Time warner digital cable issues help!!!!

macattack

I recently entered the world of High Def TV. We broke down and purchashed a new Phillips 47 in LCD, and Called Time Warner.

They cam and set up our HD service and installed a Scientific Alanta Explorer 8240 HDC DVR, and thats when the trouble started. We have had the box freeze on us several times in the past 4 days. We usually have to reboot it about 3-4 times a day, because it freezes, or there is no picture, or channels are not avaliable. The DVR tells us that there is no space avaliable to record shows although we have not recorded anything at all.

I think that I am smart enough to realize that we have a bad box and have scheduled a service call with Time Warner to replace it.

My Question is will I continue to see such poor response time when I try to use my digita cable. (Now I sometimes wait :20-:30 seconds for a channel to come up. and it often takes close to a minute for the guide to load. Is this normal for Digital TV, and Time Warner.

Last Question is I also Have Road Runner and VOIP Phone service through TW, would this contribute to my poor response time and finally we split the cable off into 5 different rooms. Would this be a cause of my problems.

deadhead68

No, you should not experience that kind of delay. The only possibility is if you have the DVR set to Native or Pass-Through. Doing that will increase your channel changing times because your TV needs time to adjust to a different resolution, 480i/720p/1080i.


It should not be a cause of what you're experiencing. If you had a signal strength issue you would see the picture breaking up and choppy audio. But to be sure, have the tech check the signal strength.

DeadHead68

__________________
Toshiba 52HM95
Moto 3416 HD DVR
Sony STR-DG810 Receiver
Sony DVP-NS77H DVD
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Harmony 670

nadllessur

Is It just me or has anyone else been noticing channel freezes or very pixeled channels lately? I have a RCA 1080i Projection screen 50" High Definition Television The DVR digital video recorder cablebox is a Scientific Atlanta 8300HDC series HDTVcable.
Anyways I wonder Is it normal for channel freezes or when you record a HD show for it to appear black for who knows how many minutes and no sound when you replay it? Because if this is how it's going to be for the digital tv then I'm just going to buy a cable and link up my tv to the modem and watch tv online. It would certainly save me at least $96.00 a month.

deadhead68

It's not normal. Either you have a defective DVR and/or a weak signal.

DeadHead68

__________________
Toshiba 52HM95
Moto 3416 HD DVR
Sony STR-DG810 Receiver
Sony DVP-NS77H DVD
Denon SYS-76HT Speaker System
Harmony 670

toxic assets

For my particular problem, which sounds the same as the original poster, but may or may not be; my "picture freezing" problems first began, when I had upgraded to the digital channels. And it's only on the high def/selected digital channels.

Picture freezes ONLY when switching to certain DIGITAL channels, e.g. NBA League Pass channels & other 100x +series channels (oh yes also on TNT-HD, UHD, etc). It also freezes the Bloomberg Channel.

However, when the channel is changed to a standard channel, e.g. CNBC (Channel 116).

The problem is resolved by toggling back and forth between the digital channel and a "workable channel" (e.g. 116), then the channel is restarted.

I've also scheduled a third appointment w/ my Time Warner Carrier. Apparently this is a new enough problem that the cable guys do not have a clear MO on how to address this issue.

dvdslw

I had same problem and it was a bad cable running from the splitter on the side of my house to the dvr box. There was a bad signal and it would cause the screen to go black for a few seconds and also cause some blocking or pixelation of the image wich drove me nuts. I would buy some coax cable from home depot or lowes and run a direct line from where your cable comes in to your home to your cable box and see if that cures the problem. I would just run a temporary cable outside like through your window or door and see if it fixes it before you go through the trouble of re-routing through walls and etc... and if your not good at crimping the ends on the coax be sure to buy cable with the ends allready installed. It is possible that the box is failing so maybe you will want to try a new one first. Good Luck!

taploren

I have a 47 inch high def philips tv, with time warner cable and DVR. Sometimes when I try to change channels the cable box locks up, Other times its slow to change channels. I have had TWC out twice. They have changed the cable box twice and the remote controls several times. It would work long enough for them to leave then act up again. At first it only happened with the hdmi cable plugged in. Then I hooked up the 5 rca cables and it worked for awhile then locked up. I kept rebooting it and it might work for awhile then lock back up. Now I have diconnected everything except the coaxial cable and it still locks up. The weird thing is that if I turn the tv off, the cable box functions normally. I have checked all remotes to see if a button is sticking but they are all ok. I have even taken the batteries out of all other remotes to ensure the only remote in the house is the one for the cable box. I'm sick of it and TWC is coming back next Tuesday. Anyone else having these problems? Thanks

drmike5000

One thing people don't realize about these cable boxes, and cable modems for that matter, is that they need a clean return path. Information comes in and goes out rapidly.

