Category: Comcast

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Comcast line up for morgantown

I hadn’t done this in a while, and since I was having problems with some channels on the tivo, I needed to get the exact frequency that was having the problem. So for those who care, here are the current Comcast Channels in the Morgantown Area with their Frequency allotments, Comcast Channel, real RF channel, and if ClearQAM that as well. Each file is sorted by either Comcast Channel number, RF channel number or frequency.

Channels By Comcast Channel Number

Channels by Frequency

Channels by RF Channel Number

The current ClearQAM channels are:

QAM Channel Comcast Channel Station
5.1 705 WDTV HD – CBS
5.2 192 WDTV Weather
7.12 ??? Comcast PPB Barker Channel
8.2 16 WPCB
8.3 2 KDKA – CBS
8.4 6 WPGH – FOX
8.5 4 WTAE – ABC
8.6 13 WQED – PBS
8.7 9 WPMY – MyNetwork
8.8 11 WPXI – NBC
8.9 22 WPCW – CW
10.1 714 WVFX HD – FOX
10.2 None WVFX – CW
18.6 5 WDTV – CBS
18.7 12 WBOY – NBC
18.8 14 WVFX – FOX
18.10 15 Local Government
18.11 3 Local announcements
19.1 710 / 808 WPCW HD – CW
20.1 25 C-SPAN
20.11 198 T.K.M.I.
21.3 8 WNPB – PBS
21.5 699 WNPB2 – Create
21.6 712/810 WNPB HD – PBS
85.111 300 PPV Barker
91.2101 704/804 WTAE HD – ABC
91.2102 188 this
91.2103 713/813 WQED HD – PBS
91.2104 194 WQED – Create
91.2105 195 WQED – Neighborhood
92.2201 711/811 WPXI HD – NBC
92.2203 702/802 KDKA HD – CBS
92.2204 190 retro
103.707 501 ESPNPPV1
103.708 502 ESPNPPV2
103.709 503 ESPNPPV3
103.710 504 ESPNPPV4
103.711 505 ESPNPPV5
103.712 506 ESPNPPV6
109.2301 706/803 WPGH HD – FOX
109.2302 707/812 WPMY HD – MyNetwork
109.2303 196 CoolTV
109.2304 189 WPGH Secondary channel
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Comcast DTA part duex

As a continuation to my last post about Comcast and their lovely DTA’s, I had left the “broke” one connected and running for 5 days. It never did sync up, so I decided this morning to take it to the local Comcast office and get a new one. So I made the trip out there this morning and got a new one still in the box. Once I got home I plugged it in and tried to activate it, but still a no go. I just kept saying “We’ve detected an interruption in your service…. Please call comcast”

I contacted Comcast and they sent some “special hits” to the box, but after an hour or so, nothing had changed. I then disconnected the box from my in-house cable system and connected it to the cable that came in from the pole. Still no go, this tells me that it is something on Comcast’s side and not my house cable plant. So I talked to the Comcast person some more and she scheduled a tech to come to my house next Saturday. ( I refuse to take off 8 hours during the week to wait on them).

About 40 minutes later, I got a call from Tony from Comcast in Pittsburgh. He saw my request and called to try and help me “hook the dta up”. I explained what was going on, and he pulled up my account and said “oh I see what is wrong, let me call you right back, I need to ask some one something”. Then about 5 minutes later, the box all of the sudden came to life and was working. He called back to make sure it was, to which I said yes and thanked him for helping out. He said there was some “coding” problem on their side that was causing the problem. So I bet the first box was fine after all, just no one looked at where he did to see what was wrong.

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Comcast, DTA’s and once again the rise of the cable box

Comcast has decided to “digitize” everything, leaving maybe only local OTA channels on the analog side of their cable plant. I have seen this coming for a while and it has been making me more frustrated as time goes on. Right now I have 4 TV’s in the house 2 of which are analog only, and 2 of which are NTSC/ATSC/ClearQAM capable. 2 weeks ago Comcast sent me a letter saying that “if you don’t have a cable box or DTA (Digital Transport Adapter) on each of  your TV’s you will cease to get the all the channels you get now on the analog side. I thought oh great here it comes, more money to the big ass Comcast to be able to continue to use my current analog tv’s.

