Direct TV no more. Charter and TiVo now my best deal

[Pixl]

I had Charter for years till they started raising the rates and making you sign contracts. So we jumped over to DTV a few years ago and were very happy with the price and channel line up. But after ATT took over things went to hell. Price went up and packages went smaller as they moved some of our favorite channels up a tier or two. Worst was how slow the box got after one of their upgrades, and more loss of service for even the slightest weather. After reading on this forum about the new TiVo bolt and finding out Charter had lower prices we now have cable, phone, and internet $60 less per month. The Bolt works great, instant response and the best video tricks in the business. The cable co. brought out a small box they thought I needed, but with the cable card installed I don't seem to need it. They said put the box in the closet that I wasn't paying any extra for it. I was able to reuse the DTV MoCa spliter to distribute TiVo to two other "mini" boxes in other rooms. Great system, I highly recommend it.

 

[osu1991]

It was probably a tuning adapter which is needed if any channels are SDV.

 

[Pixl]

What is SDV?

 

[osu1991]

Switched digital video. The tuning adapter tells the tuner what frequency the channel is on when it's requested. I have 3 or 4 SDV channels in my package with Cox. Love my TiVo, not happy with the new guide data from Rovi. Hope it is fixed soon.

 

[Jhon69]

I had Charter for years till they started raising the rates and making you sign contracts. So we jumped over to DTV a few years ago and were very happy with the price and channel line up. But after ATT took over things went to hell. Price went up and packages went smaller as they moved some of our favorite channels up a tier or two. Worst was how slow the box got after one of their upgrades, and more loss of service for even the slightest weather. After reading on this forum about the new TiVo bolt and finding out Charter had lower prices we now have cable, phone, and internet $60 less per month. The Bolt works great, instant response and the best video tricks in the business. The cable co. brought out a small box they thought I needed, but with the cable card installed I don't seem to need it. They said put the box in the closet that I wasn't paying any extra for it. I was able to reuse the DTV MoCa spliter to distribute TiVo to two other "mini" boxes in other rooms. Great system, I highly recommend it.

In our area we cannot access Charter's On Demand with a Tivo,but that may change because I hear you can access Comcast's On Demand with Tivo.

We are still waiting for Charter Voice so I can kick AT&T to the curb for good.

 

[Bronxiniowa]

In our area we cannot access Charter's On Demand with a Tivo,but that may change because I hear you can access Comcast's On Demand with Tivo.

Oddly enough, considering its bad reputation, Mediacom's TiVO is quite good, including their OnDemand.Plus Netflix and some other apps.

Gave up DTV and went to TV/internet/phone bundle with Mediacom in December of 2014. DTV is always hitting on me to come back, but going unbundled again would hike my bill about $60 a month as well. And DTV won't budge on the rates.

 

[mdavej]

Jhon, as another poster said, that box you didn't connect is probably a tuning adapter. If you check every channel, you'll probably find some in your package that you can't tune. If those channels are important to you, you need to connect the tuning adapter. It's free anyway, so you have nothing to lose. So disconnect the cable from the Tivo and connect it to a splitter. Connect one side back to Tivo and the other to the Tuning Adapter. Then connect the USB from the Tuning Adapter to the Tivo. Within a minute or so the light on the adapter (if it's a Motorola) should go from red to blinking to solid amber. If it's not solid, call Charter and tell them to fix it.

Unless you're getting a really good bundle deal on voice, something like Ooma is far cheaper (~$3 vs. $20). But either will be far cheaper than AT&T.

As for Rovi guide on Tivo, I see some improvements, but the problems are so vast and run so deep, I doubt they will ever be fixed. This is just the new normal we'll have to get used to.

 

[osu1991]

I think Comcast and Cox are the only providers that have on demand set up for consumer bought retail Tivo's. It shows up on my Tivo in Las Vegas on Cox, but it's not on my Tivo in Tulsa on Cox. Not a big deal for me, as I don't ever use it.

 

[primestar31]

Charter doesn't have a whole lot of on demand stuff that's worth bothering much about.

 

[Jhon69]

Jhon, as another poster said, that box you didn't connect is probably a tuning adapter. If you check every channel, you'll probably find some in your package that you can't tune. If those channels are important to you, you need to connect the tuning adapter. It's free anyway, so you have nothing to lose. So disconnect the cable from the Tivo and connect it to a splitter. Connect one side back to Tivo and the other to the Tuning Adapter. Then connect the USB from the Tuning Adapter to the Tivo. Within a minute or so the light on the adapter (if it's a Motorola) should go from red to blinking to solid amber. If it's not solid, call Charter and tell them to fix it.

Unless you're getting a really good bundle deal on voice, something like Ooma is far cheaper (~$3 vs. $20). But either will be far cheaper than AT&T.

