has simply disappeared from my list of channels that the TA provides(another person in an adjoining town has the same issue)

The last time this happened, the cable guy sat on my couch for 20 minutes while he talked to the head end. A day later it was resolved. I have the cable guy coming tomorrow morning for my issue. 

They have done a lot of things at my head end over time, without regard for cable card/TA users. Getting it through to them that the issue is at the head end is sometimes hard. 

I did have to file a BBB complaint once to finally get someone to admit it was the head end and finally fix it. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Willy92 (Oct 12, 2018)

When I did have that problem, it was the TA. At first the cable guy thought it wasn't but, he replaced 3 different ones before he got one that worked. so I would say that it's the TA.


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## My Cape is a Recliner (Oct 5, 2019)

Skanter123 said:


> Thanks for the reply.
> Who at Spectrum might be able to fix this, and how do I communicate it to them?


Call Spectrum and ask for the cable card department / ask for the "TiVo department".

Make sure its connected right. Tivo and spectrum tell you two different ways to run the cables. One tells you to run the coaxial into the 'TV in' then one from the 'TV out' on the TA to the tivo, then a usb cable connecting both. The other (TiVo or spectrum) way is to run a splitter from the wall, with one coaxial going into the TiVo, and the other separate coaxial going into the TA, with only the USB cable connecting the two (top USB connector), this second way is what is working for me.

See what tuning adapter you have, then look it up to see if it has a blinking light or some other simple way that gives a diagnostic code. I have the cisco TA that had 8 lights flashing. I searched and found that meant its not paired. If they changed the card on you, then that's not going to be paired.

Call spectrum and you can ask for the cable card department or just* ask for the TiVo department. * (Not all techs even know this), and you shouldn't need the tech if you have the card and TA already. Have the TiVo department pair it. Your TA should acknowledge the pair somehow (on mine, the blinking lights (8 times) changed to solid show it was paired). Once its paired you need to run the Tivo setup TWICE. The first time the TiVo finds the TA. The second time is so the TiVo can start its setup fresh, with the TA now mated to the TiVo. As long as the earlier posts are there, then you should have everything you need, and this should be all you need to do.

It should show channels right away, but "might take up to an hour for it to download everything (guide, channels, and other something)".


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## Skanter123 (Feb 28, 2015)

Update: Submitted FCC request, Spectrum field mgr called 2 days later. Said he agreed problem was at head end, but needed to send another truck roll anyway. The guy was pretty clueless, but reached a Tivo specialist who actually looked at Tivo cable card diagnostic screens thru video chat. he said they had to fix it at the “node” on the street, something to do with the Mavic - and they would work on it.

In the meantime i got in touch with RCN and had them change internet service at my studio location - $39/mo vs $89 from Spectrum and much faster. Speed test was 950 mbps!

I think I will switch to RCN, as they use Tivo as their DVR and no tuning adapter. They use a Roamio with 1T and 6 tuners. I have a 1T Bolt with 4 tuners. If I use theirs, no Tivo monthly fee. Anyone know the difference between a Bolt and Roamio? I think I have an old Stream box lying around. RCN cost at least $50 cheaper than Spectrum...


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## DigitalDawn (Apr 26, 2009)

My Dad had RCN and loved it. The Roamio is probably the best DVR TiVo ever manufactured. However, unlike the Bolt, it does not output a 4K signal -- only 1080p. You can easily get around this by purchasing a Roku, Fire Stick etc for your 4K streaming.

One other thing, unlike the retail TiVo DVRs, the cable provided models do not have Commercial Skip and may have limited streaming services, which is not a problem if you purchase a Roku.


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## Skanter123 (Feb 28, 2015)

Thanks for the info - dunno, I like the commercial skip! I think streaming will work with a stream box, I think i might have an old one lying around if I haven’t thrown it out...will have to decide, would be nice not paying Tivo monthly fee. In any case, no tuning adapter and RCN should be better at Tivo issues unlike Spectrum.


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## lhvetinari (Jun 24, 2019)

Skanter123 said:


> Thanks for the info - dunno, I like the commercial skip! I think streaming will work with a stream box, I think i might have an old one lying around if I haven't thrown it out...will have to decide, would be nice not paying Tivo monthly fee. In any case, no tuning adapter and RCN should be better at Tivo issues unlike Spectrum.


If it's a T6 (cable MSO version of the Roamio Plus/Pro 6 tuner) a Stream box is not needed, as the TiVo box has stream encoding built in.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Skanter123 (Feb 28, 2015)

lhvetinari said:


> If it's a T6 (cable MSO version of the Roamio Plus/Pro 6 tuner) a Stream box is not needed, as the TiVo box has stream encoding built in.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I think it is! The RCN guy said it had 6 tuners and 1T. If it's just losing commercial skip, it's worth using their box, maybe using my Bolt as a backup.


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## Skanter123 (Feb 28, 2015)

I’ll try RCN’s Roamio - if I don’t like I can always switch back to the Bolt.


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## Skanter123 (Feb 28, 2015)

UPDATE: RCN came today and switched TV, phone, internet from Spectrum. Everything went pretty smoothly, no TA. Looks like a Roamio T6, works same as Bolt minus commercial skip, but seems very solid. RCN $50/mo cheaper than Spectrum, faster internet (500Mbps) and hopefully - no issues! And, I can avoid $15/mo Tivo fees and Tivo commercials. All in all, a great switch. Any ideas for using Bolt? I only have one TV.


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