So I went to Comcast’s “DigitalNow” web site and started reading that they would give you up to 2 DTA’s FREE in order for up to 2 TV’s to continue to receive limited/expanded basic channels. So I placed the order for 2 of them. They were supposed to be here on Monday, however when I checked UPS’ website, it showed that Comcast did not put my correct address on the shipping label and UPS couldn’t deliver the package. I called UPS and they refused to deliver it or change the address as Comcast had placed a mark on it that only they could change it. So I called Comcast and spent almost a half an hour on the phone (both wait time and talking time) trying to make them understand what they had did wrong. They finally had the light bulb moment and said she had to call me back.

She called me back and said that I had to go to UPS to pick it up. (UPS told me that they would charge them to change the address on it, so Comcast cheaps out again.) I stopped by UPS on Tuesday night to pick up the package and came home to hook them up. Well as luck would have it one is DOA and won’t sync or activate at all. I let it sit for about 2 hours before I contacted Comcast. Needless to say their online help people were useless.. Basically told me to unplug it and plug it back in and then let it sit for 45 minutes. Well I left it sit for 1440 minutes, and still does not work. So now I am going to have to take it to the local office to get a new one.

The one thing that makes me made about these little DTA’s (They are a PACE DC50X box), is that they only get the limited and expanded basic channels. When I signed up for them, it didn’t say this anywhere. I was assuming that it would be able to receive all the channels I currently get with the regular set top box and tivo. However while I was talking to the online rep, that is when I found out that they only get limited and expanded basic.

So now I was even more pissed, because I was under the assumption that I was going to be able to watch the full spectrum (minus the ondemand and hd channels) on these 2 tv’s. Well the reason why they only get limited and expanded basic is easy to understand when  you learn that these aren’t really cable boxes. They are in fact just a little QAM tuner, the same that is in most new TV’s. The only difference between it and your TV one is that all the limited and extended basic channels have the privacy flag set. (http://www.anandtech.com/show/3570). In simplest form, these little DTA’s can receive channels that have the privacy flag set, whereas your TV “ignores” them because they are lightly encrypted.

What does this mean? Well we have went back to the 70’s and 80’s when it was required that each TV have a “cable box” because they don’t know how to tune the channels, once again making TV’s not really a TV but more of a monitor. In reality what is happening is Comcast is trying to pack so much “crap” in to the cable lines that they can no longer put filters on the cables coming in to your house to “block” channels you are not supposed to be getting. The kicker to this whole problem is I have heard that Comcast is thinking about getting rid of the limited basic tier (basicly local channels only) and making every one get the “digital starter” which is the equivalent of all the channels that these DTA’s can receive. So why the hell doesn’t Comcast just take the privacy flag off, junk these DTA’s (for those people who have TV’s with QAM tuners in them), and set the PSIP values so that the channels “appear” on the correct channels.

Not only would it make sense, less hardware they would have to maintain. Less power consumption for the consumers (you can NOT turn these DTA’s off, there is no power button, and if you have the DTA off for a while supposedly you have to reactivate it?) . It would also be less confusing for people so they don’t have yet another remote to have around the house.

So I plead with Comcast, Just make the channels in ClearQAM and stop the box madness. Because I will not pay any more money to get “real cable boxes” when you are forcing everyone to have a cable box for every tv in the house.

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TiVo and comcast part 2

Finally getting around to writing about the second appointment with Comcast last friday afternoon. This time the Comcast dude called me at about 10 minutes after 2pm to say he was on his way. (Yeah!) So he shows up (real comcast person and not a contractor this time). He also brought 3 cable cards with him, thanks to @comcaststeve for making sure that note was made and for Jason (the comcast tech) for also bringing extra.