As for Rovi guide on Tivo, I see some improvements, but the problems are so vast and run so deep, I doubt they will ever be fixed. This is just the new normal we'll have to get used to.

I never bought Tivos for my Charter Spectrum TV I just read that about Charter On Demand access on their website.

I have 2 families living in my household and we need our own HDDVRs.Also I don't have any money to

invest in buying tIvos or ooma.So it will have to be in house products from Charter for us.

 

[mdavej]

So sorry for the confusion. My response should have been directed at Pixl. He's the one with TiVo and the unconnected tuning adapter.

 

[Jhon69]

So sorry for the confusion. My response should have been directed at Pixl. He's the one with TiVo and the unconnected tuning adapter.

No problems no apology necessary but it is appreciated.

I'm like a kid in a candy store because this is the first time I have ever had decent cable HDTV,decent cable internet and I hope that Charter Voice will be decent also,because I want to kick AT&T to the curb so bad I can taste it!!

 

[Bronxiniowa]

I hope you get good satisfaction from your bundle. Because you'll see it's hard to break from a dollars-and-cents standpoint. I would like to get certain channels that Mediacom doesn't provide. But breaking the bundle would boost my bill for cable, internet and phone by sixty dollars a month.

 

[Jhon69]

I hope you get good satisfaction from your bundle. Because you'll see it's hard to break from a dollars-and-cents standpoint. I would like to get certain channels that Mediacom doesn't provide. But breaking the bundle would boost my bill for cable, internet and phone by sixty dollars a month.

Let's research this what channels do you want?

With all the options out there,satellite,slingtv,roku,fire stick,chromecast,appletv,ota, there has to be an answer.

 

[Jhon69]

I hope you get good satisfaction from your bundle. Because you'll see it's hard to break from a dollars-and-cents standpoint. I would like to get certain channels that Mediacom doesn't provide. But breaking the bundle would boost my bill for cable, internet and phone by sixty dollars a month.

Well I am tired of waiting,after talking to 2 Charter Spectrum CSRs,the last CSR said "No it's not available yet,if it will ever be",it's been almost 2 months waiting and it would seem if Charter wanted to offer Voice they would have

set it up already in my area.I am already getting the bundled price for HDTV and Internet,so I did some research and signed up for AT&T's Wireless Home Service for $20. for 2 years,there's a $45. activation fee,but AT&T provides

the wireless receiver/transmitter for Free,so after I switch I should be saving over $40. compare to AT&T's landline charge and this option is cheaper than Charter Voice which was $29.99..

 

[Bronxiniowa]

With all the options out there,satellite,slingtv,roku,fire stick,chromecast,appletv,ota, there has to be an answer.

There is -- stick with Mediacom.

Sling doesn't have NBC Sports Network -- my entire household are English soccer fiends.

PS Vue is a great service with their Elite Slim package for $45, giving us our local RSNs and other cable channels we watch, and Spanish sports channels in HD (which we don't get with Mediacom) -- but it doesn't have local stations. My wife needs to DVR local news for her job, and we wouldn't be able to DVR OTA network shows.

Could do that with TiVo Bolt -- but it's too expensive at $400.

So we either stick with Mediacom bundle or we break it for satellite -- which doesn't have local dot channels we watch, and have our bill rise sixty bucks a month.

 

[harshness]

Sling doesn't have NBC Sports Network -- my entire household are English soccer fiends.

You and the other 1-2% of the US population.

Basing choices on something like soccer coverage doesn't apply to most. It can be an imperative for some, but not something you lead with in a blanket statement of superiority.

 

[Jhon69]

There is -- stick with Mediacom.

Sling doesn't have NBC Sports Network -- my entire household are English soccer fiends.

PS Vue is a great service with their Elite Slim package for $45, giving us our local RSNs and other cable channels we watch, and Spanish sports channels in HD (which we don't get with Mediacom) -- but it doesn't have local stations. My wife needs to DVR local news for her job, and we wouldn't be able to DVR OTA network shows.

Could do that with TiVo Bolt -- but it's too expensive at $400.

So we either stick with Mediacom bundle or we break it for satellite -- which doesn't have local dot channels we watch, and have our bill rise sixty bucks a month.

I agree.

 

[Bronxiniowa]

You and the other 1-2% of the US population.

Basing choices on something like soccer coverage doesn't apply to most. It can be an imperative for some, but not something you lead with in a blanket statement of superiority.

Who said anything about superiority? These are the channels I watch. Thanks for your insight.

 

[harshness]

Who said anything about superiority?

You seem to have summarily dismissed Sling as a viable option in a thread weighing options and your dismissal was based on a rather peculiar condition.