If you split the line multiple times, check that. You need a splitter that allows a return path, same with the modem.

I split one line coming into my house 8 times for multiple rooms. I hooked up the main feed coming in to a video distribution hub with an amplifier built in. I bought a Open House 3X8 off of Amazon, and it works great. All rooms get a clear signal. Before, I used cheap splitters to accomplish the same thing, and I had a lot of problems with the DVR boxes.

Hears the thing, if you live in a condo or an apartment, likely your line is split before it comes into your unit. You have no idea how they split that line. If it was done a long time ago, the splitters might not be bidirectional, and thus compliant with these DVR boxes and cable modems and you will have problems.

Anyway, just one thing to check. I have come across a few people that have had this problem, including myself.

Having said all this, once and a while I still have problems with my SA 8300HD boxes. I have three of them. I have to reset them all every once and a while, but only once and a while. I do not have daily problems.

toxic assets

TWC came in FOUR times.

Key numbers:
Signal (normal levels: 15 to -15): mine was -20
"Transient Apps (?) (normal: 35: mine was 55

After the first time, the problem got worse, since tech guy Lester put the splitter on backwards (found out by 2nd Tech guy Warren).

After Warren (2nd tech guy) came in, putting the splitter on the correct way, the "SPV Channels" i.e. Bloomberg, NBA League Pass (all 9 channels), TNT HD, UHD all worked for about two days. However, AFTER two days, Bloomberg and TNT-HD began to have episodes of "freezing pictures."

Third episode: Mark came in did a few things, then TNT-HD was no longer freezing, just Bloomberg.

Fourth episode (4/11/09): Warren & Neal came in: changed the splitter, ALL EXTERNAL connections & cables, the cable box.

So far all is working well.

However, from the look of this thread, the "freezing issue" for new converts OVER to the HD is being taken seriously by TWC. It seems to be occurring more than they'd like it to happen.

Eddie Haskell

Sorry for the double post

Eddie Haskell

I've worked in the CATV industry for many, many years and 90% of cable problems are installed by the consumer. This isn't your grandpa's cable TV, there is the forward path, the return path, switched digital channels, high definition signals, very high tech cable converters, I've seen a single loose connector on a cable box take down a whole neighborhood! The signal is more sensitive and having a splitter feeding a splitter feeding a splitter just doesn't cut it. If you have 8 TV's in the house (which most systems aren't designed to support without some kind of amplifier installed) you should have 8 cables hooked up to an 8-way splitter and if the signal isn't sufficent an amplifier could be in order.
I can't tell you how many times I've gone to a home and they had purchased every splitter Home Depot had on the shelf, half of the ports on the splitters weren't being used (fyi, the cable signal is still split even if there isn't a TV hooked up) and all the fitting are extremly loose and then blamed the cable company for garbage pictures.
The advice above about buying your own cable from Lowe's makes me laugh, who's going to put the connectors on it? You can purchase and run your own cable but call the cable company to terminate it. Think of the cable plant as plumbing carrying water, if the fittings are of poor integrity there will be leaks. By the way those twist on cable connectors we see everywhere are the biggest pieces of **** a person can buy, sure they go on easy but imagine the leakage!
Now if you don't believe me, go into the cellar and unhook all the garbage you installed, make sure all the fittings are tight and then see what happens
Now I understand TWC could very well have an issue but more often than not the problems are self induced...just sayin'
There I feel better now

gosgirl

I have a RCA 1080i Projection screen 50" High Definition Television The DVR digital video recorder cablebox is a Scientific Atlanta 8300HDC series HDTVcable.
Anyways I wonder Is it normal for channel freezes or when you record a HD show for it to appear black for who knows how many minutes and no sound when you replay it? Because if this is how it's going to be for the digital tv then I'm just going to buy a cable and link up my tv to the modem and watch tv online. It would certainly save me at least $96.00 a month.


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