The first thing we did was check the current one that was put in almost a week prior. Yup, still not activated. So we pulled it and put a “new” one in. Jason called the Comcast office and they “sent the signal” well we waited and chatted for a about 30 minutes, and it never got the signal. So another call back and this time a different person. He seemed to think he was “better” than the last person and that the last person didn’t know what they were doing. Well this guy didn’t either, as the signal he sent to the card was the “kill one” which basically inactivated the card. But we did not know this until another 30 minutes past and we called in again because no signal had been received.

So they had us put in the another card and they sent the signal again. Still no go, so they put the final card in. I am not entirely sure what they did on their side, but the card finally said it was activated (the woman on the phone kept talking to some other techs in the back about what to send to it to make it ‘work’.) Well it finally started “working” and I could finally get all the channels I pay for, (which is basically everything) so Jason left and I finally have full HD cable in the bed room. All told there were 4 cable cards used, 2 onsite techs, probably 6 phone techs and 2 online techs that worked on getting my new TiVo working.

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TiVo and Comcast

My adventure started a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to have all the HD channels that I get be viewable in my bedroom on the HDTV there. So I started by asking Comcast how much it would be to get a HD Receiver for the bedroom. To my surprise they wanted over $14 a month for a RECEIVER! I was like screw that. So as time went on I keep looking at the TiVo Premiere since it does HD, and has 2 tuners in it. Well 2 weeks ago, I bought one. I then contacted Comcast about getting the cable card for it. Lets just say since then it has been pure hell.

First I went to their web site, yup no info on how much they cost, etc. So I opened a chat session with them and they told me it was free (government mandate) and that I could go pick one up at the local Comcast office. I asked if they had any in stock so I could make sure I got on, and they told me I had to call the local office to see. Ok, so the next day I went to call the local office, surprise, the local number is “disconnected” and tells you to call the 800 number..

So I call the 800 number, they then proceed to tell me that I can’t pick one up, and they are not free ($3 a month) and it also will cost me $16 to have them come put the card in the TiVo. Holy shit what a different story. So on my way home one night I stop by the local office to ask yet a third person. She tells me that I can’t pick it up, they have to come install it and now it is $25 for some one to come install it. Damn can we say they don’t have a single answer they give every one. So now I am pretty well pissed at them. I go home and get back on the chat (so I can log it all to later send back to comcast as a complaint). The sales person I talk to this time tells me yeah the card is free and I can go to the local office to pick it up. When I tell them that I tried to do that and they told me I couldn’t he all of the sudden changed his story. So I asked about the whole install fee thing and he said he could waive that and give me the card for free. I said ok, but I need it installed on the weekend because I am not wasting 8 hours waiting for some one to come to my house during the week.

The online tech scheduled my appointment for 12 ~ 4 PM today. I received automated calls from Comcast on Thursday and today around 11AM verifying that I would be here and available. Well around 3:50PM I get a call from Comcast saying “our tech is running really late (no shit sherlock) and won’t be there till 5:30PM. We will give you a $20 credit because we missed our window. Do you still want him to come?” To which I replied yeah… So 5:30 rolls around, no tech. About 5:40 he shows up and he brings the card in side. We plug it in and he calls Comcast in Pittsburgh to activate it. Well 15 ~20 minutes pass, no “hit”.. 1 hour passes no luck.. So he calls back and they tell him either the card is bad or it is just taking a while. So he leaves at 7:40PM… (Yes almost 8 hours waiting on this install).

I then run out to the market for a while and come home, and try to see if it got the signal, no such luck. After a quick shower I sit down and fire up the good old Comcast chat and sit on “hold” for 20 minutes. Finally “Roel” comes in and here is the transcript:

