I have to wait for thursday for the card to be installed. Wish they would just send it. I'm not sure what area they will mail it to people but here they insist on a service visit for it.
FIOS after a month
- Thread starter SatelliteGAL
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 113
- Views 17K
Did you hookup your Tivo? You should still receive your broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, etc.) in the clear...plus, you can play around with the menus, YouTube, Netflix, etc. Tivo just loaded Pandora and, surprisingly, I really like this free Internet Radio service. You can create radio channels based on your artists/genre, bookmarks, and ratings (using the Tivo thumbs-up or thumbs-down). Earlier I listened to classics (e.g., Pie Jesu and O mio Babbino Caro) from the likes of Sarah Brightman, Charlotte Church and Sissel. Right now I going through a smoking mix of specific tunes from Metallica, Black Sabbath, Nirvana, System of a Down, Godsmack and Motorhead.
You can hook up the TiVo, and when going through the installation just pick that you ordered a cable card and it will be installed later. That way it will set up the guide with all the cable card channels ready instead of analog only.
They like to send out people to do the CC install because they have to read numbers from the TiVo back to the cable head in to get the CC authorized. It is probably too technical for a lot of users to handle (they have to find the right menu and read the correct numbers).
They like to send out people to do the CC install because they have to read numbers from the TiVo back to the cable head in to get the CC authorized. It is probably too technical for a lot of users to handle (they have to find the right menu and read the correct numbers).
I hooked it up and got all the updates (that took a whle!) but it told me none of the channels were available. I thought I read those were always in the clear but apparently not on mine. I did download a freebie from Amazon. It is definitely a foreign territory 
I gather that the tivo box is always on? I did not find a power button. Also, if you are watching a recording how do you stop it? There is no stop button. External HD has to be eSata correct? I went to the tivo forum but I didnt find a newbie section for converts to tivo that answered the simple questions.
I gather that the tivo box is always on? I did not find a power button. Also, if you are watching a recording how do you stop it? There is no stop button. External HD has to be eSata correct? I went to the tivo forum but I didnt find a newbie section for converts to tivo that answered the simple questions.The funniest thing. While I was setting up the tivo my dog was going crazy. When you select something it made this little bing and I have no idea what she thought it was but barked every time. We had to turn the "sound effects" off.
The broadcast networks in my area (Dallas) were in the clear for years (most cable companies are) and Vurbano said all this non-premium channels were in the clear for years (Norfolk VA area). However, I recall Verizon offering customers (me) up to two free digital converter boxes last year for our older television. I suspect they may have encrypted the broadcast networks since they handed-out free converter boxes, but I haven't tried it.I hooked it up and got all the updates (that took a whle!) but it told me none of the channels were available. I thought I read those were always in the clear but apparently not on mine. I did download a freebie from Amazon. It is definitely a foreign territory
Yes, I was going to tell you to turn off those bleep-bloop sound effects before you toss your Tivo out the window. Additionally, Mike brought up a great point about getting Tivo ready (updated) prior to the CableCard being installed.The funniest thing. While I was setting up the tivo my dog was going crazy. When you select something it made this little bing and I have no idea what she thought it was but barked every time. We had to turn the "sound effects" off.
Anyway, I need to warn you that your CableCard experience may be more painful than having your front teeth pulled without novocane. Thankfully the FiOS Techs are a better prepared to handle CC than the likes of Comcast, Time-Warner, etc. However, this does not mean you won't have any problems.
Forewarned is forearmed? What kind of problems?
The FIOS guy that came and did the original installation was great. Everything he did was really neat and clean. He even cleaned up a jumble of coax that was left behind by previous work.
I can tell anyone not to bother with one of those little digital converters. We put one on the kitchen tv because we didnt want to make room for a box.... we had been using tv2 from dish.
It was a big mistake and when he comes to install the cablecard we are getting a regular HD box.
The digital converter box does nothing... no guide or anything. For us it just was not worth even the $3.99 they charged for it.
The FIOS guy that came and did the original installation was great. Everything he did was really neat and clean. He even cleaned up a jumble of coax that was left behind by previous work.
I can tell anyone not to bother with one of those little digital converters. We put one on the kitchen tv because we didnt want to make room for a box.... we had been using tv2 from dish.
It was a big mistake and when he comes to install the cablecard we are getting a regular HD box.
The digital converter box does nothing... no guide or anything. For us it just was not worth even the $3.99 they charged for it.
Most companies handle cablecard OK now. Essentially since your box is all updated, they will plug in the card, go into settings and cablecard setup and call in the numbers to their office. It is a lot like Dish's receiver # and smartcard #. Then the office should send the hit down to the TiVo to authorise the channels. I had one done a month ago with the local cable company. The first time he brought out the wrong type of cable card (premiere takes M-Card, he brought out S-Card), took him about 15 minutes to come back with the correct card. Then he put it in and called the back office (I brought up the menu with the #s on it for him). It took about 10 minutes for the hit to come down.
