# TIVO or Comcast Problem



## huntermaz (Feb 18, 2014)

Last Saturday night we went into Netflix by mistake and tryed to get out of it before it finished loading and the TIVO crashed and rebooted. 

The next morning we were having a micro blocking on some channels and others wouldn't even come it. I checked the signal strength on the channels and they were all 82-92%. Chatted with Comcast via the Web and they said they checked out signal and it was fine. We moved the TIVO to the basement to see if the signal strength would improve. Still couldn't tune or really bad micro blocking on some of the channels. Bypassed the spliter and hooked the feed directly into the TIVO, no change. Checked the SNR and all channels are at 34-35. So the numbers are within what TIVO recomends. Channels we are having problems are digital channels QAM256. Funning because 187 works, 188 is just scrambled, and 189 works but some mirco blocking. 

I would say it is a Comcast problem but I have a MediaCenter PC with a cablecard tuner and all the channels work on it.

So should I start with calling TIVO or Comcast. I am afraid I am going to get into the middle of a finger point game.


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## hornmustang (Sep 13, 2013)

I would tend to think it is a cable issue. I also have Comcast. My numbers are much higher than yours 99-100% signal strength and 39-40 db on the SNR. This is even with a couple of spiltters between the cable coming into the house and the Tivo. I have no problems with microblocking. If you have a powered amplifier I would throw it on to see if it improves your problem.


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## dalabera (Jan 10, 2013)

hornmustang said:


> I would tend to think it is a cable issue. I also have Comcast. My numbers are much higher than yours 99-100% signal strength and 39-40 db on the SNR.


I had a problem last year like this when I had the Comcast cable box, a technician came in and saw noise on my lines. He review all the outlets and found one that was very loose that was causing the issue.

My suggestion is that you check all your connections and try to isolate the issue by rooms or sections of your house.

Good Luck!


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## huntermaz (Feb 18, 2014)

dalabera said:


> I had a problem last year like this when I had the Comcast cable box, a technician came in and saw noise on my lines. He review all the outlets and found one that was very loose that was causing the issue.
> 
> My suggestion is that you check all your connections and try to isolate the issue by rooms or sections of your house.
> 
> Good Luck!


I connected the cable the came directly into the house in my Tivo and it was still no better. Comcast is coming out tomorrow hopefully they will be able to fix it.


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## huntermaz (Feb 18, 2014)

No luck with comcast, they said the signal was clean. Called TIVO and they are sending out a replacement unit. We will see if that works.


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## huntermaz (Feb 18, 2014)

Got the replacement unit and the channels are worst than the original unit. Ugh


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## bootman_head_fi (Aug 3, 2008)

Did you get a new cablecard?


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## huntermaz (Feb 18, 2014)

Tried a different card.


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## badstink (Jul 30, 2014)

I had lots of issues with getting my Comcast Xfinity TV to play nice with my Tivo Roamio Plus. It took 3 weeks before I could get it (mostly) working.

* Some channels not working at all (V52)
* Other channels with serious pixelation issues
* Can't get VOD app to connect to Comcast

Went thru 3 Comcast service truck rolls within 1 week. Techs spent 7 hours checking connections, signal, M-Card pairings, and on and on but couldn't figure out what the issue was. Blamed it on Tivo and advised I replace Tivo unit.

When new Tivo arrived I couldn't pair any M-cards. Went thru 10 cable cards. Never got any channels to work.

Today, had another Comcast truck roll. Still couldn't get the new Tivo to work. Decided to go back to using the old Tivo (3 weeks old ). Still could not get any channels to work.

Then the tech installed a special signal splitter/amplifier (not the little 2 port splitter, I'm talking about a large 4 port amplified splitter that uses electricity) and magically I could receive my channels.

Turns out I have a problem with tilt and this amplifier supposedly helps bring up the weak signals and leaves the strong signals alone.

At this point I'm 90% satisfied but still not 100%. I still cannot use On Demand because the Xfinity On Demand app on the Tivo only results in a GSM-11 error.

I used online chat tonight to inquire whether my account was coded properly for VOD. "Rachel" apparently only knows how to read her script and tried to get me to run through a few dozen BS tasks (including checking my Tivo serial number). She isn't worth her salary. Looks like this final issue with On Demand is going to require more support calls.

My only advice to you is to advise the tech who comes out on your next housecall to consider checking for a tilt issue. My tech only decided to check into this issue after he had been here for 3 hours and was pretty much out of things to check.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Use the cablecard hotline, not online chat to get the VOD set up properly.


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## squint (Jun 15, 2008)

Hopefully, the amp is a bidirectional one otherwise OD won't work.


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## huntermaz (Feb 18, 2014)

Comcast came out today. Said tilt was fine, ran a new drop to the house redid all the cable ends, still no better. Interesting thing is I have a Media Center PC with a Ceton tuner and tuning to the same channels the Ceton card is around 5db better for SNR than the TIVO, don't know if this is normal. Channels that are having problems Signal Strength is right around 78% and SNR is around 31. Getting fed up.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

squint said:


> Hopefully, the amp is a bidirectional one otherwise OD won't work.


VOD on a TiVo is controlled via back-channel IP, not two-way cable.


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