Me > Cable card not working in TiVo
Roel > Hello Me_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Roel. Please give me one moment to review your information.
Me_ > ok
Roel > I see here that you have a concern or problem with your cable card, I understand the trouble that this has caused you and I want you to know how sorry I am for the inconvenience.
Roel > As your service representative today, I want you to know that your satisfaction is of my topmost priority and I assure you that we can resolve this issue together on this chat, Me.
Roel > To ensure the integrity of your account information, kindly provide me your 14 to 16 digits Account Number and the Last 4 digits of your Social Security Number.
Me_ > XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Roel > Thank you for that information.
Roel > Let me check that here on my end.
Roel > By the way, while waiting for your account to pull up, I will share you a feature of Comcast that you can truly benefit. Are you aware of the customer self-help on comcast.com?
Roel > Comcast.com has an extensive series of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that cover all of our products. Customers do not have to sign in to access the FAQs. Quick steps to do it…Open a web browser window and go to http://www.comcast.com/. On the home page, the navigation menus are on the left side of the window and click on Customers then Help and Support.
Roel > I will be resolving this issue for you today, can you give me 2-3 minutes to work on this?
Me_ > yeah, self help is of no use..
Roel > Thank you for waiting.
Roel > May I ask if your Cable Card SN is this :XXXXXXXX ?
Me_ > let me check
Me_ > yes that is correct XXXXXXXX
Roel > That is okay.
Roel > May I ask what trouble shooting have you done so far?
Me_ > the card was “installed” today . the tech called the “activation” center and they supposedly sent a couple of hits to it. That was about 4:30 hours ago, it still has not activated. I have rebooted the tivo and it still has not received the activation signal
Me_ > key verification says “success” but provisioning says none, and auth state says disabled
Me_ > the card was also removed and re-inserted by the tech when he was here.
Roel > I see, thank you for confirming.
Roel > At this time, I am going to send a notice to our higher department since normally this should be done within 45 minutes, but the thing is the maximum time to wait for this when it is fully activated during the first installation would be less than 24 hours.
Roel > So I really do hope that you still have the patience to have it completely done for the process of installing.
Roel > Need not to worry, I am going to make a follow up on this so that you won’t have to wait for that long.
Me_ > yeah, just none of the numbers are changing like the person who the tech talked to on the phone.
Roel > I see, I’m sorry to know that and need not to worry about this anymore.
Roel > I am making sure that your cable card will be activated less than 24 hours.
Roel > What I am hoping for is that you will still have the patience for that.
Me_ > yeah.. already wasted 9 hours today waiting, guess a couple more isn’t going to hurt.
Roel > I am glad I was able to assist you by sending a notice to our higher department for the follow up of your activation process..
Roel > It has been my pleasure serving you today and I truly appreciate your understanding and cooperation.
Roel > Do you have other concerns for me today?  I will be glad to assist you further.
Me_ > no that is all.
Roel > It is with gratitude to have you on this chat and I appreciate the opportunity you’ve given us today to resolve your cable card activation process concern.  Enjoy the rest of your day and take care.
Roel > Do you want to watch full TV shows and movies online? Go to http://www.fancast.com. Thank you for choosing Comcast as your cable TV provider and have a great day! Comcast appreciates your business and values you as a customer. Our goal is to provide you with excellent service. If you need further assistance, you can chat with one of our Customer Support Specialists 24 hour a day, 7 days a week at http://www.comcastsupport.com/videochat. To close this chat, please click the end session button at the top of your chat window.
Roel > Analyst has closed chat and left the room

Based on the above, absolutely nothing of use occurred.. Half the stuff he said didn’t even make sense.. And nothing has been fixed with the cable card.. So I guess I will wait some more time and see if it does activate..

Now here are some things that piss me off about Comcast today.

1. The tech’s don’t have spare cable cards with them. Why the hell would you not let your techs carry spare cards. This is like not having a spare wheel in your car. So now if this “activation” does not work I have to waste another 8 hours waiting on a tech to bring a card that may or may not work. (My friend took 3 techs coming out to get his done.)

2. You don’t have any transparency in anything you do. None of  your people give the same answer as the others.

3. You are greatly understaffed in the Morgantown area. When the techs show up almost 2 hours late… get a clue.

4. Your tech’s used my phone to make long distance calls to Pittsburgh and Massachusetts . (over 43 minutes of them) You going to pay me for that?