Ok... I swear I am not tech challenged and of course we will be able to just play with the box when everything is available on it. But, I have been to the tivo community and everything and I still have the question.... where is the stop button?
There is not a stop button. Press the left arrow and it will go back to the menus at any time during the playback. You will have the option to resume playing or do what you want to do. You can also just press pause then the big TiVo button back to the menu and do what you want.
Thanks Mike
On the FIOS
I have to say that I would not recommend the little digital converter box to anyone. You do not save much money and it is not very good. If I was in the kitchen cooking or cleaning and I wanted to find something to watch while doing so it was useless. There is no guide so you have to know what channel you want to watch and turn to it or just keep searching. You can get one of their sd boxes for not much more.
On the FIOS
I have to say that I would not recommend the little digital converter box to anyone. You do not save much money and it is not very good. If I was in the kitchen cooking or cleaning and I wanted to find something to watch while doing so it was useless. There is no guide so you have to know what channel you want to watch and turn to it or just keep searching. You can get one of their sd boxes for not much more.
Verizon was passing those things out a couple years ago when they dumped all the analog channels. We got two of the converters (free of charge) which we never use. I agree...the boxes are aren't very good and I wouldn't pay $3.99 per month for them.
Ok So, the installer arrives and says "So how familiar are you with tivo boxes because I've never done one before". LOL At least he admitted it and also said he would stay until it was done right. I told him we had already done the updates on the tivo and told it there would be a FIOS cablecard installed. So my son did it with him with no problems. He said it was not widely known and they were not supposed to tell people but as of today the CISCO boxes were being slowly introduced. They were afraid of everyone running to swap out their receivers.
Unless Verizon totally changed the UI then you'll love the Tivo much better. We sill keep a Verizon DVR because it's free and for VOD (althouth we don't use it that often). My Verizon CableCard install on a TivoHD and TV took all of about 30-minutes. The nice thing is you can swap out your CableCard on any device in your home. I have been using CableCard for the past 6-years...each and every Comcast install has bee painful, takent days (if not weeks), a half-dozen or more CableCards, and at least 3-visits. The CableCard install is straightforward, but here are the problems:
- CableCard aren't provisioned
- CableCard is bad (S-Card were horrible)
- CableCard won't pair with device
- CableCard pairs, but there an error (at Cocast) when they try to activate it (some channels come in, some down, and Premiums always seem to take 6-7 calls into customer service to find someone who can actually perform the procedure).
- In many cases, someone always proclaims, "the system says your cablecard is installed in a Comcast DVR.
Anyway, I'm glad "things" worked out like they should...and that a Comcast Tech wasn't dispatched.
Wait.... are you saying the cablecard is not tied to the box? So down the road if I upgraded the tivo I could simply put the card in the new tivo? Or if I wanted to try the cablecard in my tv I could do that?
Officially, Verizon says it cannot be done without calling FiOS support. In reality, this is not true since FiOS does not appear to pair the cablecards with any particular device in a household whereas Comcast and other cable providers do. I have three singlestream CableCards (S-Card) and I can swap them in-and-out in any combination between my TivoHD, Sony HD-DVR w/CableCard and a Sony HDTV (circa 2003) with CableCard. All devices worked perfectly...even the Sony HDTV that was not initially installed since 2 CCs were in the TivoHD and 1 in the Sony HD-DVR. Oh, I just remember that my Mitsubishi DLP also had a CableCard slot...and that worked too just fine when a tried it.
If you have a Digital Cable Ready (DCR) television (i.e., it has a CableCard slot) then it should work. Of course, since just about everyone stopped making DCR televisions 2-3 years ago, I don't know how well they will work (or not work) with the multistream CableCards (M-Card). I have only tried the S-Card with FiOS and my HDTVs, but I will assume the M-Card will work fine in the television...just not sure. However, your M-Card will work just fine in another TivoHD or Premiere.
Verizon | FiOS TV - CableCARD installation and removal
Can I swap cablecards back and forth? - TiVo Community
Just confirmed my memory that, "The M-card is full backwardly compatible so they will work in TVs and STBs that were designed or only need a single-stream card." In theory, this was the design concept behind the M-Card. In practice, I recall some of the older DCR televisions needing a firmware upgrade to handle the M-Card.
MultiStream CableCard?
MultiStream CableCard?
I thought my tv had the slot but I may be wrong. It wasnt on the must have list. My current tv is only a year old though.
My son is enjoying the tivo but he doesnt like the remote very well. Something about it being small and slippery. lol
I'm not sure what he has his hands on, but the Tivo peanut remote fits comfortably in the hand and works pretty well. Just like a baseball, it will break-in with use. If you're use to the Dish Network DVR...just give it a week or two to get the hand of it.
